ectfully of the
French king, observing that it was peculiarly incumbent on
peers to treat monarchs with decorum and respect, as they
derived their dignity from the crown. Another affirming that
the French king was not only to be respected, but likewise
to be feared: a certain lord replied, "He hoped no man in
England need to be afraid of the French king; much less the
peer who spoke last, who was too much a friend to that
monarch to fear anything from his resentment."

The earl of Portland, apprehending that this tempest would burst upon
his head, declared on the second day of the debate, that he had, by the
king's order, communicated the treaty, before it was concluded, to the
earls of Pembroke and Marlborough, the lords Lonsdale, Somers, Halifax,
and secretary Vernon. These noblemen owned, that they had been made
acquainted with the substance of it: that when they excepted to some
particulars, they were told his majesty had carried the matter as far
as it could be advanced, and that he could obtain no better terms; thus
assured that every article was already settled, they said they no longer
insisted upon particulars, but gave their advice that his majesty should
not engage himself in any measure that would produce a new war, seeing
the nation had been so uneasy under the last. After long debates, and
great variety as well as virulence of altercation, the house agreed
to an address in which they disapproved of the partition treaty, as
a scheme inconsistent with the peace and safety of Europe, as well as
prejudicial to the interest of Great Britain. They complained, that
neither the instructions given to his plenipotentiaries, nor the draft
of the treaty itself, had been laid before his majesty's council. They
humbly besought him, that for the future he would, in all matters of
importance, require and admit the advice of his natural born subjects
of known probity and fortune; and that he would constitute a council of
such persons, to whom he might impart all affairs which should any way
concern him and his dominions. They observed, that interest and natural
affection to their country would incline them to every measure that
might tend to its welfare and prosperity; whereas strangers could not be
so much influenced by these considerations; that their knowledge of
the country would render them more capable than foreigners could be of
advising his majesty touching the true interests