The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1805-03-20 00:00:00

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searching for precedents, and adverted to the case
of Eirl of Bristol, and several which he
from

A the Eiri others, .
hatilohked into, and t which his Lordship's mind
had, he said, derived great assistance. The course
which the }louse was then pursuing, he considered
a direct violation of the law, and of the fundamental
principles of the Constitution; the proceedings, so
far as they had gone, were entered upon the Jour-
nals of the House, and was it to be said that a veil
was now to be drawn over those proceedings, and
•what had been entered upon record, handed down
'"as precedents to posterity, for their example? It was
impossible therefore to put off this question, without
some farther investigation; their were ample pre-
cedents in the House to authorise it to gn into such
investigation, and the arguments stied against it, by
Noble Lords on the other side, were not founded
either upon law, upon justice, or upon principle, but
were merely a detail of minute distinctions whollyun-
worthy consideration ; he, therefore, trusted their
Lordships would be allowed to receive that assist-
ance from precedents, and that a Committee fur
that purpose might he appointed.
Lord HAWKESBURY insisted that the several
precedents adverted to by the Noble Lord on the
other side, were not at all applicable, and wholly ir-
relevant to the present question. Previous to the
Aift of Settlement, the .1 J,;es were liable 1,, be re.
moved at the pleasure of the Crown, as wit as any
of His Majesty's Ministers ; but this Aa was made
with a view to public security. His Lordship went
into a long explanation of this Aft, and the tenure
by which the Judges held their appointment, which
was in every respea a freehold tenure, but so far
conditional, !with respect to impeachment before
either House of Parliament. It was important that
Judges should hold their offices for a long duration,
and it was the duty of Parliament, when any com-
plaint was exhibited against them, to at with more
caution than in any other case whatever. With re-
speet to die expediency of a Committee to enquire
and examine precedents on the subjeCt, he contend-
ed it would only throw false lights upon the busi-
ness, as those very precedents, he repeated, were
wholly inapplicable, and would be produltive of
considerable inconveniencies. His Lordship then
took a reuospett of the proceedings, from the first
Petition presented by the Noble Marquis to the pre-
sent moment, which he considered were commenced
in the proper mode; they were continued with re-
gularity, and every step taken throughout the bu-
siness was perfetly analogous to the propriety of
their proceedings, to the fundamental principles of
the Constitution, and contormable with all prece-
dents upon this subject; he the: efore considered these
precedents wholly unnecessary to be acted upon oil
the part of Government. In cases of impeach-
ment, more doubts and difficulties arose than in any
other way whatever, and he here adverted to die
ease of Mr. Hastings, where so many questions
arose between both Houses of Parliament. In the
present case, the course which had been adorted,
he insisted, was the regular. mode, in which no diffi-
culty had as yet occurred. Four of the charges
had been fully investigated, and so far reported.
The merits of the pants he did not then mean
to go into; but his Lordship expressed great anx-
iety for a conclusion upon this sublet, whine the
very important character of a Judge of the land was
called in qaestion. He did not wish to see the ACI
of Settlement mode a dead letter....as he considered
it most essential to the security of public justice, of
the Constitution of the country, and of the Monar-.
city itself. Upon those grounds his Lordship said
he should vote against the Motion.
Earl SPENCER was still of the same opinion as
formerly, that the proceedings were net regular,
and he was much afraid the Journals of the Ilona,
contained something, which, being contrary to the
justice of the country, their Lordships would find it
neccssury to do away. It had beenutged, as an hr-
guinent for the peseta mode of proceeding, that
the charge did not euntaiti any thing of a criminal
nature. In answer to that, he would ask, seas not
sedition a crime, and had not the Learned Judge
been charged with u:tering seditious words Against
the Government fiorn the bench where he presided?
Upon the whole, he thought that precedents should
be examined into, and that this course c',uld not
be the cause of any great delay.
Lord MULGRA VE said he would not delay
the House, by endeavouring to add to the able argu-
ments which had been before stated, but he could
not avoid giving his realism), for opposing this mo-
dim. It was a new power given to the House, in
conjunEtion with the Commons, to inspect t!w Judges
of the land, since they had been made independent,
and held their high offices QMMIN disi
on) that time to the present, nn case had occurred,
and therefore it was perfectly impossible any pre-
cedent could be found on the subjeft. Heavy
charges had been exhibited against the Learned
Judge, who seemed anxious to have them investi-
gated. He did not think, therefore, the House
should enter into resolutions to set aside their oru,
ceedings, as it would he the cause of delay, and, in
the mean tisisartha over whom such charges
were hanging, wourTallowed to administer the
justice of the country. Ile concluded by sayiug
that, for his part, he would be happy to vote ftr
any proper measure which would bring the matter
soonest to a conclusion, but he did not think this
would have that effea.

Lord CARLETON entered into an explanation
of several Aas of Parliament on the suhjea. and
concluded by expressing his wish that the examina-
tion should take place.
Lord ELLEN BOROUGH rose and said, that
highly as he respelled the opinion of his Noble and
Learned Friend, he could nut help differing from
him on the present que-tion. He:hought that in an
entire new case, as this confessedly was, and when
the House was called on to decide on an Al of
Parliament that had never yet been aged upon or
brought into consideration—an AR of Pal liament
of such immense importance t every subjea of the
empire, because it went to no less a point than the
removal of the Judges from their places, he thought
it was necessary their Lordships should have the ad-
van of the opinion of the twelve Judges. He
thought also, that, in a case like this, their Lord.
ships could not proceed with too much caution ;
and, therefore, that they ought to have the ad-
vantage of all the precedents which our ancestors
had made the rule and guide of their confine, an-
tecedent to the time of the Ad of Settlement. He
well remembered the time when he was obliged in
duty, in the line of his profession, to object to the