VOL. XXI. No. 8.] LONDON, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1812.

[Price 1s.

"But," say the Whigs, " at the end of the year the Restrictions expire." Yes; so they do; but, a year is a long while; many things happen in a year; and, if all other matters hold together 'till next "February, Mr. Perceval must be a very lame man indeed, if he be not much more powerful then than "he now is, and if the Prince have not much stronger reasons for keeping him in than he has now had " for choosing him."- -Political Register, Vol. XIX. page 311, Feb. 6th, 1811.

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No. I.

THE NEW ERA."

In my Register before the last I took occasion to express my surprise, that any rational man should expect to see the cessation of the Restrictions attended with any material change in the mode of conduct ing our affairs, or in the men by whom those affairs were conducted. I could see, for my part, no reason whatever for any such expectation; because, as to all the changes that were talked of, the Prince had had the power to make them at any time after he became Regent, and, as to the impediments (feigned by the Opposition Prints) to the exercise of that power, they were such, it appeared to me, as could have grown out of nothing but the most delusive hopes. This opinion of mine did not, however, stand in need of any trial to create or confirm it. I entertained it from the moment that the Prince, last year at this time, resolved to keep Mr. Perceval in his place; and, as my Motto will shew, I was not tardy in expressing it. In the article, from which this motto is extracted, I told the fortune of the Whigs. They will do well to turn to it now; and when they perceive with what scrupulous exactness my predictions have been thus far fulfilled, they will, perhaps, be the more disposed to listen to what I shall by-and-by say as to their future fate. But, before we come to speak of their destiny, we have divers other matters to treat of; for, we are now upon a subject upon which the future historian of these times will dwell with particular emphasis; we have now before us matters to which probably he will refer as being the source of some great events the consequences of which he will have to record. It will, therefore, be of great use to take a rapid sketch of the Party history of his Royal Highness the Prince Regent, as far as it has been made known in authentic documents, or has been made matter of perfect notoriety from all those acts which justify

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men in drawing conclusions as to party connections.

It is, then, perfectly notorious, that his Royal Highness was, for many years, from the time, indeed, that he began to have a weight in political matters, looked upon as having a decided partiality for that set of politicians, or that political party, at the head of whom was the late Mr. Fox; and, I will venture to say, that, from the year 1786 to the the year 1811, there was scarcely a man in the kingdom, who did not look upon it as a matter of course, that, in case of the king's death, that party would come into power; that, in short, this was looked upon as a thing nearly as certain as the descent of any inheritance of landed property. Lord Moira, the Duke of Norfolk, the Duke of Bedford, Lord Erskine, Mr. Sheridan, and all others, the Prince's particular friends belonged to that party, and, indeed, they belong to it still. That he, therefore, had a decided bias towards that description of politicians the public naturally believed; indeed, not to have believed it they must have formed opinions in direct opposition to the evidence of their eyes and ears; because all they had seen and all they had heard for so many years tended to a confirmation of the fact.

When, therefore, the king was seized with his present wretched malady, in the year 1810, on the anniversary of his accession to the throne, the Whig party, for such they chose to call themselves, that being a name given to the real friends of freedom in the days of the Charleses and the Jameses; the Whig Party, who had. been ousted by the present ministers under the cry of no-popery, began to think that their turn was at hand. As the king's malady increased, they entertained. stronger and stronger hopes of a speedy return to the powers and honours of admis nistration. With these delicious prospects in view, they strenuously opposed the Re strictions, which the ministry were endea vouring to impose upon the powers of the

Prince when he should be Regent, regarding it as a matter of course, that they were to be his advisers, and not liking to have the powers of the state abridged in their hands. The ministry did, however, suc ceed. Their partizans were more nume. rous than those of the Whigs. Whether from possessing a finer nose and being able to scent events at a greater distance, or, from whatever other hidden cause I know not; but certainly, the Minister, during all the discussions about the Regency, was remarkably bold, and inspired his adherents with a similar quality.

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"sent a message to Lord Grenville and "Lord Grey, at a late hour on Friday “ night, announcing to them his determi"nation not to make any change of Mi"nisters at this time. The message was "conveyed by Mr. Adam and Lord Hut"chinson, and was expressed in the most "handsome terms of approbation of their con"duct, and of thanks for the readiness with "which they had yielded to his request to form "an arrangement, if circumstances should "make it proper for him to interpose his own judgment, as to the fit and wise system of “ neasures to be pursued on the present alarmIn the mean while, the Prince Regent had, "ing condition of our affairs; and conit was said, charged Lords Grey and Gren- cluding with a declaration of his unabated ville with the business of forming a ministry for "confidence in their wisdom and ability, to him, which business they had undertaken, "conduct the Administration upon principles and they were proceeding in it, with great "the most advantageous to the Crown and alacrity, when, all of a sudden, they re- "People. This intimation will be received ceived an intimation from him, that he had "with real satisfaction by the friends of determined not to make any change at all in “ those Noble Lords, who must all feel the ministry! This was a most unexpected "with them that nothing but a sense of stroke to the Whigs; yet they thought it imperious duty could have induced them prudent to put the best possible face upon "to enter into office in the dilemma created the matter, and, with that view they pub-"by a temporary defect in the Royal lished, in the Morning Chronicle of 4th February, 1811, the reasons, why the Prince had adopted this apparently strange resolution. It was here stated, that the Prince had all along, agreeably to the advice of the Whig Lords, determined to ascertain, before lie made any change in the ministry, whether there was any probability of his father's speedy recovery; and that if he found, that there was such probability, it was better to suffer even an erroneous system to be pursued for a few months, than to change and change it required for the re-election of those who back again for so short a space of time. "must have vacated their seats, and for After stating this, the article goes on thus: "the re-establishment of the routine of "This examination has actually taken" office-a delay which certainly might place at Carleton House. The Physi- "be productive of more serious calamity "cians have been severally and succes- "than what can be conceived probable "sively examined by the Prince's Chan- " from the perseverance in the system, "cellor, in the presence of his Royal" until the hopes held out by the phyHighness; and we understand, that the "sicians shall be realized; or until time "result of that enquiry is, that though "shall have destroyed these hopes. It is they cannot speak with any greater "a moment too, when public business of degree of certainty than at their exami- "the most urgent nature calls for instant “ nations before the two Houses, as to the | “ prosecution-and we need not add that "precise time when it may be expected "it is a moment when, whatever may "that his Majesty could safely return to "have been the rashness or the folly of "the exercise of his Royal functions," embarking in the career of the present "whether it is probable that he should be "system, it is too late to interrupt its "able to return at the end of two months" march, or even to avert its issue-and "or of three months, yet they all concur "in expressing their confident belief in "his ultimate recovery. In consequence "of this opinion, we understand, the Prince"

Authority. Three months, the most inportant perhaps that have ever occurred "in our history, have already passed under a total suspension of the functions of government-and another month must necessarily have been added to the delay, if the Prince had yielded to the patriotic sentiment of his mind, and "recurred all at once to the principles

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upon which he thinks the Administra"tion would be most beneficially con-' "ducted. So much time would have been

"above all, we are sure the whole nation will concur in respecting and applauding the filial and affectionate motives of reverence to his Royal Father, which have

"influenced his Royal Highness to take | due to his own CONSISTENCY AND "this step--The noble lords, we understand, "received the intimation in a way correspond ❝ing with their high character and their just "sense of the public interests. They had the "honour of a long audience of the Prince at "Carleton House yesterday, when he was « GRACIOUSLY PLEASED PERSON

"ALLY TO RENEW THE ASSU"RANCES OF HIS PERFECT ESTEEM " AND CONFIDENCE.”

This was the light in which the matter was then placed before the public; and, indeed, when the Letter of the Prince to Mr. Perceval, upon that occasion, came to be published, this appeared to have been the light, in which the Whigs were justified in viewing it. That Letter was as follows, and the reader will do well to pay attention to every word of it.

Letter of the Prince Regent to Mr. Perceval, dated, Carlton House, 4 February, 1811. The Prince of Wales considers the moment to be arrived, which calls for his decision with respect to the persons to be employed by him, in the administration of the Executive Government of the Country, according to the Powers vested in him by the Bill passed by the two Houses of Parliament, and now on the point of receiving the sanction of the Great Seal.

HONOUR, the Prince has only to add, that, among the many blessings to be derived from his Majesty's restoration to health, and to the personal exercise of his Royal Functions, it will not, in the Prince's estimation, be the least, that that most fortunate event will at once RESCUE HIM FROM A SITUATION OF UNEXAMPLED EMBARRASSMENT, and put an end to a state of affairs, ILL CALCULATED, HE FEARS, TO SUSTAIN THE INTERESTS OF THE UNITED KINGDOM, in this awful and perilous crisis, and most difficult to be reconciled to the genuine principles of the British Constitution.

Thus stood the matter in February last. The Prince retained the ministry of his father; but, as the letter clearly implies, his father, and because he feared, that, his only because they were the ministry of putting them out might possibly retard his father's recovery. From this it was by the Whigs understood, that he would not have kept the ministers, if there had

been no fair probability of his father's recovery, and even of his speedy recovery; and that he was extremely impatient to remain, for even a short space of time, in this situation. The language of the Opposition prints perfectly corresponded with these notions. When the first Council Meeting of the Prince Regent had taken place, the Morning Chronicle, the organ of the Whig Party, spoke of the situation of the ministers, in these terms:- We cannot view "the melancholy and almost ridiculous "situation in which the King's Ministers "are placed at this moment, without

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The Prince feels it incumbent upon him, at this precise juncture, to communicate to Mr. Perceval his intention not to remove from their stations those whom he finds there, as his Majesty's official servants. At the same time the Prince owes it to THE TRUTH AND SINCERITY OF CHARACTER, which, he trusts, will appear IN EVERY ACTION OF HIS LIFE, in whatever situation placed, explicitly to declare, that the irresistible impulse of.. filial duty and AFFECTION TO HIS BELOVED AND AFFLICTED FATHER, leads him to dread that any act of the Regent might, in the smallest degree, have the effect of interfering with the progress of his Sovereign's recovery. THIS CON-" means of rendering their situations beSIDERATION ALONE dictates the decision now communicated to Mr. Perceval. Having thus performed an act of indispensible duty, from a just sense of what

feelings of real and undivided pity. Mi"nisters without confidence, the jest of "Windsor, of Carlton House, and of their. own friends, distrusted even by their own retainers, who consider them only as "upon sufferance, how can we in common humanity refuse them our sincere com"passion With all the responsibility, all "the trouble and all the plague of Go«vernment, they possess none of the

"neficial to the public, grateful to their "friends, or formidable to their enemies. ".........We again state as a fact which "we know cannot be disputed, that in the is" Council Chamber the Prince Regent I 2

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"shewed the strongest and most flattering | We are now drawing to the close of the "marks of his favour and of kindness to all drama; the unravelling of the whole "those connected with the men known to pos- thing; and, more complete disappoint"sess his confidence, whilst to the King's ment, surely, never was experienced, "ministers and their adherents, his de- The parliament being summoned to meet portment, always gracious, because to at a time rather more early than usual, it none can it be other than gracious, was concluded, that the object was to give "marked to all who were present, as well time for just making preparations for the "as to themselves, the distance at which he change that was to take place on the 18th "meant to hold them, and the terms upon instant. As that day approached, expec"which be permitted them to continue tation became more and more vivid. "the government; and lest they should About the 10th it was in every body's "mistake him, he gave away the first mouth, that a total change had been re"thing which came within his gift, with- solved on, and that all the arrangements "out communication with them, and in were made. But, about this time, Mr. "direct opposition to their known inten- Perceval wrote into the City to make pro"tions and wishes. We repeat, that the positions for the funding of Exchequer Bills, "audiences of Mr. Perceval and of the a measure which it would naturally take "other Ministers did not exceed two mi- some weeks to carry into execution. This "nutes each, with the exception of the would have been decisive with me, if my "Lord Chancellor, whom his Royal High-mind had not been before made up on the "ness detained whilst he communicated to “him that he would not go down to Parlia"ment to read the Speech written by Ministers "who did not possess his confidence. For the "truth of this statement we are ready to "make any appeal the Ministerial Newspapers may require. We are ready even "to appeal to the Lord Chancellor's con"science."

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subject. Still, however, people kept on expecting a change. The Marquis Wellesley, we were told, had tendered his resignation, and that the Prince desired him to keep the seals of his office, 'till the expiration of the Restrictions. This was regarded as conclusive in favour of the expected change; and the offer to make a bargain about the Exchequer Bills was Under these representations, true or forgotten, though that alone might have false, how could the public. refrain from convinced any one, that the Minister lookbelieving, that, as soon as it was ascertained upon the duration of his power as quite ed, that the king's case was without hope, the Prince would turn out the ministers ? I, indeed, endeavoured to guard the public against such belief; I spared no pains to accomplish that object; but, as in too many other instances, I failed of success; and the people in general did certainly expect, that something would be done, when the Restrictions should cease. As the time went on this became less and less likely; for, if the Prince made no change when it was, in July last, ascertained, that there was no probability of the king's recovery, what reason was there to expect, that he would make any material change now? Still, however, the notion prevailed. The people did expect, that he would do something; and, by doing something, they meant that he would make some material change in the system upon which the nation's affairs had been conducted, which, of course, ineluded a change of the ministry. How they could expect this after what they had seen in the re-appointment of the Duke of York and the appointment of Colonel McMahon, I know not; but still, certain it is that they did expect it.

On the 13th, however, during the debate on Mr. Whitbread's motion for papers relating to the dispute with America, the hopes of the Whigs received a blow that staggered them. Mr. CURWEN, the very gentleman who first proclaimed the necessity of rallying round this minister and supporting him in his measures against Sir Francis Burdett, in the Spring of 1810, having let fall some expressions predict ing a speedy destruction of the minister's power, Mr. Perceval answered, that the golden dreams of his opponents would, he imagined, not prove to be well founded. This was a heavy blow. It threw the whole party into consternation. It made them reel. They did, nevertheless, appear to "rally" again on the 15th, and they went so far as to tell the public, that Mr. Perceval had explained his words before he left the House on the 13th. On the 16th, however, the truth could no longer be disguised. It was then known, that the minister was to remain in, and the Opposition prints were reluctantly com. pelled to acknowledge the fact.

As the Restrictions on the Exercise of the Royal Authority will shortly expire, when I must make my arrangements for the future administration of the powers with which I am invested, I think it right to communicate to you those sentiments which I was withheld from expressing at an early period of the Session, by my earnest desire that the expected motion on the Affairs of Ireland might undergo the deliberate discussion of Parliament, un-every measure which can lead my Allies mixed with any other consideration.