The National Register. — London, England, 1811-01-27 00:00:00

I, .. • • - - triflin c., :sideratio . wuich Were'reterved .0 the Regent. He should therefore propose to amend the clause, by giving to her Majesty the appointment of Groom of the Stole, of six of the Grooms, and of six of the Lords of the Bed-chamber, of the Equerries and of such other subordinate Members of the House hold as her Majesty should select, and of whom she should de liver a ait to . the Resent, as necessary to attend on his Majesty during his indisposition. He should also propose to omit the words " herein ac :epted," and to insert in the stead " herein specified," so as to teave no doubt as to what were the offices the nomination or controul • over which w:ls committed to her Ma jesty ni .1 , the Regent. He thought it niinecessltv fur the House to go the length of stating what should be the number of menials omployed by her Majesty . about the King's Person, hut that this might be adjusted by an instrument to be delivered by her Ma jesty ti, the Reger He would ask the Right Hon. gentleman, would he pretend that his Majesty, during his indisposition, could onjoy the amuesment of the hounds ? And it not, was this an (Ace, the patronage of which, in such circumstances, should devolve on her Majesty. 't'h'is was a question which had been so often arried, and the Hoin.c: must be so tired with it, that he should not trouble them farther on the subject. He only wished to make his Amendments Intelligible. He concluded by prop sing his Antendme• - .t. The SPEAKER said, the first question was to agree or disagree with the clause as it stood. Mr. HUECISSON saw an anomaly in allowing offices, the ap pointments to which must have the effect of creating vacancies in that Houw, to 4 xist in persons different from these to whom were committed the Executive Power. Sir JOHN NEWPORT expected, instead of hearing Gentlemen on the other side talk of the appointments of which the Regent was now to be deprived, being limited to twelve months, that they would have shewn that the clause, as it now stood, Was not at variance with the Resolutions which had been come to by the two Houses, and with which they had gone up to the Prince of Wales. It had been stated ; that among the officers of the Household there were 26 Members of the other House of Par liasuent, and six or eight who had seats in that House. If so, wigs mot that a degree of influence of which it was highly impro per that the Executive Government should at such a crisis, be deprived ? The main purpose of his rising, however, was to put this plain question to Gentleman on the other side—Was this clause agreeable to the Resolutions which had been agreed to . by the two Houses of Parliament ? Or, in agreeing to this clause, had they not rather, alter passing those Resolutions, and going up with them to the Prince, been guilty of a fraud on his Royal Highness. Mr. liroatE denied that any fraud was attempted to be prac tised, because the Bill was not in every respect founded on the Resolutions. In point of forin, the Bill was ordered to be brought in without a reference to those Rssolutions. He had only to remind the House that it was a temporary not a per manent measure which it was called on to adopt. Mr. WHITBREAD said the House had at last come to a point which was to be the touch-stone of their sincerity. They were to prove by the vote they were to give that night, whether day really meant no more than to guard his Majesty's rights, to enable him to resume his royal functions whenever he should be judged capable of reassuming them, giving at the same time to the Regent a full and sufficient power to discharge the im portant trust reposed in him, or whether they meant to vest that power in the Right Hon. Gentleman opposite; that he might, if he retained his situation under the .Regent, exercise that au thority independent and uncontrouled, or in the contrary case to exert all thst iilfluen,'.e in powerful opposition to the Regent's • Governnitin .- No man hi the House—no man in the country, wished mor incerlv than himself to see his Majesty restored •to that state health which would enable him to resume the . exercise of his Royal functions ; but he also wished to extricate --the Regent from those difficulties in wh:.h the present mode of proceeding would inevitably plunge him, and this he saw no mode of attaining hut b; investing him with that power which i-the House intended at first to grant him, and which he naturally expected from their Address. An idea bad been thrown in the House by the Hon. Gentleman opposite, as if it was meant to xis )(snit a Chamberlain to the Prince, while all the duties of amberlain of England were to be discharged by the presen3 ce-Chamberlain ; but what would such an officer be in reality!? . by a mere pageant, a man of shew, and they might easily _ nNze such a Chamberlain out of a toy-shop.—(a laugh)—How , lediestus, how ridiculous were the means adopted by the Right Hon. (Nntleinan to attain his aim ! How must those Gentle men who voted with him, and especially the Hon. Member for Yorkshire, who dwelt so emphatically on the necessity of re : taining about the King's person all the splendour and attributes • of Royalty, how must they have felt When they voted for his • 'still retaining Ihefor hounds, when they knew he laid prostrate _ou the bed of sickness. He certainly was one of those who thought that the Influence of the Vrown bad extended beyond .53 its proper limits, and that it ought to be reassaiee- _ per bounds—but this he woad see doter openly sold bsgally.e.- He never would consent to see the Crown rrippe s ei of its pre. rogatives by a side blow. Much had been said and surmised about eeople plotting against the Prer igativee of the Crown : but sure he was, that to such men, if they existed, the Right Hon. Gent. would a good Captain. He wanted next to advert to what fallen oa a former night from an Hon. and Learned Gentleman opposite (Mr. Stepheto . was he even to receive some severe chastisement in retort ; for really the Hon. and Lesrned Gentleman was so sore, that he did not know how to totish him. that Hon. and Learned Gentleman had asked from the gentlemen of his side of the House how long they would think it might take them to run down an Administra tion; to this he world answer, that by fair means only, it would take a considerable time ; they had been at it these four years, and had not been able to succeed.—(A laugh.)—But by unfair means, it . might be effected in a much shorter period. A man, for instance might step aside, and reserve his whole strength to give an unexpected side blow, just like the shooting of the game before the hounds; in such case he thought that a twelvemonth would be sufficient ; and he had no doubt but the Right Hon. Gent. opposite, with the assistance of the Bill, and that of Lord Eldon and the other' Gentlemen, nominally appointed to the Queen's Council, would be able to effect in that tine.. He would not trouble the House longer, although the sellect'Was far from being exhausted.—( Hear, hear, .from the Nrdisterial benches . 1 ).41e would repeat that the subject was far from being exhausted, for there was no knowing how far the miscivief which would be produced by these measures might extend; reel the various ways in which they might affect the interests of the country. Mr. STEPHEN considered himself as rather unfortunate in having occurred the tfon. Gentleman's animadversions for one solitary answer to his numerous attacks. The Hon. Gent. had said that he (Mr. Stephen) was so sore that he was afraid to touch him, he might have recollected that there were various failings in nature ; and, on the other hand, some animals were so tielAcc as not to bear the most gentle stroaking ; (a loud laugh!) a constant spirit of contradiction was another of those failings.— A novelist (Smollett) had most happily exemplified it in the person of Captain Lisinahago, who could not agree with any one, till meeting with Mr. Bramble, filet Gentleman thought of making sure, at last, of avoiding all disputes, by condoling with him on his military services being unrewarded (a laugh ') The Hon. Gentleman had likewise raised himself high in feint by his military comments on the operations of the campaign in Portugal. It was perhaps that new qualification which bad suggested the idea of his new appointment ; for rumour, with its hundred tongues, had already named him as the-future : nister at 'war. For his own pert he would as soon have thought of naming the Right Hon. Gentleman master of the ceremonies —(a loud laugh ! ).—Sui - e be was, that it' ever he was Minister et War, it would be in the Hud brastic style— For he that fights and runs away Will live to fight another day, d c. (a loud laugh 4 —For he had never ceased to represent to the House, that England was unable to cope single handed with France. He should be, however, glad, very glad, to see him it in a ministerial capacity on the ther side of the I louse, as lie would then probably abandon those democratical notions, awl that democratical party of which he was the principal support a laugh.)—To revert, however, to the question -- he thought the present proceedings no fraud on the Prince. %Viten the bill was brought up, it became perfectly a new question, unfettered by whatever had preceded it, anti fairly Aptii to thei House.— From the mutual understanding between the different parties which, although not verbally expressed, had at lest been tacitly assented to, arid he thought that the :kelt-n(llmnt a the Rielit Hon. Gentleman, if adopted, would prove a fraud on the Hon 5C`. Mr. Witt rent AD, in explanation. was happy to hear that his military fame had ran so high that the Hon. and Learned Gent. had condescended to be his trumpet. He could not believe, howe ver, that the Hon. and Learned Gentleman would be glade very glad to s. e him sitting on the other side of the House. Indeed fie could not believe it, really he could nut.—(a laugh )—Utit the Hon. and learned Gentleman seemed to believe, that every one wanted something, and probably he had not yet got all he want ed from his Right Hon. Friend—(a laugh.) On the clause being read, Mr. CA N NINO observed, the line of demarcation between the t part of the Household which should remain with the Queen, and that which should go to the Regent, appeared to him clearly draWn tip by the very circumstances of the Cafe. Those per sons employed in the interior of the palace, and most necessary te the service and comfort of the King, should remain under the controul of her Majesty ; while the great (Aileen, intended merely for *he splendour of Royalty, should follow the state of thb Crown—(Hear, hear . 1 ) —He could not 'at the sauce time -.MRS