§ Mr. Brougham, her Majesty's attorney-general, acquainted the House that he was commanded by her Majesty to lay before the House the following communication from her Majesty:
§ "The Queen thinks it necessary to inform the House of Commons, that she has been induced to return to England in consequence of the measures pursued against her honour and her peace for some time past by secret agents abroad, and lately sanctioned by the conduct of the government at home. That in adopting this course, her majesty has had no other purpose whatsoever, but the defence of her character, and the maintenance of those just rights, which have devolved upon her by the death of that revered monarch, in whose high honour and unshaken affection she had always found her surest support.
§ "Upon her arrival, the queen is surprised to find that a message has been sent down to parliament, requiring its attention to written documents; and she learns with still greater astonishment that there is an intention of proposing that these should be referred to a secret committee. It is this day fourteen years since 906 the first charges were brought forward, against her majesty. Then, and upon every occasion during that long period, she has shown the utmost readiness to meet her accusers, and to court the fullest inquiry into her conduct. She now also desires an open investigation, in which she may see both the charges and the witnesses against her, a privilege not denied to the meanest subject of the realm.
§ "In the face of the sovereign, the parliament, and the country, she solemnly protests against the formation of a secret tribunal to examine documents privately prepared by her adversaries, as a proceeding unknown to the law of the land, and a flagrant violation of all the principles of justice: she relies with full confidence upon the integrity of the House of Commons for defeating the only attempt she has any reason to fear.
§ "The queen cannot forbear to add, that, even before any proceedings were resolved upon, she has been treated in a manner too well calculated to prejudge her cause. The omission of her name in the liturgy, the withholding the means of conveyance usually afforded to all the branches of the royal family, the refusal even of an answer to her application for a place of residence in the royal mansions, and the studied slights, both of English ministers abroad, and of the agents of all foreign powers over whom the English government has any influence, must be viewed as measures designed to prejudice the world against her, and could only have been justified by trial and conviction."