720 



Chronology. 



[DEC. 



with my allies, those general treaties by whicli 

 the political system oY Europe has been e*ta- 

 hli-tu'd, will ollVr the best security lor the repose 

 of the world. I have not yet accredited my am- 

 bassador to the Court of Lisbon ; but the Por- 

 tuguese Government having determined to per- 

 form a great act of justice and humanity, by the 

 grant of a general amnesty, I think that the time 

 may shortly "arrive when the interests of my sub- 

 jects will demand a renewal of those relations 

 which have so long existed between the two 

 countries. I am impelled, by the deep solicitude 

 which I feel for the welfare of my people, to re- 

 commend to your immediate consideration the 

 provisions which it may be advisable to make for 

 the exercise of the royal authority, in case that it 

 should please .Almighty God to terminate my life 

 before my successor shall have arrived at years 

 of maturity. I shall be prepared to concur with 

 you in the adoption of those measures which may 

 appear best calculated to maintain unimpaired 

 the stability and dignity of the Crown, and 

 thereby to strengthen the securities by which 

 the civil and religious liberties of my people are 

 guarded. 



Gentlemen of the House of Commons, I have 

 ordered the estimates for those services of the 

 present year, for which the last Parliament did 

 not fully provide, to be forthwith laid before 

 you. The estimates for the ensuing year will be 

 prepared with that strict regard to economy 

 which I am determined to enforce in every branch 

 of the public expenditure. By the demise of my 

 lamented brother, the late King, the CivilList reve- 

 nue has expired. I place without reserve at your 

 disposal my interest in the hereditary revenues, 

 and in thos,> funds which may be derived from 

 any droits of the Crown or Admiralty, from the 

 West India duties, or from any casual revenues, 

 either in my foreign possessions or in the United 

 Kingdom. In surrendering to you my interest in 

 revenues which have in former settlements of the 

 civil list been reserved to the Crown, I rejoice in 

 th opportunity of evincing my entire reliance 

 on your dutiful attachment, and my confidence 

 that you will cheerfully provide all that may be 

 necessary for the support of the civil govern- 

 ment, and the honour and dignity of my crown. 



My Lords and Gentlemen, I deeply lament 

 that in some districts of the country the property 

 of my subjects has been endangered by combina- 

 tions for the destruction of machinery ; and that 

 serious losses have been sustained through the 

 acts of wicked incendiaries. I cannot view with- 

 out grief and indignation the efforts which are 

 industriously made to excite among my people a 

 spirit of discontent and disaffection, and to disturb 

 the concord which happily prevails between those 

 parts of my dominions, the union of which is 

 essential to their common strength and common 

 happiness. I am determined to exert to the 

 utmost of my power all the means which the law 

 and the constitution have 1 placed at my disposal, 

 for the punishment of sedition, and for the prompt 

 suppression of outrage and disorder. Amidst all 

 the difficulties of the present conjuncture, I reflect 

 with the highest satisfaction on the loyalty and 

 affectionate attachment of the great body of my 

 people. I am confident that they justly appre- 

 ciate the full advantage of that happy form of 

 >vernment, under which, through the favour of 

 ivine Providence, this country has enjoyed for a 

 long succession of years a greater share of inter- 

 nal peace, of commercial prosperity, of true 

 liberty, of all that constitutes social happiness, 

 than has fallen to the lot of any other country of 

 the world. It is the great object of my life to 

 preserve these blessings to my people, and to 

 transmit them unimpaired to posterity ; and I am 

 animated in the discharge of the sacred duty 

 which is committed to me, by the firmest reliance 

 on the wisdom of Parliament, and on the cordial 

 support of my faithful and loyal subjects. 



Nov. 2. The Duke of Wellington, 

 premier of England, said in the House 

 of Peers, " No improvement could he 

 made in the present system of repre- 



sentation ; and if he were going to form 

 a representation for a new country, he 

 would take for his model that of Eng- 

 land as it now is" ! ! ! 



Nov. 5. The Recorder made his report 

 to his Majesty of the 18 prisoners capi- 

 tally convicted at the last September 

 sessions, when one only was ordered for 

 execution. 



Mr. Hume moved (House of Com- 

 mons) for a return of the sums paid to 

 the king's printer for the last ten years, 

 and an account of the printing work- 

 done, and a copy of the patent by which 

 he was appointed ; he stated that a com- 

 mittee, in 1810, had recommended that 

 the patent should not be renewed, and 

 that a saving of 40 per cent, might be 

 made by getting the printing performed 

 in a different way. He read an extract 

 from the charges made in one year, one 

 was " Prayers for a general fast,<997" ! ! ! 

 Motion agreed to. 



7- The King's visit to the Lord 

 Mayor's dinner put otf by the Duke of 

 Wellington and Sir Itobert Peel, for 

 " fear of confusion and tumult, and pos- 

 sibly bloodshed ! ! !" 



9. Alderman Key sworn into the office 

 of Lord Mayor at Westminster Hall in 

 private. There Avas not the least pa- 

 rade ; even the sheriffs went together 

 in a private carriage ; such a Lord 

 Mayor's day was never before wit- 

 nessed ; there was neither dinner at 

 Guildhall nor Mansion House, nor any 

 kind of show, "for fear 01 endangering 

 the properties and the lives of his Ma- 

 jesty's subjects" ! ! 



Mobs assembled round the House 

 of Lords, Farringdon-street, Ludgate- 

 hill, Blackfriars'-bridge, ChiswelL street, 

 Barbican, Whitechapel, and other places. 

 Some of them had tri-coloured flags. 

 They all separated without doing much 

 mischief. 



11. One culprit executed at the Old 

 Bailey. 



12. Verdict of manslaughter against 

 Mr. John St. John Long, given by the 

 jury on the coroner's inquest on the 

 body of Mrs. Colin Campbell Lloyd, of 

 Knightsbridge, whose death was alleged 

 to have been occasioned by the treat- 

 ment experienced from that person. 



13. Information received from the 

 King's Ambassador at the Hague, that 

 the King of the Netherlands had de- 

 clared the ports of West Flanders, in- 

 cluding Antwerp and Ghent, to be in q, 

 state of blockade. 



15. Motion made in the House of 

 Commons for forming a committee to 

 examine the Minister's State of the Civil 

 List, and carried by a majority of 29 

 against the minister ; 233 having voted 

 for it, and 204 against it. 



Several resolutions passed at the 

 Common Council of the city of London, 



