The Sun.
London, England, 1862-04-21 00:00:00

PRIVILEGE OF PARLIAMP NT.

_ (From the Gatette of Bankruptcy.)
The 661 h section of the Bankrupt Law Consolidation
Act, 1849, which remains unrepealed, runs thus : " If any
such trader having privilege of Parliament shall commit
any act of bankruptcy, he may be dealt with under this Act
in like ma nner as any other trader , but such person shall
not be subject to be arrested or imprisoned during the time
of such privilege, except in cases made felonies or misde-
meanors by this Act." And the 77th section of the same
Act sets forth the exceptional process by which a member
of Parliament ma‘v be made bankrupt. When the laws cf
bankruptcy shall a ome to be consolidated, it may be expe-
dient to have no en ceptional process whatever as regards
members of Parliame Int, whether traders or non-traders.
The ability to pay, in our nation of shopkeepers," is a
very prominent merit; an operative title to respect ; and,
of all classes of Bocie ty, our lawmakers should be the
least open to exceptie as under this important head.
These exceptional privile, ;es should all cease with the sir-
cumstances which origins.. lly justified them.
The exemption from errs ,at on civil process, for example,
enjoyed by Members of ParL'ament is of very ancient date,
there being a law of Canute, cell). 107-omnis homo pacem
habeat, eundo ad Gemotum, et redeundo a Gemoto"—con-
firmed a few years later by Edu and the Confessor, who ex-
tended the privilege to all persons coming to the Great
Council, whether summoned as members or coming on their
own affairs. Such protection, indeed, was accorded by the
Stai?, in those rude times necessarily, to all persons
coming
soing from any court of justice, "unless he
were a thief." he duration of this privilege, however it
may have been later enlarged by Parliament, with its own
entire satisfaction, was eetainly, at first limited to the
with reasonable time allowed
duration of the actual session;
home again, when the
for the journey to the house, ant' A.
In veniendo ad Par-
business of the session was finished—,‘.
de,undward o," to adopt
liamenta, et ibidem morando, et exinde re
the language of a writ of the 9th year of FA.
velnft:enWs and
t
may have been deemed a reasonable time to:
redeuns in those earlier days, and whether the te-editor of
A., who lived in Surrey, was kept out of his rights as long
as the creditor of 8., who lived in Northumberland, cameo!.
new be determined, there being, as Mr. Ilatsell reports, so
great a variety of opinions upon the subject that he regar-
ded the question touching tho real duration of "coming,
staying, and returning to their homes," as having been
nowhere precisely defined and determined. The Committee
of Privileges of the House of Lords reported on the 14th
December, 1621, that—" The freedom from arrests cloth
continue 20 days before and after every session, in which
time the Lords may conveniently go home to their houses in
the most remote parts of the kingdom ;" and the resolution
then adopted was, on the 28th May, 1621, again read, and
ordered to be observed, with this alteration—" This free-
dom [from arrest] to begin with the date of the writ
I of Summons, and to continue 20 days after every session of
Par: iament." As the facilities for travellingimproved, one
might .have anticipated that our legislators, anxious tee place
their character in the most favourable aspect, would have
diminished the period during which, under pretence at
coming to or going from the despatch of divers urgent and
important public business, they evaded their private respon-
sibility to divers urgent and importunate creditors; but,
instead of ails, matters grew worse, so that at this present
moment the person of a member of Parliament is in a peer,
by the privilege of peerage, for ever sacred and inviolable,
and in a commoner, by the privilege of Parliament, is so
for 40 days alter every prorogation, and 40 days before the
next appointed meeting, which, as Parliament is always
prorogued during' vacation, from six weeks to six weeks
means practically throughout the whole existence of the
Parliament, and thereafter as may be.
Nor were members only hedged by this legislative divi-
nity. "Their me snial servants, or familiares, present
with them in their attendance in Parliament" were also
privileged to run up their little bills with impunity " eundo,
morando, et inde redteendo ;" any unlucky creditor who, in
ignorance or desperation, ventured then to arrest one of
these " familiares," being forthwith had up to the bar of
house, and but too grateful to be "pardoned" for his inso-
lence, upon discharging the suit, and with it the costs of
the arrest, &c., and paying his own fees to the officers of
the house. the creditor and bailiff who audaciously ar-
rested Johnson, Sir James IN hillock's man, did not get off
so easy, for it was further ordered that, sedente curia, they
shall both ride on one horse bare-backed, back to back, from
Westminster to the Exchange, with papers on their breasts
with this inscription, " For arresting a servant to a mem-
' ber of the Commons' House of Parliament." Yet both parties
had " acknowledged their 2;lult, and craved forgiveness of
the house of Sir James Whittiock." Perhaps they had re-
fused to include " Johnson, Sir James Whitlock's man," in
their submission. It is not imps •obable that this little pro-
cession was remembered "from Westminster to the Ex-
change" a few years later. Even tc Cayre, servant and bag-
bearer to the clerk," was discharged by the house in 1606
from an arrest. The horses also of the n2ember, " and his
other goodes and catalles [chattels] neteese,erFe to be had
with him," were exempt from attachment ;luring' his own
privilege, " saving alwey to the forseid John Taylloeir, his
forseid jugement and executions, and every of them, (4.0 be
haddo and sued atte his pleasure agenst the said John A t-
wyll at any tymo efter the ends of this present Parliament,".
John Taylor,being a creditor who had, " contrare to the pry-
. vylege," executed judgment upon John Atwylli one of the

members for Exeter-17 Edward IV. The same case presents
the first instance in which the Commons themselves clainteo
the privilege of not being impleaded in any personal action,
" veniendo. morandn, pt indo rpdpundo," although, on the
roll, it is set forth as " amonges other liberties and traun-
chises that, wheroef tyme that mannys mynde is not the
contraryo, bath been used. It might have been pointed
out to the house that the judges of the land had only five
years before unanimously decided that " no such custom
existed to prevent their being impleaded," and had there-

upon disallowed a writ based upon the alleged " fraun-
chise," foreshadowing the later dictum of Mr. Justice
Coleridge that " the law is supreme over the House of
Commons." The freedom from arrest, it may be added,
was entirely limited to civil causes, not extending to

arrests for treason, or felony, or breach of the peace ; and,
indeed, as to civil causes, various instances cited by Hatsell
indicated that originally, at all events, it only applied to

arrest on mesne process, and not to arrest in execution.
The various privileges which from time to tame, and
more or less justified by the motive circumstances, Parlia-
ment has enacted for its members, in derogation from the
common law, and in obstruction of the ordinary course of
justice, are now limited to the personal exemption of the
member from arrest. Under 10 Geo. 111., c. 50, any suit
brought against a peer or member of Parliament, or their
servants, may not be impeached or delayed by any pretence
of privilege; and under 52 Geo. 111., c. 144, members of
the House of Commons declared bankrupt are incapable of
sitting or voting for 12 months thereafter ; and if at the
end of the 12 months the bankruptcy is not annulled or the
debts paid in full, the member's seat is declared vacant. And
so, under thq section of the Bankruptcy Act of 1849, already
cited, any trader having privilege of Parliament may be
dealt with as any other trader ; but still " such person shall
not be subject to be arrested or imprisoned during the
time of such privilege except in cases made felonies or
misdemeanours by this Act." As the exemption from
arrest was based upon the principle enunciated by Hat-
sell of its being " peculiarly essential that the mem-
bers of the Court of Parliament should not be prevented
by trifling interruptions from their attendance on this
important duty," and as the trifling interruption of bank-
ruptcy process does now prevent such attendance, it seems
scarcely necessary to keep up the remaining distinction be-
, tweet). the M.P. bankrupt and the non-M.P. bankrupt;
more especially since the former, equally with the latter, if
equally entitled, may claim the protection of the Court, and
so still be as exempt from arrest, though less invidiously.
Adjudication of bankruptcy, if not appealed against
and duly prosecuted within the assigned time, or if, upon
appeal, confirmed, should vacate the seat of the M.P. bank-
rupt, and enable his constituents at once to proceed to a
new and more judicious election, so as not to remain for
twelve months without their due representation in Parlia-
ment. We are far from suggesting that no man who has
not a large balance at his baker's should be allowed a seat
in the house. Such a principle would have cost
the country many, not merely of its most brilliant, but,
still more to bo lamented, many of its most practically
beneficial representatives. We menly contend that it is
alike unnecessary and inexpedient to occupy the benches on
either side of the house with men who cannot, still less with
men who will not, pay their debts.

THE WEATIIER IN FRANCE.—The Salut Public
of Lyons of the 15th, in speaking of the effects of the
change of weather in that district, says:—" At six this
morning the thermometer in the open country stood at only
1 5-10 above zero centigrade (3415 F.), and the luzerne and
blossomed shoots of the colzas began to
_bend their heads
to the ground. At 10 o'clock, however, the sun shone out,
and they all rose again without injury. Tho forward
buds of the vines in places exposed to frost have not as yedt
suffered. Happily, the cold has come on when the groun
is dry, and, in consequence, •the plants have not yet been
effected. In the Beaujolais, and particularly in Burgundy,
the vine being less advanced than in the Lyonnais,
could not have received any damage ; neither does the fruit,
which has set, appear to have suffered. The wind con-
tinues to blow from the north, but with less violence
than during the last few days, and the squalls of sleet
have ceased. Hopes may therefore be entertained that for
this time the only harm done will be a little alarm." A
violent thunderstorm, accompanied by heavy rain and hail,
broke three days ago over the Vosges country, between
Dounnoux and as far as Xertigny. At Mirecourt, two men
at work in a shop were knocked down by the lightning, but
without receivinganymatcrial injury, The rain fell in tor-
rents, and at Mattaincourt a smell rivulet became in a short
time a raging torrent, which overflowed its banks, washed
away vineyards, tore up trees by the roots, and inundated the
completely flooded to the height
o fs village.eve
al metres, damage caused is estimated at
upwardsoif2eoh,ro:sOuOsfe.s were
and the
aloss which falls principally on the
BENSONSpoorer por t,io ofnw AtThee inhabitants.
i u s
AND CLOCKS.--" Perfection of
mechanism."—Morning Post. Gold watches, 5 to 100 guineas;
silver
12.ortto swo
stamps, 0 guineas. Benson's new Illustrated
t descriptive of every construc-
tion of watch, enables persons in any part of the world to
select with the greatest certainty the watch best adapted to
pI, watches,tre e
their use. Watches sent tree and safe by post on receipt of
a remittance.—J. W. Benson, 33 and 31, Ludgate-hill, 46 and
41, Cvruhill, Ina* N.— C.ErataDlisind 1%4
• •

DEERFOOT IN. A I JEW CHARAC7'IO.

.---.-..1 r---

The Worceseer hr or
-,1- at ran gives currency to the
following narrative ;-
this fiery-footed re,`lskin in Worcester, he was one
day taking his ease, wit, '.l a party of admirers, in-.
dulging a tittle in " i‘re- water,' the delight of his
race, at the Yew and Vom r,- s, in Ithurial-street,
when a gentleman fr( )m Ledbury asked him to
gratify the company w ith on Indian war-whoop
and its accompaniments. Dcerfoot was at first in-
disposed to grant the req nest, probably feeling that
a veritable Indian yell w,
he tDuld grate harshly- f
on the
ear, and perhaps startle company out o thei
i proprieties; but upon its being pressed he courte-
ously signified his Willingi toss to " amuse," but cau-
tioned the guests not to bo terrified at the
o,43company it. Pref.s.mi-
discor-
dant horror of the Boum', or the wild eccentricity of
the actions which miglm.•
raries adjusted, the Ina 'an, with gaping jaw,
uttered a yell so shrill, ear .1.31') litting, and protracted,
that it literally cleft all h ead s, and the gentleman
who had invited a taste of his quality, clapping his
hands incontinently to his am 'idles, and looking as
pale as the blood of a turnip, ins hed out of the house
like one frailtie,,but was pursu ed a nd brought back to
await the issue. The war dance, a series of strange
contortions and flexible boun tls, so.methina. in the
style of the late Mr. Floxmo re, or W. H. Payne,.
accompanied with gritnac es
al i vhich could
of then; iddl be com-
ages, was next exhibited.. As
pared to nothing but the gl ;oylese
his blood grew warm
with exercise and whooping, and his. ideas were
' Indian gradually appeared to
i carried back to his people and native wilds, the
lose all control, over
his actions, and to be thorough hl absorbed in the
or of
character he had assumed. His ' eyes glaz•ed with
rage ; his whole frame seemed to dilate N,villi pas-
' sion, he looked the impersonation o. € a Fury,.
baleful Eris shaking death and desoi:ation frol'n her
snaky hair. The bespeaker of the ehltertaininent
trembled in every limb, and, like Sath'eho at .the
adventure of the fulling mills, was " strange:V
moi,:sd." But fear seemed absolutely to have bereft
;
him of his faculties, the burden to be greater than
he could ,!tear, when the Indian, with a wilder,
louder, and shriller NA 'hoop, and more frantic ges-
ture than ever, and 100, king unmistakably as though
he meant miselrief, and ~ vas most terribly in earnest,
seized his victim, and ';11 Tith a sounding whack at
his tomahawk, benevolently meant as a substitute-
for chloroform to destroy sensation and prevent hu
man nature from sinking un ,Aer terror of the approach-
ing infliction, whirled him round as though he had
been a feather weight, a r, ul fixed him between
his knees as if in a vice. VA 'sistance was out of the
question. As well might the mouse essay resistance
in the cat's jaws. In a mom( 'nt the fatal knit() was
unsheathed, in another it wag whipped round the
patient's head, like the housev rife cuts paste for ,the
lid of a pudding ; the third me sment, with a hideous
yell of exultation that scarce ly marked the dull!_
sound produced by the zendinos of the skin from
fleshy fibre, the scalp of th e unfortunate was franti-
cally brandished in Deerfoot's 'mod, which relaxed
its gripe and left the tortured pvtient at liberty.
In a pan!c of fright he darted from the ill-omened
spot, his hands clasped in a gony to his poor head,
which was utterly bereft of tl hatch. Deerfoot rushed
behind him to :he door, and contemptuously flung:
the spoil after him. It vt'Lll relieve the reader's
anxiety, which pilot he by t his time painful, to be
told that the scalp va,l an artificial one, the hair
having originally appertained to some one else, but
been converted by the ingesn ions workmanship of'
some Truefit or Hadley int o the covering of a
stranger's pate—to wit, a wig —warranted not to
be distinguishable from the natt 'ral crop. The knife
which had done duty in the wort'; of severance was
shaped out of lath, just such a eve as George Bevis
counselled John Holland to get in Cade's rebellion
(see Shakspeare, 2d port of " HehaVy V 1.," act iv.,
scene 2). _ _--...,

COUNTRY MAE E 1

_
... v -----

NOTTINGHAM--Arm :L 19.
There was a middling show of wheat to-day, with a
moderate attendance. The demand ruled extremely good,
and former rates were exceeded by is foi' best samples.
—White, from 61s to 66s ; red, 42s to 635, Barley was
in small show, with a fair trade, and p,--ices rather higher
—malting, 34s to 39s ; grinding, 29s to 31s. Oats were
steady at 30s to 355, old ; 23s to 27s new. ,Beans were sold
at 38s to 50s per qr, Flour, 39s to 435.

NORTHAMPTON—Arum 19.
The trade to-day was moderate, and prices were f ully
equal to last week's quotations. A limited supply of wheat
Old, 50s to 595, and 60s to 62s for-superior lots. A good
demand for barley, supply short—malting sorts 39s to —st
grinding 33s to 35s per qr. Oats quoted at 20s to 28s
per 24 stone. Beans, old, 33s to 40s; peas, 34s toa 448.
Rye, 37s to 425; malt, —S —s ; flour, 40s to per
sack. :

NORWICH—Arun, 19.
Wheat to-day was in rather lirrnted supply, and sold at
about'ls per qr. advance. The atteodance of farmers at
L-tarket was very thin. The quantilY of barley shown
wa•s minty, and is to 2s over the prices .ot last week. Oats,
beails, and peas unaltered. Four is dear.en
wheat. 60s to 63s 1 Red wheat...
Maltin harley....39s to 40s Chevalier barlOY
25s 30s
35s to 36g
OY d 0.... ••• • • • ..—s io —s I Oats.. , 58s to 62g
Whit:o
N
40s 61 to 41a Od per sack from then Piller.