The Sun.
London, England, 1810-12-21 00:00:00

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made. ad the Ifon. Genti.
Majesty, 'on his 'recovery, Ks
without 'his- authority? and rece,
retained end that his Majesty c
anderef ti
influence 'ofilie sabre ieh'oers, could, he think sue
a precedent str%eg'enollell to overpower fhe dictatt
of Cotninon sense, to overturn reas 'kelt.; and rev
'der that won by' of irnitatioo which' was in itself
palpablecontradietion Oti What it purported to be
Theltight Her.:- Gtenleinati bad said, that it wa
their duty to provide for the emergency Of the case,
placing chine peason- in a sitnalion to exercia.
alie functions ot tteyallyAut how Were they in theii
sent state. to piss as Act-L—liew legislate, with,
out the- [tree Powers Parliament -? How, but -g
by giVing some person the authoriiv to do th:'4
which the Kite; should do' if able ? The Right 'e
f-lmourable •Gaiitleenau had said that it was -
The. right of Paillament to command' the Great -
Seal: He would' Maintain. that the Great Seal t.
I:longed to the. King, anti not to the Lords or
to the Commons. It belonged to the King and to him only. If the King was ieCaeatile of causioget a
'to'be'osed; Ur:a then shduld direct iti'vehar,cases,i
and to what nets it. shoal be :applied ? Should.the
House of 'Ards or the Ilouse 'of Coincrions -take
'upon themselVes to 'exerci,e that Pci4%er,'ior.shoo4l
tkee sopity the thifect in the Governinent it •they I
could ?, At the period of The Revolution, the Right '
HOnourable iGentleinan had said, the stai,e of
things wits not at all analogous' to. the circumstances
_On the present' day, b.cartse then t Throne was(
vacaht, and a King 'was to he made, iesteed of a
person to be supplied during 'the iedtap .sition of
the reigning Monarch. It was not the convention
-of which t Right Honourable Bat cmet
-spoken, who at the Revolution tendered 'thie Crown
.to'the Prince ref Orange.---Thet Assemblyeafter this-
cussing the suleeet, dissolved itself, desiring the
'Prince of Oran,, thc,ll a. P4,iament in- the regu.
lan way, itnd it was ti)at rliarnent as they thought
themselves, and as they e ere thought by-toe'peopte,
Wird made tender of the Crown to 114! Peiece and
Priecess of Orange. The nation had'at that period
more at, stake than it had peilups ever had before.
"He believed there were teen :dive at thatday, who as
thorou:Oly ender.too theConstitution,hoih theore-
tically atilt practical; v, es ever ia h al been under-1(3(A
Since, and they ccrtatoly woute haae recoelmehdad
a better mode of proceeding had ilr y been able, They
intended.to give the royal power to ,the Preice ancl
P.rincess of Oraege, but were determined Arst to gain
those rights which they so nobly laid chem. :
Be-
fore they tendered the CrtrXll a declaratioo to that
effect was made by the Speaker in the House of
Lords to `William and Mary, and the compact once -
made, they were proclaimed K.ng and thleell.
ThO'e IVIIO itved at t not day thought snch.a compact
a Satiklent security: The Rijn I-Jun. - Gentleman
said, that Ceuld net be regarded as a 'precedent, be-.
cause at that pertod.a King was to be made. Why,
the' aet._ they had, to Co was - inuch the
grea'ter. But the 'Rigid. Hon. Gentleman thought
tie Legislative Act, t!‘hich could not legally he
gained, most he illegally procured, to stamp the
gality of liwlr eloeeettiegs, and give cifect to' their
decisions. The more he thought on 'it, the more
he (Mr. P.)\ was fastoe.ished, how
,so extravag:mt
an idea: could :be entertained. The law (if the
land said, the'essent of tle.! King shoold be given
in full Parliament, or Uneet the t.,;reet. Seal.by Cent-
mission. The law on this subj ct was so very shott
that he would read it to. them—[llefe. 'the
Hon. Gentleman read a passage from an At ot
3id Henry VIII. seiting forth , that the royal assent
811061,11)e given, and ever bad been gi.eit ty iris
jesty's letters patent, and under les oe it hand, :red
that such assent so giver, was the solo,: .is it given
in person, and as such was to remain]. ,Sues
being the law he would pow ask it the. King -w..s
capable of givieg his assent in either way (hoe.
laid down ded described ? That the King could
not dime to his Pailia.ment they knew, that he could
not sign the necessary paper "they also knew. On
what principle then could they pretend to gain
the
:royal assent when \it was impossible that it
could he given ,by the King? At the period at
which the law to which he had just, called their at-
tention bad. ieen- made (in the time of Henry the
Eighth), done were several laws in bring making
various offeacts treason. Those laws were repealed
a few years otter the death of that.munarch, by we.
firg Parliament in the re,go of Clueen Mary, but in
that saute year another act was Tossed, makieg it
treason to imitate the King's. Sign Manual, as the
Itoyal assent could only be declaiLd by the Sign Me-
twat and under the Great-Seal. '' Such was the law
then, such is the law at this day." .It was remark-
'Ole, too, that so convinced were the Legis;atute of
'those. times of the necessity of that -law, that an
act of attainder winch had been passed against
the then Duke of No'rfolk was reversed, beCause the
"assetat of Henry had not been torn ally given to that
Act. Li the AU to. which he thenallnded, it -W. ase
stated to have been reversed, because it YV'ki not-sigu-
ed" with Highness's own hand,' and ix:copse it
was not duly sealed:. The royal assent is to be given
in his person,. or by letters patent under the Greet
Seel, and signed by the King's own hand. Accerd-
ing to the .33d. of Henry the Eighth, •any 'AVA
which shall not so have received the royal
as-
sent, shall be " vol and non-effeetive, and shall
be adjudged to be no Act of Parliament."—Could
there be found any authorities more complete thait
these, of the two ways of gaining the royal assent
to-an Act of Parliament ? The Right liter. Gen-
tleman had wished to know if by address the Par-
liament would.not virtually give the Reeent the au-
thority as much from themselves as it could be given
by Bill. It .certainly would do*so. He regarded.
the House as competent to give that authority; it'
was the mode vt doing it for which he cunt:elided.
Thew was a proper wey as well an improper way.
The only proper way was by Address.' Following
that mode of giving the authority had every ddV.lll-
- the other mode could pretend to, without
being liable to the same objections. It was ne-
cessary that the Prince should have the power
of legislation. He ought to have the poi er ot as-
senting to Bills that might pass the two ifiuses,
and was it to be .supposed that he would mgieet the
kuzgestions of these from whorn lie del lye d s
authority ? Cuold be thought that theekeui.e,
of any of his lane' ily whom they might so to-,
ve,t‘ with powei, would treat them with ttegleet, or
refuse to assent