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ADDRESS BY LORD COWPER.

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"fleet before Barcelona, then besieged by the enemy, and “demand immediate payment of the value of the Queen's "stores in the town, or a sufficient security for payment "in some reasonable time to take care to time his arri"val before the town according to the advices from Lord Bingley (then designed to be sent to Madrid as ambassador): by the strongest representations to induce the regency of Barcelona to accept of the terms that shall be obtained for them: to take all the necessary measures pursuant to the Queen's intentions to put an end to the "confusions that now reign in those parts, and all proper "methods of persuasion to induce the inhabitants of Ma"jorca to submit to the terms that shall be offered them; and, in case of refusal, to employ his squadron in coun"tenancing and assisting all attempts which may be "made for reducing them to a due obedience.”* these instructions, we may observe, first, that England was under the same engagements to secure the privileges of Majorca as those of Catalonia at the time Sir James Wishart received direct orders to attack the former; and, secondly, that the whole expedition was planned in concert with, and in deference to, Sir Patrick Lawless, the Spanish envoy in London, who, during the preceding September, had presented a memorial to Bolingbroke, stating that "His Catholic Majesty hopes the Queen will "order a squadron of her ships to reduce his subjects to "their obedience." Thus England was actually not merely forsaking her faithful and ill-fated allies, but leaguing herself with France and Spain against them!

On

On

It was at this point that the House of Lords, with a generous feeling of compassion, took up the cause of the oppressed. The first step-a motion for papers on the 17th of March- was not opposed by the Ministry. the 31st, the subject was resumed by Lord Cowper's moving an Address to the Queen, "That her endeavours "for preserving to the Catalans the full enjoyment of "their ancient liberties having proved ineffectual, their Lordships made it their humble request that she would "continue her interposition in the most pressing manner "in their behalf." Lord Cowper was ably supported by

* See the case of the Catalans, p. 261.

his former colleagues, Sunderland and Halifax; while on the other part, Bolingbroke declared "that the Queen "had used her endeavours to procure to the Catalans the enjoyment of their ancient liberties and privileges; but "that, after all, the engagements she had entered into "subsisted no longer than while King Charles was in "Spain!" But that miserable subterfuge (then urged for the first time) made no impression on the House. The Ministers found it necessary to lower their tone; and Lord Chancellor Harcourt could only observe, that the Address would be more welcome to Her Majesty if the word “ineffectual," as applied to her former endeavours, were left out. Thus amended, the Address passed without opposition, and was presented the next day.* Her Majesty's answer was as follows:

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"My Lords,-I heartily thank you for this Address, "and the satisfaction you express in the endeavours I "have used for securing the Catalans their just liberties. "At the time I concluded my peace with Spain, I resolved "to continue my interposition, upon every other proper "occasion, for obtaining those liberties, and to prevent, "if possible, the misfortunes to which that people are exposed by the conduct of those more nearly concerned "to help them." The last sentence is an evident and angry allusion to the Cabinet of Vienna.† But the Address of the House of Lords was by no means fruitless of relief for the Catalans. Bolingbroke immediately sent fresh orders to Sir James Wishart not to appear before Barcelona, nor to attack the Majorcans till he should hear from Lord Bingley and receive directions from England; and Lord Bingley's instructions were also (in appearance at least) considerably modified.

Meanwhile the Lord Treasurer greatly surprised the House by moving for leave to bring in a bill "For the "further security of the Protestant Succession, by making

* The Lords obtained also the concurrence of the Commons in this address. Commons' Journals, vol. xvii. p. 575.

†This was the tone taken by all the Ministerial writers of the time: "How dreadful," says Swift, in his Public Spirit of the Whigs, "must "be the doom of those who hindered these people from submitting to "the gentle terms offered them by their Prince !" &c. Works, vol. iv. p. 446.

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MOTION BY SIR EDWARD KNATCHBULL.

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"it high treason to bring in any foreign troops into the kingdom." At first sight, this measure seemed to point at St. Germain's; but it was, in reality, directed against Hanover, and adverted to the secret design, already mentioned, of bringing over the Elector with a body of troops. Bolingbroke, however, dissembling his real drift, and finding himself hard pressed by the Opposition, observed, in the course of the debate, that he doubted not his noble friend who had introduced the motion meant only such foreign troops as might be brought into the kingdom by the Pretender. This the Lord Treasurer himself confirmed. But it was answered that, in that case, such a bill was altogether unnecessary; and that the law already provided sufficient weapons, such troops being either open enemies, if foreigners, or traitors and rebels, if natives; and on the whole, the motion was so coldly received by the House, that it does not seem to have been carried further.

The Ministers, however, undaunted by this check, attempted to retrieve their reputation by a decisive vote in both Houses, that the Protestant Succession was not in danger under Her Majesty's government. In the Lords, this question came on early in April. The debate was very remarkable, from the fact that a body of Peers, hearty friends to the Protestant Succession, but holding Tory politics, and hitherto supporters of the Tory Administration, separated from it on this trying occasion. The chief of these were the Archbishop of York and several other prelates; the Earls of Abingdon, Jersey, and Anglesea, Lords Ashburnham and Carteret. Anglesea was especially hostile in his language: looking full at the Treasurer, he said, that "if he found himself imposed upon, he durst pursue an evil Minister from the Queen's "closet to the Tower, and from the Tower to the scaf"fold." But, in spite of this schism, the Ministerial vote was passed by seventy-six against sixty-four; and thus, in fact, it was passed by the twelve Peers of the new creation.

The House of Commons, on the 15th, displayed a similar scene. The House having, on the motion of Sir Edward Knatchbull, resolved itself into Committee on the same question of the Protestant Succession being out of

danger, there appeared, as in the Lords, a secession from the Government of many moderate Tories, (the Hanoverian Tories, as they were then termed,) with the Speaker at their head. A very powerful speech from him drew over a considerable number on this occasion; and, on the division, the Court could only muster 256 against 208. Next day, on reporting the Resolution to the House, another fierce debate arose. Walpole applauded the public spirit of the Speaker, but added, that he despaired of seeing truth prevail; since, notwithstanding the weight of a person of his known integrity and eloquence, the majority of votes had carried it against reason and argument. Stanhope endeavoured to prove the Protestant Succession in danger by this single induction, that, as was universally acknowledged, it had been the French King's intention, so it was still his interest, and he had it more than ever in his power, to restore the Pretender. But the Opposition did not venture on a second division.

In the Lords, the Whigs showed their resentment in a far less justifiable manner. The Earl of Wharton moved, that Her Majesty might be requested “to issue out a proclamation, promising a reward to any person who should "apprehend the Pretender dead or alive." The last clause- a direct encouragement to murder-might disgrace even a barbarous age and a false religion; and it is with great regret that I find such illustrious names as Halifax and Cowper ranged in defence of this savage and unchristian proposal. They, Whigs as they were, by a strange anomaly, relied mainly on the precedent of James the Second, in setting a price on the head of his nephew the Duke of Monmouth: so inconsistent do men sometimes become from party spirit! To oppose this Address was by no means safe or prudent at that time, as laying open the opponent to the charge of Jacobitism; yet Lords North and Trevor did not shrink from this duty. The former concluded his speech by saying, that no man had more respect and affection for the House of Hanover, or would do more to serve them than himself; but that they must excuse him if he would not venture damnation for them. The latter moved as an amendment, "That the "reward should be for apprehending and bringing the "Pretender to justice, in case he should land or attempt

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PERPLEXITY OF MINISTERS.

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"to land." Many of the Whig peers concurred with the amendment; all the Whig bishops had withdrawn from the debate; and the House of Lords, to their honour, rejected Lord Wharton's proposal.

The House of Lords, on the same day, passed two Resolutions: 1. That no person, not included in the Articles of Limerick, and who had borne arms in France or Spain, should be capable of any employment, civil or military. 2. That no person, who is a natural born subject of her Majesty, should be capable of sustaining the character of public Minister from any foreign potentate.-These Resolutions were levelled entirely at Sir Patrick Lawless, an Irishman, who was then in London as agent from the Court of Spain in the treaty of commerce. He had been an adherent of James the Second, had intrigued in the cause of his son, was in frequent and close communication with Bolingbroke, and held the Roman Catholic faith. All these might be just grounds of jealousy; but, as mere truth and reason have seldom sufficient weight with the vulgar, some of the leading Whigs did not scruple to add several absurd and groundless allegations. Walpole had even gone so far as to allude to him, in the House of Commons, as a man "strongly suspected of "having imbrued his hands in the blood of the late "Duke of Medina Celi and Marquis of Leganez, utter calumny. The Ministers, however, wisely yielded to the popular prejudice; and sent to Lawless a friendly suggestion to withdraw into Holland.

an

In the midst of these Parliamentary proceedings, the Ministers were thrown into the greatest confusion by an unexpected diplomatic demand. The Hanoverian envoy, Baron Schutz, had, instead of any precise instructions from his Court, received an order to consult and be guided by Somers, Halifax, Cowper, and other undoubted friends of the Protestant Succession. All of them were, at this period, unanimous in thinking that their great object could not be better secured than by the presence of one of the Hanover family in England. So long as they had indulged any hope of regaining the Queen's favour, they had been unwilling to urge, or even to allow,

* Coxe's Life, vol. i. p. 45.