ing impreffions on your minds, of his Majefty's tender regards and parental affection for his people of Ireland. The public tranquility has, I flatter myself, been effectually fecured, not only by the exemplary punishment inflicted on feveral prívate perfons engaged in those wick ed and dangerous outrages, which had fo long infefted fome parts of this kingdom, but by the act for the detection and punishment of those offenders, which has now received the royal affent. Popular infurrections, when quelled, have often, in other countries, proved unfavourable to liberty; but we have this feffion an improvement made in our conftitution, extending even to the cafe of those infurgents themselves, by the act for regulating trials in cafes of high treafon; a memorable inftance of his Majefty's juft confidence in the duty and loyalty of his faithful fubjects of this kingdom. 1 Gentlemen of the house of Commons, ledgements. I cannot fufficiently commend your pains, care, and attention, in providing for the build ing and repairing of churches, in which you may reft affured of my beft and moft hearty afliftance. I am particularly to thank you for the unfolicited mark of your confidence and esteem, by the truft placed in me, of raising money, if the exigencies of government fhould require it; a power which fhall not be executed, unless the exercise of it thall be juftified by the most evident neceffity. Happy muft that country be, where a mutual intercourfe of truft and confidence, and a reciprocal exchange of affection and gratitude, have fo long and fo uniformly fubfifted between the king and his people. My Lords, and Gentlemen, The affectionate addreffes of both houfes of parliament, repeatedly prefented to me, convey the most honourable teftimony of your ap probation of my conduct, and give me fome hopes, that I have not been altogether an unprofitable fervant to my royal mafter, and to his people, in this arduous ftation, which it has been the king's pleafure to place me. I fhall endeavour to deferve the continuance of your favourable opinion, by fhewing, upon every occafion, the higheft regards to the true interefts of this kingdom, and the fricteft attention to the just prerogative of the king, and to the liberties of the people: and let me earneftly recommend unto you, in your several stations, to inculeate, by precept, authority, and example, a love and veneration for the laws, and a dutiful fubmif I have the king's commands to return you thanks in his name, for the ufual, fupplies granted by you, with your accustomed unanimity; and to express his Majesty's fatis faction, that you have ealed your fellow-fubjects, by reducing the intereft of part of the national debt. I am alfo to return you his Majefty's thanks, for your chearful concurrence in the proper measures for the difpofition and accommodation of the king's troops, fo as to render them of moft ufe for the fafety and defence of this, kingdom: a work of the most important utility. Your zeal and unanimity upon that occafion to the conflitutional rights of fion, and the truft repofed in me, the crown, the firmeft fecurity of demand my most grateful acknow- civil liberty, and the ftrongest bar. rier against disorder and anarchy: to enforce the execution of juftice, and a due obedience to the magiftrate; to explain to the people the excellence of our happy conftitution; to promote and confirm in them a juft fenfe of the many bleffings they enjoy, and the most grateful fentiments of the juftice, moderation, and benignity of the king's government; and particularly, to point out the great benefits which this kingdom has obtained this feffion of parliament, by his Majefty's goodnets in affenting to fo many useful laws. I have great fatisfaction to find, that the act to prohibit the exportation of corn for a limited time, bas produced the defired effect, by preventing the dreadful calamity of a famine; I have used every endea vour in my power to promote the defign of this law, by encouraging the importation of corn, and by Jeffening the price to the poor in thofe places, where, by applications made to me for that purpose, it appeared to be moft neceffary: apprehenfions of the fame calamity had occafioned a law of the fame nature in Great Britain, but with an exception for this kingdom; an inftance of the most affectionate attention from his Majefty, and from our fellow-fubjects of that kingdom, of which, I am perfuaded, we shall entertain the moft grateful remembrance, I cannot take my leave of you, without alluring you, that I look upon myfelf as obliged in juftice, in intereft, and in gratitude, to reprefent your conduct, to his Majefty in the most favourable manner; to continue my conftant endeavours, in every fituation, for the advancement of your trade, the affistance of your manufactures, and the encou Copy of a declaratio 4th of Norm's IS Britannic ed on the to the dang, by the British mi in behalf of Met kingdom. jesty, ever Hexcited by reat able defires of protecting by all methods the Chriftian Proteftants, elpecially thofe who, by virtue of particular conventions, have a right to expect his affiftance, finds himself obliged to repeat his preffing reprefentations in favour of that opprelled part of the Polish nation, known by the name of Diffidents; wherefore the underfigned, in conformity to fresh orders from the King, his moft gracious fovereign, has the honour to reprefent to you, Sir, and to the republic of Poland, that his Britannic Majefty, befides the many folid motives of juftice and humanity, which give him reafon to hope for a happy fuccefs of the present negotiations relative to this affair, finding himself compelled, by a firict alliance with the courts of Petersburg, Berlin, and Copenhagen, to intereft himself in behalf of the Diffidents, in all the forms of law, and in quality of guarantee of the treaty of peace of Oliva, withes that, in the prefent diet, this virtuous but unhappy part of the Polish fubjects may be re-eftablished, as members of the ftate, in the poffeffion of their rights and privileges, as well as in the peaceable enjoyment of their mode of worship, which every one knows knows belonged to them before the figning of the faid treaty of Oliva. At the fame time his Britannic Majefty confiders how great is the connection between the interefts even of the republic and the juftice of this affair, as well as the fundamental laws of the kingdom; laws which were not only obferved for two centuries, but renewed by treaties with the northern powers, fo folemn that they do not permit the leaft alteration to be undertaken, unless with the general confent of the contracting parties. For thefe caufes his Britannic Majefty, filled with confidence of the equity and penetration of his Polith Majefty, who, from the beginning of his reign, has given fo many teftimonies of zeal for the happiness of mankind, and of love towards the administration of juftice in the republic, has not the leaft doubt that his juft defires will no longer be opposed by references to inefficacious constitutions, established in the midst of intestine troubles, contradicted by the formal proteftations and express declarations on the part of foreign powers. Although the rights and privileges of the Diffidents are founded on a doctrine, whofe principles of charity and benevolence, make it characteristical of Chriftianity; and the divinity of its inftitutor, who firft preached it, renders it fill lefs a matter of doubt; yet it is this religion, of which the exercife is dif turbed, and of which its profeffors are excluded from all honourable employments, and deprived of all means of ferving their country. Nevertheless, their rights and privileges have been confirmed to them by many ordinances of the kingdom, fettled by fo many treaties, fupported on foundations fo facred and fo evident to the eyes of all na tions, that the underfigned minister of a monarch who preferves towards the public the fincereft fentiments of friendship and of inclination to give proofs of them on every occasion, flatters himself that the mediation of the King, his mafter, will produce the effects, which he may naturally promife himfelf; that the wifdom of the nation affembled will afford a remedy to the evils which rend the ftate and opprefs the Dif fidents; and that with regard to things ecclefiaftical and civil, they may be re-established in the fituation they were in before the treaty of Oliva. As to the rest, the fincere wishes of his Britannic Majefty for the glory of the King of Poland, and for the profperity of the republic, are fo notorious, that it would be ufelefs to give fresh affurances of them. In the mean while, the underfigned cannot avoid reiterating them, as an inconteftible proof of their reality. (Signed) WROUGHTON." CHA. CHARACTERS. MEMOIRS of Madame la Marquife an effay, and endeavoured to have de POMPADOUR, wherein varnished over the conduct of a life, are difcovered the motives of fo univerfally obnoxious as he knew wars, and treaties of peace, em- ber own to be. Whether he only baffies, negotiations in the different furnished materials, and had them courts of Europe; plots and fe- put into the prefent form by the af cret intrigues; the character of fiftance of fome man of letters, is imgenerals, that of minifters of state, material; there is nothing in the the causes of their elevation and matter or conduct of the work, but difgrace; and in general what what may be very well expected from a ever remarkable has passed at the woman of her character, without any court of France during the twenty affiftance, especially one who had the laft years of the reign of LEWIS opportunities of information, which XV. Written by herself. The poffeffed for fo many years. We may venture to fay, whoever thefe memoirs were really wrote by, the many curious anecdotes they contain, cannot fail of making them highly enter taining. THough up gave, in our last year's volume, fome account of the life of the celebrated Madam Pompadour; yet we flatter our felves that the following extract from the memoirs of her life, lately published, and faid to be written by herself, will be far from being difagreeable or tiresome to our readers. We are not infenfible that the authenticity of these memoirs is called in question, and that it is doubted whether they were literally wrote by the remarkable perfonage to whom they are attributed. We shall avoid entering into this difcuffion, as it is either our province, nor a matter eafily determined. If we confider the vanity of the French, and the violent paffion for memoirwriting, which it generally inspires them with; it will be the lefs furprifing to us, if the Memorialift, who is well known to have wanted neither wit nor parts, should have made fuch VOL. IX. TT is not about the hiftory of my IT life which I undertake to write; my defign is more extenfive, as aiming at drawing a picture of the court of France under the reign of Lewis XV. The private memoirs of a favourite are little interefting of themselves; but it is not indifferent to know the character of the prince who railed her to favour, the intrigues of his reign, the genius of the courtiers, the fchemes of the minifters, the defigns of the great, the projects of the ambitious; in fhort, all the hidden fprings that have fet in motion the politics of her time. The public feldom judge foundly of what paffes in the cabinet. |