that chamber remained quite idle, e- his own defence orders he had received The A confiderable time before the difperfion of the parliament of Paris, the feveral other parliaments throughout the kingdom had begun to profecute ecclefiaftics for refufals; but after that event happened, inftead of being intimidated, they proceeded with more vigour than formerly, notwithstanding the intimations of his Majefty's difpleature, fome effects of it felt, and the annulling of their fentences, which nevertheless did not prevent many of them being carried into execution; as if they had been refolved to drive the Chancellor and the Count d'Argenfon to their wits end, by forcing them to advise the King, either to recal the parliament of Paris, or to fend them likewife into exile. clergy, by means of thofe minifters advice and their own addrefs, had long evidently the afcendant over the King's mind; while the body of the people teftified their grief and aftonishment at fuch a fituation of affairs by a fullen filence, not daring to exprefs their fentiments, left they should follow the multitudes who had been fent to the Baftile for fpeaking difrefpectfully of his Majefty's conduct. The court, however, knowing how neceffary it was to have the fanction of the feveral parliaments, in order to make the people readily fubmit to the raifing of money, for executing fome of her projects with respect to foreign ftates; and matters having been gradually prepared for an accommodation, all the members of the parliament of Paris received letters de cachet, requiring them to repair to that capital on the ft of September 1754. Against that time they received orders to meet on the 4th; which they accordingly did. Then a declaration of his Majefty, dated the 2d of of that month, was produced to them; to the orders before given them with reof which we muft again give the fub- fpect to billets of confeffion. Some of tance pretty much at large in this fum- them were pretty roughly handled by mary, because it is fo often referred to; the civil courts, upon which the King paling by the preamble, because it pro- refolved, that his parliaments should duced a kind of anfwer from the parlia- have liberty to profecute only ecclefiament, which it feems needlefs now to ftics of the second order, and that what take notice of. In the body of the de- related to perfons of the Epifcopal dig. claration it was faid, That his Majefly, nity fhould be referved to himfelf. The having for fome time made the parlia- Archbishop of Paris having avowed his ment feel the effects of his difpleasure, orders to the inferior clergy to refuse the had voluntarily recalled them to Paris; facraments, and declared his adherence that he ordained them to refume their to the anfwer he had given near the beufual functions, and adminifter juftice ginning of the difputes, the first preflto his fubjects, without delay or inter- dent of the parliament was fent to acmiffion; that having observed, that the quaint his Majefty of the cafe; who bafilence kept for fo many years, in rela- nifhed the Metropolitan to his countrytion to matters which could not be de- houfe at Conflans. cided without equally prejudicing religion and the flate, was the moft proper means for fecuring the public peace and tranquillity, he injoined his parliament to be careful, that nothing fhould be done or attempted to the breach of that filence, and of the peace which he defired fhould reign in his dominions; at the fame time ordering them to proceed againft offenders according to law, and that the profecutions begun, and the definitive fentences pafied for contuma cy, from the beginning of the troubles, fhould be of no effect; without preju dice, however, to the definitive fentences that had been paffed contradictorily and in the last refort, [that is, the annulling arrets of the King's council]. The parliament ordered an entry of this declaration to be made in their journal, bearing, that it was registered in order to be executed, according to its form and tenor, and agreeably to the laws and ordinances of the kingdom; and that, in confequence of this, no innovation might be made in the external and public adminiftration of the facra ments. There he remained at the beginning of last year. Several of his clergy having obeyed the declaration of the zd of September preceding, he immediately fufpended them from the exercise of all their ecclefiaftical functions. Some perfons of high rank, at the King's defire, repaired to Conflans, and exhorted him to fubmiffion; but received so strong and potitive an anfwer, as fhewed that he was not to be moved from his purpofe. The King fignified his displeasure by banishing him from his own feat at Conflans to Champeaux en Erie, hoping thus to remove him from the bad counfel he had followed; and afterwards, at his own defire, permitted him to go to Laguy in the ifle of France, only about fix miles from Paris. While there, he continued to behave in such a manner as gave both the King and his parliament great offence. We were, however, told, that he at length abated fomewhat of his stiffness, permitting the clergy of his diocefe to adminifter the facraments without certificates of confeffion, till the general affembly of the clergy, which of courfe was to meet in May, and giving ground to hope he would fubmit to the determination of that body. All along till that meeting, the parliaments continued to protecute and punish every ecclefiaftic who disturbed the peace of the church and state by any piece of conduct relating to the bull Unigenitus. Several of these tribunals, Now the clergy began to fhew as much oppofition to the King's will and pleasure, as the feveral parliaments had fhewn formerly. For after his Majefy's declaration was known, feveral prelates, and among these the proud Archbishop of Paris, injoined the clergy of their several diocetes to fland firm in the mean time, had nothing to do in that refpect, the clergy within their jurifdictions fubmitting to the King's de claration without constraint. The general affembly met at Paris on the 26th of May laft, and the Cardinal de Rochefaucault was chofen President, As inftructions had been given to the reprefentatives of feveral diocefes, to confirm the fubmiffion to the conftitution Unigenitus as a law of the church, to oppofe ftrenuoufly the opinions of Janfenius, Quefnel, &c. to demand feveral arrets of the parliaments to be annulled, and to infift that parliaments fhould be confined to the cognifance of temporal affairs alone; his Majefty fignified to their Prefident, that if after the free gift were granted, any thing fhould be introduced contrary to the tenor of his declaration of the 2d of September 1754, he would immediately diffolve the affembly; and that if they fhould previously attempt any thing of that kind, he would not only diffolve them immediately, but would take proper meafures to oblige every ecclefiaftic to pay fuch a fum as he fhould demand, in proportion to his revenue, of which he already had an exact account. The free gift demanded, on the 6th of June, was fixteen millions of livres, which the affembly unanimously granted. After this, their deliberations were carried on fo fecretly, that we heard nothing further about them till the month of Auguft, when having drawn up a memorial in relation to the religious difputes, their Prefident went to the King, to know when he would be waited on with it. His Majefty told him, that the clergy ought to conform to his declaration of the 2d of September 1754, which he had charged his parliaments to fee duly executed. The prelates not being fatisfied with this anfwer, the Car dinal again waited on the King next day, with the complaint of the whole affembly against the parliament of Paris, particularly for their grossly abufing the power intrufted with them by his Majefty. He only answered, that he would talk to the first prefident of the parliament about that matter. The Cardinal having afterward waited on the King with new remonftrances against his declaration fo often mentioned, and the conduct of the parliament of Paris, his Majefty made the following anĺwer, "The fidelity of my parliament is well known to me. I am well fatisfied that their whole conduct tends to cause my declaration of Sept. 2. 1754 be put in execution; and that declaration I intend fhall be inviolably obferved. I have in a great measure eftablished peace, and I hope to fucceed altogether in the affair. But I fhould be forry that any of the bishops fhould oblige me to exceed the bounds of moderation which I have prefcribed to myfelf. I take upon me to direct the facraments of the church to be administered to all the Catholics of my dominions." The general affembly feparated on the 2zd of October. A few days before their feparation, feventeen prelates, of thirty-two who compofed the affembly, voted for accepting his Majefty's declaration. The parties having been fo near equal, we are told that both fides have drawn up a fet of articles or opinions relating to the bull Unigenitus, in order to lay them before the Pope for his determination. It is also faid, that the Archbifhop of Paris, not expecting much at prefent from that quarter to his liking, wants to have the matter determined by a national council called for that purpole. Mean while that Metropolitan, to fhew that he is not to be influenced by the vote of the general affembly, has deprived the vicar of Conflans of all his ecclefiaftical faculties, and ordered him to retire to the feminary of St Nicholas Chardonnet, for having, contrary to his exprefs prohibition, adminiftered to the Sieur Caufin in the parish of St Margaret. The vicar's father, however, has got him out of the feminary; and the Archbishop has had the further mortification. to find that the churchwardens of St Margaret's have given him a place of Soo livres a year among the clergy of their parish. Difputes have alfo arifen between fome of the parliaments aud the grand council, in relation to the jurifdiction of of the latter; but we have not yet got a diftin&t account of particulars. flination on the 10th and 11th of March. Some time before thefe British troops When on the affairs of Sardinia, we were fent off, the French had begun to were obliged to take notice of the fmug- make great naval preparations; but glers who for a confiderable time fpread with fuch fecrecy, that it was not fupterror through feveral parts of France; be- pofed they were near fo formidable, or caufe one circumftance relating to them in fo much forwardness, as was afterinterrupted the correfpondence between ward found. A piece of news arrived the two courts. A good many of them about this time, which greatly elated were executed, befides Mandrin, and the fpirits of their politicians, namely, part of his affociates taken with him. that concerning the death of the Grand Notwithstanding this, we heard in the Signior. We were informed, that the end of fummer, that they still confifted miniftry of Verfailles had been expecting of about 600 men, divided into feveral that event for twelve months before, bands, who continued to do a great from the opinion of able phyficians at deal of mifchief, and to commit many Conftantinople; and that their measures murders, particularly among the officers with respect to America, had been ta of the excife and cuftoms, to revenge the death of their late chief leader. We have not, however, heard any thing of them worth notice fince the reconciliation between the courts of Versailles and Turin, and the orders given by the latter to prevent their retreating, when purfaed, into Savoy or Piedmont. The French having, ever fince the end of the laft war, been conftantly molefting the British colonies in North America, and incroaching upon their territories; having alfo, in fummer 1754, driven a fmall British garrifon from a fort on one of the forks of the river Monongahela, and, with a greatly fuperior force, attacked Col. Washington, with about 300 Virginians under his command, killed and wounded a number of his men, and obliged him to leave his artillery in their hands, though he was only on fuch ground as it was fuppofed even thefe incroachers would not, without a declaration of war, or leave asked and granted, have fo much as fet foot on; the court of London, after fruitless remonftrances to that of Versailles, thought it was full time to take meafures for fecuring the British rights and poffeffions in that country. In purfuance of this, feveral tranfports, under Convoy of only two 20 gun fhips, failed from Cork for Virginia on the 14th of January last year with two regiments of land-forces, Halket's and Dunbar's, augmented to about 1000 men each, and arrived safe at the place of their de ken in view of the turn they fuppofed it would give to the general fyftem of Europe. The greatest politicians, however, are but men, and confequently fometimes mifreckon. Had the miniftry of Verfailles forefeen, that the Grand Signior's death would, for a whole year at least, contribute fo little as it did to the advancement of their scheme, and fome other events that happened, they would not perhaps have precipitated matters fo much as they did. Thinking, in the mean time, that they had a fine profpect of fuperiority at land, and confequently an opportunity of making ftrong impreffions at London, by overruning Hanover, and intimidating or attacking the allies of G. Britain on the continent at pleasure, they ftrained every nerve to get matters put on a good footing in America, by taking measures to fend thither twice as many troops as G. Britain had; hoping that one fucceffful campaign there, with the fituation in which they reckoned affairs in Europe to be, might procure all the conceffions they wanted for the prefent. So far were they advanced in their naval armaments before the court of London appeared to have been fufficiently apprifed of them, that it was for fome time doubted whether of the two nations would firft be fuperior at fea; especially as it was not certain how Spain would behave in the cafe. Affairs being in this pofture, it began to be fufpected that France would attempt an invafion of G. Britain Britain or Ireland, with a view of at least throwing things into confufion, and fo caufing American affairs be neglected till they might gain their principal point. When once the court of London took the alarm, fuch diligence was ufed in making British men of war fit for fervice, as perhaps was never exceeded at any time in any place. The French did not in effect put any fhips of war to fea till the 3d of May, when twenty-five fail fet out from Breft, twenty of them from 60 to 80 guns, and five of them frigates, having on board about 4000 land-forces. It appears pretty evident, that the British miniftry did not imagine there was then fuch an armament ready; for they had a few days before fent off the Admirals Bofcawen and Moftyn, with only eleven fhips from 50 to 74 guns, and a floop of 16 guns, having two regiments of foot on board, as fufficient to make head against fuch a fquadron as could be expected from that port, though they had a good many more fhips ready to fail. Had the British fleet been ever fo numerous, and had they attacked and beat the French in the European feas, a terrible noife would have been raised about the affair through all the courts of Europe. It would probably have been pretended, that the French fleet was out at fea only to exercise the feamen, and inure landmen to fea-fervice; or fome other thing as far from the truth. Strong endeavours would have been ufed, to throw the blame of all bad confequences that might happen upon G. Britain, though, to write with the utmoft caution, he had all along taken another kind of care to render the peace of Aixla-chapelle everlasting, than her next neighbour had. Though G. Britain might jufly have exerted whatever power divine providence had given her, to redress, or even revenge, the wrongs fhe had fuffered from the French, not only in North America, but in other places; ; yet his Britannic Majefty, to a void, as much as poffible, the imputa tion, as well as the reality, of difturb. ing the public tranquillity, had given or ders to Adm. Boicawen, upon fuppofi tion of his fquadron proving to be the ftronger, to fail to the American feas, and very near the coast there, before he would attempt any thing. He accordingly kept much a-head of the French fleet through the whole course. Some of the British running veffels having gi ven notice of the great fuperiority on the French fide, Adm. Holbourne was fent off on the 11th of May, to follow as faft as poffible, with fix fhips from 60 to 74 guns, and a frigate of 20. In the mean time fix of the French men of war of the line and three frigates, after convoying the reft to a confiderable distance, returned to Breft. On the 10th of June, off the banks of Newfoundland, three of thofe which proceeded towards America fell in with Adm. Bofcawen's fquadron; when the Alcide, mounting 64 guns, and the Lys, bored for 64, but mounting only 22 guns, were taken, the latter having one board eight companies of land-forces. The third efcaped by the favour of a fog. In the two taken there was found a confiderable fum of money; and we were informed that Gen. Diederik, appointed to be commandant of the French land-forces, was killed in the engagement. All the other fhips of that nation got partly to Louifburg in Cape Breton, and partly to the ports of Canada. It was the 21st of June before the reinforcement under Adm. Holbourne joined the reft of the British fleet; fo that had the whole French fhips which continued their voyage fallen in with Adm. Bofcawen, it is to be fuppofed that he would have got more than fufficient work upon his hands. The nine French men of war that returned to Breft, fet out again the 4th of June, and went first to Lisbon, then to Cadiz. What their business there was, we did not hear. Adm. Hawke was out with a British fleet, to watch their motions, and endeavour to fall in with them. They fet fail from Cadiz the ift of Auguft, and by keeping well out at fea, running as far north as the Lizard point, and then fteering a fouthern courfe, arrived fafe at Breft on the 3d of September. In this run they took a British frigate, the Blandford, of 20 guns, |