s named as regents by the successor, in three lists
to be sealed up and deposited with the archbishop of Canterbury, the
lord-keeper, and the ministry residentiary of Hanover. It was enacted,
that these joint regencies should conduct the administration; that the
last parliament, even though dissolved, should reassemble, and continue
sitting for six months after the decease of her majesty. The bill met
with a warm opposition from the tories, and did not pass the upper
house without a protest. It was still further obstructed in the house
of commons even by some of the whig party, who were given to understand
that the princess Sophia had expressed an inclination to reside in
England. Exceptions were likewise taken to that clause in the bill,
enacting, that the last parliament should be reassembled. They affirmed,
that this was inconsistent with part of the act by which the succession
was at first settled; for among other limitations, the parliament had
provided, that when the crown should devolve to the house of Hanover, no
man who had either place or pension should be capable of sitting in the
house of commons. After tedious disputes and zealous altercations,
they agreed that a certain number of offices should be specified
as disqualifying places. This self-denying clause, and some other
amendments, produced conferences between the two houses, and at length
the bill passed by their mutual assent. Lord Haversham moved for an
inquiry into the miscarriages of the last campaign, hoping to find some
foundation for censure in the conduct of the duke of Marlborough; but
the proposal was rejected as invidious; and the two houses presented an
address to the queen, desiring she would preserve a good correspondence
among all the confederates. They likewise concurred in repealing the
act by which the Scots had been alienated, and all the northern counties
alarmed with the apprehension of a rupture between the two nations.
The lord Shannon and brigadier Stanhope arriving with an account of
the expedition to Catalonia, the queen communicated the good news in a
speech to both houses, expressing her hope that they would enable her to
prosecute the advantages which her arms had acquired. The commons
were so well pleased with the tidings, that they forthwith granted two
hundred and fifty thousand pounds for her majesty's proportion in the
expense of prosecuting the successes already gained by king Charles III.
for the recovery of the monarch