to God we could say to perpetuate-the inestimable blessings. It has been said by some, that as the danger was temporary, the law ought to have been passed only for a time, and that it should have been delayed till the approach of a general election should ascertain, whether a change in the temper of the people had not rendered it unnecessary. But it was necessary, at the instant, to confound the hopes of conspirators, who were then supported and animated by the prospect of a general election: and if any period had been fixed for its duration, it might have weakened its effects, as a declaration of the determined resolution of Parliament to stand or fall with the Revolution. It is now certain, that the conspiracy of the Tories against the House of Hanover continued till the last years of the reign of George II. The Whigs, who had preserved the fruits of the Revolution, and upheld the tottering throne of the Hanoverian Family during half a century, were, in this state of things, unwilling to repeal a law, for, which the reasons had not entirely ceased. The hostility of the Tories to the Protestant succession was not extinguished, till the appearance of their leaders at the court of King George III. proclaimed to the world their hope, that Jacobite principles might re-ascend the throne of England with a monarch of the House of Brunswick. The effects of the Septennial Act on the constitution were materially altered in the late reign, by an innovation in the exercise of the prerogative of dissolution. This important prerogative is the buckler of the monarchy: it is intended for great emergencies, when its exercise may be the only means of averting immediate danger from the throne: it is strictly a defensive right. As no necessity arose under the two first Georges for its defensive exercise, it lay, during that period, in a state of almost total inactivity. Only one Parliament, under these two Princes, was dissolved till its seventh year. The same inoffensive maxims were pursued during the early part of the reign of George III. In the year 1784, the power of dissolution, hitherto reserved for the defence of the monarchy, was, for the first time, employed to support the power of an Administration. majority of the House of Commons had, in 1782, driven one Administration from office, and compelled another to retire. Its right to interpose, with decisive weight, in the choice of ministers, as well as the adoption of measures, seemed by The these vigorous exertions to be finally established. | George II. had, indeed, often been compelled to receive ministers whom he hated: but his successor, more tenacious of his prerogative, and more inflexible in his resentment, did not so easily brook the subjection to which he thought himself about to be reduced. When the latter, in 1784, again saw his Ministers threatened with expulsion by a majority of the House of Commons, he found a Prime Minister who, trusting to his popularity, ventured to make common cause with him, and to brave that Parliamentary disapprobation to which the prudence or principle of both his predecessors had induced them to yield. Not content with this great victory, he proceeded, by a dissolution of Parliament, to inflict such an exemplary punishment on the majority, as might deter all future ones from following their dangerous example. The ministers of 1806 gave some countenance to Mr. Pitt's precedent, by a very reprehensible dissolution; and, in 1807, its full consequences were unfolded. The House of Commons was then openly threatened with a dissolution, if a majority should vote against Ministers; and, in pursuance of this threat, the Parliament was actually dissolved. From that moment, the new prerogative of penal dissolution was added to all the other means of ministerial influence. Of all the silent revolutions which have materially changed the English government, without any alteration in the letter of the law, there is, perhaps, none more fatal to the constitution than the power thus introduced by Mr. Pitt, and strengthened by his followers. And it is the more dangerous, because it is hardly capable of being counteracted by direct laws. The prerogative of dissolution, being a means of defence on sudden emergencies, is scarcely to be limited by law. There is, however, an indirect, but effectual mode of meeting its abuse: - by shortening the duration of Parliaments, the punishment of dissolution will be divested of its terrors. While its defensive power will be unimpaired, its efficacy, as a means of influence, will be nearly destroyed. The attempt to reduce Parliament to a greater degree of dependence will thus be defeated; due reparation be made to the constitution; and future ministers, taught by a useful example of just retaliation, that the Crown is not likely to be finally the gainer, in struggles to convert a necessary prerogative into a means of unconstitutional influence. Ibid. p. 494. INDEX. A. ABBOT, Mr., state prosecutor, 663. Abergavenny, Lady, intercedes for Mrs. Lisle, 285. Adams, Mr. S., election of, 655. n. Allemagne, De l', Madame de Staël's, 526, 527. 530. Allies, policy of the, against France, 628. Alsop, Rev. Mr., tool of James, 364. America, vote by ballot in, 653-655; elective system of, America, Spanish, advantage of recognising, 749, 750. 763. Amiens, peace of, 656. n. 699. Anglesea, Lord, against Papists, 298. "Animal Mechanics," Mr. Charles Bell's notice of, 86, Anne, Princess, a firm Protestant, 316; and the Pope's Antisthenes, 8. Antoninus, Marcus Aurelius, 14. Argyle, Marquis, prosecution of, 391. Aristocracies, French, 558, 559. 567; and liberty, 598. n.; Aristotle, genius and character of his writings contrasted 165, and n.; considered poetry as of a more excellent Armies, pay of, 556, 557. See Soldiers. Army, defect of French, 555, 556; of James II., 314. n.; Artois, Compte d', project of, 546; against the Assembly, 554. Arundel, Lord, privy councillor, 311. Assemblies, French, number of, 594; arguments against, Assembly of Notables, 549. 551; against despotism, 549. Atheism and religious zeal, 576. Atticus, the true representative of the school of Epicurus, 14. Auckland, Lord, character of, 550. n. Augsburg, League of, 272. Augustin, founder of the scholastic theology, 17, 18; ge- Austria, intolerance of, 276; favours Poland, 440; in- Autun, Bishop, address of, 568. n. ; on French revolution, Averroes and Avicenna, two famous Mahometans in the B. Bacon, Lord, 3; considerations on the philosophical Bailey, Old, perjury at, 784. Bailly, M., Spartan energy of, 555. Balance of power, 447. 459. 625. 699. 708, 709. Ballot and Universal Suffrage, 648. 650; as ensuring Bank notes, effects of superabundance of, 718. Baptists, account of, 362. Bar, confederation of, 439. 441. Barclay, Quaker, boast of, 394. Barillon, envoy of France, 308. Baring & Co., high commercial character of, 748. Barrere, employment of, 635. Bastile, new definition of the, 583; attack on the, ib. Baxter, Richard, account of, 358, 359; and the bishops, Beaufort, Duc de, general of Louis, 341. Beauty, examination into the pleasure derived from, 7. Bellarmine, Cardinal, Jesuit, 313. 398. Bellasis, Lord, privy councillor, 311; in office, 325. Bennet, Hon. H. G., on criminal law, 713. Bentinck, Lord Wiiliam, occupies Genoa, 689. n.; his Bernstorff, administration of, 462. Berwick, Duke, lieutenant of Ireland, 339. Biography and history, difference between, 184. Bishops. See Cartwright Compton, Crew, Dunkeld, Blathwaite, clerk of Privy Council, 415. Boethius, 16. Boileau, mind of, 547. Boleyn, Anne, commencement of proceedings towards her Bombay, European force at, 687. Boroughs, franchise in, 793; on reform of, 793, 794; power Bouillé, memoirs of Marquis de, 753. Bradwardine, Thomas, archbishop of Canterbury, 18. Braminical philosophers, the, 8. Brand, Hon. T., on game laws, 717. Brandenburg, Frederick William of, 265. Brandon, Lord, case of, 293. Brandt, minister of Charles VII., 461; an infidel, 462; Brazil, a separate kingdom, 474; independence of, 475. Breda, the peace of, 260; declaration of Charles II. from, Bretagne, contest in, 551. Brézé, Marquis de, master of ceremonies, 555. Bridgman, Sir Orlando, Great Seal, 352. n. Bristol, Jeffreys at, 289. Brown, Dr. Thomas, notices of his early life, 109; his Brutuses and brutes of French Republic, 668. Buenos Ayres, independence of, 758; account of, 761. Bunyan, John, account and sufferings of, 359, 360. 791. Burnet, Bishop, extracts from his "History of the Re- Canada, petition of Lower, 768, 769; policy of England Canning, Hon. George, family and character of, 491; 512. Capital punishments. See Punishment. Caroline Matilda. See Denmark, Queen. ↑ Cartwright, dean of Ripon, conduct of, 311; made bishop Casal, base surrender of, by the Duke of Mantua, 267. Castlemaine, Earl, ambassador, 312; his incapacity, 313, Catharine, Czarina, and Poland, 437. 455; policy of, 440– Cato, Marcus Portius, 14. Cato, remarks of Cicero on the Stoicism of, 132. Celibacy, clerical, its origin traced, 20; its disadvantages, ib. Charitas, its signification as employed by the ancient di- Charles I. and Papists, 585.; policy of, 561. Charles VII. of Denmark, physician of, 461; scene in his Charles XII. defeats Russians, 436. Chauvelin, M., French ambassador, 624. Chili, state of, 761. China, insulation of, 622. Chivalry, age of, 586; use of, 587; and literature, ib. Church of England attacked by James, 295, 296; with- Churchill, Lord and Lady, Protestants, 317, 318. Clarendon, Earl, part taken by him in the case of Bishop Clarendon, Earl, son of. See Rochester. Intercedes for Clarges, Sir T., offended, 295. Clarke, Dr. Samuel, remarks on his work, "On the Being Cleanthes, anecdote of, 12. Clergy unfit for free government, 559; Mirabeau on the, Clermont-Tonnerre, M. de, secedes to Commons, 555. Clifford, Sir T., 352. Clinton, Mr. Fynes, speech by, 535. n. Coke, Sir Edward, on Petition of Rights, 306; oracle Coleridge, Mr., reply to observations in his "Biographia Coligny, Louise de, 257. Collard, M. Royer, notices of his works, 102, and n.; Collins's tract on Liberty, 575. n. Colonial possessions, value of, 603. Columbia, independence of, 758; account of republic of, Columbus, as a poetical subject, 518, 519. Commerce and chivalry, 586; effects of war on, 661; value Commercial interest. See Landed. Commons, the, their growing strength in the time of Sir Crown, ib.; rise and progress of, 712; additional mem- Community of goods, Sir Thomas More's objections to, 198. Compass, invention of, 16. Compton, bishop of London, account of, 298; removed Condillac, notice of his philosophical works and doc- Conduct, rules of. See Rules of Conduct. Conference to convert Earl Rochester, 324, 325. Conquest, right of, 704. Conscience and Will, examination of, 57. Conscience considered as the seat of perception of right Constant, M. Benjamin, character and pamphlets of, 636. Constitution, French and English, 598. See Govern- ment. Consul, power of a commercial, 758. Conway, Lord, ignorance of, 277. Cooke, M. P., John, committed to Tower, 297. Cornish, Mr., case of, 290. Cornwallis, Marquis, character of, 486, 487. n.; in Ame- Cotton, Rev. J., independent, 361. n. Council, cabinet and privy, 277. D. D'Abbeville, Marquis, ambassador, 311. D'Adda, the Pope's agent in London, 299; openly re- D'Alembert, anecdote of, 118. Dalrymple, Sir John, invective against, 711. Danton, character of, 664. Dark ages, the, a period of important discoveries in Dartmouth, Lord, true to the church, 317. 378; friend of Dauphiné, proceedings of states of, 551. Death, punishment of, inflicted on Pagans, by a law of Debt. See National. Declaration for Conscience, by James II., 350-353. Demerara, rising of slaves in, 726. n.; Whites killed in, Democratic ascendancy, 653. Demosthenes, his war policy compared with that of Denmark, Queen, character of, 461, 462. See Charles VII, "Deontology" and "Eudemonism," 146. Descartes, his doctrine of " innate ideas," 156, and #. De Thou, composes Edict of Nantes, 319. County courts, their importance in England in the reign Devonshire, Lord, remark by, 298; Duke, and the Cor- Cousin, notice of his " Cours de Philosophie," 17. well by, 658. Cranmer, his sentence annulling the marriage of Henry Crew, bishop of Durham, against the church, 311; after sicans, 468. De Witt, John, his influence in the affairs of Holland, Dissenters. See Nonconformists. Dorchester, wholesale executions at, 286; Countess, see Crime, causes of, 717; cause of increase of, ib.; effects of Doria, Andrew, delivers Genoa, 700. Criminal law, the, 181; code of nations, 590. Law-see Cromarty, Lord. See Mackenzie, Sir George. Cromwell, in Ireland, 335; government of, 361; and 572. Crusades, origin of the, 620. Cudworth, Dr., one of the opponents of the system of Cullen, Dr., his letter to Dr. Hunter on the illness of Cumberland, Dr. Richard, bishop of Peterborough, re- Cuvier, M., character of, 631. Dorset, Lord, verses by, 302. Dover, Lord, privy councillor, 311; in office, 325. Drewitz, Col., cruelties of, 440. Drummond, General, persecutes the Scots, 364. n. Dryden, on Charles II., 279; and Lord Halifax, 279. #.; Duncombe, Mr., and James II., 364. Dunkeld, Bishop, removed, 330. Dunkirk, negotiations for the sale of, 260. E. Ecclesiastical rights of kings of England, 308. 310. Eclectic philosophy, the, its origin, 15. Edinburgh Review, extract from, on the subjects of 1 |