The Sun.
London, England, 1806-02-18 00:00:00

fIUERIAL PA.RI,I,III_ENT.

HOUSE OF PEERS.

ii.doNDAY, FEB, 17,

The SOLICITOR- GENERAL (Mr. li.ornilly) and Mr.
RICHARDS were heard on behalf of the Appellant,
in an appeal from the Court of Chancery, " The
Countess Dowager of Lincoln against the Duke of
Newcastle after which the further consideration
was postponed till to-morrow.
Lady Viscountess Nelson's and Sir F. Strachan's
Annuity Bills passed through Committees., and were
reported.

IMPEACHMENT WITNESSES' INDEMNITY,BILL.

On the Order of the Day being read for the se-
cond reading of the above Bill, and for the attend-
ance of the Judges (who were all present),

Lprd gLowy. adverted to the Bill which was be-
fore the House last Session, and which embraced
the same objets as the Bill now under their consi-
deration. He at that time called the serious atten,
tion of their Lordships to the Bill, which he consi-
dered to be in the nature of an ex post jaao law,
and he then proposed certain questions to be put to
the Judges, in order that there might be a clear un-
derstanding as to the nature of the law upon the sub-
jea. He now rose to propose, that similar ques-
tions should be put to the Judges, with the same
view. He could not help, however, observing, that
the principle attempted to be established by the pre-
sent Bill was one which demanded the most serious
consideration of their Lordships—was one for not
guarding against the introdu&ion of which they
might deserve the reproaches of poSterity. The Bill
expressed doubts as to the liability of a Witness to
answer a question, the answer to which might in-
volve him in a civil suit : he could only say, that he
had been thirty years in the profession of the law,
as Counsel, and in a Judicial chara&er, and it was
the first time be had heard that there was any doubt
upon the subjea, although he was aware that upon
this point a high legal authority was against him. He
wished, however, their Lordships to be fully aware of
the nature of the Bill, which went, as it might happen,
to give persons sums of money (for it was the same
thing whether the money was aetually given, or
whether they were freed from any process for a
sum.of money claimed by the Public) for giving evi-
deuce at their Lordships'Bar,and not only weresuch
persons, on that account, discharged from any pro-
cess on account of debts due to the Crown, but
from any process on account of debts due by
them to individuals, according to the words of the-
" Any other Person or Persons." He saw so
many obje6tions to the Bill that he could not help
recurring to the admirable speech of Lord Hard-
wicke, upon a Bill of a similar nature, which was
before the House in the year 1742, and to which
be had referred last Sessions, when that great man
concluded his 'speech by observing, that he would
much rather be the objet of such a Bill than the
author of it. His Lordship concluded by moving
to refer to the Judges for their opinion, three ques-
tious, varying in terms, the objed of which was
to ascertain whether, according to law, a Witness
had a right to demur to the answering any question
relevant to the subje6t under investigation, the an-
swer to which might tend to acknowledge a debt
recoverable by civil process ? or which might ren-
der him liable to civil process generally ? or which
might render him liable to civil process at the suit
of the Crown, for the profits of any public money
converted to his own use ?

-Lord wikLAND said, he should not now com-
ment upon the objeaions made to the Bill by the
Noble and Learned Lord, as this was not the proper
time tbr discussing the Bill. He could not help,
however, observing upon one point urged by the
Noble and Learned Lord, in wnich be thought the
Noble and Learned Lord
,was not borne out by the
words of the Bill: He did not conceive that there
was any provision in the Bill which could authorize
the construction, that a witness giving evidence under
the sanction of its provisions would be thereby exo-
nerated not merely from civil process on account of
the application of public money, but also on account
of debts due front such witness to private indivi-
duals. 04 the contrary, be conceived the Bill to
apply solely in its enactments, as it certainly did in
intention, to the discharging such witness from pro-
cess on account of public money.
Lord ELDO4IT admitted that the Bill did not
apply to merely private debts. He, however, wished
to put the case of transactions arising originally out
of the employment of public money, bemning so
fir transa6tions between individuals as to give rise
to debts which could only be a subje& of contention
between those individuals by whom and to whom
they were contracted.
After some farther explanation between Lord
ELDON and Lord HOLLAND, the Questions were
Ts fared to the Judges, who requested time till
Thursday se'rmight to consider them.
Lord HOLLAND expressed a wish that an earlier
day might be appointed for the Judges to deliver
their opinion, which he thought would be prataica-
ble, as Questions similar to the present were re-
ferred to the Learned Judges last Session.

The LORD CHANCELLOR said that the delay
asked by the Judges was, he conceived, no more
than ought fairly to be allowed, considering the va-
riety of avocations by which their time would in
the mean while be occupied. The Sessions at the
Old Bailey would intervene, which would necessa-
rily employ the time of some of the Learned Judges;
and, upon Questions of
,such importance as these,
they would naturally wish to deliberate upon them
when all of them were present. He said this merely
spew that it was the other avocations of the
Judges which prevented an earlier day from being
fixed.

It was then ordered, that the Judges should at-
tend on Thursday seinnight, to which day the se-
cond reading of the' Bill was postponed, and the
Lords ordered to be summoned for that day.
Lord ELDON said, that he should attend in his
place to-morrow, to give notice of a subsequent day
On which he should move for the appointment of a
Commitiee to search for precedents with respect tc!
Bills of Indemnity.
Adjourned till to-morrow,