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rival of the prince in the royal chamber, adjoining the 
Iioufe of lords, was announced by a falute of twenty-one 
guns. The tide-benches of the houfe were previoully oc¬ 
cupied by ladies of the firtt diftinftion. The Ruffian, 
•Spanith, and Portuguefe, ambafi'adors, were on the right 
of the throne; and a confiderable number of peers and 
judges were alfo affcmbled in their robes. The prince 
then entered, and took Ins feat on the throne, having the 
great miniftersof ftateon each fide of him, with their dif¬ 
ferent emblems of office. The prince was in military uni¬ 
form.—The ufher of the black rod then proceeded to 
fummon the attendance of the houfe of commons, the 
members of which, with the Speaker at their head, foon 
After appeared at the bar; when the Speaker, rather unex¬ 
pectedly, addrefled the Prince Regent as follows: 
“May it pleafe your Royal Highnefs ; We, his majefty’s 
fnoft dutiful and loyal fubjefts, the commons -of Great 
Britain and Ireland, in parliament affembled, have clofed 
the fupplies for the fervice of the prefent year; and, re¬ 
flecting upon the various tranfaftions which have come 
before us, we look back with fatisfaCtion upon thofe which 
concern our domeftic policy ; entertaining alfo a confident 
hope in the profperous ifTue of thofe great events which 
snuff regulate the fettlement of our foreign relations.— 
Under the prefl'ure of great burdens at home, and the ftill- 
continuing neceflity for great exertions, a plan has been 
devifed and executed, which, by a judicious and fkilful 
arrangement of our finances, will for a confiderable period 
postpone or greatly mitigate the demands for new tax¬ 
ation, and at the fame time materially accelerate the final 
extinction of the national debt.—Our reviving commerce 
alfo looks forward to thofe new fields of enterprife which 
are opening in the Eaft ; and, after long and laborious 
difcuflions, we prefume to hope, that (in conformity with 
the injunctions delivered to us by your royal highnefs at 
the commencement of the prefent feffion) fuch prudent 
and adequate arrangements have been made for the future 
government of the Britifh pofleffions in India, as will 
combine the greateft advantages of commerce and reve¬ 
nue, and provide alfo for the lading profperity and hap- 
pinefs of that vaft and populous portion of the Britifh 
empire.—But, fir, thefe are not the only fubjeCts to which 
our attention has been called : other momentous changes 
have been propofed for our confideration. Adhering, 
however, to thofe laws by which the throne, the parlia¬ 
ment, and the government, of this country, are made fun¬ 
damentally proteftant, we have not confented to allow, 
that thofe who acknowledge a foreign jurifdiftion fltould 
be authorifed to adminilter the powers and jurifdiCtions 
of this realm ;—willing as we are, neverthelefs, and will¬ 
ing as, I truft, we ever (hall be, to allow the largelt fcope 
to religious toleration. With refpeft to the ettablifhed 
church, following the munificent example of the laft par¬ 
liament, we have continued the fame annual grant for im¬ 
proving the value of its 1'maller benefices; and we have 
at the fame time endeavoured to provide more effectually 
for the general difcharge of thofe facred duties of a church- 
eftablifhment, which, by forming the moral and religious 
character of a brave and intelligent people, have, under 
the blefling of God, laid the deep foundations of Britifh 
greatnefs.—Sir, by your royal highnefs’s commands, we 
have alfo turned our views to the ffate of our foreign re¬ 
lations. In the north, we rejoice to fee, by the treaties 
laid before us, that a ftrong barrier is ereCted againlt the 
inordinate ambition of France; and we prefume to hope, 
that the time may now be arriving which fhall fet bounds 
to her remorfelefs fpirit of conqueft.—In our conteft 
with America, it muft always be remembered, that we 
have not been the aggrelfors. Slow to take up arms againft 
thofe who lhould have been naturally our friends by the 
original ties of kindred, a common language, and (as 
might have been hoped) by a joint zeal in the cattle of 
stations! liberty, we muff, neverthelefs, put forth our 
-whole llrength, and maintain with our ancient fuperiority 
DON. 
upon the ocean thofe maritime rights which we hatfe rc> 
folved never to furrender.— But, fir, whatever doubts may- 
cloud the reft of our views and hopes, it is to the penin- 
fula that we look with fentiments of unqueftionable de¬ 
light and triumph; there the world has feen two gallant 
and independent nations refcued from the mortal grafp 
of fraud and tyranny by Britifh councils and Britifh va¬ 
lour ; and, within the fpace of five fhort years from the 
dawn of our fucceftes at Roleia and Vimiera, the fame il- 
luftrious commander has received the tribute of our ad¬ 
miration and gratitude for the brilliant paffage of the 
Douro— the hard-fought battle of Talavera—the day of 
Bufaco—the deliverance of Portugal—the mural crowns 
won at Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz—the fplendid vic¬ 
tory of Salamanca—and the decifive overthrow of the 
armies of France in their total rout at Vittoria ; deeds 
which have made all Europe ring with his renown, and 
have covered the Britifh name with a blaze of unrivalled 
glory.—Sir, that the caufe of this country, and of the 
world, may not, at fuch a crifis, fuffer from any want of 
zeal on our part to ftrengthen the hands of his majefty’s 
government, we have finiftted our fupplies with a large 
and liberal aid, to enable your royal highnefs to take all 
fuch meafures as the emergencies of public affairs may re¬ 
quire, for difappointing or defeating the enterprifes and 
defigns of the enemy.—The bill which I have to prefent 
to your royal highnefs for this purpofe, is entitled An 
Aft for enabling his Majefty to raife the Sum of Five Mil¬ 
lions for the Service of Great Britain, and for applying 
the Sum of 200,000k for the Service of Ireland;-—to which 
bill his majefty’s faithful commons, with all humility, in- 
treat his majefty’s royal afl'ent.” 
The royal affent was given in the ufual form to this 
bill; and alfo to another, for the regulation of peni- 
tentiary-houfes.—The prince-regent then delivered his 
fpeech from the throne ; after which the lord-chancellor 
declared the parliament to be prorogued. 
The circumftance of the Speaker addreffing the regent 
in a fpeech embracing fo many topics, was thought very 
extraordinary at the time; and that muft be our apology 
for inferting it, while we omit that of the regent. It was 
certainly almoft unexampled ; and very oppofite opinions 
have been formed as to the prudence or the propriety of 
it. It was by fome thought indecorous to anticipate the 
chief points of the regent’s fpeech ; more fo to contradift 
or differ from any of them, if indeed that can be called 
contradiftion which is uttered firft. In refpeft to Mr. 
Vanfittart’s meafure of taking fome money from the link¬ 
ing fund, the regent is made cautioufly to fay, “By the 
regulations you have adopted for the redemption of the 
national debt, you have effablifhed a fyftem which will not 
retard its ultimate liquidation, whilft at the fame time it 
provides for the vigorous profecution of the war with the 
lealr practicable addition to the public burthens.” This 
indeed is quite as much as can poffibly be affirmed: but 
we have feen that Mr. Abbott aflerts, that this meafure 
will '■‘materially accelerate the final extinftion of the na¬ 
tional debt!”—For thefe and other reafons, but principally 
on account of the opinion exprefl'ed on the catholic queff- 
tion, notice was given by lord Morpeth, iff the houle of 
commons, of a motion upon the fubjeft, which Hands 
for this day, April iz, 1814. 
We Ihall again avail ourffelves of the recefs of parlia¬ 
ment to detail the events of the campaign.—If we anti¬ 
cipate, for a while, the tranfaftions which have taken piace 
during the courle of this year, though we confider them 
at a diftance, and as if ftill among the eventual polfibili- 
ties of this 1'ublunary world, we muft fairly confefs that 
they (hake our very foul'with aftonilhment. The northern 
•empires, that had been au'ed by tire dreadful vifitation of 
the French eagles, and had fuffered fo materially from 
their rapacity, now law them turn their deftruftive wings 
back again towards the weft, feek for refuge in their na¬ 
tive airies on the other fide of the Rhine, and lie there 
2 dormant 
