THE PARLIAMENT PROROGUED.

After a short adjournment, a committee of the lower house presented the thanks of the commons to the duke of Marlborough, for his great services performed to her majesty and the nation in the last campaign, and for his prudent negotiations with her allies. This nobleman was in such credit with the people, that when he proposed a loan of five hundred thousand pounds to the emperor, upon a branch of his revenue in. Silesia, the money was advanced immediately by the merchants of London. The kingdom was blessed with plenty; the queen was universally beloved; the people in general were zealous for the prosecution of the war; the forces were well paid; the treasury was punctual; and, though a great quantity of coin was exported for the maintenance of the war, the paper currency supplied the deficiency so well, that no murmurs were heard, and the public credit flourished both at home and abroad. All the funds being established, one in particular for two millions and a-half by way of annuities for ninety-nine years, at six and a-half per cent., and all the bills having received the royal assent, the queen went to the house of peers on the nineteenth day of March, where, having thanked both houses for the repeated instances of their affection which she had received, she prorogued the parliament to the twenty-first day of May following.*

* Among other bills passed during this session, was an act
for abridging and reforming some proceedings in the common
law and in chancery.

The new convocation, instead of imitating the union and harmony of the parliament, revived the divisions by which the former had been distracted, and the two houses seemed to act with more determined rancour against each other. The upper house having drawn tip a warm address of thanks to the queen for her affectionate care of the church, the lower house refused to concur, nor would they give any reason for their dissent. They prepared another in a different strain, which was rejected by the archbishop. Then they agreed to divers resolutions, asserting their right of having what they offered to the upper house received by his grace and their lordships. In consequence of this dissension the address was dropped, and a stop put to all further communication between the two houses. The dean of Peterborough protested against the irregularities of the lower house. The queen, in a letter to the archbishop, signified her resolution to maintain her supremacy, and the due subordination of presbyters to bishops. She expressed her hope that he and his suffragans would act conformably to her resolution, in which case they might be assured of the continuance of her favour and protection: she required him to impart this declaration to the bishops and clergy, and to prorogue the convocation to such time as should appear most convenient. When he communicated this letter to the lower house, the members were not a little confounded: nevertheless, they would not comply with the prorogation, but continued to sit in defiance of her majesty’s pleasure.