The National Register.
London, England, 1812-03-08 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL REGISTER.

149

to nothing. Some of the berotzlenis, he was aware, were worth vity
little, for cprtabrreasone; burn werv:lteryitalsdarallrithint.ther
would " sell themselves." Amongst that class wise Mr. Walsh's bo-
rough ; therefore, possibly it had been placedin thiemesite, Iselin cond..
dered a marketable commodity. He, however, would go the.length of
Maintaining, that Mr. Walsh had been proved to, have been guilty of
such offences as would authorize them in expelling him that House.—
He had proves! himself a man that was unfit for any society, and a dis-
grace to that House. As to precedent, the proposed proceeding waq
his estimation, justified by what befut e bad been done ; and he thisuiiit
the House had not done its duty in not creating precedents by the expuli
sion of Steele, who had taken 19,0601. of the public money : of Hunt,
who, by the by, was it the Brazils, enjoying two pensions to the
amouunt of 1,0001.; and of Mills, who had contrived to cheat his cre-
ditors, by getting eected a Memeier of thatkiouse. The House had
not acted rightly in the proceeding between Mr. Pitt and Boyd and Ben-
field. In that instance, however, it was said, that the proceeding sup-
ported public credit—( laugh !)—But it had not raised the, credit' of
the HouSe in the estimation of the Public. It had been said, that by
adopting the proposition before the House, a precedent would be adopt-
ed which might extend itself to the three-fourths of the Nation' and
possibly to some °fiat- Members of the House besides Mr. Welsh.—
Such an observation remanded him of the conversation between Lady,
Maeda'. and her Son, in the Play of Macbeth, especially if he were
asked who were t 3 the punishment. Lady Macdetil had inform.
ed her child that cerain roglies were to he hanged—but, said the child,
" Who must hang them ?h--" Why, the honrst men," replied Leidy
Macduff: " Then the r.igries are fouls," said the child : " for thai are
rogues enough to beat the honest ma, and. hang up them !"-Much
laughter !p--But he trusted that sacs a motive would not actuate theta
that Ile hoped rt.:A they would not he deterred from ridding
thenNelves of a Member. wit , had disgr aced himself, from the idea
that the precedent might afr.rct other " rogues." He, for one, certainly
should voter for the expulsion, though in sa doing itedid nol/4 couctive
that be should ply any very great compliment to the privileges arid po
ers of that I louse.

Colonel DILLoN said a few words in favour of the Mistion.
Mr. HI:I:BERT and Mr. A uesceostate opposed the Motion.
Mr. Wv NNE said, that in the present Motion there were two mate-
rial points to consider, first, whether it was proper tp expel one of their
own Members who had been found guilty by a nay of a fraudulent
transaction, and if they did expel him, whether that precedent might
not lead to dangerous consequences in future. It had been contended,
that the judgment of a Law Court Was necessary before Parliament
could found any ground of expulsion. Let them look at the case of Mr.
Hall who was ejected for pen jury ; there was no ludgntent pronounced
on him. In the case of Atkinson, too, judgment had not been passed
or the verdict of guilty given by the Jury, but yet he was ejected. In
all these eases Parliament considered that abundance of infamy existed,
and hesitated not to pronounde the sentence of expulsion. With res-
pect to the commission of adultery, he would say, that though it was
a moral offence, it did not at all incapacitate a person from performing
the honourable functions of society in which he might be placed. Bar
in this case, v. letter, acknowledged and proVed as the letter of. Walsh,
confessed all his guilt. He had been summoned to attend the House,
and failed toappear, and sent a letter to the Speaker, wherein he said he
was prepared to palliate,•but not to defend himFelf. All these were
strong proofs agaite.t hint. He therefore wished to take a high and im-
portant trust from a man altogether unworthy of his situation, and con-
sidering hint in that light, he would vote decidedly for the Motion.
Mr. C. ADAMS briefly supported the Motion.
Mr. LAmu e recommended the mast extreme caution to the House in
proceeding on the consideration of a case which had excited so much
public indignation.
Mr. WIIITBerAD disagreed the present Motion. He would
counsel the Horte not to expel Mr. Wid:-.li; 11111. if they desired vs effec-
tually punish him, let them torture his feelings by desiring him to attend
in his place every day; nay, compel in'e to appear in his seat, and their
purpose would be complete. He c.,)!let:ded, that the precedent quoted
of the Members having been expelled because they commi'Ld a fraud
on the. Charitable Institution, did rot at all bear upon the present case.
It wan regarding the money of a Public Institution, and that of Walsh
concerning that of an individual. He concluded by reminding the
House of what had been said at the time of the expulsion just quot-
ed—" The Honour of the House was as much concerned in proceed-
ing regularly against a rogue, as in not sitting with i•im."
The A.-"TORNEY GENERAL, Mr. HAWKINS BKowNE, and the
CHANCELLOR of the Ex"7.llEQurtt stipperted the Motion.
Mr. BANKES shortly repli d, and the qaestion being loudly called
for, the House divided, when there aneared—For alr, Baukes's Mo-
tion, 131 ; Against it, IG—Mijority for the Motion-85.
While strangers .were exchided, Mr. BANXES moye.l, that l‘lr.
Benjamin Walsh be therefore xx rent.en which was ag d to.
• Mr. BANEES immediately after moved for a r.ew We eor the Bo-
rough of Wotton Basset, in room of Iseslimin
pelled that :louse, being -guilty of gross fraud, and truarcolill b cacb
of trust.—Ordered.—Adjourned.

!Mini% Y 7 MARCH 6.
The CIIANCELLpR of the Excrtequzit. gave notice, that in comm.
(Fence of 64: tnotitni or a Right Hon. Gents an (Mt, GrattA;l), r•-•

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