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He affirmed that none of these motives at present existed; that, in case the imperial crown should devolve to a minor, many mischiefs and disorders must ensue, as the constitutions of the empire have established no regulations nor regency in that event; that an election of this nature, carried on under the power, influence, and authority of the head of the empire, would strike at the fundamental privileges of the princes and states; consequently, in time overturn the constitution of the empire, which, from being an elective dignity, conferred by the free and independent suffrages of the electoral college and states of Germany, under certain capitulations, obliging the prince thus chosen to govern according to law, would become an hereditary succession, perpetuated in one family, which of course must be aggrandized to the prejudice of its co-estates, and the ruin of the Germanic liberties.
His imperial majesty expressed his hope and confidence, that the other electors, princes, and states of the empire, would vote the said resolution to be null and of no force; and never suffer so small a number of states, who were adherents of, and abettors to, the disturbers of the empire, to prejudice the rights and prerogatives of the whole Germanic body; to abuse the name of the associated states of the Augsburgh confession, in order forcibly to impose a factum entirely repugnant to the constitution of the empire; to deprive their co-estates of the right of voting freely, and thereby endeavouring totally to subvert the system of the Germanic body.
He owned, that, in quality of king, he had sent over English troops to Germany, and taken possession of Embden; steps for which he was accountable to no power upon earth, although the constitutions of the empire permit the co-estates to make use of foreign troops, not indeed for the purpose of invasion or conquest in Germany, but for their defence and preservation.
They observed, that other dominions, electorates, and principalities in Germany, were secured by the constitutions of the empire, as well as by fair and equal alliances with their co-estates; whereas Hanover stood solitary, like a hunted deer avoided by the herd, and had no other shelter but that of shrinking under the extended shield of Great Britain: that the reluctance expressed by the German princes to undertake the defence of these dominions, flowed from a firm persuasion, founded on experience, that England would interpose as a principal, and not only draw her sword against the enemies of the electorate, but concentrate her chief strength in that object, and waste her treasures in purchasing their concurrence; that exclusive of an ample revenue drained from the sweat of the people, great part of which had been expended in continental efforts, the whole national debt incurred, since the accession of the late king, had been contracted in pursuance of measures totally foreign to the interest of these kingdoms: that, since Hanover was the favourite object, England would save money, and great quantities of British blood, by allowing France to take possession of the electorate, paying its ransom at the peace, and indemnifying the inhabitants for the damage they might sustain; an expedient that would be productive of another good consequence, it would rouse the German princes from their affected indifference, and oblige them to exert themselves with vigour, in order to avoid the detested neighbourhood of such an enterprising invader.
This monarch had set himself up as a balance to the power of the house of Austria, which had long aspired to absolute dominion over its co-estates, and endeavoured to establish an hereditary right of succession to the empire; he therefore employed all his influence to frustrate the measure proposed, either actuated by a spirit of pure patriotism, or inspired with designs which he had not yet thought proper to declare.
He also acknowledged that he had resented the conduct, and chastised the injustice, of those co-estates who had assisted his enemies, and helped to ravage his dominions; inferring, that if the crown of France was free to pillage the estates of the duke of Brunswick and the landgrave of Hesse-Cassel, because they had supplied the king of England with auxiliaries; if the empress-queen had a right to appropriate to herself half of the contributions raised by the French king in these countries; surely his Britannic majesty had an equal right to make those feel the burden of the war who had favoured the unjust enterprises of his enemies.
It is only as to consequences that I enter my caveat against the too frequent use of those terms on this floor; for there is meaning in those words, 'empire state, when used among co-estates, more than meets the ear. And, by the terms of the resolution, I should presume my friends from New York think there is a little more dignity and power in forty representatives than only one."
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