The Sun.
London, England, 1818-04-15 00:00:00

THE PRINCE REGENT'S MESSAGE.

The Earl of LIVERPOOL moved the Older of the
Day for taking into consideration the Prince Re-
gent's Message, for the purpose of moving to dis-
charge it, in order to postpone it tilt to-morrow,
his Lordship stating, that peculiar circumstances,
Which should he explaired to-morrow, rendered
the postponement'till to-morrow a matter of ex-
pediency.
The Marquis of LANSDOWNE observed, that the
House had been placed in a• tnost peculiar situa-
tion bythis conduct of the Noble Earl. Contrary
to all former precedent, according to which it
was the regular course to move an Address, in
cases like the present, on the next day after the
message had been brought down, the House were
now to be drawn into a line of proceeding which
must necessarily convey a disrespect to the Crown.
It was scarcely possible to conceive that Mini-
sters would have brought down a Message from
• the Crown without having previously arranged
the measures they intended to propose, in conse-
quence of such message ; and yet what was the
state of the proceeding now before the House ?
It appeared, that the Ministers of the Crown had
advised the Prince Regent to send down a Mes-
sage to that House, that upon bringing it down
they induced the House to vote to take it into
consideration this day, and. that now, when it
ought to have been so considered, the Ministers
had nut arranged any measure to submit to their
Lordships' deliberation. Thus the House were
to be compelled by this condtict of Ministers to
be guilty of a disrespect to the Crown, in acting
contrary to all the precedents applied to such oc-
casions, by not taking into consideration a Mes-
sage on the day, or the day after, it was brought
down, and this without any sufficient reason
assigned.
The Earl of LIvERPooL said, that as to the dis-
respect to the Crown which was supposed to arise
out of the rontse of proeeeding_now recommend-
ed, be was perfectly ready to take upon him-
o elf all the blame of that direspecr, if there was
any. It was perfectly true that with regard to
Addresses to Messages from the Crown, where
merely thanks were to be expressed, or where it
was merely state(rAtiat a stinject should be taken

into consideration, it was sometimes the case that

they ci''ere moved iMmediately upon receiving the
Message. In cases, where an opinion was to be
given upon the subject alluded to in the Message,
it was the practice to appoint the next day for the
consideration of the Message, in order that Noble
Lords might not be taken by surp'ize. It would
however lie expected that 'Ministers should state
what measures t hey intended to propose, and it
was surely better that time should be given for
them to be enabled to make that statement for
the satisfaction of the House, than that an Address
should he moved ‘vithout

I Lord Hou-ststi, fly): withstanding what had
been said by the Noble Earl, thought that no
sufficient reason had been urged for the present
extraordinary and unprecedented proceeding. The
House were in fact cdled upon, without any
reason whatever, to postpone the consideration of
the Prince Regent's Message till to-morrow, after
it had been fixed by their Lordship's order for this
day, ant: thus to become involved in a direct dis-
respect to' the Crown. The Noble Earl had
evinced great geneiosity in offering to take all the
blame to himself, but this would surely not satisfy
the House, as their Lordships intist of course be
aware that the disrespect would rest not with the
Noble Lord individtrally, but with the majority
of the House by whom' the postponement was
sanctioned. How happened it that the Noble Earl
was not prepared, even with the assistance of a little
Parliament of his own, to bring forward an Ad-
dress in answer to the Message ? What had
occurred since the Message was brought down
by the Noble Earl himself, and the Consideration
of it upon his own motion fixed for this diy ?
_ What had occurred since to render necessary
this deism tore from the constant and invariable
usage, of the House ? For such a step no reit-
son had in point of fact been assigned, and the
House were to be involved its disrespect to the
Crown, at the mere will and pleasure of the
Noble Earl, without any satisfactory elucidation
of the cause. That such a course was contrary
to all former usage, lie was perfectly confident,
and he defied the Noble Earl, versed as he was in
precedents, and solicitous, as he was upon every
occasion to regulate every punctilio according to
precedent, to produce buy precedent for the course
of proceeding now proposed. He, for one, could
not consent to such a proceeding, and he trusted
their Lordships would agree with him, that a pro-
ceeding so contrary to all precedsnt, and so dis-
respectful to the Crown, was not fit to be adopted.
He bad framed an Address upon the spur of the
moment, with' the view of sheaving a due respect
to the Crown, and at the same time evincing a
proper regard for the burdens imposed upon the
people. He did not wish at all to disguise his
opinion ; he thoug:it that the Princes of the Royal
Family, upon their marriage, ought to have a
suitable provision made for. them, but he also
thought that in making that provision a dire re-
ference ought to be bad to the burdens which
weighed upon the people. His Lordship con-
cluded by moving an Address, returning thanks
to the Prince Regent for his most gracious Com- •
munication, expressing their satisfaction at the in-
tended marriages of the Duke of Clarence and
the Duke' of Cambridge with Princesses of illus-
trious Houses, and their readiness to make a suit-
able provision for their Royal Highnesses, with a
due regard to the burdens imposed upon the
people._ . .

. .
The LORD CHANCELLOR stated, that the Ori-
ginal Question was, that " this ()Myr be dis-
charged ;" the motion Since moved was the Ad-
dress of the Noble Lord ; and the question he
had to pnt was, that the words " this Order be
discharged," stand part of the question.
Lord HOLLAND objected to this, end insisted

that the question should be, that the words he
had moved as an Address be inserted in the
motion.
The LORD CHANCELLOR agreed to this, if the
I motion wa's so formally put.
I Lord HOLLAND inserted words to that effect.
Lord Viscount StrimouTut referred to what had
been said by his Noble Friend (the Earl of Liver-
I pool), that the reasons for moving the postpone-
ment of tl►e Address would he stated to-morrow,
and observed, that the Noble Lord (Holland)
had, in- contradiction to this, moved an Address
without any inf►irmation whatever upon the sub-
' ject. This appeared to bin; (Lord Sidrrrouth) a
gross inconsistency. It was true that the motion
for the Address stood for to-day, and it was now
proposed to postpone it till to-morrow; but was
it not very possible, that 'after the notice had been
given:Ministers might receive new impressions—
a new view upon the subject. —And if so,
was it not perfectly consistent, wirh respect to
the Crown, and with respect to that House, to
postpone the question for another day, in order
that they might be fully prepared to bring for-
ward an arrangement in that complete shape in
Which it was desirable to submit it to their Lord-
ships. He should therefore feel it his duty to'
give a decided negative to the Address proposed
by the Noble Lfml.
Lord KING observed, that he believed it to be
the first instance in which a Minister had given a
decided negative to an Address of Congratulation
to_the crown. Upon what ground the Ministers
opposed it, or upon what ground they postponed
their ow❑ motion for an Address, it was difficult
to discover. It was certainly, however, a disre-
spect to the Crown to postpone a motion for an
Address, and he should feel it his duty to support
the Address moved by his Noble- Friend.
'fi►e Earl of LAUDERDALE objected to the Ad-
dress moved by I►is Noble Friend (Lord Holland),
which he considered as art anomalous and unpre-
cedented proceeding. He objected also more
particularly to the expression used in the Ad-
dress, respecting a la gard being paid to the bur-
den imposed upon ti►e people ; because it implied
that their Lordshipk had upon former occasions
been unmindful of those burdens, and thus cast a
reflection upon the House. He, therefore, must
oppose the Address upon this ground, and also
because he considered it, under the circumstances
in which it was brought, forward, as a greater
disrespect to the Crown than the-postponement of
the motion for the Address moved by the Noble
Earl opposite.
The Marquis of LANSDOWNE, with reference to
what had just been said, observed, that Ministers
had placed the House in such a situation, that
move which way they will, they most he guilty
of disrespect to the Crown. It would be undoubt-
edly a disrespect to postpone the motion for an
Address, without any atifficient reason for it be-
ing assigned. Were they to consider that as a
reason which the Noble Viscount (Sidmouth) had •
urged, that by granting a delay impressions else-
where might be removed and alterations made ?
—(No, no, from the Ministerial Bench.)He
so understood the Noble Viscount ; and what
did this mean, but that propositions were to. be
matte in quarters where Parliament bud no cogni-
zance ; and the effect of which was to be,. that
Parliament was to be made an instrument of strew-
ing an apparent disrespect to the Crown. He
could discover no other course to pursue to get
rid of the difficulty, than to agree to the Address
proposed by his Noble Friend, which certainly
appeared to him much preferable to the mode
adopted by the Noble Earl opposite, of postpon•
ing the Address, without any reason appearing
why it shod(' he deterred. lie therefore Most
vote for Iris Noble Friend's Address.

Lord HOLLAND urged that no argument had
been brought forward on the part of the Ministers
to prove that an Address ought not ►tow to be
voted, nor had any reason been shewn why the
Ministers were not ready to make their propetsi•
tion in conformity with the notice given by the
Noble Earl opposite. His Noble Friend (Lord
Lauderdale) had only proved the difficulty of the
case, but that the House could not act without
shewing in sortie sorra disrespect to the Crown,
was not his (Lord Holland's) fault, it was the
fault of the Ministers who had chosen, without
any apparent cause, to postpone their Address.
He was at a loss, however, to discover the ground
of his Noble Friend's objection to professlng a re-
gard to the burdens of the people, because, as he
stated, it threw a suspicion upon the House that
there were times in which they paid no regard to
the bur dens. of the people. Did his Noble Friend
mean ,to object .to all professions upon such
ground ? There were, for instance, other pro-
fessions in this Adiiress,.:as in many other Ad-
dresses, of loyalty to the Crown. Did his Noble
Friend mean to object to thes-e..on the.ground that
they tended to sinew the House to .b.-s disloyal.?
\Pith• regard to the disrespect, how did the case
actually stand ; one Noble Lord (tor so it would
afterwards appear in the Journals) had moved to
postpone the consideration of the Message till to-
morrow. This was,- upon the face of it, a disre-
spect to the Crown. Let then the House, by a
large majority, reject this motion, and determine,
by a, large majority, upon addressing the Prince
Regent immediately. The Crown might then say
the House has acted loyally in their Address, one
Peer only has, it seems, moved to postpone the
Address, and the Prince Regent might magnani-
mously determine to .throw a veil over the trans-
ac►tion, and wish to hear nothing of the name of
the Peer who had thus attempted to commit such
a disrespect to the Crown.

The Address was negatived.
The question was then put
.that the Order be
discharged, upon which the- House

Contents. 51—Net Contents 12—Majority 39.

The consideration of the Message was post-
poned till to-morrow.
On our re-entrance into the House, the Mar-
quis Of DowNsmaP was moving for an Account
of the Pensions or Annuities, either Naval, Civil,
or Military, held by the Dukes of Clarence, Kent,
Cumberland, Sussex, and Cambridge; together
with any Grants made to them out of the Droits
of the Crown or Admiralty; or Emolument de-
rived from other services, since 1800.
The Earl of LIVERPOOL wished a notice to be
given of the motion.
In answer to this it was observed., that a simi-

Tar motion had been agreed to in the House of-
Confraunt, and the EAri Grosvenor read front rice
Votes a copy of the motion agreed to in the Corn-
t~►nns.

Some conversation ensued as to the form of the
motion, which vas agreed to in substance.

The Bishop of PETERBOROUGH objected to the
want of respect i;) the motion, particularly in not
giving the title of Royal Highness. _ _

LOId KENYON ais.-o urged some objections to
the wording of the motion.

After some conversation, the mo.ion having_
been carried, it Was agreed that it should lie upon

the table till to-morrow, (Then the order could he
rescinded, and the motion put in a proper form ;
the Earl of Liverpool observing, that the intor-
mation required would be in the mean time pie.
paring.