thing, I think, we have at present to fear. The fear I mean, is that of the Pretender. Every one knows there is still a pretender to his majesty's crown and dignity; there is still a person who pretends to be lawful and rightful sovereign of these kingdoms; and what makes the misfortune more considerable, there are still a great number of persons in these kingdoms so much deluded by his abettors, as to think the same way. These are the only persons who can properly be called disaffected, and they are still so numerous, that though this government had not a foreign enemy under the sun, our danger from the Pretender, and the disaffected part of our subjects, is a danger which every true Briton ought to fear, a danger which every man who has a due regard for our present happy establishment, will certainly endeavour to provide against, as much as he can.

"I am sorry to see, Sir, that this is a sort of fear, which many amongst us endeavour to turn into ridicule; and for that purpose they tell us that though many of our subjects are discontented and uneasy, very few are disaffected: I must beg leave to be of a different opinion: for, I believe, most of the discontents and uneasinesses that appear among the people, proceed originally from disaffection. No man of common prudence will profess himself openly a Jacobite. By so doing, he not only may injure his private fortune, but he must render himself less able to serve effectually the cause he has embraced; therefore there are but very few such men in the

kingdom. Your right Jacobite, Sir, disguises his true sentiments. He roars out for revolution principles; he pretends to be a great friend to liberty, and a great admirer of our ancient constitution; and under this pretence, there are numbers who every day endeavour to sow discontents among the people, by persuading them that the constitution is in danger, and that they are unnecessarily loaded with many and heavy taxes. These men know that discontent and disaffection, are, like wit and madness, separated by thin partitions; and therefore they hope, if they can once render the people thoroughly discontented, it will be easy for them to render them disaffected. These are the men whom we have most reason to fear. They are, I am afraid, more numerous than most gentlemen imagine; and I wish I could not say they have been lately joined; and very much assisted by some gentlemen, who, I am convinced, have always been, and still are very sincere and true friends to our present happy establishment.

By the accession of these new allies, as I may justly call them, the real but concealed Jacobites have succeeded even beyond their own expectation; and therefore I am not at all ashamed to say I am in fear of the Pretender. It is a danger I shall never be ashamed to say I am afraid of; because it is a danger to which we must always be more or less exposed; and, I believe the less number of regular forces we keep up, the more we shall always be exposed to this danger."

Sir John Hynde Cotton replied; "Sir, I do own it gives me a good deal of surprise, to hear gentlemen who act upon revolution principles, talk so utterly inconsistent with what was the language of the Whigs in former times. Sir, I know not what Whigs the honourable gentleman has been acquainted with; but I have had the honour and happiness to be intimate with many gentlemen of that denomination. I have likewise, Sir, read the writings of many authors who have espoused these principles; I have sat in this house during the most material debates that have happened between them and the Tories; and I can declare from my own experience, that I never knew one who acted on true Whig principles, vote for a standing army in time of peace. What the principles of the Whigs in former days were, I can only learn from reading or information. But I have heard of Whigs who were against all unlimited votes of credit; I have heard of Whigs who looked upon open corruption as the greatest curse that could befal any nation; I have heard of Whigs who esteemed the liberty of the press to be the most valuable privilege of a free people, and triennial parliaments, the greatest bulwark of their liberties; and I have heard of a Whig administration who have resented injuries done to the trade of the nation, and have revenged insults offered to the British flag. These, Sir, are the principles, if I am rightly informed, that once characterized the true Whigs. Let gentlemen apply these charac

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ters to their present conduct, and then, laying their hands upon their hearts, let them ask themselves if they are Whigs?"*

In reply, the minister again adverted to the danger from the Pretender's party, and insinuated that the arts used by the discontented Whigs to set the people against the government aided that cause. "For the faction," he said, "which is in the interest of the person who disputes his majesty's title to the crown, always presumes, that whoever is against the administration, is against the establishment likewise; and nothing has more contributed to keep up the spirit of that party, than their industriously propagating that doctrine. This is the true reason that they look upon the lenity of that government as the effect of its weakness, and attribute the indulgence they meet with to our fears. This is the true reason why they endeavour to improve to their advantage every accident that happens to the nation, though, perhaps, it is very distant from their purpose, and fell out contrary to their hopes. This is the reason why, on the late melancholy event that afflicted the nation, their hopes revived, their cabals were set on foot, and every tool of their party was employed in their consultations, to know how to accomplish their favourite point. There are many in our galleries now who know what I have said to be true, and if they had the privilege of speaking here, could, if they pleased, convince us how improper + Alluding to the queen's death.

• Chandler.

the proposed reduction is, while such a spirit subsists in the kingdom.

"I have known a time when gentlemen acted on true Whig principles; and at that time they seemed to be of opinion, that the best, if not the only way to secure us from popery and arbitrary power was, by securing the present establishment of the crown in his majesty's person and family. They were then of opinion, that this was best done by keeping up a regular body of forces; and I should be glad to know if the same reasons do not subsist now, or if they who are the enemies of our present establishment, have been weakened by the opposition of these gentlemen to the administration.'

After a reply from Pulteney, and a few unimportant speeches, the debate appeared to be finally concluded, and as no division took place, the triumph on the side of the minister seemed complete. But the altercation was renewed on a subsequent day by the imprudence and petulance of the violent Whigs, who were irritated at the assertions advanced by the Tories, that the maintenance of a standing army was inconsistent with the true principles of Whiggism.

The report being made by the chairman of the committee of supply, the estimate for the regiment to be sent to Georgia, was objected to. Colonel Mordaunt very injudiciously deviated from the great distinction which the minister had laid down between those who promoted the cause of the Pretender, and those who supported

* Chandler.