The Sun. — London, England, 1830-03-03 00:00:00

pear Wag th e dance should his Lordship. Id Tory Lord t know what which eon who hoard and pros& o a libel, law to find ; that with times, and t the coon prironer to AttOrVeY' 1 Attorney *lust an in" nning frow him. But persevere.'' he proceed refore treat carried oil meats ware had a right in office. the offence ught thew' rerey of the the Hecoud libel upon libel upon Attorney ;enerad, ice e, th,A the A probe" et find tl.e neat ought have been on to try inie at the hsent front scion made le prosee4- rden, raid, Now, he Lis wag the ce alluded to ucteutite-- Attorney -4.11. a wan ter)--or it What then rei merely vhieh one vied. lie when the y- General, Ll, instead his brief hider of it .ad of this, Jury pro pan ied: by maied the ma an At eornpauied eed to try niation.--- nd, if oue f this was n—if this and the ritual—if !s—if this iolating its —He had trance and uracterised onsly com• indecency ;a, he was him ; but done, he done, Le )—lf Mr. ury having ed him on w sent to (shed upoa al did not I knowing been opc rse of the ject with o the feel if view, of an attack on. Gent. which the he would Miun, and he would d not say ight peas libel bad to Ewen to If thir hat Howls i that the formation, rest, and ptinst the who had who had staternaate leers and to a Jury ngs of the esentation not mean r. A. bad Ming the Vier to be gilt to du the ca .9 tialitv ; but this lie w.,ula ige which had taken 1 not rise week no done very !, an I yet the libel ) right to power of A.) hail to know :0 gravely uu. Gen the Bar. question& . „ Wel, had the Attorney-General, or had he not, a right to file ex-officio infermatione againstelibele on the Members of that House.) If he had that right, it was not didicult to tell which side of the House he would defend.— ' (Cheers )—Oise side would always be well protected, Whilst there would be an impunity in attacking the ether. Ile would say that the Attorney-General had no such right. He would refer to a case. Gentlemen wolOri re collect that before the impeachment of Lord Melville there was a Commission of Naval Inquiry, and many asserted that the Report of the Co:nmissioners at' Na tal Inquiry had committed a libel against Lord Mel tine. In this discussion the Lditor of a paper, Celled the Orator, bad reflected libellously upon the character of that Howse. Lord Grey brought the case under the consideration of ParHeinen:, and a very long discussion took place upon it. Mr. Atkins no that the Editor ought to be called to the bar and repre heeded. On that uceasion the first authority in Podia mentlml said—Mr. Fox hail sold that the House of Com mons ought not to give up its privileges to a Court of Law—(Heer, hear, hear !)—Tbey ought to keep up its domestic privileges, its forum tlorn!sticuot. Mr. Fox had expressed himself in terms he would now read—" He reminded the Ileuse that when they once committed a Prosecution to the Law Cout ts, they had no longer any further continent' in the ease, let the case be what it might; and if the Howse were inclined to shew lenity, they would no longer have it in their power to do so." This race was proposed to lie ended by Lord Grey, by the sense calling the party to the Her, and reprimanding him. 111 r. Pitt, au the contrary, said, that if the House had voted the publication a libel, it was necessary, propter * ditinitatens, that the author ehouhl be committed to the custody of the Serjeant at Arius. He need not remind the House of similar eases, in which the House had been jea lous of asserting its own dignities, and not delegating them to neOrrior Courts. Had Mr. Alexander been had up to the Bar of that House, the else would have been disposed of nine maths ago. arum the period of the Revolution to the present time, no case existed in which any Attorney- General lied assumed a right of prosecuting any man for a libel upon any person for his conduct within the wells of that House. Nu such case was to be found on the Journals of the House. In 1699 the Attorney-General had been directed to prosecute Mr. Steel ; and in 1702 the Attorney- General had been directed to prosecute an individual who had attasked the House. But this was by the directions of that House; and if the Attorney-General Was to file informations against Mr. A, B, C, or D, who attacked .11Iembera who sat on the Government side of the House, wher e was the Attorney-Crucial who would defend the supp ose a Member on the other side of the house, from the North, though it mattered not whether from the North or South ; but suppose such a Member on the opposite benches—a troublesome man on an Estimate— (A laegh)_an awkward man to get rid of.—(A laugh.) Suppose him calumniated for his want of attention to dis tress ; suppose him libelled in the newspapers—ryas the Att orney -General to aseinre the right of protecting him ? But eeppeee the Attorney-General did not protect him. Suppose his protection was all the other way, or even that he afforded no protection at all, could any Member of the Opposition side so degrade himself, or the House, as to ask the Treasury Benches to defend him ? Any man would degrade himself by so doing ; and be ought in such a ease to suffer. He would net undertake to say what was libellous or not, for he should be scarified if wrong; but he must say that there was nothing in the case of the -iforniny Journal which might not have been brought to the barof that Huuse, and he saw nothingin it that required the interference of the Attorney-Generaa If, when Go vernment had got hold of Mr. Alexander, and had sent him to jail for four months, they could have imprisoned complaint—if they could have caught hold of the genius of public distress, and had sent it to jail for three months, it would have been a capital expedient. But if, when a person was sent to jail for complaining of public distress, that distress existed unhappily more than ever, it was dis gra,•eftd to pretend that he was sent to jail, not for misre presentation, but because he had expressed his feelings too mainly. It was in vain to pretend that Mr. Alexander bad suborned, or fallaciously feigned a case of distress ; for whilst be was in jail in the year 1830, unfortunately distress was stalkine abroad in every town in England. Distress now existed in an aggra vated form in an increased ratio. This was a hard case. Had Mr. Alexander created a false impression of distress, lie ought to have bees ituptisoned fur Circ.! years, and not for three months ; but distress was real, and the matt was suffering for only saying what every man in that House sad in the kingdom knew to be true. Was that distress real or not? Look at the meetings tin oughout the coun try, the memorials of juries, the petitions to that House. Did Mr. Alexander fabricate all these meetings, or itimulate all the complaints ? The distress existed now, and yet fur saying so this man was suffering in gaol. —(Hear, hear.) Had Mr. Alexander overstated or un derstated the case? He (Sir C. Wetherell) was not an advocate for the licentiousness of the Press, nor was he disposed to cure its scurrility and abuse by prefixing to it limits. Ile would assert that in all legitimate forms of complaint, terms quite as strong were employed as those used by Mr. Alexander, who was sent to Newgate for so many months. The Chancellor of the Exchequer had opened a gadget of Finance, and the Attorney-General had opened a beget of Informations. He felt himself under the necessity of complaining in the strongest terms of the whole of these proceedings. It was sufficiently daninatory of an Attorney-General, if he used the strong powers of the law and the weight of the Crown against individuals, even in a manner so equivocal as created a divided ',pinion throughout the country of the propriety of his Proceedings. Such informations ought never to be tiled but in cases of evident necessity, and in which they in were backed by respectable opinion. If these pas sages y .the Jour na l were to be thus prosecuted, wh were not much w orse passages against Mr. Canning proceeded against by th e A ttorney-General? Mr. Gautnitee had been accused in a pamphlet of running a course of ritsaffec- Sion and.apostacy, which latter was a term introduced into the libel that had occasioned the prosecution of Mr. Alexander : but the Attorney-General had not felt it his duty to instit ute any proceeeings against the authoror publisher of these libels against Mr. Canning. So far from this being the case, the whole pamphlet was descanted its the sh a p e o f a speech, and had been uttered waint-hfir,eniat. I . Once against th e Ri g h t Hon. Gentleman, M ember of that H ouse. Another charge had ' been made against M r . C anning for bringing aHill into that House Which was an insult to the nation. No prosecution had then beets instituted, although there then had existed a Tory Ael nainist te r d etio n and a Tory Attorney-General. The principal:ad o untenable, lett) was the Hon. Gentleman (Sir James Sear and unjase r ewar e _ , unconstitutional, and utterly immoral spirit, the practices , individuals. It was contrary to the were onee allowed' el o , and usages of that blouse ; and if it cute individuuals :at any Attorney-General should prose for voting and s out of that House for attacks on Members House degra I Peeking in that Home, not only was the • invaluable rightset), and its privileges violated, b ut t h e most nom held liberty on th e su ff erance of the Attor depended upon whether his tem- Per, disposition et ia i eee , n, _ ro 7 or his at t ent i on to the times re .l-m using th ose powers which any man ltiiyinbe call e d the to infinitet mischi e f w h enever h e pleased. Ha atenoon of the H ouse to t h ree po i nts, if he were asked what h ehould int en d e d to d o w i th the fourth, he I say that-he had not made up hi s m i n d to t h at po i nt. erhaps Mini s t ers at made up th e i r m i n d s t h at M r. Alex olider should not I lo ie confined in Newgate, for a man to be it watt hard hadietnie e confirmed for attacking the King, on a third to nt, when a Jury had prev:ously recommended him diet l aterite for the same matter contained in the second in mene......arl owing , to which recommendation the At -I"theYGeneral dare, not to bring him up upon it. Ile had endeavoured ratio of to adhere as closely as he could tv all the atten tion e tt the cares to which he had called the atten war:. tnwltliiuse; and he would now conclude in a few intolerable, of respe c t to the first prosecution, it 'WM most mina , 0.0,,0urt unbearable, most tyrannical, thet a eri ion should be instituted againrt any man by a private Suitt, agitattel r, exposing him to all the hi:card, to all the reaulting feelings , }rout to all the apprehension of consequences lawy er by : I I suck a charge; and that then the same should aud,ient.om the first prosecution was commenced and should', as la change the character of the prosecution, public chats eteAtt, r ney-General, file an information in his trot o r o , t which proceeding itself, if it failed, might Le borne. w i ., This could not be burne, this must not uee g reepect to the second iliformation he y glad r ter to the • flielently mien • vet, let of the Jury, by which it was gution, arisen With respect to the third prose but the Attorti hien out of no Resolution of the House; of the House; ale° General had taken it out of the hands either the per opens, if it had been brought before them, or a more le che r ged might have been declared inno theta*, than that silent punishment might have been in would .crow Prnceeding from a Court of Justice. ferto; and whenee for the documents to which he had re-comes hefor they came as y am .. e th e he trusted they would to. ere who had , be Blend(' b e ale] if any Hon. the subj ect h . P , 11 " "IY a tenth •of lan he b part the attentien Lessened • suijtl Friend who au paid to it, and if his Hon. and ec e, w ou l d .!grtied with him in opinion upon the it:tolerable grien.ol7.4l:thn maturing some remedy for the The Hun. and Learned c ell he had deser:hed.—( flear.)— laid before the 1.10 eat. then :nue 1 ts T lute co i e That there b e P ee tee • the several luformation 8 filed ex-officio by the Attorney-General against Mr. Alex ander, the Editor of a Paper called the Morning Journal —Copies of the several Judgments entered against him upon the Records of the ahive informations, and Low the tame were entered—An exact Minute of the words in wliich each Jury pronounced their Verdict against hint upon eac:i of the above informs.i , ins—Exact Minute of the Terms in which any of the Juries expressed a recoinnlendation of him to mercy." • The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said, that in rising at so late an hour as between twelve and one o'clock to address them upo❑ this impor tent occasion, he trusted that if he expressed any difficulty, it would not be supposed that it was a difficulty to answer every topic which his Hon. and Learned Friend had introduced into his speech ; but that • it would be tiadetstood to be the difficulty which he should feel in commending the attention of the house while he proceeded to investigate the charges which his Hon. and Learned Friend had brought against him. It was more especially necessary that he should throw himself upon the ' candour, the indulgence, and the patience of the Hotter., because he should abstain front all attempt to introduce any of that entertaining kind of matter with which his Hon. and Learned Friend had enlivened his obeervations. On the contrary, it would be his object to endeavour to separate from the real question all those extraneous and unconnected topics—which, however, had formed the principal part of his Hon. and Learned Friend's speech— and to confine himself to those few points the consideration of which was essential in order to enable the House to come to a soun I decision upon the subject. In the first place, he could not help thinking that the manner in which his Hon. and Learned Friend hail treated the question, showed that he was acting under the influence resulting from his considering himself as a kind of professional advo cate for the person principally concerned. He could not otherwise account fill' the partial manner in which his Hon. and Learned Friend had presented the facts of the case to the view of the House. There was also another kind of influence by which it was evident that his Hon. and Learned Friend had been actuated. To his great sur prise, his Hon. and Learned Friend had _condescended to state that Mr. Alexander, the libeller, was the Repre sentative of the party in that House and in the country of which his Hon. and Learned Friend declared. himself to be a Member. He (the Attorney-General) had certainly never expected an avowal of that nature. HoweVer right his Hon. and Learned Friend might be in questioning the propriety of the prosecutions against Mr. Alexander, be certainly had never expected that his Honourable and Learned Friend would have avowed that that in dividual was the representative of a party in that House, and that he would have defended him on that ground. They had now learned, however, not only that Mr. Alexander was the avowed representative of a party in that House ; hut that his Hon. and Learned Friend would have become his Advocate in a Court of Law had it not been that the iecollection of foriner connexions had led his Hon. Friend to entertain an apprehension that he should have violated decorum by so doing. His Hon. add Learned Friend hid declared it to be his opinion that the prosecutions which had been instituted by Itim(theA ttorney- General), and by his Majesty's Government, against Mr. Alexander, were attributable to the motive, not of the wish to restrain the licentiousness of the Press, and to put down intolerable calumny and slander, but to put down the party to which his Hon. and Learned Friend thlonged, by attacking it through Mr. Alexander's side. In discuss ing what was a great Constitutional question, he had hoped that it would have been kept separate and distinct from all party and political considerations, and that there would not have been attributed to him motives which he distinctly and entirely disavowed, although the probability c•f their existence seemed to have filled his Hon. and Learned Friend's mind. He would now proceed, trusting, as he had already said, to the candour and indulgence of the House, to the investigation of the topics which were the real objects of their consideration. In the first place, he was chdrged by his Hon. and Learned Friend with op pression ; inasmuch as, having commenced proceedings in the Court of King's Bench, in a private suit, in the name of the Lord Chancellor, against Mi. Alexander, and hay.. ing induced the Court to grant a rule to show cause why a criminal information should not be filed against that person, he afterwards thought fit to file an ex-officio in formation as Attorney-General against the same individual. This course his Hon. and Learned Friend had called op pressive, because his Hon. and Learned Friend had main teinedl that if he had tried one prosecution and failed, he might have proceeded with the other. Now that could not have been done ; and he was surprised that his Hon. and Learned Friend, who had himself filled the office of Attor ney-General, should have fallen into a mistake, which he (the Attorney-General) could not have supposed that any one lawyer in Westminster Hall would have cointnitted.— [S:r Charles Wetherell slid flint such was not the case.] — As his Hon. aid Learned Friend seemed to he unaware of the law in this case, he would tell hint, that if 11.1 r. Alex ander had been tried on an ex-officio information and ac quitted, he could never have been tried on any other infor mation for the same alleged offence. Yet this was one of the topics on which his Hon. and Learned Friend hail ex patiated for half an hour ; au error which he certainly haul not expected from one so conversant with the law. That topic was the main ground on which his Hon. and Learned Friend rested his first charge. That ground was thus taken from him. But lie (the Attorney-General) would go further. His Hon. and Learned Friend asserted that it was not right, when the Court of King's Bench haul granted a rule to show cause why a criminal information should not be filed against an individual, on a private suit, that he (the Attorney-General) should then file au ex-officio information against the same individual. He would, by and by, state the reasons which had in duced him to make this change in the course of his proceeding. He would now confine himself to the de- claration of his Honourable and Learned Friend, that the Attorney-General, having, as private Counsel for the Lord Chancellor, obtained a rule from the Court, ought not to have filed an ex-officio information against the same individual for the !tame offence. In the first place, all that he had done, in the first instance, was to obtain permission from the Court to file the information. Did his Hon. and Learned Friend mean to say that the information had been actually filed? If so, his Hon. and Learned Friend had been misinformed. But it seemed that because that rule had bee❑ granted, he was wrong in afterwards subeti • ' tutieg for the private action an ex-officio information. Why ? Was it any objection to the Attorney. General's filing an ex-officio information against an individual, that ' four Learned Judges of the Court of King's Bench had pre viously declared that it was a fit case for filing a criminal in formation ? Even if the Court had refused him authority to file an information in the first instance, would that have de prived him of the right of exercising his own judgment as to filing an ex-officio information ? if his lion. and Learned Friend maintained that doctrine, what would he say if an Attorney-General were to file an ex-officio information against an individual after a Grand Jury bad thrown out a bill that had been preferred against him ? Yet such had been the case. A Noble and Learned Lord, of sound judg ment and the highest legal attainments, formerly one of the greatest ornaments of that House, but who now held the office of Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in Ireland, when he was Attorney-General for Ireland, had a charge brought against him for having filed an ex-officio ieforma titan, not as in his (the Attorney-General's) case, after he had had the authority sf a Court of Justice that the case was one fitted for an information, but after a Grand Jury had thrown out a bill against the party charged. Huw did the Noble and Learned Lord defend himself? There were several cases, both in Ireland and in this country, which he might have addaced, to show that his course of proceeding was correct. Bat be wanted no distant prece dent. He simply referred to a case in October, 1611, in which a Bill of three counts having been preferred against Sir Wm. Strickland, for having written a letter to a Mem ber of the Government, solicitting a place, and offering a bribe for a compliance with his solicitation, the Bill was ignored by the Grand Jury; upon which the Court of King's Bench ordered a second bill to be preferred, which was ignored by the Grand Jury in November; the result of which was, than an ex-officio information was filed against the same person by the Noble and Learned Lord's predecessor, who was never called upon in any manner to expla:n the reasons of such a proceeding. He, however pie Attorney-General), was called upon by his Honourable and Learned Friend to account for his conduct, became he had tiled an ex-officio informa tion, not after a Grand Jury or Grand Juries had thrown out a bill against the individual, but after he had re ceive•] the sanction of the Court of King's Bench fur its being a fit case for an intimmation. He would state to the House the form of the proceeding. The Lord Chan cellor, as a private person, lied made an affidavit denying the allegations of the libel. If upon this the defendant had tunic a clew and distinct admission of the falsehood of the charge, and had expressed his regret and remorse at having given it publicity, no further proctied'ng would have been taken against him. He had hail an opportunity before the information was filed to have explained and apologized, and thereby have put an 'end to the matter. Instead of that, what was the course which this person pursued ? An ex cellent and Learned Friend of hie, who defended Mr. Alex ander, when be (the Attorney-General) moved in the Court of King's Bench for a rule to show cause why a cti mival infUrmati n should not be filed a,•ainst him—le meant Mr. Deivean—stated that the course which was pursuing by hin► (the Attorney-General) indicated appre ha:mime ; that it Was evident he did not dare file au ex- fficio information at once, and therefore came to seek the sanction of the Court; that other eminent persons alto had suffered from the freedom of the Press had trusted to their character, but that the Lord Chancellor way. compelled to have recourse to legal proceedings. This was a tenfold aggravation of the offence. He was far from imputing to Mr. Denman, who was a personal friend of the Lord Chancellor, who highly esteemed him, any intention of seriously imputing such a motive ; but it was stated by I im in rite cause of his client, and certal t n y had e direct tendency to fix the charge in the libel tnoredeejny. on Lord Lyndhurst. The next div the proceedings in the Court were repotted in the Morning Journal, Mr. Alexander's paper, a copy of which was brought to him (the Attorney-General) by a Learned Friend. In t h at p tper every topic which had been urged by Mr. Denman in his speech Was repeated with the utmost exae ' nerati ma The most inflammatory language was used. He (the Attorney-General) was taunted with want of courage and spirit for the course of proceeding which he bad adopted ; and it was distinctly declared—which, however, was pre cisely what his Hon. and Learned Friend had that even ing denied—that the only true constitutional proceeding would be the filing of an ex-officio information. Sup pose he (the Attorney-General) rested his defence on that ground alone—what right would any one, especially what right would Mr. Alexander and his Hon. and Learned Friend have to complain of him for the course which lie ultimately pursued ? But provoked as he was by this conduct, it was not the ground on which he adopted his ulterior proceeding. The information was, as usual, drawn up for Lim by a junior barrister, a gentleman of great ability and learning. When, however, he (the Attorney-General) was about to sign the iiifor =tint), he observed in one of the counts matter which induced him to change his course of proceed ing. It was rather difficult to explain this to the House, but he would endeavour to de .4 The charge in the libel, although mainly directed against the Lord Chan cellor, did not rest there. It cast an imputation on an Hon. and Learned Friend of his, the Solicitor-General, for having obtained the high station which he held by corrupt means. It also catetan imputation on the whole Government for conferring a high office, not from considerations of a public nature, but from considerations of private gain. It was a general attack on the Government; and when the information prepared for him was presented to him with the count in which that was alleged, fully concurring in its justice, the libel appeared to him to have greater and more extensive malignity than lie had imagined. He was, therefore, induced to change his course. - The Court of King's Bench might otherwise have said to hint, " When you applied for an information it was for a libel on the Lord Chancellor. On that ground we granted your application; but we find that you have in troduced into the information a count which has no rela tion to that specific point." For those reasons he (the Attorney-General) had abandoned the course ori einally talean, and had filed an ex-officio information. He had no hesitation whatever in doing so. He hail the authority of his Learned Friend, Mr. Denman, and of Mr. Alexander himself for the propriety of the proceed ing. It was not, therefore, from fear in the first instance ; it was nut front provocation in the second instance; but it was for the reason which he had just stated, and which rendered the course he had taken the only justifiable course. That was his firm opinion at the time ; it was still his firm opinion ; and he should carry it with him to the grave. His Hon. and Learned Friend, in the first in stance, had declared that no man in Westminster Hall would say that the proceeding which he (the Attorney- General) had adopted was justifiable, although he after wards qualified that declaration by saying that every man in Westminster Hall considered it to he unprecedented. Such a care, in all its circumstances, had, he dared to say, never before happened. But if hie Hon. and Learned Friend meant to allege that there was no man in Westmin ster Hall who did not disapprove of his (the Attorney- General's) proceedings, all he would then say was, that his Hon. Friend and himself must move in very different circles. He denied most distinctly that his conduct hail met with the disapprobation among legal men, which his Honourable and Learned Friend seemed- to sup pose. He came now to the consideration of the se cond information. This was attacked by his Honour able and Learned Friend as warmly as the first. He (the Attorney-General) really believed, however, that it was the first time since that House bad been a House of Parliament, that any Attorney-General had been at tacked in it for filing an ex-officio information for a libel upon the King. But his lion. and Learned Friend said that the publication in question was not such a libel. The answer was that it had been so considered by the Judge, and that it had been so considered by the Jury. His Hon. and Learned Friend had dwelt upon the acquittal of a part of the charge, and upon the recommendation to mercy. But, suppose the defendant had been acquitted altogether, would that have been un unprecedented case? Repeated instances of such a case had occurred. But it was wholly without precedent that even in such a case the Attorney- General had been attacked in that House for filing the in formation. His Hon. and Learned Friend had quoted the late Lord Ellenborough's opinion on the trial of Mr. Perry, to show that the second information which be (the Attor ney-General) had filed was directed against nutter not li bellous. Notwithstanding that opinion, however, and notwithstanding the acquittal of Mr. Perry, the Attorney_ General of that day was not called to account for having filed an ex-0fft...70 information. His Hon. and Learned Friend had been very tranquil on that occasion. Now, how ever, that he conceived his own party was interested, after three months' consideration and preparation he came forward with his charges. He (the Attorney-General) per fectly agreed with the verdict which the Jury gave in the case of Mr. Perry. But what was the passage charged as libellous ? It was the following:—" What a crowd of blessings rush upon one's mind, that might be bestowed upon the country in time event of a total change of system ! Of all Monarchs indeed since the Revolution, the successor of George the Third will have the finest opportunity of be coming nobly popular." Now, without imputing any blame to Sir Vicary Gibbs, who no doubt did what he conceived to be the duty of the Attorney-General on that occasion, he must say that he did not think that passage was suf ficiently libellous for prosecution. He should certainly have nut filed an ex-officio information against it. Lord Ellenborough inclined to the opinion that it was not a libel ; and the Jury declared by their verdict that it was not'so. Sir Vicary Gibbs, however was not attacked in that House for his conduct. But then he was not a Whig Attorney-General. [his Hon. and Learned Friend had in his opinion shown bad taste in bandying about the terms Whig and Tory ; distinctions which, perhaps, ex isted at present only in name. The fact , was, however, that no Whig Member, no advocate for the Press, brought Sir Vicary Gibbs before the Howie for having filed an ex-officio information against Mr. Perry, although Mr. Perry had been acquitted of the charge preferred ageing him. It seemed that such a course of conduct was re served for a Tory. In stating the offence which had given rise to this second prosecution, his Hon. and Learned Friend had been somewhat uncandid. The course which a Member in his situation ought to take was to state the whole case—to extenuate nothing which made against his own view of it—to exaggerate nothing which confirmed that view. Whereas his Hon. and Learned Friend hail conducted him self like a lawyer; lie had exaggerated whatever told in favour of his d:ent, and had extenueted whatever told against him.—(A laugh.)---His Hon. and learned Friend had not even read to the House the terms of the libel ; but had described it generally as a tepresentation that the King was unpopular, and therefore did not like to go to Covent-Garden Theatre. If that were all that it con tained, what must be said of the Judge who had allowed such a ease to go to a Jury? He must be an absolute ideot. Yet lie was sure his Hon. and Learned Friend respected and reverenced Lord Teuterden as much as he did ; and knew as well the candour and impartiality of his character, as well as the depth and extent of his legal knowledge. In the course of a long practice, he (the Attorney-General) . had never known any Judge wh.om Lord Tenterden did not equal—he might almost say whom he did not surptss—in combining the greatest accuracy of professional knowledge with the mos: perfect fairnees and impartiality of conduct. Lord Tentertlen said that the publication was a libel. He (the Attoruey-Gentral) sa;d that it was a libel. If his Hon. and Learned Friend hal been on the Jury, his sense of honour would have compelled him to concur in the verdict that it wag at libel. It began thus :—" His Majesty, it is said, com pleins bitterly that his Ministers have placed him in such a position, that he cannot enjoy the pleasure of exhi biting himself to hie people. George the Fourth was, till now, a popular Monarch. That he has been rendered VLre deeply o la v t i a n e ; t tid t e lm , e th o ia c t cur is ret a rc ir e ee ; otherwise, is th e ac t o f hi s i mper i ou S M i ti i stere. te b d ut b) p , ublic feeling ie an ever causes which, al though invisible, olten lead to disastrous results. We pity our aged and revered Sovereign." He (the Attorney. General) had been brought up in the habit of thinking, that when the personal character of the Sovereign became the subject of public discussion, that discussion ought al ways to be conducted with reverenne 40 respect. But what could be more degrading to any Monarch then to de clare that he was in a state of thraldom to his Ministers., and that though once popular, he was afraid to show him self to his people, or partake of their amusement* ? Ile would now proceed to the third case. His Hon. and L w s : rt e r x sa Friend a l etlithe a had lueasserteda fat that thelas the t.nleibethe in this case Attorne- General) in!iintained that it wag much stronger. It stated that the King was kept in subjection to his Ministers; but combined with that a libel on the Houses of Lords arid Commons, on the Revolution, and on several hal:- viduale. His lion. and Learned Friend had 'cointensleti that, because the Jury had, in the second case, remit, mended the defendant to mercy, the third trial teleie not to have been brought on five minutes after the conclusion of the second; and he maintained, that the constitutional mode of proceeding against any per son who had libelled that House, was to place him at the bar, and to punish him for conteini:t. Long, however, before he (the Attorney-General) had had the honour of a seat in that House, he had heard the usage on the part of both Houses of Pauli iment, of making them selves at once accusers and judges, instead of sending cases in which they were concerned to he determined by Juries, made the topic of loud and general complaint. Now, how ever, lie learned, and that from an Ex-Tory Attorney-Ge neral, that it was oinstitutionel to bring offenders to the Bir to be punished for a breach of privilege. If, however, he wanted precedents for his conduct, he had them in abun dance. When Lord E lenborough was Attorney-General he filed several ex-officio information,: against individual. for libelling both Houses of Parliament, !if: previous Address to his ikisjesty for that purpose having been agreed to. When Sir A. M•Doliald held the same office, he filed an ex-ifficio information against the notorious Paine, for a libel on all parts of the Constitution ; no Address to the Kin; having requested that such a proceeding might be insti tuted. If, however, people lend made up their minds to disapprove of his conduct, the whole of his defence, on whatever grounds it might be founed, would prove of no Avail. But as to the number of information* for libel on the House of Commons during the ei•ting of that Houses, he could show that they were neither Po few nor so unusual as might be inferred from the at guin. nt of his Hon. and Learned Friend. When Lord Eldon was Attorney-Gen. there were three informations thr libel on the House of Commons during the sitting of Perliament. Of these informations the second was against Joseph Johnson, and the thin; against a publication entitled The Scarlett Devil—(Loud laughter and cheers.) When Garrow was Attorney.- General there were four informations, and one indictment for the same offence, and under similar circumstances. When Shepherd was Attorney-General there were ten informations and two indictments for libels on the House of Commons during the sitting of Parliament. When Gifford was Attorney-General there were ten informa tion, and one indictment for libel on the House of Com mons, not entirely, but chiefly during the sitting of Par liament ; and lastly, in 1820, there were three indictments for libels on the ?louse of Commons, the Parliament then sitting. He should hope these were sufficient precedents to show it was neither improper nor unusual to file crimi nal informations for libsls on the House during the time it was yet sitting. Now, as to the recond did his Hon. and Learned Friend mean to say that because Mr. Alexander had been prosecuted for a libel on the King, and had also, on the same occasion, maligned the Ministry, the House of Lords and the House of COIIII110:19, that they .were, therefore, to consider tire libel on his Majesty the less? Was this what he meant to urge after his three months study of the ease ? Surely at least 500 instan ces might be cited in which some circumstances were pressed in aggravation ; and nobody had ever objected to such a course of proceeding except his lion, and Learned Friend anti Mr. Alexander, from whom, in all probability, lie would say his Hon. and Learned Friend had borrowed his objections. Now he would state the grounds on wll:ch he load proceeded. His Hon. and Learned Friend lad treated these prosecutions as if Mr. Alexander had been se lected for punishment, because he was the organ of a party ; while the fact was, he was so much mistaken that his (the Attorney-General's) reason for preseeinting the man was to prove that he was not the organ of the p:rty he pretended to represent. He had punished the Editor of that newspaper, because he thaught it was the best way of showing he was not supported by a party. During the discussion s preceding the settlement of the Catholic Ques tion, considerable excitement had prevailed within the walls of that House, and an angry feeling had been called up, which, he was sorry to observe, still seemed to rankle in the breast of his Hon. and Learned Fs lend. A correspond ing degree of agitation existed abroad, and the Pre., on ens side sought to maintain things in the state they were, II the use of all possible means. Now Ire had never impeached the motives or doubted the integrity of the Noblemen and Gen tlemen who maintained opinions contrary to his own upon tins great measure, however he alight have suspected their good judgment in not consenting to accommodate them selves to the circumstances of the times; but he thought that the means adopted by a certain portion of the Press to forward the objects of their party were not legiti mate. False rumours were daily spread abreast, with the view of weakening the influence of his Majesty's Mi nisters in the House of Commons. London was described to be inn a saute of the most dreadful agitation. He re membered that he happened to go into the country in the month of March, and he was asked if the Metropolis was not in all but actual rebelliell ? In short, they expected to hear each hour that the town had been set on tire ! Well, on the other side, the country papers asserted tire same things, so that the citizens were kept in perpetual alarm respecting the state of the country ; while the fact was, that the Oxford election alone had created some ex citement, which rapidly subsided, and then all was for gotten. But still, while the discussions were going on no prosecutions were instituted. It was expected that after the measure had been pissed all agitation would subside. Well ! the Bill was passed, as he believed, on the 13th of April, and the feeling of all the Noble and Hum Persons wino opposed its progress then was that no exertion should be spared to restore the public tranquillity, which this measure was intended to secure. Still, however, this Paper continued its misrepresentations. The first user tion was, that the King proposed to dissolve the Parlia ment iind withhold tine Reyna consent, and he had no doubt that many honest men, who took their opinions from the newspapers, believed it; nevertheless, it was not cor rect. Next, it was stated that Iris ilbjesty being dissatis fied with his Ministers, and having determined to dismiss them, the measure was ten be reconsidered and repealed. Now, he contended, a public officer was bound to pay at tention to the effect which any given libel was likely to produce; and when it was considered that the state of the country was such at the time that all good subjects and Honest men wino had even been opposed to the measure were anxious to allay the popular agitation, he submitted that he was perfectly justified in showing that Mr. Alex ander did not represent the party under the colours of which he might be received by certain classes of the people with a degree of credit.—(Hear, hear )-1-Ie remembered that on the very day he was presented to iris Majesty, a paragraph cantle out pretending to describe a conference which took place between the King and the venerable Lord Eldon, respecting the inability of the Lord Chancellor to discharge the duties of his office, anel the necessity of seek ing out some proper successor to his Lordship. Here, then, was a conversation reported a; tracing taken place between the King and a Peer of the Realm, containing tine most unpleasant allusions to the Lord Chancellor, and this was done by a man wino pretended to be (but was not) the organ of a party. What, then, was likely to be the result of this? Would it not assuredly have the tendency to lead the multitude to believe that this man had some mode of acquiring informatien of whet took place at Windsor, and had an intimate con nexion with the leaders of tine party who had opposed the Catholic Relief Bill ? i fe was quite aware that no Member of that House would believe it---that no man of education would believe it. All such knew better. They di 1 not take their opinions from the newspaper; ; but the great tnass of the populace might, annul perhaps, in a great degree, did take their opinions from the newspapers; and were not statements of this nature, therefore, likely to pro duce seditious effects among the people? Still lie was anxious to refrain from any measures of severity, and he did so until the libel was published on the Lord Chancellor, ,ttributing to him i m p ro p er m o tiv es i n the promotion of iris lion. and Learned Friend, This libel, it should be ed, ton, was combined with ma n y hi n t s o f th e same false and offensive nature. Tines, for instance, allu sion had been trade to his Lordship, as if he were in a state of the utmost pecuniary embarrassment—us if credi tors were knocking. at his door, and could riot get their bills paid. The Lord Chancellor, as was usual inn the .-e cases, was the last to hear of this misrepresentation, while it was everywh ere whisper e d that his Lordship was unable to pay his way, Ile had reason to know that many Hon. Members of that House lied received intimations to that effect, which had originated in the falsehoods of the Ml:en ing Journal. The laird Cheneellor having declered thet he had not, fee years past, expended one-third of his in onme, his Lordship did then, as it was already stated, file an affidavit inn the Court of King's Bench. But to proceed, when he took office Ire tinund thet every Member of the Adininistretion—his Right Honourable Friend near hide —the Duke of Weliington—all were libelled in paragraphs, letters, leaders—in every possible shape and forma and with a degree of virulence and atro cious faleehoed to which no private man would submit. — Ile found that the paper was still coins; on villifying all character, Inlblie arid' private, and defying all authority.— If, then, inn the course he pursued lie had judged wrong, he was to blame; but he did not think he had judged wrong. He did not b e li eve h e h a d acte d i mpre p,rly in endeavouring t o restra i n t h at l i cent i ousness wh i c h would make the Pr e s s o f no va l ue, b y ren d er i ng i t con t em ptible. (clear, beer' from ; the Treasnry 13itneber.)—Thinking, then, that the misrepresentations daily made in the Morn ing Journal were not safe for the country, he selected mime of the many libels which had been pubeiehed, sort ie.alsed them for punishment. if he had proceeded upon all, his Hon. and Leareed Mien.' might well say he had brought forward a budget of information's, but his (d e ject merely was to repress the circulation of those cam tations, and prevent the recurrence of these nauseous libels which were ushered into the world by the Morning Journal from day to day. He did select the most atro cious libels—and he asked the House, if he had not; whst would have been the consequence ? Might not his Right Hon. Friend near him have said, "it is ti ue you have pro secuted this person for a false and malicious libel on me and on my Noble Friend ; but why have you not in the firet in stance punished him for the libel on the King, in which he is represented as defied said degraded by his Ministers, and withheld from a knowledge of these matters with which no constitutional Sovereign ought to be unacquainted Wlist reply could he then make if he had been prosecuting for libels on the King's Ministers, end suffered the libel, i , g , tilist his Majesty himself to piss unpunished ? He ac cordingly mairiteined, that it was his duty t 9 have selected that libel against the Sovereign when he was instituting a prosecution for the sake of warning and era! ; and in favour of this his opine n there were in ny prece dents which might be cited, under circumstaeces when the offence was of a much lees aggravated nature. And he went on, became he hoped that by filing informations he should rather show Mr. Alexander the dangers of the course he was pereuing, and induce him to abandon it, than be compelled to punish him ; but henceforward he had no choice left, for Mr. Alexander still continued his libels. And great as was the deference he entertained for the opinions of his lion, and Learned Friend, there was nothing he had done which he would not do again. He had done nothing wrong—he had nothing to regret. Ile was aware that some might think otherwise—some who took the statements of what took place respecting these trials front the Morning Journal, and other papers belonging to the same patty. For himself, it so happened that he sel dom read the 'steers —he had not time, and consequently scarcely ever knew anything of their statements, except when some worthy friend sent him one containing a libel on hitneell. But he had, since these events had taken place, found that the reports of what took place after the first day were not so correct as usual. He was treated as a decided enemy to the Press. In this, however they were mid taken. He would avow his creed upon the subject for the benefit of all such as might take any interest in the opi nions of so humble an individual ; and, fortunately, he found it embodied in a speech which he had delivered in the course of the debate touching the blasphemous libels, as they were called, that were brought before the House on 21st Dec., 1819. In that speech he had said, that in his opinion the power of Ming ex-officio informations ought not to be taken away from the Attorney-General, because he considered that, if discreetly exercised, it was a power which 'night be of great benefit to the country. This was the argument which he then pressed upon the House, end also when it had been urged by Hon. Mem bers on the Ministerial benches that because the prosecu tions against Hone and Weider had been ineffectual in checking the licentiousness of the Press, that therefore it was necessary for the House of Commons to des ise some means for strengthening the arm of the law, he had main tained a contrary opinion, although lie believed it was even the general opinion that some measure was necessary. But what did he say ? That he did not believe there was any defect in the law because the Attorney- General had failed in these prosecutions for libel. He stated, that in most of them he had, before the parties were brought to trial, made up his mind that they must be acquitted, and consequently that the fault was not is the la r but in the . !node of conducting the pecceedinge, and consequently, that it the Attorney-General had acted with more judgment, the law would here been found sufficient; and, therefore, Ministers were not entitled to demand any additional restrictive laws. These were the ventinients he had then professed, and which he entert dim! at that nue ment. He thought honestly ani conscientiously, that it the Press was to be the polluted vehicle of public and pri vats slander—if every gentleman who happened to be a Minister of the Crown was to be held up to scorn as a knave, a liar, and a scoundrel—if it was to be considered as a part of the liberties of Englishmen that the Duke of Wellington, or his Right Hon. Friend, or any other Mini ster, might, because he was a member of the Cabinet, be, with: impunity, represented as a fool, a traitor, or a coward —one of two things must happen ; the Press lined fell into such disrepute that no man would allow it the slightest is fluence—or sonic measures must be taken to correct its ex cesses. And, accordingly, he thought Unit when there was a case of ' a factious man, without principle, or truth, or decency, or the least regard M private feel ing or the public good—who in the moat false and atrocious manner published libels against all that was good and great and distinguished in the country —the best thing whieh could be done for the in terests of the Press would be to punish such a per son, since by so doing they would increase that moral influence which the Press ought to have. Hon. Members might hold out for the abuses of liberty of the Press; but, Ire contended, the Press would lose all its influence if that liberty were suffered to degenerate into lieentiousnese, since it must thus infallibly fall into contempt. Where, then, would be its moral influence? Gone for ever. It would become like Thersitee, as described by Homer, who might say that Archillea was a coward and Agamemnon not a greet King, whi'e the Greeks would only laugh at his aiendacity and despise his slander.—(Hear, hear.) Whets, therefore, a Paper was conducted on such princi ples as the Morning Journal—on the principle of perpe tual slander, falsehood, and misrepresentation, he thought that it was conferring a benefit on the Press to punish it. He was nut afraid to say so—and he knew it required some courage to do it. Now with respect to what had been attributed to him upon the subject of the publication of the names of Jurors, he had to state that he had been misrepresented. He had procured the passage in his speech as he delivered it; and having first explained the tone in which it was given forth, he would then proceed to show how he had been misrepeesented. He would also ha e occasion to allude to another misrepresentation which had been very unfortunate fur him. But to proceed—the day after he had filed the first informa tion against Mr. Alexander, he said that if the Jury gave a verdict against him, be would print their names, and so expose them to the public censure. He wished to have it remarked he was not now on the subject of the indictment, from adverting to which his Hon. and Learned Friend had abstained. He was, however, ready to defend it, if necessary. He knew it might be said, what need the Duke of Wellington care about such a thing ? —what did it signify to him ? But this was not the ques tion. This libel was in the form of a letter, signed by a clergyman, stylin g himself Ceaplain to th e Duke of Cum berland. Every body knew that this was false—bat still it would he allowed that the effect of the calumny was ma terially changed by the patronage which this person as sumed for himself. The nave employed made a mighty difference —as, for instance, if a person altogether eon temptible in himself were to say be hail been sent by Sir Charles Wetherell to tell you you were a coward and a liar, however disposed you might be to despise anything he could utter as from himself, yet would you then feel your self bound to relent it in some tit ay or other. You could not look to Sir C. Wetherell, for you knew it was fal:e that he had seat the fellow ; you could, therefore, do nothing but knock down the men or prosecute him. It was not, accordingly, enough that the 'Puke of Wellington should knew privately that this lihslier wee not sanctioned or proeec:ed by the Duke of Cumberland, but it was necessary that the whole world should know that this Clergyman was not patronised by an illustrious personage so nearly allied to the Sovereign, To return, however, to the informations, As he bed before said, he had no time to read the newspapers 'be fore he went e, i ili t tbra t he t eid o ;:ite C anvheckl t ed i ce t 4 i , r ii t ,i ; iiiinng h ti e was accordingly indebted to a friend fur the knowledge of Mr. Alexander's threat respect ing the publication of the Jurors' names, and what be said upon the subject was partly in answer to the advecate on the other side. The Hon. and Learne'l qeetleneen then proceeded to read from a wv4teo paper ~in; pass,qe to which lie had alltpled. It waa to the that he had learned of thin threat of Mr. Alexander to the larore, but that he trasted they would not be swayed by ';t, or take their lessons of duty from the vele:sites; pramiCe au beau tious press, or the, rivoziun, of an anonYmous writer, but f;'0 1 11 the leWe if the law!, the recommendations of Judges, and `she priaeiples of their ancestors; and he urged upon them, that if they were now influenced by the threat ti the Morning Journal—the more thcy subluitt4 4'aq more odious would become the power to seleiesh tbs 4 sui•cumbed; and he added, that if mu bade audacity to publish their eeteatee e mitts a view to intithidate them in the die be w s ow mgt) t imi( ri:ri a eltiedt r .sni.Fin, ' l3;; O fciiktitijelih;g)ii theirt k b i bringing that t Soulluithe fa h t I)l . r) :i b,, n upet g .r_,2ca., e nt iu u cit a e s4e, e e ciala t lt , eti cox He was ready to typiee's at4vitt;licate those opinions ; atl.l of n En"lishnt,rn. T the use of the>•c rfo s ishinait or lt big h e h„ pc , i ; ainiae would be as little influenced as the aorta:: `Were by the threats of the Press. The r s t e u c t o , j u t : prosecutions.laisrepresent i on Mr. was Al o il.: n ;ig t : : :r i z,i e ed ) tr c v ; a as l.4c:i i lu o iiit n ;:st ) tie f nd o ne of the a instead of sha ll —upon which he had t h e app ed that, from this Car ' 3 1 ‘ 14. • 3 . 1 . (1 ,CT 4dVia.talp, of this, and aceuded bins of making some illiberal te al t u i t o ni it. on i e s o r ti e n p t i cy , , bowmen, lie nalcitelysesmtaeteprade l a that he had a great reapeet for Se/elate!, anti bed on intention tif making any reflections whatsosver neon it, but, on the contrary, he had mane valued friends. for whose sake the country was dear to him. But, notwitdaareline shit the newnespers persisted in taking Mr. Alreatler'a version of the affair; and the consequence was, he had tire mimi•fot tune of giving much effemce. lie had rec, ived many prods 4 this; ammemest the rest one of rativx a ladicrees ima•ora. In a letter which lie got time other day. he feminil enclosed a fif a Set, e!i neveeparra ;Odell said. that if the Earl of Aberdeen or Sir George llerray set re at the head of the Administratiou, he would not dare to sie tali of Scotland in the manner be had done, for that lie W. have been at once turned out of offiec.—(Latmg!.ter.)— This Was e. sample of the genuine representation I , f things which was to be expected from a newspaper, when its in terests clashed with those of the person it tnisrepresentsd.— ( Hear. )—Therefore wits it, that when hr fulled any sen timents which surprised him attributed to any frienti of his in the public prints, that he at Imec withheld iris ere. Bence front the report ; and he implored the House not to judge of his conduct in these trials limn whet had been detaile Iby the press. Now, with respect to tine motien of his Hon. and Learned Friend, lie beeged to any he was most anxious that his request shetild be granted—he was anxious th tt he should have the papers to rowel a charge upon them if he thottaht proper, and bring in some use: sure to to up the hands of the - Attornsy-Genersl H e wished, too, that the motion should be granted ler are. other and more selfish reason—eantely. that the piipere might be printed, and the Howie thus enabled mare ev.ily to come to a deliberate decision respecting his cemeltice— lie therefore offered no opposition to his lion. and Learned Friend. In ronchtsion, he had only to say that no act of his was imentled to restrict the liberty uf tire press. It was a false view of the :we to supeoe. that any act of his could have :serif a tendency. Hi. lion. and Learned Friend was mistaken in me:using 111111 of tyranny and oppression. He l ad no obi. et except to restrain time exciessee into which Alexander had /wee be trayed. In this he p-reaps tnieht fail, if Mr. Alex order found supporters and apologists in that Houge. lie, how ever, had nothing to reproach himself with. Ile retained the opinion that be had acted as he ought; and, notwith standing the observations of his Hon. and Learned Friend, lie believed that, udder the same eircurristances, Le would a ct in th e same manner again.—(Cheers.) Sir FRANCIS I3URDETT said—Sir, I act anti idling t enter upon the subject before the Howse at this late hour, but, mindful of early hiendship aril esaseia• ion, I cannot abstain from offering a low words. Sir, I must sa l y tim that Lion. and Learnedmiatettdin Gentleman gittenl belowtiturlinotts which topics; in toe and the entertainment he afforded the lieuce by those drolleries, which would, however, in my °pillion, have been better calculated for any other stage. Notwithstand ing those gibes and gambols, and sesquipe sutra rerba, and apparently interminable sentences which, its Ire said of my lione and Learned Friend's informatiees, centained a little of every thing, and something mere. Notwith standing all these, hi- spire's was like a grain of wheat in a bushel of chaff ; for the sum anti subsita , te.e of hi• charge against my Hon. and Learned Friend amounted t. , this— that li' brought an ex officio information, after lacing first moved for an information under the orders of the Court. Now when he states the charge, he saes not state the calls under which individuals laboured in consequenc e it those preavedinsse He speaks of them as unprecedented—he thinks them trot only dangerous to the Constitution, but such as every lawyer must deprecate—he says the consequences are such that no lawyer , could be of opinion that any such subsequent proeeer!ha-i (amid take place. I was glad to hear trim dwell upon these legal etliast, of the proceedings, for here them was an end at (Mee of the charge of cruelty and oppression. I say, :Sir, I have ,leriva,l the greatest satisfaction from this discussion on this extort/it ; and there is another satisfasiton, which may trot be conclusive on the minds of others, but is so on my own—that these proceedings and this discussion must have shown the utter Unpolicy of can. ploying those powers which my Learned Friend exercised rrt this occasion. The Learned Gentleman has shown that a great . number of things out of the newspapers, wtni2h were • ii coltish of his remark, were made the subject of prosecution. I yeigre:t it—for I am of opinion, with the great Chatham, that the Press is, like the air we breathe, " a char:crest libertitie. , -,(l(rar„ hoar.) If the Press is liceatious, it will cure itstat-epeoele become inattentive to it, and its attack. will be hiefficru a l and of no avail upon those against whomt they are directed. With respect to the supposition that these libels erected the reputation of the Ministers, I don't give credit to It fur a incrinaitt. Will any body believe, that because the Duke of Wellington .faa called a coward he would stand a jot lower in the eatimatan t of ROY one? lam free to confess, that if there was anything which could lower him in me mind, it was these impolitia and ill. julge I prosecutions.—(hear )—I do trot believe that lie will La in haste to repeat theta.—(flear.)—Theie arc thihas which are to me sources of the greatest satisfaction, At the same time I roust repeat what I stated ou a former night, that 1 , , soy deep regret that he should have thought it worth his whiie to have recourse to that which 1 must tall an wiconstitutioliel made of proceeding. It is, arid always has been, au inefeetual mode'of opposing opinion. Its inefficiency, like itself, Is derive d t rete the times of the Star Chamber • and I ant happy I ° hear the Learned Gentleman opposite stigmatising it at a par on, constitutional in itself, and iticonsistent with the law and the liberty of the Preas.—(Hear, hear, bear.)—lt aaents imam. sistent, indeed, with propriety, that the Star chamber - should have been, as it was, sacrificed on this account, and yet that the same power should still be allowed to be exercised in the Court of King's Bench ;. and if it eantissue so, 1. cannot see what-the country has gained by the abolition of the Star Chamber.—(Hear, hear.)—The Learned aientleraan has talked of Whigs and I'orue—distinctions which I had hoped had been buried in the grave of the Capulets....which arc out of date—but which he has revived in order to designate eertain parties as Whip, and tier tain parties as Torie s . NV/let has been a Tory of late years 1144 been a person of contractor, bigotted, and arbitrary dispositiOils who would sacrifice everything tor power, and who would make fear his instrument instead of love.--(Hear.)-0 11 the asetrery, Whig has been taken to be a person of more rrtiik,ate4, Itiaro tree and liberal principles —one who would act_ ese gratanda snore consistent with the institutions of a frve GOverPident. Learned Gentleman has referred to tl i eue hero peaks, and bee railed toy Learned Friend a Wlllg Attorney-Clencral 1 belie vo that ms Learned Friend is lime win,. wishes Well to the Preis, but w t hat I}e ought to S, iris maser~. and as far as any Attorney-tienerel Can have it, must ttept.l,!l, arilion upon n uh g Pa° l Fh l is llyi ll t°l t Yl 4 l' e leg r7 lt l 1: 1 h:ft: a l to himself, and not on his office, The • eonsequence of theae pra. : ceedings is, that no men who suffers wrong front any il'atiiicatitin will attempt to vincticete himself in this manner 1 tor DO, marlwould be the better for it. I h ave some r i g h t . a l ; of these things; for I belie. e there is no individual vs keee (m.v4 so much the butt of strong and malignant libels as ty,yrielf.--(Alear, hrar.)— I never noticed them ; for I could not perceiee hew a prosecutor should not be a loser among meal af :tested opinion. I t h oug h t it would be no vindication of conduct"; and can I believe that other persons want that pretectieri Which an humble individual like myself did not require?--(Bear.)—Let him be protected by his own proceedings, and he will not genii the lower for these at. tacks—let him rely 'On his eharaater, to which, sooner or later, a discerning public aril pay josticea-,(Flews, hear, hear.)—Aftet, what has passed this night, 1 tiOpe rely' Learned Friend will do e v es act of justice to the Itressa If he thinks, as lie seems to - think, that the law, as it fotinCrir stood, was sufficient, let hje s be the first Attoreeystleuetal to gain a well meritcet f a me by re moving tire odious statute relating to the Presa, which now graces the laws of this country.—( Hear, hear.)--Let hi.,; put the Press on a free footing, on a l'tloting sionsisteW with public utility. That will be to V i tataelf a sourco of great honour, and to his country 4 great service, When the Learned Gentleman tel Ate of my Learned Friend as a Whig Attorney Griimil,' beg him to refer I P.wiriAt Tory At. torneya. Generel laavtilieen. If he will to into antiquity, and cone down here With his recondite labour*, loaded not like beer with honey, but With musty thclis lit which to put his stores of , earning, let him not, after swatting throught ancient history, overlook the modern pep, end forget all the transactions before the present titre, let hint see the otosecutins that Tory At torneye.Generai have institnted, frementber when a Tory At. torney.General prosecuted tlmlrelitor of the " Courier"—and to observetl] eli ono t i h tr a to h f was lute hn.t to t e lem pr a o n tn o t p io po n si t t o e l t e i t ,e m4 ii h e a c eet t. and in consequenie to the press, by allowing evere limn to al), point his own ,bury —a prooeeditta , that will reflect Immortal honour en liim, since he thereby abolished that sysr en of rrisk, ing that would secure a Jury who would f i ral Abel guilty 4 - the. murder of Cain, and that lett ne onto aoy hope of escape.. i say I remember that prosec u ti on o f .Is. Perry, fur a libel, in hiii#4- ing at the mud Emperor Pat;', foipunishirg people for wearing shoestrings, which at :',3S time 'arts considered a signal of Jaco hinism.—(ear, hear) IL was found guilty; an d what WAS the senteraio? 'Why, one year's imprisonment and 1000/. fine -(Hear, hear.) I can go fartkerback than that and when the Learned Gentleman taAa of 'fury Attrarneys-G.neetwiesrpaali,vl:: him recollect the tiials.V.4 life of those hottest men 7010%0 cursed treasons, wench ccntsiatesd ;}r ut in I say were endangered by the atie(npin transactions dotte in open} day : , i t il l i, o r, te ti i:i t trOd ao i i, it.: . : ) ` : „ t , her of treason than he s (Hear, Itearg fuels Tlia .erney-G eneral was more likely [lief not le ol t a . t e . r time t hops' a w he sucateded du his attempt, with the spirit which those times excellent men would have MAaned them to the save fate. It tical wtiter Mr. Ctilaaft, for writing ag a l as t that w i c k e d taro cious, flagieiotta ayitem of whipping: the t:tiglisit aohliers, in the presence sae/ by the hands of titerinans....of &feigner-a; aiel whets tie Was convicted, he teas was +seat to prison: for two and had a fine - of on e thiamand "wands imposed on frina—l-t i raar, hear, !leer.) Attaa Say, let us look at the taaaidt',Ct of the Whig Itor4ey,Cieuer,l of tke ' , resold sive, say, that my tetlrried rriend ,felt out the stroageit pigs a t his case. He has shown that no grievances existed ie. , e.aavatience of these. proieetttirma. I confess, that after k be t s the oath of Alexander, that he did email to thr4s, - ray imputation s e e the cherecter of the lora Cliancelle,r,-,tettung wou:d have noes but t s (u t , o lt): i s x )4 1 r : o c: p any lu,e: s: tt r iis: p; i r : e : sst , i a , t : o lLa x t Nl f y t tet a e,:r l b , oE, ! re l t :A vt eee;s it, hear.) Ito rot th at ak . ,; - 4 ! utl t save credit to tbst cliakv ; er of I think he ought to I; sees aktna'c , d t here, tllKni klettiAl tieing i g )i iN i .„.. 1 ; libels, cot the th the uttaaient, and do believe t l a ta t aLts k tes u ott i .l . t i o c t : l , :e ra g e o te ot r i :r u e t i ciwi t h i; e :. :! ru t ti b l e , 2l . : ll s ci v aa( ‘ ll . lf . ts ts', sits : tits 41~etti,tl Cyr lis , ;: to rs r a , i r y r t nr u p t c o ) r n ii; : I ;:te ß i d i v ean s, were4f napri,oument sad It;. 1. and four 1r wsri'.a furcl_l;e: n ist r at. iou s.ank;:d, and for all :3tr,hourat Ire fax i d l ii : l,, i ,,,,, b v l L e . :- 7 t r t l t: ::.t e t e t .e . rree t t - A aii xi ve they ie: 4.sat ty l e : l ) -e : t i t 4 l ,:t . jittlgN whether those papers were cA were snot lards. 'But whoa . ,rrrif c iclrtarl shay :hese persons were convicted...4AV.) . 03.er 'WO?. Wh hl" the Lien ut do IlsTtlittlitliddi'o'grierecinosrtatia'r:edi,"lS PI W YC Iic- :(jo h tlevernment . have dealt more leniently with pt;kles atesi9 have keen lire de . cuted. It is a great satisfaction nsied st atic so. they hav e sw so. It seem s th a t the Sorts eutef; (Alec are nut fu goer', h ens _ their seats on thi s s id e c 4 egllowe are uliconiterlate,„_ ( i ieer, and laughter.) 'j ; peer ate like those qu.drupeds themeetves t,ration's skin, Litt which could iit A eeesea l went Bich siuthrrit was thyls and though they made a grelt it was riot the noiae cif tine limn. The 'Forks canuct, ix! ',use their 111 w sent intiary upon time country for tut , i4t,ll,,s, k .thstt , hear, laeie nor can they give any satisfaetere ise t.eitar tc:r I,ew • bore petrietiaus ill tliis .cps 4 brat