House of Lords Journal Volume 20: 8 August 1715

DIE Lunæ, 8 Augusti.

Domini tam Spirituales quam Temporales præsentes fuerunt:

Georgius Princeps Walliæ

PRAYERS.

Ld. Viscount Rosse's Bill.

Hodie 2^a vice lecta est Billa, intituled, "An Act to enable Richard Lord Viscount Rosse of the Kingdom of Ireland, notwithstanding his Nonage, to make a Jointure on Mary Viscountess Rosse his Wife, and a Settlement on his Issue Male, with Provision for Younger Children; and for other Purposes therein mentioned."

Ordered, That the said Bill be committed to the Consideration of the Lords following:

Their Lordships, or any Five of them; to meet on Tuesday the Twenty-third Day of this Instant August, at Ten a Clock in the Forenoon, in the Prince's Lodgings near the House of Peers; and to adjourn as they please.

E. Oxford, Petition for Paper, &c.

A Petition of Robert Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer, was presented to the House, and read; praying, In regard he is advised, that, in order to make his just Defence, it is necessary he should peruse all the Memorials, Letters, Treaties, or other Papers, referred by the House of Commons to the Committee of Secrecy, upon which the Report of the said Committee and the Articles of Impeachment against him are founded; and likewise all Treaties, Treasury Warrants, Reports, and other Papers, mentioned in the said Articles, and the Preamble thereof; that Erasmus Lewis, Jo. Taylor, Humphrey Wanley, and their Clerks, may be appointed and allowed to take Copies of the said Treaties, Memorials, Letters, and Papers, before mentioned, for the Use of the Petitioner."

Ordered, That the Person abovenamed be appointed the Petitioner's Solicitors, in order to assist him in making his Defence:

And that the said Petition be referred to the Lords following; who are appointed a Committee, to consider the Prayer thereof, and inspect Precedents of what hath been done in Cases of this Nature; and report to the House; (videlicet,)

Their Lordships, or any Five of them; to meet To-morrow, at Ten a Clock in the Forenoon, in the Prince's Lodgings near the House of Peers; and to adjourn as they please.

Security of His Majesty's Person, &c. Bill.

The House (according to Order) was adjourned during Pleasure, and put into a Committee, to consider further of the Bill, intituled, "An Act for the further Security of His Majesty's Person and Government; and the Succession of the Crown on the Heris of the late Princess Sophia, being Protestants; and for extinguishing the Hopes of the pretended Prince of Wales, and his open and secret Abettors."

And, after some Time spent therein, the House was resumed.

And the Lord Delawar reported from the Committee, That they had gone through the Bill, and made several Amendments thereunto; which they had directed him to report, when the House will please to receive the same."

Ordered, That the Report be received To-morrow Morning.

A Message was brought from the House of Commons, by Mr. Secretary Stanhope and other, as follows; (videlicet,)

Duke of Ormond impeached.

My Lords,

The Commons in Parliament assembled, having re ceived Information of divers traiterous Practices and Desings of a great Peer of this House, James Duke of Ormonde, have commanded me to impeach the said James Duke of Ormonde of High Treason, and other high Crimes and Misdemeanors: And I do here, in their Names, and in the Names of all the Commons of Great Britain, impeach the said James Duke of Ormonde of High Treason, and other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.

"And I am further commanded by the House of Commons, to pray and demand of your Lordships, that the said James Duke of Ormonde may be sequestered from Parliament, and forthwith committed to safe Custody."

He further presented Articles of Impeachment of High Treason, and other high Crimes and Misdemeanors, against the said James Duke of Ormonde, in Maintenance of the said Charge.

The said Articles were read, as follows.

Articles against him.

"Articles of Impeachment of High Treason, and of other high Crimes and Misdemeanors, against James Duke of Ormonde.

"ARTICLE I.

"That whereas James Duke of Ormonde, in or about the Month of April One Thousand Seven Hundred and Twelve, being appointed General of the Forces in The Netherlands of Her late Majesty Queen Ann, with Orders to prosecute the War against France with all possible Vigour, in Conjunction with Her said Majesty's Allies; and having, by Her said Majesty's Directions, and in Her Name, given Her said Allies the most solemn Assurances to that Purpose, was thereupon admitted into the Councils, and made privy to the most secret Designs, of the Generals of the Confederate Army against the common Enemy, and of the Measures they thought the most proper to carry on the War with Success: And whereas, in the said Year One Thousand Seven Hundred and Twelve, the said War was carried on between Her said late Majesty Queen Anne and the said French King; and during all the said Year the War did continue, and for all that Time the said French King and His Subjects were Enemies of Her late Majesty, he the said James Duke of Ormonde, then General of Her Majesty's Army, and a Subject of Her Majesty, not considering the Duty of his Allegiance, but having withdrawn his true and due Obedience from Her said late Majesty, and Affection from his Country, did, during the said War, falsely, maliciously, wickedly, and traiterously, aid, help, assist, and adhere to, the said French King, against Her said late Majesty; and, in Execution of his said aiding, helping, assisting, and adhering, maliciously, falsely, and traiterously, contrary to the Duty of his Allegiance and the Laws and Statutes of this Realm, did, on or about the Twenty-sixth Day of May One Thousand Seven Hundred and Twelve, send private Intelligence and Information to Marshal Villars, then an Enemy to Her said late Majesty, and General of the French King's Army against Her Majesty and Her Allies, of a March the Army of Her said Majesty and of Her Allies was then going to make, and of the Design of the said Army in making that March.

"ARTICLE II.

"That whereas, in or about the Month of May One Thousand Seven Hundred and Twelve, a traiterous Design was carried on, between Henry Saint John Esquire, then One of Her said late Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, and other evil-disposed Persons, and the Ministers of France, to defeat the just Expectations of the great Advantages over the common Enemy Her Majesty and the Nation had then Reason to hope for, from the great Superiority of the Confederate Forces in The Netherlands; to obtain which, very large Sums of Money had been chearfully contributed by Parliament: And, to that End, the said Henry St. John had given secret Assurances to the French Ministers, "That Her Majesty's General in The Netherlands, though under the most solemn Engagements to act vigorously in Concert with the Allies, should not act against France;" and had also engaged the said James Duke of Ormonde to concur in the said wicked Purpose: Which evil Practices of the said Henry St. John and others, when they were first suspected, giving the greatest Alarm to the Ministers of the Allies, the Parliament, and to the whole Kingdom, and being thereupon openly disavowed and denied by all the Conspirators in the most public Manner; he the said James Duke of Ormonde, in order to disguise and conceal from Her said late Majesty and the whole Kingdom the said traiterous Designs; then carrying on by the said Henry St. John and other false Traitors to Her Majesty and their Country, in Aid and Comfort of the French King, then in open War with, and an Enemy of, Her said Majesty, did, by his Letter of the Twentyfifth of May One Thousand Seven Hundred and Twelve, to the said Henry Saint John, then Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State, called his Public Letter because prepared and intended to be read before Her said Majesty and Her Council, wickedly, falsely, and treacherously, abuse and impose upon Her said late Majesty and Her Council, by affirming and declaring therein, "That, if he found an Opportunity to bring the Enemy to a Battle, he should not decline it;" although, by a private Letter, writ by the said James Duke of Ormonde, of the same Date, and to the said Henry Saint John, designed to be read by the said Henry Saint John and the said Conspirators only, he the said James Duke of Ormonde did, on the contrary, wickedly promise and engage, "That he would not attack or molest the French Army, or engage in any Siege against France."

"ARTICLE III.

"That he the said James Duke of Ormonde, in or about the Month of June One Thousand Seven Hundred and Twelve, being at that Time General of Her Majesty's Forces against France, and a Subject of Her said Majesty, not considering the Duty of his Allegiance, but having altogether withdrawn the cordial Love and due Obedience which every faithful Subject owed to Her said Majesty, and devoting himself to the Service of France, and designing to give Aid and Comfort to the French King and His Subjects, then in open War with, and Enemies to, Her said late Majesty, in Violation of the many Treaties of Alliance between Great Britain and several other Princes and States for carrying on the War against France, and of the said late Queen's Instructions to him, on or about the Seventh of April One Thousand Seven Hundred and Twelve, under the Sign Manual; in Pursuance thereof, and of the solemn Declarations he had but lately before, by Her said Majesty's Command, and in Her Name, made to the Pensionary of Holland and the Generals of the Confederate Army, to push on the War with all possible Vigour; and also in open and manifest Violation of the last Orders sent to him in a Letter from the said Henry Saint John, on or about the Seventh of June One Thousand Seven Hundred and Twelve, whereby he the said James Duke of Ormonde was directed, "To make no Cessation of Arms with the French, unless the Articles demanded by Her Majesty, and expressly mentioned and set down in the said Letter; as the Conditions for the said Cessation, should be complied with by France;" and whereby he the said James Duke of Ormonde was likewise further expressly directed and told, "That in case the Conditions therein mentioned were not complied with by France, that then he was entirely free from Restraint, and at Liberty to take all reasonable Measures in his Power for annoying the Enemy, and at full Liberty of acting against France;" did, on or about the Twenty-fifth of June aforesaid, falsely, maliciously, wickedly, and traiterously, aid, help, assist, and adhere to, the French King, against Her said late Majesty, and then in open War with Her Majesty; and, in Execution of his said aiding, helping, assisting, and adhering, and in Pursuance of a wicked Promise he had secretly made the same Day to Marshal Villars, General of the French Army, to that Purpose, maliciously, falsely, and traiterously, contrary to the Duty of his Allegiance and the Laws and Statutes of this Realm, did advise, and endeavour to persuade, the Generals of the Confederate Army against France, and the Deputies of The States General, to raise the Siege of Quesnoy, a French Town then besieged by them; and did then further, traiterously and wickedly, refuse to act any longer against France; and then also, traiterously and wickedly, told the said Generals of the said Consederate Forces, and the said States Deputies, "That he could no longer cover the Siege of Quesnoy; but was obliged, by his Instructions, to march off with the Queen's Troops, and those in Her Majesty's Pay:" Whereas in Truth, and the Commons expressly charge, That he the said James Duke of Ormonde did traiterously and wickedly make the said Declaration, and refused to act against France, in manifest Contradiction not only to his said original Orders, but also of the said Letter to him of the Seventh of June from the said Henry Saint John; since none of the Articles demanded by Her Majesty for a Cessation of Arms, and expressed in the said Letter to be the Conditions without which no Cessation of Arms was to be made, had been complied with by France. And, in further Execution of his said traiterous Designs, he the said James Duke of Ormonde, by a Letter to the said Marshal Villars, on the Twenty-fifth of June aforesaid, did traiterously and wickedly send Intelligence to the said Marshal Villars of the beforementioned Passages between him the said James Duke of Ormonde, and the Generals of the Confederate Army and The States Deputies, and how his Propositions were received by them; and also of the Disposition he observed in the Foreign Troops to adhere to the said Confederates, in Case of a Separation by the Troops of Great Britain.

ARTICLE IV.

That he the said James Duke of Ormonde did not only wickedly and falsely affirm to the Generals of the Confederate Army and The States Deputies, "That his said Refusal to act any longer against France, and to cover the Siege of Quesnoy, was in Pursuance of Instructions he had received for that Purpose;" but also, to induce the said Generals of the Confederate Army and The States Deputies to comply with his Proposal to them, to abandon the Siege; he the said James Duke of Ormonde did wickedly represent their Compliance therein as the most effectual Way to induce Her said late Majesty to take Care of the said Confederates' Interest at the Peace; whereby he the said James Duke of Ormonde did, in Effect, threaten Her said Majesty's good Friends and Allies, "That, unless they would dishonourably abandon an Enterprize undertaken by common Consent, and thereby save a strong Fortress and a numerous Garrison of the Enemy, they were not to expect that Her Majesty would take Care of their Interests at the general Peace."

ARTICLE V.

"That, he the said James Duke of Ormonde having received a Letter, dated on or about the Fourteenth of July One Thousand Seven Hundred and Twelve, from the said Marshal Villars the French General, desiring "to be informed what Troops remained in the Confederate Army, or what Troops and Generals marched off from them with him the said Duke; and declaring, at the same Time, that the Reason of that Inquiry was in order to fall upon and attack the said Confederate Army;" he the said James Duke of Ormonde, on or about the Sixteenth Day of July One Thousand Seven Hundred and Twelve, did, traiterously and wickedly, contrary to the Duty of a true and faithful Subject, and contrary to his Allegiance and the Laws and Statutes of this Realm, aid, help, assist, and adhere to, the said French King and His Subjects, against Her said late Majesty, and then in open War with, and Enemies to, Her said late Majesty; and, in Execution of his said aiding, helping, assisting, and adhering, he the said James Duke of Ormonde, on or about the said Sixteenth Day of July One Thousand Seven Hundred and Twelve, did traiterously send secret Intelligence to the said Marshal Villars, the General of the French Army, of the Number of the Troops that had left the said Confederate Army, and also of the March the said Confederate Army had that Morning made.

"ARTICLE VI.

"And whereas he the said James Duke of Ormonde had received Advice that The States General, in or about the Month of October One Thousand Seven Hundred and Twelve, had formed a Design to surprize and take the Towns of Newport and Furnes, or One of them, then in the Possession of the French King; that he the said James Duke of Ormonde, intending to strengthen the Hands of the common Enemy, by defeating the said Enterprize, did, on or about the Twenty-first Day of October One Thousand Seven Hundred and Twelve, in a Letter to the said Henry St. John, then Viscount Bolingbroke, wickedly and basely suggest to and advise Her said late Majesty, to send secret Intelligence of, and to betray, the said Counsels and Designs of Her good and faithful Allies The States General, to the French King, then in the War with, and an Enemy to, Her Majesty; and did further wickedly and shamefully suggest the Means of putting the said Treachery in Execution, by giving private Intelligence of the Design to the said Marshal Villars. All which Crimes and Misdemeanors were committed and done by him the said James Duke of Ormonde, against our late Sovereign Lady the Queen, Her Crown and Dignity, the Peace and Interest of this Kingdom, and in Breach of the several Trusts reposed in him the said Duke; and he the said James Duke of Ormonde was General of Her Majesty's Forces in The Netherlands, and One of Her Privy Council, during the Time that all and every the Crimes before set forth were done and committed: For which Matters and Things, the Knights, Citizens, and Burgesses of the House of Commons, in Parliament assembled, do, in the Name of themselves and of all the Commons of Great Britain, impeach the said James Duke of Ormonde of High Treason, and other high Crimes and Misdemeanors, in the said Articles contained.

"And the said Commons, by Protestation, saving to themselves the Liberty of exhibiting, at any Time hereafter, any other Accusations or Impeachments against the said James Duke of Ormonde, and also of replying to the Answers which the said James Duke of Ormonde shall make to the Premises, or any of them, or to any Impeachment or Accusation that shall be by them exhibited, according to the Course and Proceedings of Parliament; do pray, that the said James Duke of Ormonde be put to answer all and every the Premises; and that such Proceedings, Examinations, Trials, and Judgements, may be upon them, and every of them, had and used, as shall be agreeable to Law and Justice. And they do further pray and demand, that the said James Duke of Ormonde may be sequestered from Parliament, and forthwith committed to safe Custody."

Duke of Ormonde to be attached:

Whereas James Duke of Ormonde being impeached by the Commons of Great Britain of High Treason, and other high Crimes and Misdemeanors, and the said Commons having exhibited against the said Duke certain Articles of Impeachment, specifying the said High Treason, and other high Crimes and Misdemeanors:

It is Ordered, by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament assembled, That the said James Duke of Ormonde be forthwith attached by the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod attending this House, and brought to the Bar of this House, to answer to the said Articles.

To Sir W'm Oldes, Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod, his Deputy or Deputies, and every of them.

Message to H. C. to acquaint them with it.

A Message was sent to the House of Commons, by Mr. Dormer and Mr. Browning:

To acquaint them with the forementioned Order for attaching the said Duke of Ormonde.

E. of Greenwich takes the Oaths.

This Day John Earl of Greenwich took the Oaths, and made and subscribed the Declaration, and also took and subscribed the Oath of Abjuration, pursuant to the Statutes; the said Earl having first delivered a Certificate of his receiving the Sacrament, to the Truth whereof Witnesses were sworn and examined.

Bank Fund, enlarging, &c. Bill.

A Message was brought from the House of Commons, by Mr. Farrer and others:

With a Bill, intituled, "An Act for enlarging the Fund of the Governor and Company of the Bank of England, relating to Exchequer Bills; and for settling an additional Revenue of One Hundred and Twenty Thousand Pounds per Annum upon His Majesty, during His Life, for the Service of the Civil Government; and for establishing a certain Fund of Fiftyfour Thousand Six Hundred Pounds per Annum, in order to raise a Sum not exceeding Nine Hundred and Ten Thousand Pounds, for the Service of the Public, by Sale of Annuities after the Rate of Six Pounds per Cent. per Ann. redeemable by Parliament; and for satisfying an Arrear for Work and Materials at Blenheim, incurred whilst that Building was carried on at the Expence of Her late Majesty Queen Anne (of Blessed Memory); and for other Purposes therein mentioned;" to which they desire the Concurrence of this House.

The said Bill was read the First Time.

Heneage's Bill:

Hodie 3^a vice lecta est Billa, intituled, "An Act to enable George Heneage Esquire to sell the Rectory of North Willingham, in the County of Lincoln, and some Lands there; and for settling a Rent-charge, of greater Value, in Lieu thereof; and for other Purposes therein mentioned."

The Question was put, "Whether this Bill shall pass?"

It was Resolved in the Affirmative.

Message to H. C. with it.

A Message was sent to the House of Commons, by Mr. Dormer and Mr. Browning:

To carry down the said Bill, and desire their Concurrence thereunto.

Fishermen, Pet. for Witnesses.

Upon reading the Petition of the Master, Wardens, Assistants, and Commonalty, of the Company of Free Fishermen of the River of Thames and Waters of Medway, on Behalf of themselves and other Fishermen of this Kingdom; praying, "That this House will grant them an Order, for summoning Simon Kemp Senior, Simon Kemp Junior, Robert Nightingale, Nich's Stiles, William Burge, John Seers, Tho. Phillipps, John Jennings, Thomas Gosling, Richard Cook, John Adams, and John Rook, as Witnesses; and to allow the Petitioners Seven or Eight Days, or such further Time for their being heard as shall be thought fit, against a Clause in a Bill depending in this House, allowing the Importation of Lobsters and Turbots in Foreign Bottoms; several of the said Witnesses dwelling at distant Places, and some of them on their Employment of Fishing:"

It is Ordered, That this House shall be put into a Committee of the whole House, on the said Bill, on Friday next; and that the Persons before named do then attend, in order to be examined before the said Committee; and that the Petitioners Counsel may be then heard before their Lordships; as may also Counsel, or others, be heard for the Bill, at the same Time.

Watts, to attend Committee for Privileges.

Ordered, That William Watts do attend the Lords Committees for Privileges, to whom the Complaint of a Breach of the Earl of Abingdon's Privilege, and the Privilege of this House, is referred, on Monday the Fifteenth Day of this Instant August, at Eleven a Clock.

Adjourn.

Dominus Cancellarius declaravit præsens Parliamentum continuandum esse usque ad et in diem Martis, nonum diem instantis Augusti, hora undecima Auroræ, Dominis sic decernentibus.