RELEASE OF THE LORD MAYOR AND ALDERMAN OLIVER.
All honour was paid to these captives during their confinement in the Tower. They were visited by nobles and members of the house of commons; the sheriffs waited upon them to express their disapprobation of all the proceedings against them; and at a meeting of the common-council the day after their commitment, a vote of thanks was passed to such members of the house of commons as had given them their support. The common-council also agreed to pay any law expenses that might occur, and to defray all the expenses of their tables while in confinement. On the 5th of March, they were brought by habeas corpus from the Tower, to Lord Chief-Justice de Gray’s chambers, attended by a host of friends; but after hearing Sergeant Glynn and Mr. Lee, he said that he could neither bail nor discharge them. They were then taken to Lord Mansfield’s chambers, who expressed the same sentiments; stating that he could neither take bail nor discharge them while parliament was sitting. They were, therefore, carried back to the Tower, where they remained till the day the session closed, when they regained their liberty. In the mean time the printers remained unscathed. They had, indeed, obtained advantages almost equal to a victory, and there was little more to fear from the publication of the speeches of members of parliament. In the course of the debate Mr. Welbore Ellis moved that a secret committee of twenty-one members should be chosen by ballot, “to examine into the several facts and circumstances relative to the late obstructions to the executions of the order of the house, and to consider what further proceedings may be requisite to enforce a due obedience thereto.” This was agreed to, and on the 30th of April the secret committee produced their report. The document consisted of a tedious deduction of facts and cases, which concluded with a recommendation to the house to consider whether it might not yet be expedient that Millar should be taken into custody by the sergeant-at-arms. Roars of laughter followed this impotent conclusion, and Burke increased the merriment of the house, by observing that the secret committee might be compared to an assembly of mice, who came to a resolution that their old enemy the cat should be tied up, to prevent her doing any further mischief, but forgot to say how this was to be effected. Nothing, therefore, was done, and from that period the parliamentary debates have been published without any disguise or obstruction: a practice which is considered to be essential to the effective working of the representative system, and one of the best safeguards of the constitution, inasmuch as it brings the opinions and acts of representatives under the notice of the lynx-eyed public, who regard their rights and liberties with too severe a jealousy to admit of their being invaded with impunity.
EDUCATION OF THE PRINCE OF WALES.
Before the rising of parliament there was much speculation afloat concerning the appointment of a governor and preceptors for the king’s eldest son, Prince George. It was said that the king was at length “convinced of the error of his ways;” that is, he had become suspicious of the Tories, and was inclined to favour the Whigs. When the appointments were made, however, there was no display of any decided Whig tendency at court. The Earl of Holderness was made the young prince’s governor, and Lord Mansfield’s friend, Dr. Markham, Bishop of Chester, and the Rev. Cyril Jackson, were appointed preceptor and sub-preceptor. The plan of private education was severely censured at the time, as too narrow for the future sovereign of a free country: and it was argued that an education at one of the public schools would have proved more beneficial to the mind of the royal pupil, and to his future subjects. Lord Holderness, after a few years, resigned his trust, complaining that a secret and dangerous influence existed which was injurious to his authority. He was succeeded by Lord Bruce, who retained his office only a few days, and the next governor was the Duke of Montague, with Hurd, afterwards Bishop of Worcester, and the Rev. Mr. Arnold, as preceptor and sub-preceptor. During his education, common report spoke highly of the prince’s quickness of apprehension, retentive memory, and general aptitude for acquiring the elegances of literature.
CITY PETITION TO THE KING.
During the recess, inflamed by the imprisonment of the lord mayor, the harangues of Wilkes, and other circumstances, the city drew up another strong petition and remonstrance. This petition, which was presented by order of the lord chamberlain, without the procession of liverymen, complained of the abitrary, illegal, and wicked proceedings of the house of commons in imprisoning the city magistrates and members, and in passing the Durham-yard Act: it concluded by praying the king to dissolve parliament, and to dismiss his present despotic ministers from his councils for ever His majesty replied, that he was always willing to lend an ear to well-founded complaints, and expressed his concern at seeing the citizens of London so misled and deluded as to renew a request with which he had already declared he would not comply.