object was to put the country in possession of the cause, as far as I was able to ascertain it, that the negociation set on foot, under the auspices of Marquis Wellesley and Lord Moira, had failed. Finding that it is not the sense of the House that I should proceed, I shall acquiesce. In consequence also of what has fallen from the right honourable gentleman on the floor (Mr. Canning), recommending that the subject should not now be agitated, I shall abandon the notice I have given (hear, hear!)

The other orders of the day were postponed until Monday next.-Adjourned till Friday.

HOUSE OF LORDS.

FRIDAY, JUNE 5.

Mr. Perceval's Family Provision Bill, the Sugar Brewing Bill, and the Grand Juries Bill, passed through Committees, and were reported.

REGENT'S CANAL BILL.

On the second reading of the Regent's Canal Bill, moved by Lord Kenyon, counsel were called in; but on the Earl of Suffolk suggesting the expediency of postponing the second reading, counsel were ordered to withdraw. After some conversation, however, it was determined_to_proceed now, and counsel were again called in. Mr. Warren, Mr. Harrison, and another gentleman, attended, but a general laugh was excited when it was discovered on inquiry that they were all for the Bill, and that no counsel attended against it. They were in consequence ordered to withdraw, it not being thought necessary to hear them, and the Bill was read a second time and committed for Monday. The Marquis of Lansdowne suggested the importance, with reference to the petition of the Commissioners of Sewers, of taking care, in the progress of the Bill, that sufficient provisions were made for the preservation of the health of the metropolis, by taking care that the sewers were not interfered with. Lord Kenyon moved, that all the lords who have been present this session have voices in the Committee.The Earl of Radnor moved as an Amendment, except those who are subscribers to the canal.-Some conversation took place upon this Amendment, in the course of which the Lord Chancellor stated his intention to vote against the

Amendment, under the full conviction that no noble lord who was interested in the canal would vote upon the Bill. The ·Amendment was at length negatived, and the original motion agreed to; the Committee to have the power to choose their own Chairman.

ADMINISTRATION.

Earl Moira said-" My Lords, I rise to discharge a duty which a noble marquis, whom I regret I do not see in his place, had he been present, I am convinced, would have been anxious to perform; but it concerns a subject of such unprecedented importance, that I could not persuade myself to defer it beyond the present moment. The House will perfectly recollect an expression employed by a noble marquis (Wellesley) on a former night, in which he alluded to dreadful personal animosities, which he complained had existed I am convinced that the phrase he employed escaped his lips without having particular relation to any individual, but it went forth to the public, and an application has been made of it of a most mischievous nature. From what passed here on the same evening it was found difficult, if not impossible, to apply to any noble lord present, and it has been construed as pointing to the highest quarter, and of course it is calculated to produce the most baneful effect on the public mind. It is to rebut most directly any such insinuation that I now obtrude myself upon your lordships' notice. Could it for a moment be intended, that dreadful personal animosities were felt by the exalted personage who now fills the station of a father to his people! My Lords, from my long experience of that most distinguished personage, and from what I have recently witnessed of his disposition towards all classes of his countrymen, I venture to state, that nothing could be more unfounded, nothing could be more unjust than such an assertion. I am certain, that if the noble marquis could have imagined that the expression he used would have been thus perverted, he would, without hesitation, have recalled it before he quitted the House. In the transactions to which these words had reference, I have to state most distinctly that nothing of that quality existed; and that in the projected formation of the Cabinet, as on the one hand the illustrious personage to whom I have alluded, never (did suggest one individual as a fit Member, never did shackle or confine the authority given by him to the marquis, and never did make the reservation of a single seat to be filled upon subsequent consideration; VOL. III.-1812.

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so on the other hand there never was a stipulation for the exclusion of any person of any description; but that the fullest powers were given to the noble lord commissioned to form the Cabinet, to lay before the Prince Regent the most beneficial plan that could be suggested for the establishment of a Government competent to discharge the public functions of the nation, in the present most awful crisis. Having stated thus much in explanation, I do not wish now to enter upon other topics, that may provoke discussion, but I beg it to be understood that I am perfectly ready, when called upon, to go more fully into the general subject, but from what occurred on a preceding evening, I imagine that I shall be allowed to act on my own discretion; I am, however, in the command of the House, and I shall, if it be required, give any information that I have it in my power to communicate. At present I apprehend that I have discharged my duty to the country, in explaining an expression which, from misconstruction, had been applied to the most injurious purposes."

· Lord Grenville" It would, my Lords, have been far more satisfactory to me, if my noble friend, who has just resumed his seat, had confined his statement to the single point of assuring you of a fact which I trust none doubt; that whatever discussions may have taken place, and whatever conduct may have been pursued, with regard to recent transactions, nothing is to be ascribed to motives of personal animosity. I agree with my noble friend, that the phrase employed by the noble marquis on a former night, is to be considered as an expression incidently dropping from him, and to which so much importance is not to be attached as it seemed to claim, and as it naturally received. This statement I give as my belief, and I should have contented myself with re-asserting what I told the House on Wednesday, and what I am sure every man who has witnessed any part of my conduct, or that of my noble friend behind me (Earl Grey), would give us credit for; that in the course of these transactions, whether our decision were or were not dictated by a true sense of constitutional principles; whether it were or were not dictated by a just view, as I continue to think, of the nature of the proposition made to us, throughout the whole of our conduct the faintest appearance of personal animosity is not to be traced, nor indeed did it exist in our be concerned in the arrangements in agitation. I have bebosoms towards any individuals, who could by possibility

fore disclaimed, and I do now again solemnly disclaim so unworthy, so dishonourable a feeling, unfit to have place in the minds of public men, at any period, but above all most unfit to have place in the mind of any man who entertains the design of partaking in the Administration of the affairs of the country, at this awful and momentous crisis(Hear, hear!) Had my noble friend confined himself to an explanation merely upon this subject, I should not have felt the smallest disposition to trouble the House on the present occasion with a single word, for I concur with him that at this moment it is desirable that all discussion upon the general question should as much as possible be avoided; but I cannot help remarking, that although I doubt not my noble friend's understanding, I think he has asserted what is by no means correct. I must take leave to state, that the impression made upon mind by an official and authorised paper, which I was called upon to consider, is completely at variance with that which he has expressed. It was distinctly notified to me in that document, that the Prince Regent had signified his Royal pleasure as to the persons who should fill particular offices. Four individuals were expressly named, and the places they should occupy as Members of the Cabinet, pointed out in the written proposal that was submitted to my inspection. It is necessary for me to give this explanation, because upon that understanding of the words, to my mind obvious and unequivocal, rested the decision which I felt myself compelled to form. I sincerely regret that the noble marquis, principally instrumental in these transactions, is not now present to state to the House his construction of the terms employed, thus affording an explanation equally important to himself and to the country.

Earl Moira-" You must, my Lords, be sensible, that were I to discuss the subject alluded to by my noble friend, who last addressed you, I should enter upon an investigation as impolitic, as laborious and irregular, because it is impossible that the House should be able to exercise a mature judgment, or to form a deliberate opinion, when there are no facts before it to afford the requisite information-(Hear, hear!) It would be the more improper, in the absence of the individual who is most materially and immediately concerned. With respect, however, to the conduct of the noble marquis, I would observe, that in my humble judgment it is impossible that any man placed in a situation of such dif

ficulty, could have conducted himself with more high honour or more delicate uprightness-(Hear, hear!)— Whenever this important subject shall be discussed, in which the noble lord must necessarily take a prominent part, and the House is called upon to declare its decision, all persons, I am well assured, will be convinced, that what I have stated is strictly true. As to the particular point to which my noble friend has alluded, I believe that its obscurity is owing to a deficiency of information. I imagined that some misapprehension must have existed, and if any delay has been experienced in the establishment of an Administration, I am persuaded that it has been in a great degree, if not solely, attributable to an unfortunate misconception. When it shall have been removed, negociations, I trust, may be renewed in those quarters where talents reside, most essential to the due discharge of the arduous functions of the state. If delay has occurred, I am convinced that it has arisen from an earnest desire to obtain assistance from a source most adequate, and not unwilling to afford it."

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Earl Grey- It is far from my wish to prolong any discussion on this subject, in the state in which at present it stands, and I should certainly have done what my noble friend (Lord Grenville) stated to be his intention, namely, abstained from troubling the House with a single word, if the statement made by the noble earl who spoke last had not placed me in a situation where it was necessary to clear myself at least from misapprehension. It is unquestionably my wish that no ex parte statements should go forth to the world before the whole of this important question shall be thoroughly and completely examined; but it is above all things necessary that I should stand clear in the opinion of your lordships, and in the estimation of the public; and if an erroneous assertion has been hazarded by my noble friend (Lord Moira), however pure may have been his intention, I must beg leave to correct it: if it be directly adverse to the judgment I have formed after due deliberation, it is necessary that I should state to this House and to the country, that in the decision I adopted, I was guided, as I think correctly, by a diametrically opposite interpretation. I understand the noble earl (Moira) to maintain, in the first place, that the Prince Regent, in the communication his Royal Highness thought fit to make to my noble friend below me, had named no particular person to fill any particular situation; and in the second place, that the proposal