The Impeachment of the House of BrunswickBradlaugh, Charles
History
The Impeachment of the House of Brunswick
Bradlaugh, Charles
Great Britain -- History -- 1714-1837; Hanover, House of
Can any one wonder that the ineffectual attempt at revolution of 1798
followed such a state of things? And when, in the _London Chronicle_ and
_Cambridge Intelligencer_, and other journals by no means favorable to
Ireland or its people, we read the horrid stories of women ravished, men
tortured, and farms pillaged, all in the name of law and order, and this
by King George's soldiers, not more than seventy years ago, can we feel
astonishment that the Wexford peasants have grown up to hate the Saxon
oppressor? And this we owe to a family of kings who used their pretended
Protestantism as a cloak for the ill-treatment of our Catholic brethren
in Ireland. In impeaching the Brunswicks, we remind the people of
proclamations officially issued in the King's name, threatening to burn
and devastate whole parishes, and we allege that the disaffection
in Ireland at the present moment is the natural fruit of the utter
regardlessness, on the part of these Guelphs, for human liberty, or
happiness, or life. The grossest excesses were perpetrated in Ireland
by King George III.'s foreign auxiliaries. The troops from Hesse Cassel,
from Hesse Darmstadt, and from Hanover, earned an unenviable notoriety
by their cruelty, rapacity, and licentiousness. And these we owe
entirely to the Brunswicks.
A letter from the War Office, dated April 11th, 1798, shows how
foreigners were specially selected for the regiments sent over to
Ireland. Sir Ralph Abercromby publicly rebuked the King's army, of which
he was the Commander-in-Chief, for their disgraceful irregularities
and licentiousness. Even Lieutenant-General Lake admits that "the
determination of the troops to destroy every one they think a rebel is
beyond description, and needs correction."
In 1801, it was announced that King George III. was suffering from
severe cold and sore throat, and could not therefore go out in public.
His disease, however, was more mental than bodily. Her present Majesty
has also suffered from severe cold and sore throat, but no allegation is
ventured that her mental condition is such as to unfit her for her Royal
duties.
On March 29, 1802, the sum of £990,053 was voted for payment of the
King's debts.
In 1803, the Prince of Wales being again in debt, a further vote was
passed of £60,000 a year for three years and a half. Endeavors were made
to increase this grant, but, marvellous to relate, the House of Commons
actually acted as if it had some slight interest in the welfare of the
people, and rejected a motion of Mr. Calcraft for a further vote of
money to enable his Royal Highness to maintain his state and dignity.
The real effect of the vote actually carried, was to provide for
£800,649 of the Prince's debts, including the vote of 1794.
On July 21,1763, £60,000 cash, and a pension of £16,000 a year, were
voted to the Prince of Orange.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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