Commons should proceed to the election of another speaker; nor could the new speaker, when elected, be presented for the king's approval. But the necessity of the occasion suggested an easy expedient; and both these customary formalities were simply dispensed with, without any attempt to assume the appearance of the royal sanction.1 mits his All these preliminaries being settled, Mr. Pitt now subMr. Pitt sub- mitted to the Prince of Wales the plan of regenscheme to the Cy which he intended to propose. The limitations prince. suggested were these: that the care of the king's person and household, and the appointment of officers and servants, should be reserved to the queen: that the regent should not be empowered to dispose of the real or personal property of the king, or to grant any office in reversion, or any pension or office, otherwise than during pleasure, except those which were required to be granted for life, or during good behavior; or to bestow any peerage except upon his Majesty's issue, having attained the age of twenty-one. These limitations were suggested, he said, on the supposition that the king's illness would not be of long duration, and might afterwards be revised by Parliament. The prince's reply to this communication was a most skilThe prince's ful composition, written by Burke and revised by Sheridan.3 He regarded the restrictions as “a project for producing weakness, disorder, and insecurity in every branch of the administration of affairs, - a project for dividing the royal family from each other, for separating the court from the state; - a scheme disconnecting the authority to command service, from the power of animating it by reward; and for allotting to the prince all the invidious duties of government, without the means of softening them to the public, by any act of grace, favor, or benignity." And he repudiated as unnecessary, the restric reply. 1 Parl. Hist., xxvii. 903, 1160. 2 Tomline's Life of Pitt, ii. 422. Parl. Hist., xxvii. 909. tion upon his granting away the king's property, which he had shown no inclination to possess.1 a power quiries con But before Mr. Pitt was able to bring his proposals before Parliament, fresh discussions were raised by Further inthe Opposition on the state of the king's health, cerning the which resulted in another examination of his king's health. physicians by a select committee. The inquiry lasted for several days: but, while it disclosed much party spirit, intrigue, and jealousy, it established no new facts concerning the probable recovery of the royal patient. The least hope Further reso regency. ful physicians were popular with the Opposition: the more sanguine found favor with the court and the ministers. At length, on the 19th January, Mr. Pitt moved, in committee on the state of the nation, five resolu- lutions on the tions on which the Regency Bill was to be founded. After animated debates they were all agreed to, and communicated at a conference to the Lords, by whom they were also adopted; but not without a protest signed by fiftyseven peers, headed by the Dukes of York and Cumberland. The next step was to lay these resolutions before the prince; and to ascertain whether he would accept Laid before the regency, with the conditions attached to it by the prince. Parliament. The resolutions were accordingly presented by both Houses; and the prince, out of respect for his father, the interests of the people, and the united desires of the two Houses, consented to undertake the trust, though he felt the difficulties which must attend its execution. The resolutions were also presented to the queen, and received a gracious answer. Another technical difficulty was still to be overcome before the Regency Bill could, at last, be introduced. Commission Parliament had not yet been opened, nor the for opening causes of summons declared, in a speech from the Parliament. 1 Tomline's Life of Pitt, ii. 425; Parl. Hist., xxvii. 910. 2 Commons' Journ., xliv. 47. 3 Parl. Hist., xxvii. 1122. throne, formalities always held to be essential to enable Parliament to proceed with its legislative business. It was Jan. 31, 1789. now proposed, by a vote of both Houses, to authorize the passing of letters-patent under the great seal, for the opening of Parliament by commission. The necessity of adopting this expedient had been already intimated, and had been described as a "phantom" of royalty, a "fiction,” and a "forgery." It was now formally proposed by ministers, on the ground that the opening of Parliament, by royal authority, was essential to the validity of its proceedings; that during the king's incapacity such authority could only be signified by a commission under the great seal; that without the direction of both Houses, the Lord Chancellor could not venture to affix the seal; but that the commission being once issued, with the great seal annexed to it, - the instrument by which the will of the king is declared - no one could question its legality. It was also stated that the royal assent would hereafter be signified to the Regency Bill by commission, executed in the same way. A precedent in 1754 was - further relied on, in which Lord Hardwicke had affixed the great seal to two commissions, the one for opening Parliament, and the other for passing a bill, during a dangerous illness of George II.2 It was contended on the other side, with much force, that if this legal fiction were necessary at all, it ought to have been used for the opening of Parliament two months ago: that hitherto the time of Parliament had been wasted, — its deliberations unauthorized, irregular, and fruitless. But this fiction was also an assumption of royal authority. The Houses had already agreed to allot one portion of the prerogatives to the queen, and another to the regent, and now they were about to take another portion themselves: but, after all, the fictitious use of the king's name would be illegal. By the 33d Henry VIII., it was declared that a commission 1 Lord Camden's Speech. Parl. Hist. xxvii. 1124. 2 Speeches of Mr. Pitt and Lord Camden. In the latter this precedent is erroneously assigned to 1739. for giving the royal assent to a bill must be by letters-patent under the great seal, and signed by the king's own hand. The great seal alone would not, therefore, make the commission legal; and the Act for the Duke of Norfolk's attainder had been declared void by Parliament,1 because the commission for giving the royal assent to it had wanted the king's sign-manual, his name having been affixed by means of a stamp. The course proposed by ministers, however, was approved by both Houses. dukes decline According to invariable custom, the names of all the royal dukes, having seats in the House of Lords, had The royal been inserted in the proposed commission; but the to be in the Duke of York desired that his own name and that commission. of the Prince of Wales might be omitted, as he "deemed the measure proposed, as well as every other which had been taken respecting the same subject, as unconstitutional and illegal." The Duke of Cumberland also desired the omission of his name, and that of the Duke of Gloucester. On the 3d February, Parliament was at length opened by commission.2 Earl Bathurst, one of the commis- Opening of sioners who sat as speaker, in the absence of the Parliament. Chancellor, stated that the illness of his Majesty had made it necessary that a commission in his name should pass the Great Seal; and when the commission had been read, he delivered a speech to both Houses, in pursuance of the authority given by that commission, declaring the causes of summons, and calling attention to the necessity of making provision for the care of the king's person, and the administration of the royal authority. Commission Meanwhile, it became necessary that the usual commission should issue for holding the assizes. Although the sign-manual could not then be obtained, the ur- for holding gency of the occasion was so great that Lord Thurlow, the chancellor, affixed the great seal to a commission for 11 Mary, Sess. 2, c. 13 (Private). the assizes. 2 See Form of Commission, Lords Journ., xxxviii. 344. that purpose, by virtue of which the judges went their circuits.1 Regency Bill brought in. After all these delays, Mr. Pitt now brought the Regency Bill into the House of Commons. The provisions which attracted most observation were the nomination of the queen's council, the restriction upon the creation of peers, the power of the privy council to pronounce his Majesty's restoration to health and capacity, and a clause by which the regent's authority would cease if he married a Roman Catholic. But, as the measure was not destined to pass, the lengthened debates to which it gave rise, need not be pursued any further. The bill had been sent to the Lords, - its clauses were being discussed in committee, - and politicians, in expectation of its early passing, were busily filling up the places in the prince regent's first administration, — when on the 19th February, the Lord Chancellor announced that his Majesty was convalescent; and further proceedings were The king's ery. arrested. The king's recovery was now rapid: on sudden recov- the 25th, he was pronounced free from complaint, and on the 27th, further bulletins were discontinued by his Majesty's own command. On the 10th March another commission was issued, authorizing "the commissioners, who were appointed by former letters-patent to hold this Parliament, to open and declare certain further causes for holding the same," thus recognizing the validity of the previous commission, to which the great seal had been affixed in his name. He thanked Parliament for its attachment to his person, and its concern for the honor of the Crown, and the security of his dominions. Loyal addresses were agreed to 1 Speech of Lord Liverpool, Jan. 5th, 1811. Hansard's Deb., 1st Ser., xviii. 789. 25th February, 1789; see a copy of the Regency Bill as passed by the Commons, Parl. Hist., xxvii. 1258. 3 Commons' Journ., xliv. 159. 4 While the proceedings upon the Regency Bill were pending, several other bills were introduced into both Houses of Parliament, which received the royal assent after his Majesty's recovery. |