Star. — London, England, 1815-03-23 00:00:00

h . p p p peswimmomilama .. was one peat's imprisonment, and. burning in the lnind ; but in 1795, an -Act Nita, enabling - the .Tudges.to apply to this offence the same punishment a; to grand er petty larceny.. , which 'eight extend to seven yeard transportation. Certainly there was scarcely a greater crime in some- cages than bigamy. If the. second wife was ignorant of the c ircumstances, it amounted to an enormous and atrocious offence towards the injured woman, who was rendered the rnotlit:r of bastards, and might be involved in the greatest. distress and misery. If the second wife knew. the matter, some difference existed in the caor rnity of the offence. In the first case, the punishment ought ancioestionably to be severe ; but when the. case bad wank extenuating circumstances, he could not think the law sbluld be so heavily applied. In the present instance, the slightest punishment seemed enough, whereas the highest had been inflicted. — Murray applied at first to the Attorney. General tor his fiat to bring a writ of error, which was properly refused by him ; but he suggested an applicatiOn at the Secretary u State's (Ace. He then applied for a pardon, offering to transport himself, and produc ing the affidavit of his second Wife, and the opinions cif civilians that his first marriage was not legal. He then injured that the Petition should lie on the table. Sir H. MONTGOMERY said, that it this man was not transported !or the bigamy, he ought to be for swindling. He was married to his first wife at Derry, by Mr. Black, a respectable clergyman,. got her money, about 4 or Jesoo, and then deserted her, and had never since given her any support. He Loped the House would be cautious in giving an ear to this application. Mr. H. ADDINGTON had yesterday morning mentioned the business to Lord Sidmouth, avho told him that no order for executing the sentence had yet been given, and that steps were taking to enable him to ascertain what advice to give to the Prince Regent on this case. He was glad to hear from the Learned Member that it was a delicate thing to interfere with the Courts ; and he hoped under these circumstances he would withdraw the Petition. Dr. DUIGEN AN made several observations tend ing to shew that the first was a legal marriage in Ire land, no snit having been instituted against it during a year after the celebration. Mr. B. 13ATI - 11.1 Rsr thought the petition should be withdrawn, alt: r a statement that the case was ac tunlly uniercousideration. - Str S. RO Ni 1 I.LY did not wish, after this state ment, to press it. He had intended, if he had not heard this, to move an address for a copy of the re port. He disapproved of what had been said about a ondsliment for swindling. Could it ever be main tained that a man was to be punished fur a different ofienea from that of which he was accused ? or that, i an extenuated case, a Judge sh mold p is; a sentence influenced by what he might hear Ont of doors of the indiv ;deal ! It would be contrary to the just admi. nivration of criminal law. Petition withdrawn. Mr. GRENFELL gave notice of a mo.ion on the 12th of April, for a continuation of the accounts of the pubic balances in the hands of the Bank of Eng land up to the prts;:nt time. ALIENS. Sir JOHN NEWPORT rose, pursuant to his no , Lice, to call the :Mention of .the House to a letter fix= the Under Seeretary of 'State for the Hume De partment, to the Clonal Department, rrspecting the admission of Aliens into this country. In all pt. riods of our his:ory, the Legislature had tak-m care to keep opts the ports and harbours o: Great Britain for dis:ressed strangers ; and it was the glory of this chtlntry, that when protect•ion could not be afforded to them by other ir Minns, they were sure of finding an asylum here. At an early period of the French Revolution, precautionary measures were adopted ; and though it was not incumbent on him to discuss the anthi.rity of that law, yet it was material to ob serve, that the Legislature had placed strict guards over those who were entrusted with the exercise of its powers. This Was. enough to drew the jealousy of Parliament on the subject. With toe first French war the first Alien Act expired ; it was revived soon after the commencement of the second French war, and nearly in the same form and mariner, and with the same powers and restrictions as the former act. What, then, was the surprise of himself and of seve ral other Members, when they found, on the discus sion of the conduct of Sir James Duff, that the fol lowing letters were laid before the House. The first was a copy of a dispatch from Lord Bathurst to Sir James Duff, dated November 29, 1814, to this ef fect :-- 1 6 Sir, It having been reported to his Majes ty's Government that you have directed the masters of all British vessels touching at Cadiz, not to de part with any persons who are not provided with properpassports, I am to request you will acquaint me how far it is founded in fact.." In answer, Sir J. Duff wrote as follows I beg leave to represent to your Lordship, that it has been the practice of this Court not toallow strangers to depart, unless provided With proper passports; and as British subjectswerere grimed to conform to that regulation at the request of the Governor of this city, I have renewed that order." Then came the letter to which Sic James Duff had reterred in jte•tification of his conduct, it was dated M.y 4, Ibl3, more than 18 months before Lord BatMirst's dispatch, and was to the following rm . - port : Sir, in order to prevent, as fir as mry be • convenient, the introduction of foreivners into this country. it is necessary that such persons should ap ply for passports for that purpose ; and when the ob jects they have.iu view are objectionable, it may be expedient to refuse them." On this letter was in dorsed the follaiving memoratieum :—" N. B. 'A printed copy of this letter was forwarded on 6th May, 1613. from this office to all the foreign Ambassa dors." Now he would ask the House whether there ever existed a . case in which such extensive poweti were so delegated or conveyed is a manner so loose and iMproptr ? But there was something more, which marked it mote strongly. It would have been a great dereliction of duty not to have communicated to the House the reasons of taking such an extraor dinary step t but between the interval of writing this letter and the discovery of it, the Alien Act, which would have expired, r.vis re-enacted and brought spe cially before the House.' Was not that the period at which this letter should haVe been submitted to the House ? Was it not proper, al the question did a, t pass nib :Wraith and some of his Majesty's Mfnisteri participated in the debate, that this measure shotild liavd been' iommuoicated ? Duting that time, this ctrtular letter was in forei ; and when the Act for continuing the Alien Act was submitted to the House. no notice was taken with respect to passports for fo reigners, who wished to come to this country. On the contrary, there were passages, directly nega tiving the possibility of such a thing as p ass p orts having been granted. The House knew nothing of that fact, and would not have known it at present, if Sir James Duff had not relied on this letter for his justification. But if the Legislature for good and wise reasons thought proper to depart from a general system, and to entrust to the highest office: of this c ountry a temporary power under the Alien Act, was it fit that the Secretaries of State should delegate any of those powers without the authority of Parliament. And who were the persons to whom such powers were delegated ? He wished the House to consider the si tuation in which Consuls in foreign countries were placed. It was justly remarked by an Honourable Friend of his on a former occasion, that if such a. power had been entrusted to Consuls at the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, none of the victims of Louis ,XlV.'s tyranny would have made their escape out of France. It could not be denied, how respectable so ever the characters of some of those Consuls might be, that many temptations might induce them to co operate with the Governments of those countries in which they resided. But it appeared that they were not only to examine into the characters of the persons A pplying for passports, but also into the objects which they had in view. Did not the House perceive, that such persons might have to complain of the conduct of that very Consul to whom they were to apply ? Was it not monstrous, then, that the power of re fusing passports should be vested in such hands ? Yet this was not ill ; many of the Consuls were en gaged in commercial speculations, and it might hap pen, that the party who wanted to come to this country wished to embark in a similar branch of trade. It was therefore a high breach of duty in the great Officers of State to commit the execution of their powers to any such persons—powers which they exercised in this country under the controul of the Legislature. It was sufficient for him to 'thew, that in no one part of the Act was there any thing like a power for them to shift the responsibility from them selves, or rather, to delegate the powers of the Act to any other persons. It would be incumbent on the House to mark their sense of that transaction, and he would therefore submit his motion to them. The motion was then read, which was in substance an echo of the Honourable Baronet's speech. I Mr. HILEY ADDING'roN thought that the Honourable Baronet was under con.iderable misap prehensions. The letter of which he complained was a mere measure of vigilant precaution in the Secre tary of the lionte Department, to whom the execu tion of the Alien Act was entrusted. It would be for the House to decide, whether, in the exercise of his powers, there was any thing criminal in this transaction. On a former occasien, he hechdetailed the motives which induced the department to which he belonged to circular.: that order; and lie would n.iw repeat, that it wa: issued in consequence of the repeated complaints of the number t.f le's titan twenty thousand—who were in this country, and of the necessity of preventing the admission of those whose characters were liable to suspicion. Va. ripus instances have occotred of Aliens having ar rived at the nut-ports, who were suspected of ill de signs, bat who wtre afterwards permitted to proceed,. because suracient grounds of their intentions had not been adduced. The principal object, therefore, was, to re hove those impediments from Aliens in general g and to permit them to land and proceed. The per sons who were entrusted with the power of gretntiog passports, were those who must be best acquainted with the character and motives of the persons apply ing for them : but the fact was, that this power was not delegated, as the Honourable Baronet had con ceived, under the Alien Act, but by virtue of the acknowledged prerogative of the Crown, to refuge admission to Aliens of any description. Such pre rogative existed before the Alien Act was passed : and, therefore, this letter left Aliens to a certain de gree where it found them : it did. not oblige Aliens to apply for passports, and persons who knew that no suspicion attached to their conduct could come to this country without them. Since this regulation was adopted, not one single instance had occurred of as individuar coming without a passport, who was rel. fused admission. He wished to draw the attention of the House to the general expressions of the letter ; and he would ask any Gentleman, whether, under the circumstances in which it was written, it could apply to any Aliens but those who were strongly suspected of hostile intentions towards the Govern ment of this country ? The letter was dated on the 4th of May, 1813, when the war on the Continent was not terminated. It bad been much the practice of Gentlemen opposite, and particularly of the Mem ber for Bedford, to charge the Secretary of State kir the Home Department with• exercising his power under *the Alien Act with extravagant rigour ; but he (Mr. Addington) had discovered two papers-in. his office, which would stew what precautions were resorted to under former administrations. The first was written when the .Honourable Baronet himself held a disCriguished situation, and when alnnst re spectable Noblenian was at the head 'of the Home Department. It was dated December 16, 1806, and was addressed to Mr. Reeves, directing that no' Aliens who had not resided in Eegland were to 'he permitted to come from the Continent, except under the following regulations:—they were to' specify, in a detailed manner, who and what they were, their motives for coming to England, and the port from which they intended to embark : and no Alien enemy was to be suffered to come, without the pass port of one of his Majesty's Ministers, resident on the Continent. The other letter, of a *subsequent date, was nearly to the same effect; and 41 he meant to shew by them was, that these precautionary measures did not originate with his Noble Relative: —At the time that those instructions were given to the Consuls abroad, nobody could have' dreatnt of the probability of peace being so soon restored, H. ices, however, prepared toprove that, independent of the Alien Act, the Crown had the rgatrve'of sending strangers out of the country. 'UPI read an extract from. Blacisto'ne, ,which stated, othai e s 'to every thing relating to safe conduct for strangers, rtiffelidoif had justly *observed' that every 'crown :Oust he alliairid to judge' with feiptct to the admis. slim of strangers ii , to it s t4ritobes." . Afthe tune, however, that the illiea:Ad: was gissedl . the Oat . 1 ~ i• •. . 111Sjotity of the House was decidedly agreed on the adoption of a measure of this nature. He was, however, ready, freely to admit, that the Secretary o tState would be responsible' for any unne cessar y se verity in carrying the act into.execution. Mr. WHITBREAD said, it was strange that the circular letter which had been alluded to had never been recollected till it was brought forward by Sir James Duff in justification of a most unjustifiable act. It had been said, that the delegation of this extraordinary power to the Consuls was done for the convenience of Aliens themselves, and to save them trouble when they came. The siecretary of State had not the tight, under the Alien Act, to delegate any such power; he had, in this case, exceeded in his de legation the powers he himself possessed. The Right Hon. Gentleman had said, that not a single Alien who had come to this country without a Consul's passport had been refused admission into this king dom ; then where was the necessity of this delegated power to the Consuls ? but although no one had been refused admission into the kingdom without a pass port, who had applied for it, yet how many persons might have been prevented coming here, supposing that they could net come without one ? How many acts of injustice might have been done by Consuls, whicb had never come to light, as had been the case with Sir James Duff, who had not merely refined passports to Alien enemies, but to Alien friends, who were flying from the tyranny of their own Go. vernment, to seek shelter in this coutar y ? and when a charge was brought against him for this ofZeuce. he produced the letter of the Right Hon. Gentleman as his authority for having acted as he had done.— But this was not all—he (Mr. Whitbread) had to complain of the Secretary of State having delegated too much of the powers of the Act to the Portuguese Ambassador, as in the case of Mr. Correia, IA fr ,, se case had already been so fully stated to the I I 'use, and who had been sent out of the country for writing some lampoons reflecting on the character of M. Settee, the Portuguese Ambassador. This was an offence which, if true, should have been punished by legal process, hut did not come within the limits of the Alien act. The pamphlet could not h :ye endan gered the safety of this country, or co:a-opted the army. It had been written in Portuguese, and never was translated into English. therefore could h ave done no harm in this country, and could by no means have formed a subject for the exertion of the powers of the Alien Act. He trusted the Right Hon. Geii tleman would give him some explanation on this subject, otherwise he should he under the necessity of moving for the Papers, relative to the proceedings under which M. Correia was sent out of the country. Mr. H. ADDINGTON was ready to give ail the explanation which he was called on by his situation to give to the Honourable Gentleman. The tran saction, as he had stated to the Honourable Gentle man on a former occasion, hAd not taken 11 ice ender the administration of his noble relative or himself, but six years ago, under the administration of Mr. Rider, and upon grounds far different to those which the Honourable Gentleman had assigned. The Ho nourable Gentleman had said, that M. Correia had been sent out of the kingdom for a libel on the Por tuguese Ambassador. He had before said, and he now repeated it, that those %sere not the grounds on which that foreigner was sent away. The Right lion. Gentleman then proceeded to contend, that the Honourable Gentleman (Mr. Whitbread) had not made out any case on which to ask for any pa pers on the subject of.M. Correia, any more than he could call for papers relative to the case of the first per son that ever was sent out of the kingdom under the Act. With respect to the question now before the House, he should move the previous question. Upon this amendment, Sir J. NEWPORT rose to reply t and contended, that under the Alien Act the Secretary of State could have no right whatever to delegate the powers of it to any person whatever. If it had been thought necessary to delegate these powers, the delegation ought to have been sanctioned by Parliament. Under these circumstances, he ti usted the House would agree to his motion. Lord CASTLEREAGH thpught the arrange ment now complained of, instead of being an inva sion of the powers of the /tit, was a mere regulation of it; and one which the Secretary of State ought to have the right of adopting. The regulation did no thing More than make an application to the Secretary a sort of appeal. It did nothing mere than require that the Alien, if possible, should get a sort of gime ral recommendation from his own country ; but even though he should fail to do that, the regulation did not prevent the Alien endeavouring to get admission into this ct until , under the general law, as respected Aliens. The Noble Lord observed, that be thought the regulation a wise one, and therefore he could not agree to the Right Hon. Baronet's motion. Sir J. MACKINTOSH thought the present dis cussion had given rise to a question of much greater importance than the original question was ; and that aew question was, as to thg prerogative of the Crown —and on this subject he should wish to hear the opi nion of those persons who were best qualified to give it, the Law . Officers of the Crown. The Honote able Member then proceeded •to observe, at considerable length, on the statute and general law of the land! as related to the prerogative of the Crown, and espe cially on the subject of the Aliens; and Observed, that there was no doubt the King and Parliament united had a right, if it should be thought proper to do so, to pass a law to exclude all foreigners froth the kingdom ; but the consideration was not now what laws might be adopted, but what had been the general practice in this country on the subject? The Right Hon. Gentleman opposite ( Mr. H Addington) bad said, that not a single Alien had been pktvented coming to this country in consequence of the powers thus delegated to Consuls. Yet Sir James Duff's own letter stated, that from May, 1804, not a single Alien hild been suAered to quit the port of donnh t y bh ahpap d . though bsenpa during the th C ivh 4d e ol greu iz' o of d : e t s h r t i e n t v g i t o i l fEtyra i n 7 raging with from its effects.— h ia ß os y nd p th i s t i al s h i a ty re d gn h be a l i nt bei l:xh at i ir t g o a rs in fi st lyhe th g em ate l s an d d ..B du rit ri i n s g h 114 ; s a n rde pe s ; tro o i d mthp7 t roi h ho o prics u oic un euitrni d uri s o . .: 4 iv w h aeren o ce w cal o on u ao l si d r w o e t ,ad h s e t l sou W ifi ise have dungeonsi t tri ititimpolicy of these regulations Which were contrary ftithaer make 'en the subject - or Aliens. ? re Honothible Manber idyl that Al' Act wAi l a won severepeaa; • •:, , . • • . * 4 statute. and might, therefore, in compliance with, general policy, to be constreed.in. a. manner most fa vourable to those who might fall under its influence whereas, on the contrary, the regulation which had been adopted had the effect of rendering its' operation doubly severe upon aliens of every description. Mr. H. ADDINGTON .said a few words in ex planation. The SOLICITOR-GENERAL Aid; the ques. don now before the House was not whether Sir J. Duff had well or ill executed the power delegated to him by his Majesty's Government, b•it whether the delegation of such a power was legal at all ? Tl;e Honourable Gentleman then proceeded to take a re view of the prerogative of the Crown, as laid do v; • by Mr. Justice Blackstone, and contended, thit it was well established that tl:e King !Ltd a right, und o; his prerogative, to send Aliens oct of the kingdom; and it would be ridiculous to say, that having the power of sending Aliens out of the kingdom, th e Crown should not have the power, it it should see ft so to do, to prevent Aliens entering the kingdam— and this the King had a right to do, independent any powers given him by the Alien Act. The nourahie and Leartied Gentleman also eonteodee, that this pnwer was vested in the Crown by the clause of Alava Charts. which had been alluded to in the muse of the cl;sciission. The Crown had eertelnle the raver of sending Aliens out. nt the Kingthm, though it might he a question, as to the moors: which that power was tn exe.cwed.- Weir to the letter sent to th' Consuls. - it wart 7 .1 e, a sine va :on ; and teen though. tbe pat,, s'ecuLi be ref tried, there was nothing whatever to p:earra the Alien.sayinK , " thetigh I - cnn,ot get ire r t ,s. nom yet I nal sail go to Eagian4," anent) England be might come. Mr. BENNETT objecte3 to the measure, and contended that the operation of the delegated power to Consuls wasohat it. had preventcd Alters ttnhark ing fur this country altogether, as appeared frotti statement of Sir J. Duff himself. Mr. W. WYNNE said, that the most object . e.ralde part in this law was, the vesting this discretion in tie Consuls, persnns sn likely to be influenced by caprice or mercantile jealousy. • The House then divided—Tor the previous gee:. tints US—Against it 2l—Majorify 47. On our te-admission, Mr. WHITBREAD tea- movine his Address for the production of the Corre• spondence respecting A. Correia, a Portngeese. some time since sent out of this country, under the Alien Act. He said, he would not press the House tea a diri , ,ion nn this question. Mr. H. ADDINGTON said, the Honorrable Gentleman had meda out no prima foci: case agaire the then Secretary cf State, tor sending Mr. Correia out of the country. The Hon. Gentleman seemed to know no more about this question than that thi!. Gentleman had been sent out of the country. Mr. WHITBREAD said, the House then was to presume that the Secretary of State was innocent, because the Gentlemen connected with that offict said he was so. Mr. GOULBURN said, the statemist of du. Hon. Gentleman (Mr•Whitbread) had been denied; and surely a denial from them was equivalent to an assertion from him. After a fcw words from Sir S. ROMILLY in favour of the motion, it was negatived within': a d Mr rONSONBY gave notice of a motion re specting the progress of Congress after the holdup. Mr. WHITBREAD wished to know if the de ! claration published as that of the Congress Was ge• nuine or a forgery ? Lord CASTLEREAGH said, ii the HoeouraKe Gentleman wished to know if it had emanated from Congress, he could answer certainly that it had not. ORDER OF Tan PATH. Sir C. MONCK heti hoped this subject woe!' have been brought before Parliament by some other Member more experienced than himself. He ail• mined the prerogative of the Crown in granting . hollows could not be placed in any other part o: the State. Neither had he any objection to bonnets granted to our Officers, both by sea and land, fait their services in the late war. He referred to the mi• gin of the Order of the Bath by Henry the Fourth, before his Coronation, to pave the way f,r Lis Coronation, and tea I some ludicrous ordinances of this Order, commanding every Knight bringing with him tour men at arms, sec. His alarm was, the future extension of such ordinances, lest :t should come into use to call out a power of a certain Order to attend therservice of the King, at his cost, and entirely out of the controul of that House. In this view he considered this enlargement of the preroga• tive of the Cr own, as a great innovation on the libete ty (1 t:ie subject He then moved for Copies of the Letters ratent, declaring the Order of the Bath a till tary Order; and also, the late Letters Patent, es• tending the Order. Lord CAsTLEREAGH said, the want of some mode of rewarding military merit in this country had been long wanted. Mr. Pitt in the decline of his life had recognized this principle. This mode had been found beneficial in other countries. There was no instance of any abuse in the new regulation, that he was aware of; 'and he therefore moved that the House should now adjourn. Mr. GORDON said, there was by no means say thing wanted to create a military spirit i,e thus country, which every wise and free Goveniment would rather repress than encourage. • He instanced the case of : 4 military despotism in a neighbouring country triter ling on a peaceful Government. These military re• wards, now given for exertions against the commix' enemy, might come to be given for exertions against the liberties of the country. He had heard that tame of these decorations had been given from etc favour, Or 4001 Parliamentary influence t great oojemies to this was abet it was introducing OP feign customs into this countty. Mr. B. BATHURST called on the Honourable Gentleman to point out the name of any individual who had received the honour of the Bath irons tout shows and not from merit . He thought the Honw inject this motion. the M insigni a r BB A T of the k UI t Order, ST services of the Military called for some p iutltulil mark of distinction. de a f n e d nded ma t in h ta e d in i e st d r , ibu ti t i t a 'o l a; Mr. W. WYNNE said, wherever the Gorerernen_t_ was alroilitary despotism, such orders were a wain of policy. It was especially so in R ussia, where til`r Chancellor was s Field-Marsha l, and the Idattb • • 1 e e . Ir it r, is le al T. Id el he nt er of .