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circumstance of the life and demeanor of the princess of Wales, since her arrival in this country. Did the noble lord know of this? Did the lord-chancellor know of it? If not, who are the secret advisers of the Prince Regent? Mr. Whitbread then desired to call the attention of the House to another circumstance. In the Morning Post and Morning Herald of last Saturday were published the depositions of lady Douglas. In the latter of these papers, edited by a rev. gentleman who had lately been distinguished by honours and church preferments, after these depositions, followed a train of disgusting and atrocious documents,the falsehood of which is known and acknowledged, and which have been put into the shape of a volume bearing the name of the late Mr. Perceval, by whom the press is said to have been corrected. That right hon. gentleman thought, that for the sake of the princess's justification it was necessary to submit these details to the public, and consequently prepared a comment to expose the falsehood of the story and the villainy of those by whom it had been raised; but now that he is dead, and her royal highness has been declared innocent by two cabinets,these indecent statements are given to the public eye. After some further observations on the hardships to which the princess was subjected, Mr. Whitbreadproceeded to say,that having been informed that a prosecution for perjury would not lie, or that it would be impossible to produce such legal proof as would amount to a conviction, he should forego his intended motion for prosecuting sir John and lady Douglas; but he

would state to the House reasons to show that some step must be adopted to bring the matter to issue.

Of the remainder of the hon. gentleman's speech it is impossible to give an intelligible abridgment in our allotted compass; we shall therefore only notice some of the most remarkable circumstances of the debate, and its final result. Mr. Whitbread was led, in the course of discussion, to take a view of the evidence against the princess of Wales, as it had been published, and also, as it appeared in a paper which had been put into his hands that morning, professing to contain an authentic copy of the examination of Mrs. Lisle, a respectable lady who had been long about the princess's person. On this he made several free strictures, tending to show, that if the questions put to her had appeared, the answers would often have borne a different aspect. In fine, after solemnly calling upon that house, the representatives of the people of England, to become the protectors of an innocent, traduced, and defenceless stranger, he moved the following resolution: “That an humble address be presented to his royal highness the Prince Regent, expressive of the deep concern and indignation with which this House has seen publications so insulting to the honour and dignity of his majesty's royal family, so offensive to decency and good morals, and so painful to the feelings of all his majesty's loyal subjects; and that this House humbly requests that his royal highness will give directions that proper measures may be taken to. discover and bring to justice all the persons concerned in committing

or procuring to be committed so high an offence, and for preventing the repetition or continuance of such publications."

Lord Castlereagh, in the beginning of his reply, having said that the hon. gentleman, under the mask of defending the princess of Wales, had indulged himself in a most personal, improper, illiberal, unfair, and unparliamentary attack on the Prince Regent, his words were taken down, and an altercation ensued, which was terminated by an explanation. His lordship then proceeded to make remarks on the motion and the speech of the mover, and repeated his reasons for not giving answers to the questions put to him, and for thinking that the House was not called upon to interfere in this matter.

The remarks which had been made by Mr. Whitbread in consequence of reading the professed authentic copy of Mrs. Lisle's examination, occasioned a remarkable conversation in the House of Lords on March 22nd, in which house nothing had hitherto passed relative to the subject of the princess of Wales.

Lord Ellenborough rose, and after an introduction of great solemnity said, that in the case alluded to, the persons intrusted with the commission were charged with having fabricated an unauthorised document, purporting to relate what was not given in evidence, and to suppress what was given. "This accusation, (said his lordship,) is as false as hell in every part." He then proceeded to give an account of the mode in which every thing had been taken down from the mouth of the witness, and afterwards read over to, and subscribed by her. He spoke of the folly and ignorance of suppos

After several other members had spoken in the debate, Mr. Tierney moved as an amendment to Mr. Whitbread's motion (with his acquiescence), That the printer and publisher of the Morning Posting that the testimony of witnesses and of the Morning Herald, do attend at the bar of this House tomorrow, to answer by whose authority they had published the depositions before the privy-council, and from whom they had received them."

Mr. Canning made a speech, which, by its moderate tone, and his declaration, that as far as he was concerned, the minutes of the council in 1807, were a perfect acquittal of her royal highness, seemed to give general satisfaction.

Mr. Whitbread concluded the debate by his reply; and the question being put, the motion was negatived without a division.

of

should be recorded in the way question and answer; and concluded a speech of great energy, by again positively denying the truth of the imputations thrown upon the commissioners.

He was followed by the other noble lords who composed this commission, Erskine, Spencer,and Grenville, each of whom, in strong terms, asserted the fairness and correctness with which the evidence had been taken and recorded, and disclaimed every partial feeling on the occasion.

Lord Moira afterwards rose to exculpate himself from the charge of unfairness in the examination of a female servant of the princess,

whose evidence was contradicted by one of the medical attendants. Mr. Whitbread, on the evening of the same day, took notice of the attack which had been made upon him in the other house, and declared his intention of sending the paper alluded to, to Mrs. Lisle, in order to obtain her avowal or disavowal of its authenticity. On the following day, he produced to the House the answer he had received from that lady, which was an explicit acknowledgment that the paper was a correct copy of one she had written from her recollection, immediately after she had been examined, and of which she had transmitted a copy to the princess of Wales at her command. Mr. Whitbread now considered himself as entirely cleared from the imputation of having been imposed upon by the paper in question; and he said, that if the same thing presented itself to him at the present moment, he would follow the very same course he had done, and throw himself on the justice and candour of the public.

From the conversation that followed, it however appeared, that the sense of even the friends of the hon. gentleman was, that his zeal had led him in this instance to pass the bounds of propriety.

On March 31st, Mr. Whitbread rose in the House to call its attention to a letter which had appeared in the public papers from lord Moira to a member of the grand lodge of Free Masons, in which were some observations on the evidence of one Kenny, since dead, ending with the remark, that her

royal highness's advisers had long preserved an absolute silence concerning it, "a forbearance only to be solved by their being too cautious to touch on the point while Kenny was alive." In another passage of the letter it was stated, that Partridge, lord Eardley's porter, was known to be entirely devoted to the princess. As lord Moira was about to leave England, Mr. Whitbread thought that he ought to be called upon for an explicit declaration of his meaning in these passages; and he therefore moved, "That a message be sent to the lords, requesting their lordships to grant permission to the earl of Moira to attend at the bar of this House for the purpose of being examined as to his knowledge of certain circumstances connected with the conduct of her royal highness the princess of Wales."

The Speaker expressed his doubts concerning the parliamentary usage with respect to such a motion, there being no matter then pending before the House on which the evidence of a noble lord was required; and he thought that their lordships would undoubtedly reject the application.

The same being the opinion of other members, and there appearing a general disinclination in the House to renew the discussions on this subject, Mr. Whitbread would not press a division, and the question for the order of the day was read and carried.

Thus terminated all the parliamentary proceedings relative to the case of the princess of Wales.

CHAPTER IIL.

Catholic Question-Mr. Grattan's Motion for a Committee of the whole House to take the Subject into Consideration, carried.-His Resolution carried. His Bill for the Removal of Disqualifications, &c. brought in and debated.-Sir J. C. Hippisley's Motion for a select Committee rejected.-Second Reading of Mr. Grattan's Bill.-Call of the House and the first Clause debated.-Rejected, and the Bill abandoned.

Α

Roman Catholics. Three of the

At of primer sections of the Bill of Rights hav T the close of the parliamentary session in the summer of the last year, the House of Commons, by a majority of more than two to one, had agreed to a resolution for taking into consideration the affairs of the Irish Catholics early in the next session; whilst the House of Lords had rejected a motion for a similar resolution by a majority of one. From that time great activity had been shown by the different parties in promoting their several views; and it has already been noticed, that the tables of both Houses were crowded with petitions on the subject, from the time of the first meeting of parliament in this year, after the recess. The tenor of the great majority of these petitions was unfavourable to the Catholic claims; and it soon became manifest that the friends to their cause would have a hard battle to sustain.

The parliamentary discussion of this important subject, so often already discussed that there would seem nothing left for farther argument, recommenced with Mr. Grattan's motion on Feb. 25th, for a committee on the claims of the

ing been read on the motion of Mr. Yorke, Mr. Grattan rose and said, he was happy that the hon. gentleman had caused those passages to be read from the Bill of Rights, since he was decidedly of opinion that the qualifications enumerated in them as indispensable accompanimentsofthe sovereignty of this empire, ought to form the preamble of any bill introduced into parliament for the relief of the Roman Catholics. After declaring that his purpose was, to move for a committee of the House in pursuance of the resolution which, though made by a former parliament, he did not think he was guilty of an impropriety in referring to, Mr. G. proceeded to make some observations on the petitions which had been presented against the claims of the Catholics. He first objected to the manner in which, particularly in Ireland, they had been obtained. They had often been the consequence of a requisition to the sheriffs of the respective counties to call a meeting of the Protestant inhabitants. Now he thought it exceedingly ob

jectionable for a public officer to call people together in sects, and to give to a private and party meet ing the authority of a publicassembly. He also objected to the calling of one part of his majesty's subjects to petition against another, especially to their petitioning another country against the liberties of their own. One of the first observations in these petitions is, that the tone which the Catholics have assumed renders it unwise to grant their claims. But this is not the matter in question. The question is one of allegiance; and it may be asked, Can you in any of their proceedings charge the Catholics with want of allegiance? The Anti-catholics say, that the Catholics desire political power. Why should they not? Why should they be sentenced to utter and hopeless exclusion from all political power? But in fact it is not power that they desire, but protection. They desire not to be taxed without their own consent; not to be tried by persons who are not only partisans, but are actually covenanted against them. They wish only for their liberties. They do not demand this or that office, but to possess their just civil qua lifications. It is the Protestants who ask for power. They desire by their petitions to keep all the patronage of Ireland in their hands; to maintain a continued ascendancy; to govern the other sects of the country. The tendency of their argument is, that we ought to have a church government. But ours is not a church government; it is a representative government, including all classes and religions.

After some further observations to show the superior policy of

granting to the Catholics their claims, to that of refusing them, the hon. gentleman proceeded"But (say the Anti-catholics) toleration in England is already greater than in any other country." I know very well that the principles of every established church are in some degree hostile to toleration: there is scarcely any established church which will tolerate so extensively and liberally as a wise parliament ought to do; but when it is maintained that toleration in England exceeds that of any other country, that it is perfect, I must declare my opinion to be the reverse. Mr. Grattan then brought the instances of France and Hungary, in which, Catholic governments have given not only toleration but qualification; whereas ours have given the former without the latter, and has accompanied its toleration with pains and penalties. He then entered upon that ground of debate concerning the allegiance capable of being rendered by Catholic subjects to a Protestant government, which has so often been matter of contest; and he concluded with moving "that this House will resolve itself into a committee of the whole House, to take into its most se rious consideration the state of the laws affecting his majesty's Roman Catholic subjects in Great Britain and Ireland, with a view to such a final and conciliatory adjustment as may be conducive to the peace and strength of the United Kingdom, to the stability of the Protestant establishment, and to the general satisfaction and concord of all classes of his majesty's subjects."

Of the subsequent debate, when

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