n of James III., King of England, Scotland, and
Ireland, to all his loving Subjects of the three Nations, and to
all Foreign Princes and States, to serve as a Foundation for a
Lasting Peace in Europe," and signed "James Rex." In this
interesting document, George I. was invited to quietly deliver up
his possession of the British throne in return for James's
bestowal on him of the title of king in his native dominions, and
the ultimate succession to the same title in England. The
indignation of the Peers raised their effusive loyalty to fever
point, and they promptly voted this singular document "a false,
insolent, and traitorous libel, the highest indignity to his
most sacred Majesty King George, our lawful and undoubted
sovereign, full of arrogance and presumption, in supposing the
Pretender in a condition to offer terms to his Majesty; and
injurious to the honour of the British nation, in imagining that
a free, Protestant people, happy under the government of the best
of princes, can be so infatuated as, without the utmost contempt
and indignation, to hear of any terms from a Popish bigoted
Pretender." But was it loyalty or sycophancy that could thus
transmute even George I. into "the best of princes"?

A less serious cause of alarm to their loyalty occurred in 1750,
when certain _Constitutional Queries_ were "earnestly recommended
to the serious consideration of every true Briton." This was
directed against the Duke of Cumberland, of Culloden fame, who
was in it compared to the crooked-backed Richard III.; and it was
generally attributed to Lord Egmont, M.P., as spokesman of the
opposition to the government of George II., then headed by the
Prince of Wales, who died the year following. It caused a great
sensation in both Houses, though several members in the Commons
defended it. Nevertheless, at a conference both Houses voted it
"a false, malicious, scandalous, infamous, and seditious libel,
containing the most false, audacious, and abominable calumnies
and indignities against his Majesty, and the most presumptuous
and wicked insinuations that our laws, liberties, and properties,
and the excellent constitution of this kingdom, were in danger
under his Majesty's legal, mild, and gracious government" . . .
and that "in abhorrence and detestation of such abominable and
seditious practices," it should be burnt in New Palace Yard by
the hangman on January 25th. Even a reward of L1,000 failed to
discover the author, prin