gies for the attainment of a secure and honourable peace. His lordship, after thanking the House for its indulgence, concluded by moving its concurrence in the address of thanks to his majesty, which he read, and which, as usual, reiterated the sentiments of the speech.

Mr. Hall seconded the motion for the address. Although the noble lord had anticipated him in most points, he would shortly submit to the House the considerations which induced him to do so. Parliament had been asseinbled at an important crisis; the country looked with extreme anxiety to the result of their deliberations. They were called upon to discuss subjects of the utmost consequence; and by their wisdom and judgment to give effect and direction to the exertions of the people, as well as to secure and augment their constitutional rights. They were also called upon to express their sense of the firmness with which, under peculiar difliculties, his majesty had asserted the just rights of the constitution, and of those establishments which were the foundation of our civil an religious } liberties. The prerogative which his majesty had recently exercised, was one of the most important that belonged to the crown; and the propriety of i's exercise could be estimated only by a deliberate consideration of the necessity by which it was demanded. Under a due sense of political and religious considerations. his majesty felt himself compelled firmly to combat those whom he had but lately called to his councils, and to oppose his celo to the measures which they were desirous of introducing. But this was not all; it had been said in another place, that the King could have no conscience, but what was in the keeping of his confidential ministers. What monstrous conclusion was to be drawn from this extraordinary assertion? The voice of the people had been sufliciently expressed by the general concurrence, which dictated addresses to his majesty from every part of the kingdom. The measure proposed by the late administration was uncalled for, and unwise. Uncall-` ed for, because it had been lately discussed, and rejected" by a large majority of Parliament; unwise, because it tended to raise hopes which could nei ́her be realized nor disappointed. The refusal of his majesty to accede to this measure prevented the gradual abolition of those landmarks in the constitution, which were necessary to its exist

In this country there must be a religious distinction, and the Catholics must be contented with the share

of political power which they now enjoy: and, therefore, by the measure which they proposed, the late ministers lost the confidence of the king, and as it immediately ap peared, forfeited the approbation of the House. His majesty has si ce had recourse to the abilities of those, who had been intimately connected with that great statesman, whom he could not but consider as the only pilot to other mi isters that men, who, amidst all the dangers by which he was surrounded, rose in firmness in proportion to the exigencies of the times, and left that constitution which he loved and proceted, unimpaired by the attacks of either foreign or domestic foes. To those who long fought under his banners, the country must now look for direction. They had advised his majesty to refer to the general sense of the people, in order that they might present themselves to the enemy as possessing the confidence of a brave nation, and to the allies of Great Britain, as ready to afford them the necessary support. By the promptitude of their measures they had alrea ly shewn then-elves adequate to the duty in which they had been engaged. By such measures alone could effect be given to any negociation which might lead to a succes-ful termination of the present contest. Yet, notwithstanding all that he asserted, the dissolution of the last Parliament had been attributed to the earnest de sire of his majesty's late ministers, to smother the labours of the committee of finance; but his majesty's speech proved that they were as much interested in the continuance of that committee, as the gentlemen opposite. So far from wishing to smo her it, they advised his majesty to applaud the institution of it by the last Parliament, and to recommend that it should be renewed by the present. Under all these circumstances, he was not bigoted enough to expect that this address would be unanimously acceded to, bu be called on the gentlemen opposite who had quitted the helm of state, to feel for the situation of the country. The people were duly sensible of the justice of the cause in which the country was engaged, and he had no doubt that they would cheerfully submit to the sacrifices that would be necessary for its prosecution. He trusted their efforts might beeffectually directed to secure the advantages which we already possessed, and to enable us successively to op pose that system of aggression which threatened the downfall of every independent state in Europe. In this object all parties were equally interested. Our country was at stake;

and

and he trusted that but one opinion could exist with regard to the exertions necessary for its defence.

The Speaker having read the address,

Lord Howick declared, that before he required of the gentlemen opposite, some exposition of their opinion, as to the situation of the country at home and abroad, and something in explanation of those (hat should he call them?) charges and insinuations; there were in his majesty's speech itself, as well as in the speeches of the gentle men opposite, and particularly of the last, passages so extraordinary, that even in this stage of the debate, he could not defer calling the attention of the House to them, and demanding the justice which his majesty's late ministers had a right to claim, namely, that if those passages were ment as charges, they should be fairly brought forward; that if as insinuations, they should be made clear. The noble lord by whom the address was proposed, and the honourable gentleman, by whom it was seconded, had concluded their speeches in the same way in which his majesty's speech concluded; and here, once for all, he begged to be considered as deeming his maje ty's speech the speech of the ministers by whom it was advised, and who alone are responsible for its contents; and however severe the expressions which he might find it his daty to use on that subject, he trusted they would not be misconstrued to mean any thing derogatory from that respect which, as a faithful subject of the king, and which as possessing a perfect confidence in his virtues, he was always ready to pay. But the noble lord and the honourable seconder had concluded their speeches as his majesty's speech concluded, by calling for unanimity. In one point alone he feared that he could agree with them. He agreed with them that there never was a more awful crisis; that the country was never in greater danger; and that there never was a greater demand for unanimity and co-operation, if unanimity and co-operation could be obtained: but at the time when they called for unanimity, they fol lowed closely the example of the speech,or rather of the ministers by whom that speech was advised. While the word "unanimity" was on their lips, they introduced topics which must necessarily produce division. They had called the attention of the House to the late dissolution of Parliament, and both have contended, that the power

of

of dissolving Parliament was an indisputable prerogative of the crown, given for the advantage of the subject; but neither of these gentlemen had stated that this, like every other prerogative, was subject in its exercise to be considered by Parliament. The noble lord had commenced by saying, that he would not allude to the circumstances that led to the late dissolution of Parliament; but in the progress of this speech he forgot this determination; he stated, that the measures which produced the dissolution had imperiously called on his majesty to step forward in defence of the protestant establishment. The honourable seconder had gone more at length into this part of the subject. According to him, not the introduction alone of the measure which had been alluded to, but its introduction and subsequent abandonment, had necessarily demanded the exercise of the prerogative, as exemplified in the dissolution. For himself, he confessed, that he had scarcely as yet recovered from the astonishment which that measure had occasioned. Had it been adopted by any other administration than the present, lie could not have accounted for it on any principle of public se curity, or national welfare; but coming from the gentlemen opposite, it was indeed extraordinary! Not a long time had elapsed since Parliament was before dissolved. On that occasion the House had heard a great deal of ob, servation from the gentlemen opposite If human imagination had been tortured to devise a combination of circumstances, which should expose this prerogative of the crown to all the objections that had been then urged against it, it could not have been more succes-ful than in the present instance. The honourable gentlemen repre hended the dissolution of a Parliament after it had been sitting four years; they themselves dissolved a Parliament af er it had been assembled only four months. The honourable gentlemen opposite censured the dissolution which took place at the end of the session; they themselves dissolved Parliament in the middle of the session. The honourable gentlemen opposite had complained of undue influence having been exerted against them; they them selves had exercised an influence not in the detail, but in wholesale, an 1 such as they ought to have been ashamed of. U less Parliament were to say at once, that the prerogatives of the crown ought to be curtailed, and that Parliament

Parliament should be rendered permanent, it could, never be contended that any dissolution was better timed than that which took place under his majesty's late ministers." At the end of a negotiation which left little hope of a peace, it was surely advisable to shew the enemy and the allies of the country, that the king, the Parliament, and the people, were determined to unite in withstanding all the efforts of an unrelenting enemy. Never did greater unanimity prevail than on that occasion, interrupted only by those personal and local differences, which every gene ral election must necessarily produce. But the honourable gentlemen opposite, by the dissolution which they advised, had created an infinity of public and private in conveniences; they had produced the utmost disunion, and instead of uniting the people, they had, as far as in them lay, kindled religious animosities, set man against man, and brother against brother: they had set the people of Ireland against the people of England, by shewing the great body of Irish that the English were unfavourable to their claims. Such conduct would be at any time 'cri minal; but when it was considered, with reference to the necessity that existed for making a due impression on our allies, it became still more so. Could this be denied ? Let the House look at the state of the business when Parliament was dissolved. In the first place, there was ́in' the last session a greater number of private bills, tending to improve the agriculture, increase the manufacture, and extend the commerce of the country, than in any former. Parliament. Those bills, by the regulations which he (Lord Howick) had had the honour to propose, under the advice of the highest anthority, had been brought almost to the last stage. On the 27th of April, the dissolution: took place; on the 11th of May the reports of those bills would have been received: the consequence was, that the greater part of the expences attending them had been paid, and that they then had fallen to the ground. What' expedient was to be resorted to in this case, he knew nơt zi he should be glad to find, that individuals were relieved from inconveniences occasioned by the misconduct of his majesty's late ministers The House' must be careful that in remedying a private inconvenience, they did not open a door to public evil, and afford facilities to subsequent ministers to dissolve a Parliament, without having a stronger necessity for the dissolution, than what had been

descried