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The following Members paired off.

John Webb with the Marquis of Blandford.
The Earl of Litburne with Philip Metcalf.
Richard Beckford with Thomas Gilbert.
Hans Sloan with Nathaniel Dance.

The Earl of Burford with William Wilberforce.

Sir William Codrington with John Fownes Luttrell.

Wednesday,

Wednesday, 13th April,

No material debate occurred.

Thursday, 14th April.

Sir Gilbert Elliot, from the Select Committee, who were appointed to try and determine the merits of the petition of the honourable Cropley Afhley; and alfo, the petition of the feveral perfons whofe names are thereunto fubfcribed, on behalf of themfelves and others, electors of the borough of Dorchefter, in the county of Dorfer, feverally complaining of an undue election and return for the faid borough, informed the Houfe,

That, pursuant to the laft determination of the House of Commons, the right of electing Burgeffes to ferve in Parliament for the borough of Dorchefter, in the county of Dorfet, is in the inhabitants of the faid borough, paying to church and poor, in refpet of their perfonal eltates; and in fuch perfons as pay to church and poor, in refpect of their real estates, within the faid borough, though not inhabitants or occupiers, and although their names do not appear upon the poor's rate;

That the honourable George Damer is not duly elected a Burgess to serve in this prefent Parliament for the borough of Dorchefter, in the county of Dorset;

That the honourable Cropley Afhley, the petitioner, ought to have been returned a Burgefs to ferve in this prefent Parliament for the faid borough of Dorchester;

And that the faid honourable Cropley Ashley is duly elected a Burgess to serve in this prefent Parliament for the faid borough of Dorchefter.

The Houfe adjourned.

Friday, 15th April.

Mr. Thomas Mafter, from the Select Committee, who were appointed to try and determine the merits of the petition of John Drummond, and Robert Drummond, Efquires; and alfo the petition of the feveral perfons whofe names are thereunto fubfcribed, being legal electors of Members to ferve in Parliament for the borough of Ludgerfhall, in the county of Wilts, feverally complaining of an undue clection and return for the faid borough, informed the House,

That, pursuant to the last determination of the House of Commons, the right of voting for Members of Parliament for the borough of Ludgerfhall, is in fuch perfons who have any eftate of inheritance, or freehold, or leafehold, determinable upon life or lives, within the borough, not confined

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to entire ancient houses, or the entire fcites of ancient houses, within the borough;

That George Auguftus Selwyn, Efq. deceafed, was duly elected a Burgefs to ferve in this prefent Parliament for the borough of Ludger fhall, in the county of Wilts;

And that the honourable William Harboard is duly elected a Burgess to serve in this prefent Parliament for the faid borough of Ludgershall.

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Mr. Baker obferved, that as the queftion, whether it was Mr. Baker politic or ill judged to turn our arms against Ruffia, had undergone an ample inveftigation, on one fide of the Houfe, it remained for him only to prefs the points of the former motions, and collect the fcattered parts of the argument into one general view, in order to vindicate the privileges of the House, and establish their right of inquiry into all objects for which a fupply might be required. This right of inquiry, as connected with their power of granting fupplies, it became incumbent upon them, from their duty to their conflituents, to watch with a jealous eye, and in no inftance in which this was concerned, to allow their attention to be remitted, or their vigilance to be lulled afleep. In the circumftances of the prefent occafion, there was nothing perhaps to excite jealoufy a mediation was going on; an armament was required; in all this there was nothing extraordinary, if we had been informed what was the object fought by the mediation, and what the purposes to which it was propofed that the armament should be directed. It was not the circumstances taken by themselves, but the conduct which Minifters chose to adopt on the occafion, that afforded groud of alarm and jealousy. All the information to be procured, was what had been given in the meffage. The addrefs was merely its echo. Two objects were there ftated, for which an addition to the naval force was deemed neceffary, in order to promote the interefts of this country, and establish, upon a permanent footing, the general tranquillity of Europe. The mediation, it might be fuppofed, was conducted with the fame view, and in conjunction with other allies. But it certainly took away much from its authority as a mediation, that it had not been asked, but offered; we had not been folicited to employ our arbitration; we had chofen to interpofe our interference. The treaties which we had formed with thofe allies, with whom we were concerned in this mediation, were merely defenfive. Its object might be supposed to bring about a peace between Ruffia and the Porte; an object which, as it did not affect the interefts of this country, might not be conceived to require, on our part, any active or immediate interpofition. He might almost content himself with renewing the

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motions which had been made by his honourable friend during the former debate, as the arguments by which they had been fupported remained yet unrefuted, and those who had chofen to oppose them, were either not willing or unable to state any folid grounds of objection. But as reprefentatives, who had fo recently come from the people, and were entrusted with the charge of expreffing their fentiments, it became them fully to difcufs all measures of executive power, and particularly to enquire into thofe which might tend to involve their conftituents in any additional burden and expence. At the period of the convention with Spain, we were not apprised of any negociation pending, which was at all likely to endanger the tranquillity of the country. No information had yet been given of the object of the armament, or the particular interests of the country, which it was intended to promote. Few arguments had been advanced on the other fide of the Houfe, to get rid of the plea in fupport of the motions. It had been contended that the prefent conduct of Minifters was in conformity to the courfe of former proceedings, and that fupplies had frequently been granted, without any information of the object in view, or the purposes to which they were applied. This could only be answered by denying the fact. It was not true that fupplies had been granted without information; on every demand of supply, information had been given, in many cafes fpecifically, but in all fubftantially. The prefent cafe was entirely new and unexampled; and it became the representatives of the people to oppose a conduct fo novel and unprecedented, which feemed to lead to a measure fo univerfally difclaimed, and loudly reprobated, as a war with Ruffia. The Public had now begun. to think seriously; their fituation was very different from what it had been in a former Parliament, when he had occafion to make a motion; then their numbers were every day diminishing, but even then they had ftood firm in fupport of a great and conflitutional point. Now their numbers were increafing, and would increafe; motions would be brought forward in different fhapes, till Minifters became forced to abandon a fyftem fo odious in itfelf, and pregnant in its confequences with mifchief to the country, by difcovering that their majority was converted into a minority. In conclufion, Mr Baker moved,

"That it is at all times the right and duty of this Houfe, "before they confent to lay any burdens on their confti"tuents, to enquire into the juftice and neceffity of the ob<< jects, in the profecution of which fuch burdens are to be "incurred."

"That no information has been given to this Houfe, which "can fatisfy us that the expences to be incurred by the pre

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"fent armament are neceffary to fupport the intereft of thefe kingdoms, or will contribute to the great and important "objed of restoring the tranquillity of Europe on a secure and lafting foundation."

Mr. St. John obferved, that he could not avoid availing Mr. himfelf, while he feconded the motion of his honourable St. John. friend, of the opportunity which prefented itself for protesting against the confequences of the country being involved in an unneceffary and unjust war; and against the doctrine laid down of implicit confidence, and the pofition with which it had been accompanied. that it was even criminal in the House to oppofe it. Had this doctrine fallen from only one Member, he should have confidered it as a matter of ferious alarm and jealousy to the Houfe; but when it had been taken up, when it had been avowed, and repeated by feveral perfons in office, he confidered it as their duty to vindicate their own privileges, and affert their right of inquiry, in difpofing of the money of their conftituents. In fupport of the practice of demanding fupplies without information, it had been stated, that fuch had been the uniform courfe of proceedingPrecedents had been attempted to be brought; but inftead of being particularly enumerated, they had only been loofely mentioned. Thefe precedents were drawn from the reigns of George I. and George II., but as a proof of the nature of the blind confi 'ence which thofe gentlemen recominended, gentlemen would please to obferve, that the precedents at thofe periods went direâly to overturn their own argument. Here Mr. St. John quoted feveral precedents from the reign of George I. to prove that that Monarch, in his demand of fupplies, had always informed the Houfe of the object to which it was proposed to apply them; and in order that their means of information might be more complete, had ordered to be laid upon the table copies of the letters of the Minifters abroad, and likewife of treaties; and this had happened in the cafe of thofe very precedents on which the moft firefs had been placed. The meffage fimply ftated the want of fuccefs of His Majefty's mediation, and demanded an addition to the naval force. In any demand which involved a grant of fupplies, it became the duty of the Houfe to enquire into the occafion which rendered thefe fupplies neceffary, and the purposes to which they were meant to be applied, as it became the duty of Miniiters to afford the neceffary informa

No intimation had before been given of any probability of an interruption to tranquillity. Even the perfons against whom the force was to be directed were not ftated. If it was our real intereft to join with the Turks against Ruffia, it must appear rather Arange, that the late King of Pruffia had paid the Emprefs of Ruffia a fubfidy, in order to check VOL. XXIX.

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