The Sun. — London, England, 1827-02-23 00:00:00

dArint Fees claimed for snrclaing Parish Nes tart, and for fur nishing Copies of Certificate's of Parish Registers within the Bills Mortatity.—Ordered. PROMISSORY NOTES. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL gave noti°e, that he should, on Monday next, move for leave to bring in a Bill to amend the Law relating to Promissory Notes. TROOPS IN IRELAND. Mr. S. RICE moved for an Account of the num ber of Troops employed in Ireland from the year 1787 to 1799, the. number Sent from England .o Ireland during the same period. and the expence of their removal.—Ordered. ISLE OF MAN. Mr. HUME moved for an Account of the Claims of the Duke of Athol, and of the proceedings which had taken place for ;be purpose of adjusting and bringing them to a close, previous to-and after the grant of 160,0001. Mr. HERRIES observed, that the Duke of Athol had no claims whatever (-1 the public that he was aware of. He preserned. the HonouzA.,:e Member referred to the proceedings which bad taken place, with a view to purchase from the Duke of Athol his interest in the Isle of Man. Mr. HUME assented, and was ready to make the necessary verbal amendment in the terms of the motion. Mr. HUME presented a petition from the Inha bitants of St. George's Parish, Glasgow, complaining of distress, and praying for assistance to emigrate.—Referred to the Commit tee on Emigration. The Hon. Gentleman next presented a petition from the Ro man Catholics of the Parish of Kilmaine, in the county of Mayo, for Emancipation. THE CORN LAWS. Mr. WESTERN moved for Returns of the Freights of Foreign Corn, imported into this country within a certain period ; and also for Copies of the Regulations subsisting in other countries relative to the Importation of Corn. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said, there could be no objection on the part of his Majesty's Go vernment to give all the information on this subject in their power. But he doubted whether it would be possible for them to furnish all that the Hon. Gentleman required. They might not have official knowledge of all that might be included under so compre hensive a notice. After a few words in reply from Mr. WESTERN, the motion was agreed to. CONSOLIDATION OF THE CRIMINAL LAW. Mr. PEEL rose to bring forward his promised motion. He had now, agreeably to that motion, to apply to the House for leave to bring in four Bills, having for their object the simplification and consolidation of the statutes relating to the Criminal Laws.—(Hear, hear.)—The first of those Bills was intended to consolidate and amend the laws relating to theft, and for offences connected therewith. The second was to amend the law relating to another class of offence against the subject, namely, a wilful and malicious injury of property. The third Bill for which he should move, would be to consolidate and amend the laws relating to remedies against the hundred ; and the fourth Bill which he should submit to the notice of the House would have the effect of repelling such statutes as would be superseded by the three first Bills, in order not to encumber the statute book, by the introduction of separate Acts of Parliament for the attainment of that objeet. By this means the three Bills which he had already named would not be impeded in their operation by clauses and enactments con trar y to their spirit. He had entered last session so fully into the policy and necessity of see tailing the criminal statutes, that he was not sure whether it was et all necessary to enforce the reasoning which be then used, or to tree le the House with a repetition of his views, D e e :withstanding that some of those Members whom he had now the honour to address were not in Parliament on that eeeas i er s. Indeed, it required no very powerful reasoning to show the necessity and policy of consolidating the criminal laws ot this country, and of simplifying as much as possible those statutes relating to eeitne and misdemeanor, which had hitherto created so much error 10 confusion in our courts of justice. Such a course ar that of raising and consolidating confused and unintelligible statutes appeared so consistent with reason and com mon tense, that he scarcely thought it necessary to enforce any arguments in its favour, where all whom he had the honour to address must agree in the necessity of the measure.--(Hear, hear, laear.)--He was therefore quite satisfied that this House would sanction the part which he bad taken, and confirm the support which its predecessor had eieen to the subject. The House, however, was not called upon m give a blind judgment; on the e re e ttrary, he wished and expected that Honourable Gentlemen wea i e Lt reserve to themselves the power of expressing an opi atop, ; s e , a subject of vital import. Although, however, he h a d suggested many changes, he had not, after all, pro posed any n e e . v important alterations in the criminal sta tutes, because he was desirous of proceeding gradually in and to avoid as much as pos the course of impro vement, allele the use of rash e r i te.riruents. What he wished was to collect all that was valuable from existing statutes, and to preserve from a mass of contraui;:tion and confusion various claim* and provisions introduced at ditiferent periods into our erixeinai lows. lie was desircua of seleetieg all that was wor thy of being preserved in order to present to the house a useful and efficient statute, and thus to place as it were in juxta position all the law connected with the criminal jurisprudence of the coue try.—(Cheers.)—lt was his wish to abolish every part of the cri minal statutes that could not with safety he acted on, and to ac commodate the laws relating to crime to the present circumstances of the country and the improved state of society.—'Hear. )—Feel 'gag, therefore, that the House would agree, in principle at least, to the measures which he intended to propose, he did not think it necessary to trouble them with any further arguments, but pro ceed at once to explain the present state of the law relating to theft which was the subject of his first Bill. It was the practice in criminal courts of justice to distinguish between grand and pa tty larceny, and to award different punishments for each crime. I s appeared, however, that the only difference between them consisted iii the amount of property stolen ; for thus the law stood on the subject. If a men was convicted of stealing an article under the value of one shilling it was simple larceny, punishable at the optiena of the Magistrate before whom the case was heard ; but if the uroper t y stolen exceeded one shilling ;n amount, the crime was c alled grand larceny, to which a capital punishment was attachei!. Now he (Mr. Peel), after giving to the subject his best consideration, could not see the necessity of retaining the distiretione which the law 441 down in these eases. —(Hear, hear.,—Many minor courts had not the power of trying a ease of wend. larceny, but feeling the the prisoner to a competent in convenience and expence Si tiding tribunal, the value of the l'alen article was reduced to one shil ling, la order that the culprit wi;•ht be tried and punished ai once on the lesser charge. In many cases, too, the value of the article stolen was set down at n sliding only, with this view, that the ease might not be sent for trial elsewhere. These instancee, it veal true, were not very creditable to the parties concerned, but they furnished ample reasons for abolishing all distinctions between grand and petty larceny. He would unite the different species of the crime of larceny under one general law, and he would fix, as the maximum of punishment, a sentence cf transportation for seven years. It was hitherto the custom to mitigate the sentence affixed to the crime of grand larceny; but he owned he could not N ee the reason why, if the power existed, a criminal convicted of this crime should not he transported for stealing to the value of „,. There was a material difference between grand and simple Lamm ., when a prisoner was twice convicted. A man who re peated the ....rime of grand larceny was liable to a sentence of death, withos et benefit of clergy. He meant to pro poet that the cap.'t'd punishment should be dispensed with in this instance• lie proposed also to do away with a term which bad long be en reo r UP with the criminal law o f E ng l an d, . It was extremely difficult to apply ed he meant the benefit of cler gy' ! '• term without benefit e e clergy to any particular crime, and to say what was a clergyable offence. It appeared to sad of that the law in this particular should ins simplified. Inst saying, therefore, that the man who corneeetts grand lerceny a Fecund time, was guilty of a capital offence, withae.t benefit of clergy, he proposed to substitute the punishment of tranegnrta tion for life. This would serve to make the law more clear ana intelligible, and he was sure that the House would go with hina in every alteration he proposed whereby the number of cap: el crimes might be lessened.—(Hear, hear, hear !)—Thus the roan convicted of grand larceny a second time would ?en longer be sub jet to death. lu proposing this alteration he was aware, how ever, that it was not very material, as it rarely occurred that the pe nalty of death was put in force when a man was convicted of grand larceny a second time; but it was right at the same time, that the law in this particular should be clear and determinate, for it was one of the just objections brought by foreigners against the criminal laws of England, that we condemn men to death itir crimes who were never executed, and whose sentence was n fact, never intended to be carried into effect. (Hear, therefore, a material imp rovemen t, if, hear, hear !) ---It was, in every available insta.nce, we ceuld erase capital pmeishments from the statute-book and provide milder punishments, and thereby avoid the mockery of condemning men to death merely because that penalty was attached to the crimes they had committed. He pr oposed oleo to miti g ate the p enalt y f u r Ac stealing in a dwelling.house to the value of forty shillings. A"'"ling to the law, as it now stood, the penalty of death was attached to that crime. A distinction, however, he conceived should he made, and there were cases in which the punishment of death might he considered harsh and unnecessary. He there fore meant to propose that the sum of 40s. should be raised to a higher amount, by which means the number of capital convictions for this species of crime would be considerable diminished.— (Cheers.) He was not prepared to say whether or no it might not be necessary to go farther in the plan of reducing the num • ber of capital convictions. Much had lately been done, and much remained to do ; but he thought he might claim some credit to himself for having done more towards the great and important object of improving and consolidating the criminal statutes of this country than any other individual who had gone before him.— (Cheers.) He never was an advocate for the infliction of capital punishments, and be thought it would he found, by comparing the executions for the last five years in which he presided in the home department, that they had not in,:loased in number, as compared with those that had taken place in former years. Will ing as he felt, however, to reduce the amount of capital convic tions, he advised the House not to be led away too far by mistaken feelings. If Parliament were to proceed too rapidly to overthrow the existing enactments, a strong prejudice might arise in the country against measures that were intended fur the public gocd ; and thus the great object of justice and humanity might be thwart ed and defeated. (Hear, hear.) With respect to the law for the wilful destruction of property, which his second Bill was intended to embrace, he conceived that it might he beneficially altered and defined within proper limits. He conceived the punishment at tached to the crime of cutting down hop fences, stakes, hedges, Sac., was neither clearly nor properly defined, and therefore he proposed to abrogate the law altogether, and try the effects of a milder punishment. Without entering more fully into the par ticular measures of each bill, of which the Committee, whose ap pointment he anticipated, could best judge; he would now only refer to the general principles in which he came forward to claim the countenance and support of the House. Notwithstanding a very able assistant, he felt considerable difficulty in drawing up the Bills which he hoped to be allowed to introduce, owing to the number of abstruse and unintelligible phrases which lie found it ne cessary to use in compliance with the usage of the law in this par ticular. The endless repetition of words, the confusion of the sin gular and plural number, the frequent use of the words " party or parties," " defendant or defendants," "corporations" or " person" had always, he confessed, puzzled him beyond measure whenever he had occasion to refer to an Act of Parliament.—(Hear.)—He bad therefore, in the Bills which he had framed avoided as much as possible the confusion arising from the frequent introduction of words and phrases ; and at the commencement of each Bill, he defined, therefore, the precise punishment for each particular crime, adding to the end of the Bill, in order to remove any doubt occasioned by the ambiguity of the language, that the word person, when mentioned in the body of the Bill, should be taken to mean the party accused, whether man, woman, or child, and that the same should hold good with regard to owner, defendant, or defendants, or by whatever term the accused party might be designated.—(Hear, hear !)—While on the subject of the crimi nal laws, he wished to say a few words on a subject which was intimately connected with the question. It would he in the recollection of the House, that some years since, a Parliamen tary Commission was appointed to inquire into the several Courts of Law, and also into the fees and emoluments of the Judges. Thoae venerable and respected individuals submitted cheerfully to the investigation, yet in the minor Courts of Justice no inquiry had been made respecting the nature and amount of fees and other emoluments of the persons offi ciating there.—(Hear, hear !)—He had heard and believed that great abuses existed in those Covets; for instance, the other day, a demand was made for heavy fees, from persons who had actually been acquitted of the crimes with which they had been charged. The House must see the manifest impro priety of tolerating such a monstrous anomaly.—(Cheers.)—So that it would have been mercy to the accused if the Judge hail found him guilty, because in that case his punishment would have been less by the amount of fees which, as an acquitted man lie was called upon to pay.—(Cheers.)—A man acquitted by a jury of his country, should be free of any such odious impost, and any attempt to punish him, either in his person or his pocket, after that acquittal, was a direct libel on our boasted trial by jury. He was, therefore, strongly inclined to recommend an inquiry into the fees of officers attached to the minor Courts of Law. The office of Sub-Sheriff he also considered should be inquired into. It was on office with which he (Mr. Peel) was very little ac quainted. He only knew that in some counties the fees amounted to 6001. or 700/. a year, and the situations were eagerly sought for, while the office of Sheriff was considered so much the re verse of desirable, that applications were constantly made by gen tlemen to be relieved from serving. He would, therefore, should he see occasion, submit a proposition to the House, to inquire into the fees and emoluments attached to the office of Sub-Sheriff, an appointment with regard to which he should wish to he enlightened.—(Hear, hear !)—The office of coroner was also one, in which he conceived improvement might be made. The coroners of England had in a body petitioned Parliament, praying for an increase of salary, and representing how very inadeqaatelv they were paid. He (Mr. Peel) found, however, that although the office of coroner was burdened with so many wants, it was a situation which somehow gave rise to very considerable com petition whenever it became vacant. He, indeed, bad heard in stanca:!;: which contests for the situat'cn of Coroner ware as ex pensively carried on as in contested elections for the return of Members of Parliament He should be happy to hear, therefore, how it was that Coroners were so inadequately paid, and yet the office was so greedily sought for.—(Cheers. '—The offices of Clerk of the Peace and Clerk of the Assize should also be investigated, with a view to ascertain the nature and amount of fees attached to such appointment. Without throwing out any insinuation against individuals holding those offices, he wished to know by what au thority those fees were demanded.—(Hear, hear !)—Another office requiring investigation was that of Clerk to Magistrates. It would also be desirable to ascertain the amount of fees demanded and taken by such persons, and the authority under which they were demanded. no Without u rabl e pointingaud independent out y, tthe , es instancescountry, enough of the misconduct of Magistrates' clerks ; and that ho nourable there w magistrates of wer e should he careful who they appointed to fill those situations. These i points, though not immediately connected with the Bills which lie , meant to move for, were, nevertheless, connected with the due ad- . . ministration of justice, and were therefore points to which the at- I tention of the House should be particularly called. There might he some individuals who might think that that the altera tions which he (Mr. Peel) suggested were founded, after all, more on theoretical reasoning than practical experience. He had not as vet found, however, that the propositions he had already submitted to the House with regard to the improve inent of the law had failed of their effect, in proof of which he might mention the Bill for the better reguition of Juries, which had lately come into nparation. He knew it was objected to the measures which he should rosy have the honour to pro pose, that if they had passed into a law it would soon be ne cessary to cone down to Parliament with fresh lairs to amend the new ones. He brad not heard, however, any such result from the acts for the better administration of justice which he introduced last Sessio. He was not aware that the act giving power to ma gistrates to accept of bail in cases of doubtful felony had not been on the contrary, he had heard it well a sp n o e k n e d n ed of b , y an g d o l o ie d w efl 'a 'et3 s e ,therefore, fortified by past experience in anticipating great practical good from the measures he was shout to propose. (Hear, hear.) lie certainly had heard of objections to another of his bills, which, if founded in truth or justice, would certainly lead him to disparage his own exertions. The Bill which he alluded to had passed last Session, and its ob ject was to facilitate the course of justice, by providing that poor persons, who were prosecutors in cases of misdemeanor, should be enabled to see: justice at the public expense. lie was not prepared to contend that the county rate should not hear the whole of this burden, but he thought it but just and proper that prosecutors who had not the means of obtaining justice themselves, should be enabled to do so at the expense of the county in which they' lived. It was said that in the county of Surrey au enormous expense had been incurred in consevence of the e ndeavours which were used by the police to discover the perPetratoa of an atrocious murder, which is still in mystery.— The whole of tna eipence attending that occurrence was said to be the effect of his (Mr.' Peel's) But his Bill had nothing whatever to do with the expence inCtireo or', that occasion ; and althoi.4.: he paid money on account of the transaction from the Home-office, yet not a farthing was drawn from the county in consequence of the - exia,:ence of that Bill.—(Hear.) --To quote another instance of the spirit with which that Bill was treated by some : L. was said that the expence incurred by bringing up wit nesses for prosecutions in the last Sessions at W es tminster, the Old Bailey, and Clerkenwe l ,l, were enormous, 'and considerably dispropc..;:tioned when compared with t4e charges of former years. He found the folLotying charge in print :—" Last year the expellee incurred for witnesses to attend Westminster, Old Bailey, and CierLenwell Sessions amounted to the sum of 2,313/., whereas in the former year , the expence for witnesses was crib' 1,297/., the ex pence this year being nearly double: so muck fof Mr. Peel's bill." Thi.s statement, however, was as netrue as the inference attempted to he drawn fsorn it was unfair. The number of felonies tried at these sessions this year was 521, and the year before, the number tr i a d was 406, so that there was only an increase of 45 eases, and those Weis very aggravated cases, in which the prosecutors were of the lowest order, and were consequently obliged to be supported during the time occupied by the trials, in which they were called is 7,eitnessee, and after all, the sum whieli the Court admitted for their expenses amounted to no more than 145/. So far wee the ' expense from being doubled, that it was only the trifling sum which he had just mentioned. He hoped that the statement into which he had just entered would induce gentlemen to pause before trey came to the conclusion that the alterations which he had made in the laws had tended to increase the expense of adminis tering them. There were some gentlemen, he believed, of opinion, that the law ought to remain as it now was, on account of the expense necessarily incurred in altering it ; whilst there were others, who entirely scouted the question of expense, and thought that in his alterations of the law, he had by no means gone far enough. To the latter he would say, that he was not inclined to proceed hastily in experiments on legislation ; and to the former, to those lie meant who complained of the expense, he would observe, that by adopting the course of devolving upon single individuals the consideration of particular laws, instead of devolving upon a commission of several individual. ttie con sideration of the whole system of our criminal law, the whole charge to which he had subjected the country by his Jury Bill, and the other Bills which he had introduced in the five years during which he had acted as Secretary of State, did not amount to more than 14001.—(Hear, hear.)--He declared upon his honour, that he doubted whether so much pro gress would have been made in the task of consolidatir ' s the laws, or whether the labo..r already performed would have been per formed half so well by a commission of individuals with salaries of 1,5001. a-year, as it had been performed by the individuals who had assisted him fur a much slighter remuneration.—(Hear, beer.) One advantage of the quiet and steady course which he had pursued was this—tat •.t he had been able to procure the as sistance of the Judges in the revision of the Bills which he had submitted to Parliament. They had given the most willing atten tion to the various new clauses which had been introduced into those Bills by the learned gentleman who had prepared them : and he had received from them all the most valuable assistance, because he had not overhurthened them with repeated applica tions. Some gentlemen might think it an easy task to form a criminal code; but lie would appeal to the Noble Lord oppo site, who had undertaken to consolidate the law upon one subject only, whether the difficulties in detail of such a mea sure were not infinitely greater than would appear at first sight to any person who was unacquainted with them. He must also say, that he had another motive for proceeding gradually and slowly in this matter. It was necessary to carry along with him all the irstruments engaged in tha adrninioration of justice; for if too many changes were suddenly made in the lawa of daily and ordi nary occurrence, and if what was declared law was not executed well, no advantage would result to the country. A more splendid fame might be acquired by attaching his name to the introduction of a new code of law, as had been done elsewhere ; but greater ad vantage to the country would be gained by convincing the people, who were justly attached to their ancient institutions, that the circumstances which had given rise to them, were either altered or gone by, that they could be amended and improved, and that the rust nod impurity which they had acquired by the lapse of time and carelessness of legislation, could be removed without injuring their substance or impairing their strength.— The House would confer greater benefits on the people by re conciling them to the improvements which it sanctioned, and by showing them that those improvements could be made without any practical inconvenience, than by attempting too much at once in the shape of innovation, and by leading them away by splendid illusions of general improvement. He would be content, if by his humble effors, a gradual reform could he ef fected in our criminal law, without leading to any great practical inconvenience : and he trusted that so far from dissatisfaction be ing excited by the attempts of the House to accommodate ancient usages to the necessities of modern times, the attachment of the people to those usages would be increased by their being convinc ed that the foundations of those usages were only widened to re ceive additional strength, and that it was wiser to amend them where they were defective, than to maintain them steadily, because they were antiquated imperfectiona.—(Hear, Lean)._ He therefore asked leave to bring in a Bill to consolidate and amend the laws relative to larceny and burglary, and the offences connected therewith.—(Great cheering.) Lord ALTHORP returned thanks to the Right Honourable Gentleman who had just sat down, for the great progress which he had already made in amending the criminal code of the country. He agreed with the Right Honourable Gen tleman, that it was necessary to ptoceed cautiously in the task which he had undertaken, inasmuch as nothing was more dan gerous than inconsiderate legislation upon matters of a criminal nature. He admitted, that the increasing amount of county rates for some years past was a subject worthy the most serious consi deration of every gentleman who stood in the situation which he filled as a County Member. The reason why the expences of prosecutions at the quarter sessions was less than those at the assizes, was because the first underwent the revision of the magi strates who had to pay them. He trusted that the right honour able gentleman would consider whether some measure might not be devised to assimilate the scale of expences at the assizes to that used at the quarter sessions. He was fully convinced that the laws relative to malicious injury to property required amendment, inasmuch as they had filled our gaols with criminals for compa ratively trifling and insignificant offences. He also thought that the laws relative to poaching had been recently applied to many cases which were not intended to be affected by them. In con clusion he entreated the right honourable gentleman to accept hie tribute of applause for the benefit which be had conferred upon the country, by bringing these questions fairly under the consi deration of Parliament. Two Members, one on the Ministerial side, and the other on the Opposition side of the House, both of whom stated them s►elses to have long been in the habit of superintending the admi nistration of the laws as Magistrates, expressed their gratitude to Mr. Peel, not only for the improvements which he had already introduced, but also for those which he was now about to intro duce, into our criminal jurisprudence. We eo.ild not learn the names of either of them. Mr. HOBHOUSE said, that the present was one of those occasions in which it wag the duty of all those who felt strongly, to attempt to give utterance to the feelings under wliich they laboured. In all the admirable address which the House had just heard from the lips of the Right Honourable Gentleman, there was only one part to which he was inclined to make any ex ception, and that was the part in which the Right Honourable Gentleman had told them that it was possible that by pursuing a different course from that which he had followed, a more splen did fame might have been acquired. The Right Honourable Gentleman was mistaken—a more splendid fame than that which he had already earned could not be acquired—(loud cheers) — and the Right Honourable Gentleman must have seen the earnest of that fame which he would enjoy to the latest posterity, iu the applauses which he had already received from men of ail parties in the country—applauses which stamped on his exertions a glory which nothing cculd destroy.—(lmmense cheering.)— He was sure that if Sir Samuel Romilly could see seated in the chair of office an individual with the intentions of the Right Hon. Secretary, he would be willing to resign into his hands all his plans for the benefit of his country, and for the reformation of the criminal c ode.--(Cheering.)—That the Right Hon. Gentleman might meet difficulties in the progress of his labours, every man must allow ; but when he found that he had in his favour the testimony of the practical men, who knew how his laws worked, he (Mr. Hobliouse) trusted that he (Mr. Peel) would he encou raged to pursue the same honourable course which he had com menced, and that nothing would stop him in his career—(Cheers.) It was often his unfortunate duty ,to convey to the Right Hon. Gentleman the sentiments of his constituents, when they were not in approval of the conduct pursued by himself and his col leagues. He, therefore, thought it an advantr7e to have to convey to the Right lion. Gentleman the sentiments of the same body, when they were loudly expressed in his favour.—( Hear. ) What he was going to mention to the Right Hon. Gentleman was , perhaps, hardly worth his notice—still he trusted that the Right Bon. Gentleman would not despise it. It was a custom in the city which he had the honour to represent, for the con stituent body to have an anniversary meeting with their repre sentatives—in which the constituent body communicated to their representatives the sentiments on which they thought that their representatives ought to act, and which were held up to them as worthy of admiration. He hoped that the Right Hon. Gentle man would not think that he was obtruding an improper fact upon his attention, when he told him that, upon every such rent anniversary, his name had been held up among those which were considered to belong to the benefactors of their country._ (Cheers. )—He saw the Chancellor (Mr. Robinson) smile—he could not help it—there were certain prejudices which men could easily overcome. On many questions the Ri.rht Hon. Secretary had pursued a course which was not very conge nial to the feelin g s of the electors of We s t m i ns t er; but on this subject they only saw in him a reformer of great abuses, and a man who was doing all he could to benefit his co untry.—(Hear, hear.)—lle owed the House an apology for introducing this matter into the discussion, but he trusted that, insignificant as it might appear to some Members, it would encourage the Right Hon. Secretary not to delay in his career. He anticipated for the Right Hon. Gen tleman a more splendid fame than the modesty of the Right Hon. Gentleman would p erm it him to a nticipate for himself; he had laid the basis for being a great man, by showing that he was a good one.—(Cheers.) Mr. D. SYKES next addressed the House, but in a tone of voice and amidst a confusion which rendered him almost inaudible in the gallery. We understood him to object to the power given by certain Bills to convict offenders by summary pro- 1 cess before one magistrate. In conclusion, he applauded the Right i Hon. Secretary for proceeding, step by step, in his attempts to ' amend the criminal jurisprudence of his country. Mr. CRIPPS in reply to the observations of the Hon. Member for Hull, on the impropriety of giving one Magis trate a summary power of conviction, observed, that it was neces sary that one magistrate should have that power, as there were many parts of the country in which it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to get two magistrates. The increase in the county rates was occasioned by two causes very dissimilar, the increase of crime, and the increase of road-making and bridge making throughout the country. He was extremely glad that the subject had attracted the notice of the Right Hon. Secretary. Mr. BATLEY returned his thanks to the Right Hon. Gentleman for the able speech which he had that evening delivered. Mr. PEE', said, he would be guilty of great in justice to the House, if he did not briefly express the gratitude which he felt fur the general support which his proposed measures had received,—(Hear!)—lt was most gratifying to him to ob serve, a complete oblivion of all party and personal feeling, when the object before the House was an endeavour on his part to effect a great public benefit.—(Hear!) --He would not, on the present occasion, make any observations on the subject alluded to by an Hon. Gentleman opposite,—he meant the melancholy increase of capital crimes. He had, however, caused comparative tables to be drawn up, and he was sorry to observe, but he wed it to justice to declare, that the comparison of the present with former periods was not satisfactory. Perhaps, however, the overgrown amount of the population might be adduced as one of the reasons which produced that unfavourable result. That, however, this subject had not escaped his attention, and that he meant to apply some remedy for the evil, must be obvious to the Hon. Gentleman, as he had given notice of a motion as to the state of the police within 10 miles of the metropolis. When that motion came for ward, the whole question could be discussed. Leave was then given to bring in the Bills mentioned by the Right Hon. Gentleman in the course of his speech. MUTINY AT BARRACKPOOR. Mr. FIUME, in rising to move for " a copy of the Report of the Committee of Inquiry on the mutiny of the native troops at Barrackpoor, in November, 1824, and of orders issued since that time," observed that he was aware, that any question connected with India possessed very little attraction in that House. But in his opinion the magnitude of the subject which he was about to introduce, demanded the serious attention of those whom he then addressed, in order that they might become ac quainted with all the details which bad given rise to the melancholy catastrophe that had occurred at Barrackpoor.— It was rather singular, that the interests of 100,000,000 of people should, in the course of an entire Session, be scarcely once the subject of discussion, in any way, direct or incidental, in that House. He would now call the attention of the House to a transaction, which might be said almost to have endangered the safety of India. He alluded to the mutiny which occurred on the lit of Novem ber, 1824, at the military station of Barrackpoor, about fourteen miles from the Presidency of Calcutta. Soon after that event, a commission was appointed by our own Government, consisting of three officers, of talent, experience, and high character in the army, as proper individuals, to conduct an inquiry on so delicate a subject. That commission did not, as he understood, terminate its inquiries until the month of January, 1825 ; and when, at the close of the Session of 1825, he addressed the President of the Board of Coutroul, that Right Hon. Gentleman stated that the Report of the Commissioners had not been received by him. lie had, however, been informed, that early in July the Report had arrived by the Rose Indianian. Mr. PEEL here interrupted the Hon. Gentleman. He observed that the Speaker was labouring under severe indis position, and, as th., motion was not of a pressing nature, he trusted the same courtesy would be extended to the Right Hon. Gentleman, and that the motion would be postponed. HI.IME expressed his readiness to adopt the suggestion of the Right Hou. Gentleman ; and he begged leave to state he would not (as we understood) have brought forward the question had he not previously mentioned the subject to the Speaker. The SPEAKER wished to be allowed to say, that he owed great obligation to the Hon. Gentleman, whose motion was then proceeding, as well as to many other Members of that House, for their kind consideration, and to none more than to the Right Hon. Gentleman who had just suggested an adjourn ment, after having such a question submitted to them. But he begged leave to assure the House, that, whatever personal inconvenience might arise to him, from going on with the busi ness, he was perfectly ready to endure ; especially, as the sudden termination of the discussion, on the present occasion, by a post ponement, would only create delay, without producing any benefit. He, therefore, must request the business to proceed: Mr. HUME, however, under all the circumstances, moved the adjournment of the debate till to-morrow, (as we un derstood, for the noise occasioned by Members leaving the House was very great,) which was agreed to. Th.,: other orders of the day were then briefly disposed of, and at Nine o'clock the House adjourned. PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS. HOUSE OF COMMONS. ORDERS OF THE DAY FOR THIS DAY. 1. Land Tax Commissioners Names Bill—Second reading. S. Bribery at Elections—Adjourned Debate on proposed Resolution 3. Supply—Committee. 4. Ways and Means—Committee. 5. Ilchester Election—Deputy Clerk of the Crown to attend. 6. Duke and Duchess of Clarence Annuity Bill—Second reading. 7. Mutiny Bill—Committee. 8. Marine Mutiny Bill—Committee. NOTICES OF MOTIONS FOR THIS DAY. 1. Sir Thomas Lethbridge—Bill to amend the General Turnpike Acts. 2. Mr. Hume—Copy of the Report of the Committee of Inquiry on the of yo issued since Troopstiatim taet.Barrackpoor in November 18-24, and Orders Last Day for receiving Petitions for Private Bills. NOTICES GIVEN YESTERDAY. Monday, Feb. 9.6. Mr. Attorney-General—Bin to declare the state of the Law in relation to Bills of Exchange and Promissory Notes becoming payable on Good Friday or Christmas Day. Tuesday, Feb. 27. Mr. Fynes Clinton—To discharge the Order for consideration of the Hedon Election Petition. Wednesday, Feb. 28. Sir James Graham—To present two Petitions relating to the intro. duction of the Military into Carlisle during the last Election. SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS. The House of Commons adjourned last evening at a few mi nutes after nine o'clock, before the close of public business. The cause of the adjournment was the indisposition of the Right Hon. Manners Sutton, who has been suffering for the last few days under a severe cold and attack of lumbago. During the early part of the evening he appeared weak and languid, but was unwill ing that a postponement of public business should take place on his account, and did not retire from the Chair until pressed to do so by loud calls for " adjourn," from both sides of the House. We hope that the illness of the Right Hon. Gentleman will not be serious—at this time, when public business of the greatest im portance is on the eve of discussion, the indisposition of the Speaker would be a great national inconvenience, as the presence of that Right Hon. Gentleman is necessary durin g the discussii,ohne of public measures and their passage through the House d use tilat the House adjourned only to this day, when it fiSHespoesna.km::ur must Gentlemanibl l e b s e lis sufficientlyprnedvee suspended , isi convalescent attendance.l v d a l tl s i c e e ntt indisposition presiisdeh. hoped of Publicthe Right- SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE.-(THIS DAY.) FROM LLOYD'S. - - DE A —,Sald,fr for j from London, thellillnerna, Qu e i nt,An eki sel i l : andfo: S M an grove 1 n K F. 2 o Freeling, Gibbs, for Lisbon ; and C. Grant, aT., Grove, Ritchie, Hay, for India. His Majesty's brig Clio, and his Majesty's cutter Arrow, have arrived from the westward, and remain. PORTSMOUTH, FEB. 22.—Wind N.—Arrived, the Thames, Fraser, from Batavia, for Rotterdam. Sailed, the Valetta, Ste phens, for London, last from Malta and Falmouth. LivFaeooL, Fea. 21.—Wind E.S.E.—The Oporto, Martin, from Oporto, was off Holyhead on the 20th inst. Sailed, the Herellyn, Roadies, for Bahia ; Herald, Graham, for Baltimore; and the Octavia, Candler, for Boston. KINSALE, FEB. 19.—Yesterday, the heart of Oak, of Mary port, struck on a rock, and was totally wrecked—crew drowned. GRANESEND, FEB. 22.—sailed, the Blues, -- for Rio ; Finch, West, for Vera Cruz ; Premium, Young, for Cadia ; Wat son, Watson, for Havre; Green, Smith, for Calcutta ; Canada, for Bahia; and Deud, Rogers, for Tobago. TESSELATED PA - vEmENT.—A few days since a tesselated pavement was discovered in an arable field, in the parish of Leigh, the property of Mrs. Hill, near the turnpike-road lead ing from Gloucester to Tewkesbury. This curiosity is about two feet below the surface of the ground, and is about 60 feet long by eight feet wide. It is now exposed to the weather, and it it to be feared is in unskilful hands.---Cheltenham Chronicle. BRUSSELS PAPERS. BnussiDs, Fan. 19.—T0-day at noon the military ceremony, of which we spoke yesterday, took place in the Place Royale., in which his Royal Highness, the eldest son of the Prince of Orange, received the titular rank of Colonel of Infantry. The King and the Prince of Orange, and Prince Frederick, with the young Prince in his uniform, came into the square, accompanied by a numerous suite. Though the co!d was very severe, this interest ing ceremony attracted a great crowd of spectators. Ilis Ma jesty at the same time gave the young Prinee the Grand Cross of the Order of the Belgic Lion. His Royal Highness entered his tenth year. Acccrding to the last accounts, the Waterloo was to sail on the 6th from Heligoland to Cuxhaven, in order to complete her jury masts, and then to return to the Netherlands. On the 11th of this month, an accident had nearly cost the fires of 200 person,:. who were upon the ice, when it suddenly got loo.,.! from the ' , lnk, and the tide coming down, began to float away. Happily the Burgomaster sent some boats, which brought them all off in tifety. _ _ VIENNA, FEB. 10.-So much has been said against the Pretensions of Austria, manifested by its Ambassador at Paris, re specting the titles of certain French Marshals, Bcc. the Austric' Observer replies as follows : " In 1806, 1807, &c., Buonaparte, to reward ♦arious indivi duals who had rendered him important services in the army, in the administration, or his Court, conferred on them the titles of Princes, Dukes, Counts, &c., and added to several of them, as fiefs of the French empire, the names of provinces, towns, or do mains, situated in the countries which he had conquered. Such were the Dukes of Parma, Placentia, Bassano, Treviso, Dalmatia, Ragusa, Istria, Friuli, Padua, Tarentum, Gaeta, &c. " During the negotiations which preceded, in 1814, the peace of Paris, the Powers to which the Treaty of Peace secured the possession of the territories to which these titles were attached. protested against the continuance of titles which must neces sarily be extinguished with the dominion of the donor over the conquered countries. To justify this protest, it was as sumed, as a principle, that those which recalled the recollec tion of a certain place where the pcssessor of the title had distinguished himself by some military exploit, should be preserved ; and that those which, without expressing such a relation, appeared to indicate a right of possession over countries or towns situated out of the French territory, ought to be con- sidered as abolished. No pretext, on the principle of the law of nations, could be alleged against the justice and propriety of this distinction, which, without detracting in any manner from military glory, was directed against a real anomaly, and prevented political collisions, to which it might evidently give rise. In the same manner as there is an Earl of St. Vincent, a Marquis of Douro and Talavera, a Viscount Trafalgar, a Prince of Waterloo, a Count of Nollendorff, a Prince of Wahlstadt, &c., there might be a Prince of Essling, or of Eckmuhl, a Duke of Montebello, Valmy, Dantsic, &c." From this simple statement it results, that the Austrian Am bassador at Paris, far from having committed an unfounded inno vation, has asserted an incontestable right of nations, which he is bound to maintain.—Brussels Papers, Feb. 21. THE COMMISSION.-TUESDAY, FEB. 20. (From the Dublin Morning Register.) The Judges took their seats on the Bench at ttn o'clock. Mr, Sheil appeared in a few minutes, attended by Lie Counsel, and took his seat at the Traverser's Bar. A City Petty Jury was sworn, aad the Court was about proceeding with the trial of a prisoner, when the Counsel for the Crown appeared. The SOLICITOR-GENERAL.---With your Lordships' permission, I wish to advert to the case of the King against Shiel. I under stand it is the intention of Mr. Shiel to traverse in pros, in COl3- sequence of the shortness of the period which he has had to prepare for trial. There is no objection on the part of the Crows to anything reasonable in this way, but our only objection is to the particular mode in which the traverse is sought to be ob tained. It has been held by some learned persons, that the right to traverse in prox does not exist in this country. I understand it was refused in a particular instance by 8..r0n Pennefather. If the practice be not established in this ceuntry, the Court will not grant it now. The Counsel for the Crown do not wish to give their sanction to a precedent that may hereafter be em ployed to delay or frustrate justice. Ido not wish to be understood as by any means offering opposition to the traverse. But there is another way in which it could be obtained, and it is attempted to do it in a way that we consider without precedent. If yon are of opinion, my Lords, that he has a right to traverse, you will of course grant it ; but if you are not of such an opinion, you will not allow this practice to be established. Judge JOHNSON-Tile Act of Parliament authorizes the right. Mr. O'CoNtrin.L—ln the case of the King against Mr. Eneas .'Donnell, the Court of King's Bench decided in favour of ;he right. Mr. Justice Jana—The Solicitor-General has referred to the opinion delivered by a Learned Judge on the subject. But we cannot oppose experience or practice to a decided Act of Parlia ment, which grants the right in express terms. I have no doubt whatever as to the existence of the right. Mr. WOLFE said, he was present At the time when the decision was pronounced by Mr. Baron Pennefather, And it was not cor rectly stated by the Learned Solicitor. Owing to some particu.. lar circumstances in the case, Baron Pennefather refused the ap plication, but he abstained at the same time from expressing any opinion as to the general right of persons to traverse in prox. Judge JEBB—My opinion is decidedly in favour of the right. The SOLICITOR-GENERAL said, he had mentioned the Jun be 'Ore Baron Pannefather only from report. As Mr. Wolfe was present, his statement was probably the more correct. He (the Solicitor-General) did not wish to throw difficulties in the way of the traverse, but the same thing could be obtained another way. Mr. O'CONNELL—At the last Commission, the right was al lowed by Mr. Justice Jebb and Judge Moore. The case at Ennis was that of a man who was indicted for assaulting a witness, as be was coming down from the table. The Judge himself might, in this instance, have inflicted punishment, (as it was a contempt of Court,) without resorting to a trial. But the right to traverse was allowed. I have mentioned the case of the King against Mr. Eneas M'Donnell. This was a prosecution for libel, and the de fendant applied to traverse in prox. It was argued in the Court of King's Bench, and the right was opposed by Mr. Sealy Townsend and the late Mr. Ridgeway. What we relied on was the refusal of the right to the seven Bishops, and the fact, that immediately after the Revolution that right was solemnly deter mined, and the impropriety of refusing it to the Bishops declared. An Act of Parliament which took away the right from a person who may assault a revenue officer, was cited, but that only prayed the general principle. The Court took time to deliberate, and the Chief Justice Downes pronounced the unanimous decision of the Court iu favour of the right. The SoLicrroa-GrxxitaL argued that the Sessions of Oyer and Terminer in England were distinct Courts, and not held by adjournment as here. Therefore the practice is different. Mr. O'Cosrsztt. said, at the last sitting of the Court th:s right had been allowed. JUDGE JOHNSON said, he never had a doubt on the subject. The SOLICITOR-GENERAL contended, that this was a perpetual sitting of the same Commission. I❑ England the Judges sit at. Commission, and that Commission is distinct and separate in itself. Each Commission there is a distinct Court pro hac —The Judges here sit by adjournment, and under an authority granted in 1798. This Court may be adjourned from day to day, or from week to week—but is always the same Court. Mr. PERRIN—The words of the Act are, " Session or Ces sions." Judge JIBE said, it all eurne to the same thing. Mr. HoLuis insisted for the right. Mr. O'CONNELL—We do not look for matters of favour. The SOLICITOR-GIXERAL—I am not talking of matters of favour. Judge JEBB wished to have the opinion of the twelve Judges taken upon the Bubjeet. By that opinion he would be guided.-- For himself, he had no doubt whatever of the existence of the right. The SOLICITOB-GEXERAL expressed his determination to re move the case by certiorari to the King's Bench, to be tried there next Term. By this means the defendant will have a week longer than if he traversed to the next Commission. This was agreed to on the other side, and Mr. Shell left the Court in company with hie Counsel. PROSECUTIONS AGAINST THE PRESS. In about an hour after, the Solicitor-General entered the Court, and addressing their Lordships, said there were two other cases in which the parties bad been bound by recognizanceo to appear for the publishing. But as the case respecting the principal was to be tried in the Court of King's Bench, any further proceedings that may be deemed advisable in those two cases, will be taken in that Court also. lie had, therefore, to move the Court, that the parties he discharged from their recognizance , to appear here. Judge hm—Were the bills sent up? The SOLICITOR-GENERAL—No, my Lord. The recognizances were ordered to be discharged. ASYLUM FOR FEMALE OnrirAws.-.The Annual Meeting yesterday was well attended, and the result was highly gratifying. A most excellent Sermon was preached on the occa sion by the Bishop of Gloucester.