The National Register. — London, England, 1817-03-03 00:00:00

The Hun. Mr. LAMB, as a Member of the committee, agreed, that Ministers would have dour better to have lowed the precedent of him whom they so much :Admired, and pretended to follow—that, in 1090, of Mr. Pitt—who e l t.ed p a rliament together, mid put these words into his Majesty's mouth. "illy tender concern for the welfare of my subjects, and a sense of the difficulties with which the poorer CtiSiCS particularly have to struggle, front the present high price Of provisions, have induced toe to call you to gether at an earlier period than I had otherwise intenled. NO object can be nearer my heart than that, by your care unit wisdom, all such oteasnres in ty be adopted Js may, upon Bill consideration, appear hest calculated to alleviate tli:s severe pressure, and to prevent the danger of its recurrence." He Ind not, hoarser, conceive that the laws now in three were inadequate to the dangers of the country; and where were they look for security but to the measure which ails now proposed? He sincerely believer! that, if the 11011 , e Ail lit it, they world hear very little more of any In *unable praerees ; and, anatomic as lie fin• the peace and prow erite of the country 4 he should be happy to bear his share of the odium in consenting to the bill now before them. Lord SoLiviroNE, anima& cited on the speech of the Hon. Member who had jolt sat down, and strongly approved the third reading. After several very luminous speeches on both sides of the Inesti dv, chiefly however, on points of law connected a ith termer Acts tending to the same end as the bill before the House. Mr. BANKES rose to express his approbation of the mea sure; but he was so much interrupted by loud and long yawns, and perpetual coughing from the Opposition ben:4les, as to be nearly inaudible in the Gallery. The House then divided—For the third reading---265. Against it-103.—Majority-182. Several additional clauses were afterwards proposed to be anntited into the bill, which were all negatived, and on the question that the bill do pass Hie cry of •• No," front the Op ' position was so load as to shake the House : but there was no division, and it was then passed to the Lords.—Adjourned at half past two. TO CORRESPONDENTS: The importance of the Parliamentary Debates. and the We great press of temporary matter, have compelled us to postpone several valuable articles, and particularly the •• DLOGRAPHY OF THE. Ju no Es," memoirs of several of whom we have alundy prepared. Mr. it CODE L's Pamphkt shall.come under nosice next week. THE NATIONAL REGISTER. LONDON : MONDAY MARCII.3, 18.17. FRENCH journals of the fnd and 9.3 d have been received. The chief incident which they contain is one which interests the subjects of France more than those of Great Britain ; the- firmer being the creditors, and we the debtors. The French, who have claims upon. the English Government, are called upon to submit their titles before the :28th instant, at the Office for the Li quidation of English Debts, on pain of forfeiture. The Nloniteur of the 23d uh. contains an official no five of a sort that would appear rather strange in this country. It announces, that the. Duchess of Berri.is in the fifth month of her pregnancy, and .enjoys good health. Paris Papers of Monday, .Tuesday and Wedeesday were received yesterday morning. They contain nothing d importance. French Funds, Feb. 24, 60f. 'Boe.-25, 601.90 c. Another day's French Papers were received yester day, they are those of Friday last. The French Funds continue gradually to advance. The .price on Wednes day was 61 f. 20 c. They write from Madrid that the • King has visited the prisons, and ordered several persons, whose crimes were not great, to be released. His Majesty gave orders for the t►ibunals to begin without delay the trials of those wl•o are under indictment. Haniburgh ;rapers to the 18th inst. are now arristd. The States of Hanovcr have agreel to .an Address to the Prince Regent on his escape fmm the late attack made upon his Royal Highness. An article from Ham burgh informs us, that Mr. Thornton, British Ambas sador in Sweden, is going in the same quality to the Court of Brasil. New York Papers to the 30th of .January . were re, ceivcd on Thursday. They contain an Act of the Ameri can Legislature, materially affecting our colimorcLl and shipping interest. In consequence of the exclusion of the American shipping from our West India Islands, an Act of Congress has passed by which.all British ves sels entering the ports of the United'btates fr'm our Colonial possessions, arc to be subject to an additional duty of two dollars per ton. Those Papers have a re port that hostilities arc again about to be renewed be tween Christaph.: and Potion ; another stater/Lilt is, that General MeGregor, after waiting awhile at St. Thomas's, where he raised about 150 recruits of ditferent nations and complexions, set rail.svith a view to join the lusuegents of Mexico, in the hope of meeti:lg Irani them more gratitude than It had experienced at the hands of the Patriots whont.he had just quitted on the southern main. Late .aecounts received at New-York from the East !attics state, that the British Embassy to the Emperor, of China was about to pro:leed over land to Canton. It wa s supposed that the principal object of the Enibassy was to obtain redress for a>mu►crciul abuses practised at Canton by the Mandarins and flung merchants ; uhtis , !s, ibis supp;,sed, unathot ina by the Government of Pekin. The lititisa also would endeavour to obtain it .pttux of tlepobititt the .month of the shrez... kIiMINIIIMINIMMON THE NATIONAL. REGIgrIT.R. Almost every subject is at present involved in that of the Bills now pending hi Parliament ao intimately connected wish the dearest rights and iuter..sts of. Englishmen The pratitaa (imam - des, and the turbu lent spirit of treason whlch their writings and speeches have enkindled throughout the country, have breight upon us a measure, which, but for their violence, had never been thought of. under our existing circumstan ces, foreign and domestic. It is fitting the people should every where know what are the privations we are about to stiffer for these person'.: sake. We• will therefore ex plain, in the word:: of Mr. Csthbett himself, the nature . and character of the Habeas Corpus, the suspension of which will, in all probability, have been decreed, by a solemn act of Parliament, before the publication of our next number. " I will explain clearly," says this artful writer, in his " - pamphlet" of Saturday, " what the Habeas Corpus Art is. You all knave that, according to the laws of 'our country, no man can be sent to any prison until lie has been brought befit/v. a Magistrate ; and then the Magistrate cannot send him to prison un lea; there be evidence upon oath against the accused party nor until the accused party been fully acquainted with the nature of his alledgpl crime, and has been heard in his defence, . and confronted, or placedlnee he face with his accuser before the Magistrate. Then when the man is, after all this, sent to prison, there must be a written • warrant of commitment sent with him : and in that war- • rant the nature Ville MaliS alledgcd crime must be clear-, ly expressed. "This is•the law of the land, and most excellent is this law ; for, if' a man could be seized and sent to prison without these precautions, who would be safe ? And, in order that this most necessary law• may be duly attended to,. there is another law for prevent int, any neglect of the observance of all these matters ; and this law is usually called the Habeas Corpus Act. It is so called because the Writ, which I shall speak of presently, begins with. these tat o Latin words, Habeas' Corpus. This act enables any man who may be put into any prison, or confined in any manner, to apply to a Judge ler what is called a writ, or command, to bring such man before the Judge, that the Judge may hear his complaint : and then the Judge, if he finds that the man has been sent to prison, or confined without all the necessary evidence and forms before-mentioned, is•obliged to order the prisoner to be discharged ; and the prisoner may then prosecute the persons who have imprisoned him, or kept him shut up, though it be only for a short space,of time. "Now, you will see how valuable, how precious a part, this is of our laws. This act of Parliament, is justly called the Personal Safety Act ; for, without it, as you will clearly see, no man's person is safe, except accident ally ; fur, if Magistrates, or any body else, can take up any man they choose, and send him to prison without evidence upon oath, without his being heard in his de fence, without his being colfronted with his 4rCli"fre, without a written warrant stating the nature of hiy of ,fence, without any limit of time, and without being able to get a writ to be brought out before a Judge to have the cause of his impriso.unent enquired into; If this be the case, what man. can possibly regard his Person as being in Safety Yes, " true.heartea Englishman,' even to this have the principles of Cobbett, and the practices of those " who have acted upon them," brought us all ! We owe it all to these double-distilled Refiamers—these Reformists of the reformed—these political agitators of great questions amongst little. people.—Oh! how they rejoice in secret ! this is just as• they would have it—they delight to " fish in a muddy stream"—they want nothing. better than extreme measures, for they themselves furnish the pretext. for them. Their "little nostrums and big blunders" have thrown back the 1 : cause of Reform, as the violence of some Irish Anti- Vetoists have done. thatof CathulicEmanciyation, many Sessions. The once sacred and endearing words—" Liberty," " Freedom," " l.maucipation," " 11. , :vortm," they have contrived to bring into eontempt, by having used them as so many countersigns to the factious and re bellious amongst the me....iest, because the: basest, dregs o human society. These 111C11 abuse all parties, con found all sects, and all associations.. The fbllowing most sophistical, wicked, and intriguing jargon, in Cobbett's yesterday's number is.a proof of this. Speak ing of the. Report of the Secret Committee, he.says, " with regard to Clubs and Associations, I 010 not see where the prevention is to step. We have Pitt Clubs, Whig Clubs, Clubs to suppress Vice, Clubs to detect and punish Thieves, Bible Club►, School Clubs, Bene fit Clubs, Nlethudist Clubs, Minixlen Clubs, Spencean Clubs, Military Clubs, Naval Clubs, Gaining . Clubs, i..ating clubs, Drinking Clubs, Masters Clubs, Jour neynaats' Clubs, and a thousand other sorts of clubs and assuciatious." And thus are lus renders .entlea vourtal to be seduced into u IYilef that there is really no mereharta in " Spenceau Club:.," Gaining Clubs," Hampden Clubs," " Drinking Clubs," and a thou- Sand other such clubs and L4::..N - lation.;, " . than iu so cieties for the St.ppression uE Vice, School .Socitaies, Bible Soci_ne.s. aml the numerous religious, moral, and cliarimblo u.:Nio , ..4tioLui of Alethollivs.mul others. • MARCH 9. We mention these matters not so much to put our readers- en their guaad against the base subtleties of these men, as to expose, as fur as lies ittusur power, the miserable- shifts they are put to, in order to screen themselves from the offixts of the Bills now before Parliament for the " suppression of their vices."— Averse, however, as we.all are to the suspension of any ix>rtion of our liberties, the good and the wise, the peaceable and theeloyal--all these who mind their unit . business and " meddle not with those who are given to change," have for themselves nothing to fear by this temporary resignation of a portion of our con s:ite tional sights into the hands of the present adminis tration. Fur, according to lackstene, us cited by this sl.me writer, " sometimes, whom the state is real. danger, even this may be a necessary measures But the happiness of our constitution is, .that it is not left to the executive paver to dettrmine when the danger of the state is so great, us to retake this measure expe di:nt. For-the Parliamnt only, or legislative power, whenever ir sces•pr.isr, can withori:le the Crown,.by suspending the lleheas i.orpur /'net for a short and . limited time,. to im i trison suspected persons without giving any reason thr so doing; as the Senate of Rome was wont to have recourse to a Dictator, a- magistrate of ab,olute authority, when they judged the Republic in any imminent danger. The decree of the Senate, which usually preceded the nomination of this magis trate, dent operain consoles, ne TIN respeldien deter menti capial,' was called the senates remsaPum ultimt necessitatts- In .like manner this experiment ought only to be tried in cases of extreme emergency ; and in these the nation parts with its liberty for a while, iu order to preserve . it for ever." That there is dangerto the State to be apprehended from the present disposition of thy lower, that is, the poorer class...Ft of society, who are goaded on to acts of violence, partly by their distresses, but more by tin wiles of " wicked and designing men," few are now disposed to dispute ; and the chief, if not the only mat ter in debate, is about the best means of preserving the peace of- the realm, with the least possible danger to the existing institutions of our free constitution. In: this point of view only aces it appear that the Suspen. sion of the habeas Corpus is regarded - with any degree of fear and jealousy by those who arc indeed " true-. hearted Englishmen." We have an aversion-to violent measures of every kind ; and on- this account we look' with no small degree of suspicion, and even dread, at . the nature and tendency of some of the • Bills now pending in Parliament. - The love of power is nearly co-equal with what Dr. Young denominates " the Universal Passsion"—name ly, the Love of Fame. We shoulii, therefore, always guard with extraordinary vigilance, evert• step toward arbitrary enactments, towards plae•ng unlimitted confi dence in dr! mercy, the justice, and the discriminative powers of any human being, or .of any number of hu man beings collectively, short of the common consent of all well-disposed citizens: And we have the•grester dread of this measure from. the conviction that it is really the secret wish of many mischievous spirits, that this Bill should pass into a law. Desperate .men rejoice in desperate measures ; and nothing is more congenial to the views of the att.. tidly ambitious than sneis 'steps as are likely to stimu late rather than allay public irritation. Our present• legislators are certainly place.l in a most perilous situa-. thin. May they "be wise us serpents, .and harntle.s' as doves r. The debate on the motion tin. the Abolition of two , Lords of the-Admiralty was highly interesting: it war in its nature popular, and involved questions of great. political inqx.r,ance. At fist sight it appeared rea sonable that in time of pease. when so much less busi. ness. was transacted ut the Ad Araby, when fewer ships, were in commission, fewer L this could transact the business, and, in this season of retrenchment, u saving to the state might be etfect,A. Such. reasoning cm - Lindy appears plausible : but. to this it was very justly objected, that a Committee appointed by the flow* was at that instant diligently employed in selecting mid arranging objects of retrenchment ; they had made considerable progress in their labours, and by what they had already done, had given the best pledge and earnest of' their being both competent and desirous of carrying into effect the object of their appointment ; that it was invidious to tale the charge out ut their hands, by selecting isolated objects ut retrenchment when they are abwt to present, in one. emtprelensive view, .u.perfeet statement of all the raretichments ca pable of being carried into execution. la this argil., ment there certainly were reason and justice. On poli- • tical grounds of a .higher nature, it was contended by saute Members of Administration, that to limit the number of the Admiralty Lords la five, was to unuitmh in an undue proportion,. the inductive of the Crown, which, front various causes. UPS. of late greatly dimi.? nished ; that it was nocemary to make pr.:vision our rising Statesmen ; an.l twat the tra.le of patics, it' it might be so teamed, wa, a less pi.itiful trade than that of the law or most ut. er prefer. ions; that fur a century past, the number .of AdutiraltyLoLis had never been less than seven; which- wan. a. presumptive argument..