and the sum was not voted. The completion of the bridge was a matter of urgent necessity, and the King at the advice of Lord Hertford granted £600 from the Hereditary Revenue for the purpose. The conduct of Lord Hertford was now made the object of a patriotic resolution. It was moved "That any application to His Majesty to grant money for any purpose which shall have been under the consideration of this House, and which shall have been refused to be provided by this House, will be considered as highly improper and deserving the censure of this House."[1] This motion was no sooner carried than a motion was proposed by Mr. Poer: "That the several branches of the public revenue of this kingdom not appropriated by Parliament have been from time to time granted to the Crown for public uses."[2] All the thorny points involved in the struggle of 1753 were thereby re-opened without the slightest necessity. It was at the same time industriously circulated that the Septennial Bill would not be returned by the English Privy Council,[3] and a motion with regard to the Pension List was threatened.[4] "My account," said Townshend summing up the situation, "will convince your Lordship that Lord Shannon and the three other gentlemen I have mentioned have now finally taken their part, which whether it is really to distress His Majesty's affairs, or only to alarm his Government so as the more effectually to carry their point, is more than I can tell, but I apprehend that the present temper of the House of Commons may in the meantime force them into such measures as must weaken, and perhaps make it impossible again to restore His Majesty's authority in this kingdom. … It is now therefore for your Lordship and the King's servants to consider to whom I am to resort, and whether it would be prudent for me to apply to those who are generally in opposition and are called the independent gentlemen of this country."[5]
