_Reflections on the Peace..... The Prince of Wales’
Adherents join the Opposition..... Character of the
Ministry..... Session opened..... Debate on the Address.....
Supplies granted..... Exorbitant Demand of the Empress-queen
opposed..... Violent Contest concerning the Seamen’s
Bill..... Objections to the Mutiny Bill..... Bill for
limiting the Term of a Soldier’s Service..... Measures taken
with respect to the African Trade..... Scheme for improving
the British Fishery..... Attempt to open the Commerce to
Hudson’s Bay..... Plan for manning the Navy..... Fruitless
Motions made by the Opposition..... Severities exercised
upon some Students at Oxford..... Duke of Newcastle chosen
Chancellor of the University of Cambridge..... Tumults in
different Parts of the Kingdom..... Scheme for a Settlement
in Nova Scotia..... Town of Halifax founded..... French
Attempts to settle on the Island of Tobago..... Rejoicings
for the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle..... Pretender’s eldest Son
arrested at Paris..... Appearance of a Rupture between
Russia and Sweden..... Interposition of the King of
Prussia..... Measures taken by the French Ministry.....
Conduct of different European Powers..... Insolence of the
Barbary Corsairs..... Disturbances in England..... Session
opened--Subjects of Debate..... Scheme for reducing the
Interest of the National Debt..... Act passed for that
Purpose..... New Mutiny Bill..... Bill for encouraging the
Importation of Iron from America..... Erection of the
British Herring Fishery..... New African Company.....
Westminster Election..... Earthquakes in London.....
Pestilential Fever at the Session in the Old Bailey.....
Disputes between Russia and Sweden..... Plan for electing
the Arch-duke Joseph King of the Romans..... Opposition of
the King of Prussia..... Disputes with the French about the
Limits of Nova-Scotia..... Treaty with Spain..... Session
opened..... Debate on the Address..... Supplies granted.....
Death and Character of the Prince of Wales..... Settlement
of a Regency, in case of a Minor Sovereign--General
Naturalization Bill..... Censure passed upon a Paper
entitled Constitutional Queries..... Proceedings of the
Commons on the Westminster Election..... Mr. Murray sent
Prisoner to Newgate..... Session closed..... Style altered_
{1748}
REFLECTIONS ON THE PEACE.
The peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, however unstable or inglorious it might
appear to those few who understood the interests, and felt for the
honour of their country, was nevertheless not unwelcome to the nation
in general. The British ministry will always find it more difficult
to satisfy the people at the end of a successful campaign, than at
the conclusion of an unfortunate war. The English are impatient of
miscarriage and disappointment, and too apt to be intoxicated with
victory. At this period they were tired of the burdens, and sick of the
disgraces, to which they had been exposed in the coarse of seven tedious
campaigns. They had suffered considerable losses and interruption in the
article of commerce, which was the source of their national opulence and
power; they knew it would necessarily be clogged with additional duties
for the maintenance of a continental war, and the support of foreign
subsidiaries; and they drew very faint presages of future success either
from the conduct of their allies, or the capacity of their commanders.
To a people influenced by these considerations, the restoration of
a free trade, the respite from that anxiety and suspense which the
prosecution of a war never fails to engender, and the prospect of
a speedy deliverance from discouraging restraint and oppressive
impositions, were advantages that sweetened the bitter draught of
a dishonourable treaty, and induced the majority of the nation to
acquiesce in the peace, not barely without murmuring, but even with some
degree of satisfaction and applause.
THE PRINCE OF WALES’ ADHERENTS JOIN THE OPPOSITION.
Immediately after the exchange of ratifications at Aix-la-Chapelle,
the armies were broken up; the allies in the Netherlands withdrew their
several proportions of troops; the French began to evacuate Flanders;
and the English forces were re-embarked for their own country. His
Britannic majesty returned from his German dominions in November, having
landed near Margate, in Kent, after a dangerous passage; and on the
twenty-ninth of the same month he opened the session of parliament. By
this time the misunderstanding between the two first personages of the
royal family had been increased by a fresh succession of matter. The
prince of Wales had held a court of Stannary, in quality of duke of
Cornwall; and revived some claims attached to that dignity, which, had
they been admitted, would have greatly augmented his influence among
the Cornish boroughs. These efforts roused the jealousy of the
administration, which had always considered them as an interest wholly
dependent on the crown; and, therefore, the pretensions of his
royal highness were opposed by the whole weight of the ministry. His
adherents, resenting these hostilities as an injury to their royal
master, immediately joined the remnant of the former opposition in
parliament, and resolved to counteract all the ministerial measures that
should fall under their cognizance; at least, they determined to seize
every opportunity of thwarting the servants of the crown, in every
scheme or proposal that had not an evident tendency to the advantage of
the nation. This band of auxiliaries was headed by the earl of E----t,
Dr. Lee, and Mr. N----t. The first possessed a species of eloquence
rather plausible than powerful; he spoke with fluency and fire; his
spirit was bold and enterprising, his apprehension quick, and
his repartee severe. Dr. Lee was a man of extensive erudition and
irreproachable morals, particularly versed in the civil law, which he
professed, and perfectly well acquainted with the constitution of his
country. Mr. N----t was an orator of middling abilities, who harangued
upon all subjects indiscriminately, and supplied with confidence what he
wanted in capacity; he had been at some pains to study the business of
the house, as well as to understand the machine of government; and was
tolerably well heard, as he generally spoke with an appearance of
good humour, and hazarded every whimsical idea as it arose in his
imagination. But lord Bolingbroke is said to have been the chief spring
which, in secret, actuated the deliberations of the prince’s court.
That nobleman, seemingly sequestered from the tumults of a public life,
resided at Battersea, where he was visited like a sainted shrine by all
the distinguished votaries of wit, eloquence, and political ambition.
There he was cultivated and admired for the elegance of his manners,
and the charms of his conversation. The prince’s curiosity was first
captivated by his character, and his esteem was afterwards secured by
the irresistible address of that extraordinary personage, who continued
in a regular progression to insinuate himself still farther and farther
into the good graces of his royal patron.. How far the conduct of his
royal highness was influenced by the private advice of this nobleman we
shall not pretend to determine; but, certain it is, the friends of the
ministry propagated a report, that he was the dictator of those measures
which the prince adopted; and that, under the specious pretext of
attachment to the heir-apparent of the crown, he concealed his real aim,
which was to perpetuate the breach in the royal family. Whatever his
sentiments and motives might have been, this was no other than a revival
of the old ministerial clamour, that a man cannot be well affected to
the king, if he pretends to censure any measure of the administration.
CHARACTER OF THE MINISTRY.
The weight which the opposition derived from these new confederates
in the house of commons was still greatly overbalanced by the power,
influence, and ability that sustained every ministerial project. Mr.
Pelham, who chiefly managed the helm of affairs, was generally esteemed
as a man of honesty and candour, actuated by a sincere love for
his country, though he had been educated in erroneous principles of
government, and in some measure obliged to prosecute a fatal system
which descended to him by inheritance. At this time he numbered Mr. Pitt
among his fellow-ministers, and was moreover supported by many other
individuals of distinguished abilities; among whom the first place
in point of genius was due to Mr. M., who executed the office of
solicitor-general. This gentleman, the son of a noble family in North
Britain, had raised himself to great eminence at the bar, by a most keen
intuitive spirit of apprehension, that seemed to seize every object
at first glance; an innate sagacity, that saved the trouble of intense
application; and an irresistible stream of eloquence, that flowed pure
and classical, strong and copious, reflecting, in the most conspicuous
point of view, the subjects over which it rolled, and sweeping before
it all the slime of formal hesitation, and all the entangling weeds of
chicanery. Yet the servants of the crown were not so implicitly attached
to the first minister as to acquiesce in all his plans, and dedicate
their time and talents to the support of every court measure
indiscriminately. This was one material point in which Mr. Pelham
deviated from the maxims of his predecessor, who admitted of no
contradiction from any of his adherents or fellow-servants, but insisted
on sacrificing their whole perception and faculties to his conduct and
disposal. That sordid deference to a minister no longer characterized
the subordinate instruments of the administration. It was not unusual
to see the great officers of the government divided in a parliamentary
debate, and to hear the secretary at war opposing with great vehemence
a clause suggested by the chancellor of the exchequer. After all, if
we coolly consider those arguments which have been bandied about, and
retorted with such eagerness and acrimony in the house of commons, and
divest them of those passionate tropes and declamatory metaphors which
the spirit of opposition alone had produced, we shall find very little
left for the subject of dispute, and sometimes be puzzled to discover
any material source of disagreement.
SESSION OPENED.
In the month of November his majesty opened the session of parliament
with a speech, acquainting them, that the definitive treaty of peace was
at length signed by all the parties concerned; that he had made the most
effectual provision for securing the rights and interests of his own
subjects; and procured for his allies the best conditions, which, in the
present situation of affairs, could be obtained. He said, he had found
a general good disposition in all parties to bring the negotiation to a
happy conclusion; and observed, that we might promise ourselves a long
enjoyment of the blessings of peace. Finally, after having remarked that
times of tranquillity were the proper seasons for lessening the
national debt, and strengthening the kingdom against future events, he
recommended to the commons the improvement of the public revenue, the
maintenance of a considerable naval force, the advancement of commerce,
and the cultivation of the arts of peace. This speech, as usual, was
echoed back by an address to the throne from both houses, containing
general expressions of the warmest loyalty and gratitude to his majesty,
and implying the most perfect satisfaction and acquiescence in the
articles of the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle.
The members in the opposition, according to custom, cavilled at the
nature of this address. They observed, that the late pacification was
the worst and most inglorious of all the bad treaties to which the
English nation had ever subscribed; that it was equally disgraceful,
indefinite, and absurd; they said, the British navy had gained such an
ascendancy over the French at sea, that the sources of their wealth
were already choked up; that the siege of Maestricht would have employed
then-arms in the Low Countries till the arrival of the Russians;
and that the accession of these auxiliaries would have thrown the
superiority into the scale of the allies. They did not fail to take
notice that the most important and original object of the war was left
wholly undecided; and demonstrated the absurdity of their promising in
the address to make good such engagements as his majesty had entered
into with his allies, before they knew what those engagements were. In
answer to these objections, the ministers replied, that the peace was in
itself rather better than could be expected; and that the smallest delay
might have proved fatal to the liberties of Europe. They affirmed, that
the Dutch were upon the point of concluding a neutrality, in consequence
of which their troops would have been withdrawn from the allied army;
and, in that case, even the addition of the Russian auxiliaries would
not have rendered it a match for the enemy. They asserted, that if
the Avar had been prolonged another year, the national credit of Great
Britain must have been entirely ruined, many of the public funds having
sunk below par in the preceding season, so that the ministry had begun
to despair of seeing the money paid in on the new subscription. With
respect to the restoration of Cape Breton, the limits of Nova Scotia,
and the right of navigating without search in the American seas, which
right had been left unestablished in the treaty, they declared, that the
first was an unnecessary expense, of no consequence to Great Britain;
and that the other two were points in dispute, to be amicably settled
in private conferences by commissaries duly authorized; but by no means
articles to be established by a general treaty.
What the opposition wanted in strength, it endeavoured to make up
with spirit and perseverance. Every ministerial motion and measure was
canvassed, sifted, and decried with uncommon art and vivacity; but all
this little availed against the single article of superior numbers; and
accordingly this was the source of certain triumph in all debates in
which the servants of the crown were united. The nation had reason
to expect an immediate mitigation in the article of annual expense,
considering the number of troops and ships of war which had been reduced
at the ratification of the treaty: but they were disagreeably undeceived
in finding themselves again loaded with very extraordinary impositions,
for the payment of a vast debt which government had contracted in
the course of the war, notwithstanding the incredible aids granted
by parliament. The committee of supply established four points of
consideration, in their deliberations concerning the sums necessary to
be raised; namely, for fulfilling the engagements which the parliament
had entered into with his majesty, and the services undertaken for the
success of the war; for discharging debts contracted by government; for
making good deficiencies; and for defraying the current expense of the
year. It appeared, that the nation owed four-and-forty thousand
pounds to the elector of Bavaria; above thirty thousand to the duke of
Brunswick; the like sum to the landgrave of Hesse-Cassel; and near nine
thousand pounds to the elector of Mentz. The queen of Hungary claimed
an arrear of one hundred thousand pounds. The city of Glasgow, in North
Britain, presented a petition, praying to be reimbursed the sum of
ten thousand pounds, extorted from that corporation by the son of the
pretender during the rebellion. One hundred and twelve thousand pounds
were owing to the forces in North America and the East Indies; besides
near half a million due on extraordinary expense incurred by the
land-forces in America, Flanders, and North Britain, by the office
of ordnance, and other services of the last year, to which the
parliamentary provision did not extend. The remaining debt of the
ordnance amounted to above two hundred and thirty thousand pounds; but
the navy-bills could not be discharged for less than four millions. An
addition of two millions three hundred and seventy-four thousand three
hundred and thirty-three pounds, fifteen shillings and two-pence, was
also required for the current service of the year. In a word, the whole
annual supply exceeded eight millions sterling-a sum at which the whole
nation expressed equal astonishment and disgust. It was charged upon the
duties on malt, mum, cyder, and perry, the land-tax at four shillings in
the pound, annuities on the sinking-fund, an application of one million
from that deposit, and the loan of the like sum to be charged on
the first aids of next session. The number of seamen was reduced to
seventeen thousand, and that of the land-forces to eighteen thousand
eight hundred and fifty-seven, including guards and garrisons.
{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}
EXORBITANT DEMAND OF THE EMPRESS-QUEEN OPPOSED.
Every article of expense, however, was warmly disputed by the
anti-courtiers, especially the demand of the queen of Hungary, which was
deemed unreasonable, exorbitant, and rapacious, considering the seas of
blood which we had shed, and the immensity of treasure we had exhausted
for her benefit; and surely the subjects of this nation had some reason
to complain of an indulgence of this nature, granted to a power which
they had literally snatched from the brink of ruin-a power whose quarrel
they had espoused with a degree of enthusiasm that did much more honour
to their gallantry than to their discretion-a power that kept aloof,
with a stateliness of pride peculiar to herself and family, and beheld
her British auxiliaries fighting her battles at their own expense; while
she squandered away, in the idle pageantry of barbarous magnificence,
those ample subsidies which they had advanced in order to maintain their
armies, and furnish out her proportion of the war. The leaders of the
opposition neglected no opportunity of embittering the triumphs of their
adversaries; they inveighed against the extravagance of granting sixteen
thousand pounds for the pay of general and staff officers, during a
peace that required no such establishment, especially at a juncture when
the national incumbrances rendered it absolutely necessary to practise
every expedient of economy. They even combated the request of the
city of Glasgow, to be indemnified for the extraordinary exaction
it underwent from the rebels, though it appeared from unquestionable
evidence, that this extraordinary contribution was exacted on account
of that city’s peculiar attachment to the reigning family; that it
had always invariably adhered to revolution principles; and, with an
unequalled spirit of loyalty and zeal for the protestant succession,
distinguished itself both in the last and preceding rebellion.
VIOLENT CONTEST CONCERNING THE SEAMEN’S BILL.
But the most violent contest arose on certain regulations which the
ministry wanted to establish in two bills, relating to the sea and land
service. The first, under the title of a bill for amending, explaining,
and reducing into one act of parliament the laws relating to the navy,
was calculated solely with a view of subjecting half-pay officers to
martial law--a design which not only furnished the opposition with a
plausible handle for accusing the ministers as intending to encroach
upon the constitution, in order to extend the influence of the crown;
but also alarmed the sea-officers to such a degree, that they assembled
to a considerable number, with a view to deliberate upon the proper
means of defending their privileges and liberties from invasion. The
result of their consultations was a petition to the house of commons,
subscribed by three admirals and forty-seven captains, not members of
parliament, representing that the bill in agitation contained several
clauses tending to the injury and dishonour of all naval officers, as
well as to the detriment of his majesty’s service; and that the laws
already in force had been always found effectual for securing the
service of officers on half-pay upon the most pressing occasions: they
therefore hoped, that they should not be subjected to new hardships and
discouragements; and begged to be heard by their counsel, before the
committee of the whole house, touching such parts of the bill as they
apprehended would be injurious to themselves and the other officers of
his majesty’s navy. This petition was presented to the house by sir
John Norris, and the motion for its being read was seconded by sir Peter
Warren, whose character was universally esteemed and beloved in
the nation. This measure had like to have produced very serious
consequences. Many commanders and subalterns had repaired to the
admiralty, and threatened in plain terms to throw up their commissions,
in case the bill should pass into a law; and a general ferment was begun
among all the subordinate members of the navy. A motion was made, that
the petitioners, according to their request, should be heard by their
counsel; and this proposal was strongly urged by the first orators of
the anti-ministerial association; but the minister, confiding in his own
strength, reinforced by the abilities of Mr. Pitt, Mr. Lyttelton, and
Mr. Fox the secretary at war, strenuously opposed the motion, which upon
a division was thrown out by a great majority. The several articles
of the bill were afterwards separately debated with great warmth; and
though Mr. Pelham had, with the most disinterested air of candour,
repeatedly declared that he required no support even from his own
adherents, but that which might arise from reason unrestrained and full
conviction, he on this occasion reaped all the fruit from their zeal and
attachment, which could be expected from the most implicit complaisance.
Some plausible amendments of the most exceptionable clauses were
offered, particularly of that which imposed an oath upon the members of
every court-martial, that they should not, on any account, disclose the
opinions or transactions of any such tribunal. This was considered as a
sanction, under which any court-martial might commit the most flagrant
acts of injustice and oppression, which even parliament itself could
not redress, because it would be impossible to ascertain the truth,
eternally sealed up by this absurd obligation. The amendment proposed
was, that the member of a court-martial might reveal the transactions
and opinions of it in all cases wherein the courts of justice, as the
law now stands, have a right to interfere, if required thereto by either
house of parliament; a very reasonable mitigation, which however was
rejected by the majority. Nevertheless, the suspicion of an intended
encroachment had raised such a clamour without doors, and diffused the
odium of this measure so generally, that the minister thought proper to
drop the projected article of war, subjecting the reformed officers of
the navy to the jurisdictions of courts-martial; and the bill being
also softened in other particulars, during its passage through the upper
house, at length received the royal assent.
The flame which this act had kindled, was rather increased than abated
on the appearance of a new mutiny-bill, replete with divers innovations
tending to augment the influence of the crown, as well as the
authority and power of a military jurisdiction. All the articles of
war established since the reign of Charles II., were submitted to the
inspection of the commons; and in these appeared a gradual spirit of
encroachment, almost imperceptibly deviating from the civil institutes
of the English constitution, towards the establishment of a military
dominion. By this new bill a power was vested in any commander-in-chief,
to revise and correct any legal sentence of a court-martial, by which
the members of such a court, corresponding with the nature of a civil
jury, were rendered absolutely useless, and the commander in a great
measure absolute; for he had not only the power of summoning such
officers as he might choose to sit on any trial--a prerogative unknown
to any civil court of judicature--but he was also at liberty to review
and altar the sentence; so that a man was subject to two trials for the
same offence, and the commander-in-chief was judge both of the guilt
and the punishment. By the final clause of this bill, martial law was
extended to all officers on half-pay; and the same arguments which had
been urged against this article in the navy-bill, were now repeated and
reinforced with redoubled fervour. Many reasons were offered to prove
that the half-pay was allotted as a recompence for past service; and the
opponents of the bill affirmed, that such an article, by augmenting the
dependents of the crown, might be very dangerous to the constitution.
On the other hand, the partisans of the ministry asserted, that the
half-pay was granted as a retaining fee; and that originally all
those who enjoyed this indulgence were deemed to be in actual service,
consequently subject to martial law. Mr. Pitt, who at this time
exercised the office of paymaster-general, with a rigour of integrity
unknown to the most disinterested of all his predecessors in that
department, espoused the clause in dispute as a necessary extension
of military discipline, which could never be attended with any bad
consequence to the liberty of the nation. The remarks which he made on
this occasion, implied an opinion that our liberties wholly existed in
dependence upon the direction of the sovereign, and the virtue of the
army. “To their virtue,” said he, “we trust even at this hour, small
as our army is; to that virtue we must have trusted, had this bill been
modelled as its warmest opposers could have wished; and without this
virtue, should the lords, the commons, and the people of England
intrench themselves behind parchment up to the teeth, the sword will
find a passage to the vitals of the constitution.” All the disputed
articles of the bill being sustained on the shoulders of a great
majority, it was conveyed to the upper house, where it excited another
violent contest. Upon the question whether officers on half-pay had not
been subject to martial law, the judges were consulted and divided in
their sentiments. The earl of Bath declared his opinion that martial law
did not extend to reformed officers; and opened all the sluices of his
ancient eloquence. He admitted a case which was urged, of seven officers
on half-pay, who, being taken in actual rebellion at Preston in the year
1715, had been executed on the spot by martial law, in consequence
of the king’s express order. He candidly owned, that he himself was
secretary at war at that period; that he had approved of this order, and
even transmitted it to general Carpenter, who commanded at Preston;
but now his opinion was entirely changed. He observed, that when the
forementioned rebellion first broke out, the house presented an address
to the king, desiring his majesty would be pleased to employ all
half-pay officers, and gratify them with whole pay; and, indeed, all
such officers were voted on whole pay by the house of commons. They were
afterwards apprised of this vote, by an advertisement in the Gazette,
and ordered to hold themselves in readiness to repair to such places as
should be appointed; and finally commanded to repair by such a day
to those places, on pain of being struck off the half-pay list. These
precautions would have been unnecessary, had they been deemed subject
to martial law, and the penalty for non-obedience would not have been
merely a privation of their pensions, but they would have fallen under
the punishment of death, as deserters from the service. His lordship
distinguished with great propriety and precision, between a step which
had been precipitately taken in a violent crisis, when the public was
heated with apprehension and resentment, and a solemn law concerted
at leisure, during the most profound tranquility. Notwithstanding
the spirited opposition of this nobleman, and some attempts to insert
additional clauses, the bill having undergone a few inconsiderable
amendments, passed by a very considerable majority.
BILL FOR LIMITING THE TERM OF A SOLDIER’S SERVICE.
Immediately after the mutiny-bill had passed the lower house, another
fruitless effort was made by the opposition. The danger of a standing
army, on whose virtue the constitution of Great Britain seemed to
depend, did not fail to alarm the minds of many who were zealously
attached to the liberties of their country, and gave birth to a scheme,
which if executed; would have enabled the legislature to establish a
militia that must have answered many national purposes, and acted as a
constitutional bulwark against the excesses and ambition of a military
standing force, under the immediate influence of government. The scheme
which patriotism conceived, was, in all probability, adopted by party.
A bill was brought in, limiting the time beyond which no soldier,
or non-commissioned officer, should be compelled to continue in the
service. Had this limitation taken place, such a rotation of soldiers
would have ensued among the common people, that in a few years every
peasant, labourer, and inferior tradesman in the kingdom, would have
understood the exercise of arms; and perhaps the people in general
would have concluded that a standing army was altogether unnecessary. A
project of this nature could not, for obvious reasons, be agreeable to
the administration, and therefore the bill was rendered abortive; for,
after having been twice read, it was postponed from time to time till
the parliament was prorogued, and never appeared in the sequel.
Such were the chief subjects of debate between the ministry and the
opposition, composed, as we have already observed, of the prince’s
servants and the remains of the country party, this last being headed
by lord Strange, son of the earl of Derby, and sir Francis Dashwood;
the former, a nobleman of distinguished abilities, keen, penetrating,
eloquent and sagacious; the other frank, spirited, and sensible.
MEASURES TAKEN WITH RESPECT TO THE AFRICAN TRADE.
It must be owned, however, for the honour of the ministry, that if they
carried a few unpopular measures with a high hand, they seemed earnestly
desirous of making amends to the nation, by promoting divers regulations
for the benefit and improvement of commerce, which actually took place
in the ensuing session of parliament. One of the principal objects of
this nature which fell under their cognizance, was the trade to the
coast of Guinea; a very important branch of traffic, whether considered
as a market for British manufactures, or as the source that supplied the
English plantations with negroes. This was originally monopolized by a
joint-stock company, which had from time to time derived considerable
sums from the legislature, for enabling them the better to support
certain forts or castles on the coast of Africa, to facilitate the
commerce and protect the merchants. In the sequel, however, the
exclusive privilege having been judged prejudicial to the national
trade, the coast was laid open to all British subjects indiscriminately,
on condition of their paying a certain duty towards defraying the
expense of the forts and factories. This expedient did not answer the
purposes for which it had been contrived. The separate traders,
instead of receiving any benefit from the protection of the company,
industriously avoided their castles, as the receptacles of tyranny and
oppression. The company, whether from misconduct or knavery of their
directors, contracted such a load of debts as their stock was unable to
discharge. They seemed to neglect the traffic, and allowed their castles
to decay. In a word, their credit being exhausted, and their creditors
growing clamorous, they presented a petition to the house of commons,
disclosing their distresses, and imploring such assistance as should
enable them not only to pay their debts, but also to maintain the forts
in a defensible condition. This petition, recommended to the house in a
message from his majesty, was corroborated by another in behalf of the
company’s creditors. Divers merchants of London, interested in the trade
of Africa and the British plantations in America, petitioned the house,
that as the African trade was of the utmost importance to the nation,
and could not be supported without forts and settlements, some effectual
means should be speedily taken for protecting and extending this
valuable branch of commerce. A fourth was offered by the merchants of
Liverpool, representing that the security and protection of the trade
to Africa must always principally depend upon his majesty’s ships of
war being properly stationed on that coast, and seasonably relieved, and
that such forts and settlements as might be judged necessary for marks
of sovereignty and possession, would prove a nuisance and a burden to
the trade, should they remain in the hands of any joint-stock company,
whose private interest always had been, and ever would be, found
incompatible with the interest of the separate and open trader. They
therefore prayed, that the said forts might either be taken into
his majesty’s immediate possession, and supported by the public, or
committed to the merchants trading on that coast, in such a manner as
the house should judge expedient, without vesting in them any other
advantage or right to the commerce, but what should be common to all his
majesty’s subjects. This remonstrance was succeeded by another to the
same effect, from the master, wardens, assistants, and commonalty of the
society of merchant adventurers within the city of Bristol. All these
petitions were referred to a committee appointed to deliberate on this
subject; who agreed to certain resolutions, implying, that the trade to
Africa should be free and open; that the British forts and settlements
on that coast ought to be maintained, and put under proper direction;
and that in order to carry on the African trade in the most beneficial
manner to these kingdoms, all the British subjects trading to Africa
should be united in one open company, without any joint-stock, or power
to trade as a corporation. A bill was immediately founded on these
resolutions, which alarmed the company to such a degree, that they had
recourse to another petition, demonstrating their right to the coast of
Africa, and expressing their reliance on the justice of the house
that they should not be deprived of their property without an adequate
consideration. In a few days a second address was offered by their
creditors, complaining of the company’s mismanagement, promising to
surrender their right, as the wisdom of parliament should prescribe;
praying that their debts might be inquired into; and that the equivalent
to be granted for the company’s possessions might be secured and
applied, in the first place, for their benefit. The commons, in
consequence of this petition, ordered the company to produce a list
of their debts, together with a copy of their charter, and two
remonstrances which their creditors had presented to them before this
application to parliament. A committee of the whole house, having
deliberated on these papers and petitions, and heard the company by
their counsel, resolved to give them a reasonable compensation for their
charter, lands, forts, settlements, slaves, and effects, to be in the
first place applied towards the payment of their creditors. A bill being
formed accordingly, passed the commons, and was conveyed to the upper
house, where a great many objections were started; and for the present
it was dropped, until a more unexceptionable plan should be concerted.
In the meantime their lordships addressed his majesty, that the lords
commissioners for trade and plantations might be directed to prepare a
scheme on this subject, to be laid before both houses of parliament at
the beginning of next session; that instant orders should be given
for preserving and securing the forts and settlements on the coast of
Guinea belonging to Great Britain; and that proper persons should be
appointed to examine into the condition of those forts, as well as
of the military stores, slaves, and vessels belonging to the African
company, so as to make a faithful report of these particulars, with all
possible expedition.
SCHEME FOR IMPROVING THE BRITISH FISHERY.
The ministry having professed an inclination, and indeed shown a
disposition, to promote and extend the commerce of the kingdom, the
commons resolved to take some steps for encouraging the white fishery
along the northern coast of the island, which is an inexhaustible source
of wealth to our industrious neighbours the Dutch, who employ annually
a great number of hands and vessels in this branch of commerce. The
sensible part of the British people, reflecting on this subject, plainly
foresaw that a fishery, under due regulations, undertaken with the
protection and encouragement of the legislature, would not only prove
a fund of national riches, and a nursery of seamen, but likewise in
a great measure prevent any future insurrections in the Highlands of
Scotland, by diffusing a spirit of industry among the natives of that
country, who finding it in their power to become independent on the
fruits of their own labour, would soon enfranchise themselves from that
slavish attachment by which they had been so long connected with their
landlords and chieftains. Accordingly, a committee was appointed to
deliberate on the state of the British fishery; and upon their report
a bill was founded for encouraging the whale fishery on the coast of
Spitsbergen, by a bounty of forty shillings per ton for every ship
equipped for that undertaking. The bill having made its way through both
houses, and obtained the royal assent, the merchants in different parts
of the kingdom, particularly in North Britain, began to build and fit
out ships of great burden, and peculiar structure, for the purpose of
that fishery, which ever since hath been carried on with equal vigour
and success. Divers merchants and traders of London having presented to
the house of commons a petition, representing the benefits that would
accrue to the community from a herring and cod fishery, established
on proper principles, and carried on with skill and integrity, this
remonstrance was referred to a committee, upon whose resolutions a
bill was formed; but before this could be discussed in the house,
the parliament was prorogued, and of consequence this measure proved
abortive.
ATTEMPT TO OPEN THE COMMERCE TO HUDSON’S BAY.
The next regulation proposed in favour of trade, was that of laying open
the commerce of Hudson’s-bay, in the most northern parts of America,
where a small monopoly maintained a few forts and settlements, and
prosecuted a very advantageous fur trade with the Indians of that
continent. It was suggested, that the company had long ago enriched
themselves by their exclusive privilege; that they employed no more
than four annual ships; that, contrary to an express injunction in their
charter, they discouraged all attempts to discover a north-west passage
to the East Indies; that they dealt cruelly and perfidiously with
the poor Indians, who never traded with them except when compelled by
necessity, so that the best part of the fur trade had devolved to the
enemies of Great Britain; and that their exclusive patent restricted to
very narrow limits a branch of commerce which might be cultivated to
a prodigious extent; as well as to the infinite advantage of Great
Britain. Petitions, that the trade of Hudson’s-bay might be laid open,
were presented to the house by the merchants of London, Great Yarmouth,
and Wolverhampton; and a committee was appointed to deliberate upon this
subject. On the other hand, the company exerted themselves in petitions
and private applications for their own preservation. The committee
examined many papers and records; and the report was taken into
consideration by the whole house. Many evidences were interrogated,
and elaborate speeches made, on both sides of the question. At length a
majority seemed satisfied that the traffic on the coast of Hudson’s-bay
could not be preserved without forts and settlements, which must be
maintained either by an exclusive company, or at the public expense;
and, as this was not judged a proper juncture to encumber the nation
with any charge of that kind the design of dissolving the company was
laid aside till a more favourable opportunity.
PLAN FOR MAINTAINING THE NAVY.
The government had, during the war, found great difficulty in pressing
men for the service of the navy--a practice, which, however sanctioned
by necessity, is nevertheless a flagrant encroachment on the liberty
of the subject, and a violent outrage against the constitution of Great
Britain. The ministry, therefore, had employed some of their agents
to form a scheme for retaining in time of peace, by means of a certain
allowance, a number of seamen, who should be registered for the purpose,
and be ready to man a squadron upon any emergency. Such a plan, properly
regulated, would have been a great advantage to commerce, which is
always distressed by the practice of pressing seamen; and at the same
time, a great security to the kingdom in dangerous conjunctures, when it
may be necessary to equip an armament at a minute’s warning. The house
of commons being moved upon this subject, agreed to divers resolutions
as a foundation for the bill; but the members in the opposition
affecting to represent this measure in an odious light, as an imitation
of the French method of registering seamen without their own consent,
Mr. Pelham dropped it, as an unpopular project.
Information having been received that the French intended to settle the
neutral islands of St. Lucia, Dominica, St. Vincent, and Tobago, in
the West Indies, the nation had taken the alarm in the beginning of
the year; and a motion was made in the house of commons to address his
majesty, that he would be graciously pleased to give directions
for laying before the house copies of the instructions given to the
governors of Barbadoes for the last ten years past, so far as they
related to these neutral islands; but whether the minister was conscious
of a neglect in this particular, or thought such inquiries trenched upon
the prerogative, he opposed the motion with all his might; and after
some debate, the previous question passed in the negative. This was also
the fate of another motion made by the earl of E----t for an address,
entreating his majesty would submit to the inspection of the house all
the proposals of peace that had been made by the French king since the
year which preceded the last rebellion, to that in which the definitive
treaty was concluded at Aix-la-Chapelle. This they proposed as a
previous step to the parliament’s forming any opinion concerning the
utility or necessity of the peace which had been established. Violent
debates ensued, in which the opposition was as much excelled in oratory
as out-numbered in votes. Such were the material transactions of this
session, which in the month of June was closed as usual with a speech
from the throne; in which his majesty signified his hope, that the
parliament, at their next meeting, would be able to perfect what they
had now begun for advancing the trade and navigation of the kingdom. He
likewise expressed his satisfaction at seeing public credit flourish at
the end of an expensive war; and recommended unanimity, as the surest
bulwark of national security.
While the ministry on some occasions exhibited all the external signs
of moderation and good humour, they, on others, manifested a spirit of
jealousy and resentment which seems to have been childish and illiberal.
Two or three young riotous students at Oxford, trained up in prejudice,
and heated with intemperance, uttered some expressions over their cups,
implying their attachment to the family of the pretender. The report
of this indiscretion was industriously circulated by certain worthless
individuals, who, having no reliance on their own intrinsic merit, hoped
to distinguish themselves as the tools of party, and to obtain favour
with the ministry by acting as volunteers in the infamous practice
of information. Though neither the rank, age, nor connexions of the
delinquents were such as ought to have attracted the notice of the
public, the vice-chancellor, heads of houses, and proctors of the
university, knowing the invidious scrutiny to which their conduct was
subjected, thought proper to publish a declaration, signifying their
abhorrence of all seditious practices, their determined resolution to
punish all offenders to the utmost severity and rigour of the statutes;
and containing peremptory orders for the regulation of the university.
Notwithstanding these wise and salutary precautions, the three boys, who
in the heat of their intoxication had drunk the pretender’s health, were
taken into custody by a messenger of state; and two of them being tried
in the court of king’s bench, and found guilty, were sentenced to walk
through the courts of Westminster, with a specification of their crime
fixed to their foreheads; to pay a find of five nobles each; to be
imprisoned for two years, and find security for their good behaviour
for the term of seven years after their enlargement. Many people thought
they saw the proceedings of the star-chamber revived in the severity
of this punishment. The administration, not yet satisfied with the
vengeance which had been taken on these three striplings, seemed
determined to stigmatize the university to which they belonged. The cry
of jacobitism was loudly trumpeted against the whole community.
The address of the university, congratulating his majesty on the
establishment of the peace, was rejected with disdain, and an attempt
was made to subject their statutes to the inspection of the king’s
council; but this rule, being argued in the court of king’s-bench, was
dismissed in consequence of the opinions given by the judges. Finally,
the same tribunal granted an information against Dr. Purnel, the
vice-chancellor, for his behaviour in the case of the rioters
above-mentioned; but this was countermanded in the sequel, his conduct
appearing unexceptionable upon a more cool and impartial inquiry.
{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}
ELECTION OF A CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE.
In proportion as Oxford declined, her sister university rose in the
favour of the administration, which she at this period cultivated by
an extraordinary mark of compliance and attachment. The dignity of
chancellor of the university being vacated by the death of the duke
of Somerset, the nation in general seemed to think it would naturally
devolve upon the prince of Wales, as a compliment at all times due
to that rank; but more especially to the then heir-apparent, who had
eminently distinguished himself by the virtues of a patriot and a
prince. He had even pleased himself with the hope of receiving this
mark of attachment from a seminary for which he entertained a particular
regard. But the ruling members, seeing no immediate prospect of
advantage in glorifying even a prince who was at variance with the
ministry, wisely turned their eyes upon the illustrious character of the
duke of Newcastle, whom they elected without opposition, and installed
with great magnificence; learning, poetry, and eloquence, joining their
efforts in celebrating the shining virtues and extraordinary talents of
their new patron.
Although opposition lay gasping at the feet of power in the house of
commons, the people of England did not yet implicitly approve all the
measures of the administration; and the dregs of faction, still agitated
by an internal ferment, threw up some ineffectual bubbles in different
parts of the kingdom. Some of those who made no secret of their
disaffection to the reigning family, determined to manifest their
resentment and contempt of certain noblemen, and others, who were said
to have abandoned their ancient principles, and to have sacrificed their
consciences to their interest. Many individuals, animated by the fumes
of inebriation, now loudly extolled that cause which they durst not avow
when it required their open approbation and assistance; and, though they
industriously avoided exposing their lives and fortunes to the chance of
war in promoting their favourite interest when there was a possibility
of success, they betrayed no apprehension in celebrating the memory
of its last effort, amidst the tumult of a riot and the clamours of
intemperance. In the neighbourhood of Lichfield, the sportsmen of the
party appeared in the Highland taste of variegated drapery; and
their zeal descending to a very extraordinary exhibition of practical
ridicule, they hunted, with hounds clothed in plaid, a fox dressed in
a red uniform. Even the females at their assembly, and the gentlemen
at the races, affected to wear the chequered stuff by which the
prince-pretender and his followers had been distinguished. Divers
noblemen on the course were insulted as apostates; and one personage, of
high rank, is said to have undergone a very disagreeable flagellation.
SCHEME FOR A NEW SETTLEMENT.
As the public generally suffers at the end of a war, by the sudden
dismission of a great number of soldiers and seamen, who having
contracted a habit of idleness, and finding themselves without
employment and the means of subsistence, engage in desperate courses and
prey upon the community, it was judged expedient to provide an opening
through which these unquiet spirits might exhale without damage to the
commonwealth. The most natural was that of encouraging them to become
members of a new colony in North America, which, by being properly
regulated, supported, and improved, might be the source of great
advantages to its mother country. Many disputes had arisen between the
subjects of England and France concerning the limits of Nova Scotia,
which no treaty had as yet properly ascertained. A fort had been raised,
and a small garrison maintained, by the king of Great Britain, at a
part of this very country, called Annapolis-Royal, to overawe the French
neutrals settled in the neighbourhood; but this did not answer the
purpose for which it was intended. Upon every rupture or dispute between
the two crowns, these planters, forgetting their neutrality, intrigued
with the Indians, communicated intelligence to their own countrymen
settled at St. John’s and Cape Breton, and did all the ill offices their
hatred could suggest against the colonies and subjects of Great Britain.
A scheme was now formed for making a new establishment on the same
peninsula, which should further confirm and extend the property and
dominion of the crown of Great Britain in that large tract of country,
clear the uncultivated grounds, constitute communities, diffuse the
benefits of population and agriculture, and improve the fishery of that
coast, which might be rendered a new source of wealth and commerce to
Old England. The particulars of the plan being duly considered, it was
laid before his majesty, who approved of the design, and referred the
execution of it to the board of trade and plantations, over which
the earl of Halifax presided. This nobleman, endued by nature with
an excellent capacity, which had been diligently and judiciously
cultivated, animated with liberal sentiments, and fired with an eager
spirit of patriotism, adopted the plan with the most generous
ardour, and cherished the infant colony with paternal affection. The
commissioners for trade and plantations immediately advertised, under
the sanction of his majesty’s authority, that proper encouragement would
be given to such of the officers and private men, lately dismissed from
the land and sea service, as were willing to settle, with or without
families, in the province of Nova Scotia; that the fee simple, or
perpetual property, of fifty acres of land should be granted to every
private soldier or seaman, free from the payment of any quit-rents or
taxes, for the term of ten years; at the expiration of which no person
should pay more than one shilling per annum for every fifty acres so
granted; that, over and above these fifty, each person should receive a
grant of ten acres for every individual, including women and children,
of which his family should consist; that further grants should be made
to them as the number should increase, and in proportion as they should
manifest their abilities in agriculture; that every officer, under the
rank of ensign in the land service, or lieutenant in the navy, should be
gratified with fourscore acres on the same conditions; that two hundred
acres should be bestowed upon ensigns, three hundred upon lieutenants,
four hundred upon captains, and six hundred on every officer above that
degree, with proportionable considerations for the number and increase
of every family; that the lands should be parcelled out as soon as
possible after the arrival of the colonists, and a civil government
established; by virtue of which they should enjoy all the liberties and
privileges of British subjects, with proper security and protection;
that the settlers, with their families, should be conveyed to Nova
Scotia, and maintained for twelve months after their arrival, at the
expense of the government; which should also supply them with arms and
ammunition, as far as should be judged necessary for their defence, with
proper materials and utensils for clearing and cultivating their lands,
erecting habitations, exercising the fishery, and such other purposes as
should be judged necessary for their support.
TOWN OF HALIFAX FOUNDED.
The scheme was so feasible, and the encouragement so inviting, that in
a little time about four thousand adventurers, with their families, were
entered, according to the directions of the board of trade, who in the
beginning of May set sail from England, under the command of Colonel
Cornwallis, whom the king had appointed their governor, and towards the
latter end of June arrived at the place of their destination, which
was the harbour of Chebucton, on the sea-coast of the peninsula, about
midway between Cape Canceau and Cape Sable. It is one of the most secure
and commodious havens in the whole world, and well situated for the
fishery; yet the climate is cold, the soil barren, and the whole country
covered with woods of birch, fir, pine, and some oak, unfit for the
purposes of timber; but at the same time extremely difficult to remove
and extirpate. Governor Cornwallis no sooner arrived in this harbour
than he was joined by two regiments of infantry from Cape Breton, and a
company of rangers from Annapolis. Then he pitched upon a spot for the
settlement, and employed his people in clearing the ground for laying
the foundations of a town; but some inconveniences being discovered in
this situation, he chose another to the northward, hard by the harbour,
on an easy ascent, commanding a prospect of the whole peninsula, and
well supplied with rivulets of fresh and wholesome water. Here he began
to build a town on a regular plan, to which he gave the name of Halifax,
in honour of the nobleman who had the greatest share in founding
the colony; and before the approach of winter, above three hundred
comfortable wooden houses were built, the whole surrounded by a strong
pallisade. This colony, however, has by no means answered the sanguine
expectations of the projectors; for notwithstanding the ardour with
which the interests of it were promoted by its noble patron, and the
repeated indulgence it has reaped from the bounty of the legislature,
the inhabitants have made little or no progress in agriculture; the
fishery is altogether neglected, and the settlement entirely subsists
on the sums expended by the individuals of the army and navy, whose duty
obliges them to reside in this part of North America.
FRENCH ATTEMPTS TO SETTLE THE ISLAND OF TOBAGO.
The establishment of such a powerful colony in Nova-Scotia, could not
fail giving umbrage to the French in that neighbourhood, who, though
they did not think proper to promulgate their jealousy and disgust,
nevertheless employed their emissaries clandestinely in stimulating and
exciting the Indians to harass the colonists with hostilities, in such
a manner as should effectually hinder them from extending their
plantations, and perhaps induce them to abandon the settlement. Nor was
this the only part of America in which the French court countenanced
such perfidious practices. More than ever convinced of the importance
of a considerable navy, and an extensive plantation trade, they not only
exerted uncommon industry in re-establishing their marine, which had
suffered so severely during the war; but they resolved, if possible,
to extend their plantations in the West Indies by settling the neutral
islands, which we have already mentioned. In the beginning of the year,
the governor of Barbadoes, having received intelligence that the French
had begun to settle the island of Tobago, sent captain Tyrrel thither
in a frigate to learn the particulars. That officer found above three
hundred men already landed, secured by two batteries and two ships
of war, and in daily expectation of a further reinforcement from
the marquis de Caylus, governor of Martinique; who had published an
ordonnance, authorizing the subjects of the French king to settle the
island of Tobago, and promising to defend them from the attempts of all
their enemies. This assurance was in answer to a proclamation issued
by Mr. Grenville, governor of Barbadoes, and stuck up in the different
parts of the island, commanding all the inhabitants to remove, in thirty
days, on pain of undergoing military execution. Captain Tyrrel, with
a spirit that became a commander in the British navy, gave the French
officers to understand, that his most christian majesty had no right to
settle the island, which was declared neutral by treaties; and that, if
they would not desist, he should be obliged to employ force in driving
them from their new settlement. Night coming on, and Mr. Tyrrel’s ship
falling to leeward, the French captains seized that opportunity of
sailing to Martinique; and next day the English commander returned to
Barbadoes, having no power to commit hostilities. These tidings, with a
copy of the French governor’s ordonnance, were no sooner transmitted
to the ministry than they despatched a courier to the English envoy
at Paris, with directions to make representations to the court of
Versailles on this subject. The ministry of France, knowing they were
in no condition to support the consequences of an immediate rupture, and
understanding how much the merchants and people of Great Britain were
alarmed and incensed at their attempts to possess these islands, thought
proper to disown the proceedings of the marquis de Caylus, and to grant
the satisfaction that was demanded, by sending him orders to discontinue
the settlement, and evacuate the island of Tobago. At the same time,
however, that the court of Versailles made this sacrifice for the
satisfaction of England, the marquis de Puysieux, the French minister,
observed to the English resident, that France was undoubtedly in
possession of that island towards the middle of the last century. He
ought in candour to have added, that although Louis XIV. made a conquest
of this island from the Hollanders, during his war with that republic,
it was restored to them by the treaty of Nimeguen; and since that time
France could not have the least shadow of a claim to number it among her
settlements. It was before this answer could be obtained from the court
of Versailles that the motion, of which we have already taken notice,
was made in the house of commons, relating to the subject of the
neutral islands; a motion discouraged by the court, and defeated by the
majority.
REJOICINGS FOR THE PEACE.
The peace of Aix-la-Chapelle was celebrated by fireworks, illuminations,
and rejoicings, in which the English, French, and Dutch, seemed to
display a spirit of emulation in point of taste and magnificence; and,
in all probability, these three powers were sincerely pleased at
the cessation of the war. England enjoyed a respite from intolerable
supplies, exorbitant insurance, and interrupted commerce; Holland was
delivered from the brink of a French invasion; and France had obtained
a breathing time for re-establishing her naval power, for exerting
that spirit of intrigue, by dint of which she hath often embroiled her
neighbours, and for executing plans of insensible encroachment, which
might prove more advantageous than the progress of open hostilities. In
the affair of Tobago, the French king had manifested his inclination to
avoid immediate disputes with England; and had exhibited another proof
of the same disposition in his behaviour to the prince-pretender, who
had excited such a dangerous rebellion in the island of Great Britain.
Among those princes and powers who excepted against different articles
of the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, the chevalier de St. George,
foreseeing that none of the plenipotentiaries would receive his
protest, employed his agents to fix it up in the public places of
Aix-la-Chapelle; a precaution of very little service to his cause, which
all the states of Christendom seemed now to have abandoned. So little
was the interest of his family considered in this negotiation, that the
contracting powers agreed, without reserve, to a literal insertion of
the fifth article of the quadruple alliance; by which it was stipulated,
that neither the pretender nor any of his descendants should be allowed
to reside within the territories belonging to any of the subscribing
parties. At the same time the plenipotentiaries of France promised to
those of Great Britain, that prince Charles-Edward should be immediately
obliged to quit the dominions of his most christian majesty. Notice of
this agreement was accordingly given by the court of Versailles to the
young adventurer; and as he had declared he would never return to Italy,
Mons. de Courteille, the French envoy to the cantons of Switzerland, was
directed by his sovereign to demand an asylum for prince Edward in the
city of Fribourg. The regency having complied in this particular with
the earnest request of his most christian majesty, Mr. Bamaby, the
British minister to the Helvetic body, took the alarm, and presented
the magistracy of Fribourg with a remonstrance, couched in such terms as
gave offence to that regency, and drew upon him a severe answer. In vain
had the French king exerted his influence in procuring this retreat
for the young pretender, who, being pressed with repeated messages to
withdraw, persisted in refusing to quit the place, to which he had been
so cordially invited by his cousin the king of France; and where he said
that monarch had solemnly promised, on the word of a king, that he would
never forsake him in his distress, nor abandon the interests of his
family. Louis was not a little perplexed at this obstinacy of prince
Edward, which was the more vexatious, as that youth appeared to be
the darling of the Parisians; who not only admired him for his own
accomplishments, and pitied him for his sufferings, but also revered
him, as a young hero lineally descended from their renowned Henry
the Fourth. At length, the two English noblemen arriving at Paris as
hostages for the performance of the treaty, and seeing him appear at all
the public places of diversion, complained of this circumstance as an
insult to their sovereign, and an infringement of the treaty so lately
concluded. The French king, after some hesitation between punctilio
and convenience, resolved to employ violence upon the person of this
troublesome stranger, since milder remonstrances had not been able to
influence his conduct; but this resolution was not taken till the return
of a courier whom he despatched to the chevalier de St. George; who,
being thus informed of his son’s deportment, wrote a letter to him,
laying strong injunctions upon him to yield to the necessity of the
times, and acquiesce with a good grace in the stipulations which his
cousin of France had found it necessary to subscribe for the interest of
his realm. Edward, far from complying with this advice and injunction,
signified his resolution to remain in Paris; and even declared that
he would pistol any man who should presume to lay violent hands on
his person. In consequence of this bold declaration, an extraordinary
council was held at Versailles, when it was determined to arrest him
without further delay, and the whole plan of this enterprise was finally
adjusted. That same evening, the prince entering the narrow lane that
leads to the opera, the barrier was immediately shut, and the sergeant
of the guard called “to arms;” on which monsieur de Vaudreuil, exempt of
the French guards, advancing to Edward, “Prince,” said he, “I arrest you
in the king’s name, by virtue of this order.” At that instant the youth
was surrounded by four grenadiers, in order to prevent any mischief he
might have done with a case of pocket-pistols which he always carried
about him; and a guard was placed at all the avenues and doors of the
opera-house, lest any tumult should have ensued among the populace.
These precautions being taken, Vaudreuil, with an escort, conducted the
prisoner through the garden of the palais-royal, to a house where the
duke de Biron waited with a coach and six to convey him to the castle of
Vincennes, whether he was immediately accompanied by a detachment from
the regiment of French guards, under the command of that nobleman. He
had not remained above three days in his confinement, when he gave
the French ministry to understand that he would conform himself to the
king’s intentions; and was immediately enlarged, upon giving his word
and honour that he would, without delay, retire from the dominions
of France. Accordingly, he set out in four days from Fountainbleau,
attended by three officers, who conducted him as far as Pont-Bauvosin
on the frontiers, where they took their leave of him and returned to
Versailles. He proceeded for some time in the road to Chamberri; but
soon returned into the French dominions, and, passing through Dauphiné,
repaired to Avignon, where he was received with extraordinary honours by
the pope’s legate. In the meantime, his arrest excited great murmurings
at Paris; the inhabitants blaming, without scruple, their king’s conduct
in this instance, as a scandalous breach of hospitality, as well as
a mean proof of condescension to the king of England; and many severe
pasquinades, relating to this transaction, were fixed up in the most
public places of that metropolis.
APPEARANCE OF A RUPTURE BETWEEN RUSSIA AND SWEDEN.
Although peace was now re-established among the principal powers of the
continent, yet another storm seemed ready to burst upon the northern
parts of Europe, in a fresh rupture between Russia and Sweden. Whether
the czarina had actually obtained information that the French faction
meditated some revolution of government at Stockholm, or she wanted a
pretence of annexing Finland to her empire; certain it is, she affected
to apprehend that the prince-successor of Sweden waited only for the
decease of the reigning king, who was very old and infirm, to change the
form of government, and resume that absolute authority which some of
the monarchs, his predecessors, had enjoyed. She seemed to think that a
prince thus vested with arbitrary power, and guided by the councils
of France and Prussia, with which Sweden had lately engaged in close
alliance, might become a very troublesome and dangerous neighbour to
her in the Baltic; she therefore recruited her armies, repaired her
fortifications, filled her magazines, ordered a strong body of troops to
advance towards the frontiers of Finland, and declared in plain terms
to the court of Stockholm, that if any step should be taken to alter
the government, which she had bound herself by treaty to maintain, her
troops should enter the territory of Sweden, and she would act up to
the spirit of her engagements. The Swedish ministry, alarmed at these
peremptory proceedings, had recourse to their allies; and in the
meantime, made repeated declarations to the court of Petersburgh, that
there was no design to make the least innovation in the nature of their
established government; but little or no regard being paid to these
representations, they began to put the kingdom in a posture of
defence; and the old king gave the czarina to understand, that if,
notwithstanding the satisfaction he had offered, her forces should pass
the frontiers of Finland, he would consider their march as an hostile
invasion, and employ the means which God had put in his power for the
defence of his dominions.
INTERPOSITION OF THE KING OF PRUSSIA.
This declaration, in all probability, did not produce such effect as the
interposition of his Prussian majesty, the most enterprising prince
of his time, at the head of one hundred and forty thousand of the best
troops that Germany ever trained. Perhaps he was not sorry that
the empress of Muscovy furnished him with a plausible pretence for
maintaining such a formidable army, after the peace of Europe had been
ascertained by a formal treaty, and all the surrounding states had
diminished the number of their forces. He now wrote a letter to his
uncle the king of Great Britain, complaining of the insults and menaces
which had been offered by the czarina to Sweden; declaring, that he was
bound by a defensive alliance, to which France had acceded, to defend
the government at present established in Sweden; and that he would not
sit still, and tamely see that kingdom attacked by any power whatsoever,
without acting up to his engagements; he therefore entreated his
Britannic majesty to interpose his good offices, in conjunction with
France and him, to compromise the disputes which threatened to embroil
the northern parts of Europe. By this time the Russian army had
approached the frontiers of Finland: the Swedes had assembled their
troops, replenished their magazines, and repaired their marine; and the
king of Denmark, jealous of the czarina’s designs with regard to the
duchy of Sleswick, which was contested with him by the prince-successor
of Russia, kept his army and navy on the most respectable footing. At
this critical juncture the courts of London, Versailles, and Berlin,
co-operated so effectually by remonstrances and declarations at
Petersburgh and Stockholm, that the empress of Russia thought proper to
own herself satisfied, and all those clouds of trouble were immediately
dispersed. Yet, in all probability, her real aim was disappointed; and,
however she might dissemble her sentiments, she never heartily forgave
the king of Prussia for the share he had in this transaction. That
monarch, without relaxing in his attention to the support of a very
formidable military power, exerted very extraordinary endeavours in
cultivating the civil interests of his country. He reformed the laws of
Brandenburgh, and rescued the administration of justice from the frauds
of chicanery. He encouraged the arts of agriculture and manufacture;
and even laid the foundation of naval commerce, by establishing an
East-India company in the port of Embden.
Nor did the French ministry neglect any measure that might contribute to
repair the damage which the kingdom had sustained in the course of the
war. One half of the army was disbanded: the severe imposition of the
tenth penny was suspended by the king’s edict: a scheme of economy was
proposed with respect to the finances; and the utmost diligence used
in procuring materials, as well as workmen, for ship-building, that
the navy of France might speedily retrieve its former importance. In the
midst of these truly patriotic schemes, the court of Versailles betrayed
a littleness of genius, and spirit of tyranny, joined to fanaticism, in
quarreling with their parliament about superstitious forms of religion.
The sacraments had been denied to a certain person on his death-bed,
because he refused to subscribe to the bull Unigenitus. The nephew of
the defunct preferred a complaint to the parliament, whose province it
was to take cognizance of the affair; a deputation of that body attended
the king with the report of the resolutions; and his majesty
commanded them to suspend all proceedings relating to a matter of such
consequence, concerning which he would take an opportunity of signifying
his royal pleasure. This interposition was the source of disputes
between the crown and parliament, which had like to have filled the
whole kingdom with intestine troubles.
CONDUCT OF DIFFERENT EUROPEAN POWERS.
At Vienna, the empress-queen was not more solicitous in promoting
the trade and internal manufactures of her dominions, by sumptuary
regulations, necessary restrictions on foreign superfluities, by opening
her ports in the Adriatic, and giving proper encouragement to commerce,
than she was careful and provident in reforming the economy of her
finances, maintaining a respectable body of forces, and guarding, by
defensive alliances, against the enterprise of his Prussian majesty, on
whose military power she looked with jealousy and distrust. In Holland,
all the authority and influence of the stadtholder were scarcely
sufficient to allay the ferments excited among the people by the
provisional taxation, which had succeeded the abolition of the patchers,
and was indeed very grievous to the subject. As this was no more than
a temporary expedient, the prince of Orange proposed a more equitable
plan, which was approved by the states, and established with great
difficulty. In Italy the system of politics seemed to change its
complexion. The king of Sardinia effected a match between one of the
infantas of Spain and the prince of Piedmont; and whether irritated by
the conduct of the Austrians in the last war, or apprehensive of such a
powerful neighbour in the Milanese, he engaged with the kings of France
and Spain in a defensive alliance, comprehending the king of the Two
Sicilies, the republic of Genoa, and the dukes of Modena and Parma.
His most catholic majesty, sincerely disposed to cultivate the arts
of peace, and encourage every measure that could contribute to the
advantage of his country, was no sooner released from the embarrassments
of war, than he began to execute plans of internal economy; to reduce
unnecessary pensions, discharge the debts contracted in the war,
replenish his arsenals, augment his navy, promote manufactures, and
encourage an active commerce by sea, the benefits of which the kingdom
of Spain had not known since the first discovery and conquest of the
West Indies.
{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}
INSOLENCE OF THE BARBARY CORSAIRS.
The preparations for refitting and increasing the navy of Spain were
carried on with such extraordinary vigour, that other nations believed
an expedition was intended against the corsairs of Algiers, who had for
some time grievously infested the trade and coasts of the Mediterranean.
The existence of this and other predatory republics, which entirely
subsist upon piracy and rapine, petty states of barbarous ruffians,
maintained as it were in the midst of powerful nations, which
they insult with impunity, and of which they even exact an annual
contribution, is a flagrant reproach upon Christendom; a reproach
the greater, as it is founded upon a low, selfish, illiberal maxim of
policy. All the powers that border on the Mediterranean, except France
and Tuscany, are at perpetual war with the Moors of Barbary, and for
that reason obliged to employ foreign ships for the transportation of
their merchandise. This employment naturally devolves to those nations
whose vessels are in no danger from the depredations of the barbarians;
namely, the subjects of the maritime powers, who for this puny
advantage, not only tolerate the piratical states of Barbary, but even
supply them with arms and ammunition, solicit their passes, and purchase
their forbearance with annual presents, which are, in effect, equivalent
to a tribute; whereas, by one vigorous exertion of their power, they
might destroy all their ships, lay their towns in ashes, and totally
extirpate those pernicious broods of desperate banditti. Even all the
condescension of those who disgrace themselves with the title of allies
to these miscreants, is not always sufficient to restrain them from acts
of cruelty and rapine. At this very period four cruisers from Algiers
made a capture of an English packet-boat, in her voyage from Lisbon, and
conveyed her to their city, where she was plundered of money and effects
to the amount of one hundred thousand pounds, and afterwards dismissed.
In consequence of this outrage, commodore Keppel was sent with seven
ships of war to demand satisfaction, as well as to compromise certain
differences which had arisen on account of arrears claimed of the
English by the dey of Algiers. The Mussulman frankly owned, that the
money having been divided among the captors, could not possibly be
refunded. The commodore returned to Gibraltar; and, in the sequel, an
Algerine ambassador arrived in London, with some presents of wild beasts
for his Britannic majesty. This transaction was succeeded by another
injurious affront offered by the governor or alcayde of Tetuan to
Mr. Latton, an English ambassador, sent thither to redeem the British
subjects who had been many years enslaved in the dominions of the king
of Morocco. A revolution having lately happened in this empire, Mully
Abdallah, the reigning ruffian, insisted upon the ambassador’s paying a
pretended balance for the ransom of the captives, as well as depositing
a considerable sum, which had already been paid to a deceased pacha;
alleging, that as he, the emperor, received no part of it, the payment
was illegal. Mr. Latton refusing to comply with this arbitrary demand,
his house was surrounded by a detachment of soldiers, who violently
dragged his secretary from his presence, and threw him into a dismal
subterranean dungeon, where he continued twenty days. The English
slaves, to the number of twenty-seven, were condemned to the same fate;
the ambassador himself was degraded from his character, deprived of
his allowance, and sequestered from all communication. All the letters
directed to him were intercepted, and interpreted to the alcayde; two
negro porters were intrusted with the keys of all his apartments, and
a couple of soldiers posted at his chamber-door; nay, this Moorish
governor threatened to load him with irons, and violently seized part
of the presents designed by his Britannic majesty for the emperor. At
length, finding that neither Mr. Latton nor the governor of Gibraltar,
to whom he had written, would deposit the money, without fresh
instructions from the court of London, the barbarian thought proper to
relax in his severity: the prisoners were enlarged, the restrictions
removed from the person of the ambassador, and, after all these
indignities offered to the honour of the British nation, the balance was
paid, and the affair quietly adjusted.
DISTURBANCES IN ENGLAND.