Star. — London, England, 1801-02-12 00:00:00

P.IRLIAMENT iAr PROCEEDINGS. Ro mp or COMMONS, WEDNESDAY, FEB. ii. ELECTION OF A SPIAKIR. About four o'clock Lord HAWRESBORY rote, and addreffed Mr. Lee, (the Clerk of the Houfe,) in fubtlance fomewbat as follows As it appears, Sir, by the communication which )on read yefterday from the Right Hon. H. Addington, that that Gentleman has refigned his flotation as Speaker of the Hattie of Commons, I now rife to propofe a perfon whom I think every wav qualified to fucceed to the Chair. It is im poftible but that the refignatton which occafions this vacancy muff have made a very fcrious im preftion upon the Houfe ; it is impoffible to feel indifferent at the tors of a Gentleman, whore conduft, during the long period he filled that high office, was fo creditable to himfelf, and fo advantageous to the Houfc and to the Public at large. It is importible, Sir, not to regret the caufes which led to this retignation, and which deprive us of the advantage of as great and as fplendid talents as ever were difplayed in the fitu ation he has relinquifhed. From that exalted titu ation does the Right Hon. Gentleman retire, not for the gratification of any private views of h:s own, but in order to fill another lituation, arduous indeed, and momentous, which he never fought for, but whith he forbears to decline, from that fenfe of public duty which has hitherto direfted the tenor of his public conduit. In propoling a perfon to fucceed a charafter thus excellent and accomplifhed, I truft, Sir, that I (hall offer none to the acceptance of the Houfe, the choice of whom mull not prove as creditable to its Mem bers as it will be honourable to the individual on whom it may fall. If, by the exertions of i induftry and the difplay of talent, any Gentleman has ac quired that high charafter and confequence that have defervedly placed him at the head of a learned profeffion ; if, betides, the mind of that Gentleman was not contraCted by profeflional habiti or purfuits, but enlarged and liberalifed by an ettenfive acquaintance with the hittory and Magee of the country, and above all, infpircd and situated by a knowledge and a love of the great and ineftimable bleffings of our Contlinition • if to there more plaufible and prominent qualifica tions, the fame perfon thould unite an engaging difption, an unfullied purity of charadcr, toge ther with a firmnefs and impartiality of temper which no private or political predilections can pnf fibly bias ; could it be writ pollible to felelt a Gen. tleman who had fairer claims to the honour of fit ting in that Chair? But all there qualit;es lam convinced, Sir, (and the Houfe muff pa , licipate in that conviftion,) are eminently polfetred by Sir John Mitford ; apd without any further attempt to do juflice to his merits, I beg leave to propofe him as a perfon than whom none is better qualified to fill the Chair. Mr. I. H. BROWN feconded the motion.—l am very happy to have thc honour of feconding my nob], Friend in propoting Sir Jahn Mitford to fill the vacant Chair. The vacancy, Sir, we molt deeply regret. In our long and fevere conteft we have had the happinefs to fee in every department of Government the higheft Ilations filled with men of intrepid fpirit and aftivc exertion ; men, who from their patriotifra and abilities have deferved and obtained the public confidence.—But, Sir, no office has been filled more refpeflably thin that in which we of this Honk are' molt immediately concerned. Whatever prejudices political opi nions may have created againtt perfons who have filled other offices, I may aver, without the leaft fear of contradiflion in this Houfe, that there is but one opinion in it with refpeft to the integrity and ability of the late Speaker ; with refpeet to the moderation and impartiality he difplayed when he prefided in thc moll important debates—in &bates - too when our paffions were molt materially in flamed. The un:verfal and unanimous confidence which our experience of him for the !aft twelve years has created, I am perfuaded. can never be thaken by his conduit in any Ration. Whatever poll he may be called to fill, l am convinced his zeal and patriotifm will be as confpicuous as they have hitherto been, in the Houfe. and out of it ; his courage will never be appalled by danger, and that the moderation which has always guided him in that Chair will be equally proved in any advice be may be required to give. Without dwelling longer upon a fubjca, where, whatever I could fay, mull he anticipated by the feelirv , s of .dl who hear me, I Inuit exprefs the great preafurc I have that there is a perfon In eminently quafitied to fill that Chair, as he whom my noble Friend has pro poled ; a man who has rifen by acknowledged merit, and by legal' knowledge, to very high flatioas in his profefrion ; who has fat in this Houle during all the period our late Speaker prelided, and has taken a very adivc and diftinguillied part in molt of our debates ; not only thole of a political na ture, but in thofe, more efpecially, in which, from Iris profefficnal knowledge, he was molt able to 'Aral us. Thole who have had the happincfs of converting with him, or-of hearing him in the Houle, mutt be convinced that his knowledge is far from being confined to his profeflion ; that it is very clear and accurate upon every fulfied. The pradice of the law does not only give a titan knowledge which is required to fill that Chair, but an experience of the patlions of man which, in a mini' formed like that of my Honourable Friend, will produce the mva happy effeds, whenever he is to decide Cr to conciliate. The firft qualifica tion of a Speaker, is a warm attachment to the Conflitution. I know no man who undertlands the Conliitution fit well as my Honourable i end, from his knowledge of Englilh hiatu-y, as w 6! as law; and the nacre we uniferfland the tion, the more we mutt love and admire it. Sir JOHN M; ri osn.—The man, Sir, whet flinch in the titoation in which I now do, mtift be devoid of ad feelin-;s not to be overpowered by feniiments of gr _Attar I^.r the unmeritel encomiums th it have been laviiiied on iiim, and a fenfe of the high office w Inch he is In caned 1.1 1 :011 to SI SJ (kip at kart, am I impreffed with there fentiments, that 1 :au COIIidOUS Lit of very feeidc pcwers to fire them utterance. With thole who have on ormer occafions been propofed to undertake this important office, it has been cuitomary to expati ate on the duties it impofes, and their own inabi lity to difcharge them as ably as they could with. From this cuflom I mutt beg leave lomewhat to deviate on the prefent occalion : not, Sir, that I am not as deeply penetrated as any man can be with my own incompetency to fed: an ardu ous talk, but bee:tole I feel a deference fop the opinion of my hiends, who, I am fatisticd, would never have emboldened me to afpire to fuel: Ration, if they were convinced that I was wholly unqualified to fill it. Far be it from me to pretend to any uncommon degree of humility, Or any peculiar exemption from the influence of an honell ambition; but, in the prefent inflance, I obeyed the dictates ctf that ambition rather from the fuggeftiens of ro friends, than from any views of pecuniary eonfiderations. All thofe who knew the fituation whirl; 1 held at the Bar, and the ad -1 vantages and emoluments which I derived from a prolettion, to obtain lome eminence in which has been the objeft of the labours of my life, mull be fenlible, that by undertaking the office which I am now fo flatteringly called upon to difcharge, I fact ifice more than I could expert in any other fituation. Whether then it be my lot to fill that high Ration for a longer or shorter period, I fhould not lore fight of a profeflion to which I am fo much indebted, and that might lead to the moll honourable employments, for which 1 have left no effort unexerted to einalify myfelf; but keep it open, as a career which my habits and fludies have enabled me to run, and from which I may always cape& a_ competence and an inde pendence, which to me are every thing. In the mean time, as far as the endexeours of honer' in dultry can go, I will prepare myfelf for the dif charge of the new office, which it is propofed I fhould undertake ; and.l (hall (leen; it the hap pielt moment of my life fhould I fucceed in ob taining the good opinion of the Houfe, by my anxious efforts to acquit mylelf of the duties of the Chair, with honefty, independence, and im partiality. . Mr. SHERIDAN laid, that he perfeftly agreed in the panegyric that had been pronounced by the Noble Lord and the Honourable Seconder of his Motion on the merits of the Learned Gentleman. No Gentleman was more juflly entitled to the higheft honours to which the profeflion . f the law could lead—for no man, he believed, was more deeply verfed in the laws of the country. But there were other qualifications indifpenfible in the perfon who was adequately to fill the office of a Speaker of that Houfe, nor was it ever deemed ncceffary that he fhonld be a perfect lawyer. In deed, it had been afferted, that the Learned Gen tleman had beftow:d much attention on the Rudy of the Conlkitution, and that his purfisits had widely travelled out of the range of his profeflion ; and that confequeatly the Houle mull affent to the propofal of Sir John Mitford being called to the Chair. But lie mull exprefs a hope that the Houfe was not deftitute of Members in every fenle as well qualified as that Learned Gentleman to dif charge the high office of Speaker; and he mutt beg the Noble Lerd, and the Honourable Gentleman who made there affertions, to recolle& that it was the good old praCtice of the Houfe to look for Come independent country Gentleman to fill this high Ration, and that no perfon fhould be called to it who held any place at the will of the Crown. It was-with flu-prize he had learnt that the Learned Gentleman in queltion had already given in his re fignation of the place he had filled, as if no ob flack could occur to his appointment to the Chair. So far the whole bufinefs feemed to be a matter 1 of previous arrangement ; for the Learned Gen tleman himfelf confeffes that it was at the fug geftion of his friends, that he afpired to this ele vated Ration, and that in amlequence of that fug- 1 geftion, he had religned his other lucrative ap- I pointments. This alone appeared to him a fufii- I cient objeetion to the motion of the Noble Lord, I and furely it could not be deemed any great re commendation in favour of the Learned Gentle. man's elation. Thefe obfervations were not meant in the leaft as difrefpeftful to the Learned Gentleman, for whole abilities and chara&er he entertained the higheß opinion ; neither did he in tend any difearagement of his talents and qualifi cations, when he took the liberty of offering ano ther Gentleman to the choice of the Houle, to whole elation he did not think that any objeftion could be Rained. Indeed he was not fore whether the'Honourable Membei whom he wifhed to pro pole, was in the Houle or not ; or, la hether he had yet taken the oaths ? From this no impediment I could :mire to his elation, which would appear from the fpirit of the Aft of Parliament, which enumerated the qualifications that a Member mull poffels previoufly to his voting or taking a (hare in a debate after the elation of a Speaker. Here Mr. Sheridan called upon the Cie: k to read the Aft, which,bcing read, Mr. Pirr role to make a very few obfervations upon what had fallen from the Hon. Cmtleman who had fpoken lath. The Hon.. Gntleman teemed difpofed to propofe a Gentleman to fill the important office of Speaker, without having at all adverted to the circumstance, whetherothat Gen tleman was capable of being elefted, or even of fitting in that lioufe—lf the Hcn. Gentleman had adverted to the Ad of Parliament, he would have found that it was not only impeflible for the Hon. Gcneeman to whom he had alluded to exprefs in that Houle his aftent or diffent to the choice of the Houfe, fupporng it fhould fall upon him ; but for him even to be prefent at the Debates, with out incurring the penalties prefcribed by one Claule of the Aft in question, without having taken the Oaths in full Parliament. The lion. Gentleman certainly could not have been aware of this cir , cumßance, hut having now an opportunity of looking at the Aft- he hoped the Hon. Gentle man would not profs the fuhjefl any farther. For his own part, he was very far from prang this objeftion invidioully, but it was fo obvious and fo mfurmountable, tlut he could not avoid fog gefling it. He had heard 2-rumour of fomethirg of th.s kind b e i ng propofed, which had indaeeil hint to look ink tle clay - lion, and he then found, that the words of the Mt were diftinft and infu-' perable. The Hon. Gentleman feemed to be a little inierwiLd with his Honourable Friend for fitpoofing that the dacription - which he had given of the qualifications neccilary for a Speaker could only apply to his Learned Friend. The Hon. Gentleman (MI. Browne) certainly did not go to the tXtt:llt of fiiying, that thefe qualities were polreffed only br the Itigbt Hon. Gentleman who had been propofed ; he hoped and it-tilted, that if liat Right Hon. Gem ieman were not the objeft of , liein choice, th it there were many other Gentle men whole talents would enable them to diii;harge the duties of that important office with honour to themfelvcs and advantage to the Houle. It teemed however rather fingular that the Hon. Gentleman who feemed hart at the very idea of attributio:; talents peculiarly to any one perfon, fhould himfelf be to narrowed in his choice, as to propofe a Gentleman who was ineligible in point of form. The qualification for which lie teemed inclined to propole this Gentleman was certainly not one that belonged exchtfively to him, it was, that he was a Country Gentleman, a title that he polleffecl in common with many other Gentlemen of that Houle, but Ikill the Hon. Gentleman could only fele& one, and that a Member who from not having taken the oaths, could not confiftently with the forms of the Houfe and the words and fpirit of an At of Parliament, be the oßjed of their choice. The firft objeftion which the Hon. Gen tleman had made to the Motion of his Noble Friend appeared to him moll extraordinary, ant: fuch a one as he was inclined to believe had never been made before, it was that his learned Friend belonged to the profeftion of the Law, and that he had atttined the higheft rank in that profeffion which talents and indufiry could raife any man to. He did not mean to alien that there were not many Gentlemen who were not of the profeffion of the Law who were well qualified to difcharge the Office of Speaker, but undoubtedly it could not be denied . but that a knowledge of the• pro feffion, and that application to bufinefs which ge nerally accompanied it, mull be extremely advan tageous in the difcharge of fo arduous an office. Betides a man who Rudied the Law with enlarged and liberal ideas, mull acquire an intimate know ledge of the Conftitution, and a love for it, in creating as that knowledge was augmented. Thefe were circumftances, that, in his opinion, fo far from being an objeftion, were the ftrongeli re commendations to a Candidate for the Chair of that Houfe. He begged to obferve, that it was not merely that honed - zeal which the Hon. Gen tleman had fpoken of, that was neceffary to quali fy a man for the Office of Speaker: It required thofe habits of application, and that method and precifion in the difcharge of bufinefs, which be longed to the Profeffion of the Law, whole pro-' ceedings bore no fmall analogy to the proceedings of that Houle. It was not only in the public pro ceedings of that Houfe that the difficulties of the Office confifted ; there were many ,other parts of the duty that required thefe talents, and that vi gilance which had been uniformly difplayed by the Right Hon. Gentleman, who lately lo ably filled that Chair, and who, he bad no doubt, would carry into whatever other Ration he might be placed, thofe eminent qualities which were necef fary in arduous times, for difficult fituations. The other objeftion which had been made, was dill more fingillar than the former ; for ht objeCted to his Right Hon. and Learned Friend, that lie had done that, which, if he had not done, he would have been difqualified, namely, refigned his Of fice. So that the Hon. Gentleman had propofed one perfon fev the Office of Speaker, who was in eligible, and objeeted to another that he had quali fied himfelf for the office. If the Hon. Gentle man would look at the Aft of Parliament, he would find that no perfon could be chofen Spea ker of that Houfe who held any office at the will of the Crown. The Hon. Gentleman's objeftion, therefore, amounted to this, that his Right Hon. and Learned Friend b e ing ambitio us o f the ho nour of filling the Chair of that Houfe, and to take the chance of meeting with the approba tion of the Houfe, had taken the neceftary Reps to make himtelf eligible. The conduft of his Right Hon. and Learned Friend, upon this occafion, had difplayed that manlinefs and ftncerity which he had ever (hewn, and which he was lure mutt re commend him to the favour and good opinion of the Houfe, and make him the objeft of their choice. Mr. MARTIN laid, that lie had heard from dif ferent quarters a great deal of the integrity and other good qualities of the Hon. Gentleman, and among them his impartiality where that was an objeft, that he was induced to vote for him ; and he only wifhed that if he was chofen to the office, he would juflify the idea he had of him. Mr. NICHOLLS fAid, the Hon. and Learned Gentleman's charafter for underttanding was very high, and that was a general qualification f or th e office ; but there was Rill another qualification in him that was aimed peculiar to himfelf, and which fitted him mod aptly for this office, be meant the long habit that Learned Gentleman had been in of confidering cafes which related to rights of private property, and which gave his un derftanding a fuperiority in that refpeft over molt others. This was likely to be highly advantageous to the proceedings of the Houfe in a great part of its bufinefs, namely, Private Bills of various defcrip dons. It would be a great advantage to have fuch a perfon in the Chair of that Houk, for it would acquire a charaeler which it at preterit wanted— that of being equal to the other Houfe in their provitions for the difpcifition of private property. Mr. SHIRIDAN reqa c ti e d, th a t th e At Ot Par.. referred to by the Right Hon. Gentleman might be read; which being read by the Clerk accordingly, it required that the Speaker of the Houfe of Commons fliould not enjoy fo r th e ti me being, any office holden at the pleafure oftheCrown. Mr. SIIr a i o>.l. retamed.—He contended, that ytho the Right I Gentleman had laid down in fo peremptory a tc.nc as the Law of Parliament on this fubjeft, did not appear to be the fair con. firu:aios of the AO; and that in his comment upon it, he had difrovcred a difpolition to quibble and confound, rather titan to explain, and to lay hold of the letter of the law, arlailft he overlooked I l its fpirit. Mr. SHERIDAN afked, how tile fpirir ~; the aft could be followed up, it the perfon p t ... poled for the Speaker's Chair only reiigned all office holden by him at the pleafure of the Crown, an hour or two before the time of eleCtion, merely that he might render himfeli eligible accordiag to the later of the Law ? And be would afk, lisp pore the Hon. and Learned Gentleman wlii. lo lately held the office of Attorney-General fh,, u fj not be chola, would his Majefly's late ur prefem Minifiers (for he hardly knew how to mike a di, tinetion between them) venture to continue him in that office ? Or would they have Lean ii) un i u l t ! as to have advifed his Majeity to deprive . tl,l country of the abilities of the Hon. Gentleru.o! !in his official charaeler, without Itipula!irz pledging themfclvcs to exert their influence to lure his elevation to the Chair of the Hoof. ? '► conduCt unseal ds the Learned Gentleman had he..n premature and rafh, and towards the Hour: da: refpeetful. He would contend, that as the -`.f: flood, his Hon. Friend was as eligible as th- : Hon. and Learned Gentleman, and that it would have been more decorous for the Learned Genii,. man to have come down to the Houle in his ()Ili. vial charader, and to have taken his chance of being elated to the office of Speaker, ratter than to have followed the advice of thok w•l:',m he confidered as his powerful friends. It had been argued, that his Hon. Friend, whom he meant to propofe, was not eligible : but this, in paint of law, he would deny ; betides, as he underiluod that the Hon. Gentleman he meant to have pro. profed had already taken the oaths above Hairs, he would contend that he was not liable to any of thofe penalties in the Aft referred to. When he mentioned the name of the Hon. and refpeeiable Friend of his whom he meant to propofe (Mr. Caaaw.Duarias), the Houfe would at once fee, that he meant to bring forward no party man, and that the propofing fuch a perfon would not be mifconflrued into a propofal of faCtiop. With regard to the Right Hon. Gentleman who had Co lately occupied the Chair of that Houfe, he agreed in every panegyric which had been beamed upon him ; and he mull fay, he felt deep regret at hav ing loft him in his late charaCter ; and, without meaning any thing difrefpeaful towards• his p‘o. poled fuccelfor, he mull beg leave to paufe, and, at leaft, to require the evidence of faas before he agreed in the fame panegyrics upon him ; and he mull fay, that he felt his confidence fomewb.st abated, from the changes which had happened. when he law a difpofition in he new Miniitei s !o follow up the fame meafures with thofe who h.td retired. Lord GEORGE CAVENDISH Paid, that the prc fent times were peculiarly critical ; it. there )1- became the Houfe to confider its true ch.!. rafter in the choice they made of a SpeAc: He muff fay, that the Honourable Gentleman intended to have been propofed, was of that charaCter, from the knowledge he had had of him for many years, that had he been elated, he was Pure he would have done credit to hinuclf and the Houfe. He was a Gentleman who Rood unconneeted with all party, and, as Inch, had he been propofed, he fhould have given him his vo:e. He had long known the urbanity of his manners, and was Allred that there was not a more firm and independent charafter. The Houfe then loudly called for the pcilion, that Sir JoHN MITFORD be called to take the Chair ; which being read by the Clerk, was car ried without a divifion. Sir JOHN MtTFORD was then concluEted to, arid , feated in the Chair by Lord HAWRISEURY and Mr. 1. H. &owns. Sir JOHN MITFORD, from the Chair, then faid, that he could not but feel the deepell and moft grateful fenfe of the obligation he was under to the Houle, for the honour they had thus conferred upon him ; but he was encouraged to undertake the arduous duties of the Office, in the hope of being honoured with the confidence and fuppoit of the Houle, whilik it would be his uniform en ' dcavour, in difcharging the duties of the Office, only to confider what the Speaker of the Houfe of Commons ought to do, without any affe&ion, prejudice, or partiality wharfoever. Mr. PITT faid, he thought it right to apprife the Houfc that it would be proper to make known to his MA J ESTY to-morrow, for his approbation, upon whom the choice of a Speaker had fallen. The Houfe then adjourned at half pall five, till To-mon ow. REPORT FROM THE COMMITTEE ON ORDER, RISPEET- INC IRELAND. The Committee appointed to take into confide. ration, what additional orders, and what other re gulations it may be . proper to make, relative to the proceedings of this Houfe, in confequence of the Union of Great Britain and Ireland ; and to report the fame, with their opinion thereupon, from time to time, to the Houle—have• made a pro grefs in the matters to them referred ; and have come to the following Refolutions, viz. Ili-lotted—That it is the opinion of this Committee, that all Perron* who will queftion any returns of Members to fate an Parliament, for that part of the United Kingdom, called Ire land, which have been, or may be made to writs already if= fuel, a>: ordered to be iffued, do queftion the fame within at days after the fame !hail have been, or !ball be refpcdtiveiy re turned into the Crown Office of that part of the United King dom, called England. Refolved—That it is the opinion of this Committee, that all Perron. who will queftion any mums of Mcmhers to frrve in Parliament for that part of the United Kingdom, called Ireland, to writs not already ailed or ordered to he .rued, do Tuition the fame, by prefer/hag a Petition t• this Houk, with ill fourteen days nest, after the fame (hall have been brought "ffato the Crown Office of that pan of the United Kingdom. called England; or by lodging a Petition in the Office of the Clerk of the Crown in that part of the Upited Kingdom, railed Ireland, within fourteen days next, after the fame doll have been brought into the Paid Offke. Refolved—That it is the opinion . of this Committee, that when any filch Petition IhaU have hem lodged in the Paid Office of Clerk of the Crown, in that pan of the United Kingdom called Ireland, within the time befbre limited, the Paid Clerk Atoll forthwith make a copy thereof, to be preferred in the (aid Office; and immediately thereupon Sall tranfrnit filch original Petition (in the method ufed in conveying returns of Wrati) to the Speaker of the Houk of Comma to be by him laid be fore the Houfe: and, that M cafe no Inch Petition (hall bate been lodged in the fold Office, within the rime before limited, the Islet Clerk of the Crown Man forthwith tranfmit a Certif • este, in the Hke manner, to the Speaker of the Hook of Com e:mos, Sped by blanfetf or his Deputy, (reifying the tin e when fuch return was made. and that winch Petition bad iWC.I3. lodged in his Office previous to the date cilia Cenific.cc.'