army grew fo numerous, and became fo clofely united, as to be able to fupport itfelf against law. Therefore, Sir, whatever friend I may be to difcipline in the army, which, barring reviews, we have had no great occafion for these twenty years paft; whilft I am a friend to the people, I fhall think myself obliged to be against erecting barracks, and every thing that may in the leaft contribute towards its being neceffary for us to erect any fuch; and, confequently, I muft be against the clause now proposed.

The fecond debate upon the motion for addref fing his Majefly to remove Sir Robert Walpole from his prefence and councils for ever. [See the firft debate on this fubject in the Magazines for May, June and July 1741.] The fpeech of L. Junius Brutus. Mr Prefident,

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Mong the many advantages arifing from our happy form of government, there is one which is reciprocal to King and people, which is, a Tegal and regular method by which the people may lay their grievances, complaints and opinions before their fovereign, not only with regard to the measures he purfues, but also with regard to the perfons he employs. In abfolute monarchies, the people may fuffer, they may complain; but tho' their fufferings be publick, their complaints must be private: they must not fo much as murmur against their King's measures or ministers; if they do, it is certain perdition to the few that are guilty of fo much indifcretion. This is a moft terrible misfortune to the people in all abfolute monarchies, and occafions thofe fevere punishments and cruel tortures, which are fo frequent in all fuch: but it is a miffortune to the abfolute monarch, as well as to the people under his defpotick fway; for as he has no way of coming at the knowledge of the unpopularity of his meafures or minifters, he often goes on purfuing the fame measures, or employing the fame minifters, till the difcontents of his people become univerfal and furious; and then, by a general infurrection, he and his minifters are involved in one common ruin. However upright his intentions may have been, however much

he may have been imposed on by his minifters, an impetuous domineering mob can feldom make any difference: the defpotick monarch himself, and sometimes his whole family, are borne down by the impetuofity of the torrent, and become a facrifice to the refentment of an injured populace.

In this kingdom, Sir, it can never be fo, as long as the King allows parliaments to fit regularly and freely, and the members of this houfe perform faithfully the duty they owe to their King, their conftituents and their country. As members of this houfe, Sir, we are obliged to reprefent to his Majefty, not only the grievances, but the fentiments of the people, with regard to the measures he purfues, and the perfons he advifes with or employs in the executive part of our government; and therefore, whilft we fit here and do our duty, no general difcontent can arife, without his Majefty's being informed of its caufes, and of the methods for allaying it. If we neglect to do so, or from selfish motives abitain or delay giving his Majesty a proper information and advice upon any fuch occafion, we neglect or betray, not only our duty to our country and conftituents, but alfo our duty to our fovereign.

This, Sir, is my opinion; this must be the opinion of every man, who has a true notion of our conftitution; and therefore I can no longer delay making you the motion, with which I fhall conclude what I have to fay upon this occafion. I believe there is not a Gentleman of this houfe, who is not fenfible, that both the foreign and domestick measures of our government, for feveral years paft, have been diffatiffactory to a great majority of the nation, I may fay to almoft every man in the nation who has not been concerned in advifing or carrying them on. I believe there is not a Gentleman in this house, if he will freely declare his fentiments, who is not fenfible, that one fingle person in the administration has not only been thought to be, but has actually been the chief, if not the fole adviser and promoter of all those measures. This is known without doors, as well as it is within; and therefore the difcontents, the reproaches, and even the curfes of the people, are all di

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rected against that fingle perfon. They complain of our prefent measures, they have fuffered by past measures; they expect no redress; they expect no alteration or amendment, whilft he has a fhare in advifing or directing our future. Thefe, Sir, are the fentiments of the people with regard to that minifter: these fentiments we are in honour and duty bound to represent to his Majefty; and the proper method for doing this, as eftablished by our conftitution, is to addrefs his Majefty to remove him from his councils.

Sir, if the general discontent which hath arifen against this minifter, were but of yefterday, or without any juft and folid foundation, I fhould expect it would foon blow over, and therefore should not think it worthy of the notice of parliament; but it has lafted for fo many years, was at firft fo well founded, and has every year fince been gathering, from his conduct, fo much additional ftrength, that I have for feveral feffions expected fuch a motion as I am now to make, from fome other Gentle man, more capable than I am to enforce what he proposes; but as no Gentleman has hitherto attempted it, and as this is the laft feffion of this parliament, I was unwilling it should expire without anfwering the people's expectations, which, in this refpect, are fo juft, fo well founded, and fo agreeable to our conftitution: therefore I hope I fhall be excufed for attempting what I think my duty as a member of this house, and as a friend to our prefent happy establishment.

After what I have faid, Sir, I believe no Gentleman can mistake the person I mean: I am convinced every one fuppofes I mean the Hon. Gentleman who fits upon the floor, over-against me; and the whole house may fee, he takes it to himself. Against him there is, I believe, as general a popular discontent, as ever was against any minifter in this kingdom; and this difcontent has lafted fo long, that I must fay, his having withstood it for fo many years, is no great fign of the freedom of our government; for a free people neither will nor can be governed by a minifter they hate or despise. As I am only to propofe an address to remove him from his Majefty's councils, I have no occafion to accufe

him of any crime: the people's being generally diffatisfied with him, and fufpicious of his conduct, is a fufficient foundation for fuch an addrefs, and a fufficient caufe for his Majefty's removing him from his councils; because no fovereign of these kingdoms ought to employ a minifter who is become difagreeable to the generality of the people; and when any minifter happens to become fo, it is our duty to inform his Majefty of it, that he may give fatisfaction to his people, by the removal of fuch a minister.

However, Sir, tho' I fhall not at prefent charge this minifter with any particular crime, I muft beg leave to examine a little into his conduct, in order to fhew, that the difcontents of the people are not without foundation; and if it be true,what was and is ftill generally supposed, it must be allowed, that the methods by which he firft advanced himself to the high offices he has ever fince enjoyed, were fuch as could not but be offenfive to every honeft man in the nation. The making and unmaking the famous bank-contract; the fcreening from condign punishment those who, by their wicked and avaritious execution of the truft repofed in them by the S. S. fcheme, had ruin'd many thousands; the lumping of publick juftice, and subjecting the lefs guilty to a punishment too fevere, in order that the most heinous of fenders might efcape the punishment they deferved; and the giving up to the S. S. company the fum of feven millions Sterling, which they had obliged themselves to pay to the publick, a great part of which fum was given to old stock-holders, and confequently to those who had never fuffered by the fcheme, were the fteps by which he was fuppofed to have risen to power; and fuch fteps could not but raise a general diftafte at his advancement, and a dread of his administration.

Thus, Sir, he entered into the adminiftration with the general difapprobation of the people; and, I am fure, his measures fince have been far from reftoring him to their love or esteem. As he began, fo he has gone on, oppreffing the innocent, impofing upon the credulous, fcreening the guilty, wafting the publick treasure, and endangering the liberties of the people.

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All this I could evince from every step of his administration, from the beginning to this very day; but I fhall confine myfelf to fome general obfervations, and fome of the most remarkable inftances. In general I fhall obferve, That by his advice and influence a much greater army has all along been kept up than was neceffary for the fupport of our government, or confiftent with our conftitution; and even that army often augmented without any real caufe: That many fquadrons have been fitted out, to the great expence of the nation, and general disturbance of our trade, without any juft cause, and, I believe, without fo much as a defign to employ them effectually, either against our enemies, or for the affiftance of our allies: That every method propofed of late years for fecuring our conftitution against its most dangerous enemy, corruption, has been by his means rejected, or rendered ineffectual; whilft, on the other hand, many penal laws have been paffed, which have reduced a great number of his Majesty's fubjects under the arbitrary power of a minifter and his creatures: That almoft every article of publick expence has been increased by the addition of new and ufelefs officers; and all enquiries into the management of any publick money, either prevented or defeated: That votes of credit at the end of a feffion of parliament, which have always been thought of dan gerous confequence to our conftitution, have by him been made fo frequent, that few feffions have paffed without one: That the expence of the civil lift has been vaftly increafed fince the beginning of his adminiftration, tho' it was then much greater than it had ever amounted to in former times. To thefe, Sir, which are all of a domestick nature, I fhall add, with regard to our foreign affairs, That, ever fince his advice began to be prevalent in our foreign affairs, the trade and particular intereft of this nation have in all treaties and negotiations been neglected, the confidence of our most 'natural allies difregarded, and the favour of our moft dangerous enemies

courted; and that to this moft unaccount able conduct the prefent melancholy fituation of the affairs of Europe is principally to be afcribed.

I know, Sir, it will be objected, That as every material step in the late conduct of our publick affairs, either at home or abroad, has been authorised or approved of by parliament, what I have said, must be look'd on as a general charge againft his Majefty's councils and our parliaments, rather than as a perfonal charge against any one minister. But this, upon a due confideration, becomes the most heavy, and the moft evident charge against the minifter I aim at. According to our conftitution, we can have no fole and prime minifter: we ought always to have feve ral prime minifters or officers of state: every fuch officer has his own proper department; and no officer ought to meddle in the affairs belonging to the department of another. But it is publickly known, that this minifter, having obtained a fole influence over all our publick councils, has not only affumed the fole direction of all publick affairs, but has got every officer of ftate removed that would not follow his direction, even in the affairs belonging to his own proper department. By this means he has monopolized all the favours of the crown, and ingroffed the fole dif pofal of all places, penfions, titles, and ribbons, as well as of all preferments, ci vil, military, or ecclefiaftical.

This, Sir, is of itself a moft heinous offence against our conftitution; but he has greatly aggravated the heinousness of this crime; for having thus monopolized all the favours of the crown, he has made a blind fubmiffion to his direction at eleEtions and in parliament, the only ground to hope for any honours or preferments, and the only tenure by which any Gentle man could preferve what he had. This is fo notoriously known, that it can stand in need of no proof. Have not many deferving Gentlemen been disappointed in the preferment they had a juft title to, upon the bare fufpicion of not being blindly devoted to his perfonal intereft? Have not fome perfons of the highest rank and moft illuftrious characters been difplaced, for no other reafon than because they difdained

to facrifice their honour and confcience to his direction in parliament? As no crime, no neglect, no misbehaviour could ever be objected to them; as no other reafon could

ever be affigned for depriving the crown of their fervice, this only could be the reafon. Nay, has not this minifter himfelf not only confeffed it, but boafted of it? Has he not faid, and in this houfe too, That he would be a pitiful fellow of a minifter who did not difplace any officer that oppofed his measures in parliament ? Can any Gentleman who heard this declaration, defire a proof of the minister's mifconduct, or of his crimes? Was not this openly avowing one of the moft heinous crimes that can be committed by a minifter in this kingdom? Was it not avowing that he had made ufe of the favours of the crown for obtaining a corrupt majority in both houfes of parliament, and keeping that majority in a flavish dependence upon himself alone? Do not we all know, that even the King himself is not, by our conftitution, to take notice of any man's behaviour in parliament; far lefs to make that behaviour a means by which he is to obtain, or a tenure by which he is to hold the favour of the crown? and shall we al low a minifter, not only to do, but openly to avow, what he ought to be hanged for, fhould he advife his fovereign to do? It is by means of this crime, Sir, that the minifter I am speaking of has obtained the authority or approbation of parliament in every step of his conduct; and therefore that authority or approbation is so far from being an alleviation, that it is a moft heavy aggravation of every wrong ftep which he has thus got authorised or approved of by parliament. For this reason, in confidering any particular ftep of his conduct, its being authorised or approved by parliament, can have no weight in his favour, whatever it may have against him. If the ftep was in itself weak or wicked, or if it now appears from its confequences to have been fo, its having been approved of, or authorifed by parliament, must be fuppofed to have proceeded either from his having mifled the parliament by falfe gloffes and affeverations, or from his having overawed a majority by means of that crime which he has fince openly avowed.

Having thus obviated an objection that may be made against any particular accufation, as well as against the general acculations I have already mentioned, I fhall

juft hint at fome of the particular branches of misconduct he has been guilty of in the long courfe of his administration. And, among these, the small progrefs we have made in the difcharge of our publick debt, most justly deferves the first place. It is really furprifing, that the national debt fhould now be as much, if not more than it was in 1725, when our minifter first took it into his head to pull down the overgrown power of the houfe of Austria. In 1716, the publick debt was computed to amount to no more than 47,894,9501. but by fome articles then omitted, and by many extraordinary allowances afterwards made, efpecially thofe relating to army-debentures, in which this Gentleman had a very remarkable fhare, the publick debt as it then flood was made to amount to 51,000,000 1. Of this fum there was, in or before the year 1725, paid off about 5,000,000 1. which reduced it to 46,000,000 1. and as the finking fund was to receive a great addition in the year 1727, by the reduction of intereft, we had a profpect of having a great part of our publick debts paid off in a few years; efpecially as the tranquillity of Europe, or at least of this nation, feemed to be eftablished by the treaty concluded that year at Vienna, between the Emperor and the King of Spain. But our minifter was, it feems, fenfible of the power and influence he acquired by means of this load of debt, and by the many taxes impofed for the payment of it. He knew that these taxes, while they continue, must always make a great number of officers and placemen neceffary; and as he had the placing, preferring, and difplacing of all thefe officers at his arbitrary will and pleafure, he knew what weight this gave to his influence, both at elections and in parliament. For this reafon, he has employed all his art to prevent our being able to pay off any part of our old debt; or, if we paid off with one hand, he has taken care to make us contract as much with the other: fo that the national debt is now much about the fame, or rather more than it was in 1725, tho' the nation has never, in all that time, been involved in any extraordinary expence, but what has been unneceffarily brought upon it by his art or misconduct.

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I fay, Sir, his art or misconduct, either of which is certainly a moft fufficient cause to remove him from his Majefty's councils but I am apt to believe, there was fomething of art or defign, as well as mifconduct in it: for he really seems to have been afraid of having our debts diminish ed, for fear of the confequence, which muft have been that of abolishing fome of our moft burdenfome and pernicious taxes; otherwise it was impoffible he could have taken fo much pains as he did, to defeat a scheme offered a few years fince by a worthy member of this houfe, for reducing the intereft payable upon the national debt, and for putting the whole upon a certain footing of being difcharged in a courfe of years, without its being in the power of any fuch minifter as he to prevent it. To find fault with the defeating of this fcheme, may likewife be faid to be an accufation brought against this very parliament; but it is well known by whom, and by whofe influence it was defeated. I am pretty fure, it is the general opinion without doors, that it was not by the influence of argument; but if the defeat was owing to that influence, as I hope it was, I am convinced, that most of those who were fwayed by that influence, are now fenfible of their error, and heartily wifh they had confidered better of it; for I am afraid, we fhall never again meet with so favourable an opportunity.

But, Sir, the next step of misconduct I fhall take notice of, is of a different nature; it is a step that happened not to meet with the approbation of parliament, tho' I do not queftion its having been fupported and enforced by all the methods ufual, of late years, in fuch cases. I make no doubt but that every one, who poffeffed or hoped for any place or office under the crown, were threatned with a difap pointment to their hopes, or the lofs of the places they poffeffed, if they voted against it; and my reafon for not doubting of this is, because feveral Noblemen and Gentlemen were the very next year turned out of every place the crown could take from them, for no other apparent reafon, but because they or their friends voted against that minifterial project; and, fo far as I can recollect, I do not remember, that any

one who voted against it, has ever since obtained a favour from the crown, unless it be fuch as have by their conduct fince fhewn, that they heartily repented of their ftubbornness at that time. I believe, every one that hears me will fuppofe, I mean the excife-fcheme; which was certainly one of the weakest, or one of the wickedeft projects that was ever fet on foot, or countenanced, by any minifter in this kingdom. If our minifter was fenfible of the great power that scheme would have placed in the hands of a minifter, and had really formed a defign to overturn by that means the liberties of the people, he ought to be not only removed, but punished for his wickednefs; and if he was not fenfible of the danger that would accrue from that fcheme to our conftitution, if he had really no view, but the precarious hope of thereby making a little addition to the publick revenue, particularly the civil list, I muft fay, his weakness was amazing: for it fhewed, that he neither understood the genius of our conftitution, nor the genius of our people. If he had understood the genius of our conftitution, he could not but be fenfible of the destructive effects that scheme muft neceffarily have had upon it: if he had understood the genius of our people, it is impoffible to fuppofe, he would have advised his Majesty to have forfeited the affections of the whole people, for the fake of making an uncertain, and at beft but a trifling addition to the publick, or the civil lift revenue.

Thus, Sir, if he had never been guilty of any other crime or overfight, for this project alone he deferves at least to be removed from his Majefty's councils; and the refentment he fhewed against those who voted against this his favourite scheme, is a proof of what he now publickly avows, that he has made use of, that he will make ufe of the favours of the crown, for obtaining a corrupt majority in both houses of parliament. What happened upon this occafion, is an evident demonstration, that he has by fuch means already got, in a great measure, the nomination of the fixteen Peers to reprefent the Peerage of Scotland in the other house of parliament. We may remember, that seven or eight of the fixteen, who then fat in the other house,

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