Star.
London, England, 1811-01-01 00:00:00

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,sino on the whole of the State, whose resources t that House, would at all times furnish sufficient i probability of power being so used as to prevent tit
it ,called into action. In all modes of. warfare,l checks to a lavish use of the Peerage in the person ' King's return to the exercise of the imp srtent forte-
this power, unrestricted, was hardly adequate to :of the Regent about to be appointed. The opinion of tions of his high office, he would not be instrumental
meet the failures and the difficulties of every kind, the people was all the check he required, he did not ;in so bestowing of its (,He could not imagine that any
springing at every step ; and in the arduous war- i want to rely on the theoretical 14r of the Constitu.: one to enjoy power, would purchase it by such base
fare in which we were engaged, Government was tion. The proposed restrictions, with respect to the j means—ispecially, he remembered, that the Regency
left with still less men to meet increased difficulties. disposal of places for life, were to him equally objet.! would be of so limited and fugitive a nature, that every
The precedent of 1788, was the one so much relied j tionable. What was the legitimate use of offices for I morning the Regent and his Ministers arose, thvy
upon by the movers of the Resolutions, and adduced I life ? Their use was to enable Government to bring might expect an end put to the Regeneylet the reef,-
as a ground for recommending such a line of proceed- persons into employment, who otherwise in venturous very of the King. By proper regulatiod the resumption
ing ; and that precedent alone guided all those who I times like these would not hazard on any high or im- of power by die King in the event of his reemreeTt
supported the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Though portant course of life. Was that any fanciful theory I might he so easy, that should any hoped ntent
th it precedent was adduced by the mover of the Re-; of his, or was it justified by facts ? It was justified by thrown in his way the mere act of avowing such rec..,
solutions, and though the House was called upon to ; facts, and innumerable instances proved that such very would remove all obstacles. In such a perilous
follow the example of 1188, still those proceedings places were most useful in the hands of Government. period as the present the fullest possession, and tit.
were not in the present instance strictly adhered to by Was there any necessity for it, he could in his imme- j most exertion of all the Royal Prerogatives were re-
the Chancellor of the Exchequer. To the restrictions f diate recollection refer to several cases. He could in- quired ; and that being his firm opinion, he could
proposed in 1768, new ones were now proposed ; to stance the great use that had been made of them in never consent to any rests actions of those Prerogatives.
the exceptions then named, new ones were now men. the person of a Right Honourable Friend near him the full exercise of which was so necessary to the
tioned. Because lie would nut consent to the restric- ! (alluding to Mr. Perceval, we surmised) as well as in safety and well-being of the people. No restrictions
ting of the Regent in the granting of Peerages ; he ; the instance of another Honourable Friend who sat were required, and if there were :toy, they would
should be asked, e what! would you rob a gallant and near him (Mr. Yorke) who had afterwards accepted only tend to promote internal division, and endless
victorious officer of those marks of his Sovereign's ' a high official situation. He had ever defended the. discussions in that House. With respect to the regu.
favour to other great and glorious actions ?" No, use of offices for life, and those instances alone would lations for the custody of his Majesty's person, by en-
he would not ; but if the Regent were to have the i confirm the opinion he had often expressed ; and were trt:sting the King to the care of her Majesty, they
power of granting those marks of a Sovereign's favour :he to look a feW years back, he could adduce instances were just and proper, and were defensible on • very
to meritorious persons, as rewards forgreat and gallant that ought to meet with the approbation of all ; and ground of analogy drawn from private life, or from
services to the State, the power should be allowed to , that ought to make all admit that they were useful every man's reason. He objected to the lineeei
be so exercised, that the Regent would be following i and agreeable to the Constitution. He did not mime period propeed for continuing the restrictions, as they i
the Constitution, and would not be acting in a way to exclude the possibilities of their being applied to would occasion discussions in that House at the
that would tend to undo it. Prerogative ceased to ; improper and detrimental uses, but he would con- expitation of a twelvemonth, and the proposer of
be prerogative when it was exercised in the manner ! tend that if they were useful to a•King in the full ex- the resolution, he doubted not, looked forward to
proposed by the Bill. The provisions of the Bill were ercise of his functions, they would be useful to a Re- the next meeting of Parliament, for support in the
practically inconvenient and injudicious ; and he won. I gent exercising the functions of such King during his measures he might then propose. He would nos
tiered much that
hisßight Hononrable Fe'end (the met
therefore he • eld maintain, that the Re- Ki. eof the

riend ( rapacity, would 111 L _ amat .
Chancellor of the Exchequer) was not aware of such gent ought not to be restricted from bestowing of
inconvenience. What was it that made honours re. such places, should they become vacant during the
spectable to the meritorious hero ? It was the reflcc- t Regency. Even were the Regency to last but for a
that.they flowed spontaneous from the Sovereign I short. time, he would not deprive the Regent of the op-
tnind ; and, to use the words that have been before I portunity of rewarding those who had evinced any at-
repeated in that House, when they were bestowed in tachment to his services, by bestowing on them such
such a manner that they ".blest him that gave, and `places as might fall vacant within such pet iod. For
him that took." But what would be the reflections the Regent to bestow such places as might become
of those who received honours from the Regent, if vacant during his Regency, on those who had evin-
followed by such a Bill as be proposed ? That he ced an attachment to his interests, he should not call
,received honours agreeable to the regulations of an an abuse of the power entrusted to him, although
[Act of Parliament, when they ought to have been the persons so rewarded with places for life had not
the spontaneous rewards of the Sovereign. Such rendered any eminent public service. While such
would he the galling reflections that would rankle gifts were allowed to be in the gift of the Crown,
is the bosom of an Officer who had been honoured they ought not to be held from the Crown in this par.
alYreeably to the regulations of an Act of Parlia. titular Instance, for however different he might be in
men, and that would make those honours sit heavy his name still the Regent would virtually be the King.
on the honoured. By such a Bill the Regent would One reason gleamed from amid the cloud of excuses
fact be the Trustee of Parliament, to confer ho- that bad been urged for restricting the Regent from
nours on those, who, by achievements in the field of granting places for life should they fall vacar.t within
battle, or on the bosom of the ocean, had rendered a twelvemonth, which was remarkable as it was pro.'
the State eminent services; and every man who had minent, namely, that for the Regent and his Govern.
achieved any thing, however trivial it might be, meat to have such a power it would tend to obstruct
would conceive himself to be entitled to receive it at the King's assumption of his Royal functions in the
'the hands of such a Trustee of Parliament. Such event of his recovery from his present indisposition
was his view of the effect of the Restrictions with re- Such an argument was fallacious in the extreme.
spect to the Peerage ; and was it an imaginary one ? The possession of such a power was calculated to.
It was not in his estimation. The Generals of our do much good, though it could not influence a majo-
time might gain victories that might vie with the rity, while its supension in the person of a Regent was
proud and boasted triumphs of Marlbro's titne ; in pregnant with evils of no common magnitude. The
such cases they would merit the highest honours a restriction on the prerogative for the creation of Peers
grateful Sovereign could confer. But those Officers I was also of evil tendency, as he had before observed.
who now were, or hereafter might be engaged in the The evils to be apprehended from its restriction, as
tented field, might meet with disasters, or on the ; proposed, were, in his opinion, of,much more weight
contrary, they might be partially successful. In an than the fears expressed by some with respect to an
instance of partial success, it might be contended by I abuse of it. The instances of abusing the preroga-
some that it was equal to a glorious victory, and ; tive for the erection of Peers for corrupt purposes in
that honours ought to be conferred on those who England were but rare ; and he could but call one
achieved it ; while others, on the contrary, would instance to mind, and that was in the reign of Queen
maintain, that it was of such little moment that Anne, who, to obtain a majority in the House of
to confer honour, on account of it, would be to raise Lords, created 12 Peers in one day ! Such had been
it to an unproportioned and monstrous estimation ; the abuse of the prerogative in one instance ; -but
that to bestow marks of a Sovereign's favour for such he would have the House to look at the state of the
a pigmy victory, would be to depreciate the value of Peerage in that day, and compare it to its present
honours in the eyes of the soldier and the seaman. number. Then there were not more than two hundred
As to the merits of a particular action, according to ' Peers, now there were three hundred and six ; and was
the ideas of different parties, we need only refer to a it possible for any one to imagine in their wildest
very recent instance, namely, to the discussions that theories that such an abuse of the prerogative of cre-
took place on the motion for the thanks of that House sting Peers could now occur,_as happened in the reign
to Lord Welli - for the glorious battle of 'Pala- of Queen Anne? The - of the abuse of

deprive the King , splendour and state, which
ought to encircle Royalty, but in the restricting for
a given time, there was something peculiarly potent
and gloomy—it was fixing an early period for de-
spair. At the expiration of a twelvemonth it might
so happen, that his Majesty still continued in a state
of mind which rendered him incompetent of exercising
the tuneJ.ions of Royalty, and the House might deem
it necessary to have recourse to such a course of pro.
ceeding, as.he should not like to witness. He should
not like to see after the expiration of this given period
for restriction, a Bill brought into the House, the
preamble of which would be expressed to the effect
that since there is no hope of his Majesty's reco
very," &c. and he would rather that no fixed period
should be put to the continuance of the Restriction,
if the House should ultimately be of opinion that the
Regent ought to be restricted. He disapproved of the
Regulations respecting the King's Household, an
he would rather that no 'Regulations whatever wer
proposed, concerning it. He disapproved of the.
Restrictions proposed, consequently the Resolutioo
could not have his support.
Mr. MATTHEW MONTAGUE contended th
the arguments advanced by the Right Hun. Gents
(Mr. Canning), and by tie Hon. Gent. on the other
side Mr. Lamb), were equally applicable to the case.
in 1788, when the restrictions to granting peerages in.
Mr. Pitt's time were extended to 'a longer period. HeX
did not see why they should not take advantage of.
that authority in a case where the period was much-4
shorter.—What they had said turned upon the sup-.
position that when they appointed a Regent, they ap4
pointed a complete possessor of the Crown. Thee
were bound to think, after the evidence of the Physt.t
cians, that the
,King would soon return to the exerciser
of his functions, which he might happily yet exercise:
for a long period, so that they were bound to %pre..
serve the prerogatives of the Crown for him, and to
secure an easy return to the possession of all his pre- ,
rogatives.
• Lord CASTLEREAGH contended, that the pre-
cedent of 1788 rested on sound and constitutional
principles, and that it ought to be followed in pro-1
viding for the necessity that was now unfortunately
to be provided for, and ate feared that it that precedent
were departed from in the present instance, it might
be the cause of great public calamity. The restric-4
tions,, he contended, were highly necessary for the
preserving of the Y - power perfect, and fur the
facilitating of his ► ''s re-assumption of his

. . ..iington g , apprehension , _al
vera. In his- opinion, therefore, to restrict the Re- the -power,respecting the creation of Peers, was about
gent with respect to the peerage, as proposed, would as well grounded as the idea that a few persons hay.
be the source of endless discussions in that House. ing places for life would obstruct the re-assumption
Questions might arise, whether the Regent, as the of-power by the King, in the event of his recovery !
officer or Parliament for the distribution of honours Such an apprehension was as preposterous as any
by conferring Peerages, had not exceeded his trust that could possibly enter into the imagination of the
by giving them where they were not merited, or whe- wildest theorist ; for on an average not more than one
ther he had not omitted to give where they were me- of those offices for life fell vacant its a period of four
cited ? Such in all human probability would be the years, and if one or twd were to become vacant within
'consequence, one way or the other the Regent's dis- = a twelvem,onth could they stand in the breach, and
posal of Peerages could scarcely escape discussion in . with their mighty strength of offices for life oppose the
'that House. He thought it world be a most heart- ' King's return to power ? The precedent of 1;88
rending thing to the Parliament that military services would not apply to the present case, although it had
should go unrewarded, and he thought it would be still been stretched and cut for the purpose, and afterwards
.
more heart-rending to them to see honours bestowed laid before the Committee for, The times
'where
they were not merited. He would rather that ! were different, circumstances were altered; and those
the prerogative, with respect to the Peerage, in the ' who followed the great example of Mr. Pitt, by ser-
person of the Regent should be suspended for a vilely treading in his steps, without a reference to the
twelvemonth, than that it should be restricted as pro- peculiarity of that necessity which the House were
posed, and the Regent thereby exposed to opposition called upon to supply, or to the change in circum-
from the Parliament. Another Lord Chancellor stances, did not so much honour to that great man's
might be made by the l'tegent under the title of Lord memory as those who opposed the proposition for re.
Keeper, for that title was similar to that of Lord stricting the Regent in perilous times like the present.
Chancellor, but then he might be told that to prevent If the House, and those who approved of the restric-
tions as proposed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
such occurrence a clause could be introduced in the
Bill. But for clauses of such a nature there was no would call to their recollection the situation of Eng-
precedent, and rather than create a precedent, that land in 1788, they would find that the resolutions of
Mr. Pitt were proposed in a time of profound peace,
the two Howes should interfere with the granting of
peerages, he would prefer that the prerogative *mold and when it seemed as if the seeds of future and per-
be suspended altogether. Much had at different manent tranquillity were grown in the garden of
times been said about the lavish use of the peerage, the civilized world. Such were the flattering and
and that it tended to give an undue influence to soothing times in which Mr. Pitt proposed his Reso-
lution respecting the restrictions of the Regent, but
the Crown ; but he could not see that any undue
influence had been given to the Crown by the use this was a period of great external difficulty, when
it had made of the peerage, and he doubted much the exertion of all the prerogatives of the kinglii office
whether the Power of the peerage was equal to the might be required to ensure the safety of the nation,
power of the House of C.....rtnons ? He doubted very nsy the existence of the country itself. A plan might
much whether the power of making peers had been he devised that would suit all times and circumstances,
"
carried in excess by his present Majesty in any part of though such a thing was barely within the reach of
the reign. If the unlimited prerogative of creating possibility ; but he could not imagine that the prece-
Peers in the person. of the Regent were abused, that dent of 1788, was one of those that was fitted for all
House had an opportunity of restricting such preroga- times and circumstances. It had been said that Minis-
tivei to prevent its future abuse. Were such an oc- tersof late years had been lavish of the power they en-
currence* to take place in the person of the Regent, the joyed of advising the creation of peers, and that the
indignation of the country would be so roused, as King had been compelled to check that lavish disposi-
would the jealousy of theHouse'of Com mons, that there lion ; but he denied that such bid been the fact. There
would be no difficulty in immediately putting an end was, however, a greater and graver charge against the
-tch - abuse of --ewer. The public opinion proposal for kir—the Regent unlimited and unrestric-

King's
of .. Majesty' _ —.sumpt _ power.
in the event of the King's recovery. His Lordship -
then proceeded to state that considering his Majesty's
lamented illness, and that even were the prospect of ;
his recovery set within the knowledge of Mortal eye,
he would deem a Regency until that happy period a-
rived, both expedient and proper. But he considered
restrictions as necessary on the exercise nt the Royal
Prerogative, and proper for preserving theancient con- .
stiiutional system of the country. The same principle ,
of reasoning applied with much propriety to all the '
'other restrictions. Restrictions, he observed, did not
weaken the Government, and those which were-
proposed, would keep alive all that was necessary 's
to ensure stability and seem ity. He wished when his
Majesty returned, restored and invigorated, to his fora
mer functions, that he_should find them unimpaired g
and unbroken, and that his powers and prerogatives
had not been violated by his country when he was
not able to prevent the violation. The Noble Lord
gave his concurrence heartily to the restrictions which
were proposed. He loved and revered the Prince ;
he admired his goodness of heart and his talents ; but
it was not fear lest the Prince should misuse the exer-
cise of the Royal Prerogative that urged him to vote
' for these restriction's ; for could aught of personal re-
gard prompt him, or his own feelings justify him in
voting against restrictions, still the anxiety he had for '
the public welfare, the sincere attachment which he
was proud to maintain firm in his heart, and unbroken
in his conduct, for the happy Constitution of his coun.
try, his regard for the public interest—all these uni-*
ted, must decide in favour of restriction, and bid him
not violate the rights of the nation. He considered
himself a servant of the public, and private or do•
mestic feeling were swaliowed up in the zeal he
would ever, he hoped, entertain for the public welfare.
His Lordship next proceeded to state his opinions
concerning the management of his Majesty's House. •
hold. He observed, that lie would wish to deprive
the King of nothing which might tend to ~is comfort
send advantage. Hu would wish him only, how►
ever, to retain the necessary comforts and convenien.
cies, which, whoever should be appointed to have tht4
care and nursing of his person, should deem useful to
the furtherance of his recovery, and to the proper,
management of his household economy, this his Lord.
ship remarked, did not strictly belong to ths od'
modes of arrangement. He stood alone, ands'
well

„iving_
ted powers ; namely, that itwould tend to prevent the ' fare might be considered apart, and whatever
i King's return to power, in the event of his recovery; form the arrangements of his Majesty's affairs
and did he suppo
se that these was the moat distant ' alto, the trappings of his state might be given

to an
I:would be aga;nst the Regent, and that was greater
and more powerful than all the rest. (Hear, hear,
bear.) Pub 1....-. opinion, together. with the voice of
• , .