Star. — London, England, 1824-02-19 00:00:00

, !,‘ .1114 A. ; •• - • ward was the identicalmeasure which he had last year the honour to propose. It v•ould be quite ridiculous in Min to claim the credit c.f framing a Bill calculated to remedy the inconveniences of the existing Bankrupt Laws, numerous and complicated a... they were. He had given,the subject all the *attention is his power to . bestow 111,en it, and had used every exertion of which he was capable in forwarding its execution'; but he (Mr. Smith) did not possess eittiet•the naeans or the legal in formation requisite for the complete eerformance of such a task, and he had therefore availed himself of the ablest assistance in his power to procure. The main author of tine measure was a well-known Solicitor in the City, of thename of Fteslsfield, who for twe -years had gratuitously devoted almost the whole of his time to the prosecution of this woe It. The Bill, therefore, had his must cordial concurrence; and the alterations in the Bankrupt Laws which it proposed to effect were such as were most desirable, One alteration in -parti cular appeared to him to be necessary in that part of the law which the Right Honourable Gentleman had t6uched upon relating to certificate, which was to pre vent the withholding of a bankrupt's certificate upon the opposition of a single creditor. Mr. Setjeant ONSLOW said he could not suffer that opportunity to pass without expressing his satisfaction that this'nleasure had been brought into the House. A long course of experience as a Commissioner of Bank rupts enabled him to say it was a most important and necessary mea Aire, and could not fail to be productive of extensive benefit. Mr. AI3EftCROMBY trusted he should be pardoned if he troubled the House with a word or two of observ- anion on the measure in contemplation, which related to u bjec t of considerable importance, and one deeply affecting the interests of a large portion of the people of England. If the object of his Hon. and Learned Friend • was merely to reprint in a different form all the Acts of Parl'ament relating to Bankruptcy now existing, he could not see the nece.sity or utility of such a measure. If, on the contrary, it was his intention to make alte. rations in the existing Acts, by leaving out certain parts, and introducing other material alterations, he would find that the task he had imposed on himself was one of extreme difficulty, and an eat: emely arduous undertaking ; and he hoped the Public would find no cause to complain of the result of his labours. He agreed with his Honourable and Learned Friend in the • tew which he took "of the expediency of allowing indi viduals, under certain restrictions, to subject themselves to the operation of the Bankrupt Laws. Such an alter ation, founded on the principle of the cessio bonorum Act of Scotland, he highly approved, and could not doubt of its proving highly beneficial. But, if he al tered the law in that respect, he would find that- there were many other alterations requisite. He ought to change entirely the character of the Act of Bankruptcy, which as the law at present stood, partook of the na• tut e of a Criminal Act. It should be divested altogether of i:s criminal character, and rendered more consistent s' ith the general spirit of the remainder of the com mercial law of the country.—Lowe was given to bring in the Bill.. THE CRIMINAL LAW OF THE ISLE OT MAN. Mr. CURWEN rose to bring forward the motion of which he had given notice, for a Copy of the Instruc tions transmitted by his Majesty's Government to the Duke of Athol, as Governor of the Isle of Man, direct-, int him to make certain alterations in the Constitution and Administration of the Criminal Law in that Island. The subject of this motion was a matter of the deepest importance as related to that Island ; and in order to bring it more fully within the comprehension of the House, it was necessary that he should state she Consti. tution of the Island. That Constitution consisted fi rst of a Governor appointed by the Crown, then of a Lieu tenant-Governor, an Attorney and Solicitor-General, four Judges who were called Deemsters, and the House of Keys, who were the Rept esentatives of the Is land, and consisted of twenty-four Membersiforming the Legislative Body ; laws passed by them having the full force of law on approval by the Governor. The Criminal Court was formed by the Governor, the four Deemsters, a Jury, and the House of Keys assembling in the open air, on a place called theTynwald Mount. This Constitution had prevailed in the island from the earliest periods of its history. Recently, however, a revolution was at tempted to be effected in the Constitution of that island, which struck all persons connected with that part of the kingdom with alarm. and merited, in his (Mr. Cur wen's) opinion, the serious attention of that House. At a meeting of the people and their representatives, upon theTynwald Mount, on the Oth of this month, the Duke . of Athol for the first time stated, that he had received ,instructions from the Secretary of State for the Home Department, directing that the attendance of the House Of Keys should not be permitted there in future. This declaration excited great surprise; but when explana tion was demanded, the Duke of Athol instantly dis solved the Assembly, and refused to give any at the time. When, however, a subsequent application was made for a copy of his speech, in order to found ulterior proceed ings upon it, it was promised, but that promise had not been kept, and the people of that island, a population of 40,000 persons, whose complaint certainly deserved some attention, had no alternative but to make the appeal which they now did through him, or be deprived of their ancient tights and privileges at the will and pleasure of the Governor. He said the appeal of the people of that island, for although he (Mr. Curwen) had been , prevented by circumstances from presenting a formal petition upon the subject. he still felt justified, connected as he u as with that Island, and knowing the sentiments of the great body of its inhabitants, to consider him elf as their representative upon this occasion. Their case he felt, and he trusted he should be able to make the House feel, was a hard one. In one moment, without giving them an opportunity for defence or expostula tion, one of the legislative bodies of the Island, and that too the one especially flamed to guard the rights a the people, was dissolved. There would alertly be another Court of Tynwald held; and he asked the House in what state were the judicial proceedings likely to be conducted? On the one hand, there were the Demisters or Judges of the Island, and the Jury ap pointed to try the issues between the Crown and the j risoners brought before them. On the other hand, there was the House of Keys, who for 400 years had enjoyed the privilege of interposing their advice and giving their vote. This body had bees dissolved by the Governor ; they had resisted that decree, and they would of course be at their post to claim their ancient rrisitege. Would the Judge then be justified it, Fro ' *looming senteuce upon any person arraigned before lion, until this question had been set at rest? If he did so; if influenced by the authority of the Governor, he so far forgot his dutj as to laid himself to a proceeding ~::, ~` .. • wpich was contrary to the established form of lair; he ( Mr. Cdrweri) would say ti at sneh* Judge would be guilty of k legal murder. . . The situation of the Judges in that islargi was indeed in ordinary cases l iable to stron g objection. ir hef held their office in a great measure sub ject to the will of the Governor. If they demurred they were not unfrequently dismissed; and a recent instance . of - a Judge who was removed without the fotm.of a . public trial, seemed to give a colour to the complaints which were made upon this subject in the Waal— Urlder all the circumstances he thought Were was am ple ground for inquiry into the subject helm e that House, or that the matter should at least.become a sub ject of solemn argument before the Judges, until which time he hoped the Right lion. Secretary (Mr. Peel) would issue directions to suspend the bidding of . the: I Court of Tynwald. This was, he repeated, a most.im portant question, which was not confined to those more immediately concerned, but involved a question of vital irnportaece to the corn munity at large. It had been said, but he (Mr. Curwen) was bound to disbelieve the asri.o ton s that this anempt of the Duke of Athol to de prive the House of Keys of the rights which they had so long enjoyed had proceeded from motives of private vengeance and personal hostility to some of that body. He (Mr. Curwen) however repeated, that fie could not credit that assertion. The Duke of Athol might, how ever, have been deceived by the representation of others, into the opinion that that body did not really possess the right which they claimed, and which they had so long postessed. If this were the case, it was but justice to the puke to undeceive him, and it.surely was but bare justice to the House of Keys, and to the people of .the Isle of Man, to give them an opportunity of vindi cating their rights, if they had any; and if they had not, it would at least be a satisfaction to them to know that they had not been deprived of them without a hearing. It was upon these grounds that he trusteclothe Right Hon. Secretary would afford a mode by which the question might be decided, and that he would, in the meantime, direct the suspension of the Court of Tyn wald. The Honourable Member concluded by moving, " lbat Jn humble Address be presented to his Majesty,.praying that be would be gradously pleased to cause to be laid before this Hopes. a Copy of the Instructions given to his Grace the Duke of Atbral. Governor of the Isle of Maa, directing that the attenda;ee of the House of Keys re the Criminal (bun of Tynwald for the general gaol delivery, according to the ancient custom and usage of that Island, should be discontinued. Also a oopy of the Memorial transmitted to the Duke of Athol by the principal inhabitants of that Island, for the purpo s e of being laid before his Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the Home Departtnent." Mr. Secretary PEEL regretted that the affairs of die Isle of Man had so seldom become a subject of di-cus sion is that House, as'to render him in a great tnissur e ignorant of many of the topics alluded to in the course of the Honourable Member 's speech. In what he had to lay, however, he should consider himself under the correction of the Hon.Gentleitan, Who was a Member of the House of Keys,as well as of the Houseof Commons, and would therefore give the House the Oenefit of - his experience upon those topics with which he (Mr. Peel) could not be expected to be as intimately acquainted as the Hon. Member. He confessed that he had been taken a little by surprise, as the Motion with which the Hon. Member had just concluded was very different from what he had been led to expect from the notice he had given. That notice professed to call for a copy of the instruc tions given to the Duke of Athol to make alterations in the Criminal Code of the Isle of Man ; a nd, upon read ing it, he (Mr. Peel) imagined that he was to be charged with having issued wrong instructions. The motion of the Honourable Member did not, however, he con ceived, imply any such thing. It stated, that in conse quence of instructions the Duke of Athol bad prevented the exercise of a certain right claimed by the House of Keys, and the only question was, whether they bad such a right 'or not?- He (Mr. Peel) thought they had not. It would in fact be an anomaly in criminal jurispru dence if the House of Commons, or legislative branch of the Constitution were to form a constituent part of the Court which administered justice upon the Tynwald Mount, and thus assist in the execution of those laws which they themselves had originally made, and of which they were in the last resort the Judges of Ap peal... With respect to the argument which the Ho nourable Member drew from usage, he (Mr. Peel) did not think he could derive much benefit from it, if it should be found inconsistent with the Law and Constitu tion of the Island. It would be an infringement on the ad vantage of the Trial by Jury, if the democratical part of the Constitution had the power of controuling its opera tions. As it was a question of law, however, the Governor, before he applied for instructions on the subject, had thought it his duty to submit the question to the At torney and Solicitor-General of the Island, and they had given it as their opinion that no such usage as the House of Keys pleaded had existed, and that the Judges and the Jury were competent to execute their respective functions without the aid of that body. The Governor of the Isle of Man, upon receiving this opinion of the Law Officers of the Island, had trans mitted it to him (Mr. Peel), stating the inconvenience which resulted from the interference of the House of Keys, and requesting instructions from Government. Before he sent those instructions, he had felt it his duty to submit the documents transmitted to him by the Governor of the Isle of Man, to his Majesty's. Attorney and Solicitor General, and they also fully coincided in the opinion,laid down by the Attorney and Solicitor- General of the Isle of Man, that no such usage or right as that claimed by the House of Keys existed, and that they did not legally form any part of the Court of General Jail Delivery. If, therefore, he had erred, he had done so with his Majesty's Attorney and Solicitor- General, and if their opinion waserroneous, and the people of the Isle of Man had really been deprived' of their an cient rights, there were the Judicial Courts, to which the case might be referred with more propriety than to that House. These werethe grounds upon which he should ob ject to the production of the papers called for by the Hon. Gentleman. He would now shorty allude to the circum stance referred to by the Honourable Member, of the re moval of a Judge. The facts of that case were shortly these, and as they were rather of 2 delicate nature, he would not have alluded to them had he not been called upon to do so by the observations of .the Honourable Member. One of the parties to a suit, which had been tried before the person alluded to, had accused him of partiality and corruption, and upon investigation into the charge, it was considered inconvenient that he any luager continued in o ffi ce. To prove that in the ap pointment of his successor, he (Mr. Peel) was actuated by no political bias, he might mention that that succes aor was the son of the Honourable Gentleman himself (Hear, hear).—As allusion had been made to the Attorney-General of the Isle of Man, with whose legal opinion the House of Keys appeared not very well satis fied, he fMr. Peel) was afraid they would find it diffi cult'to procure au Attorney-Genetal exactly to their • mind. The salary of that officer silts 4061. a year. and I the House of Keys *anted to have an able Eng lish lawyer, who should be contented with that sum in lieu of professional practice, and he -ss Wing besides to take up his censtant residence in thu Isle of Man. Mr. AI3ERCROMI3Y thought the House of Keys ought to have been heard, before the opinion of the At torney and Solicitor-General were given.. He wished that r roceedings, indeed, now might he suspended, and the - House of Keys heard before the Privy Council. • The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said, that he believed that every document which could be collected upon the question had been laid before him and his.colltague, to their giving their opinions; and,from the inspection of all those documents, it was clear, 'that at ro period of the history (as far as they went) of the Isle ef -Man, had the House of Keys ever formed a part of the C ourt of Jail-delivery. The House of Keys, not in ancient times, but about a hundred years back, had certainly usurped a right of summoning Juries bef.ire them , a n d fining them for what they had considered improper ver dicts ; but it appeared, that during the last forty or fifty , years, even this power had not been exercised. He (ihe Attorney-General) apprehended that the Right Hon. Secretary had given no instructions upon the subject. He - had merely transmitted to the Governor the opinion of the law officers of the Crown; confirmatory of the opinion which had been deliveted by the local Attorney- General. Since the delivery of that opinion (which was now full twelve months) there had been more than sut ficient time for an appeal to the Pi ivy Councii. Sir JAMES MACKINTOSH professed himself not satisfied with:the explanations which had been given on the other side. , The objection was less to the alteration of the law, than to the manner of the alteration. Nor had care been taken, on removing the jurisdiction of the House of Keys, to provide mcans for the securing sub stantial, justice•without its assistance. Mr. COURTENAY said, that the present question was not the rights of parties, but a question whether the. Secretaty of State had acted wrong—(Cries of " No s mo").—Gentlemen cried " no," but he said " yes ;" tor, upon the right of the House of Keys to what it claimed the House of Commons, was not competent to give a de cision. As it seemed to him, in taking the opinions of the Attorney and Solicitor•Generai, the Right Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Peel) had done all that he was bound to do: it was impossible to say that the whole jurisdic tion of the Court of jail delivery ought to-have stopped until there had been time for the Privy Council to in quire into the subject.—The House then divided, when the numbers were— For the Motion - its Against k '- Majority for producing the Papa* I. The Report of the Committee of Supply nrisbroaght up. The House agreed to the Resolutions of the Confusitese. The Reciprocity of Duties Bill was read a second time. The Irish Clergy Residence Bill was read a first time; to be read a second time on the Ist of March.—Adjourned at a Quarter before Seven o'Clock. 26 MEETING AT LLOYD'S. Yesterday, a General Meeting of the Subscribers to the above Establishment was held, pursuant to notice by the COmmittee for managing its affairs, for the pur pose of filling up the vacancy in the Committee, caused by the lamented death of Mr. MARRYAT ; and also for the purpose of submitting to the general sense of the Meeting, the Resolutions pasied at the General Meeting of Merchants, Ship Owners, and Underwriters, respect ing the injurious operation of the present system ,of classing Shipping by the Committees of the two Re gistry Books used at Lloyd's The Chairman (BENJAMIN SHAW, Esq.) in addressing the Subscribers for the first time since the much-la mented death of their late Chairman, paid a just and feeling tribute of applause to the character and eminent services rendered by that Gentlemen to the interests of Lloyd's, and concluded by reading a Resolution ex pressive of the high estimation in which his memory and services are held by that House, which passed with the most cordial marks of approbation. The Meeting then proceeded to elect an individual in lieu of Mr. MA RRYA T, when his eldest son, Jones' MA RRYAT, Esq. was chosen without any opposition. The CHA I RN:AN then stated, that he lied to call their attention to a subject of very great importance to the Subscribers at large ; they were all aware that he al luded to an application from the Ship Owners, in conse quence of certain resolutions passed by them in January last, at the City of London Tavel n, in which they de.. scribed the present system of classing ships to be unfair in its principle, and very injurious in its operation on their interests. Now, although the present mode might not be free from objection, Set he thought that it had been found to answer very sell for the Underwriters, and therefore he should look - to any alteration of the system as calling for their vigilant attention. The Committee, in the exercise of that discretion, on matters affecting the interests of that House, which he considered was vested in them, had given this im portant subject their most serious attention and con sideration, since the resolutions above referred to hal been officially communicated to them, and t'rey had come to the conclusion, that the proposal that that House should concur in the proposed investiture, by appointing eight of its Members to form part of the Committee of Enquiry, was a measure strongly to be deprecated, and they had therefore, prepared a written Report of their views on the subject, which he wished might be read. The Report was then read by the Secretary, it oe cupied nearly a sheet of large paper, and recommended to the Subscribers to abstain from acceding to the in vitation of the before-mentioned meeting, on the groundi chiefly (as far as we could collect its bearing) that the interest of Lloyd's did not call for such a proceeding on their part.—At the termination of reading the Report, 11Ir. BUCKLE addressed the Meeting, and expre.sed his astonishment that such a Report should have been presented by the Committee of that House to their Con stituents. The Chairman and the Report assumed that the Resolutions which they were met t r consider had emanated from a Meeting of Ship-mars only, whereas it was well known thar they were passed at a General Meeting of Merchants, Ship-owners, and Underwriters, very numerously attended, and of the highest respedability, and the application to that House to join in the proposed inquiry, was equally the act of all. He could not but -feel very great surprise at the course pursued by the Committee who had got up this proceeding, evidently, as he viewed it, with the intention of inducing the sub- Eribers to reject the invitation addressed to them from a source PO respectable, and so entitled to their attention. ! .—Mr. Buckle shewed, by a correspondence he had for merly had, when he was Chairman of tl , e Ship Owners' Society, how inconsistent the present conduct of the existing Committee of Lloyd's was, w ith the views en tertained on former occasions by their predecessors in office. We regret that ire could not catch the s hole of :is obserrationc, which were delivered wia . 11E4441)11V, and evidently made a strong inniression.• Mi. litack.d concluded amid the cordial applause of the Meeting. Mr. Jon./ MARSHALL then addressed the Meeting. No man there, he said, could entertain a high% re- spect for the Committee, as men, than himself; but • he thought that, •n that octasion, they weicetteni t. ing improperly to interfere with the rights and inde pendence of their Constituents. The Report they had presented was uncalled for and Improper, and they had passed the line of demarcation which prescribed to them their authority and their duties i and he hoped they would be taught a lesson to-day, not to interfere jq matters which it belonged to the Subscribers only to judge of and determine upon. All that they were au thorised to do on the present occasion was, to place the Resolutions they had received before that Meeting, and have them to deal with them as they should deem best. Mr. Marshall concluded an animated speech. by moving, " That the Members of this House do accede to the -Resolutions and Invitation of the General Meeting of Merchants, Shipowners, and Underwriters, held at the City of London Tavern, on the 22d ult. (for which see the STAR of 23d ult.) by nominating eight of their Body • Members of the Committee then appointed, for the pur poses set forth in the said Resolutions."—Mr. Marshall Nas cheered fregtiently. tint ing his speech, and elicited warm expressions of, the concurrence of the Meeting in • the views he had stated. - • • . Mr. THOMAS GILLEPIC, in a speech of some length ,and great ability, seconded the motion. The CHAIRMAN then put the question, which was carried with api•lau3e, there being only• two "dissen tient voices. • Mr. JAMES BARNES (one of the Committee) made someobservations, the object of which was to assure the Meeting that. the Committee did not entertain any un friendly feeling towards the measure which the Sub. scribers had resolved upon. A conversation then toi.k place between the. Chair. man, Mt. Marshall, Mt. It. H. Marteti, Nir. Dewar, and others, as to the mode of election, and it was finally determined to name twenty-lour members of the House (which was done), from whom eight are to be chosen by ballot on Wednesday nest. - Mr. MARTEN moved the Thanks of the Meeting to the Chairman, which was .carried, and •the Meeting iced. THE .MNING STA It. LONDON. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19, .1324. THE FUNDS. STOCK EXCHANGE, TWELVE O'CLOCK. Consols opened this morning at 914, 4, for the Account, and for Money 91k, 4, at whirls price they remain, with little fluctuation. An Express arrived this morning from Paris, with the French prices of Tuesday—Renter were done as high as 101f..g0c. fell to 99f. 70c. got up again to 100 f. 40e. and left off at 1002 10c. wit!), a continuation of 4Se. to 50c. Spanish was done at IS, and kft off at 26 to *. Neapolitan was at s7—left off at 464. FOREIGN FUNDS. • Since yesterday morning most 'of the Foreign Securities have lowered, and this morning they continue heavy, with little doing. Current Prices : New Spanish 18 to I. Old 441 te g, Colombt.tt 72, Chilian 714, Russian 941, Old Prussian PSI, New 931 1 , Aus trian 91 to 10, Hullett's New Mines prem. Anglo Mines 81, French Scrip 111, - Neapolitan 86 to f, Mexican Scrip 74 to j. PBICE OF STOCKS AT ONE O'CLOCK. Bank Stock 23-04 239-3 per (;t. Reduced 02% 1 4 8 per Cent. Cons. 91 3 / 4 %. 3 / 4 -3 1 A per Cent. 101 4 per Cts. Old 102 3 / 4 1 / 2 3 / 4 -4 per Cu. N. 106% 107 Bank Long Annuities 22 7-16—India Botids 71s. Fichequer Bills (13,000) 38s. 41s.—Small 995. 425. Consols tor Account 91% sh• We are now enabled to make public the sentence which was pronounced by the Court-Martial at Demerara on the Missionary &fill! ; and have thegrateful task, at the" same time, of announcing the eitension of the Royal clemency to this misguided individual. The Court found him Guilty, and condemned him to death ; but accompanied their sentence with a recom mendation to mercy. His MAJESTY, taking the whole circumsstances of the , case into consideration has been graciously please to remit the punishment of death, and to direct that Mr. SMITH should be dismissed from the Colony, and be called upon to enter into recognizance: not to reside within any of his MAJESTY'S Colonies in the West Indies. By an Express from Path, we have received, this fore noon, the Journal des Debats ofTnesday. The only article. of interest which it tarnishes is the following, respect ing the rumoured appointment of Prince FREDERICK (of the House of ORANGE) to the Viceroyship of the Dutch East India possessions: HAGUE, FEBRUARY 12. - There is a good deal said about Prince Frederick going as Viceroy to the Indian possessions of Holland. This appointment is connected with the grand plan for the re-organization of those Frovinces, which are still far from being well administered, and without a good state of defence, which these . rich and important pos sessions require. At pr esent, the political state of affairs requires a strong organization, both military and civil. to ward off the danger which all our Indian possessions are- at this moment threatened with. The island of Java, from which coffee, sugar, cotton, and indigo are exported, augments every year in its produce: as doer the island of Banca, with its immense mines; Celehei and Borneo, which are rich in diamonds and phi; ap4 the islands of Amboyna and Banda, so productive ivt s i ices. The above possessions may be said to be all erri. : ire mote important and more rich than the Bratila. According to the last statement from the ancient Ga. vet nor, Daendels, th% revenue amounted to 10,790 4 110 G rix•dollars 57,177,000 francs. The Austrian 06seruer of the Sthinstant contains an extremely long answer to an article that Appeared lately in the et/ha/Palma, vthich discus:6d Etc ;IMP' S - I 4 IN t 4 -4 14 I , .