Star. — London, England, 1811-01-01 00:00:00

- . • i" Regencf; $0.44.11i iiiliniory to preseree s., 6,,eiei t t spleinlowspr st Itistet j .tspbroken and utulimix lobelia lestre v wad eitch,pei.it had appeared in the , ' a ce of all, no tioneaierst *yea, it had lately appeared, lethe .eyes of iisseiltprewebs, Oohed run into our; tusloFxertige. hie *arm alone would use, and stria:ay bestow. His . -Lordship obaerved, that if ny limitations were put on the Regent to prevent 1I im using the Household establishment of his Ma.' este, it wpul4 wake him seem weals, and onlir'a ' o.e dow of that authority which he possess,ed.— 'ere all this pnt into the hands of her, Majesty, ue Regent must then set pp one of his own, and at tie own costs. This, whenever his Majesty's nea r iteredwouldl.eoverthrewu, Dna the Prince would then retain nothing for haying exercised the functions of Rpyalty, but the heavy expenses which they had en al',,ed on him. It was much to be lamented that the louses of Parliament. should ever have had need o meet for the melancholy purpose of electing a R:2- rent, or even have had such hard matters todiscuss ~,the questions on the Regency. His Lordship con laded by observing, he considered it particularly lard that a Prince called upon to supply the defies •ncies of the Legislature, on the precarious tenure tf an:t lar's recovery, and consequent restimption, hould be demised of the use of his Majesty's 'tease. ol t iefpr the few we'4s that this authority might live. e senuld therelOre give it as his resolution tp vote, hat along with the office of Regent, the Prince should; ave the command of his Majesty's household oleo, Lord KENSINGTON was surprised to hear the cil 'oble Lord (Castlereagh) assert, that he supported the Resolutions on Constitutional grounds : for bis, art, lie warmly approved of the Amendment whi ~ ad been proposed, raa the very etute prineiPleXThey tad on a former day passed three Resolutions,•4ne of toNhich stated that they should keep the Royal Po w er rwire; and yet. F.otwitlistanding this, they were then , 'galled upon to parcel it out by the Right llonourablel Gentleman opposite. Different attribotts weregiven to the three Estates. On the King was conferred rrerogatise—tilt the Peers certain Pp - ,vcrs and Privi kites—and that House had.also its , Powers and i ts , Privileges ; but they were all derived from the camel *mace—the People. And he would pot it to the, 'l';3,ouse, whether, when the Monarch was afflicted with indisposition, they had a right to abrogate is Prerogatives t He trusted, that they woald , k with a jealous eye at what was done that, bight, when a most unconstitutional measure was brought before them by Ministers: but he did not; *tone at ;OnY thing attempted to be done by *tow who had kept the country without an efficient 1 ca T iernme l t for no less a period than eight , weeks.' . was a dangerous measure ,to change the King— but it was still worse to destroy his prerogative. If, be understood the Constitution rightly , the King could' lever diee--that is, hi; poteer and authority were al.: rays in being—but could that be said to be the case, a these restrictions were carried into effect ? The Right flnnourable Gentleman had stated, that they were providing for the Kingly Office for a short times d ip all the examinat;ons of his Majesty's physiei.: am, no one of them has pretended to state at what, time his Majesty's recovery enay be expected,: ;vea if it had been so, he should have lucked upon . ,as uttre medical prediction—which was freqp most fallacious, paetieularly in that species of dish with which his Majesty was afflicted. The Right liononrable Gentleman had told them, that if the /cities illness lasted for a 15nger period than it was eati:nable to expect it would, the ressrctions might $e dpne away—but be thought it much better not to press them at all, The Noble Lord had asserted, that there were no ;nu:oil:us in which the Regent ited without restriction—but but he denied the state. Gent—there were instances in which a council of Regency had been appointed, but the Kingly office better was abrogated,(Theedrrer.)—And , looking to the precedenre quoted, it would appear that no Re eat had ever been appointed, except in cases where he Ideir Apparent was not capable of acting. _That eing the case, he would ask the Noble Lord why he , itekhesl to restiict the Prince of Wales, sidle truss the pride of this country, and the gent, a 1 theme of admi ration through urope ?--(.Hear,4gals, Lear.) -With respect to thP precedent of 1788; he would Say, that. it was the' most gross political .error which ever Wes committed, and he wised it was erased from their Journals. The RightPnourable Gentleman eppoeite (Mr. Perc.eval) hid insinuated, that his Royal Highaess the Prince of Wales would, if poe. sensed of tmliinited power, use it improperly-40r. on that Absprnsiop alone could he come forward with al roposition . to reitrict his use of the Kingly preroga iye. He trusted that the House would, by carrying the prnpnsed amendment, take the :first step towards roviding offeettialli for the exigencies of the times— nel go on farther in the mode of proceeding recom ietended by that Right Honourable Gentleman.. It *as their dnt'y to form an efficient Administration— eau) he hopesi, that the first moment of his Majesty's. e e ceyery Would not unfrild to him, on the part of that , Bcose, a disttust of the Heir Apparent ; who, in the tense of natare, would probably govern these realms the mute. of a few T o m , Mr. LEACH wished to know on what the Right annirable. Gentleman oppposite built the Resolu ions which he bad now submitted to the House, and for which be *erected their concurrence. He had not • fraud a single authority in support of the principle ef.theie Resat:tines. Such a principle, to give it that snit term, which should entitle it to be acted on by that I kniest, could onlyltaiee its fOundation in the Common . L a . . F .• o f the ~,;.lid, cr. on the practice of. Parliament , I eereccii tag in an uninterrupted courtie 7 Now, a single I,rctedeet of modera times coulditaye rep such sanction. Stat supported: by more apcient authorities, it could renly toe regarded as the opinion of a particular set of st e er, try a particular occasion. These might be personsl deriroesoi doing their duty in Parliament, am: ustsuchi t`.eir opiniellaniglit be entitled to some weight, just in I t heir syay as the. shier decision of a Judge in a heart of,Law isheld to be on opiqinn of that learned eferenn opthepnint decided by hi.t u. But what ;:ttas the effect of airy such decision ? It war only erivrafirtjal isethorisy ou the sarhject, so as to put it ou the party calling ehe ektts in question, to slew that it wail Ipunded in fib.. The single precedent of that Houie I eetricl pat.etsed higher, than an unsupported decision •t e Cowrie( LA*. Let the case or the year 1 . 788 stand 84,jaigli, and oft this principle it must pn.nrailif, ) ' , a we - Wring Aver thii4 4 peas iouneed m. errors, •41* .088idaleate digit . tte fbautedrig.terer ; ee l s . . . -------e......a.,,,...........w ' p .in the pe . _• ~ - . . then he shmeld ge Pe consider it as if it had not leaped. This inquiry invoked first ii tpeesdiia of right ; !mit a question of expediency. First, it went to Smart the; right of the two Houses of Parliament to abridge thei Royal Authority. Such a. right must be built either i on the Statute 'Lanier Common Lart of the Lande - • or it must be founded on the authoriuf of some of the ' Text Writers, Who had delivered down to u; ph* was not ;o be found in the Records. Were them: any of these, he asked, which could be found to suppose the precedent on which the Right Hon. Gentleman now relied, es the ground-work of the Resolutions' now proposed by him / The Right Hon. Gentleman.. and those who supported his argument, contended that there were no instances of any persons being at any time. appointed Regent in which he was so appointed without limitations. These Gentlemen must, however, have thought very differently from what they read, He (Mr. Leach) had thought it his duty to apply his mind to this subject, not from any wish to serve one , party or another, but a Trustee for the liberties of the people ; and he had come to a.vere different cot.- elusion indeed, from that adopted by the Right Ho neurable Gentleman, The conclusion to which he had come was this, that Parliament at no time, when called on to supply the Royal Authority, had ever taken upon it to limit or restrict the full exercise of it. He did not see , that if it was deemed proper to appoint a Council along with the Regent that the :full exercise of the regal authority was in the Regent ; but he did assert, that no instance was to be found of elny restraint having been imposed on the exercise of the royal authority. The Noble Lord (Castlereagh) italked of eases of temporary absence of our Kinge.- .There, however, it was to beobserved, that the Re gents acted not by the appointment of the Parliament, but of the King. They were not there too, to exerelee ail the powers pf royalty, but only some of them which the King; themselves could not exercise, the remain. ing powers being to be discharged by the Kingi them selves. They were the Custodes Regni, the Substitetes of the * King, acting either expressly under his orders as to particular duties pointed out to them, Qr receive ing his instructions chile he was out of the country. This brought the Honourable and Learned Member.l to consider an objection of n most absurd kind, which' had been started on a former occasion, and which had, again Leen revived ens a former night's debate, during the agitation of the present question. The Right Ho nourable Gentleman gravely told the House, that the 1 Constitution of this country knew of no such name 40 that of Regent... It was of an uncertain definition, of , which the Constitution knew nothing. They found, in their acts mention made of the Custodes Regni, 1 the Guardians of the Crown,"&c. but nothing to mark out the Regent as a person on whom the duty of sup-i plying the Exectitive Powers of the State must de {solve in the event of their being at any time suspend. ed in the person of his Majesty. This doctrine, like many other great absurdities,, came pn the authority of a great man (Mr. Pitt.) In the Act of the 24th George 11. however, Gentlemen would find mention made of this very same uncertain name a Regent : ' And again, in the sth of George 111. this sante uncere tain name, and whatis still more, having the uncertain definition attached .to it, is to be found, in which it is described al importing Ale whole of the Royal Auth rity. The description of portion* pointed et by the e Right Honourable Gentleman and those who support. red his argument, far from being of the description of 'Regent, were no more than the substitutes of the rip appointed by him to execute some specific duty , which from absence:; or other cause, he might at the rime be. prevented from discharging in persone e -(//ear.)--, l'he Honourable Gentleman should now proceed to • a review of hur history, and see, if though Parliament , at tinseiesitpplied any deficienc.y arising in the excite the of the Kingly ( Power, they, ar the same time, 'bridged it. Olt the death of Edward IL when the young King was under the influence of the Queen end of Mortimer, it did net appear that any limitations were imposed on the Regent. On the Accession of Richard 11. ;on of Edward the Black Prince, a Coup- i of twelee eiereappOinted, having all the powers of. Government 'unlimited. On the death of Henry V. .first HuMphrey Duke Of Gloucester, and afterwards the puke of York, were appointed not Regent, but Peotectar or Defenspr, along with a Council of shorn they were only the head, and ip whoM, as a body, the full exercise of the Executive Power was vested. They were told, however, that though there was no defi ciency in the political, yet there was a deficiency in the , moral capacity of his M)jesty ; and that a necessity thus arose on the pa; t of the House to supply the want in the titig!, will. The necessity, however, which created the right limited it also. What ivas the limit thus imposed ?' To supply the King's will, Whom were they called on to aepeint for this ? The Prince of Wales. Ilea if the deficiency was thus supplied, was not the necessity setisfied and the duty ofe.he House ceinciaded ? Bet what did the Right Hon. Gentle man say to the House ? He told th'em not on;y. to supply the want of the King's will, but also to limit the authority of the King. The *lssuer was plaie,— . If there be a neeessity for supplying the want of the King's will, 4 0 so i supply the want ; but do not destroy the entirety of the Monarch. The Right Hon. Gentleman said, however, at least his ergiimere went to this-e e whe, if you limit it to the pure necessity of the case, there will an inconveniency arise. Can this be so ? If the House were now Legislating, they might see what was required of them. .But • they were npt legislating ; and the question was this, which theytwere called 'on to do in discharge of' the prdiaary functions of the Constitution ? The an swer was, No! They were bound in discharge of their ordinary funttions to aid the King, not to act without hirn. 'l he necessity of the case was lo 'do what the Constitution taught them —to fill up the def,ciency, and, in some measure, to make a King. I Mieiseem called on the House not only to supply l the Royal Will, but to model it On necessities of I their own creation. Thus would' the two Houses i be called on to say What the Royal Will should he—whet the Prerogatives which. the Right Hoe. , Gentleman wished to restrain ? it.re they not per sonal to hi; Majesty i No.—They are for the good of the country. They are for inaintaining the ba:- lance between the Three Estates of the Realm.- - Tihen, is • k—can it, be expidient that- those prero. , getives should be limited and restrained •by one of those three branches ? • What was the evil against veleet: it was sought to guard i e .-That the .autho ritY of the King might, during the Regency, be dhnitinNsi. Then, to avoid 'this uncertain evil, the Hinese ems' celled on $ incur a certain evil 1 I . - , . • . . • .. was , ___ _ - —Au 101 l pf the Tte7ent. They were to prefer ed 11::n to hal-^ fal4rt ir,"" v. 7 11 tally 9, 4 0 . 4 ei1e I.— 4 . . • a Celliid eillatfon 'Of tile twist teat ei, I TtitrAtin is tt WA;, Rio ei.e.iiiffitt fb , f tileii. dp„ t Foe-fear- ot aa uncertain evil which: might never el 17A8 wascomplete arid acre.' we* by theleeieteeo e . occur.. The King might abuse the prerogetive as t while the second \VAS both ittcemplete and meter it: Well as the Regent; but Was otti Goestitution so upon. This difference made :.ite first a peonane oe 'weak that it could not cheek such en ebtise? Wee i precedent , while the latter part was only considered lit more tormideble in the hands of - a Regent than 1 aeplicable to the special circumstances on that oc. it might be ityposed to. he in the hands of e I casein. King? Was a .temporary more 'dangerde; and For t ! The call for the Queoion became great, ari d midable than a tixed and permanent authority ? : Strangers were ordered to withjeam—The Cemaio The Honourable and Learned Gentleman proceeded tee then divided on the Amendment—Ayes eve— ostite that he had looked into authorities, as to the Noes 224—Majority for Ministers 21. ppointment of Regeecies of a temporary natere, I Tke riumberi on the 2d Resolution were—Ay. In the case of Philip and Mary, in Act woks passed ' 2213—Noes 210—Majority for Ministers 16. :providing the Regency to Philip, in the event of Mere. 0* tlie Third Resolution—Ayes 253—Nees ; dying leaving a child, and during the mipority of —Majority for Ministets l 9.-4tljounied. such child, the Gove rnment was entrusted solely to She Philip: might have died leaving a child within one month of being major, but even there, though for 214 so short a period, Philip must have been unlimited I Regent. In the reign of Peen Ann, whe* eiothing f coal be more'probrible th:iii that the successor should, be abroad at the time of her death, a Council of Re gency.was appointed to act till the successor shoeld ar rive, and although nothing coul. l he more temporary than the supposed period of the absence of such sec- I censor, foe poly limitations were against dissolving' Parliament it the mean time, or repealing the acts of Uniformity, and fur protecting the Established Reli gion in Scotland.. So that it was deemed more expe dient to trust every Wag, even these temporary go vernments,than to endanger theCounery by limitations. i In the 24th Geo. 11. when a Regency was again ap pointed, the only limitation was against the altering of the two 'Acts concerning religion. Aid in the Act of the sth of the present reign, even the restraints as 'to the altering of theca two Acts was omitted; thus sheaving that even then it was deemed more expedient to trost pitery thing than v infringe the Constitution, by imposing limitations on the prerogative. ' It may be said these were cases of Councilsof Regency. Was it possible, however, that 'Gentlemen could figure that there was less danger in many than incise ? Would it he ergued that the many were less liable to abuse power than one ?Where there was responsibility neither on one nor the other, all were loosed ; and It would be found thaohreach of duty had been complained of with most reason where the offence had been com mitted by the many, and where they wanted personal responsibility. It may be ob:jected---4 , Oh ! then you cannot even make provision.tor his Majesty's return on his recovery." His argument, however, did not go to that. That did not necessarily form any restric tion, and might be done collaterally. In imposing limitations on the Regent, that House would not only' be limiting the power of the Crown, but adding this to their own powers. The reason supposed by Gen tlemen on the other side was, that the Regent might effete to discharge his duty properly, hut that his first act would be a violation of it. The House, hoivever, was not to Suppose so. But if ,this should turn ont to be the fact; had the Billie not mAnt of checking it ? Could Gentlemen suppose the Constitution st infirm, so weak, as not to check such an attempt if it should be made? It had been enabled to stand up against the encroachments, and to check the abuses of the power of the King,and why notof that ofthe Regent? Then if this was only' a case of expediency. and if he could ;hew the House that there was no case in which the two Houses of Parliament had ever asium, ed the right of limiting the powers — of the Ki, _ . TI I E EVf,NING STAR. TUESDAY, JANUARY 1, 1811. Cuecomcfrani.=-Holiday at the ltas. of irINDSOR CASTLE. ns:c. 31. ft His MAJESTY has passed a good night, and as well to-day as he was yesterday." (Signed as usual.) • 44 WINDSOR iIASTLE, JANUARY 1, ISI I. 4i His MAJESTY has passed,a quiet night, witheat much sleep, and continue; the same as he was yes. terday." ( Signed as usual.l Letters from Liverpool mention the arrival of at American ship. the Lucia, at that port, in 20 days, from New York, with a Copy of the President's Mes. sage to Congress. of which the following is the sub stancel,The President alludes to the Act passed at the dose of the last Session, and speaks of it as hay. ing induced France to repeal her Berlin and Mi. lan Decrees, which are mentioned as the only De. trees affecting neutral commerce ; and the* notices the renewal of conunercial intercourse with France, con. sequent upon the rescinding of those Decrees. H e goes on to say, that it might have been expected, that France would also have made reparation for Amcii. can property confiscated ; but that this expectatica had not been fulfilled. He then proceeds to state, that the British Government bad notified, through the American Minister in London, their willingness to repeal their noxious Orders, as soon as neutral con!. merce should be actiutlly restored to it former footing ; and twat it had been communicated to the EnglL4 Government, by the American Quvemment, th not only-the Orders fst Council must be abandoned, but that England must also abandon the general and ille g itimate blockader. A letter from from an Officer of Distinct' it in Lord WELI.I . NGTON'S Army, dated the 14th ult. says, " I am five leagues from Lisbon, on the banks of the Tagus. I think we are likely to remain here these three months. The French have now their turn, having got a strong position, where we cannot attack them. If they advance on us, then we shall fall back upop our strong position. I imagine we shall pate the whiter in "fatal quo, or with little alteration; unless the PellOch retreat, which I du not think likely." 1 101k:ter from Lisbon, of the 15th ult. says :- 44 .11svieyverson it of opinion here, that ncthing be da until tile spring._ Great fortifications are ig _ . int,- e war _ itbis'a case in which they 'would wish, for t e first i _ 14 . 4 i _a es ti meth tho Tags% townie& the the ; !time, to introduce it ? If it was merely a question of ',i shipping ; first line being front Cana to Piedad expediency, he would not believe th ere Was . 3 Gentle.. an d the second from Almaida to Costa. One hundred man in the House who thought that this was the fast : traneparts are going from hence, it h repeated to fetch introduced acted time when such aprinciple was • " ' on. The Hon. and Learned Gentlearian .had gone 'cavalry," ! •By letters from "Oporto of the I2th ult. we leant through the authorities with much care andlabour, tlAt the wrench corps which- threatened an attack and he could. assure them, not on his own antholite ; ppon Coimbra, bad soddenly fallen bads from Con but he could do more, he could assure then on all dent to Ouriau„ in conreadenre of being apprized of the authorities in our Statute Book, First, That the ' thea einforcements that had joined Colonel Miusa. right now sought to be acted on never had existed. ' Advice: have been received direct from Tarragona That not only was there no authority in support of it, tf the `loth of November. Tortota sill held out, but that it was reielled by every 'authority on the a and the patriotic troops corttintied to hatrass the :object, all of which were repugnant to and incon- enemrliin.every quarter of Catalonia. Consideratle eistent with it. Next, that the expediency was as un. progress had been made in the new levy ordered by founded as the claim of right. And if, ear the first the Provincial Juata. time the House was to countenance such a proceed. Letters from Hamburgh, of the lath ult. state, ing, they would do it under an awful responsibility . that i t had been notified to the Senate, that the French they had received the ROyal Prerogative - handbi Governinent has resolved to annex that city to France, down to them full, entire *nd without having been as well as Lubec and Bremen. The letters add, 63: once trampled on—they were about to send it down the people of Bremen are so depressed at the ine.li.- to their posterity mutilated and defaced.—( L ou d an j Bence, that they have shut up the theatres, and ad repeated cheer: thrt:ulbest the whole HOTile,) . places of amusement. Lord CASTLEREA.GH, in explanation with re ! ! We regret to have to state the loss of a vessel bound spect to some part of his speech alluded to by the to the East Indies, with a valuable cargo. The par. Hon. and Learned Gentleman, stated that he had titulars are contained in the following lettee i dated said a special act was passed in respect to the Peerage . Deal, Dec. SO : conferred on Sir J. Cornwall. 1 " Sui.= A . person who left Dunkirk this. morning, Mr. WILLIAM SMITH declared his disincline- at eleven o'clock. brings us the following melancholy tion to trespass on the attention of the Hause after information :4-That on Thursday evening last, the the able . minner in which the qttestiori had been al. Elizabeth country ship, anchored off the South F o re. endy discussed ; but there 'Wet+ one or tun points oa land, drifted from* thence into Calais Roads, from which he was anxious to explain himself. Much thence on the Splinter, where she knocked off her weight had been placed by many Gentlemen on the rudder, and cut awayher mizen-mast. No assistance precedent of 1788—to that precedent lie lied at that coming after her repeated signals, the Captain put of period given his assistance, and he freely avowed, that to obtain it ; but, when alnfost half-way between the he has since repented of that support. It was impos.! wreck and Dunkirk, the ship heeled off, anti'drove on sible to deny that at that time, a great struggle for , the outer edge of Dunkirk Brake, and went to piecci; power chewed itself in the discussioe of the question ; • when every soul on board perished, except twenty-two and that the great object of those Who recommended who landed at Dunkirk, and were instantly conducted it, was to take all chances for the retention of their 'to &hon. No letters were suffered . by the Comman• l power. dant to ire brought away. • The names of the tierce-- .. . . Mr. BRAGGE BATHURST observed, as there : " !'names of the persons saved are : was no'case analogous to the present before the Re. i " Captain Bostwick, Captai , l Jackvon, Mr, Baker, 2d Officer, volution, he sbourd dismiss from his mind all corisi- I, M .... r. laird, ad officer, Mr. Erik, fret mariner, Mr. H,yw . ern i AMS. deration of the different references introduced. The House was now called as our ancestors were then to 1 - " u"" " alfol!It, U' he crew together amounted to upwards of three act upon necessity; and the question wasnot, howmuch ; hundred persons. i Ike superb purply Robe, p•roented to lir RMA itsTr by tie of the Royal Authority should be allitidged? but rather Dn . a 41. ,,,,„..„ said tu be lornimt•i„.a with „ t h ,„„.„ i l i e . how much of it, under such circumstances, should Parliament delegate to the individual put in tempo- ° soils of uncomnica size and superiOr lustre. It is really rem .r . • able, what a nutnber of circumstances have lately uectu rr,'. nary possession of the Royattdnctionsf In his opinion , barrivinisc With the Present, which Dame roriune b speed - 1 : it was bound by a due respect for the interests o f • about to'make to British Adventurer*, or . 45 Lheaal l'i .*,,, to out presenrgreu and novel state Lottery scheme. the legitimate possessor to grant no greate r 'po r ti o n .-e.- --- than was actually requisite-fol. *the support of that sivall. L temporary authority. He yeas surprised-tolrear fromo r z , s , i I EZ ps i a:. rg o f h ~, on eo . n th the Lady of Major Hon . e 27th Ult. tin.e, the Right Hon. Gentleman opposite (Mr. Canning) ' ' • MARitiklD zuch kn untenable position, that the precedent in I I'sß i At Rlckmanoworth, the Rev. Ede:3rd Aubery, R:rtc7 oi was to be followed in one part, .and wholly to be lost cripoqini, Rottandskire, to Miss Williams, daughter of lb•Stri light of in the other—that the House shbuld adhere ' Williams, Dol. Mow Park, Hens, and M. P. for Dorch,ster.. I tek the first, and act decidedly hostile tn the second I Fitt). part of that proceeding. I n hi s op i n i on the H o u se t oleriie rich ult. as hi, seat, Ihinihall, Cheshire, after a phi. was bound strktly to adhere to kin all its branches. Iha illness, aged OS year., Martial Lady of %% ' ll4l ' l Davel " Mr. CANNING in explanation, said, rilat the . in- pore, 't s i: a . _ , pßar.eivable ab.urdity which th-1 Jut ..,s-Iptaker suipos- 1.014D0N : Printed and publieled by i.rvEL KENT, a be .. .5 . • . : ; : d0 -". ' i -}i• • ; • ... J .4 i : • • • •ii•Tika.OStlOti, TetrAileatar acid Na. 1, C.46v-itrece