III. 1700. Lords Address of Thanks. Anno 12 Will. Project for the Reftoration of King James. The Lords prefented an Addrefs, humbly returning their Thanks and Acknowledgments to his Majefty, for the Concern exprefs'd in his Speech for the Proteftant Religion, and his Care for its Prefervation, by recommending to their Confideration for a further Provifion for the Succeffion to the • Crown in the Proteftant Line.' They added, That, being deeply fenfible of the Weight of what his Majefty had further recommended to them, they could not but defire he ⚫ would be pleas'd to order all Treaties made by him fince the late War, to be laid before them, that they might thereby be better enabled to give their Advice. Withal they requested his Majefty to engage in fuch Alliances a• broad, as he should think proper for preserving the Ballance of Europe, affuring him they would readily concur with whatever fhould be conducive to the Honour and Safety of England, Prefervation of the Proteftant Religion, and the • Peace of Europe. Next, they humbly thank'd his Majesty for communicating the beforemention'd Letter to them, ⚫ and defir'd he would be pleased to order the feizing of all Horfes and Arms of Papifts, and other difaffected Perfons, and have thofe ill Men removed from London according to Law; but especially they defired he would please to give Directions for a Search to be made after Arms and Provifions of War mentioned in the faid Letter. Laftly, They requested that fuch a Fleet might fpeedily be fitted out as his Majefty in his great Wisdom fhould think neceffary for King's Anfwer. the Defence of himself and Kingdoms. His Majesty "thank'd their Lordfhips for this Addrefs, and affured them "he would take Care to perform all that they had defired " of him." Motion for the Countess of An March the 3d, An Account was given to the House by glefea, to bring certain Lords appointed to vifit the Countefs of Anglefea, in in a Bill of Se- order to perfuade her to return to her Hufband, of her Reaparation. fons for her Refufal; and after hearing the Earl of Anglefea, and reading the Countefs's Petition, and Debate thereupon, Proteft thereon. The Question was put, Whether the Countess of Anglefea fhall have Leave to bring in a Bill for a Separation for Cruelty, as is prayed for in her Petition ? It was refolved in the Affirmative. Diffentient f, The Leave for this Bill is founded upon the Suppofi. tion of an utter Impoffibility of a Reconciliation between my Lord Anglefea and the Countefs; which Suppofition (with Submiffion) feeming to me very precarious, tho' it may be the Confequence of fuch a Bill, cannot, to me, be the Reafon for it. 2dly, III. 1700. zdly, Marriage being looked upon in the Church of Anno 12 Will. Rome as a Sacrament always, and in all Cafes indiffoluble, but by the pretended Authority of the infallible Vicar, and there being, in some Cafes, an abfolute Neceffity for a Divorce, the Roman Courts of Judicature, fearing to expose the Weakness of the Infallibility, contrived this Trick of a separate Maintenance; which Practice of theirs, I humbly conceive, fuch a Bill would give too much Countenance to. 3dly, A perpetual feparate Maintenance, as feems intended by fuch a Bill, is a much heavier Judgment upon the Earl of Anglefea than Divorce itself, it having all the Nature of a Punishment to my Lord Anglefea, and nothing of Ease; and is directly contrary to the very Appointment and Defign of Marriage, Pofterity and Society being destroyed, and the Public injured thereby. 4thly, No Judgment in this Matter (as I humbly conceive) ought to be made, or when made can be valid, but what is exprefly allowed of by the Evangelic Law, which Law, to me, feems no where to permit of fuch a perpetual Separation, without an absolute Divorce. 5thly, Tho' it cannot be doubted, but in the Course of fo many Ages, as great domeftic Differences have happened between Men and their Wives as in the present Cafe, yet no Precedent has as yet been produced, as I know of, of any Bill of the like Nature. Haverfham. Sufpition taken March the 8th, After reading Captain * John Norris's Petition of the 7th Inftant, as alfo his Inftructions from the Ad- Captain Norris's miralty, and fome Councils of War held on Board, at New- off. foundland, and long Debate upon the whole Matter, The Queftion was put, Whether the faid Captain, having lain near two Years under a Sufpenfion upon an Address from this Houfe to his Majefty, that an Address fhall be made to his Majefty to take off the faid Sufpenfion he lieth under? It was refolved in the Affirmative. Diffentient' For that Captain Norris having been accufed by many Witneffes, upon Oath, of great Neglect of his Duty, in not Proteft thereon. attacking Monfieur Ponti's Ships in Conception Bay, notwithftanding the Intelligence given of them to him by Captain Defborow, Cumberbatch, and feveral Prifoners, and of pellering his Ship with Prize-Goods, which he has embezzled; and thereupon this Houfe having made an Address to his Majefty, to order Captain Norris to attend this House to anfwer fuch Matters as had been fo objected against him, and * Afterwards knighted, and made an Admiral, that, Anno 12 Wil that, in the mean time, he should be fufpended from his EmIII. 1700. ployment, which his Majefty has been pleased to order; and Earl of Portland charged with having advised the Partition Treaty. Marquis of Earl of Rochefter. accordingly Captain Norris having appeared before us, but Willoughby, Leeds, Howard, Normanby, Jeffreys, Poulet, Granville. About the Middle of this Month, perhaps the 14th, the Lords taking the Partition-Treaty into Confideration, fome Days after, they loudly expreffed their Difapprobation thereon, which they wholly laid at the Earl of Portland's door. His Lordship however excufed himself by faying, That the Duke of Leeds, the Earls of Pembroke, Jersey and Marlborough, the Lords Sommers and Hallifax, and Mr. Vernon, had their Share in that Negotiation as well as himself; whereupon the Peers his Lordship had named did readily acknowledge, that they had, indeed, feen the rough Draught of the Treaty, but that the Earl of Portland had drawn it up by himself in French; and as for themselves, that they had neither given, nor refused their Confent to it; because the Treaty was never communicated to the Privy Council. Upon this Occafion the Marquis of Normanby made an eloquent Speech, which was generally applauded; and because fome Peers had fpoke very reflectingly of the King of France, the Earl of Rochefter took them up, and faid, That all Men ought to speak respectfully of Crown'd-Heads, and that this Duty is more particularly incumbent on the Peers of a Kingdom, who derive all their Honour and Luftre from the Crown. This was backed by another Earl, who faid, That the King of France was not only to be refpected, but likewife to be feared: To whom another Member of that illuftrious Anno 12 Will. Commons re lating to the faid Treaty. Hufrious Affembly replied, That he hoped, no Man in England needed be afraid of the French King; much lefs the Peer who spoke laft, who was too much a Friend to that L Monarch to fear any thing from him. After a long and warm Debate, the Lords fent a Meffage to the Commons, to Meffage to the acquaint them, That there having been lately a Treaty made with France, extremely dangerous in itself, and transacted alfo in a moft irregular manner, the Lords had thought fit to communicate it to the House of Commons, and to defire them to appoint a Committee for meeting a Committee of the Lords,, in order to their joint Confideration of fome Method to be used in making fuch an Application to his Majelty about this Matter, as might for the future prevent any Proceedings of this kind,' At the fame time the Lords defired the Commons, that Mr. Vernon, one of their Members, might come to a Committee of the Upper House, to give an Account of fome Matters relating to the Treaty of Partition, which the Commons readily granted. March the 15th, The Earl of Nottingham reported from Facts as to the the Committee appointed to draw up and state the Facts, as Treaty of Partis to the Treaty of Partition, that they had thought proper to fet down fuch Facts as appeared to them. And the fecond Head being read, viz. That the Emperor was not a Party to this Treaty, tho' principally concerned, The Question was put, Whether this Paragraph fhail ftand? It was refolved in the Negative. tents 40. Diffentient Contents 24; Not con tion ftated. ft, Because it is manifeft by the Treaty itself, that the Proteft thereon. Matter of Fact is true. 2dly, Because the Emperor, as we conceive, had been the moft proper to have treated with on this Occafion, for 'twas more prudent and fafe to have treated with the Emperor to have reftrained the Pretenfions of France, than with France to leffen the Dominion of the House of Auftria, which, in its full Strength, and in Conjunction with the most confiderable Powers in Europe, and with the Expence of more than fixty Millions ferl. to our Share, was scarce able to withstand the Arms of France. 3dly, But, admitting that the Emperor was not the most proper to be treated with, yet, to prevent the Umbrage that might be taken by uniting too many Dominions under one Prince, efpecially fuch a Prince as, without any Additions, was formidable to all Europe, of all others the Emperor was the most improper to be left out of fuch a Treaty, for he was moft concerned in it; and our Minifters could not, or at Anno 12 Will, at leaft did not, fufficiently fupport his Intereft, or the juft III. 1700. Ballance of Europe; but, on the contrary, as we are informed, by one Lord who figned the Treaty, it was concluded against the exprefs Defire of the Emperor. Third Head, Proteft thereon. De Longueville, Howard, Thanet, Craven, Hereford, Tho. Then the third Head was read, viz. That no Minister of the States-General met with the Plenipotentaries of England and France, as were required by the Powers at the making the Treaty in London. The Question was put, Whether this Paragraph shall ftand? It was refolved in the Negative. Diffentient 1ft, Because the Truth of this Propofition is Reafon enough for afferting it, and it must certainly be of fatal Confequence, if Minifters, without any Directions by Inftructions in Writing, fhall prefume to act contrary to the very Commission that empowers them; and, in this Cafe, the Affiftance of the Dutch Minifters was the more neceffary, because the Emperor was no Party to this Treaty, and the States-General are more immediately concerned, than we are, to promote his Interests, 2dly, But if this Treaty was concerted with the Dutch Minifters in 1699, before his Majefty's Return into England, as was afferted by one of the Lords who figned it afterwards in London, then, ift, This Treaty was made by those who had no Authaty to tranfact it, for the Power was not granted by his Majefty till the 2d of January following. 2dly. As they acted without Power, fo without Inftructions too in Writing, which never was practised in any former Tranfactions abroad. Lastly, We conceive, that neither of the foregoing Facts ought, in Reason, or according to the Method of Parliament, to be ordered to be omitted, because, till the Committee had formed the Addrefs, pursuant to the Order, 'twas impoffible to know what Use would be made of thofe Facts; for as they might have been improperly applied, and then would have been justly rejected, fo there might have been fo great use made of them, and fo oppofite to the Defign of the House, in the intended Addrefs, that it will be improper to omit them. Thanet, Leeds, Tho. Roffen', Hereford, De Longueville, Granville, Craven, Weymouth, Normanby, Howard, Jeffreys, Abingdon, Nottingham. The |