The Sun. — London, England, 1806-06-20 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT HOUSE OF PEERS. • THURSDAY, JUNE 19. Earl MAN! , .ZERS (late Lord Viscount Newark) was introduced by the Earls of Hardwicke and Limerick. His Patent of Creation having been read' at the Ta ble, his Lordship took the Oaths and his Seat.. Mr. ADAM was heard as Counsel on Sir John Gordon's Divorce Bill. Witnesses were also exa ,min-td to prove the necessary Documents and the .of Adultery. The Earl of Mountnorris was one of the Witnesses who was examined at the Ta ble of the House, where his Lordship was allowed a Chair. • The Bill was then read a second time and com ,mir e,i for Monday. Mr. flobhouse, Mr. Pym, Mr. Graham, and seve ral other, Members of the ,House of commons; • brought up the Irish Post Road Bill, and some Pri - vlte Bills; which were read a , rirst time. The Irish Post Road Bill was, on the Motion of the Earl,of Limerick, ordered to be printed. The Resolutions of the Committee of the whole lionse respe&ing the Administration of Civil Jus t ice in Scotland were reported by Lord Walsingham, and, on the Motion of Lord Grenville, ordered.to be printed. The West India Auditor3' Bill was read a second time and committed for to-morrow. SLAVE TRADE. The Earl of WESTMORLAND expressed a wish that the Noble Lord oppoSite (LOrd Grenville) would consent to postpone his Motion relative to the Slave Trade, which - stood for' to.frhorroW, till Tuesday, on account of the indisposition of an Illustrious Duke (the Duke -of Clarence, we believe), who was anxious to attend upon the discussion of that ques tion. Lord GRENVILLE expressed his regret at the in disposition of the Illustrious Duke alluded to by the Noble Earl, and.readily . deceded td the Noble Earl's reqfiest. The Earl of WESTrtoRLA:•Tn requested to, know in what form the Noble Lord's proposition upon the subject would •be made ? Lord GRENVILLE replied, that the Obje& of it would be to agree to ,the Resolution of the House of Commons. The Resolution communicated from the House of Commons V;as.ordei - ed to be taken into consideration on Tuesday next. The Ead . Of WrEgTmoRLANI) presented. a Petition frorn certain Persons. concerned in the West-India , Trele, and another from the Agent of the Island Of iitolaica, against the 'Abolition of the Slave Trade ; Nel.vich were ordered to lie on the'Table: RIDGE FOX. Lord GRENVILLE moved the Order of the Day for the Consideration of the Petition 'of Mr. Justice 4)x. _ _ The following Petition was then read by the Clerk : To the Right Honourable the LORDS Sri R.ITU AL and TEM:. :ORAL of the United Kiiigdotn of Great Britain and Ire , land in Parliament assembled, The PETITION of the Hon. LUKE FOX, On::. of the ustices of His Majesty's Court of Common Pleas in ; rend Humbly Sheweth, '" That the -Petitioner, 'in the summer of the year 143, *tot, as one of the I udges of Assize, uoon the North West iir oischarged the auties ot his to the best of his judgment, according to law, and the Solemn obligation of his oath, by which he was bound to. do justice indifferently, without respect of persons. " That as long attcr,the conclusion of that Circuit as the, tst May, 0304, a Petition was presented to your .Lordships by' John Hatt, Esq. complaining of certain parts of the Peti tioner's conduel in hig situation of judge, at the Assizes held at .I..itli.hd,•on the said Circuit; and in the month of july,iBo4, two other Petitions, apparently influenced by the example of • the said john Hart, were presented to your Lordships ; one in !Jac name of William Armstrong, .and,others ; and the other iu the name of Gerrard Irvine, Esq. further complaining of your Petitioner's conduel at Inniskillen, on the said Circuit. " Your Petitioner begs leave to inform your, Lordships, thri he receivod no previous notice, horn any person,: that it was intended to make his judicial conduct the subjed of pub. Ire complaint ; and he was first'apprised of the same by ttre cminmon Nrewspapers, having been at the time occupied by the duties of his othce.in Dublin ; but anxious to rescue his Cileirdeler born any imputation, and deeply sensible of the public injury which must result flop permitting Charges, hOweVer urnounded, - to remain suspended over a person ap pointed to administer justice, yodr Petitionercante.torthwith to London, for the purpose of vindicating his charader, and taking- the necessary steps for his speedy and immediate de knee. , 0 4 Chat on the sth July, 0304, . certain Articles of Corn plaint, founded upon the aforesaid Petitions, and other mat ters, were presented to - our Lordships,' and laid upon your tame ; but Parliam,ent was soon atterWards prorogued,. and pour Petitioner had to return to the discharge of his fundiOns of a i udge oppressed 'With the weight and obloquy of a iniblie accusation preferred in his absence,' to the highest tri ••ai in the realm, and precluded from' all means of vindi— rstiog his eh:trader, or defending his conduct, until a future 'fsl , ,,sum of Parliament, by reason of the complaint against Petitioner not having been brought' forward, by his ac • cioets till near the close of the Session, when it was impos bt.te to.haVe any effectual proceedings t hereon. Petitioner tespedfully submits to your Lordships, that in a business of such serious importance to the adinini ses'initofpublic justice, as ,fiat of a criminal accusation ae insione , of His Majesty's badges, it might reasonably have expeded, that the Articles of Complaint jaresented a, :Must him would have been frayned upon great deliberation, and with serupulotas caution ; the•rnote especially from the e tremely harsh nature of the Charges themselves, and the ifdlleato situatien - of the pers.m to whom guilt was thereby ' imputed ; for all which considerations; the great length of liwe which had 'been Settered - to elapse, atter the conduct e!nuplaicied of was al ledgeieto have taken place, and before any charge was made, had .afforded more than suOicient op portunity ; notwithstanding which, the said Articles were alered in the beginning of the next Session, And particulars of . ),:nplanit were then ',resented to your Lordships, containing a new Charge of a very aggravanld nature, which, with several ' other Al tides, not leWer than, five in number,'liave been since withdrawn, That early in the Session'of aos a. Committee of your Lordships was appointed, which every Peer had a right to 'alt. lid , to consider of the matter Wedged against yout Peti tioner, and of the evidence which might be brought in sup. poft of the same; at which time ,yout . Petitioner was again cnirtpelled todorego the discharge of his judicial duties, and to attend upon your Lordships for the purpose, as he hoped, of being then allowed to enter upon his defence; but was then prevented a 'second time front appearing in his own de tente, by the nature and constitution of the said Committee, at whose proceedings it, was not permitted to him, nor to any person employe:i on his behalf, to be present. • 4 . That after a: considerable part of the said Session had been ern, loyed in examining into the matters then alledged against your Pet itioner, and after several witnesses had, been examined in support of the Charges theretofore preferred against Min, to your Petitioner's very great 'surprise, the matter ot - complaint against him was again ahead, new snolelled, and changed, by withdrawing several of the par. t ieu nos of complaint which had been . before presented, and must strongly insisted upon as, highly criminal, by aibending abd chaving, in material parts, those that were suffered to remain, so as to make them ditarent in their nature anti jet . - tea, and.'hy introducing then, for the 'first time, . other Charges altoget her new ; 131 means of which continued flue , tuation of complaint, your - Petitioner was involved in the most cruel perplexity, and because utterly uncertain what the Cb trges,might tie against which he might ultimately de fend himself; whilst It% charaaer girls in the mean time deeply wounded by this apparent multiplicity of Charges, thus - publicly and -scdrnnly presented to the highest Court of ludir;ature in the .Re.:llln, as grave and scletnn !natters cf just complaint rhi.rinst‘one - of His MojeSty's ludges. _ _ " That on thcizZ.l May, aos, it was moved that aki hum- , ble Address should he p:esented to llis.fklajesty, to remove your Petitioner trom Ins Office, grounded upon such new altered and amended Charges ; whereupon • your Lordships ordered, - -• that your Lordships' House should' resolve itself into a Committee of the whole House, upon ,the Motion made for an Address to be presented to His Majesty to re, move your Petitioner frost his Office of Judge, and to enter into the fans alied:ert on the said Motion'. " That on-the 3 tst May, 130 s, and ton various subsequent days, during,the etintinuance of the last Session, one of the Charges stared by the Motion, contained in the Petition of ‘Vm. Arthstrong and others,'was proceeded in at your Lord ships' Bar; when no further progress was, made than to 'eka- mine the witnesses produced in support of the tack alledged in.the said Petition ; in the course of whose eviderkee_it ap peared, that your Petitioner's accusers and their witnesses have been all paid the expellees incurred- by them, in prose cuting their coMplaima, out. of the P oft! lc M4ney. " Your Petitioner fed s himself bound to state to your Lor dships, that several 'or the remaining Charges would probably,' from the nature td inc allegations Contained therein, occupy more of your Lolaships' tiinethati,that which hasbeetn taus heard in part. " Your Petitioner, under these circumstances, .feels him self called upon tp state most respectfully to your Lordship's the many grievous ilardOlips which result to him front pro ceedings which are novel iii their nature, and harassing by their delay—which subject his.. char4ter to continued public oblo quy which .he has had no opportunity to remove or repel, and which are almost ruinous to his privatefortune ; the pressure ; of which is the more severely felt by him, inasmuch as the expences of his Accusets have been defrayed out of the public Treasury. . "'Your Petitioner, penetrated by a, lively sense of the many difficulties and hardships to which he has been sutt jetted, without an tmputation 'on the uprightness or into grtty of his conduct, wounded in his personal and judicia) feeltags, and still more deeply affected by the embarrassment so long suspended over the Administration of I ustice, at this advanced period of the third Session irkwhich his name his been coupled with Parliamentary Accusation ; -." Humbly prays your Lordships to consider the nature - and circumstances of has case, anti to make such orders therein as to your Lordships' Wisdom and justice shall seem meet. " And your Petitioner will-ever Tray, (Signed) " LUKE Lord dRENVILLE I said, whilst their Lordships were occupied by the' Impeachment brought before them by the House of Commons, it was evidently impossible for them to resume the consideration of the case of Mr. Justice Fox. That •business haying been brought to - a conclusion, it now became aq ties tion, wLethor it was expedient or proper to resume the' hearing of the evidence on the Charges against : Mr. Justice Fox. Upon this subje6t he was deci dedly of opinion, that that House was not the pro.= per place for the discuSsion of. such Charges. That House had no, original criminal jurisdidion,,aon to, attempt to give it any such jurisdidien was to con ; found the power given by 'the Constitution, and to' establish a precedent highly dangerous 'and inimical to the true interests of justice. Their lordships, except in matters 'relating, to their own privileges, could only .try persons Upon Criipinal Charges brought before them, upon Impeachment by the House of Commons, who, in that case, formed the Grand Inquest of the Nation. The High Court of Parliament was ai' formed for the trial of offences thus found by, the (rand Inquest—tut as in the or dinary Courts the-Jurors could not ad as Judges , or the Judges as Jurors, so the High Court of Par liament was also bound by rules founded upon es tablishea principles, and their Lordships could not constitutionally unite the fun6tiops of Judges and that .of a Grand Inquest, Na - precedent was to be found to san&ion such a line_ of conduct ; the only precedent there , was upon the subjed . was, the case' of Chief Justice 'Holt, who, when ar raigned in that House for some part of his condu& as Judge,, answered, treat he was bound .by his oath to ad as Judge-according to the laws and to his, conscience, and that the House of Lords could not take cognizance of his' dcindlia_wi)mt aging in that capacity ; which answer was acquiesced in by the Ileuse, and thus the precedent "vas decidedly against the mode of prOiceedinc , which had, in the case of Mr. Justice Fox, been adopted by the House. That House, he was , clearly of opinion, Could not try Mr. Justice Fox upon the charges preferred against him, -unless those charges were Brought before them by impeachment. What must be the proceeding upon the supposition that they might in the result deem that Learned Judge unfit to continue any longer in his Office ? It mtist s be an Address to His Majesty 'to remoye him from his Office. This must, of course, be a deliberative-proceeding in their 'legis lative capacity, and thus they would be in the in consistent situation of first trying judicially, and then being unable to pronounce any other judgment than a resolution deliberated / upon in their legislative ca pacity. It might also happen, if such a mode of proceeding were continued ; to he adopted by the House, that aftdr they bad investigated charges of a , t similar description, the Ho\ise cif Commons might, upon the very same charges, bring up an impeach- Ment against the individual - accused, and thus their Lordships would find themselves in the predicament of having to try thqe Charges which they had al ready prejudged. It might be, said that the Clause in .the A& of Parliament, stating that a Judge could only be removed by' an Address of both. Houses; would be nugatory; unless some such mode `as the present were adopted for investigating Charges made against a Judge; but he would rather that ' any , Clause in an Ad of Parliament should remain un aded upon than that the Principles of the Constitu 7 tion should be violated. He could easily conceive f however, cases in which that Clause might he carried✓ into effe6t ; it might happen that a Judge, incapa citated bY corporeal or mental infirmity, from execut ing the Duties of his Office, might still, from ca price or other Motive, refuse to resign, then it might be expedient - for Parliathent to interfere according to the enactment of the Clause, and address His Majesty for the, removal of such a Jude ; -or it might also, if the case 'should happen, of a Judge being convicted in a Court of Justice of any crime which rendered it unfit that' he Should continue to administer jtisrice ; but for the House to take cog nizance originally of Criminal Charges was wholly foreign to the don<titution. If such a mode of pro ceeding was sanctioned by the House, it was impos sible to say where it would end. Every individual, would have the same right to present Petitions; com plaining of the condu& of any Judge in any particu-' tar instance which displealed them, as those persons had who petitioned against Mr. Justice Fox ; and the Hduse might thus be continually occlpied in investigating Charges thus brought by individuals against Judges, merely on account of some decision, or some expression, with which those indiViduals were not pleased. As to convenience, it must 'be evident to their Lordships, that at this ad ced period of the Session, it was impossible re- if some the consideration of the Charges against Mr. ,JUstice Fox with any prospect of bringitig it to a conclusion:—This, however; was the least ground of objection, as upon the constitutional grounds he had before stated, he decidedly objected, to the further consideration of the proceedings. - It was his 'inten tion to postpone the consideration of the subjea for' three months, to a period When'their Lord Ship s. might hope•-:they would 'not be sitting, but which Motion in its ,terms would not decide any ques tion upon the subjea . . His Lordship concluded' by making a Motion to that effet. The Marquis of ABERC,VRAT'said, he had heard the Noble Lord with great pain and regret.' If, as was to be apprehended from the great weight_and authority which the Noble Lord had in that House, a negative was to be put upon the further proceed •ingsin the case of Mr. Justice Fox; be feared that there would soon be sufficient cause to lament - the precedent established by such 'a decision, and that the Noble- Lord would ere long repent it. He would hot attempt to reply to the arguments adduced by the Noble Lord for the purpose of proving that these Charges ought not to have been, brought be- fore the House, as he considered that the time was past for such ,‘ an argument, the'House having re ,peatedly decided to the contrary. They had or dered Witnesses repeatedly to attend to give their evidence ; a similar order had been again made this SesSion, and, WitnesseS were now in attendance. These Witne,sses_ had travelW many a weary mile to attend at the Bar of that' House, to claim aka justice which was . due to them.; and now, after having heard a part of the evidence, and gone thus far; the proc'eeding was to be suddenly- put an end to, the 'remainder of the Charges were not to be investigated, and with respell to those which had, the Learned Judge was to be deprived of the Op portunity- of rebutting the evidence against him. He regretted that he must be under the necessity of detaining their Lordships a considerable' time— but he felt it to be his duty under the circumstances . in which the House was now 'placed by thepresent Motion, to call their attention to the whole of • the evidence which related to the Charges against Mr. Justice Fox, with .the view of putting it to them upon the whole of the case, whether they could con sistently, or in justice, now suddenly, abandon,the proceedings which they had commenced. His Lordship then entered into, a very long and minute detail of the Charges against Mr. Justice Fox, and the evidence in support of theM, commenting upon' each Charge as he went on ; but as it is altogether an exparte stateMent,, we consider it due to the cha raEter of the, Learned Judge to refrain- from fel , lowing the Noble Marquis in this part of his Speech, Lord ELDON followed on the .same side. Re maintained that the powers of that House, from which they had no right to' recede, were judicial,,, legislative, and inquisitorial. The matter had - been allowed to originate in that House, and they had no power to allow it to drop without coming to an opi nion upon it. Even if the matter should be al lowed to pass over for the present Session, he should not conceive himself warranted in allowing it to go by during the next. , The LORD CHANCELLOR supported the Motion of Lord Grenville. Though the powers of the House might be inquisitorial as well as judicial, he apprehended that cases of complaint, in which , that House must ultimately \ be the Judges, would always ,originate with greater propriety in another place. - Earl MOIRA was of a similar opinion, and' en forced the necessity of allowing a person' 'who was not deprived of his judieial,fundiens to go on in the undisturbed administration of them till such time as' a regular Charge was exhibited before a proper Tribunal., Earl BUCKINGHAMSHIR F . opposed the Motion. Lord AUCKLAND enforced the arguments he had formerly adduced .in support of a, suspension of all farther proceedings before the Honse. Earl H:ttl Dwt cu conceived, that not only justice to the Country, but'to the. Honourable Judge, ren dered it , necessary that the Charges should now be proceeded in. - Earl SPENCER agreed in the Motion of•his Noble Friend, having from the beginning been tif opinion that the case could not properly originate in that House: Earl WESTMORLAND maintained that the Charge being once 'entertained in that House, and •there being nothing to exclude the originating 6f a pro ceeding there which could not in its then stage be said to be criminal, they were bound to proceed in it. The Question being called for, the House di vided—' For L6rd Grenville's Motion - 25 Against it - 16 , Majority - - - — 9 Adlouined till to-morrow. . HOUSE' OF COMMONS. THURSDAY, JUNE 19. The Assessed Taxes Bill, the Thread Lace Bill, the Duke of 'Grafton's Agreement Bill, the Prussian Yarn Bill; the Gibraltar and Malta: Postage Bili, and" the Irish Mine Bill were reported, and ordered to be read, a third time. a INDIA [AMC ET. Lord IVlonpETti gave notice, that, the East India Budget AxrDtild be laid before the Hotise on Monday se'nnigh t. • ri o(lu the Motion of Mr. VANSITTART, the Report he Eicise Office Regulation Bill was taken into farther consideration, and the Bill ordered.to be read a third time on Monday next. The Committees on the Scotch Distillery Bill, the custom -house Fees Bill, on the Stamp Office Regu lation Bill, and on the Post Office Regulation Bill, were postpdned till to-morrow. Sir JOHN NIENSTORT brought up the Irish Cus toms and Excise Regulation- Bill -; which was read a first, and ordered to be read a second time on Mohdu. IRISH ELECTION BILL. Sir Jot-Di NEwrowr moved the Order of the Day for the House resolving itilf into a Committee on thi's Bill. _ , Mr. ALEXANDER thou& the Bill was hurried on with WO much precipitation. ,; Sir 3. NEwroaT replied, that after the blanks were tilled up in the Committee, he should not ob jeCllto the Bill being printed, and a sufficient time given for its die consideration. • , • Culonel VEREKER : said, with . siome warmth, that • he had no iclea Of a Bill of such magnitude being so hastily read a .nrst -and a second time, without being printed.; partiCularly when he considered that it struck at the very' existence of every Corporation of Leland, which this Bill would prohibit from proceeding to any. other business /till they should first have decided on the claim of every Freeman.— The CorporatiOns of Limerick and Galway- were particularly interested, and -time should be given for, therrLto petition against it. When the Union was made with Ireland, the people. were told, t h at they were . to be governed in future-by justice; but be would ask, what justice was to-be found u the present measure ?. : He could consider, the Bill ,as nothing else' but a measure which was tntended to be carried through by Ministerial v;eight, on the part of the Right Hon. Baronet,- and for his own purposes. • • Sir JOHN.NEIk PORT replied, that his' objeft in bringing forward this measure was to secure their rights to persons who had been deprived of thetas before, - either by the tardiness or the injustice of Corporate Bodies in.lreland. The , principal Pre. vision of it was, that .those who were, entitled to the Freedom of Corporations should make the de mand of the Clerk of the Peace,_ whovvas a permanent Officer, instead of the Mayor of a Corporation, who ,was_huly an annual Officer ; and that in 411 hours after. the /application was made, the Clerk of the Peace should be bound, under forfeiture of a severe penalty, to return it to the Mayor, after which, the Corporation was to proceed to no' Meat or other business till-the claim of Freedom was de cided on. , As the law- of the Irish Parliament at present stood, the person entitled to Freedom, if not admitted within one' month, was entitled to apply for a mandamus to the Court of King's Bench, and after pbtaining it, no penalty attached to the neglect or delay 'of the Corporate Officer. This Bill was ieterided to give etfe6t to that La w. The next clause of the Bill went to regulate that the decision should take place according to the, order pf delivery. The ob jeCt of this was to remedy the abuse of claims made within a few- hours, being frequently, by the in fluence of the parties, considered and decided upon before those which had been preferred and unde cided upon perhaps for three or feet. years. It must be obvious, that if every Freeman, perhaps. in low circuMstances, was to 'make good his right against the weight and power of a Corporation, he must labour tinder a great hardship. As to the insinuation that this Bill was a Ministerial one, he would only say, tha s t If he made use or office for any private or corrupt purposes he deserved to be reprobated ; but as he scorned to mince matters, or . go behind the bush, he must now declare that the Bill Was ren-. dered necessary, if it was.only from a circumstance which happened at the last Election for Waterford, when the sum of 50001. was raised by the Corp°. ration for no other purpose than that of keeping persons from the exercise of their freedom. As the law was .at present, if a roan spent . looi..iti assert freedom, the greatest costs. he -could hare against the. person who illegally kept him 'out of it. was '301.; 'but by the present Bill, any public officer obstructing the exercise of the, right of voting, would be subje& to a,fire of 5001. Shameful and crying abuses were known to have existed, and this Bill would only compel the Officers to do'justice.-- 7 . It was, in fad, no more than a f ar th er - regu l at i o n ,of the Bill 'of 33d 'of the King, arid the reason why be was led, in this stage, to address himself at so much length to the Houie was, that he may do away the insinuation that he was capable of any abuse of office. COL VEREKER said, he opposed the measure, as belly ,- '' the Representative of one o f th e most revet ableCorporations in Ireland. Mr. S. BOURNE thought the question to be considered was, whether a -Bill which ,so much af feeted the rights of the Ele&ors should be allowed to pass the' House in the'conrse of a few days, and before the people of Ireland - had time to judge of it ? He suggested to the Right Hon. Bart. the propriety of filling up the blanks now, rather than ordering the Bill ,to be printed ; and afterwards to let it stand over to the next Session of Parliament. Mr: ALEXANDER asserted, that in the Cor poration in Ireland with which he had the most connexion, he never heard of any instance of injus tice; J o ie only knew of a discretion which he thought Properly vested in the Corporations, to judge of the fitness of persons according to the fairness of their charaaers. Mr. FOSTER said, he hoped that on,. a question which affected so many of the 'franchise rights of Ireland, the Hon. Gentleman would not, in the' absence of so many Irish Members, press a Bill now on the Igth; which was only brought •in on the 14th Of this month. If the measure was now persisted in, he shOuld oppose the Speaker's leaving the Chair; but he hoped the Right Hon. Gentleman would not press it. Mr. O'H4Ri4 said, that ,if the Gentlemen oppo site wished the to be well understood by the Corporations, in Ireland,' the best mode of doing it Would be, to have the blanks first filled up in the ComMittee, in wifich'all the objeCtions they-propos ed might be obviated. Earl TEMPLE-thought, that - -aS the objeCtions Went merely to the clauses, it would be right to go into the Committee ; and after they ware filled u p, he' understood that his Right Hon. Friend would' consent to defer the Report for ten days, during which there would be time to coiled the sense of the Corporations in Ireland. CQIOIICI VEREKER and Mr. S. BOURNE said, that explanation was not' sufficient to induce them to give up their objections. • Sir JOHN NEWPORT said, be. should consent to allow fourteen days .for consideration, after- the blanks were filled up ; but if he deferred it for twelve months, the consequence might be; that a number of Electors stood a chance of being' deprived of their franchises. Colonel. BAGIVELL did not think' a fortnight by any means sufficient to colle& the sense of the Corporations in the distant pa i rts of Ireland. Mr. PARNELL said a few words in support of the Bill. Dr. LAWRENCE-said, that if any modification of the provisions was desirable, that would be done best in a Committee. Mr. S. BOURNE thought, that as there were so many Obje6tions to the Bill, he should vote against the Speaker's leaving the Chair, unless it was agreed that the blanks sho,ild be tilled up in the ComnYit tee, and the further consideration of the measure