 |
The charge relating to abuses, for selfish purposes, in contracts and salaries, was opened on the 15th of March, by Sir James Erskine, who endeavoured to show that Hastings had made both corrupt and improvident bargains for providing bullocks, elephants, &c.; that he had grossly favoured individuals that were devoted to his will, and useful in his designs, at the expense of the company; and that he had been guilty of abuses in the opium contracts. As usual, Major Scott defended the accused, and entered with great minuteness into the particulars of the charge; but on a division the motion was carried by sixty against twenty-six.
The affair relative to Fyzoola Khan, the Rohilla chief, who retained possession of Rampore in Rohilicund, was brought forward on the 22nd of March, by Mr. Wyndham. The eloquence and nice metaphysics of Wyndham's speech were much admired, but he evidently misstated some of the facts and bearings of the case. Major Scott proved this to demonstration; but on a division, the motion was carried by ninety-six against thirty-seven.
The seventh charge, relating to the corrupt receiving of bribes and presents, was opened by Mr. Sheridan on the 2nd of April. It was clear that Hastings had been singularly indifferent as to riches for his own use yet the orator imputed to him the grossest corruption and most ravenous greed for money. He remarked:—"He is changeable in every thing but corruption; there, and only there he is systematic, methodical, immutable. His revenge is furious as a tempest, or a tornado; but his corruption is a monsoon; a trade-wind, blowing uniformly from one point of the compass, and wafting the wealth of India to the same port, in one certain direction." In his speech, however, in indulging his wit and irony, Sheridan gave vent to some sallies, which showed that he was convinced that Hastings had not received the presents for himself, but for his employers. Describing the accommodating morality of the court of directors, and their correspondence with the governor-general, he remarked that it might be thus condensed:—"Forasmuch as you have accepted presents, we highly disapprove of your conduct; but inasmuch as you have applied them to the credit side of our account, we exceedingly approve your conduct." Major Scott again defended Hastings; but on this occasion Lord Mulgrave and Mr. William Grenvilie, who had before differed from Pitt, spoke very strongly against the accused, and condemned his conduct as highly criminal, and Scott himself conld not deny the facts alleged against him. Many members, indeed, who had supported Hastings on the other charges, voted against him in this, and on a division the motion was carried by one hundred and sixty-five against fifty-four.
Though two charges remained to be discussed, the house now resumed, and the report of the committee was brought up by the chairman. It was moved that the report "be now read the first time;" but it was suggested by Pitt that the charges considered should be referred to a committee, in order that they might select the criminal matter out of them, and frame it into articles of impeachment. Pitt suggested this plan, that he, with other members, might be left to deliver their votes freely on the grand question. He wished it to be understood, he said, that he only went to a certain length, and that he could not join in a vote of impeachment, which might seem to countenance the whole of each several accusation. After some objections on the part of Fox, this suggestion was agreed to, and the report was then turned over to a committee, for the purpose which Pitt proposed. In the meantime, on the 19th of April, Francis opened the eighth charge, which related to the management of the revenues of Bengal. Much had been recently said of the personal hostility which Francis entertained towards Hastings, and he commenced his speech by disclaiming such a feeling, and by asserting that his animosities were all of a public, and not of a private nature; after which he entered into an elaborate discussion of the charge, enumerating the different modes which Hastings had adopted of managing the revenues in question. Major Scott replied to Francis, and on this occasion Pitt defended the accused; but upon a division the motion was carried by seventy-one against fifty-five. The committee appointed to frame articles of impeachment from the first seven resolutions of the house were...... Burke, Fox, Sheridan, Sir James Erskine, T. Pelliam, Wyndham, St. John, J. Ansturther, Welbore Ellis, Michael Angelo Taylor, W. Adam, Sir Grey Cooper, Philip Francis, F. Montague, Mr. Grey, Sir Gilbert Elliot, Dudley Long, Lord Maitland, Colonel North, and General Burgoyne. On the 25th of April, Burke, as chairman of this committe, presented six articles of impeachment, which were forthwith read for the first time, and ordered to be printed, and to be taken into consideration on the 9th of May. On that day, accordingly, it was moved that the articles of impeachment should be read a second time, which motion gave rise to a long debate. Hastings was again warmly defended by Lord Hood, who went over his previous arguments, and implored the house to recollect that whatever errors the accused had committed, he had, notwithstanding, saved the most valuable possessions of the British empire. On this occasion, also, Hastings was defended by Wilkes, who had almost veered round to the opposite point of the political compass from that at which he had started in early life, and who made one of the most effective speeches that had been delivered on the subject. Wilkes moved an amendment that the report should be read a second time that day three months; and he was followed and supported by Nathaniel Smith, chief secretary to the court of directors, Alderman Thompson, and Islay Campbell, lord advocate, the latter of whom reviewed the whole subject, both as a lawyer and a statesman. Other members, also, expressed their dissent to an impeachment; and Mr. Burgess produced an address, just received from the British officers now commanding in India, in which they all bore testimony to the excellent character, high abilities, and important services of the late governor-general. All the exertions of the friends of Hastings, however, proved unavailing. At a late hour Pitt delivered his authoritative opinion; and he having declared that it was impossible for him to vote against the motion, and that the house could no otherwise consult its own honour, its duty to the country, and the ends of public justice than by sending the impeachment to the lords; the motion was carried by a majority of one hundred and seventy-five to eighty-nine. The first article was then read, and agreed to without a division, and the rest were all passed with some trifling amendments on the following day. Burke then rose and moved, "that Warren Hastings, Esq., be impeached of high crimes and misdemeanors upon the said articles." This, after some observations made by Mr. Sumner—who had been in the company's service in India—complaining of the virulence with which the house prosecuted Hastings, was carried without a division; and Mr. F. Montague, one of the committee of managers, next moved, "that Mr. Burke, in the name of the house of commons, and of all the commons of Great Britain, do go to the bar of the house of lords, and impeach Warren Hastings, Esq., late Governor-general of Bengal, of high crimes and misdemeanors, and do acquaint the lords that the commons will, with all convenient speed, exhibit articles against him, and make good the same." This motion was also agreed to without a division, and Burke forthwith performed his commission; and on the next day, the 11th of May, he reported to the house what he had done, and proposed that Messrs. Wallis and Troward should be retained, to act as solicitors for the impeachment on the part of the commons. Nothing further was done till the 14th of May, when Burke brought forward the last charge, in which he accused Hastings of being the cause of all the distresses which had afflicted the province of Oude, a charge that was voted unanimously. It was expected that Burke would rest here for the present session; but on the 21st he moved, "that Warren Hastings, Esq., be taken into the custody of the sergeant-at-arms of this house." This was agreed to and done; and the sergeant-at-arms delivered him into the custody of the gentleman-usher of the black rod, by whom he was conducted to the bar of the lords. On the motion of the lord chancellor, however, he was admitted to bail—himself in L20,000, and two sureties, Mr. Sullivan and Mr. Sumner, in L10,000 each—and he was ordered to deliver in an answer to the articles of impeachment in one month from that time, or upon the second day of the next session of parliament. On the same day, the seventh article of impeachment being presented to the house by Burke, was ordered to be carried up to the lords; and on the 23rd, thirteen more articles were presented to the commons, which were subsequently carried to the upper house.
{GEORGE III. 1787-1789}
PARLIAMENT PROROGUED.
The session was closed on the 30th of May, when the king, in his speech, commended the measures taken by parliament respecting the reduction of the national debt, and the treaty of navigation and commerce with the most christian king. His majesty spoke of the general tranquillity of Europe; but lamented the unhappy dissensions which prevailed in the United Provinces.
CONTINENTAL AFFAIRS.
At this time the attention of government was particularly called to the troubled state of Holland. The dissensions which had long subsisted between the stadtholder and the states had arisen to an alarming height, and demanded the interposition of foreign powers. The French were favourable to the States of Holland; but, on the other hand, the cause of the stadtholder was warmly espoused by the King of Prussia in conjunction with Great Britain. Frequent skirmishes took place between the Orangists and the democrats ef Utrecht; and in the midst of these contests, the Princess of Orange, who had more courage than her husband, the stadtholder, set eff from Nimeguen for the Hague, accompanied by only a few domestics, with a view of negociating with the States-general. It is thought that the King of Prussia recommended this journey, with a view of drawing from it some plausible ground of interfering in behalf of the House of Orange, and if he did, it fully answered his purpose. The princess, who was of the royal house of Prussia, advanced as far as Schoonhoven where she was surrounded by a party of armed burghers, who conducted her to a small town, there to await the further will of those who governed the democrats. Commissioners soon arrived from head-quarters; and they not only refused her permission to proceed to the Hague, but conducted her back to Schoonhoven as a prisoner. She remained there two nights and a day, when, after experiencing insolent treatment from the soldiers who had her in custody, she was directed to return to Nimeguen. While a prisoner the princess had written letters to her brother, the King of Prussia; and on hearing of the insult offered to her, his rage knew no bounds. He insisted that immediate satisfaction should be made, and exemplary punishment inflicted on those who had committed the outrage; declaring at the same time, in some public manifestoes, that this cause was in itself sufficient to justify an armed intervention. The States of Holland, however, cherishing a hope that the French, who had led them on, would not abandon their cause, passed a resolution, justifying and approving the conduct of their commissioners in the arrest of the Princess of Orange; and plainly told Frederic William, in their reply to his demand, that the object of the princess in going to the Hague was to create a civil war, and that there had not been any real insult or injury. At the same time the States-general acknowledged the justice of the King of Prussia's complaint, and stated that they had made repeated applications to the States of Holland upon the subject, but which had been disregarded. Still determined upon obtaining satisfaction, Fredric William, by his ambassador at the Hague, now demanded that the States of Holland should write a letter of apology to the princess; should punish, at her requisition, those who had been guilty of the offences offered to her august person; should declare that their suspicions about her object in going to the Hague were unfounded; should revoke the resolutions which they had voted; and should accompany this revocation of the resolutions with an invitation of her royal highness to come to the Hague, for the purpose of entering into negociations in the name of the stadtholder, her husband, for the adjustment of all differences. The States of Holland were not in a condition to withstand a Prussian army, but still hoping for aid from the court of Versailles, they refused to accede to these humiliating terms, and issued their orders for laying the country under water, so soon as any Prussian troops should make their appearance on the frontiers. Thus braved, the king of Prussia issued his mandate for war with the refractory states. And in this he was countenanced by the English government. Although nothing at this time could have been less agreeable to Pitt than the prospect of a war, his heart being set on economical reforms and financial arrangements, yet the reduction of the United Provinces to a state of dependence on France, as was menaced by the French court, was not to be endured, and he therefore entered cordially into the policy of the Prussian monarch. As the friends of the house of Orange were in want of money, Pitt supplied them with a loan, without the authority of parliament; and he offered to the States-general, through our ambassador at the Hague, the mediation of the British government, for the restoration of their legitimate government under the authority of the stadtholder. But Pitt's offers of mediation were rejected, and the oligarchical party applied for assistance to France. The court of Versailles made a regular notification to that of St. James's of its intention to aid the States-general, and the British minister replied that in such a case England would take an active part in favour of the stadtholder. Pitt, indeed, engaged the Landgrave of Hesse Cassel to furnish 12,000 troops, if they should be required, and at the same time sent dispatches, both by sea and land, to Bengal and Madras, directing the governors of those provinces, in case of war, to attack the French possessions in India and to seize the Dutch settlements in the name of the stadtholder. His prompt measures had the effect of overawing the court of Versailles, and being likewise distracted by its own financial embarrassments, it was under the mortifying necessity of abandoning those designs on the United Provinces, which had long been among its most cherished projects. In the meantime, on the 13th of September, the Duke of Brunswick, who commanded the Prussian forces in the contiguous duchy of Cleves, entered Holland at the head of 20,000 troops. The Dutch had boldly defied the King of Prussia, but their consternation at this event was extreme, and the country seemed everywhere unprepared for resistance. Utrecht surrendered to the Duke almost as soon as summoned; Gorcum, Dordt, Schoonhoven, and other towns in his route, tamely submitted to him; and Amsterdam, which alone made any show of resistance, after a fortnight's siege, was captured. So rapid were his successes, that the proud republic of Holland, which had maintained a contest of eighty years against the power of Spain, and which repulsed the attacks of Louis XIV., when in the zenith of his glory, was in the course of one month overrun by the troops of the conqueror. The result was, that the stadtholder was not only reinstated in his former privileges, but gratified with new, and that the ancient forms of government were re-established. Tranquillity being restored, the Duke of Brunswick withdrew the main body of his forces from Holland, leaving 4,000 only for the security of peace, and the protection of the stadtholder. About the same time an amicable arrangement was effected between the courts of England and France, by which it was agreed to discontinue warlike preparations on both sides, and to place the navy of each kingdom on the peace establishment. War, therefore, was averted; Pitt was left to pursue his measures of reform undisturbed, and the court of Versailles to consider its financial embarrassments. But in Holland this triumph of the Orangists did not put an end to the disaffection that prevailed throughout the country; on the contrary, it facilitated the conquest of the United Provinces by the revolutionary army of France.
MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.
Notwithstanding the affairs on the continent were brought to a happy termination, it was deemed expedient to re-assemble parliament much earlier than had been usual for some months past. It met on the 27th of November, and the speech from the throne expressed great satisfaction that the disputes in the United Provinces, which not only threatened their constitution but affected the security and interests of the British dominions, had been so happily arranged. His majesty entered into a detail of the negociations which had taken place; after which he made some remarks on the flourishing state of the revenue, and the advantages that might be expected from the continuance of peace. The addresses were agreed to nem. con., in both houses. Fox acknowledged that if it were possible for him on the present occasion to refuse his concurrence with the sentiments conveyed by his majesty's speech, or to oppose the motion, he should commit an outrage against all those principles and opinions by which his political career had been uniformly marked. Fox also expressed his warmest approbation of the energetic conduct of ministers in preventing France from interfering in the affairs of Holland, and said, that it was his unalterable opinion, that this country ought, whenever occasion required, to take a vigorous part in preserving the balance of power in Europe. Yet, though Fox might be sincere when he uttered these sentiments, he soon showed that he was still as hostile as ever to ministers. Two nights after he moved for an address to his majesty, that he would direct copies, or extracts from any notification made by the court of France of the intention of the most Christian king to interfere in the affairs of Holland, to be laid before the house; and he now contended that ministers had incurred unnecessary expenses, as the King of France never had any intention of an armed interference. This motion was negatived without a division, but on the 5th of December, when Pitt moved that a sum not exceeding L36,093 should be granted to the Prince of Hesse Cassel for the year 1788, Fox again cavilled, by insisting that further information was necessary, and that it was essential to show how these Hessian troops were to be employed. Burke showed himself more noble than his friend Fox on this occasion, for though he expressed a hope that no notion was entertained of introducing foreign troops into this island, he made no strong objection to the subsidy proposed, and he warmly commended the measures which had been pursued with respect to Holland, and congratulated ministers on their having renewed our connexions with that country. Pitt's motion was agreed to unanimously. On the 10th of December a long debate took place on the subject of an augmentation of forces, which was proposed by the secretary-at-war, but the views of ministers were adopted by a large majority, and 3064 additional land-troops were voted. Money was also voted for erecting fortifications in some of the West Indian islands, which had seriously felt the want of them during the late war. These measures were followed by a debate on the numerous promotions which had recently been made in the navy. Sixteen captains had been created admirals during the summer, while a much greater number had been passed over in silence and neglect. This excited great discontent, and opposition endeavoured to show that great partiality had been displayed, and a motion was made in the house of commons, "That the house should resolve itself into a committee to inquire into the conduct of the admiralty in the business of the promotion." This motion was negatived; but subsequently, after the Christmas recess, the subject was renewed in both houses, in the course of the debates on which the conduct of Lord Howe, the first lord of the admiralty, became the subject of severe censure, and he resigned in disgust both with ministers and parliament. He was succeeded by Pitt's elder brother, the Earl of Chatham.
DISPUTES BETWEEN GOVERNMENT, AND THE EAST INDIA COMPANY.
{A.D. 1788}
During the late disputes, when a rupture with. France was anticipated, government had dispatched four regiments of soldiers for the protection of our East India territories; and when the disputes were settled, it was determined to render this addition to the military establishment a permanent measure. The court of directors had acceded to the proposal when originally made by the board of control, and had consented that the troops should be conveyed in their ships and maintained at their expense. When, however, an amicable arrangement had taken place with France, and all danger was over, the directors changed their sentiments, and contended that unless they themselves made the requisition, they were by Lord North's bill of 1781, relieved from the obligation-of maintaining any troops that might be sent to India. In this opinion several eminent lawyers, whom they had consulted, appeared to coincide. On the other hand, Pitt, supported by the crown lawyers, asserted that the act of 1784 transferred to the board of control all powers formerly vested in the court of directors, relative to military and political concerns, as well as the collection and application of the revenues. It was contended on the part of government, indeed, that those parts of the act of 1781 which were inconsistent with those of the act of 1784, were, by the latter, virtually, if not actually repealed. Inconsequence of these disputes, on the 25th of February Pitt moved for leave to bring in a bill for removing the doubts in question, and for declaring that the intention of the legislature, in the act of 1784, was agreeable to the construction put upon it by the board of control. In support of his motion Pitt said, that "in his mind nothing could be more clear than that there was no one step that could have been taken previous to passing the act of 1784, by the court of directors, touching the military and political concerns of India, and also the collection, management, and application of thes revenues of the territorial possessions, that the commissioners of the board of control had not now a right to take, by virtue of the powers and authority vested in them by the act of 1784." Dundas went even further than Pitt in support of the motion, for he declared, that the board of control might, if it chose, devote the whole revenue of India to the purpose of its defence, without leaving the company a single rupee. Leave was given to bring in the bill, without a division, but in all its stages, when introduced, it met with a formidable opposition. Among the objections raised against it, it was stated, that if passed, an army might be established in India without the knowledge or con" sent of parliament. In order to obviate this, Pitt proposed to add a clause, limiting the number of troops for the payment of which the board of control were empowered to issue orders. It was further urged as an objection, that the board might apply the revenues of India for the creation of undue influence, to the prejudice of the company's interests, by the increase of salaries or perquisites, to prevent which Pitt proposed two other clauses, prohibiting gratuities, unless recommended by the directors; and stopping all increase of salary, unless proposed by the directors, and submitted to parliament. Pitt added a fourth clause, directing that the directors should lay annually before Parliament an account of the produce of all their revenues, and of all their disbursements. By these clauses every real objection to the bill was obviated; but resistance was still made to it, and the third reading was only carried by a majority of fifty-four, which, at this period, was considered a very small majority. The bill encountered a violent opposition in the house of lords, also; but it was finally carried by a majority of seventy-one against twenty-eight. Sixteen peers signed a long and powerfully-expressed protest, representing the bill as friendly to corrupt intrigue and cabal, hostile to all good government, and abhorrent to the principles of our constitution.
PITT'S FINANCIAL MEASURES.
Pitt proposed his budget for the year, on the 6th of May. In doing so he expressed great satisfaction at the flourishing state of our finances; stating, that although some extraordinary expenses had been incurred by the events of last year, yet, such was the improved condition of the revenue, that it afforded means of providing for all the services which had been voted, without any loan or new taxes, and without the slightest interruption to the action of the sinking-fund. This he proved by a statement of figures, and although Sheridan attempted to controvert his statements, they could not be proved fallacious. Of all men in the house, indeed, Sheridan was the most unfit to enter into financial computations, for his genius rather lay in rhetoric than in figures. In the supplies, 18,000 seamen were voted, and about 29,000 land-forces, beside those that were on foreign service.
ADDITIONS MADE TO THE BILL FOR TRYING CONTROVERTED ELECTIONS.
During this session Mr. Grenville proposed and carried certain amendments and additions to his father's hill, for better regulating the trial of controverted elections. The principal of these related to the interruption of public business, by frivolous petitions, to obviate which the election committee were empowered to adjudge that a party prosecuting or supporting any such petition should pay reasonable costs. By these amendments, also, a rule was laid down for re-establishing the rights of election, and rendering them immutable.
CLAIMS OF THE AMERICAN ROYALISTS, ETC.
At the conclusion of peace, commissioners had been appointed to inquire into the losses of the American loyalists, and during this session Pitt submitted to the house a plan of liquidation. The loyalists were divided by him into three classes: those who resided in America at the beginning of the war, and from motives of duty to their sovereign had abandoned their estates and property; those who at the commencement of the war had been resident in England, and consequently had not been driven from America; and those who having enjoyed places or exercised professions in America, were compelled to leave that country by the war. Pitt rested their claims on the ground of national generosity and compassion, rather than of strict justice; and he proposed to pay to the two first classes the whole of their claims, if they did not exceed L10,000 and beyond that sum, to deduct from them a per centage, greater in the case of the second class than in the first; and to the third class he proposed to allow pensions, proportionate to the incomes which they had relinquished; those whose incomes had not exceeded four hundred pounds, receiving one half, by way of annuity. A sum amounting to about L1,340,000 was voted for this purpose. Pitt also, with the entire concurrence of the house, settled the case of the East Florida claimants, who had been obliged to quit their habitations and property, when their country was ceded to Spain. As their losses had arisen from the voluntary act of government, Pitt thought that they should be indemnified for their losses, and the sum of L113,952 was voted to them. Another measure of mercy was a bill for granting to the Earl of Newburgh, grandson of Charles Radcliffe, beheaded in 1746, for his share in the rebellion of 1715, a clear rent-charge of L2,500 out of the estates forfeited by the said Charles Radcliffe, and his brother James, third Earl of Derwentwater, who forfeited his life on the same account in 1710, which estates had been settled upon Greenwich Hospital. This bill afforded great relief to an amiable and deserving nobleman.
THE SLAVE-TRADE QUESTION.
During the present reign several petitions had been presented to parliament on the subject of the slave-trade; some praying for its total abolition, and others for a more humane treatment of the African slaves in the West Indian islands. The honour of first taking up this cause of humanity in England, as well as in America, belongs to the Society of Friends, a society which is ever ready to exert its influence for the good of mankind. By degrees, however, the subject was taken up by men of all creeds and classes; orators, poets, and prose writers exposed the iniquity of trafficking in the bones and sinews of men, and by this time a general feeling existed in favour of the oppressed sons of Africa. A society was now formed, indeed, and a considerable sum of money raised, with a view to collect information on the subject, and to support the expense of an application to parliament for the total abolition of the slave-trade; great exertions being necessary to insure success, because it was foreseen that self-interest would oppose a powerful barrier to the proposed emancipation. Among those who exerted themselves in this holy cause were Mr. Thomas Clarkson, Mr. Ramsy, Mr. Thornton, Mr. Granville Sharpe, Lady Middleton, and Mrs. Bouverie, the two former as writers on the subject, and the remainder as labourers in procuring converts and subscriptions in the principal towns of England. The great champion of the cause, however, was the philanthropic and warm-hearted Wilberforce, the bosom-friend of the premier. Mr. Wilberforce seems to have been impressed with the idea that this work, with the reformation of manners, were the two great objects of his life; and to the suppression of the slave-trade he resolved to devote his whole parliamentary career. As might be expected, Wilberforce endeavoured to bring Pitt over to his cause; and he so far succeeded—his persuasions also being aided by thirty petitions which had, during this session, been laid on the table—as to induce the minister to issue a summons to certain members of the privy-council, to examine, as a board of trade, the state of our commercial intercourse with Africa. This privy-council was soon engaged in hearing witnesses; some on the part of the African merchants, who endeavoured to prove the necessity and humanity of the slave-trade; and others on the part of the London committee, who as earnestly laboured to show its abomination and iniquity. In the meantime Mr. Wilberforce undertook to bring forward a motion in the house of commons on the subject; and as he was a member for one of the greatest counties in the kingdom (Yorkshire) and an admirable speaker, his party were sanguine as to his success. Before Wilberforce could carry out his intentions, however, he fell ill, and was obliged to retire to Bath. The question stood thus; when, on the 9th of May, Pitt, being solicited by his friends, and by Granville Sharpe, and the London committe, moved the following resolution:—"That this house will, early in the next session of parliament, proceed to take into consideration the circumstances of the slave-trade complained of in the petitions presented to the house, and what may be fit to be done thereupon." Pitt added, that before the next session the inquiry instituted by the privy-council would be brought to a conclusion, the result of which might facilitate their investigation; and he pledged himself to submit the question to the house, if his friend should still be unable to undertake the task. Burke and Fox, in reply, expressed great concern at the delay, and severely reprobated the inquiry carried on before the privy-council, contending that it ought to have taken place before the house, whose duty it was rather to advise the king than to ask or wait for his advice. Both declared that they were willing and prepared to have taken up the question themselves; and stated that they had given way to Wilberforce from deference to his abilities and known humanity, and on account of the influence he possessed with Pitt and the rest of the ministry. Pitt's motion was carried unanimously; but Sir William Dolben, in the course of the debate, urged that the sufferings of slaves on their voyage from Africa to the West Indies required immediate attention; and on the 21st of May he moved for leave to bring in a bill for the better regulation of their transportation. The picture which Sir William Dolben drew of the sufferings of the slaves on ship-board forcibly exhibited the horrid nature of the traffic. He represented them as chained together hand and foot, with only a space of five feet and a half in length, and sixteen inches in breadth, allotted for each slave; and being thus crammed together, putrid disorders and other dangerous diseases were generated, so that when the overseers came in the morning to examine the freight of human misery, he had to unchain the carcases of the dead from the living. To prevent this, Sir William proposed that no ship should be allowed to carry more than one slave to each ton of her burthen or register, or that a ship of three hundred tons should carry as many slaves and no more. This was, in point of fact, legislating for the slave-owners, inasmuch as the regulations would have the effect of decreasing the rate of mortality; yet as blind to their own interest as they were hardened in cruelty, petitions were presented against the proposed measure by the merchants of Liverpool, Bristol, and London, who stated that it would inflict upon themselves great injuries. They prayed to be heard at the bar of the house, which prayer was granted; but the facts reluctantly drawn from those who were brought forward in support of the present system, were so decisive against it, that the friends of the bill declined calling any counter-evidence. Indignant at the disclosures which were made, indeed. Pitt proposed a clause, rendering every slave-ship which had already sailed from England, subject to the regulations of the bill; and stated that he should think it proper to despatch a quick-sailing vessel, with copies of the act, to the coast of Africa, that they might not have a plea of ignorance to offer for the infringement of its rules. At the same time Pitt said, he trusted the house would make compensation to the merchants who might receive any pecuniary loss by the bill; an object which he thought was of no consideration when the interests of humanity were so intimately concerned. Pitt also proposed another clause, granting certain bounties to owners and surgeons of ships in which the mortality should not exceed two or three during the voyage; a clause which was intended to excite greater attention to the preservation of the slaves. With these additions the bill was carried through the commons in all its stages by considerable majorities. It also passed the lords; but it was there strenuously opposed by Admiral Lord Rodney, Lord Chancellor Thurlow, Lord Sidney, and the Duke of Chandos. The bill, which was to continue in force till August, 1783, by which time it was hoped something more would be done in favour of the slaves, received the royal assent on the 11th of July. The triumph served as an encouragement to the philanthropists to persevere in the cause of humanity; and from this time the number of their converts and their means daily increased.
{GEORGE III. 1787-1789}
CHARGE AGAINST SIR ELIJAH IMPEY.
Early in this session it was determined to impeach Sir Elijah Impey, chief-justice of the supreme court established at Calcutta, by the Regulating Act of 1773, Six articles of impeachment were accordingly exhibited to the house by Sir Gilbert Elliot, who supported them by a long and impressive speech, in which he professed to describe the career of the accused from his first arrival at Calcutta, down to his recall by a resolution of the house of commons. The articles which he produced related to the trial and execution of Nuncomar; to the conduct of Impey in a cause called the Patna cause; to an extension of jurisdiction, illegally and oppressively, beyond the intention of the act and charter; to the Cossijurah cause, in which this extension of jurisdiction had been carried out with great violence; to the acceptance of the office of judge of the Sudder Dewannee Adaulut, which was affirmed to be contrary to law, repugnant to the spirit and act of the charter, and subversive of all its material purposes; and to the affairs in Oude and Benares, where it was declared the chief-justice became the agent and tool of Hastings. At the suggestion of Pitt, these charges were ordered to be printed, and then referred to a committee of the whole house; which committee was to take them into consideration on the 4th of February. When that day arrived, a petition was presented from Sir Elijah Impey, praying to be heard in answer to the charges, before the house proceeded any further; and the prayer being granted, he was called to the bar for that purpose. His defence was very long and conducted with great ability, embracing every point on which he was charged. It produced a deep and lasting impression on the house, and Pitt was heard to declare that had he been placed in the same situation, he could not say but that he should have acted precisely as the accused had done. It was evident that the prosecution would soon be dropped, and it was rendered still more clear by the evidence taken at the bar of the house. This evidence was all taken by the 28th of April, on which clay Sir Gilbert Elliot began his reply to the defence, which was not finished before the 9th of May. Sir Gilbert moved, in conclusion, a resolution importing that the first charge had been made good, which was supported by Fox, Burke, and Colonel Fuliarton, and controverted by Sir Richard Sutton, Mr. D. Pulteney, the attorney and solicitor-general, and the chancellor of the exchequer. Upon a division, the motion was lost by a majority of seventy-three against fifty-five; and on the 27th of May, the day appointed for the committee to sit again, upon the usual motion that the speaker do now leave the chair, it was opposed by the attorney-general, and negatived without a division; and the further consideration of the charges was adjourned to that day three months. The prosecution of Sir Elijah Impey was now closed, for the other charges were never taken into consideration.
IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
In the meantime the impeachment of Hastings had been carried on with great activity. In the early part of this session the commons had appointed a committee of management for his impeachment, and on the 13th of February his trial commenced with every solemnity that the forms of official dignity could impart. The trial took place in Westminster-hall, which was fitted up with great magnificence for the occasion; benches, stages, and boxes were erected, and the old grey walls were hung with scarlet. All the magnates of the land were assembled at this trial; either to take part in the proceedings, or to act as mere spectators.
The first two days of the trial were occupied in the arrangement of ceremonials. When all were seated the sergeant-at-arms made proclamation, and called upon Warren Hastings, Esquire, to appear in court. Hastings advanced, accompanied by his two bail, Sullivan and Sumner, and the sergeant-at-arms again made proclamation, that whereas charges of high crimes and misdemeanors had been exhibited by the house of commons, in the name of themselves, and of all the commons of Great Britain, against Warren Hastings, Esq., all persons were to take notice that he now stood upon his trial, that they might come forth and make good the said charges. Hastings was then addressed by the Lord Chancellor Thurlow in the following terms:—"Warren Hastings, you stand at the bar of this court charged with high crimes and misdemeanors, a copy of which has been delivered to you: you have been allowed counsel, and a long time has been given you for your defence; but this is not to be considered as a particular indulgence to you, as it arose from the necessity of the case; the crimes with which you are charged being stated to have been committed in a distant place. These charges contain the most weighty allegations, and they come from the highest authority. This circumstance, however, though it carries with it the most serious importance, is not to prevent you from making your defence in a firm and collected manner, in the confidence that, as a British subject, you are entitled to, and will receive full justice from a British court." To this address Hastings replied:—"My lords, I am come to this high tribunal equally impressed with a confidence in my own integrity and in the justice of the court before which I stand." After this the clerks of the court proceeded to read the charges and answers, which occupied the remainder of this day and the whole of the next; and when this was completed, Burke, on the 15th of February, as the head of the committee of managers, opened the impeachment by a speech which lasted four days. He commenced by the following observations:—"My lords, the gentlemen who have it in command to support this impeachment of Mr. Hastings, have directed me to open the cause with a general view of the grounds on which the commons have proceeded in their charge against him. They have directed me to accompany this with another general view of the extent, the magnitude, the nature, and the effect of the crimes which they allege to have been committed. They have also directed me to give an explanation of such circumstances preceding those crimes, or concomitant with them, as may tend to elucidate whatever is obscure in the articles. To those they have wished me to add a few illustrative remarks on the laws, customs, opinions, and manners of the people who are the objects of the crimes which we charge on Mr. Hastings." In following out the course prescribed him, Burke in turns charmed, excited, and terrified his audience, and produced all the effects attributed to the most successful orators in the days of antiquity. His appeals to the feelings and passions of his auditory were much too frequent, especially as those parts of his speech were derived from the tales of the enemies of Hastings; tales that were amplified and exaggerated, either by private malevolence or by oriental hyperbole. Apart from this grand error, however, Burke's speech was one of the finest that was ever delivered in the English language. Parts of it were "soberly sublime," exhibiting a wonderful range of knowledge, a high statesman-like philosophy, and a fine spirit of Christian philanthropy. His arguments were enforced with great acuteness, and were so powerful as almost to convince Hastings himself that he was a guilty man. "For half an hour," said the accused, "I looked up at the orator in a reverie of wonder; and, during that space, I actually felt myself the most culpable man on earth; but I recurred to my own bosom, and there found a consciousness that consoled me under all I heard and all I suffered." The excitement which was produced by Burke's speech operated upon all that heard him; ladies fainted in the galleries, and the inflexible face of the Lord Chancellor Thurlow was several times seen to quiver with emotion. In pronouncing his preoration on the fourth day, the orator raised his voice to such a pitch as seemed to shake the walls and roof of Westminster Hall. He exclaimed,—"Therefore it is with confidence that, ordered by the commons, I impeach Warren Hastings Esq., of high crimes and misdemeanors. I impeach him in the name of the commons of Great Britain, in parliament assembled, whose trust he has betrayed. I impeach him in the name of all the commons of Great Britain, whose national character he has dishonoured. I impeach him in the name of the people of India, whose laws, rights, and liberties he has subverted, whose properties he has destroyed, whose country he has laid waste and desolate. I impeach him in the name of human nature itself, which he has cruelly outraged, injured, and oppressed in both sexes, in every age, rank, situation, and condition of life. And I conjure this high and sacred court to let not these pleadings be heard in vain." As soon as the agitation, which Burke's speech and accusation gave rise to, had subsided, a debate ensued respecting the manner in which the defence should be conducted. It was finally decided, in opposition to the wish of the managing committee and the opinions of their counsel, that, according to the usual practice in trials, the prosecutor should complete his case before the accused commenced his defence. Accordingly, Fox, after making some complaints against this decision, opened the Benares charge down to the expulsion of Cheyte Sing, which was followed up and completed by Mr. Gray. After this the evidence was brought forward, and the whole was summed up by Mr. Anstruther on the 11th of April. The court did not meet again till the 15th of April; when Mr. Adam opened the next charge, relating to the Begums of Oude, which was continued and completed by Mr. Pelham. The evidence on this charge was summed up by Sheridan; on which occasion he made another grand display, though, it is said, not equal to that which he made on the same subject in the house of commons. As on the former occasion, his speech abounded with tropes and figures; and his performance attracted a fuller audience than had yet assembled in the hall. It lasted three whole days; but only a few fragments of his speech are extant, and scarcely any one of those in existence convey any notion of the fascination which, it is said, that his oratory exercised over those who heard him. One of the most beautiful portions of his speech related to the correspondence of the governor and his agent. It reads thus:—"When I see in many of these letters the infirmities of age made a subject of mockery and ridicule; when I see the feelings of a son treated by Mr. Middleton as puerile and contemptible; when I see an order given from Mr. Hastings to harden that son's heart, and to choke the struggles of nature in his bosom; when I see them pointing to the son's name and to his standard, while marching to oppress the mother, as to a banner that gives dignity—that gives a holy sanction and reverence to their enterprise; when I see and hear these things done; when I hear them brought into three deliberate defences set up against the charges of the commons, my lords, I own I grow puzzled and confounded, and almost begin to doubt whether, where such a defence can be offered, it may not be tolerated. And yet, my lords, how can I support the claim of filial love by argument? much less the affections of a son to a mother, where love loses its awe, and veneration is mixed with tenderness. What can I say on such a subject? What can I do but repeat the ready truths which, with the quick impulse of the mind, must spring to the lips of every man on such a theme? Filial love! the moral of instinct, the sacrament of nature and duty, or rather let me say, it is miscalled a duty, for it flows from the heart without effort, and is its delight, its indulgence, its enjoyment. It is guided, not by the slow dictates of reason; it awaits not encouragement from reflection or from thought; it asks no aid of memory; it is an innate, but active consciousness of having been the object of a thousand tender solicitudes, a thousand waking, watchful cares of meek anxiety and patient sacrifices, unremarked and unrequited by the object; it is a gratitude founded on a conviction of obligations, not remembered, but more binding because not remembered—because conferred before the tender reason could acknowledge, or the infant memory record them; a gratitude and affection which no circumstances should subdue, and which few can strengthen; a gratitude in which injury from the object, though it may blend regret, should never breed resentment; an affection which can be in creased only by the decay of those to whom we owe it, and which is then most fervent, when the tremulous voice of age, resistless in its feebleness, inquires for the natural protector of its cold decline. If these are the general sentiments of man, what must be their depravity—what must be their degeneracy—who can blot out and erase from the bosom the virtue that is most deeply rooted in the human heart, and twined, within the cords of life itself? Aliens from nature! Apostates from humanity! And yet, if there be a crime more fell, more foul; if there be anything worse than a wilful persecutor of his mother, it is that of a deliberate instigator and abettor to the deed; this it is that shocks, disgusts, and appals the mind more than the other; to view, not a wilful parricide, but a parricide by compulsion; a miserable wretch, not actuated by the stubborn evils of his own worthless heart, not driven by the fury of his own distracted brain, but lending his sacrilegious hand, without any malice of his own, to answer the abandoned purposes of the human fiends that have subdued his will. To condemn crimes like these we need not talk of laws or of human rules; their foulness, their deformity does not depend on local constitutions, on human institutes, or religious creeds; they are crimes, and the persons who perpetrate them are monsters, who violate the primitive condition on which the earth was given to man; they are guilty by the general verdict of human-kind." Sheridan concluded his speech by an appeal to British justice, which, as it is preserved to us, is a mere sonorous roll of words, with a common-place meaning; after which he acted a stage-trick; as if fainting, he fell back into the arms of his friend Burke.
This was the last charge against Hastings that came before the court in Westminster Hall during the present session. In the house of commons, however, there was much discussion concerning the money issued from the exchequer, for the discharge of the expenses incurred in the impeachment. Mr. Burgess moved that an account of all the money expended should be laid before the house; and, though opposed by the managing committee, who said they considered the motion as made merely as an attempt by the friends of Hastings to vex and impede the committee in the prosecution, it was carried, and an account of the expenses was laid upon the table. But this account was incomplete; and Mr. Burgess had to make three other motions before the particulars of the expenditure were clearly brought before the house. In all these motions he was supported by Pitt, who declared he thought it necessary that the house should know how the money was spent, and have the power of checking the expenditure if they thought it in any case unnecessary. It seems to have been suspected that many men were making a profitable affair of the impeachment; and it must be confessed that the conduct of the managers, in resisting the inquiries, seemed to justify that suspicion. Their grand argument against the motion was, that such a measure as giving an account of the expenditure, was unprecedented, and had never been attempted nor dreamed of in any great prosecution. They stated that the charges already incurred in employing counsel were remarkably moderate, and that the fees were, in fact, inadequate to the services performed. They even argued, that if more money had been spent, more good would have been done, as they could then have procured "secret services," which they thought very necessary in such a case. These were unfortunate arguments, as they left an impression on the minds of many, that some, at least, engaged in the prosecution for what they could get by it. On the other hand, it is possible that some members wished to impede the operations of the committee, and to favour Hastings by cutting off, or, at least, greatly reducing their resources. Even after all his motions were carried, Mr. Burgess expressed a doubt whether the house had really authorised the managers to employ counsel; whether there was any precedent for it; and whether the assistance of counsel was necessary. Pitt did not go thus far; but he questioned whether two civilians, besides ordinary counsel, were required. The whole debate, indeed, seems to show that there was an anxiety among certain members in the house to benefit Hastings, by encouraging doubts and insinuations against his prosecutors; which doubts and insinuations were the more regarded, because two of them, at least—Fox and Sheridan—did not enjoy any high reputation as regards money matters. It would have been very ungracious of the house, however, if, after giving the managing committee a commission to conduct the prosecution, it had left them to pay the expenses of that prosecution out of their own pockets. This was not done; but the discussions which took place on the subject of the expenditure had the effect of keeping down the growth of the law expenses, by drawing public attention to them, and by establishing the rule, that the solicitors should continue to present, from time to time, an account of all money spent in the prosecution. Had this rule not been laid down, the cost of this prosecution would probably have been enormous; and, as it was, they must have been great, for the expenses already amounted to L4300, exclusive of the erections in and decorations of Westminster Hall. The expenses which Hastings had incurred was much greater; and yet of twenty charges only two had been heard; and he then had to make his defence.
PARLIAMENT PROROGUED.
Parliament was prorogued on the 11th of July, by a speech from the throne, in which his majesty complimented the two houses on their attention and liberality. The king mentioned that the Emperor of Germany had joined the Empress of Russia in a war against the sultan; and he referred to treaties into which he had entered with the King of Prussia and with the States-general of the United Provinces, which he trusted would be productive of the happiest results both to England and to all Europe.
CONTINENTAL ALLIANCES.
The treaties to which his majesty alluded had been concluded early in this year. That between England and Holland embraced a mutual guarantee of dominions; a security for the existing form of government in the United Provinces; and regulations by which the commerce of each country was placed on the footing of the most favoured nations. The treaty between the kings of Great Britain and Prussia was one of defensive alliance; in which, besides the usual articles of mutual agreement, the contracting parties bound themselves to act at all times in concert, for the maintenance of the security, independence, and government of the United Provinces. The object of these treaties was not so much to preserve the balance of power in Holland against the influence of France, as to secure that country from any attempts which might be made against it by the Emperor of Germany and the Empress of Russia, whose forces were now banded together. It was supposed that the object of the alliance of the Austrian and Russian courts was conquest and aggrandizement; a supposition which seemed confirmed by their known characters, and by the war which they were carrying on against the Ottoman empire. From France, at this period, there was now nothing to fear, for it was a house divided against itself, and was, therefore, incapable of either disturbing the peace of her neighbours, or of rendering them any assistance in case of attack from any other quarter. But out of the weakness of France arose the necessity of opposing a barrier against the dangerous alliance which had been formed between the two imperial courts; for it was imagined, that if successful in their war with the sultan, they would afterwards direct their hostile and ambitious views to other parts of Europe.
DERANGEMENT OF HIS MAJESTY: DEBATES ON THE REGENCY.
When the king prorogued parliament he appeared to be in his usual good state of health, but shortly after he became indisposed, and was advised by his physicians to try the mineral waters of Cheltenham. During his residence at Cheltenham his health greatly improved, but in the month of August, when he returned to Windsor, his disorder took an unfortunate turn, for symptoms of mental derangement appeared, which gradually increased, till he was no longer capable of attending to public business. His madness was also accompanied by a bilious fever, from which, for several days, his life was despaired of, as well as his reason. This event affected all classes, and caused great consternation at court and in the cabinet; it also gave rise to intrigue and strife among contending parties.
MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.
Parliament stood prorogued to the 20th of November, and six days before, circular letters were issued, requesting the attendance of members on that day. The peers and members being assembled, the state of the king's health was formally notified to them, in the upper house by the lord chancellor, and in the commons by Pitt. In both houses a motion of adjournment to the 4th of December was made, in order to see whether his majesty's disorder was likely to be of long continuance, which motion was carried nem. con.
In the mean time the leaders of both parties busied themselves in intrigue and deliberation. Neither party, however, were yet clear as to the steps they should pursue, for the varying opinions of the physicians were calculated to perplex their minds, rather than to serve as a guide to their conduct. It was necessary that some decisive information should be obtained before the meeting of parliament, and therefore, on the 3rd of December, a privy-council was held at Whitehall, for the purpose of examining the physicians. The result of the opinion of the physicians was, that his majesty was incapable of attending to business; that, judging from experience in similar cases, there was a fair prospect of his recovery; but that the time when that event would take place was uncertain. Parliament re-assembled on the following day, when this report was presented to the lords by Earl Camden, and to the commons by Pitt. In both houses it was represented by ministers that the functions of government were suspended; that in this dismembered state of the legislature the right devolved on the two houses of parliament, to make such provision as should be adequate to meet the case; but that it was necessary, before any step could be taken in such a delicate business, that the extent of the deficiency should be fully ascertained. It was moved by Lord Camden in the lords, and by Pitt in the commons, that the report should be taken into consideration on Monday, the 8th of December, which was agreed to; but doubts were expressed in the commons, whether the house could proceed upon a mere report, and whether they ought not rather to examine the physicians themselves at their own bar, or by means of a committee. Pitt replied, that the case required great delicacy, and that the report of the physicians was made upon oath, which the house of commons had not the power to administer. Fox agreed with Pitt, in the propriety of proceeding with delicacy; but, he added, "if delicacy and duty should happen to clash, the latter ought not to be sacrificed to the former." Nothing further, however, was said at this time on the subject, and after deciding that the speaker was competent to issue writs for new elections, to supply the places of some members who had died during the recess, the house adjourned to the time above mentioned.
About this time the royal family removed to Kew, for the greater convenience of the king's medical attendants, and as the malady continued without abatement, the Rev. Dr. Willis, who had quitted his clerical functions, and devoted himself with great success to the cure of insanity, was called in to undertake the principal and constant charge of his majesty. When parliament re-assembled on the 8th of December, Pitt related these circumstances, and conceiving that it would materially serve his cause, he himself now moved for a committee to examine the physicians who had attended the king during his illness. This motion was carried without a division, and a committee of twenty-one was appointed, Pitt, himself, being their chairman. A similar motion was made and carried in the upper house, and a committee of peers was appointed for the same purpose. The report of the committee was presented by Pitt in the commons on the 10th of December, which was favourable to the king's ultimate recovery; and after it was ordered to be printed, the premier, whose object it was to delay decision on the subject of the regency, moved that another committee should be appointed, to inspect the journals for precedents of such proceedings as had been adopted in former instances, when the sovereign authority was suspended by sickness, infirmity, or any other cause. This called forth the opposition of Fox, who objected to the motion as nugatory and productive of unnecessary delay. Pitt knew well, he said, that there were no precedents which applied to the present case. He contended that all that was requisite for their decision had been done by the report just laid on the table; a report by which the incapacity of the sovereign had been fully ascertained. Fox then advanced, as a proposition deducible from the principles of the constitution and the laws of hereditary succession, that whenever the sovereign was incapable of exercising the functions of his high office, the heir-apparent, if arrived at maturity, had as indisputable a claim to the exercise of the executive authority, in the name and on the behalf of the sovereign, during his incapacity, as in the case of his natural demise. In advancing such a proposition as this Fox committed a great blunder, for by it he became the advocate of prerogative, in opposition to the rights of the people. Pitt instantly perceived his error, and he took the utmost advantage of it, by taking up the cause which Fox had suddenly deserted. With an appearance of patriotic indignation, Pitt declared that the assertion which Fox had made was little short of treason against the constitution; insisted that the heir-apparent had no more right, in the case alleged, to the exercise of the executive power than any other person in the realm; and asserted that it belonged to the two remaining branches of the legislature to make such provision for supplying the temporary deficiency as they should think proper. He asked, when the regular exercise of the powers of government was from any cause suspended, to whom could the right of providing a remedy for the existing defect devolve, but to the people, from whom the powers of government originated? Kings and princes, he said, derived their power from the people; and to the people alone, by means of their representatives, did it belong to decide in cases for which the constitution had made no specific provisions. On these grounds Pitt insisted that the Prince of Wales had no more right to supply the existing deficiency than any other subject, though he admitted that it was expedient for parliament to offer him the regency. Fox and Burke replied to Pitt, but they were unable to refute his arguments, and his motion was carried without a division, and a committee of twenty-one was appointed to look for precedents, which all men knew were not to be found. On the following day Lord Camden made a similar motion in the lords, in doing which he strongly condemned the doctrine which Fox had advanced, and contended, with Pitt, that the light and duty of naming the regent, and limiting his power, belonged exclusively to the houses of parliament. The motion of Fox was supported by Lords Loughborough, Stormont, and Porchester, and controverted by Lord Stanhope and the lord chancellor, the latter of whom declared that the doctrine was a new one to him. Thurlow seems to have been induced to speak on this occasion, in order to throw discredit on his rival, Lord Loughborough, who was a friend of the Prince of Wales, and was looking for the chancellorship. Recently the lord chancellor had been silent as a statue on the subject in question, and from his conduct it appeared evident that he was waiting to see how the malady of the monarch terminated, before he decided upon what part he should take. It was more than suspected, indeed, that Thurlow had, from the commencement of his majesty's illness, been in correspondence with the prince and his friends, while at the council-table, and on the woolsack, he seemed to agree with his colleagues in office.
The report of the committee appointed to search for precedents was brought up and ordered to be printed, on the 12th of December. On this occasion Fox, aware that his doctrine was repudiated by the house, and by the nation at large, relinquished the idea of pressing the claims of the prince as a right, and only expressed his anxiety to procure for him a full enjoyment of royalty, under the appointment of the two houses. He was still ready, he said, to maintain, that while parliament had the right to determine on the incapacity, the heir-apparent, after such a determination, had the right of government, so long as that incapacity existed; but at the same time he remarked, as Pitt agreed with him that under present circumstances the prince was the person who ought to be invested with the regency, he thought it would be better to abstain from any discussion of such nice and subtle distinctions. Fox concluded, by expressing a hope that the chancellor of the exchequer would inform the house what course he meant to pursue, and by suggesting that a declaration or address should be sent to the prince from parliament, stating the fact of his majesty's present incapacity, and investing his royal highness, during that incapacity, with the full exercise of regal powers. In reply, Pitt declared that he still differed as much as ever from Fox on the question of right: the Prince of Wales, he said, had no right whatever to the regency. Upon this point they were at issue, nor would he move a step further till the question was decided. Fox pressed him to state what proposition he meant to make respecting the regency, but he declared that he would not offer any point for discussion, until the house knew whether they were sitting as judges, merely to pronounce on the king's incapacity, or as an assembly possessing a power of deliberation, and capable of exercising their own discretion—whether that which should be vested in the prince was a matter of adjudication on their part, or a trust on behalf, and in the name of his majesty. An attempt was made in the house of lords to turn Pitt aside from his purpose, by recommending that all discussions on the rights of the Prince of Wales should be avoided, but Pitt, aware that a great constitutional question was involved in the subject, still persevered in his determination. On the 16th of December, therefore, he moved three resolutions, the object of which was to declare that his majesty being-prevented by indisposition from public business, it was the right and duty of the lords, spiritual and temporal, and commons of Great Britain, to provide the means of supplying the defect of the personal exercise of the royal authority. In the debates which followed these resolutions both parties put forth their whole strength. There was a motive for this on either side. The Whigs knew, that if their adversaries triumphed, such restrictions would be laid on the power and patronage of the regent, as would render it impossible for them to carry on the administration, and would render all the business of government unprofitable and uncertain; while, on the other hand, the Tories knew that by their success they should secure the favour of the king more firmly than ever, if he should be able to resume his functions. The contest was a curious one, because parties had completely changed opinions: the Whigs, those staunch advocates for the rights of the parliament and the people, now clamoured for prerogative and the hereditary rights of princes; and the Tories, those old sticklers for prerogative and hereditary rights, now as loudly clamoured for the rights of the parliament and the people. Pitt was endeavouring to show that the assertion of the inherent rights of the Prince of Wales, was one of those exploded ideas of indefeasible right which had fallen into contempt, and Fox had to persuade the house that the primary axioms of government and the abstract rights of the people were things unworthy their notice. The propositions moved by Pitt were warmly supported by the master of the rolls, the lord advocate of Scotland, the attorney and solicitor general, and the solicitor general to the queen. They were opposed by Lord North and Fox, the latter of whom combated the arguments of his opponents with an earnestness worthy of a better cause: fighting like a man whose very existence depended on the issue of the debate. Fox himself seems to have felt that his cause was not a good one, for after replying to the arguments adduced in favour of the propositions, by Pitt and his supporters, and vindicating himself from the notion of being influenced in his opinion by the favour of the prince, he made a personal attack on the minister, accusing him with sacrificing the principles of the constitution to his lust of power. Pitt replied to this attack, and enforced his former arguments; after which a motion made by Lord North for the speaker to leave the chair, was negatived by a majority of two hundred and sixty-eight against two hundred and four, and then the resolutions passed without a division. They were reported on the 19th, when another stormy debate took place, and in the end two amendments—one moved by Mr. Powys and one by Mr. Dempster—were negatived without a division, and the two first resolutions were received. Dempster moved an amendment on the third resolution, but as the house was exhausted, the consideration of it was deferred till the 22nd of December, when it was negatived by two hundred and fifty-one against one hundred and seventy-eight. The three resolutions were now received, and ordered to be communicated to the lords at a conference, wherein the commons were to desire their lordships' concurrence in them. This conference took place on the 23rd of December, and the lords agreed to the resolutions, after two long debates and one division, in which there was a majority of ninety-nine against sixty-six. Among the lords no one more heartily concurred in these resolutions than Thurlow, who seems to have been convinced at this time that it was his interest to take a decided part with his colleagues. He had, in fact, been recently assured by Willis and others of the king's physicians, that his majesty's malady could not be of long duration, and that the king's temperate mode of living gave promise of health and long life. Thurlow also seems to have been convinced that if the king did not recover, he could place no permanent reliance on the Whigs, who were bound to prefer his rival, Loughborough. Hence, my lord chancellor had broken off all correspondence with the enemy, and when the questions involved in the three resolutions were taken into consideration, he defended them with all his might. As before stated, the resolutions were agreed to: a committee was also appointed to acquaint the commons at a conference that they concurred with them. A strong protest was entered and signed by forty-eight peers, among whom were the Dukes of York and Cumberland.
CHAPTER XVII.
{GEORGE III. 1789-1791}
The Election of Speaker..... The Question of the Regency resumed..... Recovery of his Majesty..... Adoption of a Plan for fortifying the West India Islands..... Bill for the Commemoration of the People's Rights, etc...... Shop Tax repealed, etc...... Motion respecting the Corporation and Test Acts, etc..... Slave-trade Question..... Election of Speaker..... Pitt's financial Measures..... Impeachment of Warren Hastings..... Parliament prorogued..... Continental Affairs..... State of Parties in England..... Meeting of Parliament..... Debates on the Test and Corporation Acts..... Mr. Flood's Motion for Reform in Parliament..... East India Affairs..... Pitt's financial Statement, etc...... The Slave-Trade Question..... Disputes with Spain..... Impeachment of Warren Hastings..... Parliament prorogued and dissolved..... Settlement of Disputes with Spain..... Continental Affairs..... Progress of revolutionary Principles in England..... War in India..... Meeting of Parliament.
{A.D. 1789}
ELECTION OF SPEAKER.
Mr. Cornwall, the speaker of the house, having expired on the 2nd of January, business received a temporary interruption. On the 5th of that month William Wyndham Grenville was proposed as his successor by the friends of administration, and Sir Gilbert Elliot, by the Whigs. The former was chosen by a majority of two hundred and fifteen against one hundred and forty-four.
THE QUESTION OF THE REGENCY RESUMED.
On the day that the election of speaker took place, Pitt gave notice that he should, on the morrow, lay before the house the restrictions which he considered necessary to be annexed to the regency. Hitherto Fox had complained of Pitt's tardiness in proposing a regency, but he now seemed resolved to impede the progress of the minister. He was well aware that Pitt was averse to bring the royal physicians to the bar of the house to give evidence, yet notwithstanding he resolved that they should be again there examined. On the very day that Pitt was to introduce the subject of the restrictions, therefore, urged by Fox, the member for Abingdon, Mr. Loveden, made a motion to that effect. In support of his motion, Mr. Loveden said, that before the house proceeded any further, they ought to know how the case now stood; what was the present state of his majesty's health, what the degrees of alteration it had undergone since the physicians were last examined, and whether the probability of recovery was increasing or diminishing. This was the more necessary he said, because contradictory reports were in circulation, which were said to be supported by the different royal physicians. The reports unfavourable to the king's recovery had been put forth by, or at least was imputed to Dr. Warren, whom Pitt, in reply, treated as a violent Whig and party man, whose wishes suggested his predictions. Pitt also plainly intimated that he conceived gentlemen on the opposite side, who were to form the new administration under the regency, wished the doctor's opinion to be true. This insinuation was repelled by the opposition as unjust and illiberal, but in the same breath they acted as unjustly and illiberally, by falling upon Willis, the Tory doctor, and accusing him with uttering false oracles and predictions of amendment, which were merely meant to serve the purposes of Pitt and his party. But though Pitt at first opposed this measure, he ultimately acquiesced in its course, and a new committee of the house was appointed to re-examine all the physicians. This examination, which ought to have been brief, was prolonged by the frivolous questions of opposition members, and by frequent altercations, so that the report was not brought up before the 13th of January. As the committee had not examined into the grounds of the different opinions held by the physicians, Burke moved that the report should be re-committed; but this was negatived without a division, and it was ordered that it should be printed, and be taken into consideration, in a committee of the whole house, on the 16th of the month. On that day Pitt introduced his plan of a restricted regency. On the 30th of December Pitt had, in a letter, submitted to the Prince of Wales the heads of a plan arranged by the cabinet, and though the prince, acting under the influence of his advisers, had expressed his entire disapprobation of the plan, he nevertheless consented to undertake the regency with the proposed restrictions. What these restrictions were, Pitt now explained to the house. After expressing his great satisfaction at having consented to the re-examination of the physicians, the event of which had justified his sanguine expectations of the king's recovery, he observed, that under these circumstances, what parliament had to provide for was, a deficiency in the executive government for an interval which he trusted would be brief, and against any embarrassment in the resumption of the royal authority, when his majesty should be able to resume that authority. This was all that was required, he said, for the present; but if contrary to expectations his majesty's illness should be protracted, then a more permanent plan of government might be arranged. He moved, therefore, that the Prince of Wales should be invested with the whole regal authority, subject to certain necessary limitations. These limitations were, that his authority should not extend to the creation of new peers; that he should not grant any pension or place for life, other than such place as, from its nature, must by law be held for life, or during good behaviour: that he should not have any power over the personal property of the king; and that he should have nothing to do with his majesty's person or household, which were to be left entirely to the guardianship of the queen. Pitt proposed that the queen should be assisted in the discharge of her duties by a council, which council were to have no power of control, but only that of giving advice, and satisfying themselves daily of the state of the king's health. Pitt also proposed that they, the said council, or some others, should be appointed to manage the real and personal estate of the king, being bound at the same time not to alienate or dispose or any part of it, except by lease. These propositions were warmly advocated by Pitt and others on the same side of the house, and as warmly opposed by members on the opposite benches. Mr. Powys, after condemning the whole of Pitt's plan, as tending to mutilate the constitutional authority, and after asserting that the heir-apparent ought to be invested with the full powers and prerogatives of the crown, moved an amendment to the first resolution, by which his royal highness would be appointed regent, "subject to such limitations and exceptions as might be provided." This motion was seconded by Lord North, who endeavoured to show that the bestowing of the whole power and patronage of the household upon the queen, would be setting up a party at court in opposition to the administration of the regent. Sheridan followed on the same side, and was both witty and severe upon the abstraction of the household patronage from the regency, and endeavoured to show that Pitt wanted it for himself, when he could no longer hold his present high office! Colonel Fullarton also argued against the mutilation of the executive government, and not only attacked Pitt, but the queen herself. Pitt's resolutions, however, were ably defended by the new speaker, Grenville, and on a division the amendment moved by Powys was lost by a majority of two hundred and twenty-seven against one hundred and fifty-four. All the resolutions were now carried except the last, and this, which referred to the care of the king's person and household, was debated on the 19th of January, with, if possible, increased animosity. Two amendments were moved—one by Lord North and the other by Mr. Bouverie—but both were negatived by considerable majorities, and on the 22nd the resolutions were taken into consideration by the lords. The contest in the lords was even more obstinate than it had been in the commons, but an amendment, moved by Lord Sandwich, for limiting the time during which the regent should be restrained from creating peers, and another moved by Viscount Stormont, on the restriction placed upon the regent in regard to the granting of places, were negatived, and then all opposition ceased. A protest was signed by fifty-seven peers, among whom the Dukes of York and Cumberland were again numbered. But the storm was not yet over. Both the prince and his friends were irritated in the highest degree by the restrictions which Pitt imposed upon the regency; and though the former had privately expressed his acceptation of, or submission to the limitations, yet the latter were still resolutely bent upon opposing the premier. On the 27th of January, after recapitulating all the steps which had been taken, Pitt suggested that it would be respectful to the Prince of Wales, and expedient in the order of their proceedings, to know parliamentarily, whether he was willing to accept the regency upon the terms imposed by that house. Pitt moved that a committee should be appointed to wait upon his royal highness for that purpose, with the resolutions to which both lords and commons had agreed. On this occasion, the minister was accused by Mr. Gray and Burke, with treating the prince with marked disrespect; and the latter likewise taxed him with the design of converting the monarchy into a republic, with a regent, annually elected, nominally at its head. Against the regency bill he burst into a paroxysm of rage. He exclaimed, "It is a mere mummery, a piece of masquerade buffoonery, formed to burlesque every species of government. A hideous spectre, to which, with Macbeth, we may exclaim,—
'Avaunt and quit my sight! Let the earth hide thee. Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold: Thou hast no speculation in those eyes That thou dost glare withal.'
"So it is with this ministerial, political spectre. 'Its bones are marrowless, its blood is cold, and it has no speculation in its eyes.' I reprobate it as a chimera, a monster summoned up from the depth of hell!" But all the arguments, and accusations, and rage of the opposition proved fruitless: Pitt's motion was carried without a division, and ordered to be sent up to the lords for their concurrence. Pitt also moved for a similar committee to wait upon the queen, in order to ascertain whether her majesty would undertake the care of his majesty's person, and the management and control of the household; and this likewise was carried nem. con., and ordered to be carried to the lords. The motion for the concurrence of their lordships to these resolutions was made by Lord Camden; and this being voted, committees were forthwith appointed for the purposes therein specified. One of the joint committees of lords and commons waited upon the Prince of Wales, at Carlton-house, on the 30th of January, the anniversary of the execution of Charles I., a day on which parliament never met for the despatch of business, but which was not considered too sacred for the execution of such an important commission. The reply of the prince was brief, and to the point. He thanked the lords and gentlemen for the communication of the resolutions agreed upon, and requested them to assure their respective houses, that his duty to the king, his father, and his concern for the safety and interests of the people, together with his respect for the united desires of the two houses, outweighed in his mind every other consideration, and determined him upon undertaking the weighty and important trust proposed to him. At the same time, while he accepted this trust, his royal highness took care to record what his opinions were respecting the restrictions imposed upon his regency. He remarked:—"I am sensible of the difficulties that must attend the execution of this trust, in the peculiar circumstances in which it is committed to my charge, of which, as I am acquainted with no former example, my hopes of a successful administration cannot be founded on any past experience. But confiding that the limitations on the exercise of the royal authority, deemed necessary for the present, have been approved by the two houses only as a temporary measure, founded on the loyal hope, in which I ardently anticipate, that his majesty's disorder may not be of long duration; and trusting, in the meanwhile, that I shall receive a zealous and united support in the two houses and in the nation, proportioned to the difficulty attending the discharge of my trust; in the interval, I will entertain the pleasing hope that my faithful endeavours to preserve the interests of the king, his crown, and people, may be successful." On the same day, a joint committee of lords and commons waited upon the queen at Kew Palace, and were assured by her majesty, that out of her duty and gratitude to the king, and from a sense of the great obligations she owed to this country, she would accept of the trust proposed to her by parliament, together with the council to aid her in the discharge of an office with which was connected, not only her own happiness, but also the happiness of a great, loyal, and affectionate people. The answers received from the Prince of Wales and the queen were read in the house of lords on the 31st; and after they were ordered to be printed, Lord Camden moved, in a committee of the house on the state of the nation, that letters patent should be issued, under the great seal, empowering certain commissioners to open and hold the king's parliament at Westminister. Among the commissioners proposed by ministers were the names of the Prince of Wales, his brother, the Duke of York, and his uncles, the Dukes of Cumberland and Gloucester. The duke of York, however, whose views entirely coincided with those of opposition, rose and said, that from want of knowledge, he had been unable to take any steps to prevent his nomination; and that, as he could not sanction such unconstitutional and illegal proceedings with his name, he desired that it might be omitted: he added, "and I am requested to make the same request on the part of my brother, the Prince of Wales." The Duke of Cumberland, also, on the same grounds, desired that his own name, and the name of his brother, the Duke of Gloucester, should be struck out of the commission. A debate took place on the proper mode of withdrawing the names of these four personages, so as to convey no disrespect either to the house or to their royal highnesses; but it was finally settled that the names should still stand on the transcript, and that when the resolution was reported to the house, an amendment should be moved, to make it appear on the journals, that it was at the express desire of the several princes that their names were omitted. Camden's motion was now passed without a division; and the resolution being communicated to the commons, at a conference on the 2nd of February, Pitt moved the concurrence of the house therein. Another stormy debate took place, in which Lord North and Burke strongly insisted on the right of the Prince of Wales to the regency, and in which Pitt as strongly denied that right; but no division took place, and the resolution of the lords was therefore carried. The session was now opened on the 3rd of February, and the bill founded on the propositions already agreed upon was brought in, and by the 13th of February passed the house. Every article of it was warmly contested on the same grounds as when the resolutions were discussed, and some amendments and variations were introduced; the peerage clause, in particular, being limited to three years. Thus altered, the bill was sent up to the lords; and on the 17th, their lordships, in committee, made two important additions to it: one placing all the palaces, parks, houses, gardens, &c, under the control and management of the queen; and the other committing to her the care of all the royal offspring under the age of twenty-one. |
|
