House of Lords Journal Volume 20: 10 January 1716

DIE Martis, 10 Januarii.

Domini tam Spirituales quam Temporales præsentes fuerunt:

Georgius Princeps Walliæ.

PRAYERS.

Address on His Majesty's Speech.

The Duke of Newcastle reported from the Committee appointed to prepare an Address, to be presented to His Majesty, pursuant to the Order of this House Yesterday, "That they had prepared an Address accordingly; as follows:

"Most Gracious Sovereign,

"We, Your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal Subjects, the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament assembled, do return our most unfeigned Thanks to Your Majesty, for Your most Gracious Speech from the Throne; and do, with great Joy, lay hold of this Opportunity to congratulate Your Majesty on the Successes with which it has pleased Almighty God to bless Your Majesty's Arms and Counsels, against the Rebels.

"We are so truly sensible of the Happiness which the Nation enjoys under Your Majesty's Government, that we should be wanting to our own Interest, as well as to the Duty we owe to Your Majesty, did we not exert ourselves with the utmost Spirit and Vigour in the present Time of Danger, to the Confusion of all such as are either Actors or Abettors in the present wicked and unnatural Rebellion, and to the Reproach of those who affect to appear lukewarm or indifferent in the Cause of their King and Country.

"Our Satisfaction, in observing the just and wise Use of that Power with which the Parliament entrusted Your Majesty in this great Conjuncture, can be equalled by nothing but our Joy for those remarkable Successes which have been the natural Consequences of it.

"We cannot sufficiently praise the Fidelity and Bravery which Your Army have shewn on this Occasion; and assure ourselves, that all Your faithful Subjects, who are influenced by the same Principles of Honour and Duty, will be as active, in their several Stations, to promote the Service of Your Majesty, and the Safety of the Public.

"The landing of the Pretender in Scotland will only serve to animate this our Zeal for Your Majesty; and we doubt not but it will prove his last Effort for disturbing the Peace of Your Majesty's Reign.

"We are highly sensible of the Security and Honour which redounds to the Nation, by the Treaty for settling the Barrier in The Netherlands under Your Majesty's Guarranty; and of the Advantages which will accrue to Your Subjects, by the Treaty of Commerce with Spain; and by the Negotiations which are now on Foot, for the renewing of all Alliances with the ancient and faithful Friends of this Kingdom, The States General.

"It is with equal Pleasure and Astonishment, that we see Your Majesty has been able, in a Time of intestine Troubles, to recover, in a great Measure, the Reputation and Commerce of the British Nation; and that You have gained more advantageous Terms of Trade for Your Subjects, than what were procured by any of Your Royal Predecessors, who had so much fairer Opportunities of demanding them.

"We want Words to express our Gratitude to Your Majesty, for Your gracious and unparalleled Resolution to give up all the Estates that shall become forfeited by the Rebellion to the Use of the Public; and promise ourselves, that all Your faithful Subjects will, with great Chearfulness, do their Part, towards enabling You to restore and secure the Peace of the Kingdom, to which Your Majesty contributes in so generous a Manner out of the Profits inherent in Your Crown and Royal Dignity.

"That endearing Tenderness and Clemency, which Your Majesty expresses towards all Your Subjects, very much aggravates the Guilt of those who have taken up Arms against so good and gracious a Sovereign; and we cannot think without the utmost Horror of those who rebel against a Prince of so much Goodness, or spread Falsehoods and Calumnies against Your Sacred Person, at the same Time that You are studying to advance their Welfare and Happiness.

"We cannot desire a greater Instance of this Your Majesty's Affection to Your People, than the Sense which Your Majesty expresses of those whose evil Counsels laid the Foundation of all our Mischiefs, and whose self-interested Views have deluded such Numbers of unwary Men into their own Destruction.

"We heartily pray Almighty God, that He may grant Your Majesty a long and happy Reign over us; and bless Your Endeavours with Success, for the procuring of a firm and lasting Establishment of our excellent Constitution in Church and State.

"And, as we shall always oppose the Attempts of such Men as would subject the Nation to the Revenge and Tyranny of a Popish Pretender; so we shall always value, beyond any Honours or Titles we can enjoy, the Character of being faithful Subjects to Your Majesty, zealous Assertors of the Liberties of our Country, the present Establishment, and the Protestant Religion."

Which Address, being read by the Clerk entire, was afterwards read, and agreed to, Paragraph by Paragraph.

Ordered, That this be the Address to be presented to His Majesty.

Ordered, That the said Address be presented to His Majesty by the whole House.

Ordered, That the Lords with White Staves do wait on His Majesty, humbly to know His Majesty's Pleasure, when He will be attended, by this House, with the said Address.

L. Brook takes his Seat.

This Day William Lord Brooke sat first in Parliament, after the Death of his Father Foulke Lord Brooke; and took the Oaths, and made and subscribed the Declaration, and also took and subscribed the Oath of Abjuration, pursuant to the Statutes.

Impeached Lords brought to the Bar:

The Order being read, for bringing James Earl of Derwentwater, William Lord Widdrington, William Earl of Nithisdale, George Earl of Winton, Robert Earl of Carnwath, William Viscount Kenmure, and William Lord Nairn, to the Bar of this House, to hear the Articles of Impeachment of High Treason, exhibited Yesterday by the House of Commons, read unto them:

They were accordingly brought to the Bar, by the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod; where they all kneeled, until the Lord Chancellor directed them to rise.

Then the said Articles of Impeachment were read unto them.

After which, the Lord Chancellor asked them severally, "What they had to say thereunto? and, if they had any Thing to request of the House, this was their proper Time."

Thereupon the Earl of Derwentwater acquainted the House, "He was unprepared, and very ignorant of the Forms of their Lordships Judicature; and desired he might have a Copy of the said Articles, and such Time to answer as the House should think fit; and that Counsel might be assigned, to assist him."

And the other Lords severally making the same Requests;

They were directed to withdraw.

And being accordingly withdrawn;

The House took their Requests into Consideration.

And the Entry in the Journal, of the 9th of April 1679, in the Case of the Five Popish Lords impeached, being read;

The House Ordered, That the several Lords now impeached should be allowed Copies of the said Articles of Impeachment, and Time till Saturday next to put in their Answers thereunto; and that Counsel should be assigned them, in order to assist them in preparing their Answers, and likewise in their Defence in Matters of Law.

Then the said Lords were called in again; and the Lord Chancellor acquainted them with the said Order, "That the House expected they should name such Counsel as they desired to have."

To which they answered, "That nobody was allowed to come to them; they were Strangers, and unprepared; and desired to be allowed Time to name their Counsel."

Then the said Lords being again withdrawn:

Re-committed, and no Persons to have Access to them, without Leave of the House:

The House Ordered, That they should stand committed to The Tower of London, to be there safely kept, in order to their Trials, till they shall be thence delivered by due Course of Law; and that no Persons shall have Access to them, or any of them, without the special Leave of the House.

The said Lords were then again called in; and the Lord Chancellor acquainted them, "That the House was pleased, besides Counsel, to allow them a Solicitor; and to give them Leave to name whom they desired to come to them, this Evening, or To-morrow Morning, in order to advise them in the naming of such Counsel and Solicitor."

Counsel, &c. to be assigned them; and Persons Leave to visit them.

Whereupon the Earl of Derwentwater named the Duke of Richmond, Duke of St. Albans, Lord Viscount Longueville, Lord Lumley, and Mr. Eyre a Counsel of Gray's Inn: The Lord Widdrington named the Duke of Richmond, Lord Lumley, Nathaniel Piggott a Counsellor at Law, Mr. Neville Ridley a Solicitor, and the said Mr. Eyre: The Earl of Nithisdale named the Duke of Roxburgh, Earl of Orkney, and the said Mr. Eyre: The Earl of Winton named Mr. Heriot a Clergyman, Mr. Menzies, Major Sinclair, and Mr. George Lesley a Lawyer: The Earl of Carnwath named the Duke of Montrose, Mr. Bailie of Gervase Wood, and Doctor Wellwood: The Viscount Kenmure named the same Persons as the Earl of Carnwath: And the Lord Nairn named the Duke of Montrose, Earl of Orford, and Doctor James Gray a Divine.

And then they again withdrew.

And the Names of the several Persons mentioned by the Earl of Derwentwater being read;

Ordered, That they have Leave to repair to the said Earl, at any convenient Hour, at any Time before the Sitting of the House To-morrow, in order to advise him in the naming of Counsel, and a Solicitor, to assist him in his Defence.

Then the Names of the several other Persons being also read;

The like Orders of Leave were granted, under the same Restriction, and for the same Purposes, as in the Case of the Earl of Derwentwater.

Ordered, That the several Lords impeached, or any of them, have Liberty to cause Search to be made, and Copies of Records and Journals to be taken out, in order to their Defence; and that the said Lords shall have Summons issued for such Witnesses as they shall respectively send in the Names of, to be by them made Use of at their Trials; which Witnesses shall have the Protection of this House, for their safe coming and going, during the Time of the said Trials.

Absent Lords to be wrote to, to attend.

Ordered, That the Lord Chancellor do write Letters to all the Lords that have not been present in this House either Yesterday or this Day, in the usual Manner; requiring their Attendance on the Service of this House (all Excuses set apart) as soon as possible, on Occasion of the Proceedings now depending in this House against several Lords who stand impeached of High Treason.

L. Falkland versus Bertie; for a Judgement to be made effectual.

A Petition of the Right Honourable Lucius Henry Lord Viscount Faulkland, was presented to the House, and read; praying, "That the Order and Judgement of this House, of the 21st of March 1697, in a Cause wherein James Bertie Esquire and Elizabeth his Wife were Appellants, and Lucius Henry Cary Lord Viscount Faulkland and others Respondents, may be revived, and carried into Execution; that the Trustees may be obliged forthwith to execute Conveyances of the Estate, pursuant to their Lordships said Judgement; and that Possession of the Estate and Goods in the Mansion-house at Stanwell may be forthwith delivered to the Petitioner."

Ordered, That all the Lords this Day present be appointed a Committee, to consider the Allegations of the said Petition; and report to the House what is fit to be done thereon.

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.

Adjourn.

Dominus Cancellarius declaravit præsens Parliamentum continuandum esse usque ad et in diem Mercurii, undecimum diem instantis Januarii, hora undecima Auroræ, Dominis sic decernentibus.

Die Martis, 8 Maii, 1716,
hitherto examined by us,

Stamford.
Clarendon.
Warrington.
Foley.