FORE:During these proceedings, the National Assembly was sitting at Versailles in the utmost agitation. On the morning of the 13th, Mounier had risen and censured the dismissal of the Ministers, and had been seconded by Lally Tollendal, who had pronounced a splendid panegyric on Necker, and recommended an address to the king for his recall. M. de Virieu, a deputy of the noblesse, proposed to confirm by oath the proceedings of the 17th of June; but Clermont Tonnerre declared that unnecessary, as the Assembly had sworn to establish a constitution, and he exclaimed, "The Constitution we will have, or we will perish!" In the midst of this discussion came the news of the rising of the people of Paris, on the morning of the 13th, and an address was immediately voted to the king, beseeching him to withdraw the foreign troops, and authorise the organisation of the Civic Guards. The Duke de la Rochefoucauld said, the foreign troops in the hands of despotism were most perilous to the people, who were not in any one's hands. The address was sent, and the king returned a curt answer, that Paris was not in a condition to take care of itself. The Assembly then assumed a higher tone, asserted that the present counsellors of the king would be responsible for all the calamities which might take place, and declared itself in permanent session, that is, that it would sit day and night till the crisis was over. It appointed M. de Lafayette vice-president, in the place of the aged Bishop of Vienne, who was not capable of much exertion.
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FORE: Meeting of ParliamentEugene's Visit to EnglandMinisterial Attacks on the DutchMeeting of the Negotiators at UtrechtThe Question of the Spanish ThroneSham Fighting against the FrenchDebates on the Peace in ParliamentWithdrawal of the English TroopsConsequent Triumph of the FrenchBolingbroke's Visit to ParisBreak-up of the Grand AllianceMore Negotiations with the PretenderDeath of GodolphinMarlborough retires to the ContinentSignature of the PeaceThe Treaty of CommerceIts Rejection by the CommonsThe Whereabouts of the PretenderDissolution of ParliamentThe General ElectionIntrigues with St. GermainsBolingbroke's ActivityHis Friends in OfficeThe Empire and Spain make PeaceThe Pretender declines Overtures to Change his ReligionIllness of the QueenTax on NewspapersAttack upon the "Public Spirit of the Whigs"Steele expelled the HouseProposals against the Pretender and for bringing over the Electoral PrinceCounter-scheme for bringing over the PretenderObstacles to the SchemeThe Queen's Letter to the ElectorDeath of the Electress SophiaThe Schism BillIts Progress through the HousesReward for the Apprehension of the PretenderFall of OxfordBolingbroke's Jacobite CabinetIllness of the QueenThe Whig Coup d'tatRuin and Desperation of the JacobitesDeath of AnneProclamation of George I.It was no wonder that Spain, feeling the serious effects of this state of things, should resist it; and when she did so, and exerted an unusual degree of vigilance, then the most terrible outcries were raised, and wonderful stories were circulated of Spanish cruelties to our people beyond the Atlantic. At this time the Opposition got hold of one of these, and made the House of Commons and the nation resound with it. It was, that one Captain Robert Jenkins, who had been master of a sloop trading from Jamaica, had been boarded and searched by a Coastguard, and treated in a most barbarous manner, though they could detect no proof of smuggling in his vessel. He said that the Spanish captain had cut off one of his ears, bidding him carry it to his king, and tell his Majesty that if he were present he would treat him in the same manner. This story was now seven years old, but it was not the less warmly received on that account. It excited the utmost horror, and Jenkins was ordered to appear at the bar of the House of Commons on the 16th of March, to give an account of the outrage himself; and it would appear that both he and other witnesses were examined the same day. Jenkins carried his ear about with him wrapped in cotton, to show to those to whom he related the fact, and the indignation was intense. He was asked by a member how he felt when he found himself in the hands of such barbarians, and he replied, "I recommended my soul to God, and my cause to my country." The worthy skipper had probably been crammed with this dramatic sentiment by some of his clever Parliamentary introducers; but its effect was all the same as if it had been a genuine and involuntary expression of his own mind. Researches made at the Admiralty in 1889 proved that he really had lost an ear.
Saturday, 23/08/2014
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