ABSTRACT

The debate against committing the Peerage Bill was one of the most important in the Commons during the reign of George I. A full assembly was present for the second reading, and several distinguished speeches were made during the afternoon and evening of 8 December 1719, that by Walpole, leader of the opposition, being one of the most effective he ever made. Steele’s speech, as it has come down to us, seems to have been made from notes taken from his Letter to Oxford, which had been published in the forenoon. Steele had been a member for Boroughbridge, Yorkshire, since 1715. The division was made late in the evening, and the Bill was defeated by a large majority. For further comment on the Peerage Bill, see the Introduction to the Plebeians. Textual notes on p. 649.