Star. — London, England, 1811-05-18 00:00:00

--.~ INTRuIaiNCE. Ariir44L orriamczNci. irary, he was prepared to contend, it Was a most di rect one. The House came to a resolutitin of the FALMOUTH, MAY IS. 601.7 RT OF KING'S BENCH, MAY 17. 1 breach of privilege, and to a judgment upon it, and The Mediterranean convoy, under his Majesty's ship RAW- int F. HURIDETT V. THE MONT itON..c. ABBOT. ordered a warrant to he issued by their Speaker, and for the istui the warrant so ordered the present Re sow, appeared off here t h is afternmot, and were joined by the O ur R ea d er ' s are a l rea d y appriied that this case ng s hi p s in waiting. His Majesty a s hi p Fa vovarri, with trans- tion of trespass was brought; could any case rise more ports. •dm for Portugal, sailed from hence this day, but were has merged loth that which, in law, is called a De directly ? and had it not already been decided by the o bli g ed to return by contrary winds.—Arrived the Regulator, murrer ;in support of which demurrer Counsel was ' E LLIOT T, from Oporto.—Wind S. heard last Term ; the nature of which being simply i House ? The Court was 'called on to-Jay to do SCILLY, MAY IS. that of denying the plea which the defendant sets up I nothing less than to declare all which the House of Commons had done was wrong, Which he shouli Came in the Fezatotsn gun-brig, from a cruise off Qporte. t o the action, namely, that in issuing the warrant, and humbly submit they had no power to do; and unless PLYMOUTH, MAT 16. subsequently committing the plaintiff to the Tower, their Lordships were prepared to say that the Speaker , Th e vessels for Spain, Portugal, and the Mediterranean, uncle! he was justified by virtue of a Resolution of the House , eonvorof the RAINSOW and , SPITVIEE, which put in here on o f Commons, authorizing him to issue such I War in the performance of his duty, ought to have refused Tuesday, sailed again yesterday. Large detachments of infantry, . . cause melt commitment to the Tower, th ; . issuing the warrants ordered by the Honse, the Court for the army under Lord WELL:Norow, and also that under Gm- rant, and could not give judgment for the plaintiff. - He shoals! , House of Commons having deemed the said plaintiff , c oal GEAKAN, have gone out in these transports. Came in the GLEANER sloop of war, from the Mediterraneeo. to be guilty of a breach of their privileges, and being , now advert to those cases where the privileges Of the The SALDANHA frigate arrived yesterday, last from Cork- of competent jurisdiction to exercise the power of corn- . House had been madly called in quettion ; and their —Sailed the SCYLLA brig, the DIANA, and the PEACOCK, on a • Lordships would see what had been the opinion of moment to prison. cruise; and the AEVUEA cutter, to the Eastward. Also the eminent and sage lawyers on those occasions. The The ATTORNEY-GENERAL addressed the Court on RAINDOW and SriTriat, with the convoy for Spain and Porto- , Learned Counsel then adverted to the case of Lord gal; the ENDEAVOUR hired brig, with a eonvoy for Swansea ; I the part of the defendant, in reply to the arguments , ; Shaftesbury the Earl of A ylesbury's an d the BLOODHOUND gun-brig, on a cru i se. —Came up t h e bar- I I of Mr. Holroyd, on a former day, in support of the case ; that of bour to be docked, the -- Rn-ADICHA frigate, Capt. Lord NEvILLE. demurrer. The Attorney-General observed, that on Murray, Flower; and Cropley ; the last of which , he contended, was most decisive ; it having been carried PORTSMOUTH, MAY 17. the part of the plaintiff, every thing which learning through all the Courts of Westminster Hall, and a Arrived his Majesty's ships Deem/MART and LErtemtro, from and industry could do, had been done by his Learned the Downs, with a convoy. Sailed the GoaRAWICE, on a cruize ; • Friend and if the cases cited by him did not bear on writ of Habeas Corpus having been refused, had any the Natal), for the Downs ; and the ToiRACIAN , with convoy, ; one ever thought of bringing an action for trespass ? for Cork. The Diomtnk ay has come into harbour. Wind S.E. the case in question, no blame could attach to him Lord Shaftesbury was committed for a contempt and one advantage, however, had arisen from the time DEAL, MAY 17. breach of privilege ; he Sirapplied for a Habeas Corpus, which had elapsed since the subject was last before Arrived bit Majesty's ship liztt.ott.t, from o ff Flushing.— and on that occasion, 'l'. Jones, Justice, says, that Wind N. E. their Lordships :he had been able to look more mi- . it was not shown it was contrary to the custom of the nutely into the case, and by that means should be able SHEERNESS, MAY 16. . House to commit, the Court could only inquire into to compress his arguments in a very small space. It The several vessels bound to the River Thames are getting un- incidental questions—here was a direct judgment of d e r w ay : passed by an East India ship to the Downs. . would be idle in him to waste their Lordships' time, . the Lords. Wyld, Justice, says, " the ieturn is ille- Max 17.—Went out of harbour the PARTRIDGE man of war, 'by carrying them through all the cases which had gal as to the practice of our Court; but we have no jii and her crew ware paid their wages. I been cited by his Learned Friend , since a bare state- risdiction to enquire into it." And Justice Lansford LIVERPOOL, MAY 15. ment of the case would be sufficient to put the plaintiff off this po a rt gd fr ale o n m New s -York, which plue out of Court. It was stated on the Record, that this sa y s the same. The next was the case of Queen and she le Th eftsobinichleaorth n ald i l:. permitted to an entry by an order from the 'Treasury Office of the United States. The was an action o f trespass, brought against the defen. Commons had acted right in committing Paithey ? a loay Maddison had arrived, and took out an account of Mr. dant, as Speaker of the House of Commons, for hay writ of Habeas Corpus had been applied tor, the return Placa N IT's asking an audience of leave of the PRINCE REGENT. ing issued his warrants, as directed by the House to the to which was, that Paithey, in his character of return " The Lethur had arrived in the outer harbour of Boston, Serjeant, and to the Keeper of the Tower, directing and was taken po lea of by one of the United States frirates• the one to take the plaintiff into custody, and the ing officer, had been guilty of a breach of the privileges A paragraph in a Paper says, Commodore Hull was OR shore at of the House. The question with the Court was, whe the time the above happened, cud that be had dispatched a boat other to receive the body. In answer to that plea, it they Paithey should be discharged? Lord Holtthonght to her, ordering her release. was sufficient for him to say, the House ordered the " The Sally Aso had arrived of Cape Ann from Liverpool. Speaker . . , answer to issue those warrants • and that he shouldbe . dis . charged; but the other 11 Judges were " The Castor, CARET, from Liverpool, had arrived at New against nim, beingof opinion they werebound by the de would pet the plaintiff out of Court ; for this was York ; also the Honestus." cision of the House; and on that occasion that learned nothing less than an action against an Officer of a Court of competent Judge, Mr. Justice J. Powell, said—" Paithey was . jurisdiction for executing the or committed by another law, namely, the Law of Par ders of the Court. That no action for trespass would liament, and could not be discharged by a law by lie in such a case, the case of Bushell, of which so much had been said, had decided. Bushell did bring which he was not committed. The Court might judge of Privileges, but not contrary to the judgment of the an action of trespass against the Lord Mayor, Starling, House ; they were the supreme Judges of their Privi the Recorder of London, the Officer executing the le es ; and the Court could only judge incidentally." writ, and the gaol-koeper ; but Lord Hale had de - This, the Attorney-General contended, was a direct dared, that against none of the defendants would an case in point, and the Court would say, what he said, action lie. This was Lord Hale's opinion ; and it viz that the present was a direct case ; that the Court had always been held, that although, upon a writ of could not enquire into it had already been decided by error, the judgment of a Com t might be declared er a more competent tribunal, and could not be reconsi roneous, yet, that the Officer executing process in dered by them. The Attorney-General then adverted consequence of that erroneous judgment, was not de to the opinion of Lord Chief Justice Pemberton, that 1 prived of the protection which that process gave him. This day, at twelve o'clock, the ceremonial of de- sturdy Judge, who, rather than retract an opinion pro positing the Colours and Eagles taken at Barrosa, ia Inounced, consented 'to go to prison ; therefore from other case ; but he should n ot, ' if he were to sto p . Whitehall Chapel, took place. It was one of the i discharging his duty to . here, consi le himself • ' • c , r .as him no time-serving doctrines could be expected. With finest military spectacles ever witnessed in the Me-' wards the Court in this. He should, therefore, pro- reference to the Privileges of the House to commit, tropolis; a great concourse of persons of high rank of i teed to answer the case produced by his Learned he says—o The House possesses the power ;no Judge; both sexes hating been present. All the military ; Friend ( Holroyd), and shew, that not ore of them I believe, ever thought otherwise ;we Jo not question tile le Officers in London were present in the Uniform of . . bore at all upon the case at present before the Court ; gality of your order to commit ; but what we their Regiments. The Spanish and Portuguese Mi- - and in doing this, he should contend, that the House have to n inquire into is, whether it i was properly exe nisters also attended. ' 'of Commons had a right to commit for contempt, and carted ?" The next case he cited was that of the King Sir JAMES Vaot.ows, With several Officers of the a breach of their privileges ; that they were to judge v. Murray, 1 Weston, 09, in the year 1751 ; which Guards, and many of the wounded at Barrosa, has . jud gment could not be was an application to the Court of King's Bench for what was a breach, and their arrived at Portsmcuth—report says General GRA liAsta Habeas Corpus to bring up the body of B e defen , questioned in any other Court. It was neither pro- , who was committed for contempt of an order of will follow. I per nor decent, in his opinion, to state, as had been ' " am ' the House of Commons; on that occasion, Lord : By letters of the 9th, from Paris, we learn, that the stated, that if this were the case, the House might Holt, Mr. Justice Dennison; and even Mr. Justice' commercial distress is so very great, that confidence commit a man for wearing a green coat, or for any I Foster acknowledged the power of the House of Corn et) longer exists, Mid discounts are become impos - peculiarity in his person : for, was it likely that I mons to commit, and declined to interfere, and re sible. Two per cent. per month is paid for money t h e persons to whom the Constitution entrusted this mended the party. The latter great than, than whom borrowed upon goods, with the condition, that tile power, would so abuse it ? No man 'ever doubted there never was a greater advocate for the liberty of lender may sell the goods at the expiration of the that the House had the power of committing any the subject, or a more staunch adherent to the esta month, if not redeemed. I person, who, during their sitting, either by writing, blished law of the land, or a more decided enemy to Several persons landed on Wednesday at Dover or any other act, obstructed their proceedings ; the encroachments of Parliamentary and even Royal from Holland, from whence they escaped in a fishing- ' and if the Court looked into the Record, they would i authority, held, that the law of Parliament was a boat. They give the most deplorable accounts of the see that t he House had decided, that Sir F. Burdett I part of the law of the land : and that there would be state of that country ; but state that all was quiet had done so ; that they ordered his comm i t tal to the no need of such a law if they had not power to corn= 1 when they came away. !Tower, and directed the Speaker to issue his warrant 1 mit for contempt. Mr. Justice Holt was not quite so It is reported that advice had been received from for that purpose. The power or committing for con• explicit in his opinion ; but he agreed that the House the French coast of the arrival of JOSEPH BONAPARTE tempt, was a power which every Court in Westmin- 1 of Commons might commit for a contempt in the at Paris from Madrid. , ster Hall possessed, and without which, it was the By the vessel which brought the French Pa p ers, opinion a f 'Mr. Ju stice Wilmot, the y could not long 1 face of its proceedings. E edings. Lord we have received intelligence that a d e t achMent of exist. If per sons were tau g ht, that the y mi g ht pub- I LLENBOROUGII—u He made nd question power to commit ; because they might select persons (or emissaries as they are te rmed ) had lish libels on Courts of Justice, and escape, till over- ', of its even commit for crimes as they might impeach ; been employed by Bototemere to entrap and carry off taken by the tardy process of the law, he was con- I meaning, that having the power to impeach, they had the King of Paussia. These men , having arrived , winced, in these times, many would be found who I also the power to commit for other offences." near Berlin, ate said to have dispatched a messenger i would risk doing so ; and if this power was necessary Mr. ATTORNEY GENERAL resumed, and said, that to his Majesty, intimating that an ambassador from for the protection of the Courts of Law, he would the opinion of such a man as Mr. Justice Foster had BONAPARTE was in the vicinity, and requested an im- ask, was it less necessary for the protection of that ; even more weight with him than that of any other ef mediate interview. The KiNG, previous to receiving I popular Assembly, the House of Commons? And was , 1 , the Judges whose opinions he had quoted. Mr. Jus such summons, had heard of their app roach ; and there any part of our history which went to prove tice de Grey was of opinion, that the jurisdiction of either being informed, or suspecting th e ob j ect of their I that the wisdom of cur ancestors did not consider I Parliament e as one from whichthere was no appeal; mission, declined the interview proposed ; and has such a guard as necessary ? Lord Coke says, the i and it was like, with respect to its power to commit been since said to have put his person under the pro- House do possess the power of commitment, and that I if vie i for contempt, to any other Court , using the same tection of the. Emperor of RUSSIA . th e y had exercised it from time to timc. So, authority. Suppose the Court of King's Bench was It is also stated that a forced loan, to a considerable looked to the Journals of Parliament, from the ears I to levy an excessive fine, there was no appeal, he con amount, was now in agitation in Fr ance, from the liest p eriod at which the y were published, to the time • tended, from such a fine to any other Court. It was levying of which the most serious d iscontents were of t he Commonwealth ; from the Commonwealth to j a final judgment ; and the same rule must necessarily apprehended ; that an eminent banking-house having the Revolution ; and from the Revolution down a to I apply to the judgment of the Court of Parliament, lately failed for an immense sum, and applying to die the present day, it would be found, that the Hoist • - • - - - ' where the subject in dispute had undergone their ju -- • . . ' th. NEWNIARRET SECONtS SPRING MEETING, ‘Bll. TIMMY, MAT 17. Lord Lowther's Pair Star, 80. 1 21b. Ld Oxford's Martians, Bst. 11b. Y. C. 85p.-5 to 4 on Fair Star. Mr. Wilson's Wizard, beat Lord G. H. Cavendish's Middle tlorioe, Bst. 41h. ach. B.C. 500g5.-6 to son Wizard. Lord Oxford's Poulton, ist. beat Mr. Shakespear's Tumbler, 110. Tlb. Across the Flat, 500g5.-7 to 4on Poulton. Mt. Douglas's Gaiety, by Gouty, beat Col. Morgan's Presenta tion, by Star, dam by Drone, fist. 71b each. Across die Flat, songs. h. ft.-5 to 4on Gaiety. Sweepstakes of 100 gs. each, Se. each, h. ft. Across the Flat. Lord Oxford's Poulton, 6 yrs old, fist. 111 b. Sir W. Gerard's Oriana, 4 yrs old, Tst. 13th. - Even betting on Poulton. y fat. Emperor for relief, on a statement of the assistance they had afforded him for the prosecution of the war, wits treated with the most opprobrious language. Five French frigates are stated on the same autho rity, to have sailed for Batavia, with a new Governor, And some specie. It was likewise supposed, that from forty to fifty trigates would put to sea this winter. The Duke of Dantzic privateer was again ready to sail on a long cruize, having lately returned from the coast of America, and been refitted at Nantes. Her comman der is a member of the Legion of Honour. A conditional rule for a criminal information was granted in the Court of King's Bench, Dublin, on ..he 9th instant, against Lieut.-Col. MAGUIRE, for in sulting Lieut.WtwAss VERNER, of the 7th dragoons, with intent to provoke him to fight i a duel with a Mr. NELSON. WNW PARIM—The Merced, which arrived a few , !ays ago at Plymouth, has brought accounts from Africa, which completely pert an end to all hopes of the existence of Mr. Mut:oo PAnxr., the enterprising traveller. The research that had been made after hem, tended fully to confirm the accounts previously received of his dissolution. It seems the immediate cause of his death was a fever, brought on by the hardships and privations he endured. He drew Ins Last breath in the hovel of an old Negro woman. — not a vestige of his papers or memorandums had *conceived. at all these periods, had frequently exercised this right. It was unnecessary for him to cite cases : the Report of the Committee of the House of Commons was a bead-roll of them. His Learned Friend, whose ar. gument was one of the most ingenious he had ever heard, had stated several cases, in which Courts of Law possessed a right to decide on the Privileges of , Parliament. He (the Attorney-General) *Arrow- ledged they had that right in some cases, but not generally. He acknowledged they had the right, in questions of privilege, arising incidentally, but not in direct cases. The case of Benyon and Evelyn, upon which so much had been said, was an action for goodi sold and delivered, in which it was contended, that Benyon was a Member of Parliament, and therefore could not be sued ; the defendant contended, that al though Privilege of Parliament protected him from arrest, yet he was liable to be sued. Upon this clues- I 'lion the Court, although it lamented the necessity, did decide ; and Judge Bridgman observed—" the I privileges of Parliament coming incidentally before us, must be argued here ;" so the Attorney-Generatl observed he was ready to allow that when cases came collaterally before the Court, they were bound to de cide them ; but his Learned Friend, in citing this case of Beyon aad Evelyn, forgot to point out how it bore on the present, or how the present case could be construed as an incidental question ; on the con dicial consideration. It had been said, ►oat when the Court of Parliament committed for a contempt, it was necessary to state what was the particular breach of its privileges. This, IA thought, was unnecessary, as was decided by the case of Lord Shaftesbury—it being there held, that a statement of the offence ge nerally was sufficient. That no one ever thought of the idea of bringing an action of trespass for such an exercise of the pos. er of Parliament, was manifest from the conviction at the same time, that such ac tion could not be maintained. Could it be maintain ed, there was little doubt that the experiment would have been tried, nioreespecially in such turbulent times as those to which he alluded. No pains werethen spared to bring the subject to as fair and anxious a considera tion as possible. The subject, as he had before ob served, had gone through all the Courts of Law, and they all came to the same determination of remanding the party. From the recital of these cases, he con tended, that the Court of King's Bench would have very little hesitation in adopting the course of those enlightened Sages, who had pronounced, that the Parliament had such power to commit. Admitting, therefore, that the House of Commons had the power to commit; it was of 'no consequence to the main import of the question, in what manner that power was carried into execution. There was a continued stream of precedents, from the earliest times down • almost to the. prevent. Itere.was the history of thl. tittles to which he alluded; iiid the unan:m its opinion of every enlightened man at the time, all conviring in sapport of the doctrine, whit)* he this day contend ed for, That the House of Commons did possess the Privilege of committing for t nnempt, and that they alone were the Judges of what were those The question, therefore, whether the conduct of Sir r, Barden was a Breach 'of the Privileges, of the House ofCommOns; was tiot one for the fit con stderat ion of the King's Beitch Court ; the House itself- alone had that power. They determined that he had been guilty of a breach of one4f its privilege; they voted him to be committed to tRe Tovrir, and they ordered the Speaker to/issue his warrant for his commitment, and also the %Varmint directing the Governor of de Tower to receive him into his custody. In execution of these orders, the Speaker did issue his warrant, and Sir F. Burdctt was eventually sent to the Tower. For this act of duty, on the part of the officer of the House, in obedience to his orders, Sir F. Burdett had thought proper to bring his action. Upon this pail of the case, he trusted he had said enough to shew how the Court ought to act upon this occasion ; and that they would have no difficulty in giving an opi nion in favour of the defendant. He was not a*are that he had neglected to touch upon any of the topics urged by his Learned Friend en this part of the case ; if he had, it was from an unwillingness on his part to take up the time of the Court unnecessarily. The only question remaining for his consideration was that touching the question of right to break the outer door. His Learned Friend had stated, that this being a proceeding at the suit of the House of Commons, and net of the Crown, the defendants were not ju►ti. fled in breaking the outer door of Si rFrancis Burdett's house, although due notice was given to him of the cause of their coming, and although he refused to open his door when summoned by the person who served the warrant. His Learned Friend had laid it down as the law, that no officer of justice had a right to break the outer door of a man's dwelling, unless it was at the suit of the King. This, he contended, was not a correct statement of the law. He would admit, that no man had a right to invade the sanc tity of another's private dwelling, upon an individual and private wrong ; but, when the injury complained of went farther, and affected the public weal, then that extraordinary power, as in the case of the King, was given upon the same principles to the House of Commons, whose interposing authority was exercised for the public advantage. The doctrine he had thus quoted was laid down in several cases upon record. It had been held on many occasions, that the gang, being the guardian of the public property, he, alone, had such a power, but only upon the principle of his interposing such an authority for the public advan tage. In Cruain's case, in Cook's Reports, in the reign of Elizabeth, and afterwards finally determined in the second of James I. the Judges came to this de termination, 4 4 That no officer had power to break the miter door of the subject, upon any pretence whatever, , except or unless in the cause of the Queen, or for coatenritt." Now he took this opinion to be decisive on the present question—What did the word content/et apply to? Why, it must be applied in its proper meaning, to coedgmpt of Court. It applied to every thing in which the Public were concerned; to every Court where the public interests Were affected by the maintenance of the Court's authority. The privileges of the House of Commons were calculated for the benefit of the Public, and every violation of them was a violation of the public authority ; and it was, more properly speaking, a public wrong. Therefore he contended, that the interposition of the House of Commons, was but an extension of their legitimate authority for the benefit of the Public. This was not the cause of a private individual ; it affected the privileges of the whole House of Commons. Any man who would contumaciously resist the authority of the House of Commons, he must take the conse quences of such disobedience. If the House of Com mons had not acted as they had done—if they had not proceeded immediately to carry into execution the power they possessed— , and had submitted to the slow process of a suit in a Court of Law, in order to de termine the extent of their Privileges, the number of persons disposed to treat their power and authority with contempt would increase in thousands every hour. But he did not wish the Court to adopt his ( Mr. At torney-General's) reasoning upon the case ; he would beg their Lordships, in addition to Cemain's Case, to turn their attention to that of Briggs-Ist Rolls Re ports, 336, in which the same doctrine he had just quoted from the former, was laid down by the Learned Judge, namely, for contempt of Court, the same au thority was granted to the King, as for other offences, where the common weal was affected. With respect to the objection of his Learned Friend to the warrant by which Sir F. Burdett was committed by the House, namely, that the offence for which he was committed was not sufficiently described thereon ; be should only briefly observe, that it was quite sufficient for his purpose if the plain meaning of the words were understood. He would admit, that had the instru ment been prepared by his Learned Friend, or any other Gentleman more conversant with the technica lities of suck proceedings, the same objection would not have occurred . But the House of Commons was not bound down by the same forms and precis tech nicalities as Courts of Law. It was quite sufficient if the offence was described with so much intelligence as to meet the level of every man's understanding.— He was not now aware of any other point to which he thought it was necessary to make any reply. Hoping that he had shewn that what the House of Commons had done was perfectly justifiable in law, that their conduct, in all its parts, was not only justifiable, but in its manner strictly legal. He should leave the cause of his clients with perfect confidence in the hands of the Court. Mr. HOLROYD, in reply, said, he wished, that on a question of so much importance as the present, he had the ability and talents with which his Learned Friend had so handsomely complimented him ;—be cause the subject was of so much importance, a.ni involved such a great variety of topics, that he was afraid he should not be able to explain himself with sufficient intelligence to the Com t. His Learned Friend had said that he had established no substantial proposition upon this subject. to, which the Court could turn their serious attention. For his own part he thought he had established many important ones. In the first place, it was admitted to him that he had gone upon a line of argument, on which, he had every reason to expect he would meet with must opposition; -Ad , . I