Will. III." effect, before the end of the feffion, the lords would de"clare and adjudge him wholly innocent of the charge. 1701. Pr. H. L. 11.31. the fame facts charged in the fame refpective impeachments, have been permitted to fit and vote in the house of commons, touching the faid impeachments and the matters thereof. That thefe facts being true, and publickly known, the confequences refulting therefrom (as the lord Haverfham apprehended) are undeniable, viz. That the doing of the fame thing by two perfons in equal circumftances cannot be a crime in one and not in the other. That the commons had no reason to infift, that the lords should not permit that in their members, which the commons had first permitted, and continued to permit, and fo begun the first precedent in their own members. That it must be thought that the impeached lords (notwithstanding the facts alledged in the impeachments) are innocent of danger to the king, when the lord Jerfey and Mr. fecretary Vernon, who are refpectively concerned in the partition treaties, are permitted, without complaint, to be at the head of affairs, and in the king's prefence, and of his councils, as not dangerous. That the word ⚫ innocent,' used in the words fpoken by the faid lord Haverfham, can extend no further than to fuch matters, as were done by the impeached lords of the fame nature with what was done by thofe unimpeached. All which facts being true, and the confequences obvious, the faid lord being ready to prove And the fame, he infifts, that the words fpoken by him at the faid free conference, were not scandalous or reproachful, nor false or reflecting on the honour or juftice of the house of commons, but were spoken upon a just occafion given, in answer to feveral expreflions that fell from the managers for the commons, remote (as he conceives) from the matter in queftion, and reflecting on the honour and juftice of the houfe of peers, and in maintenance and defence of the lords refolutions and judicature, and conformable to the duty he owes to the faid houfe. And the faid lord humbly demands the judgment of their honourable houfe therein. And the faid lord Haverfham denies that he fpoke the words fpecified in the faid charge, in fuch manner and form as the fame are therein fet down. And having thus given a true account of this matter, and it being true and indifputable, that fome lords in this houfe, equally concerned in facts for which other lords are impeached by the house of commons, are ftill near the king's perfon, in the greatest places of trust and honour, unimpeached; and alfo that feveral members of the house of commons, equally concerned in the fame facts for which fome lords are impeached, do however remain. unimpeached; the faid lord thinks, fuch a truth could never have been more properly spoken, in the maintenance and defence of your lordships judi cature And, on Monday, June the 23d, it was refolved by their Will. III. lordships, That the refolutions of the houfe of commons, in 1701. their votes of the 20th inftant, contained moft unjust reflections on the honour and justice of the house of peers, and were contrived to cover their affected and unreasonable delays in profecuting the impeached lords; and manifeftly tended to the deftruction of the judicature of the lords, to the rendering trials on impeachments impracticable for the future, and to the fubverting the conftitution of the English government; and that, therefore, whatever ill confequences might arife from the fo long deferring the fupplies for this year's fervice, were to be attributed to the fatal counfel of the putting off the meeting of a parliament fo long, and to the unneceffary delays of the houfe of commons. Then the lords adjourned to Westminster- Hall, and, after two proclamations made for filence and profecution, the articles of impeachment against Edward earl of Orford were read, and alfo his answer to thofe articles; and, after taking the fame methods as in the trial of the lord Sommers, his lordfhip, by unanimous votes (the lords on the other fide withdrawing) was acquitted of the articles, and the impeachment was difmiffed. The next day, being the laft of the feffion of the parlia- The imment, this order was made by the lords: peachments difmifled by "The house of commons not having profecuted their the lords. "charge, which they brought up against John lord Haver- June 24. "fham, for words fpoken by him at a free conference the Ibid. "13th inftant, the charge fhall be and is hereby dismissed. "The earl of Portland being impeached by the house of commons of high crimes and mifdemeanors the first of "April laft, the impeachment is hereby difmiffed, there "being no articles exhibited against him. "The house of commons having impeached Charles lord "Hallifax of high crimes and misdemeanors on the 15th of "April laft, and on the 14th day of this inftant June exhi"bited articles against him, to which he having answered, cature and refolutions; and infifteth, that what he had faid at the free conference was not any fcandalous reproach or falfe expreffion, or any way tended to make a breach in the good correfpondence between the lords and commons, or to the interrupting the public juftice of the nation, by delaying the pro- L 2 Haversham. "and Will.III." and no further profecution thereupon, the impeachment "and articles are hereby difmiffed. 1701. Remarks on "The house of commons having impeached Thomas duke "of Leeds of high crimes and mifdemeanors on the 27th "of April 1695, and on the 29th exhibited articles against "him, to which he answered, but the commons not profe"cuting, the impeachment and articles are hereby dif"miffed." Each house ordered a narrative of the proceedings to be thefe pro- published (a); and they had gone fo far in their votes against ceedings. Burnet. (a) It may not be improper to fubjoin here fome remarks concerning thofe proceedings, extracted from a MS. written by a very confiderable perfon of that time. "The partition treaty, fays "he, was no fooner published, "but it appeared that the French "ambaffador, monfieur Tal"lard, had formed a strong 66 party here against it, and had engaged Dr. Davenant to "write against it. It was not enough for the French court "to refolve on braking it, "but, to compleat the perfidy, "it muft die with infamy. At "the first opening of the feffion, "addreffes were made to the king from the houses for all "the treaties that had been "made fince that at Ryfwick. "This was done on the 12th or 66 13th of February, two or "three days after the opening "of the feffion. The tranfla"ting and copying thefe went "on fo flowly, that they were "not brought to the houfe of "lords before the 26th of Fe one "gratify their refentments by 66 failing on that treaty, and on "all concerned in it, that, I am told, on two or three occa"fions they complained of it, yet by fome fecret but power"ful charm all men were fo reftrained, that, from the 26th "of February to the 20th of "March, no notice at all was "taken of it; but on the zoth "the train was fired, and all "was foon in a flame. I can"not certainly tell you what "was the occafion of this great patience and long filence, af"ter fome had fhewn an eager"nefs, that seemed not very "governable. I will only tell "you what happened at that "time at the Hague. After the "French had poffeffed them"felves of the Spanish Nether"lands, and found the States were not very eafy in their "neighbourhood, they defired "to treat with them, and know "what would fatisfy them. "The States infifted upon the "engagements given by the "partition treaty, and com'plained of the violation of it, "and asked fuch fecurities as they thought neceffary. The king ordered his minister to "join with them in the like "complaints and demands. << Thefe 66 one another, that it was believed, they would never meet Will. III. again. The proceedings of the lords had the general appro- 1701. bation "Thefe were given in on the "8th of March; and, as foon "as the French ambaffador had 66 an account of it, immediate"ly the matter of that treaty "was fallen on in the house of "lords, while very few among "them knew any thing of the "negotiation at the Hague, "which was not communicated "to them by the king till four days after. But fome perhaps had better intelligence. "The treaty then fet on foot at "the Hague was to have this 66 66 difgrace put upon it, that the "partition treaty, on which it "was to be founded, was to be "condemned. Some that had "been concerned in it, had ad"vertisements fent them from "the court of France of their "danger; by all which the "French party hoped, that the "king himself, and such as had "been concerned in the matter, "would be prevailed on to let "that treaty be forgotten, and "become more favourable to the "French intereft, if it were but "to fave themfelves from the "ftorm, that was otherwife 166 Will. III. bation of the nation on their fide. Most of the bishops ad1701. hered to the impeached lords, and their behaviour, on this "to; yet a decency of ftyle was "but fuitable, especially in "men bred in courts, and ac"customed enough to a more "fubmiffive dialect in former reigns. This might have been expected from thofe, who "know, that the king thought "it no leffening of himself to "own, that he believed he had "made the beft bargain poffi"ble, all circumftances con"fidered. This was not all; "those who attacked the treaty, "five or fix in a string, did all "of them fay, they meant not "to find fault; that they had "no other defign but to amend "what had been amifs, and "to prevent the like errors for "the future. They did not in"tend to fall upon any one perfon, not fo much as to a "reprimand all they meant "was to have errors corrected, "and to have things put in a "better method. While the "debate went on upon this "foot, and that all those who "were known to have a share "in the confidence, went into "cenfuring the treaty, those "who could not help the hav"ing other thoughts of it, could "not of the fudden know what "was fit to be done. Many thought it was concerted at "court to let the treaty be cen"fured, and that all the ill hu mour raised upon it was to "evaporate in fome angry votes, without carrying the matter "further. No intimations had "been given, that the king de fired that the thing might be occa "better understood before it "fhould be condemned. The 66 king was that day at Hamp"ton-Court; fo no application "could be made to him; for, "let men talk what they will "of freedom in debate, there "ever was, and ever will be, "and ought to be, great regard "had to our princes with rela"tion to matters of ftate. "that the king's mind ought "to have any influence on men's "arguing or voting; but it is "certain, that in many cafes Not men may refolve to be paffive "in fome of the king's concerns, "when they think he intends to "be fo himfelf. They may "reasonably conclude, that he "is willing to let fome things go, at fome times, that he "may thereby put his people "in better humour, in order to "the gaining other things that "are of more confequence. "This is fo frequently practifed, "that he must be a great ftran ger to the methods of ma"naging a feffion of parlia"ment, who has not obferved "it almost in every feffion. "And this was the cafe in the "houfe of lords upon this oc"cafion. No body was fooner "in their reflections on that de"cried treaty than those who "were most in the confidence. "Every man declared, that no "further ufe was to be made "of the votes that were propo"fed for condemning it, but to "offer good advice to the king "for better conduct in future "negotiations, Some who in "tended |