The National Register.
London, England, 1809-04-30 00:00:00

5265 19 0

1500 0 0
(21114 3 11

63•15 16 4
114 18 1

And otheranntrai sums for miscellaneous; purposes:
The Compa.sionate Fund Bill - was retul a third time, and
pasted; after 14 hich the House adjourned at half-past one.

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7uesday, April 25.
CH AII 1,7. At: IN ST T.Ott D A STLER rA

Lind Archibild Sir--I beg Nave to im-
pr:-.ss upon the Ilowe, that nothing of a perz.ooal nature ac-
,tuntes my present proceeding- against the Noble Lord. My
view is directed solely tow at& his public -official character,
and the conduct he has evinced iu the execution of los public
functions. I cannot help Collin?, the attention of the House
to the absolute necessity there is for a rigid adherence to impar-
tial justice. .With regard to the subject I have the honour of intro-
ducing, it i 3 not my intention to proceed beyond t hat is con-
tained in the evidence on the table of the florae, nor do I in•
tend to make any charge beyond what the testimony of the
Nohle Lord before the Committee gives ample ground for. I
therefore conceive it sufficient on that evidence, to call for a
vote of censure on his Lordship's conduct. The nature of
the transactions w hid) form the basis of the present charges,
lappear by the evidence to have commenced itt the )ear 1803,

275

The Noble Lurd received a loiter from a per-on of the nome of
Reding, -ioi:otagting hit Lordship, that he had the HIP:irlS of pro-
curiu.;l7a seat in Patila;pent. hi:44l.ordship lit:tying at that time
vacated his seat. on act eptapee of the seals. for the Colonial
Department. • His Lordship, however, informed air. Reding
that he did not want a Seat in Parliament for hiinse:f, but that a
friend of his did.: His Lordship then enclosed the letter to Lord
Clancarty, and never saw ~Mr. .Reding aftecwaitis. His Lord-
ship wig then asked -if he had any conversatiou with Lord Clan-
earty, as connected with_this tranSaction of Mr. Reding, in
which a.writership was offered to Lord Clancarty'snomi not ion ;
to which he replied, that some time after he had enclosed Mr.
Reding'S letter to Lord Claticarty, Lord Clancarty told him that
he hada negotiation with Mr. Reding, with a view to procure a
seat in Parliament, which he said had failed; inasmuch as the
proposition he had made to Mr. Reding, which V61:1 of a pecuni-
ary nature, had been declined by the person who was supposed
to have the influence to procure the seat in Parliament. It ap-
peared, therefore, from this statement, that his Lordship had
eery intention of carrying on,the negotiation, although he
asserted he never saw Mr. Reding after the first meeting,
wnich would appear to be a mere subterfuge from the vali-
dity of the charge of impropriety. From this ci;eusu-
stance it appeared, there witr not alone the Noble Lords con-
cerned in this negotiation for the seat in Parliament, but there is
athird person, of still higher rank-1 allude to a Peer of the realm
(the Marquis of Sligo) ; how, therefore, can the Chancellor of the
Exchequer expect—hOw'can the House expect, that any exer-
tion will be made for the support of the laws about to he intro-
duced fur the suppression of the infamous traffic in places, when
it is seen that two public functionaries and a Peer of the other
House hold up so infamous au example to the public ? The
Noble Lord was a servant to the Crown, and as such he was
hound to uphold the Government of the country, and support
the reputation of himself and his fellow Ministers ; but instead
of being guided by such conscientious feelings, he was guilty
himself of the most flagrant misconduct. Ile should at least
h )ve avoided an iota ton upon the strict and established
rut I laid down for the c uidance of other persons. 1 appre-
Item! the Noble Lord conld have no patent for an exclu.ixe de.
arture from these roles. 1 carve couceive Lord Clanearty has
ceived the Noble Lord; ;inn if he har not deceived h.m, his
Lordship mast have naturally concluded, for he had full rea-em
to believe it, that this patrot age was about to he COlll et led iota
some pecuniary consideration. t Ussc Lord Castleredgb, liy Id.
countenance, e,spressed strong marks of indigtOtion-.) I ties
',sappy to see the Noble Lord's feelings'nre ihtllgnant nt gugh an
insinuation; but I must confess such a feeling would better be-
come him, were the facts stated its:the evidence less incontro-
vertible. I must now call the attention of thst House to the
feature of dissatisfactinn ex pressed by the •Noble!,Lord, still more
disgusting than any thing ety submitted. alludeto an affecta-
tion of disdain on the subject of the last observation expressed in
the examination of a Mr. Davis, in which the Noble Lord ex-
pressed a desire, that every• thirg relative to the irritership
should he explained by Mr. Davis, in order that the party who
1:a.1 made use of his Lordship's name should be detected; and
exhorting Mr. Datis, in a letter, to lend his aid to discover the
party who would be daring enough to make so improper a use
of his name, in oider tit their being ex owed: and all this took
place after the former negotiation had begun, continued, and
washroken off. The Noble Lord affects to be indigtant, and
threatens to expose the person who used his ratne;—but fur
what purpose ? Fur no other purpose than to hide his own
guilt,• and to prevent himself from being exposed. No doubt,
he would rather expose Mr. Reding and Mr. Davis, than him-
self. It was somewhat extraordinary, however, that this dread
all took place after the Noble Lord had negociated those corti
rupt transactions, and began to fear, that conduct so gross would
meet the potence) e. T he Chancel lor of the Exchequer had thought
proper, in conser!uenre of an advertisement appearing in .a pub-
Lc paper, to lodge a sum of money, and to take every Step is
h s power to entrap the party who held themselves out as the
public agents of so obnoxious a traffic. Had that trap, se ad.
mirattly contrived, been applied to the negociat ion of the No-
ble Lord, the Chancellor of the Exchequer would be somewhat
surprised to have found his Lordship in the trap. It was only
to be regretted it, was not applied a little sooner; when, in all
probability, the Right Hon. Gentleman would have found his
two colleagues most active in the propagation of those abuses
which he was so assidunattly endeavouring to suppress. Such
flagrant and Oaring delinquency cannot be too severely punish.
I ed. The evidence is clear and decisive, and no doubt eau exist
1 of the guilt of the Noble Lord. The question fur the coo.