said, that he thought it proper to acquaint the House, that a noble earl (lord Moira) had that morning resigned into the hands of his royal highness the Prince Regent the authority committed to him; and that the earl of Liverpool had accepted the office of First Lord of the Treasury, and had received commands to proceed to the formation of an administration. Under these circumstances, he hoped that the right hon. gentleman (Mr. Canning), and the hon. and learned gentleman (Mr. Brougham), would see the propriety of delaying the discussion of two such important and vital questions as those relating to the Catholics and to the Orders in Council, till the government was fully established.

professed himself willing to fix a later day. There was one difilculty—an hon. gentleman (Mr. Martin) had given notice of a motion substantially the same. If that hon. gentleman would postpone his notice, he would fix for his own motion Thursday the 18th.

said, he would give place with great pleasure: his only reason for giving his notice had been the hope, that the right hon. gentleman would be called to a high rank in the government of the country,—a hope which he would not yet relinquish.

was surprised that the hon. and learned gentleman should think of agitating a question of such consequence to-morrow, when a fourth part of the evidence was not yet printed, and it would therefore be impossible for members to be masters of the subject.

said, that called upon as he was, he was bound to attempt to set himself right with the House; and that he might have an opportunity of so doing, he would move that the call of the House which stood for Wednesday be postponed till Friday. The observation made by the right hon. Vice President of the Board of Trade, as to the quantity of evidence printed, was not consistent with fact. The testimony consisted of seventeen parts; the sixteenth part he had seen that morning, and he understood that the seventeenth would be printed and delivered either that day or to-morrow morning. He did not intend to move the question to-morrow, but on Thursday, by which time members would be perfectly able to read the evidence, especially as a great part of it had been printed some weeks. It was painful to him to bring forward such an important subject for discussion under the present state of the government, but he felt it was a subject on which delay might produce ruin. Would any gentleman who had read the late accounts from America, say that the discussion could be deferred without the almost certain ruin of the country? While the House sat patiently waiting till one great political interest could be matched with another great political interest—till this man's influence could be balanced by the nicely adjusted influence of another—what in the mean time was passing in America? In urging an early day, he was endeavouring to prevent a war with America. He begged the House to consider the evils of delay. There were an hundred delegates at their bar, waiting to know whether they should carry back to their thousands of unemployed workmen, news either of life or starvation; and yet the House was to be called on to wait till certain intrigues, or arrangements (call them what they would), could be agreeably settled. There was now a full and complete parliament: there was also, as they had just been told, a responsible minister; nor could he see what would be lost by an early discussion. Lord Liverpool, notwithstanding the vote of the House declaring his incompetency, had been appointed prime minister; and yet this was men- tioned as a reason why the enquiry should not now be pursued. He trusted the House would hold it quite impossible to defer the deliberation to a later day than Thursday.

said, if the hon. and learned gentleman persisted in his intention, he should think it his duty to take the sense of the House on the inexpediency, if not the indecency, of agitating a question of such importance under present circumstances. He must again complain of the desultory statements which that hon. and learned gentleman thought fit to introduce on every notice. Nothing, in his opinion, was less consistent with the duty of a member of parliament, than to proceed to the discussion of so complicated a question, before ministers were appointed, who might take charge of the discussion: he could not conceive that the hon. and learned gentleman was confident of his case, if he wished to drive the House to a decision before such appointment. He did not know where that hon. and learned gentleman picked up his information, but it was impossible that he could be adequately informed of the political relations of this country with America. He had no doubt that sufficient evidence would be adduced to rebut the charges brought forward by the hon. and learned gentleman, and to convince the House, that these reprobated measures were as beneficial to the manufacturers, as they were honourable to the country, in repelling the unjust aggressions of the enemy. If the hon. and learned gentleman, however, utterly ignorant as he must be, of those relations with America, should persist in his motion, his conduct would be unparalleled, not, indeed, in his own instance, but in the instance of any other grave person in that House. As to what had fallen from the hon. and learned gentleman, on the subject Off the Address of the House of Commons, he, for his part, utterly denied, that the vote fixed any charge of incompetency on his Majesty's ministers. He hoped that what he had said, might induce the hon. and learned gentlemar to consent to abandon his motion, at least till a ministry could be formed.

, before he proceeded to give notice of a motion, wished to ask a question of the noble lord.

, rose to order, though at the same time he did not wish to interpose between the hon. gentleman and his question. He was proceeding at some length, but was called to order by lord Folkestone; said, that it was disorderly to call a member to order without stating the reason for it.

confirmed this assertion.

said, there was nothing disorderly in the conduct of the hon. gentleman, except that he followed the will of the House, and—

. It is my duty to tell the hon. member that he is entirely out of order.

said, it was the custom of the House, and therefore, he presumed, the order of the House, that no questions should be put: but as he imagined that the question might be of use, he should not object to it.

said, it was not strictly in order, and where it tended to obstruct rather than to accommodate public busi ness, he thought it advisable not to put a question.

spoke to order, on the ground that there was another question before the House.

was proceeding, but

rose to order: he thought a question might be fairly put on any important occasion, and that the hon. member (Mr. Martin) might justly feel hurt, at seeing the privilege granted to another which was denied to himself.

did not mean to press his question now, but would, with the permission of the House, before its separation, enquire into the exact state of the administration.

said, it was a different thing to put a question to a minister, and to any other member of the House.

insisted on the necessity of further delay, with regard to the motion of Mr. Brougham.

protested against any precipitate decision; he would appeal to the House whether the majority of them had been able to read the evidence. What had been last printed was in favour of the Orders in Council, and it would be unjust and partial not to allow due time to consider this evidence, as well as that on the other side of the question. As to the rupture with America, the remedy proposed would tend to the abandonment of our maritime rights, and the paralyzing of our maritime arm.

called to order, on the ground that the hon. and learned gentle- man was debating the general question of the Orders in Council.

denied it, and said, his arguments merely tended to urge the necessity of some delay.

said, he rose to take notice of an expression dropped by the noble lord (Castlereagh,) as to ministers "taking charge" of a discussion. So far from agreeing with this unconstitutional doctrine, he should be glad of an opportunity of discussing a great and important question, when there was no government existing to influence the debate.

explained, that without ministers the House could not obtain full knowledge of all the circumstances necessary to a decision.

observed, that to a stranger accidentally coming in, the expression would carry a very different import. As to our correspondence and relations with America, all the world was in possession of what was denied to that House; and yet the noble lord who withheld this information, gave this very circumstance as a reason for delaying discussion. The admonition given to his hon. and learned friend (Mr. Brougham) would, he thought, apply much better to an hon. and learned gentleman opposite (Mr. Stephen.) He begged the House to reflect, that the country was waiting, with breathless anxiety, for the result of the debate of the House of Commons: that the delay of a week might turn the scale, which was now balancing between peace and war. Gentlemen would have time before Thursday, or they never would have time. In the Walcheren business, there was only an interval of a week between the giving of the testimony and the debate. With his apprehensions of the danger of delay, he thought his hon. and learned friend would not be justified in postponing the debate beyond Thursday.

said, he saw no necessity for the hurry, in bringing forward this question, which the hon. and learned gentleman seemed to be impressed with. As to what was passing in America, it did not allude, or belong to the Orders in Council, but was intended to deprive us of our maritime rights. He thought it was necessary, at least, that the whole of the evidence should be fully before the House, and in the hands of the several members who had not attended the examination in the committee some days before the discussion took place; that every one might have an opportunity of comparing the evidence on both sides of the question. He hoped, therefore, the hon. and learned gentleman would consent to put off his motion to some more distant day.

said, the only evidence not yet printed was that of the hon. member who had just sat down, and that evidence was in his opinion, the strangest there was against the Orders in Council. He must, however, confess, he found a difficulty in going into a question of this great importance in the total absence of an administration. On the other hand, he could not but ask, how long long was the House to wait for that event? A delay of nearly a month had already taken place, without an administration having been formed; and there was no saying, as matters had lately gone on, when the task would be accomplished. He thought, therefore, that they should come to some understanding on the subject. Would the noble lord, and the right hon. gentleman (Mr. Rose) agree to an early day in the next week? If they would, he for one would be inclined to postpone the business; but if no proposal was made from that side to some such effect, he should support the day fixed on by the hon. and learned gent.

said, he thought Friday sennight would Le the earliest day that it could be brought forward, with any chance of a due consideration being given to evidence which was so voluminous.

said, that when he considered the responsibility which rested on him, he did not feel himself at liberty to accede to any delay whatever. If the House thought proper to take on itself to do so, they certainly had the power; but he would not take any part of the responsibility on himself: and, indeed, should the House be inclined to allow any delay, he saw no reason why they should extend it beyond to-morrow se'nnight.

After some short conversation between him and Mr. Rose, it was finally settled, that the motion should come on on Tuesday se'nnight and Mr. Brougham gave notice of it accordingly.

said, that it was much against his inclination to postpone the motion, of which he had given notice for this day; but in consequence of what had been communicated to the House by the noble lord, he would deter it to Wednesday, when, if an administration was not formed, or in the highest state of forwardness, he would certainly bring it forward.

, before the noble lord left the House, begged leave to ask him the question to which he had before alluded, and that was, whether the Prince Regent, in nominating lord Liverpool to be the first commissioner of the Treasury, had vested him with a power similar to that given to lords Wellesley and Moira to form an extensive and efficient administration, or whether he was to make it up out of those who had been in before?

said, it was not in his power to give an answer to the question.

then gave notice that he would to morrow move an Address to the Prince Regent, to express the regret of that House, that his Royal Highness had not been able to form a strong and efficient Administration, according to the tenour of the Answer given to their late Address, that he would endeavour so to do. He had, in bringing forward this motion, no wish or intention to impute any blame to the Prince Regent, or to his ministers, for not having succeeded in their endeavours; but after the late Address of the House, and the Answer returned to it, he thought the House of Commons had a right to an explanation.

said, he would leave it to the discretion of the hon. gentleman, if it would not be better to postpone his notice for a few days.

said, he thought the noble lord had better name a day, when he thought lord Liverpool would be able to form an efficient Administration.

said, he thought Thursday or Friday would be as early as he could name.

then fixed Thursday, and gave notice accordingly; and general Gascony postponed his motion to Friday.