The hopes of power and place which opposition had formed, and for the realization of which they had so stoutly contended, were suddenly dashed to the ground. While thus contending, it had been rumoured abroad that his majesty was fast recovering. This was essentially true; and Pitt had for some days been halting between two opinions, namely: whether he should proceed with, the regency-bill, or whether he should stop the proceedings. His opponents also had been perplexed as to the proper mode of procedure; whether to let the bill pass at once without opposition, and accept office, or to wait a little longer, and see whether there was any chance of retaining it. At length, however, all the perplexities by which both parties were surrounded were clean swept away. On the very day that the lords committed the bill, as sent up to them by the commons, it was publicly declared that the king was convalescent. This, no doubt, was a grievous disappointment to the Whig leaders, for it brought all their hopes and designs to a sudden termination. They had, however, only themselves to blame for this disappointment, inasmuch as they might, but for their opposition, have taken the reins of government into their hands two months ago. But hope now fled, and desire failed. On the 19th of February, Lord Chancellor Thurlow announced from the woolsack, in his peculiar sonorous tone of voice, that from the reports of the physicians, his majesty had been for some time in a state of convalescence; that the accounts just received conveyed the happy news that the improvement in his health was still progressive; and that, therefore, it would be indecorous to proceed in the present measures, he had no doubt, he said, that the house, participating in the general happiness of every man in the kingdom, would consider it necessary to wait a few days before they went further with the bill; and he therefore moved that their lordships should immediately adjourn to Tuesday next. In reply to Thurlow, the Duke of York remarked,—“I trust your lordships will do me the justice to believe that no person in the house could feel equal pleasure with myself from the favourable account which the noble lord on the woolsack has given, and the motion he has made to the house, in which I heartily concur. I should have had great satisfaction in making the same communication to the house, if I had been able to do it from certain information. I thought it my duty yesterday, upon the favourable reports given to the public, to request to be admitted to his majesty’s presence. From reasons very justifiable, no doubt, it was not thought proper that I should have that satisfaction. From the knowledge I have of my brother’s sentiments, though I have had no immediate communication with him upon the subject of this motion, I am convinced he will feel equal, if not greater, pleasure than myself at the hopes of his majesty’s recovery, as it must relieve him from the embarrassment of the situation in which this bill would have placed him, which nothing but a strong sense of his duty to the public would have induced him to undertake.” Thurlow’s proposed adjournment was agreed to, and the regency bill there stopped.
The conduct of the Irish parliament in this matter formed a striking contrast to that of the English. On receiving the intelligence of his majesty’s illness, a motion was made in the commons for presenting to the Prince of Wales an address, requesting him to assume the government of Ireland during the king’s incapacity, with the full powers of the executive branch. This motion, which was moved by Mr. Conolly and supported by Grattan, passed without a division, and was confirmed by the lords. The lord-lieutenant, the Marquess of Buckingham, late Earl Temple, refused to transmit this address to England; and commissioners were therefore appointed by both houses to present it in person to the Prince of Wales. These delegates arrived in England on the 25th of February, and on the following day they presented their address to the prince at Carlton-house. The recovery of his majesty, however, rendered the object of their commission nugatory: the prince returned his warmest thanks to the delegates, but acquainted them with the change which had taken place in the king’s health, and which, he said, he hoped, within a few days, would enable his majesty to resume the government. All that the commissioners, therefore, obtained for their pains and their loyalty were thanks and a splendid entertainment, at which the leaders of the prince’s party were present. Entertainments had, indeed, from the commencement of his majesty’s illness, been the order of the day at Carlton-house; the Saturday and Sunday of every week being set aside for that purpose; a mode of proceeding which brought great scandal on the prince and his party. The Whigs, by their recent conduct, in fact, rendered themselves unpopular in the eyes of the soberer part of the nation; and it may be questioned whether, if they had gained office under the regency-bill, they could have retained it for any lengthened period, even if his majesty had still been confined to Kew Palace as a maniac. The very city of London, which had once been the centre of opposition, was now on the side of Pitt and the king, and the feeling was universal throughout all England.
As the regency-bill had not passed, it was not deemed necessary to adhere to the method prescribed by it for announcing the king’s recovery and restoration to his royal capacity; the declaration in parliament, the bulletins of the physicians, and the suspension of those bulletins by royal order, were considered sufficient ground to enable his majesty to resume the functions of his office. Several adjournments of both houses took place subsequent to Lord Chancellor Thurlow’s announcement of his majesty’s recovery; but at length, on the 10th of March, a commission, under the great seal, was read to lords and commons, authorising the commissioners, previously appointed by letters patent for opening the parliament, to declare certain additional causes for holding the same. After the commission had been read, the lord chancellor observed, that his majesty being, by the blessing of Providence, recovered from his malady, had commanded the commissioners to convey to them his warmest acknowledgments for the proofs they had given of affection to his person, of zeal for the honour of his crown, and concern for the security and good government of his dominions. The commissioners were also ordered, he said, to acquaint the two houses that, since the close of the last session, his majesty had concluded a treaty of defensive alliance with the King of Prussia, and that he had endeavoured, during the last summer, to prevent the extension of hostilities in Europe. The house of commons was further informed, that the estimates of the current year would be forthwith laid before them. Addresses of congratulation were then passed both to the king and queen without a dissentient voice. On that night all London seemed one blaze of light; an illumination took place, such as that great capital had never witnessed before. This scene was renewed on the 23rd of April, which was appointed to be held as a day of public thanksgiving throughout the kingdom; and when his majesty went in grand procession to St. Paul’s Church, to return thanks to almighty God for his recovery. His majesty was attended on this occasion by the queen and royal family, the two houses of parliament, and all the great officers of state, judges, and foreign ambassadors. The procession entered the cathedral amidst the peal of organs and the voices of five thousand children of the city charity schools, who were placed between the pillars on both sides, and singing that old melody, the hundredth psalm. The king was much affected; and turning to the dean, near whom he was walking, he said with great emotion, “I now feel that I have been ill.” His emotion almost overpowered him; but recovering himself be proceeded to the chair, where the humility with which he at first knelt down, and the fervour with which he appeared to pour forth the feelings of a grateful heart, made a deep impression on all within the cathedral. By this affliction the personal popularity of the king greatly increased. It became the fashion to call him “the good old king,” and men loved to dwell upon his morals and his virtues. It would be difficult, indeed, to point out any period in the annals of English history when any monarch was so universally revered by his subjects. Nor did the steady, consistent, and constitutional conduct of the prime-minister remain unacknowledged. While his opponents, by the sentiments which they had uttered in the heat of debate on the regency-bill, had given great offence to the people at large, Pitt had risen greatly in their estimation. He had, also, the warmest approbation of his majesty for the part he had taken; for on more than one occasion he expressed the highest satisfaction of his conduct, and that of the majority in parliament, in regard to the regency question. His majesty also remarked, that his illness had eventually become a source of happiness to him, inasmuch as it proved how nobly the people would support him when he was in trouble.
ADOPTION OF A PLAN OF FORTIFYING THE WEST INDIAN ISLANDS.
The first subject that engaged the attention of parliament after his majesty’s recovery, was a plan, formed by the master-general of the ordnance, for the fortification of the West Indian Islands. This scheme was condemned by General Burgoyne, Sheridan, and other members of opposition; but on the 18th of March £218,000 was granted for that purpose.
BILL FOR THE COMMEMORATION OF THE PEOPLE’S RIGHTS, ETC.
On the 24th of March Mr. Beaufoy moved for leave to bring in a bill “to establish a perpetual anniversary thanksgiving to Almighty God, for having, by the glorious revolution, delivered this nation from arbitrary power, and to commemorate annually the confirmation of the people’s rights.” It was argued in opposition to this bill, that the event was sufficiently commemorated in the form of prayer appointed for the 5th of November; but the house seemed to think otherwise, for the bill was not only brought in, but carried through all its stages, and sent up to the lords. In the lords, however, it met with a more successful opposition; for, on the motion of Bishop Bangor, who pointed out the several parts of the service of the 5th of November, which had been added and altered, for the purpose of commemorating the revolution, the bill was thrown out without being once read; a ceremony to which a bill proposed by a peer is considered as a matter of right, and which is usually accorded to any measure sent up to the lords by the commons, as a matter of courtesy.