GENERAL HISTORY. 



[141 



act of charity to take off from 

 the people. 



The Earl of Liverpool denied 

 that this measure was entered 

 into on the ground of there being 

 no probability of the king's 

 recovery; on the contrary, he 

 should regret to see that such 

 probability was considered as given 

 up. With respect to the ques- 

 tion as to the meeting of parlia- 

 ment in case of the queen's demise, 

 every practical purpose would be 

 answei-ed by a clause, which his 

 noble and learned friend intended 

 to propose, for the purpose of 

 limiting the period within which 

 parliament should in that event 

 be summoned to meet. 



Earl Grey said, there was one 

 point with regard to a possible 

 contingency respecting the meet- 

 ing of parliament after a dissolu- 

 tion, to which he wished to allude. 

 In the event of the demise of the 

 crown after the dissolution of 

 parliament, and before the as- 

 sembling of the new one, then, of 

 course, by the act of the demise, 

 the king's writs ceased to be 

 operative, and the old parliament 

 must re-assemble ; but in the case 

 of the demise of the Prince 

 Regent during such an inter^-al, 

 the writs for the new elections 

 being issued in the king's name, 

 a doubt might arise, though the 

 old parliament was directed to re- 

 assemble immediately, how far 

 the king's writs were vacated ; 

 and to prcTent those disputes 

 which might take place from 

 candidates insisting upon sheriffs 

 proceeding with the new elec- 

 tions, it would be advisable to in- 

 troduce some proviso to enact 

 that, in such an event, the king's 



writs for the new election should 

 cease to be operative. 



The Lord Chancellor proposed 

 clauses with a view to the possi- 

 ble event of the demise of the 

 queen, after the day appointed 

 for the meeting of a new parlia- 

 ment, previous to the day of the 

 meeting, and on the day of the 

 dissolution : their object was, that 

 the new writs should be operative, 

 and that the parliament should be 

 summoned ' to meet within 60 

 days. His lordship added, that 

 he intended to propose a clause 

 to obviate the difficulty stated by 

 the noble earl, with regard to the 

 possible event of the demise of 

 the Prince Regent, his opinion 

 being, that the king's writ would 

 not in that case be vacated. 



The original clause respecting 

 the meeting of parliament was 

 agreed to ; and the other amend- 

 ments being made, the House 

 resumed. 



Of the Regency Act Amend- 

 ment bill nothing farther is men- 

 tioned in the House of Lords, 

 whence we may conclude that, 

 by means of the suggestions of 

 different members, itwas rendered 

 fit for the purpose which the 

 Lord Chancellor had in view. 



On the first of June it was in- 

 troduced into the House of Com- 

 mons by Lord Castlereagh, who, 

 in moving the second reading of 

 the bill, thought it proper to 

 acquaint the House with its ob- 

 ject. His lordship was content 

 with a simple explanation of the 

 measure as it came into the 

 House, and having briefly gone 

 through this task, he moved for 

 its second reading. 



Mr. Tierney made a consider- 

 able 



