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caufe their army was no army. All hopes are, that France may not get a peace. We are not making laws to bind the King of France, but would make an humble addrefs to the King,

that,

as we have a care of his concern, he would have care of ours.'

Sir Thomas Clarges.] This " Grievance of France is a matter of fo great confequence, that if there be no tendency of redreffing it this day, we are loft. He fears the King is betrayed. But ftill as we go away in intermiffion of Parliament, there is fome interpofition betwixt his goodness and us. The last time we met, the next day after this debate, we had a prorogation. It was faid, that tumult frighted the late King away from Whitehall;'. but it was Whitehall frighted him. The Secretary of State, and other great Officers, after they had brought the misfortunes on him, left him. He was in France in the King's exile, where he obferved, that though his Majefty was fon of a daughter of France, he had but a poor pittance, and they fent him out of France. He afked the great men there, why they used him fo? They anfwered, It is our intereft induces us to it.' Now, when things are thus carried, it is dark; and he understands not why this friendship is with France.— The great Minifter, Mazarine, would not have fo much as a conference with him. He has heard, that it broke the Ambaffador's heart (Lockhart) at Paris, that now he could not do the King so much fervice as he formerly could do the Ufurper Cromwell. The King of France's great fleet is not built to take Vienna. Books are written to whisper Popery in the people's ears, and we are weakened by giving money, and our locks are cut off, and the Philiftines are upon us. Forces are fent over into the French fervice (fome lately taken in Cornwall,) and lately a fhip full of Scots taken by the Oftenders. He believes the King does not know it, elfe we could not be fo interrupted in our addreffes. He knows not what to move, but fubmits what he has faid to confideration.

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Mr. Garroway.]. “ Will not enter into the King's prerogative about treaties and confederacies.-If you think it worthy confideration to have a Committee to draw up an addrefs, (though it is a tender point) whatsoever we do in the world, let us reprefent the fears of his people of the growing greatness of France.

- Sir Thomas Clarges.]" Our Ambaffador in France ought to have precedency of all, Princes of the blood too, but now every tattered coach goes before him. Firft goes the King's coach, and then the Princes of the blood, and laftly the Ambaffador. We have had Ambaffadors that would not let the King's coach go before them, unless the King was in it. The

Germans

Germans and Princes of Italy will not receive a letter without all their titles. Take away the Lord Mayor's trappings, and farewell the government of the city. In omitting thole ceremonies, you take away royal Majefty.. The Prince of Ligne came hither, bravely attended, to vifit our King; and now the French Ambaffador has but a fedan, or a coach and two horses, when he comes to Court.

Mr. Mallet.]" Knows not why we have so much tenderness for France. He knows not the benefit we have from them, but that they fetch our horfes and our men, and we have nothing from them but wine and women.

Sir George Downing.] "Will you hazard a war rather than lofe Flanders, in the condition we are in? They may reproach us, as they did King James, by picturing him in Holland with an army of Ambaffadors for fecuring the Palatinate.

Mr. Garraway, faid privately,]" That our meaning was, a real war, but not a cheat, a pickpocket war.

[Refolved, "That a Committee be appointed, to prepare an address to represent to his Majefty the danger of the power of France, and to defire his Majefty, by fuch alliances as he shall think fit, to fecure his kingdom, and quiet the fears of his people, and for the preservation and fecuring of the Spanish Netherlands." Agreed to by the House.]

From the whole tenor of this debate, it is difficult to determine whether thefe Patriots were moft jealous of the French King, or of their own Sovereign. Certain it is, that Charles paid no real regard to the welfare of his kingdom, and that partly from natural levity of difpofition, and partly from fordid motives of perfonal advantage, he was fecretly attached to the intereft of France, in oppofition to every principle of true policy, and every duty of a patriot Prince. The King, however, artfully availed himself of this addrefs, to draw money from his fubjects; and, though in a fubfequent debate they came to a resolution to grant 200,000l. yet, he made answer," that the fum was not fufficient, without farther supply, to enable him to fpeak and act thofe things which were defired by his people." The Commons, on the other hand, having no confidence in the ceconomy or integrity of their Sovereign, refufed to grant farther fupply, till he had imparted to them what ailiances he had formed; and, in the mean time, only gave him general affurances of their chearful and speedy affiftance. Thus, between thefe mutual diftrufts, the grand point under confideration was fuffered to remain unprovided for.

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Thefe, however, were not the only unhappy misunderstandings which fubfifted at this time. The jealoufies between the House of Lords and Commons, concerning fome points of jurisdiction, were inflamed to a violent degree on account of an appeal to the upper Houfe, in a caufe wherein a Member of the lower was one of the parties. On this occafion, the Commons impeached the fole judicial authority of the Lords, and proceeded to great extremities, committing the Counfel who pleaded at the Lords bar, for a breach of their privileges. The Lords, on the other hand, if they refused to plead, committed them for a contempt; fo that the poor Advocates, being pulled on one fide by the Ufher of the Black Rod, and lugged on the other fide by the Serjeant at Arms, were in danger of being worried to death. To put an end to this difpute, the Parliament was prorogued.

But, in the midft of all their more important confiderations, they were not unattentive to grievances of a more private nature. They examined into the abuses of the Courts of Justice, and particularly enquired into the exorbitant jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery: on which occafion Mr. Sacheverell made the following remarks.

Mr. Sacheverell.] "Sees to day what he hoped never to have feen; that after four or five years of mal-proceedings in Weftminster-Hall, Courts of Juftice are precarious. It seems, that grievances are not big enough to be redreffed. The Judges either want judgment or honefty. It becomes fix ace or quatre trois, for a caufe in those courts. Would know whether the Chancery hath taken all law into its authority. One fingle perfon may alter all the law. He fpeaks it not reflectively on this Lord Chancellor, but on that court. And the Judges now having their patents durante bene placito, do as the Court directs. As in one Millar's cafe. They come to Sir Lionel Jenkins's ecclefiaftical court, and a letter is fent to him from the King, to direct him which way to give bis judgment, and after the letter was read, he gave a judgment pursuant to it. And at the court he faid, The King was concerned, and he would have no delegates; and has none. And, at common law at Derby and Nottingham affizes, one perfon had paid the duty, and had a difcharge in full. The Excifeman comes next day to diftrain upon him, though he owed nothing. The perfon brings his action of trover and converfion for the goods. The Judge faid, That there was an error in the Officer; but unless he count tenanced the Officer, the King would lofe his revenue; and fo he caufed the Jury to be withdrawn. At Nottingham, he was of the Grand Jury, and a Recufant was then prefented. Says the Judge, the indictment fhall be drawn, and would have

them prefented from fixteen years of age and upwards,' though no evidence upon it. The Judge fent them out with the indictment, and the Jury muft find that they came not to church, and were all of the age of fixteen years. He told us, we were 2 company of Fanatics, and would not find a Romanist, and we must find fix weeks,' when three weeks were gone already. And fo we went on to find the reft of the time by prophecy. In the action brought by Sir Samuel Bernadifton against the Sheriff of Suffolk for a falfe return, the Judge faid, Malfeazance,' in the action, was pepper and falt, and nothing; and tells you it is so now, because there is an 100l. damage; and fo the Sheriff may return what Member he pleases. If this be so, we all fit here to no purpose. Would therefore firft proceed in the grievances from the courts of Westminster-or elfe we fit here in vain."

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After long debate on this subject, the House came to the following refolution.

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"Refolved, That the House be moved to appoint a Committee to bring in a bill, for redreffing and regulating all extraordinary power and jurifdiction exercifed by the high Court of Chancery, and other Courts of Equity, in matters determinable at common law;' which the House agreed to, and ordered Sir Francis Winnington, &c. to bring in fuch a bill."

What was the fate of this bill, at prefent we cannot determine but whatever became of it, it certainly produced very little effect and if thefe Patriots had lived in later days, they would have seen the grievance here complained of, rather aggravated than redreffed. As to the abuses of the common law courts, if we believe Sacheverell's fpeech, the Judges acted with no more discretion than integrity. Common policy might have directed them at leaft, to give fome colour to partiality and oppreffion, and not expose them in their native hue, to shock the public eye. We may be thankful, that we live in happier days, when the Minifters of Justice are more independent of the Crown; and have more wifdom and honefty than to give occafion for any parliamentary fcrutiny into their conduct.

Thefe two volumes afford many other curious debates, which our limits will not allow us to abridge. But we cannot conclude this article, without taking notice of an incident, which ferves to fhew that the levity and ludicrous turn of those days, could not be restrained even on the moft ferious occafions. In the midft of one of their violent debates, concerning breach of privilege, by an appeal to the Lords House,

"Some Ladies were in the gallery, peeping over the Gentle

men's

men's fhoulders; the Speaker called out, What borough do thofe Ladies ferve for? Sir William Coventry replied, They ferve for the Speaker's chamber.' Sir Thomas Littleton faid, The Speaker might mistake them, for Gentlemen with fine fleeves, dreffed like Ladies.' Says the Speaker, I am fure, I faw petticoats.'

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The Cure of Saul, a Sacred Ode. Written by Dr. Brown. 4to. Is. Davis and Reymers,

ONDERFUL are the effects which of old were a

W fcribed to the united efforts of mufic and poetry: for

though we should not really believe, that they fubdued the rage of wild beafts, or moved inanimate bodies, yet if they are allowed to have withdrawn human favages from their ferocious pursuits and horrid feafts*, their power was certainly very extraordinary. Compared with thefe, when we confider the effects of this union in our own times, we are apt to entertain a very contemptuous idea of modern Bards and Muficians. Were Dr. Brown and Dr. Arne to vifit the Cape, it might be queftioned whether all their mufical efforts could withhold one dirty native from the fanguine chace by day, or the filthy feast by night. The Hottentot would probably ftill prefer the taste of his fheep's guts, in their original ftate, to any found that could be drawn from them, when converted into fiddle-ftrings.

The

Let us not, however, fuppofe, that the arts of mufic and poetry are more imperfect now than they were of old. ftructure of that lyre +, which Amphion is faid to have invented, and therewith to have introduced the Lydian mufic into Greece, appears to us to have been incapable of any great or very comprehenfive harmony. Befide, the concords of the ancient fcale were grofs and imperfect; and it is univerfally allowed, that they have been happily tempered by modern improvements.

It is most probable then, that poetry, in gratitude for the affiftance the received from her fifter art, was lavifh in her praife, at the expence of truth.

One inftance, however, of the power of ancient mufic, we are not to doubt, and that is, the [temporary] Cure of Saul.

Hor. Art. Poet.

+ Quint. Inftit. lib. xii. cap. 10. The

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