Star.
London, England, 1820-02-19 00:00:00

tut ittrEpr.
- Mr. Htztes and Mr. 13ROUGHfiNt rose nearly, gage,.
ther, but the former Gentleman having.beeti. in.pos-
session of the Chair, .he proceeded, rietwithttanding
there was a verieral call for Mr.- BROUGHAM.
. Mr. HUME wa. sure that the House .would bear

in mind that the Act of the nth of the late King,
which granted an allowance to the hue Princess of
Wales, had now expired•by the effects of the demise.
of his late most gracious Majesty. He begged tol
know if it was the intention of Ministers to peovide'
for the continuance of that Act?

- Lord CASTLEREAGH said, bethought it merely
necessary to say, in -answer, that every care would
be taken that no inconvenience should arise in the

quarter to which the Honourable Member alluded;
on account of the alterations mentioned.
Mr. BROUGHAM said, he . did not. rise for the
purpose of alluding in the remotest .degree to the
subject of the question just put by his Honourable
Friend—(Hear, hear).—He could not but join with
his Right Honourable Friend' in thinking that the
proceedings on which they were now occupied, were
of an extraordinary nature. This, be believed, was-
the first time that a communication so precise and
explicit was made by the Crown to the Commons
House of Parliament, announcing its dissolution.—
The power of dissolving Parliament was doubtless
one of the most sacred prerogatives of the Crown,
and as often at the question was attempted to be
broached in either of the branches of the Legislature,
the attempt was ground down by the affirmation
that Parliament was not competient to broach or to
entertain the question of its own existence, the Crown
being above the authority with which the right of
broaching or determining upon that question resided.
Vb hilst he agreed in these doctrines, he was by no
means implying a denial of the right of Parliament
to contioul ,he Ministers of the Crown in respect of
the advice which they were to give upon the exercise
of the prerogative of the Crown, at a particular time.
The House found itself now placed in an entirely
new position; they were called upon to entertain the
propriety of the advice which had been given to. his

Majesty to dissolve the Parliament. immediately, and
to determine whether or not a speedy dissolution was,
under all the circumstances, advantageous. Thus
called upon, he thought the house should avail it-
self of the summons, and take upon itself the consi-
deration of the question. As to hirnself, he was by
no means averse to as speedy a dissolution of Parlia-
ment as could with propriety be resolved upon.—
But upon the advice which Ministers had now given
to the Crown, there Was one or two remarks which
suggested themselves. First, he presumed, Ministers
ha.; fully appreciated the amount of the inconvenience
that must accrue to the country on account of fixing
the period of the General Election ,precisely during
that of the Assizes in the country.., Again, he was
to presume, that Ministers had-taken into considera •
tion the impossibility of having the Assizes postponed
for a week or a for:night, as was done during the last
General Election ; because upon this occasion the ap-
proach of the Easter Term did not permit any post-
uonenteilt. He presumed, that all these.difficulties
had received their due proportion of consideration.—
The next remark he had to offer, was•motematerial.
He could not but congratulate the House upon the
important, though tardy admission, that there was
now no longer any foundation for alarm, as to the
state of the country. The last time they had met,
they were told, that to such a pitch had the disturb-
ances of the country arisen, so extensive and deter-
mined were the designs entertained of overthrowing
the Constitution, that it was absolutely necessary for
the Executive to call on Parliament for the ecact-
ment of the strongest measures that could be en-
forced to counteract the attempts of the disaffected.
He and his friends had objected to these measures—
they were met by the statement over and over that
they were necessary, but the moment a new writ
would issue, that moment the Bill against Public
Meetings expired. Thus then they had the admis.
sion, that the Bill, which was so often and so em-
phatically declared to be unavoidably necessary,
might now be abandoned with perfect safety. It was
not his intention at that time to follow the luminous
statements which had been heard from the other side
of the Hou-e--4uminotis; not because they abounded
in meaning and lucidness, but because to him and to
the House they must have been perfectly transparent.
Yes, they were very easily seen through. He be-
lieved that he would justly subject himself to a good
deal of ridicule, if he expressed a shadow of a doubt
that the true motive of postponing the Settlement of
the Civil List, to be entertained by a new Parlia-
ment, was this, that it would be considered more
handy to have the subject arranged by a new Par.:
liament, than by a Parliament on its death bed.—
Such was his view of the relations in which the
House was now placed. He was fat from objecting
to speedy dissolution, believing, as he did, that the
frequent recurrence of Electicns—when they were
too frequent—was calculated. to confirm the princi-
ples of public liberty, and give refreshment to the
Constitution.
Mr. CANNING said, that to the renewed expression,
of there being something lurking behind the advice
which had been given by Ministers, no better answer
could be given than a distinct denial of the impu-
t4tion. The Hon. and Learoed• Gentleman would
hereafter have an opportunity of comparing the pre-
sent professions of the confidential advisers of the
Crown, with tlee system which they shall afterwards
embrace, and will not want an opportunity of
.ex-
pressing his opinions on the resemblance. That the
Civil List would be settled with every due regard to
economy, as well as with every consideration for
that, the emissions of which would be 'least of all
forgiven by the House and the People, namely, the,
dignity of the Crown, was the professed design of
Ministers. The Hon. and Learned Gentleman had
taken a Constitutional objection to the speedy disso-
lution of Parliament, and said, that in no instance
was there an attempt made by either House of Par-
liament to broach thequestion Of a dissolution, with-
out that attempt having been ground down by the
over-ruling sense of the sacredness of the Royal Pre-
rogative. Did the Hon: and Learned Gentleman
forget that there had been various instances of- Ad-
dresses having been sent up to 'the Throne by Pal.
liarnent, praying for a suspension of the exercise of
The Prerogativoi and that their existence might not
he terminated. For his part hewas at a loss to dis-
cover in what matmer theineissure now•proposed'by
Isis 4%kt:sty trench:lk upon-tilt Ciauitittoloir; at this.