The National Register.
London, England, 1818-03-16 00:00:00

ers lutist be protected by Parliament,. and supported by .Go-
veroinent. Whatever ridicule be might expose himself • to,
be would maintain, that uu such spy as Oliver should be em-
ployed by any Government. 'Posey were-two things, to re-
ceive information. and to send muss 4001110 m country•to ex-
cite tumult and insurrection. With'-Tespect to Cooties, he
was dressed up and titted• out as a and wife was sent
00191 the way by a clerk at How-street. •As to Oliver. he
war expressly sent down as the Loudon Delegate,. and those
Derbyshire and Not Wight' sushi re men Wolllllllot have stirred
a band if it hail not been fur the assbitance he taught them to
erect from the diaatlected in London. He did not say that
Government sent this mail into the oonntry to
.excite insur-
rection, but that was the result of his mission, and 110 one
who had read the.llerby trials could dualr• it. It was said,
that Me men Oliver tempted, wet e disaffected men; now that
artnwent placed khe •did abut 1110111 it ottensively) the Secre-
tary of state and Ins defenders in that Hume in Use situation
of Vaughan and his ..ssoriates ; for they uglier', that they did
oat excite honest mot hut thievus by profession to execute
burglaries. His Majesty's reign had been distinguished lay
some glorious triumphs, und the Ministers, who were wont to
Limit of thuie triumphs, could now boast of a corapiete tri-
umph over the liberties of the country. They might amy with
• itiv putt:—

That F./Aland, which WM WOIH4O conquer others,
lt,ei gait: 4 a sharhefulecniquest o'er herself."
The SOLIMUR ,LiENER AL said, the Learned •Genalornan
had kept out of the view of the House all that a elated to this
question, and had argued it abstractedly. The whole ground
ut !nekton. and Learned Friend's opposition to this Bill was,
• that it sAS an Indemnity for illegal Jets, which he denied. It
the House thought the Suspension Act proper they ought to
. grant ttr_t Indemnity. His Hon. Friend had said, why, it'
blinisters laud not been guilty of abuses, nut whey ask for
- a Bill of Indemnity Why lie would reply to hislion. Friend
that Ministers bad not done any owe act/v. hick, Wilsey were to
go into evidence, they could nut jrtstify, but the. fact was,
that it would nut be tit. or safe to make public the Alvislence
• on which they had acted. 'Tie Report stated that Ministers
bail exercised their power with greatttnoilertition, and 'there-
tore, in justice the House was humid to pass the •Billaiti In-
demnity. Now with respect :a the:Magistrates, the Act said
that Ministers should do certain things, and that they should
Is lye the power of searching the houses of persons accused of
treasonable practices for papers ; bul.4:is Learned Friend
Alagtstrates had done more, and that under Lord Sid•
inouth's circular, they had seat cited persons houses for libels.
If any Magistrate bad so acted, and bad seesuhied the houses
•• o I' persona who were only accused of libel, then this Bill would
lig protect him. The Hon. Gent. then proceeded at length
to defend Ministers from the charge of having sent Oliver
into the country to incite rebellion, and into a statement of
the facts sossften detailed to prove that :these disturbances
eqsted long. before Oliver: was heard of; and further,. lie
contended, that it had been fully proved that a treasonable
rompiracy did exist. The facts taken together were such,
he contended, as justified the Government in the first instance
ri ebbing for the Suspension Act ; and their conduct in the
exercise of the powers granted to them was such as entitled
tient now to come tor this Bill of Indemnity.
Sir F. BURDETT observed, the Learned Gent. who spoke
List had. contended, that this Bill of Indemnity was necessary,
because it Wall not fitting that the Magistrates should be
• ualiged to discover their sources of information: that was, in
• his opinion, an argument which could not be tolerated. Was
• rt to be urged in a British House of Commons, that persons
-.were to be imprisoned and punished, ruined, and then dim_
i•oargediwitliont trial, %ma secret accusation sad without
vier tieing informed who their accusers were; This system
ass similar to thatatlopred iii the most despotic governments
• on the Coutinent. In the place Dc St. Mare, at Venice, we
were told there wan a lion's .inolitli placed, fur the purpose
et receiving anonymous accusations against individuals, the
at cuser bring never known to the person accused; precisely
tho•sanie system was now adopted its this country, where
secret accusistionsswere drupe, ant into the lien's mouth, but
into the office of the-Secretary of State, and remaiued equally
hidden and concealed from the party accused. This was a I
system, lie contended, which ought not and could not be
borne by the people.olthis country.
Mr. LAW was of opinion, that Ministets had exercised the
powers which had been invested iu thetnwith moderation and
• discretiou., and that they were entitled to the Bill of Indent-
nity,
Sir W. BURROUGHS said, it was the duty of Magistrates to ,
do three things, to receive infoi-mations on oath, to bind over
the informers to prosecute, and to return the informations to
the proper,•qoarter. None of these things had been dune ;
-.he accosted bad never known the accuser t. end where the
person injured had conic to the Home for redress, their Pe-
tition• liad.been rejected, and the House were now about to
. pass a Bid of Indemnity, which would completely shut the
door of justice.against them.
Sir. F. Floor was in favour of the Bill.
Mr. LAMBE last year voted in support of the measure of
-• Suspension on legislativvg:-ounds. He thought the Indem-
nity. Bill was a measure arising out of the former proceeding
and one which the Magistracy had a right to•expect. He was
ready to acknowledge, with Ins Hon. Friend, that every
measure of this description was an impairing of the Constitu-
tion ; but it ought at the saint :hue to be considered who was
the cause of the measure being adopted. It bad• been said,
that Oliver was the person who incited the mob to acts of riot
in St. James's Park, on the first day of last Sessions. It might
be so, perhaps ; he should not attempt to deny it, and could
only regret that the circumstances bad been• kept secret so
long; since, had it been discos/cited before, it would Lave
probably have led, to his apprehension, and probably to the
eisettivory of the riugleatlers on that occasion. At all events
it would then have been made apparent that Oliver was a Gu-
s unser Spy, .and wield have revolted much which has
since occurred. He had-originally considered the Suspension
Act nerassary ; and he now considered the Bill of•lctleinnity
• elitist'', so.—(Loud cheering.)
Mr BROUGHAM Wlllll.ot surprised at the &pi:13,1,110g cheers
with, which his Hon. Friend's speech had amen received by
too ether side of the llouse, since it went the 101 l length of
approving all the measures of Government; and he had now
to regret that Itimselt and those who were lot the habit of
!se-,ingini. lion. Friend's summit in their measures, had on
thisoccasioit tailed et iilitaining his itasistance. and the aright
• add authority of his Brea; halm% His Hon. Friend had con-
. taint,..a t•tr nine or genet Indemnity to the iiteritu-
. Flout situ lir OW Brougham.). did nut 4btect to
this ; what lie iihineteit to wa-, giving tudir..trintinitteledem-
talty to all, and clastiing with the ineritot Nltigi•triate the
spy Oliv•.r. But he would contend that, tor mei itch loos. all.
•4;.serater. "'smelt tudrmnity WAS 11C014•Ar) ; as, %wit
• been add by his lion. Friend, he could see no ditticulty or