The Sun. — London, England, 1807-03-19 00:00:00

IMPERIAL P4RL/42rIE.N1'. HOUSE OF PEERS, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18. In the Appeal 't Millie v. - White," on the Motion or tile Lonp CHANCELLOR, the Judgment of the Court of Session was affirmed. Mr. Hobhouse, Mr. Beaumont, and several other Members of the House of Commons, brought up the Sugar Drawback Bill; the Paddington Canal Coal Bril, the Bahama Salt Bill, and some Private BUIS; which were read a first time. Mr: Johnson, from the Commissioners of Inquiry in Ireland, presented their Fifth Report ; which was ordered to lie on the table. Lord GALNVILLE presented several Papers relating to the Army, moved 'for on a fortner day which were ordered to be printed. ' SLAVE TRADE Mr. Wilberforce,: Lord Viscount Howick, and several other Members of the:House of Commons, brought up the Slave Trade Abolition Bill,'agreed to -ivith Amendments. Lord GRENVILLE called the attention of . the House to this important subje6t,.which he considered of the most important that could occupy the at tentien of their Lorciships.—With resped to the Amendments made in this Bill, he was satisfied that they were calculatea to carry, its prinCiple better Into effet.' It was, however, necessary that time lihould be given for consideration, and he therefore moved that the Bill, with the Amendments, be printed.—Ordered, His Lordship then stated, that if the Prints should he on the table before Monday - , he should move the consideration of the Amendments on that day. ADMINISTRATION OF lUSTICE IN SCOTLAND. Lard aRENVILLE said, that in consequence of what had passed in the late.discussion of this mea sure, and of the consideration which he had since been enabled to give to the subjed, he thoughtit would be snore advisable to empower the Com mittee to separate all that .part of the Bill which related to the Trial by Jury, from the other part, which related to the division of the Court of Session into three Chambers and the formation of a Court of Review. - He thought this mode would be better than that of which notice had. been given on the former night of diseuSsion, by a Noble and Learned Lord, namely, to strike out in the Com mittee all the Clauses which related to Trial by Jury, es, it this latter mode was adoptesl e it mighflead to a supposition that it was intended to abandon alto gether the proposed introduCtion of Trial by Jury.— On the contrary, . he hoped that 'that part of the plan would ultimately be adopted by their Lordships. As, however, there was considerable dif; ference with respect to the means ofcarrying this de-. sirable object into effea s and as, with respect to the division, of the court of Session into three chambers, 'there was scarcely any dieference , olopinion, and but little on the subject of the formation of the Court of Review, these parts of the plan might be adopted with much less delay, if considered in a separate Bill, than if they remained incorporated, with the Clauses relating to . Trial by Jury. He should therefore move to postpone the Com mittee ' to . Monday, intending on .tliat day -to Move the instruction ss'hiert be had before stated, and in the consideration of that part of the subject respecting the division .of the Court of Ses sion and the Court of Review, it Was his intention to .propose several Amendments. Lon: ELDON thanked. the Noble Lord for hav ing thoa , given further time for the consideratiOn of that pert of the sulajea • which was involved in eon s aiderable difficulty, namely, the Trial, by jury. He lad no doubt that the Trial by Jury might in some cases. be beneficially introduced into Scotland ; but great consideratien would be required with resped to the mewls of carrying it into effect; in order that it might not produce injury instead of good. With respect to the other part of the sullied, he would rive it every 'consideration in his power, and endea itur to cease to that result which, whilst, in his judgment, it would tend to remedy the evil that exist, ed, would not violate the Aet of Union'. He doubted whether the Court of Review should not be rather sought iii the Chambers of the Court of. Sessiou, si uoiar to our Court of Exchequer Chamber with re lation to the Courts'in Westminster Hall, than ren dered a - distinet Court superior - to the Court of-Ses sion, which be was inclined_ to think not consistent with the iirticles of Union. The LOAD CH.4NCELLOR declined entering . at present, into a detailed consideration of the sub je&, but he had no doubt that in the proper stage of the Bill he should be able to convince theirtordahips Ilia( the difficulties iwthe way of the introdu&ion of Trial by 'Jury in eivil.eases into Scotland were much hiss that, were apprehended; that, , on the contrary, it would be comparatively an- easy task, whilst at the same time it would be a most beneficial measure. to that country. Lord mELP:mu; merely wished to throw out for consideration the necessity which iv his“)pinion .existed of adopting means to bribg causes to greater relativity in the Outer House, without which he thougut the proposed measure would not produce any thing like the beneficial tefea expetied from it. With this view be thought it would be more advisa ble to have only two Chambers in the lener. House . , whose sole business it should be to review the de cisions given in the Outer House, where, from the large portion of time allotted to t he J u d g es fbr tram s' aing business, that business might be done well. If, however, it was determined to have three Cham bers, let thought that 'one of those Chambers should be allotted solely to the business 'of the Outer House; in which case, from the single responsibility attached to the Judges, every thing that could result, from efficiency, and from solemnity of deciaion, might be-expeaed. His only object was, that the Measure should undergo the most serious 'and attentive dis cussion. The Earl of LAUDERDALE rose chiefly for the purpose of doing away any impression that might result from e wtrat had been eeid,by`the Noble Viscount; that his Noble Friend; ho had proposed the measure, had not given to it the most enxiseas consideration. H e ,agreed with the 'Noble ,Viscount in the tieees§ity or adopting some Means of doing the buainesain the Outer. House ici - a better manner, as it had been calculated that a Lord of.Session f in .onm:slue= •ial, the multiplicity of Old business, La only sixty-thqe ho4r3 ir, the year to allot to Ow in the - Outer House. This, 110V/CVCI, bad been provided for, in the present plan, by which (t►te Three Chambers only sitting alternately) eight Judges might always be allotted to the busiflesi of the Outer House, whilst, according to the proposi tion of.the Noble Viscount, only five could sit there. Forrie further conversation took ,place between the 'bake of Montrose, Lords Redesdale, Holland, Kin naird, Eldon, and Lord Viscount Melville, the greater part of which turned upon the_definition of equity ; as applicable in England and Scotland. Lord Eldon having cited a decision of the Court of Session, to prove the enlarged discretion exercised by that Court, although not having originally' an equitable jurisdic tion; 'Lord KINNAIRD considered it as an 'additional argument. for regulating the proceedings -of that Court. Lord Viscount MELVILLE conceived that the last Noble Lord had argued as if it were intended to alter the Laws of Scotland. Lord HeeeANn de fended his Noble Friend, and entered, at sonic length into a definition of Equity, a term which;, in the English sense, he considered to 'be inapplicable to' the pra&ice of the Court of Sei:sion, .which' was re gulated by the discretion of the Judges, without any_ of those rules which defined the province Of Courts of. Equity in England. The Committee was postponed to Monday, for which day the Lords were ordered to be summoned. MUTINY BILL. Lord GRENVILLE observing that the printed Co pies of this Bill were on the'table, moved that it be committed on Friday.—Ordered.—kijourned till to-morrow (this day). , HOUSE OF COMMONS. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18. A Message from the . Lords informed the House, that their Lordships had agreed to the Irish Tobacco Importation Bill; to the Sierra Leone Company Bill, with amendments, to which they desired the concur-. rence of the House; to the Royal MutinY'Bill, and to the Thames Police Bill. Colonel STANLEY gave notice, that he would on Friday next move for leave to bring in a Bill for Re- gulating and Adjusting the Wages of Persons employ. ed in certain Woollen Manufactures. Sir J. NICHOL gave notice, that he would ter morrow submit a Motion to the House relative to the Regulation of Seamen's Prize Money. Lord STOPFORD read' at the Bar the Report of the Colchester Committee, declaring Robert Thorn. ton Esq. duly elected, and that the Petition, as far as same relates to' said Robert Thornton,' was not frivolous or vexatious; and also, that William Tuff net', Esq. was duly cle&ed, and than the petition, so far as relates to the said William TufFnell, did ap pear to•the Committee to be frivolous and vexatious. Mr. VANSITTART gave in at_the Bar a Special Re port of the ShreWsbury Committee, stating the at:l - One, of,its - Members,,,and the cause of such absence (sudden indisposition) assigned. A medical Gentleman attended and proycl ..t the Bar the illness of Mr. Windham QUI:1, and the, imposSibility, in consequence thereof, , of his attendance on said Com mittee. -:Leave was-then given to the Committee to adjourn till "Saturday next. Mr i .lolinson, from the . Office of Chief Secretary of Ireland, gave in at the Bar their. Filth Report, and =also the Grand Jury Assessments from the Of fice of Chief. Secretary of Ireland.' Both were or dered to lie on the table; 'and to be printed. Lord H. PETTY moved; that the House be called over to-morrow, and the defaulters committed' to the custody of the Serjeant.at Arrus—Ordered ac, cordindy. , - The Irish Paper Duty Mil was read a second time, and committed for to-morrow.. Mr: HonuousE brought up the Report of the Corfunittee of Supply with respe& to the Irish Loan. The Resblittions were severally put 'and agreed. to, without any further observations. ROMAN CATHOLIC OFFICERS' BILL, Lord Howic,K.—" Mr. Speaker, Since I had the Aonour of introducing to this House a Bill for enabling hiS Majesty to avail himself Of the Services of ali liege Subjeets,' In his Naval and Military l'orces,cir ciimstances have occurred which induced MC tMce to postpone the Second Reading of the Bill. The Second Reading was fixed fur to-morrow; it is my duty now to state to the House that those circumstances still continue, and that I shall not to-morrow move for. the Secotid Reading of that Bill ; it Is also my duty to state, that I cannot preciSely say when I can make such a Motion. I am perfealy aware, Sir, that the statement I ,have made any excite much general Ob servation, and cannot satisfy it. It is not for me, how ever, to explain that statement. I..rely confidently upon the indulgence of the House, and ar sure that that • indulgence will ndt prejudge it. • I could not enter into that explanation without being authorised; and when I say that I am not so a uthorised, th e H o use will think nie justified in now withholding it. I cap . only say, Sir, that when the opportunity shall 'ar rive I shall willingly embrace it, in the hope of giv ing to the House that satisfactory and decisive com munication, which urgent •necessity, in the, present instance, compels me to withhold." WESTMINSTER PETITION. - Lord H. PTY Moved that the Westminster Peti .7 tion nO4,taka into further 9posderation. The Question being put and agreed• Mr. SHERIDAN said, that he was aware - that standing in The situation he did, he was entitled to comment,: to remark, and to sum up, on all the evidence that had been adduced in support the allegations-'contained in the Petition now h e : fore the House; he should, bowel*. Waive :that right-the evidence was in the ha . mds of every Member of that House, and he was not anxious, if he could do so, to add to the impression testimony of such a nature must' have already produced; he Would content hiinsM with one remark, which was, that that evidence, weak and futile as it was, 'did not say More to its own contusion than would,have been Tfrovettby witnesses gni:l - Teachable, which he (Mr. Sheridan), had the House thought it neces . . 'sary, was ready to bring forward. As an instance, he should mention merely Mr. Weatherhead -self: when an inquiry xi , as made as to Eis'serVices'iti the Navy, he confessed himself not quite satisfied with the return of the Navy officers. . A Noble Lord (Folkstone). was equally 'dissatisfied, hut upon different grounds. The Noble Lord seemed to t hi ilia this Mr. Weatherhead bad been calnmniated, and accordingly the N.)ble Lord moved for a rethi'h at 'otce more exa6t and comprehensive. What had been the i%sae of this attempt' to reSene the chataaer of Os Mr. ,\Yeaoeritead fiQrn this sepposed slander? Why, hi truth, no more than this, - that he, Mr. Weatherhead,- had not served in one .ship only, but in twelve or thirteen—that he had continued in one a year—in another ship three mouths—in a third, a month—in a fourth, three , weeks—and in afilth dive days—running, as it were, the g auntlet of the British Navy; for it- appeared that he had been a&ually guilty of desertion from each ship, though in the' first return it appeared that he ba,', deserted-. buLonce. lint it •was not more' diffi cult to fix the station of this Naval Officer to a cer tain ship, than to fix his birth to a certain place.— (.4 laugh), He had the singular good - fortune to be born at a number of different placeshe was born /Zest at Newcastle, he was born next at Morpcth, ' and after some other births, he was finally 'brought forth in London.;but there was another Glight ground of objection to the character of this witness—in the month of. Sept. 803, he petitioned to be examined for Lieutenautcy, and to the recommendatory certificate' of the different captains under'whom he served, there Was but one objeEtion,'namely,, that they were covered to_be forgeries. He was not anxious to' press upon the House the gross and flagrant contradictions ' and absurdities in the evidence they had heard; he.: did not wish to "expose the miserable wretches to the just rigour of the honest indignation they had so universally excited ; but he would put it to the feel ' ings of that House; whether it was not necessary to inquire how far those wretches 'had .been the tools of a conspiracy how far it was the duty of any agent or agents to Inquire into'the nature of the tes timony and the charaEter of the Wituesses,, more especially in a case where thiS evidence went directly to affect the seat of a Member of Parliament, to mention nothing of the danger of propagating ground less slander against a Privy Councillor.? It was for the House to consider hoW far the agents are respon sible. for employing. the wretches, as_substantial evi dence, whoSe character they might. have learned (had they been ignorant of it) in the neighbourhood of Bow -street, Hatton-garden, and Newgate ; but he should abstain, he would keep : his word wit h the House, and not enter into any remark, upon the eVidence. He had an idea of submitting some motion for the purpose of • investigating the charge of conspiracy ; he should, however, in compliance with the sugges tions ofthose Right Honourable Friends, whose su perior judgment was with him decisive, give way, and should now, through a sense, of delleacy, retire, leaving his cause with confidence to the House, assured as he was, that the House would, with be . coming dignity, assert its own charaEter and honotir,, 1 and, in doing so, preserve his. Mr. SuEntbArt immediately withdrew. Air. TAYLOR declared, that he had been. very attentive to the whole series of evidence that had been adduced with .respe& to this Petition, and he had not a dOubt upon his mind that the whole was 'a flagrant and infamous conspiracy. He had been al ways an advocate tbr.the - G; - enville AZT, and he could not consider this' business:in any other light than that of a dire& attack upon, it. The Win. Gettfleirtan then went into a re-capitulatiOn of the eviden6e, esia.l dwelt - with some warmth, and at considerable length, upon the various instances of gross.prevarication and direet contraditaion in the . course -of-the testimony advanced, both' by Weetherhead and Drake.' He insisted that the. letter which Drake said he had been commissionedhv Shet idan to purchase from Harris was an infamous forgery. He thought the House would be jiastified in' punishink such conduct to the utmost rigour : he was convinced that a pro secution for a conspiracy Could be suctessffilly main tained in.a Court of Justice. If, hoWeNer, the House was- not willing to go so far, he should be content with their inflicting some Signal punishment on the wretches who had • been guilty of every could convia them in the opinion of the world as men detestable and infamous.—He concluded with . moving,' That the allegations contained in said Pe tition were false and. scandalous.... On the Qubtion being put. Lord FoLtssToNE en tered into a lopg . vindication of the testimony of Drake, as to the charge of tampering with evidence;. in that respett he thought lltake's• testimony con sistent throughout ; he could, not say so much for that of N'Veatherhead ; it certainly proved nothing; but he denied that it had appeared in evidence that the letter, in possession of Harris was a forgery of Drake's. _ Mr. TAYLOR explained. Mr. WHITBRE,AD rase and observed, that he would not say that the charge was • malicious on the part of Mr. Patin, because there was no evidence that included hint with any certainty. lie would not tra vel out of the evidence before him to seek for grounds to form a judgment of these Witnesses—brit if out of their own mouths he could prove their infamy, then surely he must conclude that they were not . to be depended upon. Drake was asked what he was,? The reply was, A6ting Lieutenant--that was false. He was then asked where he had received his wound ? The answer was, at 'Camperdown—tliet was 'false, for he was not there at the time he stated. He stated that he had received several pensions ; ate bad only received one,. though that had been aug mented. Here, therefore, at the outset, were three instances in which' the.evidence was false. With this view the Noble Lord might go on to examine, if be chose to examine ' such a witness farther. As to Weatherhead, the Noble Lord di4claithed However he would take him in, in order to'compare his evidence with that of Drake ; and he was en titled to do so, as the Petitioner's Counsel had dWat upon it in the summing up. But as to Drake, he said, that he had been . direa - ted by . Mr. Sheridan to get' _a letter from one Harris. . He stated,.that the interview with Mr. Sheridan on that subject was on the'gth or loth of February : here it came out that ih&e had been a previous:letter, which, according to Drake's statement, had been written only, two or three dAys before. But Harris, Who was the 'most competent witness on this point, stated, that it_was at least a month before, and that he had obtained it for money paid to Drake, having asked it before the dissolution of Parliament. The Noble Lord asked how, slip - posing the letter • to be a 'forgery, Drake should have openly mentioned it ? Vor this plain reason, that he had burnt it. The NOble Lord must look at all theevidence together, and not rest - upon that particular part Which . tbrwards his own views. Drake said he added M. P. to the letter. Weather head then came and said that M: P. was -added by Mr. Sheridan, and that he saw it wet as well as the name. -Drake said that the letter was signed under the Piazza, Covent-Garden ; that lie was present at the time, and that there was a great crowd at 'the door of the Tavern. Harris then caw, and sal I, that he had it •a month before, when the Tavern w_ts not open, and when there was no crowd. Did the Noble Lord look at that part of the cridence ? He surely did not ; for if he had, he could not have said that the:evidence of Drake was consistent with itself. Then as to the second letter, Drake, when pressed, allowed that lie did not see Mr. Sheridan sign it. Weatherhead said' that he saw the letter, for he Wrote it He saw it after it was signed, and the name and M. P. ran in ontk line; whereas it appeared from the letter on the table, that the name, the M. P. and the Treasurer of the Navy, were in different 'lines. Were these witnesses then to be believed ? He must take the evidence of Weatherhead, be -cause, if - he contradiaed the material evidence of `Drake, then the conclusion-was, that the whole was false. Then, as to its being true, Drake said that he went and offered money from Mr. Sheridan to get the letter, with a design afterwards, as he stated, o use i,t_ against him. Harris shewed th e l e tt er t o _ Mr. Sheridan, who advised him to give it up to Mr. Paull, or to Mr. Graham the Magistrat e . W as it . . probable then that Mr. Sheridan should have ems. ploYed Drake with a View to suppress the letter If, 'after all this,: the charge was not to be considered false and scandalous, no conclusion could ever be • drawn from internal evidence. These witnesses wire. produced against Wallice ; but there . was : no proof that lie was the agent of Mr. Sheri dan ; and, at any rate, what were the witnesses ? • Richardson was one who was stated to have been sent out of the Way, and yet he appeared at the Bar. Bahtam and Richardson said that. they went under the authority of Mr. Powell (he did not say that Mr. Peiwell was guilty on the statement of such wit nesses) to ivir. Burgess, to induce him to give them money .to keep out of the way. This, however, - Richardson confessed that he had offered to give Mr. Burgess the briefs, the evidence, and the whole • case on the other .side if he chose to accept of it. Mr. Burgess, like an honousra,bolleeraensAd,ahsonceers-t man, and honour aou honesty allrays‘entittogd Ar. together, • said, that he would have tiothitio• at all to d o w i t h Paull t t a h i the y b u no of o i r I groundsemalices business.—(Hear antii to aff oe ea I c Near i !)--H e avcgiate y a him. He acquitted Mr. Powell too of all, malice. He thought no irnpuka; ' tiOn could attach to the Counsel, although h e , w44., astonished they . had 'not gifted the evidence better. On the evidence, therefore,, before the House, he considered it as impossible not to Note the charge false and scandalous, and, of course, concurred in . the Motion. The Motion was themagreed.to, Lord Folkstate, alone having faintly said " no." W • 6rsletr , Mr: TAYLOK thed . rhaved i - tirat ilitam , - in giving his evidence, Was guilty of wilful falsehood . and gross prevarication.—Agreed to. - Mr. TAYLOR also, ,rnoved, that William Drake, for the said offence, be committed to his Majesty's Gaol of Newgate, and that the SAeaker do issue his. warrant aCcordingly.—Ordered. WM:I:READ observed, that 'though the other wllifessokfor the Petitioner had grossly mis l conduaecl themselves ? he did not think it neces. sary to have recourse to any further severity; and, therefore, would propose no Motion • with resped to .them. Lord HENRY PETTY gave notice, that he would bring in a Bill for regulating extaiii Offices in Scotland. - FRE[WILI) ESTATE BILL , The SOLICITOR-GENERAL moved. tbeTthird read. , in,prtf the Freehold Estate Assets Bill. Mr. TUFFAVELL - ohjeaed to the Bill, Ott till , grounds that it would .extend the credit of the land. ed proprietors in a-manner that might be injurious. Be thought it was unfair that this burthen .should be: thrown on the freehold estates, while the copy= Mold estates were exe4ted. • A remedy might, 114 apprehended, be found for the evils menticined by the Solicitor-General r without carrying the measure to this extent ; and he wished-that should be re-committed, in order to consider that point. The SPEAKER informed . the Honourable Mem ber that the Bill, could noti in this advanced stage; be re•committed. SIMEON stated, that evils Which went to remedy w ere occurring continually, knew from 'experience—being one of the Masters in Chancery. This was no new measure. One similar ,to it bad passed that House when Sedeant Glynn, Mr. Dunning, Mr. Wpdderburn, &c. &c, the most eminent Lawyers that ever graced the English Bar, were Members. The . feudal prin. pies on which these inconi,eniencies were founded had been done away, and these only remained by accident. They undoubtedly ought tticease when the reasons for them no longer existed. He con cluded an able speech, by declaring his cordial as sent to the Bill. MASTER of the ROLLS, upon such a pro position as that which was then before the House; a proposition which, if it was carried into eifeet, would make a most material change in the Law of the Land, felt it to be his duty to state his sena ments most fully and explicitly on the sebjed„ —fa so doing, it was necessary first that he should en" deavour to bring . to the recolledion - of the House, that it was only under the feudal laws that freehold property was first established; and it was itni 3 O*. sible for any man to tell what further change the present innovation might lead to. By the old Lai., of-France; the moment a man was' married, one half of his property, was secured fot the benefit of his children 5 by the present Law pf - Scodand. in certain cases, -the whole property was secured I;i7. law to their -heirs : but did any man ever say that these laws. were unjust ? they might . be .deereed politic in many instances, but they certainly were not unjust. It had peen said that it wvwd n . e uditist that the 'heir to an estate should be living in afflu ence whilst the creditors of his predecessor were left to starve ; but would it not be also injustice if the heir • to an estate were to be deprived of his birth-right through the improvidence of his prede cessor, and be left in the greatest possible distress, perhaps' in some cases, whilst • he was paying the debts of another person's contrading ? If this new principle was to'get footing once amongst the Laws of England, almost every marriage contrad in the kingdoth might possibly , be' annulled. Allowance should be made for - the necessary fictions and peat• liarities whidi arp:adopted in Law Proceedings ; it might be reckoned absurd, for intance, that m the case of specialty or simple coutrad debts, the 'addi tipu. of a bit of wax in the elle c;se whilst in the