The Sun.
London, England, 1810-12-28 00:00:00

cEaultß 23, 181.0:

the succession to the Regency should be regulated
by, that. -of the -succession to the Monarchy ; nor
(lees such a principle, I' beLieVe,eobtain in other
cotm tries,governed by the Monarchical system.
deed, In wine countries- the Heir apparent .or Heir
presumptive (upon sufficient grounds I should-think)
is considered as the last person in whom such an of-
fice should be vested.
,Even where the. &blue law
prevails, the- next in succession to the throne is not
considered as the properest to exercise the an theruies
of a Regent.. The assumed principle of a right vested
in the next in succession Id the office of_Regent was
not fOunded on the principles of the Constitution ;
nor, was it to be' found in the Statute,Book. There
was no instance itethe histot y, of the-country of a Re-
gent who had not been appointed by the tiuthority
of the existing JLegislature. Indeed, an instance of
a claim to the Regency
,heing made, was to be found
in the reign of Henry VI. when the next of kin (the
Monarch being thee in a state of infancy) claimed
the exercise of royal power. The claim was discus-
sed in Parliament, and it was the opinion of all the
great authorities of that day, that such a claim was
entirely unfounded, and it was so determined by the
legislature. ledeed all the cases in the history of
the realm evinced that no Regent was ever appoint-
ed except -by the authority of Pat-Name:if. It•is also
apparent, my LordS, from a review of our history,
that there was no 'instance of a Regency, with the
exception of the Doke of Gloucester, after wards king
Richard 111. and the Prefeetor Somerset, that wfisino,
in sonic way or usher limited end restrained by Pere
lianient. levee the Duke of York, in the reign of
Hems VI. notwithstanding all his power 'and in-
fluence, he could not obtain the Regency otherwise
than as a restricted grant. I knoW, my Lards, it
may be objeeted that r hesecases. to which I refer are
drawn from_ tirn4 and Periods of anarchy and vio-
lence, but they are time to which, in the opinions
of the greatest legal and 'constitutional authorities,
we should look for the foundations- of that liberty
which we now enjoy, that these foundations were
laid from the- accession of Henry 111, to -the reign of,
Henry VII. But, my Lords, it is 'not prece-
dents formed in these times that we can alone r fer;
we have them many degrees bearer to the present
time. Ido not now mean the great cause of t7B,
that I shall advert to by and by The cases I mean
afford us ample proof of the opinion of the country as
to the principle.-' I Ankle to the ot the twenty-
Mai ot George the Second, made in Contemplation
of the minority of his, present Majesty. I. enter
not into particul.sr cireutosotoces or .triair'eietnents,
but it strews the prevalence ot the princiele at
the tune, that the next in illoce,SiLlti a,• not,
as a matter of course, entitled- to - the office or
the powers ot Regency, and tont ilk otii:e to be
contingently exercised was nor -created ..vir hoet
moation or restriction. The Ad toe the eientuJl
formation: oleo Regency, in the early east of the
present reign, proceeded. upon the same,. vtiftciple,
.ihe next in succession to'tire Throne WO3 not 'to-be
Mt/cited With the Regency, neither was it to' be.
exercised without limitation or restriction. All-the
precedents and authorities in the Statute,Book, ar
in the page of history, evince the principle that no
individual whatever has any right to the office of
Regent, save what he derived from Perhament,-
and that such was founded on the best principles of
our Constitution. I shall now proceed to tine con-
sideratien of the mode in which such office, in case
of necessity, may be eoeferted by the Legislature-,--
There exist only t\vo, that by Address, and that
by Bill. As to the, person on whom the office
should be conferred, they were all agreed. By
the mode of Address, his Royal HigaTess would
be desired to take upon him the Government of
the country—by an -act of the Legislature it would •
be provided he should do so ; but I would ask, •if
any particular' indiYidual has .tio legal title tot he
-Regency., whether both modes 'ot pricceding are
of equal efficacy. _ However, it proves, •by your
own. spewing,- -that the. authority proceeds -from
Parliament, whichever mode is adopted: The mode
of Address in itself can confer no legal powers,
and in every view I can take of it,' I consider that
of 'proceeding by Bill the only mode we can adopt.
The ,Address, my • Lords, can .cOnfer no legal
power, it can form no record, nor be taken not
in the courts below.- The Address may call .forth
into ect ion any legal power already in exiStenceebut
it can confer ne powei by law which did not previ-
ously exist. No objection of this sort- collide lie
against the mode of prdceediag by Bill, which, •vc, ith
the Great Seal affixed to, must be duly regarded in
all tine Ceurrs or the Realm,' I contend that t:.e
annexation of the Great Seal would have such q-
tecl—the Courts Were-bound, to obey it—no cove-
' nant could be made against it in the Courts _of
Law. -Here—

Kul STANHOPE rose. to order; but on its appear-
ing the, Noble Lord was not, generally sup:.;Airt-
ed ;, he .obierved, it wai competent, for bun to
rise to correct a .mistake in a "Mernbei of the
•
Cohnnii tee. •

The Earl of HARROWBY observed,_.in ans,.ver,
that kis Noble Friend was perfectly in order, a mis-
take was no transgression of order.
The Earl of.; lAvaitroot. resumed ; he contend-
ed • for the accuracy of his former position. " The
validity of the Gre,it Seal may be questioned by
Parliament, but it cannot be que.itioned in any
of the Conrts below, I cannot better expres my
opinion on this heed, than by referring to the
lAnguage of a great law authority now no more; I
mean the late Lord Camden; he had a ['nth ular de-
gree of correemei.s in expressing his opinions, and I
;relieve from all that I lin-ve- heard or read upon the
subject, or from all I conic( collect from'my converr
sation4 with per•ons 'elnitirll‘ ly learnt:llln th-t
hat the opinion of that great Lord was loom-
tro.ertible. (Here the Noble Earl read the opinion
he iiituded to.) In illustrAing the great legal autho-
-7ity of tbe-Preeat Seal, nothing can wan a more-Atilt-