MEETING OP THE FIRST BRITISH PARLIAMENT.

It was on the twenty-third of the same month that the first parliament of Great Britain assembled at Westminster, when the queen in her speech to both houses palliated the miscarriages in Provence and in Spain: represented the necessity of making further efforts against the common enemy; and exhorted them to be upon their guard against those who endeavoured to sow jealousies in the commonwealth. The commons in their address expressed the continuance of their former zeal and devotion to her majesty’s government; but, in the house of lords, the earl of Wharton expatiated upon the scarcity of money, the decay of trade, and the mismanagement of the navy. He was seconded by lord Somers and the leaders of the tory party, who proposed that, previous to every measure, they should consider the state of the nation. The design of Wharton and Somers was to raise the earl of Orford once more to the head of the admiralty; and the tories, who did not perceive their drift, hoped, in the course of the inquiry, to fix the blame of all mismanagement upon the whig ministers. A day being fixed for this examination, the house received a petition from the sheriffs and merchants of London, complaining of great losses by sea for want of cruisers and convoys, and the complaints were proved by witnesses. The report was sent to the lord-admiral, who answered all the articles separately: then the tories moved for an address, in which the blame of the miscarriages might be laid upon the ministry and cabinet-council; but the motion was overruled: the queen was presented with a bare representation of the facts, and desired that she would take the proper measures for preventing such evils for the future. The commons made some progress in an inquiry of the same nature, and brought in a bill for the better securing the trade of the kingdom. They cheerfully granted the supplies for the service of the ensuing year. They prepared another bill for repealing the Scottish act of security, and that about peace and war, which had excited such jealousy in the English nation. They resolved that there should be but one privy-council in the kingdom of Great Britain: that the militia of Scotland should be put on the same footing with that of England: that the powers of the justices of the peace should be the same through the whole island: that the lords of justiciary in Scotland should go circuits twice in the year; that the writs for electing Scottish members to serve in the house of commons should be directed, and returns made, in the same manner as practised in England. An act being formed on these resolutions, they brought in a bill for preserving the trade with Portugal: then they considered the state of the war in Spain.