Parliament, feff. 1775-6. Such was in general the state of public affairs in England and America, previous to and about the time of the meeting of parliament, Oct. 26.1775. [The speech, of which our author here gives the fubftance, has been inferted [37. 62.] verbatim, as have likewife the addreffes.] in anfwer to this fpeech, which, as ufual, were an adoption of the whole, with no other alteration in the terms, but what was neceffary to the difference of fituation of the makers, produced fimilar effects with those of the preceding feflion; long and earnest debates in both houfes, and a proteft in one. The resemblance was not lefs perfect in the superior force by which they were carried through. That no man from the beginning, more ANNUAL REGISTER continued. [39.590.] firmly wished for peace than he had; and that no man would do more to obtain it now: if the laying down his place and honours would accomplish it, he would gladly refign them all. He own ed he had been dragged to his place a gainst his will: A place which, while in poffeffion, however difagreeable, he would fupport to the beft of his power. As to the Noble Lord in the American depart--The addreffes (continues our author) ment, he trusted he had acted on the foundeft principles of candour and deliberation. He could not poffibly make any objection to the inquiry into that Noble Lord's conduct, as he made no doubt but he would acquit himself before that House. As to an Hon. Gentleman's obfervation, of a penfion's having been given for bad information, he fhould only fay this, that he never recollected the gentleman alluded to had given bad information. He acknowled. ged his having interceded with the King for a reward for his fidelity: a man who lived in America, who was univerfally beloved there, till this unhappy difpute; a man, continues he, who refufed figning their refolutions, and who, on that account, was obliged to quit the country, was, in his opinion, a man worthy reward. Was he to ftarve here? fays he. The obtaining fuch a man a comfortable pittance, was not, I truft, a blameable action. He concluded with defending the general fubject of the American war, by obferving, that he thought it entirely neceffary that every part of the British empire fhould contribute to the defraying the common neceffary expences. He faid, the minifters were unjustly accufed, when they were reproached with their want of information, for that they had always given the beft they could procure; and that he was ready, when the general voice of the House fhould call for it, to explain his own conduct; and that whether we were for peace or war, the present supply was abfolutely neceffary, as the men muft be, fuppofing a ceffation of arms, conducted home. Eleven refolutions were then feverally moved, agreed to without a divifion, and ordered to be reported; among which were refolutions for employing and paying 20,000 British troops, and for the pay of the troops of Hanover, Heffe, Heffe-Hanau, Waldeck, Brunswick, and Brandenburg-Anfpach, in British pay. [The debates on the addreffes in both Houfes, and the proteft, have been given already [37. 605.-616]. Our author gives the fubftance of them, and concludes thus ]- In the course of these long and warm debates, all the old queftions, on the right of taxation, on virtual reprefentation, on the dignity of parliament, the fupremacy of the legiflature, and on the abfolute neceffity, that a fupreme and uncontroulable power must be somewhere lodged in all governments, were again canvaffed; and the old ground, which had been fo often traced, was fo embellished, either by a freshnefs of colouring, or by changing the pofition or fituation of the objects, as to give it in feveral parts the appearance of novelty. Thefe long debates were put an end to at about half an hour after four in the morning, by a divifion, upon the amendment moved for by Ld John Cavendish, [which was the fame with that moved for in the House of Lords [37. 605.] by the Marquis of Rockingham], when the amendment was rejected, 278 against 108. The original queftion being then put, the motion for the addrefs was carried without a divifion. Though the fatiguing bufinefs they had gone through, and the latenefs of their breaking up, would have well excufed the recefs of a day, the forms of the houfe in this inftance prevented it, as they were obliged, that afternoon, to receive the report upon the addrefs, from the committee. This circumftance afforded an opportunity for renewing all the the preceding debates, and for bringing preceding debate, it is probable, that up fuch fubjects, as had either been paf- they thought themselves much flighted fed over, or but slightly touched upon in not having a greater deference paid to before. their opinion and principles; and it is not To explain this matter it will be neceffary to obferve, that the part of the fpeech which mentioned as a favour the fending of Hanoverian troops to Gibraltar and Minorca, as well as the correfponding part of the addrefs, which acknowledged and returned thanks for it in that fenfe [37. 563, 5.], had, befides the party in declared oppofition, given difguft to feveral of thofe gentlemen, who call themselves independent; a diftinction which is well known to include a numerous and powerful body in that house. The gentlemen under that appellation, who had long been diftinguifhed in the late reigns for the steadi- Among feveral peculiar circumftances nefs of their oppofition to court-mea- which attended the debates of both these fures, have for several years paft taken days, was the total defection of Gen. the contrary fide, and been as remark- Conway from adminiftration upon the able from an uniform fupport of admi- firft; who, after expreffing the utmost denistration in almost all cafes. In Ame- teftation of that official principle, that rican affairs particularly, they have always been among the foremost in propofing or fupporting the most coercive measures. It is fo well known as scarcely to require mention, that an averfion to continental connections, with fomething bordering upon an antipathy to the employing of foreign troops in any cafe whatfoever, had formerly been one of the moft diftinguished tenets, in the political creed of the party which we have defcribed; and whatever revolutions other parts of their doctrine may fince have undergone, this article feems to have been preserved tolerably pure and inviolate. Upon this occafion, however, it fhewed its efficacy; for fome of these gentlemen were fo diffatisfied, that though they warmly approved of all the other parts of the addrefs, they, upon that account only, went away without giving their votes. Others who continued in the house would not, however, give their votes, until they had received what they understood to be an affurance, that full fatisfaction would be afterwards given upon that fubje&t. In this, however, they found themfelves totally difappointed, no difpofition at all of the fort appearing in the minifter. Whether they confidered themfelves as deceived or not, with refpect to the implied condition on which many of them had supported the address in the [For the reft of this debate we refer to what is already inferted [37.609.], adding here only one paragraph more from our author, viz.] perfons holding places muft implicitly THE measure of fending the Hanove- of 1 . 1 of G. Britain the electoral troops of his Majefty, or any other foreign troops, without the previous confent of parliament, is dangerous and unconftitutional." The Noble mover added an explanation, that by the term unconftitutional, he meant that it was against law. In the introduction and support of this motion, the speech again underwent much fevere cenfure, as breathing fentiments which included higher ideas of prerogative, than any other that had been delivered in that place fince the Revolution; and as containing flights of that council, neglect of parliament, and indifference of their approbation. The measure in queftion was faid to have inflicted a most dangerous wound in the conftitution, which, if not fpeedily healed, would gangrene and extend in fuch a manner as to mortify the whole: That however innocuous it might feem in its first operation, the example and precedent were of the most alarming nature, and might produce the most fatal confequences: That it was totally fubverfive of the great charter and fecurity of EngJifh liberties, the Bill of Rights. They were requested to confider the importance of the fubject; and it was averred to be of as much confequence to the liberties of this country, as America had been to its wealth and power: That, in this feafon of calamity, when half the empire was too probably loft for ever, they were bound by all the ties of intereft, duty, and love to their country, to watch Arictly over the liberties of the remain der, that fomething might ftill be left worth preferving, worth contending for: That it would be too much, to be at once ftripped of wealth, power, the fecurities afforded by our conftitution, and all the peculiar characteristics which diftinguished us from other nations. Among other objections, it was contended, That the Hanoverians would not be under the controul of any military Jaw in thofe garrifons; that the mutiny act did not reach them, being confined to thofe troops only who were therein fpecified, or voted by parliament; that it would not be pretended, that they carried their own laws along with them; when there, they must to all intents and purposes, be fubject to those of England. Thus all military fubordination would be at an end the moment of their arrival ; and an action at common law would lie against their officers, for any punishment which they inflicted. It was faid, that the putting foreigners in poffeffion of thofe great barriers of our commerce and maritime power, was also exceptionable in point of fecurity. The trust was of too great a magnitude to be reposed in aliens, who had no intereft in its prefervation. Upon the whole, it was con. cluded, and infifted upon, that the King had no right to maintain, in any part of the dominions of the British crown, any troops, other than are confented to by parliament, both as to number and to nation. The Lords in administration avowed and juftified the measure. They denied its offending either against the letter or the fpirit of the Bill of Rights. The claufe which was fuppofed to affect this measure, must be taken with the conditions which were annexed to it, and could extend no farther; one of these related to the bringing troops" within the kingdom," and another specifies “in time of peace:" nothing can be more demonftrably evident, than that the troops in queftion are not within the kingdom; and it is not to be prefumed, that any body will fay we are at prefent in a state of peace and tranquillity. It would be abfurd to fuppofe, that the words, " within the kingdom," included all its dependencies; but if such latitude were even admitted, and received as a fiction of policy, ftill, the rebellion in America, the exiftence of which could not be difputed, would juftify the measure, even upon the principles of that bill. That the King had been at all times competent to raise or keep an army in time of war or rebellion, in any part of his dominions; that this competence was rather confirmed than leffened by the Bill of Rights; that the bill made no diftinction between an army of natives and foreigners; that this was no novel doctrine, but had been repeatedly brought into practice fince the Revolution, in times when the rights of the people were as fully understood, and their prefervation as carefully attended to, as at prefent; and that foreigners had not only been hired, but brought into this kingdom, without the previous confent of parliament. They, however, contended, that were all this ftrong ground given. up, ftill the Bill of Rights, being retrofpective and declaratory, could bear no view to poffeffions which were not at that time in the crown. The expediency of of the measure, and the neceffity of its being timely adopted, were also infifted upon; and it was much argued, that fuch a cenfure would fhew a fhameful diftruft of the crown, at a time when it could not be justified with the smallest appearance of reason. To thefe and other arguments in the fame line it was replied, That it was beneath the dignity, and contrary to the liberal conftruction and comprehenfive views of that House, to enter into the quibbles and diftinctions of Weftminfterhall; to weigh words and fentences, to define their distinct, legal, or grammatical import, was for others, not for them. They were to confider the spirit, the intention, the circumftances that led to, and the evils that were to be cured by, that folemn compact between the King and the people, the Bill of Rights. Thefe they were to confider as legiflators, as the hereditary guardians of that new Magna Charta, which includes within its pale all the liberties of the people of England, not as lawyers, who wanted to explain away its fubftance, or to find loop-holes to creep through. That bill was a capitulation between the people and their newly-elected fovereign; a compact to be for ever binding on their refpective pofterity and fucceffors. It claimed no new rights, it required no favours; it declared old rights; what was already the law and the conftitution; and particularly provided against thofe violations of them which were then more immediately felt. Of thefe, the keeping of a ftanding army without the confent of parliament, was the firft in danger and magnitude, and had been recently experienced; this giant evil had already fubverted the liberties of all the other ftates in Europe, and had nearly fwal lowed up our own. This deftroyer of the rights of nations was accordingly provided againft, as far as compacts can bind mankind, and as wisdom can govern futurity. The conftruction now attempted to be put upon the words within the kingdom," it was faid, might be carried to an extent which the Noble Lords on the other fide might not be willing to avow. If these terms did not include all the poffeffions belonging to this country, then armies of foreigners, to any amount, might be introduced into Jerfey, Guerney, Ireland, and even Scotland, which was not at that time within the kingdom. Can it be feriously contended, that this Vol. XL. is in the intention or spirit of the Bill of Rights? or that, when the maintaining an army of natives within England and Wales was deemed dangerous to the rights and liberties of the people, the surrounding and befieging them with hosts of foreigners was an object neither of jealousy nor apprehenfion. The diftincttions made between a time of peace and war, and the great latitude of power attributed to the crown in the latter inftance, were equally controverted, and said neither to be warranted by the law, nor by any cuftomary usage; that if the arguments ufed on that head were carried to their full extent, it would neceffarily follow, that an infurrection, or war, in the remoteft part of this widely-extended empire, would render it legal in the crown to introduce armies of foreigners, of any nation, and to any amount, even into this kingdom. The inference attempted to be drawn from the word foreigners, not being expreffed in the law, was, it was faid, too puerile to deserve a serious confideration, if it had not been for the great ftrefs which feemed to be laid upon it by fome lords on the other fide; but can it be thought or believed, that when it was deemed dangerous to entrust the fword in the hands of a standing army of natives, it should be confidered as perfectly wife, legal, conftitutional, and fafe, to place it in thofe of foreigners? It was abfolutely denied, that foreign troops had been brought into the kingdom at any time fince the Revolution, without the previous confent of parlia ment, either by an addrefs, or by fome former treaty which it had ratified. Such was the cafe of the Heffians in the years 1745 and 1756, upon which fo much weight had been laid; in the firft inftance, the measure had the fanction of an addrefs from both houfes to the throne [7. 586, 7.]; and in the fecond, it was covered by an exifting treaty, which had already received the approbation of parliament [17.626.;-18. 436.]. to the hiring of foreign troops, and afterwards prevailing on parliament to ratify the engagements, it did not at all come up to the point in queftion, though it could be fhewn, that even this practice had in other times been an object of much animadverfion and cenfure. As 1 derstood, that in the height of the turbulence, heat, and danger of the late war, when the fate of empires feemed at ftake, and our annual levies for the army and navy were not much fewer than twenty thoufand; yet in fuch a feafon of urgent neceffity, when the propriety of the meafure did not admit of a doubt, that great ftatesman the Earl of Chatham would not venture upon raifing a German regiment of 4000 men for the American fervice, under any colour of the royal prerogative, but waited to go through the formalities, and to receive the fanction of an act of parliament for the purpose. And fuch precautions were taken at that time to fecure the rights of the people, and fuch an attention paid even to their opinions, that the number of foreign of ficers was limited to fifty, which was lefs than one third of the whole; the foldiers were alfo to be Proteftants, to become naturalized fubjects, and to take the oath 1o Geo. I. [8. 362.]. And fo tenacious was the minifter and parliament then with respect to the act of fettlement, fo careful of the fmalleft viola. tion, that the law which enabled the crown to take thofe Germans into its fervice, provided that they fhould ferve in America only, and that none of the foreign officers fhould bear any commiffion higher than that of lientenant-colonel. So far were we then from putting the ftrong fortreffes of this empire into the poffeffion of foreigners, that a very deferving naturalized officer could never arrive at the command of a regiment of his own countrymen, which he had a principal thare in raifing and forming; and fo widely different were the principles and modes of acting a few years back, from the doctrines which are held out at prefent. They alfo obferved, that fo lately as the year 1768, when the crown thought an augmentation of the army in Ireland from 12,000 to 15,000 men neceffary, in order thereby to ftrengthen the foreign garrifons, without leaving that kingdom defencelefs; however neceffary the meafure was, and though the Irish parliament, which was to provide the expence, feconded the King's views; yet he did not think himself authorised, at the head of that body, to make any addition to his forces, thongh of natural-born fubjeds, without the fanction of the British parliament; which was accordingly obtained by an act paffed for that purpofe. [30. 108.] As to what had been repeatedly faid, of not fhewing any diftruft of the prince upon the throne, it was replied, that no diftruft was meant or entertained: compliments were not to be thought of in queftions of great national concern; nor a precedent established as a matter of compliment, which might prove fatal in its confequences to the rights of the peo. ple. No prince ever fat upon a throne that deferved a more unlimited confidence than our great deliverer K. William; yet, with all his virtues, and all the obligations we were under to him, parliament would not indulge him in that meafure which went fo near to his heart, of keeping a fingle regiment of Dutch guards here. They who refused him in that inftance, notwithstanding all his great virtues and qualities, deferve the higheft applause and honour for their firmnefs in fo doing. If they had been ceremonious, a precedent would not now have been wanting; and the ufage being once established, would, upon fome future occafion, be applied to the moft dangerous purposes. Upon the whole, the oppofition infifted, that the meafure was highly illegal and unconstitutional; that it was directly contrary both to the letter and fpirit of the law; but that if it had militated with no pofitive law, it would still have been a total infraction, and fundamentally fubverfive, of the first principles of our government. A Noble Earl went fo far as to pronounce it decifively to be high treafon against the conftitution. A great Lord at the head of the law, and Speaker of that Houfe, gave up the point, as to Gibraltar and Minorca not being fuppofed within the kingdom, in the intention and spirit of the law; he befides allowed, that the law applied to foreigners; but juftified the meafure upon the fame principle; for as America was alfo included in the description of within the kingdom, and a rebellion and war were now exifting there, fo the operation of the Bill of Rights muft cease, until peace was reftored. A Noble Lord high in office had moved the previous queftion early in the debate, upon a fuppofition, that a bill of indemnity would be brought into the Houfe of Commons by the minifter, in order to remove the fcruples and quiet the apprehenfions of the country gentlemen. The idea of an act of indemnity was, however, totally reprobated by the other |