The Sun. — London, England, 1835-07-31 00:00:00

The Judges were applied to, and they granted a habeas cor pus, on which M'Cue was brought up, and the Judges pro nounced that his punishment was an illegal one. Notwith standing all this he was taken and sent to one of the convict stations. He would now briefly allude to the cases of the sol diers, Ludds and Thompson. The regiment to which they belonged was ordered to India, and they, wishing to remain in the colony, resolved to commit a larceny. They went into a linen draper's shop, and stole goods to the amount of four shillings. For this offence they were tried, and sentenced to seven years' transportation. This sentence was, however, commuted by the Governor for seven years' hard labour in irons on the roads, and they were accordingly taken out of the custody of the Sheriff, placed in irons before the regiment, and, finally, drummed out of the barracks. The irons used on this occasion were more than the usual weight ; and, owing to some cause or other, Ludds died in the course of a few days. Of conrse his death became the subject of inquiry. A post stortem e7amination took place. and it appeared that no other cause could hq assigned for his death but the anguish of mind which potting hie , into irons occasioned, for the only symptoms of illness the body I,7nsented was a slight inflammation about the throat. The result this inquiry was transmitted to the Government at home, and what was the consequence ? Why, that Lord Goderich, in his despatch . 4 Jnly, 1827, declared the punishment to have been illegal, and di(7'cted that Thompson Should be withdrawn from the roads. The 1 7- , n. and Learned Gentleman concluded by moving for the appointmCnt of a So lent Committee for the purposes already set forth. Sir G. GRE Y thought the House should pause before they concurred in the motion, so far as grants of lands were con cerned. The inquiry, even if ordered, would be wholly use less. It wnts quite true that grants of land had been made improvidently !ly almost every Government : but then that was not so much the fault of the Governor as of the system. He could assure the House that even if the whole of the allega tions respecting the grants of land made by General Darling were true, there was nothing, in any one of them that could justify inquiry, because regulations were adopted by the Go vernment in 18:31 which not only reformed the system, but prevented the possibility of abuse in future. In justice to General Darling he ought to say that he did not grant a greater portion of land to his brother-in-law than had been given to other officers on half. pay. It was, no doubt, true that (-,'lp tain Robison had applied to General Darling for a grant of land, and that his application had been refused ; but then it should he recollected that at the time General Darling had no option in the matter, that he could not have complied with Captain Robison's request, he then being on full pay, without being guilty of a direct violation of the orders of the Horse Guards. The next part of the case related to Mr. Hall, against whom an ex officio information had been filed for libel, but the question was, whether or not the libel was such as pro perly deserved to be prosecuted. The Hon. and Learned Gen tleman complained that the case had been tried before a mili tary instead of a civil tribunal, but be begged to inform him that it was only recently that such cases could be tried by any other than a military tribunal, consisting of seven officers. The facts alluded to took place ten years ago, and he would put it tarthe good sense of the House whether after such a lapse of time it would be possible to prosecute an inquiry concerning them with any hope of advantage to either party?—( Hear, hear.) As to the case of Edwards and M'Cue, General Darling had nothing to dO with the sentence except as to its commutation, and of course stood absolved from any charge of illegality. Everybody who knew General Darling would admit him to be a man of honour and probity. The charge with regard to the weight of the chains was not borne out by the evidence, nor did the evidence warrant the terms of murder and manslaugh ter which had been applied in this case. With regard to the iron collar it should be admitted that it was a species of pu nishment which should be only resorted to in extreme cases, but it appeared to General Darling that the cases alluded to were such as called for that punishment. Any benefit which could accrue from granting a Committee had been already received from the publicity given to the subject by this motion. Before he concluded he felt it due to General Darling to state that on his leaving the colony an address most numerously signed had been presented to him. The Hon. Baronet then read the address, which was couched in the most complimen tary terms, and bore the highest testimony to the improvement which had taken place in the colony, in its finances, its agri culture, and its commerce, during the Gallant General's ad ministration. Mr. HUME had expected this document would be pro duced, and was prepared with counter documents to meet it. Upon this address being produced on a former occasion he had written to the colony to ascertain how the address had been got up• Instead of being got up at a public meeting . signa tures were solicited, and in many instances the solicitation was refused. Many of the leading men in the colony had refused to sign it, and though there were 1,000 persons whose signa tures would be of value, but not more than 100 could be pro cured. No piece of plate had been given to him ; the usual compliment of having his portrait taken was not paid him; but on the contrary, his departure was hailed as a blessing, by bonfires and other public rejoicings. He maintained that Captain Robison had throughout these proceedings been made the victim of General Darling's vindictive feelings, and he called upon the House to afford him the benefit of that in quiry, of that elucidation of the truth, which they only were now capable of instituting. For General Darling's sake, also, inquiry was due. Mr. C. FE RGUS SON should give his conscientious vote against submitting this case, or any part of it to a Committee. Mr. RICHARDS should vote unhesitatingly for the motion. Mr. C. FERGUSSON explained. Lord D. STUART should give his hearty support to the motion ; and be believed that those who opposed inquiry were not the true friends of General Darling. Avoiding inquiry was a presumption of anything but innocence. Mr. BROTHERTON (at half-past twelve) said that the House had met at twelve in the morning, and it was too much to expect Hon. Members to continue the debate any longer. He moved its adjournment to Monday. Sir H. HARDINGE intreated the Hon. Member to with draw his motion for a quarter of an hour longer. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said that no other opportunity might be had during the session, and, therefore, he hoped the discussion would be taken then. Mr. BROTHERTON persisted in his motion. The Gallery was then cleared, but no division took place. On our return to the gallery, we found • - Mr. O'CONNELL addressing the House. He felt (he said) very deeply on this question, and was not prepared to go to a division, without having an opportunity to express his opinion upon it. After some observations from Captain BOLDERO and the SPEAKER, which were not audible in the gallery, Mr. BROTHERTON said he must persist in his mction. Strangers were again ordered to withdraw, but no division took place. After some discussion as to whether the debate should be allowed to proceed or not, Mr. O'CONNELL rose, and in an able speech contended that the grcvnds upon which the inquiry was demanded were left wholi7 s.r...nswered, and that British justice required that General Darling should be publicly called upon to answer the allegations put forward against him, not only as regarded Cap.. tain Robison, hut the unhappy and inhumanly treated man, Ludds. The Hon. and Learned Gentleman entered at length into all the details of the case, contending, as he went along, that the conduct of General Darling was such as to demand a further investigation. . Mr. LIORKCE TWISS maintained that the House would not be justifiad in interfering in the manner proposed, unless a strong Prima facie case were made out that the Judge below had wilfully misconstrued the facts placed before him. No such case had been made out. He referred to the decision of the Court of King's Bench, to prove that General Darling's conduct towards the soldier Sudds, had not been unnecessarily severe ; and contended that a much longer course of persecu tion had been pursued towards General Darling himself, than he had ever inflicted on any other person. Mr. MAURICE O'CONNELL briefly replied, and the House divided. When there appeared— For the motion Against it Majority in favour of the motion The announcement of the numbers was received with loud cheering. .. The other Orders were then disposed of, and the House ad journed at half-past two o'clock. lIOUS'E OF LORDS, J;;Lr 30. The Earl of SHAFTESBURY took his seat on the Woolsack at five minutes to five o'clock. CORPORATION REFORM BILL, The Earl of SHAFTESBURY presented a petition from Poole against the Corporation Reform Bill. The Duke of WELLINGTON presented a petition from Dovor to the same effect. The Marquis of CAMDEN presented a similar petition from the Mayor, Aldermen, and Common Council of Bath. Earl SK ELM ERS DAI. E presented a petition to the same effect from the Corporation of Lancaster, and also one from the free burgesses of Lancaster. ROYAL ASSENT. The Royal Assent was given by Commission to several Bills. The Commissioners were Lords SHAFTESBURY, LANSDOWNE, and AUCKLAND. Sir William Gosset the new Serjeant-at- Arms, attended the Speaker to the Bar of their Lordship's House. The Stamps and Tax Offices Bill, Merchant Seaman's Re gistration Bill, Property in Infants Bill, Contempts in Equity Bill, Manure Toll Exemption Bill, Southend Pier Bill, Sheffield Gas Bill, Newtyle and Glammis Railway Bill, Bodmin and Wadebridge Railway Bill, Holyhead and Shrews bury Road Bill, Lambert's Divorce Bill, Bergman's Natura lization Bill, were the Bills to which the Royal Assent was announced. The Earl of HARROWBY presented a petition from the Corporation of Tiverton against the Corporation Reform Bill. The Noble Earl took this opportunity of deny in; certain allegations in the appendix to the Report of the Corporation Commissioners, with respect to his having used his personal influence in the disposal of corporation officers in that borough 34 years ago. The Earl of WESTMORELAND presented a petition from the town of Northampton, against the Corporation Re form Bill. HEARING OF COUNSEL. Lord BROUGHAM : My Lords, I take this opportunity to notice a misrepresentation as to my conduct with regard to healing counsel upon the Municipal Corporations Bill. The?, is. no one who cares less than I do for what is said ,abott,i,., Mm;'Allifttier it be with regard to what I say and d o rtes o r i n t oy Other place. No man, my Lords, can have rrivedd-tim loneilif ek.have lived in the world without knowing .K,illutt. it is the common lot of humanity to be occasionally , *bilked and Innwepropented. Without expressing what I feel 4 1.1 4 , the ahluge.thatjlas been made against me, I am entitled t. ,-..,., • .... ti (12(q to state that there never was any charge more utterly ground less than that which has been brought against me by a Mi. I nisterial newspaper.—( Much laughter.) Newspapers I will not say having the patronage of the Government, nor will I say under the protection of the Government, certainly not the patronage and protection of my Noble Friend —(A laugh) —but those who have taken him under their protection.-- (Cheers and laughter.) Ido not think, if I were allowed to give an opinion on the subject, that the attack is a very judi cious one ; because one like myself, unconnected with the Government—never saying one word against the Government —and I am happy to say that I have not had occasion to do so—but uniformly defending and supporting it : I therefore say, I do not think it the most judicious course—because some times my advice may have been deemed useless advice— although it was ever humble, sincere, and well-meant, and I gave it at all times conscientiously—that I should be attacked in the manner I have been by those who are under my No ble Friends' protection, or who have taken my Noble Friends under their protection. I am sure that the attacks did not pro ceed from my Noble Friends. lam sure that they disapprove altogether of such attacks. I know them too well to believe that they had any bend whatever in it ; for they are men of sense—but their underlings are those who have made the at tacks. One man is disappointed in not getting anything while I was in otlice. Another is vexed for some similar reason. It is they who are the authors of these attacks. It is not, I re peat, the principals who have done this ; it is the underlings, instigated by the sort of motive I have described. One of the_ charges made against me, my Lords, is that which, probably, many of your Lordships would think no charge at all. The wi,ole blame is to be thrown upon me of the delay which is to be occasioned by hearing counsel against this Bill. I know that I have the answer to that charge in the breasts of your Lordships—( Hear, hear)—but I have also another antidote to it—l have the antidote in another part of the same paper ; for the honest and faithful reporters tell what I really did say, but the writer, not choosi:ig to look at what I did say, but with the vile purpose of misrepresenting me, had recourse to his own fancy, and fancied things which I never did say--things which were never done—though the first page of the same paper contained a true statement of what was said and what was done. But people will not always read fair statements before they make comments on them—they had rather have recourse to imagination. Perhaps it is more pleasant to utter reproof than to yield praise, or even than to be silent ; and the reader may not road the report of the debates, but may turn to the leading article to get a knowledge of them. Your Lordships know what I did say. I said, and I argued, perhaps at too great length, against hearing counsel at all.—( Hear, hear.) I said that if you heard them on one side, you could not re fuse, if required, to hear them on the other. I entered into calculations on the subject. I told you that it was not done in the Irish 405. freeholders' case—all my arguments were directed against hearing counsel at all. I said—now let it be distinctly understood what I say—let it not be misunderstood that lam decidedly against hearing counsel—l resist, I op pose it altogether ; but I see a great number of your Lord ships, and in fact the majority, to be in favour of -hearing counsel, and therefore I shall be glad if I can make any pro posal that will meet the view of the Noble Duke. That is what these men think deserving of censure. As they advise me in the conduct of a case of an action at law, they would advise the Noble Duke opposite in the conduct of an action of another sort—( A laugh)—in the conduct of a battle ; but I prefer, as he would prefer, to fight my own battle in my own way. My Lords, I consider that this Bill is my own battle. I was the author of the Commission—l originated the Bill in this House—l shall fight as good a battle as I can in favour of the Bill, and with great submission to them—(A laugh)— I will not make an exception to that rule of the practice of our Courts, which declares that where you have counsel and leaders, if the leadership be worth having, you shall be guided in the conduct of the cause by your own judgment, and by your leader's judgment, but not by the wishes of your client. I shall do so here, and my client will thank me in a few days for pursuing that course. I was not to lose the battle at once, as these persons advise—for such really is their ad vice—" Oh, lose it, to show your pluck."—(A laugh.) That is what they advise. Why not divide and stand alone? My Lords, that was not my plan.—(Hear, hear.) My plan was to get as good a bargain as I could, and to tell your Lordships the truth, I think that I did make a good bargain.—( Hear.) I was ready to consent to hear two counsel in order to get rid of the proposition of hearing counsel for every borough that chose to ask it.—( Viscount Strangford intimated that it was not his proposition.) I see what my Noble Friend means—he does not want such long arguments of counsel, he shrinks from the idea of it—animus neminisse fugit. I only mean to state this, that I did my best to avoid the consequences of the proposition then made. I shall not say more, than that I feel it necessary to make this statement of what really did oc cur ; for otherwise it would be represented out of doors that any long speech of counsel that may take place will be the consequence of my conduct, when in fact my plan was to avoid this as much as possible. I hope that the event will prove that I made an admirable compromise.—( Hear.) It is repre sented that the only object of hearing counsel is to delay the Bill. My Lords, there is no wish for delay.—( Hear, hear, :hear.) I say, that, first upon the authority of the positive assertion of the Noble Duke, and next, because no man could obtain delay in the progress of the Bill ; for if I am ready, as I am, to sit here from morning till night up to next Christmas to hear counsel on the Bill, there can be no hope of delaying it by that means.—(Hear. ) Lord LYNDHURST moved that a copy of the instructions to the Boundary Commissioners be laid upon the table. The Earl of VE RUL AM presented a petition from St. Alban's against the Corporation Reform Bill. Lord STR ANG FORD presented a petition from Worces ter to the same effect. Lord LYNDHURST presented petitions to the same ef fect from Bridgewater and Wells. The Duke of NEWCASTLE presented a petition to the same effect from East Retford. The Marquis of CLANRIC A RDE gave notice that he should postpone the consideration of the Roman 'Catholic Marriage Bill until Tuesday next. On the motion for the Order of the Day to hear the Counsel against the Bill, The Marquis of L A NSDO WNE hoped that nothing would ever induce the House to hear counsel on the principle of this or any other Bill. If their Lordships should once agree to do that, they would be laying down a most inconvenient, and indeed a most dangerous precedent, and one on which, if he had divided alone, he would have taken the sense of the House before agreeing to it.—( Hear, hear.) He concurred with his Noble and Learned Friend ( Lord Brougham) in the wish to limit the hearing of counsel as much as possible. Of course they could not shut out the consideration of the prin_ ciple of the Bill altogether; but the counsel were to be heard on the details, and on the details should have the opportunity of stating the degree in which the corporations they appeared for thought their rights and privileges would be affected.— ( Hear, hear.) In that view he found their Lordships con curred.—( Hear,'hear.) Ile really thought it most material, not with a view to this case alone, but with a view to the order of the proceedings of their Lordships' House, not to let it go forth that their Lordships would call counsel to the bar to argue on the principle of a Bill, which principle it was their duty and their right to discuss, determine, and resolve for themselves. The Earl of FALMOUTH said that the Noble Marquis had misunderstood what he meant. He meant that counsel were not to be precluded from entering into observations on the principle of the Bill. The Earl of MANSFIELD understood the intention of their Lordships to be to hear the arguments of counsel upon the principle of the Bill—not upon the principle of the Bill as a legislative measure, but upon the principle of the Bill as it would affect those towns, who had petitioned against it ; and further, he understood that, besides being heard on the prin ciple, counsel should be at liberty to be heard on the conduct of the Commissioners in procuring the evidence on which the Bill was founded. With regard to the details of the Bill, he certainly did not apprehend that it was the intention of the House to preclude corporate towns from presenting petitions claiming to be heard on those parts of the Bill which particu larly affected their interests. The House bad made no order upon the subject, but he certainly understood that it was open to counsel to be heard on those points of detail as well as upon the general principle. He merely mentioned this that there might be no misunderstanding. The Marquis of C L A NRIC A RDE did not think that they had even yet come to a proper understanding upon the point because, if the Noble Earl's view were the correct one, it would appear that the two speeches, of which the Noble and Learned Lord spoke the other evening, were not the only two speeches that the House would have to listen to. In that case the arrangement was not so good as it was supposed to be. Lord BROUG H A M must say that he really did not under stand the Noble Marquis.—( Laughter and cheers.) Did the Noble Marquis mean to say that he would have stood the other night against t:.e majority of 70 or 80 who were ranged on the opposite side of the House, and who were determined not to be satisfied unless counsel were heard ? It appeared that the Noble Marquis was one of those who, out of doors, attributed to him ( Lord Brougham) a desire to delay the progress of tte Bill.—(Laughter and cheers.) But let the Noble Marquis take his (Lord Brougham's) place, and then ask himself whether, as a sincere advocate of the Bill, he would not have pursued the same course ? The Marquis of CLANRICARDE was not one of those who, out of doors, took notice of the conduct of the Noble and Learned Lord ; but he claimed his privilege of appearing in that House, and finding fault with a course of proceeding which he thought neither convenient nor proper to be adopted. He should have stated his objections to it the other evening, and more than once rose for the purpose of doing so, but was prevented by the three or four times repeated speeches of the Noble and Learned Lord. He appealed to the common sense and common understanding of their Lordships, to say whether the opinion expressed by the Noble and Learned Lord, as to the understanding come to the other evening, was not widely different from that expressed by the Noble Earl (Mansfield) who spoke from the opposite side of the House. Before they took the course proposed of hearing Counsel at the Bar, he wished to know whether it were possible to reconcile such a course with justice, common sense, or precedent; it was true they had been told of precedents, but he was at a loss to find one exactly in point. It was obviously necessary, before Counsel were called to the Bar, that an exact understanding should be entered into as to the points to which their argument should be limited, if indeed it were to be limited at all. No ordi rof any kind had been made upon the subject. The mo tion, as he understood it, was, that all those who had peti tioned. against the Bill should be heard by Pognael, and that the Counsel callec: should be at liberty to argue the case of all. Lord ELLENB 0 R 0 L:-:_:\vhat I propose is, that an C. order shall b e ma d e , di rect i ng t h at a ll who nay, ot itioned to be heard shall b e a ll owe d t o b e h ear d , i n order to enable tne Counsel to appear at the Bar. If no such order be made, they cannot appear at all. The Marquis of CLANRICARDE knew that there were .~~ k precedents for hearing Counsel at the Bar ; but then Counsel were appointed for every particular person who clained to be heard, as, for instance, in the case of the slave trade. He did not mean to say that there was not as much reason to hear Counsel in the present case as there was in the case of the slave trade ; all that he wanted to know distinctly vas, whe ther there was to be any limit to the argument of Counsel. If there were to be no limit, at least let there be no delusion upon the subject ; let it be known that they were going to scar every person who had petitioned against the Bill by Counsel at the Bar of the House. Lord BRO LTG HAM would again endeavour to explain to his Noble Friend. It was distinctly laid down the otl.er night, and distinctly admitted by all sides of the House, that no person bad a right to be heard, that it was a matter wholly and exclusively within the grace of the House, as to whether a party should be allowed to be heard by Counsel or not ; that the House would allow all these various boroughs, 18 in number, or thereabout, to be heard by two Counsel. The House gave that right to no other party ; it It in no other party ; it did nothing by which a pretext could be raised for hearing any other party, or any other Counsel what; ever. His Noble Friend opposite had justly observed, that there were petitioners come in that night who were not in cluded in the first order ; but who, as their complaints were the same, ought not, in his opinion, to be excluded from it. His Noble Friend's suggestion was a very fair and very proper one, and all that they now did, was to allow these later pe titioners to ho heard, if they pleased, through the medium of the two Counsel who were to appear for the rest. And this was the great delay of which the Noble Marquis stood in so much horror. Why, in point of fact, the few observations that the Counsel would find it necessary to address to the indi vidual cases of the boroughs, which, if they pleased, might be let in in the manner he had just stated, would not create so great a delay as the interposition of the Noble Marquis had already done. If the parties in question should not elect to be heard by the two counsel who appeared for the rest, it would be for their Lordships to say whether they would allow them them to be heard by any one else. He for one should require very good reasons to induce him to assent to such a course. But then the Noble Marquis said, " The precedents are all the other way—if you profess to be guided by precedents, you are bound to hear every party separately." Moreover, the Noble Marquis had complained of his (Lord Brougham's) having made four speeches ; but as often as men did not un derstand what was said, and did not keep their misunder standing in silence, but broke out and charged those with creating delay who did not create delay, but took the best course for avoiding delay—as often as he found men obsti nately persisting in that mistaken course, he was bound to rise and set them right. " But (said the Noble Marquis) the course now proposed to be taken is contrary to precedent." That showed that however frequently he might have troubled the House the other night, he had at least spoken once too seldom, because on that occasion he expressly stated an in stance—not the instance of the slave trade only, but another case in which there had been a consolidation similar to that now proposed with respect to the hearing of counsel. He to a case in which he acted as counsel, in which five dif ferent persons, having five different petitions, and five diffe rent cases, all consolidated their applications into one case, intrusted that case to him (Lord Brougham) and he spoke once—and but once—for all those five parties.—( Hear.) If the Noble Marquis will refer to the journals of the House in the months of April and May, 1808, he will find that they bear witness to the accuracy of what he was then stating. Their Lordships, in fact, had always the matter in their own hands. If on any day, or any hour of any day, they found that the arguments were conducted in such a way as to create so serious a delay as to threaten the defeat of the Bill, it would be in their power at once to put a stop to the proceedings. And he asked any man of common sense, which course was most likely to succeed—who was most likely to carry that House and the country along with him in his principle and his object—he, who in the exercise of his best judgment, and as the hearty friend and firm sup porter of the measure, recommended the adoption of such a course as he had suggested—be, who ventured to make a compromise with a large majority of the House, or he, who setting that majority at defiance, at once induced it to demonstrate its power by a decisive vote ? He maintained that the course he had proposed was the course most likely to carry the measure through. The Marquis of CLANRICARDE offered a few words in explanation. He did not think that the Noble and Learned Lord was justified in presuming that the friends of the Bill were in a minority in that House. He (the Marquis of Clan ricarde) did not believe that they were so. He believed that a majority of their Lordships were prepared to accept the Bill, and until he were convinced to the contrary he should remain of the same opinion. After a few words from the Earl of FALMOUTH and the Earl of WICKLOW, the question that Counsel be now called in was put from the Woolsack. The Marquis of LONDONDERRY took that opportunity of giving notice, that in consequence of what had passed in ano ther place last evening, he should take an early opportunity— he would say Monday next—of asking a question with respect to the present state of affairs in Spain. The question that counsel be called in was then put and car ried ; and Sir Charles Wetherell and Mr. Knight appeared at the bar. After a short delay necessary for the arrangement of papers, &c., Sir Charles Wetherell was on the point of commencing, when Lord ELLENBOROUG El interposing said—Sir Charles, for whom do you appear? Sir CHARLES WETHERELL—That, my Lords, is the very point I was coming to. I will answer the question fairly. I believe I appear pro populo for every Corporation in the Kingdom. My clients lam unable distinctly to number. There are numerous petitions lying upon the table of your Lordships' House; and if the Corporations of England and Wales, whose petitions are not yet laid upon the table of the House, knew of the tyrannical attack which the Bill of which I complain levels against their rights and privileges —more especially the lowest class in these boroughs, 'com monly called the commonalty, or the commons—if they knew, had heard of, understood, or had explained to them the con tents of this atrocious and tyrannical Bill, I am conscien tiously persuaded that there exists not' in England or in Wales a single Corporation whose protest against its enor mities would not be presented to your Lordships in the shape of a petition tendered by sonic Peer to be presented, and laid on the table of your Lordships' House. "When, therefore, lam asked for whom I appear ? Peradventure, the question might be reserved, and it might be asked ne gatively, for whom I do not appear ; but if the question be affirmatively asked, I may state that I appear for Don caster—that I am solicited by Berwick-upon-Tweed—that I am hand-in-hand with Leicester—that I am at home with Oxford—that with Coventry I am acquainted—that I am not unknown to Grantham—that Boston is well acquainted with me—that Tiverton shakes hands with me—that with Ipswich I am peculiarly linked in the bands of confraternity—that Norwich has an affectionate regard for me—that Lancaster owns me as one of the two roses—that Marlborough I take under my care—that Cam bridge, had it presented a petition, I should number as mine—that Warwick is with me—that Worcester I take under my wing—that Hereford, Dover, Carlisle, Ashford, St. Alban's, Poole, Sandwich—all these, et cum inultis are those who have done me the honour, through the medium of your Lordships, to solicit my humble assistance. The Learned Gentleman proceeded to observe, that having been called upon to state for whom he appeared, he must take liberty, in a few words, of throwing out some remarks with respect to the humble individual who had then the honour of addressing their Lordships. Prepared as he had been from the first, to defend the Corporation of Bristol, and whose conduct, even according to the Report of the Commissioners of Municipal Inquiry, appeared to have been irreproachable—prepared as he was to step forward in defence 01 the rights and privileges of that ancient and important city, he must be suffered to say that it was only in compliance with the expressed desire of that House that he had induced himself to assume the responsibility ofap. pearing at their Lordships' Bar, as the advocate of all those numerous towns whose petitions had been laid on the table, because, as far as ,he was concerned, lie felt that the sustaining the case.of the Corporation with which lie was connected would he labour enough for him to assume, and responsibility enough for him to undertake. The expression, however, of their Lordships' wish had operated upon him as a command, sual thus he found himself standing at their Lordships' Bar, greatly against his own wishes and feelings. To the various papers and documents which had been poured in upon him, from all quarters, since it was understood that he was to he selected as the advocate of the condemned Corporations, he had of course not had sufficient time to devote the proper at tention, nor, in other respects, had he been able to prepare himself in a manner which he felt the great and vital impor tance of the subject demanded. He should feel himself com pelled, therefore, to draw largely on the candour and indul gence of the House. The Bill against which the petitions on their Lordships' table were levelled, was a Bill which un doubtedly recommended itself, as was often the case with those who meditated something extremely violent—recom mended itself by a title of all others the most condescending, the most modest, and, if lie might be allowed the term, the most captivating. It professed to be" A Bill to provide for the regulation of Municipal Corporations in England and Wales." From the reading of that title one would suppose the object of the legislator by whom it was introduced- was to preserve all these ancient institutions, to regulate them, to superadd to them here and there what might be required to make them effective instruments of the public service; one would suppose, from the title of the Bill, that it was in the nature of one of those mea sures which elsewhere men we:e in the habit of calling con servative measures ; but this unassuming pretension, this mo dest face, this maiden's blush developed in the title of the Bill, now assumed a more bold and audacious character. He passed not the limit of the first two pages of the Bill before he found that all this regulation of Municipal Corporations in England and Wales amounted to an utter confiscation of the whole of their charters—an utter expulsion of every man at present in any way connected with them—an utter. supercession of all their powers, and the intrusion from begin ning to end of a plebeian system of Municipal Government, not only unlike anything that had ever existed before, but, as he apprehended, utterly untenable in itself. True r the name of the existing charters was left—the noniinis unibra was left— what was called the ancient charter was left, but to use a common phrase, gutted—it was disembowelled —there was a. skeleton unquestionably of a charter, but it was a skeleton only. It was proposed to leave to the different boroughs the names of their ancient charters—for instance, the Mayor and liurgesaes of Oxford, the Mayor and Bailiffs of Ipswich, and so forth-;but Cvery man o w 494-1 these bodies 19d heretofore expelled' been composed was hereafter to beexpelled'fii)`ria WuO,' and their place were to be substituted a new race introduced by of that Bill, which, as he would pre the democratic rflonded upon the principle gently satisfy their Lo r dships, was urd of annual Parliaments and universal suffrage. In pages's.-- THE SUN, LOIN DUN, FRIDAY, JULY 31,.1835. f of the Bill, it would be found by whom the new constitu ent body were to be composed. It would be found that any man in any one of these borough communities, who possessed rateable property to any amount, not to the amount of 101. or 201., but to the amount only of one farthing, would, under the provisions of this Bill, have a right to have his name upon the rate, and having that right—provided he had paid his rate about two years and a-half before the periodical arrival of the time when the election for municipal officers was to take place--he should have the further right of voting in the election for the new governing body of these institutions, ovhich governing body was to be called the Council. Now, when he said that the admission of a man to the elective fran chise who paid not only not more than one shilling per annnm in the shape of rate, but perhaps infinitely less than the amount of one shilling in the coin of the realm would admit of—when he said that the admission of such a man to the elective fran chise was in fact to establish a democratic principle, he thought he was not using an exaggerated phrase, and certainly did not speak without authority ; for even in France in 1792, the philosophical democrats and philanthropists—the march of in tellect men of that period, did not admit the right of voting on so low a scale. So much for the electors. In page 17 of . the Bill would be found a description of the sort of persons who were to become the rulers under this new dynasty. There was to be. a Mayor and Council, and their Lordships would naturally inquire what were to be the qualification of the Mayor and Council ? He had already, by anticipation, given the answer ; for, as the electors had no qualification to elect the Governors, so pari rations, the Governors, who were to represent the electors, were required to have no qualification of any description whatever. This was unlike anything ever proposed before. Even in the time of the French revolution it was required that persons appointed to such responsible situations, should possess a considerable qualification. He would next call their Lordships' attention to the powers which these newly elected and newly constituted bodies were to possess. They were to have the whole administrative and executive powers which at present belonged to existing Cor porations. Indeed, on referring to page 52 of the Bill, it would be seen that they were to have a power infinitely greater than any which at present existed in the members of any ex. isting Corporation ; for the provision contained in that page of the Bill, it was declared that they should have the power of making such bye-laws as to them should seem good for the proper government of the borough, the suppression of nui sances, &c. There was a new and by no means a limited sort of power—a power which, intrusted to such hands, might lead to the greatest and most dangerous abuses. Again, if the Bill were closely examined, it would be found that there was a little too much of Downing-street in it. The opera tion and effect would be to render the municipal officers throughout the kingdom little else than Crown officers—the' mere tools and instruments of whatever Minister, or whatever party might happen for the time to be in power. That was itself an innovation upon the fixed and sedentary principle which had rendered the ancient Corporations of the king dom so valuable ; and in the place of that excellent principle they obtained what ?—A principle new and un heard of in any era or time of the British Constitution. He should be glad to know from the supporters of the Bill what charter ever delegated so monstrous a power as was delegated by this' Bill ? There were many precedents in which the King's Judges had interfered in such matters ; but it was monstrous that Corporations should be formed into these new councils with the permission of the Secretary of State : an individual who never ought to be allowed to inter fere in such matters. He would now go on to call the atten tion of their Lordships to a still more extraordinary and mon strous power—he alluded to that power which was called, in the House of Commons, the power of the purse. The House of Commons always loudly protested against the interference of their Lordships in money matters. They were also most happy if they detected any Interference of such a nature to expel a Bill in which it appeared from Parliament : they assumed to be peculiarly the guardians of the public purse. Now, he must say, that he thought that in many cases it was evident that these guardians of the public purse had not read the clauses of the Bill which they had passed ; but that they had merely glanced over the marginal notes, and caught, or fancied they caught, their meaning. Let their Lordships see what the Municipal Chancellors of the Exchequer and Lords of the Treasury were empowered to do by this Bill. The Bill transferred to the new councils which it created all the Corporate property of the existing Corporations. Now, in ge neral, when persons appointed bankers or agents, they looked to the credit of those persons. But thi s Bill discarded all such low and earthly—it despised all such miserable and terrene considerations. These men, themselves, possessed cf no property, and who were to be elected by persons who had no property, were to have the management o f all the real and all the personal property of the corporations to which they were to succeed ; amounting to a sum so large, that he was apprehensive of subjecting himself to a charge of exaggera tion by steting it. Certain it was, however, that many mil. lions would be thus transferred from the present curators of corporate property to this new body of persons, whose only qualification was, that neither the electors by whom they were chosen, nor they themselves, need be worth a hundred, or fifty, pounds. It was further stated in the Bill that its objects were, " the public benefit of the inhabitants generally, and the improvement of the boroughs." Some of the gentlemen composing the council might perhaps, however, think that the benefit of some of the inhabitants might best be consulted by allowing them a participation in the corporate property. But that was not all. What were these faithful guardians of the public purse in their respective spheres further to do ? They were absolutely armed with the powers of taxation : that power which the House of Commons was generally so anxious to arrogate and confine to itself—that most nervous of all powers —that power, the exercise of which touched every heart, in flamed every passion, and excited every sensibility ; that power was given to the new councils by the Bill. They had power to raise money ad libitum by county rates. Now if their Lordships looked at the history of all the boroughs, they would finethat although tire corporate bodies, in some of them, had a right to levy county rates, yet that, in the great majority of cases, they did not exercise that power. It was monstrous, therefore, to give those new bodies a power so seldom exercised by the au thorities already established. He would now call their Lord ships' attention to another part of the subject. By one of the clauses of the Bill, this new council were empowered to grant licenses to public-houses. He recollected having heard many long speeches on the enormity and iniquity of the system of allowing- the magistrates to license public-houses. But by the present Bill they would commit to the new council an instrument of authority which would, of necessity, be used in a worse manner than by persons of higher rank and cha racter. He would now call the attention of the House to the magisterial part of the Bill. It was generally understood that the Crown was the fountain of justice as well as of honour. But according to this 13)11, the Council having made out a list of persons whom they thought fit for magis trates, permitted the King to appoint their own nominees ! The power of selection was taken from the Crown, and trans ferred to this self.elected body. In his humble opinion there was nothing more illustrative of the democratic and republican principle of the Bill, than the clause to which he now allu ded. But there were one or two other topics to which it was ne cessary for him to advert. By the Bill, the Council might also constitute police-magistrates, who also were not required to have any qualification of property. The whole of their wealth might be described in the word nihi/. It was true that the value of nothing was elegantly praised in a poem quoted by Dr. Johnson in one of his lives : " Felix cui nihil est Non timit insidias; fares, incendia temnit." Certainly no man could be so securely happy as the man who had nothing, for he could not be work—it was impossible to rob him. How happy nothing could make a man, had also been sung by a French poet, who dwelt on the advantages of this negative wealth. The qualification of having nothing, was a qualification whiCh ran through the 'whole Bill. He would pass to another part of the Bill. lie alluded to the power which these newly created institutions were to possess in the character of trustees of charitable funds. It was well known that there was at present an immense amount, not only of real, but of funded property, standing in the names of cor porate bodies in their character as trustees of charitable funds, or in the names of persons empowered by them. Now all these funds were to be immediately taken out of the hands of the corporate bodies, or out of the hands of the persons empowered by the corporate bodies, and were to be trans ferred to the honest, to the pure, to the conservative hands of the body who, by the authority of the Bill, were to be henceforward the custodes of all such charitable trusts. To those persons the large funds, now administered by the cor porate bodies, were to be entrusted. He really could not imagine that the framers of the Bill were aware of the extent of the property at stake. The Corporation of Bris tol had funds of this kind under their management amount ing to little less than 13,0001. a year. At present those funds were under the supervision and control of the whole body. No order was valid with respect to them, which was not given under the corporate seal; and the corporate seal cculd not be affixed, except with the consent of twenty-one Members of the Corporation, being a majority of the forty Members of which it consisted. Many other corporate bodies were placed in similar circumstances. Such were the origi nal powers of the corporate bodies, which bodies were now to be destroyed, in order that these new institutions might be built on their ruins. This new system was to occupy the place of that which had existed for centuries. The ancient Corpo rations were no longer to exist. And why ? If they were defective, could not their defects be supplied? If they re quired rectification, could not they be rectified? Were they so thoroughly impregnated with vice and wickedness, was the blood which flowed in their veins so corrupt, were they so afflicted with leprosy, that it was utterly impossible to cleanse and purify them ? That would be the only ground on which the Bill could be defended. It could be defended on the ground that the existing system was so intrinsically vicious, that it was utterly impossible to deal with it in the way of amendment; that it was like a carcase emitting pestilential exhalations, which men hastily buried lest they should be con taminated by even an approach to it. If Corporations were found to be so bad that they ought not to exist, why not bring in a Bill to declare that there should be no Corporations at all. No," said the Reformers, " we do not dislike Cor porations —we dislike your Corp ora ti ons , i t i s true, bpi give us Corporations felpided on a democratic basis. give us Re publican- Municipalities in the sh a p e o f C orporations, and we will co ntend that they are admi ra bl y a d apted to the comfort andsecurity of the people." The Reformers did not like the old Corporations, because they were not founded on t h e principles of annual elections, and universal suffrage— (for he had forgotten to state that the Bill provided p th oVa d tion li r i tUI - 1 that a third of the Members of the C ounc il s h ou ld g o elections and univ ersa l su ff rage ; give them corpo robafuttiao n n gn s uiY a al or rmed with the most d angerous, wanton, and extrava jn gant powers—powers such as n o Ki ng ever confided in sim i lar pogiooed Y e ery pri y nc ea principles bodies; give them constitutions of R a di ca l i nstea d o f rega l in out a n d t stitutions, and , they are instantly real) , to adopt them. He had gone swiftly through the diflerent clauses of the Bill, and he believed he had fairly represented their character and effects. They were in violation of the tide of the measure. Instead of regulating they confiscated. Let their Lordships read the preamble of the Bill, and see why these bodies, who had been invested with power by the legitimate exercise of the Royal authority, were to be thus tyrannically and despoti cally treated. In the preamble three reasons for the measure were stated. The first was :---," Whereas, partly by defects in the charters by which the said bodies corporate have been constituted ;" the second was—" partly by neglect and abuse of the privileges by such charters granted and confirmed ;" and the third was—" partly by change of circumstances since the said charters were granted." Oa these three grounds it was declared, that " the said bodies corporate, for the most part, have not of long time been and are not now useful and efficient instruments of local government." Now with regard to the first allegation, that of defects in the charters, if there were such defects, the Crown could easily amend them. But the term " defects" was so vague and indefinite, that it was difficult to understand it. What were or what were not defects must depend on numerous circumstances that ought to be in quired into. It was the next allegation, however—" partly by neglect and abuse of the privileges by such charters granted and confirmed"—it was the next allegation on which all the corporate bodies in the kingdom were impeached. That was the hinge on which the Bill turned- The question then was, whether in the bodies complained of, such neglect and abuse of privileges had prevailed as rendered them useless and inefficient instruments of local govern ment. This was a direct question of fact, and ought to be treated as such. It ought to be inquired where there had been neglect and abuse ; what were the negligences and abuses ; whether the offence had been a positive or a negative one ; whether any thing had been done which ought not to have been done, or whether anything had been left undone ix hich ought to have been done. These were questions wlt n ought to be fully lied satisfactorily answered before ii", L eg i s _ ' lature proceeded to put on end to a hundred ad forty-three charters. As to the third reason in the U*- amble the " change of circumstance," the phrase was se, general and so fallacious that it was hardly possible to Oeeal with it in a tangible form, and that reason might fairly be considered as melted down into the other two. Those two allegations were tangible ; with those he, in the lawyer's phrase, was at issue ; with those he was prepared to grapple ; or he would have been pre pared to grapple if the Bill had declared that no corporate bodies whatever should exist; instead of substituting for the existing corporations, corporations moulded according to the new system. By one of the provisions of the Bill it was to be enacted, that after the passing of the Act no persons should be admitted as freemen in Corporations. The conse qence was to cut off a large number of persons who had not worked out their apprenticeships, and to deprive them of the elective franchise. This began to be understood throughout England and Wales, and the system of depriva tion and robbery whi c h th e Bill conta i ned would soon be I universally deprecated. The present active members of Cot porations were to have nothing whatever to do; they were to be relieved from all their arduous duties ; they were, if he might so express it, to be turned on the pan". The Mayor, the man of the highest rank in a corporation, and who had filled all the inferior offices, be he whom he might, a Mr. Tomkins or a Mr. Jen kins, was, instead of sitting for six or eight hours a day in the discharge of his magisterial functions, to be thrown into a state of complete idleness. This might appear a light matter, but it was not so. He put it to their Lordships, who held so exalted a rank in the country, and who hoped to continue to hold it; who looked back to the honours of their ancestors, and forward to the honours of their successors ; he appealed to them whether, if they were suddenly stripped of the dig nities which they enjoyed by the beneficence of the Crown, aided by their own merits, and turned loose into general so ciety, it would not be a severe infliction on their feelings to be pointed out as persons cast down from their high station ; and that not for any vice or misconduct, but on false allegations ; on allegation§ of neglect and abuse of which they had never been guilty, on allegations of a change in circumstances over which they had no control? He did not think the great body of the Peerage, he did not think that even the Bench of Bishops would like to be met walking about the streets at the west end of the town ; neither would the great body of persons whose advocate he was like to be consigned to perfect idle ness. The framers of the Bill, however, were too sublimated in their notions to attend to such feelings. By the unheard of brutality of the measure, at least four thousand persons would -be driven out of posts which they now usefully and respectably occupied, to roam about, subject to the taunts of the democra tically elected Council, as if th ey h a d j ust qu i tte d t h e tread mill. There was another body of persons on whom the Bill would operate—he meant the hundred and forty-eight Re corders. And here he could not help commenting upon the invidious manner in which the Commissioners had in their Re port attached the word " Peer" to those Recorders, twenty or thirty in number, who were Members of their Lordships' House. Did not the Commissioners know that almost every Peer was a Magistrate, sitting at Quarter Sessions ; and that many Peers were among the most zealous and active Ma gistrates in England ? There was one case, that of Lyming_ ton, in which the Recorder was stated to be an Admiral. Did rot the Commissioners know that it was the duty of a warrior, in the time of peace, to turn his sword into a plough share, and thus to amalgamate hi s var i ous d ut i es ? By-and by, he supposed, they would be told that any body who had been at the battles of Waterloo and Trafalgar was unfit for the exercise of civil and peaceful functions, But the fact was, that something vulgar, something low bred, something which ' he found it impossible adequately to describe, pervaded the whole Report. It was couched in a style hardly fit for such works as " Roderick Random," or " Tom Jones"—a style similar to that of the books which were to be found in some little circulating library at Ramsgate, or Margate, or South end, or Sheerness, or at any genteel, or mock-genteel water ing-place, or in any of the steam-boats which conveyed the public to those places. And yet, on the statements of such a report as that their Lordships were called upon to legislate— a Report, the scorn of those who examined its arithmetic—the laughing-stock of those who regarded only its pleasantry. He had inquired as to the number of persons who were to be sub jected to the new discipline which the Bill proposed to esta blish ; and, unless he was misinformed, the number of persons who had been living under the protection of the corporate be. dies established by the royal charter for centuries, and who would be handed over to the care of the new democratic bo dies, would be at least 2,200,000. Taking into account the operation of the last clause of the Bill, which, under the pre tence of enabling the King to constitute new corporate bodies, actually disabled him from doing so, and would compel the in corporation of the Tower Hamlets, the purlieus of Marylebone, &c. He thought the amount of persons subjected to the new system, withdrawn from the legal, royal, and constitutional principles of the realm, and handed over to the new radical, jacobinical, and republican institutions, would be nearly 3,000,000. He had a table showing how the Bill affected the interests of the different corporate bodies. Taking a single instance, that of Berwick-upon-Tweed, he found that the cor porate property of that place was valued at 1 20,0001. But he should desire his clients to publish the details in the shape of a brochure. What he maintained was, that in the con test which political party should carry on the govern. ment of this country, a large class 'of his Majesty's subjects ought not to be sacrificed by the dominant party making what they termed a municipal regulation an engine of political influence. How were the matters of fact contained in the Bill proved? What evidence was there to establish the charge in the preamble, of neglect and abuse? On en.. tering upon this part of the subject, he beg ge d to say a few words on the nature of the Commission, upon the R e p or t o f which the Bill was founded. The Commissioners were de sired to go booted and spurred on their mission ; to lose no time, to be as quick as they could, to use their utmost dispatch, so as to enable Parliament to legislate on the subject early in the next session. Under such circumstances, and thus urged to a full gallop, their labours ought to be spoken of in a good natured style of remark. It was impossible but that a great mass of error should creep into the statements of men who were sent over the country in such an urgency of haste. It was expected, no doubt, by their employers, that there should be a golden harvest; that the sheaves of corruption should be bound and brought into the political granary. It so turned out, however, that in many cases where it was supposed the greatest malversation of all kinds existed, that the reverse proved to be the case. Of die 183 boroughs to which the Bill referred, no less that 96 stood on the Report of these Commissioners. And when alluding to the Report, he might perhaps be allowed to venture so far on the condescension of their Lordships as to express a belief that not five, or at all events ten, Members of their Lordships' House had read the : Report of these Commissioners of Inquiry. He might, how ever, be somewhat mistaken on this point, and it might per- haps be found that some of their Lordships (like the Roman senators, who were, it is said, in the habit of employing secre taries to read over documents to them) had directed their se cretaries to read to them some portions of this Report, and thus, by a kind of vicarious vision, made themselves acquainted 1 with its contents. Lord BROUGHAM here rose and said that it was almost unnecessary for him to remind their Lordships that the Learned Counsel must be in a state of great exhaustion, from the length at which he had addressed their Lordships ; and that it would be but granting an indulgence which ought certainly to be ex tended to him, if he were allowed to retire for ten minutes. Their Lordships too, no doubt, required some slight relief after the fatigue they had undergone, and he should therefore move that the House adjourn for ten minutes. This proposition being agreed to, almost all their Lordships retired ; and having, after a lapse of about 20 minutes, re sumed their places, _ Lord KEN YON rose, and inform e d th e i r L or d s hi ps that the Learned Counsel, rom the extreme heat of the House, and the great exertion which he had made, found it quite im possible to proceed with his address that night. He was sure that their Lordships would extend their indulgence to the Learned Counsel so far as to allow him to resume his address to-morrow, particularly when he gave the best proof of his unwillingness to protract the discussion unnecessarily, by ex pressing his readiness to address their Lordships to-morrow, at as early an hour as they might think fit. - Lord BROUGHAM observed that nothing was more pro per than to take into consideration the great exertions made by the Learned Counsel, and also the extreme heat of the House._ Though it was exceedingly hot where he (Lord Brougham) sat, the heat was still greater at the bar, from which the Learned Counsel addressed the House, and to which the Hon. Members of the outer House were admitted, and who were now afforded an opportunity of judging of the beat to which the Members of that House were subject. It would, how ever, he thought, be well if the Learned Counsel were to pro ceed with his address at three o'clock to-morrow. If their Lordships were to meet at that hour, the addresses of the two Counsel might, he apprehended, be finished in the space of time originally agreed on, - o,•d 1E LTI OURNE--It did not appear that the Learned Counsel could, under the circumstances, be fairly called on to go on with his address at present ; but when he made that admission he could not help reminding their Lordships that it was agreed on all sides, and in every quarter, that this pro• ceeding should be dispatched with as little delay as possible. If their Lordships were not to meet until the usual hour to morrow, he was afraid that the Learned Counsel would occuPY a greater portion of time in their addresses than the two days to which it was, in the first instance, intended that they should be confined. He therefore suggested that means should he taken to shorten the delay occasioned by this proceeding A i far as possible, and that their Lordships should. with that view, meet at an early hour to-morrox, in order, if possible, to insure a compliance with the general arrangement which had been entered into.—( Hear, hear. ) The Duke of WELLINGTON said that they bad still 10' morrow and Saturday to hear the speeches of cou:isel; but if their Lordships were to meet at an earlier hour than five o'clock, great inconvenience would ensue to those Peers who had to attend Committees, and those e.ig tged in matters of similar description. They might, however, obviate the danger of delay, by postponing all other business which might pre cede the hearing of counsel. At all events, he thought the counsel could not oc.'opy more than a small portion of Monday, in addition to the time already allotted to o:,ern• It, acceding to i r t l,s l L. i i e loart d( p ,,s r .ie t i i ri p p o s s i,n e f d rotiline no progress desire adjournment, cnoeucledssaasrsyurdeetlah; bt7 h , c e :a d s i e d ni . avn s ay o s , uur h r l : All he desired was, that it should he in:tressed on their Lord ships that sufficient time ought to bp allowed them to conside r toe information with w hi c h th y were furnished, before they proceeded to the dis euss ie of this Bill.—( Hear, hear.) Lord BROUGI4:im 7:, of thatquite agreed with the Noble Duke wh o spoke last, th the business of agreed Committees, and other busines s '.ature would be interfered with, if their Lordships met hear counsel on this Bill at an early h o ur, suc h as 10 or 1 2 o'clock. But no such difficulty lay in the way of their meeting at three o'clock, for the Committees would then be over. With receet to the delay which had, it was said, been caused by the hearing of counsel, he should only say that as far as the address of the Learned Couneil had gone, his pre; dictions that, so far from any unnecessary delay being caused by allowing counsel to add ress th a t H ouse , th e i r own - debates would be much shortened by their so doing, were completely verified ; in which opinio n hi s N o bl e F r i en d (L or d Lynd hurst) coincided, though it did not frequently happen that they took the same views. The Learned Counsel had, with great distinctness, and by a very judicious mode of statement, re ferred to the principal points of objection to this Bill; th e minds of their Lordships were brought to bear on these points' and, instead of floundering amidst a vague mass of objections , they came prepared to discuss the measure in a much more concise and distinct manner than if they had no such state ment as that of the Learned Counsel for their guide.—( Hear.) The Duke of CUMBERLAND: Supposing that their Lordships were to meet at three, their best course would eer' tainly be that they should proceed without i n t erru pti on i n this proceeding. In consequence of the presentation of petitions, of questions being asked, and Bills advanced, they had than day lost three quarters of an hour. Lord BROUGHAM : An hour and a half. The Duke of CUMBERLAND: That was no fault of his. He had mentioned the delay which had occurred that day, with a view of guarding against it to-morrow. Lord MELBOURNE quite agreed with what the Illustrio l ? Duke had said. He only wished that he could impress his recommendation on some of his then absent friends. . Lord LYNDHURST was of opinion that their Lordship' might meet at the usual hour (five o'clock), and yet get ove n`this proceeding in the pr escr ib e d ti me . B y commencing 3 five o'clock, the Learned Counsel who had addressed the Has: that night, might, he thought, finish his address by eig, h o'clock, and thus afford time t o hi s b ro th er C ounse l tocon clos within the appointed time. He would take that opportunitle of expressing his concurrence in the opinions expressed by ti • Noble and Learned Lord (B roug h am ) f or t h e reasons whiff' l he had stated, because the Lea rne d C ounse l h a d , as f ar as ue had gone, brought under review all th e s t rong po i nts o f 0 " , ; jection to this measu re , an d th us di recte d t h e attent i on o f the' Lordships at both sides to them, for the purpose either of Or porting or opposing the Bill. It was understood that the House would meet at five o'cloc k to-morrow, and they then adjou rne d a t a quarter t o ten o'clow POLICE INTELLIGENCE. MANSION--HO USE, John Owen, a big red-headed Irishman, summoned a publi' can for being in possession of a spaniel, which the said Ju Owen swore he had owned for several years. The complainant, as he was going along the street, saw th e defendant, followed by the dog, and he immediately rear nised the animal which h e h a d l ost a b out a year and a ha lf ar The defendant declared that the dog had been in his po" session these four years. Th e f ac t was , an A mer i can ge nt l e; man had lodged at his house, and after he left it, he somehu or other lost the dog. Soon afterwards the dog, no doubt U ° being able to find hi s master , f oun d hi s way, after grea t ni i ; tigue, to the defendant's house, and the master returning It some time, made a pres en t o f th e an i ma l to t h e d e f en d an t. I was evident that the dog did not know anything of the 07 plainant, whose whistli ng an d caress i ng were quite disregart o The Loan MAYOR (to the complainant.)—l think ydu, mistaken. Thi s d og k nows not hi ng at all about you. C o plainant—A rra h then, how c ou ld s h e preten d to know ni l before you all? She knows me well enough, but by my s Oll she's under orders. The LORD MAYOR.—What, under orders not to know here ? Complainant—Exactly. The poor beast is afraid t ° say a word. The LORD MAYOR—You don't seem to know her naint Complainant—By my sow l I k now her name well enou r Come here, Bitch, bitch.---(Laughter.) The LORD MAYOR—She's a bitch, no doubt, but that's her o common, not her proper n ame . C omp l a i nant— I t wou ld mighty odd if I didn't k now somet hi ng a b out her. Why 9 be was at home with me in Ireland years ago. She and I and IT O master, that was a M em b er o f P ar li ament, used to go o ut shoot together in Sligo.—( A laugh.) The LORD MAYOR—How long ago is that? Complainan t, '" How long ! Upon my sowl it's a good sixteen years ago. , t One of the officers l oo k e d a t t h e d og ' s mouth, and sa id th° she was not yet six years old. Complainant—Tut, nonsense. Some dogs has better te t t nor others. It all depends upon the life they lead. Ifl e s feed a dog with bones his teeth won't be worth a farthing 'R I , few years, but give him a good easy diet of potatoes and butte milk, and he'll live as long as a Christian.—( Great laugh.te r i e The LORD MAYOR—Y ou h a d b etter ta k e hold of her. 18 her from the defendant. Complainant (crooking his fingers)—Come, Bitch, Bitch' (The dog looked round at him, and began to growl.) „4 The LORD MAYOR—Why don't you go an d t a k e h er , if 5 "; your's. You are not afraid of her are you? Complainan t ",, Not a bit ; but by m y sowl when a dog's under orders ther e , nothing tie wouldn't do. I'll lay my life that she knows f° as well as I knows her, and yet she'd bite me like a s tranger', The LORD MAYOR—That's just th e amount o f you r kof ledge of each oth e r d e p en d upon i t . B ut i s t h ere no mar which you can draw our attention ? Complainant—Yes ; 9 , broke her fore left l eg w h en we use d to go out s h oot i n g t" gether. , 10 1 The officer who examined the dog said that th e leg never been broken. The LORD MAYOR—I can't think of adjudging the dog to yo: upon such extraordinary statements as you have made. I 8 of opinion that it is the property of the defendant. bu t Complainant—Well, all I can say is that it is nothing murther to rob me of my. dog, after I had the expense of k eel.' ing her these 16 years. The LORD MAYOR—I never expected to see an Irishra such a simpleton. Why you h ave not an atom o f brains j$ that big head of yours. An Irish voice in the crow d—H e i sn ' t an Irishman, flies,o your honour ; he's only a C onnaug h t man— h e b elongs to - country at all at all.—( Laughter.) ( A DVERTISEME NT. ) S' PATENT LEVER WATCH. Price, at T. COX SAVORY'S, 47, Cornhill, London. SILVEIL CASES. With double-bottom eases With hunting cases ...£6 16 o ... 6 GOLD CASES. 6 Size for ladies, with ele gan t go ld di a l ... 16 1 " i, 0 Size for gentlemen, with enamel dial This celebrated construction (the most accurate on which,' watch can be made) is now off ere d a t t h e a b ove pr i ce , with i 0 latest improvements, i. e., th e d e t ac h e d escapement, jewelle.uog four holes, capped, hand to mark th e secon d s , and mainta in power to continue going while winding up. T. COX SAVORY, Working Silversmith, Goldsmith , 314 Watchmaker, 47, Cornhill, London. ,ke t N.B. The pri ce o f t h e fl at, gent l emen ' s waistcoat-cocolt Watches, on the same construction as above, is, with enamel pi Seventeen Gui neas , w i t h s il ver di a l , Ei ghteen Guineas, o r " gold dial Nineteen Guineas. —,4 BIR TITS. On the 28th inst., the lady of Thomas Tatum, Esq., of Berke ler street, Berkeley-square, of a daughter. On the 29th inst., the lady of Isaac Cohen, Esq., of Norfell4. street, Par 26k-lane, of a daughter. f her On the 6th inst., at Sibton House, Kent, the residence ° o nt mother, the lady of J o h n Willi am Fi nc h , E sq., R.N., of still-born. MARRI. . On the 30th inst., at St. Geor ge's E Hanover-square, Edwa rd t St o John Mildm a y, E sq ., son o f t h e late ' Sir Henry Mildmay, Bart'' Frances, daughter of the late Edward Lockwood Percival, kr,' bol On the 2Sth i ns t., a t Cltipstead, Surrey, Si r Thomas JD: g est Hepburn, B ar t., of Smeaton, Haddington s hi re , t o H e l en , Y° daughter of Archibald Little, EN., of Shabden Park, SurreY; 4o . On the 30th in s t., a t T r i n it y. hurch, hlarylebo ne , HenrY,f ter of come, Esq., of Upp er Wi mpo l e - s t ree t, t o C ec ili a, third daur," Sir William Wake, Bart., of Courteen Hall, Northamptonshlef , On the 30th inst., at Trinity Church, Marylebone, the e li c iar William Bannerman, of North Bank, Re gen t' s P ar k, to r second daughter of ohn Rawlinson, Esq., of Wimpole-strej!:/ DIED. Giv e On the 28th inst., at her daughter's house, Mount-stxeett venor-square, Mrs. Martha Cramp, aged 78, relict of the late Clamp, Esq., late of Foxbush, Tonbridg Kent. atte r On the 2sth inst , aged 26, the Hon. Frances Leslie, de ° l the of Lord Lorton, and wife of the Rev. Charles Leslie, SO° ° Lord Bishop of Elphin. erl On the 27th inst., at Rudhall, near Ross, from an injury r`f o oge, from being thrown out of a carriage, the Hon. Mrs. PI)LIIP ,„_ '.sl lll widow of the Rev. Phili p Y or k e, of Great Horkes l y , daughter of the late Lord Somers. On the 27th inst., at the Royal Arsenal Woolwich, Rundle, Esq., late Captain in the 49th Regiment. so- London : Printed and Published by Al UHDO YOUNG , 0 04 112, Strand, at The sttn Office, No. 112, Strand, in the c of Middlesex. A TB fastened; quarter her for selection tial rem and Chit For i n and c 0... 9111 te o 7 ; is arid 'Stan ( forteasth known is having g eoppered her indei just been her '"for sea. India EA For in Hall; 10, ‘ l. As ,TH4: fi ushditl slia- has al er iPtion, any voy a4 Mauder. tor ins '~~ A' TH t. And s pnrt of nurha u .g idp y _ bo , well fitte d ear ggi as ad aPted feet ; bren 20 feet. ,Por ins ahck, 3, T - lye Shai At blirai unles s ar IV] P. c tme, the lnr •n .INttror Infigen ce c Partioul beady bf ti and prior t o th ilt4na, brothw. a nda GEN on' 'which for " 'Man; M" ' Viz. 1 . ( than hotel tlie adva afa xed i th ertt ftl Y pre of 4 nil b Obiin at L A 4 M Or j i d i 'wtl 'N. 1; i Do '' very ( IMp 71 00 to 50( -.il ium pi SaAi NV llieh Ivith 'as the . vith „ & '')Fpe JNIr, j o b neiPle, Jr Shifter oth er tann : l*ra blolint proprietors: ~__ T