Leake and admiral Vanderdussen; and the marquis de Villadarias, having made little or no progress on land, thought proper to abandon the enterprise. : 24. The parliament of England meeting on the twentyninth of October, the queen, in her speech, observed, that the great and remarkable success with which God had blessed her arms produced unanimous joy and satisfaction through all parts of the kingdom; and that a timely improvement of the present advantages would enable her to procure a lasting foundation of security for England, as well as a firm support for the liberty of Europe: she declared her intention was to be kind and indulgent to all her subjects: she expressed her hope that they would do nothing to endanger the loss of this opportunity; and that there would be no contention among them, but an emulation to promote the public welfare. Congratulatory addresses were voted and presented by both houses they were equal in their professions of duty and affection to the queen; but the addresses imbibed a very different color from the different sanctions by which the two houses were influenced: the lords congratulated her on the great and glorious success of her arms under the command of the duke of Marlborough, without deigning to mention Sir George Rooke, who had defeated the French navy at sea, and added the important fortress of Gibraltar to the British conquests: on the other hand, the commons affected. to mention the battle of Blenheim and Rooke's naval victory as events of equal glory and importance. However they might be warped by prejudice against individuals, they did not suffer the war to languish for want of supplies having taken into consideration the services of the army and navy, they voted that the queen should be desired to bestow her bounty on the seamen and land forces who had behaved themselves so gallantly: then they deliberated on the different articles of national expense, and granted £4,670,931 for the occasions of the ensuing year, to be raised by a landtax, by the sale of annuities, and other expedients: these measures were taken with such expedition, that the land-tax received the royal assent on the ninth of December; when the queen, in a short speech, thanked the commons for their despatch, which she considered a sure pledge of their affection. : 25. The high-church party took this occasion to promote the bill against occasional conformity, which was revived and brought into the house on a new model by Mr. William Bromley, who moved that it might be tacked to the land-tax bill, and sent up to the lords for their concurrence: the court no longer espoused this measure, and the violent party was weakened by defection: after a warm and tedious debate, the tack was rejected by a great majority: the bill, however, passed the house of commons, and was sent up to the lords on the fourteenth of December, when it would hardly have excited a debate, had not the queen been present, and desirous of hearing what could be said on both sides of the question for the information and satisfaction of her majesty the subject was again discussed, and all the arguments being repeated, the bill was rejected by a majority of one-and-twenty voices. The next subject on which the house of lords employed their attention was the late conduct of the Scottish parliament. Lord Haversham, in a set speech, observed that the settlement of the succession in Scotland had been postponed, partly because the ministry for that kingdom were weak and divided; partly from a received opinion that the succession was never sincerely and cordially intended by those who managed the affairs of Scotland in the cabinet-council: he expatiated on the bad consequences that might attend the act of security, which he styled a bill of exclusion; and particularly mentioned that clause by which the heritors and boroughs were ordained to exercise their fencible men every month he said the nobility and gentry of Scotland were as learned and brave as any nation in Europe, and generally discontented; that the common people were very numerous, very stout, and very poor; and he asked who was the man that could tell what such a multitude, so armed, and so disciplined, might do under such leaders, could opportunities suit their intention: he recommended these circumstances to the consideration of the house, and concluded with these words of lord Bacon ;- Let men beware how they neglect or suffer matter of troubles to be prepared; for no man can forbid the sparks that may set all on fire.' The lords resolved to consider these subjects on the twenty-ninth of November, when the queen repaired to the house of peers to hear the debates, and by her presence moderate the heat of both parties: the earl of Nottingham reflected so severely on the memory of king William, that he would have been sent to the Tower had not the lords declined any such motion out of respect to her majesty. After much declamation on the Scottish act of security, the grand committee of the peers, by the advice of lord Wharton, resolved that the queen should be enabled by act of parliament, on the part of England, to name commissioners to treat about a union with Scotland, provided that the parliament of Scotland should first appoint commissioners on their part for the same purpose: that no Scotsmen should enjoy the privileges of Englishmen, except such as were settled in England, Ireland, and the plantations, and such as were or might be in the sea or land-service, until a union could be effected, or the succession settled as in England: that the traffic by cattle from Scotland to England should be prevented that the lord-admiral should issue orders for taking such vessels as should be found trading from Scotland to France, or to the ports of any of her majesty's enemies; and that care should be taken to prevent the exportation of English wool into Scotland. On these resolutions a bill was formed for an intire union, and passed the house on the twentieth of December: the lords presented an address to the queen, representing that they had duly weighed the dangerous and pernicious effects that were likely to be produced by divers acts of parliament lately passed in Scotland that they were of opinion the safety of the kingdom required that speedy and effectual orders should be given to put Newcastle in a posture of defence, to secure the port o Teignmouth, and repair the fortifications of Hull and Carlisle they likewise advised her majesty to give directions for disciplining the militia of the four northern counties; for providing them with arms and ammunition; for maintaining a competent number of regular troops on the northern borders of England, as well as in the north of Ireland; and for putting the laws in execution against papists: the queer promised that a survey should be made of the places they had mentioned, and laid before the parliament, and that she would give the necessary directions on the other articles c the address. The commons seemed to concur with the lords in their sentiments of the Scottish act of security: they resolved that a bill should be brought in for the effectual securing the kingdom of England from the apparent dangers that might arise from several acts lately passed in the parliament of Scotland; and this was formed on nearly the same resolutions which had been taken in the upper house: the bill sent down by the lords was thrice read, and ordered to lie on the table; but they passed their own, to take effect at Christmas, provided before that time the Scots should not |