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attachment.I am, however, by no means sorry, that the MEAN, MERCENARY and MALIGNANT men have thus fully disclosed themselves. The country, the deceived country, will now, or never, see to the bottoin of their corrupt souls. They will see, that these advocates of corruption had, at heart, nothing but their own private gains, while they were accusing others of disloyal intentions. The Prince and his Brothers, too, will, one would fain hope, perceive, that, it is not the friend of freedom who is their foe, but, according to the sentiment of my motto, the wretch who would tempt them to subvert it; that this is the real traitor; that this is the worm, that eats out all the happiness of kingdoms. In short, they must now be as blind as the stones they tread on, if they do not see as clear as daylight, that their true interests and the people's are the same; that the best friends of the people are also their best friends; that those who are the people's enemies are, at bottom, their enemies; and that with the people they must stand or fall. Let the Prince say, in the language of MALLET:

If not to build the public weal "On the firm base, which can alone resist "Both time and chance, fair liberty and law; "If I for this great end am not ordained,

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May I ne'er poorly fill the throne of England!" Let the Prince say this, let him act up to the sentiment, and he need fear no intrigues and cabals: he will want none of that support which corruption yields: he safely may, as I trust he will, scorn all disguise, all the arts of affectation and hypocrisy : he will be strong in that in which alone real strength is found when the day of trial comes, the interest of the people to defend their country, from which country the fate of himself and his family is inseparable. He has now had a pretty fair specimen of the reliance which is to be placed upon venality and corruption. He must now see, or he never will see, that he can safely rely upon none of those who are hostile to the liberties of the people. He has the example of Europe before him. He has seen many dynasties fall; and he has seen, in every instance, without a single exception, that the fall has been produced by those fawning slaves, who, after having seduced their sovereign to oppress and insult his people, have, in the hour of danger, been the very first to desert him. In such an hour, how

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can such a sovereign look his people in the face? How can he call upon them to risk their lives in defence of him and their country? Wretches that they are, they have no country; they have nothing to risk life for? they are stripped of their pro perty, they are degraded in character; of the soil on which they feed they own nothing but the six by two," and of that it is not in the power of any conqueror to deprive them. Thus it is that countries are conquered and that dynasties fall. Politi cal institutions are not now-a-days to be upheld by mere prejudice. The world cannot unlearn what it has learnt. Nations now well know their rights, and, if they submit to oppression and insult, it is because they are unable to resist; and, their submission has no other measure than that of inability. Never was there so fair an opportunity for producing a great and salutary effeets as the Prince of Wales now has. It is in his power, if the necessity of investing him with the kingly powers should continue, to rivet the affection of the people to him in a way to enable him to laugh to scorn all the attempts, which the venal and corrupt are now making against him. But, he should never forget, and those are his greatest enemies who would endeavour to make him overlook the fact, that it is in these days, only by the arms and the hearts of the people, that kingly governments, or, indeed, governments of any kind, can long be preserved. It cannot be unknown to him, that the people of this kingdom most anxiously desire a reform of abuses, and, as the only means of effecting that, a reform of the Commons House of Parliament; and, one would think, that if he had not before, he must now have seen enough to convince him, that such a reform is not less necessary to the support of the just prerogatives of the throne than it is to the freedom and happiness of the people. Those high-toned gentry, who are never wanting to a court, may tell him the contrary; they may tell him, that, while he has armies, he has nothing to fear from the people; but, after the experience of so many dynasties, now laid under his eyes, in the dust, he will, besides the integrity of his own heart, want nothing more to make him turn from such advisers.

WM. COBBETT.
State Prison, Newgate, Tuesday,
January 1, 1811.

Published by R. BAGSHAW, Brydges-Street, Covent Garden :-Sold also by J. BUDD, Pall-Mali. LONDON :-Printed by T. C. Hansard, Peterborough-Court, Fleet-Street.

VOL. XIX. No. 2.]

LONDON, SATURDAY, JANUARY 5, 1811.

[Price 18.

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17]

THE REGENCY.

We have now before us, in the shape of RESOLUTIONS, proposed in the House of Commons, MR. PERCEVAL'S project of limitations of the Royal Authority in the hands of the Prince of Wales. We will, therefore, now take a regular, though, perhaps, concise view of this project; and, at every look, we shall, I am persuaded, imbibe fresh conviction of its unfitness and injustice, and of the evil consequences, which, if adopted, it must tend to produce not only with regard to the Crown, but with regard also to the best interests of the people.The Resolutions were five in number, and were, in substance, if not exactly word for word, as follows:

1. Resolved, That it is the opinion of this Committee, that for the purpose of providing for the exercise of the Royal Authority during the continuance of his Majesty's illness, in such manner, and to such extent, as the present circumstances, and the urgent concerns of the Nation appear to require, it is expedient, that his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, being resident within the Realm, shall be empowered to exercise and adminis ter the Royal Authority, according to the Laws and Constitution of Great Britain, in the name, and on the behalf of his Majesty, and under the style and title of Regent of the Kingdom; and to use, execute, and perform, in the name and on the behalf of his Majesty, all Authorities, Prerogatives, Acts of Government, and Administration of the same, that belong to the King of this Realm to use, execute, and perform according to the law thereof, subject to such limitations and exceptions as shall be provided.

2. That it is the opinion of this Committee, That, for a time to be limited, the power so to be given to his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales shall not extend to the granting of any rank or dignity of the peerage of the realm to any person whatever, except such person or persons as may per

form some singular naval or military
achievement.

3. That it is the opinion of this Com-
mittee, That, for a time to be limited,
the said power shall not extend to the
granting of any office whatever in
reversion, or to the granting of any
office, salary, or premium, for any
other term than during his Majesty's
pleasure, except such offices as are by
law required to be granted for life or
during good behaviour.

4. That it is the opinion of this Committee, That such parts of his Majesty's private property as are not vested in trustees, shall be vested in trustees for the benefit of his Majesty.

5. That it is the opinion of this Committee, That the care of his Majesty's Royal Person, during the continuance of his Majesty's illness, shall be committed to the care of the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty ; and that, for a time to be limited, her Majesty shall have the power to remove from, and to nominate and appoint such persons as she shall think proper, to the several Offices in his Majesty's Household; and to dispose, order, and manage all other matters and things relating to the care of his Majesty's Royal Person, during the time aforesaid; and that, for the better enabling her Majesty to discharge this important task, it is also expedient that a Council shall be appointed to advise and assist her Majesty in the several matters aforesaid and with power, from time to time, as they may see cause, to examine, upon oath, the Physicians and others attending his Majesty's Person, touching the state of his Majesty's health, and all matters relative thereto.

The four first resolutions were moved by Mr. PERCEVAL, on Monday last, the 31st of December; and after a long Debate, were carried by a majority of 16, there being 226 for them and 210 against them. On the 1st instant the 5th Resolution was moved by him, and was lost, by 13 votes, there being 226 for an amendment, moved by LORD GOWER, and 213.

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against the amendment; which was as follows: to leave out that part of the Resolution, which is distinguished by italics, and to insert other words in their stead, so that the Resolution was, when passed, changed into this:

As

naval or military achievements.
to time, there is no argument that can have
any weight for a year, which will not
have equal weight for any longer period.
Such arguments have been attempted; but
they have all failed, and, indeed, they
have all been anticipated and answered
by me long enough ago.--I have shewn
before, that, if the power of creating
peers ought ever to exist in the hands of
the King, it ought to exist in the hands of
the Regent; that, to withhold the power
from the Regent, is to declare, in acts,
that the power is not necessary to the well-
governing of the nation; and that, if it
is unsafe to entrust it in the hands of the
Prince, who is now 48 years of age, and
who, in the course of nature, must be ex-
pected soon to be King, the inevitable con-
clusion is, that it is a power that ought
never to be entrusted to the King.--Has
this objection been answered? I have seen
no answer to it at all. Nay, I have seen
no attempt to answer it. What said Mr.
PERCEVAL in his defence of this part of
his project? The following is given in the
report of his speech of the 31st of De-
cember. "It cannot surely be gravely

That it is the opinion of this Committee, That the care of his Majesty's Royal Person, during the continuance of his Majesty's illness, shall be committed to the care of the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty: together with the sole direction of such portion of his Majesty's Household as shall be deemed suitable to a due attendance and regard to his Royal Person; and that for the better enabling her Majesty to discharge this important task, it is also expedient that a Council shall be appointed to advise and assist her Majesty in the several matters aforesaid; and with power, from time to time, as they may see cause, to examine, upon oath, the physicians and others attending his Majesty's person, touching the state of his Majesty's health, and all matters relative thereto. Such were the proceedings thus far. What may finally be the fate of the Resolutions; how they may fare when they" come to be embodied into a Bill; what they will have to encounter in the House of Lords; this cannot yet be known; but, thus far the thing has gone. We have the project before us; and, though it should finally fail, nothing can do away the intention. That is beyond the power of retractation or disguise. Let us, therefore, now proceed to take a view of this project, as it here lies before us.

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argued that any serious inconvenience is to be apprehended from withholding the "honours of peerage for twelve months, "when it is recollected that during the "last four years, excepting for naval and

military services, but two new Peers have "been created. When it is also remem"bered, that in the short administration "which preceded the present, no less

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The FIRST RESOLUTION is exceptionable" only in as much as it talks of limitations, and as it implies the conferring of the powers by Bill instead of by Address, and as it may be construed to mean, that the two Houses of Parliament alone have the right of appointing whom they please to supply the place of the King, during his incapacity. All this, however, is little as to the substance. There is, in fact, no question as to who shall be Regent; and, though there is a good deal to be said as to the mode of proceeding, as to the mode of conferring the authority, still the great question is, whether the authority shall be really conferred entire, or whether it shall be partly withheld from the Regent.

The SECOND RESOLUTION withholds from him the power of making peers, for a time to be limited, except in cases of singular

than eleven were added to the number of the "other House, it is obvious that this is a prerogative which may be converted to purposes of an ambiguous nature; that it is a power which may possibly be abused.”Now as to the exception with regard to Naval and Military Officers who may perform some great national service, what does this amount to? Why to a very good reason, if it be worth any thing at all, for taking from the King for ever the power of creating any peers but men who shall have performed some singular Naval or Military service. Besides, who is to be the judge of the nature of such service? Who is to say, whether it be singular or not? Who is to have the final determination of such a question?- -But, why suffer him to advance Naval and Military officers rather than any body else? It has been truly observed by some one, that it is statesmen that we now stand in need of more than Naval and Military officers. The latter;

nished turn, there really does appear nothing wanting but a further exception' in favour of those candidates for the peerage, of whom MR. PERCEVAL and his colleagues might think proper to approve.

new peers were; but, this I know very well, that, one half of the whole House, or thereabouts, have been promoted to or in the peerage by him and his predecessors of the same party and school. He appears to have quite overlooked this circumstance; but, it is a very material one for the peo

from the state of the war, cannot be reasonably expected to have any occasion soon offered them for performing wonderful and singular exploits, such as those of Lords Gambier and Talavera; while of states men, if to save a sinking nation; if to rescue He says, that the power of creating the kingdom from the greatest danger that peers may be abused; and he couples this ever kingdom was placed in; if this be work with an observation, that, no less than that calls for the talents of statesmen, of eleven members were added to the other great need do we stand of them; of great House, during the short administration need do we stand of the immediate appli- that immediately preceded the present, cation of their talents; and, of course, if while he and his colleagues, during four the prerogative of making peers be at any years (it is only 3) have added but two,' time necessary as a mean in the hands of excepting Naval and Military officers. the Sovereign of calling such talents--I do not recollect, who the eleven into exertion, it would be necessary in the hands of the Regent; and, if not necessary then, if not necessary for a year, can never be necessary at all. -Can MR. PERCEVAL discover nothing for statesmen to do, at this time? Does he look upon the state of the kingdom, whether with regard to its domes-ple to bear in mind; and, if they pay due tic or its foreign concerns, as being so prosperous as to require the application of no talents and exertions of a kind to merit the highest reward that the talents and exertions of statesmen can receive? Suppose some one were to discover and put in practice the means of tranquillizing Ireland, and of rendering an army unnecessary there; or, of putting a stop to the further depreciation of money; or, of giving us a constitutional reform of parliament and uniting us heart and hand against the enemy; or, of making peace with Napoleon without disgrace or danger. Would not such a man have a stronger claim to the gratitude of the nation, and to the highest reward which the sovereign has to bestow, than any Naval or Military man could possibly have? Where, then, is the reason for shutting such a person out from the peerage, while it is left open for Naval and Military men ?--But, though MR. PERCEVAL did not observe, there is no objection, I take it, to our observing, that all the Naval and Military men, now in actual service, have had their appointments from him and his predecessors ofth PITT school, who have had the making on 11 appointments for the last twenty-six years; so that, what he would be willing to leave, as to peerages, in the hands of the Prince, would be the promotion to the rank of peers, any men, from amongst those, who have in fact, been selected by himself and his party; which, to be sure, is a very generous and gracious concession, and, to which, in order to round the proposition, and give it a fi

attention to the main drift of his argument, they will clearly see what is the real object in withholding the exercise of this prerogative from the Prince, and, the seeing of that object is quite enough to convince them, that the prerogative ought not to be withheld.-Ishall not here enter into an inquiry respecting the wisdom or justice of the practice of promoting men to the peerage merely on account of their wealth. It is, perhaps, a very nice question to determine how far such a claim to the peerage ought to be admitted. But, it is perfectly notorious, that many men have been, and especially since the power of MR. PITT began to be felt, promoted to the peerage upon no other visible, or assignable ground. What reason, then, can be given for withholding this power from the Prince? Royal favour has flowed all in one channel for an uninterrupted series of 26 years; and is there not, therefore, reason to suppose, that it might now with propriety flow in the other channel? If the Prince were Regent only for six months, or for one month, is it likely that he would do much mischief in selecting men from the party opposed to the Pittites to promote to the peerage? What harm could arise from his causing the Royal favour to flow in a new direction for a short space of time? And, if you suppose, that the King will never resume his functions, there is, as` once, an end of Mr. PERCEVAL's reasoning; unless he will go the length of refusing, in future, the power of the peerage creation, to the King as well as to the

Regent.

-There is one more point, and that, too, admitting of a practical illustration that all the world will understand.Who is the Prince to have for a Lord Chancellor ? "Lord Erskine, to be sure." --Aye, with all our hearts; but who is to insure Lord Erskine's life for a year? Who is to make him live and make him well for a year?--Oh! there is Lord Eldon, or, who may do full as well, there is Lord Redesdale, or Lord Ellenborough (for a Chief Justice may, as used to be the case, exist without a peerage); so that the Prince would have free liberty to choose his Lord Chancellor, would be quite at liberty to choose the person highest in office under him, would have perfect freedom to choose the "keeper of his secrets and his CONSCIENCE" from amongst those who had been promoted to the peerage by Mr. Pitt and Mr. Addington! But, after all, even these men, however pure, and perfect as human beings, are not immortal. They too might die, or they might become incapable of performing the functions of Chancellor. What would the Prince then do? He might, to be sure, make any body Chancellor, and the House of Lords might choose a Speaker; but, why should this be? Why should he not have the power of adding one Lawyer to the number of the peers? Is he less capable of judging as to who ought to be promoted than his father was? Is he more likely to be deceived by evil counsellors? Has he less capacity is he less qualified for the office of sovereign; or, is there any fact that can be stated that warrants a suspicion that he would abuse his trust, a suspicion that would and must be conveyed in any restriction of any sort that should be imposed upon him, and that was not imposed upon his father. To impose such restriction is, in itself, a mark of degradation, and must be a cause of weakness; and, for the adopting of such a measure the reader will, I am satisfied, not be able to discover the smallest reason, other than that reason which the people, with heart and voice, ought to join in rejecting; that is to say, that his having the power to create peers would strongly tend to enable him to disregard the opposition of those, who now contend for the restriction, and to carry into execution measures for changing that system, upon which they and their predecessors have invariably acted for the last 20 years, and of which system the country is now, in so many ways, feeling the fatal effects.

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To the THIRD RESOLUTION, which prevents the Prince, for the intended year, from granting any office whatever, in reversion, and from granting any office, or salary, or, pension, for other term than during the KING'S PLEASURE, except such offices as are by law to be granted for life during good behaviour; to this resolution almost all the arguments against the second Resolution equally apply. Of grants in reversion it is hardly necessary for me to say, that I am no advocate; but, such has been the profusion of these grants, that the Prince, unless he meant to give offices to children the fathers of whom are not yet born, would find very little room for the exercise of his power in this way. Therefore, I should be very willing to prevent him from taking away the patronage of his natural successor, if, in the same bill, provision be made, that the King, if he ever should recover, shall not grant any more reversions; shall not any further grant away the patronage that would fall to the Prince or his heir, in due course of time. But, is it not a little too hard upon him, that he should be bound up from granting away what would naturally fall into his hands, while the way is left open for his father, in case of a resumption of his power, to grant away that which would naturally fall into the hands of his son ?--This proposition is the more strikingly unjust as coming almost immediately after the struggles of this same MR. PERCEVAL to keep the power of granting reversions in the hands of the King. It is well known, that Bill after Bill have been brought into the House of Commons, have passed there, and have been rejected by the Lords, the object of which Bills was to prevent the King from making any more grants of offices in reversion; that is to say, from granting away any more of those things that would naturally fall into the hands of his successor. To these Bills Mr. Perceval made constant and persevering resistance. He represented the power of granting reversions as necessary to the maintenance of the Crown; but, now he would withhold from the Regent, though that Regent is the person, into whose hands the grants would naturally fall, if not made in reversion.I before observed upon the measure of withholding the power of granting any place or pension for life. Why should it be adopted? Suppose Lord ARDEN were to die and his sinecure place, of twenty thousand pounda

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