Star.
London, England, 1811-02-26 00:00:00

answered, as he knew he must have done, in the
• native, would the Right Hon. Gentleman scoff
soch a cross-examination ? He would ask the Lord
Cisiac tiler himself coo, whether he was not at the time
0w ire it the coutrol exercised over his Majesty ?
.e-'.es he had not himself exercised a controul over
h es.aja,ty ? , Whether he had not possessed himself
:'•• k-ys of his Majesty's private escritoire, which
h. refesed to give tip ? These were facts of which
he leaf himself ne doubt, but which ought to be en-
geireJ into. The King, he contended, was under
coetrAil when the change took place in 1804 ; and
%lieu Mr.. Pitt went to his Majesty, Dr. Simmons
went out. Was it not then material for Lord Eldon,
for Lord Sidmouth, and all the others concerned, to
piece him in the situation to prove all that he had
said, or to take the opportunity of acquitting them-
selves of all imputation by disproving them ?—But
there were, in the manner in which the restraint
was imposed upon his Majesty, circumstances of ag-
I
gravation which rendered it peculiarly necessary for
that House to inquire into the case. He was assured
that the controul over the Sovereign had been exer-
cised in a manner which, if known to the public,
would excite their indignation, and convince them that
the King had not been fairly treated. If they loved
the King, if they were attached to their Sovereign—
if they respected the royal office and authority, they
acre hatted by every feeling of Immaaity and every
pnciph' of du:y, to enquire into this matter. If the
inclsitieels concerned should not disprove these state-
. :tees, witlicut the fear of contradiction he sub-
spitted to the House, he was afte.id the kingly office
would be:brought ho) disrepute. Even Lord Eldon
hineeli,• in the cese' of Ridgwick and Darling, in
18se2,.c.irried, as he acknowledged, the power of the
Ceiert farther than it was carried in the time of Lord
Hardwick. In that case, the Noble Lord declared,
that the care of the Court extended not alone to in-
saee petisms, but also to weak and infirm persons, to
;eve them from•any less or injury to their property ;
and observed, that no person could sec the lady with-
cut patceiving the necessity of throwing care around
hcr. Upon this, lie would ask the Noble Lord what
was the state of the King ? Could any person see him
without perceiving the necessity of throwing care
around him ? in the case of the lady to whose case
he alluded, Lord Eldon asserted that every one would
see the propriety of providing care for her. He did
not feel it necessary to come to Parliament in her
case ; he provided for the care of her property ; but
he suffered the King to give away the property of the
Crobsn, at a time when he must have been aware that
his Majesty was not in a state that would warrant the
Chancellor in superseding n commission' of lunacy
ir. the case of a subject. For himself, he had no doubt
that his Majesty had at the time been able to hold
rational conversations; he was convinced that he could
have then at intervals conversed as rationally as he
Can at present ; yet in his conscience he believed that
the mind of the King was at present much more
sound than it was either in 1804 or 1801. He must
say, too, that the King had not had fair play, when
hurried out and driven to the East and to the West,
as they might all recollect, to be exhibited to his sub-
jects ; and afterwards to be taken home in the evening
•. to be placed under the restraint from which in the
morning he was drawn for the purpose of this public
exhibition ; yet all this had been done, and Lord El.
don was a principal party to the transaction. Was
it not well known that persons may appear of sound
mind until the corner be explored which contains the
ground of their delusion ? In the case of Collins,
Lord Eldon held, that before he could supersede the
commission, the recovery should be fully established
• by the•physicians as to the whole competence of the
• party, and under all circumstances. In ,that case,
the Noble Lord quoted a case in which he proceeded
with Lord Thurlow, when that person was Chancel-
'for, to get a commission superseded,for a party, whom
-.after many interviews and various conferences he
thought perfectly well till he came to thank him for
his success, when he gave snchsevident proofs of insa-
nity as made him regret his success. If the Noble
Lord was deceived in that case, till the circumstance
of success produced marks of delusion, had he, he
would ask, ascertained whether there were any topics
upon which particularly his Majesty's complaint bin-
ged ? Had her in order to convince himself of the
recovers-, sought out those topics and submitted them
to his Majesty's mind ? Or had he studiously abstain-
ed from them, and yet ventured to pronounce his
Majesty well, while he kite& he was yet under the
controul oi Dr. Simmons cad his attendants ? Lord
Eldon was the only one of the Ministers who saw his
Majesty during his illness in 1804. Mr. Addington
resigned while his Majesty was in that state. He
eculd priwe all this, and required only the opportu-
nity of doing it. If he should, in establishing the
Charges he urged against• Lord Eldon, succeed, it
would be necessary to take some proceeding in con-
sequeece, in'order-to prevent that Noble Lord from
remaining. in 116. Majesty's Council. When his en-
quiry should be concluded, it would be forthe House
to decide what further measures would be necessary I
to be taken.- After he shtibia hear what miae be
said, he Might possibly. feel it necessary to claim the
indulgence of the-House-in reply. He conducted by I
moving
" hat a Committee be appointed to inspect the. Journals of
the }louse of Lords, with relatitortNo any procoedings of the pre-
.nkt Session, touching the examination atilt Physicians in at-
ter.,l:nce on his Maje.ty, during his inclispcisition in 1504, and to
report their opinion on the same to the House"
On the question being. seconded and put,
laird CASTLEREAGH rose to offer some oh.
servations to the House upon the motion. The Noble.
Lord declared, that he felt he should not be discharg-
ieg that duty which he owed both to the public and
himself, it lie did not notice the charges-of the Hon.
Centleman—charges which on so very delicate and
import:int a subject could not be allowed to pass un-
noticed by him. If what the Hon. Gentleman bad
asserted was meant as a prima fade case, he knew his.
duty and the House also knew tkieir'ditty better than
to pass them by. At the same tittle he was ready to
admit that the Hon. Gentleman had not coloured the
statement invidiously ; he would go further, and say,
that if the persons in power at the time to which the
Hon. Gentleman had referred, could 'so 'far forget
their allegiance to their Soiereign and their duty to
the country, as to abuse the confidence reposed in
them, for the purpose of turning it to their adeantage.
or to the injury of their country, they were guilty of
a constitutional crime which could not be defended,
and which most hold them up to the severest account.
With this deelaration, he should 110 t abstain from 417

siring to come in for his share of the responsibility as
far as he was concerned. The Hon. Gentleman had,
however, charged Lord Eldon as being the most
prominent in the office, the most criminal ; but he
Lord Castlereagh) .could not permit neither the
Hon. Gentleman nor the House. to suppose that he
did not wish to stand in the same situation with the
Noble Lord, partaking, as he had done at the time,
of a s'-are in:the Government. Its making this de-
claration, he did not wish to be thought as anxious to
exhibit a bravado of generosity ; he would state dis.
tinctly and explicitly the grounds. Lord Eldon was
most certainly the Minister charged with the particu-
lar acts specified in the Hon. Gentleman's statement
—but these acts were not done without the advice of
his colleagues in office, and the opinions of the phy-'
sicians in attendance upon his Majesty. The Right
Hon. Gentleman was greatly mistaken if he thought
he could prove the facts stated. He (Lord Castle-
reagh) was enabled to disprove many of his assumed
facts, and convince the House that Lord Eldon was
the only Minister of the Crown who had access to his
Majesty from the 12th of February to the 23d of
April. The opinions of the whole of the Ministers
were taken, and he assured the House that not one
of his colleagues would have had access to his Ma-
jesty, if, in the judgment of the whole taken collec-
tively, it was not only thought justifiable, but neces-
sary to do the acts charged. If they had not done
those acts, they would be justly held criminal in a
constitutional point of view. That he should be pre-
pared to prove what he had asserted was beyond
doubt. During the period constituting the disease,
when his Majesty was deemed incompetent to tran-
sact further business, it would have been criminal in
his servants to give advice, and therefore none had
been given. But the I-lon. Gentleman had charged
the Noble Lords with dereliction of duty; and to
pr we his charge had asserted that he was in posses-
sion of facts. If so, why had not the Hon. Geode-
man brought forward his charges sooner, for the facts
were within his view in 1804 as well as now ? The
charge of dereliction of duty to the country would
therefore with truth apply to the Hon Gentleman.—
With respect, then, to the evidence of Dr. Heberden,
which it would not be necessary for him to read, the
proposition which the Hon. Gentleman endeavoured
to establish deduced from that evidence was this : the
King's disease was either a case of mental derange-
ment, or of incapacity to transact public business.—
Now what was the substance of the evidence of Dr.
Heberden ? On being asked on this point he replied,
that he recollected being called in to attend his Ma-
jesty on the 12th February, and so continued till the
23d April ; that a few days before the 23d April, his
Majesty, in the judgment of the Physicians, was in a
state of mind competent to the transaction of public
business. The House would not discredit the evi-
dence of Dr. Heberden—he was a man of whom he
had some knowledge, eminent in his profession. But
the Honourable Gentleman talked of cross-examining
the Doctor; but this cross-examination would come
with a bad grace now, for it must be recollected that
the Hon. Gentleman was a member of the Committee
of this House appointed to examine the Physicians,
and might have gone into that cross examination with
better effect. The evidence of Doctor Heberden
must be taken in context with that given before the
other House and then it would be seen, notwithstand-
ing what the Hon. Gentleman had said as to the last
Bulletin, that the opinion of that Physician was, that
his Majesty was competent to transact public business
at the discontinuance of the Bulletins in March, five
weeks before the 23d of April. The Noble Lord
wished the House to understand distinctly that he had
no anxiety to evade the question, or to argue it un-
fairly. The Hon. Gentleman -had called upon him
to account for the state of his Majesty's health in the
intervening period from the 12th of February to the
22d of March, and he should do it most cheerfully.
He should blush and hide his head, if any one could
conceive that he would shrink from the inquiry He
stood upon very high ground, and should deliver him-
self from the difficulties which the Hon. Gentleman
seemed to skink he had thrown in his way, by meet-
ing the charge in a manly and open manner :—On
the 12:11 February the fist Bulletin announcing his
Majesty's malady was issued, and on the 27th of the
same month, an Hon. Baronet, not now a Member
of the House, brought forward a motion on the sub-
ject, to which his Majesty's Ministers gave a full and
explicit answer, so as to satisfy the House. On that
day, as well as some days previous, the Members of
the Cabinet had before them the examination of the
Physicians, and the practical question at issue was,
whether it was then the duty of Ministers to come to
Parliament with a statement of his Majesty's illness,'
and ask for their advice; or was the situation of the
country such as to warrant them in abstaining from
so doing ? In 1804, the situation of things was widely
different. The Parliament had been regularly con-
vened by his Majesty. In the present instance it was
not sitting. In the former case ex nrceseitate rei ; it
was obliged to take cognizance of the question, Nvhe-
ther it was necessary, under the existing circumstan-
ces of the country, to deliberate: upon what was best
to be done, or whether, as there was no absolute ne-
cessity for supplying the temporary absence of the
Royal Authority, it would not be more advisable to
wait for the recovery of his Majesty. The House, lie
was sure; would not go the length of saying, that in
such a state of things his Majesty's Ministers were
compelled to come to the Parliament, especially as that
step would have produced the additional difficulty of
impeding and suspending the functions then going on
with respect to public business. Tn this state the
Cabinet put the question -to the Physicians : whether
in their opinion, the state of his Majesty'i health was
such as to render him competent to do an act of
the Executive Govetnntent ? This question was put
on the 22d of February, and. also on the 27th of the
same month ; and they were also required to state,
whether, in their opinion, one of his Majesty's servants
might have access-to him on public business ? To
these questions the physicians answered—that his Ma-
jesty was.not only competent to transact public busi-
ness, but that he was in a state of considerable im-
pthvementohat if the act necessary to be done should
lead to any protracteddiscussion, then it would be
most desirable that it should be avoided. The Hon.
Gentleman had talked much of the public interest
being protracted ; but he (Lord Castlereagh) knew of
no prinelplk)tiore sound and intelligent than that of
the responsibility vf Ministers, which threw a shield
of protecuorraroutitthe interests of the public. The
substance of the evidence of the physicians, "dial he

I.oell recollected, and which was refreshed by flient-'
panda which he had taken at the time, was what he
had state 4. This evidence the physicians, he was
sure, would confirm, if Parliament thought necessary
Ito grant the motion of the Hon. Gentleman. Down
however to the sth of Mardi his Majesty was not
called on to do any act ; when on the 27th February
the motion came under discussion, it was the opinion
of Mr: Fox that it was the duty of the Government
to make a communicatico to Parliament of the sub-
ject. In that opinion Mr. Windham concurred, and in
consequence Mr. Addington, then at the head of his
Majesty's Councils, declared in his place that there
was not any necessary suspension of the Royal Au-
thority ; which communication was grounded on
the distinct assurance of the Physicians. On that oc-
casion, Mr. Pitt, whose confidence in the existing
Government of that day, would not be suspected to
be particularly marked, did most successfully con-
tend against the opinions of the Gentlemen opposite.
He deprecated any unnecessary communication to
Parliament, because lie considered that the practical
result of such communication would be the necessary
suspension of all public business in Parliament. He
declared that the question ought to rest with the ser-
vants of the Crown, and they had the evidence of the
Physicians on the competency of his Majesty. Mr.
Addington vacated his seat on the le.lth of February.
On the 27th of the same month a very respectable
Gentleman (Mr. Nicholls) tat; now a Member of the
House, was to have made a motion oil the very deli-
cate subject—but a Right Hon. Gentleman opposite
vary indignantly opposed the notice, and the conse-
quence was, that it was totally suppressed. Until
the sth of March, no act of Government was done.
lOn that day, his Majesty's consent was obtained to
a Bill which involved in it the property of the Crown
—that was a fact which the House could ascertain
without referring to the Journals of the Lords. Pre-
vious to the Assent being givea by Cammission, the
Lord Chancellor stated to the House, that he had ac-
cess to his Majesty on the 4th, and also again on the
sth, and his Majesty was pleased to signify his assent
to the Bill. The Lord Chancellor is the greatest Law
' Officer in the State, and as a Privy Councillor is sworn
to give honest and fair advice to the Sovereign. If the .
Noble Lend had found his Majesty in a state of mind
incompetent to give his consent to any act, could any
Gentleman say that he was a person capable of decla-
ring in his place,in the face of Parliament, that the King
was competent to do an act of the Government, when in
point of fact he was not ? He stood therefore in this
situation as one of the colleagues at the time of the
Noble Lord ; aad he would claim for him that can-
dour and justice which he knew he was entitled to.
The question was not of a political nature, and the
opinion of the Lord Chancellor as to his Majesty's
competency to do the act, was formed upon two con-
versations, and from the examination of the Physi-
cians. After that examination, the advice of the
whole of the Cabinet was taken, and then it was that
the Lord Chancellor had access. Several Bills were
ready for assent, and among the number was one of
very great importance—the Mutiny Bill. What then
would have been the situation of his Majesty's servants
if they had suffered the Mutiny Act to expire ? A
heavy responsibility would have attached to them, if
they had not had the spirit to go to his Majesty to t::et
his consent to that Act. The Hon. Gentleman had
however condemned this line cf conduct. Would he
contend that the House were ready to vote against
the opinion of ti:e Physicians ? If so, they would have
committed an act tantamount to that of dethroning
the Sovet eign. Mr. Addington had access to his Ma-
jesty on the 19th of March, but even then he had not
ventured to appear in the Royal Presence until he re-
ceived a previous message from Sir Lucas Pepys,
that he might with propriety have that interview.—
Mr. Addington attended with some official papers ne-
cessary to have affixed to them his Majesty's signa-
ture, and it was so affixed. Nothing further interve-
ned between the 19th and the 22d, on which latter
day bulletins were discontinued. On that day it was
the opinion of Dr. Heberden, that his Majesty was
so completely restored to health that he was com-
petent to transact all public business, not merely
as the Honourable Gentleman had stated, up to the
10th of June, but up even to the 10th of October.—
On
the 9th of April the Physicians were again exa-
mined, and their unanimous opinion was, that his Ma-
jesty was fully competent to carry on public business.
His health was so perfectly re-established, that at the
end of July, when the Session closed, his Majesty
came down to the House and pronounced a speech on
the occasion. The Noble Lord trusted that he had
said enough to convince the House, that not only
the Learned Lord, but the rest of his Majesty's
servants in 1804, were• justified in the seeps they
had taken ; that what they had done proceeded
from public motives; that his Majesty's state of mind
was competent to the transaction of public business
at the period alluded to by the Honourable Gentle-
mail ; that with respect to the assertion that his Ma-
jesty was not in full health at the time, why, to be
sure, that ...ma a sort of charge which required
scarce an answer; for could it be supposed that after
an attack so violent, attended with fever, that his
Majesty's vigour would, as it were, on the instant re-
tern ? That his health of mind was perfectly restored,
the House, he was convinced, would not have any
doubt ; and, therefore, under all these considerations,
he felt confident that he should receive the sanction
of the House for the conduct pursued 14' Ministers.
If to fasten criminality on some one, however, was
still the object of the Honourable Gentleman, he de-
sired to take his full share i and whatever might be
the judgment of the House, he should bow with the
most perfect submission.
Mr. YORKE said, he entirely agreed with his No-
ble Friend in all he had said, and particularly in that
part of his speech respecting the responsibility of his
Majesty's Ministers. He conceived himself equally
responsible with every other of the then servants of
his Majesty. He was certain that his Noble Friend
was perfectly right in what he had stated to the House
' for he (Mr. Yorke) had referred to several memoran-
da, and he then held some of them in his hand, and
which positively confirmed these things in his mind.
He had listened with the greatest attention to -every
part of the Honourable Gentleman's speech from the
beginning to the end, and was surprised to find that
after a course of seven long years he had not been able
to adduce of bring forward one single new fact ; and
that being the case, he was at a loss to aceout why he
should now produce a :large at so great a distance
of time in preference to the period in which it took

LI

place, and when it was recent in the memory of every
one. Ile thoug!it that this. being a charge to which
a certain degree of criminality attached, after so long
a period had been sw.nred to peas away, some circum•
stances should be produced, which site a ed,or tehded to
shew, that certain circumstances of an underhand or
stupiciotil nature had t. ken piacc, and through the in-
terest and influence of his": ile•ty's Mitts:rrs had been
acted upon. Why did not the 14,1.1.Ge0t. bring forward
this charge on the evidence of Dr. Heberden, before
the Committee of the House cf Cnrnmons ? The rea.
son seemed to be, because that Physician's evidence
on his cross-examinaticat produced many answers
which 50:c:illustrative of his whole opinion, and ex-
plained the different rriods betveen the 12th pf Fe.
binary and the 23.1 of April, w!.'n his Majesty was
so far better, as to be capable cf transacting business
to a certain degree. The Hon. Ger.ii,:man had not,
therefore, acted fairly or candidly, either by the House
or by Ministers, in the pieletence to Dr. He-
berden's b.lore the lioare of Lords.—
He insisted that the c3mpet:.ney of his Majesty was
at that time the same as the competency of any indi-
vidual could be; and the. cittestica was, whether in
such a case an ifidividual would not have been allowed
to he competent to transact his own affairs? He made
a comparison of dates of the several bulletins, which
slimed that his Majesty. was gradually recovering,
and it was on a regular consultation by the joint ad-
vice of all the physicians, that his Majesty was de-
clared capable of transactiog business ; and therefore
he knew that it was only acting conscientiously,
when he, as one of his Majesty's Ministers, gave his .
advice in -favour of the measures which were that
pursued. He was not iq the habit cf so often seeing
his Majesty at that time as some of the other Mint-
stem, but he perfectly well remembered having one
interview with his Majesty, which lasted for a consi-
derable time; and from every thing that passed on that
occasion, he was convinced his Majesty was as much
in his perfect mind as many of those who considered
themselves at that time, and now, capable of talking
on the most important and serious subjects in that
House, as patterns of all the virtues, and possessed of
all the talents necessary to guide and govern the fiat
interests of a great nation.
. Sir FRANCIS BURDETT said, he had listened
with attention to the very long and elaborate speech
of the Noble Lord, from the whole of which he col-
lected, that all the Noble Lord wished was to be put
in a situation in which he and his colleagues might
have-an opportunity of shewieg their innocence. It
would therefore be natural for him and fot the House
to suppose that the Noble Lord and his colleagues
would be glad to adopt the motion of the Honour.
able Gentleman, which would afford them so fair
an occasion of doing so. Instead of this, however,
the Noble Lord and the Right Honourable Gentle:
man have retorted upon the Gentleman who brought
forward the motion, and made a charge against hint
for having suffered the accusation to have lain so long
dormant. This was a curious way of answering an
argument : it was in fact no answer. The Hon. Gen-
tleman was not bound to bring it forward sooner, dor
might it have been proper to have done so. It was
well known how, at particular periods of time, men
in certain situations are so surrounded and clothed
with power, that to bring forward a question of this
nature would be altogether' nugatory. No space of
time should shelter men, who had official situations,
and have committed crimes, from being called to Re.
count for their delinquencies. But the fact was, that
the circumstances which gave rise to this charge have
not been lung known ; and although it might be a
long time since the transactions under consideration
took place; yet it now appeared clearly, that Minis.
ters did, when the King was ill, transact business
with him of that high and important nature, which
they ought not to have done. With respect to the
Lord Chancellor, he certainly, from the superior na-
ture and consequence of his office, stood foremostsin
the line of culpability, and in his opinion he did not
stand the less so, because the Noble Lord had volun-
tarily undertaken to share the responsibility with him.
He must protest against that kind of doctrine, and he
thought it would be sufficient for the Noble Lord to be
prepared to answer for his own acts, whenever he might
be called upon to account for his conduct as a Minister
of that day. The Lord Chancellor, however, he thought
was particularly responsible. Great part of the Noble
Lord's argument had been misapplied ; and it was
impossible, in his opinion, for any man to believe,
that the King could be in a proper state of mind to
transact public business, when such persons as Dr.
Simmons and Dr. Willis were called in, and it was
deemed necessary to keep them in constant attendance
on his person. If the King was to be considered a '
person of any consequence in the Government, and
he thought 'him a most essential one ; it the Kingly
power was necessary to the Constitution, then his Ma-
jesty ought to be free from all such: restraints as those
imposed by the presence of such men as Drs. Willits
and Simmons, betore he could be judged competent
to transact the most important business of the state.
If, the contrary, the Kin was held to be a mere
puppet, to be occasionally brought down to Parlia-
ment in a gilt coach, and to be used for the purposes
of show alone, the argument of Ministers was good.
The Honourable Gentleman who brought forward
the motion, and all those who were inclined to support
it must give up their's.
Lord CASTLEREAGH, in explanation, 'stated,
when the Hon. Baronet had any charge to make
against him, he begged he would do it in the candid
and manly manner in which the Hon. Gentleman had
brought forward his charges this night, by bringing
them hpfore the I louse, and not to do it in other places.
Sir FRANCIS BURDETT replied, •that in that
and every other place, he should fteely speak his sen-
timents of public men and of public measures.
Mr. WHITBREAD (after a coosidera. ble pause,
during which the gallery was neatly cleerecifor a di-
vision) said, he had waited thus long to see if any
other Honourable'Member was disposed to offer any
thing on the subject, and if there was any one so in-
*dined, he begged he might do it then; )te was ready
to give way to him, that he might answer him as he
would endeavour to answer those who had already
spoken. If he did not, he would crave theindulgence
of the House, that he might not be precluded from •
answering him, though he had replied. He was the
more inclined to premise this, as there were two Right
Hon. Gentlemen in the House, near relatives cf a
Noble Lord whom he had personally accused in his
opening speech, and for whom he bad particularly
wishful wdsfer his reply. Tuns 1110% '

Tir:liATHVIiiT rose, and said, the HopOurable
Gentleman had no right to call upon him To speak
on this more than on any other occasion. The reason
why he should say nothing on the present occasion
Was, that if he were to speak for an hoer, he could
aid nothing to the eery able speech of the Noble
Lord.

Mr.. WHITBREAD observed, the Right Hon.
Gentleman hid then conressed he could add nothing
to what had been said by the Noble rerd, which clear•
ly shewed he had not a word to say against the truth ,
of the charge brought by him against his Noble rela-
tive. The two Right Honourable Gentletraa, how,
ever, were there in their places to give their silent votes
against his moron. The Noble Lord and the Right
Hon. Gentleman (Mr. York) had not really answered
one tittle of the charge. The Noble Lord, indeed, had
used many arguments in the same way he had done
on many former occasions, in so gentlemanly a manner
as almost to disarm his antagonist. The Right Hon.
Gentleman (Mr. YOrke) had, indeed, been a little
more bouncing, but not at all more convincing.—
They both said, gs If you touch a hair of the Lord
Chancellor's head, you must do the same by ours;'
and yet they argued in such a way as to shear, that
the House should not, with their consent, hurt a hair
of any of them. The Right Honourable Gentleman's
bouncing reminded him of a former period of his life,
when he was before in office. He then bounced and
talked in the same. way in support of the measures of
Mr. Addington, as he now did in support of the Lord-
Chancellor; at a time, too, when poor Mr: Addington
Was borne down between Mr. Fox and Mr. Pitt, and
when he had not only to contend against the eloquence
of the former, but agaiestahe acrimony of the latter,
who designated the whole ministry as a set of the
most miserable creatures that ever disgraced a Go-1
vernment. That Right Hon. Gentleman had told the
House, that the King, at the time alluded to in the
present charge against the Lord Chancellor, was as
competent to transact business• as any individual ; oti
the contrary, he would undertake to say, that any act
of any individual under such circumstances would
have been set aside. He had been accused by the
Right Hon. Gentleman of not doing his duty, in.
suffering this charge to have lain seven years without.
being brought forward. But he would beg the House
to recollect, that when Lord Eldon told the other
House, in the year 1804, that the King was well, Dr.
Simmons was at that moment in attendance on the
Royal person. The House, however, did not know
it, nor had he the least idea of it. The Right Honour-
able Gentleman had adverted to his (Mr. Whitbread's) _
conduct on various Committees. He had been on se--
veral Committees with that Right Hon. Gentleman,
and generally found an opponent in him. It was asked,
Why he did not cross-examine the physicians before
the Committee ? his answer was, why did not t►e
Noble Lord and the Right Hon. Gentleman suffer
him to do so. Why, when he attempted it, was he'.
outvoted ? He wished to do it, and tried to do it._
Let him now only have an opportunity of cross exit-'
mining the physicians before the House or before a
Committee, and he would pledge himself to make out
satisfactorily the wholeof his charge. The Noble Lord
seemed to lay great stress on the evidence of 1)r. He-
berden. He did not attach so much to it, for it was in
some places rather contradictory, and no Doctor could
pronounceexactly upon every case. But if any private
gentleman had been under such circumstances as his
Majesty was in 1804, and that private gentleman had
made his will, with Doctors Simmons and Willis
attending him at the time, that will wouid be
assuredly set aside ; aye, and even by the same Lord
Chancellor Baron Eldon, if it were brought before
him. Doctor Heberden then told Ministers, they
must be cautious how they touched on delicate points.
The Noble Lord said, that the country was at that
time in danger of invasion, and therefore, it was ne-
cessary that his Majesty's Ministers should not suf.
fer the affairs of the State to remain at a stand.—
It appeared the King was well enough to talk of
his private affairs, of the Duke of York's Estate
Bill, and of other matters of trivial moment, but
touch on the affairs of his kingdom, and he was
immediately thrown into a state of violent mental de-
rangement. The Noble Lord talked of his Majesty's
disorder not being the same in 1801 and 1804; but to
whom was he committed in both these periods?—to
Dr. Willis in the former year, and to Dr. Simmons and
his attendants in the latter. The Noble Lord said,
that every person in a cold or fever must be under a
certain degree of controul;—be admitted they must;
but it was not such a controul as that of Drs. Willis
and Simmons. The fact was, the King had not
been treated with the tenderness he ought to have
been. He had been frequently brought forward in
Council, for the purpose of assenting to particular
measures, which greatly affected and agitated his
mind. He had several times sat in Council in the
morning, and been in a state of strict coercion in the
evening. He had been taken from his family, and
placed ia other hands. When, in the early part of the
Regency sill," he (Mr. Whitbread) had asked, when
had the custody of the King ? the Right Honour-
able the Chancellor of the Exchequer replied, 'that
when. that affair was fairly before the House, he would
answer• the question. That, however, be had not yet
done. . He had been asked why he had not brought ,
this forwa: before? his answer was, that he did not
know the King was under such controul as he was at
that time. To this the N&.& Lord replied, would you
have all public business stopped I Would you have the
Mutiny act unpassed, and every thing run into confu-
sion ? According to t►is doctrine, whenever the King
is in a state of mental derangement, though Parlia-
ment be sitting, Ministers may refuse to make any
provision for a similar misfortune and pt iform all the
acts of the Executive Government themselves ; be.
cause, say they, the King has responsible advisers, and
alters arils these advisers come to the Heine, and use
:11 their influence to persuade it to irote against their
responsibility. Mr. Whitbread recapitulated the se-
veral grounds of his ch ,rpe, and left it to the House
to refuse his motion if they could. •.
The House then divided,
For the Motion st

Against it l9B
Maibrity fur Minlqers 117
The House then continued for a considerable time
engaged in pz:vate business ; but the gallery was not
again opened.—Adjourned.
We understand, that while strangers were minded
from the gallery, Lord Fouts-two gave notice of a
motion for Friday se'nnight, on the subject of the
ri=souvzx•Guirat information as geicio. •

FAINCN • PAPP&

SARAGOSSA, JANUARY to

'itte surrender of the important fortress of Tortoni t
will produce the greatest advantages to the, military
operations in the east of Spain ; it opens to the French
armies the road to Valencia. It is said that Generat
Suchet will enter that kingdom from Catalonia and
Arragon, and that another corps of the army of the
centre will proceed towards it from New Castile. We
also understand that Genera) Sebastiani, who will be
relieved by another corps in Granada, will occupy the
kingdom of Murcia, and advance from thence to th 6
southern frontiers of Valencia. The Duke of Ta-
rent° is to lay siege to Tarragona. In the mean
time, General Baraguay d'Hilliers maintains order in
the north of Catalonia, and keeps up the communica-
tion between Barcelona and France with a corps of
reserve; which daily receives reinforcements.
The iregimedts of fusileers and chasseurs of the
gnards, under the command of Generals Reille and'
Calrarelli, Aids-de-camp to the -Emperor Napoleon,
are posted on both banks of the Ebro, in the neigh-
bourhood of Burgos, Valladolid, and other towns of
Old Castile.

IW°°'

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