Chapter VII (3)

The month of January and the beginning of February were distinguished, the first day by a very remarkable Aurora Borealis appearing at night to the north-east, of a deep and dusky red colour, like the reflection of some great fire, for which it was by many people mistaken; and the coruscations, unlike those that are generally observed, did not meet in the zenith, but in a point some degrees to the southward. February was ushered in by terrible peals of thunder, flashes of lightning, and such a tempest of wind, hail, and rain, as overwhelmed with fear and consternation the inhabitants of Bristol, where it chiefly raged. On the eighth day of the same month, between twelve and one in the afternoon, the people of London were still more dreadfully alarmed by the shock of an earthquake, which shook all the houses with such violence, that the furniture rocked on the floors, the pewter and porcelain rattled on the shelves, the chamber-bells rang, and the whole of this commotion was attended by a clap of noise resembling that produced by the fall of some heavy piece of furniture. The shock extended through the cities of London and Westminster, and was felt on both sides of the river Thames, from Greenwich to the westward of London; but not perceptible at a considerable distance. On the very same day of the next month, between five and six o’clock in the morning, the inhabitants of the metropolis were again affrighted by a second shock, more violent than the first, and abundantly more alarming, as it waked the greater part of the people from their repose. It was preceded by a succession of thick low flashes of lightning, and a rumbling noise, like that of a heavy carriage rolling over a hollow pavement. The shock itself consisted of repeated vibrations, which lasted some seconds, and violently shook every house from top to bottom. Again the chairs rocked, the shelves clattered, the small bells rang, and in some places public clocks were heard to strike. Many persons, roused by this terrible visitation, started naked from their beds, and ran to their doors and windows in distraction; yet no life was lost, and no house overthrown by this concussion, though it was so dreadful as to threaten an immediate dissolution of the globe. The circumstance, however, did not fail to make a deep impression upon ignorant, weak, and superstitious minds, which were the more affected by the consideration that the two shocks were periodical; that the second, which happened exactly one month after the first, had been the more violent; and that the next, increasing in proportion, might be attended with the most dismal consequences. This general notion was confirmed, and indeed propagated, among all ranks of people, by the admonitions of a fanatic soldier, who publicly preached up repentance, and boldly prophesied that the next shock would happen on the same day of April, and totally destroy the cities of London and Westminster. Considering the infectious nature of fear and superstition, and the emphatic manner in which the imagination had been prepared and prepossessed, it was no wonder that the prediction of this illiterate enthusiast should have contributed, in a great measure, to augment the general terror. The churches were crowded with penitent sinners; the sons of riot and profligacy were overawed into sobriety and decorum. The streets no longer resounded with execrations, or the noise of brutal licentiousness; and the iand of charity was liberally opened. Those whom fortune had enabled to retire from the devoted city, fled to the country with hurry and precipitation, insomuch that the highways were encumbered with horses and carriages. Many who had in the beginning combated these groundless fears with the weapons of reason and ridicule, began insensibly to imbibe the contagion, and felt their hearts fail in proportion as the hour of probation approached; even science and philosophy were not proof against the unaccountable effects of this communication. In after ages it will hardly be believed, that on the evening of the eighth day of April, the open fields that skirt the metropolis were filled with an incredible number of people assembled in chairs, in chaises, and coaches, as well as on foot, who waited in the most fearful suspense until morning, and the return of day disproved the truth of the dreaded prophecy. Then their fears vanished; they returned to their respective habitations in a transport of joy; and were soon reconciled to their abandoned vices, which they seemed to resume with redoubled affection, and once more bade defiance to the vengeance of heaven.

PESTILENTIAL FEVER AT THE SESSION IN THE OLD BAILEY.

By this time all the gaols in England were filled with the refuse of the army and navy, which having been dismissed at the peace, and either averse to labour or excluded from employment, had naturally preyed upon the commonwealth. Great numbers of those wretches who, by proper regulations, might have been rendered serviceable to the community, were executed as examples; and the rest perished miserably, amidst the stench and horrors of noisome dungeons. Even the prison of Newgate was rendered so infectious by the uncommon crowds of confined felons stowed together in close apartments, that the very air they breathed acquired a pestilential degree of putrefaction. It was this putrefied air, which, adhering to the clothes of the malefactors brought to trial at the bar of the Old Bailey, in May, produced among the audience a pestilential fever, which infected and proved fatal to the lord mayor of London, to one alderman, two of the judges, divers lawyers who attended the session, the greatest part of the jury, and a considerable number of the spectators. In order to prevent such disasters for the future, the gaols were cleansed, and accommodated with ventilators, which exhaust the foul and supply a circulation of fresh air; and other humane precautions were taken for the benefit of the prisoners.

DISPUTES BETWEEN RUSSIA AND SWEDEN.

The affairs of the continent underwent no remarkable alteration. An ambassador-extraordinary being sent to Petersburgh from the court of London, declared to the czarina’s minister, that, in case of a rupture between Russia and Sweden, occasioned by the hostilities committed by the former power, his Britannic majesty would consider Russia as the aggressor, and the czarina could not expect that he would supply her with the succours which he was engaged by treaty to furnish for her defence, in case she should be attacked. A declaration of the same nature was made by the ambassador of her Imperial majesty the queen of Hungary, while the ministers of France and Prussia, who were in strict alliance with Sweden, gave her to understand that they would punctually fulfil their engagements with the court of Stockholm, should she actually invade the Swedish territories of Finland. The spirit with which the king of Prussia exerted himself on this occasion, gave infinite umbrage to the czarina, who, indeed, expressed her resentment, by treating the minister of Brandenburgh with contemptuous neglect, and even refused to favour him with an audience till he should be vested with the character of ambassador. Thus were sewn the seeds of misunderstanding between those two powers, which, in the sequel, grew up to the most bitter animosity, and served to inflame those dissensions which have desolated the fairest provinces of Germany. The remonstrance of his Prussian majesty, with respect to the troubles of the North, was couched in such terms as gave dissatisfaction to the court of Petersburgh. The Russian minister retired from Berlin without the ceremony of taking leave, and the Prussian ambassador Warendorf was recalled from the court of the czarina.

PLAN FOR ELECTING THE ARCHDUKE JOSEPH KING OF THE ROMANS.

The attention of his Britannic majesty was not wholly engrossed by the disputes between Russia and Sweden. He had another object in view, which more nearly concerned the interests of his German dominions; and had set on foot two negotiations of the utmost importance to the commerce and advantage of Great Britain. His first and principal aim was, in conjunction with the court of Vienna, to take such measures as would secure the succession of the Imperial dignity to the archduke Joseph, eldest son and heir to the reigning emperor. As the previous step to that elevation, it was proposed to elect this young prince king of the Romans; and for this purpose it was necessary to procure a majority not only of the electors, but also in the diet of the empire, through which the proposal must have passed. No stone was left unturned to reconcile this expedient to the German princes. Subsidies were offered by the maritime powers of England and the states-general to the electors of Mentz and Cologn; and a treaty of the same nature was concluded with the elector of Bavaria, who, in consideration of an annual subsidy, amounting to forty thousand pounds sterling, two-thirds to be paid by Britain, and the rest by the states-general, engaged to keep in readiness a body of six thousand infantry, as auxiliaries to the maritime powers, though not to act against the emperor or empire; and to join the interest of his Britannic majesty in the diet, as well as in the electoral college. In order to render the king of Poland, elector of Saxony, propitious to this design, he was accommodated with the loan of a very considerable sum, upon the mortgage of certain bailiwicks and lordships belonging to the Saxon dominions. Thus a majority of the electors was secured, and such foundations were laid for the success of this project, that it was generally believed it would be accomplished in his Britannic majesty’s next visit to his German dominions. Hopes, it was said, were given to the king of Sweden, that his concurrence would be gratified by erecting the house of Hesse-Cassel, of which he was head, into a tenth electorate. Arguments of an interesting nature were used with the king of Prussia, and the elector-palatine, that if possible, the diet might unanimously approve of this measure, so necessary for establishing the peace of the empire, and preventing such troubles as arose from a disputed succession at the death of Charles the Sixth. These endeavours, however, did not succeed in their full extent. The king of Prussia, as elector of Brandenburgh, opposed the election as unnecessary and improper, on account of the health and vigour of the reigning emperor, and the tender years of the archduke. This monarch had set himself up as a balance to the power of the house of Austria, which had long aspired to absolute dominion over its co-estates, and endeavoured to establish an hereditary right of succession to the empire; he therefore employed all his influence to frustrate the measure proposed, either actuated by a spirit of pure patriotism, or inspired with designs which he had not yet thought proper to declare. The opposition was joined by the elector-palatine, and countenanced by the French king; who protested, that, for the sake of peace, he would not oppose this election, though contrary to the Golden Bull, provided it should be confirmed by the unanimous consent of the electoral college; but should any one member signify his dissent, and he or any state of the empire claim the protection and assistance of his most christian majesty, he could not dispense with granting both, in consequence of his being guarantee of the treaty of Westphalia; an engagement by which he was obliged to succour those princes and states of the empire who might have recourse to him, in case of any grievance they suffered contrary to what was stipulated in that constitution. This declaration co-operating with the known character of his Prussian majesty, whose great army over-awed Hanover and Bohemia, in all probability damped that vigour with which the courts of Vienna and Herenhausen had hitherto prosecuted this important negotiation.

DISPUTES WITH THE FRENCH ABOUT THE LIMITS OF NOVA SCOTIA.

The second object that employed the attention of the British ministry, was the establishment of the precise limits of Acadia, or Nova Scotia, where the new colony had suffered great mischief and interruption from the incursions of the Indians, excited to these outrages by the subjects and emissaries of France. Commissaries had been appointed, by both crowns, to meet at Paris and compromise these disputes: but the conferences were rendered abortive by every art of cavilling, chicanery, and procrastination, which the French commissioners opposed to the justice and perspicuity of the English claims. They not only misinterpreted treaties, though expressed with the utmost precision, and perplexed the conferences with difficulties and matter foreign to the subject, but they carried the finesse of perfidy so far as to produce false charts and maps of the country, in which the rivers and boundaries were misplaced and misrepresented. At this time also the insincerity of the French court appeared in affected delays and artful objections, with respect to the evacuation of the neutral islands in the West Indies; and the governors of the British plantations, in different parts of North America, transmitted intelligence that the French had begun to make encroachments on the back of the English colonies.

TREATY WITH SPAIN.

Perhaps the precarious footing on which the peace stood between Great Britain and France at this juncture, and the critical situation of affairs in Germany, determined the ministry of England to compromise all differences with Spain, upon such terms as at any other time they would hardly have embraced. In order to discuss those points between the two nations, which had not been settled by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, conferences were also begun at Madrid, and carried on by Mr. Keene, plenipotentiary to his Britannic majesty, and don Joseph de Carvajal and Lancastro, the Spanish king’s minister. At length a treaty was concluded on these conditions--the king of Spain engaged to pay, in three months, to the South-sea company of England, one hundred thousand pounds sterling, as an indemnification for all claims upon his crown, by virtue of the assiento. In other respects, the trade and navigation of the English to the ports of Spain were regulated by former treaties. It was stipulated, that they should pay no other duties than those that were exacted of them in the reign of Charles II. of Spain; that they should be treated on the footing of the most favoured nations; and continue to enjoy the privilege of taking salt at the island of Tortuga. But there was no article restricting the Spanish guarda costas from searching the British vessels on the high seas; although, as we have already observed, this insolent prerogative, assumed without right, and exercised without humanity, was in effect the original and sole cause of the late rupture, which had been attended with such enormous expense to the nation. It must be owned, however, that his catholic majesty was at this period extremely well disposed to live upon good terms with Great Britain. He was resolved to indulge his people with the blessings of peace, to propagate a spirit of industry throughout his dominions, and in particular to encourage commerce, which he foresaw would prove a much more certain and inexhaustible source of wealth, power, and influence, than all the treasures he could drain from the mines of Mexico and Peru. His resolutions on this interesting subject were chiefly directed by don Ricardo Wall, who now acted as his minister at London; a gentleman of Irish extract, who had distinguished himself in the field as well as in the cabinet, and possessed the joint qualifications of a general and a statesman. He had, by virtue of a passport, come over privately to England before the peace, in order to pave the way for the treaty, by a secret negotiation with the English ministers; but immediately after the peace was proclaimed, he appeared in the character of ambassador. He was possessed of the most insinuating address, shrewd, penetrating, and inquisitive. While he resided in London, he spared no pains in learning the nature of those manufactures, and that commerce, by which Great Britain had been so remarkably aggrandized; and on his return to Spain, where in a little time he was placed at the helm of affairs, he turned the knowledge he had thus acquired to the advantage of his country. He not only promoted the useful arts, within the kingdom of Spain, but demonstrated the infinite advantage that would accrue from an active trade, which the Spaniards had for many-ages neglected; and in a few years their ships were seen to swarm in all the commercial ports of Europe. Of other foreign events which distinguished this summer, the most remarkable was the death of John, king of Portugal, who perfectly understood, and steadily pursued, the true interests of his country, and in whom many princely qualities were debased by a cruel spirit of bigotry and superstition. He was succeeded by his eldest son Joseph, who, if he has fallen short of his father in some respects, cannot be justly charged with having inherited this paternal weakness.

SESSION OPENED.

The king of Great Britain having returned to England, opened the session of parliament in January with a speech, importing, that he had concluded a treaty with the king of Spain, and amicably adjusted such differences as could not be so properly compromised in a general treaty; that the commerce of this nation with that country was re-established upon the most advantageous and sure foundations; and that there was the greatest reason to hope the ancient friendship between Great Britain and Spain would, from mutual inclination as well as interest, be now effectually restored. He told them, that in conjunction with the empress-queen and the states-general, he had concluded a treaty with the elector of Bavaria; and was employed in taking such further measures as might best tend to strengthen and secure the tranquillity of the empire, support its system, and timely anticipate such events as had been found by experience to endanger the common cause, involve Europe in the calamities of war, and occasion the loss of much blood and treasure to these kingdoms. He promised that both these treaties should be subjected to their perusal; he gave them to understand that he had received from all the other contracting powers in the definitive treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, the most full and clear declarations of their resolution to preserve the general peace; and that he had taken care to consolidate the ties of union and friendship between him and his allies, the better to secure their mutual interests, maintain the peace already subsisting, and prevent the occasion of any future rupture. Finally, he recommended unanimity, the improvement of commerce, and the effectual suppression of such outrages and violences as are inconsistent with good order and government, and endanger the lives and properties of the subject, whose happiness and flourishing condition he had entirely at heart.

When the motion was made for an address of thanks, couched in terms that savoured of the most implicit complaisance, approbation, and acquiescence in the measures which the crown had taken, the earl of Egmont, and some other anti-courtiers, affirmed, that such an address would be equally servile and absurd. They observed, that nothing could be more preposterous than a blind approbation of measures which they did not know; that nothing could be more ridiculous than their congratulations on the present happy tranquillity, when almost every day’s newspapers informed them of some British ships being seized by the Spaniards, or some new attack made by the French on our infant colony of Nova Scotia. With respect to the continent of Europe, they affirmed, that the tranquillity of Germany would have been upon a much more solid foundation, had England never interposed in the affairs of the empire: in that case the princes would of themselves have supported the constitution of their own country; that the election of an infant for the king of the Romans was much more likely to disturb than establish the tranquillity of Europe; because it would help to overturn the constitution of the empire, by rendering the imperial dignity hereditary in one house, instead of being the result of a free election. They took notice that the constitution had provided vicars to govern the empire during the vacancy of the imperial throne; but had made no provision of regents, protectors, or guardians, for a minor emperor, because it was never supposed that a minor would be chosen. They inveighed against the late treaty with Spain; in which, they said, the ministry, for the paltry sum of one hundred thousand pounds, had given up the claims of the South-Sea company, and other British merchants, who had suffered from depredations to the amount of one million three hundred thousand pounds; and bartered away the freedom of our trade and navigation, by leaving untouched that prerogative which the Spaniards had assumed, of searching the British ships in the open seas, and confiscating them should they find on board the least particle of what they called contraband merchandise. They produced an instance of an English ship, lately driven by stress of weather into one of the ports of the Spanish West Indies, where she was searched, seized and condemned, under this pretence. They recapitulated the conduct of the French, who, in the midst of their declarations of peace and moderation, were still employed in fortifying their settlements on the neutral islands, as well as in harassing and encroaching upon our plantations in North America. They exclaimed against the treaty of subsidy with the elector of Bavaria, or any other prince in time of peace; observing, that for some years the nation had paid such pensions to the Danes and the Hessians; but, in the course of the late war, the former abandoned our interests, and the latter actually took arms against Great Britain. They affirmed that the subsidy was greater than the nation could spare; for, unless the land-tax should be continued at four shillings in the pound, they could not afford a shilling to any prince in Germany, without encroaching upon the sinking fund. “At such a juncture,” said a certain member, “will any gentleman presume to propose the continuation of such an imposition on the land-holder, for the sake of bribing the princes of Germany to do what?--to preserve the freedom and independency of their native country. I say, princes of Germany, because this subsidy to Bavaria will signify nothing unless we take half a score more of them into our pay; and when we have thus indulged them for seven years of peace, they may give us the slip, as others have done, whenever another war should be declared.” Against these objections the motion was supported by Mr. William Pitt, at this time an advocate for the ministry. He observed, that the address was no more than the usual compliment to the throne, which did not imply an obligation on the parliament to approve of measures which they might find cause to censure upon further inquiry. He said, the trivial disputes still subsisting between this nation and the Spaniards, or French, would soon be terminated amicably, and could never affect the general tranquillity of Europe, which was to be established upon a firm alliance between his majesty and such a confederacy upon the continent, as would be an over-match for the house of Bourbon. He expatiated upon his majesty’s wisdom in taking off from the French interest such a powerful prince as the elector of Bavaria, and concerting other salutary measures for preserving the balance of power on the continent. He defended the articles of the late treaty with Spain; observing, that what remained of the assiento contract was a matter of very little consequence to the South-Sea company; that the demands of this company, and other British merchants, were all cancelled by the rupture with Spain, and more than recompensed to the nation by a great balance of captures during the war, as well as by the great traffic carried on with the Spanish settlements in the West Indies, after it had been laid open by the demolition of their fortresses. He asserted, that by this treaty the court of Spain had made many important concessions; they had condescended to pay a great sum to the South-Sea company; they had consented to the re-establishment of the British trade in Spain, upon a very advantageous and solid footing, by agreeing that the subjects of Great Britain should pay no other duties on merchandize than those exacted of his catholic majesty’s own subjects, and to abolish all innovations that had been introduced into the commerce. He affirmed, that the article of No Search was a stipulation which it would have been ridiculous to insist upon; and thought proper to obviate a reproach which he foresaw the opposition would throw upon him, from the circumstance of his having, upon a former occasion, heartily concurred in a motion for an address, that no treaty of peace with Spain should be admitted, unless such a stipulation should be first obtained as a preliminary. He owned he had strenuously contended for such a motion, because at that time, being very young and sanguine, he thought it right and reasonable; but he was now ten years older, had considered matters more coolly, and was convinced that the privilege of No Search, with respect to British vessels sailing near the American shore, would never be obtained, unless Spain should be brought so low as to acquiesce in any terms we as victors might propose. He likewise signified his conviction, that all addresses from the house of commons, during the course of a war, for prescribing terms of peace, were in themselves ridiculous; and that every such address was an encroachment on the king’s prerogative, which had always been attended with unlucky consequences. How far these arguments are satisfactory, conclusive, and consistent, we shall leave to the reader’s determination. Certain it is, they were adopted by the majority, and the address was presented without further opposition.

The two grand committees appointed to discuss the supplies for the ensuing year, and the funds upon which they were to be raised, proceeded, as usual, under the direction of the ministry; yet not without some vehement opposition, in which certain servants of the crown expressed the most hearty concurrence. When a motion was made for reducing the number of seamen to eight thousand, Mr. W. Pitt, Mr. Lyttelton, and Mr. G. Grenville, opposed it with all their might of argument and elocution; but they were overruled. Annual debates were also revived, with the same success, upon the number of troops constituting the standing army; but the other resolutions of the grand committees met with little or no opposition. The number of seamen for the ensuing year was limited to eight thousand; and that of the standing forces continued at eighteen thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven effective men, including one thousand eight hundred and fifteen invalids. The commons granted a considerable sum of money for paying off the principal of such redeemable stocks as had not been subscribed, in pursuance of two acts passed in the last session for reducing the interest of annuities. Thirty thousand pounds were given for fulfilling the king’s engagement with the elector of Bavaria; large grants were made for supplying deficiencies, and replacing sums borrowed from the sinking fund. The expense incurred by the new colony of Nova Scotia, not provided for by parliament, exceeded fifty-seven thousand pounds; and the maintenance of it for the ensuing year was fixed at fifty-three thousand nine hundred and twenty-seven pounds, fourteen shillings and fourpence. An enormous charge! if we consider to how little purpose all this bounty was bestowed. A fund was established under the sanction of parliament, for the relief and maintenance of the widows of sea officers, by allowing, upon the books of every ship of war in sea pay, the wages and victuals of one man for every hundred of which the compliment shall consist, for such time only as the number of men employed in the service of the royal navy shall not exceed twenty thousand. This was an additional indulgence, over and above the allowance of one man granted by a former act of parliament. On the whole, the provisions of this year amounted to five millions one hundred and twenty-five thousand and twenty-three pounds, eleven shillings and sevenpence, to be raised by the usual duties; the sum of one million twenty-six thousand four hundred and seventy-six pounds, four shillings and sixpence, advanced by the bank of England to pay off their own unsubscribed annuities, for which they accepted exchequer bills at three per cent, interest; by the land-tax at three shillings in the pound; a lottery and annuities, at the rate of three per cent, per annum, to be charged on the sinking-fund redeemable by parliament. The annual measure called the mutiny bill, was not passed without dispute and altercation; some alterations were proposed, but not adopted; and the sentences of court-martials still subjected to one revision.

{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}

DEATH AND CHARACTER OF THE PRINCE OF WALES.

In the midst of these deliberations, the kingdom was alarmed with an event which overwhelmed the people with grief and consternation. His royal highness the prince of Wales, in consequence of a cold caught in his garden at Kew, was seized with a pleuritic disorder; and, after a short illness, expired on the twentieth day of March, to the unspeakable affliction of his royal consort, and the unfeigned sorrow of all who wished well to their country. This excellent prince, who now died in the forty-fifth year of his age, was possessed of every amiable quality which could engage the affection of the people; a tender and obliging husband, a fond parent, a kind master; liberal, generous, candid, and humane; a munificent patron of the arts, an unwearied friend to merit; well disposed to assert the rights of mankind in general, and warmly attached to the interest of Great Britain. The nation could not but be afflicted at seeing a prince of such expectations ravished from their hopes; and their grief was the better founded, as the king had already attained to an advanced age, and the heir-apparent, George, now prince of Wales, was a minor.

SETTLEMENT OF A REGENCY IN CASE OF A MINOR SOVEREIGN.

His majesty, foreseeing all the inconveniencies which might arise from a minority, deliberated with his council on this subject, and resolved to obtain a parliamentary sanction for the measures judged necessary to secure the succession. With this view he sent a message to both houses on the twenty-sixth day of April, importing, that nothing could conduce so much to the preservation of the protestant succession in his royal family, as proper provisions for the tuition of the person of his successor, and for the regular administration of the government, in case the successor should be of tender years; his majesty therefore earnestly recommended this weighty affair to the deliberation of parliament; and proposed, that when the imperial crown of these realms should descend to any of the late prince’s sons, being under the age of eighteen years, his mother, the princess dowager of Wales, should be guardian of his person, and regent of these kingdoms, until he should attain the age of majority, with such powers and limitations as should appear necessary and expedient for these purposes. This message produced a very affectionate address, promising to take the affair into their serious consideration; and in the beginning of May the duke of Newcastle presented to the house of peers a bill to provide for the administration of government, in case the crown should descend to a minor. The bill was read a second time, and committed, when a second message arrived from his majesty, recommending to their consideration the settlement of such a council of regency as the bill proposed, consisting of his royal highness the duke of Cumberland, who at that time commanded the army, the archbishop of Canterbury, the lord chancellor, the lord high treasurer, or first lord commissioner of the treasury, the president of the council, the lord privy-seal, the lord high-admiral of Great Britain, or first commissioner of the admiralty, the two principal secretaries of state, and the lord chief justice of the king’s-bench; all these great officers, except his royal highness the duke, for the time being. This bill did not pass through the lower house without violent debate and bitter sarcasms. The council of regency, though espoused by all the ministry, including the paymaster-general, met with fierce opposition, as an unnecessary and fatal restriction that would impede the machine of government, and, as the council was constituted, might be productive of the most pernicious consequence. Some of the members ventured even to insinuate the danger of leaving at the head of a large standing army, a prince of the blood vested with a share of the regency, possessed of great personal influence, the darling of the soldiery, brave, popular, and enterprising; supposed not devoid of ambition, and not at all remarkable for any symptoms of extraordinary affection towards the person of the heir-apparent. The history of England was ransacked for invidious instances of royal uncles and regents who had injured the sovereigns, and distressed the government, by their pride, cruelty, and ambition. The characters of John Lackland, and John of Gaunt, Humphrey and Richard dukes of Gloucester, were called in review, canvassed, compared, and quoted, with some odious applications; but the majority being convinced of the loyalty, virtue, integrity, and great abilities of his royal highness, to whom the nation owed obligations of the most important nature, passed the bill with a few amendments, in which the lords acquiesced; and in a little time it received the royal sanction.

GENERAL NATURALIZATION BILL.

The death of the prince of Wales was fatal to a bill which had been brought into the house of commons, for naturalizing all foreign protestants who should settle within the dominions of Great Britain. Political arithmeticians have generally taken it for granted, that to every commercial nation an increase of people is an increase of opulence; and this maxim is certainly true, on the supposition that every individual is industrious, and that there is a sufficient field for employment; but all these general maxims ought to be received under certain qualifications. When all branches of manufacture are overstocked, an addition of workmen will doubtless be an additional incumbrance on the community. In the debates which this bill produced, the members of the ministry were divided among themselves. The measure was enforced by the chancellor of the exchequer, Mr. W. Pitt, and Mr. Lyttelton; and in opposing it the earl of Egmont was joined by Mr. Fox, secretary at war. Petitions and counter-petitions were presented by the merchants of London, Bristol, and other trading towns of the kingdom. All merchants and traders of foreign extraction exerted themselves vigorously in its behalf, and it was without doubt countenanced by the administration; but the project was odious to the people in general. The lord mayor, aldermen, and commons of London, in common-council assembled, composed a remonstrance to the lower house, setting forth the danger and inutility of a general naturalization of foreign protestants. A petition of the merchants and principal inhabitants of Bristol represented that such a law would be prejudicial to the trade and commerce of this kingdom, by preventing many industrious artificers from procuring a sufficient support for themselves and their families, and of consequence increasing the rates of the poor; that the introduction of such a number of foreigners, instead of being a support to the present happy establishment, might endanger the very basis of our constitution; that it would greatly tend to the diminution of our manufactures, as many strangers would doubtless come and reside in England for a time, in order to learn the methods and management of our manufacturers and artificers; and, after having obtained this instruction, return to their native countries, where they would establish and carry on works of the same nature. The twentieth day of March being appointed for the third reading of the bill, it was postponed in consequence of the unfortunate death of the prince of Wales; and other petitions from different cities of the kingdom being mustered against it in the sequel, the ministry did not think proper to persist in any unpopular measure at such a delicate conjuncture; so the bill was no more brought upon the carpet. Divers other regulations, relating to civil policy as well as to the commerce of Great Britain, were propounded in the house of commons; but these proposals proved abortive, either because they appeared crude and indigested in themselves, or the house could not obtain proper information touching the allegations they contained.

CENSURE PASSED UPON A PAPER ENTITLED “CONSTITUTIONAL QUERIES.”

There were no other transactions in this session, except the concurrence of both houses in stigmatizing a printed paper, entitled “Constitutional Queries, earnestly recommended to the serious consideration of every true Briton;” and the steps taken by the commons, in consequence of the commotions occasioned by the Westminster election. The above-mentioned paper, which had been conveyed by letter to the majority of both houses, was communicated to the lords in the month of January by the duke of Marlborough, who moved for resolutions against it as a seditious libel, and that the concurrence of the commons might be desired. A conference accordingly ensued, and both houses concurred in voting the paper a false, malicious, scandalous, infamous, and seditious libel; containing the most false, audacious, and abominable calumnies and indignities upon his majesty; and the most presumptuous and wicked insinuations that our laws, liberties, and properties, and the excellent constitution of this kingdom, were in danger under his majesty’s legal, mild, and gracious government; with intent to instil groundless suspicions and jealousies into the minds of his majesty’s good subjects, and to alienate their affections from his majesty and the royal family. It was therefore resolved by the lords spiritual and temporal, and commons in parliament assembled, that, in abhorrence and detestation of such abominable and seditious practices, the paper should be burnt by the hands of the common hangman in the new Palace-yard of Westminster; and this sentence was executed accordingly. Then they presented an address to his majesty, desiring that the most effectual means might be taken for discovering the author, printer, or publisher, that he or they might be brought to condign punishment. Directions were given for this purpose; but without effect. Those concerned in writing, printing, and circulating the paper, had acted with such caution that not one of them was ever discovered.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMONS ON THE WESTMINSTER ELECTION.

The proceedings of the commons with respect to the election of a burgess for Westminster were attended with some extraordinary circumstances, which we shall now record for the edification of those who pique themselves on the privileges of a British subject. We have already observed, that a majority appearing on the poll for lord Trentham, the adherents of the other candidate, sir George Vandeput, demanded a scrutiny, which was granted by the high bailiff of Westminster, the returning officer. During this tedious investigation, which rolled chiefly on the qualifications of voters, he acted with such address and seeming candour as gave entire satisfaction to both parties, till at length he determined in favour of lord Trentham, whom he returned as duly elected. Those who styled themselves the independent electors did not acquiesce in this determination without clamour, reproach, menaces, and riot. They taxed Mr. Leigh, the high-bailiff, with partiality and injustice; they loudly affirmed that ministerial influence had been used in the most scandalous manner; and, finally, joined sir George Vandeput in a petition to the lower house, complaining of an undue election and return of a member for the city of Westminster. The commons, instead of inquiring into the merits of these petitions, ordered them to lie upon the table; and, without any complaint from any person whatever, a motion was made that Leigh, the high-bailiff, should attend the house immediately, in order to make them acquainted with what he had done in pursuance of the directions he had formerly received from that house, touching the execution of the writ for electing a new member to represent the city of Westminster. As this motion had been preconcerted, Leigh was attending in the lobby, and immediately called into the house to be examined on this subject. Having, in the course of his examination, alleged that the election had been protracted by affected delays, he was asked by whom, and by what means; but, before he could answer, the earl of Egmont, interposing, objected to the question as improper, and moved for the order of the day. A debate immediately ensued, in which the impropriety of the question was demonstrated by Mr. Henley, now lord-keeper, Dr. Lee, and some others, the most sensible and moderate members of the house; but they were opposed with great violence by lord viscount Corke, Henry Fox, esquire, sir William Young, colonel Lyttelton, and the weight of the ministry; so that the motion for the order of the day was carried in the negative, and the high-bailiff required to answer the question. Thus interrogated, he declared that he had been impeded in the scrutiny, and maltreated, by Mr. Crowle, who had acted as counsel for sir George Vandeput, by the honourable Alexander Murray, brother to lord Elibank, and one Gibson, an upholsterer, who had been very active, zealous, and turbulent in his endeavours to promote the interest of sir George Vandeput, or rather to thwart the pretensions of the other candidate, who was supposed to be countenanced by the ministry. These three persons, thus accused, were brought to the bar of the house, notwithstanding the strenuous remonstrances of several members, who opposed this method of proceeding, as a species of oppression equally arbitrary and absurd. They observed, that, as no complaint had been preferred, they had no right to take cognizance of the affair; that if any undue influence had been used, it would naturally appear when the merits of the election should fall under their inquiry; that a complaint having been lodged already against the returning officer, it was their duty to investigate his conduct, and punish him if he should be found delinquent; but that nothing could be more flagrantly unjust, and apparently partial, than their neglecting the petitions of the other candidate and electors, and encouraging the high-bailiff, who stood charged with iniquity, to recriminate upon his accusers, that they might be disabled from giving evidence on the inquiry into the merits of the election. What difference is it to the subject whether he is oppressed by an arbitrary prince, or by the despotic insolence of a ministerial majority? Mr. Crowle alleged, in his own vindication, that he had been employed as counsel by the electors of Westminster, and attended the scrutiny in that character; that after the high-bailiff had, in the course of the last session, received the order of the house to expedite the election, he hurried on the scrutiny with such precipitation as, he apprehended, was unjust and prejudicial to his clients; that, in this apprehension, he (Mr. Crowle) insisted upon the high-bailiff’s proceeding with more deliberation, and in so doing he thought he did his duty to his employers. Some evidence being examined against him, declared he had not only protracted the scrutiny, but also spoken disrespectful words of the house of commons; he was therefore reprimanded on his knees by the speaker, and discharged.

MR. MURRAY SENT PRISONER TO NEWGATE.

Mr Murray being charged with having uttered some threatening and affrontive expressions, the house adjourned the consideration of this affair for some days, at the expiration of which Mr. Murray was to be heard by his counsel; but, in the meantime, they ordered him to be taken into custody by the sergeant-at-arms attending the house. This step however was not taken without a warm opposition by some of the most sedate and intelligent members of the house, who considered it as a cruel act of oppression. They observed, that in cases of breach of privilege, no person complained of was ever taken into custody until after he had been fully heard in his defence; that this was literally prejudging the cause before it had been examined; and the oppression was the greater, as the alleged offence consisted entirely of words, of which no complaint or information had been made for above eight months after the supposed offence had been committed; and, even then, not till an accusation had been lodged against the informant, upon the trial of which accusation the persons informed against might very probably be the most material witnesses. They observed, that in one of the highest offences which can be committed by words, namely, that of denying the king’s right to the crown, or renouncing the trinity, the information must be brought in three or four days after the words are spoken; the words must be proved to have been spoken maliciously, directly, and advisedly, and the prosecution must commence in three months after the information. These suggestions made no more impression than if they had been uttered in a desert. Those who were secure in their number, asserted that the house of commons was not restricted by the forms or proceedings at common law; and that it was necessary to vindicate their own honour and dignity, by making examples of those who seemed to hold them in contempt. Mr. Murray was committed to the custody of the sergeant-at-arms, and found bail; and Gibson was sent prisoner to Newgate, from whence he was in a few days released, upon presenting an humble petition, professing his sorrow for having incurred the displeasure of the house, to the bar of which he was brought, and received a reprimand on his knees from the speaker. In the meantime, divers witnesses being examined before the house, declared, That Mr. Murray had been seen, about the time of the return of a member for Westminster, heading and exciting a tumult to acts of violence against the high-bailiff. The majority, therefore, after a long and warm debate, agreed, that for his dangerous and seditious practices, in violation and contempt of the privileges of the house, and of the freedom of elections, he should be committed close prisoner to Newgate Then, in the close of another violent debate, they resolved that he should be brought to the bar of the house, to receive that sentence on his knees. He accordingly appeared, and being directed by the speaker to kneel, refused to comply. He knew that he could not be discharged from Newgate during the session, without petitioning, acknowledging his offence, and making such concessions as he thought would imply a consciousness of guilt; he considered this whole transaction as an oppressive exertion of arbitrary power, and, being apprized of the extent of their authority, determined to bear the brunt of their indignation, rather than make submissions which he deemed beneath the dignity of his character. When he refused to humble himself, the whole house was in commotion; he was no sooner removed from the bar than they resolved, that his having in a most insolent and audacious manner refused to be on his knees at the bar of that house, in consequence of their former resolution, was a high and most dangerous contempt of the authority and privilege of the commons; it was therefore ordered, that he should be committed close prisoner to Newgate, debarred the use of pen, ink, and paper; and that no person should have access to him without the leave of the house. Finally, a committee was appointed to consider what methods might be proper to be taken by them, in relation to this instance of contempt. Meanwhile, the petitioners against the return made by the high-bailiff, perceiving the temper of the house, and the complexion of the majority, withdrew their petition; and the order which had passed for hearing the merits of the election was discharged. Mr. Murray being taken dangerously ill in Newgate, application was made to the commons, by some of his relations, that he might be removed to a more convenient situation; and his physician being examined, gave it as his opinion that he was infected with the gaol distemper. Upon this representation, the house agreed that the speaker should issue a warrant for removing him from Newgate to the custody of the sergeant-at-arms, but this favour he refused to accept, and expressed the warmest resentment against those relations who had applied to the commons in his behalf. Thus he remained sequestered even from his own brother and sister, under the displeasure of the commons of England, who condescended so far as to make resolutions touching the physician, apothecary, and nurse who attended this prisoner. But the prorogation of parliament having put an end to their authority for that session, Mr. Murray was discharged of course, and conducted by the sheriffs from Newgate to his own house, in procession, with flags and streamers exhibiting the emblems of liberty.

SESSION CLOSED. STYLE ALTERED.

In the month of June the session was closed with a speech from the throne, in which his majesty thanked both houses for the zeal and affection they had manifested towards him and his government; and congratulated the commons in particular, upon their firmness and prudence in reducing the interest of the national debt, a measure as agreeable to him as essential to the strength and welfare of the kingdom. [330] _[See note 2 S, at the end of this Vol.]_--The interior economy of Great Britain produced, within the circle of this year, nothing else worthy of historical regard, except a series of enormous crimes, arising from the profligacy of individuals, which reflected disgrace upon the morals and the polity of the nation. Rapine and robbery had domineered without intermission ever since the return of peace, which was attended with a reduction of the army and navy; but now crimes of a deeper die seemed to lift up their heads, in contempt of law and humanity. [331] _[See note 2 T, at the end of this Vol.]_ Every day almost produced fresh instances of perjury, forgery, fraud, and circumvention; and the kingdom exhibited a most amazing jumble of virtue and vice, honour and infamy, compassion and obduracy, sentiment and brutality.