76] ANNUAL REGISTER, 1800. 



CHAP. VI. 



Meeting of Parliament. — Message Jj-om the King, respecting Overtures 

 of Peace from the Consular Government of France.— Debates thereon 

 in both Houses. 



BOTH houses of the British 

 parliament, pui'suant to ad- 

 journment, met on the 2 ] st of Janu- 

 ary.* In the house of commons some 

 papers were laid on the table, and 

 motions made and agreed to for the 

 production of others. In the house 

 of peers lord Grenville intimated 

 that he would, the next day, bring 

 down a message from his majesty, 

 and at the same time, by his majesty's 

 command, lay certain important pa- 

 pers on their lordships' table, to be 

 taken into consideration on a future 

 day. On January 22d,his majesty's 

 message was delivered accordingly. 

 As the supplies granted in the com- 

 mencement of the present session 

 had been calculated to provide only 

 for the first months of the year, his 

 majesty recommended it to the com- 

 mons to make such farther provision 

 asthey might judge necessary under 

 the present circumstances, for the 

 several branches of the public ser- 

 vice and for the vigorous prosecu- 

 tion of the war. And on this occa- 

 sion he had thought it proper to di- 

 rect that there should be laid before 

 the house copies of communications 



recently received from the enemy, 

 and of the answers which had been 

 returned thereto by his majesty's 

 command. — These communications 

 and answers have been noticed in 

 the last chapter. — His majesty had 

 no object more at heart than that of 

 contributing, as soon as the situation 

 of affairs should render it practica- 

 ble, to the re-establishment of the 

 general tranquillity of Europe, on 

 a sure and solid foundation. And 

 he relied on the continued support 

 of his parliament, in such measures 

 as might best tepd to confirm the 

 signal advantages which had been 

 obtained to the common cause, in 

 the course of the last campaign, and 

 to conduct the great contest in which 

 his majesty was engaged to a safe 

 and honourable conclusion. After 

 the papers mentioned in the king's 

 message had been read, lord Gren- 

 ville moved, that " his majesty's 

 message betaken into consideration, 

 on Tuesday next," w^hich was agreed 

 ti). Lord Grenville then presented 

 a second message from his majesty, 

 relating to the accommodation of 

 the Russian auxiliary troops in his 



• As the proceedings of what may be called the autumnal session of parliament, 

 1799, related to the war in Holland, and some other matters of concern of the time, 

 wc gave an account of that session in our last volume. 



