The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1803-05-04 00:00:00

but by ust me:r's, by the 'addition of others
awean elthive magistracy had alone existed.
It n. strong •featrire of the Constitution, that the
magistracy of this scountry is divided between the
appoiirtmnot of the Crown and the right of elec- '
tion. the county magistrates were appointed by
the Crown, and in towns the magistracy was gene-
rally ele&ive. It was said, that the inhabitants of
Nottingham were not interested in this subje& He '
would ask, H Ise men no interest in electing their
own magistrates, by whom they were to be govern-
ed ? If be had a right conception, or if he thought
it necessary to refer to the ancients, he was of opi-
nion that the ancient civil wars, and most of the
modern too, arose from men being tenacious of
their right. He would not enter into any compari-
son of the merits of the Crown, or the elective ma-
gistrates ; but it was not paying any compliment
to his constituents to say, that the city of Westmin-
ster, which he had the honour to represent, and
where the magistrates were appointed by the Crown,
was not remarkable for the superiority of its police
to the neighbour city of London, where the magi-
strates are eleSiive. But vou say the elective ma-
gistrates have not been able to do their duty. if
Nottingham is said to he riotous, other places he
contended were equally so, particularly Coventry, ,
which was much more so, and yet the remedy
adopted there was for enlarging the powers of the
magistracy. He wished w know whether those
exaggerated statements he had heard appeared in
the minutes of the Committee ; he had heard of
statements taken from a pamphlet, and also of
statements derived from private information, the
seance of which he vats acquainted with ; but he
would ask, Had they found in any one instance
that the inadirity of the magistrates of Notting-
ham was proved ? Did any thing appear equal
to the proceedings at Birmingham, in 1797? and
yet the L rislature did not interfere. If the
magistrates of Nottingham are guilty, let them be
tried. But it was a new principle in the pradice or
theory cf law, that if elcdive magistrates were guil-
ty, those who had the right of eleStion, should be
injured. He strongly objeded to the jesuitism of the
proposition, not to impute guilt, and yet to punish by
rendering men objeds of contempt. He had another
objection to the Bill, fur it went to forward the in-
terests of Mr. Coke and his friends. He mentioned
that Gentleman's name with respel, and entertained
the highest opinion of him ; but notwithstanding the
many excellent qualities which distinguished him,
he could not avoid being connected by political
opinions with a particular party in that town. And
does any one suppose a justice will be appointed wi-
der this Bill who seas not a partizan cf the party of
Mr. Coke? Another point touched upon, was
the power of granting licences to public-houses;
but was there any accusation against the magistrates
for haring abuses this power ?—Not one. On the
contrary, in the last 50 years the public-houses had
diminished, which proved the proper execution
of their duty. But this Bill goes to annihilate the
corporation, though the magistrates had been ap-
plauded
for their general good condut by the
judges; one judge, indeed, had witnessed a tumult
there, but a threat to the sheriff was sufficient to
quell it. Mr. Coke introduced a Bill some years
ago, for the purpose of transferring causes from the
city to the county, but there was but one instance
where it was thought necessary to at under it. It
was therefore clear that the magistrates of Notting-
ham were able to fulfil their municipal duties. It
is stated that the Bill is not founded on the late
riots, but they arc to be punished for former suffer-
ings. We sac to them, You shall be punished be-
cause you suffered yourself to be ducked some years
ago, and because your mills and houses were burnt. ,
He had a pamphlet in his hand from which he read
an extract, stating, that some time ago, ten consta-
bles were turned out office for being loyal. Now
the loyalty of those people consisted in this—that
when any good news arnved from the Continent,
they went and seized any persons whom they con-
sidered as Jacobins or Dissenters, and ducked them.
Another passage he read, which alluded to the pro-
ceedings of this House, which says, .‘ How great
must be their delinquency when the Legislature have
been °biss-el to inflid so exemplary a punishment."
Now we have not imputed any delinquency ; if there
is delinquency let time be legal punishment ; if not,
let there be a remedy by extending their powers.
He obje'ed to it as a precedent, which, if followed
up, would not leave a Corporation existing in the
country. Riots had prevailed in almost every part
of the country, and if, which God forbid, the riots
which disgraced the capital should ever again hap-
pen, it would he a ground fur disfranchising even
the City of London. if this Bill passed, he trusted
it would be re-considerad at some future time, that
the magistrates of Nottingham may have an op-
portunity of recovering their rights.
Mr. BOND apologized for offeriuss himself to the
House for a few minutes. He contended, that the
clause proposed by the Hon. Gentleman yesterday,
embraced the priuciple of the Bill, except that it did
not go to so great an extent. The great objet of
his Bill was to prevent riots, the objet of the lion.
Gentleman's Bill would be to remedy them. The
aiging magistrates of this country were deserving of
the highest eulogium ; but he would point out the
absurdity of calling in strange magistrates to quell
a riot in a toss n where their persons were not
known, or their authority recognized. And by
whatever name, whether an invasion of-right, or any
other term by which the Hon. Gentleman shoals!
distinguish the Bill, he would not be deterred by
any harshness of language from persevering in a
measure which his judgment'approved. The Hon.
Gentleman said, he hoped tohcar no more of 'lenity,
but he still contended it was a merciful measure,
and the Learned Serjeant (Lens) who appeared at
the Bar as Counsel against the Bill, acknowledged it
to be so, and no person could haven higher opinion
of that Learned Gentleman than he had.
Mr. GREY said the Hon. Gentleman, instead
of combating the strong, powerful, and unanswer-
able arguments of his Hon. Friend (Mr. Fox) takes
a position of strong assertions, founded on the ope-
ration of his own judgment. If the Hon. Gentle-
man had any thing to'
objed to the amendment,
which was negatived, he should have done it when
the amendment was proposed. It was not cus-
tomary to refer to arguments of Counsel ; and it
was too late to come after two or three debates had
intervened, to state particular words which might
have escaped Gentlemens' .aricritories. But he
could not recoiled the Learned Serjeant having ad-
mitted the lenity cfltbe 'measure; indeed, it Ness ttu-
I possible: he could have done so, .as he was employed
Ito oppose the measure. if she Honourable Gas-