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

THE LATE DUKE OF KENT.

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MS MAJESTY'S MESSAGE.

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The Earl of LIVERPOOL, pursuant to his mo:
tion of yesterday, rose to move au Address of Con.;
dolence to his Majesty on the melancholy occasion
of the unexpected and tnatimely death of his illustri-
ous Brother, the late Duke of Kent. As he had
stated yesterday, his Lordship oberved, it was
usual to blend the subject matter of such an Addrqs
as he was now about to move, with-that voted yes-
terday by their Lordships. He felt it unnecessary
.to trespass upon their Lordships' time, conscious and
impressed as they all must he tt ith.a due sense of the
virtues and endowments of the illt;strious Prince,
whose demise they all lamented.—Tne Noble Minis.;
ter then moved an Address of Conlolet.ce, couched
in the usual term;, to his Majesty, on the death of
his Royal Brother, the late Duke of Kent-4 which was
forthwith voted by the House, 'rem. dis.
The Earl of LIVERPOOL then moved an Ad•
dress of Condolence to her Royal Highness the Du•
chess of Kent, upon the severe loss and afilietion in
the death of tier illustrious Consort. His Loro'shiß
touched upon the exemplary-conduct and conjugal
virtues uniformly manifested by her Royal
ness, especially an the melancholy occasion of the
death of bet late illustrious Consort.

Lord ROLLE tcok the opportunity to express
strong sense of the conjugal virtues and exemplary
conduct of the illustrious Lady in question, and ad-
verted to some considerations, within the scope of his
Lordship's own knowledge, of her Royal Highness's
great tenderness and attention to her late Consort
throughout the whole of his severe illness, which had
so fatal a termination.

The Address was voted also nen. dis. and ordered
to be presented to her Royal Highness by the Mark
quis Of CORNWALLIS and the Earl of Rotacirs.

The Order for taking into consideration his Ma.
jesty's most gracious Message of yesterday being
moved, the Royal Document was read by the Clerk.
The Earl of LIVERPOOL rose, and began by
observing, that the course of proceeding adverted to
on the previous day by a Noble Marquis (Lansdown),
and which it was found necessary, to adopt, might,
in some degree, be considered unprecedented ; but it
was to be observed, that the state of things was by
no means similar to that at former periods. Our si-
tuation, in many respects, was essentially different,
and therefore a departure from previous usage might
be justified. The Sovereign power was not sud-
denly transferred from one Sovereign to another, for
the same illustrious character who was just called to
the Throne had for a long time previously exercised
the supreme power in Lis capacity of Regent. In
this respect, therefore, there was no material change,
nor any very perceptible difference. By the com-
mon law, Parliament must necessaiily expire with
the demise of the Sovereign ; hut it having been
thought expedient to guard against commotiors
about a disputed succession, a Specific Act was in-
troduced, allowing Parliament to continue its legis-
lative functions for a limited period after the acres,
sion of the new Monarch. Without such an Act
there might, perhaps, be many difficulties in the
commencement, of tlse new reign; yet, framed as
that Act was, it only required the Parliament to as.
semble immediately upon the demise of the Crown,
without obliging it to enter upon any public.busi-.
ness, and the new King might dissolve it that very in-
, stant if he thought proper. The Act did not pro=
vide that the Parliament should continue longer than
six-months after the demise of the Sovereig'n ; and
though it was not usual to'dissolve it before the Civil
List and some other important points of business
were settled, still such a course was-always to be .
gulated by the circumstances of the occasion. It•was
'entirely a question of discretion ; and, taking all
things into consideration, he saw no reason Why a
new Parliament should not be culled without delay,
aczreeably to the recommendation in his Majesty's
Niessage. This course was not proposed with a view
of precipitating the discussion of any public mea-
sures, but rather for the purpose of affording suffi-
cient time for mature deliberation. The wwiu e :jues-
tion resolved itself into this;--what was the Ifest
course to Le pursued consistently with a due regard
to the public service? He should leave it to Noble
Lords to say,' whether the mass of • business which
must be goue through, could possibly be ac corn-
Oiled within so very. short a space as that which
,was allowed before the calling of a new Parliament?
The advice which bad been. given. to his Majesty,
with regard to the Message which had been read,
%vas dictated only by, a sense.of. public duty;- and it
was because thopivith whop.); it originated felt.the
'necessity of the occasion, that they were induced to
depait from established precedent. The Noble E,arl •
thenlnoved an*Address, the purport of which Skv,

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