Star.
London, England, 1807-04-16 00:00:00

°maims an alteration favourable to the intere*s of
the Catholics, but the refult, he was well aware, mug
depend bn the wifdom of Parliament. He trailed,
that his fentiments would not now be fa ny rungermif-
nnderflood (a lartgh). When he -came, cn the other
band, to confider the merits of the late Adminiflrs-
tion, he mull declare, that he never did fee (itch a feeble
Pet of men attempt to guide the helm of the Nate; he ne-
ver knew any Pet of men that in 13 months had done
In much to infult the feelings of all defcriptions of peo-
ple ; they had infuited the feelings of the Eaft India
Company, they had difgulted Volunteers, they
had given offence to the Shipping intereft, and they
bad fit.ifhed the career by an infult on his Majefty,
which, thank Gon, he had the manly firmnefs to re-
fill. His ( Lord C.'s) Honourable Friends and himfelf
had come into power by no intrigue, but they fhould
poll-els no public virtue, there would not be a (park
of loyalty or patriotifm in their breafts, if they did
not (land forward on this °cc:titan to fupport their
Sovereign. The places were at that time completely
vacant : nothing, in fad, but a moll inordinate love
of place, could have induced his Majefty's late Mi.
Miters to have clung to office fo long as they had
done, under all the circumftances of the cafe.
Lord HOWICK obferved, that after all that he
bad already Paid upon the fubjeft, he fhould have re-
mained filent duriog the difcuffion of this night, had
it not been for fume of the obfervatinns which had
been made by the Noble Lord who had juft fat down.
In the firft place, it Purely came with a moll peculiar
ill 19 ACC from that Noble Lord to fpeak of clinging to
office, when it was a matter of fuch general notoriety,
that that fameNnble Lord was always anxious to have
two, or even three, ftrings to his bow. The Noble
Lord had difplayed a molt extraordinary degree of
anxiety, a molt peculiar tendcrnefs for what he called
the feelings of the EAR India Company (in what breall
thnfe feelings refided it was difficult to tell), but Coe
Houfe would recoiled., that that Noble Lord was not
at all times fo delicate about touching thole feelings,
of which he had now fpoken with fuch extreme kind-
nefs and fuch tender fympathy. Surely the N::ble
Lord could not already forget the fulattitution of a
letter of praife and approbation, innead of one con-
taining expreflions of cenfure and difapprobation on
a Noble Lord who had at that time the chief ma-
nagement of the Company's affairs ! On the fobj:Et of
the Volunteers, Come general expreffions relative to
the Rgular Forces had been mifinterpreted and r.rif
quoted; but no one was ever yet fo bold as to deny
that his Hon. Friends, at all times, did honour to the
motives of that meritorious body. As to the (hipping
intereft, he mull only reply, that all that he knew ofas
a public meafure connected with that intereft, was the
American Intercourfe Bill ; a Bill which gave a pre.
cite legal determination to an at which was almoft
conflantly performed contrary to law. But, as to the
Taft part of the Noble Lord's allegation, that his Ma-
jelly's late Minifters had endeavoured to force the
King's confcience—he would, in the first place, give
a broad denial to the charge ; and 2dly, he mutt refer
the Houfe to the ad of withdrawing the Bill, which
was in itfelf the molt unequivocal evidence that they
had acknowledged by aCtion, what he would always
moll fincerely acknowledge by words—that,whenever
a difference of opinion fhould unfortunately happen
to arife between him and his Majefty, that in fuch cafe
his own opinion mutt unqueftionably be wrong. But
then, after that acknowledgment was in duty given
—when an unnecefTaryand an unconftitutional pledge
was demanded—a pledge, the impropriety of which
was acknowledged by every Member of the Houle
but one, was it according to the true fpirit of our
Conftitution, to fay that his Majefty had been ill ad-
vifed ? If the Houfe then be almoft unanimoufly
convinced of the unconftitutio: al exercife of the royal
prerogative, molt they have their lips leafed ? mutt
Parliament remain a fluent fpedator of incroachments
on the Conilitution, which may threaten the liberties
of the people, or the perfonal fafety even of the Mo-
narch himfelf, and not a Member of that Houfe mull
dare to exprefs his difapprobation of the conduit of
thole who had given his Majefty fucli dangerous ad-
vice, left fome Noble Lord molt eminently confpi-
rivals for patriotifm and loyalty, or flame Learned
Chancellor of the Exchequer, fhould (tart up and fay,
" This is the AEt of the King, and to meddle with
it is to bring the Sovereign to the Bar of the Houle."
Really this is unbearable ;—that a Member of the
Britifh Parliament cannot call in queftion, in fuch
terms as the Conftitution has authorifed, an at of
royal prerogative, but that fome perfon may (trip off
the veil with which the facred perfon of Majelly is
covered by our Conffitution, an then lay the blame
at the door of him who cenfured only the evil ad.
N ifers of the Crown. But this is not the only inflance
in which a British Parliament is attempted to be
kept in awe : a Right Honourable Secretary of S.-Ite
has mentioned the name of the King in Parliament,
with a view to influence the decision of that Houfe.
At other periods of our hiftory, filch words, if any
one fhould dare to utter them, would have been taken
down, and the Member would not have been fuffeted
to proceed.

The Noble Lord remarked on the peculiar grace
with which the charge came from the Nqble Se:re•
tary of State, againft the explanation which he had
lately felt it his duty to make relative to the Catholic
quefti.,n, after the condo& purfued by Mr. Pitt, in
conjunction with that Noble Secretary in tflet. For
when the relignati,n then took place, the caufe of it
atifing out of the perfonal fentiment 4)f the King,
was very generally underftood. The Minifters who
refigned had not, to be Cure, made any public expla-
nation of the caufe of their refignation. But he
.would put put it to the Noble Secretary, to his col-
leagues, and to the Houfe, whether if the Miniftry
who fucceeded him had taken any meafures to mif-
reprefent his condo& and raife an outcry againft
his charaCter ? Whether if the Chancellor of the
Exchequer had in a public addrefs thought pro
per to accufe hint of an attempt to endanger, if
not to overthrow, the Church eflablifbment, Mr.
Pitt would not have come down to the Houfe
with all the thunder of his eloquence to vindicate bis
charaBer and overwhelm his opponents ? As to the
meafure recommended by an Honourable Gentleman
relative to an arrangement of tythes in Ireland, he
would affure that Honourable Gentleman that fuch
a meafure thould have his decided fupport, as fhonld
the other sneafure referred to for promoting the edu-
cation of the poor. Adverting to the doetrine main-
tained by fume Gentlemen, that this Houfe fbould
not interfere with his Majelly's prerogative in the