1 under manne ftall, a of ftal great like C join'd to the white turn' And proxy was O in the ther; proxy hono the u TH their T whic they were outfi mast fever you whic to y com Spurt Printed for R.Baldwin jun: at the Rose in Pater Ilæster Bow. JOURNAL of the PROCEEDINGS and DEBATES in the POLITICAL CLUB, Yway of variety 1shall next give Br you a debate we had in our club upon the question, Whether a fum not exceeding 10,000l. fhould be granted to his majefty, to reimburse the magiftrates and town-council of Glafgow, the fums extorted from them by the rebels, upon account of their loyalty, during the late unnatural rebellion, for the raifing of which, the faid magiftrates and town-council were obliged to grant their bonds. A After what was faid in Favour of the B A SI rife up with a design to oppofe this motion, I must premife, that I hope, it will not be fuppofed, that I intend to derogate from the merit, or difown the loyalty of the city of Glafgow, both which will be acknowledged by every honeft man in the kingdom. All I intend to fay is, that there are to my knowledge many places, especially in this part of the united kingdom, that have an equal pretence to loyalty, and that shewed as much zeal for the government's fupport, during the late rebellion, as that city or its inhabitants; and if they did not fuffer as much, it proceeded perhaps from the early care they took to prevent the rebels entertaining any hopes of becoming their mafters. The honourable gentleman was therefore much in the right, to endeavour to obviate an objection, which certainly did occur to every gentleman that heard him, and which not only gather'd ftrength from what he said in answer to it, but muft gather more and more frength, the more it is confidered. July, 1749. continued from Page 269. Το prove what I have faid, Sir, I fhall beg leave to go through the several allegations of the petition now before us. As to the behaviour of the city of Glasgow at the time of, and for fome time before the revolution, there is no body queftions it: but have not almost all the towns in England, and many of those in Scotland the fame merit to plead? Therefore the city of Glasgow can claim no particular favour upon that account; and I never heard, that un der the government preceding the revolution, that city fuffered any perfecution as a city: The Prefbyterians indeed fuffered a grievous perfecution under that government; and if there were more of that fect there than elfewhere, the people may be faid to have C been perfecuted, but the city cannot. The behaviour of the city of Glaf gow in the year 1715, is as little to be queftioned, Sir; but if they raised a regiment at that time for the government's fervice, did not many of the counties and cities both in England Dand Scotland raife the militia, which was as expensive as the railing of regiments and did certainly great fervice, because the Jacobites were thereby prevented from taking arms, and coming to a head in any part of Eng E F G land. Then, Sir, as to the behaviour and conduct of the city of Glasgow in the year 1745, I fhall admit the facts to be true as there ftated; but I must confider them in an order different from that in which they are there artfully ftated, because, I think, the order of time in which they happened is the moft natural method; and in this method the firft that occurs to our confideration, is the 5500/. extorted from that city before the rcbels left Edinburgh. Surely the people of Glasgow cannot fay, that this money was demanded or extorted from ૧૬ that their contributions amounted to 30000/. befides the expence of those gentlemen who formed themselves in a body, and actually joined his majes ty's army; and I must observe, that in all these counties, they manifefted A this zeal, when the rebellion wore its most terrible afpect; when an army of rebels, flufh'd with the fuccefs of a victory, and with the reduction of the whole kingdom of Scotland, was daily expected among them; and when, from all accounts, they had reafon to believe, that this rebellious army was daily increafing. from them, on account of any thing they had then done in favour of the government; for it is not pretended, that they had fo much as attempted to do any thing. They never attempted to do any thing till after the rebels had marched into England, from whence they had good reafon, both from experience and the nature of things, to expect, that few or none of them would ever return; for as we were abfolute mafters of the fea, no man in his right fenfes could fuppofe it in the power of France or Spain, to fend any large body of troops for promoting or fupporting a rebellion in England; and as little could it be fuppos'd that 5 or 6000 men, had they been the best troops that ever appear'd in arms, would be fufficient for conquering the C kingdom of England, especially confidering the fpirit that immediately appeared over the whole kingdom, for fupporting our established government, and defeating that rebellion. B D E By what I have faid, Sir, I do not mean to depreciate the real merit of the city of Glasgow, in raifing two regiments for the fervice of the government, and contributing with fo much alacrity towards levying and fubfifting thofe regiments. To be fure, every county, every corporation, and every private gentleman, that contributed money, or offered his perfonal fervice upon that occafion, deferves the most grateful acknowledgments of his country. All I mean is to fhew, that in this refpect the city of Glasgow has no greater merit to plead than most of the counties and corporations in F England; efpecially thofe in the north. In Northumberland the gentlemen fhew'd a very warm zeal for the fupport of the government, and not only put themselves to a great expence, but many of them were ready to take arms and venture their lives, G if there had been occafion: In the county which I have the honour to reprefent, the fame zeal was manifeited by all ranks of people; and in Yorkshire, I have been affured, But in particular, Sir, I must not forget the town of Newcastle, the inhabitants of which behaved in the most prudent as well as zealous manner. That town, which was of fo great importance, was quite open, when the rebellion firft broke out. The magiftrates prefently faw their danger, and refolved to provide against it with the utmost expedition. Luckily for them, they had then a brave and experienced officer among them, an officer whom I fhall always efteem; and whofe name I think I may mention upon this occafion: General Huske, Sir, had been fent by his majefty to take care of that town: By his directions the town was in a few days fortified in fuch a manner, that the rebels faw they could have no hopes of being able to reduce it, and this prevented their coming that way, which was perhaps the chief caufe of the mifcarriage of their whole defign. Thefe fortifications, Sir, and the other preparations for oppofing the rebels, colt that town alone 7 or Sooo!. and they were obliged to borrow 5000l. of the money, which the town has repaid, or muft repay with intereft. Has not this town, Sir, fome reafon to apply to parliament for enabling them to discharge this debt? I know of no corporation in Britain, where the magiftrates do not find pretences for dipoling yearly of the whole income of their eftate. Very probably the corporation of New caftle 4 1749. PROCEEDINGS of the POLITICAL CLUB, &c. 303 cuffle does fo, as well as that of Glaf- made to us, as it will be a precedent Then, Sir, as to the money or We have therefore, Sir, great rea- E For this reafon, Sir, if we grant the defire of this petition, we cannot. in prudence refufe to comply with every application of the fame naturethat fhall hereafter be made to us; and this, in my opinion, will likewife be of pernicious confequence; for if it be laid down as a principle, that all those who fuffer by an invafion or infurrection, fhall have their lofs made good to them by the publick, it will prevent the people of any part of the country where fuch a misfortune fhall happen, from being fo vigorous in their oppofition as they would otherwife be. Men will naturally fight bravely for their pro. perty, when they know, that if they do not, it will be taken from them, without any redrefs; but when they have ground to expect, that the publick will make good their lois, they will avoid the danger their lives may be expofed to by making a fout refillance, and either make none at all, or but a very faint one. Nay, it may even be an encouragemeut for peo ple to contribute money towards the fupport of an invafion or infurrection by pretending that they were forced to do fo, for preventing their being plundered and mafficred. I I therefore think, Sir, that by agreeing to this motion, we fhall introduce a precedent, that may be in many refpects of the most dangerous confequence; and when gentlemen talk of juftice and compaffion, they fhould think of the justice due to the A real creditors of the publick: They fhould think of the labourers and manufacturers, who are loaded with taxes for the payment of our publick debts. In our prefent circumstances, Sir, I really look upon the nation in general to be a greater object of compaflion than any particular member: At leaft, it is an object that deferves more the regard of parliament; and if we go on thus loading the publick revenue with every expence that can be thought of, we thall never be able to pay our just c debts, nor to relieve our ftarving poor from any of their taxes. But, Sir, if gentlemen are of opinion, that the city of Glasgow particularly deferves, and ought to have fome relief, why fhould not that re. lief be granted out of the produce of the eftates forfeited by the laft rebellion? When we have fuch a long lift of attainders upon our records of parliament, fo many convictions in the courts below, and fo many perfons excepted by name out of the late act of indemnity, furely, we must fuppofe, that the produce of thofe eftates will be more than fufficient for fatisfying a demand of 10,000l. with interest from the day it was made. Thofe eftates are now vefted in the crown, and may be difpofed of as the crown pleafes: Can the produce of them be F applied in a better or more juft manner, than towards the relief of those who fuffered, during the late rebellion, by their loyalty and attachment to their fovereign? Muft the publick be at all the expence, not only of defeating the late rebellion, but of making good all the damage thereby occafioned, and the crown reap all the bencht? Surely, this is neither just nor equitable; and therefore, when I heard the relief of the petitioners fo ftrongly urged by his majefty's meffage, I was furprised to find, that the meffage did not conclude with a promife or declaration, that whatever fhould be granted by parliament for that purpose, should be replaced from the firft and readieft of the produce of the forfeited eftates in Scotland. If this, Sir, had been the conclufion, I fhould have been more ready to comply with it; but without this, I think, I cannot answer loading my conftituents with the expence, and therefore I must give my negative to the motion. This Gentleman was answered by Julius Florus, who spoke in Subfance thus: I Mr. Prefident, shall not enter into a dispute with the honourable gentleman who fpoke laft, whether there are not many places, both in England and D Scotland, that have an equal pretence to loyalty with the city of Glasgow, and that fhewed as much zeal for the fupport of the government during the late rebellion as that city; but this I will aver, that there was no city, town or place in Great Britain, that fuffered fo much, or that fhewed the fame zeal in the fame circumftances. And without derogating from the merit of any one, I may fay, that there are not many cities in the united kingdom, that have fo often, or fo remarkably dif tinguished themselves in the cause of liberty. It was this, Sir: It was the whole tenor of this city's conduct from the time of the reformation, that drew the refentment of the rebels upon it, and made them refolve upon the extravagant demand they at firft made upon that city. If they had infifted upon their firft demand, the city muft have been ruined, because it would have been impoffible for it to raife fuch a fum: G ՕՐ |