papers were afterwards delivered to a committee of the commons, at a conference by the lord president, and the rest of the committee above. They were offered for the inspection of the commons, as they concerned some members of that house, by whom they might be informed more fully of the particulars they contained. At another conference, which the commons demanded, their committee declared, in the name of the house, that they had read and well considered the papers which their lordships had sent them, and which they now returned: that, finding Mr. Russel, one of their members, often mentioned in the said papers, they had unanimously resolved, that admiral Russel, in his command of the fleets, during the last summer's expedition, had behaved with fidelity, courage, and conduct. The lords, irritated at this declaration, and disappointed in their resentment against Russel, desired a free conference between the committees of both houses. The earl of Rochester told the commons, he was commanded by the house of lords to inform them, that their lordships looked upon the late vote and proceedings of the lower house, in returning their papers, to be irregular and unparliamentary, as they had not communicated to their lordships the lights they had received, and the reasons upon which their vote was founded. A paper to the same purport was delivered to colonel Granville, who promised to present it to the commons, and make a faithful report of what his lordship had said. Thus the conference ended, and the inquiry was discontinued.

§ X. The lower house seemed to be as much exasperated against the earl of Nottingham as the lords were incensed at Russel. A motion was made that his majesty should be advised to appoint such commissioners of the board of admiralty as were of known experience in maritime affairs. Although this was overruled, they voted an address to the king, praying, that for the future, all orders for the management of the fleet might pass through the hands of the said commissioners; a protest by implication against the conduct of the secretary. The consideration of ways and means was the next object that engrossed the attention of the lower house. They resolved that a rate of four shillings in the pound, for one year, should be charged

upon all lands, according to their yearly value: as also upon all personal estates, and upon all offices and employments of profit, other than military offices in the army or navy. The act founded on this resolution empowered the king to borrow money on the credit of it, at seven per cent. They further enabled him to raise one million on the general credit of the exchequer, by granting annuities. They laid several new duties on a variety of imports. They renewed the last quarterly poll, providing, that in case it should not produce three hundred thousand pounds, the deficiencies might be made up by borrowing on the general credit of the exchequer. They continued the impositions on wine, vinegar, tobacco, and sugar for five years; and those on East India goods for four years. They laid a new imposition of eight per cent. on the capital stock of the East India company, estimated at seven hundred and forty-four thousand pounds; of one per cent. on the African; of five pounds on every share of the stock belonging to the Hudson's Bay company; and they empowered his majesty to borrow five hundred thousand pounds on these funds, which were expressly established for maintaining the war with vigour.

XI. The money bills were retarded in the upper house, by the arts of Halifax, Mulgrave, and other malcontents. They grafted a clause on the landtax bill, importing, that the lords should tax themselves. It was adopted by the majority, and the bill sent with this amendment to the commons, by whom it was unanimously rejected as a flagrant attempt upon their privileges. They demanded a conference, in which they declared that the clause in question was a notorious encroachment upon the right the commons possessed, of regulating all matters relating to supplies granted by parliament. When this report was debated in the house of lords, the earl of Mulgrave displayed uncommon powers of eloquence and argument, in persuading the house, that by yielding to this claim of the commons, they would divest themselves of their true greatness, and nothing would remain but the name and

b The French king hearing how liberally William was supplied, exclaimed with some emotion, " My little cousin the prince of Orange is fixed in the saddle... "but, no matter, the last Louis d'or must carry it."

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shadow of a peer, which was but a pageant. Notwithstanding all his oratory, the lords relinquished their clause, declaring, at the same time, that they had agreed to pass the bill without alteration, merely in regard to the present urgent state of affairs, as being otherwise of opinion, that they had a right to insist upon their clause. A formal complaint being made in the house of commons against the pamphlet, entitled, "King William and Queen Mary Con66 querors," as containing assertions of dangerous conse quence to their majesties, to the liberty of the subject, and the peace of the kingdom, the licenser and printer were taken into custody. The book being examined, they resolved that it should be burned by the hands of the common hangman; and, that the king should be moved to dismiss the licenser from his employment. The same sentence they pronounced upon a pastoral letter of bishop Burnet, in which this notion of conquest had been at first asserted. The lords, in order to manifest their sentiments on the same subject, resolved, That such an assertion was highly injurious to their majesties, inconsistent with the principles on which the government was founded, and tending to the subversion of the rights of the people. Bohun, the licenser, was brought to the bar of the house, and discharged upon his own petition, after having been reprimanded on his knees by the speaker,

§ XII. Several members having complained that their servants had been kidnapped, and sent to serve as soldiers in Flanders, the house appointed a committee to inquire into the abuses committed by pressmasters; and a suitable remonstrance was presented to the king, who expressed his indignation at this practice, and assured the house that the delinquents should be brought to exemplary punishment. Understanding, however, in the sequel, that the method taken by his majesty for preventing this abuse had not proved effectual, they resumed their inquiry, and proceeded with uncommon vigour on the information they received. A great number of persons who had been pressed were discharged by order of the house; and captain Winter, the chief undertaker of this method of recruiting the army, was carried by the sergeant before the lord chief justice, that he might be prosecuted according to law.

§ XIII. Before the heats occasioned by this unpopular expedient were allayed, the discontent of the nation was further inflamed by complaints from Ireland, where lord Sidney was said to rule with despotic authority. These complaints were exhibited by sir Francis Brewster, sir William Gore, sir John Macgill, lieutenant Stafford, Mr. Stone, and Mr. Kerne. They were examined at the bar of the house, and delivered an account of their grievances in writing. Both houses concurred in this inquiry, which being finished, they severally presented addresses to the king. The lords observed, that there had been great abuses in disposing of the forfeited estates: That protections had been granted to the Irish not included in the articles of Limerick; so that protestants were deprived of the benefit of the law against them: That the quarters of the army had not been paid according to the provision made by parliament; that a mayor had been imposed upon the city of Dublin for two years successively, contrary to the ancient privileges and charter; that several persons accused of murder had been executed without proof: and one Sweetman, the most guilty, discharged without prosecution. The commons spoke more freely in their address: they roundly explained the abuses and mismanagement of that government, by exposing the protestant subjects to the free quarter and violence of a licentious army; by recruiting the troops with Irish papists, who had been in open rebellion against his majesty; by granting protections to Irish Roman catholics, whereby the course of the law was stopped: by réserving outlawries for high treason, not comprehended in the articles of Limerick; by letting the forfeited estates at under value, to the prejudice of his majesty's revenue; by embezzling the stores left in the towns and garrisons by the late king James, as well as the effects belonging to the forfeited estates, which might have been employed for the better preservation of the kingdom; and, finally, by making additions to the articles of Limerick, after the capitulation was signed, and the place surrendered. They most humbly besought his majesty to redress these abuses, which had greatly encouraged the papists, and weakened the protestant interest in Ireland. The king graciously received both addresses, and promised to pay a particular regard to all

remonstrances that should come from either house of parliament: but no material step was taken against the lords Sidney, Athlone, and Coningsby, who appeared to have engrossed great part of the forfeitures by grants from the crown; and even commissioner Culliford, who had been guilty of the most grievous acts of oppression, escaped with impunity.

§ XIV. The old whig principle was not yet wholly expelled from the lower house. The undue influence of the court was exerted in such an open, scandalous manner, as gave offence to the majority of the commons. In the midst of all their condescension, sir Edward Hussey, member for Lincoln, brought in a bill touching free and impartial proceedings in parliament. It was intended to disable all members of parliament from enjoying places of trust and profit, and particularly levelled against the officers of the army and navy, who had insinuated themselves into the house in such numbers, that this was commonly called the officers' parliament. The bill passed the house of commons, and was sent up to the lords, by whom it was read a second time, and committed: but the ministry employing their whole strength against it, on the report it was thrown out by a majority of two voices. The earl of Mulgrave again distinguished himself by his elocution, in a speech that was held in great veneration by the people; and, among those who entered a protest in the journals of the house, when the majority rejected the bill, was prince George of Denmark, duke of Cumberland. The court had not recollected themselves from the consternation produced by such a vigorous opposition, when the earl of Shrewsbury produced another bill for triennial parliaments, providing that there should be an annual session; that if, at the expiration of three years, the crown should not order the writs to be issued, the lord chancellor, or keeper, or commissioner of the great seal, should issue them ex officio, and by authority of this act, under severe penalties. The immediate object of this bill was the dissolution of the present parliament, which had already sat three sessions, and began to be formidable to the people from its concessions to the ministry. The benefits that would accrue to the constitution from the establishment of triennial parliaments