Star.
London, England, 1820-06-27 00:00:00

•
I direr Lordships ?. He timid- 410ter them, that nothing
of that kind. should ever influence him in the course
of the procezdings. He might be in error, but he
should always act conscientiously; and homisst ob-
!et ve, that had he infringed on the forms of the
House, by acting as he was now told he ought to
have lone, the Noble Lord and the Noble Baron

would, in a gentle way, have taken upon themselves
to instruct him to the better performance of his duty.
The Marquis of LANSDOWN and Lord .Hosa.Auri
explained.
After a few words from Lord ERSIIME, the Pe-
tition was brought up and read, of which the folloc• -
ing is a copy :

" TO TIIR LORDS SPIRITUAL AND TRUPORAL, IN
PARLIASIIINT ASSEMRLRD.

0 CAROLINE, I.

" The Qum's, having been informed that proceedings are
about to be instituted against her in the House of Lords, feels it
necessary to approach your Lordships as a Petitioner and a fellow-
'-subject. She is advised that, according to the forms-of your
Lordships Houses, no other Mode of communication Is permitted.
" Now, as at all times, she cletlaAs her perfect readiness to
:meet every charge affecting het' honour ; and she challenges the
most complete investigation of her conduct : but she protests,
in the first place, against any Secret Ihquirl• : and if the House
of Lords should, notwithstanding, permit in a proceeding so
contrary to every principle of justice and of law, she must in
the next place declare, that even from such in unconstitutional
course she can have nothing to apprehend, unless it be insti-
tuted before' the arrival of those witnesses whom she. will r tm-
mon immediately to expose the whole of the machinations
Against her. She •la anxious that :here should now be no delay
whatever in finishing the inquiry ; and none shah be occasioned
by her Mansvr. But the Clow cannot suppose that the
House of Lords will commit so crying an injustice as to autho-
rise a secret examination of her conduct, in the absence of her-
self and her Counsel, while her defence must obviously rest
open evidence which for some weeks cannot reach this country.
The instant that it arrives, she will entreat the House of Lords
to proceed in any way they may think consistent with the ends
Of justice; but in the meantime, and before the first step
is taken, her blamer desires to be beard by her Counsel at
your Lordships Bar, this day, upon the subject matter of this
Petition."
Lord DACRE then rose, and said that the Peti-
tion had been put into his hands so short a period
before he presented it to their Lordships, that he had
only time to read it over, with a view to ascertain
that there was nothing in its language or expressions
contrary to the rules of the House. With regard to
its contents, he should abstain from making any ob-
servations, and content himself with moving, " That
the 'Counsel be now called to their Lordships' Bar,
according to the prayer of the Petition."
The motion was immediately put and tarried.
After a short delay, Mr. Beouonaat, Mr. Dei-
MAW, and Mr. WILLIAMS, presented themselves at
the Bar of the House. . -
Mr. BROUGHAM began by stating, that be had the
honour to appear before their Lordships as Counsel
for her Majesty the Queen. He understoodthat their
Lordships had answered that part of her Majesty's
'Petition which prayed to be further heard by her
Counsel, by saying they would hear her Counsel
sow ; and however it might be better for the inte-
raft of his Illustrious Client that he should entreat
a few hours delay—sensible how feeble were his
powers and how inadequate he should be, with all
the advantages of preparation, to discharge so im-
portant a duty, yet he had it in command from the
Exalted Individual in whose behalf he appeared, to
proceed, whatever-might he his personal difficulties,
'mid even at the risk of sacrificing some portion of
her interests, rathei than by. a 'moment's procrastina-
tion give the slightest occasion for any one to suspect
that she could wish for delay. Ile said this because
he was most anxious to impress ul.on their Lordships,
because, in fact, her Majesty felt it necessary they
,Mould be convinced, that nothing was further from
her wishes than delay, in the vulgar sense of the ex-
pression. She had not the slightest desire to stop the
progress of intleiry, because she was seasibleethist
1.
inquiry must inevitably lead to honourable acquittal.
Having said this much to guard her Majesty from
:he possibility of being misunderstood, in the appli- -
cation which lie was now about to make in her same,
he should proceed to state, that her Majesty felt it
necessary to her justification, in the inquiry about to
be entered upon, that time should be allowed her tcr
bring over a number of witnesses from the Conti-
nent ; and he was confident their Lordships would
accede to this request, because all the principles of -
justice must be set at utter defiance before their Lord-
ships could be advised to deny delay for such a pur-
pose. Her Majesty's Counsel at the bttr had a right
to know that an inquiry was about to be made into
leer condikt during her residence abroad, from a
;Message which had- been -sent to both Houses of Par-
liament on the subject, accompanied with a sealed
bag, which was presumed to contain evidence deeply
affecting the character of that Illustrious Personage.
'Now what the nature of that evidence was, and who
were the tools that had scraped that evidence toge-
lher, was not for him at that time to inquires it was
enough for him to know that, whether the contents
,'of that bag were pure; and worthy to be received
before a British Tribunal, or whether they were in
their nature vile, odious, and detestable, they could
, only be meant to relate to something which nibs done,
or falsely and scandalously alleged to have been
done, by her Majesty, when sbe.was living abroad.
Now.it was known that, in the period alluded to,
her Majesty resided a leng, way from that House;
that she had crossed the Alps and the Appennines,
and had travelled to some of the most distant parts
et Europe. From places so remote from that in
-.Which thearibunal was sitting before which she hat
to appear, it was impossible to receive a single *it-
'sass, or even a letter, under five or six weeks. Be-
sides, if they were to wait, as the justice of the cate
required,' till the number of witnesses 'could be col-
lected whose presence would be netess?ry before-they
could proceed a single sttp=if 'those persons nave
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