CHAPTER VIII.

_Death of the Queen of Denmark and the Prince of Orange.....

Misunderstanding between the Czarina and King of

Prussia..... Measures for electing a King of the Romans.....

Death of the King of Sweden..... Session opened.....

Animosity of the Commons towards Mr. Murray..... Proceedings

upon a Pamphlet, entitled the Case of Mr. Murray.....

Supplies granted..... Civil Regulations..... Law relating to

the forfeited Estates in Scotland..... New Consolidation of

Funds..... Two Ports opened for the Importation of Irish

Wool..... The King sets out for Hanover..... Affairs of the

Continent..... Dispute between Hanover and Prussia,

Concerning East Friezeland..... Misunderstanding between the

Courts of London and Berlin..... Improvement of

Pomerania..... Treaty with the Elector Palatine..... Session

opened..... Supplies granted..... Game Act..... Act for

performing Quarantine..... and for preventing the Plundering

of shipwrecked Vessels..... Bill relating to the Bounty on

Corn exported..... Turkey Trade laid open.....

Naturalization of the Jews..... Marriage Act.....

Deliberations concerning the Sugar Colonies...... Fate of

the Register Bill..... Sir Hans Sloane’s Museum purchased by

Parliament..... Story of Elizabeth Canning..... Execution of

Dr. Cameron..... Tumults in different Parts of the

Kingdom..... Disturbances in France..... Proceedings in the

Diet relative to East Friezeland..... Treaty between the

Court of Vienna and the Duke of Marlborough--Conferences

with respect to Nova Scotia broke up..... Description of

Nova Scotia..... Disputes concerning its Limits_

DEATH OF THE QUEEN OF DENMARK AND PRINCE OF ORANGE.

The royal family of England had sustained three severe shocks in the

compass of a few months. Besides the loss of the prince of Wales, which

the nation lamented as irreparable, his majesty was deeply afflicted by

the untimely death of his youngest daughter, the queen of Denmark, who

died at Copenhagen on the nineteenth day of December, in the prime of

youth. She was one of the most amiable princesses of the age in

which she lived, whether we consider the virtues of her heart, or the

accomplishments of her person; generous, mild, and tender hearted;

beloved even almost to adoration by her royal consort, to whom she had

borne a prince and two princesses; and universally admired and revered

by the subjects of his Danish majesty. Her death had been preceded about

two months by that of her brother-in-law, the prince of Orange, no

less regretted by the natives of the United Provinces for his candour,

integrity, and hereditary love to his country. Though he had not

distinguished himself by the lustre of a superior genius, he had been at

great pains to cultivate his understanding, and study the true interest

of that community of which he was a member. He had always approved

himself a good and zealous citizen, and, since his elevation to the

stadtholdership, taken many salutary steps for the advantage of his

country. Among other excellent schemes which he suggested, he left a

noble plan with the states-general for restoring their commerce to

its former lustre, and lived long enough to receive their warmest

acknowledgments fox this last proof of his prudence and patriotism.

His son and daughter being both infants, the administration of the

government devolved upon the princess, as governanté during her son’s

minority; and as such she succeeded to all the power which her husband

had enjoyed.

MISUNDERSTANDING BETWEEN THE CZARINA AND KING OF PRUSSIA.

With respect to the affairs of the continent, the peace of the north

seemed still as precarious as ever; for though the difference between

Russia and Sweden had been compromised, the mutual disgust between

the czarina and the king of Prussia had gained such accession from

reciprocal insults, ill offices, and inflammatory declarations, that

these two powers seemed to be on the eve of a rupture, and each was

employed in making extraordinary preparations for war. The courts of

Vienna and Great Britain, foreseeing that such a rupture would embroil

the empire, and raise insurmountable obstructions to their favourite

scheme of electing the archduke Joseph king of the Romans, resolved to

employ all their influence in order to effect a reconciliation between

the courts of Petersburgh and Berlin. His Prussian majesty had signified

to the king of Great Britain and the states-general, the situation in

which he stood with the czarina, and solicited their interposition, that

the difference might be amicably accommodated. At the same time, he sent

an envoy-extraordinary to Versailles, to negotiate with the French

king for a very considerable body of auxiliaries, in case he should fee

attacked. These circumstances induced the maritime powers, and the

court of Vienna, to use their utmost endeavours for the prevention of

a rupture; and accordingly they made remonstrances on this subject by

their ministers at Petersburgh, proposing that the quarrel should be

terminated without bloodshed, and all cause of animosity be buried in

oblivion.

{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}

MEASURES FOR ELECTING A KING OF THE ROMANS.

In the meantime they eagerly prosecuted the design of the election; and

the Imperial minister at Berlin not only communicated to his Prussian

majesty the sentiments of the king of England on this expedient, but

even solicited his vote for the archduke Joseph, when the election of a

king of the Romans should be proposed in the electoral college. To this

proposal he replied, that he was extremely well disposed to manifest his

regard for their imperial majesties, and to give the most genuine

proofs of it, even in the proposed election of a king of the Romans,

considering the great merit of the present candidate the archduke

Joseph; but he left it to the consideration of their imperial majesties,

whether the election would not be a little premature, if transacted at

a time when his imperial majesty was in the flower of his age; enjoying

perfect health; and when all Europe, particularly the empire, was

hushed in the bosom of tranquillity, so that no circumstance seemed

to prognosticate the necessity of such an election; or of putting in

execution the motives mentioned in the capitulation of the reigning

emperor’s election; especially as the examination of these motives

belonged to the whole empire, and ought to precede the election, by

virtue of the eighth article of the treaty of Westphalia. He observed,

that in case of the emperor’s death, Germany would find herself in a

very disagreeable situation under the government of a minor. For these

reasons, he said, he could not help advising their imperial majesties

to wait until the archduke should be of age, when his election might be

carried on more conformably to the laws and constitutions of the empire,

and more suitable to the majesty of the whole Germanic body. This reply

he circulated among the electors, and in particular transmitted it to

the king of Great Britain, desiring they would deliberate maturely on

this subject, and confer together in a body, as well as in private,

that they might proceed according to the ancient custom of the electoral

college, and take such ‘measures as should be judged expedient for the

honour and advantage of the community. This circular letter was

answered both by the king of England and the elector of Bavaria, who

demonstrated, that it was the privilege of the electoral college only,

without any participation of the other princes of the empire, to elect a

king of the Romans during the life of the emperor, in order to maintain

the peace and preserve the liberties of Germany; and that the neglect

of this wise precaution hath produced bloody wars, and many fatal

consequences to the empire. They observed, that nothing could more

contribute to the establishment of the public tranquillity than this

measure, so ardently desired by the majority of the German princes; and

that, although the archduke Joseph wanted a few years of being of age,

and it might possibly happen that the reigning emperor should die during

that prince’s minority, yet it would be much less prejudicial to the

empire to have a minor chief, than to see the succession altogether

unsettled. His Prussian majesty received a declaration to the same

purpose from the elector of Mentz; and understanding that this prince,

as archchancellor of the empire, intended to convoke an electoral diet

in order to propose the election of a king of the Romans, he wrote an

elaborate letter to his electoral highness, explaining at more length

his reasons for postponing the election. He quoted that sentence of the

treaty of Westphalia which expressly declares, that the election of a

king of the Romans shall be discussed and ordained by the common consent

of the states of the empire; and, therefore, he could not conceive

what right the electoral college had to arrogate this privilege to

themselves, excluding the other states of the empire. He observed, that

the imperial capitulations, which were the only laws of the empire that

treated of this subject, mentioned only three cases in which it was

lawful to proceed to such an election; namely, the emperor’s leaving,

and long absence from, Germany; his advanced age, or an indisposition,

rendering him incapable of managing the reins of government; and any

case of emergency in which the preservation of the empire’s prosperity

is interested. He affirmed that none of these motives at present

existed; that, in case the imperial crown should devolve to a minor,

many mischiefs and disorders must ensue, as the constitutions of the

empire have established no regulations nor regency in that event; that

an election of this nature, carried on under the power, influence, and

authority of the head of the empire, would strike at the fundamental

privileges of the princes and states; consequently, in time overturn

the constitution of the empire, which, from being an elective dignity,

conferred by the free and independent suffrages of the electoral college

and states of Germany, under certain capitulations, obliging the prince

thus chosen to govern according to law, would become an hereditary

succession, perpetuated in one family, which of course must be

aggrandized to the prejudice of its co-estates, and the ruin of the

Germanic liberties. In a word, all Germany in general, and Ratisbon in

particular, was filled with writings published on both sides: by the

emperor and his adherents, to demonstrate that the election of a king of

the Romans, during the life of the emperor, had often happened, and

at this present time was necessary, and would be advantageous to the

empire; while the king of Prussia and his friends laboured to prove

that such an election, at the present juncture, would be ill-timed,

irregular, and of dangerous consequence. Perhaps, if the truth was

known, this enterprising prince had projected some great scheme,

with the execution of which this proposed establishment would have

interfered. Certain it is, he exerted himself with that spirit and

perseverance which were peculiar to his character, to frustrate the

intention of the courts of Vienna and London in this particular, and

was assisted with all the intrigue of the French ministry. Their joint

endeavours were so effectual, that the elector of Cologn renounced his

subsidiary treaty with the maritime powers, and once more threw himself

into the arms of France. The elector palatine being solicited by the

empress-queen and his Britannic majesty to co-operate with their views,

insisted, as a preliminary article, upon being indemnified by the court

of Vienna for the ravages committed in his territories by the Austrian

troops, during the course of the last war: the king of Poland, elector

of Saxony, made the same demand of the like indemnification, which was

granted by the mediation of king George; and then he subscribed to a

subsidiary treaty, obliging himself to furnish a body of six thousand

auxiliaries, in case they should be required by the maritime powers;

and to act as an elector, in concert with the house of Austria, in every

thing relating to the welfare of his country that should square with the

fundamental laws of the empire. The courts of London and Vienna had this

election so much at heart, that they sounded almost all the powers of

Europe, to know how they stood affected towards the measure proposed.

The king of Spain declined intermeddling in a domestic affair of the

empire. The French king returned an ambiguous answer; from whence it

was concluded that nothing but opposition could be expected from that

quarter. The Swedish monarch was rendered propitious to the project by

assurances that the house of Hesse-Cassel, of which he was the head,

should be elevated into an electorate. They even endeavoured to soften

his Prussian majesty, by consenting, at last, that the treaty of

Dresden, confirming to him the possession of Silesia, should be

guaranteed by the diet of the empire; a sanction which he now actually

obtained, together with the ratification of his imperial majesty.

Notwithstanding this indulgence, he still persisted in raising fresh

objections to the favourite project, on pretence of concerting measures

for preventing the inconveniencies that might result from a minority;

for regulating the capitulations to be agreed on with the king of the

Romans; securing the freedom of future elections, and preserving the

prerogatives and privileges of the Germanic body in all its members. In

consequence of these obstacles, joined to the apostacy of the elector of

Cologn, the obstinacy of the elector palatine, and the approaching diet

of Hungary, at which their imperial majesties were obliged personally to

preside, the measures for the election were suspended till next summer,

when his Britannic majesty was expected at Hanover to put the finishing

stroke to this great event in favour of the house of Austria.

DEATH OF THE KING OF SWEDEN.

Another disappointment, with respect to this election, the promoters of

it sustained in the death of his Swedish majesty, who expired in a

good old age, and was succeeded by Adolphus Frederick, duke of Holstein

Eutin, bishop of Lubeck, upon whom the succession had been settled for

some years, by the unanimous concurrence of the states of the kingdom.

This prince ascended the throne of Sweden without the least disturbance;

and, of his own accord, took an oath in full senate, that he would never

attempt to introduce a despotic authority; but maintain their liberties

with his blood, and govern his subjects in all respects according to the

laws and the form of government established in Sweden. This public act,

which was communicated to all the foreign ministers, and particularly

to the envoy from Petersburgh, met with such a favourable reception

from the czarina, that she expressed her satisfaction in a public

declaration; and the good understanding between the two courts was

perfectly restored.

SESSION OPENED.

When the parliament of England was opened in the month of November, the

king, in his speech from the throne, gave them to understand, that

for the same purposes which suggested the treaty with the elector of

Bavaria, he had now, in conjunction with the states-general, concluded

another with the king of Poland, elector of Saxony. He told them that

the unfortunate death of the prince of Orange had made no alteration in

the state of affairs in Holland; and that he had received the strongest

assurances from the states, of their firm resolution to maintain the

intimate union and friendship happily subsisting between his majesty and

those ancient and natural allies of his crown. He exhorted both houses

to consider seriously of some effectual provisions to suppress those

audacious crimes of robbery and violence, grown so frequent about the

capital, proceeding in a great measure from that profligate spirit

of irreligion, idleness, gaming, and extravagance, which had of late

extended itself in an uncommon degree, to the dishonour of the nation,

and the great offence and prejudice of the sober and industrious part of

the people. The paragraphs of this speech were, as usual, echoed back to

the throne in addresses replete with expressions of loyalty, affection,

and approbation. Opposition was by this time almost extinguished; and

the proceedings of both houses took place with such unanimity as was

hardly ever known before this period in a British parliament. The

commons, however, seem to have assembled with such sentiments as did no

great honour to their temper and magnanimity. In a few days after the

session opened, lord viscount C----e, a young nobleman, whose character

entitled him to very little regard or influence among men of sense

and probity, made a motion, that Mr. Murray, who had been so severely

executed in the last session for refusing to humble himself on his knees

before them, should be again committed close prisoner to Newgate for the

same offence. This proposal, which supposed a power that the commons had

never before exercised, was sharply disputed by the earl of Egmont, and

others, who had not resigned all sense of moderation; but the majority

adopted the measure with great eagerness, and the speaker was ordered

to issue his warrant accordingly. Then the house resolved, that the

said Alexander Murray should receive the sentence, for his now being

committed close prisoner to his majesty’s gaol of Newgate, at the bar

of the house, upon his knees; and the sergeant-at-arms was commanded to

take him into custody for this purpose. Their indignation, however,

was eluded by the caution of the delinquent, who, having foreseen the

effects of their resentment, had prudently retired to another country.

They determined, nevertheless, to proceed against him as a person

of some consequence in the commonwealth; for, being informed of his

retreat, they condescended so far as to present an address to his

majesty, desiring that his royal proclamation might be issued for

apprehending the said Mr. Murray, promising a reward to him who should

have the good fortune to apprehend this fugitive-a request with which

his majesty most graciously complied.

PROCEEDINGS UPON A PAMPHLET, ENTITLED “THE CASE OF MR. MURRAY.”

Nor was this the only address presented to the king: upon such an

important subject. A pamphlet, entitled “The Case of the Hon. Alexander

Murray, esquire, in an Appeal to the People of Great Britain,” was first

stigmatized in a complaint to the house, and was afterwards produced

and read at the table. The piece was written with great acrimony, and

abounded with severe animadversions, not only upon the conduct of the

returning officer, but also on the proceedings of the commons. The

violent members immediately took fire, and the flame extended itself to

the majority. Nay, the house unanimously resolved, that the pamphlet

was an impudent, malicious, scandalous, and seditious libel, falsely and

most injuriously reflecting upon, and aspersing the proceedings of the

house, tending to create misapprehensions in the minds of the people,

to the great dishonour of the said house, and in violation of the

privileges thereof. They furthermore presented an address to the king,

desiring his majesty would be graciously pleased to give directions to

his attorney-general to prosecute the authors or author, the printers or

printer, and the publishers or publisher of the said scandalous libel,

that they might be brought to condign punishment. Directions were

accordingly given for this purpose, and a prosecution commenced against

the publisher, who had some reason to be dismayed, considering the great

weight of influence he was doomed to encounter--influence arising from

a prosecution of the crown, instituted at the request, and founded on

a vote, of the house of commons. Nevertheless, when the cause was

heard before the lord-chief justice of England, a jury of free-born

Englishmen, citizens of London, asserted their privilege of judging

the law as well as the fact, and acquitted the defendant with a truly

admirable spirit of independency. They considered the pamphlet as an

appeal against oppression; and, convinced that the contents were true,

they could not in conscience adjudge it a false libel, even though it

had been so declared by one of the branches of the legislature.

{1752}

The commons, in regulating the supplies of the ensuing year, voted the

continuation of eighteen thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven men

for the land-service, though not without some opposition from certain

patriots, who, rather from a sense of duty than from any hope of

influencing the majority, affirmed that sixteen thousand men in time of

peace would answer all the ends proposed by a standing army. The number

of seamen was fixed at ten thousand; large sums were granted to make up

deficiencies, and fulfil the engagements of the crown with the electors

of Bavaria and Saxony, as well as for the maintenance of Nova Scotia

and Georgia, and the castles on the coast of Guinea; and one hundred and

twelve thousand one hundred and fifty-two pounds, three shillings and

threepence, were voted, as a full compensation to the old royal African

company for their exclusive charter and property, to be applied for the

relief of their creditors. *

* These expenses were defrayed by a continuation of the

duties on malt, &c; a land-tax at three shillings in the

pound; a duty on licences, to be yearly paid by pawnbrokers

and dealers in secondhand goods, within the bills of

mortality; the sum of one million four hundred thousand

pounds advanced by the bank, according to a proposal made

for that purpose; five hundred thousand pounds to be issued

from the sinking-fund; a duty laid on gum Senegal; and the

continuation of divers other occasional impositions. The

grants for the year amounted to something less than four

millions, and the provisions made for this expense exceeded

it in the sum of two hundred and seventy-one thousand and

twenty-four pounds, ten shillings and sixpence halfpenny.

The laws enacted for the encouragement of traffic, and the regulations

of civil polity, consisted in an act for licensing pawnbrokers, and for

the more effectual preventing the receiving of stolen goods; another

for preventing thefts and robberies, by which places of entertainment,

dancing, and music, in London, Westminster, and within twenty miles of

the capital, were suppressed and prohibited, unless the proprietors of

them could obtain licenses from the justices of the peace, empowered

for that purpose; a third for annexing the forfeited estates in Scotland

unalienably to the crown, after having made satisfaction to the lawful

creditors; establishing a method of leasing these estates, and applying

the rents and profits of them for the better civilizing and improving

the highlands, and preventing future disorders in that part of the

united kingdom. Nothing could be more salutary than the purposes of

these regulations. The suburbs of the metropolis abounded with an

incredible number of public houses, which continually resounded with the

noise of riot and intemperance; they were the haunts of idleness, fraud,

and rapine; and the seminaries of drunkenness, debauchery, extravagance,

and every vice incident to human nature; yet the suppression of these

receptacles of infamy was attended with an inconvenience, which, in some

cases, arose even to a degree of oppression. The justices being vested

by the legislature with the power of granting or refusing licenses, were

constituted, in effect, the arbiters on whose decision the fortunes and

livelihood of many individuals absolutely depended. Many of those who

exercised this species of magistracy within the bills of mortality,

were, to the reproach of government, men of profligate lives, needy,

mean, ignorant, and rapacious, and often acted from the most scandalous

principles of selfish avarice.

LAW RELATING TO THE FORFEITED ESTATES IN SCOTLAND.

The law relating to the highlands of Scotland was well calculated for

promoting, among the inhabitants of that country, such a spirit of

industry as might detach them from their dangerous connexions, and

gradually supersede that military genius which had been so productive

of danger and alarm to the southern part of Great Britain. The king,

by this act, was empowered to appoint commissioners for managing the

forfeited estates, who were enabled to grant leases of small farms, not

above twenty pounds a-year, to individuals, who should take an oath to

government to reside upon and cultivate the lands thus let. It was

also provided, that no lease should be granted for a longer term than

twenty-one years; and that the leases should not pay above three-fourths

of the annual value. Although these forfeited estates were generally

encumbered with claims beyond their real value, and the act directed

that they should be disposed of by public sale; yet, as they lay in the

most disaffected parts of the highlands, it was thought necessary that

they should remain in the possession of the crown, because, in case

of their being publicly sold, they might be purchased in trust for the

families of the persons by whom they were forfeited, and thus the spirit

of disaffection would still survive. A valuation, therefore, was made by

the court of session in Scotland, at the joint suit of the crown and the

creditors; and the value being ascertained, the just claimants were

paid out of the next aids granted by parliament. The bill met with

considerable opposition in the house of peers from the duke of Bedford

and the earl of Bath, who probably foresaw that the good effects of this

scheme, so laudable in itself, would be frustrated in the execution;

and that the act, instead of answering the purposes for which it was

intended, would serve only as a job to gratify the rapacious retainers

to the government, and their emissaries in that country. After a warm

debate, however, it was adopted by a great majority, and obtained the

royal assent.

NEW CONSOLIDATION OF FUNDS.

A third law related to certain articles of the national debt, which was

now converted into several joint-stocks of annuities, transferable at

the bank of England, to be charged on the sinking fund. A great number

of different funds for annuities, established at different times and by

different acts, subsisted at this period, SO that it I was necessary

to keep many different accounts, which could not be regulated without

considerable trouble and expense, for the removal of which the bill was

calculated.

TWO PORTS OPENED FOR THE IMPORTATION OF IRISH WOOL.

In consequence of petitions from the woollen manufacturers of

Westmoreland and Yorkshire, two bills were brought in, and passed

through both houses, by which the ports of Lancaster and Great Yarmouth

were opened for the importation of wool and woollen yarn from Ireland;

but why this privilege was not extended to all the frequented ports

of the kingdom it is not easy to conceive, without supposing a little

national jealousy on one hand, and a great deal of grievous restraint on

the other. Over and above these new laws, some unsuccessful endeavours

were used in behalf of commerce and police. A bill was offered for

laying further restrictions on pawnbrokers and brokers, that they might

no longer suck the blood of the poor, and act as the accessaries of

theft and robbery, which was canvassed, debated, and made its way

through the lower house; but the lords rejected it as a crude scheme,

which they could not amend, because it was a money-bill, not cognizable

by their house, without engaging in a dispute with the commons. Another

bill was prepared, for giving power to change the punishment of felony,

in certain cases, to confinement and hard labour in dockyards or

garrisons. It was the opinion of many who wished well to their country,

and were properly qualified to prosecute such inquiries, that the

practice of consigning such a number of wretches to the hands of the

executioner, served only, by its frequency, to defeat the purpose of

the law, in robbing death of all its terror, and the public of many

subjects, who might, notwithstanding their delinquency, be in some

measure rendered useful to society. Such was the motive that influenced

the promoters of this bill; by which it was proposed, in imitation of

that economy practised in other countries, to confine felons convicted

under certain circumstances to hard labour upon the public works of the

kingdom. The scheme was adopted by the lower house, but rejected by the

lords, who seemed apprehensive of its bringing such discredit upon

his majesty’s dock-yards, as would discourage persons who valued their

reputation from engaging in such employment. Of still greater importance

to the nation was the next measure proposed, in a bill for making the

militia of England more useful, presented by Mr. Thornton, a gentleman

of Yorkshire, who had distinguished himself by his loyalty and

patriotism. It was canvassed in a committee of the whole house, and

underwent divers amendments; but miscarried, through the aversion of

the ministry to any project tending to remove or lessen the necessity

of maintaining a standing army. A considerable number of petitions

for different regulations, in respect to commerce and convenience

of traffic, were presented, considered, and left upon the table.

A remonstrance from the prisoners confined in the gaol of the

king’s-bench, complaining of their miserable situation, arising from

want of room and other conveniences, being taken into consideration by

a committee, among other evidences, they examined that remarkable

personage who had signalized himself in different parts of Christendom,

under the name of Theodore, king of Corsica. Though formerly

countenanced and even treated as a sovereign prince by the British

ministry, he was now reduced to the forlorn condition of a confined

debtor; and, to the reproach of this kingdom, died in prison, surrounded

with all the misery of indigence, and overwhelmed with the infirmities

of old age. But the most remarkable circumstance of the parliamentary

transactions that distinguished this session, was a motion made in both

houses for an address to the king, beseeching his majesty, that in time

of public tranquillity, he would be graciously pleased to avoid entering

into subsidiary treaties with foreign princes, which are so burdensome

to this nation. This extraordinary proposal was made and strenuously

urged by the duke of B----, and a vehement debate ensued, in which

the earls of G----, S----, and H----, opposed it with an execution

of superior abilities; and the question being put, was carried in the

negative without a division. The same fate attended it in the house of

commons, where it was introduced by lord H----y, and supported by some

distinguished orators. The session ended in the latter end of March,

when his majesty, having given his assent to ninety-five public and

private bills, harangued both houses, and prorogued the parliament.*

* Among the proceedings of this session, it may not be

improper to mention a new act for the prevention of murders,

which had been shockingly frequent of late, importing, that

every criminal convicted of this horrid crime should be

executed in one day after his sentence, and his body

delivered to the surgeons for dissection--an expedient which

had been found productive of very salutary consequences.

THE KING SETS OUT FOR HANOVER.

Immediately after the prorogation, the king appointed a regency and set

out for Hanover, in order to complete the great scheme he had projected

for electing a king of the Romans. Great Britain, in the meantime,

produced no event of importance, or any transaction that deserves

historical mention, except the ratification of two treaties of peace and

commerce with the states of Tripoli and Tunis on the coast of Barbary,

concluded by the British consuls in those cities, under the influence

and auspices of an English squadron, commanded by commodore Keppel,

son to the earl of Albemarle. The tide of luxury still flowed with

an impetuous current, bearing down all the mounds of temperance and

decorum; while fraud and profligacy struck out new channels, through

which they eluded the restrictions of the law, and all the vigilance of

civil policy. New arts of deception were invented, in order to ensnare

and ruin the unwary; and some infamous practices in the way of commerce,

were countenanced by persons of rank and importance in the commonwealth.

A certain member of parliament was obliged to withdraw himself from his

country, in consequence of a discovery, by which it appeared that he had

contrived and executed schemes for destroying his own ships at sea, with

a view to defraud the insurers.

In the course of this year the affairs of the continent did not undergo

any material alteration. In France, the religious dispute concerning

the doctrine of Jansen-ius still subsisted between the clergy and the

parliament; and seemed to acquire additional fuel from the violence of

the archbishop of Paris, a haughty turbulent prelate, whose pride and

bigotry were sufficient to embroil one half of Christendom. The northern

powers enjoyed a perfect tranquillity; the states-general of the United

Provinces were engrossed by plans of national economy. Spain was intent

upon extending her commerce, bringing her manufactures to perfection,

and repressing the insolence of the Barbary corsairs. His Portuguese

majesty endeavoured, by certain peremptory precautions, to check

the exportation of gold coin from his dominions, and insisted upon

inspecting the books of the British merchants settled at Lisbon; but

they refused to comply with this demand, which was contrary to a treaty

subsisting between the two crowns; and he thought proper to acquiesce in

their refusal. He was much better employed in obtaining from the pope an

abolition of the annual procession called the _Auto-da-fe_, one of

the most horrid triumphs of spiritual tyranny. The peace of Italy was

secured by a defensive treaty concluded at Madrid between the emperor,

his catholic majesty, the king of the two Sicilies, and the duke of

Parma; to which treaty the king of Sardinia afterwards acceded.

DISPUTE BETWEEN HANOVER AND PRUSSIA.

With respect to the great scheme of electing the archduke Joseph king of

the Romans, fresh objections seemed to rise from different quarters. The

good understanding between the courts of Berlin and Hanover re-received

an additional shock, from a dispute concerning the property of East

Friezeland, which his Prussian majesty had secured, as heir to the

last possessor. His Britannic majesty, as elector of Hanover, having

pretensions to the same inheritance, his minister delivered a memorial

to the diet of the empire assembled at Ratisbon, demanding that the

king of Prussia, as elector of Brandenburgh, should be referred to the

decision of the Aulic council, in regard to his claim to the estates of

East Friezeland; but the king being already in possession, refused to

submit his right to the determination of that or any other tribunal; and

when the diet presumed to deliberate on this affair, his envoy entered a

strong protest against their proceedings. At the same time, he presented

the other ministers with a memorial, tending to refute the elector of

Hanover’s pretensions to the principality in question.

{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}

MISUNDERSTANDING BETWEEN THE COURTS OF LONDON AND BERLIN.

At this juncture his Prussian majesty made no scruple of expressing his

resentment against the court of London, which he seemed to consider as

an officious cabal, that had no right to intermeddle in the affairs of

Germany. His resident at London complained to the British ministry, that

divers ships, sailing under the Prussian flag, had been stopped at sea,

and even seized by English cruisers, and that his subjects had been ill

treated and oppressed; he therefore demanded reparation in a peremptory

tone; and in the meantime discontinued the payment of the Silesia

loan, which he had charged himself with by an article in the treaty

of Breslau. This was a sum of money amounting to two hundred and fifty

thousand pounds, which the emperor Charles VI., father of the reigning

empress, had borrowed of the subjects of Great Britain, on condition of

paying an interest of six per cent., and mortgaging the silver mines of

Silesia for the repayment of the principal. These devolved to the king

of Prussia with this incumbrance, and he continued to pay the interest

punctually till this juncture, when the payment was stopped; and

he published a paper, entitled, “An Exposition of the Motives which

influenced his Conduct on this occasion.” In his memorial to the

ministry of Great Britain, he alleged, that eighteen Prussian ships,

and thirty-three neutral vessels, in which the subjects of Prussia were

concerned, had been unjustly seized by English privateers; his account

of damages amounted to a very considerable sum; and he demanded, in the

most dogmatic terms, that the affair should be finally discussed in the

term of three months from the date of his remonstrance. The exposition

and memorial were subjected to the examination of the ablest civilians

in England, who refuted every article of the charge with equal precision

and perspicuity. They proved, that captures by sea fell properly under

the cognizance of those powers under whose jurisdiction the seizures

were made; and therefore his Prussian majesty could not, consistent with

the law of nations, determine these disputes in his own tribunals. They

demonstrated, by undoubted evidence, the falsity of ma-ny facts alleged

in the memorial, as well as the fairness of the proceedings by which

some few of the Prussian vessels had been condemned; and made it appear,

that no insult or injury had been offered to the subjects of Prussia.

Finally, they observed, that the Silesia loan was a private transaction

of such a nature, that, even if a war had happened between the emperor

Charles VI. and his Britannic majesty, this must have been held sacred

and inviolable; that when the empress-queen ceded Silesia to the king

of Prussia, this monarch charged himself with the repayment of the loan,

which, being a private debt, and transferable, was now diffused into

different countries, and become the property of many others besides the

subjects of Great Britain. They wound up their chain of reasoning by

observing, that, according to agreement with the emperor, the whole of

this loan should have been repaid in the year one thousand seven

hundred and forty-five; whereas the complaints specified in the Prussian

memorial were founded on facts posterior to that period. Whether his

Prussian majesty was convinced by these reasons, and desisted from

principle, or thought proper to give up his claim upon other political

considerations; certain it is, he no longer insisted upon satisfaction,

but ordered the payment of the Silesia loan to be continued without

further interruption. A report, indeed, was circulated, that advantage

had been taken of the demur by a certain prince, who employed his agents

to buy up a great part of the loan at a considerable discount.

IMPROVEMENT OF POMERANIA.

How much soever the king of Prussia may be the subject of censure on

this occasion, it must be allowed that, with regard to his own subjects,

he acted as a wise legislator, and the father of his country. He peopled

the deserts of Pomerania, by encouraging, with royal bounties, a great

number of industrious emigrants to settle in that province; the face of

which in a very few years underwent the most agreeable alteration. Above

sixty new villages arose amidst a barren waste, and every part of the

country exhibited marks of successful cultivation. Those solitary and

desolate plains, where no human footsteps had for many ages been

seen, were now converted into fields of corn. The farms were regularly

parcelled out; the houses multiplied, and teemed with population;

the happy peasants, sheltered in a peculiar manner under their king’s

protection, sowed their grounds in peace, and reaped their harvests in

security. The same care and indulgence were extended to the

unpeopled parts of other provinces within the Prussian dominions, and

extraordinary encouragement was granted to all French protestants who

should come and settle under the government of this political sage.

TREATY WITH THE ELECTOR PALATINE.

The courts of Vienna and Hanover still employed their chief attention

upon the scheme of electing a king of the Romans; and the elector

of Mentz, influenced by the majority of the college, had convoked

an electoral diet for that purpose; but strong protests against this

convocation were entered by the electors of Cologn and Palatine,

insomuch that it was thought expedient to conciliate this last, by

taking some steps in his favour, with respect to the satisfaction he

demanded from the empress-queen and his Britannic majesty. His claim

upon the court of Vienna amounted to three millions of florins, by way

of indemnification for the losses he had sustained during the war. He

demanded of the king of England twenty thousand pounds sterling, for

provisions and forage furnished to the British troops while they

acted on the Maine; and the like sum for the like purposes from the

states-general of the United Provinces. The empress-queen could not help

remonstrating against this demand as exorbitant in itself, and the more

unreasonable, as the elector palatine, at the death of her father, had

openly declared against the pragmatic sanction, which he had guaranteed

in the most solemn manner; she therefore observed, that the damage he

had sustained in consequence of that declaration, ought to be considered

as the common fate of war. These reasons, though conclusive and

irrefragable in the usual way of arguing, made no impression upon the

palatine, who perfectly well understood his own importance, and

was determined to seize this opportunity of turning it to the best

advantage. The court of Vienna, and the maritime powers, finding him

thus obstinately attached to his own interest, resolved to bring him

over to their views at any rate, and commenced a negotiation with him,

which produced a formal treaty. By this convention his demands in money

were fixed at twelve hundred thousand Dutch florins, to be paid at

three instalments: five hundred thousand by the empress-queen, and the

remaining seven hundred thousand by the king of Great Britain and

the states-general, according to the proportion established in former

treaties. The privilege of _Non appellendo_ for the duchy of Deux-ponts

was confirmed to his electoral highness, together with some other rights

and pretensions, in consideration of his concurring with the other

electors in the choice of a king of the Romans, to be elected according

to the customs prescribed by the laws and constitutions of the empire.

He likewise engaged to join them in settling the articles of the

capitulation with the king of the Romans, emperor _in futuro_. Yet, even

after the concurrence of this prince was secured, the purposed election

proved abortive, from the strong objections that were started, and the

strenuous opposition which was made by his Prussian majesty, who perhaps

aspired in secret at the imperial dignity, which the empress-queen took

all this pains to perpetuate in her own family.

{1753}

SESSION OPENED.

The king of Great Britain returning from the continent, opened the

session of parliament on the eleventh day of January, with a speech,

implying that all his views and negotiations had been calculated and

directed to preserve and secure the duration of the general peace, so

agreeable and necessary to the welfare of all Europe; that he had the

satisfaction to be assured of a good disposition in all the powers that

were his allies, to adhere to the same salutary object. He exhorted them

to continue their attention to the reduction of the national debt, the

augmentation of the sinking fund, and the improvement of the public

revenue. He recommended to their serious consideration what further

laws and regulations might be necessary for suppressing those crimes and

disorders, of which the public had so justly complained; and concluded

with an assurance, that his hearty concurrence and endeavours should

never be wanting in any measure that might promote their welfare and

prosperity. The addresses in answer to this speech were couched in the

usual form of implicit approbation; but that of the commons did not pass

without question. The earl of Egmont took exceptions to one paragraph,

in which they acknowledged his majesty’s wisdom, as well as goodness,

in pursuing such measures as must contribute to maintain and render

permanent the general tranquillity of Europe; and declared their

satisfaction at the assurances his majesty had received from his allies,

that they were all attached to the same salutary object. His lordship

expatiated on the absurdity of these compliments at such a juncture,

when the peace of Europe was so precarious, and the English nation had

so much cause of complaint and dissatisfaction. He was seconded by some

other individuals, who declaimed with great vivacity against continental

connexions; and endeavoured to expose the weakness and folly of the

whole system of foreign measures which our ministry had lately

pursued. It must be owned, indeed, that they might have chosen a better

opportunity to compliment their sovereign on the permanency of the peace

than at this juncture, when they must have seen themselves on the very

brink of a new rupture with the most formidable power in Europe. But

the truth is, these addresses to the throne had been long considered as

compliments of course, implying no more than a respectful attachment

to their sovereign; accordingly, both houses agreed to their respective

addresses without division. The two grand committees of supply and

of ways and means, being established, the business of the house was

transacted without much altercation; and the people had great reason to

be satisfied with their moderate proceedings. Ten thousand seamen, and

the usual number of land forces, were retained for the service of the

ensuing year. They provided for the maintenance of the new colony of

Nova Scotia, the civil establishment of Georgia, the support of the

castles on the coast of Guinea, and the erection of a new fort at

Anarnabo, where the French had attempted to make a settlement; and they

enabled his majesty to fulfil his engagements with the king of Poland

and the elector of Bavaria.

The supplies, including grants for former deficiencies and services for

which no provision had been made in the course of the last year, did not

exceed two millions one hundred and thirty-two thousand seven hundred

and seven pounds, seventeen shillings and twopence halfpenny. In

order to defray which expense, they assigned the duty on malt, &c, the

land-tax at two shillings in the pound, the surplus of certain funds in

the exchequer, and the sum of four hundred and twenty thousand pounds

out of the sinking fund; so that the exceedings amounted to near three

hundred thousand pounds.*

* Several duties on salt, as well as on red and white

herrings delivered out for home consumption, were rendered

perpetual, though subject to be redeemed by parliament; and

it was provided that the debt contracted upon these duties

being discharged, all the after-produce of them should

become part of the sinking fund.

As for the national debt, it now stood at the enormous sum of

seventy-four millions three hundred and sixty-eight thousand four

hundred and fifty-one pounds, fifteen shillings and one penny; and the

sinking fund produced one million seven hundred and thirty-five thousand

five hundred and twenty-nine pounds, six shillings and tenpence one

farthing.

GAME ACT.

One of the first measures brought upon the carpet in the course of this

session, was an act containing regulations for the better preservation

of the game, of which so great havoc had been made by poachers, and

other persons unqualified to enjoy that diversion, that the total

extirpation of it was apprehended.

ACT FOR PERFORMING QUARANTINE.

The next step taken by the commons was an affair of much greater

consequence to the community, being a bill for obliging ships the more

effectually to perform quarantine, in order to prevent the plague from

being imported from foreign countries into Great Britain. For this

purpose it was ordained, that if this dreadful visitation should appear

in any ship to the northward of cape Finisterre, the master or commander

should immediately proceed to the harbour of New Grimsby, in one of the

islands of Scilly, and there communicate the discovery to some officer

of the customs; who should, with the first opportunity, transmit this

intelligence to another custom-house officer in the nearest port of

England, to be by him forwarded to one of his majesty’s principal

secretaries of state. In the meantime the ship should remain at the said

island, and not an individual presume to go ashore until his majesty’s

pleasure should be known. It was also provided, that in case the master

of a ship thus infected should not be able to make the islands of

Scilly, or be forced up either channel by violent winds, he should not

enter any frequented harbour; but remain in some open road, until he

could receive orders from his majesty, or the privy council; that,

during this interval, he should avoid all intercourse with the shore,

or any person or vessel whatsoever, on pain of being deemed guilty of

felony, and suffering death without benefit of clergy.

ACT FOR PREVENTING THE PLUNDERING OF SHIPWRECKED VESSELS.

In order the more effectually to repress the barbarous practice of

plundering ships which have the misfortune to suffer shipwreck--a

practice which prevailed upon many different parts of the British

coast--to the disgrace of the nation, and the scandal of human nature;

a bill was prepared, containing clauses to enforce the laws against such

savage delinquents, who prowl along the shore like hungry wolves, in

hope of preying upon their fellow-creatures; and certain provisions for

the relief of the unhappy sufferers.*

* By the new law, the clerk of the peace in the county where

the crime shall be committed, is obliged, upon receiving

proper information, to prosecute the offenders at the

expense of the county. It was likewise proposed, that in

case no prosecution of this nature should be commenced

within a certain limited time after the information should

have been legally given, in that case the county might be

sued by the person who had sustained the damage, and obliged

to indemnify him for his loss; but this clause was rejected

by the majority; and the bill having made its way through

both houses, received the royal assent.

When the mutiny bill fell under deliberation, the earl of Egmont

proposed a new clause for empowering and requiring regimental

courts-martial to examine witnesses upon oath in all their trials. The

proposal occasioned a debate, in which the ministry were pretty equally

divided; but the clause was disapproved by the majority, and this annual

bill was enacted into a law without any alteration.

BILL RELATING TO THE BOUNTY OF CORN EXPORTED.

The next bill was framed in consequence of dirers petitions presented by

the exporters of corn, who complained that the bounties were not paid,

and prayed that the house would make proper provision for that purpose.

A bill was accordingly brought in, importing, that interest after the

rate of three per cent, should be allowed upon every debenture, for the

bounty on the exportation of com, payable by the receiver-general or

cashier of the customs, until the principal could be discharged out

of such customs or duties as are appropriated for the payment of this

bounty. This premium on the exportation of corn ought not to be granted,

except when the lowness of the market price in Great Britain proves that

there is a superabundance in the kingdom; otherwise the exporter will

find his account in depriving our own labourers of their bread, in order

to supply our rivals at an easier rate; for example, suppose wheat in

England should sell for twenty shillings a quarter, the merchant might

export into France, and afford it to the people of that kingdom for

eighteen shillings, because the bounty on exportation would, even at

that rate, afford him a considerable advantage.

TURKEY TRADE LAID OPEN.

A great number of merchants having presented petitions from different

parts of the kingdom, representing that the trade of Turkey was greatly

decreased, ascribing this diminution to the exclusive charter enjoyed

by a monopoly, and praying that the trade might be laid open to all his

majesty’s subjects, one of the members for Liverpool moved for leave to

bring in a bill for this purpose. Such a measure had been twice before

proposed without success; but now it was adopted without opposition. A

bill was immediately introduced; and, notwithstanding all the interest

and efforts of the Turkey company, who petitioned the house against

it, and were heard by their counsel, it passed through both houses, and

received the royal sanction. By this regulation any British subject may

obtain the freedom of the Turkey company, by paying or rendering a fine

of twenty pounds; and all the members are secured from the tyranny of

oppressive bye-laws, contrived by any monopolizing cabal.*

* Several other bills were passed; one for regulating the

number of public houses, and the more easy conviction of

persons selling ale and strong liquors without license--an

act which empowered the justices of peace to tyrannize over

their fellow-subjects: a second, enabling the magistrates of

Edinburgh to improve, enlarge, and adorn the avenues and

streets of that city, according to a concerted plan, to be

executed by voluntary subscription: a third, allowing the

exportation of wool and woollen yarn from Ireland into any

port in Great Britain: and a fourth, prescribing the breadth

of the wheels belonging to heavy carriages, that the high

roads of the kingdom might be the better preserved.

NATURALIZATION OF THE JEWS.

But this session was chiefly distinguished by an act for naturalizing

Jews, and a bill for the better preventing clandestine marriages. The

first of these, which passed without much opposition in the house of

lords, from whence it descended to the commons, was entitled, “An act

to permit persons professing the Jewish religion to be naturalized by

parliament, and for other purposes therein mentioned.” It was supported

by some petitions of merchants and manufacturers, who, upon examination,

appeared to be Jews, or their dependents; and countenanced by the

ministry, who thought they foresaw, in the consequences of such

a naturalization, a great accession to the monied interest, and a

considerable increase of their own influence among the individuals of

that community. They boldly affirmed, that such a law would greatly

conduce to the advantage of the nation; that it would encourage persons

of wealth to remove with their effects from foreign parts into Great

Britain, increase the commerce and the credit of the kingdom, and set a

laudable example of industry, temperance, and frugality. Such, however,

were not the sentiments of the lord-mayor, aldermen, and commons of

the city of London in common-council assembled, who, in a petition to

parliament, expressed their apprehension that the bill, if passed into

a law, would tend greatly to the dishonour of the christian religion,

endanger the excellent constitution, and be highly prejudicial to the

interest and trade of the kingdom in general, and of the city of

London in particular. Another petition to the same purpose was next day

presented to the house, subscribed by merchants and traders of the city

of London; who, among other allegations, observed, that the consequences

of such a naturalization would greatly affect their trade and commerce

with foreign nations, particularly with Spain and Portugal. Counsel

was heard, evidence examined, and the bill produced violent debates, in

which there seemed to be more passion than patriotism, more declamation

than argument. The adversaries of the bill affirmed, that such a

naturalization would deluge the kingdom with brokers, usurers, and

beggars; that the rich Jews, under the shadow of this indulgence,

would purchase lands, and even advowsons; so as not only to acquire an

interest in the legislature, but also to influence the constitution of

the church of Christ, to which they were the inveterate and professed

enemies; that the lower class of that nation, when thus admitted to the

right of denizens, would interfere with the industrious natives who earn

their livelihood by their labour; and by dint of the most parsimonious

frugality, to which the English are strangers, work at an under price;

so as not only to share, but even in a manner to exclude them from all

employment; that such an adoption of vagrant Jews into the community,

from all parts of the world, would rob the real subjects of their

birthright, disgrace the character of the nation, expose themselves

to the most dishonourable participation and intrusion, endanger the

constitution both in church and state, and be an indelible reproach upon

the established religion of the country. Some of these orators seemed

transported even to a degree of enthusiasm. They prognosticated that the

Jews would multiply so much in number, engross such wealth, and acquire

so great power and influence in Great Britain, that their persons would

be revered, their customs imitated, and Judaism become the fashionable

religion of the English. Finally, they affirmed that such an act was

directly flying in the face of the prophecy, which declares, that the

Jews shall be a scattered people, without country or fixed habitation,

until they shall be converted from their infidelity, and gathered

together in the land of their forefathers. These arguments and

apprehensions, which were in reality frivolous and chimerical, being

industriously circulated among the vulgar, naturally prejudiced against

the Jewish people, excited such a ferment throughout the nation, as

ought to have deterred the ministry from the prosecution of such an

unpopular measure; which, however, they had courage enough to maintain

against all opposition. The bill passed the ordeal of both houses, and

his majesty vouchsafed the royal sanction to this law in favour of the

Hebrew nation. The truth is, it might have increased the wealth, and

extended the commerce of Great Britain, had it been agreeable to the

people; and as the naturalized Jews would still have been excluded from

all civil and military offices, as well as from other privileges

enjoyed by their christian brethren, in all probability they would have

gradually forsaken their own unprofitable and obstinate infidelity,

opened their eyes to the shining truths of the gospel, and joined their

fellow-subjects in embracing the doctrines of Christianity. But no

ministry ought to risk an experiment, how plausible soever it might be,

if they found it, as this was, an object of the people’s unconquerable

aversion. What rendered this unpopular measure the more impolitic, was

the unseasonable juncture at which it was carried into execution;

that is, at the eve of a general election for a new parliament, when a

minister ought carefully to avoid every step which may give umbrage to

the body of the people. The earl of Egmont, who argued against the bill

with equal power and vivacity, in describing the effect it might have

upon that occasion, “I am amazed,” said he, “that this consideration

makes no impression.--When that day, which is not far off, shall arrive,

I shall not fear to set my foot upon any ground of election in the

kingdom, in opposition to any one man among you, or any new christian,

who has voted or appeared in favour of this naturalization.”

MARRIAGE ACT.

Another bill, transmitted from the upper house, met with a reception

equally unfavourable among the commons, though it was sustained on the

shoulders of the majority, and thus forced its way to the throne,

where it obtained the royal approbation. The practice of solemnizing

clandestine marriages, so prejudicial to the peace of families, and so

often productive of misery to the parties themselves thus united, was

an evil that prevailed to such a degree as claimed the attention of

the legislature. The sons and daughters of great and opulent families,

before they had acquired knowledge and experience, or attained to the

years of discretion, were every day seduced in their affections, and

inveigled into matches big with infamy and ruin; and these were

greatly facilitated by the opportunities that occurred of being united

instantaneously by the ceremony of marriage, in the first transport of

passion, before the destined victim had time to cool or deliberate on

the subject. For this pernicious purpose, there was a band of profligate

miscreants, the refuse of the clergy, dead to every sentiment of

virtue, abandoned to all sense of decency and decorum, for the most part

prisoners for debt or delinquency, and indeed the very outcasts of human

society, who hovered about the verge of the Fleet-prison to intercept

customers, plying like porters for employment, and performed the

ceremony of marriage without license or question, in cellars, garrets,

or ale-houses, to the scandal of religion, and the disgrace of that

order which they professed. The ease with which this ecclesiastical

sanction was obtained, and the vicious disposition of those wretches,

open to the practices of fraud and corruption, were productive of

polygamy, indigence, conjugal infidelity, prostitution, and every curse

that could embitter the married state. A remarkable case of this nature

having fallen under the cognizance of the peers, in an appeal from an

inferior tribunal, that house ordered the judges to prepare a new bill

for preventing such abuses; and one was accordingly framed, under

the auspices of lord Hardwicke, at that time lord high chancellor

of England. In order to anticipate the bad effects of clandestine

marriages, this new statute enacted, that the banns should be regularly

published three successive Sundays, in the church of the parish where

the parties dwell; that no license should be granted to marry in any

place, where one of the parties has not dwelt at least a month, except

a special license by the archbishop; that if any marriage should be

solemnized in any other place than a church or a chapel without a

special license, or in a public chapel without having published the

banns, or obtained a license of some person properly qualified, the

marriage should he void, and the person who solemnized it transported

for seven years; that marriages by license, of parties under age,

without consent of parent or guardian, should be null and void, unless

the party under age be a widow, and the parent refusing consent a widow

married again: that when the consent of a mother or guardian is refused

from caprice, or such parent or guardian be _non compos mentis_, or

beyond sea, the minor should have recourse for relief to the court of

chancery; that no suit should be commenced to compel a celebration of

marriage, upon pretence of any contract; that all marriages should be

solemnized before two witnesses, and an entry be made in a book kept for

that purpose, whether it was by banns or license, whether either of the

parties was under age, or the marriage celebrated with the consent of

parent or guardian, and this entry to be signed by the minister, the

parties, and the witnesses; that a false license or certificate, or

destroying register books, should be deemed felony, either in principal

or accessary, and punished with death. The bill, when first considered

in the lower house, gave rise to a variety of debates; in which

the members appeared to be divided rather according to their real

sentiments, than by the rules of any political distinction; for some

principal servants of the government freely differed in opinion from the

minister, who countenanced the bill; while on the other hand, he was

on this occasion supported by certain chiefs of the opposition, and the

disputes were maintained with extraordinary eagerness and warmth. The

principal objections imported, that such restrictions on marriage would

damp the spirit of love and propagation; promote mercenary matches, to

the ruin of domestic happiness, as well as to the prejudice of posterity

and population; impede the circulation of property, by preserving the

wealth of the kingdom among a kind of aristocracy of opulent families,

who would always intermarry within their own pale; subject the poor to

many inconveniencies and extraordinary expense, from the nature of the

forms to be observed; and throw an additional power into the hands

of the chancellor. They affirmed, that no human power had a right

to dissolve a vow solemnly made in the sight of heaven; and that,

in proportion as the bill prevented clandestine marriages, it would

encourage fornication and debauchery, insomuch as the parties restrained

from indulging their mutual passions in an honourable manner, would be

tempted to gratify them by stealth, at the hazard of their reputation.

In a word, they foresaw a great number of evils in the train of this

bill, which have not yet been realized. On the other side, its advocates

endeavoured to refute these arguments, and some of them spoke with great

strength and precision. The bill underwent a great number of alterations

and amendments; which were not effected without violent contest and

altercation. At length, however, it was floated through both houses on

the tide of a great majority, and steered into the safe harbour of royal

approbation. Certain it is, the abuse of clandestine marriage might have

been removed upon much easier terms than those imposed upon the subject

by this bill; which, after all, hath been found ineffectual, as it

may be easily eluded by a short voyage to the continent, or a moderate

journey to North Britain, where the indissoluble knot may be tied

without scruple or interruption.

{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}

DELIBERATIONS CONCERNING THE SUGAR COLONIES.

Over and above these new statutes, there were some other subjects which

occasionally employed the attention of the commons; such as the state

of the British sugar colonies, which was considered, in consequence

of petitions presented by the sugar refiners and grocers of London,

Westminster, and Bristol, complaining of the exorbitant price

demanded and given for sugars imported from Jamaica; desiring that the

proprietors of lands in Jamaica might be obliged to cultivate greater

quantities of ground for raising sugar-canes, or that they (the

petitioners) might have leave to import muscovado sugars from other

countries, when the price of those imported from Jamaica should exceed

a certain rate. This remonstrance was taken into consideration by a

committee of the whole house; and a great number of evidences and papers

being examined, they resolved, that the peopling of Jamaica with white

inhabitants, and cultivating the lands thereof, would be the most

proper measure for securing that island, and increasing the trade

and navigation between it and Great Britain, and other parts of

his majesty’s dominions; that the endeavours hitherto used by the

legislature of Jamaica to increase the number of white inhabitants, and

enforce the cultivation of lands, in the manner that might best conduce

to the security and defence of that island, had not been effectual

for these purposes. The house ordered a bill to be founded on these

resolutions; but this was postponed until the ministry should receive

more full information touching the true state of that island. The

planters of Jamaica laboured under many grievances and hardships, from

divers heavy impositions and restrictions; and a detail of these was

transmitted in a representation to his majesty, which was referred to

the consideration of the commissioners of trade and plantations. The

cause of the planters was defended vigorously, and managed in the house

of commons by alderman Beckford, a gentleman of vast possessions in

the island of Jamaica, who perfectly well understood, and strenuously

supported, the interest of that his native country.

FATE OF THE REGISTER BILL.

Abortive also proved the attempt to establish a law for keeping an

annual register of marriages, births, deaths, the individuals who

received alms, and the total number of people in Great Britain. A bill

for this purpose was presented by Mr. Potter, a gentleman of pregnant

parts and spirited elocution; who, enumerating the advantages of such a

law, observed, that it would ascertain the number of the people, and the

collective strength of the nation; consequently, point out those places

where there is a defect or excess of population, and certainly determine

whether a general naturalization would be advantageous or prejudicial

to the community; that it would decide what number of men might, on any

sudden emergency, be levied for the defence of the kingdom; and whether

the nation is gainer or loser, by sending its natives to settle, and

our troops to defend distant colonies; that it would be the means of

establishing a local administration of civil government, or a police

upon certain fixed principles, the want of which hath been long a

reproach to the nation, a security to vice, and an encouragement to

idleness; that in many cases where all other evidence is wanting,

it would enable suitors to recover their right in courts of justice,

facilitate an equal and equitable assessment in raising the present

taxes, and laying future impositions; specify the lineal descents,

relations, and alliances of families; lighten the intolerable burdens

incurred by the public, from innumerable and absurd regulations relating

to the poor; provide for them by a more equal exertion of humanity,

and effectually screen them from all risk of perishing by hunger, cold,

cruelty, and oppression. Whether such a law would have answered the

sanguine expectations of its patron, we shall not pretend to determine;

though, in our opinion, it must have been attended with very salutary

consequences, particularly in restraining the hand of robbery and

violence, in detecting fraud, bridling the ferocity of a licentious

people, and establishing a happy system of order and subordination. At

first the bill met with little opposition, except from Mr. Thornton,

member for the city of York, who inveighed against it with great

fervour, as a measure that savoured of French policy, to which the

English nation ever had the utmost aversion. He affirmed, that the

method in which it was proposed this register should be kept, would

furnish the enemies of Great Britain with continual opportunities of

knowing the strength or weakness of the nation; that it would empower

an ill-designing minister to execute any scheme subversive of public

liberty, invest parish and petty officers of the peace with exorbitant

powers, and cost the nation about fifty thousand pounds a-year to carry

the scheme into execution. These arguments, which, we apprehend,

are extremely frivolous and inconclusive, had great weight with a

considerable number who joined in the opposition, while the ministry

stood neutral. Nevertheless, after having undergone some amendments, it

was conveyed to the lords, by whom it was, at the second reading, thrown

out as a scheme of very dangerous tendency. The legislature of Great

Britain have, on some occasions, been more startled at the distant

shadow of a bare possibility, than at the real approach of the most

dangerous innovation.

SIR HANS SLOANE’S MUSEUM PURCHASED BY PARLIAMENT.

From the usual deliberations on civil and commercial concerns, the

attention of the parliament, which had seldom or never turned upon

literary avocations, was called off by an extraordinary subject of this

nature. Sir Hans Sloane, the celebrated physician and naturalist,

well known through all the civilized countries of Europe for his ample

collection of rarities, culled from the animal, vegetable, and mineral

kingdoms, as well as of antiquities and curiosities of art, had

directed, in his last will, that this valuable museum, together with his

numerous library, should be offered to the parliament, for the use

of the public, in consideration of their paying a certain sum in

compensation to his heirs. His terms were embraced by the commons, who

agreed to pay twenty thousand pounds for the whole, supposed to be worth

four times that sum; and a bill was prepared for purchasing this museum,

together with the Harleian collection of manuscripts, so denominated

from its founder, Robert Harley, earl of Oxford, lord-high-treasurer of

England, and now offered to the public by his daughter, the duchess of

Portland. It was proposed, that these purchases should be joined to the

famous Cottonian library, and a suitable repository provided for them

and the king’s library, which had long lain neglected and exposed to

the injuries of the weather in the old dormitory at Westminster.

Accordingly, trustees and governors, consisting of the most eminent

persons of the kingdom, were appointed, and regulations established

for the management of this noble museum, which was deposited in

Montagu-house, one of the most magnificent edifices in England, where it

is subjected, without reserve, to the view of the public, under certain

necessary restrictions, and exhibits a glorious monument of national

taste and liberality. *

* The library of sir Hans Sloane consisted of above fifty

thousand volumes, including about three hundred and fifty

books of drawings, and three thousand five hundred and

sixteen manuscripts, besides a multitude of prints. The

museum comprehended an infinite number of medals, coins,

urns, utensils, seals, cameos, intaglios, precious stones,

vessels of agate and jasper, crystals, spars, fossils,

metals, minerals, ore, earths, sands, salts, bitumens,

sulphurs, ambergrise, talcs, mirre, testacea, corals,

sponges, echini, echenites, asteri, trochi, crustatia,

stellae marine, fishes, birds, eggs and nests, vipers,

serpents, quadrupeds, insects, human calculi, anatomical

preparations, seeds, gums, roots, dried plants, pictures,

drawings, and mathematical instruments. All these articles,

with a short account of each, are specified in thirty-eight

volumes in folio, and eight in quarto.

In the beginning of June the session of parliament was closed by his

majesty, who mentioned nothing particular in his speech, but that the

state of foreign affairs had suffered no alteration since their meeting.

The genius of the English people is perhaps incompatible with a state of

perfect tranquillity; if it was not ruffled by foreign provocations,

or agitated by unpopular measures of domestic administration, it will

undergo temporary fermentations from the turbulent ingredients inherent

in its own constitution Tumults are excited, and faction kindled into

rage and inveteracy, by incidents of the most frivolous nature. At this

juncture the metropolis of England was divided and discomposed in a

surprising manner, by a dispute in itself of so little consequence to

the community, that it could not deserve a place in a general history,

if it did not serve to convey a characteristic idea of the English

nation. In the beginning of the year an obscure damsel, of low degree,

whose name was Elizabeth Canning, promulgated a report, which in a

little time attracted the attention of the public. She affirmed, that

on the first day of the new year, at night, she was seized under

Bedlam-wall by two ruffians, who having stripped her of her upper

apparel, secured her mouth with a gag, and threatened to murder her

should she make the least noise; that they conveyed her on foot about

ten miles, to a place called Enfieldwash, and brought her to the house

of one Mrs. Wells, where she was pillaged of her stays; and because

she refused to turn prostitute, confined in a cold, damp, separate, and

unfurnished apartment; where she remained a whole month, without any

other sustenance than a few stale crusts of bread, and about a gallon of

water; till at length she forced her way through a window, and ran home

to her mother’s house almost naked, in the night of the twenty-ninth of

January. This story, improbable and unsupported, operated so strongly on

the passions of the people in the neighbourhood of Aldermanbury,

where Canning’s mother lived, and particularly among fanatics of all

denominations, that they raised voluntary contributions, with surprising

eagerness, in order to bring the supposed delinquents to justice.

Warrants were granted for apprehending Wells, who kept the house at

Enfieldwash, and her accomplices, the servant maid, whose name was

Virtue Hall, and one Squires, an old gipsey-woman, which last was

charged by Canning of having robbed her of her stays. Wells, though

acquitted of the felony, was punished as a bawd. Hall turned evidence

for Canning, but afterwards recanted. Squires, the gipsey, was convicted

of the robbery, though she produced undoubted evidence to prove that she

was at Abbotsbury in Dorsetshire that very night in which the felony

was said to be committed, and Canning and her friends fell into

divers contradictions during the course of the trial. By this time the

prepossession of the common people in her favour had risen to such a

pitch of enthusiasm, that the most palpable truths which appeared on the

other side, had no other effect than that of exasperating them to the

most dangerous degree of rage and revenge. Some of the witnesses for

Squires, though persons of unblemished character, were so intimidated,

that they durst not enter the court; and those who had resolution enough

to give evidence in her behalf, ran the risk of assassination from the

vulgar that surrounded the place. On this occasion, sir Crisp Gascoyne,

lord-mayor of London, behaved with that laudable courage and humanity

which ought ever to distinguish the chief magistrate of such a

metropolis. Considering the improbability of the charge, the heat,

partiality, and blind enthusiasm with which it was prosecuted, and being

convinced of the old woman’s innocence by a great number of affidavits,

voluntarily sent up from the country by persons of unquestionable

credit, he, in conjunction with some other worthy citizens, resolved

to oppose the torrent of vulgar prejudice. Application was made to

the throne for mercy; the case was referred to the attorney and

solicitor-general, who, having examined the evidences on both sides,

made their report in favour of Squires to the king and council; and this

poor old creature was indulged with his majesty’s pardon. This affair

was now swelled up into such a faction as divided the greater part of

the kingdom, including the rich as well as the poor, the high as well

as the humble. Pamphlets and pasquinades were published on both sides

of the dispute, which became the general topic of conversation in all

assemblies, and people of all ranks espoused one or other party with

as much warmth and animosity as had ever inflamed the whigs and tories,

even at the most rancorous period of their opposition. Subscriptions

were opened, and large sums levied, on one side, to prosecute for

perjury the persons on whose evidence the pardon had been granted.

On the other hand, those who had interested themselves for the gipsey

resolved to support her witnesses, and, if possible, detect the

imposture of Canning. Bills of perjury were preferred on both sides.

The evidences for Squires were tried and acquitted; at first Canning

absconded; but afterwards surrendered to take her trial, and being,

after a long hearing, found guilty, was transported to the British

colonies. The zeal of her friends, however, seemed to be inflamed by her

conviction; and those who carried on the prosecution against her were

insulted, even to the danger of their lives. They supplied her with

necessaries of all sorts, paid for her transportation in a private

ship, where she enjoyed all the comforts and conveniences that could be

afforded in that situation, and furnished her with such recommendations

as secured to her a very agreeable reception in New England.

EXECUTION OF DR. CAMERON.

Next to this very remarkable transaction, the incident that principally

distinguished this year in England, was the execution of Doctor

Archibald Cameron, a native of North Britain, and brother to Cameron

of Lochiel, chief of that numerous and warlike tribe who had taken the

field with the prince-pretender. After the battle of Culloden, where he

was dangerously wounded, he found means to escape to the continent. His

brother, the doctor, had accompanied him in all his expeditions, though

not in a military capacity, and was included with him in the act of

attainder passed against those who had been concerned in the rebellion.

Notwithstanding the imminent danger attending such an attempt, the

doctor returned privately to Scotland, in order, as it was reported,

to recover a sum of money belonging to the pretender, which had been

embezzled by his adherents in that country. Whatever may have been

his inducement to revisit his native country under such a predicament,

certain it is, he was discovered, apprehended, and conducted to London,

confined in the Tower, examined by the privy-council, and produced in

the court of king’s-bench, where his identity being proved by several

witnesses, he received sentence of death, and was executed at Tyburn.

The terror and resentment of the people, occasioned by the rebellion,

having by this time subsided, their humane passions did not fail to

operate in favour of this unfortunate gentleman; their pity was mingled

with esteem, arising from his personal character, which was altogether

unblemished, and his deportment on this occasion, which they could

not help admiring as the standard of manly fortitude and decorum. The

populace, though not very subject to tender emotions, were moved

to compassion and even to tears, by his behaviour at the place of

execution; and many sincere well-wishers to the present establishment

thought that the sacrifice of this victim, at such a juncture, could not

redound either to its honour or security.

TUMULTS IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE KINGDOM.

The turbulent spirit, which is never totally extinguished in this

island, manifested itself in sundry tumults that broke out in

different parts of South Britain. The price of provisions, and bread

in particular, being raised to an exorbitant rate in consequence of an

absurd exportation of corn, for the sake of the bounty, a formidable

body of colliers, and other labouring people, raised an insurrection at

Bristol, began to plunder the corn vessels in the harbour, and commit

such outrages in the city, that the magistrates were obliged to have

recourse to military power. A troop of dragoons were sent to their

assistance, and the insurgents were quelled, though not without some

bloodshed. Commotions of the same kind were excited in Yorkshire,

Manchester, and several other places in the northern counties At Leeds,

a detachment of the king’s troops were obliged in their own defence to

fire upon the rioters, eight or nine of whom were killed on the spot;

and, indeed, so little care had been taken to restrain the licentious

insolence of the vulgar by proper laws and regulations, duly executed

under the eye of civil magistracy, that a military power was found

absolutely necessary to maintain the peace of the kingdom.

DISTURBANCES IN FRANCE.

The tranquillity of the continent was not endangered by any new contest

or disturbance; yet the breach between the clergy and the parliament of

Paris was every day more and more widened, and the people were pretty

equally divided between superstition and a regard for civil liberty.

The parliament having caused divers ecclesiastics to be apprehended, for

having refused to administer the sacraments to persons in extremity, who

refused to subscribe to the bull Unigenitus, all of them declared they

acted according to the direction of the archbishop of Paris. Application

being made to this haughty prelate, he treated the deputies of the

parliament with the most supercilious contempt, and even seemed to brave

the power and authority of that body. They, on the other hand, proceeded

to take cognizance of the recusant clergy, until their sovereign ordered

them to desist. Then they presented remonstrances to his majesty,

reminding him of their privileges, and the duty of their station, which

obliged them to do justice on all their delinquents. In the meantime

they continued to perform their functions, and even commenced a

prosecution against the bishop of Orleans, whom they summoned to attend

their tribunal. Next day they received from Versailles a _lettre de

cachet_, accompanied by letters patent, commanding them to suspend all

prosecutions relating to the refusal of the sacraments; and ordering the

letters patent to be registered. Instead of obeying these commands, they

presented new remonstrances, for answers to which they were referred to

the king’s former declarations. In consequence of this intimation, they

had spirit enough to resolve, “That, whereas certain evil-minded persons

had prevented truth from reaching the throne, the chambers remained

assembled, and all other business should be suspended.” The affair was

now become very serious. His majesty, by fresh letters patent, renewed

his orders, and commanded them to proceed with their ordinary business,

on pain of incurring his displeasure. They forthwith came to another

resolution, importing, that they could not obey this injunction without

a breach of their duty and their oath. Next day _lettres de cachet_ were

issued, banishing to different parts of the kingdom all the members,

except those of the great chamber, which the court did not find more

tractable than their brethren. They forthwith resolved to abide by the

two resolutions mentioned above; and, as an instance of their unshaken

fortitude, ordered an ecclesiastic to be taken into custody for refusing

the sacraments. This spirited measure involved them in the fate of the

rest; for they were also exiled from Paris, the citizens of which did

not fail to extol their conduct with the loudest encomiums, and at the

same time to express their resentment against the clergy, who could not

stir abroad without being exposed to violence or insult. The example of

the parliament of Paris was followed by that of Rouen, which had courage

enough to issue orders for apprehending the bishop of Evreux, because he

had refused to appear when summoned to their tribunal. Their decrees

on this occasion being annulled by the king’s council of state, they

presented a bold remonstrance, which, however, had no other effect than

that of exasperating the ministry. A grand deputation being ordered to

attend the king, they were commanded to desist from intermeddling in

disputes relating to the refusal of the sacraments, and to register this

injunction. At their return they had recourse to a new remonstrance; and

one of their principal counsellors, who had spoken freely in the debates

on this subject, was arrested by a party of dragoons, who carried him

prisoner to the castle of Dourlens. In a word, the body of the people

declared for the parliament, in opposition to ecclesiastical tyranny;

and had they not been overawed by a formidable standing army, would

certainly have taken up arms in defence of their liberties; while the

monarch weakly suffered himself to be governed by priestly delusions;

and, secure in his military appointment, seemed to set the rest of his

subjects at defiance. Apprehensive, however, that these disputes would

put an entire stop to the administration of justice, he, by letters

patent, established a royal chamber for the prosecution of suits civil

and criminal, which was opened with a solemn mass performed in the

queen’s chapel at the Louvre, where all the members assisted. On this

occasion another difficulty occurred. The letters patent, constituting

this new court, ought to have been registered by the parliament which

was now no more. To remedy this defect, application was made to the

inferior court of the Chatelet, which refusing to register them, one

of its members was committed to the Bastile, and another absconded.

Intimidated by this exertion of despotic power, they allowed the king’s

officers to enter the letters in their register; but afterwards adopted

more vigorous resolutions. The lieutenant,-civil appearing in their

court, all the counsellors rose up and retired, leaving him alone, and

on the table an _arret_, importing, that whereas the confinement of one

of their members, the prosecution of another, who durst not appear, and

the present calamities of the nation, gave them just apprehensions for

their own persons; they had, after mature deliberation, thought proper

to retire. Thus a dangerous ferment was excited by the king’s espousing

the cause of spiritual insolence and oppression against the general

voice of his people, and the plainest dictates of reason and common

sense.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE DIET RELATIVE TO EAST FRIEZELAND.

The property of East Friezeland continued still to be the source of

contention between the electors of Bran-denburgh and Hanover. The

interest of his Britannic majesty being powerfully supported by the

house of Austria, the minister of that power at the diet proposed that

the affair should be taken into immediate consideration. He was seconded

by the minister of Brunswick; but the envoy from Brandenburgh, having

protested in form against this procedure, withdrew from the assembly,

and the Brunswick minister made a counter-protestation, after which

he also retired. Then a motion being made, that this dispute should be

referred to the decision of the Aulic council at Vienna, it was carried

in the affirmative by a majority of fourteen voices. His Prussian

majesty’s final declaration with regard to this affair was afterwards

presented to the diet, and answered in the sequel by a memorial from

his Britannic majesty as elector of Hanover. Some other petty disputes

likewise happened between the regency of Hanover and the city of

Munster; and the former claiming some bailiwicks in the territories of

Bremen, sequestered certain revenues belonging to this city, in Stade

and Ferden, till these claims should be satisfied.

EXTRAORDINARY TREATY.

The court of Vienna having dropped for the present the scheme for

electing a king of the Romans, concluded a very extraordinary treaty

with the duke of Modena, stipulating that his serene highness should

be appointed perpetual governor of the duchy of Milan, with a salary of

ninety thousand florins, on condition that he should maintain a body of

four thousand men, to be at the disposal of the empress-queen; that her

imperial majesty should have a right to place garrisons in the citadels

of Mirandola and Reggio, as well as in the castle of Massa-Carrara:

that the archduke Peter Leopold, third son of their imperial majesties,

should espouse the daughter of the hereditary prince of Modena, by the

heiress of Massa-Carrara; and in case of her dying without heirs male,

the estates of that house and the duchy of Mirandola should devolve

to the archduke; but in case of her having male issue, that she should

enjoy the principality of Fermia, and other possessions in Hungary,

claimed by the duke of Modena, for her fortune; finally, that on the

extinction of the male branch of the house of Este, all the dominions of

the duke of Modena should devolve to the house of Austria.

CONFERENCES WITH RESPECT TO NOVA SCOTIA BROKE UP.

While the powers on the continent of Europe were thus employed in

strengthening their respective interests, and concerting measures for

preventing any interruption of the general tranquillity, matters were

fast ripening to a fresh rupture between the subjects of Great Britain

and France, in different parts of North America. We have already

observed that commissaries had been appointed, and conferences opened at

Paris, to determine the disputes between the two crowns, relating to the

boundaries of Nova Scotia; and we took notice in general of the little

arts of evasion practised by the French commissaries, to darken and

perplex the dispute, and elude the pretensions of his Britannic majesty.

They persisted in employing these arts of chicanery and cavil with such

perseverance, that the negotiation proved abortive, the conferences

broke up, and every thing seemed to portend approaching hostilities.

But, before we proceed to a detail of the incidents which were the

immediate forerunners of the war, we will endeavour to convey a just

idea of the dispute concerning Nova Scotia; which, we apprehend, is but

imperfectly understood, though of the utmost importance to the interest

of Great Britain.

{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}

DESCRIPTION OF NOVA SCOTIA.

Nova Scotia, called by the French Acadia, lies between the forty-fourth

and fiftieth degrees of north latitude, having New England and the

Atlantic ocean to the south and south-west, and the river and gulph of

St. Lawrence to the north and north-east. The winter, which continues

near seven months in this country, is intensely cold; and without the

intervention of any thing that can be called spring, it is immediately

succeeded by a summer, the heat of which is almost insupportable, but of

no long continuance. The soil in general is thin and barren, though some

parts of it are said to be equal to the best land in England. The whole

country is covered with a perpetual fog, even after the summer has

commenced. It was first possessed by the French, before they made any

establishment in Canada; who, by dint of industry and indefatigable

perseverance, in struggling with the many difficulties they necessarily

laboured under in the infancy of this settlement, subsisted tolerably

well, and increased considerably, with very little assistance from

Europe; whilst we, even now, should lose the immense expense we have

already been at to settle a colony there, and should see all our

endeavours to that end defeated, if the support of the royal hand was

withdrawn but for a moment. This country, by the possession of which an

enemy would be enabled greatly to annoy all our other colonies, and, if

in the hands of the French, would be of singular service both to their

fishery and their sugar islands, has frequently changed hands from the

French to the English, and from the English back again to the French,

till our right to it was finally settled by the twelfth article of the

treaty of Utrecht, by which all the country included within the ancient

limits of what was called Nova Scotia or Acadia, was ceded to the

English. This article was confirmed by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle,

but, for want of ascertaining distinctly what were the bounds intended

to be fixed by the two nations with respect to this province, disputes

arose, and commissaries, as we have observed, were appointed by both

sides to adjust the litigation.

The commissaries of the king of Great Britain conformed themselves

to the rule laid down by the treaty itself, and assigned those as the

ancient limits of this country, which had always passed as such, from

the very earliest time of any certainty, down to the conclusion of the

treaty; which the two crowns had frequently declared to be such, and

which the French had often admitted and allowed. These limits are, the

southern bank of the river St. Lawrence to the north, and Pentagoet to

the west: the country situated between these boundaries is that which

the French received by the treaty of St. Germain’s, in the year one

thousand six hundred and thirty-two, under the general name of Acadia.

Of this country, thus limited, they continued in possession from that

period to the year one thousand six hundred and fifty-four, when a

descent was made upon it, under the command of colonel Sedgwick. That

these were then the undisputed limits of Acadia, his Britannic majesty’s

commissaries plainly proved, by a letter of Louis XIII. to the sieurs

Charnisay and La Tour, regulating their jurisdictions in Acadia; by

the subsequent commissions of the French king to the same persons, as

governors of Acadia, in the sequel; and by that which was afterwards

granted to the sieur Denys, in the year one thousand six hundred and

fifty-four; all of which extend the bounds of this country from the

river St. Lawrence to Pentagoet and New England. That these were

the notions of the French with respect to the ancient limits of this

province, was further confirmed by the demands made by their ambassador

in the course of that same year, for the restitution of the forts

Pentagoet, St. John’s, and Port Eoyal, as forts situated in Acadia. In

the year one thousand six hundred and sixty-two, upon the revival of the

claim of France to the country of Acadia, which had been left undecided

by the treaty of Westminster, the French ambassador, then at the court

of London, assigned Pentagoet as the western, and the river St. Lawrence

as the northern, boundary of that country; and alleged the restitution

of Acadia in the year one thousand six hundred and thirty-two, and

the possession taken by France in consequence thereof, as well as the

continuation of that possession, with the same limits, to the year

one thousand six hundred and fifty-four, as proofs of the equity and

validity of the claim he then made; in which claim and in the manner of

supporting it, he was particularly approved of by the court of

France. The same court afterwards thought it so clear, upon former

determinations, and her own former possessions, that the true ancient

boundaries of Acadia were Pentagoet to the west, and the river St.

Lawrence to the north, that she desired no specification of limits in

the treaty of Breda, but was contented with the restitution of Acadia,

generally named; and, upon a dispute which arose in the execution

of this treaty, France re-asserted, and Great Britain, after some

discussion, agreed to the above-mentioned limits of Acadia; and France

obtained possession of that country, so bounded, under the treaty of

Breda. The sense of France upon this subject, in the years one

thousand six hundred and eighty-five, and one thousand six hundred and

eighty-seven, was also clearly manifested in the memorials delivered at

that time by the French ambassador at the court of London, complaining

of some encroachments made by the English upon the coast of Acadia: he

described the country as extending from isle Percée, which lies at the

entrance of the river St. Lawrence, to St. George’s island; and again,

in a subsequent complaint, made by Mons. Barillon and Mons. Bonrepaus

to the court of Great Britain, against the judge of Pemaquid, for having

seized the effects of a French merchant at Pentagoet, which, said they,

was situated in Acadia, as restored to France by the treaty of Breda. To

explain the sense of France, touching the bounds of Acadia in the year

one thousand seven hundred, the British commissaries produced a proposal

of the French ambassador, then residing in Great Britain, to restrain

the limits of that country to the river St-George. They also instanced

the surrender of Port Royal in the year one thousand seven hundred and

ten, in which Acadia is described with the same limits with which France

had received it in the years one thousand six hundred and thirty-two,

and one thousand six hundred and sixty-seven. And further to ascertain

the sense of both crowns, even at the treaty of Utrecht itself, they

produced the queen of Great Britain’s instructions to her ambassadors,

in the year one thousand seven hundred and eleven, in which they were

directed to insist, “That his most christain majesty should quit all

claim or title, by virtue of any former treaty, or otherwise, to the

country called Nova Scotia, and expressly to Port Royal, otherwise

Annapolis Royal.” To these they added a manifest demonstration, founded

on indisputable facts, proving that the recital of the several sorts

of right which France had ever pretended to this country, and the

specification of both terms, Acadia or Nova Scotia, were intended by

Great Britain to obviate all doubts which had ever been made concerning

the limits of Acadia, and to comprehend with more certainty all that

country which France had ever received as such; finally, to specify what

France considered as Acadia. During the treaty, they referred to the

offers of that crown in the year one thousand seven hundred and twelve,

in which she proposed to restrain the boundary of Acadia to the river

St. George, as a departure from its real boundary, in case Great Britain

would restore to her the possession of that country. From all these

facts it plainly appears that Great Britain demanded nothing but what

the fair construction of the words of the treaty of Utrecht necessarily

implies; and that it is impossible for any thing to have more evident

marks of candour and fairness in it, than the demand of the English on

this occasion. From the variety of evidence brought in support of this

claim, it evidently results that the English commissaries assigned no

limits as the ancient limits of Acadia, but those which France

herself determined to be such in the year one thousand six hundred

and thirty-two; and which she possessed, in consequence of that

determination, till the year one thousand six hundred and fifty-four;

that in one thousand six hundred and sixty-two, France claimed, and

received in one thousand six hundred and sixty-nine, the country which

Great Britain now claims as Acadia, restored to France by the treaty

of Breda under that general denomination; that France never considered

Acadia as having any other limits than those which were assigned to it

from the year one thousand six hundred and thirty-two, to the year one

thousand seven hundred and ten; and that, by the treaty of Utrecht, she

engaged to transfer that very same country as Acadia, which France has

always asserted and possessed, and Great Britain now claims, as such.

Should the crown of France, therefore, be ever willing to decide what

are the ancient limits of Acadia, by her own declarations so frequently

made in like discussions upon the same point, by her possessions of this

country for almost a century, and by her description of Acadia, during

the negotiation of that very treaty upon which this doubt is raised,

she cannot but admit the claim of Great Britain to be conformable to the

treaty of Utrecht, and to the description of the country transferred

to Great Britain by the twelfth article of that treaty. There is a

consistency in the claim of the English, and a completeness in the

evidence brought in support of it, which is seldom seen in discussions

of this sort; for it rarely happens, in disputes of such a nature

between two crowns, that either of them can safely offer to have its

pretensions decided by the known and repeated declarations, or the

possessions of the other. To answer the force of this detail of

conclusive historical facts, and to give a new turn to the real question

in dispute, the French commissaries, in their memorial, laid it down as

a distinction made by the treaty of Utrecht, that the ancient limits of

Acadia, referred to by that treaty, are different from any with which

that country may have passed under the treaties of St. Germain’s and

Breda; and then endeavoured to show, upon the testimonies of maps and

historians, that Acadia and its limits were anciently confined to the

south-eastern part of the peninsula. In support of this system, the

French commissaries had recourse to ancient maps and historians, who,

as they asserted, had ever confined Acadia to the limits they assigned.

They alleged, that those commissions of the French government over

Acadia, which the English cited as evidence of the limits they claimed,

were given as commissions over Acadia and the country around it, and not

over Acadia only; that the whole of the country claimed by the English

as Acadia, could not possibly be supposed ever to be considered as such,

because many parts of that territory always did, and still do, preserve

particular and distinct names. They affirmed New France to be a province

in itself; and argued that many parts of what we claim as Acadia can

never have been in Acadia, because historians and the French commissions

of government expressly place them in New France. They asserted, that no

evidence can be drawn of the opinion of any crown, with respect to the

limits of any country, from its declaration during the negotiation of

a treaty: and, in the ends relying upon maps and historians for the

ancient limits of Acadia, they pretended that the express restitution of

St. Germain’s, and the possession taken by France in consequence of

the treaty of Breda, after a long discussion of the limits and the

declaration of France during the negotiation of the treaty of Utrecht,

were foreign to the point in question. In refutation of these maxims,

the English commissaries proved, from an examination of the maps and

historians cited by the French in support of their system, that if this

question was to be decided upon the authorities which they themselves

allowed to belong, and to be applicable to, this discussion, the limits

which they assigned were utterly inconsistent with the best maps of all

countries, which are authorities in point for almost every part of

the claim of Great Britain. They showed that the French historians,

Champlain and Denys, and particularly this last, with his commission

in the year one thousand six hundred and fifty-five, assigned the same

northern and western limits to Acadia which they did; and that Escarbot,

another of their historians, as far as any evidence can be drawn from

his writings, agrees entirely with the former two. They observed, that

all these evidences fall in with and confirmed the better authorities of

treaties, and the several transactions between the two crowns for near

a century past; and that the French commissaries, by deviating from

treaties, and the late proceedings of the two crowns, to ancient

historians and maps, only made a transition from an authentic to an

insufficient sort of evidence, and led the English commissaries into an

inquiry which proved that both the proper and the improper, the regular

and the foreign evidence, upon which this matter had been rested,

equally confuted the limits alleged by the French commissaries as the

ancient limits of Acadia.