to twenty thousand men annually, that that great statesman, seeing, and very sensibly feeling, the necessity of having recourse to foreign levies, resolved to raise a certain number of foreigners to be employed in the American war. His Lordship accordingly raised a German regiment, to consist of four battalions; but how did he carry this measure into execution? Why, in the midst of a war, the widest in its extent, most interesting in its consequences, the greatest in its immediate importance, the heaviest in point of expense; when our coasts were daily expected to be invaded by our natural, dangerous, and inveterate enemies; while the war even in America was yet doubtful, if not unpropitious, the Earl of Chatham, instead of pleading the great, strong, and justifiable motives of necessity; instead of cavilling on this word, or commenting on that, in the full spirit of the Constitution, in the full spirit of an Englishman, came to Parliament, to obtain its sanction. And so very careful was that great man, so tenacious of everything which might be construed into the most trifling invasion of the Act of Settlement, that he procured two remarkable clauses to be inserted in the act of Parliament, which enabled the Crown to take those Germans into pay: the first providing that those troops should serve in America only; the other, that none of the foreign officers should bear commissions higher than that of Lieutenant Colonel.

The Earl of Effingham not only disapproved of the measure of bringing foreign troops into any part of the British dominions, but the employing them at all in the present contest with America. He enumerated several cogent reasons why he thought such a measure would be dangerous; but more particularly, when the operations of war would be of such a nature as to bring them into the empire, if not into the kingdom, alluding to the report of twenty thousand Russians being taken into British pay, either to make war in America, or to defend this country against any attack that might be made by our foreign enemies near home. His Lordship next turned his thoughts to the motion; and after expatiating on its dangerous tendency and manifest illegality, animadverted on the danger of intrusting the care and protection of two such valuable fortresses to the care of aliens, who could never be supposed to be so warmly interested in their safety and defence as Englishmen, who, to the duty and prowess of soldiers, would always add the enthusiastick zeal of freemen and Englishmen, who felt themselves contending for nothing less than the trade, commerce, and naval power of their country. He alluded, as a corroborating circumstance of the care and attention which should always be paid by those who had the concerns of the kingdom under their direction, to this well-known fact, that the commanding officer at St. Roque had positive orders to seize and improve every possible advantage, either by stratagem, open force, or surprise, for the recovery of Gibraltar.

The Duke of Grafion said, he was too conversant in business, and too well acquainted with the necessity of secrecy, to wish for any communications from his Majesty’s servants, which might subject the persons or properties of those who gave, and perhaps continue to give, the necessary informations on which plans of either hostility or concession may be formed. He still had it less in his thoughts to press the noble Earl, [Earl of Rochford,] who so pointedly animadverted on his charge of criminal silence, to declare what were the specifick operations meant to be adopted: nothing was further from his thoughts; for that was not the species of information he wanted. He had heard it generally reported, that the noble Lord who has the conduct of the national business in the other House, informed that House, it was intended to augment our military force to seventy thousand men, and a proportionable naval establishment; or, as it was reported, to the utmost extent; in short, to strain every nerve in support of this very favourite war. A silence, therefore, on this subject, while general measures of coercion are so warmly recommended, is what I call criminal. We are hurrying precipitately into measures of great extent and deep importance, without a ray of light to direct us in our progress. We shall sit here and argue, day after day, on the measures proposed, one by one, to our consideration, while we remain totally ignorant of the facts, by which alone we can be enabled to judge whether we are acting right or wrong. We neither know the forces which are to resist us, their numbers, discipline, or resources. On the other hand, we are as ill informed of the force we mean to employ against those people,—whether they are in part to consist of foreigners; what is generally understood will be our probable expenses; how the necessary supplies to carry on such an unnatural war are to be raised. On the whole, we are totally ignorant of every single point necessary to the proper determination of matters of such weighty consideration, points which might lead us to balance the expenses, the inconveniences, the hazards of such an arduous undertaking against the claims of America; and on the whole to coolly decide whether it would not be more wise, just, expedient, and magnanimous, to adopt conciliatory than coercive measures. It is only by such a mode of proceeding, I am satisfied, it can be worth your Lordships while to attend to your duty in this House, with honour to yourselves or benefit to the nation. His Grace closed this explanation by saying, that by nothing he had offered did he, in the least, wish to abridge the royal prerogative or authority of the Crown; on the contrary, he always was, and would continue, to carefully watch, as far as in him lay, any encroachments on either side. The present power of introducing foreigners was, in his opinion, not a power legally inherent in the Crown; he should therefore oppose it as zealously as he would any which tended directly or indirectly to strip it of any of its just rights.

Viscount Weymouth contended, that neither the letter nor spirit of the Bill of Rights was in any degree invaded by the passage in the King’s Speech alluded to this day; much less violated. What, said his Lordship, are the words of that law? That no standing army shall be kept on foot, without the consent of Parliament, in time of peace, within this kingdom. What is the spirit and intention of this provision? Certainly that no army shall be kept up, without the consent of Parliament, at any time. I will appeal to any noble Lord, on either side of the House, if this be not perfectly consonant both to the letter and spirit of the act. Is it pretended that there is any such thing intended on the present occasion? In times of most urgent necessity, during the recess of Parliament, a body of troops is called for, by a particular exigency, arising during the recess. His Majesty, as Elector of Hanover, urged by the most gracious motives, offers the wanted aid in one capacity, and accepts of it in another. Does such an act as this encroach on or defeat the Bill of Rights? Does it assert that any such power is inherent in the Crown? On the contrary, does it not impliedly assert the very reverse, by submitting the measure itself to the judgment of Parliament? As to the legality, I will confess fairly that I think the measure: every way unexceptionable. The law annexes these two positive conditions: “within the kingdom,” and in “time of peace.” Is there a noble Lord present, who will gravely assert, that the word “kingdom” here means all the dependencies and possessions of the Crown of England? Or, if then; be, is there a second Lord, who will after, seriously contend, that the present is such a time of peace as ties up the hands of, the Sovereign from exerting those powers intrusted to him for the protection of every part of his dominions? If there be, I must fairly confess, that the law, thus construed, would be productive in some particular instances, not at all exceeding the bounds of probability, of evils, if possible, much more fatal to the safety of this empire than any imputed to the measure now so loudly condemned. The noble Lord who spoke last, informs us, that there is a constant standing instruction to the commandant of the Spanish lines to be upon the look-out, and whenever an opportunity offers, either by surprise, stratagem, or the known weakness of the garrison of Gibraltar, to seize and improve it, so as, if possible, to regain the possession of that important fortress. Now, for my part, this piece of information, if to be depended on, operates upon mze in a very different manner from what it has on the noble Lord who imparted it; for it strengthens me still more in my opinion relative to the propriety of the measure; because it shows how necessary it is to take care that Gibraltar should, at all times, be garrisoned in such a manner as to defeat any attempt there might be made on it, in pursuance of this general military instruction.

His Lordship then turned his attention to the Bill of Indemnity which had been so often mentioned in the course of the debate. A noble Duke, who spoke early, had expressed his surprise that any noble Lord in Administration could raise a single objection to a bill of indemnity; but he