to the law of the land, and fully authorized by the praca tice of parliament." Though the amendment was oppofed with vehemence, as a moft unfair and difingenuous perverfion of the true meaning of the refolution, it was carried upon the divifion by 224 to 180 voices:-thus precluding all hope of redress by any future effort in that houfe of parliament.

On the 2d of February 1770, being the day previously fixed upon by the peers for refolving themselves into a fimilar committee, lord Rockingham, after an introductory fpeech of fome length, moved, "That the house of commons, in the exercife of its judicial authority in matters of election, is bound to judge according to the law of the land, and the known and eftablished law and cuftom of parliament, which is part thereof." The motion was fupported with all his accustomed warmth and energy by the earl of Chatham, who condemned the conduct of the houfe of commons in terms of great afperity. He denominated the vote of that houfe, which had made colonel Luttrell reprefentative for Middlefex, "a grofs invafion of the English conftitution, and a corrupt facrifice of their own honor. To gratify individual refentment," he said, "the laws had been despised, trampled upon, deftroyed-thofe laws which had been made by the ftern virtue of their ancestors-the iron barons of old, to whofe virtue and whofe blood-to whose spirit in the hour of conteft, and to whofe fortitude in the triumph of victory, the filken barons of this day owe their honors and their fecurity. These measures," he affirmed, "made a part of that unhappy fyftem which had been formed in the prefent reign, with a view to new-model the conftitution as well as the government. What might have been only matter of fufpicion before, was now demonftrated to univerfal conviction, viz. that minifters held a corrupt influence in parliament. It was therefore particularly neceffary for their lordships to interpofe at this critical and alarming period, in order, on the one hand, to moderate the rage

of

of an incensed nation, and, on the other, to form a conftitutional barrier against the criminal depredations of his majefty's minifters.” The question being now put, it was by a great majority resolved, that the speaker should refume the chair; and the original motion being thus evaded, lord Marchmont, it being now paft midnight, moved, "That any refolution of this houfe, directly or indirectly impeaching a judgment of the house of commons, in a matter where their jurisdiction is competent, final and conclufive, would be a violation of the conftitutional right of the commons, tends to make a breach between the two houfes of parliament, and leads to a general confufion."

This motion being zealously supported by lord Mansfield, lord Chatham again rofe, and by cogent reafonings endeavored to fhew the neceffity of the interference of that house, in cafe of an invafion of the people's liberties, or an unconstitutional determination of the house of commons; and he affirmed, that the cafe of the county of Middlefex fell under both thofe denominations-Then fuddenly apoftrophizing the house, he conjured the peerage of England, by the noble blood which had flowed for many ages in their veins, by the glorious ftruggles of their ancestors in behalf of liberty, not to behold with indifference a transaction fo alarming. "If," faid he, "my lords, the conftitution must be wounded, let it not receive its mortal stab at this dark and midnight hour, when almost every eye is clofed in fleep, and when robbers and affaffins only are awake and prowling for their prey." At half past one in the morning the queftion was put, and decided in the affirmative, though accompanied by a strong and animated protest.

The exertions of lord Chatham during this remarkable feffion were vigorous and unintermitted. On the 1st of May 1770, his lordship prefented to the house, a bill «for reversing the adjudications of the house of commons, whereby John Wilkes, efq. has been adjudged 'incapable of be

ing elected a member to ferve in this prefent parliament, and the freeholders of the county of Middlesex have been deprived of one of their legal reprefentatives." In defcanting on the fubject of this bill, he declared, "that a violent outrage had been committed, which ftruck at every thing dear and facred to the liberties of Englishmen. I am afraid,” faid he, “my lords, that this measure has sprung. too near the throne. I am forry for it; but I hope his majefty will foon open his eyes and fee it in all its deformity." The motion for the fecond reading being negatived, lord Gower moved for its rejection; and on a divifion, 89 voted for the motion, 43 against it. Before the houfe adjourned, lord Chatham defired their lordships might be fummoned for the 4th of May; "for," faid he, “I have a motion of great importance to make relative to the KING." And the lords being fummoned accordingly on the day appointed, lord Chatham moved, "That it is the opinion of the houfe, that the advice inducing his majes ty's answer to the late addrefs of the city of London, is of a moft dangerous tendency, inafinuch as the exercise of the cleareft rights of the subject has been thereby checked and reprimanded—an anfwer fo harfh," his lordship affirmed, "as to have no precedent in the hiftory of this country, and fuch as the Stuarts had never dared to venture upon in the zenith of their power" In the addrefs alluded to by his lordship, which alfo bore the unusual title of a remonstrance to the king, the addreffers hazard the extravagant affirmation, "that the houfe of commons have done a deed more ruinous in its confequences than the levying of fhip-money by Charles I. or the difpenfing power affumed by James II. a deed which muft VITIATE ALL THE PROCEEDINGS of this parliament; for the acts of the legislature can no more be valid without a legal houfe of commons, than without a legal prince on the throne." Thus we fee how folly on the part of the government generates faction on that of the people. Notwithstanding the deference due to the opi

nion of lord Chatham, whofe patriotic ardor transported him on this occafion far beyond the sober limits of difcretion, it must be acknowledged that the king, in his anfwer, with too much reason pronounced the contents of this remon ftrance "to be disrespectful to himself, injurious to parliament, and irreconcileable to the principles of the constitution." It is scarcely neceffary to add, that the motion of lord Chatham was negatived by a vast majority; and the address itself gave birth to a refolution of the house of commons, that "to deny the legality of the prefent parliament, or to affert their acts to be invalid, was unwarrantable, and tended to destroy the allegiance of the subjects:" and a joint address was presented to the king by the two houses, thanking him for his conduct on this occafion. The language of the courtiers against the framers of this remonftrance was high and menacing; but no minifter of the crown durft, at this juncture, take upon himself the responsibility of a judicial prosecution against them.

Not to be diverted or intimidated from his purpose, lord Chatham made, after a fhort interval, a motion for an addrefs to the king to diffolve the parliament. He stated "the public difcontents in England, Ireland, and America; affirmed, that the people had no confidence in the prefent house of commons, who had betrayed their truft; and fhewed, from the fituation of public affairs, the great neceffity of having a Parliament in whom the people can place a proper confidence. Inftead," he faid, "of depriving a county of its representative, one or more members ought to be added to the representation of the counties, in order to operate as a balance against the weight of the feveral corrupt and venal boroughs*." All arguments were in

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vain

* This was a very favorite idea with lord Chatham, and repeatedly fuggefted by him on various occafions, both public and private. In a letter to lord Temple, dated April 17, 1771, he fays, "Allow a fpeculator in a great chair to add, that a plan for more equal representation, by additional knights of the fhire, fecms highly reasonable, and to fhorten the duration of parliaments not lefs fo. If your lordship fhould approve, could lord Lyttleton's caution be

brought

vain-scarcely indeed was the appearance of decorum preserved. The court lords called for the question! the queftion! and a rude negative was put upon the motion. He had the fatisfaction, nevertheless, to perceive his conduct during the whole of this interefting feffion highly acceptable to the nation; and on the 1ft of June, a committee, delegated by the city of London, waited on his lordship with a vote of thanks "for the zeal he had fhewn in fupport of those invaluable and facred privileges, the right of election and the right of petition, as well as for the wishes expreffed by him that parliaments may be restored to their original purity, by fhortening their duration, and introducing a more full and equal reprefentation." But no efforts could after all reinstate this nobleman in the poffeffion of his former envied and fplendid height of popular affection and favor.

In the former part of the feffion, lord North, as one of the first acts of his adminiftration, had moved the repeal of the obnoxious port-duties of 1767, EXCEPTING the DUTY on TEA, which was intentionally omitted, on the avowed principle of afferting the fupremacy of Great Britain; and when ftrongly urged by the members in oppofition, both of the Rockingham and Grenville parties, not to preserve the contention when he relinquished the revenue, his language was the reverse of conciliatory.. "Has the repeal of the ftamp act," said this minifter, "taught the Americans obedience? Has our lenity inspired them with moderation? Can it be proper, while they deny our legal power to tax them, to acquicfce in the argument of illegality? and, by the repeal of the law, to give up that power? No-the propereft time to exert our right of taxation is when the right is difputed. To temporize is to yield; and the authority of

the

brought to taste those ideas, we should take poffeffion of strong ground, let who will decline to follow us. To this plan of reform, however, ferious objections may be made; and lord Chatham himself, with the candor and ingenuoufnefs of a great mind, fpeaks of it on another occafion as "a plan humbly fubmitted to the public wifdom, to be deliberately weighed, accurately examined, and maturely digested."