On the Rejection of the Amendment to the third Resolution.

1. Because no objection has been urged to the amendment, which does not in greater force apply to the original resolution, and to every method that can be devised for supplying the defect of the personal exercise of the royal authority in the present emergency.

2. Because an address, such as is proposed in the amendment, is conformable to the practice of our ancestors at the glorious æra of the revolution, who, before they declared the throne to be vacant, requested the prince of Orange, by address, to continue to administer the government of the country; and after declaring the vacancy of the throne, did, by declaration, proceed to an immediate revival of the royal authority.

3. Because an address to his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales is the most plain, direct, and, above all, expeditious method of supplying the defect in the exercise of the royal authority; and is free from all appearance

of fraud, as well as the assumption of powers not vested by the law and con stitution of our country in the two houses of parliament.

4. Because, though we have heard it argued in debate, that the mode as proposed, of proceeding by bill, afford. ed stronger security for the concurrence of his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales in such measures as the wisdom of the two houses may recommend for the care of his majesty's person, and for the reputation of the regent's authority, we have hitherto learned from no one, that there existed any circumstance in the station or charac ter of his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, which could suggest the propriety of desiring stronger security than our ancestors exacted from the Prince of Orange, for his concurrence in such laws as they deemed necessary for the maintenance and safety of the liberties of the people.

5. Because, if we were capable of entertaining the unfounded suspicion, that his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales had an inclination to withhold his assent to such measures as the two houses of parliament were disposed to suggest, for the security of his majesty's person, or for the regulation of the regent's authority, we should be of opinion, that his royal highness's accepting the power of conducting the government in consequence of an address, in which such regulations are stated, would afford better security than an act of parliament, which, if passed in the manner proposed, must at least appear to us of doubtful effect, after the legislature has declared the act enacting the attainder of the duke of Norfolk to be void and null-the commission under which it was passed not having been signed by his majesty's hand, or having the usual words indicating the royal assent. Clarence Kent

Norfolk, E. M. Thanet

Against the third Resolution. 1. Because the proposal contained in the resolution, as explained in debate that the two houses should direct the royal assent to be given by a bill or bills under a commission, to which the great seal, by their direction and authority, is to be affixed-seems to us a solecism in language, and a violation of the common and statute law of this kingdom.

If the assent is given by the direction of the two houses of parliament, without any person being empowered to give or withhold, at his discretion, that assent, it is in substance the assent of the two branches of the legislature to their own act; and it can neither deserve the name, nor obtain the authority of the assent of the king, or of any person representing on his behalf the third branch of the legislature.

By the statute of the 33d of Henry VIII. and more expressly by the 1st of Queen Mary, session the 2d, it is provided, declared, and enacted, That the royal assent or consent of the king or kings of this realm to any act of parliament ought to be given in his own

royal presence, being personally present in the higher house of parliament, or by his letters patent under a great seal, as signed with his hand, and declared and notified in his absence to the lords spiritual and temporal, and the commons assembled together;"-and the omis sion of the usual words in the commission, and the substitution of the king's stamp for his royal signature are by the statute of Queen Mary, declaring the attainder of the Duke of Norfolk of none effect, deemed sufficient to render void and null the assent given under that commission, although the great seal was annexed thereunto.

By the 13th of Charles II. it is further declared, that no act or ordinance with the force or virtue of a law can be made by either or both houses of parliament.

We conceive, therefore, on the one hand, that a commission so created, and so limited, can never by any fiction of law, or annexation of seal, convey the royal assent in defiance of the obvious meaning of language, and the strict and legal definition of the term; and on the other hand, till the royal assent be obtained, we cannot, in violation of the fundamental principles of the constitution, and in the face of a declaratory statute, give to the act or ordinance of the two branches of the legislature only, the force and virtue of a law.

2. Because in no instance while the government of this country has been acknowledged to be in king, lords, and commons, has any statute or law been enacted without the concurrent assent of the three branches of the legislature.

3. Because the proceedings of the two houses in 1788 are incomplete, and cannot therefore be entitled to the weight and authority of a constitu tional precedent.

The adherence to precedent, so wisely enforced by the theory and practice

of our constitution, is justified by considerations which cannot attach to incomplete transactions, viz. the union of authority and experience, and a confidence in the wisdom of a design founded on a view of the benefits resulting from the execution of it.

The opinions therefore of the majorities and minorities of 1788-9 deserve such attention as the respective

number and characters of those who composed them are calculated to command; but they cannot obtain the force and value of a constitutional cedent, which can only be conferred on a measure by the practical knowledge and experience of its effects.

pre

4. Because the conduct of the Irish parliament in 1789 forms as binding a precedent, and affords as salutary an example to the two houses of the imperial parliament, as the proceedings of the estates of Great Britain on the same occasion and the two houses of parliament in Ireland concurred in a joint address, requesting his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales " to take upon him the government of the realm of Ireland during his majesty's indisposition" and "to exercise and administer, according to the laws and constitution of that kingdom, all regal powers, jurisdictions, and prerogatives, to the crown and government thereof belonging." Clarence Sussex

Dundas Ailsa

Correspondence between the Regent

and Mr Perceval on the annunciation of his Royal Highness's Determination to retain the present Ministers in his Service.

Carlton-House, Feb. 4, 1811. The Prince of Wales considers the moment to be arrived, which calls for his decision with respect to the persons to be employed by him, in the administration of the executive government of the country, according to the powers vested in him by the bill passed by the two houses of parliament, and now on the point of receiving the sanction of the great seal.

The prince feels it incumbent upon him, at this precise juncture, to communicate to Mr Perceval his intention not to remove from their stations those whom he finds there, as his Majesty's official servants. At the same time the prince owes it to the truth and sincerity of character, which, he trusts, will appear in every action of his life, in whatever situation placed, explicitly to declare, that the irresistible impulse of filial duty and affection to his beloved and afflicted father leads him to dread that any act of the regent might, in the smallest degree, have the effect of interfering with the progress of his sovereign's recovery.

This consideration alone dictates the decision now communicated to Mr Perceval.

Having thus performed an act of indispensable duty, from a just sense of what is due to his own consistency and honour, the prince has only to add, that among the many blessings to be

derived from his majesty's restoration to health, and to the personal exercise of his royal functions, it will not, in the prince's estimation, be the least, that that most fortunate event will at once rescue him from a situation of un. exampled embarrassment, and put an end to a state of affairs, ill calculated, he fears, to sustain the interests of the united kingdom in this awful and perilous crisis, and most difficult to be reconciled to the genuine principles of the British constitution.

Mr Perceval's Reply.

Downing-street, Feb. 11, 1811. Mr Perceval presents his humble duty to your Royal Highness, and has the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Royal Highness's letter of last night, which reached him this morning.

Mr Perceval feels it his duty to express his humble thanks to your Royal Highness, for the frankness with which your Royal Highness has condescended explicitly to communicate the motives which have induced your Royal Highness to honour his colleagues and him with your commands for the continuance of their services in the stations intrusted to them by the king. And Mr Perceval begs leave to assure your Royal Highness that in the expression of your Royal Highness's sentiments of filial and loyal attachment to the King, and of anxiety for the restoration of his Majesty's health, Mr Perceval can see nothing but additional motives for their most anxious exertions

to give satisfaction to your Royal Highness, in the only manner in which it can be given, by endeavouring to promote your Royal Highness's views for the security and happiness of the

country.

Mr Perceval has never failed to regret the impression of your Royal Highness, with regard to the provisions

of the regency bill, which his Majesty's servants felt it to be their duty to recommend to parliament. But he ventures to submit to your Royal Highness, that, whatever difficulties the present awful crisis of the country and the world may create in the administration of the executive government, your Royal Highness will not find them in any degree increased by the temporary suspension of the exercise of those branches of the royal prerogatives, which has been introduced by parlia ment, in conformity to what was intended on a former similar occasion; and that whatever ministers your Royal Highness might think proper to employ, would find in that full support and countenance which, as long as they were honoured with your Royal Highness's commands, they would feel confident they would continue to enjoy ample and sufficient means to enable your Royal Highness effectually to maintain the great and important inte rest of the united kingdom.

And Mr Perceval humbly trusts, that whatever doubts your Royal Highness may entertain with respect to the constitutional propriety of the measures which have been adopted, your royal highness will feel assured, that they could not have been recommended by his majesty's servants, nor sanctioned by parliament, but upon the sincere, though possibly erroneous conviction, that they in no degree trenched upon the true principles and spirit of the constitution.

Mr Perceval feels it his duty to add, that he holds himself in readiness, at any moment, to wait upon your Royal Highness, and to receive commands with which your Royal Highness may be graciously pleased to honour him.

any

Speech of the Prince Regent, Feb. 12.

The Lords Commissioners (the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lord Chancellor, the Duke of Montrose, Earl Camden, and the Earl Westmoreland) being seated on the woolsack, the lord chancellor read the following most gracious speech:

My Lords and Gentlemen,-In execution of the commission which has now been read to you, we are commanded by his Royal Highness the Prince Regent to express, in the strongest manner, how deeply he laments, not only in common with all his Majesty's loyal subjects, but with a personal and filial affliction, the great national calamity which has been the occasion of imposing upon his Royal Highness the duty of exercising in his Majesty's name the royal authority of this kingdom.

In conveying to you the sense which his Royal Highness entertains of the great difficulties attending the important trust which is reposed in him, his Royal Highness commands us to assure you, that he looks with the most perfect confidence to the wisdom and zeal of parliament, and to the attachment of a loyal and affectionate people, for the most effectual assistance and support; and his Royal Highness will, on his part, exert his utmost endeavours to direct the powers with which he is invested, to the advancement of the prosperity, welfare, and security of his Majesty's dominions.

We are directed to inform you, that his Royal Highness has great satisfaction in being enabled to state, that fresh opportunities have been afforded during the late campaign for distinguishing the valour and skill of his Majesty's forces both by sea and land. The capture of the islands of Bourbon and of Amboyna has still further reduced the colonial dependencies of

the enemy.

The attack upon the island of Sicily, which was announced to the world with a presumptuous anticipation of success, has been repulsed by the persevering exertions and valour of his Majesty's land and sea forces.

The judicious arrangement adopted by the officers commanding on that station, derived material support from the zeal and ardour which were manifested during this contest by the inhabitants of Sicily, and from the cooperation of the naval means which were directed by his Sicilian Majesty to this object.

In Portugal, and at Cadiz, the de. fence of which constituted the prin cipal object of his Majesty's exertions in the last campaign, the designs of the enemy have been hitherto frustrated. The consummate skill, prudence, and perseverance of Lieutenant-General Lord Viscount Wellington, and the discipline and determined bravery of the officers and men under his com mand, have been conspicuously display. ed throughout the whole of the campaign. The effect of those distinguished qualities, in inspiring confidence and energy into the troops of his Majesty's allies, has been happily evinced by their general good conduct, and particularly by the brilliant part which they bore in the repulse of the enemy at Buzaco. And his Royal Highness commands us further to state, that he trusts you will enable him to continue the most effectual assistance to the brave nations of the peninsula, in the support of a contest which they mani fest a determination to maintain with unabated perseverance; and his Royal Highness is persuaded that you will feel, that the best interests of the British empire must be deeply affected in the issue of this contest, on which the liberties and independence of the Spanish and Portuguese nations entirely depend.

We have it likewise in command to