The court being apprised of their intention, prorogued the parliament till the seventh day of December, in expectation of the Scottish peers, who would cast the balance in favour of the ministry.

In her speech, at the opening of the session, she told them that notwithstanding the arts of those who delighted in war, the place and time were appointed for a congress; and that the states-general had expressed their entire confidence in her conduct.
She declared her chief concern should be to secure the succession of the crown in the house of Hanover; to procure all the advantages to the nation which a tender and affectionate sovereign could procure for a dutiful and loyal people; and to obtain satisfaction for all her allies.
She observed, that the most effectual way to procure an advantageous peace, would be to make preparations for carrying on war with vigour.

She recommended unanimity, and prayed God would direct their consultations.

In the house of lords, the earl of Nottingham, who had now associated himself with the whigs, inveighed against the preliminaries as captious and insufficient, and offered a clause to be inserted in the address of thanks, representing to her majesty that, in the opinion of the house, no peace could be safe or honourable to Great Britain or Europe, if Spain and the West Indies should be allotted to any branch of the house of Bourbon.

A violent debate ensued, in the course of which the earl of Anglesea represented the necessity of easing the nation of the burdens incurred by an expensive war.