ith the king about an independent settlement; and
these were now reinforced by all the friends of the earl of Marlborough,
united for a double tie; for they resented the disgrace and confinement
of that lord, and thought it their duty to support the princess Anne
under a persecution incurred by an attachment to his countess. The earl
of Shrewsbury lived in friendship with Marlborough, and thought he had
been ungratefully treated by the king; the marquis of Halifax befriended
him from opposition to the ministry; the earl of Mulgrave for an
opportunity to display his talents, and acquire that consideration which
he thought due to his merit. Devonshire, Montague, and Bradford, joined
in the same cause from principle; the same pretence was used by the
earls of Stamford, Monmouth, Warrington, and other whigs, though in
effect they were actuated by jealousy and resentment against those
by whom they had been supplanted. As for the Jacobites, they gladly
contributed their assistance to promote any scheme that had a tendency
to embroil the administration.

THE LORDS VINDICATE THEIR PRIVILEGES.

The king, in his speech to parliament, thanked them for their last
supplies, congratulated them upon the victory obtained at sea, condoled
them on the bad success of the campaign by land, magnified the power of
France, represented the necessity of maintaining a great force to oppose
it, and demanded subsidies equal to the occasion. He expressed his
reluctance to load them with additional burdens, which he said could not
be avoided, without exposing his kingdom to inevitable destruction. He
desired their advice towards lessening the inconveniences of exporting
money for the payment of the forces. He intimated a design of making a
descent upon France; declared he had no aim but to make his subjects a
happy people; and that he would again cheerfully expose his life for the
welfare of the nation. The lords, after an adjournment of three days,
began with great warmth to assert their privileges, which they conceived
had been violated in the cases of the earl of Marlborough and the other
noblemen who had been apprehended, committed to prison, and afterwards
admitted to bail by the court of king's-bench. These circumstances
being fully discussed in a violent debate, the house ordered lord Lucas,
constable of the Tower, to produce the warrants of commitment, and the
clerk of the king's-bench to deliver the affidavit of Aaron Smith, the
cour