Chapter XVI: {george III. 1787–1789} (3)

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.