The Sun. — London, England, 1821-02-06 00:00:00

coppan or Layhach, instead of devising plans to violate the independence of nations, and establish a system of arbitrary despotism on the Continent, should_only meet to remove the im politic restrictions still fastened on European Commerce,,and thus do more to effect that which they Professed to .be their object, the tranquilli 2atiou of the world, which rested on the pros perity of trade, than by any military menace Iyhich they might adopt. Much .towards the nttainmentof that - great.objeet . might be accom plished by the Government of this country, by the ,- removal of ths yostrictions existing on foreign ttade ; and he trusted more to. their - efforts and to the suggestions of iadisiduals to promote trade at home and abroad, than to the . labours of a Committee. Should ; however, the present Pe tition be referred to the Committee on Foreign Trade, far from opposing the inquiry, though he -might not be able to take an active,part in it, he rhotild give it his most sincere - sapport. InriCAL - rnoRPE could skate, from his personal knowledge, that the individuals who had signed' the present .Petition were incapable of putting their names to - any facts of which .they did not 1.. ao w the reality, and that they possessed the most complete means of information. He could not help hoping, as far as the Fofeign Trade was concerned, that the Committee which sat last and which was about to be revived, would sit:nze to the country all attainable advantages. e was therefore glad that the Noble Earl who had presented the Petition had not moved for a new_ Committee, which Might have the effect::of tlistracting the labours of the old. Yet, he•felt desirous that some Committee of the nature pro posed by the Petitioners shotild be appointed in that or the other house. lie hoped that the public wish, expressed in both Houses by num berless Petitions, would induce his Majesty'sMi— risters to sanction the appointment of such a Com mittee to investigate the causes of the existing distress, or at Last to afford an opportunity of ascertaining what were the circumstances which affected agriculture. 1"e;r, The Petition was laid on the table, and the irou.,e adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS, FEB.S. On the motion of Mr. CURWEN, it war's ordered, That an. Account be laid on. the table, of. the quantity of Tallow imported, and the amount of Duty thereon, from the sth of January, 1820, to the sth of January, -182.1. A similar Account was ordered of the nun*r of Quarters of Foreign Oats for the same period. • A similar Account was ordered of the amount of Duties le viei on Agricultural Horses, from the sth of April, 1819, to the sth of April, 1820. Mr. JAMES gave notice of a motion for the 19th instant, relative to the employment of Military Force at the Election for Carlisle. _ _ . WILLIAM LEMON presented a Petition from the Freeholders and oiher loyal Inhabitants of Bodmin, in the County of'Cornwall, praying for the restoration of the Queen's name to the Liturgy. Mr. D. GILDEIIT thought himself called upon to state that an Address to ;the King of a ditTerent nature froni the rosent Petition, and -signed by the principal andmost of the respectable Inhabitants of the borough of Bodmin, had been presented to his Majesty. He did not wish to interfere with tne right of individuals to speak their sentiments,—they had e6771-' their duty, and he had, done his in making this state- Sir 'WILLIAM LEMON - observed, that he had nietelv rlene his duty in presenting the Petition—it vots the Pt7t:_titn of the uncierzigned individuals.—Ordered to be printed. _ The Hor.ouratle Aleinbcr., also pro.s.,:nted a similar Petition frog the Parish of Bodrnin.. Sir W. LEMONmoved for an account of all Tin exported from, and also all imported into Great Britain, from the sth of January, 1820, to the sth of January, 1821.—Ordered. Mr. J. STUART presented a Petition from the Royal Burgh of - Wigtoun,praying for the restoration of her Majesty's name in the' Liturgy—Ordered to be printed. Colonel PALMER presented a Petition from Bath, praying for a Constitutional Reform in Parliament, - nod for the restora tion of the Queen's name to the Liturgy, and the full restitu tion of all her rigbts,--Ordered to be printed. NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. Sir GEORGE CLERK brought up a Bill, entitled " A. Bill for amending the, Longitude Act," which was read a first, and crcier.sd to be read a second time to-morrow. Nir. BENNETT moved for an Account of the number of Criminal Info'rmations filed by the present A,ltorney-General. 0:-•'ered. _ _ Mr. CHET WYND rnovEo for an Accourt of the 'amount of the r - ims paid by the Treasurers of the difnrent Counties of :England and Wales towards the maintenance and passing .of Vagrants to their homes for the last three years: The Hon. Gentleman - gave notice, that when the Papers were produced, ]in should make a motion on this subject, tending either to do awry altugether zhe present system, or greatly to ameliorate it: He believed the amount was nearly 14.10,0091. annually. Lax. Alderman WOOD hoped the City of London would be eTernnted from tlie necessity of sending in these accounts. This was agreed to and the Papers ordered accOrdingly. Lord NUCti.:NT presented a Petition from the Town of Lei crater ATICI its vicinity; signi - .11 by upwards of 4000 individuals, pr.a - fing the restoration of tse Qucen's name to the Liturgy, and to all her legal ri, - ;hts—elso for an inquiry into the Milan L'-mmistion—Ordered to be printed. GRAMPOUND. Lortl. J. RUSSELL said, that in inovinl - the second reading of the Grarapound Disfranchisement Bill, he had to state, that it was understood the.,:: would be no opposition made on this stage, as there would be a public Committee, at which time it was ir.tended to tzlce the debate on the subject. Tn the mean Erne it would he printed; and the Bill would then be in pre cizeijr the 'same state that it was in last Session.—The Bill was then read a socfmd time, and ordered to be committed on Mon day.next. bit . J. NEWPORT moved for Copies of all Communica tiens between this Government and the Irish Government rela 'tin to the s;. pis Stationery, particularly-respectiok-Mr.Al -- liQng.," and the proceedings adopted thereupon— Ordered.. • - . fiTr.'Alde.rman WOOD moved for an account of the amount of t'•:,.; Starnp E'rti , .,s 'on Fire Insurance Policies paid to Go 17K to 1821, as far as the same can be mark. AOR ICULTURE. • ifir. tiO Ilf seeing the Noble Lord (Castlereagh) in his place, begi - ;• , A to all'; him a question 'of great itn?ortanee to the interests anu welfare of every class of - iadividuais, on the sub ject. of the agricultural distresses. lie wished to know if it was intended by the Noble Lord, or any of his Colleagues, to bring forward, n the course of the Session, any motion specifi cally relating to, or tending to alleviate, - or remedy_ the =pa-. ralreied distresses which weiglicduPon the agricultural interests. •- Lerd fIASTLEItEAGEI assured his Honourable .Friend, that be did not under-rate the importance or the subject, rela tive to which he had put this question, and he participated, as deeply as any on a, in lamenting, the distresses which pressed so heavily on the ii-griculture of this country, which was the great - basis of our national wealth. His Horiouratsle Friend's ques tion, however; was similar to one that had alreadi been put, and to which ht had answered, that it was not in fife intention of his Majesty's Miaisteri to:bring forwf.rd any specific motion, on the subject. As he had then stated, it appeared to him that the distresses did not arise froth the state Of * the law; in which case a specific remedy niiisht easily be provided. At the same time, if it appeared that it would be more grateful to the minds of the Country and to the 'louse, to ,institute an inquiry into the cause of the evils, he would most-cheerfully give it his most cordial support and countenance.. lie should, however, feel it his duty, before the inquiry was gor,.e into, to make himself dearly understood, as otherwise much injury be done to the Country - from their going into the Committee with a mis understanding of each other's intentiOns and.-views. It would he nlost requisite that the Country sliouldunderstand that'there did not exist any reasonable expectation of being Whit to pro vide a remedy for evils,_ which were dependent on causes beyond the controul of the. Legislature of the Country. . When the motion for a Committee was made, it would be more proper . that he should explain his c..vn views On the subject, and the guards with which he should desire to go into the Committee. Mr. GOOCH then said, that after the answer which the Noble Lord had beei pleased to make, he should feel it to b.: his dot-,=, if no non.2lembernrore competent to the task should come forward, to bring the matte: before the Houn at an early period, CONDUCT - OF MINISTERS.- The Maritreis - of TA VT - STOCK in - rising pursuant to notic'e,,to move a Resolution expressive of the opinion of that Howse; on---the measures—which had lately agitated the country, confessed that he had never felt so much his incapacity to do justice to any question which he had ever-had the honour of briuging ,before that house. The dis- cussion, however, which had taken place on the subject in the country, - and within these few days in that House:, left him but little to say. And after these discussions he really thought there was,nothing more wanted than a•ltesolution of that House, expressive of the universal feeling of the community, from one end of the empire to the- other.. When he reflected on the wisdom of that House in passing a former resolution, de claring that the late proceedings were 44 deroga tory from the dignity of the - Crown and injurious to the best interests of the Nation,", he could not help indulging- a confident hope that the house, - and particularly the Honourable Member for Bramber (Mr. Wilberforce) would look upon the motion-he - was abont to make as the - necessary consequence of that Resolution. It did indeed appedr that that prediction was completely ve rified:'. The dignity of the Crown and the inte rests of the Country had been .more deeply in jured than could have been contemplated. In adverting to the past, he would abstain, as much as- possible, from all allusions to what had passed in the other House. lie would, confine himself to the conduct of Ministers—conduct which, in:, every society with which.. he had mingled, he had found universally and unequivocally censur ed. The result of that night's proceedings would shew whether the feelings of that House were in unison with those of the Country at large. lie should not go far back in the history of the Queen, nor dwell upon the hardships she had suffered, or attempt to contrast the present con duct of her persecutors with their conduct in the days of her prosperity, when she had the happi ness to have a protector on the Throne. This was all before the public. The Act by which her name had been struck out - of the Liturgy had been discussed and decided on by. the House, and he would not attempt to offer any observa tions of his own, which could - only tend to weaken the able arguments which had been ad vanced on all sides, and especially by..a Learned Gentleman opposite (Mr. Wetherell.) He had been taught from his earliest days to reve rence that golden rule of justice which or dained, that where there was doubt the accused ought to have the benefit of it. ; and he thought that the conduct of the Ministers was not only unjust, but had been- productive-of the most pure and unqualified mischief. He could not say that he regretted the decision of. the House of Com mons on this subject. the other night, for he thought it one of the surest•indications of that_ necessary reform in Parliament, by which alone the salvation of the country-could be achieved. He hoped, on this subject, that the table of that House would soon be so covered with Petitions. from every parish in the country, as to render it impossible to resist them, and at length to ren der that House the true organ of public opinion to the Throne, to the total discomfiture of Mini sters. He now begged the attention of the House to the period when a Green Bag was laid by the Ministers of the Crown before the two HouSes of Parliament, and - he would ask the Noble Lord opposite (Castlereagh). whether, when he laid that Bag on'the table of the House, filled with such disgusting and obscene matter, he believed that there was evidence of the truth of the charges therein contained ? If he did not he .was guilty •of treason to the Queen and to the Country. If he did, he was still more guilty ; for, regardless of the dignity of the Crown and of the Country, he would have persuaded her to go back to the scenes of her infamy—possessing proofs as strong as holy writ, that she had been guilty of adultery with her menial servant, and yet desiring that she, should remain with that ser vant, under circumstances of • scandal and .dis honour to the Crown and the British Parliament. Let the Noble Lord confess that he tooleno pains toascertain if the charges in question were founded on substantial evidence or not ! As the next.step in the proceedings, he came to the Bill of Pains and Penalties, where he saw those who had be fore stigmatised her as a criminal, acting in the' capacity of Judge and Juror, and wino had at the same time a deep interest at stake in the result. Without going into -the whole question of that anomalous 'Bill, or attempting to point out all the difficulties under which her Majesty laboured ill being forced to contend against it, yet he could not resist - expressing his horror at the disgustina details which were every day brought before the public; and which had inflicted an irreparable injury on the morals of the public. When the Bill of Pains and PenaltieS was withdrawn from the other House. of Parliament, the public most confidently hoped that the abandonment of the Bill would set the question} at rest for ever. But, contrary to this well-grounded -expectation, her Majesty did not enjoy: the possession of those rights and privileges to which she was legally en titled. But the Noble Lord opposite talked about technical privileges; and he presumed to tell the country that he had a right to act as if the Bill had passed. Of all the doctrines he had ever heard, that of a right to whisper away the character of any 'person that bad been acquitted was the most monstrous. He protested against this new principle of the Noble Lord, who told them, that after acquittal he was entitled to act against an innocent person, as though she were a convicted criminal. he should adhere to e maxim of presuming that all were innocent till prayed guilty. But if• there- was any -line of conduct more flagrantly unjust than another, it was re fusing to acknowledge •the innocence of one who had been tried. and acquitted. The Noble Lord said, that the Queen was trying to erect a great power in the State against the Constitution, and the prerogatives, of the King ; and yet the Noble Lord himself proposed, to give her-50,0001.• per annum, for a provision to sustain her in such practices. If this were proved against the Queen, she ought - to be impeached. But this kind of language was not what Ministers held before the production of the Bill. They at one time told them, that either the Bill must pass, or - the Queen be acquitted- of . cveey charge -against her; and yet, notwithstanding this assurance to the country, made by the first Minister in that , House,-they now found that the Queen was not treated in the manner that had been held out. — Was this, he asked, the conduct of Ministers fit to govern'this nation ? No ; it was the conduct or men worthy of temporising from day to day upon the most shallow policy. The time must come when they would be obliged to - change their ever-varying course. The present Ministers for the sake of office had bartered the tranquillity of the country. They had - done an injury to reli gion by introducing a political schism into the bosom of the Church. For the sake of office they had brought the Clergy and the Constituted Authorities into open hostility: They . had brought about an open breach between the peo le and the Parliament. Not the least disgraceful part of these proceedings was, the use which had been made.of the King's name—an use which an honourable or manly mind would not have stooped to. He now came to the sad and dis graceful sequel of the whole. All these acts the Ministers had obtained their usual sanction to iu their accustomed overwhelming majority.— But he was afraid that many of those who composed that majority had voted against' their own conviction. Leaving the Noble Lord inthe, full enjoyment . of power thus acquired, and which he for one did not envy, he would Make way for those who would address the House on this question in a much more effectual manner than be could. He had endeavoured to the best, of his powers to draw into a foCus for the full view of that House, the injustice and impoli cy of the late proceedings,.and with these impres sions on his mind, and feeling how deeply that House was involved hi their exposure, he had at tempted to bring the conduct of Ministers into the 'worst light. He could assure the house, that his object hi doing this was not merely to take the sense of the House on the subject of the late proceedings, but to drive the _present Mini sters out of power. And he did not wish this from the paltry object of putting his own friends in their places, but from a hope that a change of men would produce a change of measures. He had no feelings on the subject of a personal na ture. He felt himself to be so totally unfit for public business,.that he had always determined to accept no office under any administration. Even should his friends come into power to-mor row, without attempting in some way or other, to put the principle of Parliamentary Reform into - action,. he would not support them. It was of no consequence to him in what hands the Govern ment of the country should fall, so long as the spirit of. that Government were temperate to wards the people. - That the people of this coun try deserve well of their rulers, let their late conduct testify r For his own part he thought it was- impossible to admire too much - the good conduct, forbearance, and peaceable be haviour, ,C.embieed with their generous and dis interested efforts in. behalf of a defenceless. woman, which the people of this country had exhibited throughout the .whole of the. late. fermentation in the public mind. The Noble Lord opposite (Castlereagh,) had announced his intention of meeting this motion by the previous question; but he sincerely trusted thellouse would_ not countenance such a proceeding. The Noble Marquess then moved, that the Jlouse come to the following Resolution :—" That . it is the opinion of this House, that his Majesty's Minis ters, in advising the measure which led to the late proceedingsagainst the Queen, were not jus tified by any political expediency ; and that their conduct has been productive of consequences-de rogatory from the dignity of the Crown, and injurious to the best interests of the' Country." • Mr. Lamwros 'seconded the motion. The Resolution proposed by his Noble Friend had a tendency which he really loped and believed would allay the irritation which had been excited in the minds of the nation, and tend to restore their confidence in that Constitution, 'which he maintained had been violated from the commencement to the end of those proceed ings adverted to hi the Resolution. The charac ter of his Noble Friend, and the attachment which he knew he had to liberty, were enough to have induced him to support any motion he could bring forward, without thinking it necessary to state any reasons of his own. It now ap peared, that with a full knowledge of all the evidence that was subsequently brought before the House of Lords, and with the advantage of a personal interview with Majocci, who was at Carlton House on the day that the King died, in the month of February last, the Noble Lord opposite had stated in his place, that -her - present Majesty, whom he designated a high Personage, would be put to no incon venience. Such sentiments had the Noble Lord avowed, and yet the next dispatches from the Queen at Rome, contained complaints in conse quence of the treatment she received. It turned out subsequently that this expression of kindness towards her Majesty was only conditional to her remaining abroad. When she came near Eng land, Lord Hutchinson was sent out, by whom he knew not ; but sent be was by some one, charged with a message containing a threat of violence, if she dared to proceed a step further on her way to this country ; and an offer of 50,0001. per annum. if she would stop abroad, and 'never take the mine. .of the royal family of England. They had endeavoured to prevent her. reappear- Alice by offering her a bribe to leave the country, that she might be enabled to return to Italy, and continue that course so disgraceful and injurious to the honour of the nation. If they believed her guilty they ought never to have been willing to give her 50.0001. to leave the country, as doing this, was doing all in'their power to make , vice and immorality triumphant. Ile then described the coming of the Queen. She had landed at Dover, and on her advance was greeted with the acclamations of the people. Nonf; of them had approached that House with petitions asserting her guilt or demanding inquiry. - On the contrary, they had displayed the utmost 'affection aid syrti= pa thy for her and hatred for her • persecutors. Under these circumstances it might be asked what 'state expediency rendered any inquiry ne cessary at all ? They had nothing+) prove against her in the last years of her life, and her vge made it impossible that any spurious issue could be h9,- posed upon thecasiititry. He therefore contAded thapt , m) State expedientty called for*inquir t yl. .Jle now came to the Bill of Pains and Penalties ; he did not mean to say,that Bills of Pains and Penal ties should in no instance be resorted to ; but he thought they could, only be justified 'by cir cumstances of imperious necessity'. • In the present case he had shown that nothing of the kind .existed, and therefore he inferred the mea sure coula only have been resorted to in a vin dictive spirit of resentment. He then went over the history of the proceedings with respect to her Majesty, from the period of her last arrival in this country, and described Ministers, when they found their offers rejected, and their threats despised, to have entered with feelings •of re sentment into that inquiry ) which had previously been described to be derogatory to the dignity of the Crown, and therefore injurious to the best interests of the country. That inquiry had done more to relax the morality of the people, and alienate their affections from their Monarch, than could have been accomplished by any other means. .The decent veil which had been before thrown, as if by, universal - consent, over the frailties of Royalty, had by the conduct of Ministers been rudely torn asunder ; the errors of the past- had been brought to light, and there was scarcely a Member of the - Royal Family who had not been I held up to the ridicule of the multitude in pamph lets and caricatures, whose Wanderings, but for the course pursued - against the : Queen, might have been for ever buried in oblivion. 'lf this doctrine of recrimination had been acted, upon" by her, who might have used it most.power fully, if she had not, abstained from doing so in a spirit of forbearance, which he trusted 'the reject ion of the late Bill would serve to confirm and strengthen, he verily honeyed that at this moment the country might have been reduced to a state of civil dissention. The in quiry had deluged the country with details that ought not to have met the public eye. He would ask any man who heard him, if he had not been most anxious to hide from the members of his fa mily every newspaper which contained a report of the proceedings in the House of Lords. And by what sort of witnesses were the charges sup ported ? By waiters, chambermaids, and wretches of the most abandoned character. In a case where defective and rotten character was the principal charge against her Majesty, why were they not as careful to inquire into the character of those witnesses •as to swalloW the tales that they had told ? Why did they not call as' wit nesses those respectable individuals Whohad been about her Majesty's person at the same time with those who were examined, and who still re mained in her service ? Did they think that treachery alone- deserved credit ? Did they think that faitful service would disqualify from giving honest evidence . ? The c ourse pur sued had disgusted the country. They wer e diseatsted withtheAVi ll_ C WV, peared those who formed it were employed to collect evidence for the purpose of accusation, and not for the discovery of truth. For the acts of that inquisitorial tribunal. Ministers had yet to answer for. Every Petition received called for an inquiry into its proceedings, and. he trust ed that it .would soon take place. Be doubted not the Noble Lord was prepared to contend that the course which had been' .taken now with respect to the Queen was more just than that pursued in 1806. On that question,he should, be happy to meet the Noble Lord, but that he must remark was not the question now before the House, and whatever the proceeding's of 1806 might have been, the people of England would never be of opinion , that one act of injustice could be sanctioned by another. For the late proceed jugs in the other House of Parliament, he knew Ministers were not constitutionally responsi.• own feelings, but they were answerable for .a We: much as they might be in unison with th eir re fusing a list of the witnesses ;—for withholding obstruc tion of witnesses, and for procuring _theter in a specification of the charges ;—for .ference of the German Courts to the Trejudice of the Queen. Onefor w act hich injus tice committed, the - the Noble Lord)-- borrow an expression from , These were features (if he might parties to it were of s tl t t e e r s s e i s v v e e r t e -e d f e e c a p tu ly re r s e i s n po t T l e i neces sity obliged to spppera dd to it other acts of tyranny case • • - • e He held them respons ib le and injustice. for the manner in which the Parliament was pro rogued. That seemed to him a serious ch arge .- They had advised their Sovereign to dismiss his first Parliament in a cold and repulsive way, without thanking them for, the provisiou which they had made for the maintenance of his Crown and. dignity, with a liberal, perhaps with a lavish hand. 'From the Prorogation down to the pre sent time, they were answerable for not hav ing advised their SoverMgn to , restore the name of his Consort to the Liturgy after her acquittal, notwithstanding_he had heard one of his Majesty's Mittisters - declare that there was no alternative between the passing of the Billand the kestoration of her Majesty to all her rights as Queen Conso r t. Th e i r c o n d uct he held to be unjust and inexpedient ; and thus it appeared to the country at large, as was plainly evinced by the petitions on their table. These, it had in vain been attempted to meet by loyal addresses which} no mention is made of the Queen), atid in this way it had been attempted to gain some thing-like an ,appearance of approbation of the conduct of Ministers. To the decision of the House that night he could - not but look with great anxiety. Asa Reformer, he felt anxious, for, should it proveunfavourable, it would prove, what had long been regretted, a want of sympathy on the part of the House with the people. It would tend to exasperate the public—it would do away all hope of relief from Parliament, and urge them po - ssibly to acts of desperation. With•these views of theimportance . tif the question, he had great pleasure in seconding the motion of his No!')!e Erie ud. Mr, tAttsunst bore testlmods to the manly way in which the . Noble„Lord rind the IlonsGen tlemau opposite had stated their views to the House, 'lt seemed to be avowed that the object in view was to procure Abe removal of his Ma.- jesty's present 'servants, mid to obtain, as the ne cessaryconsequence of their re as s a Reform in Parhametit. 'lle,was glaskhe ' l ects in. view ha/1 - bee e so faitly'sstatedi s •htllNitsts sorryVte No ble Lord had decleredhat he had no personal oh ,iect in View, having come to a determination never to become a member of any Administration. He was sorry for that, as any Adminisiration would be henoured as well as benefited, by being ena bled to count the Noble Lord among its Members. .He (Mr. Bathurst) wished, in as few words as possible, to follow the course of the Hon. Gentleman who had seconded the motion, by =taking a brief view, of the whole subject. lie called upon the Gentlernm opposite to place themselves for a moment iu the situation of Mi nisters, agreeing with the Hon. Member who had just sat down, that.the present.case must be dealt with according to its ovonmerits, mud any thing wrong in any former proceeding would be - no justification for the course taken on this occa.; sion by his Majesty's Government. In the first place, referring to what had transpired after the Queen left this country` in 1814, he would ask NV ere the reports which got into circulation of a nature so very unimportant that nothing ought to be'done with respect to them. If any thing was to be thine, were not Ministers bound, in the first instance,-to make sonic i*nquiey into the truth of the reports which had reached them. Such in quiry ought undoubtedly to be conducted in a proper manner. so as not *to be unfair towards the accused. Ministers had taken as good mea sures as any Government could take to get the inquiry carried on in a proper manner. Persons of character and local knowledge had been sent to make those. .inquiries that were necessary, and persons who had ' no interest whatever in exaggerating any .thing that they might hear to the prejudice of the Queen. Their - exertions would certainly have given greater satisfaction bad they, after due inquirys. beers able to repOrt that there was no foundation for any of the reports- that had been in circulation. Ministers would then have been happy to have dismissed the subject from their thoughts. But, on the contrary, if instead of that being the case, there had been laid before Ministers suclett mass of evidence of improper _conduct as would have called upon any private in dividual to take notice of it, and justify him in taking those steps which the law allowed to vin dicate his honour, could Ministers, in the dis charge of their duty, have ventured to disregard it altog,ether. "Obliged to take some notice of it, they were still reluctant to - disclose the facts of which they were in possession, *and they had therefore endeavoured to avert the necessity for making a public ex hibiti on o f th e ev id ence . For this they had been censured for the offers Which .they had made to her Majesty, but in his opinion it was their imperious duty, if possible, to prevent the proceedings which subsequently became ne cessary. • He denied that it was in the. view of his Honourable Friend ((lie Member for Bram- .1.: r_l„. _n r. :it, I + h, vi,,,,, ..,r j 1 if ---- --, , ......,, , ,A,.." contemplated inquiry was.prpnounced to-be de rogatory to the dignity of . the Crown, and inju rious to the. host interests.of the country, that if the proposition then made to the Queen was re jected nothing .was to he done. Because the in quiry would be injurious, it did not follow that no evil consequences could result from taking a course the opposite of 'that which had been pur sued. There was but a choice of evils ;—which ever course was taken great inconveniences would be sustained, and therefore the question after all on which the House had to decide was this, whe ther or no t Mi n i s t ers were justified in bringing forward th a t- w hi c h th ey h a d ta k en upon them selves to prove as a matter of charge. With re spect to the evid ence b roug h t forw ard, in this as in every case of divorce, the .prosecutor could not • choose his witn esses , he was of necessity obliged "4 to take such as could speak to the facts charged. f ' In his judgment it was a spatter of grave concern - to the nation, where the conduct of a Queen wa' such as materially affected, the honour of the Crown, that in such a case, she,, the first subject of the nation, having forgotten her duty, should be held up to the public as entitled to nll the • honours =and respect to the station of Queea Consort., In the negotiations which preceded the late Parliamentary inquiry it was adVanced a' a demand on the part of the Queen, that her name o s should be restored, to the Liturgy, unless sorne'. equival e nt were g i ven . A n Addressfrom that House* !' requesting he r M a j es t y t o g i ve up t h at points', p would, it was hoped, be in fait considered as an equivalent. Had her Majesty -been content with' any thing, short.of a recantation of the. act pre viously -performed, the case would not haVo t , been brought before the. publi c at a ll , for at 'ffilir' time the papers sent down to 'Parliament bad not been opened, and therefore there was no ne cessity. for any -publi c di scussion _ on the subject , or any public discl osure of the evidence. But it ~ was 130 V 4 7 supposed sylam that Address ,son s ss 4 . 4' - ' t oi Majesty's upont . no altern ry atiVe would seal!! Government. This was clear . from what . the House actually did at a sesb,s•e4 quent - per iod„-when the trial. had been comb-woe- , ed. A motion Was made for an Address, calling on the Croton 'to stay all proceedings., an the ground that it had been previously declared by the House, that any inquiry must be " deroga" tory to the dignity of the Crowss, and injurious to the best interests of the tn•=tion." The se nse of the HOuse on. this subject was manifested in ° way not to be mistaken, and the motion hadteeti negatived by a great. majority. He then took a view of the comparative advantages of pro. ceeding by a Bill of Pains and Penalties 80 proceeding by Impeachment, and vindicated the conduct . •of Ministers in preferring the former. When Honourable Members insisted that the Queen had a right.to be restored to the Liturgy, they took a view of the subject very different from that which had been taken of it -by the Queen herself. If she were entitled to be restored to the Liturgy under the Act a .1 Charles the • Second,_ it would never have beet' their object to &ain it -by Twpciation, The Bill 4 / ' . i