The Statesman.
London, England, 1810-11-16 00:00:00

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IMPSILIAL PAR44I.4ILENT.
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lIOUSE or LORDS,, Nov. 15.
The HOtkie met about loalf,p:ud Omit o'clock, and wreaths
prayers. • • * ,
The Bakes of Clarence and SlnFek, and Lord yiscomd
Maynard, took the oaths and their Xeata • •• -
- On the motion of Loid Walsingluen, Lecmuseooenee of the
infispositioa of Mr. Stewart Rose.- the rending Clerk, 14407
rain (lattle, Fsq. *swallowed to officiate in his stead. ••- • 1
The LORA) CHANCELLOR stated, that in übedieuen to
the command of the House, he had written letterto all the
Lords *bit *ere Members of the Hamm, desiring. Oeir attest-
datite.on this llkt and that from some. he had revived an-
swers. stating, that from Wiwi, or other causes, they were
doable to attend, hi; Lordship concluded by reading a list of a
le* Lords who had scut excuses.

• THE KING'S ILLNESS.
• After a considerable iuterval, dark *hid the
House became very fully attended, -
The LORD CHANCELLOR. It **Wool.
Mitt adv)toced tosrardp"..the andadiressed
tila4Ouse.—".lkly Lords, there being npw
of y0,e.,44041410, I trust yen waits-
-14,10,Pe5,,;41 111:01, os Jae,. so. satiate fttakiltis kis*
what Liao the. Istolisssc statp4Alistoa 44
,Ist Instant feonsgwVit • V*
ts conclude - and *refers wish to
*eke the stnitehilliii-fr* this plate. Ay Loutzt-
when your Ltiraiitips assembled on the- Ist of this
Iltonth, after it had been publicly notified that, it
was his Majesty's royal, wit) and pleasure that this
Parliament should be pro;ogued to the 29th of No-.
rember, and that a Commission for such prorogn.
thin should be issued under the Great Seal, I then
stated, that in obedience to his Majesty's chip.
lead prepared a Commission for much pro-
rogation, but that in consequence of his Majesty's
indisposition such Commission could not receive his
Majesty's Royal signature • and had not it
consistent with my view 4- my duty to pet • the
Great Scal to :that Commission,, olithoit bit 8116..
jesty's sign Manual. It is for your Lordships ,to
judge whether, in this view of my duty, I have corn.
mined any error., I ,do not mean „to enter into, Ilse
discussionof tie widow as to the- itgatiti. 1514
Commission harint tite Great Seal affixed toil, and
purporting to haire the Kingts.,ssign-empmal, b.
which it had oat received. I only mon again toatate,
that in my conceptien'of,my duty did out cOneelve
myself authorized to a 1 x the Ci Nat Seal to Corn.
mission-to which' I.have allude; without the King's
sign manual. 11y: Lords, I then stated what I are
.1.9 w anxious to rest, ,• his Majesty's indispo.
pion arose enpreljf, the pressure of domestic
operatiog' uptrir Avis paternal feelings, and
tlia the physicians then invare of his Majesty en.
terfaioed confident ex pection of his. Majesty's
,rectivery. My Lords, as the, physicians therm bad
a confident expectation of hit Majesty's recoperyt
So they now also eaturtain a ennhdent expectation•
if his Majesty'. row's:oy, regard being had to
Majesty's time of life, and to his Majesty's formes.
state of health. 'I his is the nnanitnnes ori(1,10o (I
am anxious to state their own words) not only of
t,..glifsiciicns then in attendance, but of those
ese care has since been threwis around his Maw
hrf'jesty, and is given with as much certainty as can bp
attached to prognostics upon medical subjects.,
Those physicians also who now now attend his Ma.
jesty, and who attended his Majesty on a former
-indisposition, state, that they see in the preseut
'state of his Majesty, all the symptoms of approach
toward, recovery) and none of the syMptomit which
indicate the delay of recovery., Upon the
which I made on the tit Pr. this moßth% one of.
your Lordships muyed to ,tpijossa for foorteea.
days, the shortest period within Which Parliament
can by law be assembled upon auy emergency for
-the dispatch of business ; your Lordships are now. I
'assembled in pursuance of that adjottroment, and
it is for the House to determine Wm!. course it is
proper to pursue. Under these circumstances which
I have stated, I trust in God, from the favourable
symptoms of his Majesty's indisposition, that there
will be no necessity fur the adoption of any pro.
ceeding by this House to supply the defect of the
Royal authority ; and I may he, allowed to express
my opinion, that the most delicate and proper mode
of proceeding in the present instance, would be to
adjourn for fourteen days. My Lords, it is with
&silage of affliction for the indisposition of his
Majesty, in which I am sure all yoir Lordship
participate, that. I make this motion, and at the
same time in the confident hope that at the expiration
of that period no proceeding will be necessary. His
Lordship concluded by moving an adjournment till
1 this day fortnight."
'rho Earl of MOJRA.—" My Lords, I hail
with joy in common, I am sure with all your Lord.
ships, the pleasing prospect held out to us by. the
i Noe and Learned 'Lord of his Majesty's ,reco,
Seq. Upon p question of this nature, the im.
portant consideration necessarily must be, whether
the temporary suspension of certain parts of the
regal puwur will be of such essential injury .to the
public interests, that Our public ditty requires us
to proceed immediately to make provision Pr the
eilgtnicy;, , Conceiving, as I do, that no material
inconveaimsee will result to the public interests from
the delay proposed I give my cordial support to
the Motion of Noble and Learned Lord."
Lord GRE.NVILLE was anxious not to disturb
the unanimity which etas so desirable upon the pre.
Sept occasion, hut at the same time could with
rutty 'bring himself 19 assent to the motion for ad-.1
journment. It was of the greatest importance that
the principles of the Constitution should not bas
'violated. In this assembly, not of the Parliament,,
but of the estates of the realm, no proceeding
could, according to the forms of the Constitution,
he adopted, but of necessity, and his-objection in'
the present instance was, that they had not mud,
toted upon their Journals the act of necessity, in
minter:ince of which they were, asscaibled. it was

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requisite, he contended, that the necessity :settler
which they met should he proved by evidence, and
that they should not rely fur the existence gel that
•necenity upon the assertion of any individual. 111
the present case, instead of any proof by evidence
of the existence of the necessity, they had merely
the assertion of the Nuble„ and Learned Lord on
~the Woolsack. He had for that Noble Lord all
the. respect that was due to him, and for the high
and exalted situation which he filled, all the respect
which that situation demanded; but their* Lord.
t ships ought not, he contended, upon . a sub.
ject of such importance, to be satisfied With- the
assertion of any :subject of the realm;.. they.
ought to have the proof before them, of the
existence of the necessity under which they- w
called upon to act. He agreed that the few persons
who were assembled in both ilivores, on the Ist
.9f
this month, and with the invent metices which had
then' heolitelidistif, south the no oiherwive than
adjoin% (wialtfooliew of obtaining a full attend-
0400_ ho#l' An vieetteco, of eeery..peeleet.
0040 i 47-#4, , striation, and warping a-
ponmi foe; Whiesk Alloy would have been highly
criminal. Now, sbotrever,when their- Lordships
were filly . assembled in consequence of circular
notices sent to each of the Montle% of the
House, he contended, they. could not, conlietent-
ly with the principles of the Constitution, pro.
coed to en adjournment, without recording the
fact of the necessity in consequence of 'which
they acted, although not legally opened as a,
Parliament. In 1788, when, in consequence of
the ;melancholy event of the King's indispew
,sition, the Estates of the Realm assembled- on
the day on which the prorogation expired, they ad.'.
jammed for fourteen days with the view of prom.'
ing a full attendance: When they met again, the
facts Relative to his Majesty% indisposition were
104 before them as ascertained by an examination
before the Privy Council of the Physicians attending
his Majesty. They then adjourned only for two •
0 j
three days,‘ or, in fact, the adjournment only ex-
tended over one sitting day of the House ; and they.
then proceeded by a Committee of their own body to
ausertaie the' facts which constituted the necessity
under which they allembted,„ He thought the pre.
cedeteleetel7BB hedireen upon this occasion onneel
*celerity. departed leans, and though fur the sake of.
unanimity, he wortilliaot now oppose the motion foe
adjournment, he stiirthought, that under the cir-1
' curnstatioes, it was not that which ought to hoer
beets made, and that Ministers would have acted
* mere wisely in adhering closer to the forth; este-
.bilshetlin 1785. As to the lineation whether, it a
crisis like the present, any iqconvenience could
iii‘ists from an adjoaratuent for 14 days during a
aseppension of the futtetioesof the Regal power, Mi.
*stew themselves Malt ilia. theimerans of judging
Irons the infortangsa they possessed, which the
Rotate could not IMO. Ministers must, therefore,
be supposed the beet judges as to whether any such
incrinvenistee was likely to arise, and they took
upon themselves a heavy responsibility. Ile trusted
these would be no necessity for any further pro-
ceeding, and prayed to Almighty God for the re-
steration of his Majesty's' health.
Earl STANIIOPE agreed with his Noble Rela.
Lion (Lord Grenville) that the Parliament, not haw.
ling been legallyopensid, the necessity under which
1 they acted ought to be proved. He should, how-
ever, support the motion for adjournment', upon
the ground that there had not been sufficient time
to have tire attendence of all the Members ; such,
for instance, who were in Scotland and Ireland.
The Duke of NORFOLK said a few words, but
in so low a tone of voice that we could only indis-
tinctly hear some allusion to the questiott relative
to putting she Great Seal to 4 Commission without
the King's Sign Manual.
. The LORD CHANCELLOR. observed upon
this point, that he had no doubt upon the qnes-
tion, and that the Keeper of this Great Seal could
not put the Great Seal to a Commission purporting
to have the King's Sign Manual which had not
received thp Royal Signature. Whene however, he
found a preoedoot where the . Great Seal had been
put to a Commission, by the authority, of Parlia-
ment,- without the King's Sign Manual, and when
1 helfound two other precedents in which Chancellor,
of great name had ;diked the Great gee, to Commis..
siont purporting to have the Kinio. Sign Manual,
but which in fact had not received the Royal Signa-
ture, ho was justified in stating the question in the
• doubtful way in which he heti. .Vith respect to;
what had been said by the Noble Baron (lord
Grenville), he (tire. Lord ChMseelleir) had stated
his opiniou, that an adjournment Ihrtuorteen days
would. be the. most Acticate stud proper "ineee of pro.
seeding wider the favourable circumstances attend-
ing his Majesty's indisposition. He must heartily
joined in the prayer of the Noble Baron to Al.
mighty Gad for his Majesty's recovery, and trust..:
ell teat the necessity for further proceeding wee*
be averted by that recovery. •He at the same time
*greed with the Noble Baron, that if any further..
proceeding should unhappily become necessary it
would be requisite to establish the facts, in con-
sequence of which they acted, by evidence.
Lord G RE,N VILLE replied, that he was not
distinctly aware of the precedents alluded to by the
Noble and Learned Lord, but that the only ,prece-
dent strictly in point, was that of. 17.38. At that
,period, under ciccousetances similar to those which
led to the meeting of the t %et, (louses on the %(1 ult.
that great man who was then at the head of the G.,.
serumeul, felt it. to be his duty to take every step
that might lead to the fullest possible* attendance of
the Members. When they met on the eeth No-
vember, 17e8, the adjournmeot of a fort night teas
proposed and adopted, -in order to procure a eta!

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more general
lielik:neioesrnialltitalhihttettye
tffliwomdf6apntesoherteetai.artntiTreo:hfceeairiGihddisnvrwgeesuar,niminsieiteabnine.tia:ietaiwil,h6;ll.....„
settee of 'the third, from. whatever came that *be •
sence migirt proceed, to ascertain it by examinations
taken at their bar, to be informed of all the dee
cutnstanactte,ina his
smodrtiitllcaut
jebsy
by the evidence of the Pbys.. : -
sicisus
in his present lamented;
malady, before they cosild,constitutionally exerehiti •-; .
any one of the 'functions of Parliament. At alt •
tidies extreme caution was necessary, whenever thes
Kingly office might be suspended, that the estates
of the realm assembled withoet the immediate mew : -
thorny of the Crown, should strictly define theft: •
pogers, and owdeeetaed the necessity which eiti. -•
alone iestifythem Ili adopting any sueasuree Wises..
quent Upon stielea state of things. He could not
imagine a ptectideet reisft &atter', iis, moreffflal he
every principle •af 'titif ceitetitestion, fhisielhat of
atty .Ministers &Mar fts?iffspeteee, wilt.. ' at
-I.3o3iorit3rt ***6llkeltfbl4l4l4l•lll6"mr ,:"
and manifest necessity. Beyeiett AN not ..a day,
not an hour should be' lost supptyleg the natural- •
' defect in the exercise of the Ropl Ghettoes; and ''
an constituting a :egitiniate Pirliameet: • "h et repeat.
',this most ardent willies file the re.estibilihreent
of his Majesty's health"; but if that eicield not be •
among the blessings destined foe the 'elleitey, it •
was the solemn duly of Goverrietenti without' dee; '
ley, to take :inch measures as might lead to aid 're. '
notation of the Kingly °Melt. Tne chit/Sitar of '
the times, and the state of national affairs, 'added 4
inexpressibly to the sewfulness of the charge with
which Ministers were invested. These were topics, '
however, on which, as he had already declared hits.
intention of not opposing the motion of the Noble
and Learned. Lord, hb would not 'then expatiate.
Ile was desiroes of not interrupting the unanimity
'which appeared to pievail in the House on that
question, and was content with this:expression of
his sentiments on, a point of vital importance to •
the dignity of Parliament- and the welfare of the
country.
. Lord LIVERPOOL rose, and said, he trusted
that he. could 6.feud the conduct of Ministers ova
the Present melancholy occasion, in reference to all
those points which had formed the prominent yea.
tures in the observations of the Noble Lords who
bad preceded him. When attention was paid to
the peculiarity of the cri-is, when it was recollect.
ed at what a period, and under what circumstances
the two Hoesei were coueJned, it would he seen
how impossible it was f:Jr Ministers to have extend.
ed the circulation of the notices for the purpose of
procuring a !Agee attendance of the Me:nhers.
Its 1788, the two Houses met on the day to which
they were prorogued by the last declaration of the
Repsl pleasure and authority. They then home.
diately adjourned for one fortnight, us an act of
decorum and respect, as an example of that propti.
sty which he hoped weld( always characterise
their proceedings. The recovery of his Majelty
from that affliction which all men joined • in deplor—
ing, was not at that moment an objet of such con.
fijent expectation as he was happy to pronounce it
now. No deviation had taken place train the
cqurse pointed out en that former occasion that
exhibited any departure from its prinripic, or ors.
ginated in any thing but the distioeniehing rheum.
stances of the two cases. On the contrary, he was
prepared to approve of the proceedings of that pe..
riod, and to` consider them as a guide on every sub.
sequent recurrence of a similar calamitous suspen.
sion of the Royal functions. He agreed with the
Noble Lord (Gienville) of the obligation by which
the two estates of the realm assembled without the
presence of the Sovereien, were bound, before they
proceeded to the transaction of public business, or
to discharge the functions of Parliament in any
way, to ascertain by real evidence the state of the
King's hie It l, and the extent of hisincapacity to per-
form the ditties of his high office. For this purpose
his Majesty's physicians should be examined at their
Bar, according to the precedent of 1788 ; but ad-
hering to that precedent, it was incumbent on them
previously to establish the necessity of such a pro.
ceeding, a necessity which he could not bring his
' mind to believe was of a less imperative Wire than
the necessity described by the Noble Lord ,(Gees.
*Me). The circular 'notices which the Noble Lord
conanded had slot' been generally sent to the Mere.
en, .
were,b however, sent as widely as the novelty
of the difficulties which' oecasioned their assembling
permitted.' It was not known to Ministers that
theSigeldassuel could not be affixed before it was
tea _litiT:to eiteA their ,netices bey led a limited
distal*: Neither did he perceive' the utility or
any object of impOrtattee that would have been ob.
tallied' by a larger attendance on that day front
which the/ had adjourned. ItisMajesty had then been .
iftlistiel but for a short time with the malady in
*lilts!! severity, and it would have been impossible #,
t •
'Ten had the" meeting of the House been as numer.
Ous as 'it was on the,present day, to have -adopted
any sitipbut that of adjourning fora definite period.
'l' is was a step •prescribed, as well by the
great precedent of 1188, as by respect for
his Majtst%, and a' due regard to thescuti.
stitittionel isateeacter of - their own' proceedings.
No4litcre it6'ot °pinkn whatever, had existed on
this Oho, or eteild possibly6de existed, had the
ettendanco been more general than it was. The
question foe-.the House now to'conaider was, whe.
tiler, on a comparison of the circumstances attending
the Motion that had bete Inside by his ble and ,f)
Learned Friend (Eldon) with those did- ntstancee
that distinguisised the peeled o 1788, Oki', aftisea
fortnight's,Mjdurnment y the two liodees assembled
onthe 4th of:December, that Motion was not clearly
sad hay suppettsdby tiro-obvious difference Which

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L o, .FRID.4Ir, OFEMBER 16, .18`10.