The Sun.
London, England, 1837-05-26 00:00:00

1 826 another denent was made, and, although the doe—
merits were forthcoming. yet the claims of Mr. Talbot
not regarded, because the Commissioners did not. consid
themselves empowered to invest!gate any other claims th
these preferred alter the making of the fi st award. .
1F.30, by an Act of Parliament, a new set of Comm:ssion.
was appointed, with powers to decide on all props: dale. .
To this Commission Mr. D'Arcy Tullio, submitted
claim, and what did the Commissioners do ? They Nibs •
•
to listen to his application, on the grotto(' that there wa,
disiiingas laid upon the money which he claimed whil6 .
the hands of the French Government, as early as 1793,
a M. Calambourt, and that unless they had some forth
proof they could not allow the money to be paid until t.
distringas was removed. " But," said the Ceininissiones
‘ we will pay you the interest on the money," and ace:::
ingly a sum of 4,000 !lyres, and another sum of
livres, were paid to him by the Commissioners, who there
admitted the claim, and his right to the principal. N
he asked whether this did not form a case to go before
Committee? It must be borne in mind rind there we
ample funds to defray those claims in the hands of his M
jesty's Government, which had been handel over to them
the Commissioners of his Majesty's Woods and Forests, a
therefore nothing would be taken out of the pockets of to
people. With regard to the dlStrinyas, it had been asset-
' tained from the French lawyers that if a dixtrin ;as were
!aid on by any individual, unless that person could silos.,
that he was justly entitled to the money within a certa:
period, his right expired by a lapse •of time.—( Hear,
hear, hear.) Now 111. Calambourt never proved his -
right, and a document had been transmitted to Mr.
D Arcy Talbot, by the son and heir of M. Calainhourt,
which admitted that his father had no claim whatever to it ;
that he had looked over his father's books, and found that
he had no claim on Mr. D'Arcy Talbot, and therefore he
on his own part renounced all clairqs on the principal sum
of 31,000 livres. The Noble Lord who led the House,
and the Right Hon. Gentleman the Chancellor of the Ex- -
chequer, had supported the claims of Mr. D'Arcy Talbot
while they sat on the Opposition side of the House ; and
he hoped, therefore, that the Right Hon. Gentleman would
now neither " wheel about nor turn about"--(A laugh)—
nor refuse to entertain a claim which he had formerly sup-
.ported with all that brilliancy of talent for which he wes
'distinguished. He should now move for a Select Corn.
.mittee .for ,the purpose of taking into consideration the
claims of D'Arcy Talbot, Esq., and other individuals oa
the French C; mpensation Fund.
Mr. RICE contended that the House could not enter
upon the question in its present shape, and even if it were
presented in a modified form, there would be an objection
to the proposition which, in his judgment, would prove in- •
surmountable. The Hon. Member, with the research and
diligence which it was known belonged to his character,
might surely have taken the pains to inform himself of the
real facts of the ease.—(Cries of " Hear, hear.") In the
'first place, ha asserted that there were sufficient funds
to meet those claims in the hands of the Commissioners
'of Woods and Forests. Now, first as to the matter of
fact, and then as to the matter of argument. There were
no such funds in the hands of the Commissioners of Woods
and Forests, although there were sonic years back,
in 1828 ; but since that period, part of those funds,
250,000/., which had been in the hands of the Woods and
Forests, were taken out of their hands, and restored to the
Parties for whom the money was originally destined. So
much for the matter of fact ; now with respect to the mat-
ter of a r,ument. He trust that whet! er tee money W 23
sought from the Woods and Forests, or by a vote which
was to come from that House, the result would be exactly
the same, and that an endeavour would be made, both in
the one case and the other, to do-what was just. Reference
had been made to his own opinions on a former occasion,
but he trusted that no Member of the House would be in-
duced to give his vote on the opinion of an individual
Member of Parliament, delivered too upon a former occa-
sion. He would not, however, rest his case there, but he
would show that the argument of the Hon. Gentleman was,
in his mind, invalid and inapplicable. He did not contend
in 1828 that the House itself ought to take cognizance of
this matter, but only that his Right Hon. Friend should
take the claims into consideration, if there was any balance
at the Treasury remaining unappropriated. Not only did
he do this, but on no other occasion did he support the
principle, that the House should undertake a judicial case,
in deciding which they would not only be deciding on the
special case, but incidentally on other cases also. If the
House agreed to this motion, they would be opening the
whole question of French compensation again, and not merely
Mr. D'Arcy Talbot, but the Baron de Bode, and all other
disappointed claimants, would be let in by the terms of
the motion now made, which embraced every possible case
that had ever been submitted to the Commissioners, and
the actual orders which bad beeq made by the Treasury
for the distribution of the fund would be delayed, and
parties would be deprived of the result to which they were
entitled to look forward. The facts of the case were well
known to the House. The Commission which was first

of the funds at its disposal. The 'Duke of Wellington
considered the claims of the parties who professed to have
an interest in their distribution, and having done so pre-
pared a Treasury minute, which was now on the table of
the House, pointing, out the relative• classes of claimants,
and how they ought to come before the public as partici-
pators in the Compensation Fund ; for it was to be ob-
served that many of these were paid in full, but were only
declared entitled to partial payment. Application was
made when the Duke of Wellington went out of office to
the Government, which succeeded, as was always the case,
to reverse the decision of its predecessor. He (Mr. Rice)
was himself inclined to think that one part of the Duke of
Wellington's minute might have been otherwise ; but Lord
Spencer, who considered the case with very great attention,
differed from him, and confirmed the Duke of Welling-
ton's minute, as being, strictly in accordance with the
justice of the case. Money, however, still remained to be
distributed, and a new Commission was appointed by Lord
Grey's Government for that purpose. The new Commis-
sion laid down this principle, which he thought a very just
one—that whereas the Legislature gave these claimants an
appeal froth the decision of the former Commission to the
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, they would not
review any case which had been refused by the former
Board. Now if the Government had allowed the new
Board to exercise a power of recehing. appeals, they would
have placed it in the position of the Judicial Committee of
the Privy Council. He allowed that the documents in
proof his claim were lodged by Mr. D'Arcy Talbot, and
he was entitled to go before the second Commission, and
accordingly he did so, and was heard before this second tri-
"mai. He should observe that every individual who came
before this second Commission signed, as required, a de-
claration that he would abide by its award. Mr. D'Arcy
Talbot was heard over and over again, and a decision was
given against him. He appealed now to the House with
confidence whether they were prepared to reopen this qnes-
tilt). If they entertained individual cases, such as three of
the Baron de Bode, or the Troutbeck case, or that of Mr.
D'Arcy Talbot, they wouid expose themselves to all ti.e
hazard of a personal canvass and all the other inconve-
niences which were inseparable from such a step, like a
Committee on a private On these grounds he trusted
the House would agree with him in thinking tint it was
not proper to appoint this Committee. He might add as
another ground for not complying with the motion, that the
Treasury had been served that very thy with notice of a
bill being filed in Chancery with respect to these claims.
If an appeal lay, let it be made to a court of law, but let
the House not be seduced into undertaking functions which
they could not properly perform.
Mr. MACKIN NdN said, that the Right Hon. Gentle-

nan had stated that a► sum of 2.50,0001., which had been

lodged with the Commissioners of Woods and Forests, had
been handed over by them to the parties for whom it had
been originally destined. Now, he begged to ask to whom
It had been banded over ? Was it given back td the French
Government, or where was it? So satisfied was be of the
justice of Mr. D'Arcy Talbot's claim, that if the Right
lion. Gentleman persisted in resisting it, he would divide.
the House ; but if the Right Hon. Gentleman chose to
come to a compromise, he should have no objection to
modify his motion ; and in that case he would move that a
Select Committee be appointed for the purpose of taking
into consideration the claims of Mr. D'Arey TAlbat on the
French Compensation Fund.
Mr. RICE observed, that the 230,000/. so paid over by
the Woods and Forests became a fund which was apprc-
plated under the Treasury Minutes to the parties waoso
claims had been adjudicated on. He could not acquiesce
in the Hon. Gentleman's offer of a compromise, any more
than he could accede to the original motion..
Mr. O'CONNELL remarked that it had not been de-
nied that Mr. D'Arcy Talbot had been paid the inte-
rest by the Commissioners, though they denied him the
principal. Surely the House of Commons ought to in-
quire, under these circumstances, how it was that his claim
to the principal was disputed. He could conceive the ease
of the principal being granted to a man while the interest
was struck off, but not of paying interest and denying the
right to the principal.
Mr. G. F. YOUNG wished to know whether the whole
of the money which formed the French Compensation Fund
hal been paid away under the orders of the Treasuil to
the partiz:s whose claims had be n adjudicated upon. If.
appeared to him, that if it had not been been so applied, w,:
must have received the amount from the French Govern-
ment, either under false pretences or under a mistake, in
either of which cases we should return the surplus to that

Government.
Mr. RICE repeated, that the money was awarded under
a Treasury minute, and paid to those parties whose claims
had been adjudicated. Against some of those awards tti
peals had been made, and until the appeals were decided it
would be impossible for him to say what aniziit be