The Statesman. — London, England, 1821-07-07 00:00:00

Royal Guard. accompanied by their Adjutant-Majors, will compose the suits of the Extraordinary Embassy of France. which is to assist at the Coronation of the Blitz of England. French Funds, July 3.—Five per Cent. 86 f. 5 c.; Bank Actions, 1538 E 75e. The foreign intelligence previously received is more various than copious. Accounts from Walachia by the way of Vienna (a channel lot always to be trusted) state, that Theodore had betrayed the Greeks to the Turkish Commander, was deserted by his troops, and brought a prisoner to the head-quarters of Ypsilanti, to be tried by a Council of War. It is also mentioned that a Turkish frigate of 30 guns had been captured by a Greek ship in the sea of Marmon', and that an Ypsariot cruiser was reported to have captured a Turkish brig of war, after an obstinate conflict. It is added, that the Insurgents of the Peleponnesus have got possession of the passage of Tbermopylte, and that the Ottoman troops have been compelled to eva cuate Athens, Thebes and Salona. The Cortes of Spain, approaching the close of their Session, have resumed their permanent deputation, which, agree ably to the provisions of the Constitution, is to remain assembled after the prorogation of the Congress, and till the installation of the next Legislature.—The Cortes of Portugal in their sitting of the Bth ult., beard the report of the Commission charged to exa mine the conduct of the Portuguese diplomatic Agents at foreign Courts. The Committee has concluded that these Agents, having lost the confidence of the tuition, ought to be censured, and declared incapable of continuing in their functions. The sitting► of the lUth of June, was devoted to the discussion of this report. Several Deputies proposed to send the Diplo matic Agents to trial. The discussion was not termi nated in this sitting. By the mail from Holland we learn that the law for introducing a new system of in direct taxation has passed the Second Chamber of the State. General. It was carried only by a majority of four. This was a contest between the Advocates of a free trade and those of the prohibitory system, in which the former prevailed. The numbers 55 to 51. Only four members were absent.—The intelligence re lative to France is totally devoid of interest. nano. FUNDS, J ta.r 2.—Five per Cents. 85f. 95c. New York Papers arrived this morning to the 2nd June, from which we extract the following:— Quaver, Mar 22.—0 n Saturday morning the Steam boat Quebec, was employed by Government to go down to the wreck Lynx, a few miles on the west side of the mouth of the Saguenary. She returned this morning with 200 of the passengers, the remainder having con trived to leave the wreck. We learn there were only 3 deaths, all children, owing to the inclemency of the weather. It is expected the vessel will be got off. The baggage and other property of the emigrants were all saved. The Lynx sailed from Belfast with 3(M) passen gers, and when she went on shore had made the passage in 26 days. [lllO/1 THE NATIONAL ADVOCATE, JUrfa I.) Mexice.—Havannah papers have been received at Charlestown to the 16th of May, containing intelligeace from Mexico to the 31st of March, at which period the troops of 'turbid° were deserting him in crowds. [LAT& 111011 ANGOSTURA, NAT 61 It was reported at Angostura that the inhabitants of Lima had revolted, and were determined to join the Pa triots, and open their gates to them. All officers of the different corps of the Republican Army were about to repair to their respective commands. The letters speak with much confidence of the expected triumph of the armies of the Republic. Cancan they say will be in their possesion in the month of June. The plan of the campaign is extensive, and the Presi dent will have his head quarters between Truxillo and Various, with a fine corp d'ermee. lieneral Bermudez is entrusted with a reap de mein. Generals Sarassa and Moneras will command different corps. (loners' Vera- Ras will have the command of a corps of Observation upon Coro, where the citizens are anxious to come un der the Republican (lovernment. The meeting of the Congress of Columbia excites general solicitude. FIRE AT NEW ORLEINS. By the Emma which arrived yesterday after a short passage, we learn that a lire broke out at New Orleans on the morning of the lttli inst., which destroyed seve ral buildings and MO bales of cotton. The whole amount of the loss sustained in cotton and buildings is not short of 100,000 dollars; all destroyed in the space of one hour. A statement has been iatinstriously propagated re 'Ave to the proximate cause of BONAPARTE'S de cease, with a view to relieve compassionate minds from the apprehension that the place or circumstances of his confinement were accessories or accelerators of that event. That the disease assigned could have been hereditary : we will not presume to deny ; but this we will venture to assert, that previous to the circulation of the report to which we allude, a different disease from that of cancer bad been stated to have been the fatal cause. The complaint was alleged to have been an affection of the liver; and it was affirmed that on examination of the body after death, that viscus was found to be adhering to the side. We do not pretend that this statement is more correct than that in com mon currency, but we can declare that it proceeded from as high authority as the other. The circulation of these different stories only proves the extreme soli citude of the parties by whom they were issued to remove, if possible, all grounds of painful reflection. The French Minister has declared his intention of makings lean immediately of ten millions of rentes. We state from authority that Parliament is to be prorogued by Commissioners, and not by his Majesty in person. Wednesday is mentioned u the day on which the prorogation is to take place. The Marquess of Anglesea had an audience of the King yesterday. The following are to be British Peen :—Lord J. Murray, Sir Thomas Liddell, Bart., Sir Thomas Free. man Heathcote, Bart., Right Hon. W. Wellesley Pole, Cecil Weld Forrester, Esq., Mr. Cholmondeley, (Che shire,) the Marquess of Conyngham, Lady Charlotte Strutt to bea Baroness, the Earl of Aylesbury to be a Marquess. Sir W. Wynn has declined a Barony. INSTALLATION.—Orden have been received, we on dentand, to make the most immediate and speedy pre parations fur an Installation of the Knights of St. Patrick, during his Majesty's stay in Dublin.—(Duh lin Morning Post.) LUCCA, Juz 17.- -News from Malta, dated the 24th of ~M ay, which was received in Leghorn on the 10th of June, states, that eleven thousand English troops have arrived in that island, to reinforce the garrisons of the lonian Islands. THE QUEEN'S CASE. -.....a1w.-- PRIVY COUNCIL.-Thu DAT. The attendance of the Privy Councillors this morning was numerous, and consisted nearly of the same Mem bers as we announced yesterday. At a quarter put ten, strangers Were allowed to enter, and the Attorney-Ge neral was requested to proceed with his reply to the ar guments of her Majesty's Counsel. He commenced by stating, that he should submit to their Lordships attention such observations as had occurred to him after a diligent consideration of the subject of her Majesty's Claim to be Crowned. In his opinion this claim clearly originated in no known principle, and was not recognised by any known law. The right of a Queen Consort to be crowned had not been mentioned by any writer on the law of the country, or by any per son who had made the rights and privileges of the people the subject of their investigation. The grounds on which the present right was attempted to be found ed was, the usage which had taken place.— Now the circumstances attending the exercise of that right must be taken into consideration ; in his opinion it might clearly be shewn that those circumstances were of a mature to prove that the usage in this case was materially different from thao usage which established other rights, such as thi right of way, &c. If it appeared by the argu ments that he intended to adduce, that the right of a Queen Consort to be crowned had been exer t cised by licence, then there would be an end of the in ference arsing from usage. It would be necessary, there fore, to enquire what way it had been exercised in this case. He contended that the usage, as it had existed, tended directly to show that a Coronation with respect 'to a Queen Consort was a mere ceremony, performed by I permission of the King. The ceremony with regard I to the King and a Queen Consort was different in its ori gin. As to the King, a Coronation was political. As to the Queen, a mere ceremony. It was a solemn re cognition of his claim to the throne on the part of the people; and on his part, a solemn compactk to preserve inviolate the laws and institutions of thi country. It was then more than mere ceremony, be cause thus accompanied bye political act, viz. the recog nition and compact also invariably directed the time and place of the ceremony. But the Queen Consort filled no political character, there was not so much as a re cognition from the people, or a compact on her side. The King might abstain at will altogether from the ceremony, but which no monarch ought to be advised to do. Most of the great Law writers maintained that it was not necessary with regard to the King. Lord Coke said that it was not necessary, but that it added to the strength of the reigning monarch. Henry VI. was not crowned till the 6th year of hisreign. Lord Hale followed the opinion laid down by Lord Coke in Calvin's case : in his pleas of the Crown, he asserts that the Coronation is only a ceremony to be performed or abstained from, at the pleasure of the King. If then the Coronation of the King rested with himself, it fol lows ofisrtiori that it mast depend on hie will whether the Queen were entwine or not. These wee no trace of a right of a Queen Consort to be crowned, to be found in any law book. The Statute of First William and Mary was important; it clearly applied to a Queen Regnant, not a Queen Consort. A distinction had been attempted to be made between the right of a Queen who was married after a Coronation, and a Queen married previously to it; but it clearly rip peered that if a right existed in the latter case, it would be acquired in the former. It appeared from Seldon that the usage was against &Queen Consort, for he considered that the Coronation altogether proceeded from the will of the King. One of the Roman Customs was somewhat similar to the usage in this case, for the title of Augustus being conferred on an Emperor did not give • participation of the honor to his Consort, unless it coincided with his will and plea sure, that it should. Selden, in treating of the customs of the West Saxons, mentions an instance where a Queen Consort was deprived of the honor of being crowned, owing to some misconduct. He (the Attorney-General) then took a short review of the practice in early times, and proceeded to state that if the Queen Consort could come with a memorial to the King, praying that she should be crowned, she could also come with a memorial demanding that be should himself be crowned, in order that her coronation might form an adjunct or accessary part of the cere mony. In most states it had been the custom for the monarch to honour his consort with a participa• tion in the coronation; but this honour proceeded en tirely from the will and pleasure of the monarch It bad been attempted to be shewn by an old Statute is the History of Scotland, that a Queen Consort receZ an oath of allegiance. The Statute referred to dated 1429, and evidently referred to a Queen Regailt; and had been published at the time with reference to that particular Queen, and not to act in perpetuaate. That kingdom was then in a state of great trouble, and the King probably having had the Oath of Allegiance taken to him previously, wished to establish his right to the Throne in case his Consort should die drat. There was another Statute dated 1436, of the same Monarch, wherein the words our Lady the Queen,' evidently re ferred to a Queen Regnant. Mr. Pinkerton had given the same reading to it as he (the Attorney-General) had. All legal writers, he continued, were silent upon the subject of the Coronation. Bretton, who is precise, was silent as to any ceremony in reference to the Queen Consort. How then, were they to menet for the absence of all authority attributing the privilege to her. The Chief Baron Cummins spoke Other ceremony only is regard to the King. He treated separately of the Queen, men tions all her privileges, but is wholly silent with respect to her Coronation. Not one word of such right, either as a personal or public right, nor of the rights of those persons claiming to perform services. Blackstose has a chapter on the Queen, bat not a word about Coronation. Her Majesty's Attorney and Solicitor General bad taken a review of the different Coronations. They bad begun with William the Conqueror. The reason why his Queen was not crowned were satisfactory. William Wes was not married. No argument is that cam was furnished either way. Hwy 1. was not married THE STATESMAN. whew eeestihd ; be was sebeespendy eserriod. WI. his. Consort crowned. The reign of Stephen be iris ant prised to bear wholly passed over by his Learned Friends; there was so reason assigned for his Queen mat hiving been crowned, though married at the time of his Colo. nation. It was true that she was subsequently crowned, but if her right was imperative. wh3was she not crowned when she came over ? The reason assigned for the Co nsort of John not being crowned, was that he meditated a divorce—now this determination of his could not have affected her right to be crowned if that right actually esisted r and as far as fact went, there Was an argument against the usage. Mr. Doman here interrupted the Attorney-Geaeral, to explain some misconception on the part of the latter. The Arroartar-Ganasat. proceeded, he allowed that she was afterwards crowned ; but the delay originating with the King clearly proved that the honor was solely derivable from him. It had been asserted that the wife of Edward the First bad been crowned, it was true that historian said so, but there was no ►eoord extant which proved her Coronation to have taken place. From the circumstance of the son of Henry the Second having been crowned, it was surely not meant to be inferred that either son or wife had such a right. With regard to Hewer the Seventh, that Monarch, as represented by 'Lord Bacon, determined on being crowned before he eretraeled a marriage. He was afterwards desirous of etoiding to confer the honor of a Coronation on his Consort. But there being a strong party in favour of the York family, and the people thinking that they bad not been well treated by Isim,became anxious for him to give his mamma to the ceremony. The words of Lord Bacon he sailrelearly proved the right to be derived from the King; for he said that the King, after repeated solicits tious on the part of the people, " vouchsafed her the honour of being crowned." Had it been a right which she enjoyed. the nation would have used the language of expostolation and demand. Had the coronation been any thing more than mere ceremony, Henry 'VIII. would have been the last to have acceded.— He should now address himself to the case of Henry VIII. Two of Isis wives were crowned, anti four were not. A reason had been offered for this. but he con tended that it failed altogether. If the right of Coronation existed, it was a public, not a personal right; and it could not be waived. The reason attempted to be given on acconnt of the stateof the Church must also be fallacious, for if the right existed the reigning Monarch must have acceded to it without reference to the then state of the Church. The next case for remark was that of Henrietta, the wife of Charles the First. From Bushworth's histo rical collection it appeared the Queen was not even present ; but the Queen's Counsel had referred to some papers in the Harleian Miscellany, which contained an account of the ceremony ; though evidently written not after, but in contemplation of the event. The initiation of the Queen in this paper, was therefore easily accounted for. He (the Attorney-General,) however, would refer their Lordships to some bistorial letters in the seem collection (and therefore of equal authority) which gave a retrospective account of the ceremony, and -dearly showed that the Queen was • not crowned. One &Mese letters was from a Dr. Mead to Miss, Ann Slut deld ; and was in these terma....." The nevantpl4ll(9g *King took place last Thursday. The Queen arras * crowned ; but observed the ceremony from a boast * window. Her ladies were frisking and dancing in the room."--(A laugh.)—But upon this case the Queen's Counsel contended that one of two things must have happened. Either that it was thought inexpedient to crown the Queen, or that she waived the right of herself. If the former, it *hewed that the power was in the King, and it therefore de stroyed the right ; and with respect to the latter, he con• tended that if it were a right, it was of a nature which would not admit of being waived. The next case was that of Charles the Second, and Catherine his wife, Infanta of Portugal. It was contended on the other side, that she was a rigid Catholic, and that her religions prejudices induced her to waive the right. Now be (the Attorney-General) found that this Princess was married to Charles, by a Protestant Bishop. This he had as certained by reference to a newspaper of the day, preserved in the British Museum, which stated the marriage at Ports mouth by the Bishop of London. There was a :NI newspaper of the same period which gave the same account of the marriage. This put an end to all speculation on the subject ; for if the Princess would consent to be married by a Protestant Bishop, it would scarcely be denied that she would refuse to be crowned by the same person. He begged to call the attention of their Lordships to a review of the cases, from Hen VII. to the present time. Hen. VU. and VIII. he had alluded to. Mary and Bliss both were Queens Regnant, and therefore could not be Waugh' into the argument. The Queen of James I. was crowned; she of Charles I. was not ; she of Charles 11. was not; she of James 11. was crowned, and to be sure, a curious reams was given ; because it was said their religious prejudices agreed. William and Mary were crowned; but Mary was Queen regnant. The Queen of George the First was not crowned. It was said she was divorced. It might be so ; and he had neither the wish nor the necessity to press this case. The Queen of George the Second and his late Majesty were crowned. Upon a calculation, therefore, from the time of Henry the Seventh, it appeared that the majority of cases was against the custom; and this was the stream, the cur rent of uninterrupted usage which had been so confi dently stated by his Learned Friends. If he had suc ceeded (as be submitted he had) in spewing a general deviation from the usage, be destroyed the argument as to the right, so far alit was fouaded on custom. The Learned Mater then referred more particularly to the case of Verney the Second, who was crowned with his Queen . 0.. the King's writs of summonses issued on this mea sles aad cited by Rymer, was in these Terms. " We have resolved ;" " We have ordained." and so on ; and ibis was is fact the language of all the Proclamations for the Comma's of a Quetla Unison. Did not this shew, as far as could be sliewn by language that there was no right in the Queen; and that her Coronation depended upon the will of the King ? —The Liber Rep& bad however been referred to by his Learned Friends to shew the ceremony ; and because this book mentioned that part of it applicable to the goees, they contended that she had a right. He (the , Attorney-General) admitted tit rename ; but be deli 11 their conclusion. Readmitted that wises a QmoillinllM sort was crowned. this or the ceremony should be oh perred as it was pointed oat in the Liber Regnlis ; but this did not advance the claim of right a single step. He relied himself on" the usage, as much as the other side ; and he contended, that in all cases of the Corona tion of a Queen Consort, it was ar. honour proceeding from the King, and not a right in the Queen. — it was said, however, that there were certain services to the Queen to be performed at a Coronation, by persors holding lands, and it was inferred that this Lircumstanc.e rendered her meditation imperative, on account of the rights of those holding the lands. Surely this was not advanced as a serious argument. It must surely have occurred to his Learned Friends, that according to the feudal law, theie services were burthens and not rights; that these laws were held it; what is called Grand Ser. jeantry, and not from the Queen, but from the King, on condition, that when the Queen should be crowned, the ftnants should Perform each and such services. The • services were therefore conditional, and if the Queen should nut be crowned they could not be performed, I and the title Of the tenant was not Omni.— The service of the Champion, for instance, came within this description. The Lord of the Manor of Scrivelsby held his lands on the condition of finding a Champion at the King's Coronation. But could the Lord of this Manor demand the Coronation of his Majesty, in order that he might perform the service of finding the Cham pion? Undoubtedly not ; because if them was no Coro nation, the condition on which the lauds were held had not taken effect. To show that this was a right in the Queen, although enforced only by proclamation, her Counsel bad put the case of prises during the time of war, which prises were enjoyed by the captors, isely by the medium of the proclamation. A moment's exa mination would show that the analogy was forced. The case of a captor was that of a vested interest t an in terest actually vested by the same Act of Parliament, which directed the proclamation. Let the Queen's Counsel spew the vested interest in this supposed right t and the analogy would be admissible; but the right itself was the very question in issue. He really assured their Lordships that her principal difficulty in this case was, the clearness of the position he bad to es tablish. Every tientienian at the Bar knew that an ad vocate feared a clear case more than an obscure one; as lie could not assist the former, and he might explain the latter, fie admitted the great ability which had been displayed by her Majesty's Counsel in ar guing the case. Ha admitted all the facts his torical is well as official, but he denied the conclusion they had drawn from those facts, and this was the ques tion for the decision of their Lordships. Before he quilt ed the subject, be mast remind their Lordships that this claim was ens which in legal language was called "of Best impression," and it therefere was particularly ineumbent on the claimant to prove the right by the strictest evidence. If this right existed how was the silence of historians and lawyers on the subject to be accounted for ? The Queen, exalted as she was, was only a subject. Yet, she claimed a political character approaching towards Sovereignty. She might be honored by the King with this mark of favor and aftestioth but be eumSdastly submitted that her Counsel had failed is producing a shadow of authority in sup port of the claim. as a right. • The Soucuroa-Ostitasi. said, he had no hesitation in conceding to the Queen's Counsel all the facts they had adduced in the argument. He conceded that Queens' Consort had occasionally, nay usually, been crowned, but when this Coronation was claimed as a matter of right, it became necessary to exstnine all the circumstances attending each previous enjoyment of this supposed right. This was the course always taken in a Court of Law. He would take the case for instance, of a right of way, for that bad been taken by sae of the Queen's Counsel. If evidence were offered of the enjoyment of a right of way, it would be competent in those who opposed it as a right, to shew that the en joyment in question was hostile, or permissive, or even mandatory ; but all with the assentof the owner of the soil. At the Coronation it was usual to summon particular per sons in certain characters; but would this usage amount to a right to be summoned ? The Crown might, if it pleased, dispense with all the services which bad been claim ed at and allowed by the Court of Claims, for the service was a burthen and not a right. The right was not to be examined by the usage alone ; but by the circumstances connected with it ; and the whole of those circumstances must be taken together. This difficulty was felt by Mr. Brougham ; and he en deavoured to get rid of it by a dextrous fallacy. He said the right was established by the usage himself.— Upon this part of the subject, the proclamations were very strong of themselves. They were in terms which clearly showed that the will of the Sovereign was the only authority for the coronation of a Queen Consort. But when the strong language of Lord Bacon upon the case of Henry the Seventh was also taken into considera tion, it was impossible to resist the argument against the right. Lord Bacon said, that it was long before Henry would " condescend to allow the Queen " the honour of a Coronation." Was it posihl. or any thing to be stronger than this? And would Lord Bacon have spoken in these terms if there had been any doubt on the subject of the right? He contended it was impossible to resist the fair and reasonable conclusion which must follow the high authority of Lord Bacon. The Learned Solicitor the. took an historical review of the case, but it was in a great measure similar to that taken by the Attorney tieneral. He particularly alluded to the cases of Stephen, JohnlHenry VI 11., and the two Charles's, contending that in no one of these cases, had the expla r nation of the Queen's Counsel been satisfactory sad saa :equally that the argument of right, as founded apes usage, failed altogether. (Left Speaking.) In addition to the names of Sir Jobs Nichol! and Mr. Heber, as Candidates Sr the Representation of the University of &ford, we have to a* ties that of Sir John Sewell, the President of the u Coestitudoesl Association." It is affirmed that Sir Hodson Lowe's alders from flo. cerement are, that As shall briar Amu the body cy'Bo- Impart, in the largest ship of the lies osi the station. It is said that these orders are pointed and imperative. If this account be tree, the report of bia haring desired. t* his will, to be interred in St. Helms, is not correct of course. Whatever his wishes may have been en this ppooiint, we have se doubt thol will and ought to be strictly .~ ~► • 0 ~~ ti • .4. •?0, . t