The Prince Regent's Speech, Jan. 7.

My Lords and Gentlemen,

WE

E are commanded by his Royal Highness the Prince Regent to express to you the deep sorrow which he feels in announcing to you the continuance of his Majesty's lamented indisposition, and the unhappy disappointment of those hopes of his Majesty's early recovery which had been cherished by the dutiful affection of his family and the loyal attachment of his people.

The Prince Regent has directed copies of the last reports of her Majesty the Queen's council to be laid before you, and he is satisfied that, you will adopt such measures as the present melancholy exigency may appear to require.

In securing a suitable and ample provision for the support of his Majesty's royal dignity, and for the attendance upon his Majesty's sacred person during his illness, the Prince Regent rests assured, that you will also bear in mind the indispensable duty of continuing to preserve for his Majesty the facility of resuming the personal exercise of his royal authority in the happy event of his recovery, so earnestly desired by the wishes and the pray. ers of his family and subjects.

The Prince Regent directs us to signify to you the satisfaction with which his Royal Highness has observed, that the measures which have been pursued for the defence and security of the kingdom of Portugal have proved completely effectual; and that on the several occasions in which the British or Portuguese troops had been engaged with the enemy, the reputation already acquired by them has been fully maintained.

The successful and brilliant enterprize, which terminated in the surprize, in Spanish Estremadura, of a French corps by a detachment of the allied army under Lieut.General Hill, is highly creditable to that distinguished officer, and to the troops under his command, and has contributed materially to obstruct the designs of the enemy in that part of the Peninsula.

The Prince Regent is assured, that while you reflect with pride and satisfaction on the conduct of his Majesty's troops, and of the allies, in these various and important services, you will render justice to the consummate judgment and skill displayed by Gen. Lord Viscount Wellington in the direction of the campaign. In Spain, the spirit of the people remains unsubdued; and the system

of

of war, so peculiarly adapted to the actual condition of the Spanish nation, has been recently extended and improved, under the advantages which result from the operations of the allied armies on the frontier, and from the countenance and assistance of his Majesty's navy on the coast. Although the great exertions of the enemy have in some quarters been attended with success, his Royal Highness is persuaded, that you will admire the perseverance and gallantry manifested by the Spanish armies. Even in those provinces principally occupied by the French forces, new energy has arisen among the people; and the increase of difficulty and danger has produced more connected efforts of general resistance.

The Prince Regent, in the name and on the behalf of his Majesty, commands us to express his confident hope that you will enable him to continue to afford the most effectual aid and assistance in the support of the contest, which the brave nations of the Peninsula still maintain with such unabated zeal and resolution.

His Royal Highness commands us to express his congratulations on the success of the British arms in the island of Java.

The Prince Regent trusts that you will concur with his Royal Highness in approving the wisdom and ability with which this enterprize, as well as the capture of the islands of Bourbon and Mauritius, has been conducted under the immediate direction of the Governor General of India, and that you will applaud the decision, gallantry, and spirit, conspicuously displayed in the late operations of the braye

army under the command of that distinguished officer Lieut.-Gen. Sir Samuel Auchmuty, so powerfully and ably supported by his Majesty's naval forces.

By the completion of this systera of operations, great additional security will have been given to the British commerce and possessions in the Fast Indies, and the colonial power of France will have been entirely extinguished.

His Royal Highness thinks it expedient to recommend to your attention the propriety of providing such measures for the future go vernment of the British possessions in India as shall appear from experience, and upon mature delibera tion, to be calculated to secure their internal prosperity, and to derive from those flourishing dominions the utmost degree of advantage to the commerce and revenue of the United Kingdom.

We are commanded by the Princs Regent to acquaint you, that while his Royal Highness regrets that various important subjects of difference with the government of the United States of America still remain unadjusted, the difficulties which the affair of the Chesapeake frigate had occasioned have been finally removed; and we are directed to assure you, that in the further progress of the discussions with the United States, the Prince Regent will continue to employ such means of conciliation as may be consistent with the honour and dignity of his Majesty's crown, and with the due maintenance of the maritime and commercial rights and interests of the British empire.

Gentlemen of the House Commons,-His Royal Highness has

directed

directed the estimates for the service of the current year to be laid before you. He trusts that you will furnish him with such supplies as may be necessary to enable him to continue the contest in which his Majesty is engaged, with that spirit and exertion which will afford the best prospect of its successful termination.

His Royal Highness commands us to recommend that you should resume the consideration of the state of the finances of Ireland, which you had commenced in the Jast session of parliament. He has the satisfaction to inform you, that the improved receipt of the revenue of Ireland in the last, as compared with the preceding year, confirms the belief, that the depression which that revenue had experienced is to be attributed to accidental and temporary causes.

My Lords and Gentlemen,-The Prince Regent is satisfied that you entertain a just sense of the arduous duties which his Royal Highness has been called upon to fulfil, in consequence of his Majesty's continued indisposition.

Under this severe calamity, his Royal Highness derives the greatest consolation from his reliance on your experienced wisdom, loyalty, and public spirit; to which, in every difficulty, he will resort, with a firm confidence, that, through your assistance and support, he shall be enabled, under the blessings of Divine Providence, successfully to discharge the important functions of the high trust reposed in him; and in the name and on the behalf of his beloved father and revered sovereign, to maintain, unimpaired, the prosperity and honour of the nation.

Declaration of the Members of her Majesty's Council respecting the State of his Majesty's Health made on the 5th of Jan. 1812.

We, the under-written members of the council, &c. having duly met together, on this 4th day of Jan. 1812, at the Queen's Lodge, near to Windsor Castle, and having called before us, and examined upon oath, the physicians and other persons attendant upon his Majesty, and having ascertained the state of his Majesty's health by all such ways and means as appear to us to be necessary for that purpose, do hereby declare and certify, that the state of his Majesty's health, at the time of this our meeting, is not such as to enable his Majesty to resume the personal exercise of his royal authority:

That his Majesty's bodily health appears to us to be as good as at any of the periods of our former reports:

That his Majesty's mental health appears to us not to be worse than at the period of our last report:

That all the physicians attending his Majesty agree in stating, that they think his Majesty's complete and final recovery improbable; differing, however, as to the degree of such improbability: some of them expressing themselves as not despairing,-others as not entirely despairing, and one of them representing that he cannot help despairing of such recovery. (Signed)

C. CANTUAR, E. EBOR, MONTROSE, WINCHILSEA,

AYLESFORD, ELDON,

ELLENBOROUGH,

W. GRANT.

Shortly after the above report had