His Royal Highnefs the PRINCE of WALES, Supported by his Uncle, his Royal Highnefs the Duke of Portland, And proceeding up the Houfe with the ufual reverences, the writ and patent were delivered to the Earl of Mansfield, Speaker, on the woolfack, and read by the Clerk of the Parliament at the table, His Royal Highnefs and the reft of the proceffion ftanding near: after which his Royal Highnefs was conducted to his chair, on the right hand of the throne, the coronet and cufhion having been laid on a ftool before the chair: and his Royal Highness being covered as ufual, the ceremony ended. At about a quarter before three, his Majefty came in the ufual ftate, and being feated on the throne, his Royal Highnefs the Prince of Wales again took his feat in the chair of ftate on the right hand of his Majefty. Lord Southampton and Lord Lewisham fupporting the coronet, and other proper officers ftanding near the chair.-The Speaker of the House of Commons, with the Ufher of the Black Rod, and a great number of members being come to the bar, his Majefty was pleased to make the following moft gracious speech: "My Lords and Gentlemen, "I have the fatisfaction to inform you, that definitive treaties of peace have been concluded with the Courts of France and Spain, and with the United States of America. preliminary articles have been alfo ratified with the States General of the United Provinces. I have ordered these several treaties to be laid before you; and am happy to add, that I have no cause to doubt but that all those powers agree with me in my fincere inclination to keep the calamities of war at a great diftance. "The objects which are to be brought under your deliberation will fufficiently explain my reafons for calling you together after so short a recefs. Enquiries of the utmost importance have been long and diligently purfued, and the fruit of them will be expected. The fituation of the EaftIndia Company will require the utmoft exertions of your wisdom, to maintain and improve the valuable advantages derived from our Indian poffeffions, and to promote and secure the happiness of the native inhabitants of those provinces. "The "The feafon of peace will call upon you for an attention to every thing which can recruit the ftrength of the nation, after fo long and fo expenfive a war. The fecurity and increase of the revenue, in the manner leaft burthenfome to my fubjects, will be among your firft objects. In many ef fential parts it has fuffered; dangerous frauds have prevailed; and alarming outrages have been committed. Exertions have not been wanting to reprefs this daring fpirit, nor pains to enquire into its true caufes. In any inftances in which the powers of government may not be equal to its utmost care and vigilance, I have no doubt that the wisdom of my Parliament will provide fuch remedies as may be found wanting for the accomplishment of purposes in which the material interefts of this nation are fo deeply concerned. "Gentlemen of the House of Commons, "I have ordered the estimates of the expences for the year to be laid before you. From those you will perceive the reduction which I have made in all the establishments, which appear to me to be brought as low as prudence will admit: And you will participate with me in the fatisfaction which I feel in this ftep towards the relief of my fubjects. "At the end of a war fome part of its weight must inevitably be borne for a time. I feel for the burthens of my people but I rely on that fortitude, which has hitherto fupported this nation under many difficulties, for their bearing thofe which the prefent exigencies require, and which are fo neceffary for the full fupport of national credit. "My Lords and Gentlemen, "In many respects our fituation is new; your councils will provide what is called for by that fituation, and your wisdom will give permanence to whatever has been found beneficial by the experience of ages. In your deliberations you will preserve that temper of moderation which the importance of their objects demands, and will, I have no doubt, produce; and I am fure that you are unanimous in your defire to direct all thofe deliberations to the honour of my crown, the fafety of my dominions, and the profperity of my people." E. of Scarborough. The King having retired, his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, at the table, took the oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy, and made and fubfcribed the Declaration; and also took and subscribed the oath of Abjuration. The Earl of Scarborough apologized for rifing in the House fo immediately fubfequent to his having received the honour of a feat among their Lordfhips; and he had but one excuse to make an excufe, however, that he was certain would plead moft powerfully-It was the occafion-it was to move for An addrefs of thanks to the King for his moft gracious fpeech from the throne." The paternal regard his Majefty expreffed for his people, the duty that was due to fuch a Sovereign, and the refpect which the Speech demanded, were matters that warranted an Addrefs of the most affectionate kind. The noble Earl expreffed his full-his moft ample confidence in the prefent Miniftry, whom he called an Administration that had the warm hearts and the good wishes of the people. They were composed of men long tried in the public caufe; men on whom dependence could be placed, and who certainly had, by their councils and their conduct, faved this empire from ruin. The bleffings of peace had, through their means, been accomplished at a trying period, when the affairs of this country, diftracted by the cabals of party, feemed almoft irretrieveable from deftruction. This conduct, these proofs attached him to their fupport, and made him particularly anxious to fhew his reverence, for a Sovereign who had discerned the merit of fuch men, and forefaw the good confequences that muft flow from their advice in council, and their abilities in the execution of what they propofed. The definitive articles of pacification, fays he, have been negociated on the ground of a preliminary treaty, digefted and formed by an Administration who expired on the conclufion of that bufinefs. The prefent Minifters naturally found themselves embarraffed-The preliminaries were fuch as no good man could approve of, but the national faith was pledged. Under thefe circumftances, and in this fituation, the definitive treaty has been brought to a conclufion. It is a fuperftructure that has been reared on a bafis laid by men who have ceased to exift as the Minifters of this country. But these are not the only circumftances, fays the noble Earl, which excite my gratitude, and call forth my fentiments of loyalty and congratulation. The other various and important important objects to which his Majefty directs our attention in his moft gracious Speech, illuftrate ftrongly the intereft he is pleafed to take in the national welfare, and demand our warmeft acknowledgments. The moments of peace are the moments of political enquiry and of civil reform. They afford a proper paufe for deliberation and scrutiny. It is his Majefty's gracious wish that they may bẹ converted to this purpose. Dangerous frauds have prevailed. Alarming outrages have been committed. The affairs of a great trading company have become the fubject of general confideration: thefe are matters of no trivial concern, and to thefe objects, his Majefty, ever watchful over the intereft of his fubjects, wifhed to direct the attention of his Parliament and people. Feeling thefe fentiments of gratitude towards my Sovereign, I cannot at the fame time fupprefs my congratulations on the goverment of affairs being contained in the hands of men who poffefs the confidence of the nation, from whofe union the most flattering profpects are to be entertained, and who have abilities to realize his Majesty's wishes, and to advance the public welfare. Impreffed with these fentiments, I beg leave to move an humble addrefs of thanks to his Majefty for his moft gracious fpeech from the throne. [He read his motion for the addrefs, which, as ufual, contained fentiments of agreement and gratitude in and for each of the claufes in the Royal Speech.] Lord Hampden requefted the indulgence of their Lordships Lord to a young member, who had only that day taken his feat in Hampden. the House. He was actuated, he faid, by motives of the moft truly patriotic kind, to deliver his fentiments on the motion made by the noble Lord who preceded him, and hoped for the indulgence of a few minutes. Peace, long wifhed-for peace, had been at last established and through the fpirit, and the good conduct of the prefent Miniftry, it was not quite so difgraceful in the ratification, as in the preliminary articles; the latter of which his Lordship called difgraceful, pufillanimous and difhonourable. They were difgraceful, because they took away from the dignity of this kingdom; they were difhonourable, becaufe better terms might have been obtained; and they were pufillanimous, because we made conceffions, when we fhould have had humiliations. The news (then no fecret), and afterwards confirmed in its report, was a ftrong and a moft evincing proof of the truth of this opinion. We gave up in the preliminaries, that which we never Earl Temple. never should have ceded, but to the ceffion of which in the ratification, we were bound by thofe preliminaries. The peace appeared to him in the hape of a rickety bantling, dropped at the door of the prefent Minifters by its too hafty parents, and there begging for fupport and protection. They took it up, examined its defects; and as they found a kind of national promise made in its favour, they nurfed it, and by the dint of political art, kept it alive, until they could obtain a ratification for its existence, on the beft terms that could be obtained for the benefit of its country. This country, the noble Lord obferved, therefore ftood indebted to the present Adminiftration, for amending, in the ratified articles, thofe fhameful, thofe difgraceful terms that were in the preliminaries. On a due confideration of this fubject, he meant to give his fupport to the present men in power, until he faw, what he never wifhed, nor indeed expected to fee, a change of their political principles, and then he should be as ready to condemn as he now was to approve their conduct. He hoped, in unifon of fentiment with the noble Lord who spoke laft, that all party quarrels would be dropped, and the hands and hearts of the Senate would unite for the glory, the happiness, and the good of their country. The Throne recommended it; the people wifhed it, and the common cause of the fubject demanded it. He feared, however, that there lay in embrio fome turbulent fpirits, who might rife to oppofe and clog the wheels of Government. Thefe, he added, were enemies to their country; for as nothing but the moft frivolous complaint could be urged, fo the attempt againft Minifters would appear in a very odious light to the public at large, and to the common fenfe of every individual. Conceiving the fubject in this point of view, the noble Lord feconded the motion for the Addrefs, and hoped that it would pass nemine diffentiente. Earl Temple. I do not rife, my Lords, with any intention to oppose the motion. The Speech from the Throne muft, in my mind, give very general fatisfaction; and I fhall never defcend to the meannels of a factious oppofition. If I were called upon to deliver my fentiments on the Speech, I should rather find fault with it for its omiffions than for what it contains. It speaks a language of zeal and earnestnefs, and, as far as it goes, is congenial with my feelings and ideas, But, my Lords, having faid this, I may be permitted to ftate my reafons for with-holding confidence from the |