The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1806-06-19 00:00:00

under that Mt. He. then read a short egtrall
from an opinion of Lord Kenyon on the
jett, which, he said, strongly coutrined him iu tbe
sentiments he entertained on the eubj t. It
was, he said, necessary the Honse should etmie
to some decision before they wield agree !ri dismiss
this subjs.& and it was therefore incumbent on hies
to say a few words in explanation, by use of ac-
counting for his having adopted the present node
of proceeding in this case. He knew very well, lung
also, that the Honourable Gentleman (Mr. Paul)
had moved for a variety of Papers, on which h-
meant to fonnd a charge agar est the N-Ash- Mar q
bet till that charge was laid on the lie did
not know what the 'lad nature of it would be, and
therefore he could no with propriety make pre-
liminary objediont, wi.h out bong chargsd with
precipitation. On the first ch it ie being presented,
he did state his opinion to the 'ease, to the
purport. tomr, and elf 0, he had just mentioned.
Iwo other charges had since heel brought for-
war!, and as this was the first motion made on
either of them, he thought he might now fairly say,
that in his opinion the whole matter ought to be dis-
missed, and in that opinion he hoped the Hesse
would concur. The right of the Hon. Gentle-
man to bring forward those charges was so totally
indisputable, that the House had no power to refuse
' their being laid on the table. If the Honourable
Gentleman had not ant single member of the House
who coincided with him hit opinion, he had a tiaht
so to do; but that was no apation for, abr any way
binding on the 'louse, to take them up. He cited
several cases, in which the House, after even enter-
ing the proceedings under the charges, had dismiss-
' ed them, without any cause assigned—one in 1667,
the case of Lord Chief Justice Keeling ; that of
Lord Orrery, 42 years afterwards ; and, thirdly,
Lord Coningsby's, in which last case, the House
determined, that the proceedings were abitrary and
illegal, but did proceed to impeach. '('hose cases
clearly chewed, the House might proceed certain
lengths, and yet dismiss the whole. He was aware,
that in doing any thing that might tend to dismiss
this cause, hi: was acting contrary to the inclination
of the Noble Marquis and his relatives. He knew
very well the Noble Marquis's pure principles' and
high sense of honour and justice, and was certain,
that an investigation would thew them in their
true colours ; but when he refleoed, that the last
Impeachment for misdemeanours in India, against
a person who had been honourably acquitted of
every charge adduced against him, had !wed
seven years, to the great discredit of that H sure,
he could not suffer the House to run into a ei-
iniiar mode of proceeding, from any motives of
privme friendship to the Noble Marquis. The
desire of doing justice to the Noble Marquis's
honour and cherefler, ought not to induce the
House to involve itself in a labyrinth front which
they might not know how to extricate themselves.
Though there is a vast mass of evidence moved for
against the Noble Lord, there was full as much on
the other side, and he saw no reason why the House
should suppose the public would read one part with
more satisfaftion than the other. The Afts of
1784 and 1786, meant, in his opinion, to take all
proceedings for offences committed In India, out of
the House of Commons, and to vest them in the
hands of the Attorney-General, in which the Court
of Direetors, or the Court of Proprietors, were to be
Prosecntors. While endeavouring to do every thing
to further the ends of justice, he would not wish to
do any injustice to Marquis Wellesley ; but on
every consideration, he thought it his duty to give
a negative to the present motion.
The MASTER of the ROLLS said, that un-
doubtedly the course which his Honourable Friend
had pointed out, was one which he individually
would wish should be adopted, if the adoption was
in any manner possible. In the present Instance,
however, he did not think it could he pursued,
as it was absolutely necessary that the pro-
ceeding should bear a proportion to the magnitude
of the case. His Hon. Friend had said, its the
course of his statement to the House, that the mode
of impeachment should never be resorted to except
when no other course could be pursued. Now, Sr.
support of this assertion, he did not think his lion.
Friend had offered any solid arguments, and he was
convinced that he was not borne outby any precedent
whatever. It was also urged, that we had not now
the same reasons for instituting an impeachment
against the Marquis Wellesley, as we should have
had some time back, before the East India Judica-
ture M 1 was passed; but this argument, he thought,
would be answered, by stating, that if it had been
thought advisable, the Courts of Common Law
were tribunals adequate to try such offences; so
that in fan we were formerly in the same situation
we were now, with respeo to the mode of proceed-
ing we should institute. With regard to the Court
itself, constituted by this ad, he did nut think
much could be said in favour of it. either on ac-
count of its efficacy, or the promptitude of the de-
-Moons. A period of sit years had been consumed
in settling the mode of proceeding in it, so that if it
was desired that the business should be concluded
speedily, it appeared that proceeding in this Court
should not be preferred to the old mode of iratoech-
ment. For his part, he could not see that the
mode of proceeding by impeachment was more
uncertain than any other, or that on that head there
was any distineion whatever. He allowed, that the
Lords on an impeachment might entertain a different
opinion from the Commons, and acquit the party
accused; but he also begged it to be understood,
that the Court of Common Law, or whatever other
Court the matter was brought into, might ultimately
entertain a different opinion from the Commons, or
might be of opinion that the matter alleged as
comma], was not, according to law, a crime. He
would now suppose that this question did not rest
on positive law, but on the convenieuce of the
(louse; and thio he believed, was more relied on
by his Honourable Friend, than any thing else
he had urged. But with respell to it, he con-
ceived, that they had got into a situation which
they could Dot well get out of, but by taking
the matter into consideratino. Its. bosioess had
been before the House for more thug. twelve
months, and Charges of the most serious nature
had been read, an that be thought they ecrodd nia
now say they had been all that time in error, and
therefore would let it rest where it ss As. without
emsucletermiaing what mode, or whether any should
be pursued. Such a step would not be doing jus-

tice to the charatker of the Noble Marquis. I'e
would suppose that these charges were preferred r
a malicious prosecutor ; he was however convinced
that such a character could not be ant United to the
Hon. Gentleman who had brought them forward;
but supposing that to be the case, and that :hie
were read to the House for the impose et wound. .
ing the character of the Noble Ni.l:l4.aill, world it
not be said, if this mode of p, oceeding wits :.Mowed,
that circumstarces were such, that the lidtme of
Commons could not well see their way thriough the
business, and, therefore, wishing to ant mei-64111y,
had drnpped the proceeding entirely t lto %.,s
certain such ilea; would be entertainnd, and I 2
did not think a newspaper controversy scout A
in any degree to dimiai,h them On the wh. , , she
o'ijeflion of his Hon. Frierd, as lie cnocnined,
amounted to nothing more, than that there would
be much trouhle and inconvenience in the House
entering into the examina'ion of witnesses ; Inn he
desired it should be considered, that if the II- we
began thus to aeknowle 'ge their incompetency, it
would be denied in future, on similar occasions, per.
haps, that they were competent to examine witats-
ses ; and the inquisitotial powers tit the Commons
would be entirely lost. For these leasons no hoped
that the House would proceed wail to- incont y.
Alr. Seer Lilly FOX said, that according
to hip inclinition, he thought it chniinble that the
proymition of his Hon. Friend Could be s.-:ede.l
to nf haufrom wl.at had been said by the Learned
Gentleman: who had just sat &we, he was 01 opi.
'lion, that they ehou.d ploceed wish she exan: n..
tion. If the business shots! Igo onas beret °loin, And
it the oral testimony bore any proportion to tne
wittten, it would be impossible that they cent d
come I. a conclusion in the course of the 'atom
Session, unless some mode was thought of to quick-
en the proceedings. He indeed cons" bred, twat in
such a case as the pr,•sect, it would be the duty of
the Adminntrnhoo es a .vise His Majesty nut et
prorogue the Parlian era until the busmen; nag fi.
imbed ; but though His MAjesty was cnnyetein as
prcnong the Session, y. t he could nut ct mpe.l the
Members to remain in town; so that he was n:ush
afraid, unless some extraordinary motions wets
made, the business would go over to the next Ses-
sion. He certainly agreed with the llon. Gentie-
, man tinsmith to him (Mr. Banks) in many of the
arguments he had urged with respell to the prittlical
inconveniences of the proceeding by impeachment 3
it was of each a ranne, he thought, as would he
best preserved by being seldeste used. He bad lie.
tened with the greatest attention to the speech of
the Hon. Gentleman, but there was one part of it
to which he could not give his assent ; namely, the
part in which he urged, as an argument against the
proceeding by impeachment, that the length of time
it consumed was sufficient to deter the Commons
from instituting such a proceeding. 'll- Right
Hon. Gentleman then adverted to some an Arent:
which had been used by the Master of' the Rolls ;
and said, that he thought the lion. Gentlemen's
proposition was totally 'moduli sible. With reep It
to the ants which constituted this tribunal. he be-
lieved that some of charges might be stint
before it ; but that the should be referred to
1
it, he never could a . It had been stared br
the Learned Geotlerime who had preceded him ea
the debate, es an arguelient 'against referring • theee
charges to the tribunal above nwntinned, that though
before this Court was constituted, the charges could
have been brought before any of the Courts of Com-
mon Law, yet the proceeding tr, impeachment was
preferred. A sufficient answer to this he thought
was, that the existing tribunal was er fled fin the
purpose of trying inch offences as it would be dffi-
cult, on account of fuem, far the Court of Kit g's
Bench to try, and with which Parliament did not
wish to embarrass themselves. In the present state
of the business. he was Metall as much determined
to vote against the impeachment as any person could
be ; until he came to the vote, he was. howe-ern
open to eonvietion, if any new arguments sheuld be
offered; and with respell to the mode of proceeding
by impeachment, he was convinced that, in relation
to India affairs, no justice could be obtained by in-
stituting an impeachment before the Lords. Huse
the House was to proceed on this busin ss, he did
not rightly know . if they shruld be of opinion that
the Marquis Wellesley had miscondulted himself.
perhaps such an expression of the House would be
a sufficieat punishment; but if it was considered that
the Noble Marquis was deservi. g of a greater
punishment, then the difficulty arose. and he most
undoubtedly would not wish that an impeachment
should be instituted. The inquiry. he though at
all events should be made ; but with regard to it. he
conside eel there was only one way a proceeding i
this was, that the members should devote the tonne
day to it, that they should attend at eleven o'cloelt
in the morning, and go into the examination of wit-
nesses. This might be continued the entire day, on 4
at five o'clock the public business might be pro.
ceteleitarith et usual. He, however. hoped, that ff
this pion .vi,ks adopted, he would be excused from
attending. as it was impossible, eonsistesu %vial
his other avocntions, that he could spare so
much time. It was said, indeed, that the oral
evidence would not take up much time; but if it
did, he could see no other way of getting through
the business in the course of the present Session.
The Right lion. Gent. dwelt for sense time on this
proposition, and concluded by saying, that it the
examination should last few any time, some strong
measure should be resorted to at 011
wits of opinion, that they should now proceed to
take the charge into consideratiem
The question was then put. oirthe motion that
the charge should be now taken into consideration,
and agreed to.
On the motion of Mr. PAUL, the House then re.
solved itself into a Committee, to consider of the
charge, Lord Folkstone in the chair.— IheChait.
man fist desired the Serjeaut to call Lord Taiga.
mouth.

Mr. PAUL then said a few words, which we
could not distiniftly hear, relative to the introdultion
of a short-hand writer.

The SPEAKER said, that pursuant to the pear•
lice of the House, it was nut usual to nia'‘e a
motion on the subject ; but the clerk, on au uuder-
standing, would do his duty.
Lord Teigamouth cies' having appeared at the
inside n 4 the Bar, the Grail mat said.—•• My Imo.
thin* is a Chair lot your Loiditiip to repass Ow,
you think proper."