GENERAL HISTORY. 



[137 



lier majesty's council. It was 

 proposed, therefore, to vest in 

 the queen the power of appoint- 

 ing such additional members, not 

 exceeding a number to be fixed 

 by the bill. It was necessary for 

 this purpose to have the sanction 

 of parUament, the members of the 

 queen's council acting under the 

 obligation and responsibility of 

 an oath, directed to be adminis- 

 tered by the provisions of the 

 Regency act. 



The second object of the bill 

 referred to the possible case of a 

 cessation on the part of the queen 

 to have the cai"e qf the king's 

 person. According to the Re- 

 gency act, should this cessation 

 occur, the parliament must meet 

 forthwith ; and in the event of the 

 parliament being dissolved, and 

 the new parliament not having 

 met, the old parhament must 

 assemble forthwith. He was not 

 aware of any reason for the in- 

 troduction of this clause into the 

 act. There was no evident cause 

 why the cessation on the part of 

 the queen to have the care of the 

 king's person should render im- 

 perative the meeting of parlia- 

 ment forthwith ; there being a 

 clause in the act, that, in case of 

 the occurrence of such an event, 

 the care of the king's person 

 should be vested in the queen's 

 council, until farther provision 

 should be made by parliament, 

 and there being a power in the 

 crown, under the existing law, to 

 summon parliament to meet in 

 fourteen days. Under these cir- 

 cumstances probably their lord- 

 ships would have no objection to 

 a provision, which substituted to 

 a forthwith meeting, a meeting at 

 i'jurtcen dajs notice. 



Earl Grey said, that he did not 

 mean to object to the first reading 

 of the bill ; but he wished it to be 

 understood that he did not 

 thereby pledge himself to approve 

 of it in a subsequent stage. On 

 the contrary, some points con- 

 nected with the subject seemed 

 to him either as forming grounds 

 of objection, or as requiring ex- 

 planation: Accordingly, he em- 

 ployed some time in taking notice 

 of what had particularly struck 

 his mind on the present occasion. 



The Earl of Liverpool found it 

 necessary not to suffer some of 

 the noble earl's remarks to pass 

 without observation. 



The Lord Chancellor ^^roposed, 

 at the second reading, to enter at 

 large into the consideration of 

 the measures which he had laid 

 before their lordships. 



The bill was now read a first 

 time. 



On the 22nd of May, the 

 order of the day standing for the 

 second reading of the bill to 

 amend the Regency act, the 

 Lord Chancellor repeated, that 

 the bill had two objects. The 

 first of these was, to authorize an 

 increase of the number of persons 

 composing her majesty's covxncil. 

 It had been intimated by the 

 noble earl who spoke on the in- 

 troduction of the bill, that he had 

 no objection to the increase, but 

 to the mode by which it was to 

 be effected. Their lordships, 

 however, would recollect, that 

 the act now in force provided, 

 that if a vacancy should occur in 

 the council, her majesty was to 

 supply the same by her nomina- 

 tion ; and in fact she had already 

 in one instance exercised the 

 authority with which she was 



invested ; 



