Star.
London, England, 1810-12-29 00:00:00

MRLIIMENZWRr PROCABDMIGS.

OMNI qF LORDS, DEC. se.
STATE OP Tifit NATION.
e Earl of LIVZ_RPOOL "moved the order of
Jo, for receiving the Report of the Committee of
whole. House on the State of the Nation.
in the question for agreeing to the third—
rd HOLLAND rose inipursuance to his mo-7
of last night, to move again the amendment 'he
submitted to the Committee. On this occasion
o„iti ant trouble their Lordships with any obser-
ions, as the proceeding would be merely tiro forma,
tor the purpose of enabling him regularly to re-
d his opinion, and to enter his protest on the Jour.
it. The Noble Lord then moved, with a view to
scope and object of his amendment, that certain
•:s should be read, which were those of Henry VIII.
y I. and Charles 11. referred to in his Lordship's
h of last night.
The titles of those Acts being read,
The Noble Lord' moved his amendment on the
Resolution, the prominent feature of which was
request his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales
take upon him the administration of the Govern.'
t, but to abstain from all acts of royalty, save
t the exigencies of the public service should re-
,ire, until a Bill or Bills should have passed both
oases of Parliament for the security, &c. of his. Ma-
y's person, and providing for the reassumption, of
full Royal authority, whenever it should please
,VINE PROVIDENCE to restore to him his capacity for
personal exercise of his Royal authority.
On the question being put,
Lord ERSKINE rose and observed, that the de-
of indisposition under which he still laboured
'old prevent him from troubling their Lordships at
length; still he felt the magnitude and import-
Cc of the subject so great, he could not avoid say-
a few words upon it. 'What struck him most
'alp on the occasion was, that in order to meet
h exigencies in future, and to avert the numerous
'tendant evils, some general rule should be laid
,en by Parliament, or some Bill adopted, applying
such emergencies, which would save the Constitu-
.n from these inroads, which on similar occasions
:ght be rade upon it. This he conceived to be the
o.e.yscuse to provide for on its part ; and he
. d with that which was held in the second Reso-
non, ,it As, the duty of Parliament to provide
die gailiactitiOn of the Royal office, but not to
ckle or'ici?eurnscribe it. In this view, he prefer-
tin mode of Address to.that of Bill. According
the mode of proceeding adopted by Ministers there
rtainly may be a dangerous breach made in the
onstitution. Though he did not charge-them with
y such design, yet where the male ammo existed,
i.uch mischief may be done. He thought the merits
f the question between the modes of Bill and Ad-
es' lay in a narrow compass. In the one case, the
ower was assumed, in the other it was only provid-
ed, for their Lordships should consider that the Great
Seal applied in the way contended for by Ministers
was not the organ of the King's will, but that of both
Houses of Parliament. And further, that those who
recommended such a practice could not have the
same temptations to entrench upon the Constitution
when they conferred as when they assumed power.—
'he mode they contended for would go to establish
iprecedent pregaantwith the most fatal consequences.
Pursuing the line of argument in favour of the mode
et Address, he asked/ did they think the Royal Per-
sonage in question when appointed by such an Ad-
dress of both Houses, as that provided for by the
Amendment, that he would withhold his assent from
such Bills ? His Lordskip here glanced at some his.
torical points which he conceived illustrative of his
arguments in favour of the mode by Address. He
deprecated the use of the Great Seal for the purpose
contended for by Ministers, insisting, that were it
used for that purpose, it may be also used for other
purposes. He warned their Lordships against the
adoption of the Resolution as originally proposed,
which would tend to carry both Houses out of the
sphere prescribed to them by the Constitution, and at
the same time hand over through the independence
of the Crown, the head and key-stone of that Consti.

tution.
The Earl of DARNLEY followed, and warmly
contended for the adoption of the mode of proceeding
by Address, in preference to the mode of a Bill, as
recommended by Ministers. He censured the delays
which had hitherto taken place, as tending to leave
the Government of the country without its constitu-
tional head. It would be much more wise, as well as
mere consistent with the dignity of Pariianicnt, to
confer the powers of Government on the Royal Per-
sonae in question, in the simple and direct way
chalked out by the Amendment, than the tedious and
circuitous mode of prOceeding by Address. When
expressing his sentiments as hostile to a head of Go-
vernment so constituted as Ministers wished to pro-
pose, he applied (as we understood the Noble Earl)
well.koown lines of Shakespeare to a Regal Power
to constituted

" A vice of Kings !--
" A King of shreds and patches."
Lord KENYON, on_ the other side, argued in fa
vour of the mode of proceeding by Bill as the most
-consistent and constitutional way of appointing the
Regal Personage in question to the temporary head
of the Government. His LOrdship, who expressed
himself throughout in a very low tone, adduced a
variety of arguments in favour of his conclusion. As
to the claim of right, as it was not expressly•urged,
he would not enlarge upon it ; but he thought it im-
'possible such a claim could be founded on the true
principles of the Constitution. He instanced hypo-
theticaliy a case occurring in the reign of Queen Ann,
when the then illustrious head of the House of Bruns-
-wick was declared by law the presumptive heir to
the Crown, could that illustrious person claim aright
.to the Regency, did a similar incapacity exist with
`her Majesty as now unhappily existed with the reign-
ing Sovereign ?
The LORD CHANCELLOR then put the ques-
tion respecting Lord HOLLAND'S Amendment, when
a short conversation arose between Earl STANHOPE,
the Noble and Learned Lord, and Lord HOLLAND,
touching the most correct and parliamentary way of
putting the question on a motion so amended, when
the Noble Baton again stated his principal object in
thus coming forward was with the view of recording
his sentiments on the Journals