of affairs in Europe, I see no probability that the measures which you may adopt will be interrupted by disputes with any foreign power”.

Then his Majesty was pleased to retire;

And the Commons withdrew.

The House was adjourned during pleasure to unrobe.

The House was resumed.

Before the motion was made for an Address,

The Lord Camden presented to the House a Petition of the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Commons, of the City of London, in Common Council assembled; praying “their Lordships would be pleased to adopt such measures for the healing of the present unhappy disputes between the mother country and the Colonies, as may be speedy, permanent, and honourable.”

And the same being read by the Clerk,

Ordered, That the said Petition do lie on the table.

The Lord Chancellor (Bathurst) condemned the conduct of the noble Lord who had presented the City Petition; said it had always been a rule in that House, not to enter upon any business till the Speech from the Throne had been taken into consideration. It was a compliment uniformly paid and expected; but, since the noble and learned Lord had departed from that rule, he should beg leave to present a Petition from his Majesty’s Colony of Nova-Scotia.

His Lordship then presented to the House the Address, Petition, and Memorial, of the Representatives of the Freeholders of the Province of Nova-Scotia in General Assembly.

And the same being read by the Clerk,

Ordered, That the said Petition do lie on the table.

The Lord Chancellor then reported his Majesty’s Speech.

And the same being read by the Clerk,

Viscount Townshend rose to move, That an Address be presented to his Majesty.

His Lordship said it was extremely proper, in the present exigency of affairs, to take foreigners into our pay, and Irish papists into our service. He said papists might be as good soldiers as any other; that it was only in this country that any distinction was made; that France, however bigoted or despotick she might be in other respects, made no difference between Protestants and Catholicks; that the Hollanders acted in the same manner; that so men were good soldiers, it was very little matter what their creeds were. He touched slightly on the disposition of the several powers of Europe, particularly that of the House of Bourbon, and the United Provinces: the last, to show we had no obstruction to fear in the execution of our designs respecting America; it being a strong presumptive proof that we had very little to fear from the other powers of Europe, when even a State that almost existed by trade and the universality of its commerce, had renounced all prospect of advantage or emolument by trading with our Colonies, having, in the most solemn manner, prohibited such an intercourse in the fullest operation and specifick terms.

His Lordship then moved, “That an humble Address be presented to his Majesty, to return his Majesty the thanks of this House for his most gracious Speech from the Throne.

“To assure his Majesty that we see, with the utmost abhorrence and indignation, the real design of those desperate men who, by the grossest misrepresentations, have deluded and precipitated our unhappy fellow-subjects in America into measures no less subversive of their own happiness and true interests, than dangerous to the prosperity and safety of Great Britain.

“That the powers which they have assumed, and the arbitrary and oppressive acts which they have done, leave no doubt of their traitorous purpose to induce the Colonies to shake off the control of the Supreme Legislature, and to bury in an ungrateful oblivion the remembrance of the great industry with which they have been planted, the fostering care with which they have been nursed, the many advantages which they have enjoyed, and the expense of blood and treasure with which they have been protected by this nation.

“To express our concern to his Majesty that the great tenderness with which his Majesty has proceeded, and the conciliatory disposition which appeared in the last session of Parliament, instead of having the desired effect of undeceiving the misled, and establishing a confidence in the parent State, have been turned to the advantage, and made instrumental to the purposes, of this desperate attempt. That whilst we acknowledge this to have been the consequence of the difference of intention which prevailed here and in America, we are penetrated with a just sense of the motives which have regulated his Majesty’s endeavours to prevent, if it had been possible, the effusion of the blood of our fellow-subjects, and the calamities which are inseparable from a state of war.

“That since the rebellion is now become more general, and manifests the purpose of establishing and maintaining an independent empire, we cannot but applaud his Majesty’s resolution to vindicate the rights, the interests, and the honour of his kingdom by a speedy and most decisive exertion; that for this purpose we will support his Majesty with our lives and fortunes.

“That we are fully persuaded that, in the present state of these disorders, the most active, will, in its effects, be the most merciful mode of proceeding.

“That we hear, therefore, with pleasure, that his Majesty has increased his naval establishment, and also greatly augmented his land forces, and are sensible of his Majesty’s kind consideration in having done it in such a manner as may be the least burdensome to his kingdoms; and that we shall cheerfully concur in whatever may be necessary to enable his Majesty to profit of the friendly dispositions of foreign powers.

“That we are deeply impressed by the gracious motives which induced his Majesty to send a part of his Electoral troops to the garrisons of Gibraltar and Port-Mahon, by which assistance this country will be enabled to employ a larger number of its own established forces in the maintenance of its authority.

“That we return his Majesty our sincerest thanks for having so providentially pointed out to us a further resource in that national body of men so constitutional in their nature, and so zealous in their duty—the militia of this kingdom.

“To assure his Majesty that we cannot sufficiently admire the benevolent declaration, that when the much wished for period arrives, that the unhappy and deluded multitude, against whom this force will be directed, shall become sensible of their error, his Majesty will receive the misled with tenderness and mercy; and that we are fully sensible of the wise and compassionate sentiment which has determined his Majesty to delegate authority to certain persons upon the spot, to grant general or particular pardons and indemnities, in such manner and to such persons as they shall think fit, and to receive the submission of any Province or Colony which shall be disposed to return to its allegiance; and that we will most readily concur in granting to the persons so commissioned, such further powers as may best tend to promote and effectuate his Majesty’s salutary intentions.

“To convey to his Majesty our grateful acknowledgments for the full and explicit communication which his Majesty has been pleased to make to us, and the just sense we entertain of the numerous blessings we enjoy, flowing from the source of never-ceasing attention with which his Majesty is occupied for the safety and happiness of all his people; and to assure his Majesty that we participate the same desire which animates his Royal breast, and feel no other wish than to re-establish order and tranquillity through the several parts of his dominions upon the basis of a close connection with, and constitutional dependance upon, Great Britain.”

Viscount Dudley seconded the motion. Having asserted the sovereign authority of the British Legislature over every part of the British dominions, his Lordship contended that the present rebellion in America was fomented and supported by a desperate faction in this country; that none but men of the worst dispositions, and most pernicious designs, would encourage the claims of America; and that, as they had been wrong almost in everything else, he was glad to find that they had been mistaken in their predictions relative to the distresses which the dispute with America would bring upon this nation. He had the pleasure of acquainting their Lordships, that he lived in the midst of a manufacturing country, in the neighbourhood of Birmingham, Wolver-hampton,&c, and he could affirm, from the most authentick information collected upon the spot, that none of the direful