The original bill stipulated that the sovereign's consent must be obtained whatever the age of the prince or princess, but in the Lower House this clause was altered so as to make the consent of the sovereign necessary until the royal personage desirous to marry should have reached the age of twenty-six, after which the union might take place unless objected to by Parliament, to which one year's notice of the proposed alliance must be given. Even with this modification, there was much opposition, but the King was resolved that the bill should become law. "I do expect every nerve to be strained to carry the bill through both Houses with a becoming firmness, for it is not a question that immediately relates to administration, but personally to myself, and therefore I have a right to expect a hearty support from every one in my service, and shall remember defaulters,"[141] George wrote to Lord North; but in spite of this expression of opinion, while the second reading passed by 268 to 140, the figures on the third reading showed only a majority of eighteen, the exact number of votes that had negatived an amendment to limit the operation of the bill to the reign of George III and three years longer. Burke denounced the measure, and Fox resigned his office so as to be free to oppose it; and their attitude was shared by the public at large.
[141] _Correspondence between George III and Lord North._
"Should wedded beauty Glo'ster's choice approve, And honour kindle at the call of Love, Oh! let forgiveness ne'er abuse the throne, Unmov'd, and sullen, hear a brother groan! _Gomorrah's_ crime alone shall pardon find, Or _Blood's_ offence, for _blood_. Should a mad brother in the June of life Debauch a virgin or seduce a wife, Risk his good name on _Whistle-jacket's_ speed, Or run the race of Folly, and succeed; That brother to the royal _bosom take_, And love the offender for; But should that brother wisdom's voice obey, And Hymen's torch to virtue light the way; That brother from the royal bosom thrust, Disgrace his honest offspring, and be _just_ Thus shall the genuine German line succeed, And the same lead run sterling through the breed."[142]
[142] "Peregrine the Elder": _An Heroic Epistle to an Unfortunate Monarch_. 1778.