The Sun. — London, England, 1819-04-02 00:00:00

PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF' LORDS, APRIL 1. The aiths were administered to Lord STAWRLL. Mr. Hutchinson, from the Bank of England, pre sentcd Accounts of Weekly Amount of Bank Notes and Market Price of Gold and Silver. Ordered to be referred to the Bank Committee.—Clithe w's Divorceßiftwas read a third time and passed. SMALL DEBT COURTS. Lord HOLLAND withdrew the petition from Nottingham, on which the debate bad been ad journed, having discovered that tke usage of the house was against receiving petitions respecting Private Bills which were not actually before the House. Should the Bill (for Establishing a Court for the Recovery of Sinall Debts at Nottingham) unfortunately come tip to tha! [louse, he said un fortunately, because having great doubt whether, thesells in general were not productive of some mischief, anti because this Bill in particular, was, it appealed, very objectionable, the petitioo 14 , 0)41) y he reproduced. The LORD CHANCELLOR took the opportunity of di.chriug his ifec.ided disapprolooiou of Bills ihe.E4tahlishruent of Courts for the. Recovery . 01 :jinni! Debts, :they being frequently productive or great mischief, is ithoot -at all benctitting those ii.ho sought au advantage by them. It might be useful to persons disposed to apply for such Bills to know that there was a feeling in the House of its against them, as that knor.ledge might save them considerable expence.—The petition was withdrawn. ROMAN CATHOLICS OF HiELAND. Lord HOLLAND, in the name of the Earl of Donongh nun e, who was unable from indisposition to attend, gave notice of the intention of the latter to.bring forward a motion on the subject of the Claims of the ,Roman Catholics of Ireland, on Tuesday, the 4th May, but the day to be subject to - Iteration.—On his Lordship's motion, the Lords were ordered to be summoned for Tuesday, thedth May.-- : Adjourned,till to-morrow (this day). HOUSE OF COMMONS. NORTIIAMPFON ELECTION. At four o'clock :he House proceeded to ballot' for a Connnittee to try the merits of the petition,' compl ining`of an undue Return for the Borough of Northampton. .The reduced List, as subse queuriy presented by Mr. Lay, was as follows : Charles Calvert, Esq., - Chas. Fyscbe Palmer, Esq., Joseph Birch, , I gam: Gascoigne, Esq., Lord Fled. C. Bentinck, James Barnett, Esq., Right Hon. C. Arbuthnot, J. Stuart Wortley, Esq., Right Hun. J. Beckett,' 3 R. G. Grahain, Esq., John Smith, Esq., Right lion. A. Nl 4 Conochie, Right Hon. C. Long, J. G. Latubton, Esq., Charles Hervey, Esq. On the motion of Mr. NANNING, Chairman of the Election Committee, Jo!in C1181)- 1 . 11411, a witness before the said Committee, was ordered to by committed to his Majesty's Gaol of Newpte foi prevarication. Sir GODFREY XV.E.BsTEß.,,presented a Petition from the inhabitants of Brighthelmstone, against the lo,olvent.Debtors' Act. ,Mr. PAttrs presented a Petition from Leicester, for the Revision of the Ciirninal Law. COMMISSIONERS' OF BANKRUPTS. Mr. Alderman •WooD presented a Petition, signed by a number of .Merchants, Bankers:and Traders of the City of • London, praying that the Sittings of Commissioners of Bankrupts might be continued at Guildhall. The Corporation of Lon don, he said, - -were willing to give a piece- of ground suited for a commodious building for the Commit=siouers, near Blaclmell.-ball. In speaking of the intention. of the Commissoners to remove to Furnival's-inn on a former evening, he had not said they had any, nterest in this removal. That removal 'l4otild no doubt be convenient for their being so much nearer toThe Cour(Of Chancery. i\lr. Attiernian WAITHMAN observed, that the Pe ioners complained of the inconvenience casioned by the Commissioners all sitting on the same days. Mr. liittOTTESLEY regretted that any idea should go abroad, that the ComMittee, to whom this matter was referred, would sanction any-removal, eKecpt after a fair and dheiiassionate investi gation. Nit% Alderman WOOD and Mr, WHOTTESL EY mutually explained. The Petition was ordered to lie on the table. Tlr. BTuAtti WoturtaY presented a Petition from• Stnckbridge, against Mock Auctions, and another from Bradford against the Insolvent Debtors' Act. Mr. F. DOUGLAS presented a 'Petition from the Parish of St. .I,,bn, ‘Vestminsteri against the In solvent Debtors' Act. Mr. IV. IVILLIANts presented a Petition from the Palish of St. Andrew Wardrobe, against the Lon (ton Clergy Bill, • A Person from the Committee on the Brinell-. lion .of the Poor• prtsented a Digest of the Returns to tht• Circular Letters from the Committee ap poioted to inquire into the Education of the Lower orders, which were ordered to be printed. sir J. NEWPORT moved for a variety of Ac counts respecting the Claims of British Subjects on the French Government tonder,;lie late Treaties. Or tiered. GAOL DELIVERY. Mr. WESTERN wished to preface the motion which he was about to Make with a few observa tions. He intended to move for a Return of the Number of Ptisooet Co, in the different Gaols of EnglaA and Wales, at the Ist October. the Ist January. and Ist March lost. The object Which be had ultimately in view, was to effect a more frequent, Gaol Delivery, its order diat the total number of prisoners Confinedat anyone time for trial might be diminished. He bad obtained Returns As to the state of the 'Prisons at different periods trom three Counties, and -he wonld state the particulars of one of them to•the House :--In the County otKcnt the number of prisoners com. itui!ted for trial amounted on,the I , t October last to 54, on the Ist January laat to 108, and on the 15th M.rrli last to 177.—ft a as obvious that a 6401 . Delivery' nu the Ist of January would have dhui l inslied by more th n !toe half. When these Ile urns ere bt - twe the House lie should.submit some s yeifie mea.ore to the House on the ker. ".0“ 10016 , 4 at the Returns of the persons (omit:Heti for I.nclaotl and iVales las , the total ntimi)er Would be found in round numbers 13,000 ; of this number 2,000 per. om • were either not prosecuted, or bills rare not found againxt.them, and 2,600 were acquitted,— Ia the period between the July Assizes and the Lent Assizes, many of these unfortunate inctiei doais, acquitted by verdicts, or against whom no bilk were found, had beenn - confined many months. It was precisely during that lengthened period of imprisonment that the—morals of men were corrupted in prison. For some time after men- . first entered a prison they were' shocked at their - situation, but they at last became habituated to it. and hardened to any ,event that occurred. ifhey mixed with characters of all descriptions, and be came.,familiarized with !ice.. It was only by a prompt execution of the hiw that the law could be expected to produce its efTect. lie knew, that if they were to adopt a more frequent Gaul Deli very, they might look to the necessity olanument, ing the number of Judges, but this he believed •- necessary. The Honourable Gentleman conclud ed with moving an Address to his B.oyal High ness the Prince Regent, praying that his Royal Highutss might be pleastd to give directions that there he laid before the'Honse a return of the total number of persons confined in the several Gaols of England, Wales, and Ireland, • foe trial. 1 1 distinguishing the numbers confined on the Ist of_l October, the Ist January, and Ist March last; and that as soon as the present Lent Assizes be ter minaret), there be laid also before the House the number, names, and .ages of the several persons, I male and female, confined in each prison in Eng land and Wales, and tried at their Assizes, sped- tying the dates of their several comnrithaents, and specifying also the crimes with which they were charged, and the sentences passed on them ; and also a.rerurn of those dist:barged on Proclama tion, anti also the trundler of persons against whoM no Bills were found, &c.—Ordered. WYNDHAM QUIN. Mr. AGAR us gave notice, that on Monday next he dwuld move an Address to the Pi ince Regent, for the removal of the. I-lon. Wyndham Quin from the office of Custos Rotulornm of the county of Limerick. A MEMBBK sug g ested that as . Mr. Quin was now absent, so early a day was i haidly giving him suf ficient notice. , • Mr. AGAR ELLIS then intimated that he would "I" a►► early dot after the holidays for bringing forward .►is tbotiQn. Mr. Anßacnomßv . suggested that it might be more a Matter of convenience to the Hon Mem ber,himselt (Mr. Quin) that the matter should be disposed of now, rather than have it banging over him So - !Ong. Air. BAN KES thought •the delay would be much more decorous. - - Mr.•l'aer, did not know what option tl►e non. Gentleman would kree made hirriself had he been present. But he supposed it would be agreeable 1 0 him to have the matter brought forward at as e;rly a day as possible. It was rather unfortunate that he bad left this country for Ireland. fhe motion was at last fixed for Toetolay next. Mr. 1111 , ,LLisH moved ihat Mr. Long Wellesley ha dis c h arge d f rom t h e cu stody of the S ei j eant at Arms, on payment of his fees.—Ordere& LANARKSHIRE PETITION. Lord A. LiAritturoN, seeing a Lord in his place (the Lord Advocate), • who " 4 con nected with the Petitioner against th turn from the County of Lanark, wished know ;from him whether. it was, the intention of the other party to insist, on the taking that Petition now into consideration An action had been brought. agaiust Sir Alexander Cochrane, the ef fect of which action might be to declare that he could not possibly be returned. The decision of the tiouse, of Lords might be, that Sir Alexander Cochrane could not by aorpossibility be the sit ting Member. 'the C om mittee mio7 -.. 'ecide one way, and the House of Lords direetiy the reverse. The LORD ADVOCATI3 wished to know, whe ther it was wished to put off .the Ballot indefi nitely, till after the Lords had taken up the pies rion alluded to ?—That would be putting the 'f - louse altogether at the mercy of the House of Lords. Ile wished• to know, whether any particular delay was • wished for, or a delay tilt `after the case had.been decided by the House ot Lords. ?. Lord AacnruALD HAmtvroN said, as far as. be was concerned, he did not wish for any particu lar day. He only wished the House to be aware Of the circumstanee, that, it might be decided that Sir Alexander Cochrane could not he a free holder ot the County of Lanark, and there fore . was a person not qualified to sit in thenOuse at all. BANKES said, a Committee of the- House had full powers to deeide on a question of this nature, without regard to any decision of the ,'louse of Lot ds. WESTMINSTER PETITION. The SPEAKER acquainted the House, that Ste phen Ackermann and others, who petitioip d the House, complaining of an undue Return for West minster, had not entered into recognizances.— !file Order for taking this Petition into conside ration was then discharged. SPANISH TRANSPORTS. Sir WILLIAM Da CRESPIGNY, in a tone of voce Which was not distinctly audible in the Gallery, wished to be iotormed (if he was understood cor rectly) by a Noble Lord (Castlereagh), whether the hiring of Transports by the.SpaniSh Govern-, meat in this country for the conveyance of troops to South America, was consistent with the neu trality Which Ministers had professed in the con test between Spain and South America ? He trusted Ministers would do nothing Aid) could he construed into an act of hostility . against South 'America. Lord CASTLEREAGH said, as far aS lie tinder stood the transaction in cpiestion, there wis no thing to prevent merchants engaging in it as in any other commercial transactiOn. It was quite Clear the individuals who chartered the Trans ports did so at their own peril. Lord EBRINGTON presented a petition from a Town in Devonshire, the name of which could not be learnt, praying for a revision of the Criminal Law. SCOTTISH BOROUGHS. General ' R. FELiGUSSON, after a few observa tions in vindication of the prayer of the petition which he then held in hi, hands, fur the retOttit of the internal government of the Scottish 80. rouhs, begged leave to present it. , The peti ttioneis were respectable inhabitants-of Dunferm line, who, having the interest and independence of their country at heart, prayed that they might be released front - the despotism under which they laboured by a self-elected junto of Magistrates, and tt at all the inhabitants of the Boroughs Of Scotland might have their plivileges as British subjects.—The petition was received, read, and ordered to lie on - the table. Lord ARCHIBALD HAMILTON held in his hand two petitions, the prayers of which were of the same tendency. The first was from the Royal Corporation of Surgeons _ of Edinburgh, stating the many grievances which they, as well as their fellow-subjeCts of Scot land, experienced by the despotism ( of the self-elected Magistrates. The system which had too long been endured had de rived the burgesses .f theii clearest rights and liberties. The self-elected junto had lavished away the public money, and coosamed all the botough-revennes, without any: responsibility to their fellow-subjects. They were their Own 'reit; sitters and their own auditors ;, and if any com plaints were made against their public conduct, the parties aggrieved could obtain DO redress.. 'fifty considered the public monies as their own private property—with this difference, that they were lavishly prodigal of the former,' while the latter was consequently much accumulated. The petitioners had been itifiirmed that the private i proprrty of the Magistrates was liable for any deficlencies. But they begged that the House would take their grievances into its serious consi deration, and grant them such relief as in its wis dol)) ;E'en], tit. The petition' was of consi derable length, acid appeared to be a learned dis sertatitm on the subject. The Petition frean the Borough of Aberdeen to the same effect was also presented. Both Petitions were read, and ordered to lie on the table. They were also ordered to be printed. Lord ARCHIBALD HAMILTON, before he entered folly icito the subject of his intended motion, thought it incumbent upon him to apologize to :be House for the time which he would neccs ,sarily occupy. He was Obliged to go into a wide field of particulars ; btft he hoped that the ac count which he was about to give of his investi gation would meet with the indulgence and ap probation of the House. A reform of the ititetuai government of the Sc;ottish Boroughs was of the greatest importance not on-ly to Scotland, but to the people of England also, iuteresied in the wel a fare and happiness .of their fellow-subjects. His Lordship remarked, that it was necessary for him to say what was meant and what was tint meant by.the,reform of the Scottish Boroughs. It had no connexion with a Reform in Parliament, and • therefore the advocates against. that. measure woold be, under no apprehensions or fears. The inhabitants of every borough or town in Samland were tinder the despotism of the Magistrates, and liable to. many inconeeniencies and grievsnces, hitherto unknown. in Logicod. lhe Ma;:intratcs . or - Corporation of Aberdeen, as a public body, had - been ao prodigal of the re , eiltits of the borough, that they. were next to astate of bank ruptcy, if not actually so. In order that the Members for England and Ireland might cinder stand the question, it was requisite for his Lout ship to mention, that, as the petitions had reprea sewed, the Magistrates of all the boroughs in Scotland were a selt•elected _junto ; that they re mained in office one year; that, they .appointed their successors ; and that these successors again re-appointed the former party. 'Phis one set of men, self elected, bad been known to govern four Boroughs for twenty or thirty years, and leave what they considered their..rights or pro perty, through this medium, to IlSeir sons or heirs. These self-elected Magistrates, or juntos, were paramount to every authority. Whatever trespass they committed, or whatever injury, so far as re garded their natural rights, or the expenditure of their revenues, they could obtain .no redress. If any misunderstanding took place among them- , selves, which was very rare, as they were too Much interested in .the public spoils, a reference was . - made to the Court of Session, who always - de s , terminedin favour of the sante rotten system. — The case of Aberdeen was _ton. _notorious to he passed over with criminal indifference. Com plaints had been made against the system by seve ral of their constituent membets. A relerence was made to the Court of Session, and its deci sion was, as-usual, in favour of the borough system. But his Lordship hoped that Parliament would remove these grievances, and afford the people of Scotland the enjoyment of their rights and privileges. The next step had been to peti tion the King for the renovation of the regular Magistrates, in consequence of which a Crown Warrant had been issued ? appointing the old Magistrates to elect the new, thus virtually an hilating the verdict of the Court of Session. The petitions had been referred to the Law Officers of the Crown, who therefore must have given advice inconsistent, either with the state of the case, or the interests which-they were called upon to pro tect. He shoold.move for the production of the papers which had been laic! before the Privy Coun cil and Lass' Officers of the Crown, when the lat ter had advised the issuing of the warrant of which he complained. This was one of the re sults of the system of fraud, injustice, and ini quity which prevailed in the administration of Scotch Boroughs. This was not the first ap plication which had been made for an in quiry into the subject. Thirty years ago it had been referred to, a Cominittee, who had reported that the abuses complained, of did exist ; but the breaking out of the war, and the ,prevalence of an influence which ruled with imperious sway, had prevented any redress from bring obtained. The burgesses of Aberdren had recorded it as their opinion in their petitions, thacit- was•impossible to remove . ribUSes, intless the whole system should - be chan t ed. Yet in defiance of" that declaration, the Noble Lord op- . posite (the Lord Advocate for.Scritland) had ad vised the - granting of a new warrant, putting the whole aothority into the bands of . the nothots of those very abuses ! The system bad broken up at Aberdeen through. its own rottenness. It wan hut a few months since that borough bad declared it-. 'sett bankrupt For 230,6d1. At the last Elec!iOn the funds had been tonnd deficient by DO ICS3 suns than 2500!. to pay the mere juiciest of the ' debt. This had been going oe for °O vears. A large portion of the debt itself, to ;he sonitunt oft fifty-seven thousand pounds, consisted of sums borrowed for the payment of its interest. It veld an annual customi in the borough to call a head Meeting to hear the public accounts stated, yet,:' at these meetings, not a single shilling bad ever been mentioned of the debt of 230,0001. It List' come out of a sudden, am! the burgesses had then: found that they; had been deluded for tweritl years . by the men who had been entrusted with the administratiots of the burgh, and when . ' Oil Noble Lord teemed solicitous to retain. He hai l also ais( him reet t o ained pe eln:ige his own rt tm , rfactfro i m a u thority whic h ei at that debt of 230,000/ , so contracted 110 s tel concealed, a great por t ion h a d been contlec tea o •by forged and f a ls e mime ! As the whole junto of Magistrate might not have consented to Ca ' lain expenc e s, a se l ect f ew h a d occa sionally be e " called together to authorize those depredatioes on, 'the public ! With respect to the constitutiou of \ the burgh, he react the recorded opinion of 11 ' 6 , a7dot sd e i Megistrates who went out Of office, 811(1 Who , dared t hat t i l la t l w l a b :d i e7l Cleeit'itivsyus, sy s tem ed a system of concealment ; that it was oecee: eery to give tile citizens a more effectual contro l , over the expenditure of the funds ; and that it ' vas ' to the absence of some sitch cheek the eeavY.c3,-; lemity which had fallen on the B g o ; f Election and Go attributed, It he bad no Other gr ottos! for - 11 - : anlf,:iyity)Ds ü b ffi ll c t ie s o ll t e t lt o a es c t io a c b t l i i r s n i enF, would it not , 1110140 nineteen individuals had been. elec t '' . "1 serve as Magistrates its Aberdeen, only six ha" eepted the office, awl two of those on ,he expfeisi anti recorded conditi on t h at their"colleagues n•t : concur in making an applicati o n t o Governme ei og renovating t he Constitution of the boiough• Y .et n : sooner were those v er y nien i n o f fi ce than theYint,l, et! in a petition to have that ,Yery system con'in whieh'they had so publicly reprobated ! I :W t was still worse than all, was, that the ia t4l4- t it wlsisia had been committed was legal. a nd i. ,, nj ls t le brow ht to the Bar, tee Magistrates wig" •is true that we have done all this, and ruin". th r, borough, but we defy you to esti us to l' r :Z n re, In case, the I - louse alone could 'n'e„,.„ ills, He then compared the course a dopted t"'" -- ,: a n; Aberdeen with thet pursued towards the I)° , rn ,, - o d of which had been distranceise", 11,, a poll warrant granted, whilst at Ahe'd eci ; c ot election of new Magistrates had' been rel ttv he into the hands of the old. lie wished to krit' w is reason of the difference which prevailed those two cases. In COOSetiOtOCe v in franchisement of Aberdeen, and the " e n ; t e ' s ette granting a warrant, that borough was , et whet without any Member in that Httose• if" s watt Scotch boroughs, Edinburgh and JO%'e rn Th ' ditg its the same situation. (Here Mr. Vi• u .! ' f o r was understood Lo say that he was '.1;:!Iot' Edinburgh.) Then the lion. Gentleman h heerl elected since the disfranchisement of that bo rough, and was sitting in the Hanse wit ons electors,---(Latighter.)—lle did not mean to ap ply every thing he had said to every borough Scotland, but lie contended, that if any wet e het' ter governed, it was not because the :system wa s improved, but because the individuals - were tui)l.° respectable. since the new warrant for A'her; teen two occurrences had taken place, tellien ( 5 ;l revived the anxielv and discord which hail pree ed throughout the town under the former .Milg t ' ile Crates. The two persons who had joined its 113 „' application to the Court of Session for the en" frenchisement of the borough were in 1 1 ; 1 . 1 joyment of pensions from tile public 1 0)(5 ' , ins the right of bring G u ild-b o rgesses• 13 , nt ,hate stioner Were the new Magistrates a ppoint e t 4 ", r • c ed they avenged the cause of the old, 0 0 "". !fee those two individuals of their pensi 4 " . , l ,,,i other case was this ;---The Provost had c ," a ' . ne e meeting of the inhabitants to consider °' pu b. mode of assessment. He had oftelvi ards oi r e ette lished a letter, in which lie st a ted, that the s ing had. acquiesced Mahe proposal. . 13 " t thg t oo, been positively denied hy the inhebitents,tt o se in a meeting of their own, had declare?' t cve sa proposal for a new taude of ass essateet h r.o ot beers made or discussed at the former Ine ct ! n t . lie called on the House as men to do jostle:waft the people of Scotland. The existing W i l e , " so replete with fraud and iniquity, that , - r e sides convinced no twelve Members of the othe r wove of the House, if they were placed in the ' time of jurymen, would give it their ova; It they did not wish to perp e tuate a sc °°rg o re Scotland, they would.at least assent to leer &legion of the papers for which h e Ovoid n o 'of Among these, he ehould call for the j- i 'P n „l - 11, 0 the O ff icers of the Crown as to the 4'o ol- , de" warrant, which he himself conceived,. Lei ridedly iilegal, to have been very doob t; 'ses the Revolistiou ther e h a d b eets thirtet ` - ; ( .1. 1 24 which the Crown warrants had been i ssu- e ,lece - of those were pull warrants ; six place d t only, do, the hands of the Magistrates , bll tra leh one of those entrusted it to the. old 111 0 ,V 6, !dre ss He then concluded, by moving that a n '..( 00 0 be presented to his Royal Highness the be Regent, humbly requesting, that lie w ol i )e f o re pleased to order that the, e should he laid Wit the How e a copy of the Warrant of the e go ow . issued for the Election of Magistr:ites in the rough of Aberdeen for the year ISIS. The Loan ADVOCATE haVillg been so alluded to by the Noble Lord, though surrountlbeg by alder colleagues than should "'kJ -ether fitst opportunity of meeting the c harge ot Noble - Lord. He felt no disposition on the gr°‘. 0 shrine. of legality, of expediency, or disCretion , from the responsibility which wes "V". nt - e . shnuhlert• He eu,iteoded that the personsll red , rusty d to. set the warrant aside had a 4.gli for dress by the law of Scotland. He ther e to trusted that Parliament Ayoub l not interfere the judge the question, hut would lessee. it I° le , Courts of Law to detertnine the point of jr s pers'nnaclelT: it ld'the" ;;alley. If it Were deemed illegal, VirOtt be time to visit the offence on those who had e o w- Yised the MetiSure. He maintained , that — .c y • ever the Noble Lord wielit Movediselaiieed.,!l_. connexion of the subject with ParliaMentary,T.. form, Ite„bad completely disptovca his osyn i `,.# c