The Virginia Gazette

From the London Gazette.

His Excellency PHILIP Earl of CHESTERFIELD, Lord Lieutenant and General Governor of Ireland, his SPEECH to both Houses of Parliament, at Dublin, on Friday the 11th Day of April, 1746.

My Lords and Gentlemen,

The Business of the Session being now concluded, I believe you cannot be unwilling to return to your respective Countries; as you must be sensible that the many good Laws which you have passed will receive an additional Weight by your Authority in executing, and by your Example in observing them.

The almost unprecedented Temper and Unanimity with which you have carried on the publick Business, your unshaken Fidelity to the King, your inviolable Attachment to the present happy Constitution, and your just Indignation at the Attempts lately made to subvert it, will advantageously distinguish this Session in the Journals of Parliament; and the concurrent Zeal, and active Loyalty of all his Majesty's Protestant Subjects, of all Denominations throughout this Kingdom, prove at once how sensible and how deserving they are of his Care and Protection. Even those deluded People who scarcely acknowledge his Government, seem by their Conduct tacitly to have confessed the Advantages they enjoy under it. At my Return to his Majesty's Presence, I shall not fail most faithfully to report these Truths, since the most faithful will be, at the same Time, the most favourable Representation.

The Rebellion which rather disturbed than endangered the King's Government, has been defeated, though not yet totally suppressed; but as those flagitious Parricides, who were abandoned enough to avow, and desperate enough to engage in, the Cause of Popery and Tyranny, have already been repulsed and pursued by the Valour and Activity of his Royal Highness the Duke, there is the strongest Reason to believe that he will soon compleat the Work which he has so gloriously begun, and restore the Tranquility of the Kingdom. This Attempt therefore, to shake his Majesty's Throne, will serve to establish it the more firmly; since all Europe must know the Unanimous Zeal and Affection of his Subjects for the Defence and Support of his Person and Government; and those Hopes are at last extinguished with which the Pretender had so long flattered, and (as it now appears) deceived himself: Even the Manner in which he has been assisted by those Powers who encouraged him to the Attempt, must convince him, that he has now been, what he ever will be, only the occasional Tool of their Politicks, not the real Object of their Care.

Gentlemen of the House of Commons,

I have the King's Commands to thank you, in his Name, for the Unanimity and Dispatch with which you have granted the necessary Supplies for the Support of the Establishment; you may depend upon their being applied with the utmost Exactness and Frugality.

I must not omit my own Acknowledgments for the particular Confidence you have placed in me, by leaving to my Care and Management the great Sum that you have voluntarily voted for National Arms, and for the fortifying the Harbour of Corke; the considerable Saving which will appear upon these two Articles, as well in the Interest upon the Loan, as in the Application of the Principal, will, I hope, prove that I have been truly sensible of the Trust reposed in me.

The Assistance which you have given to the Protestant Charter Schools, is a most prudent as well as a most compassionate Charity; and I do very earnestly recommend to your constant Protection and Encouragement that excellent Institution, by which such a considerable Number of unhappy Children are annually rescued from the Misery that always, and the Guilt that commonly accompanies uninstructed Poverty and Idleness.

My Lords and Gentlemen,

Though Great Britain has, in the course of this Century, been often molested by Insurrections at Home, and Invasions from Abroad, this Kingdom has happily and deservedly enjoyed that uninterrupted Tranquility, which Trade and Manufactures, Arts and Sciences, require for their Improvement and Perfection. Nature too has been peculiarly favourable to this Country, whose temperate Climate, and fruitful Soil, do invite, and would reward Care and Industry. Let me therefore most earnestly recommend to you, in your private as well as in your publick Capacities, the utmost Attention to those important Subjects, which at once enrich, strengthen, and adorn a Nation. They will flourish wherever they are cultivated, and they are always best cultivated by the Indulgence, the Encouragement, and, above all, by the Example of Persons of superior Rank.

I cannot conclude, without repeating my heartiest Thanks to you for your kind Address, in which you express your Approbation of my Conduct. My Duty to the King, who wishes the Interest and Happiness of all his Subjects, called for my utmost Endeavours to promote yours; and my Inclinations concurred with my Duty. These Sentiments shall, I assure you, be the only Motives of all my Actions, of which your Interest must consequently be the only Object.