ddress expressed the continuance of their former zeal and devotion
to her majesty's government; but, in the house of lords, the earl of
Wharton expatiated upon the scarcity of money, the decay of trade, and
the mismanagement of the navy. He was seconded by lord Somers and the
leaders of the tory party, who proposed that, previous to every measure,
they should consider the state of the nation. The design of Wharton
and Somers was to raise the earl of Orford once more to the head of the
admiralty; and the tories, who did not perceive their drift, hoped, in
the course of the inquiry, to fix the blame of all mismanagement upon
the whig ministers. A day being fixed for this examination, the
house received a petition from the sheriffs and merchants of London,
complaining of great losses by sea for want of cruisers and convoys,
and the complaints were proved by witnesses. The report was sent to the
lord-admiral, who answered all the articles separately: then the tories
moved for an address, in which the blame of the miscarriages might
be laid upon the ministry and cabinet-council; but the motion was
overruled: the queen was presented with a bare representation of
the facts, and desired that she would take the proper measures for
preventing such evils for the future. The commons made some progress
in an inquiry of the same nature, and brought in a bill for the better
securing the trade of the kingdom. They cheerfully granted the supplies
for the service of the ensuing year. They prepared another bill for
repealing the Scottish act of security, and that about peace and war,
which had excited such jealousy in the English nation. They resolved
that there should be but one privy-council in the kingdom of Great
Britain: that the militia of Scotland should be put on the same footing
with that of England: that the powers of the justices of the peace
should be the same through the whole island: that the lords of
justiciary in Scotland should go circuits twice in the year; that the
writs for electing Scottish members to serve in the house of commons
should be directed, and returns made, in the same manner as practised
in England. An act being formed on these resolutions, they brought in
a bill for preserving the trade with Portugal: then they considered the
state of the war in Spain.

INQUIRY INTO THE STATE OF THE WAR IN SPAIN.

When the queen passed these bills, she recommended an augmentation in
the aids and auxiliaries granted