HC Deb 26 February 1810 vol 15 cc602-3
The Chancellor of the Exchequer

reported to the House, That his Majesty had been waited upon with their Address of Friday last, to which he had been graciously pleased to direct the following answer to be given:—

"The earl of Chatham having requested his Majesty to permit him to present his report to his Majesty, and having also requested that his Majesty would not communicate it for the present, his Majesty received it on the 15th of January last, and kept it till the 10th of this month, when, in consequence of a wish having been expressed by the earl of Chatham, on the 7th of this month, to make some alterations in it, his Majesty returned it to the earl of Chatham. The report, as altered, was again tendered to his Majesty by the earl of Chatham on the 14th of this month, when his Majesty directed it to be delivered to his secretary of state, and his Majesty has not kept any copy or minute of this re-port, as delivered, at either of these times, nor has he had, at any time, any other report, memorandum, narrative, or paper, submitted to him by the earl of Chatham, relating to the late expedition to the Scheldt."

Mr. Whitbread

observed, that in the question he was about to put to the right hon. gent., he wished to be understood as being animated with the most sincere veneration for the crown, and not less so for the wearer of it. His question was this, Who was the privy counsellor, a member of this House, who took his Majesty's pleasure upon the Address?—No answer being immediately returned, Mr. Whitbread continued—"Am I to understand that the right hon. gent. will not, as a member of this House, give an answer to the question I have put?"

The Chancellor of the Exchequer

replied, that although it was the ordinary courtesy in that House to answer questions put from one side to the other, yet, from the menacing manner in which the hon. gent. put the question, he felt it his duty to decline answering it, until called upon by the vote of that House.

Mr. Whitbread.

—Really if there has been in the manner in which I addressed the right hon. gent. any thing as he has conceived menacing, it was, I assure him, far from my intention, and I sincerely beg his pardon. If, however, the right hon. gent. is determined to persevere in his silence to my question, it will be most certainly my duty to bring it forward in a more formal manner. But wishing, as I do, to divest him of the idea, that I intended to convey my question in an uncourteous manner to him, I take leave to put it again.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer.

—I was the privy-counsellor that took his Majesty's pleasure upon the Address.

Mr. Ponsonby,

without wishing to give any opinion at present upon the answer now given, trusted, that it would be inserted upon the Journals, in order that, if necessary, application might be made to it on a future occasion.

The Speaker

stated, that it was the uniform rule to have the answer inserted on the Journals.