Message from his Majesty to the House of Commons, 15th February.

H

G. R.

IS majesty feels great concern in acquainting the house, that the provision made by parliament for defraying the expenses of his household and civil government, has been found inadequate to their support.

A considerable debt has in consequence been unavoidably incurred, an account of which he has ordered to be laid before this house.

His majesty relies with confidence on the zeal and anection of his faithful commons, that they will take the same into their early consideration, and adopt such measures as the circumstances may appear to them to require.

Message from his Majesty to the House of Commons, 27th April.

G. R.

insufficient to defray, desires the assistance of parliament for this purpose; and his majesty relies on the affection of his faithful commons, that they will make such provision as the circumstances of the case may appear to require.

His Majesty's Speech to both Houses of Parliament, at the Close of the Second Session of the Imperial Par liament, June 28, 1802.

THE

My lords and gentlemen, HE public business being concluded, I think it proper to close this session of parliament.

During a long and laborious attendance, you have invariably manifested the just sense you entertain of the great trust committed to your charge. The objects of your deliberations have been unusually numerous and important, and I derive the utmost satisfaction from the conviction, that the wisdom of your proceedings will be fully proved by

making competent provision for the honourable support and maintenance of his dearly beloved sons the duke of Sussex and the duke of Cambridge, which the monies applicable to the purpose of his majesty's civil government would be

interests of my people, throughout every part of my dominions.

Gentlemen of the house of
commons,

The ample provision you have made for the various branches of the public service, demands my warmest

acknow

acknowledgments; and my particular thanks are due for the liberality which you have shown in exonerating my civil government and household from the debts with which they were unavoidably burdened.

Whilst I regret the amount of the supplies which circumstances have rendered necessary, it is a relief to me to contemplate the state of our manufactures, commerce, and revenue, which afford the most decisive and gratifying proofs of the abundance of our internal resources, and of the growing prosperity of the country.

My lords and gentlemen,

As I think it expedient that the election of a new parliament should take place without delay, it is my intention forthwith to give directions for dissolving the present, and for calling a new parliament.

In communicating to you this inrention, I cannot suppress those sentiments of entire approbation, with which I reflect upon every part of your conduct, since I first met you in this place. The unexampled difficulties of our situation required the utmost efforts of that wisdom and fortitude, which you so eminently displayed in contending with them, and by which they have been so happily surmounted. From your judicious and salutary measures during the last year, my people derived all the relief which could be afforded under one of the severest dispensations of Providence. And it was by the spirit and determination which uniformly animated your councils, aided by the unprecedented exertions of my fleets and armies, and the zealous and cordial cooperation of my people, that I was enabled to prosecute with success, and terminate with honour, the long and ar

Lords Protest against the passing of the Malt Bill. (Vide Debates.)

Dissentient,

ECAUSE the constitutional ar

suspending the grant of any supply,' until the accustomed communication had been made from the crown to parliament, rests on two propo sitions drawn from the law and usage of parliament, and from the very essence of the British constitution. First, that no grant of supply can in any case be made to the crown, except in consequence of a previous demand for aid; and, secondly, that such demand must not only describe the general services for which the aid is asked, but must also specify whether those services are calculated on an expectation of peace, or of war, or of preparation for war. These two propositions have been invariably adopted in the practice of our constitution. No instance has yet been alleged in which they have ever been violated, except in the present casè, and their maintenance is essential to

the

the discharge of all our most important duties. If parliament can alone decide upon the amount of the supply to be granted, it is obvious that parliament must be informed of the extent and nature of the services which that supply is to defray; a question which must always essentially depend on the probability or certainty of peace or war. For the solution of this question we are now referred to public notoriety alone. We answer, that the constitution of our country entitles us to more authentic information; that such is the course which the law and usage of parliament have established, and that, unless the uniform practice of our ancestors be adhered to in this respect, we can neither satisfactorily regulate our own conduct, nor judge as we ought of the measures of government. But we deny that any notoriety as to the point in question does in fact exist. The dangers of the country are indeed sufficiently notorious, but parliament is yet to learn by what system of conduct the king's government proposes to avert or to encounter those dangers. The determinations of the ministers, as far as we know them, have been uncertain and fluctuating, their councils undecided, their measures inconsistent, and their language contradictory. We are called upon to provide for an establishment large beyond all former example; but we have not yet been distinctly told, not even in debate, much less in the constitutional way of communication from the throne, what is the purpose for which it is intended to provide; whether this be a peace establishment calculated to last until the power of France be reduced or her ambition satiated; or whether it be a measure of temporary prepa

ration which is to apply to some actual pressure, or to support some depending negotiation; or, lastly, whether it be intended to meet the imminent danger of immediate war, and to resist the continued growth of that power which hourly threatens our own destruction. In this situation, yielding to no men in duty, loyalty, and attachment to the crown, and feeling more anxious for the immediate adoption of all practicable means of defence, in proportion as our sense of the impending danger is greater, we are still desirons that some short interval and pause should take place before the final grant of any supply; though we desire that such interval should be no more than will be sufficient to enable his majesty to show to us the same gracipus confidence which his majesty and his royal ancestors have reposed in all preceding parliaments, and to place us in a situation in which we may, without violating the constitution of our country, cheerfully concur in granting to his majesty all such aids as the present exigency of aflairs does, in our opinion, peculiarly demand.

stowing upon the said lord Hatchinson a signal mark of his royal favour and approbation, and for this purpose to give and grant unto the said lutenant-general lord Hutchinson, and the two next succeeding heirs male of his body, to whom the title of baron Hutchinson, of Alexandria, and of Knocklofty, in the county of Tipperary, shall descend, a net annuity of 2000; recommends it to his faithful commons to consider of a proper method of enabling his majesty to grant the same, and of extending, securing, and settling, such annuity upon the said licut. gen. lord Hutchinson, and the two next succeeding heirs on whom the title of baron Hutchinson, of Alexandria, and of Knocklofty, in the county of Tipperary, shail descend, in such manner as shall he thought more effectual for the benefit of the said lord Hutchinson and his family.

His Majesty's Speech to both Houses, on opening the third Session of the Imperial Parliament, Nov. 23,

1802.

My lords and gentlemen, 【T is highly gratifying to me to resort to your advice and assistance after the opportunity which has been recently afforded of collecting the sense of my people.

The internal prosperity of the country has realized our most sanguine hopes. We have experienced the bounty of divine Providence in the produce of an abundant harvest; the state of the manufactures, commerce, and revenue of my united kingdom is flourishing beyond example; and the loyalty and attach

ment which are manifested to my person and government afford the strongest indications of the just sense that is entertained of the numerous blessings enjoyed under the protection of our happy constitution.

In my intercourse with foreign powers I have been actuated by a sincere disposition for the mainteDance of peace; it is nevertheless impossible for me to lose sight of that established and wise system of po licy by which the interests of other states are connected with our own; and I cannot therefore be indifferent to any material change in their relative condition and strength. My conduct will be invariably regulated by a due consideration of the actual situation of Europe, and by a watchful so icitude for the permanent welfare of my people. You will, I am persuaded, agree with me in thinking that it is incumbent upon us to adopt those means of security which are best calculated to afford the prospect of preserving to my subjects the blessings of peace.

Gentlemen of the house of

commons,

I bave ordered the estimates for the ensuing year to be laid before you; and rely on your zeal and li

rality in providing for the various branches of the public service, which, it is a great satisfaction to me to think, may be fully accomplished without any considerable addition to the burdens of my people.

My lords and gentlemen, I contemplate, with the utmost satisfaction, the great and increasing benefits produced by that important measure which has united the interests and consolidated the resources of Great Britain and Ireland. The Improvement and extension of these advantages

advantages will be objects of your unremitting care and attention. The trade and commerce of my subjects, so essential to the support of public credit, and of our maritime strength, will, I am persuaded, receive from you every possible encouragement; and you will readily lend your assistance in affording to mercantile transactions, in every part of my united kingdom, all the facility and accommodation that may be consistent with the security of the public revenue.

To uphold the honour of the country, to encourage its industry, to improve its resources, and

maintain the true principles of the constitution in church and state, are the great and leading duties which you are called upon to discharge. In the performance of them, you may be assured of my uniform and cordial support; it being my most carnest wish to cultivate a perfect harmony and confidence between me and my parliament, and to promote to the utmost the welfare of my faithful subjects, whose interests and happiness I shall ever consider as inseparable from my own.

Definitive Treaty of Peace between the French Republic, his Majesty the King of Spain and the Indies, and the Batavian Republic (on the one Part); and his Majesty, the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (on the other Part).

HE first consul of the French

Trepublic, in the name of the French people, and his majesty the king of the united kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, being equally animated with a desire to put an

end to the calamities of war, have laid the foundation of peace, by the preliminary articles, which were signed in London the 9th Vendémiaire, (or the 1st of October 1801).

And as by the 15th article of the preliminaries it has been agreed on, "that plenipotentaries should be named on the part of each government, who should repair to Amiens, and there proceed to arrange a defi nitive treaty, in concert with the allies of the contracting powers,"

The first consul of the French republic, in the name of the French people, has named as plenipoten tiary the citizen Joseph Buonaparté, counsellor of state :

His majesty the king of th united kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, has named the marquis Cornwallis, knight of the most noble order of the garter, one of his majesty's privy council, general in his majesty's army, &c. &c.;

His majesty the king of Spain and the Indies, and the government of the Batavian republic, have ap pointed the following plenipotentiaries, to wit, his catholic majesty has named Don Joseph Nicolas d'Azara, his counsellor of state, grand cross of the order of Charles III. ambassador extraordinary of his majesty to the French republic, &c. &c.:

And the government of the Batavian republic, has named Roger Jean Schimmelpenninck its ambassador extraordinary to the French republic, &c.:

Which said plenipotentiaries hav

ing duly communicated

other their respective powers, which are transcribed at the conclusion of the present treaty, have agreed upo the following articles:

Article