INTRODUCTION OF FOREIGN TROOPS.
On the 27th of March a message from his majesty informed the house of commons that a body of Hessians was placed in temporary winter-quarters at Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight, with a view to co-operate with the royalists in Brittany and the neighbouring districts. As similar cases had occurred at different periods, and as the cause and necessity of such a measure were obvious, it was concluded by government that the usual communication of the fact to parliament would be satisfactory; but opposition contended that Pitt ought to have moved for a bill of indemnity; and he was charged with having violated the Bill of Rights and the Act of Settlement. Mr. Grey moved, as a resolution of the house, that to employ foreigners in any situation of military trust, or to bring foreign troops into the kingdom, without the consent of parliament first had and obtained, is contrary to law. This motion, however, was negatived; and propositions made in both houses, at a subsequent date, for a bill of indemnity, met with no better success, ministers contending that it would be absurd to indemnify measures which were in themselves both justifiable and constitutional.