Star. — London, England, 1827-06-07 00:00:00

ari'e Hon. ;able also wer.e :lared object of _ . ona. terrally inconveoiencethe progieis of public business?— (Hear, hear). If any Hop. Membee_was of opinion that it would, be was at liberty to Titio - oe the House " whe ther the Hen. Member be heard upon that point ?" Sir JOSEPH YORKE was of opinion, that the Hon. Member was pursuing a perfectly proper line of argu ment. The manifest object if the argument was , to shew thot the Noble Lord (Lord J. Russell) should not be induced to set aside or postpone an exertion to pro cure a repeal of the Test and C •rpotation Acts, because certain Hon. Gentlemen were inclined to oppose it, or becattte others had abandoned their siippcirt of it. It waspeifectly consistent with this object to shew that some Hon. Members had abandoned or suspended their judgment and opinions upon the Catholic Qtiestion, upon Re'orm. upon Finance, and other subjects. Mr. JONES—The Hon. Member for Abingdon (Mt Moberly) declared that he would be satisfied with a, Committee next year, and I do say-- The SPEAKER wished again to put it to the Hon. Member, whether it was expedient to pursue a course of observation, which, though it were not his intention, would certainly have the effect of leading to a discus sion which was not connected with the object of the Petitioners, and which would necessarily retard the progress of public business. Mr. JONES male a few remarks to the effect of ex pressing his submission to the Speaker's opinion, and concluded by moving that the Petition be brought up. On the bringing up of the Petition, Sir G. Roa*asoa and Mr. rose at the same dine. The latter. Gentleman gave Wig to the Honourable Baronet. Sir U. ROBINSON—The Hon. Member (Mr. Jones) has said, that I said the majority of Dissenters were be' vourable to the claims of the Roman Catholics. rcil that observation I reply, I did not—(the Hon. Barosel repeated emphatically—" I did not"). What I said , was, that the majority of the Dissenters whose senti-I , meats I had the honour to represent were favourable to their claims. Every one who did me the honour of at tending to what I said, knows that I did not utter the sentiment attributed to tie by the Hon. Member (Mr. Jones); and the House may judge,. from the specimen of accuracy afforded by the Hon. Gentleman in not. fairly representing what had been said only two minutes ago, the degree of credit that is due to the rest of his asset tions—( Loud Cheers). Mr. MABERLY trusted that as he had been alluded to. the House would do him the justice to allow him to say that he had not altered his opinion upon the subject referred to by the Hon. Member. He was ready Dow, as he bad always been, to vote for Reform—tor the repeal of the Test Act, and for other measures of ge send polity relet red to by the Hon. Member. With respect to Fmance r - The SPEAKER here, without saying anything, shook his head with an amicable intimation that the Hon. Member was not in order, and Mr. Moberly resumed his seat. The Hon. Member, however, immediately rose again, and said with much warmth, " Then, as 1 am not allowed by die rules of the House to allude far ther to the subject, I will only say, that the statement which the Hon. Member has made respecting my con duct on the subject of finance, be has made most im properly"— Mr. M. FITZGERALD said, that the Hon. Member (Mr. Jones), in the allusion that he had made to his conduit, had m •de a gross mistake. In alluding to his poso.onement of a motion of which he had given notice, the Hon. Member attributed to him (Mr. Fitzgerald) the expression, on the Catholic debate— The SPEAKER—The Right Hon. Gentleman must surely perceive, that, in making further remarks upon this subject, he is necessarily provoking a discussion which the House is anxious to stop—(Hear, hear). Mr. M. FITZGERALD said, that he had only one remark to make; it was this .—That so far from utter ing the expression attributed to him by the lion. Member on the debate on the Catholic Question, be had not spoken at all, or taken any part in that debate. Mr. JONES, on moving th it the Petition be printed, expressed his surprise that the Ho:.. Baronet (Sir G. Robinson) had remarked on what fell from him in the manner in which he had done. He was at a loss to know why the Hon. Baronet had done so. Sir G. ROBINSON—Because it was not true. • The SPEAKER, after the interval of a lew minutes, anxiously bespoke the attention of the House to a trans action that had just occurred. The Right Honourable Gentleman spoke to the following effect Now that' ti.e House has recovered from the very disorderly state into which it was thrown a little time ago, I am anxious to call its attention to a subject which, if not explained, may convey painful feelings and sensations to the mind of an Honourable Member, although I hope there was no intention that suc't feelings should be conveyed to it. The expression of an Honourable Member, that ' a con. tradiction given to him should be answered elsewhere, which caught my ear, though it may not have been heard by any other Honourable Gentleman, was an ex pression which was used in reply to what fell, perhaps involuntarily at the moment, from an Honourable Ba ronet, and which was used, I am sure, without any in tention of wounding use feelings of the Honourable Member. When the Honourable Baronet contradicted the Honourable Gentleman, I am satisfied he only im puted to the Honourable Member a misapprehension of his meaning, and bad no intention of offering personal offence to the Honourable Member." The Right Ho nourable Gentleman concluded by calling upon Sir G. Robinson-,(Loud cries of Hear, hear.) Sir G. ROBINSON.—I bow to the Chair. What I meant was, that the Honourable Gentleman had mis conceived my meaning. If I expressed myself too strongly, I am scary for it—(Cheers.) Mr. JONES expressed himself satisfied with the ex planation of the Hon. Baronet, and thus the affair ended. The Petition was ordered to be pointed. Petitions for the Repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts were then presented by Lord Stanley, from the Dissenters of Hunting ' don and Kimbolton ; by Mr. Wilbraham, from the Unitarians of Donnington and Nantwich, in Chester; by Mr. Mandy, from the • Dissenters of Duffield, in Derbyshire; by Mr. Lyttleton ' from Dudley, in Worcestershire; from Stalbridge and from the S eaford Potteries; by-Lord Ebrington, from the Wesleyan Methodists of Cobuntpton, in Devon; by Lord Graves, fro= the Dissenters of Kilbourne Port; by Mr. Marshall, from the Dissenters of Hali fax, Bradford, and Wortley; by Sir Rowland Hill, from the Dis senters of Mill-street, in Sisropshire • by Mr. Coke, from the Dia. *enters of Wells; by Lord Francis Osborne, from the Dissenters of Cottingham, and other places iu Cambridge ' • by 11r. Capri, from Queenbotough, iD Kent; by Mr. Sykiss, from an Independent Congregation in Hull; by Mr. Egerton, from the Moaners to nip, and M‘cclesfield; by Colonel Daiirkins, Irons the Dissenters of ffinougbbridge ; by Sir C. Cole, from the Di,o,tuti ssf Ilridgend, in•Olouc.st.r, and Swansea, in Glantorganshire; by .'- contained in the Petit would a 14 411 tig 4l ! • whether e CoUrIWA . bsstitrations which the I Memb a'' might not be m/de applic , to the object o the Petition? Another question would ar se, namely, whether these observation s I not in a ise so obviously devious from the decli 1 / 4 object ¶f t Petition, that to pursue theirs would , , _r -:...k1:.. knainok4 \ Mr. Ord, from Wefillth ; by Mr. Potterer» Wilson , fawn the tts.tA dependents of Pickering, in Yeetshirt; by Sir H. Parnell, lions , she Dissenters of Eccles, in Laricsatte; by Mr. Lumley, from the independents of Griesley, and the Gnitanans of Mansfield, in Not tinghamshire ; by Sir John Wrottesley, from Leek and Burton upon.Trent, In Staffordshire; by Sir W. Rowley, from the Dissen ters of Hatfield, and the Independents of Southwold, in Suffolk ; by Mr. John Smith, from the very ancient Congregation of Dissen ters, in Old Gravel-lane, Middlesex , a nd four other places in the same Cour.ty; by Mr. Wodebouse, from Harleystown, Swaff ham, and Wallingford ; by Mr. Jonathan Peel, from a Baptist Congre gailOn in Norwich; and by Lord Stanley, from Dissenting Con• gregatfons in Bamford, Ashton. Button-le-Moor, Edgeworth, and Ruchdale.—These Petitions were read, and laid on the Table. aILISIAGE raose 411. HOUSI or LORDS. The Bill for declating the marriage between bliss Tsirner and E. G. Wakefield, null and void, and several other Private BM., were brought up by the messengers from the House of Lords. A person from the Insolvent Debtors' Court brought up' a Re turn of the number of persons released by the Commissioners. Mr. I)OUGLAS brought up a Rettirn of the number of Olfieers on the Lists of the Royal Navy, specifying the nuntber of each rank.a-Ordered to be printed. Mr. SYK ES, in preaeating a Petition from the Traders of HuU against the Tar upon Shopmen, took occasion to complain of the vexatious nature of that imposition, with respect to the class of persons upon whom it fell. He had been told that one of these Petitioners kept a boy merely to open his shop and brush it out in the morning, but, nevertheless, he was compelled to pay twenty shit ' Hogs a-year for 'batboy, as duty. He understood the whole tax produced something short of 30,0001. and he would meet strongly recommend Its repeal to the attention of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Mr. SYKES then moved for a Copy of an Extract from the Report of the Commission sent to the Cape of Good Hope, so far as it relates to the case of John Carden ; also for a Copy of the Memorial presented by the said John Carden to the Secretary of , the Governor of the Cape in the year 1846; and a Copy of the CorrespoodFnce between John Carden and the Secretary of State.—Ordered. Mr. A. J. O'NEILL, in presenting • Petition from Kingston• upon-Hull against the Roman Catholic Claims, took occasion to express his conviction of the necessity of an adherence on the part • of his Majesty's Ministers to the pledge which they had given on this subject; and, at the same time, gave notice of his Intention to move a Resolution on Monday next, declaratory of the full confi dence with which that House relies upon the pledge lately given by his Majesty's Ministers, that they are to observe the strictest Mintrality upon the subject of the Itomsn Catholic Question. — (7h. laugh). • 111 r. WELRS in presenting a Petition from the Independent Methodists of Maidstone on the subject of the Test and Corpora tion Acts, declared himself bosdle to the Roman Catholic Claims, and expressed his determination to support the Resolution of the Hon. Member for Hull ( Mr. O'Neill), when he brought it under the consideration of that House. Mr; ADAM HAY presented a Petition from the Owners and Occupier of Laird in Perthshire, against the importation of Foreign Wool.—Laid en the table. Mr. HUM E presented. a Petition from a person named John Elliott, complaining of the law of Debtor and Creditor. . The same Hon. Memos presented Petitions from some Indi viduals against the present mate of the law with respect to Mune Process; and from a person named Henry Inglis, complaining of the present state of the laws against Coining. The same Hon. Mamma presented a Petition from the Sawyers of Norwich, against the use of machinery. He declared, that he believed the Petitioners were much distressed, but he could not agree with them upon the subject of their Petition. The same Hon. Means& resented a Petition from the Cotton Spinners of Wigan. complaining of the present rate of Wages. Mr. HOBHOUSE rose for the purpose of presenting a Petition an :he subject of the Sc. James's Park Improvements; but as ha did not see in the House any Members connected with that part of the public expenditure, he begged to be allowed to postpone it till mother occasion. The Hon. Member gave notice of his intention, however, to move to-morrow for the appointment of a Commission to inquire into the best means of supplying the Metropolis with pure and wholesome Water. Sir H. PARNELL presented a Petition from the Nobility, Gentry, mad Traders of Killarney, on the subject of the Butter Trade, Mr. B. WILBRAHAM presented a Petition from Dover. , praying that no further concessions may be made to t he Roman Catbolles.—Ordered to be printed. Mr. BARING presented a Petition from certain individuals resident in Taunton, and engaged in the Silk Trade, praying for enactments regulating the rate of wages.—Ordered to be printed. Mr. V. FITZGERALD presented a Petition from the Catho lic Inhabitants of the County of Clire, praying for the removal of r the dimbilides affecting the body to which they belong. The Right Hossomable Gentleman supported the prayer of the Petition • • Ordered to be printed. - - Colonel WOOD rose to present a Petition from Wtentymine Ad jutants of Militia -- (A laugh). Those individuals complained that recent alterations affected them in the manner of an es peabfact• law, for, though they had served twenty years, and, according to the regulation under which they commenced their period of ser vise, were entitled to expect its. a day, retired allowance, yet the late change (to thirty years' service, and 6s. a day) placed them in a situation never contemplated at the time they entered the militia. From the hardship of this they prayed relief. There was another subject connected with the militia to which he wished to call the attention of the Noble Lord opposite. Subalterns in the Militia were entitled to half-pay, but if they went abroad were not per mined to receive it, while Officers of the Line had that privilege. He saw no reason for the distinction. Lord PALMERSTON said, that as respected the first the House would deal with it as might seem expedient—with regard to the second, he did not then then see any objection to removing the distinction complained of. However, he did not wish to corn. mit himself to any thing specific until an opportunity for further cobaideration was afforded.—The Petition was then brought up, and ordered to be printed. Lord CASTLEREAGH wished to postpone a motion of his which stood for to-day, on the subject of certain proceedings adopt. eft in the county of Down (Ireland), with reference to the Consta bulary Acts and the conduct of a Chief Constable there. The Noble Lord did not mention any time at which he proposed again to bring it forward, and it was eventually withdrawn. re.. CIOU RSA T. Mr. D. HARVEY presented a Petition from Robert Gourley, calling the attention of the House toe provision in the Larceny Laws Consideration Bill. Mr. HUM E said, that be was desirous of asking the Right Hon. Secretary for the Home Department whatthe situation of this Peti tioner was—whether be was confined for an assault, or upon a chew of insanity ? He had seen nothing in him which looked like insanity, and he thought It hard that he should be imprisoned so long: Mr. Secretary BOURNE said, that the case had never come before hint o&sially, and be was not acquainted with all its merits. Mr. PEEL said, that the Petitioner was confined on a charge of i assault. and that the Secretary of &ate bad nothing whatever to do with kis case. He committed an aggravated offence by swanking a Member of that House in an outrageous manner, and he was or dered to Sod heavy sureties to keep the peace. If those sureties were offered!, no man could prevent his release. Mr. W A ITH Ild AN said, the case ought to be looked into. Mr. PEEL said, that when the Petitioner was committed to prison, bearing that he was a person of education, he interfered as far as be could by desiring that he should have every comfort which the regulations of the place allowed. He understood that some very respectable persons bad offered to become Mr. Gourlay's sureties, but hesefused to accept them.—The Petition was laid on the table. Lord J. RUSSELL postponed his motion respecting the taking of the Poll at Elections until to-morrow. MISS TURNER'S ALLEGED MARRIAGE ANNULMENT BILL. Mr. PEEL rose to move the first re.ding of a Bill which hal come down to that House from the Lords, the object of which was to afford a very unusual re medy for a wrong of, he was happy to say, rare occur rence. The obj- ct of the Bill was to declare null an alleged marriage between Miss Turner and Edward Gibbon WA k field. The circumstances of this case were so notorious, that it would be wholly unnecessary to enter into a minute detail of the arts, the fraud, the forgery, and the villany—(Hear, hear) —which had been practised, and in consequence of which, the peace of a respectab:e family had been, for a time, disturbed. This, it was well known to most who heard him, had not been done to gratify any other passion than ava ice —to gratify the basest avarice by means of the basest per The chief agent in this detestably offence, wa. then enduring a punishment by no way iriadequa e— entirely disproportioned—to his offence. The sent-race which had been pronounced upon h.rn was a strong proof of the imperfection of human legislation. Three yeets'imprisonment fell yet! shore, indeed,ofthe punish ment which ought to follow such a crime. klundreds of delinquents, much less guilty than he—without the advantages of education which he possessed—had been convicted of capital felonies, and had forfeited their 'Owes. The object if the present measure was to preient the infliction of further injury, ana he did not think the House would hesitate to make that reparation which was necessary to clear up the embarrassment with which :Miss Turner's present situation was surrounded.—The circumstances of this case were so peculiar, that no other jurisdiction could properly and adequately afford redress. The party could not apply to an Ecclesiastical Court, for by the rules of such a tribunal, the testimony :at Miss Turner could nit be received as evidence. Doubtless she was allowed to be examined as a witness on-the trial of the indictment preferred against Wake field{ but here the House would observe, that the pro ceeding was of a criminal kind, and instituted at the suit of the Crown, Were she to come before an Ecclesiastical Court, she would appear as an ,interested party--;-she would derive a personal advantage from a particular re sult, and, clearly then, this -a ould form a fatal objection to her evidence. Under such circumstances, then, he felt persuaded that the House would not hesitate to bestow that remedy which it was in its power alone to confer. It was certainly an extraordinary remedy. but, then, the case was one of extraordinary injury. Here was the case 'of a young Lady, scarcely more than sixteen, who had suffered one of the most grievous injuries that could •tie inflicted, of whom it had been alleged that a certain marriage ceremony had been performed—the legality of which had been doubted, but which could not be annulled by an Ecclesiastical Court, on the only exist ing evidence. Were they, under such circumstances, to tan round upon a young Lady so circumstanced, and say she must go into an Ecclesiastical Court, and obtain the best remedy it could afford? Even suppose there were evidence, the delay would be intolerable; she would have in the first instance to apply to the Consistory Court—from that, there would lie. an appeal to the Court of Arches—thence to the Coast of Delegates. In the whole of the delinquent's conduct he had man,. fested such a disposition, as left little doubt that he would do all in his power to create delay, and present obstruction and difficulty. The proceedings might be protracted for three years, during which her adversary. might avail himself of any deficiency of evidence that accident might create, and if she were to die in the interim, and that the nullity of the marriage were not in the end to be established according to the forms of those Courts, he would become entitled to any property settled upon her. This, to a man so avaricious, would be success. Independently, however, of all personal in terests, there were some considerations suggested by the circumstances of this case which he thought not uo 'worthy of-the attention of the House; he alluded to the state of the Scotch laws as regarded marriages. —(Hear, hear!) In the course of the trial, the Sheriff Depute of the County in which the marriage was said to have taken place, had been examined, and it was held, by him that the marriage was valid—notwithstanding the fraud ....notwithstanding that,if the same proceedings had taken place in England, they would have amounted to a capital felony. He held that the marriage was, good according to the Scotch law—that there , previonsl circumstances of the nature which had occurred in this' case, were not taken into account; no fraud, no decep tion, invalidating the marriage, unless it related to per sonal identity. In that case, and in that only, would a Scotch Court afford a remedy, though, as in this par ticular instance, the grossest fraud had been practised, and that upon a girl of fifteen years old, who had bees induced to believe that the act was absolutely nem*. sary to rescue her father from the hands of bailiffs. He (the Sheriff Depute) held, that an extorted consent did by no means nullify the marriage. If that be good law, it was of the utmost importance 'that a remedy should be applied to so serious and dangerous a princi ple. If a female, by means of intimidation or fraud, has been induced to contract a marriage, it is a felony in the party so coercing her on the one side of the Boo* der—on the other he is rewarded for his delinquency— by crossing the Border he escapes the consequences of his crime, and makes his marriage good. Those considerations, though very material in themselves, be would press upon 'the attention of the House no far ther—any other observations of that nature ought to be reserved for a different proceeding from that which he was then bringing under their notice— as respected that, he trusted the House would be per fectly unanimous. It was satisfactory to think, that there was but one direct precedent bearing upon this case, and that that was at such a distance of time as 140 years. It occurred in the year 1690, when the marriage of Miss Wharton and Mr. Campbell (a relative of the Duke of Argyle) was annulled. The present Act, as the House was aware, had originated in the other House, and had been sent to that House by their Lordships.— Fifteen months had elapsed since the proceedings com menced. The expenses incurred by Mr. Turner were little less than 10,0001. and he trusted the House would see the justice and propriety of preventing any further waste of money—though, certainly, the expense wasl the lightest part of the evil to which that family had been exposed—it was as nothing compared to the dread ful anxiety *Web they must have undergone. Under such circumstances, he trusted they would not send him into an Ecclesiastical Court for 3 years. They would recollect the situation of the young Lady, scarcely turned of 16, and he hoped they would prefer an extraordinary mea sure rather than that villany should be successful and triumphant—rather than that Miss Turner and her family should be tortured by dilatory proceedings, and perhaps her prospects eventually blasted. The Right Hon. Gentleman concluded by moving the first reading of the Bill. The Bill was accordingly read a first time. On the question that it be read a second time, Mr. PEEL observed, that it would be unnecessary for that House to go into any evidence. The Bill was merely declaratory for the purpose of removing doubts. It would be quite sufficient for them to have a copy of the evidence taken before the House of Lords. Mr. Secretary STURGES BOURNE said, that be hoped the last suggestion would be attended to. The Bill was then ordered to be read a second time to-morrow. Mr. PEEL then moved, that an application be made to the House of Lords for a copy of the evidence taken before that House on this subject.—Ordered.• On the motion of Mr. Pm, the Larceny Laws Con solidation Bill—the Malicious Injuries Bill—the Reme dies against the Hundred Bill—and the Administration of Criminal Justice Bill, were severally read a third time, and pasted. PENRYN RLECTION—JOAN CARNR, Mr. MANNING ad•eited to a Petition from J )11, Carne t who stood committed to Newgate, under at • • order of the House, (dr privericarion in his evidence, on the subject of the Penryn Election. The Him. Member now mowed, th,t John Came he called to the 1341; re. primanded, and discharged out of custody without payment of fees. Mr. Secretary BOURNE objected to the individual in question being discharged without payment of fee,, on the ground that the offence he had committed was one of a gross and aggravated k'nd. Mr. MANNING only desired his dibcharge free of expense, in lbnformity with the 'prayer of the Petition, which stated Cone to be in poor circumstances, and encumbered with a large family. Mr. Secretary BOURNE observed, he should not offer any opposition to the motion, provided his Hnn. Friend would say he (Mr. Manning) believed the Peti• tioner's statement as to poverty to he true. After what had passed, it was impossible to be too cautious in ere. diting the assertion of the individual in question. Atter an observation from Mr. MANNINO John Came was called to the Bar of the House, and, having been reprimanded by the &MAZER, was nr 'ered to be discharged without payment of fees (on the round of his poverty). The reprimand was ordered to be entered on the Journals of the House. GRAND JURIZSIRELAND. Mr. DAWSON rose n t d o ln j su ut b rhy m eL it yle h wa i r s s, m ls o ll t s i ts on .4,7 r tac e h l er at we iv iwi e ic t ah o s the Grand Jury Presentments of Ireland. The Hon. Gentleman contended that the defects of t his s y stem le v i were d rn , u o s n t d o e r p p r the e u G v e r a . was more than one-third of the whole revenue of Ireland. The powers which the GrandJary possessed of taxation were most arbitrary: The powers which the lave rested solely in the Sheriff lay open to great abuse and fa. vouritism. The evidence given before a Committee, proved such to be the case, as was exemplified in the election at Waterford. The Sheriffs, and he meant no offence to those Gentlemen who held the offices now, had not sufficient responsibility in their appoint.. silents of Grand Jurors. He complained that the latter were the auditors of their own accounts, in which they Often were careless. There were duties which it was impossible for them to perform ; he instanced the Courts of Cork in the year 186, when the Grand Jury sat only ten days, in the course of which they had to es. amine 750 presentments of public money, and 1,150 criminal indictments. He cited other cases, in which the pressure of business was the same, and which made it morally impossible for them to get through in the time given them. It was therefore impossible for them to examine the money presentments with that exactness which the expenditure of public money required. He was not singular in his statemen., for Members were now in the Hdrise, who had served on Grand Juries, who therefore be it in their power to substantiate what he was saying. Another ev I which was apparent was the manner in which country Ada wits were examined. Those affidavits were generally puled by the Magistrates, but the signature of the Foreman was held sufficient investigation by the rest of the Grand Jury. The inequality of assessments was the next source of evil which arose under the present system. He thought the appoinment of a County Surveyor would lessen, in some degree, evils arising from .this irregularity. The Grand Jury were subject to fraud and deceit in making the largestants which they annually do to the Do. pensa.....-;a li sir Ireland. They did not institute proper inquiries to prevent such misappropriation. The whole system required revision and alteration, and he thought a sufficient case was made out for going into a Com mittee to inquire into the case, with a view of obtaining d quick remedy for the crying grievances now existing. He wished such steps to be pursued as would produce a proper. economy in the expenditure of the public money. He did not wish, in saying this, to frighten the Irish Gentlemen by fears of innovation.—( Laughter.) The Hon. Gentleman concluded by• moving for a Committee to inquire into the for9ation of the Grand Jury Presentments in Ireland. Mr. S. RICE seconded the motion. He did so became he thought an inquiry so constituted would check the evils which had for a long time been spreading. Mr. GOULBURN thought the consolidation of the Laws relating to presentments would remedy the evils complained of. Had he retained office, it would have been one of his first steps to have attended to the subject. He hoped the House would well reflect before it de prived the Grand Juries of their present power, and transferred their duties to other bodies. Mr. V. FITZGERALD concurred with his Right Hon. Friend in his recommendation, that the Commit- tee ought not to be entered upon with any view to the transfer of the powers and functions now exercised br Grand Juries to any other body whatever. The com plaint against the present system was, not that Gland Juries were more corrupt than other bodies, but they, of necessity, in consequence of the very little time at. forded them for inquiry, their duties were not as deli. berately, nor, perhaps, as carefully performed, as was desirable, and as could be done under an improved aro tem. He admitted that grounds of complaint respecting the mode of forming Grand Juries might have form. ray existed, but since the introduction of a measure lor a Reform in the appointment of Sheriffs, (which had been brought into operation while his Right Hon. Friend the late Secretary of State for the Home Department seAs Minister for Ireland, and which measure he (Mr. Peel) bad so ably seconded,) no instance had occurred of the placing of exceptionable persons on Grand Juries. The Right Hon. Gentleman concluded by again expressing his concurrence in the motion. Mr. M. FITZGERALD thought the power g iven to Grand Juries was inch as ought not to be given to any body of men whatever. He would not go in to the details now; and congratulated the House that repeated discussions had so far adva,,ced the subject, as to bring it at last under the investigation of a Comm'ttee. Mr. W. LAMB had no objection to the Committee, but, by giving it his approbation, begged not so be considered as pledged to any particular line of conduct. Mr. A. DAWSON also approved of the appoint. ment of a Committee. The manner in which the Grand Jury now disposed of the County Funds, to quired investigation. One of the great evils of the system was, that the whole of the business cartied ea by the Grand Jury when money was in question, vas with closed doors. The public ought to be admitta in order to see that Grand Juries performed the Pits of honest purse-bearers. After a few words from Colonel T_RIENCH, in or port of the motion, it was agreed to. The Ministers Provision (Ireland) Bill was r. ad A 4t.. cond time, The 011- Ind the 1 1 st celfri howl Aim Prowl! Fu per C 77f. 6 col pai Tell act Par kis Oa ne, and ordered to be COM Itte,l to-morrow. alter Orders of the Day were then di.inado l o House adjourned at TWELVE IiCLoCIL. M • I . 01 01 Oa! WO. dia. v. '144