The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1820-08-22 00:00:00

deeneetod with it so Inay chaise. to tee 60114n:to
discueston. it would. we me Stesetwitest, be deli-
cult in the who* cotirse Of our partiatortd4g re"
cords, to Ind tree legislative measures affectiug
indieidoals ilset (Wier More etisentiiifly froni esdi
other then those very each that me now findilieq
boom& together MIA adduced au pereadents fist t
present Ball. They differ in their motives, their
migin. their object. and even in their technical this
signotlemia, mad nothing can more satisfactorily
'Mirk the vague and Indefinite nature of tile
measure Dew pending than the attempt that
ham been se.ode in argonsent to aseinsilate it est,
each of these three case* severally, as the mo-
mentary convenience of the speaker or the
Vitas' of the debate might chance to dictate
the reference. With the seine easy indifference we
God she measure also oecasiotialty likened to a bill
eliodeetutesit in a Criminal Court, found by a
Jury, and even to no itopeocluseilt by the
of Cotninons; so that it is supposed at the
tit to bear within itself Al the. +Ain.
• epealities of a Bill of Attainder, a Bill of
end Penalties, a Bill of Divorce end
ion. • Bill of ludictment for High ve4..an Impeachment for High Cu
mid . nors. If this accutoulaive et*
Pieter wevel oat ascribed to the Bill for the sell
.tessivenience or those who volition it, we slasithi nid.
=even with the absurdity of the supposition,
Abele ere certain adintoteges to the Defeo.
trot with each of tilde inefstrAilloost
reopectlvely, which vroulit..whowomismedi
great facilities for her 11A.IMITT'S defence &
t the Very Moment that the Quit* or her Coon,
sal imdestrour to take advantage of the variety of
designation, her enemies disclaim their implied
admission, and confine her within the strict !node
of a Bill of Pains sod Penalties.
We have often since the commencement of.the
ot measure hail occasion to remark that. the
es connected with it are so far removed
*II shdlisary occutrences, it was almost useless to
. ink foe precedents, end if sowbstontisf justice stone
wire mought, extremely nowise for Parliament to
,Ruder itself to be bound by stay which might seem
Z 61411 the remotest manner to militate against that
• erre. Why Should suds extreme deference
1111dotertained for the examples elf other days, as to
• them to restrict the salutary power of the
. , "whenever as occurrence of unusual
lade or iiiterest required the exesrise of a did
etessonary authority ? Parliament penes ye at one
'Ethilitattfita existence os high said eittiorive a je-
itildifeletti sr it did at any former period, 'Aid copses
got* it cannot acknowledge any adialehon im-
pelled by past events. excepting so far as it ie sexed
etriiii the immutable basis of natural justice, ' fkt .
if tar muralist of precedent be thrown off in rot, .
instence for the attainment of a point of general
expediency, what can he more absurd than that
Parliament should be impeded by it ii sibirjat
stances, where the singularity of the eiv4upmemsh.
or the objects of substantial justice, required a .
f ct- freedom ? The power of enacting wee ' •
imfa
I two relating to individual cases where the Ornerde
low of the country is silent, is. if wisely and lettedlil
perste!), exercised, highly salutary ; yet it eleitilLl
be denied that such a power is exposed to the yes,
worst abuses, and it is • huiniliating fact pest there
is scarcely one instance recorded in our history of
.. the exercise of such a power, which is likely in the
ryes of posterity to reflect hotiour upon either the
wisdom or temper of the Legislature.

The occasional enictinent of Bills of Divorce
has been, especially of late years. so ,frequently
practised, and is subjected in the' Muse or Lords
to ruler so judicious and well understood. that •
Divorce Bill is now generally regarded name in the
light of a judicial than of a legislative proceeding.
It is, in reality, the completion of a judicial pro.
tea by the pig rst Court in the realm, upon facts
previously authenticated in inferior Court,, in which,
however, a discretionary poWer so important could
not with propriety be reposed. Bills of Diorite.
therefore being, as it were, ingrafted into the great
body of our judicial system, ought not to be re-
garded in the borne light as Bills of Attsinder, or
of Pains end Penaltirs, which uniformly militate
egainst some recognised and valuable pnociple of
our judicial institutions.
► The Bill against Sir Joists FaxwicE was. Bill
of Attainder, and militated against the great prin-
ciple of the Act 7 W. c. 3, poised only in the
preceding year, which requirrs two witnesses in
cases of high treason to convict the prisoner. We
trod that in the ;orient day, when the miry INS.
i;ions excited by the political ferment of that period
cats be supposed no longer to exist, no man in the
empire will be found to approve of Sir Jobe Fee.
wick's attainder. It was a melancholy and huini-
liatinginstasice of the power of passion over judg.
tarot. The very mane men who in one year &-
dared, (or the protection of the 'abject, that no
conviction in cases of high trussing Mould follow
upon the evidence of one witoess, overthrew this
hoarier in .the very next year, at the first moment
of its offering ressosnee to the wishes of the ruling
party, and thus proved the inutility of law to re.
strain the violence of factious power. Vet them
were some reasons offered for the Bill, which were
too doubt then thought to he very plausible. Sir
JOHN FENWICIL had !seen indicted and 'unsigned
for high treason, in conspiring the death of King
Wt wan, being the same plot for which Sir Jose
FRIEND, Sir WILLIAM PARSING, Mr. CUOIE,
CIAARNOCR KING. and KEYS, had been convicted
and execut:d. When the proctediugs at law were
commenced against him, there wtre.thro witheari

. infiliiacy .
voltam, wed lit helot Ai' WI tit 10thauits. of situ
illi*b *Mesita Imiutplfettelmity deterred is Cone*
eat in open Court. marl had then receivi4 en-
*Mat femme...the .entart sad the Jog; tint is tire
Bialtop pf Eocuseraa's case, there *vie none hot
14,1hrst lipe.l:teli of cireiusitersiral evidence .t..
prove hint 0117. There had b.es Ito previnus ii;.-
srktinent, no eassinination takes, upon oath, and
there militated no *Whom Whatever against hint,
bet eu•gci4oltea vinjettnte•• hearsay. and a coin..
. .1 .
panoon hanil.briiint which, since the reversal iif
fikENRY's attainder. in toe, ibis writer been ail,
spitted, per se. ai-Coweiniive evidence. The insitrie
of the charge was such ow brought it si opeol#
!Win, the scope of the law of treason. but au at-
etapt wee Male to submit it tu a itiiiiClA iflges,i-
-1„
ion. There wad not a shadow of such evidence pkt
we light support • bill of itidicinseist,'and the
iliallop's entente were so impressed with etas an.
toinstionce. that. although they charged bait.
PLUNKETT, rod KELLY, with being accomplices ta
Lair aa's calispiroey, for which LAYER nay rotieit t-
ad and ixecuted, they did loot apply the °Moave
jillabilionst of mows to the voarpostrl crime, hot
tr,PAtinitirer and KELLY to imprisonment
' Tower dutit ter Kiao's itlessure, while
condemned the Bishop to perpetual reale.
are tad of the cases to which the fruniets or
supporters of the Bill against the Qurtti refer ha a
precedents, which are Se warrant an estrsindaitary
I exercise of the legislative power, hut *lnch
onsou.
k prejudiced d can, fail to COVarlilltiale AI litilattp
Mg isteruortais pf hietivin (nutty. iiicapalr:e of *o rig..:
big the impulse of passion. Every alter age bail
etaiirded therb with feeling* of inaptaliticd alinert
*NW, end shoulikthey new be ntodr example/V*44
, itnitsCion, we way judge brim our own feeliogi of
the peat, what lodgment will be prusiou.iced by
posterity upon the present proceedings.
The BRI against the Direhtir or OlditiroLies
IQ Witting! 111, was properly a Bill of Di"rert.o
and Degradation. instituted nit ace-oiling to Aft
rules now established !lib reference to iilachipri.
*area, but as au Coital proccrian,‘ tit the il4.tat.!
of Lords. if the & inkier, of the Crow.. were i 9
dmigtiste the Bill now pending in Parliament ••• ii'
Bill of Dineen'," instated of '4 • Bill of Pains atidt
Pousities," alley. ,would Sad its the Duch's", efi
Noarotes case as instance of a diroice a Oa.,
ado asatrimousii, without Any prelintionsy proceed:
lugs had eitheoot Common lid or in en Eerfeiptile;
tical Court. There are iodised soul circausentrieni.
in the cane of the Decline of Noarots, which
give it o Arising rereitblauct to the prrecuit pea.
ceeding. The marring, sought to bedossolred vr•IL
OW of long stoats% (iS years). The parties bra
bt' biutiail agreenteist lived separat%ly fur Mitre
yam. Wig lilt Dike Mutton at he declared to
WS" 7 VAN mil be enabled to hand doe's bid
..
and estates to hi. tiara etuldrei..
- I .e sitioaccesefully to dissolve the
it . . -
ng in hie object. he caused is
dm* nil. biFilibilitted to the House of Loidii,
in *hi*, hi elisled slim the Duchess had betas
guilty of am estultssono inlemourse for sever:il years
erstkjier Jona GRIUSAISS, bud hoping to sly*
to his clisim the colour of • public good,
.It',.,
urged the treceisity of gtierillog monist the evil -_
PI-alibiing the Sigh lahliihr d Earl Marsha Of
Togisiod to fall it stugineissi *ill, by spas at
individual mushy.', I* -a P•ol4Voat. Upon thin
last point it might not just mow be uninteresting to
remark. en peasant. that in the 'arguments
.of tlti!
Counsel fcii die illuthetitt. the °` lospossibility" iris •
forcibly "urged "of the illatsinotts Houle ill
Htrunittet ever .riaatiag a _Protestant at its heist"
The Bill. though oppmed ,by * most powerftil
eloquence, mid such souse... "I !oiii'd Nct!'sbe Cll3'
sidered in the Case cita :abject' wholly kit :bolter;
was adopted by !argil iintintillif id both ileisiWit and
finally rot-nerd the Nerd torient: • in the Mute
of Peers, several MoildPen Intlelltd their widebsti
protests agaiost the Bill, pod it iv w astisfectien to
thndt that since that. period. sather 'the iote/est,
Jo of
society or the prittetpteWaf"lslltish Inir iiii bette:r
understood, yid that the rtitioniiig loot hied rid the
pretests hat Mutually become theiestablititelpswiti
Lice of the country. le the coodect of this omit. •
sure it is, however. to be reniarked., tbet ,very foe.,
cilav was grouted' to the Docilely. by fir house of
Lora, fhr oppoiiiug the 011etietiOiN cioitsitia iii‘trot .
Bill. Severe' of ,lie far the 'Dacia 'wire
foreigners, and servants Kith* Daohni. A littaetko
witnesses was ordered 1.4 supplied to toe Docker"
or her agents, With,soch.,arFumtt of *Or
.pincee ut
residence as the Difie'aisgeuficosild.foruish. One
interpreter wail oritetell to itietici:Ou behalf of this
Duke. and tolotilei io betel of the DuClicsit, atilt
for the purpose of mimalisisilig with precision One
full import sof the ,frippiippae evidence, it wanor-
tiered—
ii That the siiiiiiiiiieiiiiiVirqWliiiit the evidence its -the
bar should' &Hale' tot WEIL lilt Witil tioi soilitee.ifo laid"
might be tramcniest,..4 tbat,ilse examinelioile *Sr t ilia
obort-hiuti ottitivo tiook:sod Ik, yopers.should,bo moo up,
aottkept by tbt.oitilt* oottrtitiotitt day.'sienthiat'ifilte tra
bad been tramoviltad altoatd.ter road At 014 bard[ jooloato
el the witnesses.
~..
iteference has been so frequently Turd. il?!..x
Oki ...present ptoceedinta to theist' Ontario& .0.
Inat,vre inset this beittelillite of thew wiltiefipitsfiE"
*uaserteptable to oat readers. But it 'inateelittit
thot iaaaeaftar.ttalliattliat oaths* is politindroul, : •
nin,ities.whea the fiailtalp Ire ts,ltelaffill7 fli4.11101P;
regard the voice- of jusuce. or in perate.hist.pod
.pirsouif hatred; onglst'siesiartb'he'eitett 'a
A4i
dents. tit itilleionett * InTefuit cif driiii oNalittii
impoi tonne, that amends' to the utiles and ' titnetellf
judgenent of.the untatry. Who !Bell
.ogoinat-SIIK .
gag"' m:,11/62:1." .c,4441)•"*. 1 qe".A.giliritfaf• .
as aim .naar. 'mg tars suns to coutract.,paar..
rite ale* ii ii-flitiihtlid i Billet liti'iii"iittf
.s
• - . ' - ' -..'
its-htleilstii4d,
. the' StatiAbah t
TilleAtiiii G 0.04 i
P1P1,46-tr46IPW I
hr-tt 4, laa
Iltii* it•Ve3m6l'
the question tu

. .1 Ilf* .•
. • ;
CA
P put
14„, z. :gip
• „wimp,
•
01"14116
aidgiejlet ' • /440 41)4160
to
mw 04* Of ProilfoLij flat! ,eiti4llllolll.
have been feln;ven he& limns 14 nil pietis fat the
iierpme of ennellartitie of .e..vind.ainiesic either flee
peleeiple et the saviours*. dr krill eirendkniners
. _

to WI gall", of which no one ernertaisted ilia Pairshie% wad Hay "Hairiest' is' oriaklit
obwisbrat-doebt, but by drecitfil aro* ,to the od. 'wisp a rrisortail .frierstant.tiorbet'tl
4414
vernitOnt of stakiiik.cortaisi cialfritib4l,,he it4iti44- ottctkr rikisyspOwiff .14404;9P441. TJ
et! iti".havitt hip trial dialed until tlie:oteatto • ,or (be fliele'ectil%,,„,. 11, • ftri it:
.ivArilaioasyliarird.of ilutainitgona of ire atitireaairo, ' iiii; abeft'iriviignet ' tot ..igz tie r
GOODMAN. to legirr the country. Theresidoset itetliri ' it riegilog,"l4
siren ou the trial of Coos, by Gromarirt nod "till remains to be explaioeil, and tl

..„ .. • ,
Pdlions. *gm* "elbow' Irairincte, imd .0.4 a
Atmegra.44llllll iota ow,kiv• .
res obi tok. ttoeittstil,
40. Lim.% sill tr Pile* Not I%.iiiftliaitei
sew ONO et A!. UNA iioll4Bolol
its* ever was committie. eltitgi,irle
• Mho* "IA ealipirkst With Lai** ilea ether ttc-
led le 1).14 alio* the isotherm:it (loseins.
-ono. sold ties reseteissenet.nt • t the ,M Air
redid!! ilp.sol the down thes!k teiplies. Ii )110 •
*ma's rave thee* *se tint sett of le ht