prerogatives of the crown, but the civil list would devolve on him also. Thus then was the due exercise of the executive functions completely provided for. But no provision had yet been made in any degree for the personal accommodation and comfort of his majesty. Last year parliament had this in view, and it was on this account that it had been provided that parliament should have been sitting for six weeks previous to the expiration of the restrictions in the regency act; that, during these six weeks, that house, and the other house of parliament, might have an opportunity of considering this subject, and of providing for it in such a manner as the necessity of the case might seem to demand. This important subject the house was now called on to consider, and to say what was most fitting to be done to secure to his majesty all those comforts which in his situation could be imparted to him. In considering this subject, he should have to submit to the view of the house two propositions -first, as to the fund from whence the means of supplying these accommodations should be furnished and secondly, as to the extent of the accommodations, and the selection of them. As to the first point, he thought it only necessary to take a review of the case, and to consider that this was meant to be a permanent measure, to enable him to say that he could not entertain any doubt as to the fund whence these comforts and accommodations must be supplied; they must come out of the civil list Neither could he entertain any doubt that his majesty's own household should constitute the particalar class of his servants, by whom the necessary comforts and accommodations to their royal master

In al.

ought to be administered. most any situation, he should not have thought it natural to have looked to any class of men, except to his majesty's own household, from among whom to have selected persons to wait on his person. But here it was rendered still more natural, from the peculiar state in which his majesty was placed.Here they were to look forward to the ultimate recovery of his majesty, and to a period when he might be able to resume the management of affairs; or, what was still more probable, to such an intermediate and partial recovery, as, while it did not warrant the absolute resumption of the reins of government, yet might bring his majesty to a perfect recollection of who he was. In either of these events, it must be highly consolatory to his majesty to find that he was surrounded by those whom he had formerly known, and whom he had himself appointed to about his person; whereas it might produce a new and still more unfavourable æra in his majesty's disorder, were he, on any temporary restoration to health, to find himself surrounded by persons not formerly known to him. He could not doubt, therefore, that the house would concur with him in thinking that it must be from his majesty's own household that the attendants upon his person ought to be selected. If the house should go along with him in this idea, and in thinking that the members of the household so selected should not be removed, he hoped it would be found that he had looked to the arrangement in such a manner as to render it as little burthensome as possible. It was impossible to look at such a state of things as that which unfortunately was now presented to

us,

eessary at any time to fill up, should belong to her. The vacancies among the inferior attendants he proposed should be filled up by the groom of the stole. The expenses of this establishment he proposed should be submitted to parliament, that they might have an opportunity of seeing that no improper expenditure was made. From the best calculation he had been enabled to make, he thought it might be estimated at 100,000l. ayear, to be paid quarterly, comprehending in that sum both the bills and salaries to the officers. The ground of this calculation was the amount of the expenses at Windsor for the last year; and when the proper restrictions were made in articles now rendered superfluous, at least to the extent there charged, particularly in the articles of equi pages and horses, he was satisfied it would be brought within the calculation. From the accounts on the table, the Windsor expenses, even as matters were at present carried on, did not exceed from 104.0007. to 108,0001. a-year. The next point to which he wished to direct the attention of the house was the situation of her majesty; and, in the condition in which she was placed, it could hardly be expected that she should continue totally to confine herself to that state of seclusion in which she had preferred Eitherto to remain. In the situation in which his majesty was placed, she was deprived of the asdistance she looked for from him; and in proposing to make an addition to her allowance of 10,000l. out of the civil list, he was satisfied he did not name an unreasonable sum, or one more than sufficient to meet the extraordinary expenses to which her majesty must be exposed. In the last year care had been

1812.

taken to provide for the payment of the pensions which his majesty had been in the use of granting out of the privy purse, to the amount of 60.0001, a year. The house had felt it necessary last year to make the persons who had been in the habit of receiving those pensions, certain that they should continue to receive them. He felt it to be necessary, however, that the sum should not be left without some account being taken of it for an unlimited time, but that provision should be made to secure the audit of it. He should, therefore, in another part of his statement, suggest what he esteemed the proper mode of audit, and should propose a secret com> mittee to inquire into the actual extent of expenses with which it was burdened. Another article of expense attendant on his majesty's unfortunate state, was that necessarily to be paid to his medical at tendants; but this he (Mr. Perceval) thought might safely be charged on the revenues of the duchy of Lancaster, or any other private funds belonging to his majesty, to which, in other circumstances, his majesty would naturally have looked to defray the expenses to be paid to his medical attendants. Supposing this sum to amount to 10,000l. a year, the revenues of the duchy of Lancaster were fully adequate to that burden. The right hon. gentleman was in expectation of shortly receiving the opinion of the queen's council, what should be the provision made for the medical attendance of his majesty, which would afford the house more accurate data on which to proceed; but of this he was satisfied, that if any further sum were required than that which could be supplied out of the revenues of the duchy of Lancaster, there were other funds C belonging

belonging to his majesty which might properly be applied to this purpose. He had thus stated all the sums which it would be necessary, in pursuance of these arrangements, to take out of the civil list, namely, 100,0007. for the establishment for his majesty's personal comfort and accommodation; 10,0001. additional to her majesty; and 60,0007. as payable out of his majesty's privy purse, amounting these several sums to 170,0007. ayear, besides the sum for medical attendance, which he proposed should be paid out of the revenues of the duchy of Lancaster. Of this sum of 170,000l. with which the civil list was thus burthened, he intended, as already said, to propose, that, to replace it in part, the sum of 70,000l. should be granted by a vote of the house, after which the civil list would devolve on his royal highness the prince regent less than it had been possessed by his majesty to the amount of 100,0001. He should propose that the privy purse, to which he had already alluded, should be put under the management of a commission of three, of whom the archbishop of Canterbury, or some such person, should be one, the other two being appointed by the queen and by the prince regent. To them he would propose to intrust the payments from that fund, and the duty of paying the balance into the civil list. To them persons laying claim to small pensions that used to be paid to them, should direct their applications; and these commissioners should act under an oath of secrecy. Having stated all that was necessary as to his majesty, he now came to that part of his proposition which concerned the prince regent, on whom, as he already said, the civil list would devolve 100,0004.

a-year less than it had been when possessed by his majesty. The ques tion then was, in what manner things could be so arranged as to make this deficiency be felt as little as possible by his royal highness? Gentlemen might no doubt say, if this was the object, the easiest way to effect it would be at once to vote to him this additional sum of 100,000l. But he begged it to be understood, that in that case it would become necessary to make a grant also to the princess of Wales: and, in the situation in which his royal highness the prince regent was placed, it was well known that he had reason to expect that his income, payable to him out of the exchequer, would continue to be paid to him till he mounted the throne. It was highly important. to his royal highness, that the in, come arising to him from the exchequer should continue to be paid to him. He had, on the faith of it, entered into obligations, which it was of the greatest consequence to him he should be enabled to fulfil, but which no addition to the civil list could furnish him with the means of discharging. What the right honourable gentleman, therefore, had to propose was, that his royal highness should, out of his exchequer income, add 50,0007. ayear to the civil list, which would then be only 50,0001. a-year less than it had been when possessed by his majesty, a sum which might be supposed in some respect made up when the difference in number between his majesty's family and that of the prince regent was taken into consideration. These were the general outlines of the proposition, which it became his duty to submit to the house, and the details of which might be more fully gone into in the different stages of the

bill, on its passage through the house. He should here have to conclude his statement, and to leave his propositions to the consideration of the house, were it not that he must have felt that his royal highness the prince regent, and his royal highness's servants, had been unfairly dealt with, had he let it to be supposed that the civil list was equal, even as possessed by his majesty, to the charges upon it. If it was not equal to the charges upon it with the larger sum, it must be still more inadeqte with the smaller sum: but, it it was notorious that it was not so, it would have been a great disappointment if he had left the case without that statement. To avoid this, he had procured to be laid before the house an estimate and charge for every year since 1804.In the year 1805, there was an excess of charge above the estimate to the amount of 120,000l.; in the year following, to the amount of 160,0001; in the last year to the amount of 110,000l.; and taking an average of the whole, to the amount of from 123,000l. to 124,000l. a year. This deficiency had been made up from year to year by other unappropriated revenues of the crown, and by application of sums arising from the droits of the admiralty. He submitted, that in the year 1804, when this excess was first seen, and on every subsequent year, an account of such excess should have been laid before the house. On the contrary, however, from that time to this, no notice had been taken of the circumstance, but things had gone on as if he expence had not exceeded the estimate. He should propose, on this subject, that so long as there were other unappropriated funds belonging to his majesty, out of

which such excess could immediately be defrayed, that in that case there should be no necessity for applying to parliament; but that whenever there should be an excess, after exhausting such unappro priated funds, to the amount of 10,0007. that that should be sufficient to lay the necessity of a notice to parliament. He had one other resolution to propose to the committee. He thought that provision ought to be made for defraying such expense as would unavoidably be incident on the assumption of royal authority by the prince regent; and he should propose, therefore, that the sum of 100,0002. should be voted to his royal highness for that purpose. The house would see that this sum was only for one year, and merely calculated to meet the expenses of the assumption of a permanent regency. Having said thus much, he should now submit to the house a series of resolutions, which he conceived it would be proper for them, under all the circumstances of the case, to adopt.

Upon the first resolution being proposed,

Mr. Ponsonby observed, that he rose with no disposition to criticise any thing in the plan which the righthonourable gentleman had just submitted to the committee; but still, with deference to him, he must say, that what the right honourable gentleman had stated, appeared to him a matter of more complexity than any thing which he had ever before heard submitted to parliament, notwithstanding that the subject appeared to be one of almost the greatest possible simpli. city. The right honourable gentleman had told them, that the civil list was not sufficient to defray the charges to which it was

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liable,