The Sun. — London, England, 1821-07-04 00:00:00

PA R.I.J.A MENT, HOUSE OF LORDS. JULY 3. The CHANCELLOR of the ExcnEQUIT, and other Members from the House of .Commons, brought up the Duke of Clarence's Annuity Bill., the Audit of Accounts Bill, the Assessed Taxes Bill, and the Metropolis Police Bill. On the motion for the first- reading of the Duke of Clarence's Annuity Bill, J i 'the Earl of LAUDERDALE signified his inten tiort-of offering some observations, on , the-secood. reading. , Not that he intended to oppose it, for he alTroved both of the annuity and the arrears, but he was anxious to call the attention of the House to some of the provisions contained in the 1810.. The -Bill was then read the first time, and or dered to be printed. The other Bills . were also read. the. first time each. The Consolidated. Fund Bill, the• Greenwich Hospital Bill, the British Spirit Duties Bill, the Bum importation Bill, and the Sheerness Lands were severally read the third time. The Lun:ttie Trustees Bill, - the Mohair Bounties Bill, and. the Warehousing of Goods Bill, went thro' the Committees, and were reported. Adjourned. - • • 110 USE OF COMMONS. ir..JohnSon, from the Office of the Chief Secretary for Ire land, p+eselnt:2ll variOns - returns from the Irish Linen Board. — Ordered to be printel. LUNATIC OFFICERS. Mr. CALCRAFT, in consequence of the informality , which had yesterday induced his Hon. Friend the Member for Wey... tinnatli to withdraw the Petition which he had presented from the Wives . of two Lunatic Officers of the names of Bevan and Harrison, complaining of having been deprived of half the usual. l bail pay, re-stati.sl at considerable length all the circumstances of the else, and concluded by moving, that there be laid before the Ecuse a Copy of the Admiralty Regulations in lfilB re specting Lunatic Officers. After a discussion, in which Sir G. Cockburn, Sir J. Yorke, Sir F. Oinrnanney and 1111- Croker - vindicated the 'conduct of the Admiralty in•-the ease in question, Mr. Calcraft, although he expressed himself not perfectly satisfied with the explana tions which had been given, consented to withdraw his motion. MR. PEEL, OF LEGHORN. Mr. PEEL wished to put . a - question to his Noble Friend the Secretary of State fel' i?oreilin Affairs, with resaect.to an indi vidual in whose welfare he was much interested. It was per haps in 'the recollection of the House, that it was some time ago stated in the Publie papers, that a Gentleman of his (Mr. Peel's) name, and, in fact, a near connexion of his, had been suddenly ordered by - the Tuscan Government to quit Leghorn. Mr. Peel had resided for above seven years in that city , and without any undue partiality he Might say: that during his resi dence there, he had conciliated the esteem and respect of all isho knew him. Under these ciretimetances, Mr. Peel was cer tainly somewhat surprised at being suddenly summoned before the Commissary of the Police; and told tat his conduct had keen infamous, that his character was bada :In vain did he protest his innocence of any evil design ; he was informed, that ne' must quit Leghorn in twenty bur hours. Finding that there was no alternative, he was compelled to go ; but subse uently. obtained permission to return, and to' remain' there fer twenty days, in order to arrange his affairs. It might easily be - supposed that this occurrence caused a great sensation aenneg the English merchants at Leghorn. They presented a strong representation on the subject to the Tuscan Government; the only result of which was, that •Mn Peel was again sent for by the Commissary of the Police; and again peremptorily ordered tax quit Leghorn and the Tuscan_ territory in twenty- Tone hones. He then repaired to Florence, when, in conse quence of the• representations of the British Ambassador, he was permitted to remain ott sufferance. To the present hour, however, Mr. Peel had received no answer to his demand to Iriow the name of his accuser, or the nature of the accusation which had been preferred against him. He had made an affi davit of his never having been concerned in any political scheme whatever. In proof of his general good character, he would read to the House a part of- the Memorial which the British Factory at• Leghorn had presented to the Tuscan Government on the subject.—[The Right Honourable Gentleman here read the pasaages in the Memorial to which he had - alluded, and which were couched in strong terms of respect towards Mr. Peel. —Tile circumstance had operated materially to the . injury of Mr. Peel, presiding, as he did, over a large commercial esta blishment. That Gentleman did not complaia of the personal inconvenience which he had sustained, because he felt that, for that, he could not obtain any redress . ; he did rot complain of the losses that liehad sustained as a merchant, for that he knew he might repair a but he complained of the injury done to his good name, and hitherto unblemished reputation.,-(llear, hear!)—He had nothing to complain of in the conduct of his Noble Friend on this subject ; on the contrary,. his Noble. Friend had shown every disposition to make such orncial repre sentations to the Tuscan Government as the case required.—. The object for which he had risen, was t'i inquire froM his Noble Fiend if any communication had been received by him from the Tuscan Government, cniabfying or explaining this act of oppreasion, the cause of which, up to the present:hour, was wholly unaccounted for? The Marquess of LONDONDERRY, in reply to what had fallercfrono his Right Honourable Frier& begesd ton:tate, that ,when lie received information of what had - happened to the highly respectable individual alluded to, he lost no time in send ing a detail of all the circumstances to his Majesty's Minister at the Court of Tuscany, together with a strict injuncdon to him to inquire into the cause of the occurrence, and to use all his exertions to obtain reparation for whatcertainly appeared to be an act of great oppression. - Before his inStruetions arrived wit, however, - Lord Burgliersh hail in faet anticipated them, and had commenced a very active inquiry into all tile circumstances of the case. He (the NJ arquess of Londonderry) was certainly not enabled to give his Right HenOurable Friend and the House the satisfaction of informing them exactly bow the affair had ori e rrinated ; but there was reason to suppose that an individual, -a-clerk, who had been diamiesed by Mr. Peel for misconduct, lied made sante - malicious communication to the Police, which, thon!eh no doubt wholly unfounded, was proMptly acted upon . ; for in other countries tile forms of eliciting the truth which were resorted to in this country were unknown. There had been no public allegation whatever affecting Mr. Peel's character ; on the contrary, it was impossible that any man could stand higher than Mr. Peel did as a British merchant ; he was, per hers, the last man in the world who would engage in any trans action that ought to subject him to such treatment es he had experienced. But it was well known that .no ,respectability of Character was security against the insjdieus effects of malevo lence—(Hear, hear !) —ln consequence of the, representations :made to the Government of Tuscany by Lord Burghersh, all further proceedings against Mr Peel had beer. suspended, and fill obstructions to his return removed. In =sequence, that -Gentleman had resumed his residence in Leghorn,- and all that he (the Marquess of Londonderry) had to regret . was, thatthe .original cause of his exile had not been explained, so satisfac torily as he (the MarqueSs of Londonrlarry) could wish it had been ; he was happy, however, to avail himself of the present opportunity of heeling testimony riot merely is the integrity, but to the high charaCter in every respect of the Gentleman in question, which had gained him the confidence of the merchants of Leghorn, and of every mar. who knew hint Hoar, hear !) Sir R. WILSON observed, that the Noble Marquess would probably have negociated more successfeliy GT: .Sclsubject with the Government of Tuscany, if the Alien Bill had net passed in this Country—( Heer, hear !) WILLIAM BENECW. Mr. HOBHOUSE presented a Petition, which he assured - the house was drawn up in a most exemplary manner, from a person of the name of William Benbow. The Petitioner stated, that on the 21st of May last, he was- arrested at the in stance of the Constitutional Association, upon an indictment -preferred by them. - In consequence of his being called upon to give bail for good behaviour, - he could not prevail on his filentis to hind themselves for so indefeite ar. oiThnce. The Petitioner in consequence was sent to the King's Bench Prison, where he had remained ever since, and was likely to remain till October next, so that he could not help thinking that his indict ment was connected with the ensuing Coronation. He (Mr. "Irobliouse) particularly complained ofthe delay of justice ; for if Isis case had not been made a special jury case, he would have been tried last month. In consequence nfhis.absence from his business, it had caused his total ruin, in which was involved 'R wife and several infant children. He (Mr. Hohhause)thought this was a case of crying injustice, and he should certainly, if nothing else was done, move the House to address .his Majesty to give orders to the Law Officers of the Crown to hasten justice in this case. The Petitioner apprehended that in consequence of the preparation for the Coronation, there would be no sittings sifter term, so that this trial would a second time be delayed beyond its ordinary period. The Petition was then brought up and rend. On the motion that it do lie on the Table, The ATTORNEY GENERAL said, that Jae was not ac. qUainted with the-Case of this individual, but that he had no dc: ,t that with respect to the bail required the Judge had es ereised a sound discretion, and that the Petitioner had nothing to complain of-- beyond others were subjected to. He inert ninarli, however, that it appeared rather strange that his friends were ready to pkdge theinOves to his appearance, but that l*is conduct i',ad been such- that no one would le. him elf for his good beha-;i , Jur. With respect - to the postnone, .neat of 1..! - !e Sittings after Term, in consequence of. the (2oro.;: , nation, he did not supput that notion was well grounded. if, however, it s'Aould appear to be so, as far as he was con cerned he would wilEngly exercise his authority to shield the Petitioner from any additiond_incoovenienee on. that account. - obtaining his discharge upon such security as he could TOT fi ea:r.) .Mr. 110BHOITSE said., that after whet had fallen from the Hon. and Learned Gentleman, he should say no snore on thesubject, than merely to observe that the Petitioner's friends fdarful of becoming hail fin his good behaviour, when they were told that a fresh indictment, which might be supported on (else testimov,y, would expose them to the loss of their sureties. Ile hoped also the Hon. and Learned-Gentleman would take into his consideration that the: Petitioner had already been six weeks in prison. Me. SCARLETT expressed his satisfaction at i.hat had fal len from the Attorney-General; and he hoped the House would now sec that, however re4 , ectable the Association, innumerable abuses of its power might be made, by leaving it to be exer cised at the diieretion of a single attorney. The Hon. 'Member expatiated on the . danger to which a bookseller was exposed of indictments being found against him. He quoted the case of Mr. Johnson. bOokseller, of St. Paul's Chutch-yard, which oc curred about the Early part of the French Revolutio.s. That individual had actually been convicted and punished for selling a libellous book which he had' previously refused to print or to sell ; because, one of his men in his absence purchased a copy of it from another shop to accommodate a customer with. If a man, therefore, was liable in this manner, for an act of the - corn- Mission of which he w,s in perfect ignorance, it surely well be- came that HonSe to look wiZh jealousy at - those who assumed the exercise-of such a power. With regard to the postponement of the Sittings after Term, he feared the Attorney General would 'find it was but too probable. He could not help re marking that such appeared to be the increasing.state of busi ness in die Court 9f Bench, that they were not far from that period when the Counsel would he obliged to attend the •Court from Christnias to Christmas. If it were desirable that those who followed the profession of the law, should have the :education and manners of Gentlemen, they must not make it necessary for them to put their Wig. and gown on every day •in the year. No Judge could support ,such labour, , and he hoped that some measure would be adopted to remedy this in creasing evil. M. A. .TAYLOR thought the staternimt of his Hon. ; and Learned Friend required the attention of the Legislature. If the House would look at the .increased burden Of business upon the Lord Chief Justice and the'other Ju d g es of the Court of King's Bench, they must be startled at the proSpect. With all the activity and intelligence. of the Chief Justice, he had been unable.to get rid of the arrears of business of the last two years. • The Court of King's Bench was overloaded, and for the benefit of the public, there ought to be another Court of Criminal Judicature in Westfoinster - Hitll. Mr. DENMAN said he should look with great jealousy at any alteration on the ancient Constitution of Westminster Hall. The Court of King's Bench was certainly overloaded ; but if the suitors were dissatisfied, he saw no reason why they should not remove their causes to other Courts. With regard to the case of W. Benbow, he thanked the Attorney-General for what he had promised to do. The petition was then ordered to be printed. A Message from the Lords announced their Lordships' as sent to the Coasting Trade Bill, and the Rum Importation Bill. CAPTAIN ROMEO. . Colonel DAVIES rose to present a petition to which he wished to call the attention of thenouse, but more especially of the Noble Marquis (Londonderry). It was from a person of the name of Romeo, of.whom the House bad heard.before, and who was now compelled to throw himself on its justice. In the year 1811, when the British Government was in possession of the Island. of Sicily, there was reeeson to suspect that a cdbspiracy was carrying on for the overthrow of the British and the introduction of the French Government. In order to defeat their designs it became necessary to obtain the - confidence - of the conspira tors, and in order,to effect this purpose Captain Romeo was em ployed, and in him they placed their entire confidence. By this means it was discovered that a plot as dark as ever was en gendered in hell had existed against the British subjects. The French army was to have been gamed over, and the Sicilians were to join, and the island to be surrendered ; and it also ap peared-, that the Queen of Sicily 168 in the plot. These facts . appeared .in evidence before a military tribunal, and owing to the zeal and exertions of this individual_ the whole was dis covered. The Hon.:Gentleman theil read some extracts from a ' letter of General Maitland, corroborating- the statement of Cap tain Romeo, namely, that he was employed to obtain intelli gence, and that by this means he had excited the enmity of the Neapolitan Government. Captain Romeo was seized in his house in Calabria, and taken prisoner. He demanded to know his offence, and got no answer; and to this hour he was igno rant of what offence he had committed. He had also suffered great - pecuniary losses ; but setting aside all that, he contended that any man who had - been banished as Capt. Romeo had far services rendered to the country, had a claim upon. the British Government; and should at least be allowed the Means of sub sistence. The Hon. Gentleman then read some letters from Lord Wm. Bentinck and General Campbell, stating that Cap tain Romeo had rendered essential services. He assured the House Captain Rorie° • did not Wis% to give any trouble ; he only demanded not to be condemned unheard, and that he should not be deprined of what the meanest subject in the realm would obtain, an impartial trial. He should therefore move that the Petition be. referred to a Committee. The Marquess'of LONDONDERRY said this was the se cond time the claim of Capt. Romeo had been brought before the House, although the House had before decided that it was not ' a case in which they should interfere. The - question divided itself into two parts: first, whether any pecuniary relief should be granted ; and second, whether the grievances of which Captain Romeo complained were such as the British Govern ment could interfere in. On the latter of these points he should say a few words.. In the year 1817,_ and afterwards in 1818, he had given the most pointed instructions to Sir William A'Court to inquire inn:it:he alleged grievances of Capt. Romeo, 'which inquiry Sir William A'Court immediately instituted.— His information did not rest, solely upon the statements of the Neapolitan Government, but - upon the statements of persons who acted with Captain Romeo, and al - So of persons residing in his neighbourhood ; 'and if from these inquines the British Go vernment were, satisfied that the Neapolitan Government had taken no proceedings against Captain Romeo on account of his connection with the Brutish Government, he saw no reason why the House should interfere. Nothing could be more awkward in point of precedent than to submit this correspondence to the House, but he could assure the House, he never saw a more conclusive case in his life. He had offered the Um. Member for Aberdeen (Mr. Hume) to let him seethe corres pondenee irnhis office ; but he could not go farther. . The HOuse of Commons could not summon the Neapolitan Go vernment to.their bar, and he was sure the Hon. Gentleman (Colonel Davies) must see that this was not a case in which the House could interfere. With respect to the second point, name ly, wbether any pecuniary remuneration should be granted, lie should say that previous to Capt. Romeo's being employed in this occupation, he had been in Murat's Army, and being charged with some crime; he was arrested and put into prison. When in custody he offered to undertake the ofhce, and it was considered nuite a sufficient remuneration for him to receive at the time 80 dollars a month for his secret service to the Police ; and he must admit that he pat fonned his functions as spy upon the conspirators -with great propriety. - If Capt. Romeo felt he had claims upon the British Government, it is surprising he did. not piefer them before, or that he did not apply to the Noble Lord (Bentinck), cr others, who had unlimited funds at their command ; and it must be remembered that Captain Romeo was but a subordinate agent in the transaction, and by no means so important a personage as in modern times, since he had written some books, 'one of which he saw very handsomely bound in the hands of -the Hon. and Gallant Gentleman oppo site (Col. Davies). He had sent in a claim for 2,6001., and one Of the items was 1,5001. for the mistress of a Freneh General, for services performed by hei.—(A laugh.)—He had mentioned that circumstance before, and it was scarcely. worth repeating.— An annuity of 501. a year had been granted to him, and he said if he got the value of the annuity he should quit the coun try, and give no more trouble. A sum of 3901. was given to him, and he applied to him (the Marquis) for a passport; but not being in the habit of giving pas Sports except as letters of character, he der fined giving him one, as-the information he i had received respecting Captain Romeo was not such as .to in duce him to testify for his character and conduct. He hoped the House was satisfied with this eaplanation, that thik was not a question in which the House should interfere; this was the. second time it had been brought forward, and he must be ex cused if he declined again taking a part in the discussion: Lord WM. BENTINCK perfectly agreed with the Noble Lord, that if Captain Romeo had claims upon the English Go vernment, he should have preferred them before ; but he was of opinion lie had no claims upon the Government. But the question for the House to consider was, whether this individual had not been made. the victim of - his attachment to the British Government. The contrary of this statement depended upon the mere ipse dixit of the Neapolitan Government, and he would not take the word - of the Neapolitan Government, which had been so often violated. With respect to the pension wen to Captain Romeo, he was of opinion that it s hould either have been more or nothing at all. If be had been sulllciently comue4sated before, he should haVe received nothing ; but if he had sacred in consequence of his attachment to this coun try, a larger pension Should have been given. He knew the money he had received was ail spent, and he was now in the deepest distress, and he biped the House would take the case into.their consideration. • Mr. GOULIIURN defended the commutation of the pension which had been made. - Its was disposed to agree with the Noble I4ord in what he .had 'said - . with respect to the pertion granted to Captain Rameo and if those - facts had been knbwn • at the. Office with which 113 was connected, which had si ce come to his knowledge, he was inclined to think that the e altel`Rative suggested by the Noble Lord would have been adopted, and that no pension would have been granted: — But at that time he came before them merely as an individual, claiming to be re warded for services performed. There was then no question %idiether, o not he had suffered froM the -NeapelitaatioVern - meat for his attachment to England—his was merely - a claiM for remuneration for services,perfornied. The, Noble Lord admit ted that not having preferred his claim at the proper time he was not entitled to prefer it now. This individual was shewn to have been employed in the service, bat it appeared that he was subordinate to another Officer, and his reward had been proportionate to what his superior Officer had received.. Lord A. HAMILTON objected to the grounds upon which the Noble MarqueSs and the Hon. Gentleman had placed the question, in stating that Captain Romeo had been remunerated at the time the services were performed ; but surely this Gen tleman could never have contemplated at that time the circum stances which had since occurred. Part of the services had been performed by Captain Romeo while wearing the British uni form, and in consequence of this had excited the enmity of another Government. The Noble Marquess had indulged in what appeared to him rather unbecoming levity ; but the charge of the Noble Marquess had been completely removed. The money to the French mistress was given to save his own life, and the lives of forty others ; and, therefore, the jocularity of the Noble Lord was quite misapplied. The Hon. C. HUTCIIINSON said, if he -had known no thing of the case before he had come into the House, the state ments which had been made would have induced him to sup port the. claims. The question Was not whether this Gentle man had been sufficiently remunerated for his'services in Italy, but whether having performed essential services to the British Government, having been persecuted for these services, and having appealed to the British Government for protection, that protection :vas to be withheld from hiM now, a banished and persecuted man. - And what was the argument of the Noble Marquess? tie said he had applied to - . the Neapolitan Govern , ment for information ; and what was the complaint of Captain Rothe° ? why, thathe had been persecutedby the Neapolitan Go vernment. Then the case carnesiniply to this, that the Noble Mar quess had applied for information to that very quarter by which this individual complained he had been persecuted.—(Hear.) , - The Noble Marquess had asked, with rather an unbecoming sneer, wily he had not made an application from 1815 to 1817 ? He would tell,hirn the: reason why. It was, because part of the time he was imprisoned in Italy ; and the other part, he • was on the desert slims of Egypt. Captain Romeo stated he was persecuted, and he had the authority of the: Noble Lord near him (Lord W. Bentinclo to corroborate the'statement. fle had demanded a passport to quit the country, stating that he •'was` anxious to assist his countrymen in recovering their •liberties_a_ and it was easy to see why the British Government refused the passport, -having night after night opposed the cause of liberty.: His Noble Friend (Lord A. Hamilton) had very properly ex plained the circumstance respecting the money given to the . French mistress. Captain Romeo had been taken prisoner in Calabria, and through the influence of this Lady he had escap ed with forty others. These were the plain statements of the case, and he thought the House would not sustain its own dig nity if it refused these just clairns.--(Hear, hear!) Colonel DAVIES replied. He produced certificates signed by Col. Corbone, Gen. Maitland, and other Officers, to prove that Capt. Romeo had been employed to obtain information, and in other ways to promote British interests in that quarter. He hoped the Government would again take Capt. Romeo's cam into their consideration.—The Petition was ordered to lie on the Table. CLAIMS FOR COMPENSATION. Mr. WILBERFORCE Presented a Petition from a Mr. Robert Wood, complaining of having been deprived of his Commission. Lord PALMERSTON said, that it was found that the Pe- - titioner had been largely. indebted ; his Commission was sold to meet part of the debt ; the balance was not . claimed: from him, lie not being able to . pay.—The Petition was ordered to lie on the Table. EXTENTS IN AID. Mr. W.SMITH presented a Petition from certain merchants and traders of London, relative to evils arising from the present arrangement of Extents in Aid, and praying for their ameliora tion. What both he and the petitioners had to complain of was, the inefficient operation of the Bill brought in about f6tr years ago. Before. that time the number of p r osecutions by extent was nearly 200, but since that Bill they decreased to from 20 to 30 a year. Still the system wanted improvethent. During the 1 year 1020 there were 20 extents issued, and only 13 individuals were found to fly in the face of justice and the country, by pro secuting their debts in this manner. He was well aware that nothing could be done on this subject during the present Session, but he now'gave notice, that he should at an early period bring it before the House. The systeth was one which could not be too much deprecated, but it was now too late to do any thing effective on so very important a subject. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL regretted he was not aware this:petition,Was intended. to be presented, as he should then haVe taken care to be prepared on the subject. lie did - not think it fair that a sweeping charge should be made against all those parsons who had issued Extents in Aid. Whenever the subject was brought before the House, he should be ready to meet the Hon. Member. Mr. W. SMITH explained, and saki, that weeks ago he ex pressed his intention of bringing this subject before the notice of the House. 'Hi:4 charge was certainly a sweeping charge, Or every one of those persons said they would not be able to pay the Crown unless they obtained an extent in aid for a debt of a few hundred, or a few score, pounds, while in point of fact they Might be. worth hUndredi a thousands. Many persons avoided taking the oath, although they could thereby obtain their debtS ; while many others took it. whb, when they had done so, could not then obtain. them.—Ordered to be laid on the - table. Mr. S. DOUGLAS presented :a petition from certain Brewers, complaining of the late duties on Malt.—Ordered to be printed. CHIEF BARON O'GRADY. Mr. C. W..WYNN brought up the report of the Select Committee on the 9th Report of the Commise.ioners on Courts of Justice in Ireland. The Committee had made their report in this mode :—They stated separately each charge, and the parts of the Chief Baron's letter which applied to that charge, select ing from such documents as were before' them the passages that had reference to the several charges. To each of those propo sitions of charge and explanation the Committee had added their own opinion. On some of the parts they stated that they had not sufficient inforrnation, and to others they had act a suf ficient answer in the Chief Baron's letter. They recommended that a .Commission should collect, during the prorogation of Parliament, sox': documents as might give fuller knowledge of the case. If by the time Parliament met again, there should not be sufficient. information, it would be for the House to de cide the case by their own means and by their own authority. The Marquis of LONDONDERRY said that means Would be used that would by another Session furnish the information required. Mr. S. RICE felt it hie,duty to abstain from urging his pro position for referring. the question to a Committee - Of the whole House, in consequence of the information which the Noble Marquis pronnSed to see furnished to the House upon the subject. Mr. O'GRADY said he had stated before, and he still thought, that the more information should be obtained, the better. There had been some misconstruction of what he had said on a former night. He had not complained of the conduct of the Commlssioners; hut of the conduct of the lion. Member (Mr. S. Rice) es being chargeable with partiality and unfairness respecting the Courtof Exchequer.. If the conduct of the Hon. Gentleman did not proceed from abstract love of justice, he • could not conceive his motive. Mr. S.RICE explained.—Where had motives were entertain ed, they generally betrayed themselves. Ha hoped he had not betrayed any bad motives.—(Hear, hear !)-lf he hoed, he-should hold himself not only an unworthy Member of that House, but of civilized Society. He had mot seleeLd the Court of Ex chequer to make an example of it; though ha might have been warranted in doing so, as there was not' one thousandth part of the abuse' in the other ' Courts. - BUt he was not in Parliament when the other reports had been made, andlie -was not answer al3ile for the conduct of others. The lion. Member had there fore no ground for so unjustly, unjustifiably; and he would say cruelly, questioning his motives. Mr. O'GRADY explained.—He bail admitted the Hon. Member's motive to be good and just; but he complained that he had pursued his object in a partial and unjust manner. Dr. LUSH INGTON expressed a hope that the inquiry would be immediately made, es it was obviont how detrimental it must be to let an imputation of this nature long hang over the Chief Judge in a Court of Justice.—The Report was ordered to be printed. DIVISION OF THE COUNTY' OF YORK. Mr. C. W. WYNN said, that when he had formerlyinen tioncd his intention-of bringing in a Bill to divide the county of York, so that the West Riding should return two MerriVers, and ie East and North Ridings the other two , the Noble L ord. (Milton) bad e: , :pre.ssed a wish, that the Bill should he in troduced this Session, in order that it might be maturely considered. He had not given notice of such a motion, but perhaps the House would allow him to move now . pro forma, for leave to bring in Bill fqr the further regulation of elect t.ions in Yorkshire.—(Hear, hear.)--Leaiie - was giVen, and a Committee appointed to bring in the Bill. OPHTHALMIC HOSPITAL. Mr. G. BANKES brought up, the Report of the Committee on the Ophthalmic Establishment. Mr. BEN3'.;IiT said the sum to be given Sir MT. Adams was, in his' mind, much too large, and he hoped his Majesty's Go vernment would not pay hum the sum, whi' was agreed to by the Cormnittee,withent further inquiry before the whole House. —The Report was .ordered to be printed. - GAME LAW S 'I ord movt'd fitg_ a Return of the nun Ater o?Orsons 'impiicorm7il in trightnell stitiNales ior. bre aelkessi . Game Laws, from ymr P.B sto the year 1821 inclusive distinguishing the charges, the number of trials and convictions in each year. Agreed to. The Petition was then read, and ord ?red to lie upon the table. WHARFS. •Mr. C. CALVERT presented a Petition from the Occupiers of Wharfs ia St. - Waves, SOuthwark, complaining that in coo sequence of some compulsory regulation on the part of the West Intim Dock Company, alltdlips coming • from the Baltic..were obliged to go into the London Dock. The Petition Was - brought up,' read, and ordered to lie upon the table, and be printed. EDUCATION IN . IRELAND. Mr. BROUGHAM expressed a hope that his Hon. Friend (Mr. Spring. Rice) would consent to postpone his motion on this subject until Tuesday next: ,Hemade this request because he wished then to take the opportunity of stating to the House the reasons which had iodue,d him to defer the Motion, which it had been his own intention to submit. Mr. SPRING RICE said that he had no objection to comply with the request or his Hon. Friend. Motion accordingly post poned until Tuenday next. CONSTITUTIONAL ASSOCIATION. Mr. S. WHITuREAD; in bringing forward the motion of which - he had given notice, wished it had fallen into abler hands. Though he should blame himself for taking up a subject of such in ' (crest if any Member of -greater - weight 'in the (louse were likely to bring it forward, he would consider himself still'more to blame, if, when no one else offered to do it, he were to let that which was so important to the lives and liberties of Englishmen pass unnoticed. He had hoped that some other Member would bring under the con sideration of the House the proceedings of a So ciety as odious and unconstitutional in principle, 4s it was malignant and corrupt in practice. There was a difficulty in attacking a body whose characteristics were perfidy and treachery. There .was always difficulty in attacking an insidious fly Society f o r shelterw Ii despisingo,to some : paltry justice q a u n i ( 1 1 .0)ie oequity,r the 'to e r li t i t i l y d . ll.e was . obliged to speak thus harshly of the So ciety generally, though he knew that some indi- VidualS;Of high rank and character belonged to it —seduced into it as they had ,been by the delu sions which it held out, and by its calling itself the Constitutional Association. If it had assumed its proper name, " The Birchin-lane Plot," none of those exalted individuals would have belonged to it. Its affairs he understood to be conducted. by Attornies who appeared to look less to the interests of justice than to their own emoluMent. No one would think of quarrelling with' an At torney for lOoking Olds own profit, yet he thought he had cause to qua eel with the parties in ques tion for the means %, I ,rich they used to attain that end. No one,' he believed, would deny that a sufficient power was vested in the LaW Officersof the Crown to proceed against and put down all libellous offences, and no one, he thought, would be'dfraid that those officers would be too delicate in the exercise of that power.. He was sure that whatever were thecrimes of Benbow and Dolby, and he did not stand there as the advocate of se dition and blasphemy, but as the opponent of principles which he considered to be dangerous to the Constitution of this country—be was sure that whatever might have been the crimes of Benbow and Dolby, they could have met with all just and necessary punishrnentunder the pro secution of the Attorney-General. The powers which this Society assumed at its 'Outset were those of discerning what publications were law ful, and proper, and if they decided upon any as of an opposite character, then they were to he ' subjected to prosecution. And here it was to be observed that the- Society did not apply to per sons who, from education and habits ollife, were acquainted with the law of the land, big acted upon-its own judgment and discretion. ' There was the strongest objection to any corpo rate body proceeding to prosecute an indivi dual; the Law Officers of the Crown were under' some responsibility arising from public animadversion, and from the authority of that House,-to which the individuals composing such a body could not be rendered liable. Ile had always obsefved, and he trusted it was not tak ing two harsh a view of human nature, that men, when associated in a body, would openly lend themselves to transactions of which theY would be wholly ashamed as individuals. Of course he was quite ready to acknowledge that he possessed ne deep knowledge of the -law ; but he could take upon himself to assert, that a combinatior like that which he was now called upon to notice was not to. be recognised either in the spirit or the practice of - the Common Law of the Land. And if' he could read and understand the mean ing of an Act of Parliament, it' was in open con tempt of the Act of Maintenance. Upon another ground, also, this Association was against the spirit of law and justice. Upon a-recent decision in the Court of King's Bench, the _Court gave what he considered to be a very extraordinary direction, namely, that a defendant in a prosecu tion instituted by this Society, should have the right of questioning every petty juryman to the fact of his being one 'of its members. Now, if the Court saw danger in this circumstance, and thought it necessary to take this precautionary measure, how much More mischief was there to Inr apprehended, from Members of a Grand Jury being Associators. For this there could be no remedy or defence provided. And even, it under all these disadvantages, an individual should es 'cape from the plots of the Society, and if he was to prove himself innocent, how was he to recover the expences to which he had been put, or how was he to obtain remuneration for that time which be lost in the harrassing occupation of making his defence ? lie would have every possible diffi culty in doing this, because he could not prose cute for conspiracy on account of the difficulty 'of proving malicious intentions. There would be- another difficulty also upon a trial of this nature. It was for the Judge chiefly to decide in directing the Jury what constituted proof of malicious intentions and of conspiracy.; and there was the possibility that that Judge-might be at the same time an anonymous subscriber to the as sociation. lie was fully persuaded. that such a combination of men must militate aff"ainst the constitution of the country, and tend to poison the sources from Which the fonrltain of justice flowed. Where they to endure tyranny because it was under the mask of loyalty, or becausti; it was under the disguise of Peers, Old Women, and his Majesty's Alinisters?s4A laugh.)--If this Society was to be .endured, they must henceforth ‘‘ consider Mr. Sharpe, and the .Sol'citor, Mavray, to,be the prosecutors of the 'rib!! .-- . ---(Ilear!)- 10kas not the A ttorney and SolkcittoraCl atertilVo were 'to fulfil that °Rise," but MriMurray and Mr. Sharps must he the i a s nspectors of pamphlets and of prints, to see that the designs were suffi ciently moral and loyal. If there were any per- sons presets; who belonged to this Association, he trusted that they would lose no time in with drawing then selves from it, before they became, like its active members, completely bankrupt in fame. If the Association did not possess, like the Holy Inquisition, the power'of inflicting bo dily torture, it did possess and. act upon the power of torturing its victims by treachery and deceit. If such an enormity was to be tolerated, it must eventually break up all confidence be- tween man and Man. Every one would distrust his neighbour, and people would 1w to each other ~ as the inhabitants of a pestilential city, where each shunned the other to avoid contamination ' 't and death. One thing was certain, namely, that • it must destroy all fair and free political discus- .- sion ; and when- such a state of apathy was in- -7 , duced, despotism muss be the necessary conse quence. The Hon. Member justified himself for ' ) calling upon the- attention of the House, and -T concluded by moving " That an humble Address be presented to his Majesty,,praying that he will • direct the Attorney-General to enter a mil pro sequi ... to all indictments laid against any indivi duals by the Society styling itself ' The . Consti.. a. tutional Association.'" Mr. BATHUttST commetsced hi a low tone of. voice, by retharking upon the obloquy and in- ' t vective in which the Hon. Gentleman had in dulged in the course of his speech. Ile cola lected, however, that his object was nothing lest . than to put down this Society altogether,— - ~ (Hear!) —though at the same time he advised any Hon. Gentlemen who might have become members of it to withdraw the support so given. With respect to the motion itself, it certainly • did appear extraordinary that the Hon. Member. had taken such a course for effecting his purpose of putting - down the Society, before the House had come to any decision upon its legality, or its . constitutional tendency. Before being called upon to put it down, the House certainly ought to have formed something like a decided opinion upon those points. The chief object of the mo tion was to empower and instruct the Attornev- General to stop proceedings upon every indivi dual case which the Soiety had thought fit to prosecute. Now he believed that according t° the practice of the Courts this would, in fact, be quite Impracticable. He, however, wished It' put it to the,House to consider, npOn broad and general principles, whether it was called upon to put down this Society or not. If its principles , were odious, as the Honourable Member Loa emphatically denominated them, he should be most willing that all the power of the Hous e ' rshould be exercised to p9t a stop to all its , proceedings. . Big they had only the Honour - able Member's invective, and his opinion, t° prove that such was the case. In opposition to that' opinion they had the Society's 0 011 statement, which professed very different prin . ' , ciples, and very. different intentions. From th e principles there, avowed, he could only collec t that a certain number of Gentlemen seeing - , 0 . 4 , they believed, the press teeming with seditio"- and blasphemy, were anxious that such crim es should meet with their merited punishment.; ThOse.were the principles which, as it appeareo to him, the .Hon. Member had described as being so disgustingly odions.—(Heat.)—When th, e lion. Member laid down that no indivi duals could constitutionally take proceedings ont U t the hands of the public prosecutor, regarding I to O he Offence in which the public was concerned, ` l ll must overlook what continually occurred in it ,„ parts of the country where Associations aver t s, formed for the prosecution of crimes, in W hi • c a l many of the associators anal prosecutors had interest whatever in the offence cemmitted• l. ri did not mean to-say that a Society like the o ut ' ' , question was not liable to abuse ; but he coo li l distinguish between principles laid down, 1n conduct said to be founded upon those principle! The Hon. Member had said that this So'ier?; had been formed by a few lawyers, with a vie, to to their own pro. Now he could not be ' i ; thinking that if it t-lc had been raised upon Coe narrow basis, the proceedings of the Soc ie c a would never have called the public attent inn c o , the extent which it had already . done. The be ciety had certainly done a great deal; whe,,,,,t it was good or bad he should say nothing. ' lie the more the question was agitated, the more 0, was afraid, or rather the Hon. Gentleman 0 0' 5 , site . might be afraid, ,it would still do and P r o o 'per. Nothing Was calculated to increace it , a a much as the attacks • which had been made t i t ''pri it. They only served to fix the public atte n t it to it ; and those very attacks would ree(lcare worthy, in, the. eyes of some people, of Ai to earnest support. He had lived long enotia 'o w remember an association which was en t e red c a at the time of the French Revolution of c‘ 3 on e a similar nature to the present. Yet o° o , of thought of putting it down by the autho t ;' a ats that House, and much less by any new e to de rents. There bad been no attempt %c ar up to that day, with one inconsiderabl e e riy , act tion which bad failed, to proceed agains t a d of its or conduct of the Society upon the groon by the illegality. Whether the course pur uea „ ' w ith Society was prudent or not was a questi°diii ar which the HOuse had nothing to do. it : . Heratalled uFoll pear to him that the present motlothe House to direct the Attorney do • namell, to by law he was not empowered to ' corn" had been put down prosecutions w hieh a • statuted b cer tal" menced because they were instituted b fare He should therefore vote in the State. .. wh at vote against the motion. traor' Dr. LUSHINGTON thoug h t it ro ta little ex ,_, 'dinary that after the almost uninterru p ted pow for the last o which lion. Gentlemen hadiie sway maintoaft n o '', )irt'yea oppositers—after the