Star. — London, England, 1819-12-16 00:00:00

i r f I . # I 1 • ;. 1 .,,, J I j! J. , i, , , , 4 _r t 4 . This would cause a great saving of expense, and be was of opinion that the arrangements he desired to see made, would be most satisfactory to the country. He would recommend that examiners be appointed by the Committee to interrogate the debtor respect ing his property. He would compel the debtor to' take the benefit of the Act within a given time, and this provision he would found on the power confided to the assignees over the debtor's property. In cases where there was real property, he would sequester the debtor's estate, handing overthe rents to the cre ditor, but not proceeding to sell the estate. He wished to bring in the Bill before the recess; and afterwards, in the Committee, such clauses could be supplied as were necessary to effect the object in view. His object, in bringing it in before the recess was, to give Gentlemen an opportunity of consider ing it at. their leisure during the recess, and he was the more anxious to bring in the Bill thus early, be cause the present Act would expire on the 23d of Ja nuary. ile concluded by moving for leave to bring in the Bill.—The Illation was agreed to. BOOKSELLERS PETITION. Mr. JOHN SMITH held in his hand a Petition, to which he begged to call the most serious attention of the House. It was signed by fifty-two of the most eminent Booksellers in London, and was called forth by a clause in the Bill for repressing Blasphemous and Seditious Publications, which went to make, -in cases of Libel, the second offence punishable with transportation for seven years. It was unnecessary for him to state, that .many of these Petitioners were Gentlemen possessing large capitals—Gentlemen' who had received at excellent education, and whose at tainments would fit them for any society in this country. Such was the character of the persons who were alarmed at the clause in question. It was not necessary that he should remind the House of the uncertainty which attached to the thing called libel. In a recent case he believed that that which had bees found to be no libel in London, it had been decided, was one in the country ; and such circumstances oc cuning, it would he seen that it was not easy for a Bookseller to know what was and what was not a libel. The Petitioners were very desirous of repress ing. the circulation of seditious and blasphemous libels, but they humbly conceived that the applica tion of the punishment of transportation (hitherto re served for those who had committed felonies and offences of the most enormous kind) to cases of libel, was not at all analogous to the common law of the land, and would be most injuriously applied to such offences as the Bill seemed to contemplate. The Ho nourable Gentleman knew the Petitioners to have enormous capitals embaiked in trade: he might ven ture to say not less than some hundreds of thousands of pounds. He would submit it to the House, could these individuals carry on their trade with any de gree of security, if, having been once convicted of a Libel, they were liable for a second offence to be transported to New South Wales? He was sure that some of these Gentlemen, rather than be exposed to such peril, would abandon their trade altogether.— He hoped the Noble Lord, who had so laudably made concessions in other instances, would substitute some clause for that against which these Gentlemen had petitioned. If the Bill passed in its present form, he thought it would be most injurious and unjust, as it would, in effect, put it in the power of any discon tented individual, any journeyman or apprentice, to place his master in that situation which would sub ject him to the operation of this law. Mr. BURNALL was not afraid to avow, that the literature, dignity, and freedom of this country, were inseparably connected. He could bear testimony to the high respectability of the Petitioners, and he trusted the Noble Lord, bearing in mind their wealth, intelligence, and loyalty, would consider the prayer of their Petition entitled to the most serious conside ration.—The Petition, which embodied the following Resolutions, 'was then read: That we have observed with concern the increased and extensive circulation of certain seditious and blasphemous libels which have of late been printed and published, and are anxious' that such remedy may be provided as to the wisdom of Parlia ment shall seem ft; but that we nevertheless view with great apprehension and alarm, the provision of a Bill now under the consideration of the House of Commons,. entitled ' AO Act for the more effectual Prevention and Punishment of Blasphe mous and Seditious Libels,' so far as it is proposed that ft should be thereby enacted, that if any person shall, after. Ake passing of that Act, be legally convicted of having composed, printed, or published any blasphemous libel, or any each anU• tious libel as therein mentioned, and shall, after being so con victed, offend a second time, and be thereof legally co n victed, such person may, on a second conviction, be adjudged, at the discretion of the Court, either to suffer such punishment as may now by Ilw be inflicted in cases of high misdemeanours, or to be banished from the United Kingdom and all other parts of his Majesty's dominions, for such term as the Court, in which such conviction shall take place, shall order or to be trans ported to such place as shall be appointed by his Majesty for the I transportation of offenderi, for any term not exceeding years ; and that it should be further enacted,, that if any offen der, who shall be so ordered by any such Court as aforesaid, to be baniiihed or transported in manner aforesaid, shall be after wards at large within any part of the United Kingdom, or any other part of his Majesty's dominions, without some lawful cause, before the expiration of the term for which such offender shall have been so ordered to be banished or transported as aforesaid ; every such offender being so at large as aforesaid, being thereof lawfully convicted, shall suffer death, as in cases of felony, without benefit of Clergy. That the punishment of transportation and of death, ate punishments applicable only to felonies and offences, so Inecific and certain in their nature, as to exclude the commission thereof through ignorance or inadvertence, and necessarily to include the evil intent in the felonious or illegal act.-But that the offence of Libel is not specific and certain, and is incapable of being rendered previously certain by any specific definition; and that Libels may be, and frequently are, published by persons having no community of 'intention the authors or composers the!". of ; and being, from the nature of their business, necessarily it& acquainted with the contents or probable effect of the same. 44 That questions of libel, both in law and fact, are detet Mined by a Jury on the prosecution thereof, and that the 'verdict of the Jury upon a trial, is the sole criterion of jedip went, as to the legal or illegal manic and effect of a publication ; and that such verdicts, depending upon individual opinion, are always uncertain, and frequently contradictory, in so far, that the authors, and composers, and first publishers of political and other publications, have, in some i nstances, been acquitted upon prosecutions for Libel; and subsequent venders, no way con cerned in the printing or first publishing thereof, have been con • victed by different Juries for the publication of the same Libels, and punished, upon such conviction, by fine and imprisonment. That a verdict of acquittal, on a prosecution for Libel, whereby the publication complained of is declared, in the opi nion of a Jury, to be innoxious, does legiti ma t e the batik it becomes, that we may innocently, and with good inten tions, fall under the censure and punishment of the proposed Law. ''That instances are not wanting, in which liookseUers have been convicted, and have Suffered poolihment, for the sale of libelleus works, by servants, without their privity, and, it may be, even contrary to their command; and that as no circum spection can guard against tbartualice of an offended, or she ne gligence of a careless, servant, we shall be liable to incur the ultimate penalty of the proposed Law tor acts of which we are not even cognizant, and against which prudence would be unavailing. " 'Tat from the nature of our trade, we are daily employed to execute orders honk customers, as intermeciate hands, in the distribution of new works, of the contents and nature whereof we are unavoidably ignorant, and that for each copy of such works so distributed by us, we are now responsible upon an in dictment or information, and are liable, notwithstanding the perfect integrity of our intentions, to punishment, as in CASe of a mi‘denreanour; and that if the proposed Bill should pass into a law, we may in such cases become liable to transportation for seven years, and to the punishment of death, In case of return from transportation. . " That a very great number of historical, politicil, and religious Willis, are written, and composed, aid published in London, at stated periods, and that most of such werki are of temporary and immediate public interest, and that such works issue from the Press, and pass through the hands of several different Book sellers, and many thousands thereof are delivered to the readers 'thereof, within a very few hours after their first publication, and that a previous perusal or consideration of such works, by such venders of the same, as are not the original or brat publishers of the same, is IMpracticable. " That many standard works upon historical, philosophical, and political subj ects , which have now obtained a classical repu tation, and are daily sold by respectable Booksellers, endet the license of a long prescription, may.be reasonably considered so he liable to question aelibellous, by aindogy to more recent works which have been subjected to proseentiont and that such standaid works, therefore, do not present any criterion fur judgment sato the effect of New Publkadotis,but may themselves be the sub jects of future prosecution, and may subject the veoders thereof to the punishments proposed by the said BBL. "Thu the ignominy of a punishment which his proposed to make common to Auttprs Primer,,, Booksellers, and fetal" while it operates to dear ' learned and respectable writers, at the most virtuous principles, from treating on political or religious subjects at all,' will especially prevent them (rem engaging In the composition of Reviews, Magazines, and other vehicles of periodical discussion, to the great and permaaent detriment of leaning; and will seriously injure the trade of Bookseilera and Printers, in which they have large 'capitals embarked—especially in that extensive branch of it which em braces the most respectable Periodical Works in the Country, and wilt tend to throw them into the hands of reckless and desperate men. " That although we • have the greatest confidence in the wis dom and integrity of the present Judges of his Majesty's Courts of Law ; yet that the power to expatriate and transport for a crime not specific, but indefinite in its nature, which exposes ignorance and inadvertence equally with intentional guilt, is of too extensive and dangerous a nature to be confided to any aa- . thorny whatever, to be exercised at discretion • and that in re lation to a crime whose turpitude is height e ned or diminished by the political aspect of the times, such a power, especially if Tendered permanent, migght become the engine of great injustice and 'oppression, against whith no character s however: perfect, would be a protection. " That from the circumstances stated, our trade and means of living, if not totally destroyed by the intended Bill, Would be carried on under a stater of hazard am/insecurity, productive of constant mental inquietude, and destructive of the comfort of ourselves and our families. " That a Petition be therefore presented to the House of Commons, praying that the said Bill, so far as respects the Blnishment of Transportation and Death, for vending such asphemous or Seditious Libels as in the said Bill is mentioned, may not pass into law." Lard CASTLEREAGH said. it might be conveni ent to the House that he should- now state what was intended to be done with respect to the part of the Bill for putting down blasphemous a:-.d seditiotis publications, to which this Petition applied. In the Committee, he intended to propose an alteration which, he hoped, would, in a great measure, meet The views of the individuals who had signed this Pe tition, than whom there could be none more respect-, able—note less likely to offend such a law. He now wished to state, that in the Committee he did not mean to press the transportation part of the enact ment—(Hear)—adhering, however, strictly to the principle 'of the Bill to secure an adequate punish ment-for the repetition of the offence of publishing a blasphemous and seditious libel: But since it ap peared that there was a general feeling against ap plying the punishment of transportation to such an offence—and as it was thought that, without resort ing to it, adequate protection might be afforded to the Public, he was content to give up pirt of the .clause, and leave the offending individual subject only to banishment, but liable to transportation, on returning from banishment, before the period for which he was banished had expired. The punish ment of death would, of course, be done away alto gether on returning from transportation, as no trans portation would take place. This was the course he was disposed to pursue, and, he trusted, it would be satisfactory to the House, that the extreme punish ment, intended to be inflicted under this Bill, should be banishment. Mr. M. A. TAYLOR_ said, unless the Noble Lord proved that the present laws were insufficient to re press • blasphemous and seditious publications, he, if he were to be the only man in the House, would certainly oppose the measure. He thought this Bill ought to be opposed in the first instance, as it went to create a new offence, unknown to the law of the land. It would be for the Noble Lord to explain why this Bill had been brought forward at all. To him it appeared that, within the last three weeks, an attempt had been made to change the whole Consti tution of the country. .Lord CASTLEREAGH hoped, it would not be iffpposed that he had expected the statement which he had just made would put an end to all argument on the subject of the Bill about to be read a second time. He had thought it but right to give the House fair notice of the alteration he intended to bring for-, ward.—The Petition was ordered to lie on the table. STAMP DIiTILI• SILL. Uri CASTLEREAG.H rose to move the second reading of this Bill, and Observed, that in SR, Aoing, be might satisfy • the object of the Right H on . Gen tleman opposite (Mr. Tierney), as Well as his own, and the general convenience of the House. The Bill might then be committed to-morrow and reprinted, so as to be in the hands of Members on Friday next. On the question of the third reading the general prin ciple of the Bill might be * discussed, and he appre hended that this course of proceeding would be found the most advisable which could; under the present circumstances, be adopted. The alterations which it was in contemplation to propose, he would now en - shortly to explain. The first branch of the ,asure was that which rendered it applicable to all ,nlWications sold under. a certain price, and treating of political matters. There were two classes of works which he did not think it necessary to include in this description : the one consisted of occasional publica -tf a local nature, arid involving only local in , the other respected periodical words, pub at interrah considerably distant Item each • other, and which were of considerable import both as they related ie the diffusion of knee and the support of religion and morality--vh It did not appear to him that it would be pp saddle such publications with the new duty pence upon each separate Number. The Hot,. readily see that the great object of this mean to apply only to works-which were the mischief, and - the means by which sedition al phemy were - prdpagated-thicingh the country'. intended, therefore, to confine its provisions odical works published. in Succession 'of '26 days, so as in fact to exempt all month , other publications not.comiog forth within the Still, in_order to guard against the means of invasions, it might be necessary that the pm, publication should be required to be unifor that the application of stamp duties to all sot veying intelligence, should not be avoided, second branch of this Bill referred to the si securities to be given by persors prablishing intelligence of a particular kir.d. It was not to press inconveniently on Newspapers, the pal end in view being to put a responsibili persons who sent forth works of a pattici scription to the Public. Ile certainly must the principle of requiring security from the of all papers or pamphlets of less than two sold under the price of 6d. and issued withii riod to which he had alluded. At the saint wished it to be understood, that the new stems should only be co-extensivewith periodical pr' The security required, as the Bill was now was .C. 500, generally from the Printer—it I his discretion to produce it himself, or obtain three or fcur other persons. It had been him, that this sum was too large; and m i g h t easily raised, or answered for, in some places others. The times, however, in which seemed to him to require, that persons exeri power of the Pies, should be men of some bility and property. But as it was represet this sum of £5OO might press too heavily of of a moderate capital, or in distant places,' propose to reduce the sum to £3OO, in ' its vicinity, and to r2OO, in the provinci He was aware that it might bettriied, that persons not possessed of any capital, who anxious to address the Public on political , Cases of individual hardship might certai; but at a time like the present, it appeared ti cessary that the law should be made e ff ect! purpose. Arguments might certainly be to the influence of pamphlet writing upon andinterests of the Community. Into that. he would not now diverge. It affected em general principle; and all that he now meant give a .general description of the Amendr modifications which he was ready to support. Mr. TIERNEY declared that he felt much to the Noble Lord for the explanation whit' just given. Without abandoning his objections principle of this measure, he was willing with the Noble Lord's proposition as to His only dcubt was, whether the Bill, as might not be in the hands of Members before and whether it might not pass through the' tee that night ? Mr. BROUGHAM wished that the grout which he assented to the second reading distinctly understood. The explanations been given did 'not at all remove his general tion to the measure; but he certainly coul,' no advantage wriCh could be derived from it until it was printed with its new alterations. all that had been said, he still remained of that the introduction of a new punishment , law was the most dangerous innovation who been attempted in his time. To another prim' must also decidedly object. It was that whit forth that the possession of a certain fortune cespary before any man should discuss pat' dons through the Press. The Bill was then read a second time, and to be committed, to-morrow. Lord CASTLEREAGH then observed, respect to the Bill relative to Blasphemous tious Libels,. he was willing to postpone the reading to Monday next. The order for the second reading was postponed to Monday accordingly. The second reading of the Libel Bill was postponed to Lord CASTLEREAGH said, he trusted there would objection to the seeoled reading of the Misdemeanour Mr. TIERNEY warn not aware of any objection t.. Mr. BROUGHAM would not object to the second He considered this Bill as a desirable measure. It duction of a great Whig; pod, as he had heard, the came from a friend of his, a great Whig, incited, ' grew wig who claimed the credit of it. Lord CASTLEREAGH said, as the measure was it was not worth while to dispute as to who was its The Bill was then read a second time, and committed. Lord CASTLEREAGH then moved, that the Report Seizure of Arms Bill should be brought up. Mr. PA U LETT objected to the provisions of the " extended to the North of Durham, which was perfect:. Lord CASTLFREAGII contended it was necessary the measure beyond the diseased parts, to prevent its Mr. LA MBTON again repeated his objections and moved as an Amendment, that instead of now, should.be received this day six months. Upon this, Mod. Pt a division took place :—For rnent, 38; for receiving the Report, 94. The Report was then received, and the Bill ordered a third time to-morrow. • The othr Orders were disposed of, and the Hel:S.l • THE tRAWKLIN MANESCOEIPTS; quested to state, that the Fifth and Sixth V the' Octavo Edition of " Franklin's Memo, taming his Posthumous Works, are now delivery at the Publishers', Cousins); and duit-street. —Also, a Third Edison, in Octas " I.etters written during a Ten Veers' Resident. (*curt t:f Tripoli, publishedfrom the Originals. possession of the Family 9fthe late Richard Ti the British Consul." New ComET.—A new Comet has lately served, by M. BLANPAIN, at Marseilles, in wing of the constellation Virgo. Its angular , ter appeared to be about six or seven minutes— , germ of a very small and confused nucleus 1 - observed, but no tail whatever. The followini nervations have been made : on the 29th of ben At minutes past six in the morning, true time, 138 deg. 7 min. right ascension, 3 deg. North declination.—On the 30th, 4.5 minutes past five in the morning, right ascension, 184 deg. 1 min. North declination 1 deg.—On the 2d December, at six mt notes-past.five in the meriting, right ascension 185 deg. I mitt. North declination - 2 deg. 3 min. o IOU reicoa T b n i; (i n ui s ci I c e e t t' phcr a YlP , P °t e l l ° ( ' l er . r . , f no lt b Pa j e c e : d f t eFt , j i i Fh orr r. uoa an that tip, f ntfo tlcadtrn:iumdy..;pdelhLt‘o,de.btrne:.'4ac.d S l t 114 1°P P enl i inns to ibili arti ust 11 works cot 5) I >ideto subject 4 p lin g facts s p not linen, , , the psi ne :, h ro 0 n e auesicr p : ihetc t es t iideb e b ictioati t i, s almg h o. nil rithin the p e o.rn )l and ,ame time stam T 1 now framed, • —it being ••' P •btain it from ten stated to r 1 tig n in ch we lived, ." -ti th e one respects. resented, :hat ly on persor 3 r T ces, he wc,u . .l • stt • • 'sculls towns iat there were at rho were still • 7 ' cal questions. rtdinly ariy• ed to him ne- feetual for its in , be raised, as .on the morals of hat argument , entirely the s o meant was to sentiments se pport. much whit.h he h. 41 •. t jectiots to the an lling to close arrangement. Pe as reprinted, th before Friday, ,ss the Commis- rett ground npen ng should Se e a as which had ch general objet. 'ould perceive •r i om discussing rations. After rd of opinion vent into our in which had 'l* principle he it which held rtune WAS ne. ?olitical gum- and ordered • ed, that witis T ous and Sedi. ne the second a rag read, and oned to Moan'. ere would be no our lkil t ht. lion to !Hs lA second %Ain. It NV;:.S the pro- the FLggestioa ed, but nocthe !was a good one, s its author. ammitted. 1 he Report of tie • of the Bill bed racer:) , tratiguL cowry roe:stead of its spreadirgt ions to the sow, the Hyper' For the AM ed. rdered to be rcd ad . ;0%•17..e11. —We a: c re- h N'cl.ittres ct femcirs, - ow ready for Ind Co. 'Co' )ctavo, of e rsiclence at the ;finals, ill the Esq. .tely been ob- , in the south e- Fo e llowing e u llui n l : a uw r ht. e s _Lidnsigabme been b- of Novem- writing, true S dee. North PA R 1 M MEN TAR y PROCEEDING,S. • _ f '..‘l& , I ;~ I! • •OE ' .N .' t i 1. i . N , : h - ' s - lIOUSIN OF LORDS, DECEMBER IS. The Earl of *III ANEf pres..qued a l'ctition from the Car yoration of the City of Rochester against the new measures row pending. 'File Petition being read, was ordered to He on the table. The Duke of DF.VONSHIRE presented a Petition from an Indi-idual, Mr. Thomas Flanagan, complaining of certain injuri eel practices with respect to the Tolls and other Imposts in the Town of Sligo, and praying relief.—Ordered to lie on the table. Their Lordships, in a Committee, went through the Malt and Pensions Daty Bill, which was reported without any amend ment.—Adjourned sill to-morrow. HOUSE OF COMMONS. • Mr. B. W I LnnATIA Al presented a Petition from a Mr. W. Salisbury, a Gentleman who bad devoted much of his time to finding beneficial employment for the Parish Poor. This plan had hem successfully acted upon in several Parishes, and the Poor hi various places were now employed in manufacturing articles from fiaz, and in growing that plant. lite Petitioner did not pray for any pecuni..ry grant, but conceiving himself to have succeeded in the object lie had in view, he called upon the House to institute an inquiry into its merits. • The Petition was then read. It set forth the importance of employing the Parish Poor, and prayed that the Petitioner might he allowed an opportunity of proving the merits of his discos% ry. Mr. R. WILBR AIIA M moved that the Petition should be referred to a Committee. Lord F. OSBORNE inquired of a Bight Hon. Gentleman opposite (Mr. S. Bourne), if it were intended to revive the Com ntittee en the Poor Laws? Mr. S. BOURNE said be had not yet made up his mind on the subject. Mr. Alderman WOOD knew that the plan of the Petitioner had been adopted with success in one of the Houses of Correc tion in the City of London. As far as the experiments bad gone they met with the approbation of the Magistrates. The ques tion arising on this Petition would, be thought, be compre hended in the motion to be brought forward to-morrow by an Honourable Baronet (Sir W. De Crespigny). Ile would there fore submit it to the consideration of the Honourable Gentle man, whether it would not be as well to let this motion stand over till that of the Honourable Baronet had been decided, in or th. r to avoid burdening the house with too many Committees? Mr, B. WI LBRA HAM had no particular objection to act on the suggestion of the worthy Alderman, but the object of the two motions being different, he thought it might be as well to move for the nominal appointment of a Committee, with an un derstanding that it should not sit till after the recess. Sir W. DE CRESPIGNY said, he should be extremely de sirous of supporting any plan of this kind, as the experiments which had been made had proved very successful, and would, if carried on to a great extent, be most beneficial to the countty. Ilis motion, however, went on a larger plan, and would call the attention of the House to the advantages that might be expected to result from encouraging spade husbandry. A desultory conversation followed, in which Mr. hlztusn, Mr. S. Minus, Lord F. OSBORNZ, Mr. llositssou. Sir. W. Da CKEirIGNT, Mr. J. SIMPI, Mr. B. WILIZAMAI4, Mr. Alderman Wool), Sir C. Bugatti, Mr. Lvrrti:ox, and Mr. Wu.agaroacr, participated ; after which the motion for referring the Petition to a Committee was withdrawn, and it was ordered to fie on the table. Sir C. BURRELL said it was the opinion of some of his friends, that the bringing up of the Report of the Penryn Bii bery Prevention Bin would be better postponed till it could be k-own what course was taken with the Borough of Gram pi,und. He complied with their wishes with pleasure, and would accordingly move that the bringing up of the Report should be postponed till Friday, when, if necessary, he could n-eve that it should be further postponed. Sir C. MONCK inquired if the Honourable Baronet had considered the possibility of giving the elective franchise to the adjoining Hundred? Sir C. BURRELL thought that course would be inconve• - ni.r.t. If adopted, the voters would not thank the House for it. 4.5 it would give them a minor benefit, while it took from them a major. It would take from them a vote for a County Mem ber, and give them in its stead a vote for a Borough. Ile was proceeding to point out the view which might be expected should be taken of this change, when The SPEAKEjt interfered, by remarking, that such a line of argument could not conveniently be pursued, where an Order of the Day was moved merely for the purpose of postponing it. The Report was postponed till Friday. Sir IL PEEL moved the second reading of the Cotton Fac tories Amendment Bill. Mr. HUME did not rise to oppose the third reading of this Bill, but he called the attention of the House to the frequent instances which had recently occurred. of legislatitn between master and man. in some instances be thought the humanity of the Rowe had carried them too far in such cases. The Bill of last Session respecting Cotton Factories having passed, he did not intend opposing this, which was to amend that Act, but he hoped the House would act with caution In such cases for the time to come.—The Bill was read a third time and passed. Mr. VYNN gave notice that he would, to-morrow, move f,r leave to bring in a Bill to amend the Act relating to Irish Elections, pissed in the last Session of Parliament. Mr. L FORSTER postponed, till after the recess, his Mo tion on the State of Education among the Poor in Irel and. INSOLVENT DEBTORS. Lord ALTHORP, in rising pursuant to the no tice he had given, to move for leave to bring in a Bill for the relief of Insolvent Debtors, felt it )necessary to offer some explanation of his present object, and of what had taken place in :the last Session of Par liament. He, in consequence of the Report of a Committee, had, in the last Session, brought in a Bill to alter the law with respect to Insolvent Debtors. The great alteration which that Bill made was to subject the Debtor to ah examination before he came into Court, and to compel him to take the benefit of the Act (if at all) within a given time. It was propoied that.he should be examined, in the first place, before three Commissioners, and to surrender all his property to be applied to the benefit of his ere. ditors. This Bill passed that House, but in conse quence of objections raised against it in another place, the measure was ultimately lost. In conse quence of this circumstance, an Honourable Friend of his had brought in another Bill to renew the old Insolvent Debtors Law for a short time. He (Lord Althorp) was out of town when this was proposed to the 'House, or he should certainly have felt it to be his duty to offer all the opposition in his power to a return to the old law, for the present system he held to be such, that it was impossible for the Commis soner (he meant not to throw any imputation on the Commissioner, or on any other person belonging to tie Court) to conduct the business in a manner that Mould be satisfactory to the Public. He understood that a new Commissioner had been appointed, and that Government had removed not merely the old Commissioner, but every Clerk (with the exception of or,e) that had belonged to the Court. In this instance,' 1% ithout wishing to say any thing against the charac ti r of the late Commissioner (Mr. Serjeant Running ton), he must say, that Government had acted most proi_erly ; for what had passed in that Court had taken from the Piiblic all confidence in it, so that the change which had been made was absolutely ne cessary, and the effect of that change was every thing that could be wished for under the present sys- 'Ling win cuulu tx ',1:41% - u iws I.IIIUGI 1.11 pi W:11. ay mon or a Jury, to he innoxious, does not legitimate the rain- d eavour : .: G - sa- need sale thereof, but that the same defendant is subject to pro- measure I . tern, by persons in trade. He was, nevertheless, secution for each subsequent act of publication of the same ". . . - tisfied, that without an alteration in the law, it , was work, and in doubtful cases is liable to probable eventual eon- P,..uwicatu eictinn and punishment; and that a prosecution for Libel, even of politic impossible for the present Commissioner, ho wever, great his integrity or activity might be, to do justice in enies of acquittal, does, therefore, generally operate to restrain which he descriptia [ll • 1 Il i betiimen all parties. But the effect of his good con- the Continued circulation of the offensive work, and in some cas , es , to suppress the same altogether. ' That as general Booksellers ard Publishers, we are more tions of a t 1 - duct had been such, that it enabled him to propose eepecially a ff ected by the proposed Act, and that the more ex- retest: ; I . that the Court should be under one Commissioner, ;: r ii:stead of three, as he had before recommended..-- tensive and respectable th e t ra d e earned on is, the m ore pro- ,hoed at t * . ~ •