Sitting of 3 June 1814

CORN LAWS.
Mr. Whitbreadrose, for the purpose of presenting a Petition from the town and county of Bedford against the proposed alteration in the Corn Laws. The hon. gentleman observed, he should not have said a word in presenting this Petition, had he given any opinion on the subject heretofore. He did consider now, however, from the inflamed state of the public mind, and from the alarm which had arisen, whether groundless or not, that the House ought to pause before they adopted the Bill under consideration. He had no doubt, that gentlemen, who had delivered their sentiments, either in favour or against this measure, were actuated by the same motive, namely, a desire to promote the public good. It was singular, however, to observe the feelings with which the conduct of the different members who had spoken on the subject were regarded. A right hon. gentleman not then in the House (Mr. G. Rose) was, for the first time in his life, placarded in various parts of the town, as the friend of the people; while others were assailed with anonymous letters, attributing to them the most dishonourable intentions; and he was himself told, he ought to be hanged for holding his tongue. For his own part he begged to state, that he was friendly to the measure, both as a grower and a consumer, from a conviction, that the interest of the one was inseparable from the interest of the other. From the expression of public opinion which had been witnessed within the last few days, however, he considered it highly expedient, that the measure should be deterred to another year, by which time the alarm that had been excited might be completely dissipated.
Mr. Stephencongratulated himself on the rare opportunity which was afforded him of agreeing in the observations delivered by the hon. gentleman. He did think, under existing circumstances, and from the great alarm which at present prevailed in the public mind, that it would be highly improper to precipitate the Bill before the House for prohibiting the importation of corn. The hon. gentleman had said, that some personal had told him he ought to be hanged for holding his tongue. He was satisfied that there was nothing in the hon. gentleman's conduct which called for such a punishment; but above all
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offences, that of holding his tongue was the last of which he could be accused.
The petition was then brought up, and ordered to lie on the table.

PRINCES OF WALES.
The Speakersaid, he had to acquaint the House, that since the House had met, he had received a letter from her royal highness the Princes of Wales, smith three in inclosures, which he was desired by her Royal Highness to communicate to the House. With the pleasure of the House, he would read the letter. (A cry of Read, read!)—He then read the letter, as follows:—
"Connaught House, June 3, 1814.
"The Princess of Wales desires Mr. Speaker will inform the House of Commons, that his royal highness the Prince Regent has been advised to take such steps as have prevented her form appearing at court, and to declare his Royal Highness's "fixed and unalterable determination never to meet the Princes of Wales upon any occasion, either in public or private."
"The proceedings of 1806 and 1807, and last year, are in the recollection of the House, as well as the ample and unqualified vindication of the Princess's conduct, to which those proceedings led.
"It is impossible for the Princess of Wales to conceal from herself the intention of the advice which has now been given to the Prince Regent, and the probability that there are ultimate objects in view, pregnant with danger to the security of the succession, and the domestic peace of the realm.
"Under these circumstances, even if the Princess's duty towards herself could suffer her to remain silent, her sense of what is due to her daughter, and to the highest interests of the country, compels her to make this communication to the House of Commons.
"The Princess of Wales incloses copies of the correspondence which has passed, and which she requests Mr. Speaker will communicate to the House."
"The right hon. the Speaker of the House of Commons, &c."
When Mr. Speaker had concluded the letter, he demanded of the House, whether he should hand the documents which were enclosed in it to the Clerk of the Papers?—This interrogatory was followed by loud cries of "Read! Read!"
The Clerk then read the inclosures deli-

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vered in by Mr. Speaker, and which are as follow:—
The Letter of the Princess of Wales to the Prince Regent.
"Sir;—I am once more reluctantly compelled to address your Royal Highness, and to inclose for your inspection, Copies of a Note which I have had the honour to receive from the Queen, and of the Answer which I have thought it my duty to return to her Majesty. It would be in vain for me to enquire into the reasons of the alarming declaration made by your Royal Highness, that you have taken the fixed and unalterable determination never to meet me, upon any occasion, either in public or private. Of these, your Royal Highness is pleased to state yourself to be the only judge. You will perceive by my answer to her Majesty, that I have only been restrained by motives of personal consideration towards her Majesty, from exercising my right of appearing before her Majesty, at the public drawing rooms, to be held in the ensuing month.
"But, Sir, lest it should be by possibility supposed, that, the words of your Royal Highness can convey any insinuation from which. I shrink, I am bound to demand of your Royal Highness — what circumstances can justify the proceeding you have thus thought fit to adopt?
"I owe it to myself, to my daughter, and to the nation, to which I am deeply indebted for the vindication of my honour, to remind your Royal Highness of what you know; that after open persecution and mysterious inquiries, upon undefined charges, the malice of my enemies fell entirely upon themselves; that I was restored by the King, with the advice of his ministers, to the full enjoyment of my rank in his court, upon my complete acquittal. Since his Majesty's lamented illness, I have demanded, in the face of parliament and the country, to be proved guilty, or to be treated as innocent. I have been declared what I am, innocent—I will not submit to be treated as guilty.
"Sir, your Royal Highness may possibly refuse to read this letter. But the world must know that I have written it; and they will see my read motives for foregoing, in this instance, the rights of my rank. Occasions, however, may arise (one, I trust, is far distant) when I must appear in public, and your Royal Highness must be present also. Can your Royal Highness have contemplated the
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full extent of your declaration? Has your Royal Highness forgotten the approaching marriage of our daughter, and the possibility of our coronation?
"I wave my rights in a case where I am not absolutely bound to assert them, in order to relieve the Queen, as far as I can, from the painful situation in which she is placed by your Royal Highness; not from any consciousness of blame, not from any doubt of the existence of those rights, or of my own worthiness of enjoy them.
"Sir, the time you have selected for this proceeding is calculated to make it peculiarly galling. Many illustrious strangers are already arrived in England; amongst others, as I am informed, the illustrious heir of the House of Orange, who has announced himself to me as my future son-in-law. From their society I am unjustly excluded. Others are expected, of rank equal to your own, to rejoice with your Royal Highness in the peace of Europe. My daughter will, for the first time, appear in the splendour and publicity becoming the approaching nuptials of the presumptive heiress of this empire. This season your Royal Highness has chosen for treating me with fresh and unprovoked indignity: and of all his Majesty's subjects, I alone am prevented by your Royal Highness from appearing in my place, to partake of the general joy, and am deprived of the indulgence in those feelings of pride and affection permitted to every mother but me. I am Sir, your Royal Highness's faithful wife, C. P."
"Connaught House, May 26, 1814."
The Letter of the Queen to the Princes of Wales.
"Windsor Castle, May 23rd, 1814.
"The Queen considers it to be her duty to lose no time in acquainting the Princess of Wales, that she has received a communication from her son the Prince Regent; in which he states, that, her Majesty's intention of holding two drawing-rooms in the ensuring mouth having been notified to the public, he must declare, that he considers that his own presence at her court cannot be dispensed with; and that he desires it may be distinctly understood, for reasons of which he alone can be the judge, to be his fixed and unalterable determination not to meet the Princess of Wales upon any occasion, either in public or private.
"The Queen is thus placed under the

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painful necessity of intimating to the Princess of Wales the impossibility of her Majesty's receiving her Royal Highness at her drawing-rooms. CHARLOTTE, R."
The Letter of the Princess of Wales to the Queen.
"Madam;—I have received the letter which your Majesty has done me the hanour to address to me, prohibiting my appearance at the public drawing-rooms which will be held by your Majesty in the ensuing month, with great surprise and regret.
"I will not presume to discuss with your Majesty topics which must be as painful to your Majesty as to myself.
"Your Majesty is well acquainted with the affectionate regard, with which the King was so kind as to honour me, up to the period of his Majesty's indisposition, which no one of his Majesty's subjects has so much cause to lament as myself: and that his Majesty was graciously pleased to bestow upon me the most unequivocal and gratifying proof of his attachment and approbation, by his public reception of me at his court, at a season of severe and unmerited affliction, when, his protection was most necessary to me. There I have since uninterruptedly paid my respects to your Majesty. I am now without appeal or protector. But I cannot so far forget my duty to the King and to myself, as to surrender my right to appear at any public drawing-room to be held by your Majesty.
"That I may not, however, add to the difficulty and uneasiness of your Majesty's situation, I yield in the present instance to the will of his royal highness the Prince Regent, announced to me by your Majesty, and shall not present myself at the drawing-rooms of the next months.
"It would be presumptuous in me to attempt to inquire of your Majesty the reasons of his royal highness the Prince Regent for this harsh proceeding, of which his Royal Highness can alone be the judge. I am unconscious of offence; and in that reflection, I must endeavour to find consolation for all the mortifications I experience; even for this, the last, the most unexpected, and the most severe; the prohibition given to me alone, to appear before your Majesty, to offer my congratulations upon the happy termination of those calamities with which Europe has been so long afflicted, in the presence of the illustrious personages who will in all proba-
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bility be assembled at your Majesty's court, with whom I am so closely connected by birth and marriage.
"I beseech your Majesty to do me an act of justice, to which, in the present circumstances, your Majesty is the only person competent, by acquainting those illustrious strangers with the motives of personal consideration towards your Majesty which alone induces me to abstain from the exercise of my right to appear before your Majesty: and that I do now, as I have done at all times, defy the malice of my enemies to fix upon me the shadow of any one imputation which could render me unworthy of their society or regard.
"Your Majesty will, I am sure, not be displeased that I should relieve myself from the suspicion or disrespect towards your Majesty, by making public the cause of my absence from court at a time when the duties of my station would otherwise peculiarly demand my attendance. I have the honour to be, your Majesty's most obedient daughter-in-law and servant,
"C. P."
"Connaught House, May 24, 1814."
The Queen to the Princess of Wales.
"Windsor Castle, May 25, 1814.
"The Queen has received, this afternoon, the Princess of Wales's letter of yesterday, in reply to the communication which she was desired by the Prince Regent to make to her; and she is sensible of the disposition expressed by her Royal Highness not to discuss with her, topics which must be painful to both. The Queen considers it incumbent upon her to send a copy of the Princess of Wales's letter to the Prince Regent; and her Majesty could have felt no hesitation in communicating to the illustrious strangers who may possibly be present at her court, the circumstances which will prevent the Princess of Wales from appearing there, if her Royal Highness had not rendered compliance with her wish to this effect unnecessary, by intimating her intention of making public the cause of her absence.
"CHARLOTTE, R."
The Princess of Wales to the Queen.
"The Princess of Wales has the honour to knowledge the receipt of a note from the Queen, dated yesterday; and begs permission to return her best thanks to her Majesty, for her Gracious condescension, in the willingness expressed by her Majesty, to have communicated to the illus-

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trios strangers, who will, in all probability, be present at her Majesty's court, the reasons which have induced her Royal Highness not to be present. Such communication, as it appears to her Royal Highness, cannot be the less necessary on account of any publicity which it may be in the power of her Royal Highness to give to her motives; and the Princess of Wales therefore entreats the active good offices of her Majesty, upon an occasion wherein the Princess of Wales feels it so essential to her that she should not be misunderstood.
"C. P."
"Connaught Place, May 26th, 1814.
The Queen to the Princess of Wales.
"Windsor Castle, May 27, 1814.
"This Queen cannot omit to acknowledge the receipt of the Princess of Wales's note of yesterday, although it does not appear to her Majesty to require any other reply than that already convened to her Royal Highness's preceding letter.
"CHARLOTTE, R."
The Correspondence having been thus gone through; Mr. Methuen and Mr. Bathurst rose at the same moment. The House was for a considerable time shaken by alternate shouts of "Bathurst," and "Methuen" interrupted with cries of "Chair! chair!"
Mr. Bathurstat length obtained a hearing. He stated, that he rose merely for the purpose of moving, pro forma, as a matter of convenience, certain orders of the day.
Mr. Whitbreadsaid, that an hon. gentleman having given notice of a motion, and that motion having been pointed to by the course of proceeding adopted by the Speaker, he was undoubtedly in possession of the chair; and, therefore, he (Mr. Whitbread) felt it his duty to call the right hon. gentleman to order when he rose to address the House.
The Speakersaid, that the hon. gentleman (Mr. Methuen) was certainty in possession of the House—but, when the right hon. gentleman (Mr. Bathurst) rose, he supposed it was his intention to speak to order, which had precedence of every other question. It had, however, turned out, that he was only going to arrange some matters of convenience. It rested entirely with the House, whether they would permit him to proceed.
Loud cries of "Methuen" followed this exposition.
Mr. Bathurst, across the table, said, he did not mean, as it appeared contrary to the sense of the House, to state the arrangement of business which he was about to propose.
Mr. Methuenthen proceeded to introduce his motion; but scarcely had he uttered the words—"I rise," when
The hon. Mr. Lygon moved the Standing Order that strangers should with draw.
This motion admits of no discussion. Strangers were of course obliged to withdraw; but the following is a pretty accurate sketch of what took place:
Mr. Methuen. I rise, in consequence of a notice given on a former night, to call the attention of the House to the letters we have just heard from the chair; a subject, the importance of which must be generally acknowledged, however liable I may be to the imputation of presumption in bringing it forward, unequal as I feel myself to so delicate and arduous a task. Without detaining the House by any unnecessary preamble, trusting to the case itself to make amends for the want of abilities under which I am conscious of labouring, and hoping that, without any long protestations of my motives, credit may be given me for the purity of them; desirous, and endeavouring not to say any thing offensive to any one person whatever; at the same time feeling it my undoubted, right as a member of this House, to state any fact, or give any opinion, necessary to do justice to my subject; I shall proceed to read in the first place, such parts of her Royal Highness's letter as are most important; and in the second, to make my own comments upon them. [Here the letter was read, and next an extract from the Minutes of Council.]
Upon this, Sir, the king declared his conviction of her Royal Highness's innocence; and to this point in particular I wish to call the attention of the Houses; for after such an opinion given from such a quarter, out of common respect for his Majesty, she had a right to expect a very different treatment, and indeed a cordial reception at court. Her royal father, the duke of Brunswick, falling, as it must be remembered and lamented that he did fall, at the battle of Jena, a short time before his death of glory wrote a letter to his daughter, assuring her of his through conviction of her innocence; and another to his Majesty, recommending her to his

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protection, and begging him to be the defender of her injured honour. And, Sir, if this illustrious hero has still in death the power to know the destinies of a child he so dearly loved in life, must his indignant spirit witness her the victim of sorrow, degraded, insulted, neglected, and deserted, without the splendour, without the respect, without even the degree of attention due to her rank and situation; without one tender solace of domestic happiness as a wife, or as a mother, to cheer the dull gloom of her retirement? without the possibility of vindicating her character, which has been so wantonly and mysteriously attacked?
What, Sir, shall the boasted liberty of this country be henceforth considered but as an empty name! Shall that soil, which has been hitherto said to confer, instantaneously, freedom on the most abject slave who had the good fortune to tread it—must this sacred soil lose its long-acknowledged charm, and sink to the lowest level in the scale of nations! Shall this House, distinguished as it has been in the cause of humanity, in the cause of the poor African, deny the smallest portion of the same Christianlike balm, to heal the wounds of a Princess! Or is it for the slave alone that the manly heart can feel, or the eloquent tongue can plead? I should like to ask the House, if the very circumstances of the Princess Charlotte being at all permitted to see her mother, is not a strong proof of her innocence; as her visits ought to be altogether prohibited, if her mother were an unfit person for her society? I should be glad to know if the Hereditary Prince of Orange does not consider her as innocent, when he writes to her, as a proper compliment to his future mother-in-law, to inform her of his approaching nuptials with her daughter. She has received also letters of congratulation from the Prince and Princess Dowager of Orange. I should not be at all astonished to hear the publication of these letters objected to. But, Sir, I cannot see any other course she had left to take. She had already written to you, Sir, who so ably and so honourably fill that chair which I am now addressing. She next wrote to the Chancellor, and afterwards to the Regent himself. I need not inform the House with what effect. She had therefore no resource, but an appeal to the hearts and understandings of her future subjects. But, Sir, if a precedent were wanting to vindicate her conduct on this
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occasion, it would be easy to find one, and that of the highest authority. It must be fresh in the memory of the House, that in the year 1804, his royal highness the Prince of Wales, with a spirit well-worthy the heir-apparent of the British throne, desirous of being foremost in command in case of invasion, then threatened by that restless and merciless scourge of mankind whose sun of glory is now set, and whose dreams of mad ambition are now happily at an end, applied to his Majesty for a command. His Majesty refused the request; the Prince felt his character concerned, and appealed to the tribunal of the public, publishing his letters to his Majesty and the duke of York. The Annual Register of that year will assist any gentleman's memory which may be defective on this subject. Among many strange and undefined charges, for want of proving criminality, I have heard the charge of bad taste most commonly urged against her. But, Sir, though I consider bad taste as by no means a desirable ingredient in the composition of a princess, yet when we reflect upon the various perils with which her paths through life have been beset, when we reflect upon her education abroad, and her situation at home, ought no allowances to be made for a princess who has not had the happiness to have the taste, or at once to understand the feelings or manners of this country? But, Sir, I agree with her Royal Highness, that the time chosen to proscribe her is peculiarly galling; and I feel the full force of that part of her letter which applies to the approach of her daughter's nuptials and the event of her own coronation. And I should like to ask the right hon. gentleman if she is to be excluded from either of these ceremonies? I hope when the necessary supplies for the marriage are granted by parliament, they will be granted conditionally, that the marriage shall be a public one, and that the Princess of Wales shall appear at it with the consequence and splendour due to her situation.
I could have wished, Sir, that at a time when the peace of Europe is settling, that of England might have been confirmed; and that no unhallowed difference might have intruded itself on the presence of imperial and royal visitors, to quench the flame of enthusiasm, and check the full tide of gratitude flowing towards those to whom, under Providence, we are so signally indebted. Under all circumstances,

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her Royal Highness, to use her own words, is entitled to be proved guilty, or treated as innocent. She has a right to claim this, which is the common birth-right of the English; she has a right to claim it as a subject, as a fellow creature, as the wife of the Price Regent, and as the mother of our future Queen.—I shall now beg leave to thank the House for its indulgence, hoping the right hon. gentleman, though he refused to answer my question on a former occasion, will make some attempt to justify the case of which I complain; and I call, upon him, or any other gentleman, in or out of this House, if they know any thing against her Royal Highness, to come forward and declare it. She is willing, if proved guilty, to be considered so; but if not, she has a right to be treated as innocent. I now beg leave to move.
"That an humble Address be presented to his royal highness the Prince Regent, to pray his Royal Highness that he will be graciously pleased to acquaint this House, by whose advice his Royal Highness was induced to form the "fixed and unalterable determination never to meet her royal highness the Princess of Wales upon any occasion, either in private or public," as communicated by his Royal Highness to her Majesty; together with the reasons submitted to his Royal Highness, upon which such advice was founded."
Mr. Martinseconded the motion.
Mr. Bathurstgave the hon. gentleman full credit for the purity of his motives; but denied that it was within the province of the House of Commons to interfere in this case. He observed, that the hon. gentleman had principally commented on the Letter of her royal highness the Princess of Wales, for which his Majesty's ministers were certainly not responsible. The notice, however, which he had originally given, was, that he would move an address "to know who had given the advice by which her Royal Highness had been excluded from the Queen's drawing-room." The hon. gentleman had, however, now moved for an address of a very different nature, and wanted to be informed "by whose advice his Royal Highness had been induced to form the unalterable determination of never meeting the Princess of Wales, either in public or private." This was, indeed, a question of a very different nature, and a proposition which he thought it was impossible for the House to entertain. He must observe,
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that there was no prohibition against the Princes of Wales attending her Majesty's drawing-room. The Prince had only signified his determination of not meeting her there; and if she had persisted in what she was pleased to term her right of attending, it would have then been a serious consideration for the Prince Regent, whether he would go himself or not. Any discussion on this subject would come with more propriety when the future establishment of the Princess Charlotte should be moved for, in case of her marriage, and that her mother was not present at that ceremony. Another hon. member had intimated his intention of discussing the subject, should that occasion take place. It was not an unusual thing for members of the royal family to be excluded from the court of the of the sovereign. It was a thing which had frequently happened, without any imputation, against the character of those branches of the royal family who were so excluded, or without any enquiry as to the causes of the exclusion. This had happened at different times during the reigns of George the first and George the second, when dissensions between the reigning monarch and the Prince of Wales had been carried to a greater height than any dissensions which had since occurred among the members of the royal family. The object of the hon. gentleman appeared to be, to restore the Princess of Wales to the Queen's drawing-rooms; but could the House call upon his royal highness the Prince Regent to change that sentiment which had obtained such full possession of his mind, as to lead him to wish for her exclusion? With regard to future considerations, which had been alluded to, they were not now before the House. The only thing which they had under their consideration was, the restriction of the Princess from attending the Queen's drawing-rooms during the present month. He did not conceive that this restriction necessarily imputed any animosity to her Royal Highness. Those unhappy disagreements between the Prince Regent and the Princess of Wales might have originated in difference of taste, and in many causes wholly unconnected with guilt or innocence. He had omitted to state, that two royal duchesses (the duchesses of Cumberland and Gloucester) had been excluded from the drawing-rooms of the Queen, because their marriages were disapproved of; and yet parliament had never thought it proper to

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interfere on the occasion. With regard to the minute of council, on which so much stress had been laid, it must be recollected, that it made a distinction between criminality and other minor charges. The acquittal was, therefore, not altogether so complete as the hon. gentleman had maintained. He could not avoid expressing his opinion, that the more appeals were made to the public, and the more this unhappy subject should be agitated, the more irritation would be produced by it, and the more injury would be done to the peace of the royal family. The House Were now called upon to interfere merely about the etiquette of a drawing-room. This was what he thought they ought not to be called upon to do; and therefore he should give his negative to the address proposed.
Mr. Whitbread.—The speech of the right hon. gentleman in defence of the advice he has given, has been like the advice itself—special, minute, wavering—assuming a right—a right to exclude, and acting as if he were conscious the party advised had no such right. Sir, I maintain that a great indignity, a harsh disgrace, a cruel and unmerited punishment, has been inflicted on an innocent person, on a subject of the crown—who was by that crown protected as long as it had moral and mental life and energy to protect hers. At one time the right hon. gentleman shrunk from the contest—he divested himself of all responsibility—he was ashamed of his own act and deed—of the advice that he had given. The sovereign and crown was left by him to trample upon any subject—to gratify its own unadvised and unconfronted vindictive resentments. Yet at the end of his speech he lets us know that the sovereign power did not act for itself. That there were advisers—that he could name them, could give them up if the House should call upon him so to do. Let them come forth! He has treated this as being only an exclusion from an assembly—from a fête; but a positive exclusion, the advisers dared not warrant—that was a proceeding too manly. It was an affront to be operated through the Queen consort of that monarch who, when the King had the use of his faculties, had commanded her to receive the Princess of Wales at her court, as the symbol of her entire innocence—of her complete acquittal. This reception continued till the King's indisposition; and then the Regent was advised to employ the Queen, his
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mother, to banish the Princess of Wales from court. Could this advice have been risked had the King mentally existed?—Oh, no! He should have thought that the right hon. gentleman and his colleagues would have been eager in their advice to conciliate and to calm; to proclaim the innocence they had so often declared—but the reverse is the case. The right hon. gentleman, as he knows the King cannot contradict him, has ventured to throw out an insinuation, as if the assertion made of the complete approbation, the affectionate attachment of the King, was not well grounded. The King cannot speak—and he quotes the King, to wound through his side the Princess of Wales. This is of a piece with the whole of their proceedings. I will not repeat what a noble lord, who, be it remembered, is not a party to this advice, said on a former debate on this subject—nor the testimony given by all, of the Princess's entire innocence: I maintain that the King thought her so, and the Princess is so convinced. He proved that he thought so by his kindness and cordial reception. When the King was well, no man would have dared to deny it. The right hon. gentleman durst not have done it; but if he questions the right of the Princess of Wales to appear where the King placed her; it is to be hoped that she will, notwithstanding the moderation she has evinced, accept the advice to appear at court, and then let us see who will advise that admittance be refused to her. As to stirring the question—I ask who has stirred it?—Is it the person who vindicates her own innocence from unjust and foul aspersions; who follows the example set her by the Prince Regent himself, in publishing to the world what affected her honour and character; or is it those who directed this cruel outrage, this unprovoked indignity, that has occasioned this affront? Has she complained that her near relations have been prevented from visiting her—that it has been intimated to all, that to visit her was to exclude themselves from the court?—To all the injuries she has borne, she has submitted in silence. Where does the burden rest of agitating the question?—Upon those who have planned and advised this foul indignity and injustice.
The right hon. gentleman has quoted, precedent from history; but as to the cases of George 1, and 2, in both these the charges were specific. Lord Hardwire has left an account of the latter case, and

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also what the advisers of the crown then did, and what was the opinion of each. He said himself, while advising conciliatory measures, all this may be brought before parliament; but now the ministers will tell nothing. Lord Hardwicke says, parliament may call for these papers; but the right hon. gentleman says, parliament shall not hear one word—you shall hear nothing froth us. George the second directed the publication of all the papers that had passed between his son and himself, and circulated them among the foreign ministers, that all the world might know the grounds on which he had acted. So different from the unmanly ministers of the present day, who devise schemes to attack a woman a thousand ways, and contrive ten thousand obstacles to her defence. But the right hon. gentleman talks of this as being only an exclusion from a common assembly. Is it then nothing that her nephews—that her future son-in-law, the prince of Orange, who has so announced himself to her—her near relation, the king of Prussia—the emperor of Russia—the immortal Blucher, the companion of her father in arms—is it nothing, that they should remark the absence of the Princess of Wales, and be told it is for reasons undefined, and of which the Regent alone continues the judge? Sir, under the circumstances of her situation, such infliction is worse than loss of life—it is loss of reputation; blasting to her character, fatal to her fame. I ask, would the King have consented that the marriage of the Princess Charlotte of Wales should have taken place in private—have been smuggled in a corner? that event which is to bring a thousand blessings upon this country, to be celebrated in a corner? Shall we consent then that it should be so performed? No, the parliament will, and all the nation will, demand that this marriage shall be public, and that the Princess of Wales shall be there—in the state becoming her rank and station. Now, as to an event which sooner or later must happen—I mean the demise of the crown—is the Princess of Wales to be crowned? She must be crowned. Who doubts it? One hears it whispered abroad, a coronation is not necessary. I believe it is. Will the right hon. gentleman say it is not? He dares not say so; crowned she must be, unless there be some dark base plot at work, some black act yet to do; unless the parliament consent hereafter to be made a party to some nefarious transaction. If it
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is their intention to try the question of divorce, let them speak out. These proceedings materially affect the succession of the crown. Where is the limit to the inquiries after former transactions—these searches after trial and acquittal? Yet after all the search what have they found? Nothing, but an irresistible refutation of all accusation. Where are these accusations to stop? They may impeach the legitimacy of the heiress of the crown, now to be married to the prince of Orange. Now it is time for this House to interfere. Let better counsel be given to the Regent, and undo what has passed—people do this every day; it is the tribute paid by fiery passions to conviction and returning reason. Sir R. Walpole prided himself in the reconciliation he effected between George the first and the then Prince of Wales; it was a conciliating minister who did this; happy would it be if our ministers would follow his example. One would have thought, that if ever there was a period when it was an object to represent the royal family as united, this was that very period. The people maintain that family not only for state and show, but for their examples of moral and domestic virtues; what the King so uniformly shewed, and what have endeared him to his people more than any other circumstance of his reign. Let it not then be said, that the emperor of Russia finds one person whom the law does not protect, who is exposed to outrage and insult; and that person, the wife of the Prince Regent:—that for one subject of the crown there is no redress. Now, Sir, if the right hon. gentleman has not a doubt of the Princess of Wales having a right to appear at court, the use of which she has consented at present to wave, I have only to add, that if she finds not protection in this House, the last refuge of the destitute and oppressed, it is to be hoped she will be advised to assert her right, and, however reluctantly, to dare the advisers of the Regent directly to execute their intentions.
Mr. Stuart Wortleysaid, he could not vote for the motion, as he could not think it in parliamentary form; but having assigned that reason, he thought a great deal in the way of sacrifice upon this subject was due to the public mind. Like an hon. gentleman opposite (Mr. Whitbread), he never expected to have the subject brought forward again; but he could not help saying, that he thought the present proceedings against the Princess of

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Wales were cruel in the extreme, and he could not acquit the parties who had adopted this new proceeding against her of cruelty. He hoped the House would hear no more of it; he lamented the revival of it as a great misfortune at this time, in particular, when such illustrious relatives and strangers were about to visit that court, from which she was so studiously excluded; and it appeared to him most strange, that while the whole world were rejoicing on the return of peace, and the subsiding of all animosities among nations of every description, this illustrious individual should be the only exception in the general joy, and the only person excluded from enjoying it. He should, however, vote with the right hon. gentleman, (Mr. Bathurst) against the address.
Mr. Ponsonbyhad listened to the hon. gentleman's resolution or address with much attention, but could not vote in its favour; because he had ever found, in the history of the councils of princes, that resolutions such as that of the Prince Regent were liable to change, and no overt act had been stated which in his opinion called for the interference of the House. He, however, deeply lamented the Letter sent to the Princess of Wales by the Queen; and had hoped that what passed in this House last year would have put an end for ever to this disgraceful and injurious subject. It was natural in the Princess of Wales to publish the correspondence, to vindicate herself in the eyes of the public, when this new indignity was cast upon her. Although he objected to the present motion as unparliamentary, there were constitutional modes of proceeding, which, if resorted to with a view of putting an end to these dissentions, should have his best support.
Mr. Elliotfelt compelled to vote against the motion; yet anxious that his vote should not be misunderstood, or misconstrued into any approbation of the advice given to the Regent: he condemned it as most cruel to one illustrious person and most injurious to the other.
Mr. C. W. Wynnperfectly concurred with the two last speakers: he trusted that the resolution of the Prince Regent would not prove unalterable; but he knew nothing so likely to render it so, as the present discussions.
Mr. Methuenthen said, that if the right hon. gentleman (Mr. Ponsonby) would give him the benefit of his parliamentary
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experience, he would readily withdraw his present motion.
Mr. Tierneysaid, he hoped the hon. mover did not consider his friend (Mr. Ponsonby) pledged to point out to him a mode of proceeding in future. His right hon. friend had not gone so far. He (Mr. T.) said, there were various modes of bringing forward the motion in a different shape.—They did not, indeed, occur at present; but perhaps they would occur when gentlemen had time to reflect upon the importance of the subject. One mode at present occurred to him, and no doubt there must be others. The mode which occurred to him was, for the House, whose particular department it was to control the finances of the state, to bring forward a money resolution; for, said the right hon. gentleman, parliament knew only of an income belonging to her Royal Highness of 5,000 l. per annum. He spoke in the language of parliament. As parliament, then, knew nothing more, the House ought at least to be satisfied that her income was equal to her illustrious situation. At present, the House did not know it. They would recollect, that on her marriage with the Prince of Wales, the nation allowed 125,000 l. for their joint establishment; but of this there was only 5,000 l. a year at her own disposal—and at present the nation could not tell how she lived, or where she found resources. The remaining 120,000 l. was for their joint use, for the maintenance of all the splendour of their illustrious situation in the state; but the House must judge what her situation is, when it is declared that they can no longer breathe the same air together. The House ought at least to be satisfied that her Royal Highness was properly provided for. But, continued he, the right hon. gentlemen opposite will not depart the House this evening with any great satisfaction, considering the manner in which they have opposed themselves to this subject. They will go home and tell their colleagues in office, that there is but one sentiment in this House, of the unbecoming indignity, insult, and cruelty, offered to the. Princess of Wales; that there is but one sentiment both here and in the country at large; that she is under the protection of this House and the nation; that his Majesty, so long as he preserved his mental faculties, was her protector; and under, him were those ministers of the crown, her sincere advocates and protectors under

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their royal master, and particularly a noble lord (Eldon) who owed every thing in life to his royal master, now, in fact, unhappily tenacious of affording protection to her Royal Highness any longer; but the noble lord owes the continuance of that protection to her Royal Highness in gratitude to his royal master, in consistency of his own conduct, and in justice to her Royal Highness; and the best impression which the noble lord can now receive on these grounds, would be to revise his own written opinions and advices; and his own conscience would dictate to him the course he ought to pursue. He recommended to the right hon. gentleman opposite forthwith to consult that noble lord and his conscience; and for once to take advice, if they will not give it where and when it is their duty. He said, this subject could not rest where it was—something must be done, and that effectually. He hoped it would be done before the next day; and, if not, he should be ready to support whatever motion might be brought forward to insure that end. And with respect to the next drawing-room, he said, if they did not make the satisfactory arrangement to which he alluded, he thought her Royal Highness would do right to maintain her own dignity, and her own rank, and not be kept away.
Mr. Methuenrose again and said, he trusted that the recommendation of the right hon. gentleman would be attended to; and in the persuasion that something effectual would be done, he would consent to withdraw his present motion, with the understanding that he should bring the question forward again in some shape which the experience of the right hon. gentleman and his friends might suggest as more eligible than the present, if the necessity of the case should unhappily disappoint his hopes and compel the interference of parliament.
The motion was then withdrawn.