tion of right had been raised, he insisted that it ought first to be determined, since if the right should be held to exist, Parliament having adjudicated upon such right, need not deliberate upon any further measures. The same questions were debated in the House of Lords, where the Duke of York said that no claim of The Prince of Wales dis right had been made on the part of the prince, claims his who "understood too well the sacred principles right. which seated the House of Brunswick on the throne, ever to assume or exercise any power, be his claim what it might, not derived from the will of the people, expressed by their representatives, and their lordships in Parliament assembled." His Royal Highness, therefore, deprecated pressing for any decision on that point, - in which the Duke of Gloucester concurred.1 Pitt's con Meanwhile, the prince was greatly offended by Mr. Pitt's conduct, and wrote to the chancellor complaining The Prince of that the premier had publicly announced so much fended by Mr. of his scheme of regency, and was prepared, as he duct. conceived, to lay it still more fully before Parliament, without having previously submitted it to his consideration. He desired that Mr. Pitt would send him, in writing, an outline of what he proposed. Mr. Pitt immediately wrote to the prince, explaining his own conduct, and stating that it was not his intention to propose any specific plan until the right of Parliament to consider such a plan had been determined; and that he would then submit to his Royal Highness the best opinions which his Majesty's servants had been able to give.2 On the 16th December the House resolved itself into a committee on the state of the nation, when Mr. Mr. Pitt's pre. Pitt again enforced the right of Parliament to liminary reso appoint a regent, — fortifying his position by reference to the report of precedents, which had then been re 1 Parl. Hist., xxvii. 678. 684. lutions. 2 Tomline's Life of Pitt, ii. 388; where the letter is printed at length. 8 Commons' Journ., xliv. 11; Lords' Journ., xxxviii. 276. ceived, and arguing ably and elaborately that neither law, precedent, nor analogy could be found to support the claim which had been urged on behalf of the Prince of Wales. He concluded by moving three resolutions; affirming, first, that the personal exercise of royal authority was inter rupted; second, the right of the two Houses to supply the defect of the personal exercise of the royal authority, in such manner as the exigency of the case may seem to require; and, third, the necessity of "determining the means by which the royal assent may be given to bills passed by the two Houses respecting the exercise of the powers of the Crown, during the continuance of the king's indisposition." Mr. Fox argued, ingeniously, that the principles maintained by Mr. Pitt tended to make the monarchy elective instead of hereditary; and that if Parliament might elect any one to be regent, for whatever time it thought fit, the monarchy would become a republic. Nor did he omit to seek for support, by intimations that he should be Mr. Pitt's successor, under the regency. On the report of these resolutions to the House,1 Mr. Pitt explained (in reference to his third resolution, which had not been clearly understood), that he intended, when the resolutions had been agreed to by both Houses, to propose that the Lord Chancellor should be empowered, by a vote of the two Houses, to affix the Great Seal to commissions for opening the Parliament, and for giving the royal assent to a Regency Bill. The propriety of this singular course of proceeding was much questioned; but, after long debates, the resolutions were agreed to, and communicated to the House of Lords at a conference. In that House the same questions were debated, and Lord Rawdon moved as an amendment, an address to the Prince of Wales, praying him แ to take upon himself, as sole regent, the administration of the executive government, in the king's name." Lord 1 Parl. Hist., xxvii. 782. Twiss's Life of Eldon, i. 191. Chancellor Thurlow, 66 though faithless to his colleagues, and intriguing, at the very time, with the queen and the. Prince of Wales,1-supported the ministerial position with great force. In answer to Lord Rawdon's amendment, he begged to know what the term 'regent' meant? where was he to find it defined? in what law-book, or what statute? He had heard of custodes regni, of lieutenants for the king, of guardians and protectors, and of lords-justices; but he knew not where to look for an explanation of the office and functions of regent. To what end, then, would it be to address the prince to take upon himself an office, the boundaries of which were by no means ascertained?.. What was meant by the executive government? Did it mean the whole royal authority? Did it mean the power of legislation? Did it mean all the sovereign's functions without restriction or limitation of any kind whatsoever? If it did, it amounted to the actual dethroning of his Majesty, and wresting the sceptre out of his hand.” 2 All the resolutions were agreed to; but were followed by a protest signed by forty-eight peers.3 The perplexities arising out of the incapacity of the sovthe constitutional source and origin of - Death of Mr. wall. ereign, authority were now increased by the death of Speaker CornMr. Cornwall, the Speaker of the House of Commons. His Majesty's leave could not be signified that the 1 Nicholls's Recollections, 71; Tomline's Life of Pitt, iii. c. 14; Wilberforce's Life, i. App.; Moore's Life of Sheridan, ii. 31; Lord Campbell's Lives of Chancellors, v. 583, et seq. 2 Parl. Hist., xxvii. 885. The office of regent, however, does not appear to be wholly without recognition, as contended by the chancellor and others. On the accession of Henry III., a minor, the great council of the nation, assembled at Bristol, appointed the Earl of Pembroke regent, as "Rector Regis et Regni" (Matthew Paris, Wats's 2d Ed., p. 245; Carte's History of Eng., ii. 2); and when the Duke of York was appointed protector by the Parliament during the illness of Hen. VI., it is entered in the rolls of Parliament that the title of regent was not given him, because "it emported auctorite of governaunce of the lande." Rot. Parl., v. 242, A. D. 1454; Rymer's Fœdera, v. 55. 8 Parl. Hist., xxvii. 901. Commons should proceed to the election of another speaker; nor could the new speaker, when elected, be presented for the king's approval. But the necessity of the occasion suggested an easy expedient; and both these customary formalities were simply dispensed with, without any attempt to as sume the appearance of the royal sanction.1 mits his All these preliminaries being settled, Mr. Pitt now subMr Pitt sub- mitted to the Prince of Wales the plan of regencheme to the Cy which he intended to propose. The limitations prince. suggested were these: that the care of the king's person and household, and the appointment of officers and servants, should be reserved to the queen :- - that the regent should not be empowered to dispose of the real or personal property of the king, or to grant any office in reversion, or any pension or office, otherwise than during pleasure, except those which were required to be granted for life, or during good behavior; or to bestow any peerage ex cept upon his Majesty's issue, having attained the age of twenty-one.2 These limitations were suggested, he said, on the supposition that the king's illness would not be of long duration, and might afterwards be revised by Parliament. The prince's reply to this communication was a most skilThe prince's ful composition, written by Burke and revised by Sheridan. 66 He regarded the restrictions as a project for producing weakness, disorder, and insecurity in every branch of the administration of affairs, a project for dividing the royal family from each other, for separating the court from the state; a scheme disconnecting the authority to command service, from the power of animating it by reward; and for allotting to the prince all the invidious duties of government, without the means of softening them to the public, by any act of grace, favor, or benignity." And he repudiated as unnecessary, the restric reply. 1 Parl. Hist., xxvii. 903, 1160. 2 Tomline's Life of Pitt, ii. 422. Parl. Hist., xxvii. 909. upon tion his granting away the king's property, which he had shown no inclination to possess.1 cerning the But before Mr. Pitt was able to bring his proposals be fore Parliament, fresh discussions were raised by Further inthe Opposition on the state of the king's health, quiries conwhich resulted in another examination of his king's health. physicians by a select committee. The inquiry lasted for several days: but, while it disclosed much party spirit, intrigue, and jealousy, it established no new facts concerning the probable recovery of the royal patient.2 The least hopeful physicians were popular with the Opposition: the more sanguine found favor with the court and the ministers. At length, on the 19th January, Mr. Pitt moved, in committee on the state of the nation, five resolu- lutions on the tions on which the Regency Bill was to be founded. After animated debates they were all agreed to, and communicated at a conference to the Lords, by whom they were also adopted; but not without a protest signed by fiftyseven peers, headed by the Dukes of York and Cumberland. Further reso. regency. The next step was to lay these resolutions before the prince; and to ascertain whether he would accept Laid before the regency, with the conditions attached to it by the prince. Parliament. The resolutions were accordingly presented by both Houses; and the prince, out of respect for his father, the interests of the people, and the united desires of the two Houses, consented to undertake the trust, though he felt the difficulties which must attend its execution. The resolutions were also presented to the queen, and received a gracious answer. Another technical difficulty was still to be overcome bo fore the Regency Bill could, at last, be introduced. Commission Parliament had not yet been opened, nor the for opening causes of summons declared, in a speech from the Parliament 1 Tomline's Life of Pitt, ii. 425; Parl. Hist., xxvii. 910. 2 Commons' Journ., xliv. 47. 8 Parl. Hist., xxvii. 1122. |