MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.
Parliament stood prorogued to the 20th of November, and six days before, circular letters were issued, requesting the attendance of members on that day. The peers and members being assembled, the state of the king’s health was formally notified to them, in the upper house by the lord chancellor, and in the commons by Pitt. In both houses a motion of adjournment to the 4th of December was made, in order to see whether his majesty’s disorder was likely to be of long continuance, which motion was carried nem. con.
In the mean time the leaders of both parties busied themselves in intrigue and deliberation. Neither party, however, were yet clear as to the steps they should pursue, for the varying opinions of the physicians were calculated to perplex their minds, rather than to serve as a guide to their conduct. It was necessary that some decisive information should be obtained before the meeting of parliament, and therefore, on the 3rd of December, a privy-council was held at Whitehall, for the purpose of examining the physicians. The result of the opinion of the physicians was, that his majesty was incapable of attending to business; that, judging from experience in similar cases, there was a fair prospect of his recovery; but that the time when that event would take place was uncertain. Parliament re-assembled on the following day, when this report was presented to the lords by Earl Camden, and to the commons by Pitt. In both houses it was represented by ministers that the functions of government were suspended; that in this dismembered state of the legislature the right devolved on the two houses of parliament, to make such provision as should be adequate to meet the case; but that it was necessary, before any step could be taken in such a delicate business, that the extent of the deficiency should be fully ascertained. It was moved by Lord Camden in the lords, and by Pitt in the commons, that the report should be taken into consideration on Monday, the 8th of December, which was agreed to; but doubts were expressed in the commons, whether the house could proceed upon a mere report, and whether they ought not rather to examine the physicians themselves at their own bar, or by means of a committee. Pitt replied, that the case required great delicacy, and that the report of the physicians was made upon oath, which the house of commons had not the power to administer. Fox agreed with Pitt, in the propriety of proceeding with delicacy; but, he added, “if delicacy and duty should happen to clash, the latter ought not to be sacrificed to the former.” Nothing further, however, was said at this time on the subject, and after deciding that the speaker was competent to issue writs for new elections, to supply the places of some members who had died during the recess, the house adjourned to the time above mentioned.
About this time the royal family removed to Kew, for the greater convenience of the king’s medical attendants, and as the malady continued without abatement, the Rev. Dr. Willis, who had quitted his clerical functions, and devoted himself with great success to the cure of insanity, was called in to undertake the principal and constant charge of his majesty. When parliament re-assembled on the 8th of December, Pitt related these circumstances, and conceiving that it would materially serve his cause, he himself now moved for a committee to examine the physicians who had attended the king during his illness. This motion was carried without a division, and a committee of twenty-one was appointed, Pitt, himself, being their chairman. A similar motion was made and carried in the upper house, and a committee of peers was appointed for the same purpose. The report of the committee was presented by Pitt in the commons on the 10th of December, which was favourable to the king’s ultimate recovery; and after it was ordered to be printed, the premier, whose object it was to delay decision on the subject of the regency, moved that another committee should be appointed, to inspect the journals for precedents of such proceedings as had been adopted in former instances, when the sovereign authority was suspended by sickness, infirmity, or any other cause. This called forth the opposition of Fox, who objected to the motion as nugatory and productive of unnecessary delay. Pitt knew well, he said, that there were no precedents which applied to the present case. He contended that all that was requisite for their decision had been done by the report just laid on the table; a report by which the incapacity of the sovereign had been fully ascertained. Fox then advanced, as a proposition deducible from the principles of the constitution and the laws of hereditary succession, that whenever the sovereign was incapable of exercising the functions of his high office, the heir-apparent, if arrived at maturity, had as indisputable a claim to the exercise of the executive authority, in the name and on the behalf of the sovereign, during his incapacity, as in the case of his natural demise. In advancing such a proposition as this Fox committed a great blunder, for by it he became the advocate of prerogative, in opposition to the rights of the people. Pitt instantly perceived his error, and he took the utmost advantage of it, by taking up the cause which Fox had suddenly deserted. With an appearance of patriotic indignation, Pitt declared that the assertion which Fox had made was little short of treason against the constitution; insisted that the heir-apparent had no more right, in the case alleged, to the exercise of the executive power than any other person in the realm; and asserted that it belonged to the two remaining branches of the legislature to make such provision for supplying the temporary deficiency as they should think proper. He asked, when the regular exercise of the powers of government was from any cause suspended, to whom could the right of providing a remedy for the existing defect devolve, but to the people, from whom the powers of government originated? Kings and princes, he said, derived their power from the people; and to the people alone, by means of their representatives, did it belong to decide in cases for which the constitution had made no specific provisions. On these grounds Pitt insisted that the Prince of Wales had no more right to supply the existing deficiency than any other subject, though he admitted that it was expedient for parliament to offer him the regency. Fox and Burke replied to Pitt, but they were unable to refute his arguments, and his motion was carried without a division, and a committee of twenty-one was appointed to look for precedents, which all men knew were not to be found. On the following day Lord Camden made a similar motion in the lords, in doing which he strongly condemned the doctrine which Fox had advanced, and contended, with Pitt, that the light and duty of naming the regent, and limiting his power, belonged exclusively to the houses of parliament. The motion of Fox was supported by Lords Loughborough, Stormont, and Porchester, and controverted by Lord Stanhope and the lord chancellor, the latter of whom declared that the doctrine was a new one to him. Thurlow seems to have been induced to speak on this occasion, in order to throw discredit on his rival, Lord Loughborough, who was a friend of the Prince of Wales, and was looking for the chancellorship. Recently the lord chancellor had been silent as a statue on the subject in question, and from his conduct it appeared evident that he was waiting to see how the malady of the monarch terminated, before he decided upon what part he should take. It was more than suspected, indeed, that Thurlow had, from the commencement of his majesty’s illness, been in correspondence with the prince and his friends, while at the council-table, and on the woolsack, he seemed to agree with his colleagues in office.
The report of the committee appointed to search for precedents was brought up and ordered to be printed, on the 12th of December. On this occasion Fox, aware that his doctrine was repudiated by the house, and by the nation at large, relinquished the idea of pressing the claims of the prince as a right, and only expressed his anxiety to procure for him a full enjoyment of royalty, under the appointment of the two houses. He was still ready, he said, to maintain, that while parliament had the right to determine on the incapacity, the heir-apparent, after such a determination, had the right of government, so long as that incapacity existed; but at the same time he remarked, as Pitt agreed with him that under present circumstances the prince was the person who ought to be invested with the regency, he thought it would be better to abstain from any discussion of such nice and subtle distinctions. Fox concluded, by expressing a hope that the chancellor of the exchequer would inform the house what course he meant to pursue, and by suggesting that a declaration or address should be sent to the prince from parliament, stating the fact of his majesty’s present incapacity, and investing his royal highness, during that incapacity, with the full exercise of regal powers. In reply, Pitt declared that he still differed as much as ever from Fox on the question of right: the Prince of Wales, he said, had no right whatever to the regency. Upon this point they were at issue, nor would he move a step further till the question was decided. Fox pressed him to state what proposition he meant to make respecting the regency, but he declared that he would not offer any point for discussion, until the house knew whether they were sitting as judges, merely to pronounce on the king’s incapacity, or as an assembly possessing a power of deliberation, and capable of exercising their own discretion—whether that which should be vested in the prince was a matter of adjudication on their part, or a trust on behalf, and in the name of his majesty. An attempt was made in the house of lords to turn Pitt aside from his purpose, by recommending that all discussions on the rights of the Prince of Wales should be avoided, but Pitt, aware that a great constitutional question was involved in the subject, still persevered in his determination. On the 16th of December, therefore, he moved three resolutions, the object of which was to declare that his majesty being-prevented by indisposition from public business, it was the right and duty of the lords, spiritual and temporal, and commons of Great Britain, to provide the means of supplying the defect of the personal exercise of the royal authority. In the debates which followed these resolutions both parties put forth their whole strength. There was a motive for this on either side. The Whigs knew, that if their adversaries triumphed, such restrictions would be laid on the power and patronage of the regent, as would render it impossible for them to carry on the administration, and would render all the business of government unprofitable and uncertain; while, on the other hand, the Tories knew that by their success they should secure the favour of the king more firmly than ever, if he should be able to resume his functions. The contest was a curious one, because parties had completely changed opinions: the Whigs, those staunch advocates for the rights of the parliament and the people, now clamoured for prerogative and the hereditary rights of princes; and the Tories, those old sticklers for prerogative and hereditary rights, now as loudly clamoured for the rights of the parliament and the people. Pitt was endeavouring to show that the assertion of the inherent rights of the Prince of Wales, was one of those exploded ideas of indefeasible right which had fallen into contempt, and Fox had to persuade the house that the primary axioms of government and the abstract rights of the people were things unworthy their notice. The propositions moved by Pitt were warmly supported by the master of the rolls, the lord advocate of Scotland, the attorney and solicitor general, and the solicitor general to the queen. They were opposed by Lord North and Fox, the latter of whom combated the arguments of his opponents with an earnestness worthy of a better cause: fighting like a man whose very existence depended on the issue of the debate. Fox himself seems to have felt that his cause was not a good one, for after replying to the arguments adduced in favour of the propositions, by Pitt and his supporters, and vindicating himself from the notion of being influenced in his opinion by the favour of the prince, he made a personal attack on the minister, accusing him with sacrificing the principles of the constitution to his lust of power. Pitt replied to this attack, and enforced his former arguments; after which a motion made by Lord North for the speaker to leave the chair, was negatived by a majority of two hundred and sixty-eight against two hundred and four, and then the resolutions passed without a division. They were reported on the 19th, when another stormy debate took place, and in the end two amendments—one moved by Mr. Powys and one by Mr. Dempster—were negatived without a division, and the two first resolutions were received. Dempster moved an amendment on the third resolution, but as the house was exhausted, the consideration of it was deferred till the 22nd of December, when it was negatived by two hundred and fifty-one against one hundred and seventy-eight. The three resolutions were now received, and ordered to be communicated to the lords at a conference, wherein the commons were to desire their lordships’ concurrence in them. This conference took place on the 23rd of December, and the lords agreed to the resolutions, after two long debates and one division, in which there was a majority of ninety-nine against sixty-six. Among the lords no one more heartily concurred in these resolutions than Thurlow, who seems to have been convinced at this time that it was his interest to take a decided part with his colleagues. He had, in fact, been recently assured by Willis and others of the king’s physicians, that his majesty’s malady could not be of long duration, and that the king’s temperate mode of living gave promise of health and long life. Thurlow also seems to have been convinced that if the king did not recover, he could place no permanent reliance on the Whigs, who were bound to prefer his rival, Loughborough. Hence, my lord chancellor had broken off all correspondence with the enemy, and when the questions involved in the three resolutions were taken into consideration, he defended them with all his might. As before stated, the resolutions were agreed to: a committee was also appointed to acquaint the commons at a conference that they concurred with them. A strong protest was entered and signed by forty-eight peers, among whom were the Dukes of York and Cumberland.