: The History of England in Three Volumes Vol.II. Continued from the Reign of William and Mary to the Death of George II. by Smollett T Tobias - Great Britain History William and Mary 1689-1702; Great Britain History Anne 1702-1714; Great Britain History Ge

@FreeBooksTue 06 Jun, 2023

Posted in: #FreeBooks #FreeBooksIndia #FreeBooksApp #gg

Vote Up Vote Down

AGAINST THE MINISTRY.

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

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

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

DEBATE ON THE MUTINY BILL.

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

PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS.

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

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

ARMY UNDER LORD CATHCART AND SIR CHALONER OGLE.

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

NATURE OF THE CLIMATE ON THE SPANISH MAIN.

Free books android app tbrJar TBR JAR Read Free books online gutenberg

Login to post a comment!