The Sun.
London, England, 1822-06-15 00:00:00

mates c4roe on, he should !hove that Mayn:•oth College
be; raised to 13,001. as it was in 1807. • should

ALIEN . .
utn the Order of the Day for the ILL
second reading of the Alien

Sir
eu • • MACKINTOSH rose, and after alluding to the dis-
t_ ssupti which had just dosed, said, that he should not have
sret bled the House if it had not appeared to him that the whole
;iieowstion of legislation as it regarded the alien had been put in
aed grculd' We had had triennial and biennial Alien Bills.h
tse rst it was Propos as a part of the measures necessary on
transition from peace to war. In 1816 they were not to
e,too great a jump—in 1818 there was another reason as-
Qt—in 1820 the measure was defended lest the Neapolitans
Zat propagate tumults at Manchester and sedition at Bir-
rtjh,4l; but now that all the pretexts were done with, they
hat' ue looked upon as the most frivolous and ridiculous
on were ever adopted as the foundation of legislating
ed I( great measure. But those pretexts all acknowledg-
at at the measures were temporary—at least that merit
ged to them all. A new situation had now arisen,
s. toe House was to decide,whether the Alien Bill
recourse-a to be considered as au expedient to which occasional
atq might be necessary, or whether it was to be
esaZ t 9 the general body of our laws as a ne-
fee rY measure which the folly of our ancestors bad
dto adopt. The first objection lie had to the measure
tit!_,• that it placed 25,000 subjects of a free State in the con-
it 'oh of political slavery. The second charge he had against
ot_was, that besides its injustice and oppression, it would
nacpt?ro the citizens of a free state to the practice of slavery,
Ps was sure that it was the last power which an homiest
be uns'-et would desire, or a wise Commonwealth suffer to '
Irh'.tablishai. To pass from political objections to those
tarTl Caine home to every man's business and bosom., his
ex objection was, that the power was arbitrary and might be
,e,tted ruinously to innocent individuals. It was a power like-
s? ,
'0 be abused, because the individuals, to exercise that power,
not their judgmenta aided by those forms which in all ages
ts • been found necessary for the protection of innocence against
e errors of those who exercised power. This was a power sure
he abused; it was the most irresponsible power ever given
4111, ett• If he were called upon to make a short compendium
oa.rtai/6V, he would only have to describe the pow4rs and
.pg
of this Bill. It not only armed the Government with
.Fannie power, but it gave to individuals in private society
4;e same powers which it pretended to give to the Govern-
.2ntat °My. 'What might be the effect on foreign witnesses ?
Members"ewul only allude to that topic, as there were Hon.
fully competent to speak with certainty on it. But
the roach he would say, that ignorant as foreigners were of'
',;.,§pirit of our laws, of the influence and control of opinion,
aT, he would also say, of the character of those
timid clmini-
drer ;be law—it was a natural consequence that the might
h.:Eta its powei, and the wicked avail himself of its terrors, to
anythe course of justice, and this objection did not suppose
tv"Y abase of the Bill or those whom it empowered. There
ledge another objection, that whether abused or not, the know-
of its existence must necessarily prevent many merito-
Men from seeking refuge in this land as in former days,
fhtbeY would not trust meno, though they might trust laws.—
alien who came here now could no longer brave his op-
POnent ; he was not received as formerly, but with a brand
ten his forehead. It could not be argued from the numbers
4t were here, that none were deterred from coming. Though
she is
ct "uts persons fled from the tyranny of Louis XIV. and
of Nantz yet numbers. still remained behind. We
clrere4" told that we lived in an age of revolutions. He should
P. thought it proper to assuage the irritation, to have
en every facility to vanquished parties to withdraw, and
aiQtt by keeping them penned up, force on them the nece-
thiY of ailing their lives as dearly as possible. To admit
s law, the proposers of this measure were now will-
to degrade our ancient liar, and stigmatize Magna Charm,
h sell had the honour of being the first law framed to
I.°:-ect Aliens • they had desecrated their country, and de-
fa,d,ed its Constitution in the eyes of foreigners, who had
he freedom
its
the institutions of England not only secured
e freedom of Englishmen, but afforded protection to foreign-
hts, who crowded to it from every quarter of the world. It had
„n"een contended that the protection of our ancient statutes was
7„r's,ned to merchants only, but the Act of Edw. 111. added the
which
"and all other aliens." And the statute of Henry VI.
'".leh'regarded 40s. freeholders, expressly stated, that it was " to
to, aliens greater courage and desire to come to this country."
'ay would ask the House whether the operation of the Alien Bill
'AS not to give less courage and less desire to aliens to come to
his)3 country? whether it was not, in fact, the antipode of that
How opposite were the maxims of our ancestors from
those of the present day. They were not content with allow-
'll the. Trial by Jury to aliens, but they provided that no alien
should be punished for any offence without having had a Jury
otf half foreigners, whilst we stabled the King's Government
ti imprison any number of foreigners without any trial at all.
--(hear, hear 1)--The cry of innovation must, he thought be
at an end. He did not find in the time Of Edward 111. or
during the infancy of Henry V. any trace of those vulgar preju-
L:ees which were said to prevail on the part of the people of Eng-
nd against foreigners, and which were now used as an argument
1.1 the House of Commons in favour of the present measure. He
took the grounds of this Bill to be, that, unless it passed, con-
Piracies against foreign Goverments would or might be entered
14t° in this country. But no such statement appeared in the
Preamble of the Bill. Now he wished to ask whether the
Preventioncl;
duty of
conspiracies
was,
under the law of nations, a
y which was owing to a friendly Government ? If it were
0"t
to prevent, it was also our duty to detect and dis-
oTer them. To do that it would be necessary to have a body
SDsYies for every country—for Austria, Prussia, Russia,
,;;tm, and above all, for Turk, which at present was most
es 'angered by conspirators. if it were our duty to attain the
.44, it was our duty to employ the means. The Honourable'
Ar_etober proceeded to argue at great length. the evils that
th°ald arise from admitting the principle ; but it might be said,
hneugh not a positive duty, it was a duty of good neighbour-
it,°tl• A. Noble Earl, 'at the head of his Majesty's Govern-
psi." in another place, said that there were two contending
,s„-,°eiples in Europe at present ; the one he called the Re-
h'ationary, and the other the Monarchichal principle ; and
nated that it was the duty of this country to preserve a
perfect neutrality between them ; but, if were not a duty to
ttri.e'rent and detect conspiracies against a foreign Government,
le it was a voluntary departure from that neutrality,
leb was said to be our duty. It was partial, being 'in
alr,ur of all Governments, however despotic—and against
eot. insurgents, however oppressed. It was a hiw aimed
Whoirel at the defeated and the miserable,—against those'
fled from tyrants and scaffolds, and upon, them they
in'te to. be thrown back by this country, anciently known
; its hospitality.—(Hear, hear, hear !)—lf the Bill passed,
ttreo ahould be assailed with continual demands by Foreign
tn vernments, and should no longer have the simple answer
s,taake, "It is ,not in our power." We could no longer
atitt that Aliens were equally under the protection of our laws,
that we had not the glorious power existing with our
friendsl•s„;, in Turkey, and with our late enemies in Algiers, of
tt —suin whom we would. The Hon. Member examined the
s_ttrus of thoie Governments for whom we were called upon to
hoe this inroad on our ancient policy, and argued, on the au-
theYof the circular letter of the Marquis of Londonderry to
N Foreign Ministers, on the occasion of Austria invading
I,4_,Pless (which he called the first Catholic epistle of the Noble
is manner
that if those Governments did not treat England in the
tr manner as they did minor States, it was want of power only
.i. Made the difference. He instanced the domination exercised
at Austra over Switzerland, in regard to political fugitives
sa,,) had taken refuge there, and then stated, in general terms,
tWe instances of tyranny
.exercised on individuals. He would
NI Particularize, as he wished •not to expose either the unfor-
of ttt_e Persons themselves or his informant, to the operation
aetf.4t system of espionage that pervaded ally Europe. He beg-
'hot Pardon of the House for having employed a foreign word,
;"1 this occasion he could not avoid it, and he rejoiced that
/ialbi`ingtlage of freemen had no word to describe that abomi-
sohl system. The Hon. Member shortly recapitulated, ar.d
da-"cul. tied by moving, That the Bill be read a second time that
pia months:
whi sr• PLUNK TT said there • never was an occasion on
his ea the powers of his Hon. and Learned Friend pressed into
as •447fluments topics which in others would be condemned
heeirrelevant than the applause with which his speech had
eaell eard by both sides of the House. He did not propose,
tettril he had the ability, to follow him through the widely ex-
sahsed range which he had chosen to take. The question was,
Sets;:tlerthe Alien Bill which passed in 1820 should • be renewed
,caot`wes Years longer ? He felt a considerable degree of d-
„sraY in executing the task imposed upon him.--(Hear hear)
for :rev Particularly as the tone assumed made it necessary
• llnot ery ern who ventured to sustain the measure, to enter
ownis defence--(Loud cheers)—under circumstances
the 'e°urtesy which did not often take place • but, backed by
of L9Pinion of the people and Parliament of 'England, much
ao)11f apprehension was removed. The Bill did not touch
whosot the rights and privileges which aliens ever enjoyed
'1:1 this kingdom, on the contrary, they were under the
tot
(protection of everyone of them.—(Hear, hear !)—lt was
howeveniedthat such a power existed somewhere in every State,
tito
in free or however despotic. It was not an ihnova-
- gene, this country—it was an expedient to meet the exi-
eient.7 °f the moment. It was a practice founded on the an-
andPrinciples of the law of the land, and only regulated
,e WishatlaPted to the particular circumstances of the times.
reaPect to the exercise of such a power it could not
Ith2eafeexly lodged any where but in the Executive ; nor could
ire the excised otherwise. There was no lawyer who, consult-
..tistiro'nrineiPk's of the
_Constitution, and the analogies oflegal
asrow , would deny that this power was inherent in the
Ale allegiance of a foreigner was not limited like that