The National Register. — London, England, 1819-12-06 00:00:00

DEC. 6 FRIDAY. DEC. L . . TRAYCIAL BILL. The LORD CHANCELLOR said. he rose to move the eecond reading of the Bill to prevent Delays in the Adn.i nittratitm of Justice. by the opportunity persons had of tra vetsing their pleas in cases ot tx nU 1. informations and in dictments. The Bill wa- proposed on-the authority of tht !ate Lord Chef Justice Ellenburough One of the provi sions was, that persons prosecuted by the Attorney General, should not hasc the right to Imitn, le, or traverse their pleas. The Noble and Learned lord said, he had collected all the information he could on the subject, a;•d he proceeded to state the practice which had long prevailed in the Court of King's Bench This Bill did not call on a defendant to plead silt 1,,.?, as he was bound to plead by the ancient law, but it glve the Court powre to allow a reasonable time to en able hint to ittalerstand his indictment, or demur to it. If the Lords permitted the Bill tog° to a Committee, it might be amended as the House should think proper. A defend ant was to have the power of removing his indictment by e.rta•+n • to the Kim's Bench, under circumstances of a fa. -vourable nature, which did not then exist. He repeated, Vat the Bill was not introduced trim, any view taken under the present state of the times The present law on this ject was not the ancient law of the land. In the case of the seven Di-hops, the ancient law, with respect to im , .arlance, was violated and it had since heen the op ed lawyers, that the Bishops were harshly treated.. The Noble and Learned Lord concluded by moving, that the Bill be read a second time. . . . . . Earl GROSVENOR opposed the Bill. on the ground that it would add to the inconvenience Already felt by persons called to answer upon ex nifiru information:l and indictments. Justice required they should have the utmost indulgence of the law to ortivioe tor their defence. Lord ERSKINE opposed the principle of the Bill. It could not be ' , are tin. take away the right of traverse in cases of seditious libels. In such cases a man otten required more timellian the Attorney General allowed. The Bill did not preserve the analogies of the law. There must be time to collect evidence. He cited the ciwe o t Hatfield, the swniac. It was a case which had rendered the law of this country illustrious; it proved how far insanity could reach, and to what extent the indulgence of the law in such a cam would go. When they took away from the accused the power of trwcrsing his indictment, they left him exposed to all the grindiug hart:slips the Attorney General could inflict. Ac. cording to the Bill as it stood, the Attorney General might delay the trial of the accused, leaving Irm with all the anxiety of a prosecution hanging . over his head for years The Bill came before the House in had company. It came 'with other Bills calculated to alter and infringe the ancient law of the land- The Earl of LIVERPOOL said, he was not prepared to defend this Bill on the close application of est adished law. It was not, in his opinion, salutary to make laws on specu lative principles, but it was an elle, ation in the law, justified by the peculiar situatEon of the country. He asked any man Nt ho knew what was going on in the world, whether the present licentiousness of the press, publishing works the most dangerous that could be read, was not a violationsof order and good manners ? Could the House. looking to the effect of those publications, say society could he kept toge ther veilltout coins remedial measure. The remedy, indeed, was diffieult. and Government had endeavoured to serve the country by the measures recently brought into Parliament. As the law now good, it was in the power of an individual to impede and put off his trial for five or sit months, and thereby defeat the ends of justice. The Noble Eari admitted that it was-au innovation in the law, but it Was justified by necessity. LORD HOLLAND could not avoid making observations on the speech of the Noble Lord who spoke last. His argu ment went to prove that the laws were subject to abuse, and consequently liable to be changed at the of the Minister '1 he law considered absurd in theory had been framed at the best period of the Constitution by Lord bunters, one of the greatest men known. in 1688 It was calculated to give a -fair advantage to the subject. In this Hill .the Noble Lords only considered the solitary instance of inconvenience aris ing from seditious and blasphemous libels, bust how did the Noble Earl and the Noble and Learned Lord differ in their atatements? That Noble and Learned Lord declared, that the Bill was brought in, not from any view of the present state of the country, but it was the effect of his intention long existing to render the administration of justice more perfect. The Noble Earl said, it was to put down blasphemous and eeditious publications. Which a the Noble Lords was right ? Informations ex qficoo had increased of late, and were increas ing to an alarming extent. Some had not-been followed tip by trial. The inequality between the accused and the At torney-General, made it necessary the former should have the right of traversing, yet that ancient right, given to the subject at theßevolution, was to be torn away on pretence of improper delay in proceeding tutrial.• . It was a delay the subject had a right to claim by the law-of the land, and. he could not be deprived of it without a violation of liberty de sired from the constitution.—TbeNoble-Lord, in support of his argument, related an anecdote of-Lord Shaftesbury, (an. cestorof the presentfEarin—Tha tNoble Peer waist) impressed with the importance of allowing persons prosecuted for High Treason the benefit of Counsel, that lie stood forward in the House of Commons a resolute champion for the privilege. 11.hmeetistomed to public speaking, he became embarrassed and unable to proceed u hut haviug collected his ideas, he .exclaimed, addressing the Speaker—. Sir, if, in detailing-that which. I confider right, I have been so embarrassed as to for get much, wilt you not conclude, that a man on his trial may be embarrassed, and will you take away from an individual, tried upon a charge which may effect his lite, the benefit of .Counsel ?" The Noble Lord wished to depnve the poor man, prosecuted by the Attorney General, of the benefit the law bad allowed him. Loud Holland declared his intentiou to .toppose the Bill in the Committee. After some further discussion it was read a second time. TR/OK/NO AND SIARCiI FOR ARMS ill. L$ ' The liouhe then went into Committee on chenille for pre • venting Military Training, and allowing the semure of Arms. 4Mter some discussions, amendments were made, the Bill, as isnic tided, agi eed to.ansl oidersd tube reported.—Ailjuurned. HOUSE OF COMMONS. Mu~DAV, /WV. 19. The Speaker, !meting taken the Hiatt, roonninnicated the *flower or th•• Pa wee Regent to :he Addi vett of that Hour, which was ooderud to be entered on liar JottrualP. BIANCHI:MLR AFFAIRS. Mr. BEN N P;Carnl.44Petition from merchant., anannfactuit ra, and (Alicia of loocheater aim 6aluo ii, In the amount of IMO net.o 6 and 1,00 persona, pr.” t he Ilonae to nolittne impury imo thc fool e%esits voloch oo ditit red at Manchester ott the lath Aoguat last. THE NATIONAL RZGISTEIt. • Sir It. WILSON most cot thistly agreed in the t irgyer of the Petition, and in the sentinsents of the Hun. Member who presented it he coneut led. The Petition, we hie!' was very lung, was then read amidst the attention of the Hollge. Pe titi nn ordered to lie on the table: ML, Alderman W(X)CI pleas nted a Petition from Mr. Hunt. It set forth the Mancliestcr proceedings, the inn tines which led I' heti., the object of the meeting, Sc. It also set forth the atfitlas its and esti lions made by the petitioner in the King's Bench, and elsewhere, to institute unpile yin the Law Gum ts. The petitioner also detailed lieu ticulars tepid ding•ss hat lie railed a charge for a pre tended conspioacy. Besides complaining of the Alagis tra►'-s, &t. it also (nand fault particularly with the ittisters. . Ordered to be printed, but not without numerous but unavailing cries sit No! TheUlliC hatin; resolved itself into a Committee of Supply, The CHANCELLOI. of the EXCHEQUER Said, any fusilier preface, he sl Id content himself' tOr the pi esent with musing that a supply be granted to tale Alajeste. Ms. I'. GRENFEI.L observed, it had been footnoted that there was a consides aide decrease in Ilse coussolida led I ontl, to Ili. animus' or sight inillinss•, in the quill ter ending Oct. Ili. He should be glad to learn whether there was any truth in this statesisesit. 'the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER replied, that the dimitnition resulted rattly from the stagnation of trade, and partly from the recent consolidation of the Cus toms, 116 many had paid up for the preceding I;marter to avoid soy increase of duty that 'Isis:Ill be inCarred by the Cuismilidation of the Costume' Dunes, Their was a defi ciency iu the Excite of al t P .0,4001. a. compared with the corresponding period of Ibla, but lIIPI pru. since was the las ssest ever kissing,. But 1 . .0111 the !Oils of October last to t he slay nit vs Iticli !'atliaintist assembled' the 23‘11 instant, there lied been en Ml:tease iu every branch of the Revenue Motion acrerif I..—Report to-morrow. STATE OF THECOLINTRY--THE NEW RESTEIC- TIV E :%1 FAS': It MS. The Prince Regent's ,ipeeeli, as far as it regarded the internal state of the country, keying been reed, Lord CAS TLER EA G H said, that the Po ince Regent's Speech unfolded to the House that great danger elided, dial a spirit bad new fully manifested itself %%birds Mats incompatible with the public tianquillity. and which was clearly hostile to the Constitution. Such being the fact, it would be to the ii.tetest ol• the deluded and infatuated Ilieonselvele to adopt measures to rescue them as well as the Consthetion tiom imminent darter. He would now come mote immediately to the point before the House— to detail these measures which his Majesty's :tliteisters onnful deem it Helot to propose. The (list was to check that alarming evil, the tientiltiooes uneelittos. The second would be ergo - ding the teething to the use of arms, eXe. I lie third %unlit sue of local opei..ei in, similar to what was in effect in 181 g—namely, to give exit aorditeary possess to scare h fur and seise arms, Ac. The fourth would be, to secure the mote speedy min imising+ion of justice. pat lien tarty in the eases of misdemeanoi a. And the filth measure regarded the Pie's, nut the general Press of die country, but a measure for the purpose of more ►fectual!y con wiling and repoessing the treasonable, blasphemous, and s. ditious Press. These were the O.ODSriteS which his Ma jesty's Ministers deemed necesuesay to save the - country from a +anonym's,' re betties' on the our baud, and as alcrm ing an evil on the other, military determine', for a salgni• miry rebellion wattld be calculated to lead tosiich a state of things. 'The magistrates should be clothed with a power of preventing sinuilioneons meetings, by varying the time and place of meeting, for the purpose of eloimt w hitch with the greater effect, s:x Jays' notice 'humid be given of• the intention to assemble•. Meetings should lie stripped of then pueseut garb. No man AllOlllll meet to peti►ion DI sans, m..' early revelled tonasy symbols. Those prohibitions were to be extended to All meetings. 'l•be magistrates should have the power of resisting the inroads of a mass of people. They stomild have the power of pro nouncing mee•tinngs illegal lions which stoangets upon pro• clamation ferreted to withdraw, and those olio continued after the proclamation abeuld be suhject to setions Inc eisbnicioi. He should not propose making it felony of death—(hear, hear)—hnt chargeable felony. He thought it reasonable that a quarter of an hour should be given to strangers to retire, and half en hour after that to the sleeting to dispe►se. The Rill would extend to Societies not registered, Institutions abbot rent to the lonstitistum. With respect to the loathing system, the Rill would ope rate effectually in preventing the people (rum being drilled. These should be s diderence as to the treatment of the drillers and the drilled. Those who were 'miler instruction should be liable to fine and imprisonment, while those who drilled should be subject to transportation. The Noble Lord the it spoke of the dangers arising from abates of' the public press. His object was to apply a salutary cootie/el, and for that pus pose be should merely act open the established law of the land, and counteract the hands committed by venders of small publications upon the regular newspapers, by subjecting all publica tions of• a certain site to the stamp duties. In all this their was not a tittle against the libel ly of the subject. Oil the contrary, the measure would prove a protection to the Itheity of the press, and there could be DO doubt Of the necessity of mak hog it permanent Temporary expe dients were NH of• mischief. 'l•he dienffected watched the time of their ending to burst out with a 'viewed spirit of hostility to the Gores ... eitt. 'l•he Noble Lend epicluded with ionising for leave to being in two for more effectually preventing seditious meetings and assemblies; and the other fur malls; regulations with respect to the press. Mr. TIERNEY said, filet be-was not prepared to enter folly upon this subject, Rot having had any idea, when he canoe down to the House, that many points upon which the Noble Lurd had daarlt •11, would have been toothed upon. The House /meld not with propriety ante. tan, ',injects of this kind till a ease Was made out oil which Miry could act. All the•, load to go upon was the notoriety of file proceedings tlu•ongh I he roiled' y, open the authos ity of the Papeis tiefiord the House, w Web weir the only evi dence with reset -et to the tides and exteill, a mole gar bled and mutilatedacYuuut could not clod, - be rr t before P.irlianuctit. It was admitted by Ministers the Intermit trade of the country was good, arid that 'teething was to be Apprl . llelldrd CDrepl 11001 the 1415Itell) of Awc nira. 1111.3 was most extiamordinaiy. It would elopes' as of u••c natures p ly changed, and we hail de• tetutund to lulu the nation againet stn Ceastitattion, . a 7 in odddion to the . 1 en Ihnusaud regular Troops, bodies of Yeimi.day were forming, rind oil this was dour tit a tours 'lieu linoters said the country was iis u douriihmg cone:. lion, The people were indeed deceived by theta Imprimis pled leaders. if those unfortuisate wen, nicrined Radii at , ; would look to the me:aticholy tows to which their leaders were reduced, how must they be struck at seeing them trout .1 hand oust fillll. Il atts said by the otlicr side of the Rocas that the Whigs had been excnbled hour Government fifty years It aas true, and the country felt it. lincontrot and disalleetino were the cousequrners, and new Inas were rt.alfril In us a proof of ht.. a i.e system of those a 1 o op posed the lie %holly disapproved of the piuhibio lino resper tide arms. lie e Oiled to know a heiker e Lis.,l simian was not to have semi for tun , JM n defence. Tia existing iota alreody provided axon's* MPH going in armed bottles, nod viere qufficivnt seem ity against 111!(' bier. The droete Navin, coothated to a late kw, the Moline was ultimately agreed to. and the Illouse atijoui ned. Tutesn•,r, nor. SO. Mr. F. 4.%LNIER prevented n ',Thelon from Readirg, prayinT for an tntluiry into the lamentable trailsar to.. of August In. at Nlahrhesicr ; and complaining that the. (;our{ 111 il4l . dist, 1116 beellled 1111.161/W1 to t•tific rather tle4n ieturrol• Primo"' Head and ordered to be printed. RAWCAL It I.:FORMERS. Mr. BENNETT presented a petition froth an indleidoll named Bamford, redding at Midaletim, setting forth that he slits acquainted Kith the events n hid, preceded and occur red at the Nl:inch-stet Ldretieg, August 16, and preying se boexansim d at the Bar of the noose. The petit dm nits brought op and read. REPAYMENTS TO THE BANK. Mr. P. GILLS FE LI asked u hat progress ha been made in repaying thermals boor:men from the ILIA; the untoturt was 1'1,000,000L sad tbete was so uodeistanding t h at DO pact had heesi d'e pa id. The Cil A Nit:MA.OR of the EXCHEQUER rep ed that a good drill had been repaid, awl that arrangem e nts had been made to repay .1,0.;0,0001. w ithio the time pa es. cubed by Parliament. (Bear!) • THE NEW RESURICTIVF: MEAstrid-A. Mr. BROUGHA NI asked whether the Noble Lord irides- Jed to persevrie iii pressing 16 mewma on Iturscht important as they and strikin, at the most imports:, filo itiesuf the country 2 Lord CASTLE:REA(' ' replied in tl.e offirmatise i , especially as the swami'' , s had been surrounded w Ali Hsi la t•Libollite misrepresentations ; he bet attic au tioub that out a misrepresentations should be removed as mon as possible. Mr. BROUGHAM expressed his astuilismitent that the meadows shosalcl be title uis,ttd to to tiles ties House , were net to have time in consider lII* WHIP% 6611 , 01 were to pill an coil to the iiialienabie Rights of the People, surely it 40541,1084 y be her ))))) ing in thrall to ::11;•141 their constituents time tulcoro what were the lioeril3 of the ors iiill4.--! Bear, hear l) Mr. BENNErr deemed the measures sttrmp.cil to Ito thus hurried through Parliament to aim at nothing looms than the soberest JJJJ of the Constitution ; au l lio•sessing such feeling, and being anxious dolt all the Mionliels of the House at least should be present, to beheld such sub ' version of the Constillition, lie ruse to give notice, that tie should to-marrow move that these be a call of the Buttes. —(Lund chest s.) - sTAI'F. OF THE COUNTRY. Lord ALTIJORP ruse to being fur ward his premised motion regarding the Papers laid before the House by Lord Castlereagh, as to the internal state of the country. He was deeply iiiiprt ssed with the importance of the mu lion; and chat had since occurs et, the new envisions proposed by Ministers increased the difficulties under which lie laboured. As to the papers, there were blanks in them, and many pm to that required explanation. The fact of the reading the Riot Art remained in considerable doubt; how happened this? Cull and ample esplairationa wets required. There was one very leinarkable fact which proved this opinion. '1 h.: Lot d had stated, (list on the IGih a Magistrate was trampled mailer foot; how happelied it that no mention of it was made is the pavers awl correspondence? (Hear.) And great part of these thieuments Nell' anonymous, and cut 1111 l g too ft otn persons also nese evidends acting as spies. ( Hear, hear.) it might be attended with some danger at all times to divilige names ; hot alien the House iccollerted what or. emirs d two years ago, they would be slow to Ice...eve the testimany of spies—suleersons who might woes at 44e l 0 the roll 1111 l ,11111 of improper conduct, that information might ett•tr be given againal the offending patties. (Hear, hear.) He concluded nude moving, that the papers be lartscd to a Seleet Co 1111 l Col. DAVIES seconded the motion. To support the system of the Ministers there netts large increases to this army and to the taxes; theta was there nut 6 l • cause fur the complaint of the peohik'? Why was there nut econo my, why did they not behold retreneliment ? in the aim) , alone, in almost all the depai ills, the salarics KC; e nearly donbled, compared as Alt what they were in 8,16; that bring a period of war, and the , country suss ha% ing been at peace for years. Wheie was the ilecessity fur PM is extravagant:sr He must cutdially cuncu ied w the motion. Mr. B. BATHURST Idnicated at tln• rourt.e ss hieh the Opposution 'owned to he aolions to 1 , 01 , 10 . . They ops. pew ed to he tlepiroos of gibing a Idrit , slut an !Wended 4 ppo oval of those whose acts a ETC n.,N ( . 0161114111e I 01, 404 .1,0 to prevent the . Govet omen, Isom 114141111 trig iliku the acts 4001 rontfort of ranch iodivi , tools.—(lleal, dill a 1ai04,12 from the Opposition.) , A very lung &bate followed. in whidi .Sri M. W. Ridley. Mr. 111 l aird, Lord !Milton, Mr. Lambe .111.1 Mr. fierstey, supported the motion for inquiry, and Lot Courtestay, and Mr. Martin, agaiteit it. The gallery was !lira cleared, and, upon a division, this nuisiliers were— Aniiiinit the motion X2I Fur it The House then adjourned at a qua' ter bciore two o'clock. WEDYESDAY, DEC. I. Mr. C. HARVEY obtained leave to bring ins 13111 frr th• lighting of the City of Norwich with Gaa. — Mr.111106D411 . 4 moved tot Itetutns of Pauper Clrldra• within the Hilit of 31ortalit). Ordered. Col. DAVIS moved tor a Ileturn of the names of the Persons who have belonged w the public civil d‘partmeate to the artlY iO I England ar.d Ireland, the amount of their atilwiatinuathm. to twacred. Mr. ItENNETT said ho should abandon his ourion for a Nn of the House. Torre bad ban the tatentl,tnee of 6710 told 11410 .„lat tubers, a number suflit,ent to ensure a tall Mader:A:on of** , (Piai Pais *Ohne of 1 ieliortof o:ceaft‘s ice jyeto .J