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London, England, 1803-03-05 00:00:00

eiirrs up an Address to his Majesty. If the Hon.
-r eeman had staid a few minutes longer in the
u ; he would heard him move that the Report be
I ssert Aim consideration on the next day. It was
re. reef for the Prince which induced him to admit
of as little delay as possible. No objection was
then made to the line of conduct adopted on the oc-
casion ; and it any had been made, he world cer-
tainly have delayed the proceedings, and en-
deavoured to accommodate matters to the sa-
tisfailion of all parties. He must own he felt ex-
treme regret at finding that any circumstance had
occurred to interrupt the unanimity which he
flattered himself would have prevailed on the pre.
sent occasion. As to what had been said by
the Hon. Gentleman, that this business was brought
forward withoet the• Prince's knewledee, he entirely
believed it. The Message from his M :jesty accords
with the Massage of 1787, and before he presented
it to that House, he had the honour of waiting on
his Royal Highness, and submitting it to him, who
perfeCtly agreed to it. He must therefore suppose,
that if the Prince had been acquainted with the
intention of the Hon. Gentleman, he would have
condescended to have consulted him also on
the subject. The Hon. and Learned Gentleman
who spoke second, (Mr. Erskine) wished to amend
the King's Message, by going farther than it re-
quired ; and the lion. and learned Gentleman who
preceded him, and who introduced the subject, was
for giving a different interpretation to the Message
from what it was intended to convey. But he
begged leave to observe, that no grant could be
made; according to form, without a recommenda-
tion from the Croesn, and he certainly was not autho-
rise to convey any such recommendat ion, so that even
should a Committee be appointed, they could not
proceed a single step without a recommendation
from the Crown ; and as to the Message, the words,
it is true, are general, and may admit the interpreta-
tion given by the Hon. Gent. But he felt it his duty
to disclaim on the part of his Majesty, any such inter-
pretation as his Majesty could not have any measure
in contemplation, which referred in the most remote
degree to his Royal Highness's debts. Indeed it
would be unbecoming, after what past in 1795,
to refer to his Royal Highness's debts, for the aCt
specified that after that time no debt should be
deemed legal, with a few exceptions, and his Ma-
jesty could not suppose that any debts had been con-
tra:led since that period. He would not question
bat it was highly to the honour of the Prince to
discharge the debts alluded to, but the House conld
not, with any degree of propriety, or consistency,
interfere. He bad not a doubt, but every Member
of the House felt as he did, the highest respect for
the Prince's feelings, and admiration of his con-
duct on the occasion. But it certainly could not
afford the ;nest agreeable subject for reflection
to that illustrious personage, to have it appear rn
the Journals of this House, that his debts had been
a third time the subject of parliamentary discussion.
As to the foreign debt alluded to by the Right Hon.
Gentleman (Mr. Tierney) it was included in the
aggregate of debts : but some difficulties arose res-
eecung the settlement of it, which induced the
Commissioners to appropriate the money they had
fur that purpose to the liquidation of other debts,
where such difficulties did not present themselves.
Every debt was then liquidated, except the, debt
alluded to and another, which his Royal High-
ness had taken on himself to discharge. The
whole .debt amounted at the period alluded
to, to 6'20,0001. It was with pain and regret
he felt himself called upon to refer to the ques-
tion of the Prince's claims on the arrears of revenue
of the Duchy of Cornwall. One / lon. Gent. has asked
what burden the Prince was another Hon. Gent.
contended,that it was not a measure of liberality but
a claim of justice, and that in reality the Prince had
made very .treat sacrifices. He confessed, when he
heard such tle.-es, he was irresistibly impelled to
make a reply, confident as he was, that, as far as he
could judge or learn, the Hon. Gentlemen were
much mistaken. As to what he was about to deliver
respeaing the claims of the Prince of Wales, he
should not state it on his own judgment, but on the
opinion of a Right Hon. Friend of his (the Noble
Lord at the head of the law in this country), whose
opinion he believed to be unfavourable to the
Yrince's claim ; and as it has been said that no dif-
ference of opinion was entertained on the subject,
he would also observe that the Noble Lord at the
head of the law in Ireland was also against it.
This, he must repeat, was a subject which he most
earnestly wished to avoid, and was in hopes, that
gentlemen would abstain from it. But he owed it to
himself to declare, that no apprehension, arising
from the prosecution of that claim, had influenced
him on the present occasion, and that what he
brought forward was on public grounds, as a mea-
sure of national interest. He could not agree with
the statement of the Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Tier-
ney), which he believed to be entirely erroneous.
l-le was unwilling to enter into a very painful dis-
cussion, but was compelled to notice the statements
of the Hon. Gentleman. The Right Hon. Gentle-
man then entered into a detail of the expellees of
his Royal Highness, including his debts, Ac. and
proved, that 17,04)01. had been paid over any de-
mand that could arise from the Duchy of Corn-
wall. It is true, he said, the money applied for
the last eight years was deducted from the Prince's
income, for the discharge of his debts, but Parlia-
ment stood pledged for 800,0001. and the interest,
in case of the death of his Royal Highness, which
most fortunately did not happen. It was not,
therefore, just to speak of a sacrifice ; and he con-
tended, that it was less dishonourable to the Prince
to delay the resumption of his state, than for Par-
liament to interfcre • for if Parliament was satisfied •
that the accounts Of 1795 were true, they could
have no grounds of supposing that any debts had
teen contracted since. He had now only to observe,
that every part of the proceedings of Government,
with regard to his Majesty's Message, had been
previously communicated to his Royal Highness:
He could not, therefore, for an instant suppose,
that the Prince was acquainted with the intention of
the Hon. Gentleman, which went to enforce an in-
delicate enquiry into the private concerns of his
Royal Highness. He should, therefore, oppose the
Motion, and vote for the previous Question.
Mr. FOX said, that since he had a scat in Par-
liament, he never heard such an objection to a mo-
tion as that urged on the present occasion, of its
being an indircc question; and still more strange
was the attempt of setting it aside by moving the
previous question. It has been said by the Right
lion. Gentleman, that it was a fundamental prin-
ciple of the constitution, to have grants for money