Lord Bathurst's Speech in defence of the Bishop of

WHO

Rochester.

Ho took notice of the ungracious distinctions that were fixed on the members of that assembly, who differed in opinion from those who happened to have the majority that for his part, as he had nothing in view but truth and justice, the good of his country, the honour of that house, and the discharge of his own conscience, he would freely speak his thoughts, notwithstanding all discouragements: that he would not complain of the sinister arts that had been used of late to render some persons obnoxious, and under pretence of their being so, to open their letters about their minutest domestic affairs; for these small grievances he could easily bear; but when he saw things go so far, as to condemn a person of the highest dignity in the church, in such an unprecedented manner, and without any legal evidence, he thought it his duty to oppose a proceeding so unjust and unwarrantable in itself, and so dangerous and dismal in its consequences. To this purpose he begged leave to tell their lordships a story he had from several officers of undoubted credit, that served in Flanders in the late war. "A Frenchman, it seems, had invented a machine, which would not only kill more men at once than any yet in use, but also disable for ever any man that should be wounded by it. Big with hopes of a reward, he applied to one of the ministers, who laid his project before the late French king; but that monarch, considering that so destructive an engine might soon be turned against his own men, did not think proper to encourage it; whereupon the inventor came over to England, and offered his services to some of our generals, who likewise rejected the proposal with indignation." The use and application of this story, added his lordship, is very obvious: for if this way of proceeding be admitted, it will certainly prove a very dangerous engine; no man's life, liberty, or property,

will be safe; and if those who were in the administration some years ago, and who had as great a share in the affections of the people as any that came after them, had made use of such a political machine, some of those noble persons, who now appear so zealous promoters of this bill, would not be in a capacity to serve his majesty at this time. His lordship added, that if such extraor dinary proceedings went on, he saw nothing remaining for him and others to do, but to retire to their country houses, and there, if possible, quietly enjoy their estates, within their own families; since the least correspondence, the least intercepted letter, might be made criminal. To this purpose his lordship quoted a passage out of cardinal de Retz's memoirs, relating to that wicked politician, cardinal Mazarin, who bousted, "That if he had but two lines of any man's writing, with a few circumstances attested by witnesses, he could cut off his head when he pleased." His lordship also shrewdly animadverted on the majority of the venerable bench; towards which turning himself, he said, he could hardly account for the inveterate hatred and malice, some persons bore the learned and ingenious bishop of Rochester, unless it was that they were intoxicated with the infatuation of some of the wild Indians, who fondly believe they inherit not only the spoils, but even the abilities of any great enemy they kill.

PHILIP, DUKE OF WHARTON,

Was born about 1699. He first attached himself to the Pretender, when he was abroad and quite a young man. He then returned home and made his peace with government. After this he became a violent oppositionist; and having at length reduced his fortune by his extravagance, he went abroad again, where he once more attached himself to the Pretender, and died 1731. is represented as a man of talents by Pope, who has given him a niche in one of his satires.

He

The Duke of Wharton's Speech on the Mutiny Bill.

THOUGH he was sensible whatever he could offer would have but little weight, nevertheless, as the matter under debate was of the last importance, and highly concerned the fundamental constitution, he thought it incumbent upon him, as a member of that august assembly, to deliver his opinion; hoping, that any mistake he might commit would be excused upon account of his want of experience: That he wondered the noble peer who spoke last should suggest, that without the additional troops raised last year, a body of 3000 men could not be drawn together; that he might easily be contradicted, since, before the raising of those troops, we had seen near the capital of the kingdom, a camp of between 3 and 4000 men, consisting only of the king's guards, which was sufficient to secure the government against any sudden attempt: That he thought it no less strange, that in an affair of so great importance, and in the supreme council of the realm, any mention should be made of the opinion of enemies; that by this, he supposed were meant the abstracts of some intercepted letters, and anonymous intelligence, that were printed last year; on which he thought no stress ought to be laid, but rather be looked upon as the empty imaginations of disaffected persons, who through the natural propensity of all men to believe what they wish for, easily deceive themselves, and fondly entertain with vain. hopes, those they endeavour to engage in their cause: That considering the present great tranquillity at home, and the happy situation of affairs abroad, there seemed to be no occasion for keeping up so great a number of forces: That by his majesty's councils, and powerful influence, a general peace was established in Europe, which, in all appearance, would last many years: That some accidents which, it was feared, might have disturbed it, had had contrary effects: That the death of VOL. I.

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the regent had made no alteration in France, for things did run there in the same channel, and the duke of Bourbon, who had succeeded the late duke of Orleans in the administration of affairs, seemed resolved to cultivate the friendship and good intelligence his predecessor had established between the two crowns: That, in relation to Spain, king Philip's abdication would prove advantageous to the peace of Europe, because the Italian faction, and ministry, which espoused the pretender's cause, were thereby laid aside: and as for the emperor, he hoped they had nothing to fear from him, unless he would quarrel with us, for our kindness and good-nature to him, in suffering him to establish an East-India company at Ostend, to the prejudice of our own company. But nevertheless, he hoped a good correspondence would still be maintained between the two courts: That thus there was nothing to be feared abroad, and still less at home: That the noble lord who spoke before him, had run over a great part of our English history, and had endeavoured to shew the difference between the ancient Gothic government, and our modern constitution: That he would not follow him close through his long account of bows, archers, and fire-arms; but would content himself with taking notice, that according to that noble peer, the power of the militia was anciently, and still remained in the crown; but that it was observable, that in some former reigns, regular troops supplied the place of the militia; and in others, funds were provided to discipline the militia, and render them useful, in order to supply the want of regular troops: But at this time, when the crown is possessed of as much power over the militia as ever, if so great a number of regular forces be allowed to be kept up, the fundamental constitution will be entirely overturned, since thereby an additional strength is given to the crown, without any equivalent to secure the rights and liberties of the subject: That our ancestors having ever judged the militia sufficient to secure the government,

we ought not to deviate from that wise institution without evident necessity: That the militia are not so useless, nor so much to be despised, as some would pretend, since they did notable service during the last rebellion, even in some counties the most disaffected to the present settlement; and, if care was taken to discipline them well, he did not doubt but they might be made more useful: That the expense of raising and exercising the militia might be greater than of regular forces, but that as the danger to our liberties would be much less from the militia, so would the expence be more easily borne by the people That, in justice to the officers of the army, he would readily acknowledge, that many of them had appeared zealous defenders of the liberties of their country, and had laid the foundation of our present happiness, by refusing to concur in the designs of the late king James II. But that he had heard wise men say, that if that prince had turned out the old officers he could not trust, and made new ones from among the common soldiers, king William would not easily have brought about his enterprise; at least there would have been more blood shed: That after all, standing armies are inconsistent with a free government: and that hereafter an ambitious prince, and ill designing ministers, might make use of them to invade our liberties: That the single instance of Oliver Cromwell, who came to the house of commons and turned out with open force the very men from whom he had his authority, was an example which they ought ever to have before their eyes: That though they had nothing to fear under his majesty's auspicious reign, or from the illustrious princes of his royal family; yet it cannot be expected that the throne shall always be filled by such princes: That besides, we are not so happy as to have the king always amongst us; that at least once every two years his majesty goes over to his dominions abroad; that for his part, he was so far from finding fault with it, that he rather thought it for our advantage, because he could from thence have a