I CANNOT agree to the terms for addreffing his Majefty, because though every thing may now be well fettled upon a solid and lasting foundation, yet I cannot think that our conduct has in every respect been right; or that the intereft of this nation has been, by his Majesty's Minifters, principally and steadily purfued. At one time we were frightened out of our wits with apprehenfions that the Pretender was to be put upon us, and that without any reafon, for all that I have yet feen or heard upon the fubject. Then Don Carlos was made fuch a giant of, that he, that Infant, was to swallow up and deftroy all the powers of Europe; and at that time we fued to France for an alliance, and befought their affiftance, by which we put it in their power to commence a war whenever they pleafed and if they had not been more taken up with whims and difputes about religion, than any wife nation ought to be, they would certainly have involved us in a war, in conjunction with them, and thereby would have made us affift them in recovering, all that they had loft in the two laft wars, the taking of which from them had caft us fo much blood and treasure. Some time after we fhook off all fears of the Pretender, Don Carlos was again diminished to an ordinary fize, and then we began to bully France as much as we had courted it before fuch conduct cannot appear to me to be right, at leaft it does not appear to be fteady and uniform. be fteady and uniform. Upon the other hand, it must be faid of the Imperial Court, that they have acted with Readiness and prudence; they have properly adhered to the natural interefts of their native country, and have fteadily pursued the plan they had in view, through all the different fhapes in which the affairs of Europe have been put within these few years; and by this firmness and refolution they have at laft brought us to their own terms, and have accomplished their defigns, notwithstanding the conjunction and alliance of fo many formidable powers againft them: whereas we have been obliged, in fome manner, to comply with the demands of almoft every power we have treated with; and if by fuch means we

have at last got off by any tolerable conditions, it must be faid,that we have been like a man in a room, who wants to get out, and though the door be open, and a clear way to it, yet he ftalks round the room, breaks his fhins over a ftool, tumbles over a chair, and at last, rumbling over every thing in his way, by chance finds the door and gets out, after abundance of needlefs trouble and unneceffary danger.

Sir William Wyndham, Jan. 13, 1732.

I HAVE always been against long Addreffes; I am ready enough to agree to an Addrefs of Thanks to his Majefty for his moft gracious fpeech from the Throne; but such Address ought to be in the moft concife terms, and the moft general words: this was the antient ufage of Parliament, and I find but few of our old customs that are altered for the better: however, if we must go on with the custom of making long-winded Addresses, I think we ought to take fome notice of the spirit that is at present amongst the people. It is very certain, that there are great fears, jealoufies, and fufpicions, out doors, that fomething is to be attempted this Seffion of Parliament, which is generally thought to be deftructive to the liberties, and to the trade of this nation. There is at prefent a moft general and remarkable fpirit amongst the people, for protecting and defending their liberties and their trade, in oppofition to those attempts which they expect are to be made againft both.

Mr. Shippen, Jan. 16, 1733.

As this is a new Parliament, I hope we fhall begin with fhewing a little more regard to the ancient cuftom and dignity of Parliaments, than has been fhewn of late years. In former times, the Addreffes of this Houfe, in return to his Majesty's Speech from the Throne, were always conceived in the most general terms. Our ancestors would never condefcend upon that occafion, to enter into the particulars of his Majesty's Speech when they were to approach the King, and to declare

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their affection and their fidelity to him, they thought it was inconsistent with that fidelity they were to declare, to approve, upon that occafion, of any minifterial meafures, and much more fo, to declare their fatisfaction with measures they knew nothing about. This Houfe is the grand inquest of the nation, appointed to inquire diligently, and to represent faithfully to the King, all the grievances of his people, and all the crimes and mifmanagement of his fervants; and therefore it must always be a breach of our fidelity to our Sovereign, as well as a breach of our duty to the people, to approve blindly the conduct of his fervants. When we have examined diligently, and confidered deliberately the conduct of any Minifter, and are at last fully convinced that he has acted prudently and wifely for the public good, it is then our duty to return him the thanks of the public, and to represent him as a faithful Minifter to his Mafter; but to make panegyrics upon the conduct of any of the King's fervants, before we have examined into it, is more like the language of flaves and fycophants to a Prime Minifter, than that of loyal and faithful fubjects to their Sovereign.

I muft acknowledge, Sir, that the Motion now made for addreffing his Majefty is more general, and more adapted to the ancient custom of Parliament, than moft I have heard fince I have had the honour to be a Member of this Houfe. I hope we shall not find that this extraordinary modefty proceeds from a consciousness of mifconduct. For the fake of the public, I heartily wish we may find that it proceeds from fuperior merit; which is, indeed, generally attended with fuperior modesty : but as I have always been, upon fuch occafions, against general encomiums upon Minifters, and as the propofition now before us, or at least a great part of it, implies a general approbation of all our late measures, particularly thofe relating to the prefent war, which the majority of this House are, in my opinion, entirely ignorant of, I cannot agree to it; because I have not yet learned complaifance enough to approve of what I know

nothing about, much lefs to approve of what I fufpect to be violently wrong.

I had the honour, Sir, to be a Member of this House, in the laft Parliament, and I remember feveral Motions were then. made, for getting fome infight into the ftate of our foreign' affairs, and our late tranfactions: Motions which appeared to me highly reasonable, and even abfolutely neceffary to be complied with, before the Houfe could reasonably comply with the demands that were then made upon them: but every one of thefe Motions had a negative put upon them. I have always had a fufpicion of the works of darknefs; I do not like any conduct that cannot ftand the light at noon-day; and therefore I am afraid, fome of our late transactions are fuch as no man could approve of, if they were expofed to public view. We have long been amufed, with hopes of fome extraordinary benefits that were to accrue to the nation from our many tedious and expenfive negotiations: we have been long in expectation but when one negotiation was over, we have been always told, to have patience, the next was to accomplish all our defires; we accordingly have had a great deal of patience, but, so far, as I apprehend, I can obferve no benefits that have accrued, or are like to accrue; but on the contrary, many dangers and difadvantages: fo that the whole train of our late negotiations really feem to me, to be calculated for no other end, but to extricate a set of puzzled, perplexed negotiators, from fome former blunder, by which they have generally been led into a fecond of worfe confequence than the firft; every fubfequent negotiation feems to me to have had no other view or defign, but to get rid of fome dilemma we were thrown into by the former; and happy have we thought ourselves, after a great deal of money spent, if we could but recover our former condition. In fhort, Sir, if any Gentleman will rife up and fhew me any addition, or any new advantage, with refpect either to our trade or our poffeffions, that this nation has acquired by any our late tranfactions, I fhall agree to the Motion: but con

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fidering the great expence the nation has been put to, and the great loffes many of our merchants have, without any redress or fatisfaction fuftained, I cannot agree to pafs compliments upon, or declare my fatisfaction with, our late management in general, till it be made appear to me, that these public and private loffes, have been fome way balanced by national advantages.

The fecond paragraph of the Motion I am, indeed, surprised at upon another account, to make our acknowledgments to his Majefty, for not involving the nation too precipitately in a bloody war, is, in my opinion, very far from being a compliment to his Majefty; it is impoffible, it is not to be presumed that his Majefty can do any fuch thing: but if it were poffible, and if any such thing had been done, to be sure it would have been doing the nation a very notable mifchief; and according to the idiom of our language, at least in private life, to thank a man, or to make our acknowledgments to a man, for his not doing us a notable mischief, is a contemptuous way of expreffing ourselves, and is always an infinuation, that from fuch a man's malice, or his weakness, or imprudence, we expected some notable mifchief; and therefore when we are difappointed, when the mischief is not fo great as we expected, we say, by way of contempt, that we are obliged to him. If none but Ministers were concerned in this part of the Motion, I should have let it pass without any remark, nay, I should readily have. agreed to it; but as his Majefty is concerned, I hope the Gentlemen who made the Motion will take care to have it fome way altered, if they are refolved to have it stand part of the Address. This fhews, Sir, how apt people are to fall into blunders, when they attempt to make extravagant or forced compliments; and therefore I wish we would avoid fuch dangers, by confining our Addrefs to a general acknowledgment of Thanks to his Majefty, for his moft gracious Speech from the Throne, and a declaration of our affections towards him, of our attachment to his family, and our zeal for his fervice.