Read Ebook: The History of England in Three Volumes Vol.III. From the Accession of George III. to the Twenty-Third Year of the Reign of Queen Victoria by Farr Edward Nolan E H Edward Henry

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In the debate on the address, Lord North had said, that as the Spanish ambassador had thrown the responsibility upon the Governor of Buenos Ayres, it was proper that his Spanish majesty should be allowed time to disavow these proceedings. He had also endeavoured to show that the Falkland Islands were of little value to anybody, and not of sufficient importance to justify a war if it could be avoided. These sentiments ill accorded with the views of some in the lower house, in which they were uttered, and several, as Dowdeswell, Barr?, Burke, Sir William Meredith, and Sir Charles Saunders, blamed the minister for putting forward the Governor of Buenos Ayres, instead of complaining of his master, the King of Spain; who must, they contended, have previously authorised his expedition against Port Egmont. Similar opinions appear to have been entertained in the house of lords, although the address passed there without any show of dissatisfaction. On the 20th of November, however, the Duke of Richmond gave notice that he would make a motion on the 22nd, on which day, therefore, the house was summoned. That day arrived, Richmond moved for an address, praying that the king would order that all papers received by the ministry between the 12th of September, 1769, and the 12th of September, 1770, touching hostilities commenced, or designed to be commenced, by the crown of Spain, or any of his officers, should be laid before parliament. In urging this demand, the duke said, that the affairs of the Falkland Islands was only one among many acts of aggression, and he asserted that while we were in want of seamen, three thousand, captured in trading ships by the Guarda-Costas, under pretence of smuggling, were rotting in Spanish prisons, or pining away in hopeless slavery in South America. The motion was opposed by Lords Weymouth and Hillsborough, who contended that the production of the papers called for, would embarrass a negociations now in good train that the Spanish government was entitled to respect and delicate management; and that the ministers were not wanting either in vigilance or vigour. The Duke of Richmond was supported by the Earl of Chatham, who, in a long and eloquent speech, showed the necessity of firmness on the part of the British cabinet;--accused the Spaniards of want of faith, and of being as mean and crafty as they are proud and insolent; and predicted that if ministers patched up an accommodation for the present, they would still have a Spanish war in six months. He concluded by charging the ministers with having destroyed all content and unanimity at home by a series of oppressive and unconstitutional measures; and with having delivered up the nation, defenceless, to a foreign enemy. He added this warning:--"Let me warn them of their danger. If they are forced into a war, they stand it at the hazard of their heads; if, by an ignominious compromise, they should stain the honour of the crown, or sacrifice the rights of the people, let them look to the consequences, and consider whether they will be able to walk the streets in safety."--The Duke of Manchester, the Marquess of Rockingham, the Earl of Shelburne, and Lord Lyttleton also supported the Duke of Richmond's motion, but it was nevertheless negatived by a large majority. On the same day, also, a similar motion was made and negatived in the house of commons; moreover, a few days later the Earl of Chatham moved that Captain Hunt, who had driven off a Spanish schooner from Port Egmont, before the armament arrived, should be ordered to attend the house; and when this was negatived, he moved an address to his majesty, praying that the house might be acquainted at what time reparation was first demanded from Spain, which likewise received a negation.

PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS OF THE LAW OF LIBEL.

The sentiments promulgated by Lord Mansfield on the law of libel, in the case of Woodfall, had created much discussion among the legal profession, and had met with much obloquy among the people. They were represented as an attempt to infringe the rights and powers of juries, and to reduce their verdicts to a mere echo of the opinions of judges, inasmuch as they were merely to inquire into the fact of printing and publishing, and not allowed to judge whether the matter in question was a libel or not On the 28th of November, Lord Chatham denounced this mode of directing juries from the bench, but Lord Mansfield justified it, and laid it down as an axiom, "that a libel, or not a libel, was a matter of law to be decided by the bench, and the question to be left to the jury was only the fact of printing and publishing." Mansfield demanded a call of the house for the 10th of December, and when that day arrived, he laid on the table a paper, drawn up with great care and precision, containing the unanimous opinion of the court of king's bench in Woodfall's case, in order that their lordships might, read or copy it as they pleased. Lord Camden inquired whether this paper was intended to be entered on the journals, and submitted to debate. Mansfield replied it was merely intended for the information of members, and he then suddenly moved an adjournment and quitted the house. On the next day, Camden considering the paper as a challenge to himself, endeavoured to provoke a discussion, by addressing six queries to the chief-justice, but Lord Mansfield declared that he would not answer interrogations, and the matter dropped.

QUARRELS BETWEEN THE LORDS AND COMMONS.

CONVENTION WITH SPAIN.

CHANGES IN THE MINISTRY.

During the Christmas recess, ministers were employed in gaining converts from the ranks of the opposition, and in making arrangements to complete and strengthen the administration. Lord Weymouth having resigned the seals of secretary of state, they were given to Lord Sandwich, who was succeeded in his office of postmaster-general by the Honourable H. F. Thynne. Mr. Wedderburne, the pet of Chatham and the city, abandoned his friends, and became solicitor-general to the queen; while Thurlow was made attorney-general in the place of Mr. de Grey, who was created chief-justice of the common pleas. A chancellor was now also found in the person of the Hon. Henry Bathurst, who took the title of Baron Apsley. Lord Sandwich held the seals of secretary of state but for a few days. Having expressed a wish to be transferred to the admiralty, he was placed at the head of that board, instead of Sir Edward Hawke, and Lord Halifax succeeded him as secretary of state, giving up the privy seal to the Earl of Suffolk; Lord Rochford was removed to the southern department. Mr. Grenville had recently paid the great debt of nature, or he would have probably again come into office, but several of his friends were introduced into the ministry, by which it gained a considerable accession of talent.

RE-OPENING OF PARLIAMENT.

When the commons assembled on the 22nd of January, Lord North announced the happy termination of the dispute with Spain, and the intention of government to lay the convention which had just been signed before parliament. Lord Rochford imparted similar information to the lords: in both houses the question gave rise to warm discussion. In the lords the Duke of Manchester moved for all the information received by government touching the designs of Spain upon Falkland Island, and for all the papers passed during the negociations. Rochford moved an amendment, limiting the inquiry to the subject of Falkland Island, and Lord Sandwich moved another amendment, which the Duke of Richmond said would so narrow the motion as to deprive the house of all necessary information. These amendments were withdrawn, and the original motion of the Duke of Manchester agreed to; but even this did not satisfy the opposition. The Duke of Richmond next moved, in order to recommend this ignominious affair to further censure, that all the memorials or other papers which had passed between his majesty's ministers and the ministers of the King of France, relating to the seizure of Falkland Island by the Spaniards, should be laid before the house. Rochford said that he knew of no such papers, which assertion was questioned by the Earl of Chatham, inasmuch as the interference of France in the matter was a fact that could not be denied. The house, he said, ought never to take the word of a minister, and that the refusal of this motion showed that some transaction with France had passed, though perhaps not papers or memorials. The motion was negatived; but the question gave rise to still further discussion in both houses, of which little is known; as on the great field-day in the lords, all strangers were rigidly excluded. The Earl of Chatham moved on that day, that the following two questions should be referred to the judges:--1. Whether, in law, the imperial crown of the realm can hold any territories or possessions otherwise than in sovereignty? 2. Whether the declaration or instrument for restitution of Port Egmont, to be made by the Catholic king to his majesty, under a reservation of a disputed right of sovereignty, expressed in the very declaration or instrument stipulating such restitution, can be accepted or carried into execution, without derogating from the maxim of law touching the inherent and essential dignity of the crown of Great Britain? This motion was negatived; and subsequently the Duke of Newcastle moved for an address to the king, in approbation of the convention, and of the wise and moderate measures which had been employed to procure it; which was carried by a large majority. So far as parliament was concerned, the question of Falkland Island was, by this motion, set at rest; but out of doors it long continued to be a matter of dispute. One party maintained that the possession of Port Egmont was of the utmost importance to England, and that by the secret article, which it was said existed in the convention, implying that after all we were to give it up, the national honour had been meanly sacrificed. The caustic Junius and other writers took this side of the question. Another party, however, at the head of whom Dr. Johnson may be reckoned, endeavoured to demonstrate that the whole group was worth little or nothing, and that it would have been absurd to go to war about them. Both parties adopted exaggerated language to prove their propositions; but whether they were of any real value or not, it behoved England, according to state maxims, to resent the conduct of Spain, in treacherously falling upon her colony at Port Egmont in times of peace. No argument, indeed, could justify such an invasion of the dignity of England's crown and the rights of her subjects. But one thing seems certain arose from this affair; namely, that if the interests of the country were sacrificed by this convention, private individuals, at least, reaped great advantage therefrom. The sudden signing of it, when war was well nigh pronounced by the prime minister, gave rise to stockjobbing, and in the course of a few days large fortunes were made in Change-alley. This formed one of the most weighty charges brought by the opposition against ministers in the course of the debate. Colonel Barr?, indeed, directly accused them of being implicated in these unworthy transactions. "A Frenchman," said he, "being in your secrets, has made nearly half a million of money by jobbing in your funds; and some of the highest among yourselves have been deeply concerned in the same scandalous traffic." In the course of the session this led to a bill for the more effectual prevention of stock-jobbing; but though it passed the commons, it does not appear to have obtained the notice of the lords.

PROCEEDINGS AGAINST SHOREHAM.

In consequence of a petition lodged against one Hugh Roberts, the returning officer of Shoreham, the public were at this time startled by strange disclosures of corruption in the elections for that borough. A select committee was appointed, according to Grenville's act, to determine a contested election, in which a candidate who had only thirty-seven votes had been declared duly elected, to the prejudice of a rival who had more than double that number. It appeared from the inquiry that the majority of the freeholders of this insignificant borough had formed themselves into an association, called "The Christian Club," for the ostensible purpose of promoting the cause of piety and charity. This, however, only served as a cloak for venality and corruption. These associated "Christians," sometimes performed a charitable act, in order to accredit their professions, but the bulk of the money which they received from their representatives found its way into their own pockets;--and this was no trifling sum. The borough was offered at elections to the highest bidder, and he who offered most was successful. In order to escape detection, the members of this club were bound to secrecy by solemn oaths, and by bonds with large penalties attached to them; and negociations with candidates were carried on by means of a select committee, who, under pretence of scruples of conscience, never voted themselves, but having sold the borough and received the money, directed the suffrages of the rest, and afterwards shared in the booty. Their hypocrisy, however, was brought to light by one in their own camp. At this election five candidates had offered themselves, and the secret committee were sent to treat with the bidders. The best offers were made by General Smith and Mr. Rumbold: the former offering ?3000 in cash, and to build six hundred tons of shipping at Shoreham; and the latter offering ?35 a man to all the freemen. The secret committee preferred Rumbold, but Roberts, the returning officer, preferred the General, and knowing that a large sum of money had been distributed among eighty-one of the majority, he considered them disqualified, and omitted them in his return. This formed the subject of the petition, and the facts being proved, a bill was brought in and carried, by which eighty-one freemen of Shoreham were disfranchised; and the Shoreham franchise was extended to all the freeholders of the neighbouring district, called the Rape of Bramber, who occupied tenements of the annual value of forty shillings. At the same time Roberts was reprimanded at the bar of the house by the speaker, for his assumption of illegal authority.

RESOLUTIONS RESPECTING THE PUBLICATION OF DEBATES.

Up to this period it had been held that to publish the debates of either house of parliament was a breach of privilege. The editors of periodicals had, indeed, endeavoured to evade the prohibition by publishing mutilated and occasionally invented speeches of honourable and noble lords, under fictitious names; but the people did not even obtain this doubtful information till after the discussion was over, and the matter in debate settled. The public, however, were now becoming more enlightened, and withal more curious, and these garbled and stale speeches did not satisfy them;--they longed for a full reporting newspaper, and the printers were encouraged by the general feeling to venture upon giving the proceedings in parliament from week to week, or from day to day, as they occurred. They were the more induced to take this step because the extent of the power of parliament to enforce this question of privilege had never been accurately defined. The letters of Junius, also, had a great effect in confirming them in their resolution: accordingly, during the Middlesex elections and the debates on the affairs of the Falkland Islands, the public were gratified with certain and immediate intelligence of what their representatives were doing. But this was not likely to be allowed by parliament without a struggle. The members of both houses had been strenuous in their endeavours to shut their doors in the face of the nation--to choke all attempts at publicity, and to seclude themselves as rigorously as a jury, and therefore the proprietors of these newly established papers, must have expected, sooner or later, to be disturbed in their occupations. On the 5th of February their anticipations were realized. Colonel George Onslow, now one of the lords of the treasury, denounced the insolence and wickedness of these proceedings, as tending to the destruction of all things to be venerated in our constitution; and, on the 26th of the same month, he moved:--"That it is an indignity to, and a breach of privilege of this house, for any person to presume to give in written or printed newspapers any account or minutes of debate, or other proceedings of this house, or any part thereof; and that upon discovery of the authors, printers, or publishers of any such written or printed newspaper, this house will proceed against the offenders with the utmost severity." The motion was opposed by Alderman Trecothick, who wished every man to hear what passed in the house; and by Burke, who in the course of his speech declared, that so long as an interest existed out of doors to examine the proceedings of parliament, so long would men be found to do what these printers had already done. It was also argued that the privilege enjoyed by constituents of knowing what is said and done by their representatives, is founded on the true principles of the constitution, and that falsehood and misrepresentation ought to be punished in a different manner from that proposed, inasmuch as it went to make the house of commons a secret tribunal. Onslow's motion, however, was carried, and two of the printers, Thompson and Wheble, were ordered to attend at the bar of the house. This order was not noticed, and the sergeant-at-arms was directed to take them into custody: they were not to be found; and another printer, Evans, who was ordered on the 1st of March to attend the house, treated the order with the same contempt. Colonel Onslow then moved for an address to the king, to issue a proclamation, offering a reward of fifty pounds for their apprehension, which was agreed to; and subsequently he denounced six more printers as guilty of the same enormities. Wheble was at length taken by another printer, and carried before Alderman Wilkes, who discharged him from custody, and made him enter into his own recognisance to prosecute the man who captured him at the Old Bailey sessions for false imprisonment or an illegal arrest. On the same day Thompson was also carried before Alderman Oliver, who followed the example of Wilkes, and discharged him. Four printers, out of the six last denounced by Onslow, attended at the bar of the house; a fifth was already in custody in Newgate, by order of the house of lords, and the sixth, named Millar, refused to obey the summons. A messenger was sent to apprehend him, but Millar had a constable in readiness, and he gave the messenger into custody, and he was carried to Guildhall to answer for the assault. Wilkes, the sitting alderman, said he had finished the business of the day, and would not enter upon the case, and the messenger was then conveyed to the mansion-house. The lord mayor being indisposed, he was kept there for three hours, but in the evening, being attended by Wilkes and Oliver, he admitted the parties: the deputy sergeant-at-arms being also present. The printer having stated his complaint, the messenger was asked by what authority he had presumed to commit the assault? He produced his warrant, and the sergeant-at-arms then intimated that he was there by the speaker's order, not only to release the messenger, but to take Millar into custody. The magistrates, however, represented that by the city charters no caption could be made, east of Temple-bar, without the authority of the lord mayor; and while they released Millar, they would have committed the messenger to prison, had not bail been given for his appearance to answer for the alleged assault.

COMMITTAL OF THE LORD MAYOR AND ALDERMAN OLIVER TO THE TOWER.

The above transactions were reported to the commons by the sergeant-at-arms, and orders were issued for the lord mayor to attend in his place, and his clerk to bring up the mansion-house minute-book, in which the proceedings had been entered. Alderman Oliver was likewise ordered to attend in his place, while Wilkes was directed to appear at the bar of the house. The two members obeyed the summons, and boldly justified their conduct; but though they were ably supported by many members in the house, and though the public emphatically displayed their approbation of their conduct, they were committed to the Tower. As for Wilkes he defied the government, refusing to attend unless in his seat as member for Middlesex. Three several times he was summoned to attend, but he would not listen to it under any other conditions, and nothing remained but compulsion, which the ministers were afraid of using. His majesty, indeed, is expressly said to have asserted, that he would have nothing to do with him, and he was left to act with impunity. This confessed weakness brought the cabinet into utter contempt, for though ministers resorted to the trick of adjournment with regard to his non-appearance, all men saw that it was fear alone which prevented them from taking him into custody. And that they had reason to fear there can be no question, for had any attempt been made to compel his appearance, it would have revived all the uproar of the election questions, and brought him forward with tenfold powers of mischief, as the champion of the mob: and, even as it was, ministers had brought themselves, by the proceedings against the printers, into no very enviable position. Riots and tumults in the avenues of the house were the order of the day, and the life of Lord North was on one occasion brought into imminent danger. On the day that the lord mayor was committed, indeed, the tumult was so violent that the house was obliged to stop business for some hours, and it was in vain that magistrates and constables endeavoured to restore peace: it was only through the speeches of some of the more popular members, who left the house on purpose to address them, that the minds of the chafed multitude became tranquil. It was thought that Lord North would now resign, and a report had been made to that effect, but he declared that though he wished for retirement, he entertained no such design; that nothing but the king or the mob, who were near destroying him, could remove him; and that he was determined to weather out the storm. He ungraciously charged the minority with hiring the mob to destroy him; upon which Burke's brother, William, indignantly exclaimed, --"It is a falsehood, a most egregious falsehood; the minority are to a man persons of honour, who scorn such a resource. Such a charge could only emanate from a man hackneyed in indirect measures."

CONTEST BETWEEN THE CITY AND LEGISLATURE.

THE QUESTION OF THE MIDDLESEX ELECTION.

The question of the Middlesex election was again brought forward in the lords on the 30th of April, when; the Duke of Richmond moved for expunging the resolution adopted on the subject. The Earl of Chatham delivered a long speech on that occasion, which was forthwith published in the Public Advertiser. The orator appears to have been unanswered, but the motion was negatived.

THE QUESTION OF THE DISSOLUTION OF PARLIAMENT.

On the 1st of May, the Earl of Chatham moved for an address to the king to dissolve the present parliament at the end of the session, and to call a new one with all convenient dispatch. The speech, which he delivered in making this motion first drew a sad contrast between the state of the country at the time it was uttered, and the condition it was in only a few years before. He then descanted on the treaty of Fontainbleau; the late convention with Spain; the occurrences in St. George's Fields, which he called "murders;" on the affairs of America; and on the immense private debt contracted by the crown. "All these circumstances," he observed, "have justly alarmed the nation, and made them attentive to the operations of parliament. Hence the publication of the parliamentary debates. And where is the injury, if the members act upon honest principles? For a public assembly to be afraid of having their deliberations published is monstrous, and speaks for itself. No mortal can construe such a procedure to their advantage; and the practice of locking the doors is sufficient to open the eyes of the blind;--they must see that all is not well within. Not satisfied, however, with shutting the doors, the commons would overturn the liberty of the press. The printers had spirit and resisted. The irritated commons exalted their privilege above the laws of the land, and their servants acted illegally in the execution of their illegal orders. The magistrates of London undertook the cause of the printers, and the protection of the laws and of the city's franchises. The commons still proceeded with the same outrageous violence;--they called upon the magistrates to justify their conduct, and would not suffer them to be heard by counsel. These men, who had allowed the prostituted electors of Shoreham counsel to defend a bargain to sell their borough by auction, would not grant the same indulgence to the lord mayor of London, pleading for the laws of England, and the conscientious discharge of his duty. Accordingly they committed him to the tower for not violating his oath. The most sacred obligation of morality and religion they voted criminal, when it happened to stand in competition with their assumed privileges. Their next step was the act of a mob, and not of a parliament; I mean the expunging of the recognisance entered at Guildhall. We have heard of such violence committed by the French King; and it seems much better calculated for the latitude of Paris than of London. The people of this kingdom will never submit to such barefaced tyranny. They must see that it is time to rouse, when their own creatures dare to assume a power of stopping prosecutions by their vote, and consequently of resolving the law of the land into their will and pleasure. The imprudence, and indeed the absolute madness of these measures, demonstrates not the result of that assembly's calm, unbiassed deliberations, but the dictates of weak uninformed ministers, influenced by those who mislead their sovereign." Chatham then told the ministers that it was through their misconduct that Wilkes had become a person of consequence in the state, and twitted them with acknowledging him to be their lord and master, since while they had punished the chief magistrate of the city, they were compelled to allow him to act with impunity. On all these grounds, he said, it was that he moved for an address to the throne for the dissolution of parliament; a step which he considered might have the effect of restoring good humour and tranquillity on the one hand, and good government on the other. At the same time he expressed his doubts whether this would prove any thing more than a temporary and partial remedy, as the influence of the crown had become so enormous, that some stronger bulwark ought to be erected for the defence of the constitution. He concluded by stating that the act for septennial parliaments must be repealed, and by proclaiming himself a convert to triennial parliaments. The motion was negatived by seventy-two against twenty-three. In the house of commons, Alderman Sawbridge made a direct motion for shortening the duration of parliaments; a motion which, in spite of the large majorities against him, he renewed every session till his death. Out or doors, at this time, the question was very popular; the Rev. John Home, and Junius advocating it as the surest road to political perfection, and as the only means of preserving the substantial freedom of the constitution. It is probable, however, that Chatham only advocated this measure for the purpose of alarming ministers and increasing his popularity, for his views of parliamentary reform were never definite: he never had a fixed and settled purpose in the matter.

THE SESSION CLOSED.

This session ended on the eighth of May. In his speech from the throne, the king congratulated the houses on those exertions which had averted a war, and which enabled him to hope for the blessings of peace. He alluded to disturbances and groundless suspicions at home, and exhorted the members of both houses to use their best endeavours to repress them. It is manifest that ministers had lost much reputation during the session, but it seems clear that they were never firmer in their seats than they were at its close. The defection of Mr. Grenville's party added greatly to their strength, while it as greatly weakened the efforts of the opposition. In June the death of Lord Halifax made a vacancy in the cabinet, which was occupied by the Earl of Suffolk, while his place of lord privy seal was taken by the Duke of Grafton, whose restoration caused a great stir in the political world, and called forth the atrabilious rancour of Junius, who had prided himself on having driven the noble duke from office.

RELEASE OF THE LORD MAYOR AND ALDERMAN OLIVER.

EDUCATION OF THE PRINCE OF WALES.

Before the rising of parliament there was much speculation afloat concerning the appointment of a governor and preceptors for the king's eldest son, Prince George. It was said that the king was at length "convinced of the error of his ways;" that is, he had become suspicious of the Tories, and was inclined to favour the Whigs. When the appointments were made, however, there was no display of any decided Whig tendency at court. The Earl of Holderness was made the young prince's governor, and Lord Mansfield's friend, Dr. Markham, Bishop of Chester, and the Rev. Cyril Jackson, were appointed preceptor and sub-preceptor. The plan of private education was severely censured at the time, as too narrow for the future sovereign of a free country: and it was argued that an education at one of the public schools would have proved more beneficial to the mind of the royal pupil, and to his future subjects. Lord Holderness, after a few years, resigned his trust, complaining that a secret and dangerous influence existed which was injurious to his authority. He was succeeded by Lord Bruce, who retained his office only a few days, and the next governor was the Duke of Montague, with Hurd, afterwards Bishop of Worcester, and the Rev. Mr. Arnold, as preceptor and sub-preceptor. During his education, common report spoke highly of the prince's quickness of apprehension, retentive memory, and general aptitude for acquiring the elegances of literature.

CITY PETITION TO THE KING.

During the recess, inflamed by the imprisonment of the lord mayor, the harangues of Wilkes, and other circumstances, the city drew up another strong petition and remonstrance. This petition, which was presented by order of the lord chamberlain, without the procession of liverymen, complained of the abitrary, illegal, and wicked proceedings of the house of commons in imprisoning the city magistrates and members, and in passing the Durham-yard Act: it concluded by praying the king to dissolve parliament, and to dismiss his present despotic ministers from his councils for ever His majesty replied, that he was always willing to lend an ear to well-founded complaints, and expressed his concern at seeing the citizens of London so misled and deluded as to renew a request with which he had already declared he would not comply.

DISPUTES IN THE CITY.

At this time, Wilkes, not satisfied with the alderman's gown, aspired to be sheriff. In this he was supported by Farringdon ward, and by other parts of the city, and the court taking alarm at the circumstance made use of all its influence to prevent his election. Their efforts were encouraged by dissensions among the city patriots, and by reports that Wilkes had offended, the lord mayor and several of the aldermen, and had involved himself in a quarrel with the Rev. John Home, one of the principal leaders of the people. Aldermen Plumbe and Kirkman, were opposed by the government party to Wilkes and Alderman Bull, and every thing was done to secure their election. An awkward mistake, however, frustrated all their endeavours. A letter was written by the celebrated ministerial manager, Mr. John Robinson, to Mr. Benjamin Smith of Cannon-street, informing him that Mr. Harley was to meet his ward in the course of the day, to urge them to support Plumbe and Kirkman, and entreating him to second the efforts of government by active exertions. This letter was sent by a messenger, but by a mistake he carried it to Mr. B. Smith, of Budge-row, who was friendly to the cause of Wilkes, and he instantly published it, together with an affidavit as to its authenticity: this had such an effect on the poll, that Wilkes and Bull were elected. Alderman Oliver had been induced to offer himself, and he was supported by the Rev. John Home. This led to a correspondence between the Rev. orator and Junius, in the course of which the frailties of Wilkes were laid before the public eye in all their deformity. Home accused him of having commissioned Sir Thomas Walpole to procure a pension of ?1000 upon the Irish establishment; of having accepted a clandestine pension from the Rockingham administration; of not having commenced patriot until his wife's fortune was consumed; and of various other delinquencies committed both in England and France, which were very derogatory to his moral character. These accusations, however, came too late, and were, moreover, made in too bad a spirit to have any immediate effect on his popularity:--this he had now the means in his hands of increasing, and he turned his power to good account in this particular. Together with his colleague, he declared that as long as they were sheriffs, the military, which had been the custom, should not be allowed to attend the execution of criminals; and they gratified the people at the beginning of the session, by throwing open the doors and galleries of the Old Bailey, and forbidding the doorkeepers to receive money.

MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.

Parliament, contrary to usual custom did not meet till after the Christmas holidays. It met on the 21st of January, when the king opened it with a speech which afforded no subject for debate. Addresses were passed in both houses without a division. On the same day Sir John Mawbey obtained leave to bring in a bill for preventing "clandestine outlawries," of which nothing more is known. On the next day Alderman Sawbridge gave notice of moving for leave during the session to bring in a bill for shortening the duration of parliaments; and on the day following there was a debate about the prevailing scarcity, and the necessity of continuing the prohibition against the exportation of corn. Sir William Meredith moved on the same day, that no bill or clause of any bill should be permitted to pass the house, whereby capital punishments were decreed, unless the same should previously be referred to a committee of the whole house: a motion which passed unanimously, and was made a standing order. The first debate of consequence in the house took place on the 29th of January, when Mr. Buller informed the house, in a committee of supply, that his majesty expected they would vote a considerable augmentation to our naval force, as additional ships were required in the Levant, where Russia was carrying on a maritime war against Turkey; in the East Indies, where France began to manifest hostility; and in Jamaica and the West Indies. He moved that 25,000 men including 6664 marines should be maintained, and the motion was seconded by Captain Harvey. The augmentation was opposed by several members as too small if war was expected, and too large to be kept up in peace, and hints were thrown out by the opposition that ministers or the lords of the admiralty, either wanted more patronage at their disposal, or that something was concealed that made this great armament necessary. Mr. Buller's motion, however, was carried without a division.

DEBATES ON SUBSCRIPTION TO THE THIRTY-NINE ARTICLES.

The important subject of subscription to the thirty-nine articles of religion had long been discussed at public meetings, in the newspapers, and in pamphlets and other works, and during this session, on the 6th of February, a petition from about 240 of the clergy and many professors of civil law and physic, was presented to parliament, praying relief from subscription to these articles The document was thus worded:--"Your petitioners apprehend themselves to have certain rights and privileges which they hold of God alone, and of this kind is the exercise of their own reason and judgment. They conceive they are also warranted by those original principles of reformation from popery on which the church of England is constituted, to judge, in searching the scriptures, each man for himself, what may or may not be proved thereby. They find themselves, however, in a great measure precluded the enjoyment of this invaluable privilege, by the laws relative to subscription, whereby your petitioners are required to acknowledge certain articles and confessions of faith and doctrine, drawn up by fallible men, to be all and every one of them agreeable to the said scriptures. Your petitioners therefore pray that they may be relieved from such an imposition upon their judgment, and be restored to their undoubted right as Protestants, of interpreting scripture for themselves, without being bound by any human explanations thereof--holy scripture alone being acknowledged certain and sufficient for salvation." This petition was presented by Sir William Meredith, who said that he considered it as meriting the most serious attention of the house, as the grievance which affects the minds and consciences of men was more burtdensome than that which affects their property. It was inconsistent, he observed; with the liberality of the present age to oblige men to subscribe to the truth of articles which they could not believe; and he urged that such injunctions tended to establish, under religious authority, habits of prevarication and irreligion; were productive of great licentiousness in the church; and operated to the destruction of Christian charity. He affirmed that the removal of these shackles would give a strength to the established church which nothing could shake, and that no danger could arise from such a reformation while the hierarchy existed. He concluded with remarking that the oaths of allegiance and supremacy were quite enough for the security of the church and state.

ECCLESIASTICAL NULLUM TEMPUS BILL.

THE CASE OF DR. NOWELL.

TEST AND CORPORATION ACTS.

During the debates on the anti-subscription petition, many members on both sides of the house had acknowledged, that though it was just and reasonable to require subscription from persons entering the established church, it was nevertheless hard to demand it from dissenters and schoolmasters. Later in the season Sir Henry Houghton made a motion to relieve these from subscription, and from the operation of penal laws: in other words, for the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts. This was strongly opposed by the high church party, who argued that such an exemption would open a road to heresy and infidelity, encourage schism, and tend to the overthrow of the church of England. The bill, however, was carried in the house of commons by a large majority; but it was thrown out in the lords, where it encountered the most violent opposition of the bench of bishops and the ministry.

THE ROYAL MARRIAGE ACT.

EAST INDIA AFFAIRS.

During the month of February, Lord North had called the attention of the house to the affairs of the East India Company, which were every day increasing in importance, and involving greater interests. In March, Mr. Sullivan, deputy chairman of the company, moved for leave to bring in a bill for the better regulation of its officers and concerns in India. The bill was brought in and read a second time, but it was then laid aside. In the course of the debates upon it--many charges and defences passed between certain members of the house and others that had acquired vast fortunes in India, and these accusations led to a secret committee of inquiry, which forthwith commenced its task: a task that was not completed during this session.

THE SESSION CLOSED.

FATE OF THE QUEEN OF DENMARK.

DEATH OF THE PRINCESS DOWAGER OF WALES.

Before her daughter was hurled from the throne of Denmark, her mother, the Princess-dowager of Wales, was no more. She died suddenly on the 8th of February, in the fifty-fourth year of her age. Although she had endured much popular clamour, the accusations of her enemies were never satisfactorily substantiated. At all events she appears to have possessed many good qualities. It tends greatly to her honour that she gradually liquidated her husband's debts out of her own private income.

REVOLUTION IN SWEDEN.

PARTITION OF POLAND.

INVESTIGATION OF THE MIDDLESEX ELECTION.

During this year the dispute concerning the Middlesex election was revived in a new mode of investigation. An action was brought by Mr. Alderman Townshend against the collector of the land-tax for distraint in default of payment, which was refused, on the plea that Middlesex was not represented in parliament. Sergeant Glynn was retained for the plaintiff, and Mr. Wallace was employed for the defendant--the former of whom argued, that the county was not represented, and the latter of whom contented himself with producing the act of parliament under which the collector had acted. Lord Mansfield, in his charge to the jury, said, that the sole question for them to consider was, whether at the present time there was any legislative power in the county or not--if they thought there was, they must find for the defendant. The jury thought there was, and gave a verdict accordingly.

CHANGES IN THE MINISTRY.

During the month of August several changes occurred in the ministry which had a tendency to strengthen the administration. Lord Hillsborough resigned his post of secretary for the colonies and first lord of trade; the Earl of Harcourt succeeded Lord Townshend in Ireland, the latter being appointed master-general of the ordnance; General Conway obtained the government of Jersey, and was succeeded as lieutenant-general of the ordnance by Sir Jeffery Amherst; and Lord Stormont was sent as ambassador to Paris. Moreover, later in the year, Charles Fox, whose services were of value to the ministers, and who was in want of ministerial pay, again changed sides, and was made a lord of the treasury; while Mr. Jenkinson was created vice-treasurer of Ireland.

THE MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.

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