Lords Sitting of 25 January 1819

BANK RESTRICTION.
The Earl of Liverpooladverted to what he had said on a former evening, relative to its being the intention of his majesty's government to propose a bill for continuing the restriction upon cash payments at the Bank of England, and observed, that at the time he made that statement, it was not in his contemplation to propose any inquiry with regard to the subject. Since then, however, a communication had been received from the committee of gentlemen with whom his majesty's government were in the habit of officially communicating, he meant the committee of Bank Directors, which had induced him to bring forward a motion for a committee of inquiry. He therefore gave notice of his intention to move to-morrow se'nnight for the appointment of a committee to inquire into the state of the Bank of England, with reference to the question of the restriction of cash payments.
The Earl of Lauderdaleexpressed his satisfaction at the intended motion of the noble earl, but trusted it would not interfere with the motions for information which he intended to make for the purpose, and which information he considered essential to the proper consideration of the question.
The Earl of Liverpoolsaid, he by no means intended his motion to interfere with the motions of the noble earl, but on the contrary, thought that the greater part of, if not all the information for which the noble earl intended to move, would be useful to the consideration of the subject in the committee.

STATE OF PRISONS.
The Marquis of Lansdownesaid, he had, towards the end of the last session, moved for certain papers relative to the state of the prisons of the country. Those papers had not yet been presented; but every thing, that had fallen under his own observation since the dissolution of the last parliament, relative to the subject of prisons, was of a nature to shew, that a farther inquiry into the subject was highly expedient, and all that he had heard from others had served to confirm him in this opinion. As soon, therefore, as the papers to which he had alluded should be laid on the table, he would move the appointment of a committee to take them into consideration; and he would also move, that all the acts relative to the management of prisons be referred to the same committee. He was happy to find that this subject was to be taken up in another place; but when he considered the advantages their lordships House possessed for the successful prosecution of an investigation of the kind he had in view, he should not be induced, by any thing which might happen elsewhere, to abandon his intention.
Lord Sidmouthwished to remind the noble marquis, that the information he had moved for at the close of the last session comprehended the state of the prisons for the year 1818. The accounts of course could not be made up before the end of the year. Every effort had, however, been made to complete them, and the greater part were already prepared, but the whole could not be finished before the end of the ensuing month. When the motion for these accounts was before their lordships at the end of the last session, he had intimated his intention to submit to the House a proposition relative to the state of the prisons soon after the meeting of parliament, and he hoped to have had an opportunity of doing so before any other public notice should be taken of the subject. It had long been his most anxious wish to see the state of the prisons fully investigated; and under that impression, it was his intention, had he not been anti-
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cipated, to move that the documents which were in the course of preparation should, when on the table, be referred to a committee.
The Marquis of Lansdownesaid, he was far from wishing to anticipate the noble secretary of state. If his majesty's ministers were desirous of taking up the subject, he should not stand in their way, but would, on the contrary, always be ready to concur with them in the course which might appear most effectual for the attainment of the important object he had in view.

CARE OF HIS MAJESTY'S PERSON BILL.
The Earl of Liverpoolhaving moved the order of the day, and the reading of that part of the Speech of the Lords Commissioners which related to the death of the queen, and the care of his majesty's person, proceeded to address the House on the subject of which he had given notice. The death of the queen—that calamitous event, which their lordships and the nation had deplored, and for which he had recently called upon their lordships to offer their condolence to the Prince Regent—now imposed upon him the duty of proposing a measure relative to the trust of the king's sacred person. When, about eight years ago, their lordships were called upon to consider this important question, they had judged it right that the custody of his majesty's person should be vested in the hands of one individual, and that that individual should not be the person who was placed at the head of the government. He thought then, and remained still of the same opinion, that their lordships had come to a judicious decision. It was not a decision adopted on any principal of jealousy of the head of the government, but was one which could not fail to be most agreeable to that illustrious person himself. Their lordships then resolved to commit the custody of the king's person to that individual to whom, from connexion, character, and rank, it was most proper the sacred trust should be consigned. In consequence of the lamented decease of her majesty, their lordships had now to consider of the best means of supplying her place with respect to this important trust. He believed he should anticipate their lordships wishes by proposing his royal highness the duke of York. Whether their lordships considered the relation in which that illustrious person

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stood, his character, or his previous conduct, it appeared that the office which it was necessary to supply could not be intrusted to one better calculated to fill it. It was, therefore, his intention to introduce a bill for placing the custody of the King's person in the hands of the duke of York. The trust he should propose would, as it had hitherto been, be undivided; but undoubtedly, as in the case of the queen, subject to the assistance of a council. He was persuaded that this arrangement would fully meet their lordships approbation. If, on a question of this kind, personal feelings were to have any weight, and he knew no reason why they should not, some additional motive might be assigned for the mode of conferring this important office, and a motive which would have due consideration with their lordships: that was, that if his majesty could himself declare in whose hands he would desire this trust to be placed, it was certain that he would assign it to the illustrious individual named in this bill. With these observations he should offer the bill to their lordships for a first reading. It was confined to the object he had stated, and the re-appointment of the council which acted under the former bill. Blanks would be left for this purpose, which he would propose to fill up with the same names; but it would be necessary to supply the place of one member of the council by a new appointment, in consequence of the death of the lord chief-justice of the court of King's-bench.
The bill was then read a first time, and ordered to be printed.