account. the expense attending the assump He Mr. Ponsonby confessed, the more he contemplated the plan of the right honourable gentleman, the less he understood it, though he The chancellor of the exchequer said he had nothing to propose to the house on that subject. When it had formerly come before the house, he had then given it as his opinion, that the claim of his royal highness was without any foundation, and he had seen nothing since that time to render any alteration in his opinion necessary. He had, however, no difficulty in stating, that as far as it was possible to judge from looking back to the debates of that period, it was his opi nion that his royal highness had then agreed to relinquish his claim. Mr. Tierney observed, with respect to the 100,0001. it was need less to say any thing at present; but if it could afterwards be shown that this was necessary to defray the expense cast on his royal highness last year, and the splendour necessary to be displayed in assuming the situation which he was about to undertake, he, for one, should not have the smallest objec tion to agree to it. He wished to say a few words on the plan submitted to them that night by the right honourable gentleman opposite, because of the complete di lemma in which he had been placed by him; for it was necessary, be vote for this fore consenting to plan, at least to understand it, and this he, for one, was utterly unable to do. It appeared, however, that they were asked a sum of money for the establishment of a second court. His majesty was still, is would appear, to be considered as the sovereign of the country, and the regent merely substituted, for the the purpose of carrying on the functions of the executive. He, for one, would not deny that any portion of splendour belonged to the man to whom the name of king belonged. No man was ever more beloved than George the Third was by the people of this country; and had the right honour able gentleman so called upon them, he would have been the first to testify the affection which he partook, in common with every one of his fellow-subjects; but still he must look to the splendour of the executive power, and take care that no other court whatever came in contact with it. By this new constitution of things, however, the queen, it seems, on behalf of his majesty, was to have one court, and the prince regent another court. Was that necessary? Sure he was that it was dangerous. But could the right honourable gentleman make out its necessity? With respect to his majesty, he would never, to the latest moment of his life, forget that he was his king: but still it was necessary for the right honourable gentleman to satisfy the country, that the new splendour with which he proposes to invest her majesty's court was at all necessary for the comfort of his majesty. When he examined the list of those who were to con stitute the queen's court, it was impossible not to smile when he observed the number of officers pro posed the master of the robes, grooms of the stole, lords of state, equerries, &c. And in order to take care of the private property of his majesty, three new officers with salaries were thought fit to be created, a business with which parliament could certainly have nothing to do. Could any man be so blind as not to see the drift of the right honourable gentleman in his disposal of all this influence?From the manner in which the right honourable gentleman had, on the opening of his speech that night, spoken of the regency bill, it almost looked as if he wished to make a bargain about the taking off the restrictions. He must have a separate court, with her majesty at the head of it. His majesty's unfortunate condition had now lasted upwards of fifteen months, and since last July it appears, from the evidence of the physicians, that the restrictions imposed on the prince regent were altogether un necessary. The right honourable gentleman had allowed, when he enforced these restrictions, that they were, pro tanto, an infringe ment on the executive power; but that they were rendered necessary, in order that no impediment might be thrown in the way of his majesty's recovery, and that he would only name one year, in order that parliament might, at the end of that period, be enabled, as soon as possible, to remove them. the physicians had told them that no hopes of that recovery had existed since last July; and yet the right honourable gentleman had thought proper to put off the assembling of parliament for eighteen days longer than the period at which it became necessary. Thé right honourable gentleman ought to answer to the country why he made that unconstitutional bill last one day longer than it was necessary. With respect to the appointments about his majesty, was it a fact that any of the lords of the bedchamber, or any of the equerries, ever attended regularly, when there was a probability of his majesty's recovery? And now that such recovery was highly improbable, But why was their attendance necessary? It was incumbent on the right honourable gentleman to show the necessity of this new court that he was setting up. He certainly did not wish to insinuate any thing unpleasant to her majesty, or to wound her feelings unnecessarily in any degree; but it was impossible for him not to perceive, and, perceiving, it was proper for him to state, that the additional expense was coupled with this court; because all that part of it which related to the lords of the bed-chamber was not necessary. He wished to know whether all this additional state was to be an abridgement of so much of what it had been usual for the kings of this country to receive on their particular appointments to the executive power. He wished to abstain from giving a direct opposition to any part of the right honourable gentleman's plan; but he confessed himself anxious to consider it in detail, and he could not help thinking that this was a subject that could not be too clearly or perspicuously arranged and understood, previously to the prince regent's full assumption of all the functions of royalty. Mr. Sheridan said, that he was induced to say a few words to the house in consequence of something which had fallen from the right honourable gentleman (Mr. Perceval), in answer to a question put by his right honourable friend (Mr. Ponsonby). His right honourable friend had inquired, whether it was the intention of the chancellor of the exchequer to bring forward any measure bearing reference to the arrears due to the prince of Wales, arising out of the revenues of the duchy of Cornwall? The answer of that right honourable gentleman had, indeed, surprised him. It stated that he had not referred to these arrears, and that he did not propose to bring forward any mention of a claim, the justice of which he was known to have always controverted. In this opinion, he believed, the right honourable gentleman was rather singular. In the year 1802, the general sense of the house was understood to be decisively in favour of the validity and legality of the prince's claims. In 1803, a message was received from his majesty, recommending the state of his royal highness's affairs to the consideration of the house. From what passed on this occasion, the right honourable gentleman says he conceived that the claims of the prince were finally relinquished. He (Mr. Sheridan) had reason to believe that an impression to this effect was pretty prevalent out of doors. He had himself met with it in various quarters. He was on this account the more desirous that the true circumstances of the case should be made known. The right honourable gentleman, he strongly apprehended, had derived his belief, with respect to the prince's non-assertion of his claims at the latter period (1803), from the loose reports of the debates in that house, contained in the Annual Register, instead of consulting that register of original documents, the journals on the table. In that publication it was stated that his royal highness had made a surrender of his claims, in contradiction to which he would quote the message from the prince, which message had been delivered to the house by Mr. Tyrwhitt, and was consequently recorded on their journals. No renunciation, he again asserted, had ever been made on the part of his royal highness, because such renunciation must have been attended with very great injustice-injustice to his successors, injustice to his creditors at large. The right honourable gentleman had certainly fallen into a very gross, though not an intentional error; and in support of this, he begged leave to read the message delivered by Mr. Tyrwhitt. Mr. Sheridan put it to the candour and fairness of the right honourable gentleman, whether there was in this language any thing that, by a just and liberal construction, could be understood as a surrender for ever of his royal highness's claims? At that time it was well known that the commissioners had deducted 10 per cent. without exception, from the whole of the demands made upon the prince, and that the prince had declared it to be his resolution not to take advantage of this deduction. Although parliament had therefore voted 60,000, per annum, no alteration was made in the prince's expenditure. He had taken the liberty of making this explanation, as there was much misconception on this subject out of doors, and this misconception also possessed the mind of the right honourable gentleman. Mr. Perceval was anxious to say a word or two upon this point, because he should be extremely sorry to be misunderstood upon it either in or out of the house, and more particularly in consequence of the message read by the right honourable gentleman, and read, as he could not help suspecting, for the first time this night. He (Mr. Perceval) had certainly said that it was not his intention to propose any steps whatever with reference to those claims, because, conceiving that those claims rested upon no legal foundation, he was not the person who could be expected to frame any measure of that nature. The impression on his mind, also, undoubtedly was, that these claims had been finally renounced. But after the message from the prince, which had been read, he was at a loss to conceive how any friend or adviser of his royal highness, possessing a mind so liberal and enlightened as the right honourable gentleman, could ever resolve to recommend it to his royal highness to revive a suit, relinquished as this had been in 1803. The resolutions were then put and agreed to "That it is expedient that a sum not exceeding 70,000l. be granted out of the consolidated fund to her majesty," &c. &c. That it is expedient that pro vision be made for enabling his royal highness to assume," &c. &c. Mr. Perceval moved, that a secret committee be appointed to examine into and report what were the ordinary payments made out of the privy purse, for which it might be expedient to provide, and that Mr. Ryder, Mr. Sheridan, &c. be of the said committee. Jan. 17.-On the question that the report of the resolutions be brought up, Mr. Creevey observed, that he found the whole of the additional sums required for the proposed charges in the establishment of the royal household amounted to about 135,000. He should not have risen, had he not also observed that the means of meeting this increased expenditure were in part to be derived from droits of admiralty.He was determined to protest against this principle, because he had always regarded these droits as the property of the country, nor could he bring his mind to believe, that when his majesty's civil list was was settled at 800,000/. it was in the contemplation of parliament a fund of eight millions should like wise be left at the entire disposal of his majesty, to be used as his own undoubted property. It would be still more extraordinary, if now, after voting to the prince a sum of 100,000 and while engaged in coming to a new settlement with respect to the support of the executive authority, they should leave it in the power of the prince, which was to leave it in the hands of ministers, to convert the whole of that immense property which, in the event of an American war, would probably be accumulated, by sweeping the seas of her merchantmen, to royal ministerial purposes. Mr. Brand stated, that he entire ly coincided in what had fallen from the last speaker; his opinion decisively was, that the droits of admiralty ought to be given up for the benefit of the public. This question, however, was now in the hands of an hon. friend of his, quite able to do it justice (Mr. Brougham). He now wished to advert to another subject, the arrangements of the household. By the plan of the chancellor of the exchequer, it was proposed to vote 170,000l. to the support and maintenance of the king and queen. This he thought a most immode. rate sum. With respect to the means of supplying this expenditure, 100,000l. were to be taken from the civil list, and 70,000%. to be provided by a vote of parliament. This vote he professed his intention of opposing in every stage. He thought, that instead of the double transfer from the prince's income to the civil list, and from the civil list to his majesty's household, it was much better that there should have been but one, were it only for the sake of avoiding complexity. He was far from wishing that the prince regent should not enjoy every facility for discharging all engagements on his justice or his honour; but it cer tainly did appear that his royal highness would, upon a full balance, receive 70,000l. per annum more than his majesty bad been accustomed to receive. Mr. Perceval begged leave again to explain what he had the day before stated to the house on the subject of the proposed arrangements, He had stated as the result of those arrangements, that an additional sum of 70,000l. would be required for the maintenance of his majesty and the prince regent, under the present circumstances. The honourable gentleman himself had not appeared to think that there was any exorbitancy in this estimate.The whole amount of the excess thus created above the former expenditure was 70,000/.: but if the prince were to surrender the whole of his income, the expenditure would be 50,0001. less. The whole of the sum withdrawn from the civil list, and forming the greater part of the 170,0007. intended for the support of their majesties, was certainly not restored to it, his royal highness conceiving that this exemption from certain charges to which the civil list was applicable, would render such entire restora tion unnecessary. He begged leave now to say a few words with respect to what had fallen from the hon. gentleman who spoke first on the resolutions. The nature of the admiralty droits, and the mode of their distribution, had been already discussed in parliament, and whatever additional information might be required with respect to the his tory |