Star. — London, England, 1823-06-06 00:00:00

riages in Russia were registered with as much care as possible. Lord ELLENBOROUGH still wished the same• solicitude to be extended to the marriages of our coun trymen and countrywomen in all foreign States.— The further consideration of• the Bill was postponed to Monday next. SECTARIAN MARRIAGES. The Marquis of L A NSDOWN said, that while their Lord ships were engaged with the subject of marriage, and before they proceeded to adjourn, he wished to lay upon the table a Bill he held in his hand. It was calculated to afford to Dissenters and others those facilities for marrying in their particular way which formed no part of the Bill.before the House, and was con vected with the prayer of Petitions he had presented. He bad only co move at present that the Bill should is • read a first time. —The above Bill was accordingly read a -first time, ordered to be pi luted, and read a second time on Thursday next. Notice was given by the same Noble Marquis, that he intended to mere the second reading of the Ireland Grand Jury Present ments and Joint Tenancy Bills next blonday.—Adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS. A person from the Treasury presented certain papers relative to the Stamp Act ordered by the House. A person from the Poet Office presented certain papers from the Poattuasters-General respecting Steam Packets plying be tween Portpatrick and Donaghadee. Mr. 111. GRANT presented a Petition from the Wool Growers of the County of Sutherland, praying for a continu ance of the duty on Foreign Wool. The Recognizance Bill went through a Committee, and the Report having been brought up, was ordered to be received to-morrow. The House went into a Committee on the Irish Election Bill. It was reported to the House, and the Report ordered to be re cieeed to-morrow. Mr. r. FITZGERALD presented a Petition from the in- habitants of the County of Clare, praying that the House would take into consideration thepropriety of granting a sum of money for the encouragement of the Linen-manufactory la Ireland. The Petitioners suggested that a premium upon the growing of Sax must have a most beneficial tendency, both as it regarded the aericultural interest and the employment of the labouring pee. saerry.—Ordered to buleid upon the table, and to be printed. sir. C U ItT EI S presented a Petition, complaining of Agricul tural Distress from the Owners and Occupiers of Land near Lewes., in Sussex. 't he Petitioners prayed generally for a Ho. 1 peal of Taxation ; and to the duty on Malt they expressed themselves peculiarly opposed. Many measures had during the present Session been introduced for the benefit of commerce; wet, indeed, the present might justly be termed the Commercial l'arlianient ; but he trusted, that though late in the Session, the agricultural interest would not be completely neglected. Lord CR ANBORNE asked if the Honourable and Learned Gentleman had any objection to allow the Bill for legalising the Sale ef Game to go through a Committee on that night? Mr. BR OUG 11 A 3l—Certainly I ean have no possible objec- Cele There will be an opportunity of discussing the Bill at a feture stage, and, therefore, I, wish to give no causeless or vexa tious opposition to a measure of which, though I must question the expediency, I cannot doubt about the excellent motives of the Noble Lord who has brought it forward.—The Bill went through a Committee. The Report was brought up, and ordered to be read on Monday, and the Bill was ordered to be pripted. Mr. I3ROUG II A3I said, that he wished to renew a notice of a dropped order—the Sale of Beer Bill. He had only been pre vented from bringing that measure forward before by the ab sence of his Honourable Friend the Member for Weymouth, and he should certainly move for the second reading to-morrow. Colonel WOOD said, that in consequence of the understand irg to which the Ilouse came last night, he should merely move for leave to bring in a Bill relating to the Settlement of the Pcior. Leave was given. The House, on the motion of Sir G. COCKBURN, went it,to Committee on the propriety of granting a certain sum of money for the rebuilding of London Bridge from the Consoli dated Fund.—The Report was brought up, and ordered. to be received to-morrow. Mr. LITTLE ON presented a Petition from certain Manu facturers of Staffordshire, in favour of the County Courts 13/11. Ordered to lie on the table. On the meMon of Mr. HIIMM, the Ilouse went into a Corn- mime 014 the Briinstone Act.—The Udi was reported to the 'louse, and the Report ordered to beereceived io-morrow. The I louse, oo the motion of Mr. GOVI.SCA34, went ieto a Committee on the Irish Court of Chancery Act. Mr. Ii ICE wished to know if it was the intention of the Tight lion. Gentleman to devise compensations for the losses ! which Peblic Officers should suttalik by that Bill, and whether those allowaices were to be devised by Parliantest ? Mr. G ()ULM R?I replied, that it was certainly the inten tin:, to make such allowaucef. The Resolutions were reported to the House, and the Report' orlercd to be received to-morrow. A Mitsmge from the Lords announced that their Lordships had agreed to several private Bills. Mr. ABE RC ROM BY presented a Petition from the Tuba bltsnts of Inverness, expressing their earnest desire that the Bill in progress for regulating Scotch Juries may be forthwith passed. Laid on the table and ordered to be printed. Mr. 11. G. BEN NET presented a Petition from Robert Guurlay, of the parish of Wigan, in Wiltshire, complaining of the low state of wag es of the labouring poor.— Laid on the table. Mr, RICA RDOinoved fur a Return of the number of Ships and Men employed in the India and Chinese Seas, also for the number of Lascars employed in the last two years.—Ordered. On the motion of Mr. lizmaizs, the House went into a Corn miitee on the Post Horse Act. The.usual license of five shillings on each post-horse master, and all the other rates chargeable by the existing Acts, were agreed to. The Resolutions were reported to the House, and the Report was ordered to be received to-morrow. In answer to a question from Mr. BERNAL, Mr. GOU LBURN said, he should certainly bring in the Tahe Bill the first thing to-morrow, and on Monday the re mainder of the Estimates. GAME Laws. Mr. DENNIAN presented a Petition from certain Coach Proprietors, complaining of some of the pro visions of the Sale of Game Bill. He bad voted for the second reading of the Bill as a desperate act in a desperate case, but he give this notice, that if some t'f its arbitrary clauses, particularly those relatitig to the right of search, were not omitted, he should feel it his duty to oppose the Bill. Mr. BEItNAL excused the Ilonourable Mov,er of , this Bill for the insertion of these clauses, which were certainly to be found in the time of King William and later reigns. He hoped the more objectionable anises would be omitted. Mr. H. G. BENNET could by no means agree to the present Bill. Mr. S. WORTLEY said, the coach-offices, coach men, and guards were the greatest encouragers of poaching, by being the purchasers as well as the cal riers. Holding this opinion, he thought some re striction should beimposed upon coach proprietors. Sir M. W. RIDLEY thought there was no class of persons, except the poachers themselves, who de served to be more carefully watched and punished than the coach proprietors. Mr. RICARDO considered that the purchasers, and not the coach proprietors, were the encouragers of poaching. While there were buyers there would be poachers. After a few words from Lord Caaniontat and Mr. DENMAN, who said that the only charge against the Petitioners was, that they offered the best mode of conveyance, and that persons took advantage of forwarding parcels by their coaches, and that the whole charge was merely a reductio ad absurdum, the Petition was ordered to be printed. lARILLA DUTY. Mr. DENNISON presented a Petition from the traders in, and importers of Barilla. Many tons of it were annually imported, and at a very consi• derable ditty. Last year the price lowered consi derably as did the article of soaps ip which it was so Epoch employed. The Scotch dealers in kelp, how ever, caught hold of the eitr of the Treasury, and by their representations had the duty continued upon barilla, while the manufacturers of kelp were consi derably assisted. The object of the Petitioners was, that the duty should be reduced, in order to put them on a fair level with the kelp growers. Nothing was more ruinous to trade than any fluctuation in the duties imposed by the Legislature. Lord G. SOMERSET differed with the Hon. Member as to the necessity of using barilla in the manufacture of soap. The growers of kelp had no , undue favour shewn tem, nor was anything done to obstruct the trade in barilla by the imposition of un fair duties. The people of Scotland required some advantages in this trade when the condition was con sidered in which they stood with respect to many other articles of their growth, which they could not dispose of to any great advantage. Mr. BERNAL thought it would be unjust to alter the duty, not only because contracts now existing might lead to great losses, but because the Revenue, calculating on certain duties, would be minus the amount of duties so reduced. . _ _ . Mr. CAMPBELL was of opinion that the Peti tioners had very little claim upon the country, parti cularly when they founded it on the injury of the kelp grower. The plain fact was, house-rent was so dear in London that the soap-manufacturers were obliged to use barilla, which stowed close, rather than keep kelp, which required considerable warehouse room. Mr. RICARDO censured the vacillating system of the Government, who imposed duties one day and took them off another ; so that no one could really know what he had to pay for any given period of time. Mr. CHARLES GRANT said, that in the Act re• pealing the Salt Duty, it was expressly reserved that the duty on barilla should continue; but by a subse qnent Act, one-half thelluty on barilla was taken off. The result of laying on all large imposts, created dif ficulties to some more than others ; but then it must be considered that the growers of kelp had no more right to protection than the importers of barilla. The object of the Government was to hold the balance equally between both parties, and thence to continue the barilla duty for some time, and then reduce it to that level it might be necessary to continue any such duty. He regretted the fluctuation of duty, but where the interests of above .100,000 persons were concerned, he thought a duty on barilla not alt ' gether to be quarrelled with. Mr. H. GURNEY thought it would be a most un just thing to increase the duty on barilla. Mr. ELLICE considered if they went on thus le gislating, that every class and interest of society would be disjointed. The kelp trade got up in con sequence of the duty on salt and on barilla ; but the evil was, that while one class benefitted, the others were declining. Restrictions were still continued, and he asked if they long continued, how could our ma nufacturers go from us? Ile entreated some • consi deration for the, trade of the country, which must' suffer if this system continued. Another considera tion should be attended to, namely, the relation of duty to the value of the article. lie hoped, after what passed this evening, that the question would undergo much more mature consideration. Mr. MAXWELL said he thought now the ques tion was, whether they would sacrifice a particular class of the lower order of society, without giving any other class in society any great benefit? lie fek disposed to support the Petition. . After a few word from Mr. GRENFELL is support of the Petition, . Sir M. W.,ItIDLEY believed that great evil had arisen to our manufactures in glass, particulaily from the badness of our kelp; the monopoly in kelp was now kept ttit by, in his mind, very impolitic Acts of l'arliament.—Tho Petition was read and ordered to be printed. COURT Or CHANCERY. Mr. DENMAN moved the resumption of the de bate on the motion for a Committee on the Court of Chancery and Appellant Jurisdiction of the House of Lords. Strangers were ordered to withdraw prepa ratory to a division ; but the Hon. Member rose to state that the arguments of his Hon. and Learned Fiend used last night remained still unanswered, notwithstanding the speech ,of the Attorney-General in reply thereto. The defence made last night for the First Law Officer of the Crown was incomplete until further information was offered to the House on the points allud:d to by his Horhyriend the Mem ber for Durham. The speech of the Attorney-Gene ral had assumed that an imputation had been made against the Lord Chancellor of England of personal corruption. He would appeal to the House whether any such charge had been made against that high of ficial character? On the contrary, his Honourable and Learned Friend, when stating that case, though full of great moment, and complaining of great failure of justice and delay, had altogether abstained from introducing any personal allusion. The arrears of causes it n as said, were serious in the Court of Chan cery, and they were likely to increase rather than di minish. The mass of property now in the hands of the Accountant-General amounted to 33 millions sterling. Most of the Gentlemen who heard him were, he doubted not, engaged either as a represen tative or a principal in one or more causes in Chan cery, which possibly might have been hanging over them for eight or nine • years past ; and it was possible that many on leaving this life might be obliged to leave their families at the mercy of a suit in Chan cery. The subject of their consideration • was then the cause - of posterity and their children. The cases cited last night had been objected to as all corning out of one office; but he thought that if seven or eight cases of enormous, shameful, and miraculous delay were adduced out of any one office, it ought to 'be considered sufficient to awaken alarm, and lead men to interfere, lest they should be themselves so long engaged in a Chancery suit, or in other words, kept out of their property, as that old age, or even death might deprive them of the power of enjoying it. He contended the case of Harwood and Ware was one on which it was impossible to allege with truth that any surprise had been practised in citing it on those who bad undertaken the defence of this Court. It appeared, that though at the head of the paper, and judgment had been prayed, that judg ment had been unaccountably postponed. Oa that loccasion the attorney wrote to the Lord Chancellor, to complain that for seven years those causes had c o ns, admitted his many excellent qualit:et. Tier i r i s . . . • ' beigeollsratpdtheatpthafeee head a d nd o a t bo th v e e p t a o per y ,Yelirceraneiat nerd; h ( ir: Denman's) part, he would the be 1 .ast to brook.. to have lull mood; that he felt it impassible to meat ;s oy soma upon one whom he so much revered. In. the complaints and remonstrances of his clients, whose dependently of the marks of personal kindness be circumstances were embarrassed by the delay of 20 had received at the hands of that learned Judge, be years; that the young man for whose benefit the trust respected and admired him for his talents and his had been raised was a child in the first act of this play, virtues. He was now at an advanced age of lif e , a ' namely', at the commencement of the suit; but that, great part of which had been spelt in the Strict, aai... . like the boy in the drama, by a violation of all the gent, and conscientious discharge of the inrpo ttast unities, he had now become a man ; in fact, this in-. duties of his high station: He was now at an AA 4 , font had become a greybeard, after being above 20 which he might say in the words of the p0et..... years engaged in law and thus the party most imerestel 44 An age that melts with unperceived decay, in the property, whilst waiting to have his right este - 0 And glides in modest innocence away; " Whose peaceful day benevolence endears, blished, had died of a broken heart—(Hear, hear).— " Whose night congratulating conwience cheers; He could not help saying, that though he should de- 44 The gen'ral fav'rise as the gen'mlftiend ; spise the man who would address, or the Judge who " Such age there is, and who shall wish its cod r would attend to an anonymous letter in a case like He trusted it was needless to say, that he felt thee this before him, he felt admiration for the spirit of most respect for this learned individual, who s ot the party who, though only the Attorney in this case, one of the first who professionally conferred a facto* ha] addressed the Noble and Learned Lord in a let- on him by his notice of him professionally. na tat ter signed with his name. But what did the Noble reason was there to call upon him to hack himsellie Lord do on that occasion ? Did he reprimand those this manner, to go from the Exchequer to the Rohl,; who had taken this cause Born the head of the list? and from the Rolls to the Old Bailey? During a i r Instead of calling such o ffi cers to account for their short vacation he acted in the Rolls as Dem i misconduct, the Lord Chancellor had called in the and thence was sent on the Circuit—( Cries of H ee ,: Attorney of the opposite party, and drawn up with hear). These were matters that called for remedy, him the terms of that decree, which it had been well He was not disposed to think that the mind of ti e had it been pronounced two years and a half before. Chancellor was so doubting as some supposed. S 3 That Court might well be haunted by those living far as he had an opportunity of knowing what the spectres in sable rags, whose wretchedness was only mind of that Learned Person was, on the first lo la , equalled by the patience with which they went down ing of any case he came to the same conclusion la . to the grave robbed of all hope almost of seeing a which he finally came. On the question of Nolo. period put to their sufferings, or removing their pro- ing the Queen's name from the Liturgy, it was welt perty by a decree pronounced by the Lord Chancel- known that, from the very first, his opinion wai t s. * for. The sight would naturally remind one of the the power existed, and upon that opinion he fili a ll y admirable description given of such by Spenser;-- acted. Here was a question of the most imnortao " Fun little knowest thou that hest nut tried, nature, one that required the most mature debtor * " What hell it is in suing long to bide; Lion ; a subject with respect to which it might be " To lose good days that might be better s l ant, said, Aurtc' dubitat gni nunrans dubitarii, but fa "To waste long nights in pensive discontent ; seurper dubitat kit non dubilavit. The Chancellor " To speed to-day, to be put back tomorrow; 4 ‘ To feed on hope, to pine with fear and sorrow; gave his opinion without hesitation in favour of the "To have thy prince's grace, yet want her peers; power, hut refused to t^ll his reasons. This did oot " To have thy asking, yet wait many years; chew a doubting mind. Her claim to be tried as a " To fret thy soul with crosses and with cares; • Queen of England ought to be tried, was rejected " To eat thy bean through comfortless despairs; immediately. If a specification of particulars was " To fawn, to crouch, to wait, to ride to ronne, " To spend, to give, to want, to be undonne." required in her case, or if Mt. Low e s offi ce was to To exemplify a case of peculiar hardship well known be searched for the charges against her a n d a li st o f to the profession, he need only cite the case of the witnesses, there was no doubt at a ll i n h is m i n d. S Collis v. Port, where a question arose as to whether She was not to be allowed a list, eithe r o f t i mes ,a s ' a debt was on a specialty or a simple contract ? that places, or persons. She was to be allo we d no poo k ble means of guiding her course through a s e a o f se- case was argued by, amongst a great many others, cusation, exposed to all the winds of cAumny. Aim. hancellor, en being applied to to give judgment in Sir Samuel Ronally, in 1817. Last year, the Lord they case in which he saw no disposition to d ou b t , 'C this case, had forgotten it altogether. hi last Hilary was that of literary property. It was no w awes i Term the case was obliged to be argued again to re- rained that there was no protection for lite rar y pro fresh his Lordship's memory, at great'expense to the party but by the injunction of the Lord Ch ance ll or . The Statute upon the subject was quite nugatory,- parties, whose patience bud been exhausted by this same suit ever since the year 1792. It had been said Dr. Lawrence, a Gentleman of science, deli vere d that there were now no arrears of causes in this Court, some lectures on the physiology of man. He fo un d that they were pirated, and afterwards publi s h e d an assertion which he thought mere quibbling, be by a bookseller, who was the client of his Learned cause there were now more taint.: on the list than at Friend (Mr. Wetherell). Nothing could be more the time of passing the late Bill for facilitating the unfair than the conduct of the bookseller. However, business of this Court. Another case bad arisen as to the right of two parties to a certain sum in the it was not animadverted on by the Lord Chancellor. hands of certain bankers, when the opinion of the He said, " I doubt," and an injunction was refused, Judges of Common Law was taken as to the right, on the ground that a libel might be found in some ' upon which they did no: hesitate to pronounce it their corner of the publication. Again, in Lord Byron . opinion that the right was in one of the parties: the case, he entertained a doubt whether Cain was as pious as Faradise Lost, and an injunction was is. roord Chancellor, however, pronounced no decree, apd soon after the bankers in whose hands the money' fused. The two cases were promptly decided by a doubt of the Chancellor. This Was quite a new dos was lodged became bankrupts. The trustees, how trine. Until the present time no person was refined ever, proved on the estate, and, re-investing the an injunction on such allegations. He was far from money in other banker.' hands, the case stood over Jong enough to permit sufficient time to these bankers Imputing to improper motives the delay in Lord o in their turn to become insolvent, whereby the Portsmouth'sclaim case, but it naturally gave rise to su picions. It afforded an unfortunate encouragement ants, who had by this time had a second hearing, and again established their right to the property, in to suppose that some bias existed. It appearate him, that the House could not resist the case made consequence of the opinion pronounced on this se out by his Learned Friend (Mr. Williams). It wa cond occasion by the Common Law Judges, lost arima facie case that could not be got over. The even this shadow of a shade—(Hear, hear).— circumstances were not less urgent than in 181$, lie Were not these two cases sufficient to lead the House to infer that an inquiry ought to be instituted into denied altogether that they mu s t r e c ei v e t h e i r io structions from the Hou s e of L or d s , t h oug h i t wa s these delays in the execution of justice? He had heart' precisely the same accounts from numbers of his in consequence of instructio ns f rom t h at quarter the personal friends at the Equity Bar, namely, that the Vice-Chancellor's Bill originated. The Court of Chancery state of the case attempted to be made out was not was greatly r eli eve d, no d ou b t , by t h e ex .exaggerated;pedition of the Vice-Cha nce ll or; b ut if he :scree but that .the House of Commons in moving for papers did not know how to get at the much given to doubting, t h e arrear wou ld at de necessary information—(Hear, hear). In the great present moment be most alarmin g . In s tructiali were given ha the House of Lords in consequence 4 Portsmouth case he thought that in 1814 enough had the great arrear of Appeals; but it made no differ been discovered on affidavits which ought to have once where a measure on this subject might originate. led any Judge to interfere then and there, if that dis- He did not see how the motion could be rejected be graceful marriage which took place should not be the Gentlemen of that H ous e, a ll o f w h o m, as Ili alone sufficient to awaken just suspicions of those asillhi transactions which were then disclosed to the Noble their constituents, were deeply interested ii and Learned Lord. All that surprised him was, that decisions of the Court of Cha ncer y. I nq uiry walla when that disgraceful marriage had been consum- for u from any suspicion.ry, even to clear the rep u t a ti o n of the Maned' mated, mated, and the Noble Lord entrapped or rather kid- . • napped into that dacgerous union, it was wonderful Mr. W. CQURTENAY l a b our ed under some dio that the crimes which were practised had not been advantages in risi n g on t h e present occ a s ion, flan the circumstance of his being .one of the officered consummated by a conclusion which all had a right the . Court of Chancery, who had been impliestal to es : act would take place, and that a son had been sta. , born, who, while he was a little Lord Portsmouth, almost by name in the alle ge d a b us es in that Co would have as much of the present Lord's blood in Mr. M. A. TAYLOR begged to say, that in elik his veins, or be as little a kin to him as any Hon. had fallen from him o n t h e p rece di n g night 6a • Gentleman in that House. All must have felt with made no allusion to the Honou r able and deep regret the delay which had taken place to put Gentleman, who was not a blaster in Chancery at& that Nobleman under that sort of controul and care period to which he had r efer r ed. which suited his unhappy case—a caution, which if Mr. W. COURTENAY resumed.—lt had boa stated that the public complained of all &earwigs it bad occurred in time, would have saved moiety from the demoralizing effects of those details which of that Court, and con s e quent ly be was were unfit even to meet the practised ears of profe s - hended in the charge. The qu es tion on whid= sional men. What was the state of that unhappy had now to deci de was this—had a case Wass& out w Nobleman from the time of his being take n d own hich called on the House to institute the per permed- 11 Z to Scotland ; ever since which he had been hauled posed enquiry? It had been said no about from one place to another, and by on e pa bad been intended on the Lord Chancellor, bit c a or another, in order to try to get hold of his i ever the Honourable and Learned Gentians Tint there were good grounds for assuming the writ ilk had .just sat down had found it, since it cum Ea de lunatic* inquirendo he thought was obvious before his hands it had been converted into a mostilitatt his Hon. and Learned Friend then employed had and personal attack on that Noble Lord. hinny* spoken twenty minutes, although twenty-six hours thy of remark that the attack was.not coofisal $ of law argument had been finally exhausted on the dilatoriness, but that distinguished individaall. subject. He could assure the House that nothing was accused of erroneous judgment, and want &W. farther from his intention than to inculpate or tra- ledge—(Hear).—The Learned Gentlemanseel. lll/ duce any of the Judges concerned personally. An dissent from this, but if such charges ware .li't ill' allusion had last night been made by an Honourable , tended to be preferred, what was meant by dig . and Learned Friend of his to the case of the Chief marks on the Portsmouth case, and those re . Baron, whose long illness it was said should have oc . rams entertained by the Lord Chan,c elloi oak casioned his being placed on a retired alliwance, jest of literary property ? The Attorney-G instead of his duties being performed by Mr. Baronibeeu said to have •ingeoiously imagined that lie Graham—who, his Learned Friend said, from his sonakattack had been made on the Noble lib , 001 great age; was not qualified to undertake such heavy . I what were the expressions used by the Hsea_ a lalat ad such constant labour. His Learned Friend had not said one.word.against the character, and Learned Gentleman who had brought' foilaP t h e goo d. [the present motion? Had he not called the ness, or the great merits of the v e n e ra bl e J u d ge ; slot h e , mentioned in a Earticolar case, a surrelltitillor. had, as all who knew that amiable individual mutt, I cree, and had it not been said with reaped Pi"' '' - __~