§ Immediately upon the meeting of the House,
§ The Speakerrose, and staled, that he felt it to be his duty to inform the House, that he had received yesterday, while seated in the chair of that House, a Letter, purporting to come from her royal highness the Princess of Wales, and which it was expressed to be her wish should be communicated to the House. The Letter, however, being without date, and having been delivered to one of the messengers at the door of the House, the Speaker did not think that it came to his hands in such an authenticated form as warranted him in laying it before the House. This day he had felt it incumbent on him to ascertain whether the Letter was authentic or not, and from those enquiries, and from a letter which he had this day received from her royal highness the Princess of Wales, acknowledging that the letter of yesterday came from her, and enclosing a duplicate of it, he had now no longer any reason to doubt the Letter's being authentic. With the permission of the House, therefore, he should now, if it was their pleasure, read the Letter he had received this day, with the duplicate of the Letter of yesterday inclosed in it.
§ The Letter of this day, and its inclosure, were then read, as follow:
§ "Montague House, Blackheath,
§ March 2d, 1813."
§ The Princess of Wales by her own desire, as well as by the advice of her counsel, 983 did yesterday transmit to Mr. Speaker a Letter which she was anxious should have been read without delay to the House of Commons, and the Princess requests that the said Letter may he read this very day to the House of Commons:—the Princess of Wales encloses Mr. Speaker a duplicate of the Letter alluded to.
§ "Montatgue House, Blackheath,
§ March 1st, 1818.
§ "The Princess of Wales informs Mr. Speaker, that she has received from the lord viscount Sid mouth a copy of a Report made to his royal highness the Prince Regent, by a certain number of the members of his Majesty's privy-council, to whom it appears that his Royal Highness had been advised to refer the consideration of documents and other evidence respecting her character and conduct.
§ "The Report is of such a nature that her Royal Highness feels persuaded no person can read it without considering it as conveying aspersions upon her; and although their vagueness renders it impossible to discover precisely what is meant, or even what she has been charged with, yet as the Princess feels conscious of no offence whatever, she thinks it due to herself, to the illustrious Houses with which she is connected by blood and by marriage, and to the people among whom she holds so distinguished a rank, not to acquiesce for a moment under any imputations affecting her honour.
§ "The Princess of Wales has not been permitted to know upon what evidence the members of the privy council proceeded, still less to be heard in her defence. She knew only by common rumour of the enquiries which they have been carrying on, until the result of those inquiries was communicated to her; and she has no means now of knowing whether the members acted as a body to whom she can appeal for redress, at least for a hearing, or only in their individual capacities, as persons selected to make a report upon her conduct: the Princess is therefore compelled to throw herself upon the wisdom and justice of parliament, and 984 to desire that the fullest investigation may be instituted of her whole conduct during the period of her residence in this country. The Princess fears no scrutiny, however strict, provided she may be tried by impartial judges known to the constitution, and in the fair and open manner which the law of the land prescribes.
§ "Her only desire is that she may either be treated as innocent, or proved to be guilty.
§ "The Princess of Wales desires Mr. Speaker to communicate this letter to the House of Commons."
§ After a short pause, without any inclination being evinced on the part of any other member to address the House,
§ Mr. Whitbreadobserved, that the letter which had been just read by the Speaker, could not fail, not only to interest every person who had heard it, but to appear to all to be of such importance as to require the immediate attention of the House. He apprehended it was impossible that such a communication could be made from so high a quarter, and suffered to pass with being simply read, in silence. He had waited until a noble lord opposite, a minister of state, one of the confidential servants of the crown, when her royal highness the Princess of Wales's conduct was formerly taken into consideration, by that part of his Majesty's most honourable privy council, particularly and popularly designated under the name of the Cabinet, and who must have been one of that body of privy counsellors, to whom the consideration of her Royal Highness's conduct had recently been submitted—he had waited until he saw that noble lord take his place (an intimation, as he presumed, that it was not that noble lord's intention to make any proposition on the subject), before he had risen to address the Chair. Not seeing any other hon. member disposed to proceed in the business, he wished to ask the noble lord, whether it was his intention to call the further attention of the House to her Royal Highness's Letter.
Lord Castlereaghreplied, that no person could feel more thoroughly than himself the importance and delicacy of the present subject. But, as a notice was entered in the order book, of a motion at no further distant period than the day after to-morrow, relative to her royal highness 985 the Princess of Wales, it did not appear to him to be necessary, at present, to enter on the transaction alluded to. Whatever delicacy he might entertain on the subject, when the proper day should arrive necessity might probably impose on him the obligation of folly explaining all the circumstances of the case. But he trusted that the House would; agree with him that he had fulfilled his public duty in not anticipating the expected discussion.
§ Mr. Whitbreadenquired if the hon. member who had given the notice (Mr. Cochrane Johnstone) was in the House. If so, he trusted that he would enter into some explanation on the subject. The Letter which had been read by the Speaker, avowedly originated with her royal highness the Princess of Wales. The hon. member who had given notice of a motion relative to her Royal Highness, could alone say whether he was authorised by, or whether he acted in concurrence with her Royal Highness. He (Mr. W.) apprehended not. As it appeared that the hon. member was not in the House, it might be expedient, that when he came, he should be requested to declare whether his motion was or was not founded on any understanding with her Royal Highness. If the hon. member should state that he had no authority from her Royal Highness, it would then be for the House to decide on the propriety of taking her Royal Highness's communication into their most serious and deliberate consideration (as he trusted they would), independently of a notice with which it would appear to be wholly unconnected. Here the conversation dropped.