ment, under the exprefs fanétion of that act. That when parliaments have interfered to protect the fubject againft oppreffive grants, they have always done it, and ever muit do it, pendente lite; till the grant is put in fuit, no grievance çan be faid to exit; the profecu tions under it are the very griey ance which parliament interpofes to redrefs. That the ftatute of James I. is a precedent, that in principle, as well as fact, goes to every point of the prefent queftion; it not only gave future quiet to the fubject, but stopt every law-fuit then depending. And that this bill is not, as it has been reprefented, to give directions to a court of law to determine a particular çaufe; it is to prevent a legal title by fixty years poffeffion from being çanvaffed on any other ground than that of law.

Such were a few of the arguments that were made use of in the courfe of the long debates that at tended the different readings of this bill. Upon the first reading, it was carried through by a confiderable majority, the numbers being, 152 to 123; upon the fecond readding, the numbers were, 155 for, to 140 against, it; but Feb. 27th. upon the third reading it was rejected by nine voices, the numbers being 164, to 155 who fupported the bill. It was much complained of upon this occafion, that, in a matter of difpute about private property, the whole weight and influence of government was, efpecially upon the last reading, thrown into one of the fcales; that a number of letters, which are well understood to amount to little lefs than commands, were wrote upon the occafion by the noble lord,

1

whofe high office conftitutes what is confidered as the minister in this country; and it was farther faid, that, effectual as this method of proceeding might appear, it was not entirely depended upon, and that other means, not less liable to exception, were also made ufe of to infure fuccefs in this favourite point.

Though this feffion had already been uncommonly fruitful, either in the production of events, or the furnishing fubjects for difcuffion of the most interesting nature; it had however ftill in referve a matter which excited the public attention, and was attended with more extraordinary circumstances than any other which had taken place for fome years. This was the affair of the printers; which, though a matter in its firit outlet that carried nothing new or extraordinary in its appearance, was capable in its confequences of calling the privileges of the House of Commons into question, and of committing the legal right, upon which thofe privileges were founded, to a public difcuffion; which has not yet been fatisfactorily decided; whilft it alfo was productive of the new and extraordinary fpectacle, of the lordmayor of the city of London, and another of its principal magiftrates, being committed prifoners to the Tower.

We have before had occafion to obferve, that a licentioufnefs, hitherto unknown, had for fome time prevailed in many of the periodical publications. This was carried to fuch a pitch, particularly by the political effayilts, as well by thofe in favour of administration as by thofe againft it, that no rank, no rectitude of public conduct, nor

excellency of private "character, were prefervatives against the most grofs, the most fhameful, and the moft fcandalous abufe. Nor was this done with the ufual cautions, of drawing characters, and leaving it to the fagacity of the reader to trace out the refemblance; or of inferting blanks, or initial letters only, for names. The ill-judged violence, and confequent fruitlessnefs, of fome late profecutions, had emboldened the printers to the highest degree; for they faw that juries feemed fo much alarmed at what they thought abufes of power, and the appearances of chicane and cunning, which were reprefented to them as intended either to force or trepan them out of their ancient and legal rights and authority, that they now fufpe&ted fome circumvention, fubtilty, or danger ous defign, to lie hid in every profecution of this nature; and feem ed therefore determined, if they erred, to do it upon what they confidered as the right fide, that which was in favour of their own rights and the liberty of the fub ject.

Every fact, every charge, how ever falfe or groundlefs, and every name, however refpectable, were accordingly written and printed at full length. Diftin&tion of character feemed at an end; and that powerful incentive to all public and private virtue, of eftablishing a fair fame, and of gaining popular applaufe, which to noble minds is the higheft of all rewards, feeméd now to be totally cut off, and no longer to be hoped for. Both parties were fenfibly galled, and felt the reproach and cenfure to the quick; and each charged the other with encouraging it.

While an evil, fo deftructive to all virtue, was thus either overlooked or encouraged, a matter of much lefs importance, and of a very doubtful nature as to the good or ill of its confequences, was eagerly and violently entered into, for the fupport and exertion of an authority, which, however neceffary in particular cafes, it might perhaps be equally the intereft of the reprefentative and reprefented to continue in its prefent undefined ftate; without expofing it wantonly, either to a frict inquiry into it's foundation, or a close difcuffion of its utility.

In the latitude now taken, the publishers of news-papers had for fome time inferted certain performances, as fpeeches of the members of parliament, which in the Houfe had been denied, fome of them in the whole, all of them in many effential parts, to be genuine; but if they had been the trueft repre fentation of the fentiments and expreffions of the fpeakers, fuch publication was yet contrary to a ftanding order of the Houfe of Commons. A complaint on these grounds was laid against two of them by one of the members, and a motion carried upon a divifion for proceeding against them. The printers were accordingly ordered to attend, which they did not comply with; other notices were ferved, and different queftions arofe upon the mode of ferving them; the meffenger had not feen the printers, and left the order for their attendance with their fervants: at length a final order was iffued, and the leaving it at their houfes was to be deemed a fufficient notice.

The whole of this meafure had been

been ftrongly opposed, as well upon its introduction, as upon the questions that arofe in the different flates of its progrefs: though the abuse of the prefs was acknowleged, it was faid, that this was an improper time, in the prefent temper and difpofition of the people, to commit the queftion of privilege to an unneceffary difcuffion, and to adminifter new opportunities for a popular oppofition to the branches of legislature, as well as to executive government; that profecutions of this nature, inftead of putting an end to the practice would increase it, as they would promote the fale of the libels, which was known to be the cafe in fome recent inftances; that the minifterial writers were publicly encouraged to the most flagrant abufes of the preís; and that while this was done in one instance, whereby fome of the most respectable characters in the kingdom were mangled, without regard to fhame or to truth, it was in vain to curb it in other cafes, or to say to licentioufnefs, So far fhalt thou go, but no fur ther: and that though mifrepresentations of any member were undoubtedly infamous, they ought to be legally punished by the perfon injured, and not by the authority of the Houfe, which, however well fupported by precedent, not being conducted by the ordinary forms of legal proceeding, had generally an odious and oppreffive appear

ance.

On the other hand, the enormity of the abufe was infifted on; that it was prejudicial to the intereft of gentlemen in their boroughs; that it had never been practiced before during the fitting of parliament, and when done in the in

tervals, had been always conducted with decency; and that it was now become abfolutely neceffary, either to punish the offenders feverely, or to reverse the standing order, which had not only been unobeyed, but violently and outrageously infulted.

The final order to the printers, having been attended with as little fuccefs as the former notices had been, a motion was made that they fhould be taken into the custody of the Serjeant at Arms, for contempt of the orders of the Houfe.-This was oppofed, as perfevering in a measure originally bad, and which would grow continually worfe by the conduct that was purfued; and that it was highly impolitic to provoke the people by a needlefs difplay of authority, at a time when they were already too much heated and alarmed, and watched every exercife of power with the utmost jealoufy and fufpicion, especially in the Houfe of Commons, which fince the business of the Middlesex election, the people were but too apt to confider rather as an inftrument of the court than the reprefentative of the people.-To this it was anfwered, that notwithftanding the unjust and groundless fufpicions of the vulgar,. the dignity of the House must be fupported; and that as the order had been made, it must now vindicate its own conduct, by enforceing obedience to it. The question

being put, was carried, as every other had been upon this subject, by a prodigious majority.

The Serjeant at Arms not having been able to meet with the delinquents, and having been befides laughed at by their fervants, made his report accordingly to the Houfeg

upen

upon which it was refolved to addrefs for a royal proclamation against them, together with a reward for their apprehenfion; which being done, the proclamation was accordingly iffued in March 9th. the Gazette, and a reward of fifty pounds a-piece offered for taking the delinquents.

As if the original affair had not been capable of affording fufficient trouble, the gentleman who introduced it, had now the fortune to find out fix other printers, who were equally culpable with the two first, and accordingly moved to proceed against them. This motion was oppofed with great earnestnefs: It was recommended to confideration, that they had already attempted to punish two, who had eluded their vigilance, and would probably gain à victory over the Houfe; that the honour and dignity of parliament fhould never be committed on fo flight a ground as that of a general order; that as the members for whom the printed fpeeches had been made, had not made any particular complaint of the injuries done them, the House in general had no bufinefs to take it up; and that the different publishers of news-papers throughout England, who were a numerous body, were all under the fame predicament with thofe complained of, and if there was a general perfecution raised against them, the whole time of the House would be taken up, and its attention diverted from all matters of moment, to a ridiculous conteft with a fet of printers.

Some gentlemen however did not rest their oppofition on the points of decorum and prudence

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but went fo far as to deny the atthority of the Houfe in this res fpect, and faid that it was ufurpation affumed in bad times, in the year 1641; that while their privileges and authority were used in defence of the rights of the people, against the violence of the prerogative, all men willingly joined in fupporting them, and even their ufurpations were confidered as freth fecurities to their independence; but now that they faw their own weapons converted to inftruments of tyranny and op preffion against themfelves, they would oppofe them with all their might, and however they may fail in the firft efforts, would finally prevail, and affuredly bring things back to their first principles. They alfo faid, that the practice of letting the constituents know the parliamentary proceedings of their reprefentatives, was founded upon the trueft principles of the conftitution; and that even the publifhing of fuppofed fpeeches, was not a novel practice, and, if precedent was a juftification, could be traced to no lefs an authority than Lord Clarendon.

Long prefcription, and establifhed ufage, the principal foundations of the whole common law, were thought fufficiently conclufive, as to the powers affumed by the Houfe; and the neceflity of fupporting its dignity and authori ty, to be equally fo, in regard to the propriety of their exercife of them in the prefent inftance. The question with respect to the first printer upon the lift, was accordingly carried by a great majority upon which thofe gentlemen who were averfe to the whole of thefe proceedings, finding themselves

unable

unable to restrain the prefent ferment, and being uncertain to what pitch it might be carried, unwilling, as they faid, on one hand to decide against the powers of the Houfe, or on the other to abufe them by an unfeasonable and injudicious exertion, they with great dexterity availed themselves of their knowledge in the parliamentary forms and rules, to procure that delay, which, they imagined, might give it time to fubfide. They accordingly, by motions for adjournment, and amendments to the different queftions, protracted the debates to paft four o'clock in the morning, during which the House had divided between twenty and thirty times, a circumftance perhaps hitherto unknown. The numbers run upon thefe divifions, from 143 to 70, on the fide of the majority, and from: 55 to 10, on that of the minority: the refult however was, that the fix printers were finally ordered to attend the Houfe.

Of these printers, fome were reprimanded, one was in the cuftody of the Lords for a fimilar mifdemeanor, and one did not attend, who was ordered to be taken into the cuftody of the Serjeant at Arms for contempt.

A few days after, Wheble, one of the two printers mentioned in the proclamation, was apprehended and carried before Alderman Wilkes at Guildhall, and was by him difcharged, and bound over in a recognizance to profecute the captor for an affault and falfe imprifonment, who was alfo obliged to give bail for his appearance at the next feffions to answer for the offence. At the fame time, the Alderman wrote a letter to the

Earl of Halifax, who was then Secretary of State, to acquaint him with the tranfaction and the mơtives of his conduct, which were, the illegality of apprehending Wheble in confequence of the proclamation, without any crime having been proved or charged against him, which, he said, was a direct violation of his rights as an Englifhman, as well as of the chartered privileges of a citizen of London.

Thompson, the other of thefe printers, was apprehended in the fame manner, and discharged by Alderman Oliver. The circumftances in both cafes were exactly the fame; the perfons who apprehended them were of their own bufinefs, and probably acted under their direction; they both avowed the rewards to be the inotives of their conduct, and obtained certificates from the magiftrates to entitle them to receive the money at the Treafury; which, however, it was thought proper not to pay.

The printer of the London Evening Post, who had not obeyed the laft order, was apprehended in his own house, by

a Meffenger of the March 15th. Houfe of Commons; whereupon he fent immediately for a constable, and the Lord Mayor being ill of the gout, they were carried before him to the Manfion. houfe, where the Aldermen Wilkes and Oliver then were. The Deputy Serjeant at Arms also attended, and demanded in the name of the Speaker, that both the Meffenger and the printer should be delivered up to him; this was refufed by the Lord Mayor, who afked for what crime, and upon what authority the Messenger had arrefted the printer? who answered,

that