Star. — London, England, 1814-05-19 00:00:00

mosErgra....--. PARLIAMENIwRr PROCEEDINGS. ---,---, HOUSE OF LORDS, MAY 18. In the Appal Cane e.. Lord Allen, judgment was affirmed. In the. Appe .1 Hender‘m r, &I. . Malcolm; S - r S. Romilly was heard for the Anpellaut, Iklessrs. Horner and Brougham lot the RArspoitilent, and Mr. Adam in reply. Judgment was af firmed. In the Appeal, Hepborne v. Cunningham, Mr. Adam was beard In coritinpation, and Mr. Horner on the part of the Appel }ant.' Further proceedin, eon Friday. The Royal Assent was given by commission to the Clergy Pe- Mall Bill, ,he Innkeepets Rate of bubsistence lilt, the Lon don Docki Bills Bc.c. Ste. The Commissioners were the Lo tin CTIAN4ELLOA, Lord C1t01.240 VOLLEY, and Lord 1: LDi.s DALE. The Sugar Drawback Bill went through 'A COMMitter. Sir J. Gs ahem and others brought up from the House °I Com enons the Canada 'l'rade Regulation Bill. Mr. Clittsm, from the Admiralty, presented an .Account of Sh pi of War built at the Out-porch since 1795. Mr. Mimi, fin;.. :be Fleet rylson, presented an Account of the Fees ottlat Prison, in pursuance cif the Order tit the House. • • I - • MESNE PIiOCESS BILL. Earl STANHOPE rose to move the second read ing of the Bill to ebolish Mesne Procees. In order to prevent any misinterpretation of hissentiments respect , mg lawyers, he qbserved, that in the piotession of the law' :is in all other professions, there were good, bad, and indifferent individuals; but there was this marked dioiaction between that and other protessions, that those who belonged to the legal profession, and who possessed integrity and•abibly, and a desire to do right, bad more poWer to do good, and were • more valuable members of soileiy than any other persons, while on the other hind, if they were guided by dif ferent- motives; antl*ere instigated .to do wrong, it was in-their power to dO more mischief than could be done by any..otherclass of men. The recital in ;he preamble of the Bill which he had introduced fo their Lordships, - after reciting M::gna Charta, went on to declare, that .Mesne Process was contrary to the an- cient law of the land. On this point the Lord Chief Justice of the Court of King's Bench had thought proper to contradict him; and in ors!er to establish hit proposition had quoted three Acts of Parliament, lil which he ( Lord Stanhope) knew were actually not in existence, hiving all been repealed shortly after they bad been passed. This tact he • pretty well knew at the time of. the Lord Chief Justice's statement ; but he thought that it would not be sespecttul to iheir Lordships, or the person who had made such a con. fident assertion, to contradict it without due exarnio nation. After having closely examined the Statute BOok, he would now distinctly declare, that it did not contain one single act in support of Meihe Process.• With respect to the first Statute, that of Henry 111. - iodid not gn on the principle of Metne Process, but only to attack the bodies of those not possessing lands or tenements, who might withdraw 'themselves, to• compel them to render an account, and not to pay. Bat even if it were not so, still this Statute aff tided no contradiction to the preamble in this Bill, that Mesne Process was contrary to the law of the land,. NE U- it had been repealed. The Lord Chief Justice had quote.:\teo other Statutes, which had both b e en. a l s o - tepee there WAS knowledge in a Lerd Chief lel ir Justice! he acts to which he alluded w er e those of Edward . an.l Edward 111. Were these in existence, sill they would not contradict his preamble ;' but they were both gone. .By the 25th of Edward the Third it was enacted, that no man should- be indicted or pro ceeded.against on a process of common law, or put. out of his liberty, unless bet tight to answer the de mand made upon him ; and not that, as in Meade Process, he should be imprisoned seven months with out knowing wherefore. By the 37th and 38th of , E,dwircl the Third, this enactment was confirmed, vrittra partiCular reference to the city of London.— , The 42d of Edward 111. again confirmed these Sot totes, and all the points of Magna Charta, with this remarkable declaration, that it any Statute existed contrary to them, it sloolld be null. The nixt Act that bore on the subject, was that passed in the reign of Henry IV. for the regulation of Attornies, the number of which 'it stated to be very mischievous to.tbe community.' It called them .ocontentifsus ;'" and if their Lordships preferred that phrase to petti foggers, he would . have nd objection to substitute it in his Bill. .1t went on to limit the number of Attar nits, "to prevent them from being vexatious , to the people," and fited-the number at six in Norfolk, s.ix In Suffolk, and two in No"rwich. He would to Gon• (heir Lordships ociald now coont the Attornies, and reduce them to that number ! On this subject there, had been continual battles, between the enemies lit liberty on the one hand , and th ose who supported li berty, justice, and common sense; on the other. Per petual encroachments were made, and as perpetual efforts to put them down. -Adverting to the Pream ble of the Bth of Elizebeth, he expressed his readiness, if required, to substitute that for his tan. It tepro bald, as his did, the. arrest or attachment of persons, against whom, when they were brought to answer, no declaration was made, and who were thereby expes,ed tti great hardship and ex pence; an d the Bill en day ected s, , that a declaration sh o u ld be put in, in three front cite arrest, and nor delayed, as it now might be, for stenos months; which was a most horribly injus tite, and contrary to mason and common Knee. A great legal man-tad once told him, that he eotild'inot reconcile Mesne Process to anO principle of reason or common sense. Many instances had come to his know. , ledge of the shameful hardships consequent upon it.-- A naval officer whom he knew, after an absence of four years, returned home not owing a single shilling, but by direction of some harpies-of attornies he was arrested in ten minutes after his landing at Chatham,' and must have gone to jail had it not been for a No* Admiral and a tradesman of the town who became bail for him. The whole originated in a mistake. The naval officer went to consult a lawyer on the occasion. The lawyer told him that the event of a law-suit must inevitably he an his favour: when asked, however, how much the suit would cost, lie replied, not above 4100. Now as the sum for which he had been unjustly arrested . was but £3O, the naval offieet begged the lawyer's pardon, and said he should prefer paying the money demanded. He had seen within the last fortnight another officer who had returned home :Act spending seventeen years inh ic his Majesty's service. Ole owed a p er son 420, which lie had never paid, because be had received a letter from his creditor desirieg him to snit his own conve iniosce. He was however pounced upon by meant process. And to how much did their Lordships iota,. gine a cooseienticeis attorney contrived to run up the costs in two months 1 To 4615 U !—Was not this wa vy isal . alous ? - Was the authority tee such a nefarious bee to be permitted to remain on the Statute . \ IN.- book? Aroniser person, a respectable merinasts of the name of Malik (his were not sham cases), ttpv ing gained a lawsuit, gave his attorney power to re ceive the proceeds To his great surprise, however, the attorney, without asking his leave, reserved .out of these proceeds di° for himself. Mr. Mattle on this applied to an honest attorney, (a plant of rare growth), who scratched ou, most of the charges, and signed his name at the bottom of the ljill. On Mr. Maple's expostulating with the first man on his ex orbitance, tile insolent answer was, 4. if money is an object to yon, it is none to me, talk it back." The more he investigated these subjects, the more he was persuaded, that as the mystery of special pleaders WAS to annul common sense, (an opinion which he had before advanced in that House) so the mystery of a ttornies w:ts to annul common - honesty. Hudi. bras had very justly and very finelz apostrophized them-- You pettifoggers, damn your souls! 44 Who Aare with knaves in cheating fools!" • The mesne process was peculiarly injurious to -corn. merce. A merchant could not always command his capital, and if suddenly attacked, he must frequently stop payment and be ruined; for bail was not always to be obtained. The other day, a merchant so at res ted by mistake was ruined in consequence, the cir lcomstance having thrown him on his back. And in one' of the ablest and best reasoned letters that he had ever read, it was observed by the writer, that he would father trust a man with a smaller capital if there were no mesne process in existence, than a man with a large capital if the mesne process were .in force ; because the mesne process might bankrtipt the one, from which evil the other miglitbe exempt. There was another class of to whom mesne process was. very injurious. He appeasled to the Bishops, some of whom had once been poor themselves, in behalf of their poor brethren. A Reverend Clergyman with a large family, opposed by illness and other evils, might be.suddenly taken by mesne process and drag. ged to gaol, there to lie exposed, perhaps, to t' -e se verest rigours of winter for seven months, without knOwing why, apd for twelve or fifteen months with out a trial ot his case. The English slave trade was worse than the A frican slave trade. The African slgi-e trade affected only individual negroes, but in this not only the indiv,idual immediately affected was in allprob:ibility ruined, but when he fell others fell in succession, like a set of nine-pins. As therefore their Lordships, in their justice, humanity, and policy had abolished the African slave trade, he trusted they would assist him in abolishing this English slave trade, which was more cruel because applicable to a greater number of persons. Lord ELLENBJ ROUGH repeated his assertion on a former evening, that the recital in the preamble of the Bill introduced by the Noble Lord -namely, that mesne process was contrary to- the ancient law of the land—was unfounded ; and added, that no dtfference was made in the question, even. were the three statutes to which he had referred repealed, which he did not believe they vrere. But if he had only qtio•ed the 53d of Henry 111. (enacted so sir n after Magna Charta). it would appear by that ilia tuie that persons were then liable to be held to hail on mesne process. The preamble of the Bill stated, that attachmt:nts of the nature to whichlhe Bill re.l ferred were against Magna Charta. That he posi tivt;ly denied. They were rev - old es the law. Ar- 1 i rest for contrmot,was essential to the protection all the Courts of Justice, and was coeval with 'establishment of those Courts. It was a perverted: view of Magna Charta to say that mesne process weer `in contradiction to it. But if it had been so, was not' a subsequent legislative proceeding, that ofthe 53d of Henry 111. equally potent ? At all events the Act of Henry VI. in 1414, defined the thode in which per sons arrested on mesne process should he delivered on putting in bait to the Sheriff; so that the practice which the Noble Lord had pronounced contrary to the ancient law of the land, had unquestionably exist ed 370 years. Since that period certainly every thins had been done to mitigate the evils and incoovent encies of arrests. By the statute of the 13th Char. II the material alteration was introduced, that unless a party stated the true cause of action, he could not hold to bail for a larger sum than rE4.O. That act also, let it be obserVed, referred in its preamble to the anti quity mesne process, for the preamble commenced dies Whereas, by the ancient ar.d fundamental law of the land," &c. Still, however, it was not pro. vided that the party should-swear to the mile of ac tion until the 12th of Geo. I. which enacted that un less a party made affidavit of the cause of action, he -'should not hold to bail for a sum less than 810 in the superior and 40s. in the inferior courts. By a recent. bill the such of £lO had been encreased to 415, at which it stood. In actions of trover, in which the' vale was very uncertain, the judges had interfered, and had 'declines.' that no person should in future be', held to bail in trover, but under an-especial order of the Court. And it had so happened, that few in 4 stances had occurred in which parties in troyer vero, *Allowed to hold to bail at all. in cases in which par ties sought their retnedy by action, if it proved to be a malicious proceeding—if, for instance, in a case in which £lOO was sought, only OM was recovered, the 'parties so proceeding not only did not °buil - . their own costs, but were compelled by the Court to pay the costs nl• the defendant. Soon after he had the honour to fill the judicial situation which he held, a Noble Lord brought into the House a bill similar to the one now proposed. On that occasion the late Lord Kenyon, an individual of unimpeached jus tice and humanity, having enquired how many per sons arrested on mesne process laid at once, and hav ing found that in a great majority of cases that was done, opposed the bill, and argued as he (Lord El lenborough) did,. that, however painful the usage might be in some cases, yet that in a great multitude of uistances, nothing could be more beneficial or more humane to the parties arrested. The Noble Lord had treated the subject as if it has' become peculiarly vexa tious at the present moment. He would distinctly' deny the inference that the laws were strained for the .oppression of the subject. Every possible care was taken to qualify and mitigate then by the auperin tending vigilance of the. Courts of Justice. If any abuse existed in the Courts ot Westminster Hall, it any act of oppressive severity had taken place in them he called on the Noble 'Lord to adduce it. Situated as he was it might not be seemly in hint to speak highly of the profession of the hiw, and yet &ere, were Occasions; (and this appeared to be one) in which a' member, ifivrever 'unworthy, of 4.• tirtqlaien 'was called upon, in Ostice iti`tharptdessug Co disclaim' . 1 . • theimputations which hat" been thrown upon► it. He had sufficiently proved that the usage in q6estion was in conformity to the ancient law, and was not a vexa tious innovation. If the Noble Lord continued to at tack it, therefore, he must attack it on another princi ple. On this subjeet he would trouble the House no ,longei . The Noble Lord had said many things which only provoked his laughter, chastised indeed by Lis shame at being betrayed into a laugh at such ri 'b,tldry. L•Jrd HOLLAND observed, that a prodigious number of persons were every year dragged to prison under arrest, by Mesne Process, without its producing the payment of the money. The Noble and Learned Lord had, he conceived, not proved that this practice was authorised by the ancient law of the land, he having always understood, that, the ancient common law of the land was to be considered as that prior to the reign of Rich. 11. It enuld, however, only have been sanctioned by the ancient law of the land upon the ground of its compelling the payment. of the money ; and *hen it was proved, that in numerous and repeated instances this object altogether• failed, he thought it was a strong presuthption against the policy of its continuance. He should therefore vote for the second reading of his Noble Friend's Bill. The House divided on the question for the second reading—Contents, 10—Not Contents, 43—Majority 33. The Bill was of course rejected, together with the other, Bill-of Earl Stanhope, relative to Debtors. Adjourned to Friday. '• HOUSE OF COMMONS. The St•eeasa stated, rhar the Royal Asient had been given by commission CVseveral public and private Acts. ' The Harbour PUS was frail a second time, and ordered to he committed onto-morrow we'nflight, after a rew words from Mr. P. Carew, Mr.Tremayue, Mr. Croker, and Lord Milton. THE CORN LAWS. Mr. GORDON brought up the Report of the 2d Resolution of the Report of the Committee on the Corn Laws. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER I moved, that the House shottli 'adopt the Resolution. Mr. CA LCRAFT said, it would be necessary for him to make a great deal more inquiry into this sub.. ject, betore, in the present circumstances of the coun try, he could come to any determination upon it. He considered the provosithln as totally.inapplicAbleio this country. It was as much the interest of land. ,bwners that there should be an abundant supply of corn at a moderate rate to the people, as it was the terest of the people themselves. He allowed that it was necessary rents should rise in proportion to the ex pence of living ; but if other things fell he saw no reason why rents ought not to fall also, when land was let too high. In Ireland and Scotlatid, where land was let a great deal too high, nothing but the adep. tioit of a proposition like that now before the House could keep them froth falling. He merely took this opportuni:y of,saying a few words, that he might not be pledged to any system, unless he saw his way much cleanr titan he did - it,ptesent. Mr. Alderin In.ATKINS said, the . Hon. Baronet kr••ew very well -thet tire principle of the Ri.port ob tain, d his approbation in the Committee ; but the Report had been so altered from what he thought to be the understanding of the Committee, that he could not agree to it without farther enquiry. It was his opinion that the sum to be fixed by them ought not to go beyond 80s. ; and it was his intention tnerefore to propose, as an amendment to the Resolution; . to begin with a duty of 20s. when the [nice was 601.—, I 15s. when the price was 655. and so on, the duty to gularly decreasing in the same proportion till the price came to BUs. when it should cease.,Till he saw th4t the agriculture of the country could not gn on without a measure like the present, he was unwilling to consent to a prohibition of the importation of grain. Mr: POLE CAREW had no doubt of the-ability of this country to maintain its own inhabitants, when he considered the extent of land still uncultivated. — In his opinion the leading features of the Report were incontrovertible. Mr. BAN KES thought that another Committe , ought immXdiatel)ito be appointed. A great dea. of matter had fallen from several Gentlemen in the *course of last night which was well deserving of con sideration. A great deal of accounts were still wan-. ted ; and they ought also to have the oral testimoo) of those persons who were best acquainted with tl►e state of the corn trade in this country. They were ignorant of the state of the import trade at this mn ment ; and they ought to have the accounts brought up to the latest time, that is, from January to April. He conceived thatit wool,' be best to have a Select Committee appointed. By the employment of due diligence, in the coarse of a fortnight the Committee might actually be epabled• to lay before the House much valuable matte, without which, it would nei ther, be honourable for themselves nor safe for ,the country to proceed further in the present subject. Mr. THOMPSON said, the present discussion must have removed many misapprehensions on the subject. He merely wished to say a few words in favour of the growers of. corn, who had a great claim on the indnigence of the House. he wished was that the farmer should have a seasonable profit, after the payment of rent and taus, but thin would be im possible' if foreigners were. allowed an unrestrained competition with him in the home market. While the trade in every other commodity was restricted , it would be unsafe for that in corn to be free. General GASCOIGNE thought the House ought to have all possible information on the subject now before them. Within these few days, great specula-1 tions in corn had been made, on the certainty•that if this measure should be adopted, a great rise would take place in the price of that commodity. But whatever ultimately might be the decision of the House, it would be satisfactory to the people to know that every inquiry had been previously gone into. Mr. HUSKISSON rose merely...with a view to notice , the observation which had fallen from the Hon. Gentleman who spoke last respecting the speculations in corn. It was quite impossible, in his opinion, fur any person not to 'perceive that from the supply of grain at present in this country, there was no proba tility of any rise in price before harvest. This was one reason tor his wishing to proceed with the sub ject; at present. There were many persons in the House desirous of defeating the measure ; and at the preseitt advanced period of the Session he shoOid de spair of any Report of a Committee being laid before Abe House in any reasonable time to admit ot subse quent disetusiou j and thus asteeiug to a_select Com- mittee would be the same thing as putting off the measure altogether to another Session. General GASCOIGNE explained. • The question was then put. and the House adopted the Resolution without a division. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER Moved for leave to bring in a Bill in conformity to the Resolution. He understood, that he was sop. posed to have said last night that it would be better to put off the measure till another Session. What he had said was, that he would rather consent to the postponement of the measure till next Session,, than agree to the amendment cf an Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Foster). jn answer to a question of Lord Mlr.rnN. the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said, that ire WAS un.. determined whether he should propose three or five' years, for the period of the Bill. Three years he thought the shortest term which could enable the country to experience the effects of the measure: Leave was then given to bring in the Bill. Mr. BAN KES moved for an Account of the quan tity of Corn, Ivied, and Flour, imported into Great Britain from foreign ports, front• January to April last ; also of the quantity imported from Leland dining the same period ; also an account of the quan tity of fereign covn exported from Great lititain during the same period ; and of the quantity ware housed in London and the tither warehouse ports. Sir H.- PARNELL suggested the propriety of oh ; wining an account Qf the exports from Leland to foreign par 5, which was 'also ordered. Mr. BA NKES then gave notice, that he should on Friday move for a Select Committee on the subject the Corn Trade. The Corn Exportation Bill was read a second time and committed for to-morrow. The House went into a Committee on the Acts relative to the Trade to the Dutch Colonies and United States Mr. ROSE proposed a resolution, that slips might gO from the United proiinces to4he Colonies now Sn oar possession, but which had belonged to the Dutch States previ - us to the late war, on the same trims hat ships from this country were steered t•►go there. The resolution was agreed to, and a Bill ordered ac cordingly. The Poor Relief and Settlement Bill was read a second time, and comniiited for to-mortow. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER signified his intention of proposing a clause It) this Bill when it should go into a Committee, exempting Chapels and all other places of worship. whether of the Established Clituch or not, from payment of poor' rates. COPY RIGHTS BILL. The Ho'ute resolved itself into a Committee on the Copy Rights Bill, in which Mr. L. GIDD explained the object of the dances • which he intended to propose on a future day. The clauses provided-1. That it should not be necessary that the copies of books pres2nted to public libraries should be on fine .paper.-2: That •no book need presented to these libraries; unless such as wese re-• quired from the booksellers.-3. That all Copy Rights should be entered at Stationer's Hall, and that it the Author, by a special entry, waved his Copy Right, he should then only be required . to. present one copy ,to the British.Musetlll3.4 That the term'of Copy • Right be extended from 14 years certain, and another 14;years, if the author was 11v1ftg. at' the end of the first term to 28 years certain. There was _another • clause win ch the Ho n ourable Member sai4fild been presented to him by the booksellers, to provide, that improper'use should not be made of the books pre sented to the public libraries, as it had been. said that they were sometimes fold. These clauses, on the suggestion of Mr. BANKES, were then received for the purpose of being 'minted. The Houk then resumed, and the Report being received, iras ordered to be taken into consideration on Frider Wnlight. L‘IENIN 6.111 it. • LON DON. • THURSDAY, MAY 19,1814. ' Astitm SION DAY.- , -FiCildlir It the steel Mains To-day we have received Paris Papers ofiiipaday: They are, comparatively speaking,►, barren of .enc e . '1 he Paris Papers mention letters froin General BER TRA NI). dated at Elba on the 4th of May, from which it would appear that the Imperial convict had' been safely landed, and nn mention is made of any subsequent embarkation : " PARIS, MAY g g It is said that Preliminaries of Peace were signed yesterday in the evening,. 46 We Are assured that the King has 2ispninted Prince Eugene a Marshal of France. His Majeatf told him that he expected Peace, but that when 44 , 1 tumstances requires his services, he would repine in hint the greatest confidence. « Qeneral Bertrand writes from Porto Fermin, under date 4th May, that he had arrived in the Wand of Elba, with Bonaparte. Without complaining of their reception, General Bertrand adds, “ I am much better off here than I expected:" "MAY 16. • " AbbE s-Duval who pronounced the funeral oration on . Lonis XVI. performed a conspicuous port in the melancholy tragedy of the 21st of lomat'', 1793. On that occasion he flew to the Commune, and beseeched the Municipal Officers to permit him to administer to the King the last offices of offering to surrender :iimself a voluntary prisoner im mediately afterwards for the rest of his lite. His courageous conduct excited a burst of rage, and lie would have been instantly put to death but for Ca. mile Des-Moulins, who recognised him as an old College companion, and saved his liie by asswing the assassins that his head was deranged by excessive superstition. When Abbe Duval thus made offer a his services, he was Ignorant that the King had se: lected M. Edgeworth do Fermont tc attend ' him in his last 'moments. " A r ound the Royal Catafalque in the Cathedral, on Saturday, there were eight veteran soldiers sun& fag uncovered, whose respi bespoke them to be ancien " The Prefect of the Se in Paris, by which it ap, francs are requisite for t of the,. Allied troops an galling for the same from way of loan, to be repaid Excise and other Dutie . ♦anced from each person thing like the scale of Britain. " The Moniteur cont: Minister of War to the pointment of Monsieur the National Guards ; al xecting every Officer and to join his regiment with, clay be reduced and plat iR service, as his Majest 40 direct." • g g Every thing goes oi Der here. The most Erie tally manifested by the A tons and the Plenipotenti. The King of France ha ,Swiss troops into his pa The demarcations of tel . pendence and neutralit nearly agreed upov." ' 0' Marquis de Bausset, here yesterday morning, Archduchess Maria Lot followed, and .he Prino o'clock in the evening tachment of the Huss; Swiss Dragoons Iler this mc,ming in visit the they will make an eau " The suit of her H p a ensu, her son, consist' are the Duchess of Mor mole, Baroness Huvtan busson, General Cout Marquis de Bausset, Pi Aignau, Equerry, Ban Baron COI V isamphysic Governess to the Prig daughter." " Since the 2d ini Wczel has been re.opc but they do not ventui thought that it will be " Nothing can be I than the spectacle v While the harbour is have been cro%ded lu all returned with full the city is entirely cov bnng us an immenst and English manufar cargoes are daily tray Englishmen are settle reigns at Amsterdan Lion of uhich is pert the Helder, Flushing •"• The Dock-yard and we are assured will be shortly equi[ colonies which the Our army already a " M. de Changu from the Sovereign America in the con 'vial treaties with th; se General Couni with his Aide-de-C - wcre prisoners of v► " All the young by Bonaparte's int acripts, have been Live peribLcd, in demntd to hard 1 the humanity of tl of Malian." A rivate lctte that the Boat) of s o r hibiting the impol in order to mow factures. The linnorr at yesterday, With tl which arc said to An English !Its with dispatches I The Detinitivo eluded at I.ctido are present, and Tilt TnEA rt of We have rea possession-4 ac 4', 1 ; pouncing Bv• I the 4th May, ACChUtlaticrla li •