JB/109/175/001

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Mr. Bennet.—§Such was the situation of this desolate and
§unprotected woman, and who, on the other hand, who opposed
to her? In one word it was the King of this country—
§The Master, not, thank God, of our lives properties; but
§exercising a direct and positive influence over the merry House
§in which she was to be tried, by the power of conserving titles,
§ribbons and orders. [order! order!]

Lord Castlereagh rose to call the Honourable Member to
§order. It was highly unparliamentary to allude to the Jove—
§reign in the manner in which the Honourable Gentleman
§had done, or to suppose that he could exercise any improper
§ influence over either of the Houses of Parliament.

§The Speaker said, that he had never felt himself placed
in a more difficult situation than upon the occasion
of the present discussion. It was highly disorderly to
impute to the Crown any direct interference with either
House or Parliament. At the same time it was so easy to
trade the strict rules of the House, by putting a case hypothetically,
that much must be left to the discretion of Honourable
Members, and he doubled not, that if, in the course
of the present discussion, the name of the Sovereign were alluded
to, Honourable Members would feel the necessity of imposing
up on themselves more caution and restraint than upon
any other occasion.

Mr. Bennet disclaimed any intention of alluding to the
Sovereign in any unparliamentary manner; but when the
power and influence of Ministers were raised against a
forlorn and desolate woman, he was justified in contending
that the public to stand by her; and though the higher classes
of Society might abstain from paying the respect which
was due to her exacted rank, their neglect was compensated
by the reception which she met with from the people, who,
indignant at Secret Committees and Green Bags, and the
conduct of his Majesty's Ministers, thought there were odds
indeed against one poor woman, and threw themselves in
the opposite scale. The nation was scandalized at seeing the
names of the Royal Family brought into public discussion:
they saw the way in which her Majesty was treated, and they
felt, that if her daughter had been alive, or if the tate King
had been living in the vigour of his faculties these proceedings
would never have taken place. He knew from authority which
was not to be doubted, that the tate King had left a testimony of
his opinion of the manner in which she had been treated,
and of the provocations which she had received. He would not
go the length of saying that any provocation could justify dishonourable
or licentious conduct; but he saw no reason why the crown should be exemtised from that rule of law, which
applied to every individual, who sued for a divorce, namely
that

Identifier: | JB/109/175/001"JB/" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 109.
Date_1	1820-07-07	Marginal Summary Numbering
Box	109	Main Headings	Parliamentary Reform
Folio number	175	Info in main headings field	Collectanea
Image	001	Titles	Morn. Chron. July 7 1820 / Extracts from divers speeches in Queen's debate
Category	Collectanea	Number of Pages	2
Recto/Verso	recto	Page Numbering
Penner		Watermarks	[[watermarks::I&M [Prince of Wales feathers] 1818]]
Marginals		Paper Producer	Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington
Corrections		Paper Produced in Year	1818
Notes public		ID Number	35830
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