The Sun.
London, England, 1820-05-06 00:00:00

EXCISE DI7TI ES.

On the motion of Mr. LUSHINGTON, an Account was
orde►ed to be laid before the House of all Moles on Expise.
charged, hut not paid into the Exchecter, from the;itli April,
180, to the sth April, I S'2o.
DROITS AND FUNDS OF THE CROWN.
Mr. fitlutlGHAbt, in rising to bring before the
House the important subject of a motion on which
he had given notice, wished to' keep it clear, so
far as it Was not inseparably connected with it,
of the question on the Civil List ; and he trusted
the House would give him credit for sinct.ritY,
when he assured them that it tvss not his inten-

titm to tr'egl►ASS mole (.)11 their that' thow ‘Vms Rh-
€ol,itely neces:s3rY t.tittici in this instance

PRICE SEVENPSNCP;

be the more disposed to give him cre:tt ‘.eiets
they recollected that the task of bringing forward
the question which he had now to ssibmit to their
consideration, was none of his seeking. He had
stood pledged by what passed in 1812 to brimg it
forward,' if Minium', by their arrangements did
not -make all interference on his part unnecessary.
'nose who had seen how he bad been led, or
rather driven into giving the present notice,
would own that he had been anxious to be re-
lieved from the duty, and that he had endeavour-
ed to prevail upon the Right Hon Gentleman or
some of his colleagues to spare hint she tusk by
bringing torwaid something that would meet his
views, which, supported by the advantages arising
front their superior knowledge of the subjes-, and
above all by their superior influence in the House
of Commons, would have been likely to prove
more beneficial to the country, and more satis-
factory to all parties than any thing which he
could propose. He -would premise that it was
not bis ititention on the present occesi-n to sug-
gest. any thing to the House; be would not say
that be 'Meant to:COßlpan. the degradation 9f the'
Royal Dignity, nor that be meant in any -way to
abridge the rights of the Crown in the most minute
particular. He held it to be necessary to support
stile Crown, and reserve not only its weight—
but that which was ‘r part and: parcel of its
weight," its dignity and honour. if at any
period of our history it would, have been
criminal to attempt to deprive the Execu-
tive of that which was necessary to its
security or to Its honour (for without honour
there could be no security), no Gentlemen on
the opposite side of the House coold be mote

ready to contend than he was to admit that it
would be highly improper at a period like the pre-
sent. He perfectly ,agreed with his Maj:sty's
Ministers, that these were times in which no lover
of his country ought to tamper with the existing
establishments. Feeling this he desired the sup-
port—he sought the. vote of no man, but upon
this condition, that to his satisfaction the mea-
sure which he would submit to the House, was
not only safe but expedient ; that it not only did
not go to degrade, but it went to increase the
dignity of the Crown ; and that it was founded
on precedent and conformable to constitutional
law. He would now proceed, assuming, that
atter the many suggestions which, the subject had,
undergone in late years, it was unnecessary for
him to enter into a didactic explanation of 411 e,
various topics connected with the Civil List—of
the origin of it, or of the4normons amount of
some of its items, as appeared-from papers. before'
the House.' He Would 'tstiume all these to Ile
known, and' only procetetO such arrangement as
that which he intended to propose was impera-
tively called for in the present circumstances of

the country. It was an old maxim of our Con-
stitution, established on the Authority of nume-
rous lawyers, both on the Bench and at the Bar,
in fine, on that of all who were regarded as high
legal Authorities, " that the Crown was in itself
incapable of possessing a separate property." The
ancient possessions of the King, and all lands, ofa
the demise of the Crown, were held jure Corona.
Supposing an individual, say the Duke of Lancas-
ter, before he came to the Crown, had held lands
in his own right, on ascending the Throne, by
the law of England, the interest that he bad its
them, in his private capacity, as a private indivi-
dual, would be sunk, and the lands of the Duchy
of Lancaster would thenceforward become the
right of the Crown. He wished not to weary
the House with law authorities. He would state,
that it was only by statute that the Crown had any
right to a separate property. Of the soundness
of this position no man could doubt. He
would state one remarkable instance in which it
would be seen that it was deemed impossible for
the King to make a grant of property under
the sign manual, as it was held that this could
only be done under the privy seal or the great
seal. On the occasion to which he would refer,
the two Chief Justices of the King's Bench and
Common Pleas, and one of the Barons of the Exa
ch.tpier, decided thus on a question raised re•-
specting a grant made by James the Second to the
Earl of Devonshire of certain old stores. These

stores were granted under the sign manual, but

his it was held could nut be done under the anci-
ent law of the land. It was only by the law pass-
ed in 1805, which had made them a a oit of the
Crown, that such a grant could be made now.
The Judges then had decided against it, and they
were borne out by what had been said by Lord
Coke, who described the treasures of the Crown--.
treasure trouve, " the ligaments of peace,
the sinews of war, and the preservers of the safety
of the realm ; and the only warrants under which
these could be granted must pass the Privy Seal
or the Great Seal." An authority so high as
Lord Coke's must be regarded as above alt others,
and he would only call the attention of the House
to one other, that of Lord Clarendon. It was

well known that Lord Ashley, afterwards Lord
Shaftesbury, received a grant of certain Dutch

Prizes from the King under the Sign Mannal.
But Lord Clarendon, considering this to be in-
consistent with the ancient law of the land, re-
m►►nstrated with the King on the subject, and
told hint in the bold language of the Constitution
It your Mi4jesty's Treasurers were to issue
your Majesty's treasure without accounting for
the same in the most formal way, your Majesty
might be most abominably cozened, and no way
exists for guarding effectually against such an evil
but by making all such grants pass under the
Great Seal, or under the Privy Seal." This was
the laneurAge wi,ich be held to the King ; and
when his It lend, Lord Ashley, remonstra,ed with
him on the subject, the answer he received was
no; ritore courteous than the language which he
(Jon! Clarendon) trati addressed to his Sovereign.