The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-07-24 00:00:00

HOUSE OF LORDS-WEDNESDAY

The bishops of ELY and SALISBURY presented several pe-
titions against the Ecclesiastical Duties and Revenues Bill,
in which some of the petitioners prayed to be heard by coun-
cil before the house.
Lord MELBOURNE observed that it would be better to
avoid any discussion upon the merits of the bill at present,
but he would offer no opposition to the hearing of counsel in
support of the opinions which the petitioners held. He
thought that Friday would be the most convenient day for
that purpose.

The Archbishop of CANTERBURY presented a petition in
favour of the bill ; Lord Devon, and the Bishops of Winches-
ter. Chichester, and Exeter, other petitions against the mea-

'he LORD CHANCELLOR having then moved the second
ling of the Regency Bill,
'he Duke of SUSSEX thought it incumbent upon him, from
position which he occupied, and his near relation to her
jesty, to express his opinion upon the measure, of which
is general principles, he highly approved. He had had

some experierice in regency bills, and had taken an active
part in the discussions which took place upon that by which
George IV. had been appointed regent during the life of his
father, and he was happy to observe, that there now existed
none of the acrimony which was then exhibited on both sides
of the house. Although, however, he concurred with the
framers of the bill in its main features, and especially as to the
extent of power to be intrusted to the regent, he thought,
that as its object was to secure the direct succession
to the throne from every possible contingency, they
had not gone far enough, no provision being made for the
custody of the heir in case the regent himself should be re-

moved. However improbable so lamentable an event might
be, it was still not impossible, and, while providing for one
contingency, it would be surely impolitic to neglect another
of equal importance. The Lord Chancellor had congratu-
lated the house upon thefact that it had now to legislate upon
this very delicate question when every portion of the consti-
tution was in full efficiency; but in the case which he had
supposed, the magistracy of royalty would be wanting, and
the difficulty would in consequence be increased. He would
appeal both to his illustrious brother the Duke of Cambridge,
and to the noble lord at the head of the government, to vin-
dicate him from the supposition of being actuated by any
motive of personal ambition, and in fact he had until that
moment abstained from any mention of the subject, in order
to avoid an imputation of the kind. 'I he clause by w' hich the
regent was precluded from giving his assent to any bill which
would alter the succession to the throne was a most wise
one, and in the one which went to protect the interests of the
churches of England and Scotland he perfectly concurred • but
he thought that some additional restrictions should, under his
peculiar circumstances, be im posed upon the prince. In case an
event, which wouid be universally deplored, should take place,
it would be probable, and indeed perhaps expedient, that the
regent should contract another alliance, and the considera-
tion would then arise as to whether an union with a subject
would be desirable. Na law existed to prohibit such a mar-
riage, and even if a foreign alliance should be contemplated,
parliament could not interfere, unless the prince should ap-
ply to the other house to make some. additional provision for
her support. He thought, therefore, that a restriction
should be introduced to the effect that no marriage which
the prince might contract should be legal, unless after a de-
claration of his intention had been communicated to both
houses, and had rweived their approbation. He laid the
more stress upon this point, because in the bill which had
been passed in the reign of his late Majesty a similar restric-
tion had been imposed upon the Queen Dowager and the
Duchess of Kent. By the observations which be had made,
he did not intend to offer any opposition to the bill ; he
thought that everything should be done which would tran-
quillise the mind of the illustrious person most immediately
concerned ; and if he had had an opportunity, he should have
made the suggestions he now offered before the measure had
been introduced to the house.

The LORD CHANCELLOR expressed his satisfaction at the
approbation which the general principles of the bill had met
with from the illustrious duke. With respect to the objec-
tion that it did not provide for every possible contingency,
he thought, however, that it was scarcely consistent with the
wisdom of parliament to legislate by anticipation for a longer
period in advance than was absolutely necessary. He trusted
that, under Providence, the office contemplated by the bill
would never be required; but even if it, should, the house
would then have an opportunity of providing for the more
remote contingency to which the illustrious duke referred.
Parliament had in every former case on record adopted that
course, and even if the casualties to which two lives were
subject were provided for, it would be impossible to do more
than lessen the probability of a failure in the custody of the

heir. The clause prohibiting the regent's marriage with a
foreigner, had been introduced into the former bill because
illustrious persons to whom the high office was to be intrusted
were both females, and it was thought that they would be
able to exercise their duties less sui juris if under any foreign
influence. This, however, could not operate in the present
case. The regent was prohibited from leaving the country,
and it could not be supposed that he would, if a foreign alli-
ance were contracted, be so much under the control of his
consort as to be incapable of exercibiug rightly the powers
confided to him.

The bill was then read a second time without opposition

•
The law of evidence (Scotland) bill afterwards went through
committee. The turnpike trusts bill was read a second time,
and after a somewhat angry conversation between Lords
Westmeath and Normanby, the house adjourned.