a ? ,5tfE-UNIVERJ/A ** S vvlOS-ANCEtfj}* d arv*v__ 5 S^ll c?.*fl^ ^.^ ^OKAUFOty^ S iZJIlJB nirrt r*. THE DEBATES AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE Britifli Houfe of Commons, From 1751, to 1760. LONDON: Printed in the Year MDCCLXX. Stack .Anne* s 044 CONTENTS From 1751 to 1760. Page l^ING's Speech I ** Further Refolutions en the Cafe of Mr. Murray 5 Debate on the Number of Seamen 7 on the Land-Tax 8 on the Number of Troops 13 on a Militia 19 Account of the Bills brought in this -SeJ/ion 29 35 Debate on the Registering Bill 57 The Jew Bill , 73 T/ta Marriage Acl 97 7 " of Bavaria, was laid before you in your laft Sef- " fion; and I then acquainted you, that I was taking " fucb. further Meafures, as might tend to fecure the ** Tranquillity of the Empire ; fupport its Syftem ; " and timely prevent fuch Events, as had been found " by Experience to endanger the Common Caufe. I w have fmce, for the fame Purpofes, in Conjunction " with the States-General of the United Provinces? e found it neceflary to conclude a Treaty with the " King of Poland, Elector of Saxony, which mall be " communicated to you. " The unfortunate Event of the Prince of Orange's Death, has made no Alteration in the State of "Affairs in Holland; and by the prudent and early " Meafures taken there, the Quiet of that Country " has been preferved, and their Government carried on upon the Foundation of the Settlement, which ' had, with fo much Forefight, been previoufly efta- blifhed by Laws of the Republic. I have re- " ceived the ftrongeft AfTurances from the States-Ge- " neral, of their firm Refolution to maintain that " ftria Union and Friendfhip, which fo happily fub- " fifts between me and thofe ancient and natural " Allies of my Crown." " Gentlemen of the Houfe of Commons, fc I have ordered Eftimates of the Expences of the " enfuing Year to be prepared and laid before you ; " and have no other Supplies to afk of you, but fuch " as are requifite for thofe Services, and for making " good fuch neceffary Engagements, as you are made acquainted with. The Succefs which has attended your Firmnefs in reducing the Intereft of the Na- " tional Debt, will, I am confident, give you the greateft Satisfaction." " My Lords and Gentlemen, The Experience I have had of your dutiful ami " fteady Conduct, makes it wholly unneceffary for tc me to prefs upon you Unanimity and Difpatch in <' your Deliberations. But I cannot conclude, with- ' out recommending to you, in the moft earneft Man- " ner, to confider ierioufly of fome erTedual Provi- " fions r 3 i " fions to fupprefs thofe audacious Crimes of Robbery Anno 1751. " and Violence, which are now become fo frequent, '_ -. ,* * e efpecially about this great Capital ; and which have " proceeded, in a great Meafure, from that profligate " Spirit of Irreligion, Idlenefs, Gaming, and Extra- *' vagance, which has of late extended itfelf, in an *' uncommon Degree, to the Dimonour of the Na- " tion, and to the great Offence and Prejudice of the " fober and induftrious Part of my People." The Commons having returned to their own Houfe, the following Addrefs was moved by Lord Vifcount Downe^ who in his Speech enlarged on the Glory of his Majefty's Reign, the Happinefs of the prefent Times, the flourishing Condition of our Manufac- tures, the Increafe of our Commerce, and the Security of thofe Bleflings by the wife and prudent Meafures taken for the Support of the Syftem of the Empire, fcfr. He was feconded by Sir William Eeaucbamp Proflor^ and the Addrefs would have pa(Ted nemine con- iradicente^ but Sir "Jobn-Hynde Cotton objected to the Words in a flourijhing Condition, which he thought not proper, as the ordinary Supplies in Time of Peace could not be raifed within the Year, without having Recourfe to the Sinking Fund, and increafmg the National Debt inftead of leflening it. " Moft Gracious Sovereign, " \TI7"E > r ur Majefty's moft dutiful and loyal " VV Subjects, the Commons of Great-Britain " in Parliament afiembled, humbly beg Leave to re- *' turn your Majefty our moft he-arty Thanks for your " Majefty's moft gracious Speech from the Throne. " Permit us, Sir, with Hearts full of Gratitude, < to exprefs our lively and due Senfe of the Happinefs " we enjoy under your Majefty's wife and juft Govern- tc ment, and our well-grounded Confidence, that your " Majefty's Views are, and ever will be, directed to " no other End, than to fecure and improve the pre- " fertf. flourijhlng Condition of your Kingdoms. The c Regard your Majefty is pleafed to teftify for the '* Advancement of our Trade and Manufactures. " it is a fignal Inftance of your Majefty's conftant B 2 " and [ 4 ] 1751. " and univerfal Attention to the Welfare of your Sub- ' " jets, demands our fmcereft Acknowledgments ; " and it cannot but be Matter of the higheft Satisfac- " tion to us, that the Provifions, made for that Pur- " pofe by this Parliament, in Purfuance of your tc Majefty's moft gracious Recommendation, have *' produced the defired EffccT:. " We unfeignedly afTure your Majefty, that we c< will readily concur in all fuch Meafures, as tend to " fecure the ineftimable Bleffings of Peace to us, by " eftabliftung more firmly the general Tranquillity in " Europe. Affected with the deepeft Concern, we " condole with your Majefty on the unfortunate " Event of the Death of the Prince of Orange ; but, "at the fame Time, beg Leave to exprefs the great " Confolation we feel, from the ftrong AfTurances tc given to your Majefty, on this Occafion, by the " States-General of the United Provinces, which leave " us no room to doubt of the Continuance of that " ftrict Union and Friendfhip, fo efTential to the Inte- " refts of both Countries. " Your faithful Commons with the utmoft Chear- cc fulnefs promife to grant to your Majefty fuch Sup- " plies, as may enable your Majefty to fulfill the En- " gagements, and anfwer the feveral Services, which " ihall be found neceflary for the public Good. " We cannot fufficiently acknowledge your Ma- " jefty's Wifdom and Goodnefs, in recommending to " our Confideration the Mifchiefs and Difhonour, " which arife to this Nation from the audacious tc Crimes of Robbery and Violence, fo notorious of cc late to all the World ; and we humbly aflure your " Majefty, that we will ferioufly proceed in revifmg '* and enforcing fuch Laws, as may contribute to fup- " prefs thofe Enormities, by difcouraging Irreligion, " Idlenefs, Gaming, and Immorality, by promoting " Induftry, and eftablifiiing good Order amongft your Alajefty's Subjefts." His MAJESTY'S ANSWER. " T Thank you moft heartily for this very affeflion- c< J_ ate Addrefs. Nothing can give me fo great " Pleafure as to fee my People happy. It fliall be " my r 5 ] my conftant Care, as far as in me lies, to make A nno " them fo." On the 2Oth of November the Cafe of Alexander Murray, Efq; was refumed. The feveral Refolutions and Orders of the Houfe, laft Seflion, relating to the Hon. Alexander Murray, Efq; were read, and a Motion made, by Lord Coke, " That as the Hon. Mr. Murray " was, for dangerous and feditious Practices, in Viola- " tion and Contempt of the Privileges of the Houfe, " and of the Privileges of Elections, ordered by the " Houfe to. be committed clofe Prifoner in Newgate, Ef l> fully, upon the prefent Meafure of continuing the Land-Tax at 3*. in the Pound for the next Year. I am forry to fee any Alteration in the Opinion of Gen- tlemen fince the laft Seflion, in regard to reducing the Land-Tax to 2s. in the Pound, as we were then made to believe it would be; this falfe Hope has in- creafed the Grievance, by the Vexation of a Difap- pointment ; and as it is now infmuated that this Grievance will never be removed, the Difappointment is aggravated by Defpair ; at the fame Time not one plaufible Reafon is affigned for continuing it, nor can I fuggeft any, fave the Difference in the Book of Numbers, which can poflibly caufe fuch a Change of Opinion. ' I am fure a Reduction of i s. in the Pound would, at this Time, be very grateful to the landed Intereft, confidering the Lois it hath fuftained amongft the Cattle, and the Burthen it hath fo long borne ; and a Relaxation of i s. only for a Year, would make it more tolerable, becaufe it might induce the People to hope it would not be perpetual. * The Land-Tax itfelf is fo very partial a Tax, that any other Method of raifing Money is preferable to it ; for he who pays it, in fact pays doubly, be- caufe he pays his Proportion to every other Tax be- fides ; and the prefent Manner of afieffing it is unequal and unjuvr, taxing that upon the Landlords, who re- ceive ortly twenty Millions a Year, which ought to be upon [ io 3 1751. upon the fixty Millions, the annual Produce of the _j whole Land. This Method of taxing hath made the Tax a greater Burthen than it needs to be, by raifing it in a Manner quite contrary to the Letter and Spirit of the Acl. All Taxes do not come finally on Land, according to a Notion which prevails among fome Gentlemen j for, if they do, then is this Debate upon the Alternative needlefs; I therefore think it impolitic to load the Land at any Time, unlefs in Cafe of Ne- ceffity; but moft impolitic now, fmce the 500, oco/. may fo eafily be fupplied another Way. The Alterna- tive, once propofed, may be chofen, or the Number of Places and Salaries may be lefiened, and ufelefs Ser- vants may be difmifled j D\itt\iefelf-&n}tng Ordinance is long fince given up by Gentlemen ; and it be- ing refolved that we muft raife that Sum, the only Queftion now is, in what Manner it mould be clone ? 4 But as I think a Competion betwixt the landed and monied Intereft at this Time very improper, I fhall not dwell upon it. I have obferved, that the monied Intereft is fleeced one Year, and the landed another; and I judge it beft, for their mutual Intereft, to unite againft the common Enemy ; though I can- not help putting Gentlemen in Mind, that the landed Intereft did not invite the War, and that it merits greatly of the monied Intereft for ftanding fo firmly by it in the Time of Danger ; and it would be but juft if the Houfe would divert Part of the Revenue, for one Year, in Eafe of Land, notwithftanding what another Hon. Gentleman has thrown out to the con- trary, about the public Creditors taking Umbrage at it. I am confident there is no Colour for that Sug- geftion, for the Hon. Gentleman knows very well that, fo far from their complaining of fuch an Appli- cation as a Breach of Parliamentary Faith, the Houfe cannot give greater Pleafure to the Creditors of the Public, 'than by letting them know their Money fhall be continued longer ; and the Adminiftration here is very remarkable, for, by chufing this Method, it jhath an Opportunity of obliging both the landed and the monied Intereft ; if the Regard exprefied for the monied Intereft hath been real, why was not that 2 Oppor- [ II ] Opportunity embraced ? I here venture to affign the Anno 1751. true Reafon. <- >_. mJ ' The Surplufes of the Funds belong already to the Adminiftration by indefeafible Right, confequently to take from the Funds to cafe the Land is no Profit to fome Gentlemen, the Funds being already in their Clutches. The i s. more upon Land is an immediate Acquifition to them, therefore they feek it ; and their Abettors are influenced by Doctrines built on felf- evident Principles, give mucb y that much may be given, unto you ; and, notwithstanding the fpecious Promifes thrown out, of good Ufe to be made of the Money, when it is raifed in their own Way, and of fair Ac- counts for it after it {hall be fpent, yet I am apprehen- five that the old Management will ftill fubfift ; it be- ing to be trufted in the Hands of Perfons who, I am convinced, if all the Gravel in England was Gold, and they the Managers of it, would fquander it, and not account at all : I therefore confider it as funk into the great Gulph which has abforbed fo many Millions, and from which not a Mite has ever been , recovered ; and, confidering how Things are circum- ftanced now, I muft acknowledge the Lenity of the Adminiftration, in not requiring 1 7 s. out of twenty, and leaving the People only the three. ' An Hon. Gentleman, Sir, hath, indeed, thrown out Hopes of Comfort for us, that our Debts may be paid off in fixty Years, and that then there may be a Relaxation of the Land-Tax ; but it is a melancholy Reflection to the landed Man, who is to wait fo long for the Accompliihment of thefe Hopes, that without good CEconomy and Honefty in all the Adminiftrations intervening, they will at laft be difappointed. For my Part, I am not fo fanguine as to flatter myfelf with fuch Expectations, confidering what hath hap- pened in former Times, and even in the twenty Years preceding the War, the Debt then being only fifty Millions, and fo little paid off. I have not Warmth of Imagination enough to believe that Perfons, inured and accomplished in every Art, will have fo much Integrity as to do better for the future, incumbercd as we are with Debts, to the Amount of eighty Milli- pns j nay, fo little do I prefume on Hopes of the good f 12 ] good CEconomy of Perfons in Office, or to be in Office, under the Government, that I declare before this Hon. Houfe, I had rather give thofe Perfons 19 s. without Account, than truft twenty with them ; for I look upon every Shilling, withheld from ra- pacious Hands, as clear Gain : For I have always thought that a generous and public-fpirited People were the beft Cafliiers for the Government, as we ex- perienced in the hft Rebellion ; when it was remark- able, at the Time the Danger was moft preffing, that the People fubfcribed largely and chearfully, in De- fence of our happy EftablJlhment ; and the Perfons in Office but little. It hath indeed been afferted that they fubfcribed nothing; but this, if true, cannot be fuppofed to proceed from want of Affection to his Majefty ; it muft rather be imputed to the Greatnefs of their Hurry and Confufion, and the great Concern they felt for the Safety of their gracious Matter, in that arduous and critical Time, which fo difconcerted them, as to make them omit teftifying their Zeal in the moft effectual Manner. The former affectionately tendered their Lives and Fortunes in the Defence of their King and Country, in the Day of Trial ; the latter contented themfelves with paying their AddrefTes at Court. But as I am fenfible they have been watch- ing for a proper Opportunity of rectifying this Mif- take, and atoning ever fince for their Deficiency, I am fure, they will unanimoufly concur With me in the Motion I make, that the Houfe fhould recommit the Report, in order to give an Opportunity to thofe Gentlemen who have Places, Penfions, and Emolu- ments from his Majefty, to fubfcribe the Money, now wanted to be raifed upon the landed Intereft, out of their Salaries ; an Opportunity which, I am affured, they will eagerly improve, and return me Thanks for contributing to afford it ; their Zeal on fuch Occafions being, beyond Competition, more fervent and exalted For his Majefty, and the People's Good, than the Zeal of thofe who receive no Emoluments of any kind.' Mr. Sydenham feconded the Motion, and fpoke to the fame Effect, and concluded his Speech with fay- [ 13 1 Lie heavy on him Land, for he Anno 175 Laid many a heavy Load on tkce. d "v"" Upon which the Committee divided, 50 odd for Mr. Pelhanfs Motion, and 19 againft it. Nov. 28, the Secretary at War moved that 18,857 Land-Forces be employed for 1752, and 1815 Invalids, which was the fame Number that was voted laft Year, becaufe, as he faid, Affairs remained in pretty much the fame Situation. He was feconded by an Hon. Gentleman, now a Noble Lord, who faid amongft other Things, ' That there ought always to be as great a Number kept up as we have at prefent, itnlefs we had a Force of another kind in the room of them.'' The chief Reafon urged by other Gentlemen for keeping up fo great an Army, was, the Danger apprehended from ourfelves ; that the People might create Difturbances on a fudden, and that there was much to be feared from the Diflike {hewn by them to the Government. That the Increafe of Difaffe&ion was apparent by their cenfuring and canvafiing fo freely the Conduct of their Superiors. Hereupon William Thornton, Efq; flood up and faid, There ought to be weighty Reafons affigned for keeping up fo great a Number of Soldiers in Time of Peace ; that nothing but Neceffity could juftify the Meafure ; that little or no Reafon had been (hewn laft Year, and lefs this, for keeping up fo large a Num- ber, and fo modelled ; that he was lefs fatisfied than ever of the good Ufe intended to be made. of them, efpecially when it was averred, that they were kept up aga'nift ourfelves, which could not fail of alarming, in the moft ferious Manner, every true Lover of his Country, nor of exciting the moft grating Reflections in a generous, open, difcerning People. Though fome might find their Account, by fuch falfe Sug- geftions, in making the People ill with his Majefty and the Government, in order to make themfelves neceflary, it was his Endeavour to expofe and render fuch Artifices of no Effect ; and he did aver there never was a Time when there was lefs Occafion for fuch an Imputation. He did aflcrt there never was a Prince \ .I i I,. [ 14 ] , Prince more beloved by any People than his prefent ' Majefty was by his, therefore he was certain 20,000 of fuch Men muft be a great deal too many for any good Purpofe ; when he confidered every Poft in Church and State had been filled up, by the prefent happy Eftabiimment, with Perfons of undoubted good Principles, and every Family in the Kingdom almoft, one Way or other, obliged to the Family on the Throne, which has rendered the Government more firmly eftablimed than ever. For thefe Reafons he was fure neither the King nor the People flood in need of this great Army for their Security, though a certain Set of Men might. The Model of it at prefent was terrible, fo adapted for Deftruction, by being fet apart andfeparated from the People ; the new Creation of a Staff to be main- tained in Time of Peace, and the Regiment of 1200 Men for the Train, artfully couched under dubious Words to make the People believe there are only 1 8857 Men, which, with other Innovations, made it a complete Army ready for Action, an Army in Can- toonment the fame as in the Field, fo that one could not help dreading the Confequence ; on which Ac- count he had rofe up to enter hh Protejl again/I this Meafure, and to hold forth his Testimony, and to apprize Gentlemen and the World, that the Army being art- fully called 18857 Men^ was, in Reality, above 50,000 Men ; and to remind them, that the Navy, or natu- ral Security, was much flighted, which did not look well ; that bearing a fmall Proportion to this idle, unwieldy, unnecefjary, Force, confifting of feventy-fcven Regiments, thirty-feven of them in Ireland, only fup- pofed to be 12,000 Men, but reported to be 18,000, and fome of them Regiments of Officers, the very Method of our arbitrary Neighbours the French, by which they may at Pleafure, imperceptibly to us, be increafed to 37,000 Men. ' Can it be faid, there is no Meaning in this ? Can this expend ve Method of keep- ing up Officers be done without a View, in our Cir- cumftance ? And are they only for the People's Good arid Prefervation ? If there are other Motives, they cannot be good ones. Integer C is ] Integer Fit* fcelerifque purus Non eget Mauri jaculh nee arcu. c Sir, let us, at leaft, not adopt that damned Ma- cbiavilian Doctrine, that a free People cannot be governed lut by Force, who may fo eafily be won by Love and Affection. An Army, Sir, was never kept up in any Country in Time of Peace, but, fooner or later, it was ufed againft the Liberties of the People, and at laft enflaved them, c Sir, I lament that the People of this Country have now too unequal Terms to contend upon, for fecuring their Properties and their Independency. Ma- cbiavil fays, Iron will prevail over Gold ; but, by this Army added to the other Power, our- Managers pofTefs both fo arc regardlefs of Complaints, and of gratifying the juft Expectations of the People. To whom can they fly for Refuge, or from whom can, they expect Redrefs, if not from Perfons now at the Helm of Affairs, famed through the Land for being the Supporters of Liberty, and for their De- teftation of Tyranny and Oppreffion ? ' If the People do complain, perhaps they have juft Caufe for fo doing ; feeling numberlefs Burthens and Taxes laid upon them, chiefly to fupport needlefs Offices and Places at immenfe Salaries ; the People are fenfible of it, by their being generally occupied by Perfons of loofe Lives, without Abilities, who make them Sine-cures, or, at moft, appoint Deputies, at fmall Salaries, to tranfact them; they complain their Reprefentatives are debauched from them, that Tax-Majlers vote Taxes, that the Army vote the Army ; in fhort, Cuntti pcene Patrcs clamant perifje pudorer.i. I muft confcfs, I almoil defpair of any Good to be done in this dctcfted Age, or of any Reformation, fo many having drank of Circe's fell Cup, the Cup of Corrup- tion, that they are, imperceptibly to themfelves, be- come Monfters, and glory in it ; that I almoil join in with Jugurtba's Refie&ion when he left Rome, Urbem venalem & mature pfriiuram ft Emptorem in-ve- nerit. c Perfons trained up in the Principles of Liberty can ill brook this new Doctrine, of being retained in Sub- [ 16 j Anfto 1751. Subjeftlon by an Army ; having imbibed other Notions Vi "^^iiii^ in their Education, fo ftrong as not to be able to di- veft themfelves of them ; that he, for one, did deteft and abhor the Men that would offer it, and did de- clare, Manus hie inimlca Tyrannis. Could, Sir, our Forefathers, at the Revolution, have conceived that their much-boafted and dear-purchafed Liberty would have ended in a large {landing Army, as a Protection for Bureaux and Pattors, from the Remonftrances of their much-injured Pofterity, and faddled with a Debt of eighty Millions ; would they have called that a Deliverance? They would fcarce have thought the Al- ternative. a valuable Confideration. Though I fhould allow, Sir, there is no Intention in fome of our Managers to enflave us, it will be but a melancholy Reflection, when it does happen, towards alleviating the diftrefied, to fay, it was not intended. Is it not a fevere Imputation upon thofe who have every Ad- vantage to make themfelves efteemed by, as the Difpofal of all the Revenue, Pofts, and Preferments in the Realm, to call out for a Military to fupport their Meafures againft the Hate of the People ? Does it not convey fomething as if they were not the beft Managers in the World ? ' Perfons in high Stations, furrounded by Flatter- ers and Sycophants, are much impofed upon, and im- pofe upon themfelves, by imagining their Actions are not, and ought not to be Icanned by the People ; they flatter themfelves they are approved. Much in the Manner of a Story I have heard of a certain Efquire, opprefllve and arbitrary in his Neighbour- hood, where he bafhawed it away, had good Eating and Drinking, for the Sake of which many Perfons reforted to him, who always faid as he faid, com- mended all his Faults, and told him they were Virtues, and that the whole Country admired him ; and flat- tered him continually, for the Sake only of what they could get from him. ' He, not long after, put it to the Teft, by fally- ing out into a neighbouring Village, where, inftead of Pseans and Shouts of Joy, he was faluted with Dirt and dead Dogs, and pelted out of the Village with rotten Eggs. He came home vaftly difconcerted and [ 17 ] ahcl dejec~led, and accofted his Parfcn, v.'ho had been one of the forwardeft of his Flatterers, Plow now, Par ton, fays he, did not you tell me how much I ivas ad- mired, and you fee what has happened ?' Upon this feve- ral Members cried out, The Story, the Story, Where- upon Mr. Thornton ftood up again, and repeated it, and then proceeded : Sir, I (hall leave the Application to the .Houfe, and conclude with imploring Gentlemen, if they have any Bowels for their Country, any Affection for his Majefty, and for his .Family being long amongft us, or any Regard for the Liberties of their Pofterity, to reduce the Army, and to lefTen thereby 'our numerous Taxes.' He was therefore for the lefTer Number, be- ing 15,000 only, and added, he had received great Pleafure from fome favourable Words thrown out by an Hon. Gentleman, of a Force of another kind; he hoped he meant a Militia, Ke faid, he did engage himfelf to that Hon. Gentleman and the Houfe, th.-.t he would offer that Force immediately, by prefenting a Bill for that Purpofe to the Houfe, and he hoped he {hould have his Afliftance and Concurrence in fo good a Defign. In this Debate Sir Jobn-Hynde Cotton obferved, That we wanted a greater Number of Troops to fuoport the Nation in her prefent flourifhing Condition, than ever was known in any Period of profound Peace. To which Dr. Lee made Anfwer, That the Situation of Affairs was now much changed by the Death of two great Princes, the Prince of //';/, and the Prince of Orange, and the Birth of a Duke of Burgundy ; an J therefore common Prudence required that the Nation ftiould never be unprepared. , Norborne Berkeley, Efq; (now Lord Bottetourt) then ftood up, and made the following Reply to Dr. Lee. 4 Mr. Speaker, * I do not (land up to oppAfe a (landing Army in forborne general, but to give fome Reafons, why 1 think the ^^-.f^ fmatler Number on your Paper, at this Time, more eligible than the greater ; and muft own, I was in- great Hopes the Gentlemen on the other Side of the Houfe, would h;'^ - a] :en of my Opinion ; efps- VOL. V. C cialiy, r i* ] cially, as they have concurred with us, in augment- ing the Sea Forces, which we lad Year fo ftrenuoufly contended for. 'Asa {landing Army has on all Hands been allowed to be a neceflary Evil, why fliould we not make that Evil as fmall as poflible ? Efpecially as the public Tranquillity, both at home and abroad, makes the prefent Time as reafonable for a Reduction of it, as any that can be prcpofed ; and the immenfe national Debt, and Preflure which both Land and Commerce fuffer, from the Load of Taxes laid on them, fhould recommend the greateft CEconomy to us. * But were our Coffers full, and did not the Exi- gency of the State require it ; has not Great-Britain a more natural Force, and which juftly claims all the Money we can poflibly fpare it ? A Force which has been attended with Succefs, not only in former Wars, but even in the lail ; and which enabled us to make the Peace we did ? As therefore the 16,000 Men pro- pofed, will anfwer all the Ends intended by an Army, in Time of Peace ; and as that Number may foon be augmented on any Emergency ; why fhould the Offer, though of a fmall Saving, be rejected, when the Weight of Taxes the Public has long, and patiently, groaned under, may make them hope their Reprefen- tatives will eafe them from the nioft unneceflary Ex- pences of Government. ' I muft beg Leave to fay, I think the Examples brought from ancient arid modern Hiftory, by the Hon. Gentleman under the Gallery, are not parallel to the prefent Queftion ; for the Cpnteft is not to dif- band the whole Army, but whether 16,000 Men are not fufncient to anfwer all the Ends of Government in a Time of profound Peace ? And indeed, was an- indifferent Perfon, who was unacquainted with our advantageous Situation, to hear oiir Debates To-day ; I am apt to think he would be induced to imagine us a Parliament of feme State on the Continent ; or at leaft, if he was acquainted with it, muft conclude,. \ve had entirely forgot that Great-Britain was an Ifland; which is, and in all Probability will continue fo, as long as I live. . I dr t '9 ] I do not oppofe the largeft Number of Troops Ar.no 7751. propofed, from any Sufpicion, that either hisMajefty, v , 1 or the prefent Gentlemen that compofe it, will ever turn that Force againft the Liberty of the Subject, which is maintained for its Defence ; as moft of thofe Gentlemen are either of the higheft Birth, or have confiderable Properties of their own j but becaufe I have neither heard any Reafons affigned, nor can fug- ? eft any from the prefent Debate, of Weight enough to induce me to think that the fmalleft Number is not adequate to the Ends propofed ; and therefore {hall give my Vote for the fmalleft Number.' The Queftion was now put, and It Was carried for the Motion by 108 againft 43. Mr. Thornton having promifed, at the Conclufion of his Speech in this Debate, to bring in a Bill to mak the Militia more ufeful, he accordingly ftood up, and made the following Speech. * Mr. Speaker, c From a thorough Conviction of the Neccfflty of vvmiamThor*. the Meafure which lam about to propofe, and accord- W E *B in? to my Declaration in a late Debate, I rife up, m the Integrity of my Heart, to move this Hon. Houle that fomethuig may be done to render the Militia more ufeful, 4 It is, indeed, with great Diffidence that upon me fo important a Concern in the Prefencc of fo many Gentlemen of fupcrior Abilities : But, how- ever weak my Attempt, I hope that my Intention will appear to be fuch as becomes a faithful Subject, and a Lover of his Country. I hope, Sir, that the being firft in Arms, and firft in the Field to oppofe the late Rebellion, at the Head of a Sort of Militia (for fuch they were) will excufe my being firft in a Propofal for rendering the Militia more able" to defend their Coun- try, if the like Emergency fhould again happen : And that the Sincerity of my Zeal will atone for the Plain- nefs of my Adclrefs, and the Irregularity of my Ar- guments. _^ < I have endeavoured, Sir, as I thought it my 1 ty, to make mvfelf Matter of the excellent Laws of our C ?. An- 1- J Anno 1751. Anceftors for regulating the Militia of this Country, * ~~ *"- ; and have fearched into the Cauies which have ren- dered this Militia weak and contemptible. As thefe Caufes will be eafily comprehended, and the Faults in our Laws, which produced them, may be eafily point- ed out, the Remedy will not be either difficult or te- dious. I muft not, however, omit to take Notice that the. Militia Laws have been fpoiled by Defign, fome villainous Ciaufes having been artfully intruded into them, which were previouily known to be fuch as would render them intirely ulelefs. As this can- not be denied, I perfuade myfelf, that, after a very little Reflection, every Gentleman prefent will con- cur in myjOpinion, that fome Alteration is necefiary with refpect to our Militia, either to commence now, or at a more convenient Seafon, or at leaft at an Eve of a Commotion, when their Affiitance fhall be wanted to furmountthe Danger which we would not prevent. If our Militia is not to be frequently exercifed, let there be fome Law, by which it may be more effectu- ally raifed : Let us no longer acknowledge the Im- portance of a Militia in the Preambles of many of our Statutes, yet render this very Militia ineffectual, by fullering fuch deftruclive Claufes to remain, as will reduce the Statute itfeif to a mere Form of Words and a dead Letter, to the Aftonifhment of other Nations, and the Difgrace of our own. Let us, Sir, re-real all the prefent Laws concerning the Militia, we flv.ii then evidently perceive our Naked- ne(^ and in what a defenceless State they will leave us; let us no longer be amufed with the Appearance of a Security wlvch they cannot give ; nothing more purely than the Discovery of our Danger is neceflary to put us immediately upon our Guard ; nothing more iurely is necefTary to determine us to enact Laws which lhall be in Effect what the prefent Laws are only in Form 5 and, I hope, we fhall, upon this Oc- cahcn, remember the great Maxim of Cofmo de Medi- ci^ from whom Machwvel derived all his political Knowledge : Defer not till To-rmrrrjj what can and - * A Regulation, Sir, by which our Country is to be deien-Jea a . ipef&tion and Slavery, against tii . the Fury of anlnvafion, or the Rapine of Rebellion, Anno 1751. requires the moft mature and difpaffionate Delibera- ',, -.. _ .tion ; fhall we, therefore, defer this Regulation till Vv c hear the Drum of an Enemy beat to Arms ? Shall we defer it till every Heart throbs with Apprehcnlion, and every Mind is confufed with Anxiety and Terror? Till Impatience for obtaining the End fhall caufe us to miftake the Means ? Till a Time when an hypo- critical Zeal for the Safety of the Public, taking Ad- vantage of the Confufion, fhall bring us into greater Danger? Were not the very Claufes that have emaf- culated our Statutes relating to the Militia, intro- duced in the Time of public and imminent Danger, by clefigning Men who, under a Pretence of increaf- ing our Security, took away what we had ? 4 Let us then in this Interval of Tranquillity, when the Mind is at Leifure to examine and choofe, fet about changing thefe ruinous Claufes for fuch as will tie quite proper. Let us now eftablifh our Safety upon a firm Foundation, by pafling fuch a Law* as will fur- nifli this Country with a Militia equally efiectivc, more eafily raifcd, and maintained at a lefs Expence than that of any other Nation in the Wcrid ; let us no longer truft our Liberty and cur Lives, our Reli- gion, our Country, and our Pcfterity, to a mercenary Army that has no Motive to defend us but its Pay, and no Concern for our Liberties, bccaufe they have given up their own. ' If it fhould happen, Sir, that a large military Force fhould be fuddenly wanted, at a Time when the Parliament is not fitting, and his Majefty is abroad, how is it to be fupplied ? Will not the Waiting for an Acl of Parliament produce the moft dangerous Delay ? And will not the fame Inconveniencits follow that happened in the Year 1745 ? Inconveniences which we now feel, and which will probably be long fck I v our Pcfterity. A well constituted Militia, Sir, at that Time, would have faved the Nation 3,cco,oco/. and if it be admitted that luch a Mii.ii.i v,\,ulJ he at- tended with an annual Expence to the whole Nation of io, coo/, and that there fhoulJ be vycc.ih^a 10 ufe it, but once in thirty Years, which is the bpace be- ""en ths two lad Rebellions, we fliouid then rv.r.e [ 22 ] Anno i 7 ci. that Service- for 300,000 /. v/hich has coft us 3,0005,000 <, % ._> and confequently fave (which would be good CEco- nomy infteud of fu per flue us Expence) 2,700,000/0 upon the Balance. JBefio^s, thole whom the want of this Force might encourage to interrupt our Tran- quillity, may be deterred from their Attempt by ob- ferving that a new Regulation hath rendered us fufH- ciently formidable : To prevent is certainly full better than to cure. Thefe Confiderations, Sir, appear fo formidable to me, that I cannot think any Gentle- man will continue to cppofe, or ev r en on any Account to delay the Meafure which they have induced me to undertake and recommend. c But, Sir, left any Gentleman mould doubt whe- ther this Meafure be practicable, I (hall obferve that the Eftablifhment of a Militia in any Country, where the People are numerous and induftrious, is not only practicable, but eafy. Switzerland and Germany, which are poor Countries, thinly inhabited, have their Mili- tia, notwithftanding the People muft be neceflarily diflipated by the great Extent of the Lands which they cultivate. And is a Militia impofiible in Eftg~ land? A Country that is remarkable for its Fertility, and crouded with A4en, where a few Acres afford a plentiful Subfiftence, and almoft every Parifh could furnifh a Regiment. * If it be objected, that this Militia cannot be ex- ercifed without taking the Hufoandman or the Manu- facturer from his Labour, a Circumftance which can- not but be hurtful to a trading Nation ; I anfwer, our Militia may be exercifed on Holidays, according to the Practice in Switzerland; but fuppofmg that two Days in a Month were to be fet apart for this Fun- pofe, it is evident that lefs Labour would be loft by 200,000 Militia, who would immediately return to their Work from their Exercife, than by 20,000 re- gular Troops, who confider themfelves as Gentlemen Soldiers, and every Species of Induftry as incompati- ble with their Station, and indeed with their Duty. c I would not, however, be thought an Advocate for the total Reduction of the Army. I know that n Army is neccfiary, that there muft be Guards, and feme Trccps at our Garrifons j in Gibraltar and Port f 23 3 JUabon, and a fufficient Number of regular Forces in Anno 1751. Ireland, the Iflands of Scotland^ and the Weft-Indies. * % But, I think fuch a Reduction of the Army is expe- dient as would caufe a faving, equivalent to the Ex- pence of 260,000 Militia, and that enough would ftill remain for the above Services. * This Number, Sir, of 260,000 for the Militia was our ancient Contingent, and, as they are difperfed through the feveral Counties of this Ifland, will ef- fectually reprefs, if not prevent, any Invafion from abroad, and quell every Djfturbance that may be fomented at home. They will be always ready in every Part of the Kingdom to aflift the Civil Power, as well as to protect our Coafts from Infult ; Coafts of fuch Extent, that if the prefent (landing Army was doubled, it would not be able to fecure the Ifland from being plundered in fome Part or other, by the daring Crew of a Buccaneer, or a defperate Aftocia- tion of Smugglers. And as it is our Coaft that prin- cipally makes a military Force of any kind necefiary, what muft be our Situation, when without any Force .by which this Coaft can be fecured, and with fcarce a fortified Place in the Kingdom, we are not able to bring together 6000 Men for the Defence of the Capi- tal upon a fudden and unexpected Attack ? The Marfhals Belkfa and Saxe both remarked that we muft be eafily over-run ; and it is a common Saying among the French, that England would be only a Breakfaft ; and I fhould be forry if they fhould put us to prove the contrary before we have a Militia eftablifhed. Need we have a better Hint, or a ftronger Motive, to provide for our Safety ? Ex bojle docen. ' As to the Difficulty of reforming our Militia, if it be faid that Experiment is againft me, and that Ex- periment is ftronger than Argument; if it be alledged that former Attempts to eftablifh a Militia have been ineffectual, it needs only to be confidered, by what Means thefe Attempts have been made. They were made in Conlequence of thofe very Statutes which, being perverted from their primary Intentions, are evi- dently Fclo de fe ; fo that the Militia, which was de- figned to be a regular and well-difciplined Body, is C 4 dege- r H j degenerated Into a mere A'-ob : Hut even thiVMob has been known to do gccd Service. I vili not trefpafs, Sir, upon the Indulgence of the Houfe by proving LlT-eviucnt Proportions : It is fufficierit only to ftate them. . It is of abfolute Necef- fity we ffiould have a military Force fufficient to de- fend eleven Millions of People, and it is acknow- ledged on all Hands that our prefent Force is not fuf- ficient. There are but three Ways by which this Deficiency can be fupplied ; firlt, by a regular Army of Mercenaries; fecondly, by foreign Auxiliaries; thirdly, by a Militia. A regular Arm.y of Mercena- ries we can neither afford to pay for living in Idlcnefs, nor fpare from the Traces in which they would other- wife be employed. The hiring of Auxiliaries is at- tended with equal Expence, and is yet lefs to be de- pended upon : For they who may be engaged to fup- ply Auxiliaries to us may, when we want them, be icarce able to defend themfelves, as was the Cafe in the unhappy Year 1745. Auxiliaries may alfo be bought off by our Enemy at the very Minute we want them, or fent under Reftridions which will render them wholly unferviceable. There needs not, indeed, any Argument to prove a Meafure to be impolitic, which has already incumbered us with Debts that it is fcarce poffible we fhould pay, and has reduced our Neighbours the Dutch into yet more deplorable Poverty and Diftrefs. c A Militia which would defend us by Men of Pro- perty, whofe Intereft is involved in that of their Country, and who would only circulate their Pay, and not carry it abroad, muft be our only Refource. Such a Militia, Sir, has been rejected by thofe who have had the Management of this unhappy Country, xv ho have, for Reafons bed known to themfelves, fquandered the public Treafi.-re in vain Attempts to obtain from foreign arK j domeftic Mercenaries what a Militia only can fupp'y. Let us then interpofe in the Behalf c d Nation; let us once more con- nect the civil and the military Power, and direct their united Efforts to the fame End. This, as it \vi|! -rive us frrength at home, will give us Reputuiion abroad. This r 25 j This is advifcd by Machiavel, as the fureft Means of Anno J75T . national Greatnefs ; this was fucceistuily practifed by \^__^- ^ the Spartans and Romans of old, the Gmn$ and ancient Germans, and this is now the Strength and the Glory of the Swiff, a Nation, which however inconfidera- ble in its Extent, no ambitious Power has dared to moleft. I therefore humbly move that Leave may be viven to bring in a Bill for the good Purpofe that I have mentioned.' This Motion was feconded by Sir Walter and agreed to by the whole Houfe mrnlne contradicente, and a Bill ordered to be prepared and brought in by William Thornton, Efq; Sir Walur Blackett, Lieute- nant-General Og/etborpe, Mr. Fazakerley, Sir "James Lowther, and Mr. Nortbey. In a few Days Mr. Tbori:tan prefented the Bill, with the following Speech. c Mr. Speaker, ' It is with great Pleafure that I rife up to tulate my Friends and Countrymen, upon the apparent 1011 Probability of Succefs in the Attempt for making the Militia more ufeful. The Zeal of the Houfc, which appeared in an unanimous Order to prepare and bring in a Bill for this Purpofe, has encouraged the moft fanguine Hopes that it will not be regarded merely as a Subject of Difpute, but be confidered with a ferious and difpaflionate Attention ; and that after it (hall have received every Improvement which may be ex- pected from the united Efforts of Judgment, Experi- ence, and Integrity, in this Aflcmbly, it will pafs into a Law. And in this Hope I am not alone, for I have with Pleafure heard it urged by many Gentle- men who afforded me their kind AfTiftance in the Be- ginning, as a Motive to my Aiiiduity and Perfeve- tance. ' The Gentlemen who have by your Orders pre- pared the Bill, which is now delivered in at your Table, confidered their Subject with the moil ma- ture Deliberation ; and compared every Pl.in for a Militia, which was fuggefted by their ov/n MinJs, \vith all that they could procure from the Y/ritSngs of others, C a6 ] . others, and from the Practice of ancient and modern Nations. They loon perceived that the Declenfion of our own Militia, was not the EfFcxft of any Error in the general Structure of our old Laws, upon which it was -founded ; but of particular Claufes, which were fo loofely and inaccurately exprefied, as that the Law might be neglected or violated with Impunity. To thefe Laws therefore they have adhered as a gene- ral Plan ; and the rather, be^aufe new Projects, how- ever fpecious in Theory, are frequently found to be very difficult in Pradice. And, indeed, to introduce new conftituent Parts into ah old Syftem of Govern- ment, frequently weakens the whole. The Materials arc fuch as never hold firmly together, the Breach that was made to admit the new Structure is always vifible, and the Fabrick lofes not only its Uniformity but its Strength. 4 By thefe Confiderations the Gentlemen were de- terred from the Experiment, and judged it beft ; Stare, fupcr via: antiquas, and nothing more feems to require Alteration in the old Laws, than the Claufes which rendered them ineffe&ttal, and the Method of defray- ing the Expence which muft neceflarily attend the Militia's being drawn out. Nor has any thing been added, except fome Regulations for the Meeting and of the Lieutenants, and their Deputies ; the exer- -cillng the Men on Holidays ; and the eftablifhing a few honorary Rewards. Thefe Regulations have been found of great Advantage to thcSwifs, and it is hoped will render our Militia fuperior to theirs. Such i$ the Structure of the Bill, and if it fhould pafs into a Law, it will almoft execute itfelf ; the military Exer- cife will be ccnfidered as an Entertainment and Diver- fion ; the Parade and Dexterity will gratify the Spec- tators, and the Troops will be pleafed to perceive ihemfelves the Objecls of public Attention and Curi- ofity : For this Reafon, no Coerfion is necefiary to caufe the Militia to exercife in Switzerland^ and for this Reafon no Coerfion will be neceffary here. * But with whatever Labour the Bill may have been thus formed, and however perfect it may be thought aa a Model, bv the Gentlemen who bring; it in,. the Object of their Zeal is not the Mode, but "the Sub- [ 27 ] Subilance; the Regulation of the Militia, fo as to Anno 1751. render it the Bulwark of our Country, by whatever Ui "y- -J Method, is that which they are defirous to accom- plifli. Care therefore has been taken not to load the Bill with particular Claufes, but to leave it general and open j a kind of Sketch or Outline to be finifhed and corrected by more able Hands, and it is hoped that it will be eafily wrought up to a fufficicnt Degree of Perfection when it goes into a Committee, where there will be an Opportunity to confidcr every Part in its Relation to the whole, to remove every Irregu- larity, and fupply every Defect : And the Gentlemen who have exhibited it will be ready to refolve every ~ Doubt that fhall arife, and anfwer every Enquiry that (hall be made during the Examination. * The Bill, as it ftands at prefent, extends no far- ther than to the teaching theUfe of Arms and a mili- tary Exercife, that upon Occafion a fufficient Num- ber of expert and effective Men may be immediately formed into Companies and Regiments, and brought into the Field. ' To effect this Purpofe, the Militia-Men need only be enrolled from Time to Time for a Year, fo that the Mafter, or, if he pleafes, his Servant, may go and exercife. Nor can it be imagined that any will refufe this in a Time of Peace, if it is remembered how many offered themfelves when the defperate Bands of Rebellion were within a few Days March of the Metropolis, and it was probable that the next Thing to taking Arms for our Country was to lay down Life in its Defence. When this Plan, limited as it is, {ball take place, we flvall become a warlike and for- midable Nation j for by the Execution of fuch a Plan Prufjla has acquired all the Weight and Influence JJ *. O which renders her fuperior to many other States that have much more Extent of Country, and a much greater Number of Inhabitants. The Aiajority of the P ruffian Troops is a Militia, into which every Man able to bear Arms is compelled to enter ; but the Eftabiifhment of a Militia in England does not require the Enrollment of more than one Man in twenty. Our Advantage then, in comparifon with Prujjia, whenever we fhall purfue our own Intereft, with equal Sagacity C 2* ] Sagacity and Diligence, is too obvious to need point- ' ing out ; at prefent, indeed, this is not the Cafe, for by fome Rules of Policy, which are not to be compre- hended by every Undemanding, the paying large Sub- fidies for foreign Afiiftar.ce has been preferred to the obtaining a natural Force of our own Men ; who muft neceflarily be always upon the Spot where they will be required to ferve, who cannot be bought off by the Enemy, nor rendered ineffectual by prior En- gagements. ' It has been upon a former Occafion remarked, that a military Force is indifpenfibly necelFary, and it cannot be denied that every Nation muft be formida- ble in Proportion to the Facility and Cheapnefs with which this Force is fuftained. But what can protect the Nation from Contempt and Infult that is groan- ing under a Load of Debts, which fhe defpairs to pay, and of Taxes which thefe Debts have made neceflary ? Debts which (he has incurred by hiring Mercenaries for her Defence in Time of War, and which fhe muft increafe by the fame Means whenever a Time of War fhall return ? Debts which therefore muft be continu- ally accumulating, till they produce the Ruin which they were contracted to prevent ? Muft not this de- plorable Situation be certainly known to her Neigh- bours ? And will they not injure her without Scruple, when they know they may do it with Impunity ? Will they not treat her Re in on ft ranees with Equivocation and Delay, and at laft put an End to Solicitation by a peremptory Refufal of Redrefs ? Have we not been thus treated by the Spaniards and the French ? And do they not thus treat the Dutch for the fame Reafon ? But did they treat us thus in the Days of Elizabeth or Cromwell, when we were a military. Nation ? when every Manufacturer was ready to throw down his Tools, and take up a Mufket j and fought not for his Pay as a Soldier, but for his Honour as in Briton ? Let us retrieve the Influence that we have loft, while to retrieve it is in our Power j and if we cannot lef- fen the Burden which has been laid upon us, let us at leaft prevent its Increafe, wh.-e it is yet to be fuftain- ed ; in Confidence that this Bill will contribute to fo lidkible an End, I move that it may now be read.' This C *9 ] This Motion was feconued by Lieutenant-General Anno 1751. Oglethorpf, and the Bill was read accordingly. The Motion for a fecond Reading was made by Mr. Thorn- ton, and feconded by Mr. EdtuinXafceHes ; after which it was ordered to be committed and reported, and then it dropped. The whole Sum granted for the current Service of the Year, was 2,090,3097. For paying off Debts, i,3OO,OOO/. For Deficiencies of old Funds, ^oi,oi2/. For the Deficiencies of laft Year's Grants, 54,751 / For the Services incurred, and not provided for, 49,2197. and for purchanng the African Charter, 1 1 2, 1427. The whole, including the feveral Frac- tions, amounted to 3,907, 435 A 7 s. yd. Of this Money, 3000 /. was granted for making and keeping in Repair a Road proper for the PafTage of Troops and Carriages between Garl'ijle and NewcajHe. An Oppofition was made to granting 32,000 L in Purfuance of the Subfidy Treaty with the King of Poland^ Elector, of Saxony; but it was carried in the Affirmative, by a Majority of 236 againft 54. It is obfervable, tlfcit Mr. Horace Walpole the elder fpoke againft the Treaty and its Utility ; but, as his Majefty had entered into the Engagement, he was for fulfil- ling it. The Profligacy of the common People at this Time called for fome legal Reftraint ; for net only every City and Town, but almoft every Village, had Af- femblies of Mufic, Dancing, and Gaming. This occafioned a prodigious Diffipation of the Time, Money, and Morals of the lower People. Robberies were fo frequent, that the Enormity of the Crime was almoft effaced in the Minds of the People ; and nothing was more common than to advertife in the News-Papers, an Impunity to any Perfon who could bring, to a Party that was robbed, the Effects that had been taken from them, and that too with a Re- ward according to the Value. Thofe Diforders were veryjuftiy afcribed, in a great Meafure, to the Extra- vagance of the common People, and therefore a Bill was brought in for the better preventing Thefts and Robberies, and for regulating Places of public En- tertainment, and punifhing People keeping diforderly Houfes, [ 30 I Anno 1751. Houfes, The Operation of this Bill, when it pafTetf the Houfe of Commons, was confined to London and Wefltnitijler^ and twenty Miles round; and all Perfons within that Circuit, were required to take out Licences from the Juftices of the Peace of the County, aflem- bled at their Quarter Seflions, before they could open any Room or Place for public Dancing, Mufic, or any other Entertainment of the like kind. Several other Regulations regarding idle, diforderly, or fuf- pe&ed Perfons and Houfes, were inferted in the fame Act, and pecuniary as well as corporporal Penal- tics were affixed to the Tranfgreflbrs. When this- Bill went to the Houfe cf Lords, they thought fo well of it, that they extended the Operation of it all over England. But as a Tax was laid by it upon the Subject, when they returned the Bill to the Houfe of Commons, their Amendments were unanimously dif- agreed to, becaufe they would not fuffer the Lords to after any Bill that was* to affect the Purfe of the Sub- ject. They therefore defired a Conference of the Lords, and appointed a Committee to draw up Reafons againft the Amendments. The Lords, on the other Hand, having never formally given up their Right to amend Money-Bills, could not receive the true Reafon of the Diflent of the Commons without giving up that Right, or coming to an open Breach with them, The Commons, therefore, to avoid fo difagreeable an Emergency, drew up Reafons againft' the Amend- ments, which had no Regard or Connection with the true Reafon of their difagreeing with them ; and the Lords, rather than fo good a Bill (hould be loft, agreed not to infift upon their Amendments ; and thus the Bill pafied, and received the Royal Aflent. The Difpofitions of the People of Scotland, fmce the laft Rebellion, appeared to be dutiful, and inclined to Induftry. Their Trade had of late furprifingly increafed. Many Gentlemen of Fortune in England had viiked the Country, and faw how capable it was of Improvements. But the Genius of the People was to be confulted, and their Prejudices removed. They were to be inured to Habits of Induftry, and a new Set of Manners was to be introduced amongft the more civilized Part of the People, before they could become become peaceful, ufeful, and dutiful Subjects. The -Anno Duke of Argyll, and other Perfons of great Confide- * - ration in that Country, who were well acquainted with the Nature of the Commonalty, reprefented all this to the EngHJb Miniftry ; and it was agreed to ap- ply the Rents and Profits of the forfeited Eftates to the Purpofes above mentioned. Accordingly, the Lord-Advocate of Scotland, by Order of the Houfe of Commons, brought in a Bill for annexing certain for- feited Eftates in Scotland to the Crown unalienably, and for making Satisfaction to the lawful Creditdrs thereupon, and to eftablifh a Method of leafma; the fame, and applying the Rents and Profits thereof for the better civilizing and improving the Highlands of Scotland, and preventing future Diforders there. The Eftates propofed to be applied to the Purpofes of the Bill, were thofe of the Duke of Perth, the Earl of Cromarty, the Lord Lovat, McDonald of Barrifdale, Cameron of Locbiel, Stewart of Ardfniel, M'-Donald of Kenlock Moydart, M'-Pbcrfc.n of Chinlc, Bucannan of Aruprior, McDonald of Lochgary, Cameron of Callo/l^ Farquharfon of Monalirj, M'-Donald of Keppock, and Robert/on of Strowan. When the Bill came to be opened, and underftood, it appeared, that the Rents of the Eftates already mentioned, were to be annexed (inalienably to the Crown, in order that the yearly Income of the fame might be applied, as his Majefty and his SuccefTors by their Sign manual fliall uircc~t, to the Purpofes of civilizing the Inhabitants of the faid Eftates, and other Parts of the Highlands and Ifles of Scotland, and the promoting among them the Proteftant Religion, good Government, Induftry and Manufactures ; for which Purpofe his Majefty was empowered to appoint CommilHoners for managing the faid Eftates, who were to have no Salaries, but to appoint Stewards under them, with an Allowance rot exceeding f/. per Cent, of the Rental, and alfo Clerks and other Officers with reafonable Salaries ; and to grant Leafes for any Term, not exceeding twenty-one Years, upon a referved Rent of not lefs than three-fourths of the real annual Value, and not above ?.o/. a Year to any one Perfon ; all of which Leflees were to take the Oaths to the Government, to re fide upon r 32 j Anno 1752. upon and cultivate the Premifes, ana not to affign of *~~ *~~ ' let the fame to any other Perfon, nor to pay any Gratuity whatfoever to any other Perfon for holdiao- the fame. Somo Oppofition was made to the Bill, but it paf- fcd by a Majority of 134 againft 29. There fubfiflcd at this Time a great Number of different Funds for Annuities, eftablifhed at different Times, and by different Acts, which made it neccffary to keep many different Accounts that were expenfive as well as troublefome. The different Stocks of An- nuities were no fewer than eight, at 3 per Cent, and amounted in the whole to Q,1 37,821 /. 55. id. principal Money ; there were fix other different Stocks of Annuities, amounting to 17,701,3237. 18*. gd. principal Money, at 3/. los. per Cent, from. January J756, to January 5, 1758, when they were to be re- . duced to per Cent. But a Bill was now projected bv Mr. Pelham, and carried through without any Oppo- fition, for converting the feveral Annuities/ therein mentioned, into feveral joint Stocks of Annuities, transferable at the Bank of England, to be charged on the Sinking Fund, and for other Purpofes therein, mentioned. On the 2gth of January, 1752, a Motion was made by Lord Harley, ' That an humble Addrefs be pre- fented to his Majefty, befeeching him, in the moft dutiful Manner, that, during this Time of public Tranquillity, his Majefty will be gracioufly pieafed not to enter into any fubfidiary Treaties \vith foreign Princes, which are fo burthenfome to this Nation.' 7'his Motion being feconded by Mr. Northey, pro- duced a warm Debate, in which the other Speakers in Favour of the Motion were, Lord Strange, Mr. Prowfe, Mr. Moreton, Mr. Bedford, Mr. Fazakerly, , Sir Robert NewcKgate* Mr. Coke, and Mr. Delaval. It was oppofed by Mr. Nugent, Mr. Pelbam, Mr. H. Walpole, Sir Henry Erftine, Mr.' Solicitor-General, Mr. Tracy, Mr. Mltcbel, Colonel Hampden, Mr. Elli:, and Mr. SoutJywelL In Favour of the Motion it was faid, That fubfidiary Treaties ought never to be en- tered into but upon the greateft Emergencies ; that now, when all the Powers of Europe were in profound Peace, T 33 1 Peace, fuch Treaties could not be founded on abfo- Anno 175*. lute Neceffity; that, on the contrary, they ought to be looked upon as a dead Weight on Great-Britain^ already too heavily loaded by her own enormous Debts and Taxes ; that it is a Facl well known to every Member prefent, that the Powers receiving Subfidies in Times of Peace were not always to be depended upon in Time of War ; that it was a Maxim in every State to confult its own Intereft according to the Circumftanccs of the Times j and accordingly, upon the Breaking out of the late War, the Danes entered into a fubfidiary Treaty with France, whereby they gained the- Advantage of being paid for main- taining 1 2,000 Troops, for their own Defence at home, although, for more than twelve Years before, Great- Britain had paid them for the fame Number, to be in Readinefsto march in Support of the common Caufe, whenever they (hould be wanted ; that it v/as the true Intereft of the Germanic States to unite their Forces, in order to preferve the Balance of Power upon the Continent, without which they cannot long fubfift ; but that Great-Britain was fo far from being under the fame Neceflity, that it had ever been eiteemed her trueft Policy to remain neuter till fhe could clearly difcover the preponderating Side, and then, and not till then, to throw her whole Weight into the oppo- fite Scale. To thefe Reafons it was replied, That right Policy required every Nation to provide againft the worft ; that though the Powers of Europe were all in profound Peace, yet fome of thofe Powers were no lefs adlive in endeavouring to ftrengthen their Intereft upon the Continent, than if a War actually fubfifted ; that it was the true Intereft of Great-Britain, as a maritime Power, to maintain her Weight upon the Continent, without which, much of the Wealth drawn from thence would fall to the Share of her Rivals in Trade ; that the particular Cafe of the Daws was no Objection to fubfidiary Treaties in general, for when his DaniJJ) Majefty entered into Treaty with France^ his Term with Great-Britain was expired, and he had a Right to make the beft Bargain he could for his Subjects ; that though the Balance of Power upon the Continent muft be granted to be as VOL. V. D much C 34 ] Anno 1752. much the Obje& of the petty States of Germany as of V- y -< any others, yet it muft alfo be allowed, that even the- moft confiderable of them, by their Situation and Circumftances, are unable to maintain their Dignity without being beholden to their Neighbours, and therefore Neceffity obliges them to take Part with thofe who ar beft able or moft willing to contribute to their Support; that the Interefts of the maritime Powers are infeparably united ; and that if they were to look tamely on, and fee France attach to her Intereft State after State, by fubfidiary Treaties, without ex- erting themfelves in Time to traverfe her Meafures, they would have Caufe to repent of their Parfimony, when perhaps it were too late to retrieve the Error, and they might fall a Prey to the common Enemy before they were fufEciently apprized of their Danger ; a Circumflance againft which this Nation h princi- pally concerned to guard. This Debate being ended, and the Queftion being put, it pafled in the Negative, i8a to 52. This Seffion the Houfe came to a Refolution to print their Journals, which had hitherto been in Manufcript. The repeated Attempts for Naturalization Bills having failed, the Opposition to them without Doors fuccecded this Seffion in a very falutary Expedient for preventing the Abufes of them : For on the nth of March, a Petition came from a great Number of Mer- chants of the City of London, "to the Houfe of Com- mons, alledging, That feveral Foreigners have, of late Years, been induced to come over into England^ in order to obtain private Acts of Parliament for their Naturalization, with a View to gain fome Advantages to themfelves in Point of Trade, and particularly to avoid the Payment of Aliens Duties on the Goods and Merchandizes which they tranfport from foreign Parts into this Kingdom ; but having obtained fuch Ads, returned back into their own "Country, where they conftantly reiide, and confequently bear no Part o'f the public Taxes, nor in any Manner contribute to- wards the Support of the State, or at all anfwer the Intention of the Lcgiflature.' Such were the chief Allegations of this Petition, which were ftrengthened by C ^ 1 by fome excellent Reafonings. The Prayer of it was, Anno 1751, that the Abufe of the Favour of Parliament might be <' '><* ' prevented, ' by reftraining, for the future, the Bene- fit of Naturalization to the Time during which Foreigners (hall refide within this Realm, in fuch Manner, and under fuch Limitations, as to the Houle {hould appear fit.' This Petition was thought fo rea- fonable, that notwithftanding the Innovation which it intended to introduce, the Houfe entered into a ferious Examination of feveral eminent Merchants upon its Contents, and the Allegations appeared to be true. Upon this a Claufe, in Confequence of the Prayer of the Petition, was inferted in a Naturalization Bill then Depending. All material Bufmefs being fmiftied, his Majefly put an End to the Seflion on the 26th of March, 175!, with the following Speech. " My Lords and Gentlemen, Cannot put an End to this Seflion of Parliament* without returning you my hearty Thanks for *' the great Application and Difpatch with which you " have gone through the public Bufmefs ; you have not " only fhewn your juft Satisfaction in the Meafures " I have purfued in foreign Affairs, but have alfo " given me your Support in carrying them on, with* ' that Zeal and Chearfulnefs which I had Reafon to " expedt from fo dutiful and affe&ionate a Parliament^ *' who are entirely convinced, that thofe Meafures *' are calculated to maintain their own eflential Inte- " refts, and to render the prefent Peace durable and " lafting. " The many Laws now parted, will, I hope, at- cc tain the good Ends intended by them. Nothing ** that depends upon me fhall be wanting to make '* them efFedtual, and particularly to execute, in a " right Manner, the Provifions made for civilizing *' and reducing into Order fuch Parts of the united " Kingdom, where the Want of Knowledge, Im *' provement, and due Obedience to the Laws, had " remarkably furniflied Opportunities to feduce Peo- ** pie from their Loyalty." D 2 Gen- C 36 1 " Gentlemen of the Houfe of Commons, " My particular Thanks are due to you, for the " Supplies which you have fo readily granted me. * to aflure your Majefty, that we will take into our " ferious Confideration the beft Means to improve * c the public Revenue, whereby the heavy Load of " our Debts may be put in a Method of being gra- " dually reduced, and the national Credit, already in " a flourifhing Condition, be firmly eftablifhed. " We further beg Leave to aflure your Majefty, ct that, whilft we reflect with Gratitude upon the ** Bleflings of Peace abroad, and enjoy the daily ** Fruits of the Continuance of it, we will not be *' wanting in our Endeavours to preferve good Order 11 and Regularity at home ; happy in this Conviction, " that, from the whole Tenor of your Majefty's " aufpicious Reign, we are fure of your Majefty's " hearty Concurrence in every Meafure, which may " tend to promote the true Interefts and Profperity of Ll l> had the Honour to fit in this Houfe, than I have been this Day : For I did not believe that there had been any Set of Men, or, indeed, any Individual of the human Species fo prefumptuous, and fo abandoned, as to make the Propofal which we have juft heard. It is, indeed, impoflible that fuch Infamy and fuch Danger fhould be incurred by Men, whofe natural Abilities at leaft are not contemptible, without a ProfpecT: of fuch Gain as in their Eftimation amounts to an* Equi- valent ; and for this Reafon I cannot believe that the Motives which they are pleafed to aflign are thofe from which they a6t : The Hope of fome Advantage to themfelves, can only urge them to perpetrate fuch Evil to others ; for, not to fet any Value upon the Reputation or Peace which they rifle, it can never be imagined that they would moleft and perplex every fingle Family in the Kingdom, merely to fet a Beggar to work, or determine any Queftions in political A- rithmetic. * But though a national Avcrfion and Difguft to any Meafure, be a fufficient Reafon againft it, yet there are Reafons againft this of much greater Importance ; fuch Reafons as prove that Averfion and Difguft to be well founded. An annual Regifter of our People, will acquaint our Enemies abroad with our Weaknefs, and a Return of the Poor's Rate, our Enemies at home^with our Wealth. Our Enemies abroad are the Spaniards and the French, and our Enemies at home are C 59 I are Place-men and Tax-mafters ; and I fhould ill de- Anno 1753. ferve the Confidence placed in me by my Conftituents, <. % -.* if I fhould concur to increafe the Knowledge or the Power of either, which has, with equal Aflicluity and Perfeverance, been employed againft us. ' But, granting that fome good Purpofe may be anfwered by the Knowledge of our Numbers, why is it to be returned to the Board of Trade ? And why oftener than once in five Years, after the Manner of the Roman Cenfus f Surely the Roman Policy will af- ford a better Model for the Regulation of a free State than the French. But let not Gentlemen be deceived by fpecious Pretences, when the Cenfus is once taken, a Luftrum will certainly follow ; and, I hope, thofe who remember the Arguments which were lately ufed to obtain a Bill for rcgiftering our Seamen, will re- prefs every Attempt to repeat them with Contempt and Indignation. ' Can it be pretended, that by the Knowledge of our Number, or our Wealth, either can be increafed ? Is it not evident, that, to all good Purpofes, it will render them lefs effective ? If we are fuddenly prefled by a foreign Enemy, or endangered by a Rebellion, we muft, to the utmoft of our Power, raife a Force* proportioned to the Exigency, let the Number upon the whole be what it will ; for no Evil is equal to the Subverfion of our State. To what End then fhould our Number be known, except we are to be preffed into the Pleet and the Army, or transplanted like Felons to the Plantations abroad ? And what Purpofe will it anfwer to know where the Kingdom is crowdr ed, and where it is thin, except we are to be driven from Place to Place as Graziers do their Cattle ? \i this be intended, let them brand us at once; but while they treat us like Oxen and Sheep, let them not infult us with the Name of Men. * As to myfelf, I hold this ProjecT: to be totally fub- verfive of the kft Remains of Englijh Liberty, and therefore, though it fhould pafs into a Law, I fhould think myfelf under the higheft of all Obligations to oppofe its Execution. If any Officer, by whatever Authority, fhould demand of me an Account of ths Dumber and Circumflances of my. Family, I would refufe [6o ] Anno T 753 . refufe it j and if he perfifted in the Affront, I would *- * -* order my Servants to give him the Difcipline of the Horfe-pond j nor would I fail to exert every Faculty and Power of my Body and Mind, all the Influence which I derive from my Fortune, or my Attachments, to produce the fame Oppofition in my Neighbours, my Tenants, and my Friends. If I fhould ftruggle alone in fo glorious a Caufe, or if the Mercenaries of Opprefiion fliould prevail, I would immediately fell the little I poflefs, and fpend the Remainder of my Days in fome other Country, where, if I am not more free, I {hall not be a Spedator of the Ruin which I could not prevent, nor fuffer the Torment of perpetually comparing the prefent with the paft. A tame Submiflion to this Yoke, will indeed prove that the Spirit of our Anceftors is departed, and has left us unworthy of our Birthright ; we {hall deferve the Canvas Frock and wooden Shoes, which will inevi- tably be put on. But, however degenerate fome may be, I am ftill confident that without Doors there are Thoufands who have not bowed the Knee to Baal, and who will not fuffer his Altars to be fet up. 4 I know it is a faftionable Complaint, that the People are become too licentious to be retrained by the prefent Delegation of Power, and, I believe, the Complaint is true, but that which is propofed as a Remedy, is indeed the Caufe. There is a certain Limit, beyond which human Authority can never be obeyed ; to exceed this Bound, is always to bring Au- thority into Contempt, and an Effort ftill to enforce Laws, by multiplying Penalties, can only provoke Indignation, and endanger the State. Let the Laws therefore be few, fuch as human Power can furnifli fufficient Motives to keep ; the Legiflature will then preferve its Dignity, and the People their Independ- ence ; no Power will be given to petty Tyrants to opprefs whomfoever they pleafe, by profecuting for Offences, of which we are all become guilty, by the Breach of Laws which no Man can keep. 4 It was the Opinion of &?/ Ef l ait is to confound the Coward with the Brave, the Liberal with the Parfimonious. Who can enter as a Volunteer, when every Man is prefled into the Service ? And how can a Prince difcover his Strength by the Love of his People, when nothing is left them for a voluntary Contribution, and all Di-* ftin&ion is deftroyed by univerfal Coercion ? In a late memorable Inftance the City, which I have the Honour to reprefent, raifed 2435 /. by a voluntary Subfcrip- tion, and the County 31, 640/1 befides Aflbciations* to difcipline, to arm, and to pay a very confiderable Number of Men, for the common Defence : But if thole Friends of their Country had been the nun * bered Vaflals of indifcriminating Power, dekgated to the Refufe of the People, their Honour would have been precluded, as their Merit could not have been known; and the Prince, in whofe Defence it was their Glory voluntarily to pledge their Fortunes and their Lives, might have believed, that he had no Friends but the fmall Circle by which the Accefs of every [ 65 ] every other was prevented, and that thefe Monopolies Anri j. ] ^i T * /inno did not exaggerate their own Importance. t _ To eftet this Purpofe, may, indeed, be their Intereft ; but it can be the Intereft of no other ; and as the Bill, whatever may be pretended, has evidently this Tendency, I hope it will have no other Abettors. 4 I am indeed talking in Behalf of the People, to fome who affect to hold them in the utmoft Contempt ; though, by their Suffrage only, they pofTefs the Power - which they abufe ; but when the Creature of a Court, who fubfifts by the Salary and the Perquifites of his Place, affects to 'treat Complaints of increafing the public Expence, with an Air of fupercilious Negli- gence, and declares himfelf inclined to every Meafiare in Proportion as it is difpleafing'to the Nation, to the Landholder, the Merchant, and the Manufacturer, upon whom his Matters depend, my Contempt and Indignation _ are repreffed, only by his Impotence, and, as I difdain Expoftulation, I want Words for Reproach. . ' Other Reafons indeed have been offered, to in- duce a Concurrence to this Bill ; but are all equally odious and deteftable. One Gentleman was told, that it would affift in the Eftablifhment of a A4ilitia ; an- other, that it would bring about a general Naturali- zation : The rigorous Claufes were never meant to be executed, and the People might receive juft fo much as they liked. But the Advocates for this Bill did not appear with great Zeal in Behalf of a Militia, when a Plan was propofed, by which it might have been eftablifhed, though to a general Naturalization they might, perhaps, have been better inclined by more powerful Motives. Nothing, however, can ex- prefs greater Wickednefs and Folly than fuch Rea- ibning. Is it not wicked to enact a Law, for which i-s Advocates can find no better Apology, than, that it is not meant to be executed ? And is.it not foolifh to imagine either that a Legiflature can long preferve its Authority, when the People are fuffered to keep, or to violate its Prefcriptions ?" Or that any Man will believe, that fo much Pains would be taken, to obtain a Power, which it was not intended to ufc ? Or, that a perpetual Opportunity of enriching the few, by the VOL. V. F Plunder [ 66 J Anno 1753. Plunder of the many, will perpetually be lo.ft ? It. will, however, appear by the Bill itfelf, that it was not intended to be a dormant Statute. It prefcribes, that the Numbering of the People, and the Return of the Poor's Rate, to the Board of Trade, fhall be an- nual. That every Omiffion, or Neglect, of the Of- ficers appointed for this Service, (hall fubjeclthe Party to exorbitant Penalties, whether he be Overfeer of the Poor, Minifter of the Parifh, Clerk of the Peace, or chief Conftable ; and the Penalty is doubled for every Offence, though, for the firft, it is, in fome Inftances, TWENTY Pounds, and in none lefs than Five. This furely has a greater Appearance of Practice than Spe- culation, and will juftify a few Remarks on the ex- treme Cruelty which it will produce. Overfeers will be liable to thefe Penalties, for not doing that which many of them have not the Power to do. They are enjoined to take an Account in Writing ; and it is well known, that in this Kingdom, many Hundreds are annually elected to that Office, who are fo far from being able to write, that they cannot read ; neither can they always afford to pay thofe who can. The Gaol, therefore, muft, in a fhort Time, be filled with induftrious Poor, who have incurred, by abfo- lute Neceffity, a Penalty which they can never pay, and whofe Families muft inevitably be involved ia their Ruin. ' But as the Officers are thus ftimulated to Dili- gence, the People are not lefs awed to Submiffion. * The Overfeer is directed, by the Bill, to enter every Houfe, taking to his Afliftance the Conftable, to demand an Account of the Number of Perfons who refide in it ; and he is to diftinguifh, in a Schedule, their Ages and Sex ; whether they are married or fmgle j and whether they have ever received Alms. Every Perfon is to anfwer feparately, under great Pe- nalties ; and the Conftable (if Admittance to every Individual of the Family is refufed) is directed to ufe Force ; nor is he inverted with greater Power upon his receiving a Warrant to apprehend a Felon or a Traitor. And if n young Woman mould refufe to anfwer any Queftion concerning her Sex or Age, which may be wantonly put, the Overfeer and Conftable, for aught . that that appears, may examine her, as the Officers of Anno 17531. Richard the Second did the young Women, in a fimi- ' "Y* 1 ^ lar Cafe ; and if (he refills fuch Examination, fhe will, befides the Infult and Abufe, incur a Penalty, for oppofing the King's Officers in the Execution of their Office *. * If thefe Powers and thefe Penalties (hould prove' effectual for the Purpofes for which alone they can be appointed, the next Queftion to every Individual will certainly be, What is his Property ? And then the great Work will be complete, and our Government will be eftabliflied en Police. Befides all this, that no , Difgrace may be wanting, which can poflibly be brought upon us, the Pox is to be declared a national Diftemper among us, by this Bill ; to which, I fee, there is annexed a Lift of all EngKJh Diftempers, al- phabetically digefted. * Such is the Bill, Sir, and by fuch Arguments has it been defended, which are fo contradictory and abfurd ; fuch an Infult on the Public, and fuch a Dif- grace to Parliament, that to recapitulate, is to con- fute them. ' We are to entruft petty Tyrants with the Power of Oppreffion, in Confidence, that this Power {hall not be executed ; to fubjecl: every Houfe to a Search ; to regifter every Name, Age, Sex, and State, upon Oath ; record the Pox as a national Diftemper, and fpend annually 50,000 /. of the public Money For what ?---To decide a Wager at Whites \ * Againft this Bill therefore I do, as a faithful Servant of the People, in whofe Behalf I ftand up this Day, moft heartily proteft.' Upon a Divifion, the Queftion was carried for fur- ther Proceedings with the Bill. * The Rebellion tinder V/at Tyler and Jack Straw is afcribed, by the Authors of the Parliamentary Hiftory, to Ibme fcandalous Indecent cies, pr.ilifed by the King's Colleftors, in gathering of this Tax. Unus eorum col/fflorum fueHulas, quzd ditiu bornblle eft, efurfum impudict dtlcra'uivit , ut Jic exferiretur utrum torrupttt effent & cognittt a virh, ut jjc mort artsrtt arnicas & partntet prt tit fulvtrt taxam, & flurei potiut iligtrunt ftl-vtrc pr fits flitbui, %uam i/idtrt eat ism further attraJla'i. Vol. I. p. 361. F 2 The [ 68 ] The Advocates for this Bill, as if they defpaired of being able to defend it, were very felicitous to prevent its being examined ; with this View, when it was firft brought in, they affected great Indifference about it; they faid it might as well be deferred to another Sef- Cons as pafTed in this, but, that as it was now brought in, the Gentlemen might fuffer it to pafs the Com- mittee without Oppofition, that the Blanks might be filled up, and that, the Nature of the Bill being known, every Member, if he thought fit, might ap- prize his Conftituents of it, before it paffed into a Law, and take their Advice, whether hefhouldefpoufe or oppofe it. Thefe Pretences were fo plaufible, and this negligent Indifference was fo artfully affumed, that many Gentlemen acquiefced without Sufpicion, and the Friends of the Project, perceiving their Suc- cefs, were very diligent to improve it, and took every Meafure to precipitate the Bill through all the Stages of its Progrefiion. But, againft this Proceeding, others, who were not ignorant of the Purpofe it was intended to ferve, remonftrated with fome Warmth, though without Effect ; nothing more therefore was in their Power than to oppofe Art with Art, by taking every Method to delay that which their Opponents took every Method to precipitate. Every Claufe of the Bill was debated., and thefe Debates produced many Divifions. So cruel a Difappointment at a Crifis when Succefs was thought to have been certain, was more than could be fuffered without Impatience and Refentment. Mr. Potter, who was the Patron of the Bill, expreffed himfelf with great Warmth upon the Occafion, and faid, he was aftonifhed that fuch Liberties had been taken with a Bill which he had the Honour to patronize : That the Arguments, by which it had been fupported, werefo forcible and con clu five, that they could be ineffectual upon thofe only who were not capable of Conviction: That it ha^. been oppofed from perfonal and caufelefs Enmity ; that the Divifions upon it were fhameful, for that, in three of them, only one Perfon had gone out * ; that, if this * William 'Titrn'on, Efq; went out firft alone, then with two, then with ftventeen, next \vith thirty-five, aad, laftly, with fifty-three. q Pro- [ 69 ] Proceeding was permitted, public Bufinefs, of what- Anno 1753, ever Moment, might always be delayed, by. the P*>r-t - * verfe and Difaffedted, however defpicable their~Num- ber and their Abilities, till it could not be tranfacted with Succefs ; that, after an Experiment fo daring, and of fuch dangerous Confequence, had been once made, it might be repeated on a Bill of Supply, in the utmoft Exigency of State ; that, as there were Precedents of punifliing refractory Members of this Houfe, he hoped they would be followed on the pre- fent Occafion, and that thofe who had thus perverted the Power, with which they had been intruded by their Country, would be returned to Parliament no more. In Anfwer to thefe Infmuations, William Thornton, Efq; flood up, and fpoke as follows ; ' Mr. Speaker, c It has fallen to my Lot, during the whole Pro-WiiiiamThora- grefs of this Bill, to difclofe what others have at- ton * Ef 1> tempted to conceal ; nor is there any Method by which I could fo eafily, or fo effectually have proved that the Bill ought to be rejected, as by fhewing that its Ad- vocates have practifed every Art to difguife their Mo- tives to project it, their Zeal to get it pafled into a Law, and the Manner in which they intend it fhall be executed. ' I was indeed aftonifhed at the Arguments which were ufed to fupport the Bill, when an Examination of it became inevitable ; but I am yet more aftonifhed at the Menaces, which, like a Body of Referve, have been brought up when thefe Arguments were over- thrown. That any Gentleman, or any Number of Gentlemen, in this Afiembly, have a Right to con- clude, when they failed to convince another of the Expediency of any Meafure, which they think fit to propofe, that therefore he is obftinate, perverfe, or ftupid, is a Doctrine of which I have hitherto beer* totally ignorant; nor did I ever think it neceflary, before any Bill was taken into Confideration, to en- quire by whom it was patronized, left I might be guilty of oppofing thofe whom it was my Duty to aflift, and incur a Punifhment adequate to fo enormous a Criro. F 3 The [ 70 ] e The Gentleman who has flood forth as the Patron -> of this Bill, I have always honoured for the Strength of his Underflanding, and for his Addrefs in the Pro- fecution of any Meafure which he has happened to adopt; and, I cannot help obferving, upon thisOcca- fion, how extremely difficult it is to give Cunning the Rectitude of Wifdom, and Deceit the Uniformity of Truth. It may be eafily recollected by all who hear me, that this Bill was reprefented as neutral and inoffenfive, as a mere cafual Meafure, that might either be fufpended or dropped, without Injury to the Public, or Offence to thofe by whom it was propofed j but, if this were true, why has it been fo zealoufly fupported againft Oppofition ? What but Perverfenefs and Obftinacy, a Neglect of the Public, and a Dif- pofition to triumph in the Exercife of Power, could prompt its Advocates to wafte their Time, and mif- apply their Talents, in debating trivial Queftions with thofe who, in the Folly of their Zeal, believe them to be important ? If their Declaration was not true, let them tell us with what View it was made : Why was an Affair of Importance reprefented as a Trifle ? And, why were we then told that the Con- fideration of that Bill might be delayed, which is now precipitated with fo much Vehemence and Ardour, that thofe who have interrupted its Progrefs are ac- cufed of perfonal Enmity and interefted Views, and threatened with Punifhment, as Impeders of public JBufmefs, and Enemies to the State? * From this Difficulty, which with all their Art they have not been able to avoid, I do not fee that all their Art can deliver them. We have been told in- deed, that an Oppofition to this Meafure ought to be punifhed, in order to prevent an Oppofition to Bills of Supply, by which the Nation might fuffer irrepa- rable Lofs : But this is juit as reafonable as if a Man were to he punifhed for refufmg to give away his Pro- perty to every one that afked, left he fhould after- wards refufe to pay his Debts. ' It is evident, that whatever was pretended, the Gentlemen who brought in and fupported the Bill, were far from being indifferent about its Fate ; they were able to pjeferve the Appearance of Indifference no [ 7* J no longer than they believed their Proje& to be fafe ; as foon as it was in Danger, they appeared to be foli- V. citous, and when the Danger increafed, it was eafy to difcover that they were angry ; and when they were angry, it is no Wonder that they were abfurd ; they have alledged that to be a Reproach, which is in- deed an Honour, for he that goes out fingly in a Di- vifion, can no more be thought the Aftociate of a Faction than the Tool of a Minifter : As no Intereft in others can be gained by an Act in which no other concurs, it is fcarce poffible to affign any Motive for it, that will not at leaft imply Integrity and Perfe- verance : However, the fmgle Example was not with- out Effect, the Number increafed on every Pivifion, and, as it cannot be fuppofed that mere Ill-will to a particular Perfon was the Motive of all, neither is it reafonable to fuppofe it was the Motive of any, and I think myfelf in particular obliged to declare that it was not mine. ' I have no private or particular Enmity againft anv of the Advocates for this Bill, and, if I had, God forbid I fhould upon fuch a Principle oppofe them in this Place j for I do not hold him in greater Deteftation, who would have lopped off the Heads of a whole People at a Blow, to gratify his Cruelty or Revenge, than the Wretch who would withhold a Benefit from his Country, to gratify that Petulance or Malice which an Individual only has provoked, and of whrch his Country therefore is not the Object. * Of the Gentleman who has more particularly taken Offence at my Conduct, I have always had the higheft Opinion, and I think I may challenge all Mankind to proye, that one perfonal Reflection ever efcaped me ; if this cannot be done, it may furely bp granted, that I have no perfonal Enmity in my Heart; for, as from the Abundance of the Heart the Mouth fpeak- (th> it is fcarce poffible that I fhould have been always able to conceal it, in the Warmth of unpremeditated Debate, and the quick Refentment of injurious Cen r fure. f The Bill, which notwithftanding the Boaft of fome, that it has been fupported by irrefragable Argu- I think I have ftiewn to be deteftable and ab- F furd C 72 ] furd ; to be fuch as its Advocates chofe rather to con- ceal than defend, fupporting it by perfonal Sollicitatr- ons, difguifing their Purpofe by various Pretences, which appear to have no Foundation in Truth ; in- troducing it late in the Seflion, by way of Motion ; infifting to number the Houfe, when there were not Members enough left to adl; and condemning all Op- pofition, as proceeding from evil Principles, and tend- ing to an evil Purpofe ; and infmuating a Difpofition to punifli the Exercife of that Liberty, which every Man fits here to aflert. Upon the whole, this Bill appears in itfelf, and by whatever has been done in its Behalf, to be an abominable andfoilijh Meafure ; fuch it was pronounced by one of the greateft and wifeft Men of this Age ; and fuch, I doubt not, it will be regarded, by every difmterefted Perfon in the King- dom : Whether thofe who oppofed it {hall be thought worthy to be again returned to Parliament, it is not neceffary to enquire; but the Hon. Gentleman, who was ploafed to hope the contrary, feems to have for- gotten, that to be returned to Parliament, is, to an honeft Man, no pecuniary Advantage, and i? he finds the Majority under a corrupt and infuperable Influ- ence," it can be attended with no other ; he can only proteft againft Meafures which he cannot prevent, and regret with more Senfibility, the Shackles which he fees put on.' This Bill, though it was oppofed with great Steadi- nefs and Vigour, pafled the Commons ; but the Lords, at the fecond Reading, threw it out. When it had thus fuftered the Fate it had deferved, many of thofe who had appeared in its Favour, and boafted that it was fuppcrted by irrefragable Arguments, were pleafed to fay, that they forefaw what would happen in the upper Houfe, and for that Reafon only, did not op- pofe it below. April 1 6, a Bill, which had been pafled without any great Oppofition in the Houfe of Lords, intitled, An Aft to permit Perfons profejjing the Jewifh Religion to be naturalized by Parliament^ and for other Purpofes therein mentioned^ was fent down to the Commons. where [ 73 ] where it was next Day read a firft Time, and ordered Anno 1753. to be read a fecond Time. The igth, it was ordered *- "* to be printed ; and, May 7, it was read a fecond TimeJ and a Motion made for its 'being committed ; and though there are no Clergymen in the Houfe of Commons, yet upon this Motion a long Debate en- fued, in which the principal Speakers were, William Norihey^ Efq; Sir Edmund IJham^ Sir John Barnard^ Charles Cholmondely^ Efq; and Nicholas Fazakerley, Efq; againft committing the Bill ; and the Lord Duplin, Robert Nugent, Efq; the Lord Earrington^ and Henry Pelham* Efq; for committing it; and the Queftion being at laft put, and carried in the Affirmative, it was refolved, That the Bill fhould be committed to a Committee of the whole Houfe, and that the Houfe would refolve itfelf into the faid Committee, on Tuef- day^ May 15, when the Bill was again ftrenuoufly op- pofed, but it pafied through the Committee, and the Report was agreed to without any Amendment. Here it will not be amifs to give the Reader a com- plete View of the Controverfy on this famous Topic. However, it is necefiary to premife, that the Bill was at no Time confidered as the Object of Debate by thofe who oppofed it ; a general Naturalization, by fome future Bill or Bills, having been fubftituted in its ftead ; and, but for this Expedient, the apparent Impropriety of an Oppofition would have rendered it impoflible. It is alfo necefiary to explain what is im- plied by the Word Naturalization, which the Dif- putants themfelves feem either not to have underftood, or grofsly to have mifreprefented. A Naturalization Bill doth NOT give a Right fo muoii as to a Parifh Settlement: But a Foreigner, without Naturalization, may acquire this Right, ei- ther by Service, Apprenticefnip, or renting an Houfe of a certain Value. A Naturalization Bill doth NOT convey the Free- dom of any City, Borough, or corporate Society in the Kingdom ; but moft of thefe Privileges may be ac- quired by Foreigners without Naturalization. A Naturalization Bill doth NOT, nor CAN qualify a Rerfon to be employed in any Office or Truft, civil or military. A na- [ 74 ] A naturalized Foreigner cannot receive any Grant? > from the Crown directly or indirectly : NOR CAN he be a Member of the Privy-Council, or of either Houfe of Parliament; and no Bill can be fo much as propofed to Parliament for the Naturalization of any Foreigner, except a Claufe retraining him from thofe Privileges be firft inferted ; neither can a naturalized Jew fo much as vote for Aiembers of Parliament without Perjury, or Abjuration of his Religion, for fuch Oaths may be tendered him, as, upon Jewijh Principles, he can- not take. A Naturalization Bill can only empower rich Fo r reigners to purchafe Lands, and to merchandize with- out paying Aliens Duty *. The Debate will appear to confift of two diftincl: Parts : i/?, The Pretences of public Advantage, on which the Bill is founded, and what has been faid to explode and invalidate thefe Pretences. 2d/y, The Pretences of public Difadvantage, on which the Oppofition to the Bill is founded, and a Defence of it againft thefe Objections. Reafons for the Bill as advantageous to the Public. REASON I. It will produce a popular Increafe both in Number and Wealth, and upon the Number and WeaJ.th of the Inhabitants, the Strength of every Country depends. ANSWER. The Maxim is only true, fuppofmg the People to be unanimous, and inclined to co-operate for the public Good ; for the Combination of different Seels of oppofite Interefts, though it may increafe the Number and Wealth of a Community, will yet ne- ceffarily produce a perpetual Struggle and Confufion, which will be in exact Proportion to the Number and Strength of fuch Seels. REPLY. 7'he Jews, if received into the Commu- nity, will probably concur in every Meafure purfued for its Advantage; for with what View could they * Aliens Duty is a general Term, including all the extraordinary Chargt-s levied upon foreign Merchants, under various Denominati- ons, as Cufiojnjr, Subtdies, Fes, Scawge, Package, Bailliage, , CTr. attempt r 75 3 attempt a Subverfion of that Constitution, whether political or ecclefiaftic, under which they fuffer no Perfecution ; and under which their Property is fe- cure, and an Inheritance permitted, which is denied them by every other. REASON II. It has been thought expedient to na- turalize poor Jews upon Conditions which will not be fulfilled by the rich. The Condition upon which the rich are admitted is fuch as cannot be fulfilled by the poor, by thofe who have on any Terms admitted the poor, the Admiflion of the rich muft be deemed a good Meafure. ANSWER. The poor Jews might before the Bill obtain the Privileges of Naturalization without re- ceiving the Sacrament, by exercifing certain Manu- factures in Britain three Years, or refiding feven Years in our American Colonies, but they will now, not- withftanding the Expence, come in on the fame Con- dition with the rich ; for fuch a Number may be in- cluded in one Bill, as will make the Expence of each Individual fmall, and it is to be prefumed that a rich Jew will infert the Names of his poor Brethren gratis ; therefore, if more Damage will arife by admitting the poor who are not Manufacturers, than by excluding the rich, the general Effect of the Bill will be bad. REPLY. If two Names are in one Bill, the Ex* pence is double. REASON III. Great Part of the public Funds be- long to foreign Jews, it is therefore our Intereft to i- duce them to follow their Money, that the yearly Income of it may be fpent among us, and be no longer a Drawback on our general Balance of Trade in Fa- vour of foreign, and perhaps hoftilc, States. ANSWER. Few Men defire to leave the Country in which they have been bred, and perhaps born, when they are become old in the Acquifition of a Fortune j nor have Bills of Naturalization been applied for by rich Foreigners who have acquired Fortunes abroad, but by thofe who have got, or are getting Eftates here. REASON IV. If Jews are encouraged to refide here, they will greatly affift the Nation by the Loan of Money ; for in Exigencies, not only Funds, but Money, muft be procured, ANSWER. C 7* ] ANSWER. If Jews cannot get equal Intereft and Security elfewhere, they will lend us their Money without Naturalization : And, if they can get higher Intereft, with equal Security, they will not lend to us, though we fhould naturalize the whole Nation at once. REASON V. Jews fhould be encouraged to live among us, becaufe they now export the greateft Quan- tity of our Commodities. ANSWER. If the Jews do now export the great- eft Quantity of our Commodities, to take off the Aliens Duty muft be the Lofs of a very large Sum to the Nation. REPLY. The Pofition, but not the Confequence, is true ; for to fave the Aliens Duty, the Entry of the Goods of Foreigners is commonly made in the Name of a Denizen, and the Application for this Bill is made, principally to do that legally, which would otherwiie be illegally done. REASON VI. Wealthy Jews when naturalized, though not Manufacturers, may by their Money en-r able others to extend Manufactures, and by their foreign Correfpondence increafe the Exportation. ANSWER. Thefe Reafons are valid only in the Infancy of Trade : When Manufactures are eftablifh- ed, and a foreign Correfpondence is fettled, national Commerce cannot thus be increafed, for no Jew will procure to be made, or export, more of any Commo- dity than he can fell to Advantage, and as much will be made and exported without them. REPLY. The Facts are not true, for many new Veins of Trade and Manufacture have been, and may ftill be, opened : A new Manufacture of Cambletwas lately directed by a Jew^ and great Quantities of it were fent into Spain. The Facts are indeed over- thrown by the Application for the Bill ; for, if they were true, no mercantile Jew would defire to fettle or be naturalized, for Reafons too obvious to be enume- rated. [ 77 3 Objeftion; egainjl the BUI, as pernicious to the Public, Anno 1753. and the Anfwers. V ~j~* mi OBJECTION I. By this Bill we do not, like Efau, SELL our Birthright for any C on fi deration, however inadequate, but we do worfe, we give it away. ANSWER. The Privileges here called our Birth- right, are not loft by Communication. OBJECTION II. By this Bill the Jews will obtain a Share in the Government j they will at leaft be qualified to vote for Members of Parliament. ANSWER. The Affirmation is a direct' FaHhood. OBJECTION III. The Jews intended to be natu- ralized are monied Men, and they cannot procure a Settlement elfewhere ; they will therefore become the higheft Bidders for every landed Eftate in this King- dom ; and great Numbers of poor Jew s will fettle in the Neighbourhood of the rich, for they can ufe only their own Bakers, Butchers, and Poulterers. ANSWER. If this Confequence be true, theFa&s fuppofed would have happened already ; for it has been eftablifhed by our Lawyers, that a Jew born here, has all the Rights which can be procured by Naturali- zation, notwithftanding his continuing a Jew. A fo- reign Jew therefore may, without applying to be na- turalized, gain a Settlement for himfelf and his Pofte- rity, by purchafmg, in the Name of fome Denizen, who may covenant to convey to a Son, or Grandfon, and, in the mean Time, to allow the Purchafer Pof- feffion. It muft alfo be granted by thofe, who con- tend that the Bill will increafe the Purchafers of Land, that it will necefTarily raife the Value ; and, if it raifes the Value, it will necefiarily pro'duce an Im- provement ; for if a Landholder, by laying out iooo/. in improving his Land, can add 50 /. per Annum to it, and cannot add more than 30 /. per Annum by laying out the fame Sum in a new Purchafe, it is plain that he will not purchafe, but improve. And this is a pofitive Reafon for the Bill. OBJECTION IV. Many Jews, who live in Popifli Countries as Papifts, will come hither to be natura- lized, and then return back and profefs Judaifm, in Confidence that they may fecure themfelves by claim- ing [ 78 ] Anno 1753. ing the Privilege of Englijhmen, which muft involve L_ . , _ us in Difputes with the Powers of the Continent. ANSWER. Can it be thought that the Inquifitkln would forbear, for fuch Reafon, to lay hold on fuch Englijh Jew ? Or, that if we were to claim him, the State would or could deliver him ? If not, will any "Jew have a fufficient Motive for fuch Conduit ? Will not the Danger which now deters him continue ? Will he not therefore continue the fame ConducT: which it now produces ? Or, will he claim any thing of foreign Powers, which it is known foreign Powers would not grant to Jews> though we fhould interpofe ? OBJECTION V. Jews are not like German Pro- teftants, or French Refugees, who, in a few Years, incorporate with the Natives among whom they dwell, but will always remain a diftindl: Nation. The Jews went into Egypt one Family, and, after 430 Years, they came out a diftinct People, conftfting of 600,000 Fighting Men, befides Women and Children. ANSWER. The Religion of the Jews, which thus united them, was then true, and Truth gains Strength by Time : It is now falfe, and muft therefore gradually grow weaker before Chriftianity, which, fucceeding to the irrefiftable Advantages of Truth, muft ultimately prevail ; for Truth is univerfally prevalent againft all but Bigotry founded upon Ignorance, and irritated to Enthufiafm by Superftition. The Bill therefore ap- pears to be a Means of fulfilling the Prophecy concern- ing the Converfion of the Jews. OBJECTION VI. By this Bill we are giving the Lie to the Prophecies, and invalidating the ftrongeft Proof of the Chriftian Religion. Tha Prophecies, on which Chriftianity is founded, fay, they fhall be difperfed ; we are gathering them together. ANSWER. If the Chriftian Religion can be thus ^overturned, it ought not to ftand ; for whatever Pro- phecy can be invalidated by Facets, is falfe. On the contrary, if the Chriftian Religion, and the Prophe- cies on which it is founded are true, the moft popular Argument againft the Bill is inconclufive ; for then the Jews CANNOT be united as a diftincl: People, or found the Reftoration of their Nation upon the Ruin of ours. DEJECTION [ 79 3 OBJECTION VII. It is inconfiftent with our Cha- Ano 1755. rafter, as the Difciples of Jffus, whom the Jnus cru- L.IV - cified, to admit them as Denizens without receiving the Sacrament. ANSWER. It will remove a Temptation to Jews to receive the Sacrament, and fo prevent a moft horrid Prophanation, which there is too much Reafon to be- lieve will otherwife be often practifed ; for the Jew rifks nothing, in his own Eftimation, by performing what he regards as an idle Ceremony ; and to prevent fuch Prophanation, is furely a Chriftian Duty. OBJECTION VIII. The Jews never did fet up any Trade, for the Bafis of all Trade is Manufacture, and no Jew is ever bred to Manufacture, Mechanicks, or any manual Employments ; they merchandize, though it be only as Hawkers and Pedlars. ANSWER. The Reafon why Jews are thus edu- cated, would ceafe the Moment they procured a Set- tlement ; they cannot now be Manufacturers, becaufe Manufacture is not a travelling Occupation, but im- plies a Settlement ; when it is no longer neceflary that they (hould wander, it will be no longer neceflary that they fhould tje Hawkers or Pedlars, Trades fuited to a Wanderer's Life. OBJECTION IX. If, inftead of Pedlars and Hawk- ers, they (hould become Shopkeepers, the Number of Chriftian Shopkeepers mufl proportionably become lefs ; for the Number of Shopkeepers, on the whole, cannot increafe, there being as many already as can be fupported by the Confumption ; and thofe of the low- eft Clafs know, that the Gain muft arife from a fmall Profit and quick Return ; they therefore fell as cheap as they can afford, and no -Good will accrue to the Community by fubftituting the Jew for the Chriftian, becaufe, whatever may be pretended, he cannot re- duce the Price of the Commodity. ANSWER. It is net true that Shopkeepers fell as low as they can afford, for the fame Commodities, may be bougkt at the fame Price in Amfterdam^ or Li/ban^ though they muft go there lac-en with the Charges of Freight, Infurance, and Commiflion. Jew Shopkeepers therefore can be hurtful to thofe only who exadt an extravagant Profit on what theyexporr, import, C 80 j Anno 1753. import, or retail, and by being hurtful to fuch, they ~~ ' " are beneficial to the Public. OBJECTION X. The Jews, if they become Mer- chants and Shopkeepers upon the fame Terms as the Natives, will play the Trade into the Hands of each other, and fo in Time render it impoflible for any Chriftian to carry on any Trade, foreign or domeftic ; they will become our only Merchants and Shopkeep- ers, leaving the Labour of Manufacture to the poor Chriftians, over whom they will then by a neceffary Dependance be Lords paramount. ANSWER. Will the Jews, by this At, gain any Power of playing a Trade, which they have not yet acquired, into the Hands of "Jews, that the Chriftians do not now pofTefs ; or of playing a Trade, in which they are already eftablifhed, into the Hands of Chri- ftians ? If not, as the Chriftian isfirft pofiefTed of this Power, what hinders him from rendering it impoflible for any 'Jnv to carry on any Trade, foreign or domef- tic ? Or, what hinders him from exerting this Power to fubvert an Act, which is not like to be repealed ? . If fuch a Power fubfifts, it may be turned againft the Jews, if not, it cannot be turned againft us by them ; in either Cafe, the Notion of their becoming our only Merchants and Shopkeepers is equally abfurd and ridiculous. OBJECTION XL The Jews muft upon Principle be Enemies to every Chriftian State ; for Rabbi Gama- liel to their public Liturgy, called the eighteen Prayers, addeth a niruteentb againft the Chriftians, who are called Apoftates and Hereticks. ANSWER. In this Prayer, not the Chriftians but the Sadducecs are meant, the Talmud exprefsly de- claring, that Chriftians are NOT included under the Term Minim, Hereticks. And the "Jews always pray- ing, in their public Devotions, for the Profperity of the Government under which they live. Upon the whole, it appears that the Reafons for the Bill, upon Pretence of public Advantage, are not well fupported ; and that the Objections againft it, upon Pretence of public Difadvantage, are totally overthrown. The Inference is obvious : The Bill was intended for private Purpofes, which alone it * feems r a* i Teems calculated to anfwer, and which may be ah- Anno 1753, fwered with Safety to the Public : Whether they *_. /* J might be thus anfwered, was the only neceffary En- quiry. It was not necefTary, with an affe&ed Parade of public Good, to conceal the Intention of conferring a Favour ; for why fhould a Favour be refufed that may be granted without Labour, Expence, or P.ifk ? The Bill having met with greater Oppofition than was expected, there was, on the 2iftof May, a Peti- tion prefented in Favour of it from feveral Merchants and Traders, in the City of London, whofe Names were thereunto fubfcribed, alledging, That the Peti- tioners were of Opinion, that the Paffing of this Bill into a Law, might encourage Perfons of Wealth and Subftance to remove with their Effects from foreign Parts into this Kingdom) and increafe the Commerce and Credit of this Nation ; and therefore praying that the Bill might pafs into a Law : And that the Houfe might fee what Sort of Men the Petitioners were, feveral of their Names were upon Motion read to the Houfe. But as Merchants and Traders, as well as all other Sorts of Men, are often of different Opinions* there was the fame Day prefented by the Sheriffs or* London, a Petition of the Lord-Mayor, Alder men , and Commons of the faid City, in Common-council afiembled, which Petition being read, expreffed the Apprehenfions of the Petitioners, that fliould the faid Bill be paffed into a Law, the fame would tend greatly to the Difhonour of the Chriftian Religion, endanger our excellent Conftitution, and be highly prejudicial to the Intereft and Trade of the Kingdom in general, and the faid City in particular ; and therefore praying that it might not be paffed into a Law. Both which Petitions were ordered to lie on the Table until the Bill fliould be read a third Time; and next Day$ after reading the Order for this Purpofe, a Petition was prefented to the Houfe and read, of the fubfcribing Merchants and Traders of the City of London, in Behalf of themfelves, and all other Merchants and Traders of Great-Britain, alledging their being appre- henfivej that the faid Bill, if paffed into a Law, would in its Confequences greatly affect our Trade and Com- merce with foreign Nations, and particularly with VOL. V. G Spain r *2 i Spain an,d Portugal, and would alfo be attended with many other very bad Effects to the Kingdom ; and therefore praying, that they might have Leave, by themfelves or Counfel, to offer their Reafons againit paffing the fame into a Law. Which Petition was ordered to lie on the Table until the Bill fhould be read a third Time, and that the Petitioners might then be heard by themfelves againft the faid Bill, if they thought fit j immediately after which, there was presented to the Houfe and read, a Petition of the feveral Merchants, Traders, and Manufacturers, Ship- wrights, ,nd Commanders of Ships, whofe Names were -or: -unto fubfcribed, m Behalf of themfelves, and many other Perfons concerned in Shipping, and in the Woollen and other Manufactures of this King- dom, alledging, That the Petitioners were of Opi- nion, that the Pafling this Bill into a Law, might encourage many Perfons of Wealth and Subftance to remove with their Effects from foreign Parts into this Kingdom, the greateft Part of which, agreeable to the Experience of former Times, would be employed by them in foreign Trade nnd Commerce, and in the increafing the Shipping, and encouraging the Expor- tation of the Woollen and other Manufactures of this Kindgom, of which the Perfons who profefs the Je-ivijh Religion had, for many Years raft paft, exported great Quantities ; and therefore praying that the faid Bill might pafs into a Law. This Petition was like- V7\k\ ordered to lie upon the Table, until the Bill fhould be read a third Time, which it immediately was, ::ftcr fome of the laft Petitioners againft it had been called in, and their Petition being again read, they were heard, and they examined feveral Witnef- fes in Support of their Petition ; after which, they being withdrawn, and the Bill opened by Mr. Speaker, a Motion was made, that the Bill do pafs. Upon this another Motion was made, that the Debate mould be adjourned until that Day Month (that is, a Month from May 22. ) Upon which the Earl of Egmont ftood up, and made the following Speech. Mr. Speaker, EarlofEgmont, 'By the Motion now made for adjourning this De- batf to u diitant Day, I am at Liberty to fpeak to both thefe r 83 i trfefc QueftionS; firft, Whether this Bill ought to Anno pafs at all ? and fecondly, Whether it ought to pafs at '_ T this Time ? The firft of thefe Queftions depends wholly upon the Merits or Demerits of the Bill : The latter upon the Weight of the Arguments of the Gen- tleman in the Adminiftration, who has juft now fpoken. I mall beg Leave, in the firft Place, to con- fider thofe Arguments, and in the next, to fay fome- thing to the Bill itfelf. 4 The firft Reafon given by the Hon. Gentleman why this Bill ought not to be poftponed, but to be paffed at this Time, is, becaufe he finds the Nature of the Bill wholly mifunderftood, even by the Petitioners th'emfelves, who have appeared at the Bar, and con- fequently, that it muft and will be greatly mifappre- hended by the Nation, if it fhould end here : Whereas, if the Bill fhould pafs, it will become a Law* printed, promulged^ and fully known to the whole People, who will then fee how much they have been impofed upon by fome factious and defign- ing Men, who have ftirred againft it in the City of London, and have been dignified by the Hon. Gentle- man with the Titlccftbefcabby Sheep. ' Sir,* I hope the Gentleman will excufe me, for I neither want a proper Regard for him, nor bear him any particular Ill-will ; but it is impoffible for me to avoid faying, That his Reafoning in this Inftance is neither confident with that Candour which he pro- fefies, nor well founded in any Refpet. Upon v/hat does he found it? Upon a Queftion which he juft before put to one of the Petitioners at the Bar, (which I own I thought a ftrange one at the Time, after that Perfon had been fpeaking very intelligently againft it for half an Hour,) Whether be underjlood ^vhatwas the Intention of the Bill? To which he made Anfwer^ that He under/food himfelf^ and believed every body un- derjlood, that the Intention of the Bill was to naturalize the Jews. The Gentleman takes Advantage of this Expreflion, obferves, that the Bill is not a Bill to na- turalize the yews, but a Bill to take away the Incapa- cities, which by the Common Law of the Land^ and by the Statute Laws, they now lie under to be natu- ralized and from hence argues, that even the Peti- G 2 tioner* r *4 i turners themfelves againft the Bill are ignorant of the Nature of the Bill. But is this Way of fiming for inaccurate Anfwers out of the Mouth of refpectable Merchants, coming humbly to lay their Apprehen- fions upon a Point of great national Concern, in a regular and parliamentary Way, before you, a fair Method of Proceeding ? Is there any Dignity in this Manner of Debate? The Gentleman at the Bar fpoke efientially the Truth, This is a Bill intended ta naturalize the Jews, or it ts a Bill intending nothing. Ninety-nine Men in an Hundred would have exprefled themfelves in the fame Manner upon the fame Que- ftion, and none, who had not conceived a mean and difrefpeclful Opinion of this Houfe, would have thought it necefTary to have guarded what he faid againft a Quibble (pardon the Expreffion) of fuch a Kind as this. c The next Reafon offered by the Hon. Gentleman, why we ihould immediately proceed to pafs this Bill, is drav/n from the Refpecl: due to the other Houfe, who have agreed to it with almoft a general Voice That the poflponing the Confederation of this Bill "would be treating them with feme Degree of Difre/peff. To this I anfv/er, that it feems to me, and I take it to have been always underftood in this Place, that it was more refpeclful to any Bill, or the Advocates of any Bill, to let it fall gently, by adjourning the Confideration of it to a long Day, than to cant it out of the Houfe, on a Debate, with that Refentment which I think, the Bill does thoroughly deferve. Unlefs, therefore, the Gentleman means by this Refpecl: to the other Houfe, that we muft pafs this Bill, becaufe they have been pleaibd t-' pafs it, his Arguments from the Refpecl: due to rhem makes nothing to his Purpofe. I have great Refpecl: for the other Houfe, becaufe they are one of the three conftituent Parts of the Legiflature, and of equal Importance to the Conftitution of this Country with either of the other two. As fuch, I have dared, upon a very late Occafion, to be their Advocate myfelf againft a very indecent Abufe, which I fhould have blufhed to have offered to any Perfon, or in any Place, upon any Provocation. I mean the Bill * (ftil'i f The Marriage Bill, depend- f *5 1 depending in this Houfe) in Oppofition to which the Anno 1753. Banner of Popularity has been difplayed by thofe who, % to the beft of my Memory, never a&ed under it be- fore ; and againft which the democratic^! Affedtipns of the Joweft Orders of the People have been attempt- ed to be moved, by Reflections, as grofs as vulgar, upon the whole Body of the Lords. I oppofed the levelling Doctrines then urged, and I refifted the In- dignity then offered to that Order. It was my Duty ib to do, and it is equally my Duty now to refift the ill Ufe attempted to be made of their Authority, in order to reftrain the Freedom of our Proceedings, and to employ an ariftocratical Influence upon this Houfe. ' The third and laft Reafon of the Hon. Gentle- man, why this Bill ought to pafs at this Time, is de- rived from the Progrefs this Bill has already made in this Houfe, It has been read a firft Time, a fecond Time, committed, ordered to be engrofTed and read the third Time ; and the Queftion is now before you, That it fhould pafs this Day. Therefore what ? Be- caufe in every Stage of the Confiderations that have been had upon it, the Advocates in Favour of the Bill have outnumbered thofe who were a gainft it, there- fore they who have ftill offered further and ftronger Reafons againft this Bill, are not to have any Anfwers to thofe Reafons. It is fufficient to be told the Bill has proceeded thus far, therefore it muft pafs now. But give me Leave to fay, this Kind of Talk is a very light Treatment of the Forms and Orders of this Houfe : If the Forms and Rules of this Houfe, as to the Courfe of Bills, are not contemptible, they are of Ufe ; and they can be of no Ufe, unlefs they mean to give you Opportunity, in every Step, upon every Law, to confider, and reconfider the Subject- Matter of that Law, abftracled from any Regard to the Opinion which had prevailed at any Time or Times of Debate before. ' Permit me now, Sir, to confider the main Que- ftion, Shall this Bill pafs at a^ or not? With my Con- currence it fhaJl never pafs, and I will explain to you the Motives which determine me to fet my Pace againft it. Firft, out of Regard to Religion, and Reverence to Parliament ; and next, for Reafons G 3 grounded r 86 ] grounded on the Inutility, Prejudice, and Danger of f.he Meafure. ' Sir, I fhall not fay much, or fpeak with any Af- fedtation, to the religious Part : I never entertained ftraight or narrow Principles as to Religion, either in Speculation or in Practice. Reafon and Reflection have indeed convinced me, that a Want of Charity to all Sets and Defcripticns of Men, ,is not only very unbecoming, but very weak, and ftill more wicked. I do likewife abhor all that Cant and Hypocrify, Paf- fion, and enthufiaftic Zeal, which feizes fome, and is often put on by others, in Regard to Matters of this Kind, But at the fame Time I know, that a ferious Senfe of Religion, and a real Reverence for the efta- blifhed Religion of every Country, is elTential to the $afety of eyery Individual, and to the very Being of Government itfelf,-- r l think it therefore highly impo- litic for this Houfe, to bring the Gravity of their Sen- timents upon this important Point, into any Doubt pr Queftion. And I am fully pcrfuaded, that one or other of thefe two Things muft happen upon the pafling this Bill into a Law : Either the Public will be prevailed upon (by this Countenance which you propofe to give to the avowed Enemies of the Religion of your Country) to look upon that Religion as a mere Fable, as conceiving it agreeable to that Indif- ference which (though falfely) they will imagine you mean to mew upon that Subject : Or, if the Corrup- tion of thefe Times have not depraved them fo far as to think Religion a Jeft, and Chriftianity a Farce, they will view your Conduit in a very* odious Light. If you ftand in your right Senfes, you cannot, for your own Sakes, as Members of a civil Society, wilb, that your Influence upon the Minds of the People /hould extend fp far as in the Suppofition I have firft put. In the latter Cafe, you would do well to reflect what Confequences may refult from it to your own Exiftence. If the Opinions of the People are, either juftly or unjuftly, fo formed, as to believe (which? pnjuft as it would be, may ftill poflibly be the Cafe at this Time) that Parliaments have loft all Attention to their civil Liberties ; and if, in the fame Temper of their Minds, you fhould lead them into a farthQr Error, r 8 7 j Error, and fuperadd a Conviction that you fit equally Anno 1753. loofe to their religious Rights; what Support can '_ , __? you expect ?-r-How long can you hope to fubfift as a Parliament againft the Power which you fay you an- nually raife, and conceit yourfelves now able to con- troul, hut which, without any Doubt, may then treat you as the fame Power, raifed by your Predecef- fors formerly, treated them ? I fpeak, in the next Place, to the Inutility of the Bill. ' The Benefit to arife from the Admiffion of any foreign People upon Earth can confift in thefe Cir- cumftances only, That they will bring over great Treafures : That their Numbers will increafe the military Strength and Power of the State : That they will improve your Manufactures, and extend your Trade. ' As to the Treafures that will be brought over by this Admiffion of the Jews, you have been told by great Authorities at the Bar, that in Fact there are very few ri-ch Jews to come from any Part of the known World ; and as Things now ftand, this Coun- try muft be the Place, in which all yews of confide- rable Property, who are here already, will remain, and to which all others will naturally come without the Aid of this Bill : Becaufe the Lenity of our Laws, and Security of Property to Men of all Per- fuafions whatfoever, affords a better Protection to them than they can find in any other Part of Europe. In Point of Privilege, whatever has been faid, they enjoy none greater in any Nation upon Earth. We are told, that they are indulged in France to buy Houfes in the trading Towns : And by Law they have been intitled to this here for many Centuries, though excluded from the Right of purchafing any Eftates in Land, which they are neither by Law in- titled to do here or any where elfe that I know of, or, as I ftand at prefent informed, do believe, in the Chri- flian World. If therefore they have neither confi- derable Wealth to bring, nor want fuperior Induce- ments already to come, if is nothing but a wanton Spirit of Innovation, of changing the old Laws of England, and fetting up for every novel Inftitution G 4 -(the f 88 ] (the very Difeafe of the Times) that can prompt us to this ungracious A6t. ' But does any Man expert any Increafe of Strength or military Power, from adding to the Numbers of your People by the Admifilon of the Jews ? Though it be true, that in Defiance of the fundamental Laws of this Country, in direct Contradiction of the very Act of Settlement itfelf, Foreigners are now adtu- ally lifted, not only in your Armies, but in the very Guards ; and that in the Inftance of a late and fignal Infraction of the Laws, aggravated by Circum- ftances of unparallelled Cruelty and Oppreflion, and actually communicated this very Seffion to this Houfe, yet the very Soldier named (after full Notice of his Cafe in Parliament, and after petitioning for his Dif- charge) is ftill by Violence detained in the Service : And though this inconteftably proves, that our Armies cannot be compleated out of our natural-born Sub- jects, for I am not to fuppofe any Power but Necef- fity in this Country to be above the Law; yet I will venture to fay, that 'Jewijh Troops will not ferve the Purpofes, either of the Nation, the Adminiftration, or the Crown. I muft ccnfefs, however, that one Purpofe may be anfwered by their Admiffion: The Abomination in which they are held by the People of this Kingdom, fhould they grow infolent, or ob- noxious by their Numbers, may provoke Excefles againft them, which, when all other Arguments fail for a ftanding Army, may furnifh new. ones for its Support. For it is no extravagant Suppofttion, fhould this Bill pafs, that the Confequence may hereafter be pot only the Eftablifhment, but the Employment of an Army to knock our own Chriftian Fellow-fubjecls on the Head, in Protection of our foreign Jews. ' Sir, it is equally chimerical to propofe any Ad- vantage from the Manufactures or Labour of the Jews, which have been both idly mentioned : Whence are thefe manufacturing, thele labouring Jews to pome ? 1 quefl ion whether anv Number of Jinus at this Time exercife any Manufacture, or follow any laborious Profeffion in any Part of the known World. And in Truth, from their obftinate Superftition, and the total Difference of their Cufto;ns in every Circum- flance r 8 9 i fiance of Life, It would be utterly impoflible for them Anno 1753. to mix with our People, were they never fo well qua- < - lifted for it in every other Refpect. But we are told Admitting all this they may ftill greatly extend our Commerce. Sir, if we flatter ourfelves with any No- tions of this Kind, we do it in Oppofition to all Ex- perience, both of ancient and modern Times. The Trade of the Jews, as it appears" by the oldeft of our Hiftories, and the earlieft Records both here and in other Countries, was Ufury, Brokerage, and Job- bing, in a higher or a lower Degree. By this Traf- fick, in former Ages, they diftrefled and ruined the Chriftian Subjects in fuch Numbers every where, as to draw down upon them from Time to Time the Refentment of all Nations, and in this Traffick they have improved fo far in this Age, as now to ruin whole Kingdoms inftead of Individuals, by aiding Minifters to beggar the States they ferve, by which Traffick alfo they have greatly aided to plunge this Nation into a Debt of near eighty Millions ; but for real Commerce, and any honeft Trade of Merchan- dize, even in this Country, where the greateft Op- portunities of Trade exift, where their People have the largeft Fortunes to carry it on, their Dealings are fo inconfiderable, that they do not deferve to be the Object of our Attention in any Degree, otherwife than as the Enquiry into the Fa<5t may prove the con- trary of the Pretence. For in Truth, it will not be be found, that of all the immenfe Fortunes made by the Jews now fubfifting among us, any one has been otherwife acquired than by Contracts, Subfcriptions, Commiffions, and Correfpondencies, and all Kinds of Jobbing with the Neceffities of the Public in the late War. " * Since therefore the Naturalization of the Jews tends to no important Addition of Property to this Kingdom ; to no poflible Increafe of Strength ; to no Improvement in Manufactures ; to no Exten- fion of the Commerce of the Kingdom ; this Bill can be no Meafure of Utility, and cannot merit the Sanc- tion of this Houfe. * I now come to lay before you the Prejudice and jDanger which I apprehend from this Bill. < The r 93 3 * The firft relates to the Commerce of the King- ' dom, and has been ftrongly ftated by the Gentlemen who fpoke in Behalf of themfelves and other Mer- chants of London at the Bar. They have told you, that in Portugal, though many who are known to be yews in their Heart do refide there, yet any Jew would be burnt at a Stake who avowed his Religion, 2nd did not put hirrtfelf under the immediate Protec- tiod of the Inqui-fition by the Title of a new Chri- ftian : That they really apprehend this Averfion to be fo violent, that when it {hall be known in that Country, that we have taken a Meafure of this Kind in Favour of that Race, we {hall be looked upon as the moil impious Nation upon Earth, our Merchants nnd Houfes there will {land in great Danger, and our Commerce run the Rifk of being greatly impair- fd, if not totally deftroyed : That at prefent our Trade thither is of great Profit to this Kingdom, we being now treated as the moft favoured Nation : That France has been long affiduous at that Court, to obtain a Treaty which might put her upon the fame Footing with Great-Britain^ in refpecl to her Com- merce there: That hitherto, indeed, {he has not fuc- cceded, but there is great Probability, that from the Bigotry of that Court, inflamed by that of the Peo- ple of all Degrees, {he may carry her Point if this Bill {hould pals. Sir, none of us are able to judge how probable fuch a Confequence may be. I thank God, we are ourfelves fo free from this 'bigotted Dif- pofition, that we cannot eafily raife our Ideas to thofe Abfurdities, to which fuch Notions carry the People of thofe Countries ; yet certainly for a Meafure of little or no Utility at all, a Rifk of this Nature, ap- prehended fo much, and pointed out to you t>y the trading Intereft of this Kingdom, who can judge of this better than we can, {hould not be run. * But Inconveniencies of this Sort are Confidera- tions far inferior to the Danger, which this Bill threat- ens to bring upon the general Eftablifliment of this Kingdom. I am to fuppofe that this Bill muft have this Effect, that the Jnvs who are now here, or who a?"e to come here, will lay out vaft Sums of Money in JL/and. The Advocates for this Bill have been im- prudent r 9* i prudent enough to intimate, that this Is their Inten- Anno tion : This they avow to be one of the greateft Be- W -% nefits they expert from it, as it will raife the Price of Lands. Now, Sir, if this fhould not be the Cafe, what has been already faid proves that the Bill will have no Effect, which is alone a fufHcient Reafon. why it fhould not pafs : But if it fhould have this Confequence, I do maintain it to be the molt formi- dable and highly dangerous Meafure that ever was pur- fued j for it directly tends to the Ruin, and even Annihilation of the prefent landed Intereft of Eng- land. Of what Importance is it to Englijhmen, that the Price of Land in England fhould be raifed, to this End only, that by this Advance of the Price the Peo- ple may be tempted to throw thofe Lands for ever into the Hands of the Jews ? The prefent Englijh Gene- ration, who have now Pofleflion of the landed Eftates of England, are for once, indeed, to have the infidious Advantage of being bought out of them at an advanced Price, but nationally they and their Pofterity, for ever after, are to be deprived of their Inheritances here, and the Jews are to remain for ever the Land- holders of Great-Britain, and for ever after to enjoy our Titles to this Kingdom. In whatever Degree: this Bill is to operate by the Sale of our Lands to Jews, it operates more or lefs to turn the Tables upon the Chriftians in Favour of the Jews, to put the Jew s upon the Ground of the Englijh, and the Englijh upon the prefent Footing of the Jews. And fup- pofe this Bill fhould only have an extenfive Operation of this Sort, which it muft have, and not an univerfal Operation, (which it may have in Length of Time) yet great Eftates in all the Counties of England will of Neceffity fall, and that very foon too, into Jcwijh Hands : Then let me afk, whether it is poflible that great Eftates fhould not give great Influence? Let me follow it with another Queftion, whether great Influ- ence (in whatever Hands) will not be called upon to exert itfelf by the Minifters of this Country in all future Elections ? Let me purfue it farther *vith a third, whether this Influence fo acquired, fo called upon to exert itfelf, will not be exerted ? I fay, that undoubtedly it will j for pbnoxipus as this Jeu-ijb Intereft r j Intereft will be, it muft lean upon the Adminiftratioti for Support. Every Se6l in Religion not favoured by the People, or thoroughly countenanced by the Law : All new Bodies of Foreigners, even to the third Ge- neration, cio it for the fame Reafon :' And if we fee this in the Conduct of all who fettle among us by Denization or by Naturalization : If we fee it in the Conduct of the Diffenters of all Denominations, and even of the Roman Catholicks themfelves, the latter of whom moft commonly give their Weight to the fame Scale ; and the former too generally, and too openly, in feveral Counties, and in many Boroughs, form themfelves into an avowed Intereft for the mini- fterial Powers in all Times : Can any Man doubt but that thejewiflj Diffenters will become in like Manner the Servants of the fame Power in all Corporations of the Kingdom, where they (hall procure any Eftablifh- ment ? And can it be doubted but that their Eftablifh- ment will be more potent in our Boroughs, than thofe of the Diflenters of any other Denomination, as their Riches are fo much more confiderable, and their Union fo much clofer and more diftincl:, than that of any other Set of Diffenters in the Nature of Things can be ? * That the Jewijh landed Influence in Counties, and the 'Jnv'ifn diffenting Intereft in the Boroughs, muft and will ac"t in this Manner, and may even here- after drive out every other diffenting Intereft of the Kingdom, is not poflible to be denied; from whence another Argument arifes, which I fhall offer to you with great Sincerity and great Good-will to the Peace and Quiet of my Country. 4 It has been thought, in the Situation of the Royal Family at this Time, by every prudent and every honeft Man, that every Means fnould be purfued to maintain the prefent Tranquillity of this Country : Many who think that they have public as well as pri- vate Reafons enough to oppofe Minifters and Meafures, yet rcftrain themfelves at this Conjuncture, from thefe honeft Confiderations. To this Circumftance fome Tvlcn owe their uMuifcinbcd Enjoyment of the great Pro-* fits, nd unexampled Power of the high Stations in which they ftajid. How then can we account for their Infa- tuation, C 93 3 tuation, to call it no worfe, of urging a Meafure Anno 1753. like this againft what cannot be known, without any '-i - i~- ' immediate Evidence of public Alarm or Refentment, to be utterly repugnant to the Genius and Sentiments of the People of Great-Britain? Sir, it is no new Thing that Minifters fhould wantonly and weakly create Confufion, and from a Contempt of thofe they govern, raife an Oppofition themfelves :--- But our Minifters certainly are not aware how national, how general this Oppofition may probably become, which, from the Times in which we ftand, and from the Tendency it may probably acquire, it is neither wife nor honeft to provoke. < The prefent Adminiftration are fome of them the fame Men, others bred at leaft in the fame School, moft if not all of them able to remember the Spirit that rofe againft their Connexion, and overthrew them, towards the End of the Reign of Queen Anne. The Origin of that was a filly Meafure which jarred the fame String with this. It is true they recovered their Ground again, by the Accident of the Queen's Death, and the AccefTion of the prefent Royal Family to the Throne. But let them take Care now ; if they overthrow themfelves by the fame Wantonnefs, the fame Prefumption, the fame Inat- tention to, or Ignorance of, the true Temper of the People, they poifibly may fall never to rife again. * For my own Part, dead as all Spirit appears to be throughout the whole Nation, I do verily believe that this Bill will rouze it, but in a Way, of ail others, in which I fhould leaft wifh to fee it rife. 1 deteft the Race the Nation was hurried to run by that Spirit which I have juftnow mentioned, and I rejoice that I know (and I have had Opportunities to know it perhaps better than any Man in this Houfe) that a Moderation, and a fair Difpofition to the prefent Royal Family, does exift (as much as they are tra- duced) in far the greater Number of thofe who are defcended from the warmeft A&ors of thofe Times. Nothing but your Folly and Extravagance in the Pur- fuit of fuch Meafures as this, can bring them back into the paflionate Humours that appeared then. Sir, I have certaioly, as to my own Particular, no Reafoa to Anno 7753. * apprehend a large Minority. Though I expect itj C v _ ^.i I am fure that I do not defire to fee one, which fhall become fo merely by the Effect which this Bill may have upon the Minds of Men at the next General Election ; for it will be a Minority of a Sort with which I fhall be as little able perhaps to concur, as the Gentleman over the Way to contend. Indeed^ I am amazed that this Confideration makes no Im- preflion, for fo fure I am that this Bill will have an EfFe6l upon the People which you do not expect ;--* that when that Day comes, which is not far off, I {hall not fear to fet my Foot upon any Ground of Election in the Kingdom (I who have fpoke my Sentiments and voted againft the Bill) in Oppofition to any one Man among you, or any new Chriftiaft who has appeared or voted for it ; and fo, do I verily believe, any other Gentleman may do, who this Day in this Houfe fhall a6l and vote with me. ' Sir, it is eafy to be perceived, in almoft every Step that we have taken during this whole Parliament, that we think ourfelves wifer than all our Anceftors for feven hundred Years before us : For our Bufmefs has conftantly been to unravel all that, in refpecl: to Law and Liberty, Religion and Commerce, they had eftablifhed as the proper Rule of Government for this Nation. We ridicule the narrow Notions of our Forefathers, and we applaud our own open and exten- flve Underftandings which is carried to that ridicu- lous Excefs that if a Man talks of Magna Cbartd, or the Petition of Right, or of any of the funda- mental Conftitutions of the Kingdom, he is fneered and laughed at. If he talks of Caution in admitting and countenancing every enthufiaftic Se_ , _ having been laft Seffion brought before the Houfe of Lords by Appeal, which was founded upon an alledged clandeftine Marriage, it fet the bad Confequcnces of fuch Marriages in fo ftrong a Light, that their Lord- fhips ordered the Judges to prepare and bring in a Bm for the better preventing of clandc/lme Marriages - y which they accordingly did ; but the Bill met with fo many Alterations and Amendments in that Houfe, that it was not fent down to the Commons till May 7. Next Day it was read a firft Time in that Houfe, and or- dered to be read a fecond Time, and to be printed. The i4th it was read a fecond Time, and a Motion made for its being committed, which occafioned a Debate, in which Mr. Attorney-General and Lord Harrington fpoke for the Motion, and Robert Nugent*, Efq; (now Lord Clare) againft it, but was carried for the Affirmative by 1 16 againft 55. It will not be improper to ftate the Contents of the Bill, and the Objedions made to it, with the Anfwers* It is enacted that the Banns fhall be publifhed in the Church or Chapel of the Place where the Parties dwell, three Sunday s> in the Morning, except where Morning Service is not performed, immediately after the fecond Leffon. If the Parties dwell in different Places, the Banns muft he publifhed in each j and, if in an extra-parochial Place, or where no Divine Ser- vice is ufually celebrated, then in the Parifh Church or Chapel adjoining, and the Marriage muft be fo- lemnized where the Banns were publifhed. ' The Minifter is not obliged to publifh the Banns, unlefs the Parties give in their Chriftian and Surnames, the Places of their Abode, and the Time they have dwelt in them, a Week before the firft Publication. When the Banns have been thus publifheJ, the Minifter fhall not incur ecclefiaftical Cenfure for fo- lemnizing the Marriage, although the Parties fhall appear to have been under Age, and not to have ob- tained the Confent of their Parents or Guardians; un- lefs he had previous Notice of fuch Difient, and then he is to declare the Banns void. VOL. V. H No [ 98 ] No Licence fhall be granted to marry in any Place J where one of the Parties have not dwelt at leaft a Month. A fpecial Licence by the Archbifhop ex- cepted. If Marriage fhall be folemnized in any other Place a Church, or public Chapel, without a fpecial /icence ; or in a Church or Chapel, without having publifhed the Banns, or a Licence obtained of fome Perfon properly authorized ; the Marriage {hall be void, and the Perfon who folemnized it tranfported for feven Years, if profecuted within three. Marriage by Licence, where either of the Parties are under Age, and Confent of Parent or Guardians has not been obtained, fhall be void. Provided the Party under Age be not a Widow, or Widower, and the Parent refufing Confent be not a Widow married again. Where the Confent of a Guardian or Mother fhall be capricioufly refufed, or the Party non compos mentis, , or beyond the Sea, the Court of Chancery fhall re- lieve in a fummary Way. No Suit fhall be had to compel a Celebration of Marriage upon Pretence of any Contrail, whether the Words of fuch Contract were in the prefent or future Tenfe. All Marriages to be before two Witnefles, befides the Minifter, and an Entry fhall be made in a Book kept for that Purpofe, exprefling whether it was by Banns or Licence ; and if 'by Licence, and either of the Parties under Age, the Confent of Parent, or Guardian, fhall alfo be entered ; to be figned by the Minifter, the Parties, and the WitnefTes. Falfe Entry, Licence, or Certificate, or deftroying Regifter Books, are Felony, in Principal and Acef- fary, and to be punifhed with Death. This AcT: is not to extend to the Royal Family, Quakers, or Jews, or to afte6l any Marriage in Scot- land, or beyond the Seas. Nor is it neceffary, in order to fupport a Marriage by Banns, to prove the Refidence of the Parties in the Place where they were publifhed : Nor when by Licence, to prove that they had refided where the Marriage f 99 ] Marriage was celebrated one Month, nor fliall -any Anno 1753. Evidence be received to prpve the contrary. - T _ Such was the Subftance of the Bill, and it is gene- rally agreed that this Bill will prevent the Mifchiefs that have arifen from clandeftine Marriages ; the only Queftion therefore which could be debated was, whe- ther it would not produce greater Mifchiefs than it would prevent. To prove the Affirmative, it was faid, i/?, That the Legiflature's affuming a Power to difpenfe with the moft folemn Vows and Engagements, to do any Act not directly contrary to the Laws of God or Na- ture, is a Precedent of the worft Kind : That it tends to render the Marriage Contract lefs facred, even when it has received the Sanction of the Laws of the Land, and is pronounced right in a political Senfe. 2. That it will difcourage the Marriage of the poorer Sort, among whom Marriage, however necef- fary to political Purpofes, is generally an imprudent Step with refpect to themfelves ; and as, by this Act, they will be prevented from doing it without great De- liberation, many will not do it at all. 3. Proclamation of Banns, and public Marriages, are againft the Nature and Genius of our People. A young Girl cannot, without extreme Confufion, fuffer it to be proclaimed through the whole Parifh, that fhe is going to be married ; a young Fellow is always unwilling to fuffer the Jeers of his Compani- ons fo long beforehand ; and a Licence cofts more than poor People can fpare. The Difproportion between the Marriages at Keith's *, and at the moft populous Church, proves the general Averfion to public Marri- ages ; for at St. Annes, the Marriages in a Year were but 50, and at Keith's. 6000. 4. Seamen, Soldiers, Bargemen, Waggoners, &c. if they cannot afford a Licence, cannot be married at all, bccaufe their Refidence in any one Place a fuffi- cient Time, is incompatible with their Profeilion. 5. The Confequence of this will be the Decreafe of People, and the Increafe of thofe Vices, which the Paflions, not legally gratified, would produce. * A Clergyman's Chapel in the Fleet, H 2 6. Fa- C 6. Favours are fometimes, by Accident, obtained from Wornen of Character, before Marriage, and when a Pregnancy happens, Infamy is frequently pre- vented by a fudden and fecret Marriage, the Time of which cannot be generally known : But this will, by the Act, be rendered impoflible, and he who cannot marry a Girl, whom perhaps he loves, without having it publickly known that fhe was a Whore, will not marry her at all. 7. The Contract of Marriage ought not to be dif- folved, becaufe, when every other Contract is diflblved, the Parties mutually reftore what they have obtained by the Contract ; but if a Man of twenty marries a Woman of nineteen, and confummates the Marriage, he cannot reftore ; and therefore the Laws of God, and hitherto the Laws of Man, compel him to abide by the Contract. And the Reafon why the Canons allow a Boy of fourteen to avoid a Marriage made by him before that Age, is becaufe till then he is fup- pofed not able to complete the Contract. 8. It has always been deemed juft to punifh a Man f nineteen or twenty for a Rape, and there is the fame Difference between debauching a Girl, under Pretence of Marriage, known to be void in Law, and a Rape, as between a Fraud by falfe Dice, and a Robbery on the Highway : The former is, in both Cafes, the greater Crime, and though not adequately punifhed, yet the leaft to be done is to oblige the Ravifher to abide by the Marriage he has entered into. 9. By this Law the Innocent only are puniftied, for the Children are declared to be illegitimate, and no Penalty is laid on the Parent. Anfwers to the above Objections. To the ifl. The Legiflature aflumes no Power to difpenfc with the moral Obligation of folemn Vows and Engagements, but only determines to what Con- tract it will give the Sanction of Marriage for politi- cal and civil Purpofes, and the Legiflature has never yet been blamed for not legitimating Children, which have been the IfTue of folemn Engagements, when the Circumftances which had been declared requiilte to a Marriage were wanting : Nor can it be thought the Le- giflature r ici i gifiature aflumes more than human Authority, when, Anno 1753, for wife Reafons, thefe Circumftances are changed : ' Neither can it, without the utmolt Abfurdity, be pre- tended, that a Law, by which Solemnity and Deli- beration are made necefTary to Marriage, tends to lef- fen the Reverence and Awe which is paid to the Con- tract. To the id. It will not prevent Marriage among the Poor, for in Country Places, where there is no Fleet Parfon, or Keith's Chapel, Marriages are as frequent, , in Proportion to the Number of the Inhabitants, as in the Metropolis. To the 3^ and $th. An Anfwer to thefe Objections is included in the Anfwer to the fecond. To the 4/. A Seaman, Bargeman, or Waggoner's Refidence will always be underftood to be in the Parifli where he refides on Shore, or to which his Waggon or Barge belongs; and, if married by a Licence, the Bride's having refided a Month in any Parifh, whe- ther the Bridegroom has any fuch Place of Refidence or not, will be fufficient. To the 6th. It is of more Confequence to Society that Fornication mould be difcouraged by making Marriage fo public, that no unmarried Perfons can live together as Man and Wife, without the Infamy which fuch Cohabitation deferves, than that a few indifcreet Women fhould be fcreencd from Difgrace, the Hope of which may encourage the Fault. To the jth. The Contract of Marriage is not dif- folved, but a Contract which before (by a Difregard of the Laws already fubfifting) was deemed Marriage, is now declared to be otherwise. To the %th. If an indifcreet Woman fhould be drawn into a Contract, under the Notion of Marriage, which is not fo in Law, and mould cohabit with her jfuppofed Hufband, fhe would have a good Action againft him, notwithstanding this Statute, if he fhould refufe a legal Marriage; and, upon fuch Action, if the Woman appeared to be of good Character, and the Man in affluent Cireumftances, the Jury would certainly give her fignal Damages. Befides, as Care has been taken to promulgate this Law in a very extra- ordinary Manner, by reading it in Places -of public H 3 Worihip, Worfhip, a Woman will be lefs liable to be deceived 1 into illegal Marriage, after it takes Place, than before. , To the gtfc. That the Children are punifhed for the Fault of the Parent, is an Objection againft withhold- ing the Benefit of legal Marriage from the Iflue of any Contract, however private or illegal, and there- fore muft be confidered as Felo de fe. Several Gentlemen in the Adminiftration fpoke a- gainft the Bill, particularly Mr. Fox (how Lord Hol- land) and the late Right Hon. Charles Townjhend. Mr. Fox holding it up in the Houfe, as Anthony expofcd the Body of Ccefar^ made a kind of a Parody of the Speech in Shakefpeare on that Qccafion. Mr. Pelkam, who was fmcerely for the Bill, began now to think it high Time to fupportit on apolitical Account, becaufe he thought the Oppofition made, was not fo much to the Bill, as to himfelf; and he fpoke with unufual Warmth. The Bill, however, at length pafTed by a Majority of 125 againft 56. A great Number who were againft the Bill abfented themfelves. The Lords agreed to the Amendments. No other material Bufmefs came on this Seflion, except a Bill that was brought in for purchafing the Mufeum^ or Collection of Sir Ham Sloanc, and the Harleian Collection of Manufcripts, and for pro- viding one general Repofitory for the fame, and for the Cottonian Library, by a Lottery. Sir Hans Sloane had directed by his 'Will,' that his Mufeum fhould be offered to Parliament for the Ufe of the Public, for 20, coo/. His Terms were embraced. The Har- leian Collection was offered to the Public by the Duchefs of Portland ior io,000/. Both thefe Collec- tions were fuppofed to be worth four Times the Sums given for them. The Cotton Library had been given to the Public by the Cotton Family. And the whole is now depofited, under certain Regulations, in Montague Houfe. On June the yth, 1753, the Seflion ended; when his Majefty went to the Houfe of Peers, and made the following Speech : My r 103 i " My Lords and Gentlemen, f 1 1HE Seafon of the Year is fo far advanced, Anno 1753. *' and theBufinefs before you fo entirely finifh- '.. . ' " ed, that it is neceflary to put an End to this Sefiion " of Parliament. The Zeal which you have fhewn " for my Perfon and Government in all your Pro- my People ; and, at the fame Time, to aflert and *. c maintain the Honour and juft Rights of my Crown *' and Kingdoms j are the fixed Objects of all my f Meafures." " Gentlemen of the Houfe of Commons, and Steadinefs, that you will purfue * "> " the moft effectual Meafures for preferving to this " Nation the ineftimable Bleflings of Peace. " We beg Leave to affure your Majefty, that we " will chearfully raife fuch Supplies, as fhall be found " neceffary for the Services of the enfuing Year. " Nothing can be more pleafing to your faithful " Commons, than to receive fuch Marks of your " Majefty's gracious Approbation of our paft Zeal " and Regard for your Honour, as well as for the *' Security and Eafe of our Fellow-Subjects. " We lament, with the deepeft Concern, that the " Methods hitherto attempted to reprefs and prevent " the horrid Crimes of Robbery and Murder, fo " grievous, as well as difhonourable, to this Nation, " have proved ineffectual ; but we afTure your Ma- " jerry, that however difficult the Tafk may be, to < reform, or even reftrain, the Defperate and the " Abandoned, we will neverthelefs perfcvere in our " ferious Endeavours to provide, if it be pofiible, a " more adequate Remedy againft fuch Enormities, te being fully perfuaded, from an uninterrupted Ex- ** perience of your Majefty's Goodnefs, that we fhall " be aflifted by your Majeliy's Concurrence and Sup- " port in every Meafure, that fhall be found expedi- " ent, in this or any other Refpecl, for the Welfare *' and Happinefs of your People." His MAJESTY'S ANSWER. " Gentlemen, cc T Thank you for this dutiful and affectionate 1 Addrefs. " You may firmly rely on my bcft Endeavours to t{ promote, on all Occafions, the true Interefts and * c Happinefs of my People." Many Circumftances concurred to make this one of the moft unanimous Seffions that had appeared for many Years. The Mir.ifcer's Candour had gained him many Friends. The Party that had been formed by the late Prince of fr'ahs, was extinguiflied with the 2 Death [ 110 ] . Death of that Prince, and a wonderful Spirit of Loy~ J alty appeared over the whole Kingdom. Add to thefe Confiderations, it being the laft Seffion, the Houfe of Commons was but thin, feveral of the Members re- maining in the Country to make Intereft for their Re- elections. Thofe fair Appearances, any Minifter of lefs Popularity than Mr. Pelbam^ muft have foon after been ' overfet by the Storm of popular Difcontent, which arofe in the Nation on Account of the Bill for allowing the Jews to be naturalized, which paffed laft Sefiion. Without fpecifying Particulars, it is fufHci- ent to fay, that the whole Body of the common Peo- ple of England^ and many even of high Rank, were inflamed almoft to Madnefs againft the Bill, and (eli- cited a Repeal of it by Inftru&ions to their feveral Members. The Government was too wife to think of oppofina; fuch a Torrent, and Mr. Pelham and his Brother foon made it publickly known, that they (hould be the firft to beftir themfelves in Parliament for a Repeal of the Bill. Some of their beft Friends were, through Principle, violently attached to the Bill, and endeavoured to perfuade them to defpife popular Clamour, and that if they indulged it, by fa- vouring a Repeal upon that Occaiion, no public Mea- fure, diiagreeable to the Mob, could be carried- into Execution. But they thought that the Bill of itfelf was not of Importance fufficient to hazard the Confe- quences of fo univerfal a Deteftation ; therefore, on the firft Day of the Seffion, the Duke of NewcaftUj in the Houfe of Peers, prefented to them a Bill to re- peal an Aft of the 26th Year of his Majefty's Reign, intitled,' " An Aft to permit Perfons profeflmg the Jitvifl) Religion to be naturalized by Parliament, and for other Purpofes therein mentioned." The Addrefs in the Houfe of Commons was no fooner moved for, and agreed to, than Sir James Da/h- juood moved for repealing an Acl: which parted the laft Seflion, to permit Perfons profeffing the Jewijh Reli- gion to be naturalized by Parliament ; but this being contrary to Form, Sir "James amended his Motion, and moved for a Call of tl\e Houfe on the Tuefday Fort- night following, when his Motion might be repeated. In the Motion for a Call of the Houfe he was feconded by [ III ] by Lord Parker, who oppofed him as a Candidate for Ano 1753. Oxf ordjhire ^ both being equally felicitous to recom- " mend themfelves to their Conftituents, by their Zeal againft an A& which was almoft univerfally'detefted ; and in Oxford/hire was not defended even by the Ad- vocates for thofe who had fuffered it to pafs. But the Bill coming from the Lords, rendered the Call unne- ceflary. Mr. Pelham was among the foremoft who fpoke in Favour of the Repeal. He was anfwered by ?bbmas Potter^ Efq; who made the following Speech (which is printed from an original Manufcript in his own Hand Writing.) < Mr. Speaker, After what has already parted upon the Subject this Bill, in this Houfe, as well as the other; after Efq that Race for Popularity which we have feen attempt- ed to be run by Perfons who ufually differ in their Ways of thinking ; and after that dexterous Manage- ment, or, to carry on the Metaphor, that Jockey fhip, by which this Bill is triumphantly brought down, by one Side, before the Day is arrived which was defired by the other Side for the Confideration of it; it is na- tural to conclude that it will pafs through the Houfe without much Oppofition. 1 hope, however, that unconnected as I am with either Party, and being ufed to think a little for myfelf, I (hall be forgiven if I delay for a few Minutes the Courfe of this popular Proceeding, and if I interrupt the Unanimity of the Houfe with rny Negative, even though I fhould be fmgle. And yet, Sir, I fhould be heartily forry if I fhould ftand fmgle. I am content to be the firft in fctting my Face againft this popular Clamour ; I am content to lead the Way againft that Odium which, to many, feems fo terrible ; but I cannot but hope, that fome Perfon of Weight and Dignity will rife up to juftify the Proceedings of Parliament, to defend the Honour of the Legiflature. Sir, they want' an Advo- cate. Not only the Wifdom, but the Integrity, of the Legiflature has been arraigned, openly and impu- dently arraigned in Pamphlets, in News-papers that ha,ve circulated through every Country in Europe. They have been ace ufed, Sir, in exprefs Terms, of 5 having C Anno 1753. having fold the Birthright of Englljhmen^ and betrayed ' -' t the Chriftian Religion. King, Bifhops, Lay-Lords, and Commons, have combined to make this infamous Bargain, and the Rabble of the Kingdom have been called up to the Refcue of them." Pardon me, Sir, if I fpeak with Warmth ; I own I feel Indignation, but I am too well juftified in what I have faid j I have not overftrained the Point. ' Thus arraigned, thus accufed, Sir, it is propofed, in order to juftify our Proceedings, and to vindicate our Integrity to the World, that without venturing to queftion, or call to an Account, the Authors of thefe impudent Calumnies, we fhould at once yield to the Demands of the Multitude, and that we fhould, in Effect, more than tacitly confefs our Guilt, and ac- knowledge the Juftice of thefe Accufations, by haften- ing to refcind, with moft unprecedented Precipitation, what was done with great Confideration and great De- liberation : Pardon me, Sir, if I do. not think that fuch a Meafure is founded upon found Policy, or very confiftent with the Dignity of Parliament. I was one of thofe, Sir, who voted for the Bill when it pafied : I avow it, Sir, thus publickly, and let thofe, who are difpofed, (if there are any fo difpofed) make the moft of that Declaration. I am ready to abide the Confe- quences. I voted for it, becaufe I thought it a right and a wife Meafure, and from what has patted fmce, I am more ftrongly convinced that it is fo ; and when. I am once fatisfied, Sir, that what I have done is right, I will never be brought, for any Confideration, to let my Hand to an ignominious Recantation. And yet, this is the Light in which, I am afraid, this Pro- ceeding will appear to Mankind, and confidering the Spirit of Infolence which prevails, I fhould not be furprized, if we fhould fee this Bill, as foon as it is pafled, hawked about the Streets of London and Weft- minfier^ under the Title of the Parliament's Recan- tation. ' That thofe, Sir, who think, that permitting the Jews to be naturalized, was a wrong Meafure, fhould be dcfirous to fee this Law repealed, is natural. Of thefe, perhaps, there are fome in this Houfe ; a few who exprefTed their Diflike to it at the Time when it pafled, f 3 I p&fied, and others, who being abfcnt at that Time, Anno 1753. have had an Opportunity to form their Judgments L -.- > fince. That there may be others, who, indifferent as to the Bill itfelf, yet taking Advantage at thisDifiike, have, through Discontent, Difaffeaion,, or any other unjuftifiable Motive, endeavoured to raife a Clamour, and to blow up the Coals of Diflenfion, and that thefe ihould ferioufly wim the Repeal of the Bill, is ] ike- wife natural, becaufe, undoubtedly, nothing can iuf- tify them fo much as this Proceeding. If you repeal the Bill, the People can never be convinced, by Ex- perience, how fhamefully they have been mifled. That would be one Motive, though a diftant one j but there is another, which will operate more immediately. The Repeal of this Bill, Sir, will never be looked upon as the free and voluntary Act of the Legiflature j and the very Precipitation, which is ufed in paffino- it, will be the ftrongeft Proof that it is not. We were forced to it ; we did not dare to delay it for an Hour; the Champions of Religion were fo formidable, the Confcioufnefs of our own Guilt was fo great, that we huddled the Repeal through, before the Arrival of that great and dreadful Day, which was folemnly ap- pointed to deliberate upon it. Thefe, Sir, are the Lights in which this Proceeding will be trumpeted forth to the World, and I mould not be fiirprized, if upon the Day, when this Bill mall pafs through its lall Stage, we fhould fee Bonfires and Illuminations in every difaffeded Town in England, to celebrate the Triumphs obtained by the Patrons and Protectors of Chrivtianity over the Jewljb Parliament. * That this muft be the natural Confequence of fuch a Meafure, fo precipitated, appears to me fo ob- vious, that when I heard the Proportion of Repeal made from the Quarter from which it came, I own I was aftonifhed : Nay, Sir, I was grieved at it. I was grieved, not only as a Friend to the Bill which was to be repealed, but as a Member of Parliament, as a Friend to the Government, as one who fincerel-", and from the Bottom of his Heart, wifhes to fee the King fupported, and his Government carried on by wife and fteady Councils. VOL. V. I < But, J ' But, Sir, befides the Light in which the People J of this Country will confider this Repeal, we ought to look a little further. Trifling, as fome Gentlemen may now affe6l to reprefent the Object of the 'Jew Bill ; yet the opening the Way, and throwing out the Temptation to rich Jews to come and fettle in your Country, is a Meafure that has drawn upon you the Attention of every Politician in Etirspe. I fpeak this, Sir, in fome Degree, from my own Knowledge. The bad State of my Health has obliged me to pals feveral Months of this laft Summer in foreign Countries ; and I can aflure thofe Gentlemen, that the Jew Bill has not been more the Subject of Converfation in England^ than it has been in thofe Countries among Foreigners, whenever an Englijbnum happened to be introduced. Countries, Sir, hitherto, of Prejudice, of Ignorance, of Bigotry and Superftition ; but yet, where the Light begins to dawn, and where Principles of Commerce begin to be underftood : I declare, Sir, that in thofe Countries, I did not meet a fingle Man, (of thofe, I mean, who were converfant in Principles of Govern- ment or Commerce) who upon hearing the Bill ftated, and explained upon its true Principles, did not feel and confefs that it was a great Object, and envy the Happintfs of thofe Countries where fuch Principles were allowed t'o prevail. ' Having thus brought upon yourfelves, Sir, all this Attention ; having propagated, throughout the commercial World, an Opinion of your Wifdom, and of the Encouragement you were ready to give to commercial People; will you, Sir, give this fudden Turn to their Opinions ? Will you declare, that the Legislature is fo weak, that Government is fo weak, nay, to defcend ftill lower, that Adminiftration is fo weak, that they muft recede precipitately from their moft folemn and deliberate Refolutions, and cannot ftand the leaft, popular Clamour? If you do, Sir, may not this Weaknefs be remembered on fome future Occa- fion ? And, may not that Confidence, which they oueht, and which they arc, at prefent, difpofed to place in your Refolutions, be diminished ? ' But, Sir, if I do not tire the Patience of the Houfe, I would beg Leave to confider fome of the principal C 5 ] principal Reafons, upon which thofe, who were Pro- Anno 1753. rcoters of the Jew Bill laft Sefllon, are now become L - v - -J Promoters of the Repeal of it. I have heard it faid, Sir, by fome of thefe, that the Object of the Jtw Bill is in itfelf trifling ; rightly founded indeed in Principle, but yet of little Confequcnce ; and it is not worth while to make People uneafy for Trifles. If this be true, Sir, why was the Bill patted ? Was there no Oppofition made to it at that Time ? Were there no Petitions againft it ? On the contrary, were not all the Arguments, even thofe about Religion, then urged, which have been urged fince ? Not fo frequently, indeed, becaufe there was not Opportu- nity ; but has any thing new been faid which was not faid then ? And were there not ferious and grave Peo- ple, who declared publickly their Diflike to it upon a religious Account ? What was the Language then ufed, Sir, in anfwer to this ? Very different, furely, from that which is now urged. I could name Names, Sir, and my Memory would ferve me to repeat Ex- preffions, but that would be unparliamentary.. But I may fay, in general, that the Language then held, was fuch as, in my poor Opinion, did Honour to him that ufed it, and to the Houfe that adopted it : The Object was not then counted as trifling, and of no Confequence ; that would have been inconfiftent with the Bufmefs of that Day. ' But, then, Sir, it is faid, that the Clamours which have been raifed fince, are fo great, that the A6t is rendered ufelefs, becaufe no "Jew will ever think of coming here to apply for Naturalization ; and how- ever good the Inftitution was, fince it is become ufe- 1-efs, we may as well quiet the Ferment, by repealing it. This, Sir, is an Argument which, in my Opi- nion, does no Honour to Government. If the Le-r giflature thinks it right to invite rich Jews to fettle here, I hope Government has Power to protect them as well as the reft of the Subjects of thL Realm ; at leaft, I do not think it very politic to declare, that Government is unable to do it. But, Sir, I do very readily agree, that if the fame Clamour againft Jews was to prevail for the future, which has prevailed for five Months paft, not only no foreign Jews would I 2 think C think ef coming over, but I am fincerely perfuadej, that many of thofe rich Jeivs^ who are now eftablifh- ed here, would retire with all their Effects from this State of Perfecution, into fome more reafonable, more civilized Country, where they would only have the Inquifition to fear. But, Sir, is yielding, is giving way to Clamour, the Way to conquer it ? Are we to new to Popular or Eleclion-Clamours, as to have loft our Idea of the very Nature of them ? Are they likely to continue for Ages, or even for Years ? And is it not notorious, that we fooner receive, and fooner get rid of Prejudices than any People under the Sun? I have heard, Sir, fome of thofe who are frightened at the Clamour, compare it to that which was rai fed for- merly about the Danger of the Church. In one Refpeft, Sir, I think it to be very like, in the Non- fenfe and Abfurdity of it, but it is by no Means like it in its Extent, nor would it refemble it in its Conti- nuance. How came that Clamour, Sir, to be continued fo long ? Becaufe the whole Kingdom was then divided into two powerful Factions ; and becaufe the Leaders of each Side found a private as well as a party Account in the Continuance of Clamour. They were kept uj> by Art, Sir, not only by the Side clamouring, but by the Side clamoured againir. Little Infults, wanton Perfecutions, Meafures of Violence on one Side and the other, were fuggefted by cool and defigning Men, and heated Imaginations eafily purfued them. The prefent Situation of this Country, I thank God, Sir, af- fords no parallel Conjuncture. Had this Bill of Re- peal been propofed only by the feeble Party which has promoted the Clamour, had the Meafures of the Le- giflature been fupported,' not with Violence and Arro- gance, but with Calmnefs and Dignity, and with that Spirit which is infeparable from Dignity; had Govern- ment, I mean the executive Power, thrown in its V/eight as it ought ever to do in Support of the Legifla- ture, I will venture to foretell, without claiming any fupernatural Power, that before the End of the firft Seflion of the new Parliament, the Name of Jew would have been as much forgot in jthis Country, as that bther famous Diftin&ion which, upon a former parallel Occafion, branded the Name of many an honeft r "7 ] EngKjJ)man with yellow Letters. That Clamour like Anno 17 jj. this, Sir, had its Reign ; it was raifed to ferve a Pur- pofe ; it did the Bufmefs of its Day, and it is for- gotten. ' But it is faid, Sir, this Repeal is not meant as given to the Clamours of the Multitude, it is given out of Regard to thofc ferious, well-meaning Perfons who really think this Indulgence to the Jews prejudi- cial to Religion, who are alarmed at it, and who, though miftaken, deferve to have Relief given to the Tendernefs of their Confciences. Relief to tender Confciences ! Alas, alas ! Sir, furely this is too ftalc a Pretext. It is a Cloak fo threadbare, it has been fo hackneyed, fo worn formerly, by Leaders of every Party, to cover their own Ambition, their own Dar- ingnefs, that there is not now a fingle Tatter left to' cover our Terrors and Timidity. But, Sir, to .anfwer this Argument with more Serioufnefs than I believe it has ever been urged, if thefe tender-con- fcienced Perfons are Men who have Serioufnefs and real Doubts, if they are, as they pretend to be, true vind zealous Sons of the Church, would it not have been fu-fficient to have quieted fuch Doubts, that the Meafure had undergone a Reconfideration in both Houfes of Parliament ; that the Heads of the Church, fix-and-twenty Archbifhops and Bifhops, had, upon the moft ferious Deliberation, pronounced it as their unanimous Opinion, that there was nothing in this Law which was repugnant to the Law of God, no- thing which was inconfiftent with, nothing which was inconvenient to the Principles, the Doctrines, or the Pra6tices of Chriftianity ? Surely, Sir, fuch an Opi- nion, pronounced by fuch Men, might have calmed the Doubts of any private Man, who does not con- ceive that the Rock of Infallibility is placed .within his own Bofom. I fay, Sir, pronounced by fuch Men. There was a Time indeed, Sir, when I per- haps might have been prejudiced in Favour of thofe who were at he Head of the Church. Unhappily for me that Time is long fmce paft, and I can now fay, with as much Impartiality as any one here, (be- caufe no one has lefs private Connection with them) that a Set of Men of more exemplary Lives and Cha- I 3 rafters, ralcrs, never adorned the Stations they are in. Look J upon the Bench, Sir, let us afk our own Hearts, whe- ther there is one fingle Man who, to judge from the Courfe of Life he has led, can be fuppofed capable of proftituting his Function, and of felling that Religion which he is bound in fo peculiar a Manner to defend, for the Sake of obtaining a minifterial Smile, or an eafier and quicker Promotion ? I will anfwer the Queftion, Sir, I am fure there is not one. I do not argue from hence, Sir, that therefore every one is upon every Occafion to be bound by their Opinions. No, Sir, Son of a Churchman, as 1 am, I was never educated in fuch Principles ; I was never taught to pin my Faith, in Matters of Faith, on any Man's Sleeve, but in Matters which are not of Faith, which are mere Matters of Convenience, of Utility, of good Policy ; furely, Sir, a good Son of the Church might acquiefce under fuch Opinions as thefe, even though he did not concur in them. But, Sir, if he can- not acquiefce, if his Scruples are of fuch a Nature that they cannot be fo fatisfied, it is abfolutely im- poflible the Repeal of this Bill fhould fatisfy him. If, inftead of confidering this as a mere Matter of Policy, he thinks that God Almighty has exprefsly commanded, that no "Jew fhali have a legal Settlement in any Country whatfoever, and this is what the fcru- pulous, upon this Occafion, think, or pretend to think, the repealing this Bill is nothing. You muft go infinitely further : You muft repeal that Law patted fo many Years fmce, and by which your Plantations have received fuch Advantages, which enables Jews to fettle in America: You muft go ftill further, you muft bring in a Bill to declare, that no Jew born in Eng- land may purchafe Lands, as undoubtedly he can at prefent : Nay, you muft go further ftill, and muft de- clare all Purchafes already made by Jews to be void, and of no EfFe6h I fay, Sir, all this muft be done, if there is any Confiftency in ihefe fcrupulous Per- fons. ' The fcrupulous Man makes no Difference between zn EngH/l) born Jew, and a German Jnv ; between a Jnv going to America firft, and then to England to be naturalized, or coming immediately to England; be- tween t H9 ] tween a Purchafe already made by a Jew, or to be Anno 1755. made by one. It is the 'Jew he objects to, and his *_ . ,' Principle is this : They are a People curfed by God ; they are to have no Eftablifhment in any Country; and the fuffering them to eftablifh themfelves here or in America^ or to remain eftablifhed here or there till they have renounced 'Judalfm^ and confelFed Chrift, is equally contrary to the Dictates of Christianity. Sir, I do not fpeak this from my own Imagination, or from my own Ideas of their Scruples j I fpeak what I have ieen in print, and printed by an Au'ihoiity, which the Clamourers on this Occafion cannot call in Queftion, I mean, the London Evening-Poft. The Paper I mean, Sir, is that of November 20, where, iu a Letter to the Author, you will find thefe Extracts, which I now beo; Leave to read to you. " I believe I was the firft who writ to you on the " Subject of the Jnv Bill. I did it on a Principle of *' Confcience, becaufe I thought it directly contrary " to the Decrees of God recorded both in the Old and " New Teftament, and the Intereft of th Chriftian " Religion, that the Jewsjlould have a legal Settlement " in any Country ivbiitfoever, and wimed it might not " be attempted in this. I am a Clergyman of the " Church of England, and am perfuaded, in my Con- " fcicnce, that it is not confident with its Principles " to grant them a Settlement by Law. The Queftion ?' was fcarce ftarted before it was turned to ferve the " Purpofes of a General Election, and thereby made " purely political. It is poflible it may be confi- " dered in both Houies in a political Light, and " thofe who are in their Confciences perfuaded there *' was no Harm in the former Bill, may ftrive who " fhall be the firft to move, fecond, or third the Mo- " tion for a Repeal of the former Ac% that is, to ** pleafe the Populace. It is poflible they may retain " the Claufe to difqualify the "Jews from purchafing 14 Advowfons to Livings, with a View to pleafe the * c Clergy, and to obviate one Objection to the Bill. " If no jnore Jhould be done, the main Objection to the ^* Bill will ftill fubfift, which is, that it gives the " Jews a Power to purchafe Lands, &c. If nothing t l more than this is done, the Queltton whether they I 4 had, Anno 1753. " had, before the late Aft, a Right to purchafe, W -y " ftands as it did before : Since, therefore, it is well " known the Gentlemen of the Law, who arc to aecide " the Quejlion if brought before them, are of Opinion " they had fuch a Right to repeal the late Bill, without " making an exprefs Law againjl their pretended Right to " make Purchafes, will be deluding the People. " The Opinion-of Lawyers is of no Weight in the prefcnt " Cafe. JVhat Right they had before, is nothing to the " Purpofe. The Queftion now is, not whether they " had a Right, but whether, if they had this Right, " they ought not to be deprived of it, becaufe they are " difpofed to make ufe of it." ' Thefe few Extracts, Sir, are what I (hall obferve upon. They manifeftly contain the Opinion of a jcrupulous and confcientious Man ; and the whole Letter is wrote with lefs Paffion than any thing I have fcen on that Side of the Queftion. The Writer tells you, that he is a Clergyman, that he writes for Con- fcience Sake, and laments the political Turn which party Purpofes have given to the Queftion. This, therefore, is plainly one of thofe ferious and fcrupu- lous Men whom the Repeal of this Bill is defigned to latisfy ; one of thofe who are convinced in their Con- fciences, that they are bound, by our holy Religion, to mark out fuch and fuch as the Enemies of God Almighty ; and with great Zeal and Chriftian Meek- nefs to call aloud for Perfecution. But thcfe, Sir, as I faid before, will never be fatisfied witH the Repeal of" this Bill. The Letter-writer tells you they cannot be fo fatisfied ; that repealing the Bill without going fur- ther, is deluding the People, and that without con- fidering what Rights ,the "Jews have under our prefent Conftitution in the Opinions of all the Judges (the only Lawyers that determine upon Rights) the Parlia- ment ought to proceed to ftrip them of their Rights, till they {hall be reduced to fuch a Condition as the Letter-writer, in his great Charity, fhall think fuit- able to the Enemies of God Almighty. If then, Sir, this' is the leaf! that is expefted from us ; if the Scru- ples taken up upon this Occafion are of fuch a Nature as manifeftly cannot be fatisfied without going fuch, Lengths, as are totally inconfiftent with the Safety ^ the Honour, the Juftice of Government, why do we Anno 1753. give way to them in the firp- Inftance ? Why do we v- -y- indeed delude the People, and make them fufpecT: that thefe Scruples are well founded, by fo extraordinary an Attempt to fatisfy them ? Why do we not make our Stand here, and declare, with that Dignity and Authority which becomes a legislative Body, that thefe are not the Scruples of true Religion, that they are the Scruples of Weaknefs, of Ignorance, of Bigotry, and of Superftition ; and that they lead the Way to Doctrines contrary to all Chriftian Charity ? This, Sir, would, in my Opinion, have been the proper Method of treating Scruples, which we cannot,* nay, which we do not, mean to fatisfy, but which it is more than poffible we may encourage by giving way to : Scruples not new, not invented on this Occafion, and againft "Jews only ; but the Relicks of Anti- Toleration Principles, long fmce worn out and for- gotten, and which have lurked in the Minds of a few, and, in my Confcience, I believe a very few Individu- als. But, Sir, if defigning Perfons have -taken Ad- vantage of thefe miferable dying Embers, and have blown them up into a Flame : If for private Intereft, and for bad Views, any People have been wicked enough to ingraft Clamour upon Scruple, do not, on the other Hand, let it be faid, that we have deviated from the Rules of found Policy, that we have facri- ficcd a Meafure in itfelf juft and well founded, that we have fuffered this Stroke to be given to the Princi- ples of Toleration, thofe great Principles upon which - the Welfare of our Country depends, for the Sake of allaying a little popular Clamour which we had not Strength of Mind and Steadinefs enough to face.' * In * " Sir George Lytteltfn (now Lord Lyttehon) anfwered Mr. Potter with great Temper, in a mo it excellent Sp-.-ech, in which he ftewed the Folly of fupporting an Act, fo indifferent in itfelf, againft the Senfe of a whole People, and that too at the Eve of a General Election. He mentioned, very properly, that a learned Divine (Dr. Dela'tny ) had wrote a BOOK againft eating Blood, which, in hii own Mind, he thought to be a Matter of great Indifference ; but if it fliould fo happen, that AddrefTes againft eating Blood fliou!4 come up from the whole Nation, he could not then think it a Matter of Indifference, becaufe it ceafed to be fo by the Confe- qucnces that attended it. That, with Regard to the Aft itfelf, he " had [- 122 1 In the Committee, the Preamble to the Bill met with fome Oppofition. It was as follows : " Where- " as an Adi of Parliament was made, and pafTed, in " the 25th Year of his Majefty's ReL;n, intitlec, An "Act to permit^ &c. And whereas Occafien has been " taken, frpm the faid Adi, to raife Difcoatenis and " Pifquiets in the Minds of many of his Majefty's '* Subjects ; be it enacted." Some Gentlemen, who had all along oppofed the Bill, thought that thofc Words ir. the Preamble conr tained an indecent Reflection upon the almoft univer- fal Senfe of the People of England, Sir Roger New- dlgate^ therefore, moved to leave out the "Words, " Occafion has been taken to raife 'JDifcontents and " Difquietudes," and to infert in their Stead, " Croat " Difcontents and Difquietudes had, from the fa::i Adi, " arifen in." The Friends of the Bill, however, fluck to the Preamble, that they might fet a Note of Re- probation upon the factious Spirit of the Time, even while they were indulging it. Amongft others who fpoke upon this Occafion, was Mr. Sydenbam^ who, though a violent Churchman, had at nrft voted for the Bill that was now to be repealed ; becaufe he thought that it tended to bring the Jews within the Pale of Chriilianity. He now declared, however, that upon confuting fome eminent Divines, he had altered his Opinion. After a long Debate, in which feveral Gentlemen, who were apprehtnfive of not be- ing re-ele lutions againft Mr. L , and voted him guilty of a diredl Violation of the Lottery-A6t, and a Breach of Truft; and that an humble Addrefs be prefented to his Majefty, that he will be gracioufly pleafed to di- rec"l his Attorney-General to profecute in the moft effectual Manner the faid Mr. L for his faid Of- fences. In Confequence of thofe Refolutions, they ordered firft, That the faid Addrefs be prefented to his Majefty by fuch Members of this Houfe, as are of his Majefty's moft honourable Privy-Council. Se- condly, That the faid Refolutions be humbly laid before his Majefty at the fame Time with the Addrefs. The Event of all was, that Mr. L being profe- cuted by the Attorney-General in the Court of King's- Bench, was fined iooo/. which he immediately paid. On Saturday the 6th of April, 1754, his Majefty went to the Houfe of Lords, and put an End to the Seffion with the following Speech. " My Lords and Gentlemen, O THING could have given me greater Sa- tisfa&ion at this Time, than the Unanimity, and Difpatch, with which you have gone through " the Bufmefs of this Seflion. Though no particu- " lar Point of extraordinary Moment hath offered it- " felf to your Confideration,. yet you have fhewn the " mcft attentive Regard to every Branch of the pub- " lie Service. As to foreign Affairs, I fhall fay no- " thing at prefent, except, that it is my fixed Refo- * 6 lution to do every thing, in my Power, to maintain " the general Tranquillity, and to adhere to fuch " Meafures, for that Purpofe, as I have hitherto pur- Marquis of Granby Vifcount Royfton Cambridge Univerjity. Thomas Townfhend Edward Finch Cambridge Town. Vifcount Dupplin Thomas Bromley Camelford, Cornwall Samuel Martin John Lade Canterbury. Sir James Creed, Knt. Mathew-Robinfon Morris Cardiffe, Glamorganjh. Herbert Mackworth Cardiganfhire. John Lloyd Cardigan Town. John Symmons Carlifle, Cumberland. Sir Charles Howard, K.B. John Stanwix Carmarthenfhirc. George Rice Carmarthen Town. Griffith Phillips Carnarvanfhire. Sir John Wynn, Bart. Carnarvan. Sir Will. Wynn, Knt. dec. Caftlerifmg, Norfolk. Thomas Howard Charles-Horatio Walpole Chefhire. Charles Cholmondeley Samuel Egerton Cheftcr. Sir Rob. Grofvenor, Bart. Richard Grofvenor Chichefter, Sujcx. Vifcount Bury John Page Chippenham, Wilts. Edward-Baynton Rolt Samuel Fludyer Chip.Wycomb, Bucks. Earl of Shelburne John Waller Chriftchurch, Hants. Sir Tho. Robinfon, K. B. John Mordaunt Cirencefter, Glouceft. Benjamin Bathurft, jun. John Dawney Clithero, Lancajh. Thomas Lifter Aiheton Curzon Cockermouth, Cttmberl. Sir John Mordaunt, K. B. Percy- Wyndam Obrien Colchefter, EJfex. John Olmius Chnrles Gray Corfcaftle, Dorfet. Henry Banks John Bond Cornwall. Sir JohnMolefworth, Bar. James Buller Coventry, Warwick. Samuel Greathead William Grove Cricklade, Wilts. William-Rawlinfon Earle Thomas Gore Cumberland. Sir James Lowther, Bart. Sir John Pennington, Bart. Dartmouth. Walter Gary John Jefferys Den- Denbigfhire. Sir L. Salufbury Cotton, Bart. Denbigh. Richard Myddleton Derbyfhire. Lord George Cavendifh Nathaniel Curzon Derby. Lord Frederick Cavendifh George- Venable Vernon Devizes, Wilts, John Garth William Willey Devonfhire. Sir Wil. Courtenay, Bart. Sir Rich. Warwick Bamp- fylde, Bart. Dorchefter. Lord Milton John Pitt Dorfetfhire, George Pitt Humphry Sturt Dover. Lord George Sackville William Cayley Downton, IVilts. James Cope James Hayes Droitwich, Worcefter. Robert Harley, fen. Thomas Foley Dunwich, Suffolk. Sir Jacob-Garrard Down- ing, Bart. Soame Jenyns Durham County. Vifcount Barnard George Bowes Durham. John Tempeft Henry Lambton Eaft-Grinftead. Jofeph Yorke Sir Whiftler Webfter, Bar. Eaftlowe, Cornwall. John Buller Francis Gafhry Eflex. Sir John Abdy, Bart. William Harvey Evefham, Worcejlerjb* Sir John Rufhout, Bart. J. Porter Exeter. John Tuckfield John-Rolle Walter Eye, Suffolk. Coulthorpe Clayton Nicholas Hardinge Flintfhire. Sir Thomas Moftyn, Bart, Flint. Sir John Glynne, Bart. Fowey, Cornwall. Jonathan Rafhleigh George Edgecumbe Gatton, Surry. James Colebrooke Thomas Brand Glamorganfhire, Charles Edwin Gloucefterfhire. Thomas Chefter Norborne Berkeley Gloucefter. George-Auguftus Selwyn Charles Barrow Grampound, Cornwall, Merric Burrel Simon Fanfhaw Grantham, Lincolnjh. Lord George Manners Sir John Cuft, Bart, K 3 Grimfby, Anno 1754. [ GrimSby, Ltncolnfi. William Lock John Gore Guildford, Surry. Gen. Richard Onflow Sir John Elwill, Bart. Hants. Lord Harry Powlett Alexander Thirtieth way te Harwich, EJJex. John Phillipfon Wenman Coke Haflemere, Surry. Philip-Carteret Webb J. More Molineux Haft ings, Suffix. James Pelham Andrew Stone Haverford-weft, Pemb* William Edwards HelSton, Cornwall. Francis Godolphin John Evelyn Herefordshire. Lord Harley Velters Cornwall Hereford. Charl. Fitzroy Scudamore John Symmons Hertfordshire. Paggen Hale Charles Gore Hertford. Nathaniel BrafTey George Harrifon Hey don, TorkJJ). Charles Saunders Peter Denis Heytefbury, Wilts. Piercc-Acourt Aihe William Acourt Higham-Ferrers. John Yorke tlindon, BiSTe Richards James Dawkins Honiton, Devon. George Yonge Hen. Reginald Courtenay Horiham, SuJJex. Sir Lionel Pilkington, Bt. Charles Ingram Hull, Torkjh. Lord Robert Manners Richard Crowle Huntingdonshire. Lord Carysfort Coulfon Fell owes Huntingdon. Edward Montagu Robert Jones Hythe, Kent. William Glanville Sir Thomas Hales, Bart. Ilchefter, Sornerfet. Thomas Locker John Talbot Ipfwich, Suffolk. Edward Vernon Samuel Kent ' Kellington, Corniv. Sewallis Shirley John Sharpe Kent. Lewis-Monfon Watfon Robert Fairfax KnareSborough. Richard Arundel Sir Henry SlingSby, Bart, Lancashire. Lord Strange Peter Bold Lancafter. Francis Reynolds Edward Mar ton Laun- [ 135 Launcefton. Sir George Lee, Knt. Humphry Morice Leicefterfhire. Sir Thomas Palmer, Bart. Edward Smith Leicefter. George Wrighte James Wigley Leominfter, Heref. Sir Charles-Hanbury Wil- liams, K. B. Richard Gorges Lefkard, Cornwall. Edmund Nugent Philip Stanhope Leftwithiel, Cornwall. James-Edward Colleton Sir Thomas Clarke, Knt. Lewes, Suffix. Sir Francis Pool, Bart. Thomas Sergifon Lincolnfhire. Robert Vyner Thomas Whichcote Lincoln. George Monfon John Chaplin Litchfield, Sta/ard. Vifcount Trentham Thomas Anfon Liverpool. John Hardman Thomas Salufbury LONDON. Sir John Barnard, Knt. Sir Robert Ladbroke, Knt, Slingfby Bethell William Beckford Ludlow, Salop. Richard Herbert, dec, Henry Bridgman Luggerfhal, Wilts. Sir John Bland, Bart. Thomas Hayward Lyme, Dorfetjh. Francis Fane Thomas Fane Lymington, South. Sir Charles Powlett, K. B. Harry Burrard Lynn-Regis, Norfolk. Sir John Turner, Bart. Horatio Walpole, jun, Maidftone, Kent. Lord Guernfey Gabriel Hanger Maiden, EJJex. Robert Colebrooke John Bullock Malmfbury, Wilts. Lord George Bentinck Brice Fifher Malton, Yorkjb. John Moftyn Henry Finch Marlborough, Wilts. Sir J. Hynde Cotton, Bart, John Ward Marlow, Bucks. Daniel Moore Charles Chu/chill Melcomb-Regis, See Wey mouth. Merionethfhire, William Vaughan Middlefex. Sir William Beauchamp Pro&or, Bart. George Cooke Midhurft, Sir John Peachy, Bart, John Sargent Milbourn-port. Edward Walter Thomas Medlycott K 4 Mine- Anno 1754. [ 136 3 Anno 1754. Minehead, Ssmerfet. . - v > Charles Whitworth Daniel Boone ' Monmouth. Benjamin Bathurft, fen. Monmouthfhirc. William Morgan Capel Hanbury Montgomery (hire. Edward Kynafton Montgomery. William Bodvelle Morpeth. Thomas Duncombe Robert Ord Newark. John Manners Jcb-Staunton Charlton Newcaftle, Stafford. Baptift-Levefon Gower John Waldegrave Newcaftle- upon-Tyne. Sir Walter Blacket, Bart. 'Matthew Ridley Newport, Hants. Thomas-Lee Dummer Ralph Jenifon Newport, Cornwall. John Lee Edward Baco'n Newton, Lancnjh. Peter Leigh Randle Wilbraham Newton, Hants. Sir John Barrington, Bart. Harcourt Powell Norfolk. George Townfhend Armine Wodehoufe Northallerton. Edwin Lafcelles Daniel Lafcelles Northamptonfhire. Sir Edmund Imam, Bart. Valentine Knightley, dec. Northampton. George Compton Charles Montague Northumberland. Sir W. Middleton, Bart. Sir Henry Grey, Bart. Norwich. Lord Hobart Horatio Walpole, fen. Nottinghammire. Lord Robert Sutton John Thornhagh Nottingham. Lord Howe SirWilloughbyAfton, Bt. Oakhampton, Devon. Sir Geo. Lyttelton, Bart. Robert Vyner, jun. Orford, Suffolk. Henry Legge John'Offley Oxfordfhire. Vifcount Wenman Sir James Dafhwood, Bart. Vifcount Parker Sir Edward Turner, Bart, (double return.} Oxford Univerfity. Sir Roger Newdigate, Bart. Peregrine Palmer Oxford City. Robert Lee Thomas Rowney Pembrokeshire. Sir William Owen, Bart. Pembroke. Lewis Barlow Penryn, CwmjualL Richard Edgcumbe George Bofcaweji Peter- r '37 Peterborough, Northampt. Edward Wortley, fen. Matthew Lamb Petcrsfield, Soutbamp. William-Gerard Hamilton William Beckford Plymouth, Devon. Vifcount Barrington Samuel Dicker Plympton, Devon. George Treby William Balcer Pontefraa, Yorkjhire. Vifcount Gallway Sambrooke Freeman Poole, Dorfetjhire. Sir Rich. Lyttelton, K. B. Jofeph Gulfton Portfmouth, Hants. Sir William Rowley, Knt. Sir Edward Riwkc, K. B. Prefton, Lane. Nicholas Fazakerly Edmund Starkie Queenborough, Kent. Sir Piercy Brett, Knt. Charles Frederick Radnorshire. Sir Humphry Howarth,Kt. Radnor Town. Thomas Lewis Reading, Berks. Vifcount Fane William Strode Retford, Nottingham. John White John Shelly Richmond, Torkjhire. Earl of Ancram John Yorke Rippon, ditto. William Aiflabie Sir Charles Vernon, Knt. Rochefter, Kent. John Byng Nicholas Haddock Romney, ditto. Sir Francis Dafhwood, Bt. Henry Furnefe Rutlandfliire. Lord Burghley Thomas Noel _ Ryjs, Sujfx. Phillips Gybbon George Onflow Ryegate, Suny. Charles Yorke Charles Cocks Saltafli, Cornwall. Vifcount Duncannon George Clinton Sandwich, Kent, John Cleveland Claudius Amyand Sarum Old. Vifcount i^ulteney Thomas Pitt Sarum New. William Bouverie ( Julines Beckford Wii. Poore (double return.) Scarborough, Torkjh. William Ofbaldefton Sir Ralph Milbanke, Bart, Seaford, SuJ/ex. William-Hall Gage William Hayc Shaftfbury, Dorfet. Sir Tho. Clavering, Bart, James Brudenell Shoreham, SuJ/ex. Robert Briftow Richard Stratton Shrewfbury. Robert More Thomas Hill Shrop^ Ano 1754. E 138 J Anno 1754. Shropfliire. u r- ' Sir John Aftley, Bart. Richard Lyfter Somerfetlhire. Sir Charles Kemys Tynte, Bart. Thomas Prowfe Southampton Town. Anth. Langley Swimmer Hans Stanley Southwark. William Belchier William Hammond , St. Albans. James Grimfton James Weft St. Germains. Edward Elliot Anthony Champion St. Ives. George Hobart James Whitfhed St. Maws. Robert Nugent Henry Con way St. Michael. Robert Clive John Stephenfon Staffordshire. William-Levefon Gower William Bagot Stafford. William Chetwynd, fen. William-Rich. Chetwynd, Stamford, Lincclnjh. John-Harvey Thurfby, Bt. Robert Barber Steyning, SiiJJex. Hitch Young Alexander Hume Stockbridge, Hants. John Gibbons George Hay Sudbury, Suffolk. Thomas Fonnereau Thomas Walpole Suffolk. Sir Cordel Firebrace, Bart. John Affleck Surry. Arthur Onflow Thomas Budgen Sufifex. Thomas Pelham John Butler Tamworth. Thomas Villiers Sir Robert Burdett, Bart, Taviftock, Devon. Richard Rigby Jeffery French, dec. Taunton, Somerfet. Lord Carpenter J. Halliday, dec. Tewkefbury, Glouceft. John Martin, jun. Nicholibn Calvert Thetford, Norfolk. Lord Harry Beauclerk CharlesFitzroy Scudamorc Thirfk, Torkjhlre. Thomas Frankland Roger Talbot Tiverton, Devon. Sir William Yonge, Bart, K. B. Henry Pelham Totnefs, Devon. Sir J. Strange, Knt. dec. Browfe Trill Tregony, Cornwall. William Trevanion John Fuller Truro, CormvalL EdwardBofcawen John Bofcawen Wai- Wallingford, Berks. Richard Nevil Aldworth John Harvey Wareham. John Pitt Wilham-Auguftus Pitt Henry Drax Thomas-Erie Drax (dou- ble return.} Warwickfhire. Sir Charles Mordaunt, Bt. William Craven Warwick. Earl of Hillfborough Henry Archer Wells, Somerfet. Lord Digby Charles Tudway Wendover, Bucks. Earl Verney John Calvert Wenlock, Salop. William Forefter Brook Forefter Weobly, Hereford. Savage Moftyn John Crafler Weftbury, Wilts. Chauncy Townfend Peregrine Bertie Weftlow, Cornwall. John Frederick William Noel Weftminfter. Edward Cornwallis Sir John Crofie, Bart. Weftmoreland. Sir George Dalfton, Bart. O ' John Dalfton Weymouth and Melcomb- Regis (jointly fend four .) Lord John Cavendiih George Dodington 139 1 Welbore Ellis Anno 1754. John Tucker Whitchurch, Hants. William Powlett Thomas Towfhend, jun. Wigan. Richard Barry Sir Wil. Meredyth, Bart. Wilton, Wilts. Robert Herbert William Herbert Wiltshire. Sir Robert Long, Bart. Edward Popham Winchelfea, Suffix. Thomas-Orby Hunter Arnold Nefbitt Winchefter, Hants. Marquis of Carnarvon Henry Penton Windfor, Berks. Henry Fox John Fitzwilliam Woodftock, Oxon. Vifcount Bateman Anthony Keck Worcefterfliire. John-Bulkely Coventry Edmund Pytts Worcefter. Thomas Vcrnon Henry-Crabb Boulton Wotton-BafTet. Tho. Eftcourt Creflwell John Probyn Yarmouth, Norfolk. Sir Edw. Walpole, K.B. Charles Townfhend Yarmouth, Hants. Thomas Holmes Henry Holmes York- Anno 1754. Yorkfhire. V ,, ,j Vifcount Downe Sir Conyers Darcy, K. B. York. Sir John Armytage, Bart. George-Fox Lane SCOTLAND, Shires and Ste war tries. Aberdeen. Lord Adam Gordon Air. James Muir Campbell Argyle. Dugal Campbell, jun. Bamff. James Duff Berwick. Alexand. Hume Campbell Bute and Cathnefs. John Scott Clackmannan and Kinrofs. Robert Colvile Dumbarton. General John Campbell Dumfries. Lord Charles Douglas Edinburgh. Robert Dundas Elgin. Sir Ludovick Grant, Bart. Fife. James St. Clair Forfar. Earl of Panmure Haddington. Sir Hugh Dalrymple, Bart. Invernefs. John Campbell, jun. Kincardin. Sir James Carnegie, Bart. Kirkudbright. Tohn Mackvc Lanerk. James Vere Linlithgow. Charles-Hope Wier Nairn and Cromartie. Sir J. Gordon, Bart. Orkney. James Douglas Peebles. John Dickfon Perth. Lord John Murray Renfrew. William Muir Rofs. Kenneth Mackenzie, call- ed Lord Fortrofe Roxburgh. Walter Scott Selkirk. Gilb. Elliot, jun. of Minto Stirling. James Campbell Sutherland. / George Mackay Wigtoun. John Stewart ROYAL BURGHS. Aberdeen, sV, David Scott Air, &V. James-Stuart Mackenzie Craill, &V. Sir Harry Erlkine, Bart, Dumfries, 6fc. Archibald Douglas Dyfart, bv. James Ofwald Edinburgh. William Alexander Elgin, sc. William Grant Forfar, Forfar, ; &fr. Innerkithen,^, Anno 1754. Thomas Leflie George Haldane V . M Fortrofe, sV. Kirkwall, &V. John Campbell Sir Harry Monrow, Bart. Glafgowj&fc. Selkirk, &)V. Lieut. Col. John Campbell John Murray Haddington, &c. Wigtoun, &c. Andrew Fletcher, jun. * John Hamilton. On Account of fome Claufes in the Aft of Regency, it was necefiary to call the Parliament together as fooii as poflible : Accordingly, on the 3ift of May, 1754., the firft Seffion was opened by Commiffion. The Lord Chancellor made a Speech to both Houfes, ac- quainting them by the King's Command, That his Majefty had been pleafed to give them this early Oppor- tunity of coming together, in order that certain Par- liamentary Proceedings may be gone through, which his Majefty judges may be for the Satisfaction of his good Subjects to have completed without Lofs of Time. And that his Majefty did not think proper now to" lay before them any Points of general Bufmefs, referving every thing of that Nature to the ufual Time of their aflembling in the Winter. The Houfe of Commons proceeded to the Election of a Speak- er. The firft who fpoke on this Subjeft was the Mar- quis of Granby^ to the Effeft following. Mr. Dyfon, 4 A it is neceflary, before we proceed in any Bufi- Marquis of nefs, to make Choice of a proper Perfon to prefide i n GTanb y- our future Deliberations and Debates, I rife, if the Houfe will give me Leave, in order to propofe one. * The Chair is not a Poft of Eafe and Repofe, but of great Labour and Activity : It requires a Perfon of a diftinguifhed Character, whofe Authority may the better fupport the Dignity of this Houfe. * It is of the greateft Confequence, that we chufe the moft able Perfon we can find to fupply this im- portant Office ; for the Qualifications of a Speaker muft neceflarily have great Weight and Influence in our Proceedings ; and the public Bufmefs, as the Per- fon we (hall fix on may prove more or lefs expert, will accord- [ 142 ] accordingly.be either facilitated or obflructed, expe- dited or perplexed. * That honourable Chair, Sir, demands, in the Perfon who lhall be deftined to fill it, many Talents and many Virtues : It requires, in general, great Abilities; it requires, in particular, an exadt Skill in the Orders, Rules and Methods of Parliament : It requires a perfect Knowledge of all the Powers and Privileges of this Houfe, and a confummate Experi- ence in the infinite Variety of Bufmefs neceffarily to be tranfadled within thefe Walls. Befides thefe Ta- lents, the greateft Integrity and Impartiality, an un- fhaken Refolution, and fteady Firmnefs of Mind, are Virtues that ought to be eminently confpicuous in the Character of the Speaker of this Houfe. ' Very difficult indeed, Sir, it is to find fo many great Qualifications united in any one Perfon : Yet we have the Happinefs of having one Gentleman amongft us, whom Experience has fhewn us, on many Occa- fions, to be equal, in every Shape, to this important Office ; one whofe great Ability and Integrity has ap- peared, in innumerable Inftances, through the Courfe of feveral fucceflive Parliaments ; one whofe zealous Attachment for our prefent happy Ertablifhement, and for the whole Confutation of this Nation in general, is well known ; and who has a Heart warm with that Zeal and AffedHon, which is the proper Character of a Speaker of this Houfe, a Zeal and Affedtion for the Rights and Liberties of the Commons of Great- Britain. ' I perceive every Gentleman's Eyes are already fixed on the Right Hon. Mr. Onflow ; I do not doubt, therefore, but 1 {hall meet with the unanimous Appro- bation of this Houfe, when I move, That Mr. Or.JJow be defired to accept this important Truft ; and that he will again take PofTeffion of that Chair, which he has filled, in four fucceflive Parliaments, with the greateft Ability and Integrity, with fo much Honour and Re- putation to himfelf, to the Satisfaction of former Par- liaments, and to the Advantage of this Kingdom. ' There can be but one Doubt occur in the Choice of Mr. Oft/low, and that is how far he himfelf can be induced to accept of this important and laborious Office i [ 143 ] Office ; and yet, I flatter myfelf, there is one Argu- Am 1754. ment refulting from his own Virtue, and Love of his < " . Country, which will be able to over-rule this Diffi- culty. There is no Man whofe long and faithful Services give him a jufter Title to Repofe and Dig- nity than Mr. Onflow ; no Man has a ftricter or more indifputable Claim to every Argument of Self-defence,! that can poffibly excufe his embarking again in this laborious Office; no Man can forego the Arguments with greater Grace and Dignity j no Man fo likely to facrifice every Confideration of perfonal Eafe and Ad- vantage to the Intereft of the Public, and to the Im- portunities of this Houfe, than himfelf. ' I therefore move, That the Right Hon. Arthur t Efq; be defired to take the Chair as Speaker.' Then Thomas Pelham, Efq; (now Lord Pelham) one of the Knights of the Shire for the County of Suffix, addreffing himfelf likewife to the Clerk (who, ftand- ing up, pointed to him, and then fat down), fpoke to the following Effect, viz. Mr. Dyfon, e I rife up to fecond the Motion made by the Noblerho. Lord, who has fo perfectly and elegantly defcribed theEfqj eminent Virtues and Abilities of my very Hon. Friend, that he has fcarce left Room for me to fay any thing, but to teftify my ftrongeft Approbation, and to declare the high Veneration and Efteem I bear his Name and Perfon. ' This Acknowledgment is particularly due from me, as the ftrongeft Union and Frieudfhip has ever fubfifted betwixt his Family and mine, connected by the fame Principles, rivetted by the fame Views, the Services of their King, and the Good of their Country. * I am particularly happy in being able to dedicate my firft Attempt of this Kind to a Perfon of fuch high Worth, and in a Caufe fo highly to be approved of by every one in this Houfe, that it reflects Honour on me, though I prove very unequal to the Talk. 4 It would be extremely unneceflary, as well as pre- fumptuous, in me, to aim at a Detail of my very Hon. Friend's Excellencies, as every one here muft be tho- roughly fenfible of the great Benefits we have reaped from f 144 ] Anno 1754.. from his inceflant Services and Abilities ; and, I hope, V, - j i_f will readily join in intreating him once more to accept of that Office, which he has filled for fo many Parlia- ments fucceffively, with fo much Honour, Steadinefs, and Integrity. * I beg Leave therefore, Mr. Dyfon^ to aflift the Noble Lord in replacing Mr. Arthur Onflow in the Chair.' The Houfe calling Mr. Onflow to the Chair, he flood up in his Place, and faid, Mr. Dyfon, Arthur Onflow, ' Every Gentleman here muft be fenfible of the E% great Honour I have received by the Motion the Noble Lord and the Worthy Gentleman have juft now made ; and it will not be thought ftrange to any one, that I fhould extremely value myfelf, as indeed I do, upon their favourable Thoughts of me, and their Recommendation of me to the Favour of the Houfe : If the Length of Time through which I have already palled in this high and painful Office, fhould create in Gentlemen an Argu- ment for my being called to it again, does it not alfo, Sir, fuggeft fome very ftrong Reafons againft another Undertaking of it by me now ? I am fure it does. I am fure it ought to do fo with me : But, however, Sir, I will not difpute with the Houfe in their Com- mands; I am theirs, to be difpofed of as they mall think proper j and mall deem it a Duty to fubmit, in every thing, my Will to their Direction.' The Houfe again calling Mr. Onflow to the Chair, he was taken out of his Place by the Lord Marquis of Granby and Mr. Pel/jam, who led him from thence to the Chair ; where, upon the firft Step, he faid, ' It is my Duty to inform Gentlemen, that it is yet in their Power to reconfider what they have done, by calling me back to the Place from whence I have been brought hither.' But the Members cried, * No ! No !' Whereupon Mr. Onflow afcended the upper Step of the Chair, and Handing there, faid, c Since Gentlemen have commanded me to the Place I am now in, it becomes me to return the Houfe, as f 145 1 as I do, my humbleft Thanks for this frefh Mark of Anno 1754. their kind Regard and Favour to me.' '_ T _f And thereupon he fat down in the Chair. And then the Mace, which before lay under the Table, was laid upon the Table. Then the Right Hon. JPilh Earl of Hill/borough, in the Kingdom of Ireland, one of the Burgefles for the Borough of Warwick^ and Comptroller of his Majefty's Houfhold, faid, ' Mr. Speaker, * I ftand up only to make the ufual Motion of Ad- Earl of Hillfto- journment, after the Election of a Speaker; but I rou s h ' cannot deny myfelf the Pleafure of taking this Oppor- tunity to exprels the high Satisfaction I feel in feeing you, Sir, again raifcd to that great and important Office : The uncommon Ability, and invariable Inte- grity, with which I have had the Honour to fee you difcharge the Duties of it, in two fucceffive Parlia- ments, are the Foundation of that Satisfaction. c I beg Leave, Sir, to congratulate the Houfe on their having placed in the Chair one who is thoroughly acquainted with the Conftitution of this Country, and with the Laws and Privileges of Parliament ; and who has always placed his Glory in the Defence and Support of them. 4 I congratulate the elder Part of the Houfe, whofe particular Duty is to fupport and adviie the Chair, when there is Occafion for it, on the Eafe and Secu- rity they will feel in the Confideration, that the Bufi- nefs of Parliament is to pals through your Hands ; and that the Honour and Dignity of this Houfe are the immediate Objects of your Attention. * Thofe Members who have never before fat in Par- liament, and the younger Part of the Houfe, will give me Leave to congratulate them on the Indulgence you will fhew them-* Indulgence which I have often experienced, and hope you will ftill continue to me - s and on the Inftru&ion you are always willing to give in every Way, and conftantly do give in the moft pleafing and efficacious Way, that of Example. 4 Sir, I congratulate the Nation in general ; for, give me Leave to fay, that you are called to that Chair VOL. V. L by r . 1754. l>y the unanimous Voice of the collective Body of the L People, as well as by that of their reprefentative. * We have received the King's Command to pre- fentthe Speaker to his Majefty To-morrow : You will then, Sir, be confirmed in your high Office. His Majefty will confirm you, Sir, as one whom he knows to be a true and fteady Friend to Liberty, and to this Conftitution, and, of Confequence, zealoufly attached to his Royal Perfon and Family. * And now, Sir, give me Leave to congratulate you upon the greateft human Reward Virtue and Merit can receive, the concurrent Approbation of the beft of Kings, and of all your Fellow- Subjects. ' I move you, Sir, That this Houfe do adjourn till To-morrow Morning, Eleven o'Clock.' And the Houfe was adjourned accordingly. Next Day, the Houfe being met, and the Speaker ele& having taken the Chair, a Meflage was brought by the Hon. Sir Henry Ecllenden^ Gentleman-Ufher of the Black Rod. Mr. Speaker, The Lords, authorifed by Virtue of his Majefty 's Commiflion, defire the immediate Attendance of this Hon. Houfe in the Houfe of Peers.' Accordingly, Mr. Speaker elec}:, with the Houie, went up to the Houfe of Peers. Where Mr. Speaker elec-t fpoke to the Effect following, viz., < My Lords, ' e His Majefty's faithful Commons, in Parliament afiembled, have, in Purfuance of his Royal Direction, and according to their ancient Right, proceeded to the Election of one of their Members to be their Speaker in this Parliament ; and their Choice has again fallen upon me for this great Truft. ' From what has patted in feveral former Parlia- ments, with regard to myfclf, I did not prefume to difpute the Commands of the Commons upon this Occafion : It is for the fame Reafons, and from the like Principle of Duty, I forbear to urge anything here, againft their prefent Refolution, but refign my- felf intirely to his Majefly's Pleafure ; well knowing his own Royal Wifdoin can have beft determined his 4 own [ 147 1 own Choice, either to approve or difapprove what his Anno 1754. Commons have now done.' Then the Lord Chancellor faid, Mr. Onflow, ' The King has had fuch ample and fatisfadtory Experience of your great Abilities and Zeal for the Service of him (elf, and your Country, in the im- portant Station to which you are now a fifth Time called by the general Voice of his faithful Commons, that his Majefty has commanded us to let you know, that he intirely approves the Choice which his Com- mons have made : And we do, by Virtue of his Ma- jefty's Commiffion, and in his Name, allow and con- firm you to be their Speaker.' Then Mr. Speaker faid, My Lords, * Since his Majefty has been pleafed to approve the Choice the Commons have made of. me to 'be their Speaker, it becomes me to fubmit to his Royal Deter- mination, and to receive, with all Humility and Thankfulnefs, this frefh Inftance of his Royal Grace and Favour to me ; and, for my Encouragement there- in, I have an humble Hope of the Continuance of his Pardon of my Failings and Infirmities in it; at leaft that they will not, in any wife, be imputed by his Majefty to his faithful Commons : And that they may be the better enabled to perform their Duty to his Majefty, and their Country, I do, in their Name, and on their Behalf, by humble Petition to his Majefty, lay claim to all their ancient Rights and Privileges j particularly, that they, their Servants, and Eftates, may be free from Arrefts, and all other Moleftati- ons That they may enjoy Freedom of Speech in their Debates, and have Accefs to his Royal Perfon, as Occafion fhall require- And that all their Pro- ceedings may receive from his Majefty the moft fa- vourable Conftru&ion.' Then the Lord Chancellor faid, L 2 < Mr, c Mr. Speaker, ' c We have it in Command from the King to ac- quaint you, that his Majefty is fully perfuaded of. the Prudence and Temper of his Houfe of Commons, as well as of their Loyalty and Duty. ' And we do by Virtue of his Majefty's Commif- ficn, and in his Name, declare to you, that the King grants and allows to them all their Privileges, in as full and ample Manner, as they have at any Time heretofore been granted or allowed by his Majefty, or any of his Royal Predcceirors. ' As to what you, Sir, have defired on your own Behalf, the King has never, through a long Courfe of Years, had any Rcafon to apprehend, that you can ftand in need of fuch an Indulgence ; but his Majefty has commanded us to a flu re vou of his gracious Sup- port in the Difcharge of your great and arduous Trull ; and that 'he will put the moft favourable Conftrudtion both upon your Words and Actions.' The Houfe being returned, Mr. Speaker reported, That the Houfe had been in rhe Houfe of Peers ; where his Majefty, by his Com- miflioners, had been pleafed to approve of the Choice the Houfe had made of him to be their Speaker ; and that he had in their Name, and on their Behalf, by humble Petition to his Majefty, laid Claim to all their ancient Rights and Privileges ; particularly that they, their Servants, and Eftntes, may be free from Arrefts, and all other Moleftations That they enjoy Free- dom of Speech in their Debates, and have Accefs to his Royal Perfon as Occafion fhall require And that all their Proceedings may receive from his Majefty rhe moft favourable Conftruclion ; which, he laid, his Majefty, by his faid Commiilroners, had con- firmed to them, by granting and allowing their Privi- leges in as ample Manner as ever they v/ere granted or allowed by his Majefty, or any of his Royal Prede- cellors. Then Mr. Speaker did again return his humble Thanks to the Houfe for the very great Honour they had now done him ; and did aflure them of a Conti- nuance of his Fidelity in their Service ; humbly re- quefting [ H9 1 the Continuance of their Prote&ion, and Anno 1754. AlMance to him in the Difcharge of this great Truft, and of their Indulgence to him in the Pardon of his Failings and Imperfections in it ; which, he faid, he had now much more Reafon to defire of them than ever before, as his Age, and the Infirmities attending that, did the more require it. He then put them in mind of their Duty, to ob- ferve and keep ftrictly to the Rules and Orders of the Houfe, and particularly to avoid all perfonal Alterca- tion, and whatever (hall lead to that in their Debates. He laftly recommended to Gentlemen an earlier Attendance upon the Bufmefs of the Houfe ; the Neglect of which, he took Notice, had grown to a Degree of late, that had rendered the proper doing of Buhnefs almoft impracticable ; and wifhed therefore, that againft the next Seflion, Gentlemen would think of fome effe&ual Methods to prevent the Continuance of fo great an Evil. After which Mr. Speaker put the Houfe in mind, that the firft Thing to be done was to take the Oaths, and make and fubfcribe the Declaration, and to take and fubfcribe the Oath of Abjuration, by Law required. And thereupon Mr. Speaker firft alone, ftanding upon the upper Step of the Chair, took the faid Oaths, and made and fubfcribed the Declaration, and took and fubfcribed the faid Oath of Abjuration. And after him, feveral other Members took the faid Oaths, and made and fubfcribed the faid Declar ration, and took and fubfcribed the faid Oath of Ab- juration. One BilJ for the Naturalization of a Perfon was then parted by both Houfes, and received the Royal Afient by Commiflion : After which the Parliament was prorogued till Winter. On the 1 4th of November the Parliament fat for public Bufmefs, when his Majefty went to the Houfe of Peers, and made the following Speech. " My Lords and Gentlemen, " TT is with great Pleafure that I meet you in Par- " liament, at a Time, when the late Elections ** have afforded my People an Opportunity of giving L 3 ** frefh C 150 ] Anno 1754. frefh Proofs of their Duty and Affection to my Perfon " and Government, in the Choice of their Repre- " fentatives. " The general State of Affairs in Europe has re- ct ceived very little Alteration fmce your laft Meet- (C ing. But I have the Satisfaction to acquaint you, " that I have lately received the ftrongeft AfTurances " from my good Brother the King of Spain, of his *< firm Resolution to cultivate Friendfhip and Confi- " dence with me, with reciprocal A6ls of Harmony " and good Faith ; and that he will perfevere in thefe " Sentiments. It fhall be my principal View, as " well to ftrengthen the Foundations, and fecure the " Duration of the General Peace, as to improve the " prefent Advantages of it, for promoting the Trade " of my good Subjects, and protecting thofe Poffef- " fions, which make one great Source of our Com- " merce and Wealth. " The Plan formed by the laft Parliament for ap- " propriating the forfeited Eftates in the Highlands " to the public Benefit, appears to be of fuch national " Importance, that I am perfuaded you will not omit " any proper Opportunity of completing it. Let me " alfo recommend it to you, to make fuch further Pro- " vifions, as may be expedient for perpetuating the " due Execution of the Laws, and the juft Authority " of my Government, in that Part of the united " Kingdom." V " Gentlemen of the Houfe of Commons, " I have ordered die Eftimates for the enfuing Year lt to be prepared and laid before you. The Supplies 44 which I have to afk of you, are fuch as fhall be " heceflary for the ordinary Services ; for the Exe- " cution of fuch Treaties as have been communi- " cated to you, for confolidating and maintaining " that Syftem of Tranquillity, which is my great " Objecl: ; and, at the fatne Time, for fecuring our- 4 ' felves againft any Encroachments. " The gradual Reduction of the National Debt, c< which has been fo wifely and fuccefsfully begun, " will, I make no Doubt, have your ferious and conftant Attention." My f 151 } " My Lords and Gentlemen, ^ nno *' It is unnecefTary for me to ufe any Arguments L_. ^ " to prefs upon you Unanimity and Difpatch in your " Proceedings. I have had fuch ample Experience " of the Fidelity 3 Zeal, and good Difpofition of my *' Parliaments, during the Courfe of my Reign, that " I truft there is a mutual Confidence eftablifhed be- " tween us -, the fureft Pledge of my own, and my " People's Happinefs," The following Addrefs was moved by Sir George Lee, who was feconded by Colonel (now General) Conuuay j and unanimoufly agreed to. The bumble ADDRESS of the Houfe of Commons to the KING. " Moft Gracious Sovereign, y our Majefty's moft dutiful and loyal Subjects, the Commons of Great-Britain^ U in Parliament affembled, beg Leave to return your " Majefty our unfeigned Thanks for your moft gra- *' cious Speech from the Throne ; and to afiure your " Majefty, that your faithful Commons will gladly " embrace every Opportunity of teftifying their in- ,,- An Aft, For continuing and granting Duties upon Malt, Mum, Cyder and Perry. An Aft, For punijhing Mutiny and Defertion, and for the better Payment of the Army in their Quarters. An Aft, For granting a Duty of 20 s. on Ale Licences. An Aft, For granting an additional Duty on Cards end Dice. An Aft, For taking off the Duties on the Importation tf foreign raw Linen Tarns made of Flax. An Aft, For the better Supply of Mariners and Sea- men toferve in his Majefty's Ships of War. An Aft, To prevent his Majejlfs Subjeclsfrom ferving as Officers under the French King. An Aft, To impower his Majejly to prohibit the Ex- portation of Salt-Petre, and to enforce the Law for im~ powering his Majejly to prohibit the Exportation of Gun- Powder, or any Sort of Arms and Ammunition. An Aft, To impower Judges of Courts of Record in Cities and Towns corporate, to fet Fines on Perfons fum- moned to ferve upon Juries in fitch Courts, whojhall neglecJ to attend. An Aft, To obviate a Doubt arifen on an Afl, made in the lajl SeJ/ton of Parliament^ intitled, An Aty for Relief of infolvent Debtors, and for Relief of Sheriff} and Keepers of Prifons, in refpett to Efcapes of fuch Perfons as were prevented by the faid Doubt from being discharged under the faid Aft, An Aft, For granting Two Millions, to be raifcd by Way of Annuities and a Lottery. An Aft, To enable his Majejly to grant Commijjions to a certain Nwnber of foreign Protejlants to ferve in America. An Aft, To oblige Ships more effeftuclly to perform Quarantine. VOL. V. O An C An Act, For the more fptedy recruiting his Majejlys Land Forces and Marines. An Aft, For regulating his Majcftys Marine Forces while on Shore. An Aft, For making a new Road from Paddington to Iflington. An Aft, For building a new Bridge from Blackfriars to the oppofete Shore. An Act, For repairing and widening London-Bridge. [The refpeftive Commiffioners are impowered to raife Money for thefePurpofes by feparate Tolls.") An Act, For planting Commons, and preferring Trees. An Aft, For Encouragement of Seamen. An Aft, For extending the A& for the. Government of the Navy to Veffeh employed on we Rivers, Lakes, and great Waters in North America. An Aft, For the better recruiting his Majejlys Forces^ and preventing Defertion there. An Aft, For encouraging the Sugar Colonies. An Aft, For preventing unlawful Combinations of Workmen employed in the Woollen Manufactory, and the better Payment of their Wages. An Aft, For enabling Infants, Lunatics, and Femes csvcrt to Surrender Leafes* and renew the fame. An Aft, For encouraging the Fijheries in Scotland. An Aft, For grant ing to his Ma) efty fever al Rates and Duties on Silver Plate. [By this Aft 5*. is to be paid for every hundred Ounces as far as 4000, and all Perfons within the Diftrift of the chief Office of Excife in London, are to enter their Plate at that Office, and all other Pcr- ibns at the next Office to where they live, and at the lame Time to pay the Duty, and to pay every Year within thirty Days after the Commencement of the Year. The firft Entry to be made within forty Days after the $th of July next, under the Penalty of 20 /. Half to the Informer ; to be determined in London before the Commifiioners of the Excife, or in any Court of Record, with Liberty of Appeal from the Commiflion- ers of Excife to thofe of Appeal, and all other Places in England, by two Juftice's of the Peace, with Ap- peal to- the Quarter Seffions. The Forfeitures are to be levied by Diftrefs on Goods 3 but if no Goods are found, [ 195 ] found, then the Perfon to be committed to Gaol till Anno 1755. the Money is paid. No Notice or Entry is neceffary \ -n for any new Acquifition of Plate within the Year. Perfons receiving Plate in Pawn, without ufmg of it, are not liable to pay the Duty, but the Owners thereof are. Church Plate not to pay the Duty; nor the Stock in Trade of any Goldftnith or Manufacturer of Plate, except for what fhall be ufed by them or their Families. No Oath is to be taken at the Entry of any Plate, nor Officer authorifed to enter any Houfe to fearch for Plate.] An A cl , For rendering more effectual the ASl for making e free Market for Fijh at Weftminfter. An Aft, For preventing the Jlealing of Lead^ Iron^ Copper ', J9r<7/}, Bell-Metal^ or Solder, and the buying or receiving the fame. An A&, For relieving Debtors with rejpecJ to the Im~ prifonment of their Perjons. An Adi, For 'appoint ing Conjlables^ and for compelling Jurymen to prefent Nufances in Weftminfter. An Adi, For indemnifying Perfons who have omitted to qualify themf elves for Office s^ and concerning the Admif- fan of Officers and Members of Corporations. An Adi, For granting his Majefty certain Sums out of the Sinking Fund^ and applying the Monies remaining in the Exchequer to the Service of the current Tear. An Adt, For raiftng One Million by Loans or Exche- quer Bills. An A&, For widening the Ways from Charing-Crofs ft the Parliament-Houfe, and granting further Poivers to it* CommiJJioners of Weftminfter-Bridge. Q 2 THE THE Hiftory and Proceedings O F T H E THIRD SESSION O F T H E Eleventh Parliament of Great-Britain. On the id 0f December, 1756, the Parliament met at Weftminfter, when his Majejly went to the Houfe of and made the following Speech. " My Lords and Gentlemen, t " T Have called you together in a Conjuncture, ct _ [_ which highly requires the Deliberation, Ad- ".vice, and Afliftance of Parliament; and I truft, " that (under the Guidance of Divine Providence) " Union and Firmnefs in my affectionate People, " will carry me with Honour through all Difficulties, * c and finally vindicate the Dignity of my Crown, " and its indubitable Rights, againft the ancient Ene- * c my of thefe Kingdoms. *' The Succour and Prefervation of America cannot " but conttitute a main ObjecT: of my Attention and " Solicitude j and the growing Dangers, to which " our Colonies may fland expofed, from our late < LofTes in thofe Parts, demand Resolutions of Vi- " gour and Difpatch. " An adequate and firm Defence at home muft fenfibly affe<5t the Minds of this Nation, and have " fixed the Eyes of Europe on this new and dangerous Crifis. *' The Body of my electoral Troops, which I or- " dered hither at the Defire of my Parliament, I have " directed to return to my Dominions in Germany, " relying, with "leafure, on the Spirit and Zeal of ' my People, in Defence of my Perfon and Realm." " Gentlemen of the Houfe of Commons, " 1 will order the proper Eftimates to be laid, in " due Time, before you ; and I rely on your Wif- * c dom, that you will prefer more vigorous Efforts " (though attended with large Expence) to a tefs ef- " fe&ual, and therefore lefs frugal, Plan of War. " I have placed before you the Dangers and Necef- " fities of the Public ; it will be your Care to lay, ** in fuch a Manner, the Burdens you may judge un- " avoidable, or will leaft diftrefs and exhauft my People," 3 " meet C 198 ] Anno 1756. meet with juil Returns of unwearied Care and un- """ ' ceafing Endeavours, for the Glory, Profperity, " and Happinefs of my People." The Commons agreed to the following Addrefs, which was moved by the late Right Hon. Charles Toivnjhend. Moft gracious Sovereign, " "\Tly^E y our M a j e %' s m ft Dutiful and loyal " VV Subje&s, the Commons of Great-Britain, * c in Parliament aflembled, beg Leave to return your " Majefty our humble Thanks for your moft gracious f ' Speech from the Throne. " Your faithful Commons, excited by Duty, and " warm with Gratitude, do from our Hearts acknow- <{ ledge the paternal Care, and royal Condefcenfion " of your Majefty, in pointing out, from the Throne, " fuch a Plan of Force for our Defence, as may beft _ -^ < any unheard ; and will, with all Confidence, Ala- " crity, and Difpatch, fecond your Majefty's royal " Care for the ipeedy Succour and Preservation of *?- * Thomas Clarges? his Heirs and Afligns, and of i/. 6s, 8^. to his Majefty and his Heirs. The Intention of this At is to limit the faid Coal Duty to the male Line, in order to fupport the Honour and Dignity of the Title ; and to enable Lady Mary Bruce? a Minor, on her Marriage with his Grace, to accept of a Grant of 3000 /. a Year, payable out of the faid Duty in Lieu and Bar of her Dpwer,, and Thirds of hig Grace's Eftate.] An Act, For fettling a certain yearly. Sum upon the Right Hon, the Countefi of Eufton, out of certain yearly Penfions ijjuing out of the hereditary Revenue of the Excife. [King Charles II. granted a yearly Penfion of 30007, to each of his three Sons, Charles Earl of Southamp- ton^ Henry Earl of Eujhn? and George? then Earl of Northumberland? and their Heirs male ; by which Grant, upon the Death and Failure of IfTue male of any of the faid Sons, his yearly Penfion was limited over in Moieties to the two remaining Sons, and their Heirs male refpeclively. The late Duke of Grafton was poflefled of one of the three faid yearly Penfipns, and alfo of a Moiety of the other ; and the Intention of this A& was to enable the prefent Duke to fettle I5OQ/. a Year, Part of the faid Penfion, upon the Hon. Anne Liddel? only Child of the Right Hon. Lord Ravenfworth (with whom his Lordfhip receive4 40,000 /. as a Marriage Portion) in Part of her Jointure.] An A the preceding Seflion, for recruiting his Majefty's Land Forces and Marines, we have already obferved, that the Commiflioners, thereby appointed, were veiled with a Power of judging ultimately whether the Per- fons brought before them were fuch as ought, by the Rules prefcribed in the Acl:, to be impreffed into the Service: For it was exprefsly provided that no Perfon, fo imprefled by thofe Commiflioners, fhould be taken out of his Majefty's Service by any Procefs, other than for fome criminal Accufation. During the Re- Cefs of Parliament, a Gentleman having been impref- fed before the Commiflioners, and confined in the Savoy, his Friends made Application for a Habeas Corpus , which produced fome Hefitation, and in- deed an infurmountable Difficulty : For, according to the Writ of Habeas Corpus, pafled in the Reign of Charles II. this Privilege relates only to Perfons com* mitted for criminal, or fuppofed criminal Matters, and the Gentleman did not ftand in that Predicament. Before the Queftion could be determined he was dif- charged, in Confequence of an Application to the Secretary at War; but the Nature of the Cafe plainly pointed out a Defeat in the Al, feemingly of the moft dangerous Confequence to the Liberty of the Subject* In order to remedy this Defect, a Bill for giving a more fpeedy Remedy to the Subject, upon the Writ of Habeas Corpus, was prepared, and prefented to the Houfe of Commons, which formed itfelf into a Com- mittee, and made feveral Amendments. It importedj that the feveral Provifions made in the aforefaid Acl, pafled in the Reign of Charles II. for the awarding of Writs of Habeas Corpus, in Cales of Commitment, or Detainer, for any criminal or fuppofed criminal Matter, fhould, in like Manner, extend to all Cafes where any Perfon, not being committed or detained for any criminal or fuppofed criminal Matter, mould be confined, or reftrained of his or her Liberty under any Colour or Pretence whatfoever : That, upon Oath made by fuch Perfon fo confined or reftrained, or by any other Perfon on his or her Behalf, of any actual Confinement or Reftraint, and that fuch Confinement or Reftraint, to the beft of the Knowledge and Belief of t fef the'Perfon-fo applying, was not by Virtue of any Anno 1757, Commitment or Detainer for any criminal or fuppofed __ -^ t criminal Matter ; an Habeas Corpus, directed to the Perfon or Perfons fo confining or reftraining the Party, as aforefaid, fhould be awarded and granted in the fame Manner as is directed, and under the fame Pe- nalties as are provided by the faid Act, as in the Cafe of Perfons committed and detained for any criminal or fuppofed criminal Matter : That the Perfon or Perfons before whom the Party fo confined or reftrained fhould be brought, by Virtue of any Habeas Corpus granted in the Vacation-Time, under the Authority of this Act, might and fhould, within three Days after the Return made, proceed to examine into the Facts con- tained in fuch Return, and into the Caufe of fuch Confinement and Reftraint ; and thereupon either dif- charge, or bail, or remand the Parties fo brought^ a3 the Cafe fhould require, and as to Juftice fhould ap- pertain. The reft of the Bill related to the Return of the Writ in three Days, and the Penalties incurred by thofe who fhould neglect or refufe to make the due Return, or to comply with any other Claufe of this Regulation. The Commons feemed hearty in rearing up this additional Buttrefs to the Liberty of their Fel- low-Subjects, and pa{Ted the Bill with the moft laudable Alacrity : But in the Houfe of Lords fuch a great Number of Objections was ftarted, that it funk at the fecond Reading, and the Judges were ordered to prepare a Bill for the fame Purpofe, to be laid before that Houfe in the next Seffion. On the 20th of June^ 1758, the Seffion ended, when, his Majefty being indifpofed, the Lords Com- miffioners made the following Speech to both Houfes. ce carr y O n the War with the utmoft Vigour, in order " to a fafe and honourable Peace, muft convince alt " the World, that the ancient Spirit of the Britijb Nation is ftill fubfifting in its full Force. " His Majefty has alfo commanded us to acquaint " you, that he has taken all fuch'Meafures, as have " appeared to be moft conducive to anfwer your pub- " lic-fpirited Views and Wiflies. Through your Af- " fiftance, and by the Bleffing of God upon the Con- " duel: and Bravery of the combined Army, his " Majefty has been enabled not only to deliver his " Dominions in Germany from the Qpprefnons and Devaluations of the French^ but to pufh ur Ad- vantages on this Side the Rhine. His Majefty has cemented the Union between " him an^ his good Brother the King of Pruffia, by " new Engagements, with which you have been al- ** ready fully acquainted. " Our Fleets and Armies are now actually em- * ployed in fuch Expeditions, as appeared likely to annoy the Enemy in the moft fenfible Manner ; to promote the Welfare and Profperity of thefe King- doms ; and particularly to preferve our Rights and " Pofleffions in America; and to make France feel " ourjuft Weight and real Strength in thofe Parts. " His Majefty trufts in the Divine Providence, that " they may be blefled with fuch Succefs, as will " mofl efFeclually tend to thefe great and defirable Ends." " Gentlemen of the Houfe of Commons, < e We are particularly commanded by the King, to return you his Thanks for thofe ample Supplies, " which you have fo freely and unanimoufly given. " His Majefty grieves-for the Burdens of his People ; ' but your Readinefs in fupporting the War is the " moft probable Means the fooner to deliver you from " it. You may be aflured, that nothing will be " wanting, on his Majefty's Part, to fecure the moft " frugal Management." * [ 2*7 J * My Lords and Gentlemen, " His Majefly has directed us to repeat his Recom- <{ mendation to you, to promote Harmony and good " Agreement amongft his faithful Subjects ; and to " make the Uprightnefs and Purity of his Intentions ** and Meafurcs rightly understood. Exert yourfelves " in maintain! r, the Peace and good Order of the " Country, by enforcing Obedience to the Laws and " lawful Authority ; and by making the People fen- * fible, how much they hurt their own true Intereft '* by the contrary Practice. " For their Sakes, the King has commanded us to * c prefs this upon you ; for their true Intereft and " Happinefs are his Majefty's great and conftant Ob- A LIST of the Public ACTS pafled during this Seflion. AN Act, For prohibiting the Exportation of Corn. An Act, For continuing the Land-Tax. An Aft, For punijhing Mutiny and Defertion. An Act, For granting to bis Majejly fever al Rates and Duties upon Offices and Pen/ions, and upon Houfes, Win- dowsy or Lights, for raifmg Five Millions by Annuities and a Lottery , to be charged on the faid Duties. An Act, For annexing certain forfeited EJlates in Scot- land to the Crown^ and applying the Rents and Profits for the better civilizing and improving the Highlands of Scotland. An Act, For the Encouragement of Seamen employed in the Royal Navy. An Act, For further explaining the Laws touching the Eleclors of Knights of the Shire in this prefent Parliament for that Part of Great-Britain called England. An Act, For the Settlement of the Poor, fo far as re- lates to Apprentices gaining a Settlement by Indenture ; and to impower Jujlices of the Peace to determine Differences between Majlers and ,MijlrcJfcs t and their Servants, in, Hujbandry y touching Wages. Q.2 An r An Aft, For allowing further Time for tie Inrollmeni of Deeds and Wills made by Papijls, and for Relief of Protejiant Purckafers. An Aft, For appointing a fufficient Number of Con~ fiablesfor the Service of the City 0/Weftminfter, andto compel proper Perfons to take upon them the Office^ of Jury- men to prefent Nufances, &c. within the f aid City. An A6t, To encourage the Cultivation of Madder. An Aft, To encourage the Exportation of Culm Lifbon. An Aft, For granting to his Majefty certain Sums oj Money out of the Sinking Fund. An Aft, For enabling his Majefy tt raife 800,000 A for Ufes and Purpofes mentioned. An Aft, For repealing the Duty on Silver Plate. An Aft, For applying the Money granted towards^ de- fraying the Charge of Pay and Cloathing for the Militia for 1758, and for defraying the Expences incurred on Ac- Count of the Militia in 1757. An Aft, Far the due making of Bread, and to regulate the Price andAjfize thereof, &c. An Aft, To prevent the Importation of fait ed Beef, orky and Butter, from Ireland, for a limited Time. An Aft, For repealing an Ai retraining the Infurance* foreign Ships trading to the Eaft- Indies. 11 THE Hiftory and Proceedings O F T H E FIFTH SESSION O F T H E Eleventh Parliament of Great-Britain. On the 23^ of November, 1758, the Parliament met at Weftminfter, when the Se/fion zuas opened by Commlf- fton with the following Speech delivered by the Lord- Keeper, " My Lords and Gentlemen, " T N Purfuance of the Authority given to us by Anno *' ^ _ his Majefty's Commiffion under the Great Seal, \*. *' amongft other Things to declare theCaufes of his " holding this Parliament, his Majefty has been gra.- " cioufly pleafed to direct us to allure you, that he " always receives the higheft Satisfaction, in being " able to lay before you any Events, that may pro- " mote the Honour and Intereft of his Kingdoms. " That, in Confequence of your Advice, and en- " abled by that Affiftance which you unanimoufly " gave him, his Majefty has exerted his Endeavours " to carry on the War in the moft vigorous Manner, *' in order to that defirable End, always to be wifhed; " a fafe and honourable Peace. It has pleafed the " Divine Providence to blefs his Majefty's Meafures " and Arms with Succefs in feveral Parts ; and to " make our Enemies feel, that the Strength of Great* *' Britain is not to be provoked with Impunity. " We have it alfo in Command from his Majefty, " to acquaint you, that the Conqueft of the ftroug ' Fortrefs of Lowjbourg^ with the Iflands of Cape- Bretm [ 23 3 Anno 1758. Breton and St. John ; the taking of Frontenac, of V v ;tt the hio-heft Importance to our Operations in Afar/A " America, and theRedudtion of Senegal > cannot fail " to brine great Diftrefs upon the French Commerce, " and Colonies ; and, in Proportion, to procure " great Advantages to our own. That Nation has alfo been made fenfible, that, whilft their Forces are Tent forth to invade and ravage the Dominions " of their Neighbours, their own Coafts are not in- " acceflible to his Majefty's Fleets and Armies. This " they have experienced in the Demolition of their " Works at Cherbourg^ erefted at a great Expence, " with a particular View to annoy this Country; and " in the Lofs of a great Number of Ships and Veflels ; " but no Treatment, however injurious to his Majefty, " could tempt him to make Retaliation on the inno- " cent Subjects of that Crown. " In Germany, his Majefty's good Brother the King " of Pruffia^ and Prince Ferdinand of Brunfwick, have " found full Employment for the Armies of France* " and her Confederates ; from which our Operations, " both by Sea, and \n. America^ have derived the molt ' evident Advantage. Their SucceiTes, owing, un- < c derGod, to their" able Conduft, and the Bravery of " his Majefty's Troops and thofe of his Allies, have < 4 been fignal and glorious. " His Majefty has further commanded us to ob- " ferve to you, that the common Caufe of Liberty * c and Independency is ftill making noble and vigo- " rcus Efforts, againft the unnatural Union formed " to opprefs it. That the Commerce 'of his Subjects, " the Source of our Riches, has, by the vigilant " Protection received from his Majefty's Fleet, flou- *' rimed in a Manner not to be paralleled during fuch Troubles. In this State of Things, his Ma- " jefty, in his Wifdom, thinks it unneceffary to ufe " many \Vords to perfuade you to bear up againft all 44 Difficulties ; efFeaually to ftand by, and defend ' ** his Majefty; vigoroufly to fupport the King of 5* PrtijfM, and the reft of his Majefty's Allies i and 44 to exert yourfelves to reduce our Ensniies to equi-r ** table Terms of Accommodation," < c Gen- f 2 3i 3 " Gentlemen of the Houfe of Commons, u The uncommon Extent of this War, in different -Anno 175?. " Parts, occafions it to be uncommonly expenfive. V -^ , " This his Majefty has ordered us to declare to you, " that lie fincerely laments, and feels deeply for the *' Burdens of his People. The feveral Eftimates are " ordered to be laid before you ; and his Majefty de- " fires only fuch Supplies, as (hall berequifite to pufh " the War with Advantage, and be adequate to the * l neceflary Services." " My Lords and Gentlemen, " His Majefty has, in the laft Place, gracioufly c< commanded us to aflure you, that he takes fo much " Satisfaction in that good Harmony which fubfifts " amongft his faithful Subjects, that it is more pro- " per for him now to thank you for it, than to repeat " his Exhortations to it. This Union, necefTary at " all Times, is more efpecially fo in fuch critical *' Conjunctures j and his Majefty doubts not, but the " good Effedh we have found from it, will be the " ftrongeft Motives to you to purfue it." The Commons, without any Debate, agreed upon the following Addrefs. *' Moft Gracious Sovereign, y our Majefty's moft dutiful and loyal Subjedts, the Commons of Great-Britain^ *' in Parliament aflembled, return your Majefty our " moft fmcere and hearty Thanks for the Speech de- *' livered by your Majefty's Command, to both Houfes tc of Parliament. " We beg Leave to congratulate your Majefty, *' with Hearts full of the moft unfeigned Joy, upon 46 the many fignal SuccefTes, with which it has pleafed ** Divine Providence to blefs your Majefty's Meafures *' and Arms in feveral Parts of the World ; particu- by your Majefty'a "" ' Refolved, nemine contradlcente, That an humble Addrefs be prefented to his Majefty, to return his Majefty our dutiful Thanks for graci- oufly communicating to this Houfe, that he has re- ceived repeated Intelligence of the actual Preparations making in the French Ports to invade this Kingdom, and of the imminent Danger of fuch Invafion being; attempted ; and for his Majefty's paternal and timely Care of the Safety and Preservation of his People ; to aflure his Majefty that this Houfe will, with their Lives and Fortunes, fupport and ftand by his Majefty, againft all Attempts whatever ; and that his faithful Commons, with Hearts warm with Affection and Zeal for his Majefty's facred Perfon and Government, and animated by Indignation at the daring Defigns of am Enemy, whofe Fleet has hitherto fhunned, in Port, the Terror of his Navy, will chearfully exert the ut- moft Efforts to repel all Infults, and effectually enable his Majefty, not only to difappoint the Attempts of France, but, by the Bleffing of God, to turn them to their own Confufion. Refolved, That an humble Addrefs be prefented to his Majefty, that he will be gracioufly pleafed to give Directions to his Lieutenants of the feveral Counties, Ridings, and Places, within that Part of Great" "Britain, called England, to ufe their utmoft Diligence and Attention to carry into Execution the feveral Acts of Parliament, made for the better ordering the Mili- tia Forces of that Part of Great-Britain called Eng- land. To the Addrefs of the Houfe of Commons his Ma- jefty was pleafed to give this Anfwer. Return you my Thanks for your dutiful and af- fectionate Addrefs, and for this frefh, and very particular, Mark of your unanimous Zeal in De- *' fence of me and my Crown. " You may rely on my conftant Endeavours for * c the Prefervation and Safety of my Kingdoms.' 1 [238 3 No other material public Bufinefs was tranfa&ecjL this Seffion, which ended on the 2d of June, 1759, when his Majefty ftill continuing to be fomewhat in- difpofed, the Lord-Keeper and others, by Commif- iion, made the following Speech. " My Lords and Gentlemen, aud Happinefs of your Ma- " jefty's People." His r 250 ] Ms MAJESTY'S mojl gracious ANSWER, Return you my hearty Thanks for this moft __ dutiful and affectionate Addrefs, and for your " unanimous Zeal for the Defence of my Crown, *' and for the Support of my Allies. You may al- " ways rely on my conftant Care for the lalling Wei- * fare of my People," On the 28th of February.^ 1760, Sir Edward Hawke received the Thanks of the Houfe of Commons, by the Mouth of the Speaker, who in a moft elegant Speech recounted the eminent Services the /-vdmiral had done his Country ; and concluded with telling him, how pleafmg the Office was- to convey the Thanks of the Houfe to him for thofe Services, par- ticularly for the late fignal Victory obtained over the French Fleet. Upon which Sir Edward faid, ' Mr. Speaker, e I own myfelf greatly at a Lofs, as to the proper Manner of acknowledging the great Honour conferred on me by this auguft Houfe, in their diftinguifhed Approbation of my Conduct, on the 20th of November laft. In doing my utmoft, I only did the Duty I owed my King- and Country, which ever has been, and ihall be, my greateft Ambition to perform faithfully and honeftly, to the beft of my Ability. I can only aflure this Hon. Houfe, that I receive this Mark of Honour with the greateft Refpecl: ; and (hall ever re- tain the moft grateful Senfe of it. * Before I fit down, permit me, Sir, in particular, to return you my moft refpeclful Thanks, for the obliging Manner in which you have communicated to me the great Honour done me by this Houfe, which I mail always efteem as the highcft Obligation.' The Supplies this Year amounted to Fifteen Milli- ons, five hundred three thoufand, five hundred and fixty-three Pounds. There were no Debates this Seffion on any public Meafure, confequently it is interefting only for the Laws which were made. The following is a Lift of them. A LIST A LIST of the Public ACTS pafTed during this Seflion. AN Aft, 'To continue and amend an Att for the Im- Anno 1759. portation of Irifh falted Beef, Pork, and Butter. An Aft, To prohibit for a limited Time, the dijiilling ttf Spirits or Low Wines from all Grain. An Aft, For punijhing Mutiny and Defertion, ana' for the better Payment of the Army and their Quarters, An Aft, For raifing 8,OOO,000 1. by Annuities and Lottery, and for laying an additional Duty on Malt. An Aft, For granting an Aid to his Majejty by a Land-' 'Tax of 43. in the Pound. An Aft, For continuing and granting Duties upon Malty Mum? Cyder and Perry. An Aft, For enabling his Majejly to raife a certain Sum tf Money i towards paying off, and discharging, the Debt of the Navy, for the Tear 1760. An Aft, For granting to his Majejly a certain Sum of Money out of the Sinking Fund. An Aft, For enabling his Majejly to raife the Sum of One Million. An Aft, For adding the Annuities granted in the Tear 1759, to the joint Stock of 3 per Cent, confolidated An- An Aft, For an additional Number of one hundred Hackney Chairs. An Aft, For the better Encouragement of the making Sail Cloth in Great-Britain. An Aft, Towards defraying the Charge of Pay, and (loathing the unembodied Militia for a Tear. An Aft, For limiting, confining, and better regulating the Payment of the weekly Allowances, made by Act of Parliament, for the Maintenance of Families unable to fupport themfelves, during the Abjence of Militia-Men, embodied, and ordered out into aclual Service. An Aft, To continue feveral Laws relating to the run- ning of uncu/Jomed Goods, and preventing Frauds, re- lating to the Cuftoms. An Aft, For reviving and continuing fo much of an AcJ as relates to the more effettual Trial and Punijhment cf High Treafen and Mifprifion of High Treafon, in the Jdighlands of Scotland, 6v, An C Anno 1759. . An Ac!, To enforce and render more effectual,- the , g tULj Law s relating to the Qualifications of Members to fit in the Houfe of Commons. An Act, For encouraging the Exportation of Rum and Spirits, of the Growth, Produce, and Manufacture of the Britifh Sugar Plantations, from this Kingdom, and of Britilh Spirits made from Melaffes. An Acfc To repeal fo much of an Aft pajfed in the iqtk Year of bis prefent Majrjlys Reign , concerning a free Market for Fijh at Weftminfter, as requires Fi/hermen to enter their Fifoing Veffcls at the Office of the Searcher of theCuftoms 64 with the great Prcgrefs made of late by the com- *' bined Army in Germany, under the Command of 7 6 O flow Arthur 67, 68,69, 7 2 '44. '47. j 148, t < VOL. V. T Olwald Index to the Speakers Names. VOL. I. VOL. II. VOL. III. Ofwald James 234 J258 Pelham. Mr. 79' *94 22 5 34, 112, 261, 5, 124 < T Pelham Thomas 291,321,352 291 143 Pitt William 2IO 74, 1*27, 161, 1 66 184, 328 Potter Thomas 77>/8 268 ui Provvfe Thomas 3 Ryder, Sir Dudley '39 Selwyn, Major 3 Stanhope, o/v William 146 Strange, Lord Sydenham. 'Mr. 310 71, 123 12 Thomas, o/r Edmund 3i9 Thornton William 7. 9 '3 Townftiend Charles 2 19. 25, Townfhend George Vernon, ridmval 225 48, 65 69' Walpole Horatio, fen'or Walpole Horatio, junior 304, 356 140, 198 5> 176 Warren, Sir Peter Waliis John 66 4? Yorke Philip 63 FINIS. PARLIAMENTARY BOOKS, Printed for J. ALMON, oppofite BurUngtonHoufe, in Piccadilly. j. rT^HE Debates and Proceedings of the Britijh Houfe of Commons, during the Years 1743, 1744, 1745, and 1746. In the Debates of this Period, are many important Motions arifmg from a Variety of interefting Events, both domeftic and foreign. Several material Changes in the Adminiftration, were the Confequence of thofe Debates. As the Attention of Parliament was occa- fionally employed upon a long and expenfive War with both France and Spain, and the Suppreffion of an un- natural and inteftine Rebellion ; a Moment's Reflec- tion will fhew this to have been one of the moft im- portant Periods in our Hiftory. Thefe Debates are arranged upon the fame Plan as Chandler's Collection, v/hich is brought down to the Year 1742; to which they may be confidered as a very proper Supplement ; and, together with the three Volumes fince publifhed, continues, and completes the Parliamentary Hiftory of Great-Britain to the Death of his late Majefly, George the Second, in 1760. In two Vols. Price IDS. 6d. in Boards, and 12$. bound. 2. A Colle6tion of the Lords Protefts, from the firft upon Record, in the Reign of Henry III. to the prefent Time, 2 Vols. 8vo. i2s. bound. Although it is prefumed that no Addrefs to the Pub- Ij.c will be neceflary to recommend this Work, becaufe" it fufficiently fpeaks for itfelf, yet it may be requifite, for the Reader's Satisfaction, to fhew in what Refpects it differs from thofe which have gone before it. The firft Collection of Protefts was publifhed in 1735; the fccond in 1743, and the third in 1747 ; all of them beginning with the Year 1641, and ending with the Dates of their refpedlive Publications. The Collec- t;on whiph is here offered to the Public, afcends to the firft upon Record in the Year 1242, and is continued to the End of June 1767, thereby including feveral not made public before. Thofe of the laft twenty years will, in all Probability, be efleemed the moft in- terefting, as the Subjects which gave Occafion to them are allowed to be of the utmoft Importance. This Work is accompanied with an accurate and copious Index, which the other Collections want. And to the whole BOOK 1$, Printed for J. A L M o w. whole is fubjoined, the fcarce and valuable Tra<3 of St. Amend, on the Legiflative Power of England; Wherein the Origin of both Houfes of Parliament^ their antient Constitution, and the Changes that hap- pened in the Perfons that compofed them, with the Occafion thereof, are related in chronological Order ; and many Things concerning the Englijh Government; the Antiquity of the Laws of England, and the Feudal Law, are occafionally illuftrated and explained, 3. Debates in the Houfe of Commons of Ireland, during the Years 1763 and 1764. By Sir James Cald- Wetty Bart. To which is added, An Enquiry how far the Reftriftions laid upon the Trade of Ireland, by Britijh Ads of Parliament, are a Benefit to the Br'itijb Dominions in general, and to the Englijh in particular, for whofe feparate Advantage they were intended. Dedicated, by Permiffion, to the Earl of Chatham. In 2 Vols. 8vo. Price 12$. bound. t-l-t As Ireland is become of late Years much more an Object of public Attention than formerly, the Par- liamentary Debates in that Kingdom muft become pro- portionably more interefting and important. In the De- bates of trie above Period, are many Particulars which diftinguifti them from thofe of all preceding Years ; and many Queftions are difcufled, which muft be the Sub- ject of Debate in all Times to come. Among thofe now offered to the Public are the following: On the Peace. On Penfions, in which both the Legality and Policy of thofe Grants are fully confidered. On inland Navigation. The Limitation of Parliaments. The Place-Bill. The State of the Nation. Libels, and the North Briton. Jobs and their Tendency. Power of Grand Juries. Faction. A Tax on Dogs. Privilege of Parliament. Falfe Patriotifm miftaken for Liberty. Licentioufnefs. Recovery of Tythes. Power of Ma- giftrates ; and on a great Variety of other Subjects ' equally curious and important. It may not be impro- per to mention, thatthefe are.tke firft Speeches of the Injh Parliament which have ever been publifhed. The Enquiry became neccflary by the frequent Mention of the Reftri&ions on Trade in the Debates : It is not however confined to the Trade of Ireland, as it fhews the Rife of Trade in general, what is its Ufe when it attains Perfection, and when ii degenerates into Excefs. I - ms c? CO I A 000 027 056 1 if 1 li-' %