of low wines and spirits from bran. Much more attention was paid to a
petition of several farmers in the county of Norfolk, representing,
that their farms consisted chiefly of arable land, which produced much
greater quantities of corn than could be consumed within that county;
that in the last harvest there was a great and plentiful crop of all
sorts of grain, the greatest part of which had by unfavourable weather
been rendered unfit for sale at London, or other markets for home
consumption; that large quantities of malt were then lying at London,
arising chiefly from the crops of barley growing in the year one
thousand seven hundred and fifty-seven, the sale of which was stagnated;
that the petitioners being informed the house had ordered in a bill to
continue the prohibition of corn exported, they begged leave to observe,
that, should it pass into a law, it would be extremely prejudicial to
all, and ruin many farmers of that county, as they had offered their
corn for sale at divers ports and markets of the said county: but the
merchants refused to buy it at any price, alleging, its being unfit for
the London market, the great quantity of corn with which that market was
already overstocked, and their not being allowed either to export it
or make it into malt for exportation. They therefore prayed this
prohibition might be removed, or they the petitioners indulged with some
other kind of relief. Although this remonstrance was duly considered,
the bill passed with the amendments because of the proviso, by which his
majesty in council was empowered to shorten the date of the prohibition
with respect to the exportation of corn during the recess of parliament;
but the temporary restraint laid upon distillation was made absolute,
without any such condition, to the no small disappointment and
mortification of the distillers, who had spared no pains and expense
by private solicitation, and strenuous dispute in the public papers, to
recommend their cause to the favour of the community. They urged that
malt-spirits, when used in moderation, far from being prejudicial to the
health of individuals, were in many damp and marshy parts of the kingdom
absolutely necessary for preserving the field labourers from agues and
other distempers produced by the cold and moisture of the climate; that
if they were debarred the use of malt-spirits, they would have recourse
to French brandy, with which, as they generally reside near the
sea-coast, the smugglers would provide them almost as cheap as the
malt-spirits could be afforded: thus the increased consumption of French
spirit would drain the nation of ready money to a considerable amount,
and prejudice the king’s revenue in the same proportion. They observed,
that many distillers had already quitted that branch of trade and
disposed of their materials; that all of them would probably take
the same resolutions should the bill pass into a law, as no man could
foresee when the prohibition would cease, should it be continued at
a time when all sorts of grain abounded in such plenty, that the very
waste of materials by disuse, over and above the lying out of the money,
would be of great prejudice to the proprietor: thus the business of
distilling, by which so many families were supported, would be banished
from the kingdom entirely; especially, as the expense of establishing
a large distillery was so great, that no man would choose to employ
his money for this purpose, judging from experience that some future
accidental scarcity of corn might induce the legislature to interpose a
ruinous delay in this branch of business. They affirmed, that from the
excessive use of malt-spirits no good argument could be drawn against
this branch of traffic, no more than against any other conveniency of
life; that the excessive use of common beer and ale was prejudicial
to the health and morals of the people, yet no person ever thought of
putting an end to the practice of brewing, in order to prevent the abuse
of brewed liquors. They urged that in all parts of Great Britain there
are some parcels of land that produce nothing to advantage but a coarse
kind of barley called big, which, though neither fit for brewing nor for
baking, may nevertheless be used in the distillery, and is accordingly
purchased by those concerned in this branch at such an encouraging
price, as enables many farmers to pay a higher rent to their landlords
than they could otherwise afford; that there are every year some parcels
of all sorts of grain so damaged by unseasonable weather, or other
accidents, as to be rendered altogether unfit for bread or brewery,
and would prove a very great misfortune to the farmer, if there was no
distillery, for the use of which he could sell his damaged commodity.
They asserted, that malt-spirits were absolutely necessary for
prosecuting some branches of foreign commerce, particularly the trade
to the coast of Africa, for which traffic no assortment could be made
up without a large quantity of geneva, of which the natives are so fond,
that they will not traffic with any merchant who has not a considerable
quantity, not only for sale, but also for presents to their chiefs
and rulers; that the merchants of Great Britain must either have this
commodity of their own produce, or import it at a great national expense
from Holland; that the charge of this importation, together with the
duties payable upon it, some part of which is not to be drawn back on
exportation, will render it impossible for the traders to sell it so
cheap on the coast of Africa as it might be sold by the Dutch, who are
the great rivals of Great Britain in this branch of commerce. To these
arguments, all of which were plausible, and some of them unanswerable,
it was replied, that malt-spirits might be considered as a fatal and
bewitching poison which had actually debauched the minds, and enervated
the bodies, of the common people to a very deplorable degree; that,
without entering further into a comparison between the use and abuse
of the two liquors, beer and geneva, it would be sufficient to observe,
that the use of beer and ale had produced none of those dreadful
effects which were the consequences of drinking geneva; and since the
prohibition of the distilling of malt-spirits had taken place, the
common people were become apparently more sober, decent, healthy, and
industrious: a circumstance sufficient to induce the legislature
not only to intermit, but even totally to abolish the practice of
distillation, which has ever been productive of such intoxication, riot,
disorder, and distemper, among the lower class of the people, as might
be deemed the greatest evils incident to a well-regulated commonwealth.
Their assertion with respect to the coarse kind of barley, called big,
was contradicted as a deviation from truth, inasmuch as it was used in
making malt, as well as in making bread: and with respect to damaged
corn, those who understood the nature of grain affirmed, that it was
spoiled to such a degree as to be altogether unfit for either of these
purposes, the distillers would not purchase it at such a price as would
indemnify the farmer for the charge of threshing and carriage; for the
distillers are very sensible, that their great profit is derived
from their distilling the malt made from the best barley, so that the
increase of the produce far exceeded in proportion the advance of
the price. It was not, however, an easy matter to prove that the
distillation of malt-spirits was not necessary to an advantageous
prosecution of the commerce on the coast of Guinea, as well as among the
Indians in some parts of North America. Certain it is, that, in these
branches of traffic, the want of geneva may be supplied by spirits
distilled from sugars and molasses. After all, it must be owned, that
the good and salutary effects of the prohibition were visible in every
part of the kingdom, and no evil consequence ensued, except a diminution
of the revenue in this article: a consideration which, at all times,
ought to be sacrificed to the health and morals of the people: nor will
this consideration be found of any great weight, when we reflect that
the less the malt-spirit is drunk, the greater quantity of beer and
ale will be consumed, and the produce of the duties and excise upon the
brewery be augmented accordingly.

In the meantime, all sorts of grain continuing to fall in price, and
great plenty appearing in every part of the kingdom, the justices of
the peace, and of the grand juries, assembled at the general quarter
sessions of the peace held for the county of Norfolk, composed and
presented to the house of commons, in the beginning of February, a
petition, representing, that the weather proving unfavourable in
the harvest, great part of the barley raised in that county was much
damaged, and rendered unfit for any other use than that of being
made into malt for exportation; that unless it should be speedily
manufactured for that purpose, it would be entirely spoiled, and perish
in the hands of the growers; a loss that must be very sensibly felt by
the land owners: they, therefore, entreated that leave might be given
for the exportation of malt; and that they might be favoured with such
further relief, as to the house should seem just and reasonable. In
consequence of this petition, the house resolved itself into a committee
to deliberate upon the subject; and as it appeared, upon examination,
that the price of grain was reduced very low, and great abundance
diffused through the kingdom, they resolved, that the continuance of
that part of the act, prohibiting the exportation of grain, ought to be
abridged and shortened, and the exportation of these commodities allowed
under proper regulations, with respect to the time of such exportation
and the allowance of bounties thereupon. A bill being founded on these
resolutions, was discussed, and underwent several amendments: at length
it was sent with a new title to the lords, who passed it without further
alteration, and then it obtained the royal sanction. While this affair
was under the deliberation of the committee, the commons unanimously
issued an order for leave to bring in a bill to continue, for a limited
time, the act of last session, permitting the importation of salted beef
from Ireland into Great Britain, with an instruction to receive a clause
extending this permission to all sorts of salted pork, or hog-meat, as
the officers of the customhouse had refused to admit hams from Ireland
to an entry. The bill likewise received another considerable alteration,
importing, That, instead of the duty of ona shilling and three-pence,
charged by the former act on every hundred weight of salted beef or pork
imported from Ireland, which was found not adequate to the duty payable
for such a quantity of salt as is requisite to be used in curing and
salting thereof; and to prevent as well the expense to the revenue, as
the detriment and loss which would accrue to the owner and importer from
opening the casks in which the provision is generally deposited,
with the pickle or brine proper for preserving the same, in order to
ascertain the net weight of the provision liable to the said duties: for
these reasons it was enacted, That from and after the twenty-fourth
day of last December, and during the continuance of this act, a duty of
three shillings and four-pence should be paid upon importation for every
barrel or cask of salted beef or pork containing thirty-two gallons;
and one shilling and three-pence for every hundred weight of salted beef
called dried beef, dried neats-tongues, or dried hog-meat, and so in
proportion for any greater or lesser quantity.

{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}

REGULATIONS with RESPECT to PRIVATEERS.

Repeated complaints having been made to the government by neutral
nations, especially the Dutch, that their ships had been plundered,
and their crews maltreated by some of the English privateers, the
legislature resolved to provide effectually against any such outrageous
practices for the future: and with this view the commons ordered a bill
to be brought in for amending and explaining an act of the twenty-ninth
year of his late majesty’s reign, intituled, “An act for the
encouragement of seamen, and more speedy and effectual manning of
his majesty’s navy.” While the committee was employed in perusing
commissions and papers relating to private ships of war, that they
might be fully acquainted with the nature of the subject, a considerable
number of merchants and others, inhabiting the islands of Guernsey
and Jersey, presented a petition to the house, alleging, that the
inhabitants of those islands which lie in the British channel within
sight of the French coast, had now, as well as in former wars, embarked
their fortunes in equipping small privateers, which used to run in close
with the French shore, and being disguised like fishing boats, had not
only taken a considerable number of prizes, to the great annoyance of
the enemy, but also obtained material intelligence of their designs on
many important occasions; that these services could not be performed by
large vessels, which durst not approach so near the coast, and indeed
could not appear without giving the alarm, which was communicated from
place to place by appointed signals. Being informed that a bill was
depending, in order to prohibit privateers of small burden, they
declared that such a law, if extended to privateers equipped in those
islands, would ruin such as had invested their fortunes in small
privateers, and not only deprive the kingdom of the before-mentioned
advantages, but expose Great Britain to infinite prejudice from the
small armed vessels of France, which the enemy, in that case, could pour
abroad over the whole channel to the great annoyance of navigation and
commerce. They prayed, therefore, that such privateers as belonged to
the islands of Guernsey and Jersey might be wholly excepted from the
penalties contained in the bill, or that they, the petitioners, might
be heard by their counsel, and be indulged with such relief as the
house should judge expedient. This representation being referred to the
consideration of the committee, produced divers amendments to the
hill, which at length obtained the royal assent, and contained these
regulations: That, after the first day of January in the present year,
no commission should be granted to a privateer in Europe under the
burden of one hundred tons, the force of ten carriage guns, being
three-pounders or above, with forty men at the least, unless the lords
of the admiralty, or persons authorized by them, should think fit to
grant the same to any ship of inferior force or burden, the owners
thereof giving such bail or security as should be prescribed: that the
lords of the admiralty might at any time revoke, by an order in
writing under their hands, any commission granted to a privateer; this
revocation being subject to an appeal to his majesty in council, whose
determination should be final: that, previous to the granting any
commission, the persons proposing to be bound, and give security, should
severally make oath of their being respectively worth more money than
the sum for which they were then to be bound, over and above the payment
of all their just debts: that persons applying for such commissions
should make application in writing, and therein set forth a particular
and exact description of the vessel, specifying the burden, and the
number and nature of the guns on board, to what place belonging, as well
as the name or names of the principal owner or owners, and the number
of men: these particulars to be inserted in the commission; and every
commander to produce such commission to the custom-house officer who
should examine the vessel, and, finding her answer the description,
give a certificate thereof gratis, to be deemed a necessary clearance,
without which the commander should not depart: that if, after the first
day of July, any captain of a privateer should agree for the ransom of
any neutral vessel, or the cargo, or any part thereof, after it should
have been taken as prize, and in pursuance of such agreement should
actually discharge such prize, he should be deemed guilty of piracy; but
that with respect to contraband merchandise, he might take it on board
his own ship, with the consent of the commander of the neutral vessel,
and then set her at liberty; and that no person should purloin or
embezzle the said merchandise before condemnation: that no judge, or
other person belonging to any court of admiralty, should be concerned in
any privateer: that owners of vessels, not being under fifty, or above
one hundred tons, whose commissions are declared void, should be
indemnified for their loss by the public: that a court of oyer and
terminer, and gaol delivery, for the trial of offences committed within
the jurisdiction of the admiralty, should be held twice a-year in the
Old Bailey at London, or in such other place within England as the board
of admiralty should appoint: that the judge of any court of admiralty,
after an appeal interposed, as well as before, should, at the request of
the captor or claimant, issue an order for appraising the capture, when
the parties do not agree upon the value, and an inventory to be taken;
then exact security for the full value, and cause the capture to be
delivered to the person giving such security; but, should objection be
made to the taking such security, the judge should, at the request of
either party, order such merchandise to be entered, landed, and sold at
public auction, and the produce to be deposited at the bank, or in some
public securities: and in case of security being given, the judge should
grant a pass in favour of the capture. Finally, the force of this act
was limited to the duration of the then war with France only. This
regulation very clearly demonstrated, that whatever violences might have
been committed on the ships of neutral nations, they were by no means
countenanced by the legislature, or the body of the people.

NEW MILITIA LAWS.

Every circumstance relating to the reformation of the marine, must be
an important object to a nation whose wealth and power depend upon
navigation and commerce; but a consideration of equal weight was the
establishment of the militia, which, notwithstanding the repeated
endeavours of the parliament, was found still incomplete, and in want
of further assistance from the legislature. His majesty having, by
the chancellor of the exchequer, recommended to the house the making
suitable provision for defraying the charges of the militia during
the current year, the accounts of the expense already incurred by this
establishment were referred to the committee of supply, who, after
having duly perused them, resolved, that ninety thousand pounds should
be granted on account, towards defraying the charges of pay and clothing
for the militia, from the last day of the last year, to the twenty-fifth
day of March in the year one thousand seven hundred and sixty, and for
repaying a sum advanced by the king for this service. Leave was given
to bring in one bill pursuant to this resolution, and another to enforce
the execution of the laws relating to the militia, remove certain
difficulties, and prevent the incenveniencies by which it might be
attended. So intent were the majority on both sides upon this national
measure, that they not only carried both bills to the throne, where they
received the royal assent, but they presented an address to the king,
desiring that his majesty would give directions to his lieutenants
of the several counties, ridings, and places in England, to use their
utmost diligence and attention for carrying into execution the several
acts of parliament relating to the militia. By this time all the
individuals that constituted the representatives of the people, except
such as actually served in the army, were become very well disposed
towards this institution. Those who really wished well to their country
had always exerted themselves in its favour; and it was now likewise
espoused by those who foresaw that the establishment of a national
militia would enable the administration to send the greater number of
regular troops to fight the battles of Germany. Yet how zealous
soever the legislature might be in promoting this institution, and
notwithstanding the success with which many patriots exerted their
endeavours through different parts of the kingdom, in raising and
disciplining the militia, it was found not only difficult, but almost
impracticable, to execute the intention of the parliament in some
particular counties, where the gentlemen were indolent and enervated,
or in those places where they looked upon their commander with contempt.
Even Middlesex itself, where the king resides, was one of the last
counties in which the militia could be arrayed. In allusion to this
backwardness, the preamble or first clause in one of the present acts
imported, that certain counties, ridings, and places in England had made
some progress in establishing the militia, without completing the same,
and that, in certain other counties, little progress had been made
therein, his majesty’s lieutenants and the deputy-lieutenants, and
all others within such counties or districts, were therefore strictly
required speedily and diligently to put these acts in execution. The
truth is, some of these unwarlike commanders failed through ignorance
and inactivity; others gave, or offered commissions to such people
as threw a ridicule and contempt upon the whole establishment, and
consequently hindered many gentlemen of worth, spirit, and capacity,
from engaging in the service. The mutiny-bill, and that for the
regulation of the marine-forces while on shore, passed through the usual
forms, as annual measures, without any dispute or alteration. [485]
_[See note 3 S, at the end of this Vol.]_

ACT FOR THE RELIEF OF DEBTORS REVIVED.

A committee having been appointed to inquire what laws were expired,
or near expiring, and to report their opinion to the house touching
the revival or continuation of these laws, they agreed to several
resolutions; in consequence of which the following bills were brought
in, and enacted into laws; namely, an act for regulating the lastage and
ballastage of the river Thames; an act for continuing the law relating
to the punishment of persons going armed or disguised; an act
for continuing several laws near expiring; an act concerning the
admeasurement of coals; an act for the relief of debtors, with respect
to the imprisonment of their persons. This last was almost totally
metamorphosed by alterations, amendments, and additions, among which
the most remarkable were these: that where more creditors than one shall
charge any prisoner in execution, and desired to have him detained in
prison, they shall only respectively pay him each such weekly sum, not
exceeding one shilling and sixpence per week, as the court, at the time
of his being remanded, shall direct; that if any prisoner, described by
the act, shall remain in prison three months after being committed, any
creditor may compel him to give into court, upon oath, an account of
his real and personal estate, to be disposed of for the benefit of his
creditors, they consenting to his being discharged. Why the humanity
of this law was confined to those prisoners only who are not charged in
execution with any debt exceeding one hundred pounds, cannot easily be
conceived. A man who, through unavoidable misfortunes, hath sunk from
affluence to misery and indigence, is generally a greater object of
compassion than he who never knew the delicacies of life, nor ever
enjoyed credit sufficient to contract debts to any considerable amount;
yet the latter is by this law entitled to his discharge, or at least to
a maintenance in prison; while the former is left to starve in gaol, or
undergo perpetual imprisonment amidst all the horrors of misery, if he
owes above one hundred pounds to a revengeful and unrelenting creditor.
Wherefore, in a country, the people of which justly pique themselves
upon charity and benevolence, an unhappy fellow-citizen, reduced to a
state of bankruptcy by unforeseen losses in trade, should be subjected
to a punishment, which of all others must be the most grievous to a
freeborn Briton, namely, the entire loss of liberty; a punishment which
the most flagrant crime can hardly deserve in a nation that disclaims
the torture; for, doubtless, perpetual imprisonment must be a torture
infinitely more severe than death, because protracted through a series
of years spent in misery and despair, without one glimmering ray of
hope, without the most distant prospect of deliverance? Wherefore the
legislature should extend its humanity to those only who are the
least sensible of the benefit, because the most able to struggle under
misfortune? and wherefore many valuable individuals should, for no
guilt of their own, be not only ruined to themselves, but lost to the
community? are questions which we cannot resolve to the satisfaction of
the reader. Of all imprisoned debtors, those who are confined for large
sums may be deemed the most wretched and forlorn, because they
have generally fallen from a sphere of life where they had little
acquaintance with necessity, and were altogether ignorant of the arts
by which the severities of indigence are alleviated. On the other hand,
those of the lower class of mankind, whose debts are small in proportion
to the narrowness of their former credit, have not the same delicate
feelings of calamity: they are inured to hardship, and accustomed to
the labour of their hands, by which, even in a prison, they can earn
a subsistence: their reverse of fortune is not so great, nor the
transition so affecting: their sensations are not delicate; nor are
they, like their betters in misfortune, cut off from hope, which is the
wretch’s last comfort. It is the man of sentiment and sensibility, who,
in this situation, is overwhelmed with a complication of misery and
ineffable distress: the mortification of his pride, his ambition
blasted, his family undone, himself deprived of liberty, reduced from
opulence to extreme want, from the elegancies of life to the most
squalid and frightful scenes of poverty and affliction; divested of
comfort, destitute of hope, and doomed to linger out a wretched being in
the midst of insult, violence, riot, and uproar; these are reflections
so replete with horror, as to render him, in all respects, the most
miserable object on the face of the earth. He, alas! though possessed
of talents that might have essentially served and even adorned society,
while thus restrained in prison, and affected in mind, can exert no
faculty, nor stoop to any condescension, by which the horrors of his
fate might be assuaged: he scorns to execute the lowest offices of
menial services, particularly in attending those who are the objects of
contempt or abhorrence; he is incapable of exercising any mechanic art,
which might afford a happy though a scanty independence: shrunk
within his dismal cell, surrounded by haggard poverty, and her gaunt
attendants, hollow-eyed famine, shivering cold, and wan disease, he
wildly casts his eyes around; he sees the tender partner of his heart
weeping in silent woe; he hears his helpless babes clamorous for
sustenance; he feels himself the importunate cravings of human nature,
which he cannot satisfy; and groans with all the complicated pangs of
internal anguish, horror, and despair. These are not the fictions of
idle fancy, but real pictures, drawn from nature, of which almost every
prison in England will afford but too many originals.

BILLS FOR THE IMPORTATION OF IRISH BEEF AND TALLOW.

Among other new measures, a successful attempt was made in favour of
Ireland, by a bill, permitting the free importation of cattle from that
kingdom for a limited time. This, however, was not carried through both
houses without considerable opposition, arising from the particular
interests of certain counties and districts in several parts of Great
Britain, from whence petitions against the bill were transmitted to the
commons. Divers artifices were also used within doors to saddle the bill
with such clauses as might overcharge the scheme, and render it odious
or alarming to the public; but the promoters of it being aware of the
design, conducted it in such a manner as to frustrate all their views,
and convey it safely to the throne, where it was enacted into a law. The
like success attended another effort in behalf of our fellow-subjects
of Ireland. The bill for the importation of Irish cattle was no
sooner ordered to be brought in, than the house proceeded to take into
consideration the duties then payable on the importation of tallow from
the same kingdom; and several witnesses being examined, the committee
agreed to a resolution, that these duties should cease and determine
for a limited time. A bill being formed accordingly, passed through both
houses without opposition, though in the preceding session a bill to
the same purpose had miscarried among the peers: a miscarriage probably
owing to their being unacquainted with the sentiments of his majesty, as
some of the duties upon tallow constituted part of one of the branches
appropriated for the civil list revenue. This objection, however, was
obviated in the case of the present bill, by the king’s message to
the house of commons, signifying his majesty’s consent, as far as
his interest was concerned in the affair. By this new act the free
importation of Irish tallow was permitted for the term of five years.

In the month of February the commons presented an address to his
majesty, requesting that he would give directions for laying before
the house an account of what had been done, since the beginning of
last year, towards securing the harbour of Milford, in pursuance of any
directions from his majesty. These accounts being perused, and the
king having, by the chancellor of the exchequer, exhorted them to make
provision for fortifying the said harbour, a bill was brought in to
explain, amend, and render more effectual, the act of the last session
relating to this subject; and, passing through both houses, received
the royal assent without opposition. By this act several engineers were
added to the commissioners formerly appointed; and it was ordained
that fortifications should be erected at Peter-church-point,
Westlanyon-point, and Neyland-point, as being the most proper and best
situated places for fortifying the interior parts of the harbour. It was
also enacted, that the commissioners should appoint proper secretaries,
clerks, assistants, and other officers, for carrying the two acts into
execution, and that an account of the application of the money should
be laid before parliament, within twenty days of the opening of every
session. What next attracted the attention of the house was an affair
of the utmost importance to the commerce of the kingdom, which equally
affected the interest of the nation, and the character of the natives.
In the latter end of February complaint was made to the house, that,
since the commencement of the war, an infamous traffic had been set
on foot by some merchants of London, of importing French cloths into
several ports of the Levant, on account of British subjects. Five
persons were summoned to attend the house, and the fact was fully
proved, not only by their evidence, but also by some papers submitted
to the house by the Turkey company. A bill was immediately contrived for
putting a stop to this scandalous practice, reciting in the preamble,
that such traffic was not only a manifest discouragement and prejudice
to the woollen manufactures of Great Britain, but also a relief to the
enemy, in consequence of which they were enabled to maintain the war
against these kingdoms.

The next object that employed the attention of the commons, was to
explain and amend a law made in the last session for granting to
his majesty several rates and duties upon offices and pensions. The
directions specified in the former act for levying this imposition
having been found inconvenient in many respects, new regulations were
now established, importing, that those deductions should be paid into
the hands of receivers appointed by the king for that purpose; that all
sums deducted under this act should be accounted for to such receivers,
and the accounts audited and passed by them, and not by the auditors
of the impress, or of the exchequer: that all disputes relating to
the collection of this duty should be finally, and in a summary way,
determined by the barons of the exchequer in England and Scotland
respectively: that the commissioners of the land-tax should fix and
ascertain the sum total or amount of the perquisites of every office and
employment within their respective districts, distinct from the salary
thereunto belonging, to be deducted under the said act, independently
of any former valuation or assessment of the same to the land-tax;
and should rate or assess all offices and employments, the perquisites
whereof should be found to exceed the sum of one hundred pounds per
annum, at one shilling for every twenty thence arising; that the
receivers should transmit to the commissioners in every district where
any office or employment is to be assessed, an account of such officers
and employments, that, upon being certified of the truth of their
amount, they might be rated and assessed accordingly; that in all future
assessments of the land-tax, the said offices and employments should not
be valued at higher rates than those at which they were assessed towards
the land-tax of the thirty-first year of the present reign; that the
word perquisite should be understood to mean such profits of offices and
employments as arise from fees established by custom or authority,
and payable either by the crown or the subjects, in consideration of
business done in the course of executing such offices and employments;
and that a commissioner possessed of any office or employment, might not
interfere in the execution of the said act, except in what might relate
to his own employment. By the four last clauses, several salaries were
exempted from the payment of this duty. The objections made without
doors to this new law, were the accession of pecuniary influence to the
crown by the creation of a new office and officers, whereas this duty
might have been easily collected and received by the commissioners of
the land-tax already appointed, and the inconsistency that appeared
between the fifth and seventh clause: in the former of these the
commissioners of the land-tax were vested with the power of assessing
the perquisites of every office within their respective districts,
independent of any former valuation or assessment of the same to the
land-tax; and by the latter, they are restricted from assessing any
office at a higher rate than that of the thirty-first year of the reign
of George II.

In the beginning of March, petitions were offered to the house by the
merchants of Birmingham in Warwickshire, and Sheffield in Yorkshire,
specifying that the toy trade of these and many other towns consisted
generally of articles in which gold and silver might be said to be
manufactured, though in a small proportion, inasmuch as the sale of
them depended upon slight ornaments of gold and silver: that by a clause
passed in the last session of parliament, obliging every person who
should sell goods or wares in which any gold or silver was manufactured
to take out an annual license of forty shillings, they the petitioners
were laid under great difficulties and disadvantages; that not only the
first seller, but every person through whose hands the goods or wares
passed to the consumer, was required to take out the said license:
they therefore requested that the house should take these hardships
and inequalities into consideration, and indulge them with reasonable
relief. The committee, to which this affair was referred, having
resolved that this imposition was found detrimental to the toy and
cutlery trade of the kingdom, the house agreed to the resolution, and a
bill being prepared, under the title of “An act to amend the act made in
the last session, for repealing the duty granted by an act of the sixth
year of the reign of his late majesty, on silver plate, and for granting
a duty on licenses to be taken out by all persons dealing in gold and
silver plate,” was enacted into a law by the royal sanction. By this new
regulation, small quantities of gold and silver plate were allowed to be
sold without license. Instead of the duty before payable upon licenses,
another was granted, to be taken out by certain dealers in gold and
silver plate, pawnbrokers, and refiners. This affair being discussed,
the house took into consideration the claims of the proprietors of lands
purchased for the better securing of his majesty’s docks, ships, and
stores at Chatham, Portsmouth, and Plymouth; and for better fortifying
the town of Portsmouth, and citadel of Plymouth, in pursuance of an act
passed in the last session. We have already specified the sum granted
for this purpose, in consequence of a resolution of the house, upon
which a bill being founded, soon passed into a law without opposition.*

     * The next bill which was brought into the house related to
     the summons issued by the commissioners of the excise, and
     justices of the peace, for the appearance of persons
     offending against, or for forfeitures incurred by, the laws
     of excise. As some doubts had arisen with respect to the
     method of summoning in such cases, this bill, which obtained
     the royal assent in due course, enacted, that the summons
     left at the houses, or usual place of residence, or with the
     wife, child, or menial servants of the person so summoned,
     should be held as legal notice, as well as the leaving such
     notice at the house, workhouse, warehouse, shop, cellar,
     vault, or usual place of residence, of such person, directed
     to him by his right or assumed name; and all dealers in
     coffee, tea, or chocolate, were subjected to the penalty of
     twenty pounds, as often as they should neglect to attend the
     commissioners of excise, when summoned in this manner.

In the month of April, a bill was brought in for the more effectual
preventing the fraudulent importation of cambrics; and while it was
under deliberation, several merchants and wholesale drapers of the city
of London presented a petition, representing the grievances to which
they, and many thousand of other traders, would be subjected, should
the bill, as it then stood, be passed into a law. According to their
request, they were heard by their counsel on the merits of this
remonstrance, and some amendments were made to the bill in their
favour. At length it received the royal assent, and became a law to the
following effect: It enacted, that no cambrics, French lawns, or linens
of this kind usually entered under the denomination of cambrics, should
be imported after the first day of next August, but in bales, cases,
or boxes, covered with sackcloth or canvas, containing each one hundred
whole pieces, or two hundred half pieces, on penalty of forfeiting the
whole; that cambrics and French lawns should be imported for exportation
only, lodged in the king’s warehouses, and delivered out under like
security, and restrictions as prohibited East India merchandise, and,
on importation, pay only the half subsidy: that all cambrics and French
lawns in the custody of any persons should be deposited, by the first of
August, in the king’s warehouses, the bonds thereupon be delivered
up, and the drawback on exportation paid; yet the goods should not be
delivered out again but for exportation: that cambrics and French lawns
exposed to sale, or found in the possession of private persons, after
the said day, should be forfeited, and liable to be searched for, and
seized, in like manner as other prohibited and uncustomed goods are; and
the offender should forfeit two hundred pounds over and above all other
penalties and forfeitures inflicted by any former act: that if any doubt
should arise concerning the species or quality of the goods, or the
place where they were manufactured, the proof should lie on the owner:
finally, that the penalty of five pounds inflicted by a former act, and
payable to the informer, on any person that should wear any cambric
or French lawns, should still remain in force, and be recoverable,
on conviction, by oath of one witness, before one justice of the
peace.--The last successful bill which this session produced, was
that relating to the augmentation of the salaries of the judges in his
majesty’s superior courts of justice. A motion having been made for
an instruction to the committee of supply, to consider of the said
augmentation, the chancellor of the exchequer acquainted the house, that
this augmentation was recommended to them by his majesty. Nevertheless,
the motion was opposed, and a warm debate ensued. At length, however,
being carried in the affirmative, the committee agreed to certain
resolutions, on which a bill was founded. While it remained under
discussion, a motion was made for an instruction to the committee, that
they should have power to receive a clause or clauses for restraining
the judges, comprehended within the provisions of the bill, from
receiving any fee, gift, present, or entertainment, from any city, town,
borough, or corporation, or from any sheriff, gaoler, or other officer,
upon their several respective circuits, and from taking any gratuity
from any officer or officers of any of the courts of law. Another motion
was made, for a clause restraining such judges, barons, and justices, as
were comprehended within the provisions of the bill, from interfering,
otherwise than by giving their own votes, in any election of members to
serve in parliament; but both these proposals, being put to the vote,
were carried in the negative. These two motions being over-ruled by the
majority, the bill underwent some amendments; and having passed through
both houses in the ordinary course, was enacted into a law by the royal
sanction. With respect to the import of this act, it is no other
than the establishment of the several stamp-duties, applied to the
augmentation, and the appropriation of their produce in such a manner,
that the crown cannot alter the application of the sums thus granted in
parliament. But on this occasion, no attempt was made in favour of the
independency of the judges, which seems to have been invaded by a late
interpretation of, or rather by a deviation from, the act of settlement;
in which it is expressly ordained, that the commissions of the judge?
should continue in force _quamdiu se bene gesserint_; that their
salaries should be fixed, and none of them remove-able but by an address
of both houses of parliament. It was then, without all doubt, the
intention of the legislature that every judge should enjoy his office
during life, unless convicted, by legal trial, of some misbehaviour, or
unless both houses of parliament should concur in desiring his removal:
but the doctrine now adopted imports, that no commission can continue
in force longer than the life of the king by whom it was granted; that
therefore the commissions of the judges must be renewed by a new king
at his accession, who should have it in his power to employ either those
whom he finds acting as judges at his accession, or confer their offices
on others, with no other restraint than that the condition of new
commissions, should be _quamdiu se bene gesserint_. Thus the office of
a judge is more precarious, and the influence of the crown receives a
considerable reinforcement.

Among the bills that miscarried in the course of the session, we may
number a second attempt to carry into execution the scheme which was
offered last year for the more effectual manning the navy, preventing
desertion, and relieving and encouraging the seamen of Great Britain. A
bill was accordingly brought in, couched in nearly the same terms
which had been rejected in the last session; and it was supported by
a considerable number of members, animated with a true spirit of
patriotism: but to the trading part of the nation it appeared one of
those plausible projects, which, though agreeable in speculation, can
never be reduced into practice, without a concomitancy of greater evils
than those they were intended to remove. While the bill remained under
the consideration of the house, petitions were presented against it by
the merchants of Bristol, Scarborough, Whitby, Ivingston-upon-Hull, and
Lancaster, representing, that by such a law, the trade of the kingdom,
which is the nursery and support of seamen at all times, and that spirit
of equipping private ships of war, which had been of distinguished
service to the nation, would be laid under such difficulties as might
cause a great stagnation in the former, and a total suppression of the
latter; the bill, therefore, would be highly prejudicial to the marine
of the kingdom, and altogether ineffectual for the purposes intended. A
great number of books and papers, relating to trading ships and vessels,
as well as to seamen and other persons protected or pressed into the
navy, and to expenses occasioned by pressing men into the navy, were
examined in a committee of the whole house, and the bill was improved
with many amendments: nay, after it was printed and engrossed, several
clauses were added by way of rider; yet still the experiment seemed
dangerous. The motion for its being past was violently opposed; warm
debates ensued; they were adjourned, and resumed; and the arguments
against the bill appeared at length in such a striking light, that,
when the question was put, the majority declared for the negative. The
regulations which had been made in parliament during the twenty-sixth,
the twenty-eighth, and thirtieth years of the present reign, for
the preservation of the public roads, being attended with some
inconveniencies in certain parts of the kingdom, petitions were
brought from some counties in Wales, as well as from the freeholders
of Hertfordshire, the farmers of Middlesex, and others, enumerating the
difficulties attending the use of broad wheels, in one case, and the
limitation of horses used in drawing carriages with narrow wheels,
in the other. The matter of these remonstrances was considered in a
committee of the whole house, which resolved, that the weight to be
carried by all waggons and carts, travelling on the turnpike roads,
should be limited. On this resolution a bill was framed, for amending
and reducing into one act of parliament the three acts before mentioned
for the preservation of the public highways; but some objections being
started, and a petition interposed by the land-holders of Suffolk and
Norfolk, alleging that the bill, if passed into a law, would render it
impossible to bring fresh provisions from those counties to London, as
the supply depended absolutely upon the quickness of conveyance, the
further consideration of it was postponed to a longer day, and never
resumed in the sequel: so that the attempt miscarried.

{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}

CASE OF THE INSOLVENT DEBTORS.

Of all the subjects, which, in the course of this session, fell under
the cognizance of parliament, there was none that more interested the
humanity, or challenged the redress, of the legislature, than did
the case of the poor insolvent debtors, who languished under all the
miseries of indigence and imprisonment. In the month of February
a petition was offered to the commons in behalf of bankrupts, who
represented, that having scrupulously conformed to the laws made
concerning bankruptcy, by surrendering their all upon oath, for the
benefit of their creditors, they had nevertheless been refused their
certificates, without any probability of relief; that by this cruel
refusal, many bankrupts have been obliged to abscond, while others
were immured in prison, and these unhappy sufferers groaned under
the particular hardship of being excluded from the benefit of laws
occasionally made for the relief of insolvent debtors; that the power
vested in creditors of refusing certificates to their bankrupts, was,
as the petitioners conceived, founded upon a presumption that such power
would be tenderly exercised, and never but in notorious cases; but the
great increase in the number of bankrupts within two years past, and
in the small proportion of those who had been able to obtain their
certificates, seemed to demonstrate that the power had been used for
cruel and unjust purposes, contrary to the intention of the legislature:
that as the greater part of the petitioners, and their fellow-sufferers,
must inevitably and speedily perish, with their distressed families,
unless seasonably relieved by the interposition of parliament, they
implored the compassion of the house, from which they hoped immediate
favour and relief. This petition was accompanied with a printed case,
explaining the nature of the laws relating to bankrupts, and pointing
out their defects in point of policy as well as humanity; but little
regard was seemingly paid to either remonstrance. Other petitions,
however, being presented by insolvent debtors, imprisoned in different
gaols within the kingdom, leave was given to bring in a bill for their
relief, and a committee appointed to examine the laws relating to
bankruptcy.

CASE OF CAPTAIN WALKER.

Among other petitionary remonstrances on this subject, the members were
separately presented with the printed case of captain George Walker,
a prisoner in the gaol of the king’s bench, who had been declared a
bankrupt, and complained, that he had been subjected to some flagrant
acts of injustice and oppression. The case contained such extraordinary
allegations, and the captain’s character was so remarkably fair and
interesting, that the committee, which were empowered to send for
persons, papers, and records, resolved to inquire into the particulars
of his misfortune. A motion was made and agreed to, that the marshal
of the prison should bring the captain before the committee; and the
speaker’s warrant was issued accordingly. The prisoner was produced,
and examined at several sittings, and some of the members expressed
a laudable eagerness to do him justice; but his antagonists were very
powerful, and left no stone unturned to frustrate the purpose of the
inquiry, which was dropped of course at the end of the session. Thus
the unfortunate captain Walker, who had, in the late war, remarkably
distinguished himself at sea by his courage and conduct, repeatedly
signalizing himself against the enemies of his country, was sent back
without redress to the gloomy mansions of a gaol, where he had already
pined for several years, useless to himself, and lost to the community,
while he might have been profitably employed in retrieving his own
fortune, and exerting his talents for the general advantage of the
nation. While this affair was in agitation, the bill for the relief of
insolvent debtors was prepared, printed, and read a second time; but,
when the motion was made for its being committed, a debate arose, and
this was adjourned from time to time till the end of the session. In the
meantime, the committee continued to deliberate upon the laws relating
to bankruptcy; and in the beginning of June reported their resolution to
the house, that, in their opinion, some amendments might be made to the
laws concerning bankruptcy; to the advantage of creditors, and relief of
insolvents. Such was the notice vouchsafed to the cries of many British
subjects, deprived of liberty, and destitute of the common necessaries
of life.

REMARKS ON THE BANKRUPT-LAWS.

It would engage us in a long digressive discussion were we to inquire
how the spirit of the laws in England, so famed for lenity, has been
exasperated into such severity against insolvent debtors; and why,
among a people so distinguished for generosity and compassion, the gaols
should be more filled with prisoners than they are in any other part of
Christendom. Perhaps both these deviations from a general character are
violent efforts of a wary legislature made in behalf of trade, which
cannot bo too much cherished in a nation that principally depends upon
commerce. The question is, whether this laudable aim may not be more
effectually accomplished, without subjecting individuals to oppression,
arising from the cruelty and revenge of one another. As the laws are
modelled at present, it cannot be denied that the debtor, in some cases,
lies in a peculiar manner at the mercy of his creditor. By the original
and common law of England, no man could be imprisoned for debt. The
plaintiff in any civil action could have no execution upon his judgment,
against either the body or the lands of the defendant: even with respect
to his goods and chattels, which were subject to execution, he was
obliged to leave him such articles as were necessary for agriculture.
But, in process of time, this indulgence being found prejudicial
to commerce, a law was enacted, in the reign of Edward I. allowing
execution on the person of the debtor, provided his goods and chattels
were not sufficient to pay the debt which he had contracted. This law
was still attended with a very obvious inconvenience: the debtor,
who possessed an estate in lands, was tempted to secrete his moveable
effects, and live in concealment on the produce of his lands, while
the sheriff connived at his retirement. To remove this evil, a second
statute was enacted in the same reign, granting immediate execution
against the body, lands, and goods of the debtor; yet his effects could
not be sold for the benefit of his creditors till the expiration of
three months, during which he himself could dispose of them for ready
money, in order to discharge his incumbrances. If the creditor was not
satisfied in this manner, he continued in possession of the debtor’s
lands, and detained the debtor himself in prison, where he was obliged
to supply him with bread and water for his support, until the debt
was discharged. Other severe regulations were made in the sequel,
particularly in the reign of Edward III. which gave rise to the writ
of _capias ad satisfaciendum_. This indeed rendered the preceding laws,
called statute-merchant, and statute-staple, altogether unnecessary.
Though the liberty of the subject, and the security of the landholder,
were thus in some measure sacrificed to the advantage of commerce, an
imprisoned debtor was not left entirely at the mercy of an inexorable
creditor. If he made all the satisfaction in his power, and could show
that his insolvency was owing to real misfortunes, the court of chancery
interposed on his petition, and actually ordered him to be discharged
from prison, when no good reason for detaining him could be assigned.
This interposition, which seems naturally to belong to a court of
equity, constituted with a view to mitigate the rigour of the common
law, ceased, in all probability after the restoration of Charles the
Second, and of consequence the prisons were filled with debtors. Then
the legislature charged themselves with the extension of a power, which
perhaps a chancellor no longer thought himself safe in exercising; and
in the year one thousand six hundred and seventy, passed the first act
for the relief of insolvent debtors, granting a release to all prisoners
for debt, without distinction or inquiry. By this general indulgence,
which has even in a great measure continued in all subsequent acts of
the same kind, the lenity of the parliament may be sometimes misapplied,
inasmuch as insolvency is often criminal, arising from profligacy and
extravagance, which deserve to be severely punished. Yet, even for
this species of insolvency, perpetual imprisonment, aggravated by the
miseries of extreme indigence, and the danger of perishing through
famine, may be deemed a punishment too severe. How cruel then must it be
to leave the most innocent bankrupt exposed to this punishment, from the
revenge or sinister design of a merciless creditor; a creditor, by whose
fraud the prisoner became a bankrupt, and by whoso craft he is detained
in gaol, lest by his discharge from prison, he should be enabled to seek
that redress in chancery to which he is entitled on a fair account! The
severity of the law was certainly intended against fraudulent bankrupts
only; and the statute of bankruptcy is, doubtless, favourable to
insolvents, as it discharges from all former debts those who obtained
their certificates. As British subjects, they are surely entitled to the
same indulgence which is granted to other insolvents. They were always
included in every act passed for the relief of insolvent debtors, till
the sixth year of George I. when they were first excepted from this
benefit. By a law enacted in the reign of queen Anne, relating to
bankruptcy, any creditor was at liberty to object to the confirmation
of the bankrupt’s certificate; but the chancellor had power to judge
whether the objection was frivolous or well-founded: yet, by a latter
act, the chancellor is obliged to confirm the certificate, if it is
agreeable to four-fifths in number and value of the creditors; whereas
he cannot confirm it, should he be opposed, even without any reason
assigned, by one creditor to whom the greatest part of the debt is
owing. It might, therefore, deserve the consideration of parliament,
whether, in extending their clemency to the poor, it should not be
equally diffused to bankrupts and other insolvents; whether proper
distinction ought not to be made between the innocent bankrupt who fails
through misfortune in trade, and him who becomes insolvent from fraud or
profligacy: and finally, whether the inquiry and trial of all such cases
would not properly fall within the province of chancery, a tribunal
instituted for the mitigation of common law.

INQUIRY INTO THE STATE OF THE POOR.

The house of commons seems to have been determined on another measure,
which, however, does not admit of explanation. An order was made in
the month of February, that leave should be given to bring in a bill to
explain, amend, and render effectual, so much of an act passed in
the thirteenth year of George II. against the excessive increase of
horse-races, and deceitful gaming, as related to that increase. The bill
was accordingly presented, read, printed, and ordered to be committed to
a committee of the whole house; but the order was delayed from time to
time till the end of the session. Some progress was likewise made in
another affair of greater consequence to the community. A committee was
appointed in the month of March, to take into consideration the state of
the poor in England, as well as the laws enacted for their maintenance.
The clerks of the peace belonging to all the counties, cities, and towns
in England and Wales, were ordered to transmit, for the perusal of the
house, an account of the annual expense of passing vagrants through
their respective divisions and districts for four years: and the
committee began to deliberate on this important subject. In the latter
end of May the house was made acquainted with their resolutions,
importing, that the present methods of relieving the poor in the
respective parishes, where no workhouses have been provided for their
reception and employment, are, in general, very burdensome to the
inhabitants, and tend to render the poor miserable to themselves, and
useless to the community: that the present method of giving money out
of the parochial rates to persons capable of labour, in order to prevent
them from claiming an entire subsistence for themselves and their
families, is contrary to the spirit and intention of the laws for the
relief of the poor, is a dangerous power in the hands of parochial
officers, a misapplication of the public money, and a great
encouragement to idleness and intemperance; that the employment of
the poor, under proper direction and management, in such works and
manufactures as are suited to their respective capacities, would be of
great utility to the public: that settling the poor in Workhouses, to be
provided in the several counties and ridings in England and Wales, under
the direction and management of governors and trustees to be appointed
for that purpose, would be the most effectual method of relieving
such poor persons, as, by age, infirmities, or diseases, are rendered
incapable of supporting themselves by their labour: of employing
the able and industrious, reforming the idle and profligate, and of
educating poor children in religion and industry: and that the poor in
such workhouses would be better regulated and maintained, and managed
with more advantage to the public, by guardians, governors, or trustees,
to be especially appointed, or chosen for that purpose, and incorporated
with such powers, and under such restrictions, as the legislature
should deem proper, than by the annual parochial officers: that erecting
workhouses upon the waste lands, and appropriating a certain quantity of
such lands to be cultivated, in order to produce provisions for the
poor in the said houses, would not only be the means of instructing and
employing many of the said poor in agriculture, but lessen the
expense of the public: that controversies and law-suits concerning the
settlements of poor persons, occasioned a very great, and in general
an useless expense to the public, amounting to many thousand pounds
per annum; and that often more money is expended in ascertaining such
settlements by each of the contending parishes than would be sufficient
to maintain the paupers: that should workhouses be established for the
general reception of the poor, in the respective counties and ridings
of England, the laws relating to the settlements of the poor, and the
passing of vagrants, might be repealed: that while the present laws
relating to the poor subsist, the compelling parish-officers to grant
certificates to the poor, would in all probability prevent the hardships
they now suffer, in being debarred gaining their livelihood, where
they can do it most usefully to themselves and the public. From
these sensible resolutions, the reader may conceive some idea of the
misconduct that attends the management of the poor in England, as well
as of the grievous burdens entailed upon the people by the present
laws which constitute this branch of the legislature. The committee’s
resolves being read at the table, an order was made that they should be
taken into consideration on a certain day, when the order was again
put off, and in the interim the parliament was prorogued. While the
committee deliberated upon this affair, leave was given to prepare a
bill for preventing tenants, under a certain yearly rent, from gaining
settlements in any particular parish, by being there rated in any
land-tax assessment, and paying for the landlord the money so charged.
This order was afterwards discharged; and another bill brought in to
prevent any person from gaining a settlement, by being rated by
virtue of an act of parliament for granting an aid to his majesty by a
land-tax, and paying the same. The bill was accordingly presented,
read, committed, and passed the lower house; but among the lords it
miscarried. It can never be expected that the poor will be managed with
economy and integrity, while the execution of the laws relating to their
maintenance is left in the hands of low tradesmen, who derive private
advantage from supplying them with necessaries, and often favour the
imposition of one another with the most scandalous collusion. This is an
evil which will never be remedied, until persons of independent fortune,
and unblemished integrity, actuated by a spirit of true patriotism,
shall rescue their fellow-citizens from the power of such interested
miscreants, by taking the poor into their own management and protection.
Instead of multiplying laws with respect to the settlement and
management of the poor, which serve only to puzzle and perplex the
parish and peace officers, it would become the sagacity of the
legislature to take some effectual precautions to prevent the increase
of paupers and vagrants, which is become an intolerable nuisance to
the commonwealth. Towards this salutary end, surely nothing would more
contribute than a reformation of the police, that would abolish those
infamous places of entertainment, which swarm in every corner of the
metropolis, seducing people of all ranks to extravagance, profligacy,
and ruin; and would restrict within due bounds the number of
public-houses, which are augmented to an enormous degree, affording so
many asylums for riot and debauchery, and corrupting the morals of the
common people to such a pitch of licentious indecency, as must be a
reproach to every civilized nation. Let it not be affirmed, to the
disgrace of Great Britain, that such receptacles of vice and impurity
subsist under the connivance of the government, according to the narrow
views and confined speculation of those shallow politicians, who imagine
that the revenue is increased in proportion to the quantity of strong
liquors consumed in such infamous recesses of intemperance. Were this in
reality the case, that administration would deserve to be branded with
eternal infamy, which could sacrifice to such abase consideration the
health, the lives, and the morals of their fellow-creatures: but nothing
can be more fallacious than the supposition, that the revenue of any
government can be increased by the augmented intemperance of the people;
for intemperance is the bane of industry, as well as of population; and
what the government gains in the articles of the duty on malt, and the
excise upon liquors, will always be greatly overbalanced by the loss in
other articles, arising from the diminution of hands, and the neglect of
labour.

REGULATION OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.

Exclusive of the bills that were actually prepared, though they did
not pass in the course of the session, the commons deliberated on other
important subjects, which, however, were not finally discussed. In the
beginning of the session, a committee being appointed to resume the
inquiry touching the regulation of weights and measures, a subject we
have mentioned in the history of the preceding session, the box which
contained a troy pound weight, locked up by order of the house, was
again produced by the clerk in whose custody it had been deposited. This
affair being carefully investigated, the committee agreed to fourteen
resolutions. [490] _[See note 3 T, at the end of this Vol.]_ In the
meantime, it was ordered that all the weights referred to in the report,
should be delivered to the clerk of the house, to be locked up and
brought forth occasionally.

THE FOUNDLING HOSPITAL.

The house of commons, among other articles of domestic economy, bestowed
some attention on the hospital for foundlings, which was now, more than
ever, become a matter of national consideration. The accounts relating
to this charity having been demanded, and subjected to the inspection of
the members, were, together with the king’s recommendation, referred to
the committee of supply, where they produced the resolutions which we
have already specified among the other grants of the year. The house
afterwards resolved itself into a committee to deliberate on the state
of the hospital, and examine its accounts. On the third day of May,
their resolutions were reported to the following effect: that the
appointing, by the governors and guardians of the said hospital, places
in the several counties, ridings, or divisions in this kingdom, for
the first reception of exposed and deserted young children, would be
attended with many evil consequences; and that the conveying of children
from the country to the said hospital is attended with many evil
consequences, and ought to be prevented. A bill was ordered to be
brought in, founded upon this last resolution, but never presented;
therefore the inquiry produced no effect. Notwithstanding the
institution of this charity, for the support of which great sums are
yearly levied on the public, it does not appear that the bills of
mortality, respecting new-born children, are decreased, nor the shocking
crime of infant-murder rendered less frequent than heretofore. It may,
therefore, not be improperly styled a heavy additional tax for the
propagation of bastardy, and the encouragement of idleness among the
common people; besides the tendency it has to extinguish the feelings
of the heart, and dissolve those family ties of blood by which the
charities are connected. In the month of March, leave was given to bring
in a bill for the more effectual preventing of the melting down and
exporting the gold and silver coin of the kingdom, and the persons were
nominated to prepare it; but the bill never appeared, and no further
inquiry was made about the matter. Perhaps it was supposed that such
a measure might be thought an encroachment on the prerogative of the
crown, which hath always exercised the power of fixing the standard, and
regulating the currency of the coin. Perhaps such a step was deferred on
account of the war, during which a great quantity of gold and silver was
necessarily exported to the continent, for the support of the allies and
armies in the pay of Great Britain. The legislature, however, would do
well to consider this eternal maxim in computation, that when a greater
quantity of bullion is exported, in waste, than can be replaced by
commerce, the nation must be hastening to a state of insolvency. Over
and above these proceedings in this session of parliament, it may not be
unnecessary to mention several messages which were sent by the king
to the house of commons. That relating to the vote of credit we have
already specified in our account of the supply. On the twenty-sixth day
of April, the chancellor of the exchequer presented to the house two
messages signed by his majesty, one in favour of his subjects in North
America, and the other in behalf of the East India company: the former
recommending to their consideration the zeal and vigour with which his
faithful subjects in North America had exerted themselves in defence of
his just rights and possessions; desiring he might be enabled to give
them a proper compensation for the expenses incurred by the respective
provinces in levying, clothing, and paying the troops raised in that
country, according as the active vigour and strenuous efforts of the
several colonies should appear to merit: in the latter, he desired the
house would empower him to assist the East India company in defraying
the expense of a military force in the East Indies, to be maintained by
them, in lieu of a battalion of regular troops withdrawn from thence,
and returned to Ireland. Both these messages were referred to the
committee of supply, and produced the resolutions upon each subject
which we have already explained. The message relating to a projected
invasion by the enemies of Great Britain, we shall particularize in its
proper place, when we come to record the circumstances and miscarriage
of that design. In the meantime, it may not be improper to observe,
that the thanks of the house of commons were voted and given to admiral
Boscawen and major-general Amherst, for the services they had done their
king and country in North America; and the same compliment was paid to
admiral Osborne, for the success of his cruise in the Mediterranean.

The session was closed on the second day of June, with a speech to both
houses from the commissioners appointed by his majesty for that purpose.
In this harangue the parliament was given to understand, that the
king approved of their conduct, and returned them his thanks for their
condescension; that the hopes he had conceived of their surmounting the
difficulties which lay in the way, were founded on the wisdom, zeal, and
affection of so good a parliament, and that his expectations were
fully answered; that they had considered the war in all its parts,
and notwithstanding its long continuance, through the obstinacy of the
enemy, had made such provision for the many different operations as
ought to convince the adversaries of Great Britain, that it would be
for their interest, as well as for the ease and relief of all Europe, to
embrace equitable and honourable terms of accommodation. They were
told that, by their assistance, the combined army in Germany had
been completed; powerful squadrons, as well as numerous bodies of
land-forces, were employed in America, in order to maintain the British
rights and possessions, and annoy the enemy in the most sensible maimer
in that country: that, as France was making considerable preparations in
her different ports, he had taken care to put his fleet at home in the
best condition, both of strength and situation, to guard against and
repel any attempts that might be meditated against his kingdoms: that
all his measures had been directed to assert the honour of his crown;
to preserve the essential interests of his faithful subjects; to support
the cause of the protestant religion, and public liberty: he therefore
trusted that the uprightness of his intentions would draw down the
blessing of heaven upon his endeavours. He expressed his hope, that the
precautions they had taken to prevent and correct the excesses of the
privateers would produce the desired effect: a consideration which the
king had much at heart; for, though sensible of the utility of that
service, when under proper regulations, he was determined to do his
utmost to prevent any injuries or hardships which might be sustained
by the subjects of neutral powers, as far as might be practicable and
consistent with his majesty’s just right to hinder the trade of his
enemies from being collusively and fraudulently covered. He not only
thanked the commons, but applauded the firmness and vigour with
which they had acted, as well as their prudence in judging, that
notwithstanding the present burdens, the making ample provision for
carrying on the war was the most probable means to bring it to an
honourable and happy conclusion. He assured them that no attention
should be wanting, on his part, for the faithful application of what had
been granted. They were informed he had nothing further to desire, but
that they would carry down the same good dispositions, and propagate
them in their several counties, which they had shown in their
proceedings during the session. These declarations being pronounced, the
parliament was prorogued.

{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}

PREPARATIONS FOR WAR.

The people of England, provoked on one hand by the intrigues, the
hostilities and menaces of France, and animated on the other by the
pride and triumph of success, which never fails to reconcile them to
difficulties, howsoever great, and expense, however enormous, at this
period breathed nothing but war, and discoursed about nothing but new
plans of conquest. We have seen how liberally the parliament bestowed
the nation’s money; and the acquiescence of the subjects in general
under the additional burdens which had been imposed, appeared in the
remarkable eagerness with which they embarked in the subscription
planned by the legislature; in the vigorous assistance they contributed
towards manning the navy, recruiting the army, and levying additional
forces; and the warlike spirit which began to diffuse itself through
all ranks of the people, This was a spirit which the ministry carefully
cherished and cultivated, for the support of the war, which, it must
bo owned, was prosecuted with an ardour and efficacy peculiar to the
present administration. True it is, the German war had been for some
time adopted as an object of importance by the British councils, and a
resolution was taken to maintain it without flinching: at the same time,
it must be allowed, that this consideration had not hitherto weakened
the attention of the ministry to the operations in America, where alone
the war may be said to have been carried on and prosecuted on British
principles, so as to distress the enemy in their most tender part,
and at the same time, acquire the most substantial advantages to the
subjects of Britain. For these two purposes, every preparation was made
that sagacity could suggest, or vigour execute. The navy was repaired
and augmented; and, in order to man the different squadrons, the
expedient of pressing, that disgrace to a British administration,
was practised both by land and water with extraordinary rigour and
vivacity. A proclamation was issued, offering a considerable bounty
for every seaman and every landman that should by a certain day enter
voluntarily into the service. As an additional encouragement to this
class of people, the king promised his pardon to all seamen who had
deserted from their respective ships to which they belonged, provided
they should return to their duty by the third day of July; but at the
same time he declared, that those who should neglect this opportunity,
at a time when their country so much required their service, would,
upon being apprehended, incur the penalty of a court-martial, and if
convicted, be deemed unfit objects of the royal mercy. All justices
of the peace, mayors, and magistrates of corporations throughout Great
Britain, were commanded to make particular search for straggling seamen
fit for the service, and to send all that should be found to the nearest
sea-port, that they might be sent on board by the sea-officer there
commanding. Other methods, more gentle and effectual, were taken to levy
and recruit the land-forces. New regiments were raised, on his majesty’s
promise that every man should be entitled to his discharge at the end
of three years, and the premiums for enlisting were increased. Over and
above these indulgences, considerable bounties were offered and given
by cities, towns, corporations, and even by individuals, so universally
were the people possessed with a spirit of chivalry and adventure. The
example was set by the metropolis, where the common-council resolved,
that voluntary subscriptions should be received in the chamber of
London, to be appropriated as bounty-money to such persons as should
engage in his majesty’s service. The city subscribed a considerable
sum for that purpose; and a committee of aldermen and commoners
was appointed to attend at Guildhall, to receive and apply the
subscriptions. Asa further encouragement to volunteers, they moreover
resolved, that every person so entering should be entitled to the
freedom of the city, at the expiration of three years, or sooner if
the war should be brought to a conclusion. These resolutions being
communicated to the king, he was pleased to signify his approbation, and
return his thanks to the city, in a letter from the secretary of state
to the lord-mayor. Large sums were immediately subscribed by different
companies, and some private persons; and, in imitation of the capital,
bounties were offered by many different communities in every quarter of
the United Kingdom. At the same time, such care and diligence were used
in disciplining the militia, that, before the close of the year, the
greater part of those truly constitutional battalions rivalled the
regular troops in the perfection of their exercise, and seemed to be, in
all respects, as fit for actual service.

DEATH OF THE PRINCESS OF ORANGE, &c.

Before we proceed to record the transactions of the campaign that
succeeded these preparations, we shall take notice of some domestic
events, which, though not very important in themselves, may nevertheless
claim a place in the History of England. In the beginning of the year,
the court of London was overwhelmed with affliction at the death of
the princess dowager of Orange and Nassau, governante of the United
Provinces in the minority of her son, the present stadtholder. She was
the eldest daughter of his Britannic majesty, possessed of many personal
accomplishments and exemplary virtues; pious, moderate, sensible, and
circumspect. She had exercised her authority with equal sagacity and
resolution, respected even by those who were no friends to the house of
Orange, and died with great fortitude and resignation.*

     * Feeling her end approaching, she delivered a key to one of
     her attendants, directing him to fetch two papers, which she
     signed with her own hand. One was a contract of marriage
     between her daughter and the prince of Nassau Weilburgh; the
     other was a letter to the states-general, beseeching them to
     consent to this marriage, and preserve inviolate the
     regulations she had made touching the education and tutelage
     of the young stadtholder. These two papers being signed and
     sealed, she sent for her children, exhorted them to make
     proper improvements on the education they had received, and
     to live in harmony with each other. Then she implored Heaven
     to shower its blessings on them both, and embraced them with
     the most affecting marks of maternal tenderness. She
     afterwards continued to converse calmly and deliberately
     with her friends, and in a few hours expired.

In her will she appointed the king her father, and the princess dowager
of Orange her mother-in-law, honorary tutors, and prince Louis of
Brunswick acting tutor to her children. In the morning after
her decease, the states-general and the states of Holland were
extraordinarily assembled, and having received notice of this event,
proceeded to confirm the regulations which had been made for the
minority of the stadtholder. Prince Louis of Brunswick was invited
to assist in the assembly of Holland, where he took the oaths, as
representing the captain-general of the union. Then he communicated to
the assembly the act by which the princess had appointed him guardian
of her children. He was afterwards invited to the assembly of the
states-general, who agreed to the resolution of Holland, with respect
to his guardianship; and in the evening the different colleges of the
government sent formal deputations to the young stadtholder, and the
princess Caroline, his sister, in whose names and presence they were
received, and answered by their guardian and representative. A formal
intimation of the death of the princess was communicated to the king her
father, in a pathetic letter, by the states-general; who condoled with
him on the irreparable loss which he as well as they had sustained by
this melancholy event, and assured him they would employ all their care
and attention in securing and defending the rights and interest of the
young stadtholder and the princess his sister, whom they considered
as the children of the republic. The royal family of England suffered
another disaster in the course of this year, by the decease of the
princess Elizabeth-Caroline, second daughter of his late royal highness
Frederick prince of Wales, a lady of the most amiable character, who
died at Kew in the month of September, before she had attained the
eighteenth year of her age.

EXAMPLES MADE OF PIRATES.

Certain privateers continuing their excesses at sea, and rifling neutral
ships without distinction or authority, the government resolved to
vindicate the honour of the nation, by making examples of those pirates,
who, as fast as they could be detected and secured, were brought to
trial, and upon conviction sacrificed to justice. While these steps were
taken to rescue the nation from the reproach of violence and rapacity,
which her neighbours had urged with such eagerness, equal spirit was
exerted in convincing neutral powers that they should not with impunity
contravene the law of nations, in favouring the enemies of Great
Britain. A great number of causes were tried relating to disputed
captures, and many Dutch vessels, with their cargoes, were condemned,
after a fair hearing, notwithstanding the loud clamours of that people,
and the repeated remonstrances of the states-general.

The reputation of the English was not so much affected by the
irregularities of her privateers, armed for rapine, as by the neglect
of internal police, and an ingredient of savage ferocity mingled in the
national character; an ingredient that appeared but too conspicuous in
the particulars of several shocking murders brought to light about this
period.--One Halsey, who commanded a merchant ship in the voyage from
Jamaica to England, having conceived some personal dislike to a poor
sailor, insulted him with such abuse, exposed him to such hardships,
and punished him with such wantonness of barbarity, that the poor wretch
leaped overboard in despair. His inhuman tyrant envying him that death,
which would have rescued a miserable object from his brutality, plunged
into the sea after him, and brought him on board, declaring, he
should not escape so while there were any torments left to inflict.
Accordingly, he exercised his tyranny upon him with redoubled rigour,
until the poor creature expired, in consequence of the inhuman treatment
he had sustained. This savage ruffian was likewise indicted for the
murder of another mariner, but being convicted on the first trial, the
second was found unnecessary, and the criminal suffered death according
to the law, which is perhaps too mild to malefactors convicted of such
aggravated cruelty.--Another barbarous murder was perpetrated in the
country, near Birmingham, upon a sheriff’s officer, by the sons of one
Darby, whose effects the bailiff had seized, on a distress for rent.
The two young assassins, encouraged by the father, attacked the unhappy
wretch with clubs, and mangled him in a terrible manner, so that
he hardly retained any signs of life. Not contented with this cruel
execution, they stripped him naked, and dragging him out of the house,
scourged him with a waggoner’s whip, until the flesh was cut from the
bones. In this miserable condition he was found weltering in his blood,
and conveyed to a neighbouring house, where he immediately expired.
The three barbarians were apprehended, after having made a desperate
resistance. They were tried, convicted, and executed; the sons were
hung in chains, and the body of the father dissected.--The widow of a
timber-merchant in Rotherhithe being cruelly murdered in her own house,
Mary Edmonson, a young woman, her niece, ran out into the street with
her arms cut across, and gave the alarm, declaring her aunt had been
assassinated by four men, who forced their way into the house, and that
she (the niece) had received those wounds in attempting to defend her
relation. According to the circumstances that appeared, this unnatural
wretch had cut the throat of her aunt and benefactress with a
case-knife, then dragged the body from the wash-house to the parlour;
that she had stolen a watch and some silver spoons, and concealed them,
together with the knife and her own apron, which was soaked with the
blood of her parent. After having acted this horrid tragedy, the bare
recital of which the humane reader will not peruse without horror, she
put on another apron, and wounded her own flesh, the better to conceal
her guilt. Notwithstanding these precautions she was suspected, and
committed to prison. Being brought to trial, she was convicted and
condemned upon circumstantial evidence, and finally executed on
Kennington-common, though she denied the fact to the last moment of her
life. At the place of execution she behaved with great composure, and,
after having spent some minutes in devotion, protested she was innocent
of the crime laid to her charge. What seemed to corroborate this
protestation, was the condition and character of the young woman,
who had been educated in a sphere above the vulgar, and maintained
a reputation without reproach in the country, where she was actually
betrothed to a clergyman. On the other hand, the circumstances that
appeared against her almost amounted to a certainty; though nothing
weaker than proof positive ought to determine a jury in capital cases
to give a verdict against the person accused. After all, this is one
of those problematic events which elude the force of all evidence, and
serve to confound the pride of Iranian reason.--A miscreant, whose
name was Haines, having espoused the daughter of a farmer in the
neighbourhood of Gloucester, who possessed a small estate, which he
intended to divide among seven children, was so abandoned as to form
the design of poisoning the whole family, that by virtue of his wife he
might enjoy the whole inheritance. For the execution of this infernal
scheme, he employed his own father to purchase a quantity of arsenic;
part of which he administered to three of the children, who were
immediately seized with the dreadful symptoms produced by this mineral,
and the eldest expired. He afterwards mixed it with three apple-cakes,
which he bought for the purpose, and presented to the three other
children, who underwent the same violence of operation which had proved
fatal to the eldest brother. The instantaneous effects of the poison
created a suspicion of Haines, who, being examined, the whole scene
of villany stood disclosed. Nevertheless, the villain found means
to escape.--The uncommon spirit of assassination which raged at this
period, seemed to communicate itself even to foreigners who breathed
English air. Five French prisoners confined on board the king’s ship the
Royal Oak, were convicted of having murdered one Jean de Manaux, their
countryman and fellow-prisoner, in revenge for his having discovered
that they had forged passes to facilitate their escape. Exasperated at
this detection, they seized this unfortunate informer in the place of
their confinement, gagged his mouth, stripped him naked, tied him with
a strong cord to a ring-bolt, and scourged his body with the most brutal
perseverance. By dint of struggling, the poor wretch disengaged himself
from the cord with which he had been tied: then they finished the
tragedy, by leaping and stamping on his breast, till the chest was
broke, and he expired. They afterwards severed the body into small
pieces, and these they conveyed at different times into the sea, through
the funnel of a convenience to which they had access: but one of the
other prisoners gave information of the murder; in consequence of
which they were secured, brought to trial, condemned, and punished with
death.--Nor were the instances of cruel assassination which prevailed
at this juncture confined to Great Britain. At the latter end of the
foregoing year, an atrocious massacre was perpetrated by two Genoese
mariners upon the master and crew of an English vessel, among whom they
were enrolled. These monsters of cruelty were in different watches, a
circumstance that favoured the execution of the horrid plan they had
concerted. When one of them retired to rest with his fellows of the
watch, consisting of the mate and two seamen, he waited till they were
fast asleep, and then butchered them all with a knife. Having so far
succeeded without discovery, he returned to the deck, and communicated
the exploit to his associate: then they suddenly attacked the master of
the vessel, and cleft his head with a hatchet, which they likewise
used in murdering the man that stood at the helm; a third was likewise
despatched, and no Englishman remained alive but the master’s son, a
boy, who lamented his father’s death with incessant tears and cries
for three days, at the expiration of which he was likewise sacrificed,
because the assassins were disturbed by his clamour. This barbarous
scene was acted within sixty leagues of the rock of Lisbon; but the
vessel was taken within the capes Ortugal and Finisterre, by the captain
of the French privateer called La Favourite, who seeing the deck stained
with blood, and finding all the papers of the ship destroyed, began to
suspect that the master and crew had been murdered. He accordingly taxed
them with the murder, and they confessed the particulars. The privateer
touched at Vigo, where the captain imparted this detail to the English
consul; but the prize, with the two villains on board, was sent to
Bayonne in France, where they were brought to condign punishment.

MURDER OF DANIEL CLARKE.

We shall close this register of blood with the account of a murder
remarkable in all its circumstances, for which a person, called Eugene
Aram, suffered at York, in the course of this year. This man, who
exercised the profession of a schoolmaster at Knaresborough, had, as
far back as the year one thousand seven hundred and forty-five, been
concerned with one Houseman, in robbing and murdering Daniel Clarke,
whom they had previously persuaded to borrow a considerable quantity of
valuable effects from different persons in the neighbourhood, on false
pretences, that he might retire with the booty. He had accordingly
filled a sack with these particulars, and began his retreat with his two
perfidious associates, who suddenly fell upon him, deprived him of life,
and, having buried the body in a cave, took possession of the plunder.
Though Clarke disappeared at once in such a mysterious manner, no
suspicion fell on the assassins; and Aram, who was the chief contriver
and agent in the murder, moved his habitation to another part of the
country. In the summer of the present year, Houseman being employed,
among other labourers, in repairing the public highway, they, in
digging for gravel by the road side, discovered the skeleton of a human
creature, which the majority supposed to be the bones of Daniel Clarke.
This opinion was no sooner broached, than Houseman, as it were by some
supernatural impulse which he could not resist, declared that it was
not the skeleton of Clarke, inasmuch as his body had been interred at a
place called St. Robert’s Cave, where they would find it, with the head
turned to a certain corner. He was immediately apprehended, examined,
admitted as evidence for the crown, and discovered the particulars of
the murder. The skeleton of Clarke being found exactly in the place
and manner he had described, Eugene Aram, who now acted as usher to a
grammar-school in the county of Norfolk, was secured, and brought
to trial at the York assizes. There, his own wife corroborating the
testimony of Houseman, he was found guilty, and received sentence of
death; notwithstanding a very artful and learned defence, in which he
proved, from argument and example, the danger of convicting a man upon
circumstantial evidence. Finding all his remonstrances ineffectual, he
recommended himself in pathetic terms to the king’s mercy; and if ever
murder was entitled to indulgence, perhaps it might have been extended
not improperly to this man, whose genius, in itself prodigious, might
have exerted itself in works of general utility. He had, in spite of all
the disadvantages attending low birth and straitened circumstances, by
the dint of his own capacity and inclination, made considerable progress
in mathematics and philosophy, acquired all the languages ancient and
modern, and executed part of a Celtic dictionary, which, had he lived
to finish it, might have thrown some essential light upon the origin
and obscurities of the European history. Convinced, at last, that he had
nothing to hope from the clemency of the government, he wrote a short
poem in defence of suicide; and, on the day fixed for his execution,
opened the veins of his left arm with a razor, which he had concealed
for that purpose. Though he was much weakened by the effusion of blood,
before this attempt was discovered, yet, as the instrument had missed
the artery, he did not expire until he was carried to the gibbet,
and underwent the sentence of the law. His body was conveyed to
Knaresborough-forest, and hung in chains, near the place where the
murder was perpetrated.--These are some of the most remarkable that
appeared amongst many other instances of homicide: a crime that prevails
to a degree alike deplorable and surprising, even in a nation renowned
for compassion and placability. But this will generally be the case
among people whose passions, naturally impetuous, are ill restrained by
laws, and the regulations of civil society; which the licentious do not
fear, and the wicked hope to evade.

MAJORITY OF THE PRINCE OF WALES.

The prince of Wales having, in the beginning of June, entered the
two-and-twentieth year of his age, the anniversary of his birth was
celebrated with great rejoicings at court, and the king received
compliments of congratulation on the majority of a prince, who seemed
born to fulfil the hopes, and complete the happiness, of Great Britain.
The city of London presented an address to the king on this occasion,
replete with expressions of loyalty and affection, assuring his majesty,
that no hostile threats could intimidate a people animated by the
love of liberty, who, confiding in the Divine Providence, and in his
majesty’s experienced wisdom and vigorous councils, were resolved to
exert their utmost efforts towards enabling their sovereign to repel the
insults and defeat the attempts made by the ancient enemies of his crown
and kingdom. Congratulations of the same kind were offered by other
cities, towns, corporations, and communities, who vied with each other
in professions of attachment; and, indeed, there was not the least trace
of disaffection perceivable at this juncture in any part of the island.

A NEW BRIDGE AT BLACKFRIARS.

So little were the citizens of London distressed by the expense, or
incommoded by the operations of the war, that they found leisure to
plan, and funds to execute, magnificent works of art, for the ornament
of the metropolis, and the convenience of commerce. They had obtained
an act of parliament, empowering them to build a new bridge over the
Thames, from Blackfriars to the opposite shore, about midway between
those of London and Westminster. Commissioners were appointed to
put this act in execution; and, at a court of common-council, it was
resolved that a sum not exceeding one hundred and forty-four thousand
pounds should be forthwith raised, within the space of eight years, by
instalments, not exceeding thirty thousand pounds in one year, to be
paid into the chamber of London; that the persons advancing the money
should have an interest at the rate of four pounds per cent, per
annum, to be paid half-yearly by the chamberlain, yet redeemable at the
expiration of the first ten years; and that the chamberlain should affix
the city’s seal to such instruments as the committee might think fit to
give for securing the payment of the said annuities. Such were the first
effectual steps taken towards the execution of a laudable measure, which
met with the most obstinate opposition in the sequel, from the narrow
views of particular people, as well as from the prejudice of party.

FIRE IN CORNHILL.

The spirit that now animated the citizens of London was such as small
difficulties did not retard, and even considerable losses could not
discourage. In the month of November the city was exposed to a dangerous
conflagration, kindled in the night by accident in the neighbourhood of
the Royal Exchange, which burned with great fury, and, notwithstanding
the assistance of the firemen and engines, employed under the personal
direction of the magistracy, consumed a great number of houses, and
damaged many more. That whole quarter of the town was filled with
consternation: some individuals were beggared; one or two perished in
the flames, and some were buried in the ruins of the houses that sunk
under the disaster.

METHOD CONTRIVED TO FIND OUT THE LONGITUDE.

The ferment of mind so peculiar to the natives of Great Britain, excited
by a strange mixture of genius and caprice, passion and philosophy,
study and conjecture, produced at this period some flowers of
improvement, in different arts and sciences, that seemed to promise
fruit of public utility. Several persons invented methods for
discovering the longitude at sea, that great _desideratum_ in
navigation, for the ascertainment of which so many nations have
offered a public recompense, and in the investigation of which so many
mathematical heads have been disordered. Some of those who now appeared
candidates for the prize deserved encouragement for the ingenuity of
their several systems; but he who seemed to enjoy’ the pre-eminence in
the opinion and favour of the public was Mr. Irwin, a native of Ireland,
who contrived a chair so artfully poised, that a person sitting in it on
board a ship, even in a rough sea, can, through a telescope, observe
the immersion and emersion of Jupiter’s satellites, without being
interrupted or incommoded by the motion of the vessel. This gentleman
was favoured with the assistance and protection of commodore lord Howe,
in whose presence the experiment was tried in several ships at sea with
such success, that he granted a certificate, signifying his approbation;
and in consequence of this, Mr. Irwin is said to have obtained a
considerable reward from the board of admiralty.

{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}

INSTALLATION AT OXFORD.

The people of England, happy in their situation, felt none of the storms
of war and desolation which ravaged the neighbouring countries; but,
enriched by a surprising augmentation of commerce, enjoyed all the
security of peace, and all the pleasures of taste and affluence. The
university of Oxford having conferred the office of their chancellor,
vacant by the death of the earl of Arran, upon another nobleman of equal
honour and integrity, namely, the earl of Westmoreland, he made a public
entrance into that celebrated seat of learning with great magnificence,
and was installed amidst the Encaenia, which were celebrated with such
classical elegance of pomp, as might have rivalled the chief Roman
festival of the Augustan age. The chancellor elect was attended by a
splendid train of the nobility and persons of distinction. The city of
Oxford was filled with a vast concourse of strangers. The processions
were contrived with taste, and conducted with decorum. The installation
was performed with the most striking solemnity. The congratulatory
verses and public speeches breathed the spirit of old Rome; and the
ceremony was closed by Dr. King, that venerable sage of St. Mary Hall,
who pronounced an oration in praise of the new chancellor with all the
flow of Tully, animated by the fire of Demosthenes.

We shall conclude the remarkable incidents of this year:*

     * In the spring of the year the liberal arts sustained a
     lamentable loss in the death of George Frederick Handel, the
     most celebrated master in music which this age had produced.
     He was by birth a German; but had studied in Italy, and
     afterwards settled in England, where he met with the most
     favourable reception, and resided above half a century,
     universally admired for his stupendous genius in the sublime
     parts of musical composition.

     One would be apt to imagine, that there was something in the
     constitution of the air at this period, which was
     particularly unfavourable to old age; inasmuch as, in the
     compass of a few months, the following persons, remarkable
     for their longevity, died in the kingdom of Scotland.
     William Barnes, who had been above seventy years a servant
     in the family of Brodie, died there, at the age of one
     hundred and nine. Catherine Mackenzie died in Ross-shire, at
     the age of one hundred and eighteen. Janet Blair, deceased
     at Monemusk, in the shire of Aberdeen, turned of one
     hundred and twelve. Alexander Stephens, in Banffshire, at
     the age of one hundred and eight. Janet Harper, of
     Bainsholes, at the age of one hundred and seven. Daniel
     Cameron, in Rannaeh, married when he was turned of one
     hundred, and survived his marriage thirty years.

These are detached from the prosecution of the war, with the detail of
an event equally surprising and deplorable:--A sloop called the Dolphin,
bound from the Canaries to New York, met with such unfavourable weather,
that she was detained one hundred and sixty-five days in the passage,
and the provision of the ship was altogether expended before the first
fifty days were elapsed. The wretched crew had devoured their dog, cat,
and all their shoes on board: at length, being reduced to the utmost
extremity, they agreed to cast lots for their lives, that the body of
him upon whom the lot should fall might serve for some time to support
the survivors. The wretched victim was one Antoni Ga-latia, a Spanish
gentleman and passenger. Him they shot with a musket; and having cut
off his head, threw it overboard; but the entrails and the rest of the
carcase they greedily devoured. This horrid banquet having, as it were,
fleshed the famished crew, they began to talk of another sacrifice, from
which, however, they were diverted by the influence and remonstrances of
their captain, who prevailed upon them to be satisfied with a miserable
allowance to each per diem, cut from a pair of leather breeches found
in the cabin. Upon this calamitous pittance, reinforced with the grass
which grew plentifully upon the deck, these poor objects made shift to
subsist for twenty days, at the expiration of which they were relieved,
and taken on board by one captain Bradshaw, who chanced to fall in with
them at sea. By this time the whole crew, consisting of seven men, were
so squalid and emaciated, as to exhibit an appearance at once piteous
and terrible; and so reduced in point of strength, that it was found
necessary to use ropes and tackle for hoisting them from one ship to the
other. The circumstance of the lot falling upon the Spaniard, who was
the only foreigner on board, encourages a suspicion that foul play was
offered to this unfortunate stranger; but the most remarkable part of
this whole incident is, that the master and crew could not contrive some
sort of tackle to catch fish, with which the sea every where abounds,
and which, no doubt, might be caught with the help of a little
ingenuity. If implements of this kind were provided in every ship,
they would probably prevent all those tragical events at sea that are
occasioned by famine.

CAPTURES MADE BY CRUISERS.

Previous to the more capital operations in war, we shall particularize
the most remarkable captures that were made upon the enemy by single
ships of war, during the course of this summer and autumn. In the month
of February, a French privateer belonging to Granville, called the
Marquis de Marigny, having on board near two hundred men, and mounted
with twenty cannon, was taken by captain Parker, commander of his
majesty’s ship the Montague; who likewise made prize of a smaller armed
vessel, from Dunkirk, of eight cannon and sixty men. About the same
period, captain Graves, of the Unicorn, brought in the Moras privateer,
of St. Maloes, carrying two hundred men, and two-and-twenty cannon. Two
large merchant-ships, laden on the French king’s account for Martinique,
with provisions, clothing, and arms, for the troops on that island, were
taken by captain Lendrick, commander of the Brilliant; and an English
transport from St. John’s, having four hundred French prisoners on
board, perished near the Western islands. Within the circle of the same
month, a large French ship from St. Domingo, richly laden, fell in with
the Favourite ship of war, and was carried into Gibraltar.

In the month of February, captain Hood, of his majesty’s frigate the
Vestal, belonging to a small squadron commanded by admiral Holmes, who
had sailed for the West Indies in January, being advanced a considerable
way ahead of the fleet, descried and gave chase to a sail, which proved
to be a French frigate called the Bellona, of two hundred and
twenty men, and two-and-thirty great guns, commanded by the count
de Beauhonoire. Captain Hood, having made a signal to the admiral,
continued the chase until he advanced within half musket-shot of the
enemy, and then poured in a broadside, which was immediately retorted.
The engagement thus begun was maintained with great vigour on both sides
for the space of four hours; at the expiration of which the Bellona
struck, after having lost all her masts and rigging, together with about
forty men killed in the action. Nor was the victor in a much better
condition. Thirty men were killed and wounded on board the Vestal.
Immediately after the enemy submitted, all her rigging being destroyed
by the shot, the topmasts fell overboard; and she was otherwise so
much damaged, that she could not proceed on her voyage. Captain Hood,
therefore, returned with his prize to Spithead; and afterwards met with
a gracious reception from his majesty, on account of the valour and
conduct he had displayed on this occasion. The Bellona had sailed in
January from the island of Martinique, along with the Florissant,
and another French frigate, from which she had been separated in the
passage. Immediately after this exploit, captain Elliot, of the AEolus
frigate, accompanied by the Isis, made prize of a French ship, the
Mignonne, of twenty guns, and one hundred and forty men, one of four
frigates employed as convoy to a large fleet of merchant-ships, near the
island of Rhé.

In the month of March, the English frigates the Southampton and Melampe,
commanded by the captains Gilchrist and Hotham, being at sea to the
northward on a cruise, fell in with the Danaë, a French ship of forty
cannon, and three hundred and thirty men, which was engaged by captain
Hotham in a ship of half the force, who maintained the battle a
considerable time with admirable gallantry, before his consort could
come to his assistance. As they fought in the dark, captain Gilchrist
was obliged to lie by for some time, because he could not distinguish
the one from the other; but no sooner did the day appear, than he bore
down upon the Danaë with his usual impetuosity, and soon compelled her
to surrender: she did not strike, however, until thirty or forty of her
men were slain; and the gallant captain Gilchrist received a grape-shot
in his shoulder, which, though it did not deprive him of life, yet
rendered him incapable of future service: a misfortune the more to be
lamented, as it happened to a brave officer in the vigour of his age,
and in the midst of a sanguinary war, which might have afforded him
many other opportunities of signalizing his courage for the honour and
advantage of his country. Another remarkable exploit was achieved
about the same juncture by captain Barrington, commander of the ship
Achilles, mounted with sixty cannon; who, to the westward of Cape
Finisterre, encountered a French ship of equal force, called the
Count de Saint Florintin, bound from Cape François, on the island of
Hispaniola, to Rochefort, under the command of the sieur de Montay, who
was obliged to strike, after a close and obstinate engagement, in which
he himself was mortally wounded, a great number of his men slain, and
his ship so damaged, that she was with difficulty brought into Falmouth.
Captain Barrington obtained the victory at the expense of about
five-and-twenty men killed and wounded, and all his rigging, which the
enemy’s shot rendered useless. Two small privateers from Dunkirk were
also taken: one called the Marquis de Bareil, by the Brilliant, which
carried her into Kin-sale in Ireland; the other called the Carrilloneur,
which struck to the Grace cutter, assisted by the boats of the ship
Rochester, commanded by captain Duff, who sent her into the Downs.

About the latter end of March, captain Samuel Falkner, in the ship
Windsor, of sixty guns, cruising to the westward, discovered four large
ships to leeward, which, when he approached them, formed the line of
battle ahead, in order to give him a warm reception. He accordingly
closed with the sternmost ship, which sustained his fire about an hour:
then the other three bearing away with all the sail they could carry,
she struck her colours, and was conducted to Lisbon. She proved to
be the Duc de Chartres, pierced for sixty cannon, though at that time
carrying no more than four-and-twenty, with a complement of three
hundred men, about thirty of whom were killed in the action. She
belonged, with the other three that escaped, to the French East India
company, was laden with gunpowder and naval stores, and bound for
Pondicherry. Two privateers, called Le Chasseur and Le Conquérant, the
one from Dunkirk, and the other from Cherbourg, were taken and carried
into Plymouth by captain Hughes, of his majesty’s frigate the Tamer. A
third, called the Despatch, from Morlaix, was brought into Penzance by
the Diligence sloop, under the command of captain Eastwood. A fourth,
called the Basque, from Bayonne, furnished with two-and-twenty guns,
and above two hundred men, fell into the hands of captain Parker of
the Brilliant, who conveyed her into Plymouth. Captain Antrobus of the
Surprise, took the Vieux, a privateer of Bourdeaux; and a fifth, from
Dunkirk, struck to captain Knight of the Liverpool, off Yarmouth. In
the month of May, a French frigate called the Arethusa, mounted with
two-and-thirty cannon, manned with a large complement of hands under the
command of the marquis de Vaudreuil, submitted to two British frigates,
the Venus and the Thames, commanded by the captains Harrison and Colby,
after a warm engagement, in which sixty men were killed and wounded on
the side of the enemy. In the beginning of June, an armed ship belonging
to Dunkirk was brought into the Downs by captain Angel, of the Stag; and
a privateer of force, called the Countess de la Serre, was subdued and
taken, after an obstinate action, by captain Moore, of his majesty’s
ship the Adventure.

PRIZES TAKEN IN THE WEST INDIES.

Several armed ships of the enemy, and rich prizes, were taken in the
West Indies, particularly two French frigates, and two Dutch ships
with French commodities, all richly laden, by some of the ships of the
squadron which vice-admiral Coats commanded on the Jamaica station. A
fifth, called the Velour, from St. Domingo, with a valuable cargo on
board, being fortified with twenty cannon, and above one hundred men,
fell in with the Favourite sloop of war, under the command of captain
Edwards, who, after’ art obstinate dispute, carried her in triumph
to Gibraltar. At St. Christopher’s, in the West Indies, captain
Collingwood, commander of the king’s ship the Crescent, attacked
two French frigates, the Améthyste and Berkeley; the former of which
escaped, after a warm engagement, in which the Crescent’s rigging was
so much damaged that she could not pursue; but the other was taken, and
conveyed into the harbour of Basseterre. Notwithstanding the vigilance
and courage of the English cruisers in those seas, the French privateers
swarmed to such a degree, that in the course of this year they took
above two hundred sail of British ships, valued at six hundred thousand
pounds sterling. This their success is the more remarkable, as by this
time the island of Guadaloupe was in possession of the English, and
commodore Moore commanded a numerous squadron in those very latitudes.

ENGAGEMENT BETWEEN THE HERCULES AND THE FLORISSANT.

In the beginning of October, the Hercules ship of war, mounted with
seventy-four guns, under the command of captain Porter, cruising in the
chops of the channel, descried to windward a large ship, which proved to
be the Florissant, of the same force with the Hercules. Her commander,
perceiving the English ship giving chase, did not seem to decline
the action, but bore down upon her in a slanting direction, and the
engagement began with great fury. In a little time, the Hercules having
lost her top-mast, and all her rigging being shot away, the enemy took
advantage of this disaster, made the best of his way, and was pursued
till eight o’clock next morning, when he escaped behind the isle of
Oleron. Captain Porter was wounded in the head with a grape-shot, and
lost the use of one leg in the engagement.

HAVRE-DE-GRACE BOMBARDED.

Having taken notice of all the remarkable captures and exploits that
were made and achieved by single ships since the commencement of the
present year, we shall now proceed to describe the actions that were
performed in this period by the different squadrons that constituted the
naval power of Great Britain. Intelligence having been received that the
enemy meditated an invasion upon some of the British territories, and
that a number of flat-bottomed boats were prepared at Havre-de-Grace,
for the purpose of disembarking troops, rear-admiral Rodney was, in the
beginning of July, detached with a small squadron of ships and bombs
to annoy and overawe that part of the coast of France. He accordingly
anchored in the road of Havre, and made a disposition to execute the
instructions he had received. The bomb vessels, being placed in the
narrow channel of the river leading to Ronfleur, began to throw their
shells, and continued the bombardment for two-and-fifty hours, without
intermission, during which a numerous body of French troops were
employed in throwing up intrenchments, erecting new batteries, and
firing both with shot and shells upon the assailants. The town was set
on fire in several places, and burned with great fury; some of the
boats were overturned, and a few of them reduced to ashes, while the
inhabitants forsook the place in the utmost consternation: nevertheless,
the damage done to the enemy was too inconsiderable to make amends for
the expense of the armament, and the loss of nineteen hundred shells
and eleven hundred carcasses, which were expended in this expedition.
Bombardments of this kind are at best but expensive and unprofitable
operations, and may be deemed a barbarous method of prosecuting war,
inasmuch as the damage falls upon the wretched inhabitants, who have
given no cause of offence, and who are generally spared by a humane
enemy, unless they have committed some particular act of provocation.

BOSCAWEN DEFEATS M. DE LA CLUE.

The honour of the British flag was much more effectually asserted by
the gallant admiral Boscawen, who, as we have already observed, was
intrusted with the conduct of a squadron in the Mediterranean. It must
be owned, however, that his first attempt savoured of temerity. Having
in vain displayed the British flag in sight of Toulon, by way of
defiance to the French fleet that lay there at anchor, he ordered three
ships of the line, commanded by the captains Smith, Harland, and
Barker, to advance and burn two ships that lay close to the mouth of the
harbour. They accordingly approached with great intrepidity, and met
with a very warm reception from divers batteries, which they had
not before perceived. Two small forts they attempted to destroy, and
cannonaded for some time with great fury; but being overmatched by
superior force, and the wind subsiding into a calm, they sustained
considerable damage, and were towed off with great difficulty in a
very shattered condition. The admiral seeing three of his best ships so
roughly handled in this enterprise, returned to Gibraltar in order
to refit; and M. de la Clue, the French commander of the squadron at
Toulon, seized this opportunity of sailing, in hopes of passing the
Straits’ mouth unobserved, his fleet consisting of twelve large ships
and three frigates. Admiral Boscawen, who commanded fourteen sail of
the line with two frigates, and as many fire-ships, having refitted
his squadron, detached one frigate to cruise off Malaga, and another
to hover between Estepona and Ceuta-point, with a view to keep a good
look-out, and give timely notice in case the enemy should approach. On
the seventeenth day of August, at eight in the evening, the Gibraltar
frigate made a signal that fourteen sail appeared on the Barbary shore,
to the eastward of Ceuta; upon which the English admiral immediately
heaved up his anchors and went to sea. At day-light he descried seven
large ships lying-to; but when the English squadron forbore to answer
their signal, they discovered their mistake, set all their sails, and
made the best of their way. This was the greater part of the French
squadron, commanded by M. de la Clue, from whom five of his large ships
and three frigates had separated in the night. Even now, perhaps, he
might have escaped, had he not been obliged to wait for the Souveraine,
which was a heavy sailer. At noon the wind, which had blown a heavy
gale, died away, and although admiral Boscawen had made signal to chase,
and engage in a line of battle ahead, it was not till half an hour after
two that some of his headmost ships could close with the rear of the
enemy, which, though greatly out-numbered, fought with uncommon bravery.
The English admiral, without waiting to return the fire of the
sternmost, which he received as he passed, used all his endeavours to
come up with the Ocean, which M. de la Clue commanded in person; and
about four o’clock in the afternoon, running athwart her hawse, poured
into her a furious broadside: thus the engagement began with equal
vigour on both sides. This dispute, however, was of short duration. In
about half an hour admiral Boscawen’s mizen-mast and topsail-yards were
shot away, and the enemy hoisted all the sail they could carry. Mr.
Boscawen having shifted his flag from the Namur to the Newark, joined
some other ships in attacking the Centaur, of seventy-four guns, which,
being thus overpowered, was obliged to surrender. The British admiral
pursued them all night, during which the Souveraine and the Guerrier
altered their course, and deserted their commander. At day-break, M. de
la Clue, whose left leg had been broke in the engagement, perceiving the
English squadron crowding all their sails to come up with him, and
finding himself on the coast of Portugal, determined to burn his ships
rather than they should fall into the hands of the victors. The Ocean
was run ashore two leagues from Lagos, near the fort of Almadana, the
commander of which fired three shots at the English; another captain of
the French squadron followed the example of his commander, and both
endeavoured to disembark their men; but the sea being rough, this proved
a very tedious and difficult attempt. The captains of the Téméraire and
Modeste, instead of destroying their ships, anchored as near as they
could to the forts Xavier and Lagres, in hopes of enjoying their
protection; but in this hope they were disappointed. M. de la Clue had
been landed, and the command of the Ocean was left to the count de
Carne, who, having received one broadside from the America, struck his
colours, and the English took possession of this noble prize, the best
ship in the French navy, mounted with eighty cannon. Captain Bentley of
the Warspite, who had remarkably signalized himself by his courage
during the action of the preceding day, attacked the Téméraire, of
seventy-four guns, and brought her off with little damage. Vice-admiral
Broderick, the second in command, advancing with his division, burned
the Redoubtable, of seventy-four guns, which was bulged, and abandoned
by her men and officers; but they made prize of the Modeste, carrying
sixty-four guns, which had not been much injured in the engagement. This
victory was obtained by the English admiral at a very small expense of
men; the whole number of the killed and wounded not exceeding two
hundred and fifty on board of the British squadron, though the carnage
among the enemy must have been much more considerable, as M. de la Clue,
in his letter to the French ambassador at Lisbon, owned, that on board
of his own ship, the Ocean, one hundred men were killed on the spot, and
seventy dangerously wounded. But the most severe circumstance of this
disaster was the loss of four capital ships, two of which were
destroyed, and the other two brought in triumph to England, to be
numbered among the best bottoms of the British navy. What augmented the
good fortune of the victors was, that not one officer lost his Life in
the engagement. Captain Bentley, whom the admiral despatched to England
with the tidings of his success, met with a gracious reception from the
king, who knighted him for his gallantry.

{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}

PREPARATIONS MADE BY THE FRENCH FOR INVADING ENGLAND.

As we propose to throw together all the naval transactions of the year,
especially those that happened in the European seas, that they may be
comprehended, as it were, in one view, we must now, without regarding
the order of time, postpone many previous events of importance,
and record the last action by sea, that in the course of this year
distinguished the flag of Great Britain. The court of Versailles, in
order to embarrass the British ministry, and divert their attention
from all external expeditions, had in the winter projected a plan for
invading some part of the British dominions; and in the beginning of the
year had actually begun to make preparations on different parts of their
coast for carrying this design into execution. Even as far back as the
latter end of May, messages from the king to both houses of parliament
were delivered by the earl of Holdernesse and Mr. Pitt, the two
secretaries of state, signifying that his majesty had received advices
of preparations making by the French court, with a design to invade
Great Britain: that though persuaded, by the universal zeal and
affection of his people, any such attempt must, under the blessing
of God, end in the destruction of those who engaged in it; yet he
apprehended he should not act consistent with that paternal care and
concern which he had always shown for the safety and preservation of his
subjects, if he omitted any means in his power which might be necessary
for their defence: he, therefore, acquainted the parliament with his
having received repeated intelligence of the enemy’s preparations, to
the end that his majesty might, if he should think proper, in pursuance
of the late act of parliament, cause the militia, or such parts thereof
as should be necessary, to be drawn out and embodied, in order to march
as occasion should require. These messages were no sooner read, than
each house separately resolved to present an address, thanking his
majesty for having communicated this intelligence; assuring him, that
they would, with their lives and fortunes, support him against all
attempts whatever; that, warmed with affection and zeal for his person
and government, and animated by indignation at the daring designs of an
enemy whose fleet had hitherto shunned the terror of the British navy,
they would cheerfully exert their utmost efforts to repel all insults,
and effectually enable their sovereign not only to disappoint the
attempts of France, but, by the blessing of God, turn them to their own
confusion. The commons at the same time resolved upon another address,
desiring his majesty would give directions to his lieutenants of the
several counties, ridings, and places within South Britain, to use
their utmost diligence and attention in executing the several acts of
parliament made for the better ordering the militia.

ACCOUNT OF THUROT.

These and other precautionary steps were accordingly taken; but the
administration wisely placed their chief dependence upon the strength of
the navy, part of which was so divided and stationed as to block up
all the harbours of France in which the enemy were known to prepare any
naval armament of consequence. We have seen in what manner rear-admiral
Rodney visited the town and harbour of Havre-de-Grace, and scoured
that part of the coast in successive cruises: we have also recorded the