d gained in the course of the war, the king
of Prussia ought to give up Stetin, and the elector of Hanover
restore Bremen and Verden; that, after all, England had no business to
intermeddle with the affairs of the empire; that we reaped little or
no advantage by our trade to the Baltic, but that of procuring naval
stores; he owned that hemp was a very necessary commodity, particularly
at this juncture; but he insisted that if due encouragement were given
to some of our plantations in America, we might be supplied from thence
at a much cheaper rate than from Sweden and Norway. Notwithstanding
these arguments, the Swedish supply was granted; and, in about three
weeks, their complaisance was put to another proof. They were given
to understand, by a second message, that the debts of the civil list
amounted to five hundred and fifty thousand pounds; and his majesty
hoped they would empower him to raise that sum upon the revenue, as he
proposed it should be replaced in the civil list, and reimbursed by a
deduction from the salaries and wages of all officers, as well as from
the pensions and other payments from the crown. A bill was prepared for
this purpose, though not without warm opposition; and, at the same time,
an act passed for a general pardon. On the tenth day of August, the king
closed the session with a speech, in which he expressed his concern
for the sufferings of the innocent, and a just indignation against the
guilty, with respect to the South-Sea scheme. These professions were
judged necessary to clear his own character, which had incurred the
suspicion of some people, who whispered that he was not altogether free
from connexions with the projectors of that design; that the emperor
had, at his desire, refused to deliver up Knight; and that he favoured
the directors and their accomplices.

ALLIANCE BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN, FRANCE, AND SPAIN.

Lords Townshend and Carteret were now appointed Secretaries of state;
and the earl of Hay was vested with the office of lord privy-seal of
Scotland. In June the treaty of peace between Great Britain and Spain
was signed at Madrid. The contracting parties engaged to restore
mutually all the effects seized and confiscated on both sides. In
particular, the king of England promised to restore all the ships of the
Spanish fleet which had been taken in the Mediterranean, or the value of
them, if they were sold. He likewise promised, in a secret article, that
he would no long