The Sun.
London, England, 1865-05-24 00:00:00

legal profession. He was satisfied that before a committee
appointed by the committee of selection an impartial in-
quiry would take place, and he sincerely hoped the result
would be that the suspicions so long attached to the name
of the noble lord would be removed. He was, however,
bound to say that if the charges against him were proved,
no one would rejoice more than he (Mr. Maline) in the
condemnation of the practices alleged to have been carried

on by the noble lord. •
Lord R. CECIL—I shall not offer any opposition to the
proposal that this matter should be referred to a committee
chosen by the committee of selection, although I am not
sure that I share altogether in the general opinion as to the
absolute
.impartiality of the latter tribunal ; but 1 know
that that opinion is cherished in this house with as much
fondness as if it were a matter of religious belief. I shall

be very glad, however, to see tho impartial committee
when it is nominated, but I will indulge in the charitable
hope that all these charges will prove untrue. I confess I
was alarmed at the proposition of the hon. and learned
gentleman who has just sat down, that all members of
the legal profession should be excluded. Now, as I
. _

am not a member of that profession, nevertheless I
think that would be simply braining the committee.

(Laughter.) At all events, it would be taking out the brains
which would be available for this purpose. What idea, I
want to know, can a man form of a judicial inquiry from
which lawyers are to be studiously excluded ? Who was

to conduct the case and cross-examine the witnesses ?
Who was to have the talent to perform those important
duties which did not come to a man instinctively, but which
could only be acquired by long study and experience ?
Now, on the contrary, I was going to impress upon the
Government that this shouldnot onlybe a committee chosen
by the committee of selection, but that an addition should
be made to it of two thoroughly impartial lawyers, whose
duty it should be to conduct the case on either side, for
otherwise I do not see how the different charges against
the Lord Chancellor could be properly laid before the com-
mittee, unless they were thrown before the seven gentle-

men who would be told to make the best of them. Then
there is another point which I would suggest. As an hon.
gentleman has observed, there are several other cases of
the Lord Chancellor's bankruptcy appointments which have
been subjected to imputationsprecisely similar to that which
will form the subject of inquiry by this committee. I do

not say that they are true, but at all events there is a strong
prima facie case, and I do not think the public will be satis-
fied unless all these imputations, which assume so palpable
a form against the Lord Chancellor, shall have been sub-

mitted to this tribunal. The issue which will be raised is
whether the Lord Chancellor is to be believed, or whether
the Hon. Richard Bethell is to be believed. That, lam
told, is the issue which is to be presented to the committee.
In that event they will have to go to the previous charac-
ter of the witnesses who are opposed to each other, and
therefore it will be necessary that the committee should
have the power of examining into the mode in which other
bankruptcy appointments have been made. If it turn out
that the Lord Chancellor's general appointments have been
pure it will raise a strong presumption in his favour ; on the
contrary,if it be provedthat a general systemof nepotismand
corruption has prevailed, the presumption against him would
be sound and reliable. I hope therefore that the Government
will so far extend the basis of this inquiry as to include one
or two of the other more prominent cases, and I trust that
the case will be impartially judged and thoroughly followed
through. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. HORSMAN thought hon. members had not placed
the matter in a more satisfactory position by the numerous
suggestions they had made. Nothing could be more fair
than the manner in which the Lord Chancellor had courted
inquiry, and the hon. member for Devonport (Mr. Ferrand)
had acted with great propriety in refraining from making
any statement. When the Government had assented to the
proposition of the right hon. gentleman (Mr. Disraeli), the
discussion surely ought to have ended. If the inquiry were
extended in the manner suggested by the last speaker, it
would probably not close before the end of the session. If
the inquiry before the committee were limited to the case
now before the house, the other cases might be considered
when the report of the committee was brought up. .
Mr. HADFIELD said that from the time of Lord Bacon
to the present day it had been tho custom of Lord Chan-
cellors to exercise great patrontage, and to give the prefer-
ence to their own relations. (Laughter.) Ile must, indeed,
be very innocent who thought otherwise. Ho should like
the inquiry to have a wider scope, so as to include the sine-
cures now in existence of £B,OOO apiece, two of which had
been enjoyed for more than half a century, and the remain-
ing one for nearly a century. In conclusion, ho expressed
his belief that this was simply an attack upon an individual
—an attack from politics, and not from justice. (Hear.)
Mr. DUNCOMBE, in reply to the last speaker, pointed
out that there was a vast difference between a Lord Chan-
cellor who exercised patronage oven for the benefit of his
own relatives, and a Lord Chancellor who took a course by
which offices became vacant in order that they might be
filled by his relatives. Ho maintained that such conduct
was a slur upon the high profession to which tho noble and
learned lord belonged, and he hoped that an impartial in-
qui►y would take place.
The SOLICITOR-GENERAL thought it was unde-
sirable to prolong the discussion.
Mr. AYRTON said that if the committee proceeded
beyond the question immediately submitted for their con-
sideration they would be carried away into all kinds of
irrelevant matters.
The motion was then put and agreed to.
CERTIFICATES OF MARRIAGE, &c.

Sir J. FERGUSSON obtained leave to bring in a bill to
repeal so much of the Act 55 Geo. 111., cap. 181, as imposed
a stamp duty of ss. on certificates of marriages and of any
persons having received the holy sacrament.
PIER AND HARBOUR ORDERS CONFIRMATION
(No. 2..) . .

In committee of the whole house, leave was given to
Mr. M. Gibson to bring in a bill for confirming certain pro-
visional orders made by the Board of Trade, under " The
General Pier and Harbour Act, 1861," relating to East-
bourne, Clevedon, Herne Bay, Llandrillo, and Pensarn.
SHANNON RIVER,

On the motion of Mr. PEEL, the following members
were added to the select committee on the Shannon River
—Sir W. Jolliffe, Mr. Hunt, Mr. Cave, Mr. Acland, and
Mr. Hennessy.