The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1818-06-02 00:00:00

country, they
1:4.- discretion of a tingle man ? This 111411 may
posse. the clemency of Titus, and every good
enality that ever adorned the heart ; but he niti.t
have as much wisdom as virtue, sisal be exempt
from the weaknesses necessarily incident to his.
mainly, to be enabled to prevent the abuse of
his authority. He was likely to be deceived,
and he might kud himself unwittingly to private
misrepresentations, and inflict an injury upon ilium°.
cent persons. liiiintlatiene from interested indivi-
duals might cause him to destroy the prospect of a
man's whole life. A case happened not long since,
which went to shew the possibility of having a
power abused. indirectly. without even the know.
ledge of the Minister. The late Mr. de Beau( had
expended on the Continent a considerable sum of
money in the purchase of books, which he had
brought to London for the purpose of selling. I o
the collection there happened to be some copies
stir a work not pleasing to certain persons,
said some person, known to have the ear of
the Sbuister, having one day entered his shop, and
seeing the books, said, is You have a great many
copies of this work—you will, of course, bike care
bow you sell them." This slight obserwatren was
sufficient to induce Mr. de Coeur to send back the
honks to the Continent. and forego the advantages
of his speeulatioo. There was also another ripe-.
that equally evinced the power of abusing srbiirary
power, even without any belt of the persons P 011•
11114ing it. A wan who hal associated with Geo-
tleisteu, and hid passed for one, waited on Mr. Pitt,
and t. 4.1 him, iu confidence. it a plan formed by
the French Govermnent to assassinate him, and iu

confirmition of his intelligence, Wormed him of a
crrts:• sum of money having been sent by way of
Ilru-rels, and other places, to be placed at the
disposal or two men who were to perpetrate the
murder. The informant minutely described the
',rm.'s% their route, and the mode iii which the
money was to be remitted, and au application being
made to the Austrian Government in the Nether-
lands, an inquiry was set on foot, and every circum-
stance was foetid to correspond accurately with the
I.llow's information. The two unfortunate men
were seised and thrown into duintemis, where they
binguidted for five years, until peace was restored,
and then it was discovered that they wee perfrctly
1111141Ctfit of any evil intention, and hyd been at the
time of their arrest on their way to England, for the
purport of demanding payment of a debt from tie
very man who had given Mr. Pitt this information.
The Noble Lord then alluded to the case of Dl. Las
Cases' who had been sent from St. Helena to the
Cape of Good Hope, and having thence arrived iu
the firer Thames_ . he was immediately shipped off to
the Coutirrent. Possibly the Government might have
had very goad information, sufficient to induce them
to send off the Count Las Cases, but this Alien Act
pee them no right to seize his papers. This was an
Act not only highly illegal, but cruel in the extreme.
The seizure of a literary man's papers, and their
detention for several moutlestbat individual being
-then in distress—might have ruined the hopes of
his life. lie might have treated wi,li a boi.kaeller
'fur the productions of his industry, and might have
'heel disappointed iu his speculations. Such, how-
'ever, was the necessary result of arbitrary lower,
lud the abase of it must Bow almost from its ex-
Isteoce. The Noble Lord had said, that the
• power of 'sending aliens out of the country must
'exist somewhere. A pewee must exist somewhere
doing every ibing—..s power must be lodged
in a Government of banging people • but it
was a question whether that power should be
grouted to the Executive to exercise without
control. The Noble Lord had said what lie
should do in the Committee, and that he would

propose the suspeusion of a law of Scotland, winch
had been enacted before the Urinsu, and hod btrat
subsequently sanctioned by Acts of the United
tegislotarei so that the Noble Lord in suspending
that Act by a retrospective measure, would attack
the private property of individuals consecrated by
on Act of the Legislature. 'I he Noble Lord had
said, that to the Alien Act the safety of this coun-
try was to be principally attributed ; but did the
Noble Lord torso to confess the inadequacy of
all the exertions or the Cabinet to maiutaiii the
tranquillity of Europe? Weir all the victories
purchased by so much blood and treasure, inside.
quote to secure the stability of the existing system
of Europe ? The Noble Lord then alluded to the
effect which the possession of at bitrary power was
calculated to produce ou the minds of those who
enjoyed it. Could it be supposed that they could
route front the exercise of it as pure friends to the
Constitution of the country as before it had been
iutruoted to them ? What au effect might it not
produce open the tuliid of a Minister, who, having
found Moamar enabled to pruored with vigour and
effect against an alien, was yet prevented from act-
ing itt a similar way against a waive subject ! He
would naturally say, 44 What a heady thing is ark,-
leery power;" and with such feelings he would be
axtreantly desirous of eulauging his authority, fo
abort, to grant arbitrary poser to any British sub-
ject, even over adieus, was incousisteut with
the security of the oilier subject, and with the
Constitution by the century. As another iustatut
of the abuse of the law, he eluded to the case of
Doe Diego Gooses, who, with other Spaniards,
bad takeu refuge iu Gibraltar, front the Guitars
triolence of their own Government, and were deli-

vered up hi the F.ngliati Guveruur. These !WWI'S
ware tiled, wurr WcIC 161:11LCUCCd to death, and Dun
Diego GOWti was condemned to the galleys fur
twelve years, and the furleituse of all his pros/city.
The Bntish Guvernmeut. much to its credit, had, he
tiudirstood. remoustnited with vigour spinst the
senteme, and Dun Diego Gomez came into this
country, where, he lamented ti., s..y, he had not le-
reeved the atteutiuu *limb he well merit.d. It had
beau since disci/lotted, that the Gureruor Clima-
te, bad given him up au the belief that this man
had been the author of souse of the must violent
papers circulated iu Spaiu alpinist the British
interests. This impel... Rm. however, Wil• Incur-
fret, and had originated iu a mistake of names.
The Noble Losd then adverted to the oligarchy
melt the uniuu of the allied Sovereigns of Europe
huh created, in place of the universal mouarilly,
avian( which they had been so long cuuteuding ;
amid concluded by observing, that the present Bill
was wholly unnecessary, cruel to individuals, and
d..tigiquus to the ConslitiViou.—(Hear, hear.)

7.7
was a total refu,sl to them or all law, and that'
txp.ing is,ch,id.oa to the chance of bring j
',riven from the country, they were thrown under