LONDON. 
opinion (HU was tint it was perfectly wrong and mlftaken. 
It went to fay that the crown fhould not have the power 
of fecuring for its fervice men whom it might judge to be 
the mott capable, if they happened not to be in a fituation 
to refign all other purfuits in order to enter into the public 
fervice. He put this cafe ftrongly, and not without a per- 
fonal allufion. He then adverted to the influence of the 
crown, and appealed to the houfe whether it was too 
great; referring to the diviiion upon colonel M'Mahon’s 
appoi ntment. 
Mr. Bankes made replies to fome of tile particular ob¬ 
jections which had been advanced ; and defired that, when 
the ofiices propofed to be abolished, and their refpon Ability, 
were fpoken of, it fhoald be recollected that they were 
rather quaji otflces with qunji refponflbility, neither of 
which appeared to him too great to be confined to filch 
men as would ufually be appointed deputies. As to the 
power of the crown, he fain it was impoffible to look at 
the immenfe expenditure of the country, with all the efta- 
blithments and patronage connected with it, without be¬ 
ing convinced that dependence on the crown was extended 
to all parts to a degree quite unexampled in former times. 
It was alfo no light conlideration, that fome of the greatell 
commercial and corporate bodies were in the habit of look¬ 
ing up to the miniflers of the crown. 
Mr. Canning made one of thofe balanced, indecifive 
fpeeches which bad lately diftinguifhed his manner of 
debate; but declared that he Ihould fupport the bill, be- 
caufe he --approved its principle.—That the general fenfe 
of the houfe was decidedly in its favour, was proved by 
the divifion, on which the numbers were, for the motion 
J34, againfl it 123, majority ix. 
The bill was then re-committed, when various amend¬ 
ments were propofed, fome of which were carried, and 
others rejected. The report was then received, and the 
bill was ordered for a third reading. This took place on 
June the 15th, when various objections were darted againfl; 
the bill, which, however, was read without a divifion. 
Mr. Bankes then moved the additional claufe, “Provided 
always, that nothing in this bill fliould be prejudicial to 
the rightsand interefts of thofe who are now chief juftices 
which was agreed to. Various claufes of amendment were 
then put, moll of which were rejected. A motion for 
omitting that clanfe in the bill which limited the penfion- 
lilt of Ireland to 40,000!. a-year produced a divifion : for 
the motion 59, againfl: it 60. The bill afterwards palled 
the houfe without further oppofition. 
The bill did not arrive to its fecond reading in the houfe 
of lords till the 3d of July. On that occalion the lord 
chancellor fpoke of its provifions with great contempt, 
and faid that fuch a bill never met the eye of a lawyer ever 
fmce the eflabliftiment of law. He pointed out fome of 
its molt objectionable parts; and concluded with the mo¬ 
tion, that it be read a fecond time that day three months. 
Some of the lords in its favour acknowledged that there 
were imperfections in it; but contended that no argu¬ 
ment had been advanced againfl its principle, and that it 
might be amended in its future ftages. On a diviiion, 
however, the chancellor’s motion was carried by 35 votes 
againfl 8 ; and thus the bill was loft, and, with if, all the 
hopes of alleviation of the public burdens which it might 
have railed. 
After colonel M'Mahon had been deprived of his place 
of pay-malter of widows’ penfions, he. was remunerated 
by the appointment of keeper of the privy purfe.and pri¬ 
vate fecretary to the prince-regent. This circumfiance 
was noticed in the houfe of commons on March 23, by 
the hon. J. W. Ward, who defired to be informed by 
the Chancellor of the Exchequer what falary was attached 
to thefe places, and what were their duties, as he did not 
know till now that fuch a fituation exifted.—Mr. Perce¬ 
val, in reply, faid that he prefumed the honourable mem¬ 
ber was not ignorant that colonel Taylor had held the 
fame offices under the king, and the fame falary which he 
received was continued to colonel M‘Mahon; that the 
duties were various and important, although the offices 
would carry with them no official fanction, the home fe¬ 
cretary of Hate being Hill the organ for receiving and 
communicating the pleafure of the regent.—Mr. Whit¬ 
bread then inquired whether, before the nomination of 
colonel Taylor as private fecretary to the king, in confe- 
quence of his infirmity of fight, any fuch place had ex¬ 
ifted ; and alfo, whether colonel M'Mahon was to be paid 
out of the fame fund that colonel Taylor had been.—The 
Chancellor of the Exchequer admitted that no private fe¬ 
cretary to the king had been appointed before his defeCt 
of fight; and, upon being afked by Mr. Ward if he had any 
objection to name the adviferof the prefent appointment, 
he faid that he had not the lead difficulty in mentioning 
that it was himfelf. 
On the 14th of April, Mr. C. W. Wynn rofe in the houfe, 
purfuant to notice, to move for the production of the ap¬ 
pointment of colonel M'Mahon to the new office of pri¬ 
vate fecretary to his royal highnefs the prince-regent. He 
began with exprefling his furprife at the intimation he 
had received that his motion was to be refilled; for furely. 
the creation of a new office required as much as any thing 
to be fubmitted to the confideration of the houfe of com¬ 
mons. With refpeCt to the appointment of colonel Tay¬ 
lor, he denied that it formed any precedent for the pre¬ 
fent cafe, fince it was only juftified by the obvious necef- 
fity of the circuml'ances, of which nothing fimilar now 
exifted. He made fome remarks on the improper time in- 
which this appointment had been given, when the bur¬ 
dens and diltrefles of the country were univerfally felt; 
and faid that it would appear to the public like a determi¬ 
nation to create a place in order to compenfate colonel 
M‘Mahon for that of which the fenfe of parliament had 
deprived him. He concluded by moving, “That there be 
laid before the houfe a copy of any inftrument by which the 
right honourable John M‘Mahon has been appointed pri¬ 
vate fecretary to the prince-regent in the name and on the 
behalf of his majelly. Alfo for a copy of any minute of 
the board of treafury thereon, directing the payment of 
the falary attached to the fame.” 
Lord Calllereagh faid, that the honourable gentleman 
bad raifed this queftion to a degree of importance which 
could in no view belong to it. He denied that there was 
any thing in the appointment which detracted in the 
flighted degree from the refponflbility of the miniflers of 
the crown. The nature of the office was precifely the 
fame as that of any other private fecretary in any other 
office of Hate, differing only in the rank of the perfonage 
under whom it was held; and there was no foundation 
for reprefenting it as that of a fourth fecretary of ftate. 
He alked whether it were poflible for the fovereign of this 
country to go on, overwhelmed as he mull be by the pub¬ 
lic documents that were heaped upon him, and fcarcely 
able to difengage his perfon from the accumulating pile 
by which he was furrounded ? He thought the neceffity 
of the appointment apparent, and that there were no 
grounds for cenfuring it: wherefore he Ihould oppofe the 
production of the paper, which was nothing more than a 
grant of 2000I. a-year as a falary. 
The Chancellor of the Exchequer repeated that this was 
no flate-office, but Amply an appointment to relieve the 
bodily and manual labour which the prodigious influx of 
public bufinefs attached to the royal functions. To (how 
the expediency of the appointment, he entered into lome 
particulars of the vaft mafs of bufinefs which came before 
the regent, and which afforded abundant occupation for 
fuch an officer to alleviate his labour; and be drew a com- 
parifon between the condition of his majefty, enured from 
early youth to habits of diligence and the routine of go¬ 
vernment, and that of the prince-regent, who came to the 
talk at a fo-much later period of life. 
Mr. Ponfonby afked what was to be inferred from the 
argument of the neceffity of the appointment? Why, 
that it was to be a perpetual, a permanent, office. Every 
future fovereign might claim the fame privilege, if the 
precedent 
