Star. — London, England, 1822-06-26 00:00:00

Bmtlirvick had been patronised by the Learned Lord. N o man could doubt that it was meant by these pro ccodings to raise a prejudice against Mr. Stuart— (,:co. —If such abuses did not call krinciniry, the ilo:se rriq be callous to suffering, and dead to the lore of liberty. Ile wished for a Committee, that li:liqers and the country might know how Scotland 4•: verned. An action had been brought by Mr. against Mr. Cheak, for what had appeared in 13:von, and the day that the trial was to come on, a journeyman printer, disappettted, and t1::•ii in Park. The Edinburgh Correspondent , merly been patronized by the . Learned Lord, Int lia,l lost that patronage for refusing to go the length at the trial of the Queen—(Hear). = itc: the fall of the Berton a negotiation took plaCe, 312 the g: . eat difficulty lay in the choice of an Editor, :;;to should conduct the Paper, and see how it was to made the vehicle of private slander. He could , rove, that a Counsel for the Crown was a leading , arty in these transactions !—(Hear)—The example the Learned Lord had been widely followed through :icotlanil: from Inverness to Dumfries a spirit simi . 1r to that manifested at Hamilton had appeared. 1,1t2 melancholy death of Sir Alexander Boswell v: is not the only lesson which Scotland had received vlan this subject—they had also to lament the death o f Mr. Scott, a Gentleman of education and charac tr, whose loss was universally deplored : it was 11;51:gilt the party in question would have been satis €:2, with this victim—he was the first victim of their rr.t:igriy, and the first victim .to their pistols 1— hear, hear).—He trusted he had made out 4, s:rong cage for appointing a Committee. He con- eluded by moving.— " That a Committee be appointed to inquire into the conduct of the Lord Advocate and the other Law Officers of the Crown in Scotland, with reference to the Public Press of that country, and especially with regard to the prosecution against William Borthwick."—The !notion having been seconded, and put, The LORD ADVOCATE said, that he relied on the liberal indulgence of the House, under the diffi culties of his situation, in rising to enter upon the de fence of his oi.vui character, which had been arraigned before them. If the Hon. and Learned Gentleman's "notion was carried, it would be the appointment of Committee for such purposes as would imply a vote ct - ccnsure upon him, and thereby injure him in all :! , ,q was valuable to him to preserve untouched, viz. honour and character. He complained not so m•ich of the manner and time that the Honourable ; , 1:1 Learned Gentleman had put forward this mo ti.:r., as of his nut having given him timely notice f-'r preparation for such a statement as he had made. He looked upon the notice in the Order-book as touching only his general conduct as to the press, ri:d did not anticipate such minute particulars being gone into as they had heard. When Mr. Whitbread brought a charge against the last Lord Advocate he had the courtesy, before putting him on his trial, to tarnish him with a complete knowledge of his accu .. sations, and thus enabled him to come fully prepared before the House. But he had heard the first of his charges that night, although he might have brought forward a general motion on the subject ten months ago, and had threatened to do so, it was not till three days after the death of Sir A. Boswell. in whom he had lost a friend, and when the public feeling ran high, that he had thought a fit time for such a motion. If he thought as he stated he did, it was his duty to have taken measures not to allow him to disgrace the office which be held. Fur the last eight days, the public press had done everything in its power to pre judge this question ; and this too, at a time, when he was a defendant in an action of damages to the amount of I:10,000,as a proprietor in one of the papers alluded to by the Hon. and Learned Gentleman.— These were the preliminary observations he had to trouble the . House with. With regard to the charges brought against him, that House must be aware that he stood in a situation of difficulty, inasmuch as he was connected with other individuals, Mr. Hope, Mr. Mt Neal, and others. The House would be aware of the hardship of the case upon these individuals, he being called upon to make their defence, having no means of communication with them, and not know ing of the charges against them till that day. The' Hon. and Learned Gentleman had began by speak ing of the nature of the powers belonging to the Lord Advocate. The chief power of that officer was that of public prosecutor, and the diminution of prosecu tions shewed that it had been exercised honestly of late ; and he was convinced that the effect of the power so exercised was to bring fewer persons to trial. The power had always been exercised with the greatest moderation. With reference to the matters immedi ately touching himself personally, in which the Hon• and Learned Gentleman had dealt, it appeared he charged him with a connection with three newspapers. Oae of these Newspapers was entitled the Edinhurgh Correspondent ; and on that subject all he had to say was, that the statement he had made was entirely new to him ; and although he had occasionally seen that Paper in his house, he solemnly declared that he had not been connected with that Paper—(Hear, hear, hear). He wished to be understood as wishing for the appointment of a Committee could it be done without implying censure upon him. Indeed, were it not for that, there was no species of inquiry he did not court—(Near). The next Paper he was said to be connected with was the ,Sentinel. He confessed he was surprised to hear his name in connection with that Paper. He bad never read it, nor supported it in any shape, or had any connection with it--(Hear, bear). He received a letter from Mr. Borthwick in November, 1819, in which he stated his desire to establish a Newspaper on constitutional and loyal Irinciples, in which the cause of good order and mo rality might be supported in the face of all opposi tion. The writer stated that he was unequal to com mence the undertaking upon his own means, and without the certainty of support, and that if he could ire assured of the countenance of the Officers of his Majesty's Government in the country it would give sunicieot publicity to the Paper to make it succe_ss ful. His answer to that letter was, that however de sirable such a publication might be, he knew that it Iva. not the practice of his Ivizjesty's Government to give their support to a Paper, by the Government udvertisemeats, solely on account of the principles of , it being in conformance with their own—(Hear,hear). This answer he scot on Nov. 5, 1819, and from that time he had heard no more about that paper. He applied to other quarters and succeeded ; but be had uniformly refused to give any assistance to him, even by ordering the paper. It was certainly true that in November, ICiIA I that inilividualoarne to him with a - - trues .that. • Paper had contained Attacks upon p: I. vate chstracter; and he. did not wish to.he considered as standing there to palliate or defend those attack .; ( th lf e ea tou risltease mplimen bear).—Theyha ts d heard on the other side Of paid to the condu - etars of Newspapers. If ne (Mr. Peel) had an-aigned the eulo gist el : extravagance, .because he could adduce para.: graphs hurting the feelings of females.hecause a a rragraph bad crept in,-wh ic h s the coadOctor perhaps iaaseif would wish to D et ract , .he sh ould have been taken •to have sliewn little fairness. The charge of the ficasaurahle and Learned Member against hii Learned Priend was one of commission. It was— 'f thai 110)0 lent his money, and the influenceof is 'office, to support private slander and ca1m. .,'... (Cheers).—Now, he would meet this with a c 0.. . -" denial,-(Cheering).—The Right Hon.SecrerarY then read a document received by the Government from the . Earl of Glasgow, Lord Lieutenant of Renfrew. shire, to shew the state of the Press in the West Scotland, at the time preceding the establishment g the Beacon. It described the organization carried on amongst he Reformers, and their secret meetings to read seditious publications. It stated, that every means were taken in these works to destroy Religion, and to inculcate the worst principles in the minds of yoUth. The House Must bear in mind Mat it was ander such circumstances as these that the Lord Advocate had given his support to a Paper whose avowed object was to oppose the doctrines of sedition. Perhaps his Learned Friend was only anxious . to follow the re commendations so often lai d down on the othe r sid e of the House, to avoid st r o ng measures against these misled people, and to meet.argument by argument, so as to. convince them of their error. Supposing, then, he had wished to prepare an antidote for the poison which was thus insidiously distilled ; and sup posing the Paper had contained no private slander. would any man have said that his conduct was such as to criminate him?—(Hear).—Was this the free discussion of which they sometimes heard so much ? Was this to'be the state of a free Press:- . - that talent should only be arrayed against the Constitution, and Viat it should be criminal to employ it for its ptotet tion?, (Cheers).—The bond itself stated that the Paper was to be established upon loyal and constitutional -principles. This proved that his Hon. and Learned Friend had no intention of supporting private slander. EMI*. ABERCROMBY—" Certainly not. - 3 —Mr. PEEL proceeded.—Certainly not! Then if the Honourable Member admitted that there was no intention, titer, could be no charge—(Cheers).—lt was impossible to expect that he could be answerable for every para graph that appeared in the Paper, after he became security for it: his intention was only to support it in maintaining constitutional doctrines and principles. With regard to the treatment of Borthwick, he did not see how that could come under a motion upon the conduct of the Lord Advocate and the Scotch Press. That was a matter for a distinct and separate motion ; and he implored the House, in justice to his Hon. Friend, not to allow this to influence their judgment upon his personal conduct. He-had now .adverted to the leading charges contained against him in the Hon. and Learned Gentleman's speech, and he thought he had shewn his intention to be a good one, and that he had no idea of the course which the Paper afterwards pursued. For these rea sons he should oppose the motion—(flear, hear). Sir JAMES MACKINTOSH said it was always painful to him to appear as an accuser, or to come forward in support of an accusation, nor should he do so on the presen t occasion, did he not feel him self impelled by a sense of duty which he owed to the administration of justice to the Press of his coun try, and to prevent our political discussions from being converted.into objects of private malice, and scenes of barbarity and blood—(Cheers).—lt appeared from the statement of his Hon. and Learned Friend that a public officer of Scotland had for a long time encouraged secretly a paper which dealt out the most odious calumnies, until he was at length detected and dragged into light; and if the House of Com mons had any regard for their own character, or a wish to see justice done to the people of Scotland, they could not refuse to institute an inquiry.— The Right Hon. Secretary had alluded to a commen dation which had formeily been bestowed by him (Sir James Mackintosh)'on the conductor of a News paper (Mr. Perry) for having in a lohg career avoided encroachments on decency, am abstained from pri vate calumny and slander. Fint.yias there a man so dull or uncandid as to suppose that he had meant to assert that in forty years of zeal and hurry, the in dividual might not have once trangressed the bounds which he had commonly prescribed. to himself He could not undertake to say that there might not be improprieties, and very gross improprieties in the Paper in question, but he had known of none such, and the ground of his panegyric was the general ab sence of the vices of slander ancintlecency—(Hear). The Right Hon. Gentleman had argued, from the Prospectus of the Beacon, and the principles which it contained, that the Lord Advocate aas actuated by good motives. That Right Hon . . Geutleman . should rather have said the professions which it contained ; but, unfortunately, experience had proved, both in that House and out of it, how - frequently professions were at variance with pi-acike —(Dear, hear).:—Tne Learned Lord had stated that it .was after consider able hesitation he was induced to give his countenance to that Paper ;. that he had rejected numerous over tures, and made repeated struggles ;• but at length, like many who went before him, surrendered his virtue, and on the unlucky 21st of November, 1821, he fell a victim to the allurements of the seducer, and did the unhappy deed which formed the subject of the p went accusation ! Ile would sk the House if this was not a subject for inquiry ? was the cause of the death of Sir A. Boswell ? it was libels Ge no t ug o e ht . - iv ecar A G i n nr d o w oi l u s i n l r il r o il tile h tfiel," contained in the Glasgow Sentinel, circulated under the sanction of the Lord Advocate !—Wear, hear). — Of all attacks, the most base was that .of the anony mous slanderer; awl ir by .chance the namelesssruf ,fian should lle.s4ag tion for his crimei,', hisjtery.preseace might be pots ged to the field to give sati..fae wJuld be bjanded aids perhaps the moment that the matk was taken klti('n i tArhis -cnuntenisnz.v. )--Thew publi cations cig con fi t it a g iU t er o s n e c u a rizn nin e te y r er rup e fft ce e ee d7s u Y r szean che a -de tic ad a , tta an ek d ;respect for the .fesaags. of the were l et sat " sorr a - :Lic a atatithonesLa4rtgpther r).l H e con -+ the adthess the Right Hon. Gentleman ; , ! • • .410MEni paper, drarlf up bylbe Ron. Member for Monte Lanarkshire ' ble the Rouge, 24 fer tbs. or na - voted . ia.. l ged . at the . .11 and subscribed by a great numbe r of. the •t h bi of that cou nt y. n a tants d" And u This paper stated that he bed at- not confound hit sonar beg sOriaredeidestwith what foiloti‘d tually been ruined by his exertions in the cause of as to the loyalty and Gentlemen. who had been the case ,brought egainiff attacked ivithohil good order, in his endeavours to esta- the means of answering blish the paper he was concerned in, and went on to them: Two of his foes*" had Isners the O hjente o f a. a pledge of su pp ort . Hi s impression wasahat-he had charge - which certa i n l y gave hi m the utmos t.surprine not signed that p a;:er ; b ut h e was w illi ng to admit, —He had never b e fo re h ear d t h at G entlemen - who. from the Hon. and Learned Gentleman s' assertion, acted as his Deputies were' to be prevented from Un that it was so. He had long been connected with i dertalslag private practice. Their salaries were Lanark'hire, arid was a freeholder in the county, and miserable enough, - considering the importance of the as such he sub scr ib e d to t h e p l e d ge o f support . I t ' duties they had to perform; and-when it was remem was to be observed that the licentiousness of the bered that it was necessary to have men of talent, and press at that time was very great, and had caused 'men who were rising at the Bar, it was utterly lab six or seven tria'.s in 1820 for blasphemy and sedi- possible that they should be debarred from private • tion, and was con s ide re d as th e main-spring of all practice, It was said then, that t h ese two 'g ent l emen the insurrection s a b ou t t h at time in the West of Scot- had signed a paper in favour of a prisoner. But the land. Under the s e c i rcumstances h e p ut i t to the fact was. they had only done their duty to thei r c li en t House, whether it was not natural to accede to the as barristers—(liedr). He did not expect from 'the recommendation brought to him from a respectable notice, that these matters would have been brought quarter, and which was only intended to operate As forward, and therefore he had-no means of being in-_ an inducement to others to support the paper? But formed upon these charges. But he knew Mr: Hope it never could be construed into a pledge to support to be a man of the highest honour and character, and all the papers emanating from the same source. This quite incapable of the contemptible motives with paper, however, soon ceased to exist; the types were which he had been charged. This part of the question sold to a person of the name of Alexander, who, in ought, therefore, to be thrown entirely out of view conjunction with Borthwick, set up the Glasgow in the decision to which the House was about tocome.l Sentinel. He asked if it was fair to make him an- The case of Borthwick had been spoken of as if he I swerable for this proceeding, which was set a going had been the author of all the acts of oppression tom- under a different name and place, and after the plained Of by him. But he was quite sure that if Mr. lapse of a year? It would be the last act of his life Hope could be present, and the whole case seen to do as had been attributed to him, and he de. , through, every part of his conduct would be justified. dared that he never had the remotest connexion, lie thought a theft had been committed, and a most either by purchasing, seeing, or promoting in any atrocious theft, by the person charged. He had ob i way whatsoever, that paper—( Hear,hear, hear).— tanned the papers by f orce w i t h out a warrant, for it IHe wished also to state, that the removal of the She- wasno warrant until extracted by a messenger—(hear) riff. Depute of Lanark was in no way connected with If he was wrong in his opinion, any Hon. and Learned this transaction. With respezt to the other parts of Gentleman opposite might set him right; but he the charges, namely, any concern which he might asserted this to be the law. The charge was, that have had with another Paper, it was certainly true, Borthwick had broken open the private repository of that in the end of the year 1820, a number of Gen- his partner's papers (even supposing him to be such), tlemen, of high respectability—and to say that any with a felonious intent. Mr. Hope believed this 'of them could be under his influence, he was sure charge to be true, • and committed him accordingly. those who knew them would deem impossible—these It was then said that he was put in chains, and con- Gentlemen informed him, that in consequence of the ducted to prison. He could have do means of ascer state of the Press in Scotland, there being a great tanning the truth of this from the nature of the notice number of seditious publications afloat,they had come which had preceded this motion; but he would ven to the resolution of establishing a Piper, in order to cure to say, that no such order had ever been given meet and refute the-pernicious doctrines and princi- by the Town Council. The liberation of the person pies which were thus spread over the country. They in question had taken place earlier than was ne came to him and said, that £l5OO would be necessary cessary by law, which proved that there was no un to establish such a paper, and he gave £lOO towards just detention experienced. The suit of Alexander it. He did not stand there to deny any part of his being the suit of a private party, the Lord Advocate " conduct, and he therefore admitted this _act; and, could not withhold his concourse. He should con for the purposes which he had stated, he was prepared dude the observations with which he had to trouble to say, that it was an honest, fair, and legal one. The the House, by stating that no part of the Government paper called the Beacon was accordingly established had any connection with or knowledge of the part he or. the Ist of January, 1821. From that period down took with regard to the Newspaper in question. If to the June following, he was attending his official wrong had been done, it belonged to him alone, and! duties in Parliament, and he paid up attention - to the it was 'most right for the Commons of England to Paper, and knew very little of what it contained.— pronounce the sentence which they always pronounced The Honourable and Learned Gentleman said that it upon injustice, and which of course would be adequate contained libels ; but he had read none of them to to his removal from the office he had the honour to the House, and they were consequently not enabled hold. Should that be the result of their decision, he to judge whether its contents were libellous or not. should doubtless be succeeded by some one more able: He was bound to have shewn to the House that it to perform its duties, but by none who would be did contain libellous matter, belbie he called upon more anxious-than he had always been to exercise its , them to come to a - vote declaring it to be so. One powers with moderation and impartiality—(Near,' case only had been decided by the law, and that had hear, hear).—The Honourable and Learned Lord come on within the last few days. The result of that then retired from the House. decision did not certainly go to bear out the Hon.- Mr: Secretary PEEL said, he could not suffer the and Learned Gentleman in - his conclusions. The case question to be disposed of without troubling the was one in which a Noble Lord opposite was a piney, House with a very few observations. Upon all occa- - and the Jury had given him a verdict of one shilling sions like the present, when individual character and damages—(Near, hear).—lfthe Noble Lord was satin- personal interests were involved, they had secured to feed with this.verdict, it was very strange that he the individual the indulgence of the House as far as had laid his damages at s,oool.—(Near, hear).— was consistent with strict justice. Upon such topics When he returned to Scotland in June, he received it was generally usual, and it was always wise, to an intimation from Mr. Gibson that he intended to abstain from topics which appealed to men s passions,- prosecute him as the proprietor of the Beacon. He and led them from the exercise of their calm and then sent a copy of the bond to Mr. Gibson, by Mr. sober judgment. Upon the present occasion the Hon. J. Stuart, who a: as the Agent employed in the affair. and Learned Gentleman, not with the intention of Soon after this, the correspondence appeared to which doing so in all probability, had appealed to some the -Hon. and Learned Member alluded. The letter topics highly calculated to create an unjust and un which gave rise to it was a private and confidential due prejudice against his Learned Friend. One was one, and never intended to be considered in any other his allusion to the widow and children of the late Sir light by the writer. The words of the bond declared A. Boswell ; and another to the death of an indivi it to be expressly understood that he should have no dual who unfortunately lost his life in a similar man property in the said newspaper, and no responsibility nor, Mr. Scott, who had still less connection with the for its contents. He never was, therefore, a proprietor, case before the House. He did, therefore, think that and had no controul whatever over its management. the Hon. and Learned Gentleman would have better.' The Hon. and Learned Gentleman had said that, in discharged his duty by abstaining from the mention : law, he was a proprietor ; but that question was to of these circumstances. Then, again, he had brought , be tried before the Jury Court of Scotland in about forward the language of Mr. Hope and Mr. Macneill, ten days, and he would put it to the House whether used in a private conversation, in a private place, and it could fairly anticipate or prejudge a question which with a private client—(Hear, hear). He took this to stood for the decision of a Court of law?—(Hear).— be a very bad precedent to set—(Cheers)—and if it He gave his £lOO for the reasons he had already had created any prejudice against his Learned Friend, stated, and when he saw the Paper came out he he called upon the House to discharge it altogether found it a very dull and stupid document, and con- from their minds. The House would permit him to eluded that his money was gone, and there was an examine the case which had been presented for their end of it. But when he heard that the contents of consideration, and to refer to the charges that had the Paper had given personal offence to individuals, been adduced, in the order in which they occurred he immediately withdrew his security upon the bond, in the Honourable and Learned Gentleman's speech. and the other Gentlemen concerned did the same.— The first was, that of connection and support given As a private individual, he apprehended that nothing to the Correspondent ; and they had his Learned could be objected to the part he had taken in this Friend's declaration upon his honour, that he had had affair ; and it still remained to be shewn how his offi- no connection with that paper whatever. In the cial situation would be affected by it. If a private same manner was the charge as relating to the Sen libel appeared in the Paper, by the law of Scotland !ine/ refuted. With regard to the recummendation it could not be proceeded against by a criminal in- of the Clydesdale Journal, the first communication formation ; the parties must proceed by private action. with Borthwick strewed the animus of his Learned Therefore he was still to learn how his official duties Friend's conduct, and proved that he never meant to could have been compromised, even if he had sup- give encouragement to private slander, or to extend ported the Paper, knowing it to be the channel of any undue patronage to the press. He next came to private libels. Libels upon the Crown were certainly the appointment of Mr. Alton, as Under Sheriff, in not very li4ely to appear in a Paper setting out with which his LearnelFriend was represented as having the principles which had induced him to give it his used his influence to procure him that appointment, support; and he should like to hear in what way it in consequence of his connection with the papers in was possible that his connection with it should inter- question. The fact was, that he (Mr. Peel), being fere with the strict discharge of his duty— (Hear).— the author of the measure which created the vacancy, When he entered into that connection, he saw before suffered two months to elapse before he recommended him the great number of prosecutions instituted for any one to his Majesty as a proper person to fill it seditious crimes, and the many unhappy persons ten- up. He did this in order that time might be allowed taxed to death for engaging in rebellion, and all this for persons to send in their names, who wished to he considered to be the consequence of the licentious. undertake the office. A Noble Friend of tins, the ness of the press in the western parts of ,Scotland. First Lord of the Admiralty, being then about to This was all that occurred to his mind at the time, go into Scotland, he gave him the names, and re and as soon as he found the complaints made, he quested that he would inquire of the high law audio withdrew from it altogether. These were all facts rides there, who was the fittest persons for the office, he admitted, and the other charges which related t o 7.llris was done, and plr. Aiken was selected. T his him were, as he 4 4 4 4 ieb.v.u , wi r ou4s ia, No was the history of his appointment, and this sees the further inquiry was therefore necessary , en d :t ate. answer to that part of the charge—(Cheers) House was as well qualified to come to the vote at then came to the subject of the Beacon,' ind•it was; ould be e . r i e perfectly true that his Learned Friend bad entered into Race upon his consluat , as eve it c . . were a the observations with which 'he had to trou- -tkis sort of security forks support. It was perfectly 1