manding attitude; when, with one hand, she had destroyed the naval and colonial power of the enemy, and excluded him from three quarters of the globe; while, with the other, she of fered protection to all who claimed it; when, in fine, she had raised her military reputation to an equality with her naval glory.

An opportunity soon occurred for a more full display of the sentiments of opposition. When Lord Jocelyn brought up the report of the committee on the address, Mr Whitbread rose, and avowed his dissent from the opinions expressed in the speech from the throne. He thought that every thing which this country could do for Spain had already been done; that although the first general of the age, and the bravest troops in the world, had been sent to her support, nothing had been accomplished; the French had obtained repeated successes es; Saguntum and Badajos had fallen; the attempt on Ciudad Rodrigo had proved abortive; Valentia was not likely to struggle long; Lord Wellington himself, after pursuing Massena to the frontier, had been obliged to fall back; and, in short, the enemy was in military possession of Spain. In speaking of the conduct of government towards America, he declared, that" instead of a spirit of conciliation," the measures of our ministers appeared to have been conceived in, what he termed, "the spirit of commercial subjugation." In reference to the subject of peace, Mr Whitbread concluded with the following reflections. "He understood the noble lord (Jocelyn) to have stated, that it was impossible to make peace with France in consequence of the personal character of her emperor. He (Mr Whitbread) did not recollect, in all the details of history, one instance in which the private character

of the ruler was advanced as a reason for denying peace to the people of a country; he saw no reason for not making peace with him, in whose hands the destinies of France were placed at present, any more than with the Bourbons when they presided: and the contrary opinion was always to be discountenanced, as it must lead to eternal war; or rather to a war which could only end in the extinction of either power. It might, he thought, be foreseen, which must fall, in a contest of that description, when it was considered that the greatness of one nation was artificial, while the greatness of the other, such as it was, was natural; but things need not come to that pass; they would not; and, as the present ruler of the destinies of France was likely to live long upon the earth, we must negociate with him whenever an opportunity presented itself. He should now conclude with saying, in answer to the declaration of the noble lord, that Bonaparte had been baffled in his maritime speculations, would to God that France had ships, and commerce, and colonies, for then we should have peace; but until then the probabilities were against it."

'T'he Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr Perceval) made an excellent reply. "He confessed, that the concluding sentence of the honourable gentleman's speech had furnished him with a clue to his objections against the system pursued by his majesty's government; for if he was indeed anxious that Bonaparte should have ships; if he was indeed anxious that he should have colonies and commerce, it could hardly be expected that he should approve of the system upon which his majesty's government had acted, or of those endeavours which were intended and calculated to deprive him of all. But as he (the Chan

cellor of the Exchequer) would wish to follow the honourable gentleman's speech through the series of topics which it contained with as much regularity as possible, he should leave the conclusion for the present, and begin by noticing the notions of the honourable gentleman with regard to the affairs of Spain and Portugal, and the characters of hopelessness and desperation in which he had described the war. And here he would wish to bring back to the recollection of the house, the state in which the war stood at the beginning of the last session: he would wish to bring back to their recollection the opinions and fears and prophecies of the honourable gentleman, and to entreat them to contrast the prospect he then drew with the reality of the present scene; they would find, on such a comparison, that his fears were unfounded, that his expectations were falsified, that his prophecies were erroneous; and yet the honourable gentleman was prepared, upon the same grounds of apprehension, namely, the boasts of Buonaparte, to repeat his prophecies

"Destroy the web of prophecy in vain, The creature's at his dirty work again." After such failures, one would have thought the honourable gentleman would have hesitated in his course, and not have continued to hold, that every thing the enemy vaunted he would do, must be accomplished, or that it was impracticable to put any stop to the career of "this spoilt child of fortune." At the period alluded to, as at the present, the honourable gentleman had only re-echoed the language held by the enemy; but there was no saying that he might not again be disappointed. At the commencement of last session, we were to be driven into the sea, and were not to have a foot of ground in

Portugal; but, instead of these boasts being accomplished, or the gloomy apprehensions of the honourable gentleman realized, we had not only rescued Portugal from the enemy, but maintained her in security against his utmost efforts. Since this had been achieved, indeed, a new light had been discovered, and it was found that it would not have been the right course for the French to drive us into the sea, but that they should first conquer Spain, and leave us to be swallowed up at the last after we had been permitted to waste our strength! Would any man believe this? Would any man believe, that if it had been in the power of the enemy, he would not have driven us from Portugal ? Those who held the opinion, that Buonaparte was irresistible, and that it was in vain to oppose his designs, wondered that he did not at once crush this army, which not only acted in every point to the frustration of his designs, but remained in opposition to him on the peninsula, to his disappointment, to his vexation, and to his confusion. Would he, if he could have prevented it, even by directing against it solely and entirely the whole of his force, have suffered this? No man could think so. would have left every thing else to accomplish our expulsion; but his power was not equal to his desire: and the country he ruled could not furnish him with the means necessary to effect his most anxious purpose. But though this was his opinion, he would not, therefore, with that presumption with which he charged the enemy, say, that though heretofore baffled and defeated, he might not at some future period accomplish that object, in attempting which he had been so severely foiled; but he thought it might fairly be argued from a retrospective view, that we might con

He

tinue to maintain ourselves in the peninsula, not only to defeat his plans of ambition, but as a standing contrast to the basest villainy ever exhibited in the world. Yes, he maintain ed, that on all of these points there never was a more striking contrast than that which appeared in the conduct of the French and British governments upon the peninsula; and if the man who caused it had any view to character or ambition, it must be his most earnest care and business, by every method and invention, to keep it not only from the eye of the peninsula, but of the world." In alluding to the affairs of this country with America, the sentiments expressed by Mr Perceval were at once dignified and forbearing. He declared, that as discussions were depending with the American government, he would not make disclosures which might have a tendency to irritate, but would rather allow his enemies to triumph for a season in their misconceptions. That a war with America would be a source of great evil to England, he readily admitted; but if it should prove hurtful to England, it would prove ruinous to America. He had no wish to see America impoverished, reduced, or subdued; "but sure he was, that no one could construe those conciliatory dispositions of England into fear; conscious of her own dignity, she could bear more from America, fór peace's sake, than from any other power on earth."-After some military criticisms from General Tarleton on the conduct of Lord Welling ton, the report was brought up and agreed to.

The state of the king's health was the first object which engaged the attention of parliament. Two declarations, by the queen's council, on this melancholy subject, the first dated 5th October, 1811, and the second 5th Ja

nuary, 1812, were laid before parlia ment; and both houses appointed committees to examine his majesty's physicians, and to report. The result of these enquiries established the improbability of the king's complete and final restoration to health, although the physicians, with one exception, concurred in declaring that they did not entirely despair. Some slight improvement had taken place since the second week in the preceding December; but it was not of such a kind or degree as to encourage any strong hope of his majesty's ultimate recovery.The history of this most afflicting case was altogether very singular. During the earlier stages of his majesty's illness, the most sanguine hopes were cherished; the king was visited by his family; he took exercise out of doors; the bulletins were discontinued, and his subjects, with that feeling of loyalty which his numerous virtues inspired, rejoiced in the prospect which these favourable circumstances appeared to present. A marked change, however, took place about the beginning of July 1811, and although, even from that period downwards, his majesty had been able at intervals to converse with his medical attendants, yet the symptoms of his illness gradually became more discouraging, until, in the beginning of the present year, they had assumed such an aspect as to induce his physicians to give the report, of which the substance has already been stated. One of the physicians, however, declared, that he had known instances in which patients of the same age, and similarly afflicted with his majesty, had been restored to health; so that the legislature, although called upon, when the restrictions on the Prince Regent should expire, to make a more permanent provision for the exercise of the royal functions than had been thought expedient last year, when

hopes of recovery were confidently entertained, was still bound to keep in view the chance of, at least, a partial re-establishment of his majesty's health, in the provisions to be made for the care of the royal person, and the dignity of the sovereign.

Mr Perceval came forward at a very early period of the session, with a plan for the arrangement of his majesty's household. He stated, that when this melancholy subject had last engaged the attention of parliament, sanguine expectations were entertained of the king's recovery; that so long as such hopes could be indulged, it was the duty of the legislature to look chiefly to the restoration of his majesty to health and to the exercise of the sovereign authority, guarding at the same time against any inconvenience which might arise from the temporary_suspension of the kingly functions: That the legislature was now called upon to act in very different circumstances; that an arrangement, not of a tempora ry, but of a permanent nature, was demanded, an arrangement which should neither imply a confident hope nor an absolute despair of the king's restoration to health: That the measures adopted last year had made full provision for supplying the exercise of the royal authority; and as the law now stood, by the 18th of February all the authority, as well as all the duties of the sovereign, would devolve on the Prince Regent; and as the civil list would also of course be transferred to his royal highness, it became necessary to make some provision for the personal comfort and dignity of the king: That his majesty's present civil list was the proper fund for such provision, and his present officers and servants, the proper attendants for him during his illness: That as separate establishments for a regent and a king would now be necessary, some addition must be made

to the civil list; and an addition of 70,0001. per annum could not in such circumstances be deemed extravagant. He then proceeded to state, that as the lord steward and lord chamberlain had important duties to perform immediately connected with the royal functions, it would be necessary that these officers should be placed round the person of the regent, who was to be invested with the royal authority. In the room of the first, therefore, it was proposed, that the first gentleman of the bed-chamber should be substituted as the chief officer of the king's household; that the vice-chamberlain should be appointed his deputy; that four lords and as many grooms of the bed-chamber, a master of the robes, and seven or eight equerries, together with his majesty's private secretary, should form the new officers of the proposed establishment, which, of course, must be placed under the controul of the queen, to whom the care of his majesty's person had been entrusted: That the expenses of this establishment, in so far as an estimate could be formed from the expenditure at Windsor during the year ending 5th July, 1811, would not exceed 100,0001. This sum, Mr Perceval proposed to take from the civil list, provision being made at the same time, that a deficit, if such should occur, should be supplied upon an application to the treasury, the propriety of which should be afterwards judged of by parliament, and the sum voted out of the supplies for the year. That in the circumstances in which the queen was placed, discharging, as she had done with exemplary fidelity, the duties which she owed to her royal consort, and thus incurring an extraordinary expenditure, it seemed proper that her majesty should have a small addition made to her income, not exceeding 10,0001., which sum should be paid out of the

civil list. It was further proposed, that the pensions and allowances which the king had been in use to grant to the objects of his bounty, should be paid as formerly out of the privy purse; that the expences incurred for medical assistance should be paid out of the revenue of the duchy of Lancaster, on which an excess had arisen of 30,0001. or 40,000l. annually; and, lastly, that a commission of three persons should be appointed, one of them to be a master in Chancery, and the other two to be named by the queen and the Prince Regent, for the management of the king's private property. The commissioners were to be entrusted also with the power of auditing all accounts of pensions and allowances taken out of the privy purse. Such were the arrangements proposed with reference to the king's household. To the Prince Regent, however, the civil list would, in this manner, be returned 100,000l. a-year less than had been enjoyed by the king; and it might be thought most advisable at once to vote the above sum out of the consolidated fund, and to extinguish the exchequer revenue payable to the prince. But as his royal highness had very naturally believed that the income arising to him out of the exchequer should be continued until he should come into possession of the monarchy itself; and as many persons had claims upon this revenue, which amounted annually to 120,000l., it would not have been equitable, in such circumstances, to disturb the supply. There could be no great inconvenience, however, in transferring 50,0001. out of the exchequer revenue of the prince, to meet in part at least the deficiency of the civil list, leaving the remaining 70,0001. untouched; and although there must still be a deficit of 50,000l. this sum might be dispensed with, as the prince had not so large a family

as his royal father, and had no occa sion, of course, for so considerable an expenditure. It would have been very unfair, however, to transfer the civil list to his royal highness as if it had been solvent, and quite sufficient to de. fray the royal expenses, when it was known that from the year 1804 downwards, an annual deficit had occurred of 24,000l. which had hitherto been supplied from the excess of the Scots civil list and the admiralty droits. Mr Perceval, therefore, proposed that this deficiency should still be supplied in the same manner, unless it should increase so far as to exceed its present average by 10,000l. when the subject should be submitted to the consideration of parliament. It was finally proposed, that 100,000l. should be voted to meet the expences which the prince had incurred, or might yet incur, on his assumption of the royal authority; a compensation which he had generously declined to receive, so long as he had reason to flatter himself that the change in his condition might be temporary, but which had now become indispensable by the altered circumstances in which the country was placed.

The minister had no sooner developed his plan, than a desire was manifested to obstruct the progress of the measure, which the immediate expiration of the restrictions on the Prince Regent rendered it necessary to accelerate. Mr Ponsonby demanded an account of the reasons which had occasioned the deficiency in the civillist; he censured the perplexity of the minister's plan; denied the propriety of forming any establishment which should cast a magnificence around the king, which he was no longer capable of enjoying; and insisted, above all, that suitable provision should be made for the prince, in whom the royal authority was now to be vested, leaving it to his royal highness to decide on what