The National Register. — London, England, 1812-03-22 00:00:00

~~ mAucii 22. 177 THE NATIONAL REGISTER: eased solely with himself, and not from the suggestion of any men or env set of men either in that House or out of it. It arose solely from his firm conviction of the necessity to avert the alarming and extensive dan gers with which the country was surrounded, involving caltintities, in Li, apprehension, of no less magnitude than an immediate separation cf Cie two Aster countries, and consequently, so far, a dismemberMent of the Empire. The Noble Lord then went into a history of events fur the last eighteen months—the commencement of his Majesty's illness— the a 'option of a restricted Regency—the expiration of those Restric nesi, and the consequent anxiety of the country on the occasion;_ and, co ins to the perioe when his Royal Highness the Prince Regent OA:heed his wishes that a Government should he formed on a firm and h: oral basis. He dated the distressing situation of our internal affairs to the failure of the- negotiation which took place in consequence. Ile ti.en animadverted on the intolerant principles held towards the Catho- Les by the present Ministers, and to the attempts of sestain of th e Clergy to repeat the cry of " No Popery," and was sorry to say that the benevolent and enlightened intentions heretofore expressed on'this sub jsct by his Royal Highness the Prince Regent were wholly frestrated by his present advisers.—His Lordship then alluded to the resignation of the Marquis Wellesley, of whose abilities he spoke in the highest terms, sod earnestly entreated Ministers not to oppose the Address which he i::tended to move, but to allow it to take its course with his Royal High rtes. If they did oppose it, he was at a loss to know on what ground i they could do it, when, on the 15th of February, the Prince himself he e d expressed an anxious wish for a liberal and extended Administration, isel thereby showed his opinion of the necessity for the formation of such an one. They themselves (Ministers) could not deny that their. Alministration was formed on the most nairow and incomplete basis. Ile had not framed his motion, because it would be for one party, and against another, but solely in the name and for the benefit of the Coon- I t:y. He then moved that the following humble Address should be pre setted to his Royal Higlinses the Prince Regent " 'l'llat,whilst we most deeply deplore the unhappy continuance of hie N;ajesty's indisposition, we entirely rely upon his Royal Highness's ! wisdom and Princely virtues for the vigorous and beneferent exercise h: tiwse littreArictril powers with which iv- is now invested ; and that , his Royal Hi e ,:ness may depend up o n our a ff ect i ona t e a tt ac h ment, and ! our constant and zealous support in all his measures for the maintenance Gr.. the honour of the nation abroad, and of its happiness and tranquillity at home. 'I hat, for the attainment of these objects, It appears to vs to be , tee:tele: that the Administration to which his Royal Highness mny racit)lsly pleased to commit the management of his affairs, should he i e.oineosed as to unite, afar as possible, the confidence anti goodwill ' at ail classes of his Majesty's subjects. `• Teat in the present state of Ireland, it is, in our opinion, impossible tint such gsneral confidence and goodwill should he enjoyed by any j eernieistration, the characteristic principle of whose domestic wed as the bond of whose conneeion in office, is, not only not to re- syramend, bet to resist a fair and dispassionate consideration of those civil disalaiiities under which his Majesty's Roman Catholic subjects in that part of the United Kingdom still labour, and of which they tomplain as must 'grievous and oppressive. That we, therefore, humbly express oer anxious hope that his Royal Highness may yet be enabled to form an Administration, whieh, by conciliating the affections of all descriptions of the eoimmtnity, may eset Oft:cue:ly call forth the entire resources of floes United Kingdom, sed may atierd to his Royal Highness additiorial means of conducting to a successful termination a war in which are involved the safety, itt:reJur, and prosperity of this country." Lord Gitlm-,T. ON hoped the House would pause before it enterteined 1 1:s motion, for which, he contended, there was no necessity; the teesee Aelivinie ration possess:ny the entire confidence of the nation, u. consequence of the many successes and advantages which we had acv aired over the enemy in the short period of the Regency. He con less-led, that those letters ought never to have been brought before the 11 ri ,, ultat:; a s , i n hi s view , they were mere private corteopondence, al- !I t suen relating to a public matter. Besides, in the way in which those 1 'wee , !eel been publicly handled, his Royal Highness had suffered no lime caltintny._lltre the Noble Lord was called to Oteler by Lord l'atidt•rd..le, who s,tid Oa the Noble Mover of the Address had 3t tarard liLtnte only to the legal advisers ;f his Royal Highness.—rat vcr e ), I ' ouiin return, called Earl Lauder dale to Order, and a warn; aitercstioe arose between the Lord Chiescellor, Earl Grey, and tellers, % vi •ic! , ended in Lord Gilintton's resuming his speech, and des taring t hst in his opinion the present Administration had proved themselves ! eVsl to the tel eacies of the tjmes, and were all that any Noble Lied or the country could wish for. He therefore proposed as an stncethnent— " That their I.ordship s should present an Address to his Royal High expressive of their sense of the great prudence and wisdom with tlich hi s R oyal Highness had exercised the Royal Prerogatiy . e, and i that they s h ou ld congratulate him on the success of his Majesty s arms that pe r i o d, an d express their reliance on his Royal Highness's efforts for the happy result of the contest in which we were engaged." Lord Deeet t ex opposed the amendment. When they considered 1 Vit. d i ttr..,s.4'o, *SA the the county and and that we were nearly involved in a wer POWe; it} the wstri4 c.th who'll we had been at peace, by , Aurntrustntion, the 1i,Q114, !Mg wwkiistr whine the Noble Lord called on them to pass a vote of such unqualified eulogium on the very men who had brought the country into its present dreadful situation. He would assert that those who bad advisedo,be Prince Regent to write the letter, now the subkct of debate, had acted in hostility to the great interests of the empire, and were responsible for the conse quences. His Lordship was here about to read a paragraph from the Prince's letter, when he was called to Order by Lord Liverpool, who said the Noble I.ord had no right to quote a document which had not been regularly brought before the House; and much tumultuous alter cation again enured, which was ended in Lord Darnley resuming his speech, and declaring his determination to f avour fur the address. Lord ERSKIN t spoke at some length in favour of the address. He rejoiced that his Noble Friends had rejected ere overture that w made to them ; for in so doing they had bmeiited the country, and shewn the _people that all public men were pot lost to a sense of con sistency. He trusted the time was not far distant, when there should be an union of men of talents, mutually esteeming each other 4 and agreed on all the great points of the poiicy of the country. I The Loan CUANCELLOR said, that whatever some Noble tiords might think of the present Ministers, he believed the people were still so foolish as to give them snore confidence than they supposed they possessed ; and he even believed that the present Ministers possessed the affections of the people. With respect to the claims of the Catholics, he contended; that it was contrary to the principles laid dawn at the Revoiuthise, to grant the Catholics the privileges they demanded. The Catholics mere said to be ready to give securities for the political rights they dos mended •, but no Minister was ever able to tell what those securities i - asfere. Let the Noble I who opened the debate, produce an aqu i Mitt sufficient to convince him that the Catholic claims ought to be 1 allowed, and then he would agree with the motion. laird GREY had no hesitation in declaring it as his opinion, that the Addless mov -A by his Honourable Friered had for its object a change of Actitinistration, and that as such, he would support it. Until that nthht it had never Leto denied that the Meuse had a right to address the Sovereign to remove his Ministers, on the ground of incompetency. For his part, be contended, that the Administration did flQt pones; cha. : racter or prlncipks consonant to the feelings of the nation.—Tneir prin ciples %ery oot the principles of the Revolution. because those prtncl pies had :.c,t Leen inimical to Catholic Clahns. He reprobated tile con duct of :he p;:esent .-N • dministratioo ter their bigoted hostility to the Cos tholies ; in who - acing and encouraging cycry kind of abu s e against them coming sermons to be preached _trims the pulpit against Catholics; I and in appointing one of these preachers to he private Chaplain to the Prioce Regent, for the services which he had perfprnied in the, pulpit. After all these facts, he asked, If such Mn Administration could possess the confidence of the people. As to the proposition for forming au Ad ti- nist ration on a broad and liberal basis, lie must say, that he could conceive I nothing so injuriot;s to the nation ? as that o!' briinginglogettier inflows i of discordant opini , :ns and principles. The present Servants off the !. Regent, however, sought to extcnti their Administration elsewhere and, if report :Tole true, ha wider stood they were to receive an acces sion of strength from two Noble Lords (13ucki4hant andiSidnionth) o were decidedly hostile to every principle of religious lite rty. )(any one rrteislite was at this time necessary, it was conciliatory to all sects ; and he denied that the principle of any religions exclusion wag any thing like the tluidamenral princiilc of the Revolution. The ,Ntaible 1;arl thsii dwelt upon the 4opes that Ii 'I been held out to tire Catholics durioi the last twenty years, and observsti, that the Act of Union had been carried in consequence c,,` ;In opinicti impressed upOts the Catholics, that these hopes would be reaiised. With respect to the Letter which lie wrote to the Duke cf lirtok, in cuniuretionwith his Noble Friend (Lord Grenville), they both felt that it was impossible - for them to accept o any office is participation with persons whose political and were diamettically orrosier to their own. Any one md that letter might Ste 01::t it cut off all possibility of a junction ‘sitivsuch Ministers. Did the Noble Lord opposite expect that, when he advised the Pringei Regent to write the fetter, which every body bad seen, it would be pos t Lsible tq have the support of himself and his Noble Friend f Was it pos sible that he and his Noble Friend would accept of Office on any other terms than that of glanting emancipation to the Catholics, The I%Toble .' Earl afterwards adverted to the foreign relations of the country. On tho whine of America, he declared, that he would never sacrifice tie Nation .1 Honour, er the Naval glory, of this Country, to any rteiion in the world.--hie next condemned the paper system, and resew,. eh-, eulaing medium of England. With respect to the war in the Pviit sula. he was toot for suddenly . drawing away our army from tbent . e ; but he wished the war there might be carriest . on with economy. After various other observations, he concluded, by giving his decided apt rtit- . , ._7 - • bation to the address. Lord Mui.oanys thought that Noble Lords haying concurred day after day in the measures of the present Ministers, their conduct hay. ing been so frequently sarctioned by Parliamunt, it would in hi; opi nion he a contradiction not at all creditable to the House if they were now, after so lor.g a .:,oncurrence in the principles of the present Admia? istratioti, to entertah the present question. 'The Noble L . grcf gpposite had stared that the unqualified exclusion of tl!e Catholics was one of the principles Which guided and was in future to guide thi: cone uct of the present Nlit4stets, but this at the prellit time: was *together question of expediency, and whatever euncessions it might have been judged p safe and actvisabie to nr:.4e 1.7, the prate of affairs was sifige ) ' :;