The Sun. — London, England, 1807-03-03 00:00:00

I F or himself he n--,l•:eci no oun:ic;, bit ire jsist ice an(l-r(ft3ittide - ti(tll; . 4l - fori. I tblv.e. \Vbn't the Petitioners Connejted• with itcpy wish for 'he knew not. The IS'PEf4K.E.l6tated, that parties otnit,ting : io ' pray for s Counsel in:their PetitiOns Wonld , not be o'n‘..• titled In that bt.-,etit without presenting a .supple mentary- POOlOl . l. , _ On the' VtiggestioTi (if Ligd HOWICi,..,Who thought it would nieet'the wishes-15f all parties ; -` • • The SPEAKER WarlTStrilaed to acquaint the Counsel '‘t-lien . "tti the Bar;: that itNeas%the re7.lrn. ":. - pleasure of the House,that he should,con4ne himself *to the inatter3 of faEralleged ill the Petition to which • b,emeant-to adduce - Mr. : Warren, Counsel. 'for Mr. Paull, was then `calledlo, and being instru4ed by the Speaker to this etioa, he proceeded to state the matter. of the -Petition; 'the' charges Contained therein, and the na ture.ancl;charaeter of (lie evidence by which they were:to be*SupPorted.. : The first Witnes3, Mr: Drake, . vas a, Lieutenant in the: Navy, and had had a share ' in. thosegloriousaitions which had attached so much glory to-that . service. The second witness, \Yea therhead,, was al-so-in the Navy. The remaining nesses were: men of low- and .humble stations. But it was only, persons of low station that any . one 'would.-attetupt , tb.iamper with; and the • evidence of guilt should 'be Sought from the scenes wliere if had been committed. • The story Mr. Drake would tell would perhaps strike the House with so much asionishtnent, as almost to appear incredible. But hevciuld'heie again represent to the House, that the etfe& should be taken in the mass, and that each Part ()tight to be regarded is . COntirmatory of the rest. With reSpeB to the object of these,charges, he was a man of very high talents and 6araater, unstained in the present instance as such, Mr.-Paull, as well as himself, were willing to describe the Right Hon.Gentleuian; and they wished the present-trans ataion may not be found of 'a nature to'give an opi nion of him different from what had been enter tained. When the whole ofthe evidence should be before the House, he was sure it would not seem too much to ark for the interposition of the House. Mr. Paull asked the House to take his Witnesses un .cler its.proteEtion till the trjal of his Petition. With „ :Out:that it would be vain to expeajustice. It was in,vOiti,, if tampering with Witnesses were allowed, to hope that the House would be fairly constituted, or the People fairly represented. Here the Counsel was ordered to withdraw, and the Speaker said,' he .wished4o know if it was the sense of the House, that Counsel should be heard on the matter, he had now goneinto,Couttary to the instructions of the House, what the House itself should do in vindication of its privileges. When the Counsel proceeded from the statement of the fa&s to Which he was to adduce evidence, to a de scription of his witnesses, he did not interfere; but when .be had come_ to state what the, House ought to do in ,vindication of its privileges, he thought it right to take the general opinion as to the propriety of, hearing him further on that topic. Lord 40MIGIC felt the. propriety of interposing to check the deviation of the Counsel from the in -, strudions communicated to him, but thought it right to wait for the interposition of the Speaker. He moved, that the Counsel be now agairucalled in, and told to-proceed to the examination of his witnesses. . This being agreed to, Mr. Warren was again called in, and told,' if he .had -sufficiently- explained the • fads he wished to establish, and the -nature of the , evidence he Meant to, produce, io.call his witnesses, and proceed to - examine theM, with Out interfering, as'it did not beconie him IO presume to say what may be the future determination of the House with a view to the maintenance of its Privileges. • . ,EXAMINATION OF-WITNESSES. The first witness called was William Drake,-whose .evidence was in substance as follows: • .-. Willianz Drake was by profession an Officer in the 'Royal ISTavy, Ading Lieutenant. Ha had entered the - service 'in the-year 179 - 5; 'and quitted in the year Ili; first acquaintance with the Right Hon. -itchardtgrinstey Sheridan arose from his haying Married hit; - naluraldaughter. This happened about fotir or five years since. - He had been concerned in • the late Ele6tion, in - which' he had suppOrted Mr. Sheridan, carrying up four or . five Voters everyday, tvhose` names he regularly setit'in to the Committee. His c--iccinaititatice. with Mr.' Paul! did . not COMMetice till after the Eleaftin. Air:Sheridan had-mide many 'promises during the: . _Ele6tioli, but alter the EleCtion he could not Obtait . l'adinittance to hint,' tho' • he had called several times house, and had ac tually been - insulted by his' Porter. He went, by appointment, to - meet Air: Sheridan at Mr.'l-lornitn's . , in Frith -street; but Mr.Sh9ridan did not come there. Several bottles of wine Were drank whilSt he waited at Mr. Homan's. He - afterwards went in a - tickney coach, with Messrs. Janson and Edwards, td Edwards's •housp, as he supposed, where he saW Mr. Sheridan. He sat in a parlour on the left-hand side of the house. He told Mr: Sheridan that he had been summoned, by a warrant from the Speaker of the House of Commons, at the desire of Mr. Paull, to attend the Committee appointed to try the West minster Ele&ion. Mr. Sheridan desired him to get out of the way offered money to him to procure a letter from one'.Emanuel Harris, a Jew, in Holy well-street; which letter had been signed by Mr. Sheridan during the Ele6tion, and promised to pro vide for him and his father: He. bad other con versations with Mr: Sheridan on the subjekt, on the 9th, toth, and loth of February, and last . Friday. week. Th e l etter t h at had ben sent to Ema miel Harris, . had' b een ta k en by him to Mr. Sheri dan, to whom .he bad stated that Mr. Harris had a number of votes to bring up, which he would not do unless' Mr. Sheridan should sign the letter giving him authority to do so. The letter had been signed, by Mr. Sheridan in his own house, three or four days after the commencement of the Eleaion, but not in prpsence of any person but the witness. The letter had been signed between eleven and one o'clock in the . day, but .he could not exaaly say on what day of tile month. He had delivered no other letter, either during or since the Elektion, to Ernannel Har ris, from Mr. Sheridan, but had delivered one to 'him previous to the EleEtion, which had been signed also by Mr. Sheridan. Emanuel Harris had offered him a sum of money to procure-a letter for bun to Sir Peter Parker, or to Sir Samuel Hood.— Yit the interview he had with Mr. Sheridan at Mr. Id wards's, Mr. Sheridan told him that lie had kited improperly, in having gone out of town during the I ..:e6tion, though he bad constantly attended, and the nanies Qi the rnk.l::; bi:uU r .l): `aa,:c.d Mr. : Sfieri&in iie to do With , roSpe.la to, the sutnirrons he h.id re 'ceived fo : aitend -the committee, Mr. Sl4idan de sired him to get. out of the way,, and to leave the Eess to him. Mr.' Sheridain said, he would'pi-ovide ft;r as they were old friends., by getting him a;si tuition under. Governmenty,whieh:he had been,pro mised many vears. Mr. Johnson had alsoaslteu p is to get the letter from Mr.. Hatris, and he hat replied to Mr. Johnson, 'that if Harr did not give it up, By Ge--d he'd knock him down." Mr. Herman, also dFrith-street, had said to him that he was wrong in writing to Emanuel Harris ; and that it would be a good thing to get the letter if:possible from him. Mr. Sheridan. had told him, when : fie aSked.hini to get.the letter from Harris,. that he should not Want tiny Thoney; 'as Sheridan and he Were cid ar2- quaintances; and he bad 'reaSon . to - believe that this money was ofted: to induce, - him to.. procure. the let ter t - rom Emanuel Harris. Witness being further examined 'would not - say that Mr. Sheridan autho rised him' to offer any specific sum to Harris to get back the letter,. or that he even ever. mentioned the Word money, hut insinuated in general that every pos sible means should be used to get it back—observing, that the getting back theletter was of the unost serious arid important:, Consideration. ,He had, however, offered 301. to Harris, to prevail upon him to return the letter, which money he would pay out of his bwn pocliet, and of his own authority; He had got acquainted with Mr. Paull by-means of a letter he had .Written to him, stating the-ill treatment he had received from 111 r. Sheridan and his servants ; btu Mr. Pattil had not instigated hind by money or- any eler inticement to get possession of the letter, but merely. advised him to lel] what he knew, but to advance nothing that be would not, be ready t o swear to ; ; When lie got possession of the let ter, he. never mentioned the circumstance to Mr. Paull or any of his Agents, nor, indeed, to any person whatever, before he Mentioned it this night at the Bar of the House. • Vet, upon cross-examina tion upon,this point, he confessed that he himself had not only- Seen 'the Petition that had been pre sented to the House, but that he had die - tated a part of it to Mr. Powell, more particularly that part Which referred to the Letter, and this'he had done a few days before the Petition was presented. Mr. Paull certainly expresseda wish that the Letter might be got and produced before the Committee, but he' never promised money, or any kind of reward for that service. He allowed, however, that his in tention was, when he got hold of the Letter, to use it against Mr. Sheridan. He never heard that any suspicion existed that the Letter' was a for gery ; but he 'destroyed it himself, because he did trot conceive it .to be of any use.. 'He got a second letter from Mr. Sheridan during the elec tion after the first had been destroyed ; did not know the date of it; had seen Mr. Sheridan sign it in one of the rooms at the Shakspeare Tavern. When cross examined, he said, that the letter was signed in Mr. S.'s drawing-room, while he himself was in another apartment; and therefore did not see him actually write his name upon it ; but verily believed it was Mr. S.'s'hand-writing ; made different answers,. at different times, respecting his means of procuring money; had half-pay as a Lieutenant, and several pensions from the King, attd also one from the Pa traitic Fund, yet was never confirmed'a Lieutenant in the Navy never had been examined at Green wich, nor had ever presented any memorial to ob tain his pension. DUring the examination of the Witness, as to the foregoing part of his evidence, frequent questions were started, and interesting' discussions naturally arose as to the propriety of the course of .examina tion adopted by the Learned Counsel. The Witness and Counsel were of course ordered to withdraw, and await the decision of the' House on such points. The first point on which the HouSe thought tit to interfere was that relating to. the letter sent to Ema nuel Harris. On the WitneSs and Counsel beinc , ordered to withdraw, Lord HO IPICK - observed, that the House had come to an understanding that the exatniration of Witnesses should be confined to the fats contained in - the allegations of the Petition. The' questions that bad been prciposed by the Learned Counsel with respe& to this letter were in the dire& course to bring into discussion the merits of the Eledion. He therefore thought that the questions respeaing that letter should be,expunged from the minutes of the evidence, together with the answers to them. Mr. SHERIDAN hoped that his Noble Friend . would not interfere, with the examination that had taken place on this subject, because, if this part should be expunged, he would be precluded from giving in evidence matter that would affed the cre dibility of the Witness. Mr. Harris was in attend , ance in the lobby, together with Aaron Graham, Esq, before whom, at his deSire, the evidence of Mr. Harris had . been taken upon oath, and both were ready to give testimony at the Bar of the House. Mr. PERCIT4L thought that the history of the Letter should be gone into. Mr. 7'. GRENVILLE was convinced then of the inconvenience which in the first instance he had thought it his duty to point out as likely to result from the proceeding adopted - by the Rouse. The very first questions that had been put went to esta blish a charge of agency, and thereby to involve' the merits of the Election. Mr. 4DAM thought that the evidence touching the existence of the Letter was adtnissible, though any examination as to its date or contents ought not' to be permitted. Mr. SHERIDAN considered the question before the House, if he understood it right, to be, whether he had, by himself or agents, tampered with Wit- . nessesto induce them to Veep back their evidence? As to the merits of the Eledion, that was a subject that properly belonged to the Committee; but the House, was then to ' decide, whether he had tampered with Witnesses, or proposed to buy up a letter that had been. signed by himself ? •He had Witnesses in attenCikce, to disprove the testimony of the Wit netsthat had just.withdrawn ; and if that part 'of the examination should be expunged which respelled the letter, he should be dep r i ve d o f t h e opportun i ty of shewin,g how little the testimony of the Witness was to be credited. He could prove that on the day on which the witness would state him to have signed the Letter at his own house,_neither the witness had been there, nor, had he himself txen.at his house during the whole day. Alr - .I3ANKEs was for proceeding with the exami.. :13;‘,:rirtilis . T:3griinst it,. eicei)t go far as • 'co: - :cc:r , ;:t t l .lc f-xj.,:t,::7.oce•of the . Lette s r • thcingh't it'4;ould : to . the Right I-Jun. Gentleniin to _produce any evi clerwe that he might th,•ern necessary for . bis case. - ' • 2llr. GRENVILLE entt.Ted his Protest* against doeirine. -le could not agree to the ,production • ,oi an . v.evidenee that would involve P 'consideration' of t.;;,: merits of the Peaion, which, by law, be-. long,'d to another tribunal. . . General PHIPPS moved, that tbe Standing Or der of the House should be inforeed, by direaing the Petitioner to withdraw with his Counsel, he having , appeared to him to have gone out to communicate with the Witness. P.EA KER observed; that it was undoubtedly competent to any Hon. Member to inforce the Stand ing Order, though by the courtesy of the House, when parties and Counsel were ordered to,withdraw, they were usually allowed upon removing froth the Bar to remain still in the House. Sir GILBERT HEATHCOTE hoped that the Hon. Member would not press his Motion, and that Mr. Paull would have an equal measure of justice with his Right Hon. Friend. The whole of the evidence respeeling the letter was then' ordered to be eXptinged, aid the Counsel were called in, and again instructed by the SPEAKEa to confine their exarainaticin to tans conneCled with the‘chafges of tampering with Witnesses, or attempt-. ilia to sitnpress evid ence . - ° Mr. Paull, who, as a Petitioner, was entitled to a seat under the Gallery, immediately came for ward • and addresSed the Chair :---" Mr. SPeaker, I feel myself called upon by thusrincipleS of ho-: no6r, and the impnlse of a ma-nly spirit, to deny the grass charg e th a t h as been made against me by the .A - ion. Baronet : I must say,' it is both unfOund vd and unjust. , The situation in which I aM at present placed forbids me froM inakipg any further comment ; but, I could "not ~C oatinne silent- when such an accusation was made against me, in' addi.. tiOn to the n'imerous calumnies and Misrepresefita tions in which the Right Honourable Gentleman, my opponent, has this night so frequently indulged, himself." • The SPEAKER observed, that the House would judge.for itself what it was proper tbr it to do.after the proceeding that had just taken place, and which appeared to him so ektraordinary„ than- he should abstain'from denominating it. - He wished also to collect the sense of the House as to its prac tice, in the case of Petitioners 'who prayed . to be heard by themselves or their Counsel--whether having, ,made their eleaion to be heard by their Counsel, they .did. not relinquish their right to be heard by themselves'? Lnrd 110 'TICK bad been so surprised at the ex traordiniiry conAua" of the Petitioner, that lie had only been prevented by his feelings from calling the attention of the House to'the gross, insolent, and outrageous proceeding.. He thought the House was called upon to adopt some measure in vindication of its own dignity ; and recommended that the Peti tioner should be brought to the Bar, and acquainted by the Speaker with .the sense entertained by the House of the impropriety of his col)dud. Lord- liacnnALD' HAMILTON urged in miti gation; not in justification of the Petitioner, the. feelings, that must have been excited by the state: tent made by the - 'Honourable Member under the Gallery. General PHIPPS: and Sir ARTHUR WELLESLEY stated, that they had thought Mr. Paull had with drawn out of the House; 'though it might have happened, that, from their situation, they could not see him whilst he still remained below the Bar. Mr. WHITBREAD had never had his eye off that part of the House since' the commencement Of the investigation, and assured the Rouse that Ms. Paull had never gone out. Lord HoWtc& thought that the course proposed was the most 'mitigated proceeding that could be adopted. Mr. FULLER said a few words in_ mitigation ; and, Mr. BAKER considered the conduct of the Petitioner so improper, indecent, and outrageous, that he sub mitted to the House whether it would not be better that the House should not have any dire& commu nication with him, but that whateker was to be done en the occasion should be done through the Serjeaut at Arms---ft cry of .Vo !No ! The Motion of, Lord HowicK was then agreed to; and the Petitioner and his Counsel having been then called in, the SPEAKER addressed him in the fol lowing dignified, but mild terms Mr. Panil, I am directed by the House to acquaint you, that in its judgment you have been guilty of great impro priety of conduct, and committed a gross outrage upon the Privileges of the House. I am, also di reaed to acquaint you, that you having made your eleaion to be heard by your, Counsel, are no longer entitled, according to the pradice of this House, to be heard by yourself. I 'am also again di reded to inform the Counsel,. that they confine their examination to matters of tit& respecting the tampering with witnesses and suppressing of evidence." Another discussion took place on the subjea of the question respecting the offer of motley to :witness; and his answer that he lad reason to believe that it 'l,os for the purpose ofprocbriiig the letter from Har ris. An objealion was made to the question and answer, on the ground, that the witness was to depose to fads not to his belief. The discussion, in which Sir JOIIN ANSTR6I4I . , N Mr. GRENVILL E , Lord FOLK STOE, and Lord' owl c took *a part, terminated in an order for ekpunging the question and an swer frOm the .minutes. The Counsel were then called in, and direaed again to confine their exa mination to the fa&s donneded with the allegations in the Petition. Drake's evidence, as above described, being con cluded; Lord HOWICK made some, pointed observa tions on the . glaring prevarication which . ran through tile whole of it ; and professed himself at a loss to say what course the House should adopt respeating the Witness. Mr. MONTAGUE hoped the . House would feel for the wounds the Witness had received in the defence of his Country, and' that as he labouredpnder great Weakness of understanding, they would rather think him an obje& of.proteeiion. Weatherhead was next examined.' He knew Drake for some years saw him at Mr. Sheridan's house on the t9th of ' February, 'where Hotilan and others were present ; saw Drake in cloie cunversatiou with Mr, Sheridan, but could not oyerz-.eav 7 what Las:ied. - -lektek,6 tliem. • T-fe 516.54, troM • Dra.:;.; th4'i\ilr.Sheridan hid give n hi t i i of'recol ,- ,:-...iLtion to some of'tl-4.) COMthis- • siOners : oLthe. ZN:a17. , ..y, or to sense Adm use of Harris. ; but that HarriS,seetned to look upon ' it as spin: ions. , That - letter he had written at the, request of Drake and Harris ; but Drake brought it back, wiih the signature so blotted, that Harris did not like it—he did not thirik it a forgery, though at the Same. time be could not conceive ho w Mr. Sheridan would have put M. P. after his nanio Mier' there was no Parliament. Another letter was written by Drake, in stil stronger terms than tbe first, and said to be signed by Mr. Slteridan, with Treasurer of the Navy an nexed m it, It '<vas, next proposed to examine Mn Powell, res.pc; - liotr 'the clingier of Mr. Drake, but this was Objected tally the House. W. Pullen was next proposed to be called, and this Witness the Petitioner's Counsel intended to examine to prove the Agency of Mr. Burgess, Mr. Wallace,. and others, and to identify them with Mr. Sheridan. lti r. SIIERItIAN was certainly anxious • that the House should come to a decision on the question 'this night. There were several Witnesses mitiag an his side in the Lobby, yet it Was not for him to say what impression their evidence would produce upon the House ; but he ventured to hope that the :House would not be prevailed upon to make him responsible for any man's a&ions brit his own ; fur, during the' whole of the Election, he never once had authorised any man to aa.for him. Lord How.tcx observed, that though Mr. -Bur .gess ,might be in the habit of n ;;,rig for Mr. FibOri- Ilan as a Solicitor and Attproey, it did not I ,, iiow that he was to be answerable for 'very thing Mr. Burgess might thi n k proper To do. The :louse would recollect how serious 3.vis the charge brought against the Honourable Member, and they would take care not . to impute to him, on account of any supposed connexion between Ilia) and Messrs. Bur g4-;.ss, any thing more than could be proved to have been immediately authorised by his Sight Hon. ferk.iid. Fite lig k w.! . the instrnfted the Counsel to con fine themselves ,solely . to such point; where they imagined that the Witnesses could priwe the imme diaCe advice and authorization of Mr. Sheridan him self. John Richards was next examined. He would not say that he *as employed by Mr. Burgess; but he was employed by .Mr. T. Sheridan and Mr. Downs, to examine into the validity of Mr. Paull's votes. He recommended a person of the, name of Galland to Mr. Downs, for the same service, and he received the same iustrations as him Self— . was indeed referred to by Mr. Burgess, to 1)6 paid for the expences he had been at, and to receive also a remuneration for his trouble. On his cross-eX. - ..olination by Mr.- Sheridan, he confessed that he pad written threatening letters to Mr. I'. Sheridan, and others, in .order to extort money &Om them. As to what Wallace mention.. ed respecting the Petition, his objeet seemed to be to prevail upon them to go out of the way to pre- Vent their being served a second time; • adding, that care should be taken to remunerate there for. iheiriabour and lost time. . Mr. SHERIDAI'Z again' expressed a wish, which he had often repeated during the night, that he might be allowed, late as the hour was, to rail in even one witness, who, he was confident, must overturn every thing that had been advanced against hie;—but the House did not seem disposed to accede to it. Jeremiah was next examined. Tl4e next -witnesses examined were, J. Bell and Christopher nich:rdson, who confessed that they Went to Mr. Bergeis's house, in order to sound him, if he would give them any money. Richardson, in the course of his examination, involved himself in several contradiaii.,ns. He said, that he went, indeed, to Mr t Burgess's house with Mr. Bell, but that he did not see that Gentleman ; they met, ,how ever, with Wall ace , w h o too k them to a public hotiSe in Hall-moon.street, where they found Mr. Galland ; that Galland said -to the witness, and to J. &!11, that if Mr. Sheridan could get the day of hearing . the Petition put off, the itnesses, might keep out of the way atterwards. He told what had passed, to Mr. Powell, tram whom he received toS. ler, the loss of two days work, durin g ; which time he was employed in trying to Fee Ititr, Burges s , Being ptessed to say with what view he had endea voured to see Mr. Burgess, he confessed that he went with J. Bayman to see it' Mr. Burgess would propose any money to induce them to go out ofthe way. He had gone thus between Mr. B.'s house and Mr. P:5 Committee. Being asked a second time, what was his objet it in endeavouring to see Mr. Burgess, and if to get moneyfrow 'lnn for keel:. ing out of the way ? he answered that it was not. Yet, upon again being questioned to the same et fee, he confessed that it was to obtain money. John Baymati was then called in, and he stated, that he accompanied the last witness to Mr. Bur houSe, and that their object was to bet money for keeping out of the way. The Counsel here said - that they did not intend to call 'any wore witnesses, and, after some hesitation, consented to close their evider.'ce. Lord flowlcic did:-not see any necessity for bear ing the Counsel again upon the evidence; but in that he should be guided by the general sense of the House. Mr. Soidrith thought that in fairness the Counsel should not be precluded from offering some observa tions upon,the evidence. . Mr. Witrrsitatp observed, that the evidence, so. far from establishing- the allegations in the Petition, proved, on the contrary, a' conspiracy against his Right non. Friend. „ The-evidence of C. Richardson had betrayed the most. gross instances of prevarication and contradiCtion that, had ever been exhibited in any Court of JtistiCe, 'and the nonse would surely insult its own dignity:if some notice was not taken of such conduit. The SPEAKEI: suggested, that it was open to the House to tai.o; n!)tice of such'condudt either on this or any future day. Sir JoiiN ANsTrttmtEß-thought that it was not otiry the conduCt of Richardso n , b ut a l so that of Baytnau, that tatted for the animadversion of the House ; nor was it the, Witnesses only, bat those. who had• suborned them, that that House, in its justice, should notice and punish. The SPZAKER said, that it was for the House to