s were ordered to be locked
up by the clerk of the house, in all probability their intention was to
proceed on this subject in some future session. On the ninth day of June
sundry bills received the royal assent by commission, his majesty
being indisposed; and on the twentieth day of the same month, the
lords commissioners closed the session with a speech to both houses,
expressing his majesty's deep sense of their loyalty and good affection,
demonstrated in their late proceedings, in their zeal for his honour
and real interest in all parts, in their earnestness to surmount every
difficulty, in their ardour to maintain the war with the utmost vigour;
proofs which must convince mankind that the ancient spirit of the
British nation still subsisted in its full force. They were given to
understand that the king had taken all such measures as appeared the
most conducive to the accomplishment of their public-spirited views and
wishes; that with their assistance, crowned by the blessing of God
upon the conduct and bravery of the combined army, his majesty had
been enabled, not only to deliver his dominions in Germany from the
oppressions and devastations of the French, but also to push his
advantages on this side the Rhine; that he had cemented the union
between him and his good brother the king of Prussia, by new
engagements; that the British fleets and armies were now actually
employed in such expeditions as appeared likely to annoy the enemy in
the most sensible manner, and to promote the welfare and prosperity
of these kingdoms; in particular, to preserve the British rights and
possessions in America, and to make France feel, in those parts, the
real strength and importance of Great Britain. The commons were thanked
for the ample supplies which they had so freely and unanimously given,
and assured on the part of his majesty that they should be managed with
the most frugal economy. They were desired, in consequence of the king's
earnest recommendation, to promote harmony and good agreement amongst
his faithful subjects; to make the people acquainted with the rectitude
and purity of his intentions and measures, and to exert themselves
in maintaining the peace and good order of the country, by enforcing
obedience to the laws and Lawful authority.

VIGOROUS PREPARATIONS FOR WAR, &c.

Never, surely, had any sovereign more reason to be pleased with the
conduct of his ministers, and the spirit of his people. The whole nati