The Statesman. — London, England, 1823-07-04 00:00:00

Vec -- also declared.lhat he bad, of his own authority, altered the time of taking the fees from the entering to the set- I tiny* down of the cause. The SOLICITOR GENERAL objected to this Reso lution, as conveying too unqualified a criminatory charge against the Chief Baron, which was not warranted by the Report of the Commissioners. It appeared that the whole sums takewip . thmeway,sisarged amounted but to two guriiiis a term, and that he contended was too small tilfenail a grave censure' upon. -- air~ WETHERRIaL repeated the same objection. Mr. IL SMITH suggested the leaving out of the crimi ' oatory part of the charge with regard to causes in which decrees had not been given. Mr. RICE said he had no objection to accede to the Hon. Member's suggestion. The Resolution as altered was then agreed to. Mr. RICE now said that the Resolutions which he bad hitherto proposed, aud which were adopted by the Committee, were declaratory of facts only. It was his intention originally to have followed those up by Reso lutions of inference, applying the law to the particular conduct of the Chief Baron, but he would not now offer them. All he wanted to obtain was, an admission that a single judge, of his own authority, could not increase the burdens (tithe suitors for his own profit,Aed this he con ceived was effected by the mere entertaining of the mo tion by the House. Under such circumstances then, anti having the facts recorded upon the Journals, he would press the matter no further. leaving it in the breast of each individual Member to form such inferences as they thought proper for themselves. Mr. HU el K asked whether the Hon.Membee was really sincere in the cause which be now proposed. To leave accusatory facts a dead letter upon the Journals, appeared .to him to be an act of the greatest injustice to the parties. If the Hon. Member thought he had made out a case to warrant an impeachment, he should go on with it, if not the Chief Baron ought-to be dismissed altogether. In his (Mr. Hume's) individual opinion, the facts adduced did not warrant either an Impeachment or an Address to the Crown to remove the Judge. The Report itself, in some parts, justified charges which it alleged in others. As to the object of the inquiry, it was already answered, for by law henceforth no fees were to he taken in Courts, and this proceeding would deter Judges from enforcing them for their own emolument. lie did not mean to justify the principle, though it might be said that the amount of kes taken upon the whole was but trilling. A great deal was also owing to the system, and if the Report was credited, the practice of the Court of Common Pleas was not more free from abuses in the way of fees than the Ex chequer. Upon all these gr•funds, therefore, he thought thao an opinion to the Went of what he leel stated should be expressed by.the House. He hail prepared a Resolu tion which be would submit if it was the pleasure of the Committee. The Hon. Member then being called on to state his Resolution, read the following, though without moving it. That it appears by Reports of Commissioners, and of Se'ect Committees, made to this House. that Chief Baron O'Grady did, in a way not to be justified, for his own use and emolument, increase the fees of the Court of Exche quer in Ireland; that single Judges cannot by law so increase fees of their own authority, but that by tables annexed to the said Reports, it appeared such discretion bad been exercised in Ireland by Judges fur the last lOU years, and that in a Court of Common Pleas such a coarse of judicial authority occurred; and that as the Chief Baron appealed to this usage of the Courts for 100 years in Isis justification, and that fees were now abolish. ed by law altogether, it was not therefore necessary to proceed farther in the matter at present. Mr. RICE said that be was now pressed to call the House to decide upon the question of guilt or innocence, although that course had been avoided by the House up to the present time. How often was it said, that no judgment should be pronounced until the Chief Barop wss heard. As to the necessity which was urged upon him of taking sante decisive steps, he should only sub mit, that the Committee was not tn a state to adopt any measure which would hereafter influence the conduct of the House. Mr. C. HUTCHINSON said that if the Resolutions were once recorded on the Journals of the House, they now be recorded as a matter of charge, a proceeding which would be most unjust and unfair towards the Chief Baron. Was then his Hon. Friend to say, that if these Resolutions were recorded, lie was prepared to fol io. them up with any ulterior prOceedings, for if not, the mere affirming the Resolutions would be an act of grief injustice. - The proceedings now about to he adopted were, in his opinion, nut only unjust, but un ronsiitutional, because that high persunage, though in nocent, would be supposed guilty in the public iniud. Mr. WETIIF.RELL said he objected to placing reso lotione,of facts on record, because. though they would not be legally or logically conclusive of criminality, yet such wool Ihe the inference in the public mind. lie would never consent to be a party, by any inquisitorial proceed ing, in I.ut'ing any individual in so nueivoniable a situ ation, fur tie se Resolutions did Hot pledge the House to any future proceeding. and as long as so serious a charge hung over the Chief Baron, it would be difficult to ce rmee from the public mind the impression of criminality. Even the lion. Member for Peterborough (Mr. Scarlet') admitted it could not be contended that the Judges had no right in•all cases to increase the fees of their Courts; and in Isidore', from the Report of the Commissioners, it appeared for many years to have been the practice to in , crease the fees, not only in the Exchequer but other Courts.- Unless Gentlemen were prepared to say that they would ultimately go the length of ati impeach ment against the Chief Baron, or an Address to the Throne for his removal, they were bound to negative the Resolu tions, which would impart the most serious criminality. In justice to that individual he could nut consent to a proceeding which implied so heavy a charge. Before he came to any . decision upon this subject, he put time question to his omen mind, whether time charges were of such a nature as to cell fur Impeachment or MI Address, and determining that they were not, he was bound to say teat it was the grossest injustice to atioat a proceeding which would leave the individual charged in a state of There was nothing analogous to this proceeding in any Court of Justice. If an indict ment were preferred, or an information filed against any individual, the prosecutor could not stop, he must go on to a decision or the individual be acquitted; but here proceedings were kept in a state of suspense, and without tummy pledge to an ulterior decision. Upon these grounds he would oppose the motion; Mr. CANNING said that he wished to recall the at tendon of the Committee to the question really before it —whether, having already come to certain resolutions, they were now to put them on record ? It was clear that if the speeches of the Honourable Gentlemen were intend ed to oppose the Report of the Resolutions, they would be defeating time very object which they themselves bad in view, because by prevention the receiving of the Re port now, Honourable Oentleinen would preclude them• selves from arriving at the conclusion they desired, namely, that of ultimately coining to a final decision.— It would be more adviseable if those Honourable Gentle men also objected to these proceedings, should reserve their objections for a future stage, when the Resolutions came to be reported to the House. It would be unfair to- wards the Chief Baron to stop the proceedings until the what; amount of the charges against hint was known. It was quiteanother question, whether it was prudent to refer the Resolutions to a Committee ; but the House having come to that decision, he as a Member of that Committee conceived he was bound to discharge his duty by lending his assistance to put the Resolutions into a taagible shape, but in doing this, he did conceive him. THE STAT] self pledged to vote for the Report when it was brought up. Though he assisted in shaphig the Resolutions, yet he tlid notdo so, as attaching any guilt to the Chief Ba. ron, but that all the world might ► s tow what degree of charge existed against him ; and so far froin this being prod+•ctive of anv inconvenience or injustice toivards that individual, he thought it was most convenient and just towards him, for the purpose of enabling him to meet the charges ag,ainsl him. It would be a much grea!er injus tice to hint. if by refusing to put the resolutions on the Journals, they would unravel the web, and again diffuse these charges over a mass of unt . eosenable evidence ; and even the\hape in which they sow stood would hereafter be a step iu promoting a negative of guilt. The most natural course was, that the `Resolutions should now be reported. Even those who were of opinion that then•. was no ground for any future proceeding, ought to he the most anxious to adopt this course, as no one could wish that the Chief Baron should lie under an undefined slur. _ N.- tion was pat to the struggle which bad been going on for some yea& between the parishioners and the rector, arising out of the claim of the latter to receive 2s. Jd. in the pound on the rark-rentaLof the parish, on account of tithes, which claim he founded on an Act of the 37th of Henry VIII. The rector; the report went on to state, had finally,consented to receive fur himself and his suc cessors a fixed stipend, in lieu of all allowances on ac count of tithes, &c. ; and it was gratifying to know that the amount of the stipend was precisely that which the parish tithe committee bad in the first instance offered to the Rev. Gentleman 7 -namely, 7001. per annum: and that for the last 4 years, during which the parishioners bad paid no tithes at all, the Rector was only to receive compensation to the amount of 3591. per annum. The report concleded by bestowing a high compliment on the zeal and ability which had 'been displayed by Messrs. Saunders and Haywood, the solicitors, who acted for the parishioners. In pursuance of a motion made and agreed to, the re port was confirmed, and ordered to be printed and cir culated. After voting thanks to the tithe committee generally, and to Messrs. John.Beecham and Jasper Taylor (mem bers of the committee) particularly, as well as to Messrs. Saunders and Haywood the solicitors, for their exertions on behalf of the parishioners, the meeting separated. 'U'. 1....H011and 0 I....Hambro .0 o....Franee 0 0 ...Flanders ..• 0 0....Ma1ta .O S DAY AT ONE O'CLOCK. f India Stock s.pro Ditto Bonds 43541. s.pm. Ex.Bill.Sd. 2 43 s tas —s pm. 1000/. S __ ---5061. 23s 22s pm. --Small 23s 26s pm. Lottery Tickets RI. 144 Coo.for Aect. Mr. HUME and Mr. IVETHERELL explained. Captain O'GRADY said, that be had hitherto left this subject entirely to the judgment of the Committee, an d he must say that he had no fault to find with their pro ceedings up to the pre:sent moment. If he rightly under stood the object of the Hon. Member who had introduced these Resolutions, it was to obtain a vote upon the gene ral question, on the receiving the Report ; if this were so he did not object to it, but he must protest against leav ing the Chief Baron in such a state before the country, that some might say, however unjust and calumnious their intention, that he was criminal. He was sure that no Gentleman in the Committee would leave en ambigu ous charge hanging over any individual, without giving him an opportunity of alleviating tltedisadvantages under which he might labour. The Resolutions were so amend ed in their progress through the Commitee, that he had no fault to find with them. If the vote was to be taken on the report of the Resolutions, he rejoiced at it, because, whenever the charge came to a discussion on the merits, he would hazard his life upon the issue; but he must say, the longer that vote was postponed, the greater was the injury to the Chief Baron. He would not say that the delay which had already taken place was unnecessary, but unfortunately it was the fate of this subject that it was brought forward at so late a period of the Session, that it could not he pressed to a conclusion, and the conse quence was, that this charge was hanging over new three years. If the merits of the charge were to be discussed, he must say that that was not the House. If it were to be proposed to sink the matter in so small a House, lie would certainly object to it. Mr. LOCKHART said he felt himself bound to vote against reporting the Resolutions. Mr. T. WILSON said that he differed from the Right Hon. Gentleman who thought the Resolutions might be agreed to without expressing any opinion as to the ulti. mate result. He OIL IV.) thought that if the Resolu. tions were voted, they were boned to express an opinion. Mr. RICE thought it was now impossible to pursue any other course than that of reporting the Resolutions. Mr. T. itWILSON explained. In reply to an observation from Mr. RICA RDO, The CHAIRMAN said that it would be impossible to move the amendment of the Honourable Member for 'Aberdeen in concurrence with Resolutions. already agreed to. After a few words from Mr. WETHERELL and Mr. CANNING, The Resolutions were affirmed and the amendment ne gatived. The House resumed. The Chairman reported progress. The Report to be further considered on Alor.day next. INSOLVENT BILL. The House went into a Committee on the Insolven t Bill. Mr. LOCKHART suggested the expediency of making some alteration in the law with respect to debts under penal statutes. The SOLICITOR-GENERAL said he could see no necessity for adopting the suggestion (4 the Hon. Gentle . . After a few words from Mr. Hume, the Solicitor-Gene ral, and the Attorney-General, some other clauses were agreed to. The dances of the Bill being read through, the Report was ordered to be received to-morrow. TRADE TO INDIA. Mr. WYNN moved the further consideration of the Report of the East India Trade. Mr. BRIGIIT objected to the measure as one that went to make a material alteration in the colonial policy of this country. Such a Bill should have been brought forward in the beginning, and rot to be passed at the end of a Session, because it required very long and serious consideration One part of the Bill, that which related to the importation of opium, would throw the West India islands into the greatest confusion. Indeed, it would well become the humanity of the Company to stop the cultivation of that poisonous drug. He strongly objected to the provision which the Bill proposed to make respecting the lascars, for it would give the Governor tieneral of India a power to legislate for the whole of his Majesty's dominions. lie saw no reason why our Courts of Law should be made to give effect to regula tions which the Governor-General might think iii to make. Mr. T. COURTENAY defended the Bill. The only attack it nucleon the Itsitish Colonies was that of allow ing an innocent trade to be carried on with them. With respect to Lasears, by the present law, the owners of ship bringing Lascars into this country were bound to take them back; but those owners had no power over them ; and the present provision went to remove that in convenience. Air. ROBERTSON bad no objection to the House going into the Committee; but it was the duty of Parlia ment to correct the numerous grievances that bad long prevailed in India, both in regard to the Government and the trade of that country. Mr. W. WIGRANI admitted that many hardships existed in India ; but they were more to be imputed to the Go vernment of this country than to that of India. He sup pb—ed the Bill. Mr. W 1 NN said before this Bill could be introduced, It was necessary to have removed numerous prejudices that existed on the subject of it. But the proper time for mak ing objections would be when the Bill was in a Committee. As to opium, it could be imported In any quantity by the law as it now stood. Mr. FORBES supported the Bill. Mr. BRIGHT explained. Mr. T. WILSON complained of one clause In the Bill which would greatly affect the shipping interest. After a few words from Mr. ASTELL end Mr. ROBERT SON, the Bill was recommitted. The clauses were put se riatim. and, after some verbal amendments were agreed to, the Report was ordered to be received this day. The other Orders of the Day were then disposed of, and the House adjourned at half-past two o'clock. This day is Published, THE ENGLISH CONSTITUTION Produced and Illustrated. By JOHN CARTWRIGHT. No such thing as a Constitution exists in England. Can Mr. Burke province the English Constitutlow.—Paile. Published by T. Cleary, 129, Chancery-lane (the third door from Fleet-street), where is sold this book only. Attendance daily (Sunday excepted) from 10 to 4 o'clock MAI ARR. DUE. I 0 2....Waterford...._ I 0.... G &Jersey I 0....1.15b0n 0 o....Gottenburg 0 PRICE OF STOCKS TM! Bank Stock 221 3 per Ct. Red SIM p.Ct.Cons... . . ........ 34 per Cent 9494 , 4 per Cents 9 .31 99 New Fours Long Ann 40,./ 13-10' Imp. S per Ct. Vie *tatetonan. TITHES.-ST. ANDItEw'S PARISH. Yesterday a meeting of the inhabitants of the parish of St. Andrew, Holborn, assembled at OK Inquest-room, to receive the report of the general tithe committee, re specting the hill which has lately passed throtigh Parlia ment, the object of which is to extinguish all tithes and Easter-offerings in that parish, and, in lieu thereof, to provide a fixed stipend for the rector. Mr. Churchwarden WlLsost having taken the chair, Mr. SAUNDIRS proceeded to read' the report of the committee. It commenced by stating, that the bill fur giving a fixed stipend to the rector recei►ed the Royal Assent on Friday thenth of June, by which a tenniaa- FRIDAY EVENING, JULY 4, 1823. PARLIAMENTARY COMMENTARY. The proceedings in the ease of Chief Baron O'Grady were last night resumed,and the resolutions as to the facts of the case were agreed to. It does not appear what the House will further do oo this subject. The matter is said not to be grave enough for an Impeachment, or for an address for the removal of the Judge. And, indeed, one point taken in his favour is very strong; nataely,that otherJedges have been In the habit of encreasing fees by their own authority, as well as Baron O'Grady ; and that It would be hard to select him as an object of punishment for an offence that is com mon to the profession. This proves the necessity of a Par liamentary enquiry into the general system of fees, which, if they have no better authority than the imposition of the Judges, are illegal, and ought not to be paid. The espenee of the Courts is principally occasioned by these fees; and we have often had serious doubts of the right of the parties to impose them. The Judges are 'mid liberal sala ries ; and, if they are not adequate to their wants, they should be made so, without reference to fees. it is an odd contradiction that the public should buy the time of an individual in the gross,. and then pay him for it again in detail. A yearly salary of so many hundreds, and then a fee for signing his name, are strange anoma lies. A plain man would suppose that the public were entitled to all the service the individual could perform, when he had wade his bargain to serve the public. The only defence of such a system that we ever heard of was the plea, that courts of law ought to be expensive,be cause people are litigious, and if they could go to law for a trifle, they would be always crowding the Courts. But this argument would go to the length of closing the Coot's altogether: and perhaps if they were altoge ther closed, as little injury would result from the denial of law, as from the sale of it at a price so greatly beyond its value as it sometimes costs. The circle of the liberties of the world is narrowing a s fast as the Members of the Holy Alliance can direct thei power against them. lirberever they can strike at the semblance of freedom, they do so without any hesitation; and yet there are people who tell us that we have nothing to do with the matter, and ought to remain quiet and int different spectators of what they may chum to do. Mon strous as this reasoning is, there are too many, who, if they do not openly adopt it, act as if they held the opi nion. It may sound strangely, to talk of any foreign dic tation to the people of England, as to their institutions ; hut, we could ask, when popular freedom is destroyed every where else, what is to prevent it from being, we will not say destroyed, but what is to prevent it from be. ing attacked in England ? Every body knows that the very name of liberty is hated with a most perfect hatred by the Potentates composing the Holy Alliance. Every body knows that they are indefatigable in• their endea. Yours to root out all traces of self-government. What hive they done is their own dominions—at Naples—in Pi ed mont —W n rtemberg the Swiss Cantons—wherever their influence could reach ? They have been bitter per secutors of every principle which favours the public free dom. The Press, of course, has been the pat ticular object of their hatred, as the most efficacious means of raising a moral bite and cry against them ; and if they should be able to establish their favourite " Monarchical principle" upon the Continent, have we any reason to suppose they will be satisfied? Will not English newspapers gall them as much as German newspapers ? Will they respect our institutions any more than they respect others;— What predilection will they have in favour of our liber ties? There may be some difficulty in the attempt to de stroy them. The thing would he impossible, if they had not friends in our camp:—but are we;not aware that the: e are men in England, and high in power too, who would be delighted to reduce it to the slavish submit sin of a continental state? Do we net know that '‘. thee are many traitors here who would rejoice to see the remainder of the Six Acts converted from a dead letter into a living and alive curse, by the agency and ander the auspices of a foreign force? That there exists a general conspiracy of the crowned heads of the continent against the rights of the people is indisputable; and hence the necessity of the people, of all those countries where any freedom yet remains, to make common cause against these crowned beads. Whenever they are op posed, the rights and interests of the people are defended. Whenever they triumph, the interests of humanity suffer. No terms can be made with them. They fight for We extermination of ail rational liberty; they ral ,, e their hands against the common rights of every individnal and the hand of everyind!vidual should be raised against them. The Spanish Ball takes place to-niiht, notwithstand• ing the attempts of a certain party to prevent it, by a mean a ttack upon the distincuished characters who rove undertaken the management. It was supposed they could be laughed out of their liberal ex►rtions, but they have very properly despised the paltry annoyance. It has been said that so little could be done, that it was not worth doing any thing. This may do for reasoning with some people. But the Spanish cause may depend upon the possession, or the want of a single musket ; and nothing is unimportant that may prolong the contest for a single hoer. A very numerous attendance is antici• psted ; and the accommodations are on the largest scale. French papers to the 2nd inst. hate arrived since Wt. last. The Moniteur contains a long Bulletin from tree Major-General Guilleminot, which details, in some re spects somewhat differently from the former accounts, the operations of the two French corps bearing upon Cadiz.' It is now admitted that - the Constitutional farce under Lopez Banos, which had not previously been stated as exceeding fifteen hundred men, amounted in reality to between three and four thousand, well provided with ar tillery, and that its movement upon Seville was combined with one on the part of Villa Camp, who had advanced as far as Utera to join it, when the approach of Itorde soult's column compelled him to retire to Ronda without effecting his purpose. It also appears that the contribu tion raised by Lopez lianas from the Seville Counter: Revolutionists ; had not exceeded 200,000 francs; beside, shoes and clothing wanted for the use of his troop•, and did not fall into the hands of the enemy, who was only able to overtake his rearguard from whom 350 prisoners were ramie. At the Got., when this took place he was marching towards Huebla, where he expected to embark for Cadiz. Finding himself, however, closely pressed, he a represented to have thrown himself among the moun tains in the direction of Badajoz, which is occupied by a powerful garrison. Bordesoult's vanguard, it was mien. lated,would be on the 23J tilt. on the coast opposite Cadiz which, it is admitted, is occupied by seven er eight those sand men of the revolutionary army, though it is pre tended that it is destitute of subsistence, and that no pre parations are made for defence. It is also stated, that Bell asteros, after sending three battalions to garrison *Scant. had moved with the remainder of his army in t, the kingdom of Murcia. No mention is made in this bulletin of the state of affairs in the North of Spain, ex- Sept what relates to a cannonade from the batteries of St. Sebastian, which was thought to have been a prelude to a sally from the garrison.—Such are the statements contained in the bulletin, which, in several essential points, give a direct contradiction to those which the same Major-General had previously made. In his 13th Bulletin h e had officially announced, " that the Consti tutional troops of Villa Camp and Lopez Banos, drawn back towards Ronda, having 'teen informed of the odious manner in which the King had been temoved from Seville, had dispersed themselves, and abandoned their Generals ;" while in less than a week after, he, in this new bulletin, states that Lopez Banos, whose army. according to his previous assurances, had disbanded itself on the 14th of Jon., appeared on the 16th mitts about 4,000 troops before Seville, carried that place by force, and maintained himself there two whole days, not withstanding that French divisions were in its neighbour hood. With the same disregard to consistency, he here states that VILLA CA]tl•A had advanced his cavalry to Utera, after having stated that his wholti army also, had dispersed itself. Though Mina is unno ticed in this curious bulletin, he is still alive. The Journal de Toulouse, an Ultra paper, reproaches Eroles with having, by his misconduct, allowed the escape of that enterprising commander, in defiance of the remon strance of a French ColoneL Whether front some 'Dion,- derstanding, or because he can do nothing better, the Chief of the Faith has g'en op the pursuit, and stood still at Belver, Zabala, another Chief, who wished to change sides from the Faith to the Constitution, with his followers, has been arrested and imprisoned at Segovia. Mina, it appears, far from seeking refuge in the Seu d'Urgel, has been moving about with his accustom ed activity and freedom. The Journal des Debate briefly says that "Mina is marching towards Lerida," and sills, i` that Marshal Moncey, having received the reinforce. 'newt which he expected, would advance with Isis while corps towards Barcelona, which would he invested 41.104; the Gth or 7th inst," Nuts, JCL( I.—French Funds—Fire per Cents. SF!": 65c. , —Bank Stock, 1555. —Neapoli - an, 741.—ExchInge on London—One Mouth, f e. t three ditto. •l."f 4.5 c. Bayonne papers, which have been received this morn ing. to the 27th ult., bring nothing new from Spa'''. though the Madrid Gazette of the 23rd had been brought by an extraordinary courier, and some letters of the same date. One of these letters says, that there were some persons in that capital who do not feel quite easy, being apprehensive that the Irench corps now there, is not so strong as to secure the city against a coup de nia:n Nut the Constitutional troops of some of the divisions. which have r. treated before the French without fighting M, Martinez Rosa, forme. ly Mi, ister, arli , ed at Ba yonne, on the 25 b, from Madrid. He flees from Spain, it is said, in consequence of bei 'g 'spaced to the hatred of party. The papers are chiefly occupied with an ac count of the arriva of he Duchess d'Angouleme in that city, and of the proces ions and illuminations that took place on the occasion. She made bat a short stay there and set out on the 2tith for St. Jean de Lua. I • Vithitalfr;444-.9.'" ce cit th tb tu ' CC bi bi vi 3~ N ILS. I AIR.