The Sun. — London, England, 1806-06-19 00:00:00

• iirpl:ili.ll, PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF PEERS• ED'S ESDNY, • fuNE Lord GRANARD (Earl of Granarci) was lritrot;•lced between Lord RAW6oN (Earl of Moira) and Lord LAUDERDALE (Earl of Lauderdale). His pate of 'creation having been 'read . at the,Table, his Lordship took the oaths and his seat. , The second reading of Sir John Gordon ' s arvorce till was' flied for to-morrow , . Mr. Alexander, Sir Ralph Milbanke, Lrd Hen niker, Mr..Baker,gand'several other Metnh,Ts of the House of Commons, brought up the West-IndiA Auditors' Bill, 2nd several Private Bills . ; WhiCh were read a first time. The Chelsea; Allowance Bill was 'read a. third time and .passed, and a Message sent tp the House of comment to acquaint them therewith. Strangers were for some titiie excluded, whilst the House discu , sed ,some matter of privilege. ADMINISTRAVION Of JUSTICE IN SCOTLAND. Lord 'GRENVILLE moved that the House , should resolve itfielf int 9 a Commiqe,;2 to consider the Ad ministration of Civil J ustice in Shetland. The House having resolved itself into a Com- mittee, bird GRENPILLE said no man could more, deeply 'feel the importance end difficulty of any sub jea' thadhe did .that upon which he now rose to ad dress their Loidshipso Feeling,' however, as he did, all the ditliculty of the subject, he felt it at thb - same time to•he his duty, after fully and tnaterially con , sidering it, to submit certain propositiOns w their Lordships, the objects of which were to remove evilS and inconvenjencies which had arisen to a great height, and' whith loudly deMended a remedy. His attention had been called to the' number of Appeals in that House, particularly from Scotland, which had increased to such an extent, that their accumu lation, 'and the consequent great , delay in their de cision, became a most serious evil to Suitors in 'that high Court, and was disreputable to its jurisdiaion. In considering this subject his attention was natu turned to the Court of Session in Scotland, from whence so.niany of these Appeals came, and there he found also that the business bad accumu lated to an eetent which produced the most material, evils to . the Suitors, from the •unavoidable delay which occurred in deciding causes. It would be a' fueserfisous waste of their Lordships' time to enter into a history of the Cpurt of Session ; it would be -sufficient to observe, that, by the Aft of Union, it • wes declared to 'be the C l ourtefor deciding causes in - Scotland, and from eshich an appeal only lay to the House of Lords. It was evident, therefore, that no other Court could be established for this purpose, without a breach of the A& of Union. There were, however, means of altering the frame and constitu tion of this Court, by which, as he conceived, civil justice might be better and more speedily adminis tered, .The Court at present consisted of fifteen Judges. He did not mean, and he trusted be should not be understood to mean, to throw the slightest re flection upon any of the Learned Judges of that Cotirt, but it was his opiniOn, and it was the opinion'ofetnany )oersons of great experience and knowledge 'of the laws. that, speaking generally, justice was betteeed ministered in a Court where the Judges were only three or four in. number than where they consisted 4.4 a greater number. • There were many rlsasons s e Lies would naturally occur to their Lordships why tilis must neeessarily. be the case. It was also of the highest insportatiets- that the condu& of Judges in -their respective Courts should, as in this part of the United Kingdom,!be open to woda that they . should deliver their opinions in the face of an en lightened Bar, from whence they would soon be-' come subjeas of, public dismission ; and then the slightest error (for Judges were fallible as well as other men) would Very soon be corrected. A great advantage likewise arose from all the Judges of a Court hearing the arguments of Counsel in the cause on which they were to decide, and their being ena bled to form 'their opinion .pith as little delay as possible. le the Court of Session all the legal argu mentss as well -as the proceedings, were delivered in, • writing, a praftice.which 'consumed netich time in - the deliberations of the Judges after each had examin ' ed the - written documents, and unless they were unanimous, which, perhaps, where 'there were so . min.y Judges coulh not expeetedsoften,to happen, another:delay arose in deliverieg their, opirti'ons Clsi , aim . . With this view of the subjea a plan had been framed for the perpose•of obviating some of the in-' conveniencieseeseiting e from the constitution of the Court of Session and the forms of its proceeding. It was proposed to divide the Court into Chambers; the number' to Le hereafter fixed; his ,opinon inclined to three Chambers,' as more likely to answer the purpose 'of speedily administetiog justice-than two, whilst in. the' latter case also the objection to a greateieniber of Judges in one Court would still operate considerably, though not with such great force.. , These chambers; he proposed, should de cide respeBiively tipoti the same description of withonoallotting any exclusissejuriscliftion to either. . The coasts here, which had originally each •a sepa-' ^ rate junslttion over a 4istioec class of causes, had become by lohg usage equal hi jurisdiaion with , re . spea to 'ail causes, with seine exceptions; and this pole - lice, which had grown up contrary Ui the mi.-, glutei intention of these Courts, was found to be in= '• finitely more convenient than the original principle • of separale 'jurisdiecion. Individuals being thus enabled to carry • causes into either of the Courts, at • their option, publiC opinion in the increase of husi iiess, and one Court oyer another, would soon indi • cate the motives, of the preference, and point out ' whatever slight cause there might be for the decrease , of business in the other, thus leading to ae unifor mity'of decisien upon legal points, which could not be the casseif each Court had a separate juriscliaioe • over a certain description. of causes. It was pro posed, there-fore, that parties should have an option ofsbringing their suits before either of those Cham bers, and that where there was a preVitras hearing before the Lord Ordinary, that the cause shouldiee . long to the Chamber *of which . the Lerd Ordinary was a Member. It was also proposed, that the Lord President. 'of the Court of Session should preside over one of the Chambers ; and that r His Majesty should be empowered to appoint Jud g es of the Court to preside over the Chambers, such) Presidents hold ieg their ,offices like the other Judges during god behaviour. 'The ne%t grea't otjet.l. 11e. :n view was the introdation u tr'.al by Jury in c!.. , i1 causes into ,Scotland. For Ilia), speaking ‘.•. experience - of an Englishman and a 3i3ftiiii i.A•H lator, to attempt ; to advocate the. trial by jury, the benefits resulting from which were so well icnov,:n and SO justly appreciated, -would appear, a, very so perfluous\vasteot'time.' This mode of trial 11 1. 'd not, however,.for along tune been used, in Scotiand civilcases, although it had formerly ben piLtaisel there;' he thought that, the greatest :Isivant4,, - es result from its re-iutroduaiou. At presr.!ot, from the mode of proceeding, it waS 'frequently hnpf)ssi-:. ble to give a correct decision upou ,a fad. - He pro posed, therefore, that the Ffoceedings should be put into that form in which, _•as it England, an issue , might be joined ; that the _pursuer should state tinCtly the fads which he alledged, that the defender should either distindly admit or deny those alledged faCis in whole or in part, and that thus issue ,being joined on the record, it ,should be in the,poNVer of th(;, Chamber in possession ofthe cause, at the •re-I quest of, either varty, to area a trial by jury on this issue .ot ,fad; that the Chamber , might also, without being applied to by either part); die such trial by jury, and might also remit the cause to the Circuit,: to be there tried•by a Jury. Ther e were inferior Cant ts, such' as those of the. Sheriffs and Bailies, where the exptlice of a trial ,by jury : might belnuch greater than theNlu ae of the objed , • „ in dispute. He thought that, it would be adVisable therefore, only to—al:oi.v of a. trial by jury in those cases Where it was directed by one of the Cham bers, on application of either party. , 'lt would also be necessmy to give a power of appealing to the de cision of the Chamber directing the pial by jury, in cases of misdireaion of the' Judge to /he Jury, or where the verdiCt was given in contradiEtion to evi dence. In this way he conceived, that the,intro duction of the trial by jury into 'civil cases' in Scot land would be productive of the most important advantages The third head of the Plan related to Appeals ; with respect- to which it was proposed that there should be au intertnediate Court of Review between the Chambers and the House of Lords— still,. however, not in any'degree violating the' ACt of Union, by trenching upon the jurisdiction of the Court of Session. It NVZS proposed that an Appeal should,lie from each of the Chambers to. the. Court ; of Revi6v, which should consist of all, the Lords ofd the Court of Session 'except those-of the Chamber in which the decisiOn appealed against should be made; that an appeal. should lie to the CqUrt of Re vieW without ,the necessity of going through the intermediate forms.now used, of Bills of Advocation and Suspension. That the Celia of RevieW should proceed with printed cases, and hear Counsel in the same manner as in Appeals„in the House of Lords; that an Appeal should ultimately lie from this Court of Review to the House of Lords, but fronlno other Court ; and that such Appe'als should he , only against ',final judgment, and !ult agaitist ititerlocutdry judg ments. It was also proposed, that, in order td pre vent frivolous and vexations Appeals, •the House should haye the power . of awarding costs to a Much greater extent than at present. it was tqo notori oils, that many Appeals were brought to that House without any hope of ultimate ,success, but merely with a view of gaining a certain advantagefrom sus pending for a time the execution -of the judgment given in the Court below. This' advantage might, in some cases, overbalance any consideration ot - covs which could possibly he' awarded against an Appel lant; he had, therefore, framed. a Resolution,. brit he had at present so much doubt about it, that he would not propose it among the other Resolutions; t h e o hj e a o f whi c h, however, 'was, that it i - Citses where,no.withstanding exectiun being issued on the judgment in the Court below, ,the Appellant might, a nevertheless, . in the event of reVersal of the judg ment, be placed it; the same situation as if,such exe cution had never issued ; that then the Court below should certify to that House; and that, in such case, .the House _should 'be empowered to order execu -tion to issue on the judgment of such Court pending the Appeal. This, howeyer, was an entirely new measure, and, not standing on the same solid grounds'. of English experience :which the other parts of the plan did, and therefore he would 'take further time to consider of it. One point of detail he would first mention,--it was proposed to abolish, or. at least limit, as much as possible, extraction of records, do cuments, &c. in causes in Scotland, which had grown into a great 'abuse, volumes being thus fre quently made Iv in one. cause, the expellee of extraaing, which alone amounted to more than the value of the blajka in dispute. It was proPosecf, therefore; to confine this system of extraeting to a mere exemplification of the record, the pleadings, and the interlocutors. He was aware that, in carry ing into execution a .detailed system, like the , pre sent, there were matt)/ persons whose interests might' be injured, and not merely interests„bat whose just rights or just expeCtations, founded upon previous ' study and applicatiqn, with a view to particular de pattrnentS; might be injured. If the' pioposed plan should be carried into execution, and any such in _stances.of loss or injury should arise, 'he had no doubt that the justice of Parliament kl'ou.!d award a proper compensation ; with tine other point also he' would trouble their Lordships: it was necessary that there should be, some means of preventing an aged and infirm Judge from being reduced to the painful necessity of retiring with old age into po , verty ; or of continuing to exercise those duties for which corporeal, and perhaps mental infirmity, had rendered him in a great measure, incapable; provi sion of this kind existed in England, and he thought ouo - lit to be extended to Scotland. He had now gene through the whole of the proposed- plan, which, it' it did not go so far as. some might wish, rested, so far as it went, upon solid grounds of ex perience in this part of the United Kingdom. He thought it would be highly advantageous if the praCtice of hearing Counsel, intended to be intro duced into the Court of, Review, was introduced into all the Scottish Courts. He would not go, however; thus far at present, and would rather pre fer that the present Plan, should be first tried. He wished that the whole Plan should undergo the must deliberate investigation, and that it should be tho rdughly And inaturely considered by tbo'e who were best enabled to form a judgment as to its merits, .or - give information upon the subje(t. He visited also, • that their Lordships should have full time to con sider the subje& Maturely, and with all the new- . light that could possibly be thrown upon it. With ' that view, it was his intention to pioipse a ntiiiiber of IMF:phiti:;:r, «wyji they had passed through tho Ccinrnittee; waj his intention should be ; would then move that the dOilsid2tation ;io;ca be postponed till a day when it was I.':iliimieneWould not sit, in -order that the ( - mar a;,cussiorilapon , them might be postponed till .His" Lordship 47oncluded by moving a number of I.lb::oin(ions, in conformity . with the objetas,propmd his .speeclh. Lord 11,1 KES'BORY said, this subje& had been Under the consideration of the late Ministry,•who 'had taken slaps for the purPose of obtaining every possible irifbrmation respe4ina - it, with a view 'of afterwards' bringing it. •befbre Parliament. Upon his present view of the subje&, he'concurred With the Noble ) - ..ord in most of his, propositions; . he thought die division of the Court of Session into three Courts would be much preferable to t , \,.vo, but doubted the propriety of excluOing from the Court of Revied the Judges of, the Chamber whose decision was appealed against. , • The Duke of Moritrtosc also highly,approved in 'general of the plan brought forward by the Noble Lord, , but doubted Whether there might not some times be local obstacles to trial by Jury-in civil cases m Scotland. The LORD CHANCELLOR also warmly expressed his. approbation of the proposed plan, the carrying which into effect; would, he:thought, be produaive of the grea,test advantages to Scotland. The . Resolutions were agreed to. The House re sumed, and adjourned till to-morrow'(this day). hens written testimony had been produced, and' i~ri which Much oral evidence '(which it was indispen bible to hear) - was in waiting ; •he would ask whether; ort such' question, it would not be much better, in:- stead of proceeding any further, tbr the House td ;say, We see that it is a' subjea, which we are unfit to deal with, or to giy'e any opinion on whatsoever ? With regard to the tribunal by which the Hon. Gen., --tleman was desirous . nf trying these Charges, should the House think them worthy to, be preferred, if that tribunal was hot alwtys found to convid guilt, by the' &Lip occasioned in it wai.rnorally certain to'punish iimocenee. O this the:case of Mr.'Has tings was a strong-proof, who, after a trial of seven years, attended With the most ruinous expence, was acqUitted of every charge preferred against him: rt was of ail tribunals that most industriously to be avoided, in Which guilt had so little to fear, and noCence so Mach. Adverting to the assumption by the House of Commons of the fimaions of the grand Inquest of the Nation, he asked, what ought to be the chara&eristics of a Court.of that description ? Nd doubt patient examination and -stria impartiality.--- - Would the Members of the House of Commons ply individual labour and attention ; to the question before them ? Wes it consistent with the. other duties 'and avocations of many of therri to do so ? Were the opinions they gaVe, on most subje&s made up from their individual judgment ? With regard to stria' impartiality, was it not much to be feared, considering the-prevalence ofparty feelings, that the Members of the House would not be as free froth Jhose party feelings as they ought, in, a case 'fr om which,' of all others, party feelings should be entirely eiccludecT? On these grounds he maintained that the House ought not.to assume a funaion of this nature, except in cases of : extreme necessity, and where no other mode of judicial inquiry could be resorted to.. In the year t 784 the Legislature itself evinced the sense it, felt of the propriety of forming a new mode of judicially considering offences committed in the Ea,t. Two ,A6IS had passed, one in t 784, the other two years after,wards,. constituting a Tribunal beford which persOns guilty of such ,offences and- malversa tions were to be bronght to trial, and by which, if goiltyrtitefwere-to be-putrishee. - 4i l was left open to every accuser to proceed in ,the. following manner: The first application must, be pale to the Court of King's Bench; in whom - wait left h discretion, either to' permit further prOceedings, or, if the accusation seemed unWarranted, to dismiss it altogether ; a : and salutary provision! by which all trivial and un worthy Charges were stopped at4heir_ very -outset, In case the Court) of King's Bench complied with the application made to them, such consent must lie notified 'to the Lord 6'hancellor, "by whoni a' cern ",miSsion. or jury must be constituted to try. the Charge; consisting of a , certain number of Peers, , a certain number of the Members Of. the House Of Commons, and one. Judge from each of the Courts on Westminster-Hall, without the presence of one of which latter the proceedings 'could not go - on. It, was impossible - to institute a Court possotsing - 4 . more desirable union of politieal and legal inforrtit tion„ or one, moire calculated to do justicyin any cruse that , might, -be submitted to their investigation. ..IwArd_it,,,ass.erted, that the_Aa.to which he alluded \S -7 , as not meant to extend to subjeas of a .high," political, and .general -nature,. 'l'4e , c;;;ads‘ of Aft were to'try extortion and other ra eanourA." 'But . it 'must be recolle6ed, that by lie very same A 4 of 1784 4 ' offences were created. It stated- in a prior part to that which contained the - .llr nes of HOUSE OF COMMONS. • WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18. The House, in, a Committee; on the Motion of Mr. VANSITTART, divided _the Assessed Taxes Bill, Mr. Hoßnoust in the Chair. The two Bills ,Were then reported,. and ordered to be considered on 'Fri day next. • Sir Joniq BxxrcAut, adverting to the constant ad cidentslhat occur in consequence of the improper number of persons couveyed.on the outside of stage. coaches, and stating a .cirLumstance of two persons being killed a few days ago, by the breaking down . , of a coach,' moved for leave to bring in. a Bill-to amend the 30th of the King, comstionly called .Mr, Gammon's A&, to preventthe carrying of more than. a limited number of persons,'. and for the better re- - gulating the condua of, drlvers; which Motion Was agreed to. . Mr. NT4Nst.rrAwr gave notice, that' the Army Ex- traordinarics should be moved in the Committee of Supply 'nil • Friday next., . . , The 'lrish Post Itoads Bill: on the Motion of Mr. Fosrmt, was passed,and ordered 'tn the Lords. Mr. B.ASTAiin moved, tthat there be laid before the. klonsetopies of the Orders issued to the Volunteers and Yeomanry, from the Secretary of Stateaod Se-:' Cretary at War, since the Ist of February, 1806,--- Ortlered. Lord Fottc.sToNE observed, that it was in the re cnlleaion cf the, House that 40,000]. hadbeen voted for the payment of the debts of itlaelate Mr. Pitt, • but he Understood that the sum of 41,000. 1 Us. had been issued 'for that purpose. He theref4;re moved that there he laid before the- HoAe a Copy of the Order ,for i,:sningThe sump of 4,1,0001. '163. ,tn, F,Arl ChathHni.and the Bishop of Lincoln, E: , :ecutors ofithe, late Right I-lon. William Pitt, for the payment of his - 1. Dcbt ;' which Motion was seconded by ; Lord Mark-. hain,. and a g reed to. _ , • MARQUIS v;ELLEsT,EY. • t jodicialrettlations, that to pursue Sehetl. Clap • quest aol iiggrandisement was a misdemeanour . ; and On the Motion of Lord TEMPLE, the order of the day for taking into consideration the Charcre. against it expreidy and specifically tiled direur Government in Inc'i i -o rserve to the h a' I'l Marqtis 'Wellesley having - been read, b ,: , o. ail 110 ‘ ers, the . Mr. PAtTLL Moved, that, the Charge be now talcen Zentindass the -Rajahs, j.kc.. their several rights:3s . , As these iniatißaidrlS N,v ere colttained in the sage into cOnsideration. Aes.t by which the Court of Judica' tore to whet- Mr. BA NKE,S,. in rising to propose that the sub jeCt should be dismissed entirely . from the considera-, ,Ito had before alluded was established , notin tio- . n that it iff a's intended, that tion of the HOuse, and in endeavouring to persuade could be more clear tha the House to coockir with him in opinion,apprehend- the offences Created by the, Aa s,hould come, witlutt the Cognizance of that court. That this was Yeallv ed that no more could be expeaed.frotn- him than to ' the case ova; decisively and dneontrevertibly prod' shew that theCOUrse proposed by the Hon. Gentleman by this cirminstauce; uamely, that thy; only offence g i tended to brill the Charg e terainst Marquis Welles -ley before a tribunal which cold not do jtastice to it, , pre,piised to i>e tried by- that Co-art :sinee•the pftssieu of the Aa was of .the ispecific nature' whith 11 . 1 and,to follow a precedeTht wifichall mnst lament ever ' I alledged that the' . Court, was comßetent to try.— ' exiSted...-The Legislature, conscious •of the elebility .This was the case of Mr. Holland,'.oti.Nihi - eh 7 2l . ldn e cr of the two 'Houses of Parliament to discharge similar f. argument-had heel,- held - before L - errd -- Kenyon, -- iu duties to those which the Hon. Gentleman now . .the Court of Kitis . , - 's I.3eneh, on en in - formation against i wished_to imp)se, on thern, had especially . ProV ided a , . L ., him by the Attorney-LC.Leneral, for 'crimes which. Mode' of trial for offences committed in India. . Were distinaly of a general ancl political nature.= i .adverting to the great inquisitorial powers 'of Parlia- JThe Hohoutable G,entletnan • here. read severs 1 ment, lie beesged to be understood to speak of them. of the Counts to prove - the truth of . hi.S.asser -1 with the utmost veneration. Fi'ornthese powers the • I most salutary consequences . had resulted ; and hael. it -.- .) (1 , c the Ad N.3,3 - '3 con } .ThiS aii eviried that • ' • '" , not been for them we should not at this moment sidered . clearly .to embrace the politica . condua of the Servants of the -East India Company, and I enjoy our liberties and -the 'security we possessed of not merely the peaulatiols'. The case was disputed I their continuance. But this, as well as every other - At gr e eat length; many exceptions were taken, some right and of Parliament, (night to be sub- Wer allowed; others' diztiloWed; but it never' 'oc- • jea-to sound discretion. There:Were cases Which it curred to the Counsel or to the Court, that the Aft would be unwise to bring before the consideration of did not apply to tlie subjea.. of accusation. (The ' that House, or Carry as matter of acensat i outo the Bar p Honourable Gentleman here quoted' the observa of the other. If there was a case peculiarly unfit fin. who . said, that the great such proceedings, it . wag that complex case,nOw the ~.t ig h s of Lord IC-erlY", 1 • .s eI : difficulty .of investigating offences in- India had suoject. of his obserYations ; avase analogous to that ' been ne,trlytantarnount to indetnnity to the offenders. of Nlr. Hastings''; for he contended that the Charge e., and 'that. the Court of King's Bench was then, for on the l';able of the House was pot less - coinplicated ; the first time, called upon to'proceed on an Aa by that it rested can no smaller variety- of eiremnstances ; which - it was .hoped that a reineciy would be applied that it,depended on no smaller a mass of evidence to so serious - .aq evil.) Semen of the counts in this than that in whiCh the mode of impeachmen't had . lofortnatioo were dismissed, a writ of error was sub -- been resorted -to with so little credit either to Pat -- ; ,sequently moved, for by the Crown, to endeavour to liarnent or the Country. It comprised the transae-: re-estabEsh those • writs. Mr. Holland, however, lions in Oude for forty years. It comprised the absconded; and all further proceedings ceased. He whole political, tinaOial, and cenitnercial relations . had heard it said, that he had let the proper time Which that large Pl-ovince boreto our Indian Etn pass for' rookine his propost(oo, and that as the pire. ' It comprised' 'a minute. exantinatidn of :the House 4 4 , go4e so.. fa t ,. i_t .was ne.T.e,ssary that they whole administration of Marquis .Wellesley for five s . hould come to some decision on the question. To years, as conneaed with• that important Pxovinee. - certainly 'knew an HMI. The Honourable Gentleman who 'orought forward , this he replied, that - tref Gentlemen had m,..ved fora considerable number of the Charge had stated, that Marquis Wellesley set Papers on the subi?a, bUt matil he knew the particu , out With a 4ixed design of .subverting. the Govern l'ar iip)lication ol' those Papers, notwithstanding the I.l)cht of . the independent 'Nabob of that Coun try, contrary to all the existing Treaties' 'between , general Charge ntade.by the Hon , Gentlem an, he could. not be expeeted to divine what was its precise him and the British Government, and contrary to all the Guarantees by which t he fniiihnent . natt4re• When the Papers were laid on the Table, though they were numerous and various, yet he could of those Treaties had been, Secured. .That the not- tell but they - , mi,ght 'cont,dn Matter 'which it Noble Marquis. had persevered. in ' molesting that would he fitting for ti-.e House to entertain. He had Prince, and infringing his rit;lits ; andthat when af ter having, by his crooked policy, forced , from the . no reason likewise to believe, that , the opinion of -other Members" Was as strong - on the inipropriety of Nabob the surrender of half his 'te,a - itory, he had, by exactinn and oppression, driven manYof the land- I til , mod e - .01n'''stig'ition proposed as h is "'Y in 3 bed holders to resistance to his assumed power, he had re- I lie alone therefore. suggested adistoissal of the bosi. res e ees ,! ness, Meters it was aSeertaitied tirhat form it might to war and violence as the tIiMIIIS ofsup he sensation that his conduct had created. .He Wonld take, he would jotly have been accused o f precipna task; whether, in a question which embraced such a ' tion. When the charge Rrst made its appear ance i n a variety' of complex matter, on which such v okinit, , substantive shape, he had shortly delivered his senti.