into any detail on the present occasion, and the example set him by the hon. gentleman should not even then tempt him to do so. He was, however, anxious to guard them against the erroneous notion which the right hon. gentleman seemed to have fallen into, of his having entered into any detail which he wished at present to avoid. Leaving it then under this explanation, as to his having attempted to go into any detail he should merely add, that with respect to the proceeding itself, he should, on the appointed day, endeavour to persuade the committee, that the measure which he should have the honour of proposing, could not prove either derogatory to the royal dignity, insulting to the Prince of Wales, or inconsistent with the integrity of the constitution.-These three objects were the grounds on which the right hon. gentleman rested his objections to the measure which he should have the honour to propose to the house, and he did not despair of being able to shew that that measure, so far from having any tendency to insult the feelings of a Prince, whose honour and whose interests were as dear to him as to any member of that house, would be better calculated to secure the Majesty of the throne, the true interests of the Prince of Wales, now and at all future times, and the true principles of the constitution, than the mode which had been recommended by the right hon. gentleman.

After a few words from Mr. W. Adam, Mr. Perceval, and Mr. Whitbread, the question was then put for the house to resolve itself into a committee on the state of the nation, on Thursday next, and carried unanimously.

On the motion of Mr. Perceval, the call of the house for Wednesday was discharged, and renewed for Thursday; to which day the house adjourned. Thursday, Dec. 20.

STATE OF THE NAJION AND KING'S
ILLNESS.

The order for the call of the house being read, Mr. Perceval moved for a call of the house on that day se'unight and that the defaulters be then ordered into custody.-Agreed to.-The house then went into a committee on the state of the nation.

Mr. Perceval observed, that it was mipossible to contemplate without the most heart-rendering sorrow the melancholy situation of the Sovereign,-Who

for half a century had been a blessing to his people.-A Sovereign who had in fact incessantly watched over their prosperity and happiness, and had devoted the whole of his life to their interests. He was sure there was not a heart in the house or in the country which did not sympathise in these feelings. But however legitimate their sorrow, that should not make the house forget its duties; the executive power was interrupted, and it was their bounden duty to supply the deficiency. The country was now in the same situation in which it was in 1788, when a bill had been introduced to supply the deficiency in the executive. With such a precedent before them, they need not wander in the dark; and be therefore should now submit the following propositions to the house:

1st. That it is the opinion of this house, "That his Majesty is prevented by his present indisposition from coming to his parliament, and from attending to public business, and that the personal exercise of the royal authority is thereby for the present, interrupted."

2d. That it is the opinion of this house, "That it is the right and duty of the Lords, spiritual and temporal, and Comanons of Great Britain, now assembled, and lawfully, fully, and freely representing all the estates of the people of this realm, to provide the means of supplying the defect of the personal exercise of the royal authority, arising from his Majesty's said indisposition, in such a manner as the exigency of the case may appear to require."

3d. "That for this purpose, and for maintaining entire the constitutional authority of the King, it is necessary that the said Lords spiritual and temporal, and Commons of Great Britain, should determine on the means whereby the royal assent may be given in parliament to such bill as may be passed by the two houses of parliament respecting the exercise of the powers and authorities of the crown, in the name and on the behalf of the King during the continuance of his Majesty's present indisposition.

On the first and second propositions, Mr. Perceval expected little or no difference of opinion. But it had been intimated by gentlemen, that they meaut to propose an address instead of a bill, and this, he supposed, would be the chief subject for debate. He should state however what further measures he

sentiments, he knew, the gentlemen opposite completely coincided, but the more exalted the Prince's character deservedly was, the more the house should be cautioned how they should establish a precedent under that sanction. There was no part of the propositions which he had taken the liberty of submitting to the house, which could with fairness be denominated unconstitutional or incompatible with the ultimate interests of the country. However grating it might be to the feelings of his royal highness, for whom no man entertained a more profound respect than himself, if even he accorded with the sentiments of the right hon. gentlemen opposite as to the expediency of granting to his royal highness a full and complete power without the slightest restraint, he yet felt himself bound to say, that if that power was to be given, it had much better be given by bill than by address. Upon these considerations it was, he should take the liberty of proposing to the committee the resolutions which he had read in the early part of his speech, and which he should then place in the hands of the chairman.

The first resolution was then read from the chair, and passed without a dissentient voice.

On the question being put upon the second resolution,

Sir F. Burdett contended that if the house was a full and fair representation of the people, they would not follow old precedents, upon an occasion so nearly concerning the very existence of the constitution, without, in the first instance, having some conference with their constituents. Much had been said by the right hon. gentleman upon the nature of the question. He had said that it was not the principle but the fact upon which the house had to decide; and as to the expediency of the fact, he said there was no doubt, because the house was a full and fair representation of the coun try-that fact, however, he (Sir F. Burdett) would most distinctly deny. When the number of improprieties of which the house had been guilty, and which had brought them so generally into disrepute, was considered, it ill became then to pass such resolutions as were then be fare them. It could not be forgotten that during the last sessions it bad been offered to be proved at the bar of the house, that 150 peers and 144 members of the house of Commons were returned

by ministerial influence-(Loud coughing, and other interruptions, were here heard from all parts of the house.) — He was not surprised that gentlenen were unwilling to hear their own integrity called in question; they had, however, been guilty of conduct WHICH LOST THEM THE CONFIDENCE OF THE COUNTRY, and with this firm conviction on his mind, which no clamour could remove, he felt it his duty to protest against the proceedings proposed. It had been said that the present melancholy state of the country was analogous to that of the year 1668, and upon this proposition all the measures which were deemed proper at that period were again brought forward. In his estimation the house had not to reason upon the analogy, but upon the emergency of the case. What were the facts at the time of the Revolution? The incapacity of the reigning king was admitted: that incapacity did not however arise from illness, but from a despotic exercise of those laws which were meant for the protection, and not for the destruction of the people. Upon this ground, it was deemed expedient to supply his place, not by a regent, trammelled by the chains of a designing ministry, but possessed with full powers, to act according to the best of his judgment for the welfare of the state. At the present crisis, the incapacity of the sovereign was admitted, arising from an affliction which was universally and sincerely lamented. The right hon. gentleman had said that the throne was not vacant. If this assertion was true, why did he not prove it by some act of the executive power? In truth there was little or no difference between the state of the country, as it was at the present moment destitute of a king, and its state at the time of the Revolution. It was equally necessary that the kingly office should be filled, not by a regent circumscribed in his powers, but by one, in the full possession of all those means, which the King himself, when competent to the discharge of his duties, possessed. He did not in fact see how the right hon. gentleman could contend, that by the adoption of the measures proposed the house would not be totally subverting the constitution. In 1688, the opinion of the citizens of London and of a large body of the country was considered essential before the measures then adopted were carried into effect, whereas upon the present occa•

sion there had not been any appeal whatever beyond the members of the house. At their will alone was an act to be performed, in which the vital interests of the nation were so deeply concerned. He could not witness such conduct without feelings of the greatest indignation. When he took a retrospect of past events, he only was amazed at the presumption with which the house was about to act. Could he forget, or could the world forget, that it was in evidence before the house, that members had been turned out of their seats for not voting in favour of the views of the right hon. gentleman? Could he forget that a noble lord, and even the right honourable gentleman himself, had been publicly accused of bartering the patronage of government for seals in parliament ? Could he forget that the house of Commons allowed a public accountant, Lord Melville, to refuse, with the utmost effrontry, to give an account of his disposition of the public money?—And yet the catalogue of their offences did not terminate there. The disgraceful result of the Inquiry into the fatal Expedition to Walcheren, gave new grounds for public animadversion, and excited new causes for regarding the parliament with distrust.--He had heard various terms of odium applied to different parliaments. -There was the Long Parliament, the Rump Parliament, and so forth-and some years hence, he had no doubt, the present parliament would be stigmatised with the name of the Walcheren Parliament. However impetuous former parliaments might have been in their course towards the loss of public confidence, the rapid strides of corruption of late years were beyond comparison. With respect to the mode of constituting the regent as proposed by the right hon. gentleman, it could fairly be said, that he was pursuing the same course with the faction of 1788, that was to say, with a due regard to the places and emoluments of himself and his colleagues! Were it proposed to appeal to the kingdom upon the expediency of the plan to be followed, it would be immediately answered, that it was intended to introduce jacobins and demagogues. He could only say that he knew no other jacobinical opinions upon the subject than Judges Blackstone and Coke. The latter, in his Lex et Consuetudo Parliamenti, clearly pointed out the right of the people to judge in all cases where

their own interests were concerned. Although the Prince might have no more right than any other individual to become regent, how much less right had the house of Commons to appoint & person to that office? Nothing could be more reasonable than placing the power, which was deficient in the state, in the hands of him to whom it would go by le gal course, and to render that power effectual, it should be given without any of those restrictions, the imposition of which would only give rise to difficulties which would prevent its due exercise. If the king had too much power, it should be reduced; but if no more power exis ted than was necessary, it would be as improper to take it from the regent as from the king. The right hon. gentleman had passed but cursorily over the report of the physicians, with a remark, that the deduction to be drawn from it, the incapacity of the king, was so evident, that it required no comment. There was one important fact, however, which did not seem to have attracted attention, and that was, that from the whole report, no fair conclusion could be drawn, that from 1788 his majesty had any substantial remission of his disorder; relapses had been heard of, and the public had been deceived. The right hon. gentleman had said, that the house was not called upon to make a king-He (Sir F. Burdett) was not of opinion that they were; but the learned gentleman wanted to make a king which he might carty about in his pocket, regardless of the consequences which must result to a nation, already weighed down by afilictions drawn on its devoted head by the imbecility of that right hon. gentleman and his compeers! If the regency was given to his royal highness the Prince of Wales, he knew no man more likely to gain the confidence of the people, nor did he believe there was one more competent to discharge the inportant duties which would devolve upon him. But if he was appointed, it was indispensable that he should be possessed of full powers to act as the interests of the country might require, without any of those injurious restrictions which must only involve him in the greatest difficulties. In reverting to the report of the physicians, he perceived that their opinions varied as to the time at which the King became unfit to perform the functions of his office; and in fact, after a close perusal of the whole

detail, he conceived, if a regency took place at all, it ought to be permanent. This opinion be formed from the physicians having ascribed many of his Majesty's relapses to political subjects. At a period like the present, therefore, when every succeeding day afforded some new and extraordinary, if not calamitous incidents, it did not appear likely that so firm and well establishment of his Majesty's faculties could take place, as would warrant him in taking upon himself the difficult task of government; and to suffer the government to remain exposed longer to the weakness of the present ministers, WOULD BE TREASON TO THE COUNTRY. He could not sit down without noticing the delay of five or six weeks, occasioned by the usual policy of the right hon. gentleman. What was theu to be done might have been done upon the first day of the meeting of parliament. He thought the whole a miserable shain, calculated to stab the vital interests of the country; to patch up an oligarchy, and to var nish with form that which, if it appeared in its true colours, would be spurned with contempt. With these sentiments he should protest against all the proceedings of the right hon. gentleman.

The question on the second resolution was then carried.—After which the third resolution was put.

Mr. Ponsonby considered the proceedings of 1788 unconstitutional. The right hon. gentleman's proposition was, that the house had the power to provide a remedy in the present case, and that the proper mode was by bill-a mode implying the consent of the three estates of King, Lords, and Commons. The Commons were then to proceed to supply the deficiency of the royal authority by a mode requiring the royal assent, while the very ground on which they proceeded at all, was that there was no King to give that assent! Incapacity was to be made capable, and derange ment rational! Were they rational? Could they be regarded as in their sound senses, when they sat in serious deliberation upon such a proposition? Let no protestant smile at the absurdity of the Roman catholic who believes in the doctrine of transubstantiation in opposition to the evidence of his senses, when he sees a grave legislature asserting that the assent of the King was necessary to an act, the foundation of which was, that there was no King by

whom that assent could be given. Be that the right hon. gentieman's mode of proceeding, but he hoped he had not eloquence enough to persuade the house to embrace so palpable an absurdity. To any restrictions on his royal highness at this time of day, he should also highly object. He was come to that time of life seldom attained y kings when they mounted their throes. If at the age of 48 years he was not fit to be trusted with power, he should be afraid that he never would be fit. The right hon. gentleman talked of the long and happy reign of his Majesty. But were we now in that state of security and even of greatness and grandeur which we fortunately enjoyed at the time his Majesty came to the throne? And did we contemplate in those gentlemen on the opposite benches persons capable of extricating us out of our dif ficulties? Or had we not rather to dread from their imbecility and weakness that we shall be planged still more deeply in calamity? He dared to say the right hon. gentleman considered himself to be one of the blessings of the present reign, and hoped that the measure which he now recommended to the adoption of the house, would be one of the means of continuing this great bles sing for some time longer to the country. He concluded by moving,

"That an humble address be presented to his royal highness the Prince of Wales, requesting that his royal highness will be pleased to take upon him, during the indisposition of the King, and no longer, the government of this realm; and administer the same in the name and in the behalf of his Majesty, under the style and title of Regent of the united kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

Mr. Canning said, that he must support the proposition of his right hou. friend (Perceval) seeing an authority al together in point in favour of that mode of proceeding, and not being satisfied that in addressing the Prince the house should exercise transcendant power. As to limitations on the Prince of Wales, at least as to the disposal of places and pensions, he was not pre pared to say that he approved of any such, as things were now situated. Ile did not wish to see the hand of govern ment weakened. There was no party in this country in 1788, which would have availed itself of the circumstance