The National Register. — London, England, 1812-05-24 00:00:00

Po'"' THE NATIONAL - • R .:y ;GIS -t . ;A.R. Our litng, Conotirtstion, aith ffaitaz. PRINTED AND PUBLISHED AT NO. 5, PICKETT-STREET, STRAND, NEAR TEMPLE BAR. N°. .q3O. SUNDAY, MAY 24, 1812. PRier f .' i THE RIGHT HONOURABLE SPENCER PERCEVAT- 1 A`,ASSINATED ON THE 111'11 OF MAY IN THE LOBBY OF THE HOUSE OF CONIAIONS. (Concluded from our last.l The new Administration was no sooner formed in March ISO 7, than it became necessary to consolidate it by an ap peal to the sense of the people. Parliament was in con sequence dissolved' Mr. PErtcrvA 1., in his address to his- Northampton constituents declared, .6 that he was called upon to give up his profession, to make a stand for the religious establishment of the country." This was called a display of intolerance and bigotry, and the man who rose for our national establishment was ranked among those who wish to keep the human mind in chains. Scarcely had the outcry of bigotry subsided, when a still Luder clamour arose. It was occasioned by the seizure of the Danish fleet, on the eve of its being trans ferred to the enemy, either to assist in the invasion of these kingdoms, or to exclude us from the Baltic, by enabling him to take possession of Sweden, or at least of that part of her coast which lines the Sound, and to close that channel against us. Mr. PERCEVAL declared in the House of Commons that Ministez s were pos,,essea of certain in, forniation respecting BONAPARTE'S secret arrangement vith.Denmark, and his intention to force all the Eu ropean Powers into a confederacy against us. He there fore contended tl:4 it was both wise and politic, as we could not entirely prevent the execution of his plan, at least to endeavour t' render it abortive, by disarming those Powers o f their means o f h os tili t y. But the oppo sition thought had found a rich soil in which to sow tbuse and dissatisfaction against the Ministry, and not wit,!istanding the fairness of the arguments by which the P) icy, and inusect the necessity of the act, were establish. ed. continued to vent forth their fury until they had ex- Ar,.. • . . - N\ <.lssk\x„.. ..„ -, •:• .-- - . • 1- ,:;.''' '. It. 1 .P .'" '' • ' '\, .' I P ' 1 / 0 N i iji li ~ • . • eer‘‘..k\ • .'"---'._ ' .‘. ~,,,_ " 'l , l !' 7 ' 4, - ; , -.. --.:',. • \ i'. ..\ •.::::. , ...... I . :r. , ~ 4 . 4 --- ' '' , • t . ,...,..:\ ' ''' - ...1 ' • • /.. .. . 44t :-• • It :4,., - `k N. ! ,.... 4 . • - - - "tt!' l S -4 • . '— b z '.• . . . - SKETCH OF HIS LIFI3. hausted themselves in vaii, eirort, .ind tired iiut th►: pa- tience of the nation. On the 26th of June 1807, on the usual motion for an address to the Throne, fraught with charges against the Administration, Mr. PERCEVAL to-e in rep!y to Lord. HowicK, now Earl GREY, and entered into an elaborate deferee if himself and his colleagues. He observed, that notwithstanding the almost indefen bible reeener in which the Opposition had dissolved the Parrament which , existed at the commeneement of their Administration, still they could see welling in the last Perliament which rendered a dissolution necessary : " Nething," said Mr. P. 44 in the known and proheble differences of the Members of the last Parliament, on cer tain great questi-us ; nothing in the division which pre vailed, upon a particular topic, between the Soteareign and his late Ministers, which division, in my mind, pecu liarly suggested the propriety of an appeal to the coun try." 66 I would refer to the Speech front the Ti.rone, at the dose of the last Parliament, for a cheail of these rea sons. What, I would beg gentlemen to recollect, was the situation in which the King stood ? Did he not appear as the sole obstacle, of a measure which proposed concessions to relieve a portion of his people ? Did he not api , eer as a barrier in the way of those concessionc, ? n,w,' in such ciecurnstences, was it not , necessary •to the honour and character of the sovereign, to shew that it was not by his will alone that the measure.l refer to shonld he -resieted, but that such woo the •general sentiment of the country ?" " The Catholic quevien, and a certain other measure, if measure it could be called (which had for its object the forcing back of the late Ministers into power, in opposition to the :on isee'.ty of the Crown), had been just discussed : And I would ask any man in his senses, whether that wag not the precise period to- choose, for the reasons I heve already stated ; and particularly when the immediate pur. pose of the dissolution was to ascertaie the sentimeets of the peophl upon .the nature and object of these measure." Fe denied that the dissolution had occasioned material in- . convenience to any classes of men, or any injury to the public business. After insisting upon his Majesty's right to understand the . Coronation Oath for himself, and that s if he thought any proposition contrary to that great oei.: l , he would, of course, by so acceding to it, be guilty of a breach of his oath, Mr. PERCIWAL proceeded to sheer that the Church would have been in .danger,. had the late Ministers been permitted to follow the course they lied en tered upon with respect to the Catholics. " Would they nor, if in their power, have repealed the Test Act t' Yes,' ee. claimed a voice out of the Opposition Bench )—Then, re. smiled Mr. PEACEVA I, those who regarded that act as essen. tial C., the safety of our Church Establishment were cor rect and consistent in supposing the Church in danger un der the government of such Ministers. Therefore the cry of the Church in danger was raised ; and if it were a false cry, it never couhl have been productive of such cf.. tects as this Noble Lord imagined, nor could it ever have. been promoted by so insignificant an individual as himself." Mr. PERCTVAL then expressed his firm conviction slut T he proposed concessions would not have contented those