proceeding; but if ministers were guilty of injustice, their Lordships were accomplices in it. If there were any part of the conduct of his Majesty's ministers to which they could look back with more particular satisfaction than another, he believed it to be that which had been employed in endeavours to avoid, by some compromise, the public discussion of the present subject. He thought if there were any occasion on which a public man might be excused for making some sacrifice of consistency, it was for such an object. The present report could be regarded in no other light than the verdict of a grand jury. The Earl of Carnarvon pointed out the difference between the present proceeding and the verdict of a grand jury. He made also severe strictures on the intention of celebrating the coronation at such a period as the pre

sent.

The Earl of Darnley condemned ministers, particularly in respect to the affair of the Liturgy.

Earl Grey, in answer to Lord Harrowby, still insisted, that if those advisers had before them evidence of the Queen having been guilty of an adulterous intercourse with a foreigner, aggravated by a long course of licentious conduct-if that charge was true, the case was one which, consistently with the dignity of the Crown, and the welfare of the country, admitted of no compromise whatever.

The Earl of Liverpool defended anew the conduct of ministers in endeavouring to avoid a public investigation; but when the Queen came to the country-when her conduct was forced upon public attention-when no medium was left between admitting her to the exercise of all her rights and privileges, and allowing her full influence on the morals of the country; -and proceeding against her, suppo

sing the charges to be true, they were compelled to bring them forward.

The Marquis of Buckingham defended the report, stating, that it expressed the unanimous opinion of the committee.

The debate concluded with Lord Holland strongly censuring the conduct of ministers-the course of whose proceedings was from the beginning wrong-highly inconsistent-highly dangerous-derogatory from the honour of the Crown, and injurious to the best interests of the country. He dissented entirely from the whole course of proceeding.

Considering how deeply this report struck at the honour and welfare of the individual concerned, it could not but be expected, that, even in a disposition much less ardent, it should kindle an extraordinary agitation. That which it produced was manifested by an immediate and decisive step. On the following day, Lord Dacre, now the regular channel for such communications, presented the following petition:

"CAROLINE REGINA

"The Queen, observing the most extraordinary report made by the secret committee of the House of Lords, now lying upon the table, represents to the House, that she is prepared, at this moment, to defend herself against it, as far as she can understand its import. Her Majesty has also to state, that there are various weighty matters touching the same, which it is absolutely necessary, with a view to her future defence, to have detailed in the present stage of the proceeding. The Queen, therefore, prays to be heard this day, by her counsel, regarding such matters."

Lord Liverpool thought the advice which must in this instance have been

given to the illustrious petitioner, was of a most extraordinary nature. She applied to be heard in the present stage by counsel; but their Lordships were, as yet, in no stage whatever of the proceeding. It was impossible that counsel could be heard till after the first reading of the bill. As to the report, neither her Majesty nor any other person out of that House could regularly have any knowledge of it. Lord Dacre strongly urged the granting of the petition. Considering the high station of the illustrious petitioner-considering the delicate situation in which she was placed-and considering also the interest which these proceedings had excited from one end of the country to the other, he trusted that their Lordships would pause before they excluded her Majesty from making any statement important to her honour and character, perhaps even to her life!

Lord Ellenborough replied, whether a petition came from a Princess, or one of the lowest subjects in the kingdom, their Lordships were bound to act according to the principles of equal justice. He would vote against the petition for this reason-that it asked that which, if prayed for by any other individual in the country, would not be granted.

Earl Grey felt this to be a case of peculiar difficulty, and did not wish that any undue advantage should be granted to her Majesty. The case, however, was very peculiar. It might become a case of divorce, without any of those previous proceedings in the ecclesiastical courts which made other parties acquainted with the particulars of the charge and evidence. Her Majesty might claim the right to do something to counteract the unfavourable impression which the report had produced. He had doubted the propriety of hearing counsel on the appointment of the committee;

but since it was granted then, the claim here was much stronger. Considering the deep sympathy taken in her Majesty's situation-considering the agitation into which the public mind was thrown by the proceedings

though it would be far from his inclination to advise their Lordships to yield to any popular clamour, he did think that, when such a claim on their justice as that which now came from her Majesty was made, it could not be either for public interest or the honour of the House to stand too much upon precedents.

The Lord Chancellor considered the proposition as totally out of the question. He would be glad to know where, in the history of Parliament, it was to be found that counsel were ever admitted to be heard against a measure of some kind or other not yet submitted to their Lordships, but which some noble Lord was expected to propose. Let the subject who petitioned be high or low, he would ask their Lordships, whether they were prepared to hear counsel against the privilege of a peer to present a bill? He conceived that their Lordships, as well as juries, were perfectly qualified to dismiss from their minds every thing that passed in a preliminary inquiry.

The Marquis of Lansdowne and Lord Holland spoke in favour of the petition; Lord Redesdale and the Marquis of Buckingham against it. The proposition was finally negatived without a division.

This question being decided, nothing was left to delay the grand and long-impending step-the introduction of the bill of Pains and Penalties. Lord Liverpool immediately rose and proposed it. After the most deliberate consideration, he could discover no other course in which he could move. Impeachment was, by the

highest legal authorities, considered inapplicable. Its adoption would certainly have hazarded the loss of the measure from the mere wrong course pursued. From the judicial habits of this House, and from the analogy of the present to a divorce case, the House of Peers appeared the proper quarter in which any proceeding should commence. Ministers wished, as far as possible, to avoid prejudicing the case of the accused party. He was, however, free to say, that the bill on their Lordships' table, founded on the allegations contained in the report, did tend to create some degree of prejudice. He was ready to admit that fact-it was an unavoidable consequence; for there was nothing in the form of justice, though it went to protect an individual who was accused, that did not tend to excite some prejudice. Even where a person was taken into custody, and brought before a magistrate on oath, though the administration of the oath was meant to assist the individual accused, still it went, to a certain extent, to raise a prejudice against him. It was a circumstance that arose out of the very nature of justice itself. He would now state to their Lordships what the nature of the bill was. It was a bill of pains and penalties; and its preamble would point out with as much particularity as was ever displayed in any criminal case, and as much as the nature of the circumstances required, the offences charged against the accused party. It had been endeavoured to frame the bill in a manner that should not bear more severely on the illustrious personage accused, than the safety of the state and the ends of substantial justice required. With respect to any question relative to a provision for the illustrious personage, their Lordships must be aware that it could not originate in that House. As to the more immediate proceedings,

he wished a copy of the bill to be forwarded in the most respectful manner to each of the illustrious individuals concerned. He would wish to delay the second reading for a few days, and would be disposed to fix on that day fortnight as a proper and reasonable time. It was most satisfactory to reflect, that the country had no precedents of a case similar to the present, during a period of 200 years, except in the instance of one individual, who never came over to this country. There had not been a Queen in this country during that time, against whom even a whisper of shame had been raised to affect her character or sully her reputation. There was no longer an opportunity of avoiding the shame and scandal of this investigation, whatever its result might be. Nothing now remained for their Lordships to do but to pursue a clear and straight-forward course-to perform their duty boldly-determined, whatever public clamours might exist, to take care that public justice was satisfied.

The Clerk then read the bill.

"A Bill entitled an Act to deprive her Majesty, Caroline Amelia Elizabeth, of the Title, Prerogatives, Rights, Privileges, and Exemptions, of Queen Consort of this Realm, and to dissolve the Marriage between his Majesty and the said Caroline Amelia Elizabeth.

"Whereas, in the year 1814, her Majesty, Caroline Amelia Elizabeth, then Princess of Wales, and now Queen Consort of this realm, being at Milan, in Italy, engaged in her service, in a menial situation, one Bartolomo Pergami, otherwise Bartolomo Bergami, a foreigner of low station, who had before served in a similar capacity:

"And whereas, after the said Bartolomo Pergami, otherwise Bartolomo Bergami, had so entered the service of

her Royal Highness the said Princess of Wales, a most unbecoming and degrading intimacy commenced between her said Royal Highness and the said Bartolomo Pergami, otherwise Bartobmo Bergami:

"And her said Royal Highness not only advanced the said Bartolomo Pergami, otherwise Bartolomo Bergami, to a high situation in her Royal Highness's household, and received into her service many of his near relations, some of them in inferior, and others in high and confidential situations, about her Royal Highness's person, but bestowed upon him other great and extraordinary marks of favour and distinction, obtained for him orders of knighthood and titles of honour, and conferred upon him a pretended order of knighthood, which her Royal Highness had taken upon herself to constitute, without any just or lawful authority:

"And whereas also her said Royal Highness, whilst the said Bartolomo Pergami, otherwise Bartolomo Bergami, was in her said service, further unmindful of her exalted rank and station, and of her duty to your Majesty, and wholly regardless of her own honour and character, conducted herself towards the said Bartolomo Pergami, otherwise Bartolomo Bergami, and in other respects, both in public and private, in the various places and countries which her Royal Highness visited, with indecent and offensive familiarity and freedom, and carried on a licentious, disgraceful, and adulterous intercourse with the said Bartolomo Pergami, otherwise Bartolomo Bergami, which continued for a long period of time during her Royal Highness's residence abroad; by which conduct of her said Royal Highness, great scandal and dishonour have been brought upon your Majesty's family and this kingdom. There fore, to manifest our deep sense of such

scandalous, disgraceful, and vicious conduct, on the part of her said Majesty, by which she has violated the duty which she owed to your Majesty, and has rendered herself unworthy of the exalted rank and station of Queen Consort of this realm; and to evince our just regard for the dignity of the Crown, and the honour of this nation, we, your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Lords spiritual and temporal, and Commons, in Parliament assembled, do humbly entreat your Majesty, that it may be enacted, and be it enacted by the King's most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords spiritual and temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, that her said Majesty, Caroline Amelia Elizabeth, from and after the passing of this Act, shall be, and is hereby de prived of the title of Queen, and of all the prerogatives, rights, privileges, and exemptions appertaining to her as Queen Consort of this realm; and that her said Majesty shall, from and after the passing of this act, for ever be disabled and rendered incapable of using, exercising, and enjoying the same, or any of them; and moreover, that the marriage between his Majesty and the said Caroline Amelia Elizabeth, be, and the same is, hereby from henceforth for ever wholly dissolved, annulled, and made void, to all intents, constructions, and purposes whatsoever."

Earl Grey immediately rose and objected, that, though it was generally stated that her Majesty indulged in vices of a low description, yet no particular act was set forth, nor any precise period of time specified, so as to enable her to repel the general charge. He hoped the noble Earl would answer these two questions:first, whether any more particular spe

cification of the offences stated by the committee would be laid before House? and, next, whether it was intended to give to her Majesty a list of the witnesses by whom she was accused?

The Earl of Liverpool said, that these points would more properly come under discussion at a future period; but he must observe, in the first place, that the communication in the preamble of the bill was as particular as could be found in any bill of the same nature, and was, he thought, quite sufficient for the purpose. With regard to the question respecting the delivery of the names of witnesses, he believed such a course to be wholly unprecedented in parliamentary proceeding, whether it were connected with bills of pains and penalties, or with any other legislative measure; and, as their Lordships must know, it was a course not at all pursued in judicial proceedings, except in cases of high treason. He would, however, state, that there was a claim to which her Majesty was entitled in this instance; not that a list of witnesses should be made out for her, but that, when the case for the prosecution had closed, and the allegations were to be disproved at the bar of that House, then any time which her Majesty might think proper should be afforded to enable her to rebut the evidence adduced against her.

Earl Grey, however, insisted, that the Queen would still suffer great disadvantage from not knowing the charges advanced against her, and the evidence in support of them. He also inquired if any counsel was to appear for the prosecution; to which Lord Liverpool replied, that the Attorney-General would receive instructions from the House to that effect.

Earl Grey demanded, if any instance was ever known in which the House

had directed counsel to support a measure devised by itself. Lord Liverpool replied, that it was common, where parties were not in a situation to institute proceedings themselves, for the House to appoint counsel to assist them; and instanced the Berkeley Peerage. Lord Grey, however, insisted, that this was very different from the House appointing counsel to support a measure originated by itself. The Chancellor observed, that the House had a right, when they chose, to order the Attorney-General to attend to give his assistance. Still Lord Holland thought the present was a strange measure.

The Queen, on learning the formi dable proceeding thus opened against her, was not likely to remain long inactive. On the following day, Lord Dacre presented a petition in these terms:

"CAROLINE REGINA.

"The Queen has heard, with inex pressible astonishment, that a bill, conveying charges, and intended to degrade her, and to dissolve her mar riage with the King, has been brought by the first minister of the King into the House of Lords, where her Majesty has no counsel or other officer to assert her rights. The only alleged foundation for the bill is the report of a secret committee, proceeding solely on papers submitted to them, and before whom no single witness was examined. The Queen has been further informed, that her counsel last night were refused a hearing at the bar of the House of Lords, at that stage of the proceeding when it was most material that they should be heard, and that a list of the witnesses, whose names are known to her accusers, is to be refused to her. Under such circumstances, the Queen doubts whether any other course is left to her, but to protest in the most