had been employed in
the commons, and in the end the Marquess of Rockingham's amendment was
rejected by a majority of sixty-nine to twenty-nine, while the original
address was carried by seventy-six to thirty-three, including proxies. A
protest was signed by nineteen peers.

On the report of the address in the commons, the opposition took
occasion to go over nearly the whole of the ground again. The main stand
which they took, however, in this debate, was the measure of entrusting
Gibraltar and Minorca, the keys of the Mediterranean, to Hanoverian
troops. This they maintained was repugnant to the Bill of Rights, and
an alarming precedent of foreigners introduced, and armies raised by
a British monarch without the consent of parliament. It was, in fact,
loudly denounced as illegal, and in the highest degree unconstitutional.
In answering this objection, Lord Thurlow reminded the house that the
clause in the Bill of Rights embraced no part of the king's dominions
beyond the limits of Great Britain; that it did not extend to the
colonies; and that not a man had been brought, or was to be brought
into the kingdom without the consent of parliament. Wedderburne urged
similar arguments, and he, with others, represented the urgent necessity
of the case, and the danger of delay. A precedent was also quoted for
bringing troops into England at a critical period, inasmuch as Dutch
troops had been brought over from Holland by George II. in 1745, during
the rebellion in Scotland. In the midst of the storm by which he was
assailed, Lord North acknowledged himself the adviser of this measure,
and treated the opposition with much levity,--but he was obliged to
yield to the representations of some of his friends, and to state in
conclusion, that though he still considered he was right, yet as other
gentlemen, for whom he had ever had the greatest deference, seemed to be
of another opinion, he had no objection, notwithstanding any votes
now given, that the question should be brought again, in a regular and
parliamentary manner, before the house, when he would abide by their
determination; and if the measure was found unconstitutional, he would
rest a defence on the ground of necessity alone, and receive, as was
usual in such cases, the protection of an act of indemnity. This was
good parliamentary generalship. Many who would have voted against him,
now veered round to his side, and upon a division, the address was
passed as reported by a