Speech of the Elector of Hanover, October 17, 1745

A printed version of the text can be found in A full collection of all the proclamations and orders published by the authority of Charles Prince of Wales, ... since his arrival in Edinburgh the 17th day of September, till the 15th of October, 1745 (Glasgow, 1745), part II, pages 40-41 (English Short-Title Catalogue T071882).

My Lords, and Gentlemen,

The open and unnatural rebellion which has broke out and is still continuing in Scotland has obliged me to call you together sooner than I intended; and I shall lay nothing before you at present but what immediately relates to our security at home, reserving all other considerations to a further opportunity. So wicked and daring an attempt in favour of a popish pretender to my Crown, headed by his eldest son, carried on by numbers of traitorous and desperate persons within the Kingdom, and encouraged by my enemies abroad, requires the immediate advice and assistance of my Parliament to suppress and extinguish it. The duty and affection for me and my Government, and the vigilant and zealous care for the safety of the nation, which have with so much unanimity been shown by my faithful subjects, give me the firmest assurance that you are met together resolved to act with such vigour as will end in the confusion of all those who have engaged in or fomented this rebellion.

I have, throughout the whole course of my reign, made the laws of the land the rule of my Government, and the preservation of the constitution in Church and state, and the rights of my people the main end and aim of all my actions. It is therefore the more astonishing that any of my Protestant subjects, who have known and enjoyed the benefits resulting from thence, and have heard of the imminent dangers these kingdoms were wonderfully delivered from by the happy revolution, should by any arts and management be deluded into measures that must at once destroy their religion and liberties, introduce popery and arbitrary power, and subject them to a foreign yoke.

Gentlemen of the House of Commons,

I rely on your affection to me, and your care and concern for our common safety, to grant me such a supply as may enable me entirely to extinguish this rebellion, effectually to discourage any foreign power from assisting the rebels, and to restore the peace of the Kingdom; for which purpose I will order proper estimates to be laid before you. Amongst the many ill consequences of this wicked attempt, the extraordinary burden which it must bring upon my faithful subjects very sensibly affects me. But let those answer for it whose treason has occasioned it, and my people be convinced what they owe to those disturbers of our peace who are endeavouring to make this Kingdom a scene of blood and confusion.

My Lords, and Gentlemen,

The many evident proofs this Parliament has given of their duty, fidelity, and affection to me, and of their steady adherence to the present happy establishment and the true interest of their country, make me repose myself entirely on the zeal and vigour of your proceedings and resolutions. I am confident you will act like men who consider that everything dear and valuable to them is attacked; and I question not, but, by the blessing of God, we shall in a short time see this rebellion end, not only in restoring the tranquillity of my Government, but in procuring greater strength to that excellent constitution which it was designed to subvert. The maxims of this constitution shall ever be the rules of my conduct. The interest of me and my people is always the same and inseparable. In this common interest let us unite; and all those who shall heartily and vigorously exert themselves in this just and national cause may always depend on my protection and favour.