DISPUTE BETWEEN HANOVER AND DENMARK.

In the month of October, an affair of very small importance produced a rupture between the king of Denmark and the elector of Hanover. A detachment of Hanoverians took by assault the castle of Steinhurst, belonging to the privy-counsellor Wederkop, and defended by thirty Danish dragoons, who had received orders to repel force by force. Several men were killed on both sides before the Hanoverians could enter the place, when the garrison was disarmed, and conducted to the frontiers. This petty dispute about a small territory, which did not yield the value of one thousand pounds a-year, had well nigh involved Hanover in a war, which, in all probability, Great Britain must have maintained; but this dispute was compromised by a convention between the king of England and Denmark.

The session of parliament was opened on the first day of February, when the king in his speech to both houses, gave them to understand that a convention was concluded and ratified between him and the king of Spain, who had obliged himself to make reparation to the British subjects for their losses, by certain stipulated payments; the plenipotentiaries were named and appointed for regulating, within a limited time, all those grievances and abuses which had hitherto interrupted the commerce of Great Britain in the American seas; and for settling all matters in dispute, in such a manner as might for the future prevent and remove all new causes and pretences of complaint. The motion for an address of approbation was disputed as usual. Though the convention was not vet laid before the house, the nature of it was well known to the leaders of the opposition. I Sir William Wyndham observed, that if the ministry had made the resolutions taken by the parliament in the last session the foundation of their demands; if they had discovered a resolution to break off all treating, rather than depart from the sense of parliament, either a defensive treaty might have been obtained, or by this time the worst would have been known; but, by what appeared from his majesty's speech, the convention was no other than a preliminary; and, in all probability, a very bad preliminary. He supposed the minister had ventured to clothe some of his creatures with full powers to give up the rights of the nation; for they might do it if they durst. Sir Robert Walpole, in answer to these suggestions, affirmed, that the ministry had on this occasion obtained more than ever on like occasions was known to be obtained; that they had reconciled the peace of their country with her true interest; that this peace was attended with all the advantages that the most successful arms could have procured; that future ages would consider this as the most glorious period of our history, and do justice to the councils that produced the happy event, which every gentleman divested of passion and prejudice was ready to do; and which, he believed, the present age, when rightly informed, would not refuse. In a word, he extolled his own convention with the most extravagant encomiums.

The house resolved to address the king, that copies of all the memorials, representations, letters, and papers, presented to his majesty, or his secretary of state, relating to depredations, should be submitted to the peru sal of the house; but some members in the opposition were not contented with this resolution. Then Mr. Sandys, who may be termed the "motion-maker," moved for an address, desiring that the house might inspect all letters written, and instructions given by the secretaries of state, or commissioners of the admiralty, to any of the British governors in America, or any commander-in-chief, or captains of his majesty's ships of war, or his majesty's minister at the court of Spain, or any of his majesty's consuls in Europe, since the treaty of Seville, relating to losses which the British subjects had sustained by means of depredations committed by the subjects of Spain in Europe and America. This was an unreasonable proposal, suggested by the spirit of animosity and faction. Mr. H. Walpole justly observed, that a compliance with such an address might lay open the most private transactions of the cabinet, and discover secrets that ought, for the good of the kingdom, to be concealed. It would discover to the court of Spain the ultimatum of the king's demands and concessions, and the nation would thereby be deprived of many advantages which it might reap, were no such discovery made. He said, that as soon as the differences betwixt the two courts should arrive at such a crisis, and not before, the consuls were instructed to give notice to the merchants that they might retire in time with their effects; but should such instruction come to the knowledge of the Spaniards, it would be a kind of watch-word to put them on their guard, and unavoidably occasion the ruin of many thousands of British subjects. Certain it is, no government could act either in external or domestic affairs with proper influence, dignity, and despatch, if every letter and instruction relating to an unfinished negotiation should be exposed to the view of such a numerous assembly, composed of individuals actuated by motives in themselves diametrically opposite. The motion being rejected by the majority, the same gentleman moved again for an address, that his majesty would give directions for laying before the house copies of such memorials or representations as had been made, either to the king of Spain or to his ministers, since the treaty of Seville, relating to the depredations committed in Europe or America. A debate ensued; and, upon a division, the question passed in the negative.

{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}



PETITIONS AGAINST THE CONVENTION.

The house, in a committee of supply, voted twelve thousand seamen for the service of the ensuing year, and the standing army was continued without reduction, though powerfully attacked by the whole strength of the opposition. The commons likewise ordered an address to his majesty, for the copies of several memorials since the treaty of Seville, touching the rights of Great Britain, or any infraction of treaties which had not been laid before them. These were accordingly submitted to the inspection of the house. By this time the convention itself was not only presented to the commons, but also published for the information of the people. Divers merchants, planters, and others trading to America, the cities of London and Bristol, the merchants of Liverpool, and owners of sundry ships which had been seized by the Spaniards, offered petitions against the convention, by which the subjects of Spain were so far from giving up their groundless and unjustifiable practice of visiting and searching British ships sailing to and from the British plantations, that they appeared to have claimed the power of doing it as a right; for they insisted that the differences which had arisen concerning it should be referred to plenipotentiaries, to be discussed by them without even agreeing to abstain from such visitation and search during the time that the discussion of this affair might last. They therefore prayed that they might have an opportunity of being heard, and allowed to represent the great importance of the British trade to and from the plantations in America; the clear and un disputable right which they had to enjoy it, without being stopped, visited, or searched by the Spaniards, on any pretence whatsoever; and the certain inevitable destruction of all the riches and strength derived to Great Britain from that trade, if a search of British ships sailing to and from their own plantations should be tolerated upon any pretext, or under any restrictions, or even if the freedom of this navigation should continue much longer in a state of uncertainty. These petitions were referred to the committee appointed to consider of the convention. Another remonstrance was likewise presented by the trustees for establishing the colony of Georgia, setting forth that the king of Spain claimed that colony as part of his territories; and that by the convention, the regulation of the limits of Carolina and Florida was referred to the determination of plenipotentiaries; so that the colony of Georgia, which undoubtedly belonged to the crown of Great Britain, was left in dispute, while the settlers remained in the most precarious and dangerous situation. It was moved that the merchants should be heard by their counsel; but the proposal was strenuously opposed by the ministry, and rejected upon a division.

This famous convention, concluded at the Pardo on the fourteenth day of January, imported, that within six weeks to be reckoned from the day on which the ratifications were exchanged, two ministers plenipotentiaries should meet at Madrid, to confer, and finally regulate the respective pretentions of the two crowns, with relation to the trade and navigation in America and Europe, and to the limits of Florida and Carolina, as well as concerning other points which remained likewise to be adjusted, according to the former treaties subsisting between the two nations: that the plenipotentiaries should finish their conferences within the space of eight months: that in the meantime no progress should be made in the fortifications of Florida and Carolina: that his catholic majesty should pay to the king of Great Britain, the sum of ninety-five thousand pounds, for a balance due to the crown and subjects of Great Britain, after deduction made of the demands of the crown and subjects of Spain: that this sum should be employed for the satisfaction, discharge, and payment of the demands of the British subjects upon the crown of Spain: that this reciprocal discharge, however, should not extend or relate to the accounts and differences which subsisted and were to bo settled between the crown of Spain and the assiento company, nor to any particular or private contracts that might subsist between either of the two crowns, or their ministers, with the subjects of the other; or between the subjects of each nation respectively: that his catholic majesty should cause the sum of ninety-five thousand pounds to be paid at London within four mouths, to be reckoned from the day on which the ratifications were exchanged. Such was the substance of that convention, which alarmed and provoked the merchants and traders of Great Britain, excited the indignation of all those who retained any regard for the honour of their country, and raised a general cry against the minister who stood at the helm of administration.



DEBATE ON THE CONTENTION.

The eyes of the whole kingdom were now turned upon the house of commons. The two contending parties summoned their whole force for the approaching dispute; on the day appointed for considering the convention, four hundred members had taken their seats by eight in the morning. In a committee of the whole house, certain West India merchants and planters were heard against the convention; so that this and the following day were employed in reading papers, and obtaining information. On the eighth clay of March, Mr. H. Walpole having launched out in the praise of that agreement, moved for an address of approbation to his majesty. He was seconded by Mr. Campbell of Pembrokeshire; and the debate began with extraordinary ardour. He who first distinguished himself in the lists was sir Thomas Sanderson, at that time treasurer to the prince of Wales, afterwards earl of Scarborough. All the officers and adherents of his royal highness had joined the opposition; and he himself on this occasion sat in the gallery, to hear the debate on such an important transaction. Sir Thomas Sanderson observed, that the Spaniards by the convention, instead of giving us reparation, had obliged us to give them a general release. They had not allowed the word satisfaction to be so much as once mentioned in the treaty. Even the Spanish pirate who had cut off the ear of captain Jenkins, [260] [See note 2 L at the end of this Vol.] and used the most insulting expression towards the person of the king—an expression which no British subject could decently repeat—an expression which no man that had a regard for his sovereign could ever forgive—even this fellow lived to enjoy the fruits of his rapine, and remained a living testimony of the cowardly tameness and mean submission of Great Britain; of the triumphant haughtiness and stubborn pride of Spain. Lord Gage, one of the most keen spirited and sarcastic orators in the house, stated in this manner the account of the satisfaction obtained from the court of Spain by the convention; the losses sustained by the Spanish depredations amounted to three hundred and forty thousand pounds; the commissary by a stroke of his pen reduced his demand to two hundred thousand pounds; then forty-five thousand were struck off for prompt payment; he next allotted sixty thousand pounds as the remaining part of a debt pretended to be due to Spain, for the destruction of her fleet by sir George Byng, though it appeared by the instructions on the table, that Spain had been already amply satisfied on that head; these deductions reduced the balance to ninety-five thousand pounds; but the king of Spain insisted upon the South-Sea company's paying immediately the sum of sixty-eight thousand pounds, as a debt due to him on one head of accounts, though in other articles his catholic majesty was indebted to the company a million over and above the demand; the remainder to be paid by Spain did not exceed seven-and-twenty thousand pounds, from which she insisted upon deducting whatever she might have already given in satisfaction for any of the British ships that had been taken; and on being allowed the value of the St. Theresa, a Spanish ship which had been seized in the port of Dublin. Mr. W. Pitt, with an energy of argument and diction peculiar to himself, declaimed against the convention, as insecure, unsatisfactory, and dishonourable to Great Britain. He said the great national objection, the searching of British ships, was not admitted, indeed, in the preamble; but stood there as the reproach of the whole, as the strongest evidence of the fatal submission that followed; on the part of Spain, an usurpation, an inhuman tyranny claimed and exercised over the American seas: on the part of England, an undoubted right by treaties, and from God and nature, declared and asserted in the resolutions of parliament, were now referred to the discussion of plenipotentiaries, upon one and the same equal footing. This undoubted right was to be discussed and regulated; and if to regulate be to prescribe rules, as in all construction it is, that right was, by the express words of the convention, to be given up and sacrificed; for it must cease to be any thing from the moment it is submitted to limitation. Mr. Lyttelton, with equal force and fluency, answered the speech of Mr. H. Walpole. "After he had used many arguments to persuade us to peace," said he, "to any peace, good or bad, by pointing out the dangers of a war, dangers I by no means allow to be such as he represents them, he crowned all those terrors with the name of the pretender. It would be the cause of the pretender. The pretender would come. Is the honourable gentleman sensible what this language imports? The people of England complain of the greatest wrongs and indignities; they complain of the interruption, the destruction of their trade; they think the peace has left them in a worse condition than before; and in answer to all these complaints, what are they told? Why, that their continuing to suffer all this, is the price they must pay to keep the king and his family on the throne of these realms. If this were true, it ought not to be owned; but it is far from truth; the very reverse is true. Nothing can weaken the family; nothing shake the establishment, but such measures as these, and such language as this." He affirmed, that if the ministers had proceeded conformably to the intentions of parliament, they would either have acted with vigour, or have obtained a real security in an express acknowledgment of our right not to be searched as a preliminary, sine qua non, to our treating at all. Instead of this, they had referred it to plenipotentiaries. "Would you, sir," said he, "submit to a reference, whether you may travel unmolested from your house in town to your house in the country? Your right is clear and undeniable, why would you have it discussed? but much less would you refer it, if two of your judges belonged to a gang which has often stopped and robbed you in your way thither before." The ministers, in vindication of the convention, asserted, that the satisfaction granted by Spain was adequate to the injury received; that it was only the preliminary of a treaty which would remove all causes of complaint; that war was always expensive and detrimental to a trading nation, as well as uncertain in its events; that France and Spain would certainly join their forces in case of a rupture with Great Britain; that there was not one power in Europe upon which the English could depend for effectual assistance; and that war would favour the cause and designs of a popish pretender. The house, upon a division, agreed to the address; but when a motion was made for its being recommitted, the two parties renewed the engagement with redoubled eagerness and impetuosity. Sir William Wyndham and Mr. Pulteney poured all the thunder of their eloquence against the insolence of Spain, and the concessions of the British ministry. Sir Robert Walpole exerted all his fortitude and dexterity in defence of himself and his measures, and the question being put, the resolutions for the address were carried by a small majority.



SECESSION OF THE CHIEF MEMBERS IN THE OPPOSITION.

Then sir William Wyndham, standing up, made a pathetic remonstrance upon this determination. "This address," said he, "is intended to convince mankind, that the treaty under our consideration is a reasonable and an honourable treaty. But if a majority of twenty-eight in such a full house should fail of that success; if the people should not implicitly resign their reason to a vote of this house, what will be the consequence? Will not the parliament lose its authority? Will it not be thought, that even in the parliament we are governed by a faction? and what the consequence of this may be, I leave to those gentlemen to consider, who are now to give their vote for this address: for my own part, I will trouble you no more, but, with these my last words, I sincerely pray to Almighty God, who has so often wonderfully protected these kingdoms, that he will graciously continue his protection over them, by preserving us from that impending danger which threatens the nation from without, and likewise from that impending danger which threatens our constitution from within." The minister was on this occasion deserted by his usual temper, and even provoked into personal abuse. He declared, that the gentleman who was now the mouth of his opponents, had been looked upon as the head of those traitors, who, twenty-five years before, conspired the destruction of their country and of the royal family, in order to set a popish pretender upon the throne; that he was seized by the vigilance of the then government, and pardoned by its clemency; but all the use he had ungratefully made of that clemency, was to qualify himself according to law, that he and his party might sometime or other have an opportunity to overthrow all law. He branded them all as traitors, and expressed his hope, that their behaviour would unite all the true friends of the present happy establishment. To such a degree of mutual animosity were both sides inflamed, that the most eminent members of the minority actually retired from parliament; and were by the nation in general revered as martyrs to the liberty of the people.



THE HOUSE OF LORDS DEBATE UPON AN ADDRESS TO HIS MAJESTY.

The dispute occasioned by the convention in the house of lords, was maintained with equal warmth, and perhaps with more abilities. After this famous treaty had been considered, lord Carteret suggested, that possibly one of the contracting powers had presented a protest or declaration, importing that she acceded to such or such a measure, only upon condition that the terms of that protest or declaration should be made good. He said, that until his mind should be free from the most distant suspicion that such a paper might exist in the present case, he could not form a just opinion of the transaction himself, nor communicate to their lordships any light which might be necessary for that purpose. The adherents to the ministry endeavoured to evade his curiosity in this particular, by general assertions; but he insisted on his suspicion with such perseverance, that at length the ministry produced the copy of a declaration made by the king of Spain before he ratified the convention, signifying that his catholic majesty reserved to himself, in its full force, the right of being able to suspend the assiento of negroes, in case the company should not pay within a short time the sum of sixty-eight thousand pounds sterling, owing to Spain on the duty of negroes, or on the profit of the ship Caroline; that under the validity and force of this protest, the signing of the said convention might be proceeded on, and in no other manner. In the debate that ensued, lord Carteret displayed a surprising extent of political knowledge, recommended by all the graces of elocution, chaste, pure, dignified, and delicate. Lord Bathurst argued against the articles of convention with his usual spirit, integrity, and good sense, particularly animated by an honest indignation which the wrongs of his country had inspired. The earl of Chesterfield attacked this inglorious measure with all the weight of argument, and all the poignancy of satire. The duke of Argyle, no longer a partisan of the ministry, inveighed against it as infamous, treacherous, and destructive, with all the fire, impetuosity, and enthusiasm of declamation. It was defended with unequal arms by the duke of Newcastle, the earl of Cholmondeley, lord Hervey, the lord chancellor, the bishop of Salisbury, and in particular by the earl of Hay, a nobleman of extensive capacity and uncommon erudition; remarkable for his knowledge of the civil law, and seemingly formed by nature for a politician; cool, discerning, plausible, artful, and enterprising, staunch to the minister, and invariably true to his own interest. The dispute was learned, long, and obstinate; but ended as usual in the discomfiture of those who had stigmatized the treaty. The house agreed to an address, in which they thanked his majesty for his gracious condescension in laying before them the convention. They acknowledged his great prudence in bringing the demands of his subjects for their past losses, which had been so long depending, to a final adjustment; in procuring an express stipulation for a speedy payment; and in laying a foundation for accomplishing the great and desirable ends of obtaining future security, and preserving the peace between the two nations. They declared their confidence in his royal wisdom, that in the treaty to be concluded in pursuance of the convention, proper provisions would be made for the redress of the grievances of which the nation had so justly complained; they assured his majesty, that in case his just expectations should not be answered, the house would heartily and zealously concur in all such measures as should be necessary to vindicate his majesty's honour, and to preserve to his subjects the full enjoyment of all those rights to which they were entitled by treaty and the law of nations. This was a hard won victory. At the head of those who voted against the address we find the prince of Wales. His example was followed by six dukes, two-and-twenty earls, four viscounts, eighteen barons, four bishops, and their party was reinforced by sixteen proxies. A spirited protest was entered and subscribed by nine-and-thirty peers, comprehending all the noblemen of the kingdom who were most eminent for their talents, integrity, and virtue.

{1739}

A message having been delivered to the house from his majesty, importing, that he had settled nine-and-thirty thousand pounds per annum on the younger children of the royal family; and desiring their lordships would bring in a bill to enable his majesty to make that provision good out of the hereditary revenues of the crown, some lords in the opposition observed that the next heir to the crown might look upon this settlement as a mortgage of his revenue, which a parliament had no power to make; that formerly no daughter of the royal family was ever provided for by parliament, except the eldest, and that never was by way of annuity, but an express provision of a determinate sum of money paid by way of dowry. These objections were overruled; and the house complied with his majesty's request. Then the duke of Newcastle produced a subsidy-treaty, by which his majesty obliged himself to pay to the king of Denmark seventy thousand pounds per annum, on condition of the Dane's furnishing to his Britannic majesty a body of six thousand men, when demanded. At the same time his grace delivered a message from the king, desiring the house would enable him to fulfil this engagement; and also to raise what money and troops the exigency of affairs, during the approaching recess, might require. Another vehement dispute arose from this proposal. With respect to the treaty, lord Carteret observed, that no use could be made of the Danish troops in any expedition undertaken against Spain, because it was stipulated in the treaty that they should not be used either in Italy, or on board of the fleet, or be transported in whole or in part beyond sea, after they should have marched out of the territories of Denmark, except for the defence of the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland; nay, should France join against the English, the Danes could not act against that power or Spain, except as part of an army formed in Germany or Flanders. This body of Danes may be said, therefore, to have been retained for the defence and protection of Hanover; or, if the interest of Britain was at all consulted in the treaty, it must have been in preventing the Danes from joining their fleets to those of France or Spain. Then he argued against the second part of the message with great vivacity. He said nothing could be more dangerous to the constitution than a general and unlimited vote of credit. Such a demand our ancestors would have heard with amazement, and rejected with scorn. He affirmed that the practice was of modern date in England; that it was never heard of before the revolution; and never became frequent until the nation was blessed with the present wise administration. He said, if ever a general vote of credit and confidence should become a customary compliment from the parliament to the crown at the end of every session, or as often as the minister might think fit to desire it, parliaments would grow despicable in the eyes of the people; then a proclamation might be easily substituted in its stead, and happy would it be for the nation if that should be sufficient; for when a parliament ceases to bo a check upon ministers, it becomes a useless and unnecessary burden on the people. The representatives must always be paid some way or other; if their wages are not paid openly and surely by their respective constituents, as they were formerly, a majority of them may in future times be always ready to accept of wages from the administration, and these must come out of the pockets of the people. The duke of Argyle and the earl of Chesterfield enlarged upon the same topics. Nevertheless, the house complied with the message; and presented an address, in which they not only approved of the treaty with Denmark, but likewise assured his majesty they would concur with his measures, and support him in fulfilling his engagements, as well as in making such further augmentation of his forces by sea and land, as he should think necessary for the honour, interest, and safety of these kingdoms.



PARLIAMENT PROROGUED.

The same message being communicated to the commons, they voted seventy thousand five hundred and eighty-three pounds for the subsidy to Denmark, and five hundred thousand pounds for augmenting the forces on any emergency. As Great Britain stood engaged by the convention to pay to the crown of Spain the sum of sixty thousand pounds in consideration of the ships taken and destroyed by sir George Byng, which sum was to be applied to the relief of the British merchants who had suffered by the Spanish depredations, the commons inserted in a bill a clause providing for this sum to be paid by the parliament. When the bill was read in the house of lords, a motion was made by lord Bathurst for an address, to know, whether Spain had paid the money stipulated by the convention, as the time limited for the payment of it was now expired. The duke of Newcastle, by his majesty's permission, acquainted the house that it was not paid, and that Spain had as yet given no reason for the non-payment. Then a day was appointed to consider the state of the nation, when lord Carteret moved for a resolution, that the failure of Spain in this particular was a breach of the convention, a high indignity to his majesty, and an injustice to the nation; but, after a warm debate, this motion was overruled by the majority. The minister, in order to atone in some measure for the unpopular step he had taken in the convention, allowed a salutary law to pass for the encouragement of the woollen manufacture, and two bills in behalf of the sugar colonies; one permitting them, for a limited time, to export their produce directly to foreign parts, under proper restrictions; and the other making more effectual provisions for securing the duties laid upon the importation of foreign sugars, rum, and molasses, into Great Britain, and his majesty's plantations in America. The supplies being voted, the funds established, and the crown gratified in every particular, the king closed the session with a speech on the fourteenth day of June, when the chancellor in his majesty's name prorogued the parliament. [262] [See note 2 M, at the end of this Vol.]



THE KING OF SPAIN PUBLISHES A MANIFESTO.

Letters of marque and reprisal were granted against the Spaniards; a promotion was made of general officers; the troops were augmented; a great fleet was assembled at Spithead; a reinforcement sent out to admiral Haddock; and an embargo laid on all merchant ships outward-bound. Notwithstanding these preparations of war, Mr. Keen, the British minister at Madrid, declared to the court of Spain, that his master, although he had permitted his subjects to make reprisals, would not be understood to have broken the peace; and that this permission would be recalled as soon as his catholic majesty should be disposed to make the satisfaction which had been so justly demanded. He was given to understand, that the king of Spain looked upon those reprisals as acts of hostility; and that he hoped, with the assistance of heaven and his allies, he should be able to support a good cause against his adversaries. He published a manifesto in justification of his own conduct, complaining that admiral Haddock had received orders to cruise with his squadron between the capes St. Vincent and St. Mary, in order to surprise the Assogue ships; that letters of reprisal had been published at London in an indecent style, and even carried into execution in different parts of the world. He excused his non-payment of the ninety-five thousand pounds stipulated in the convention, by affirming that the British court had first contravened the articles of that treaty, by the orders sent to Haddock; by continuing to fortify Georgia; by reinforcing the squadron at Jamaica; and by eluding the payment of the sixty-eight thousand pounds due to Spain from the South-Sea company, on the assiento for negroes. The French ambassador at the Hague declared that the king his master was obliged by treaties to assist his catholic majesty by sea and land, in case he should be attacked; he dissuaded the states-general from espousing the quarrel of Great Britain; and they assured him they would observe a strict neutrality, though they could not avoid furnishing his Britannic majesty with such succours as he could demand, by virtue of the treaties subsisting between the two powers. The people of England were inspired with uncommon alacrity at the near prospect of war, for which they had so long clamoured; and the ministry seeing it unavoidable, began to be earnest and effectual in their preparations.

{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}



THE EMPEROR AND CZARINA CONCLUDE A PEACE WITH THE TURKS.

The events of war were still unfavourable to the emperor. He had bestowed the command of his army upon velt-mareschal count Wallis, who assembled his forces in the neighbourhood of Belgrade; and advanced towards Crotska, where he was attacked by the Turks with such impetuosity and perseverance, that he was obliged to give ground, after a long and obstinate engagement, in which he lost above six thousand men. The earl of Crawford, who served as a volunteer in the Imperial army, signalised his courage in an extraordinary manner on this occasion, and received a dangerous wound of which he never perfectly recovered. The Turks were afterwards worsted at Jabouka; nevertheless, their grand army invested Belgrade on the side of Servia, and carried on the operations of the siege with extraordinary vigour. The emperor, dreading the loss of this place, seeing his finances exhausted, and his army considerably diminished, consented to a negotiation for peace, which was transacted under the mediation of the French ambassador at the Ottoman Porte. The count de Neuperg, as Imperial plenipotentiary, signed the preliminaries on the first day of September. They were ratified by the emperor, though he pretended to be dissatisfied with the articles; and declared that his minister had exceeded his powers. By this treaty the house of Austria ceded to the grand seignor, Belgrade, Sabatz, Servia, Austrian Wallachia, the isle and fortress of Orsova, with the fort of St. Elizabeth; and the contracting powers agreed that the Danube and the Saave should serve as boundaries to the two empires. The emperor published a circular letter, addressed to his ministers at all the courts of Europe, blaming count Wallis for the bad success of the last campaign, and disowning the negotiations of count Neuperg; nay, these two officers were actually disgraced, and confined in different castles. This, however, was no other than a sacrifice to the resentment of the czarina, who loudly complained that the emperor had concluded a separate peace, contrary to his engagements with the Russian empire. Her general, count Munich, had obtained a victory over the Turks at Choczim in Moldavia, and made himself master of that place, in which he found two hundred pieces of artillery; but the country was so ruined by the incursions of the Tartars, that the Muscovites could not subsist in it during the winter. The czarina finding herself abandoned by the emperor, and unable to cope with the whole power of the Ottoman empire, took the first opportunity of putting an end to the war upon honourable terms. After a short negotiation, the conferences ended in a treaty, by which she was left in possession of Azoph, on condition that its fortifications should be demolished; and the ancient limits were re-established between the two empires.



PREPARATIONS FOR WAR IN ENGLAND.

A rupture between Great Britain and Spain was now become inevitable. The English squadron in the Mediterranean had already made prize of two rich Caracca ships. The king had issued orders for augmenting his land forces, and raising a body of marines; and a great number of ships of war were put in commission. Admiral Vernon had been sent to the West Indies, to assume the command of the squadron in those seas, and to annoy the trade and settlements of the Spaniards. This gentleman had rendered himself considerable in the house of commons, by loudly condemning all the measures of the ministry, and bluntly speaking his sentiments, whatever they were, without respect of persons, and sometimes without any regard to decorum. He was counted a good officer, and this boisterous manner seemed to enhance his character. As he had once commanded a squadron in Jamaica, he was perfectly well acquainted with those seas; and in a debate upon the Spanish depredations, he chanced to affirm, that Porto Bello on the Spanish main might be easily taken; nay, he even undertook to reduce it with six ships only. This officer was echoed from the mouths of all the members in the opposition. Vernon was extolled as a another Drake or Raleigh; he became the idol of a party, and his praise resounded from all corners of the kingdom. The minister, in order to appease the clamours of the people on this subject, sent him as commander-in-chief to the West Indies. He was pleased with an opportunity to remove such a troublesome censor from the house of commons; and, perhaps, he was not without hope, that Vernon would disgrace himself and his party, by failing in the exploit he had undertaken. His catholic majesty having ordered all the British ships in his harbours to be seized and detained, the king of England would keep measures with him no longer, but denounced war against him on the twenty-third day of October. Many English merchants began to equip privateers, and arm their trading vessels to protect their own commerce, as well as to distress that of the enemy. The session of parliament was opened in November, when the king, in his speech to both houses, declared, that he had augmented his forces by sea and land, pursuant to the power vested in him by parliament for the security of his dominions, the protection of trade, and the annoyance of the enemy; and he expressed his apprehension, that the heats and animosities which had been industriously fomented throughout the kingdom, encouraged Spain to act in such a manner as rendered it necessary for him to have recourse to arms. In answer to this speech, affectionate addresses were presented by both houses, without any considerable opposition.

The seceding members had again resumed their seats in the house of commons; and Mr. Pulteney thought proper to vindicate the extraordinary step which they had taken. He said, they thought that step was necessary, as affairs then stood, for clearing their characters to posterity from the imputation of sitting in an assembly, where a determined majority gave a sanction to measures evidently to the disgrace of his majesty and the nation. He observed, that their conduct was so fully justified by the declaration of war against Spain, that any further vindication would be superfluous; for every assertion contained in it had been almost in the same words insisted upon by those who opposed the convention: "every sentence in it," added he, "is an echo of what was said in our reasonings against that treaty; every positive truth which the declaration lays down, was denied with the utmost confidence by those who spoke for the convention; and, since that time, there has not one event happened which was not then foreseen and foretold." He proposed, that in maintaining the war, the Spanish settlements in the West Indies should be attacked; and that the ministry should not have the power to give up the conquests that might be made. He said he heartily wished, for his majesty's honour and service, that no mention had been made of heats and animosities, in the king's speech; and gave it as his opinion, that they should take no notice of that clause in their address. He was answered by sir Robert Walpole, who took occasion to say, he was in no great concern lest the service of his majesty or the nation should suffer by the absence of those members who had quitted the house; he affirmed, the nation was generally sensible, that the many useful and popular acts which passed towards the end of the last session, were greatly forwarded and facilitated by the secession of those gentlemen; and, if they were returned only to oppose and perplex, he should not be at all sorry to see them secede again.



PENSION-BILL REVIVED AND LOST.

Mr. Pulteney revived the bill which he had formerly prepared for the encouragement of seamen. After a long dispute, and eager opposition by the ministry, it passed both houses, and obtained the royal assent. Mr. Sandys having observed, that there could be no immediate use for a great number of forces in the kingdom; and explained how little service could be expected from raw and undisciplined men; proposed an address to the king, desiring that the body of marines should be composed of drafts from the old regiments; that as few officers should be appointed as the nature of the case would permit; and he expressed his hope, that the house would recommend this method to his majesty, in tender compassion to his people, already burdened with many heavy and grievous taxes. This scheme was repugnant to the intention of the ministry, whose aim was to increase the number of their dependents, and extend their parliamentary interest, by granting a great number of commissions. The proposal was, therefore, after a long debate, rejected by the majority. Motions wore made for an inquiry into the conduct of those who concluded the convention; but they were overruled. The pension-bill was revived, and so powerfully supported by the eloquence of sir William Wyndham, Mr. Pulteney, and Mr. Lyttelton, that it made its way through the commons to the upper house, where it was again lost, upon a division, after a very long debate. As the seamen of the kingdom expressed uncommon aversion to the service of the government, and the fleet could not be manned without great difficulty, the ministry prepared a bill, which was brought in by sir Charles Wager, for registering all seamen, watermen, fishermen, and lightermen, throughout his majesty's dominions. Had this bill passed into a law, a British sailor would have been reduced to the most abject degree of slavery; had he removed from a certain district allotted for the place of his residence, he would have been deemed a deserter, and punished accordingly; he must have appeared when summoned, at all hazards, whatever might have been the circumstances of his family, or the state of his private affairs; had he been encumbered with debt, he must have either incurred the penalties of this law, or lain at the mercy of his creditors; had he acquired by industry, or received by inheritance, an ample fortune, he would have been liable to be torn from his possessions, and subjected to hardships which no man would endure but from the sense of fear or indigence. The bill was so vigorously opposed by sir John Barnard and others, as a flagrant encroachment upon the liberties of the people, that the house rejected it on the second reading.



PORTO BELLO TAKEN by ADMIRAL VERNON.

The king having by message communicated to the house his intention of disposing of the princess Mary in marriage to prince Frederick of Hesse; and expressing his hope that the commons would enable him to give a suitable portion to his daughter, they unanimously resolved to grant forty thousand pounds for that purpose; and presented an address of thanks to his majesty for having communicated to the house this intended marriage. On the thirteenth day of March a ship arrived from the West Indies, despatched by admiral Vernon, with an account of his having taken Porto Bello, on the isthmus of Darien, with six ships only, and demolished all the fortifications of the place. The Spaniards acted with such pusillanimity on this occasion, that their forts were taken almost without bloodshed. The two houses of parliament joined in an address of congratulation upon the success of his majesty's arms; and the nation in general was wonderfully elated by an exploit which was magnified much above its merit. The commons granted every thing the crown thought proper to demand. They provided for eight-and-twenty thousand land-forces, besides six thousand marines. They enabled his majesty to equip a very powerful navy; they voted the subsidy to the king of Denmark; and they empowered their sovereign to defray certain extraordinary expenses not specified in the estimates. To answer these uncommon grants, they imposed a land-tax of four shillings in the pound; and enabled his majesty to deduct twelve hundred thousand pounds from the sinking fund; in a word, the expense of the war, during the course of the ensuing year, amounted to about four millions. The session was closed on the twenty-ninth day of April, when the king thanked the commons for the supplies they had so liberally granted, and recommended union and moderation to both houses.

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During the greatest part of this winter, the poor had been grievously afflicted in consequence of a severe frost, which began at Christmas, and continued till the latter end of February. The river Thames was covered with such a crust of ice, that a multitude of people dwelt upon it in tents, and a great number of booths were erected for the entertainment of the populace. The navigation was entirely stopped; the watermen and fishermen were disabled from earning a livelihood; the fruits of the earth were destroyed by the cold, which was so extreme, that many persons were chilled to death; and this calamity was the more deeply felt, as the poor could not afford to supply themselves with coals and fuel, which were advanced in proportion to the severity and continuance of the frost. The lower class of labourers, who worked in the open air, were now deprived of all means of subsistence; many kinds of manufacture were laid aside, because it was found impracticable to carry them on. The price of all sorts of provisions rose almost to a dearth; even water was sold in the streets of London. In this season of distress, many wretched families must have perished by cold and hunger, had not those of opulent fortunes been inspired with a remarkable spirit of compassion and humanity. Nothing can more redound to the honour of the English nation, than did those instances of benevolence and well-conducted charity which were then exhibited. The liberal hand was not only opened to the professed beggar, and the poor that owned their distress, but uncommon pains were taken to find out and relieve those more unhappy objects, who, from motives of false pride or ingenuous shame, endeavoured to conceal their misery.

These were assisted almost in their own despite. The solitary habitations of the widow, the fatherless, and the unfortunate, were visited by the beneficent, who felt for the woes of their fellow-creatures; and to such as refused to receive a portion of the public charity, the necessaries of life were privately conveyed, in such a manner as could least shock the delicacy of their dispositions.



MARRIAGE OF THE PRINCESS MARY TO THE PRINCE OF HESSE.

In the beginning of May, the king of Great Britain set out for Hanover, after having appointed a regency, and concerted vigorous measures for distressing the enemy. In a few days after his departure, the spousals of the princess Mary were celebrated by proxy, the duke of Cumberland representing the prince of Hesse, and in June the princess embarked for the continent. About the same time, a sloop arrived in England with despatches from admiral Vernon, who, since his adventure at Porto Bello, had bombarded Carthagena, and taken the fort of San Lorenzo, on the river of Chagre, in the neighbourhood of his former conquest. This month was likewise marked by the death of his Prussian majesty, a prince by no means remarkable for great or amiable qualities. He was succeeded on the throne by Frederick his eldest son, the late king of that realm, who has so eminently distinguished himself as a warrior and legislator. In August, the king of Great Britain concluded a treaty with the landgrave of Hesse, who engaged to furnish him with a body of six thousand men for four years, in consideration of an annual subsidy of two hundred and fifty thousand crowns.



STRONG ARMAMENT SENT TO THE WEST INDIES.

Meanwhile, preparations of war were vigorously carried on by the ministry in England. They had wisely resolved to annoy the Spaniards in their American possessions. Three ships of war, cruising in the bay of Biscay, fell in with a large Spanish ship of the line, strongly manned, and took her after a very obstinate engagement; but the Assogue ships arrived with the treasure in Spain, notwithstanding the vigilance of the English commanders, who were stationed in a certain latitude to intercept that flota. One camp was formed on Hounslow-heath; and six thousand marines lately levied were encamped on the Isle of Wight, in order to be embarked for the West Indies. Intelligence being received that a strong squadron of Spanish ships of war waited at Ferrol for orders to sail to their American settlements, sir John Norris sailed with a powerful fleet from Spithead to dispute their voyage; and the duke of Cumberland served in person as a volunteer in this expedition; but, after divers fruitless efforts, he was, by contrary winds, obliged to lie inactive for the greatest part of the summer in Torbay; and, upon advice that the French and Spanish squadrons had sailed to the West Indies in conjunction, the design against Ferrol was wholly laid aside. In September, a small squadron of ships, commanded by commodore Anson, set sail for the South-Sea, in order to act against the enemy on the coast of Chili and Peru, and co-operate occasionally with admiral Vernon across the isthmus of Darien. The scheme was well laid, but ruined by unnecessary delays and unforeseen accidents. But the hopes of the nation centered chiefly in a formidable armament designed for the northern coast of now Spain, and his catholic majesty's other settlements on that side of the Atlantic. Commissions had been issued for raising a regiment of four battalions in the English colonies of North America, that they might be transported to Jamaica, and join the forces from England. These, consisting of the marines and detachments from some old regiments, were embarked in October at the Isle of Wight, under the command of lord Cathcart, a nobleman of approved honour, and great experience in the art of war; and they sailed under convoy of sir Chaloner Ogle, with a fleet of seven-and-twenty ships of the line, besides frigates, fire-ships, bomb-ketches, and tenders. They were likewise furnished with hospital ships and store ships, laden with provisions, ammunition, all sorts of warlike implements, and every kind of convenience. Never was an armament more completely equipped, and never had the nation more reason to hope for extraordinary success.



DEATH OF THE EMPEROR AND CZARINA.

On the twentieth day of October, Charles VI., emperor of Germany, the last prince of the house of Austria, died at Vienna, and was succeeded in his hereditary dominions by his eldest daughter', the archduchess Maria Theresa, married to the grand duke of Tuscany. Though this princess succeeded as queen of Hungary, by virtue of the pragmatic sanction guaranteed by all the powers in Europe, her succession produced such contests as kindled a cruel war in the empire. The young king of Prussia was no sooner informed of the emperor's death, than he entered Silesia at the head of twenty thousand men; seized certain fiefs to which his family laid claim; and published a manifesto, declaring that he had no intention to contravene the pragmatic sanction. The elector of Bavaria refused to acknowledge the archduchess as queen of Hungary and Bohemia; alleging, that he himself had pretensions to those countries, as the descendant of the emperor Ferdinand I., who was head of the German branch of the house of Austria. Charles VI. was survived but a few days by his ally, the czarina Anne Iwanowna, who died in the forty-fifth year of her age, after having bequeathed her crown to Iwan, or John, the infant son of her niece, the princess Anne of Mecklenburgh, who had been married to Anthony Ulrick, duke of Brunswick Lunenberg-Bevern. She appointed the duke of Courland regent of the empire, and even guardian of the young czar, though his own parents were alive; but this disposition was not long maintained.



PROCEEDINGS IN PARLIAMENT.

The king of Great Britain having returned to England from his German dominions, the session of parliament was opened in November. His majesty assured them, on this occasion, that he was determined to prosecute the war vigorously, even though France should espouse the cause of Spain, as her late conduct seemed to favour this supposition. He took notice of the emperor's death, as an event which in all likelihood would open a new scene of affairs in Europe; he therefore recommended to their consideration the necessary supplies for putting the nation in such a posture that it should have nothing to fear from any emergency. Finally, he desired them to consider of some proper regulations for preventing the exportation of corn, and for more effectual methods to man the fleet at this conjuncture. The commons, after having voted an address of thanks, brought in a bill for prohibiting the exportation of corn and provisions, for a limited time, out of Great Britain, Ireland, and the American plantations. This was a measure calculated to distress the enemy, who were supposed to be in want of these necessaries. The French had contracted for a very large quantity of beef and pork in Ireland, for the use of their own and the Spanish navy; and an embargo had been laid upon the ships of that kingdom. The bill met with a vigorous opposition; yet the house unanimously resolved that his majesty should be addressed to lay an immediate embargo upon all ships laden with corn, grain, starch, rice, beef, pork, and other provisions, to be exported to foreign parts. They likewise resolved that the thanks of the house should be given to vice-admiral Vernon, for the services he had, done to his king and country in the West Indies. One William Cooley was examined at the bar of the house, and committed to prison, after having owned himself author of a paper, intituled, "Considerations upon the Embargo on Provision of Victual." The performance contained many shrewd and severe animadversions upon the government, for having taken a step which, without answering the purpose of distressing the enemy, would prove a grievous discouragement to trade, and ruin all the graziers of Ireland. Notwithstanding the arguments used in this remonstrance, and several petitions that were presented against the corn-hill, it passed by mere dint of ministerial influence. The other party endeavoured, by various motions, to set on foot an inquiry into the orders, letters, and instructions, which had been sent to admiral Vernon and admiral Haddock; but all such investigations were carefully avoided.

A very hot contest arose from a bill which the ministry brought in, under the specious title of, A bill for the encouragement and increase of seamen, and for the better and speedier manning his majesty's fleet. This was a revival of the oppressive scheme which had been rejected in the former session; a scheme by which the justices of the peace were empowered to issue warrants to constables and head-boroughs, to search by day or night for such seafaring men as should conceal themselves within their respective jurisdictions. These searchers were vested with authority to force open doors in case of resistance; and encouraged to this violence by a reward for every seaman they should discover; while the unhappy wretches so discovered were dragged into the service, and their names entered in a register to be kept at the navy or the admiralty-office. Such a plan of tyranny did not pass uncensured. Every exceptionable clause produced a warm debate, in which sir John Barnard, Mr. Pulteney, Mr. Sandys, lord Gage, Mr. Pitt, and Mr. Lyttelton, signalized themselves nobly in defending the liberties of their fellow-subjects. Mr. Pitt having expressed a laudable indignation at such a large stride towards despotic power, in justification of which nothing could be urged but the plea of necessity, Mr. Horatio Walpole thought proper to attack him with some personal sarcasms. He reflected upon his youth: and observed that the discovery of truth was very little promoted by pompous diction and theatrical emotion. These insinuations exposed him to a severe reply. Mr. Pitt standing up again, said, "He would not undertake to determine whether youth could be justly imputed to any man as a reproach; but he affirmed that the wretch, who, after having seen the consequences of repeated errors, continues still to blunder, and whose age has only added obstinacy to stupidity, is surely the object of either abhorrence or contempt, and deserves not that his grey head should secure him from insults; much more is he to be abhorred, who, as he has advanced in age, has receded from virtue, and becomes more wicked with less temptation; who prostitutes himself for money which he cannot enjoy; and spends the remains of his life in the ruin of his country."—Petitions were presented from the city of London and county of Gloucester against the bill, as detrimental to the trade and navigation of the kingdom, by discouraging rather than encouraging sailors, and destructive to the liberties of the subject; but they were both rejected as insults upon the house of commons. After very long debates, maintained on both sides with extraordinary ardour and emotion, the severe clauses were dropped, and the bill passed with amendments.



DISCONTENTS AGAINST THE MINISTRY.

But the most remarkable incident of this session was an open and personal attack upon the minister, who was become extremely unpopular all over the kingdom. The people were now, more than ever, sensible of the grievous taxes under which they groaned; and saw their burdens daily increasing. No effectual attempts had as yet been made to annoy the enemy. Expensive squadrons had been equipped; had made excursions, and returned without striking a blow. The Spanish fleet had sailed first from Cadiz, and then from Ferrol, without any interruption from admiral Haddock, who commanded the British squadron in the Mediterranean, and who was supposed to be restricted by the instructions he had received from the ministry, though in fact his want of success was owing to accident. Admiral Vernon had written from the West Indies to his private friends, that he was neglected, and in danger of being sacrificed. Notwithstanding the numerous navy which the nation maintained, the Spanish privateers made prize of the British merchant ships with impunity. In violation of treaties, and in contempt of that intimate connexion which had been so long cultivated between the French and English ministry, the king of France had ordered the harbour and fortifications of Dunkirk to be repaired; his fleet had sailed to the West Indies in conjunction with that of Spain; and the merchants of England began to tremble for Jamaica; finally, commerce was in a manner suspended, by the practice of pressing sailors into the service, and by the embargo which had been laid upon ships in all the ports of Great Britain and Ireland. These causes of popular discontent, added to other complaints which had been so long repeated against the minister, exaggerated and inculcated by his enemies with unwearied industry, at length rendered him so universally odious, that his name was seldom or never mentioned with decency, except by his own dependents.



MOTION FOR REMOVING SIR R. WALPOLE FROM HIS MAJESTY'S COUNCILS.

The country party in parliament seized this opportunity of vengeance. Mr. Sandys went up to sir Robert Walpole in the house, and told him, that on Friday next he should bring a charge against him in public. The minister seemed to be surprised at this unexpected intimation; but, after a short pause, thanked him politely for this previous notice, and said he desired no favour, but fair play.*

* Upon this occasion he misquoted Horace. "As I am not conscious of any crime," said he, "I do not doubt of being able to make a proper defence, Nil conscire sibi nulli pallescere culpae." He was corrected by Mr. Pulteney; but insisted on his being in the right, and actually laid a wager on the justness of the quotation.

Mr. Sandys, at the time which he had appointed for this accusation, stood up, and in a studied speech entered into a long deduction of the minister's misconduct. He insisted upon the discontents of the nation, in consequence of the measures which had been for many years pursued at home and abroad. He professed his belief that there was not a gentleman in the house who did not know that one single person in the administration was the chief, if not the sole adviser and promoter of all those measures. "This," added he, "is known without doors, as well as within; therefore, the discontents, the reproaches, and even the curses of the people, are all directed against that single person. They complain of present measures; they have suffered by past measures; they expect no redress; they expect no alteration or amendment, whilst he has a share in directing or advising our future administration. These, sir, are the sentiments of the people in regard to that minister; these sentiments we are in honour and duty bound to represent to his majesty; and the proper method for doing this, as established by our constitution, is to address his majesty to remove him from his councils." He then proceeded to explain the particulars of the minister's misconduct in the whole series of his negotiations abroad. He charged him with having endeavoured to support his own interest, and to erect a kind of despotic government, by the practice of corruption; with having betrayed the interest and honour of Great Britain in the late convention; with having neglected to prosecute the war against Spain; and he concluded with a motion for an address to the king, that he would be pleased to remove sir Robert Walpole from his presence and councils for ever. He was answered by Mr. Pelham, who undertook to defend or excuse all the measures which the other had condemned; and acquitted himself as a warm friend and unshaken adherent. Against this champion sir John Barnard entered the lists, and was sustained by Mr. Pulteney, who, with equal spirit and precision, pointed out and exposed all the material errors and malpractices of the administration. Sir Robert Walpole spoke with great temper and deliberation in behalf of himself. With respect to the article of bribery and corruption, he said if any one instance had been mentioned; if it had been shown that he ever offered a reward to any member of either house, or ever threatened to deprive any member of his office or employment, in order to influence his voting in parliament, there might have been some ground for this charge; but when it was so generally laid, he did not know what he could say to it, unless to deny it as generally and as positively as it had been asserted.—Such a declaration as this, in the hearing of so many persons, who not only knew, but subsisted by his wages of corruption, was a strong proof of the minister's being dead to all sense of shame, and all regard to veracity. The debate was protracted by the court members till three o'clock in the morning, when about sixty of the opposite party having retired, the motion was rejected by a considerable majority.

{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}



DEBATE ON THE MUTINY BILL.

A bill was brought in for prohibiting the practice of insuring ships belonging to the enemies of the nation; but it was vigorously opposed by sir John Barnard and Mr. Willimot, who demonstrated that this kind of traffic was advantageous to the kingdom; and the scheme was dropped. Another warm contest arose upon a clause of the mutiny bill, relating to the quartering of soldiers upon innkeepers and publicans, who complained of their being distressed in furnishing those guests with provisions and necessaries at the rates prescribed by law or custom. There were not wanting advocates to expatiate upon the nature of this grievance, which, however, was not redressed. A new trade was at this time opened with Persia, through the dominions of the czar, and vested with an exclusive privilege in the Russian company, by an act of parliament. The commons voted forty thousand seamen for the service of the ensuing year, and about thirty thousand men for the establishment of land-forces. They provided for the subsidies granted to the king of Denmark and the landgrave of Hesse-Cassel; and took every step which was suggested for the ease and the convenience of the government.



PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS.

The parties in the house of lords were influenced by the same motives which actuated the commons. The duke of Argyle, who had by this time resigned all his places, declared open war against the ministry. In the beginning of the session, the king's speech was no sooner reported by the chancellor, than this nobleman stood up and moved that a general address of thanks should be presented to his majesty, instead of a recapitulation of every paragraph of the king's speech, re-echoed from the parliament to the throne, with expressions of blind approbation, implying a general concurrence with all the measures of the minister. He spoke on this subject with an astonishing impetuosity of eloquence, that rolled like a river which had overflowed its banks and deluged the whole adjacent country. The motion was supported by lord Bathurst, lord Carteret, the earl of Chesterfield, and lord Gower, who, though they displayed all the talents of oratory, were outvoted by the opposite party, headed by the duke of Newcastle, the earl of Cholmondeley, lord Hervey, and the lord-chancellor. The motion was rejected, and the address composed in the usual strain. The same motions for an inquiry into orders and instructions which had miscarried in the lower house, were here repeated with the same bad success; in the debates which ensued, the young earls of Halifax and Sandwich acquired a considerable share of reputation, for the strength of argument and elocution with which they contended against the adherents of the ministry. When the house took into consideration the state of the army, the duke of Argyle having harangued with equal skill and energy on military affairs, proposed that the forces should be augmented by adding new levies to the old companies, without increasing the number of officers; as such an augmentation served only to debase the dignity of the service, by raising the lowest of mankind to the rank of gentlemen; and to extend the influence of the minister, by multiplying his dependents. He therefore moved for a resolution, that the augmenting the army by raising regiments, as it is the most unnecessary and most expensive method of augmentation, was also the most dangerous to the liberties of the nation. This proposal was likewise overruled, after a short though warm contention. This was the fate of all the other motions made by the lords in the opposition, though the victory of the courtiers was always clogged with a nervous and spirited protest. Two days were expended in the debate produced by lord Carteret's motion for an address, beseeching his majesty to remove sir Robert Walpole from his presence and councils for ever. The speech that ushered in this memorable motion would not have disgraced a Cicero. It contained a retrospect of all the public measures which had been pursued since the revolution. It explained the nature of every treaty, whether right or wrong, which had been concluded under the present administration. It described the political connexions subsisting between the different powers in Europe. It exposed the weakness, the misconduct, and the iniquity of the minister, both in his foreign and domestic transactions. It was embellished with all the ornaments of rhetoric, and warmed with a noble spirit of patriotic indignation. The duke of Argyle, lord Bathurst, and his other colleagues, seemed to be animated with uncommon fervour, and even inspired by the subject.

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A man of imagination, in reading their speeches, will think himself transported into the Roman senate, before the ruin of that republic. Nevertheless, the minister still triumphed by dint of numbers; though his victory was dearly purchased. Thirty peers entered a vigorous protest, and Walpole's character sustained such a rude shock from this opposition, that his authority seemed to be drawing near a period. Immediately after this contest was decided, the duke of Marlborough moved for a resolution, that any attempt to inflict any kind of punishment on any person, without allowing him an opportunity to make his defence, or without any proof of any crime or misdemeanor committed by him, is contrary to natural justice, the fundamental laws of the realm, and the ancient established usage of parliament; and is a high infringement of the liberties of the subject. It was seconded by the duke of Devonshire and lord Lovel; and opposed by lord Gower, as an intended censure on the proceedings of the day. This sentiment was so warmly espoused by lord Talbot, who had distinguished himself in the former debate, that he seemed to be transported beyond the bounds of moderation. He was interrupted by the earl of Cholmondeley, who charged him with having violated the order and decorum which ought to be preserved in such an assembly. His passion was inflamed by this rebuke; he declared himself an independent lord; a character which he would not forfeit for the smiles of a court, the profit of an employment, or the reward of a pension; he said, when he was engaged on the side of truth, he would trample on the insolence that should command him to suppress his sentiments.—On a division, however, the motion was carried.

In the beginning of April, the king repairing to the house of peers, passed some acts that were ready for the royal assent. Then, in his speech to both houses, he gave them to understand, that the queen of Hungary had made a requisition of the twelve thousand men stipulated by treaty; and that he had ordered the subsidy troops of Denmark and Hesse-Cassel to be in readiness to march to her assistance. He observed, that in this complicated and uncertain state of affairs, many incidents might arise, and render it necessary for him to incur extraordinary expenses for maintaining the pragmatic sanction, at a time when he could not possibly have recourse to the advice and assistance of his parliament. He therefore demanded of the commons such a supply as might be requisite for these ends; and promised to manage it with all possible frugality. The lower house, in their address, approved of all his measures; declared they would effectually support him against all insults and attacks that might be made upon any of his territories, though not belonging to the crown of Great Britain; and that they would enable him to contribute, in the most effectual manner, to the support of the queen of Hungary. Sir Robert Walpole moved, that an aid of two hundred thousand pounds should be granted to that princess. Mr. Shippen protested against any interposition in the affairs of Germany. He expressed his dislike of the promise which had been made to defend his majesty's foreign dominions; a promise, in his opinion, inconsistent with that important and inviolable law, the act of settlement; a promise which, could it have been foreknown, would perhaps have for ever precluded from the succession that illustrious family to which the nation owed such numberless blessings, such continued felicity. The motion however passed, though not without further opposition; and the house resolved, that three hundred thousand pounds should be granted to his majesty, to enable him effectually to support the queen of Hungary. Towards the expense of this year, a million was deducted from the sinking fund; and the land-tax continued at four shillings in the pound. The preparations for this war had already cost five millions. The session was closed on the twenty-fifth day of April, when the king took his leave of this parliament with warm expressions of tenderness and satisfaction. Henry Bromley, Stephen Fox, and John Howe, three members of the lower house who had signalized themselves in defence of the minister, were now ennobled, and created barons of Montford, Ilchester, and Chedworth. A camp was formed near Colchester; and the king having appointed a regency, set out in May for his German dominions.*

* Sir William Wyndham died the preceding year, deeply regretted as an orator, a patriot, and a man, the constant assertor of British liberty, and one of the chief ornaments of the English nation.—In the course of the same year, general Oglethorpe, governor of Georgia, had, with some succours obtained from the colony of Carolina, and a small squadron of king's ships, made an attempt upon Fort Angus- tine, the capital of Spanish Florida; and actually reduced some small forts in the neighbourhood of the place; but the Carolinians withdrawing in disgust, dissensions prevailing among the sea officers, the hurricane months approaching, and the enemy having received a supply and reinforcement, he abandoned the enterprise, and returned to Georgia.



CHAPTER IV.

The Army under lord Cathcart and Sir Chaloner Ogle proceeds to the West Indies..... Nature of the Climate on the Spanish Main..... Admiral Vernon sails to Carthagena..... Attack of Tort Lasar..... Expedition to Cuba..... Rupture between the Queen of Hungary and the king of Prussia..... Battle of Molwitz..... The king of Great Britain concludes a Treaty of Neutrality with Franco for the Electorate of Hanover..... A Body of French Forces join the Elector of Bavaria..... He is crowned kind of Bohemia at Prague..... Fidelity of the Hungarians..... War between Russia and Sweden..... Revolution in Russia..... The Spanish and French Squadrons pass unmolested by the English Admiral in the Mediterranean..... Inactivity of the naval Power of Great Britain..... Obstinate Struggle in electing Members in the new Parliament..... Remarkable Motion in the House of Commons by Lord Noel Somerset..... The Country Party obtain a Majority in the House of Commons..... Sir Robert Walpole created Earl of Orford..... Change in the Ministry..... Inquiry into the Administration of Sir Robert Walpole..... Obstructed by the new ministry..... Reports of the Secret Committee..... The elector of Bavaria chosen Emperor..... The king of Prussia gains the battle at Czaslaw..... Treaty at Breslau..... The French Troops retire under the Cannon of Prague..... A fresh Body sent with the Mareschal de Mallebois to bring them off..... Extraordinary retreat of M. de Belleisle-The king of Great Britain forms an Army in Flanders..... Progress of the War between Russia and Sweden..... The King of Sardinia declares for the House of Austria..... Motions of the Spaniards in Italy and Savoy..... Conduct of Admiral Matthews in the Mediterranean..... Operations in the West Indies..... The Attention of the Ministry turned chiefly on the Affairs of the Continent..... Extraordinary Motion in the House of Lords by Earl Stanhope..... Warm and obstinate Debate on the Repeal of the Gin-Act..... Bill for quieting Corporations..... Convention between the Emperor and the Queen of Hungary..... Difference between the King of Prussia and the Elector of Hanover..... The King of Great Britain obtains a victory over the French at Dettingen..... Treaty of Worms..... Conclusion of the Campaign..... Affairs in the North..... Battle of Campo Santo..... Transactions of the British Fleet in the Mediterranean..... Unsuccessful Attempts upon the Spanish Settlements in the West Indies



ARMY UNDER LORD CATHCART AND SIR CHALONER OGLE.

The British armament had by this time proceeded to action in the West Indies. Sir Chaloner Ogle, who sailed from Spithead, had been overtaken by a tempest in the Bay of Biscay, by which the fleet, consisting of about one hundred and seventy sail, were scattered and dispersed. Nevertheless he prosecuted his voyage, and anchored with a view to provide wood and water, in the neutral island of Dominica, where the intended expedition sustained a terrible shock in the death of the gallant lord Cathcart, who was carried off by a dysentery. The loss of this nobleman was the more severely felt, as the command of the land-forces devolved upon general Wentworth, an officer without experience, authority, and resolution. As the fleet sailed along the island of Hispaniola, in its way to Jamaica, four large ships of war were discovered; and sir Chaloner detached an equal number of his squadron to give them chase, while he himself proceeded on his voyage. As those strange ships refused to bring to, lord Augustus Fitz-roy, the commodore of the four British ships, saluted one of them with a broadside, and a smart engagement ensued. After they had fought during the best part of the night, the enemy hoisted their colours in the morning, and appeared to be part of the French squadron, which had sailed from Europe tinder the command of the marquis d'Antin, with orders to assist the Spanish admiral De Torres, in attacking and distressing the English ships and colonies. War was not yet declared between France and England; therefore hostilities ceased; the English and French commanders complimented each other; excused themselves mutually for the mistake which had happened; and parted friends, with a considerable loss of men on both sides.



NATURE OF THE CLIMATE ON THE SPANISH MAIN.

In the meantime sir Chaloner Ogle arrived at Jamaica, where he joined vice-admiral Vernon, who now found himself at the head of the most formidable fleet and army that ever visited those seas, with full power to act at discretion. The conjoined squadrons consisted of nine-and-twenty ships of the line, with almost an equal number of frigates, fire-ships, and bomb-ketches, well manned, and plentifully supplied with all kinds of provisions, stores, and necessaries. The number of seamen amounted to fifteen thousand; that of the land-forces, including the American regiment of four battalions, and a body of negroes enlisted at Jamaica, did not fall short of twelve thousand. Had this armament been ready to act in the proper season of the year, under the conduct of wise experienced officers, united in councils, and steadily attached to the interest and honour of their country, the Havannah, and the whole island of Cuba, might have been easily reduced; the whole treasure of the Spanish West Indies would have been intercepted; and Spain must have been humbled into the most abject submission. But several unfavourable circumstances concurred to frustrate the hopes of the public. The ministry had detained sir Chaloner Ogle at Spithead without any visible cause, until the season for action was almost exhausted; for, on the continent of new Spain, the periodical rains begin about the end of April; and this change in the atmosphere is always attended with epidemical distempers which render the climate extremely unhealthy; besides, the rain is so excessive, that for the space of two months no army can keep the field.



ADMIRAL VERNON SAILS TO CARTHAGENA.

Sir Chaloner Ogle arrived at Jamaica on the ninth day of January; and admiral Vernon did not sail on his intended expedition till towards the end of the month. Instead of directing his course towards the Havannah, which lay to leeward, and might have been reached in less than three days, he resolved to beat up against the wind to Hispaniola, in order to observe the motion of the French squadron, commanded by the marquis d'Antin. The fifteenth day of February had elapsed before he received certain information that the French admiral had sailed for Europe, in great distress for want of men and provisions, which he could not procure in the West Indies. Admiral Vernon thus disappointed, called a council of war, in which it was determined to proceed for Carthagena. The fleet being supplied with wood and water at Hispaniola, set sail for the continent of New Spain, and on the fourth of March, anchored in Playa Grande, to the windward of Carthagena. Admiral de Torres had already sailed to the Havannah; but Carthagena was strongly fortified, and the garrison reinforced by the crews of a small squadron of large ships, commanded by don Bias de Lesco, an officer of experience and reputation. Here the English admiral lay inactive till the ninth, when the troops were landed on the island of Tierra Bomba, near the mouth of the harbour, known by the name of Boca-chica, or Little-mouth, which was surprisingly fortified with castles, batteries, booms, chains, cables, and ships of war. The British forces erected a battery on shore, with which they made a breach in the principal fort, while the admiral sent in a number of ships to divide the fire of the enemy, and co-operate with the endeavours of the army. Lord Aubrey Beauclerc, a gallant officer who commanded one of these ships, was slain on this occasion. The breach being deemed practicable, the forces advanced to the attack; but the forts and batteries were abandoned; the Spanish ships that lay athwart the harbour's mouth were destroyed or taken, the passage was opened, and the fleet entered without further opposition. Then the forces were re-embarked with the artillery, and landed within a mile of Carthagena, where they were opposed by about seven hundred Spaniards, whom they obliged to retire. The admiral and general had contracted a hearty contempt for each other, and took all opportunities of expressing their mutual dislike; far from acting vigorously in concert for the advantage of the community, they maintained a mutual reserve, and separate cabals; and each proved more eager for the disgrace of his rival, than zealous for the honour of the nation.

The general complained that the fleet lay idle while his troops were harassed and diminished by hard duty and distemper. The admiral affirmed, that his ships could not lie near enough to batter the town of Carthagena; he upbraided the general with inactivity and want of resolution to attack the fort of Saint Lazar which commanded the town, and might be taken by scalade. Wentworth, stimulated by these reproaches, resolved to try the experiment. His forces marched up to the attack; but the guides being slain, they mistook their route, and advanced to the strongest part of the fortification, where they were moreover exposed to the fire of the town. Colonel Grant, who commanded the grenadiers, was mortally wounded; the scaling-ladders were found too short; the officers were perplexed for want of orders and directions; yet the soldiers sustained a severe fire for several hours with surprising intrepidity, and at length retreated, leaving about six hundred killed or wounded on the spot. Their number was now so much reduced, that they could no longer maintain their footing on shore; besides, the rainy season had begun with such violence, as rendered it impossible for them to live in camp. They were, therefore, re-embarked; and all hope of further success immediately vanished. The admiral, however, in order to demonstrate the impracticability of taking the place by sea, sent in the Gallicia, one of the Spanish ships which had been taken at Boca-chica, to cannonade the town, with sixteen guns mounted on one side, like a floating battery. This vessel, manned by detachments of volunteers from different ships, and commanded by captain Hore, was warped into the inner harbour, and moored before day, at a considerable distance from the walls, in very shallow water. In this position she stood the fire of several batteries for some hours, without doing or sustaining much damage; then the admiral ordered the men to be brought off in boats, and the cables to be cut; so that she drove with the sea-breeze upon a shoal, where she was soon filled with water. This exploit was absurd, and the inference which the admiral drew from it altogether fallacious. He said it plainly proved that there was not depth of water in the inner harbour sufficient to admit large ships near enough to batter the town with any prospect of success. This indeed was the case in that part of the harbour to which the Gallicia was conducted; but a little farther to the left he might have stationed four or five of his largest ships abreast, within pistol shot of the walls; and if this step had been taken when the land-forces marched to the attack of Saint Lazar, in all probability the town would have been surrendered.



EXPEDITION TO CUBA.

After the re-embarkation of the troops, the distempers peculiar to the climate and season began to rage with redoubled fury; and great numbers of those who escaped the vengeance of the enemy perished by a more painful and inglorious fate. Nothing was heard but complaints and execrations; the groans of the dying, and the service for the dead; nothing was seen but objects of woe, and images of dejection. The conductors of this unfortunate expedition agreed in nothing but the expediency of a speedy retreat from this scene of misery and disgrace. The fortifications of the harbour were demolished, and the fleet returned to Jamaica.—The miscarriage of this expedition, which had cost the nation an immense sum of money, was no sooner known in England, than the kingdom was filled with murmurs and discontent, and the people were depressed in proportion to that sanguine hope by which they had been elevated. Admiral Vernon, instead of undertaking any enterprise which might have retrieved the honour of the British arms, set sail from Jamaica with the forces in July, and anchored at the south-east part of Cuba, in a bay, on which he bestowed the appellation of Cumberland harbour. The troops were landed, and encamped at the distance of twenty miles farther up the river, where they remained totally inactive, and subsisted chiefly on salt and damaged provisions, till the month of November, when, being considerably diminished by sickness, they were put on board again, and re-conveyed to Jamaica. He was afterwards reinforced from England by four ships of war, and about three thousand soldiers; but he performed nothing worthy of the reputation he had acquired; and the people began to perceive that they had mistaken his character.



RUPTURE BETWEEN THE QUEEN OF HUNGARY AND THE KING OF PRUSSIA.

The affairs on the continent of Europe were now more than ever embroiled. The king of Prussia had demanded of the court of Vienna part of Silesia, by virtue of old treaties of co-fraternity, which were either obsolete or annulled; and promised to assist the queen with all his forces in case she should comply with his demand; but this being rejected with disdain, he entered Silesia at the head of an army, and prosecuted his conquests with great rapidity. In the meantime the queen of Hungary was crowned at Presburgh, after having signed a capitulation, by which the liberties of that kingdom were confirmed; and the grand duke her consort was, at her request, associated with her for ten years in the government. At the same time the states of Hungary refused to receive a memorial from the elector of Bavaria.

During these transactions, his Prussian majesty made his public entrance into Breslau, and confirmed all the privileges of the inhabitants. One of his generals surprised the town and fortress of Jablunka, on the confines of Hungary; prince Leopold of Anhalt-Dessau, who commanded another army which formed the blockade of Great Glogau, on the Oder, took the place by scalade, made the generals Wallis and Reyski prisoners, with a thousand men that were in garrison; here likewise the victor found the military chest, fifty pieces of brass cannon, and a great quantity of ammunition.

The queen of Hungary had solicited the maritime powers for assistance, but found them fearful and backward. Being obliged, therefore, to exert herself with the more vigour, she ordered count Neuperg to assemble a body of forces, and endeavour to stop the progress of the Prussians in Silesia. The two armies encountered each other in the neighbourhood of Neiss, at a village called Molwitz; and, after an obstinate dispute, the Austrians were obliged to retire with the loss of four thousand men killed, wounded, or taken. The advantage was dearly purchased by the king of Prussia. His kinsman Frederick, margrave of Brandenburgh, and lieutenant-general Schuylemberg, were killed in the engagement, together with a great number of general officers, and about two thousand soldiers. After this action, Brieg was surrendered to the Prussian, and he forced the important pass of Fryewalde, which was defended by four thousand Austrian hussars. The English and Dutch ministers, who accompanied him in his progress, spared no pains to effect an accommodation; but the two sovereigns were too much irritated against each other to acquiesce in any terms that could be proposed. The queen of Hungary was incensed to find herself attacked, in the day of her distress, by a prince to whom she had given no sort of provocation; and his Prussian majesty charged the court of Vienna with a design either to assassinate or carry him off by treachery; a design which was disowned with expressions of indignation and disdain. Count Neuperg being obliged to abandon Silesia, in order to oppose the Bavarian arms in Bohemia, the king of Prussia sent thither a detachment to join the elector, under the command of count Deslau, who, in his route, reduced Glatz and Neiss, almost without opposition; then his master received the homage of the Silesian states at Breslau, and returned to Berlin. In December, the Prussian army was distributed in winter-quarters in Moravia, after having taken Olmutz, the capital of that province; and in March his Prussian majesty formed a camp of observation in the neighbourhood of Magdeburgh.



A TREATY OF NEUTRALITY CONCLUDED WITH FRANCE FOR HANOVER.

The elector of Hanover was alarmed at the success of the king of Prussia, in apprehension that he would become too formidable a neighbour. A scheme was said to have been proposed to the court of Vienna, for attacking that prince's electoral dominions, and dividing the conquest; but it was never put in execution. Nevertheless, the troops of Hanover were augmented; the auxiliary Danes and Hessians in the pay of Great Britain were ordered to be in readiness to march; and a good number of British forces encamped and prepared for embarkation. The subsidy of three hundred thousand pounds, granted by parliament, was remitted to the queen of Hungary; and every thing seemed to presage the vigorous interposition of his Britannic majesty. But in a little time after his arrival at Hanover, that spirit of action seemed to flag, even while her Hungarian majesty tottered on the verge of ruin. France resolved to seize this opportunity of crushing the house of Austria. In order to intimidate the elector of Hanover, mare-schal Mallebois was sent with a numerous army into Westphalia; and this expedient proved effectual. A treaty of neutrality was concluded; and the king of Great Britain engaged to vote for the elector of Bavaria at the ensuing election of an emperor. The design of the French court was to raise this prince to the Imperial dignity, and furnish him with such succours as should enable him to deprive the queen of Hungary of her hereditary dominions.