1769. The History of the laft Seffion of Parliament, &c. 177 The Hiftory of the Seffion of Parliament, which began May 11, 1768, being the firft Seffion of the Thirteenth Parliament of Great-Britain; with an Account of all the material Questions therein determined, and of the political Difputes thereby occafioned without Dears. Continued from p. 68. tioned the vigorous contefts which were entered into, in various places, for a feat in the House of Commons, and we threw out fome reflections to prove the great utility of contracting the duration of parliaments from their prefent extent of feven, to their forimer falutary limit of three years.— The more we proceed in this depart. ment of our work, the more we are confirmed in this opinion, and the more earnestly we wish for the re-eftablishment of triennial elections-because the temptation which venal candidates have to 'ftruggle for the poffeffion of a feven years power, not only induces bad men to bribe immoderately, and spreads a general spirit of corruption among the people, but even after a new reprefentation of the kingdom is actually affembled, that time is unavoidably taken up in the determination of petitions for undue returns, which ought to be employed upon bufinefs of the utmoft importance, and dedicated wholly to the welfare of the public-the reafon of this remark will be speedily evident. The parliament of which we are now going to speak, met for the firft time on the 11th of May, when the Speaker of the Houfe of Commons, Sir John Cuft, who had filled the chair in the preceding parliament, according to the ufual form, took the necef fary oaths, and fubfcribed the declaration alone, after which fuch of the members as were prefent qualified themselves properly; his majesty did not open the feffions perfonally, but granted a commiffion for that purpofe to several of the lords-the commiffioners declared by the Lord Chancellor, that in pursuance of the authority given them by the king under the great feal, they were among other things to fet forth the caufe of meeting at that uncustomary season, which was not to enter upon any matters of general bufinefs, but merely to difApril, 1769. patch certain parliamentary proceedings, which his majesty's defire of providing at all events for the welfare and fecurity of his good fubjects, made him with to fee compleated as foon as poffible; his majesty at the fame time commanded the commiflioners to exprefs the perfect confidence he placed in his parliament, and to affure both houfes that he had the ftrongeft reafons to expect every thing from their advice and affiftance, that loyalty, wisdom, and zeal for the fervice of their country could dictate or fuggeft. On the 14th both houfes addreffed the king in terms of the most affectionate warmth, and respectful humility, returning him their fincereft thanks for the gracious and paternal attention his majefty manifefted for the prosperity of his people, which had induced him to interpofe his own more immediate authority for putting an end to that dangerous difturbance of the public peace, and those outrageous acts of violence upon the property of his majesty's fubjects, as well as the audacious defiance of the authority of the civil magiftrates, which had of late prevailed to fo alarming a degree, in and near the metropolis. The parliament at the fame time hoped, that a royal proclamation for the ftrict execution of the laws for the fuppreffing and punishing all riots, tumults, and unlawtul affemblies, would effectually prevent the continuance, or repetition of fuch diforders for the future. Both houfes however declared, that fhould any of his majesty's fubjects' continue fo loft to all fenfe of their own true intereft, as well as duty, as to go on in interrupting by their lawless and defperate practices, that quiet and peaceable enjoyment of every right and privilege allotted to each individual among us, by our excellent conftitution, which had been ever his majefty's chief glory to fecure and perpetuate to all, they would chearfully give their concurrence in eve 1 178 The HISTORY of the laft Seffion of Parliament. April ry measure, that might enable his majefty, moft effectually, to maintain the public authority, and carry the laws into due execution - and they concluded with expreffing the most vigorous refolution to fupport his majefty against every attempt to create difficuity, or difturbance to the go vernment. The king received this loyal, dutiful, and feafonable addrefs, as he was pleafed to term it, with his ufual goodness. He declared, that it was with the utmost concern he faw the fpirit of outrage and violence prevailing among the different claffes of his fubjects-but faid, he was however convinced, that the vigorous exertion of lawful authority, which he would continue to enforce, joined to the fupport and affiftance of parliament, would have the defired effect of reftoring quiet and good order among his people. To elucidate the meaning of the Speech, address, and reply, which we have just mentioned, it will be necef, fary to inform our readers, that the principal reafon for convening the feffion, which we are now recording at fuch a period, was to continue the act then expiring, which allowed the importation of oats and oatmeal, rye, and rye flour, and at the fame time not only prohibited the exportation of corn, grain, meal, malt, flour, bread, bifcuit, and starch, but prohibited alfo the extraction of low wines and fpirits from wheat, and wheat flour; thefe measures were an equal proof of his majefty's wifdom and humanity, as the price of provifions ftill conti nued exorbitantly high, and as the nation, without the falutary regulations in queflion, would have been reduced to the utmost diftrefs. A committee was therefore appointed to report upon the matter, and the houfe concurring with the report, the royal affent was given by commiffion to the bills brought in upon the occafion, to the universal fatisfaction of the public. Having thus fhewn the chief caufe of affembling the parliament, it is now neceffary to explain what the diforders and outrages were which were (poken of in the address from both houfes, and in his majesty's anfwer. We have already obferved, that there never was a period in which there were so many contests for seats in the House of Commons as at the late general election. The parliament was fcarcely aflembled when petitions came from a variety of quarters, complaining of undue returns; in fact, the number was fo great, that had the Houfe of Commons entered into a confideration of their feveral merits, they might have continued the feffion to a most unreasonable length, without undertaking any one ftep for the benefit of the kingdom; it was therefore prudently determined by that auguft affembly not to proceed upon the matter of thefe petitions till their next meeting, when they should be more at leifure to attend fuch difagreeable altercations: of all the contests however during the general election, that for Middlefex was the most remarkable.-This county had been reprefented for many years by Sir William Beauchamp-Proctor and Mr. George Cooke, who thought themfelves fo certain of being rechofen that they never once dreamt of an oppofition, till the very moment in which it took place. Mr. John Wilkes, who in the late parliament had been expelled the House of Commons, in which he fat for the borough of Aylesbury, and who, in confequence of an outlawry, had refided for a confiderable time out of the kingdom, unexpectedly returned a very few days before the election for London, and offered himfelf to the liverymen of that city as a candidate to reprefent them in the great council of the nation.Mr. Wilkes's conduct on this occafion filled every body with aftonishment, as he was known to be ruined in his fortune, and at that very moment laboured under fome judicial fentences for the publication of the North Briton, a political paper, and the Effay on Woman, a performance written in imitation of Mr. Pope's celebrated Essay on Man, and in which the principal mylteries of the chriftian religion were very wantonly, though very feebly, ridculed. Notwithstanding thefe difcouragements, however, and notwithstanding numberless irregularities in private life, with which Mr. Wilkes was publickly accufed, the voice of the people ran highly in his favour. He had been a fufferer by his oppofition to government, and that was merit e nough 1769. The HISTORY of the laft Seffion of Parliament. nough to counterbalance every objec. tion which could poffibly be urged against his character; befides fome legal decifions had been obtained in the course of various fuits which he had commenced against adminiftration, that were thought infinitely advantageous to the caufe of liberty; General Warrants were in confequence of thefe fuits declared wholly unlaw ful; and the feizure of papers, by which the fubject was actually made an evidence against himself, was alfo folemnly condemned; what Mr. Wilkes therefore had fuffered, being thus intirely attributed to his love of freedom, and his regard for his country; numbers openly declared themselves not only his advocates but his ftrenuous admirers, and at the commonhall which is a general meeting of the citizens, but which however thould be a general meeting of the livery only, as fuch alone have a right of voting, Mr. Wilkes was returned by an amazing majority of hands. But on the poll this majority was foon found to confift of the populace and not of the conftituents, for though his friends were indefatigable in canvaffing for him, and though applauding crouds frequently carried his chair to the houfe at which his principal fupporters affembled, after every day's adjournment of the poll, nevertheless, when the books were finally caft up, the numbers for him appeared very much inferior to the numbers for any other candidate, without even obferv. ing, that there were two others who, befides himself, were disappointed in their expectation of success. Yet not in the leaft intimidated, Mr. Wilkes, like another Antæus, feemed to recover new ftrength from his fall, and on the very huftings, where he had loft the election for the city of London, he declared his intention of offering his fervices to the freeholders of Middlefex. The choice of members for this county was to come on in a few days; and on the morning of election, an abfolute madnets feemed to prevail among the lower orders of the people; the road from London to Brentford was actually covered with the mob, who shouted Wilkes inceflantly, and even attacked the perfons and carriages of thofe who did not declare themielves in favour 179 of that gentleman.-The confequence was, that Mr. Wilkes having a large body of the freeholders attached to him from inclination, and Sir William Beauchamp-Proctor and Mr. Cooke having many of thofe intimidated from their caufe, who came from home with a determination to fupport it, Mr. Wilkes was elected by a confiderable majority, with Mr. Cooke, to the unspeakable joy of his numerous admirers. The exultation of his friends upon this occafion exceeded all imagination: they looked upon it as the triumph of freedom over minifterial tyranny and determined to fignalize the event by the most extraordinary appearances of univerfal fatisfaction. With this view they obliged every housekeeper, from the highest to the lowest rank, both in London and Westminster, to hang up lights, patrolling the streets in pro digious numbers, breaking the windows of any who were hardy enough to difpute their commands, and grofsly infulting fuch as were fuppofed to be prejudiced in the least against Mr. Wilkes-nay, the houfes of the royal family, and the feats of magiftracy, felt the effects of their indignation for refusing to exprefs a joy at the fuccefs of their favourite; and not content with exercifing fo defpotic an authority for one night, they compe!led the whole metropolis to renew their illuminations on a second; what, however, is hardly credible, they prepared to repeat thefe exceffes again, and we should poffibly have fallen the flaves of that many headed monster, the multitude, a third time, had not orders been given for a body of troops to fupprefs the first appearance of reiterated difturbances. It is a fenfible obfervation of a celebrated writer, that if a mob is even wrong, it is feldom intentionally wrong, and that it means to act upon principles of the strictest justice in the midst of its irregularities.This we believe to have been the cafe of the innumerable inconfiderates, to mention them as mildly as we can, who, on the occafion we have been defcribing, out of a real regard for the preservation of the laws, committed a hundred illegalities. They were told that government was defpotic, and they be lieved what they were told; caufes and Ꮓ 2 effects |