to charge this petition with fomething fimilar to the present one, it did not ftrike him to be fo in fact; and finding therefore, that there was no precedent for it, he fhould be for rejecting it at once, although he faw but little difference be tween that, and its being ordered to lie on the table, where perhaps it might remain for ever unnoticed. He was very far, he faid, from withing to treat the petitioners with the leaft difrefpect; but yet he did not conceive their refpectability was any argument for the prayer of their petition being paid any particular attention to every petitioner had an equal claim to their Lordships' interference; and it would certainly appear very fingular and partial, that one petition fhould be rejected, and that in the fame breath they should receive another on the fame fubject: this was a method of proceeding that could not be countenanced by that House, and therefore he concluded it would meet with the fame fate the one had done which fo immediately preceded it.

Chandor.

The queftion was then put, and the petition was rejected. The Duke of Chandos begged leave to fay a few words The D. of refpecting the proceedings of yesterday. His Grace faid, that on the preceding day, a noble Lord, high in adminiftration, had moved for their Lordships to be fummoned the next day on business of great importance, in confequence of which a great number had attended, fome of whom he made no doubt had put themfelves to inconveniencies for that purpose, and then they were told by a noble Duke, who was likewife high in his Majefty's fervice, that the business was not ripe for their confideration; this, he conceived, was not treating that House with that refpect it was generally ufed to receive; and therefore as it was impoffible for any perfon to form any idea of the nature of this important bufinefs, he wifhed to know when it was likely to be brought forward.

The Duke of Portland faid, that he did not apprehend he The D. of was called upon by any rule of the Houfe to make any reply, Portland. yet his perfonal refpect for the noble Duke made him rife to affure him, that proper notice fhould always be given, while he had the honour of being one of his Majefty's Minifters, when either that or any other bufinefs of importance was to be brought forward.

The Duke of Chandos did not think that one day was fuffi- The D. of cient time to be called proper notice: he likewife faid, it Chandos. appeared to him very ftrange that bufinefs of importance hould be fo unfettled, that in fo fhort a fpace, circumftan

ces

Earl Ferrars

Lord Stor. mont.

ces fhould arife to prove it was not ripe for 'their Lordfhips' confideration.

The order of the day was then read for going into a Committee of the whole House on the ftamp-duty bill, which being gone through, Lord Ferrars rofe to propofe his fubftitute for the ftamp on receipts; but as the report of the Committee was deferred till to-morrow, he declined of courfe ftating the particulars, and the House adjourned.

June 20.

In confequence of Lord Ferrars' intimation, that he fhould propofe fomething on the third reading of the ftampduty bill, in lieu of the tax on receipts, their Lordships waited very near an hour for his coming to the Houfe; which he had no fooner done, and taken his place, than Lord Stormont moved for the third reading of the bill.

Earl Ferrars begged pardon of the Houfe for having detained them fo long; and faid, he must likewife folicit their indulgence to poftpone the reading of the bill to a future day. He firft affigned, as a reafon for fo doing, the lateness in the day, as he wished their Lordships would take fufficient time to inveftigate what he fhould propofe. He then faid, he was not fully prepared; and afterwards, that he had expected the affiftance of a noble Lord, who he did not then fee in his place.

Lord Stormont thought it was very fingular that the noble Earl fhould have been prepared yesterday, and would have actually stated his propofitions, had he not let the time for fo doing escape, and yet find he was not competent for the talk to day it would be very irregular to poftpone the bill: his Lordship had faid he would make fome oppofition to it, and mentioned the time for fo doing; the Houfe had delayed proceeding, that he might have that opportunity, and if he did not choose to embrace it, he hoped their Lordships would order the bill to be read; which was accordingly done, and paffed without any farther altercation.

June 20.

Ordered their Lordships to be fummoned for Monday.

June

June 23.

Yefterday the Duke of Portland prefented to the Houfe of Peers the following meffage from his Majefty, which was read by Lord Mansfield, as Speaker of the House:

"George R.

"His Majefty having taken into confideration the propriety of making an immediate and feparate establishment for his dearly-beloved fon the Prince of Wales, relies on the experienced zeal and affection of the Houfe of Lords for the concurrence and fupport of fuch measures as shall be moft proper to affift his Majefty in this defign."

The fame having been read by the clerk, his Grace rofe again, and observed, notwithstanding he was fatisfied there needed but very little argument to induce their Lordships to acquiefce in the wifhes of his Majefty, yet he regretted that a bufinefs of this importance had not fallen to fome one more able than himself; however, as it was the custom to regulate matters of this kind in another place, he should not enter into particulars, but content himself for the present with only moving, "that an humble address be presented to his Majefty, to return the thanks of this Houfe to his Majefty for his moft gracious meffage; and to affure his Majefty in the moft dutiful manner of the hearty zeal of this House, to teftify their earnest defire to concur in fuch meafures as fhall be moft proper to affift his Majefty in fulfilling his defire of making an immediate and feparate establishment for his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales."

The Earl of Abingdon faid, my Lords, I do not rife to The Earl of give any oppofition whatever to the meffage which his Ma- Abingdon. jefty has been fo gracioufly pleafed to fend us. But, my Lords, this meffage now comes before us under fuch untoward circumstances, and, like Hamlet's father's ghoft, " in fuch a queftionable fhape," that, as Hamlet faid, "I will fpeak to thee," not, however, as Hamlet did, with his furprife, but without any furprife at all: for "admiration," fays Dean Swift, "is the note of a fool;" and befides this, the coalition I have lately feen has fufficiently taught me the wisdom not to wonder at any thing.-But to the meffage, my Lords, fo provoking queftion.-A noble Duke, at the head of our affairs, gave notice of a meffage from his Majefty on Monday laft; the Houfe was fummoned for Tuefday; the Lords met, and went away as they came, without any meffage at all-how came this, to pafs, my Lords? Will

the

the noble Duke fay, what the public papers have so authoritatively, but yet fo libelloufly, propagated, that his Majefty had broken his word with his Miniftry? Will the noble Duke avow this, iny Lords? No, my Lords, I truft he won't, because I am sure he can't. And yet if he does not, what apology has he to make to this Houfe? Is it no offence to this Houfe, that it fhould be called together, and then difmiffed without affigning a fingle reafon, either for its being called together or difmiffed? And if it be an offence, whence comes the offence? And where does the fault lie? Will the noble Duke be fo good as explain this matter to the House? for an explanation at least it certainly deferves. I truft, the noble Duke does not mean to blame his Majefty for the faults of his Ministry; for if he does good God! what a load is he laying upon his Majefty's fhoulders ! But now, my Lords, the meffage being come, let us fee what this meffage is, which his Majefty's Ministers have thus advised his Majefty to fend us? Does not the noble Duke know, that when the laft addition of one hundred thousand pounds was made to the civil lift, the then Minifter pledged himself to the public, that no farther application fhould be made to Parliament for the establishment of the Prince of Wales' houfehold? I fay, does not the noble Duke know this? And yet thofe very perfons who pinned that Minifter down to this pledge of himself to the public, now come in conjunction with him to violate this pledge, and to undo what they themselves had done! Had that Mi nifter done this of himself, had Lord North done this, who told you that he would bring America to the feet of this country, and yet brought this country to the feet of America; who told the country gentlemen that he meant to ob tain fubftantial revenue from America for this country, in order to induce them to go into the war, and then when he had got them into the war, told them that he meant no fuch thing; who vowed and protefted folemnly to God, that he would never give up the legiflative rights of this country, and yet was the first to relinquish thofe rights, not only to America, but to Ireland, unfought for and unexpec ted by Ireland, as I will fome day or other fhew, and prove to this Houfe: I fay, if Lord North had done this, Lord North had acted but like himself: but that those who set their faces against fuch act of public fraud and falsehood, fhould now become, by this act, ejufdem participes criminis, is for the politics of the day to account for. Again, my Lords, and

and to prove that I am not mistaken in faying that this melfage comes to us in fuch a queftionable fhape, was there ever a precedent of fuch a meffage before? Never, my Lords, that I know of. Was there ever a precedent of any application to Parliament for payment of the Prince of Wales's debts, as this application, though not exprefsly, plainly is ? Never, my Lords; but I wish there had been; and then the debts of his Majefty's royal father had not been, to the dif honour of this country, at this hour even left unpaid. Was there ever a precedent of the King's Minifters setting up a Prince of Wales in oppofition to the King? if there be, I am unacquainted with it. There is a precedent of a Prince of Wales being fet up in oppofition to his father, as in the cafe of George II. but this was upon very different grounds. It was an act of oppofition to the King's Minif ters, and not of the King's Minifters to the King, and, as fuch, is perhaps not to be wondered at; but that his Majefty's Minifters, who are fo by the breath of his mouth only, fhould attempt an oppofition to him, and through fuch a medium too as this is, is a phenomenon in politics which the prefent moment only can fhew: and yet, my Lords, when we confider the caufe, this is not to be wondered at neither; for what is the caufe? It is this, the Man of the People is now become the Minifter of the People, as he himself argues and proves, and not of the King: for, fays he, the vote of the Houfe of Commons has made me the Minister of this country, and not the pleasure of the King; and as the fenfe of the people is now in the House of Commons, and not at the Shakespeare tavern in Covent Garden, where it used to be, I will, fays he, upon the principle laid down by my party, I mean the principle of connection, govern both King and people as I lift, and treat them as I please. A principle which, both in term and definition, you will find fufficiently explained in the creed of that party, as publifhed fome years fince in a pamphlet, intitled, "Thoughts on the Caufe of the prefent Difcontents," and which means to fay, pull down the influence of the Crown in the House of Commons, give me the influence of connection there, which I will erect in its ftead, and then it shall be not Rex meus et ego, but ego et Rex meus; and as to the people, I know of no people but in the House of Commons, and connection has given me them. This is the principle, and fuch is the practice attempted upon that principle: but, alas! VOL. XI. alas !

I i