The Sun.
London, England, 1840-02-04 00:00:00

EVENING EDITION.

grounds the Noble Lord could object to the resolution ;
and though the Noble Lord and himself sometime'
differed on political topics, there was no reason why.
like professional gentlemen, who quarrelled in Court
and dined together afterwards, the; should not agree
upon this. He repeated it, that it was duty, and duty
alone, that had induced him to stes forward on this
occasion. He feared he had been very troublesome to
the Noble Lord ; and he would not detain the House
longer than to express the hope th it he should have
their support to his motion, which he should then leave
in the hands of the Sneaker.
Sir ROBERT PEEL said, that he gave the Hon.
and Gallant Member full credit for the purity of his
motives ; and he was sure the motion was made with
the sincerest respect and loyalty for his Sovereign ; hut,
at the same time, he could not support it.—( Hear,
hear.) He had supported the motion of the Hon. and
Gallant Member when he proposed a diminution of the
allowance to the future Consort of her Majssty, not
from any mistrust of Prince Albert, but because he
thought 30,0001. a sufficient sum to be allowed. He
had stated then that it should be allowed in case n f
the death of her Majesty, an event which he was sure
every Member of that House, and every loyal man,
hoped would be very far distant. He certainly thought
it better not to fetter the grant with any restric-
tions, and that the wisest course would be to show
confidence, and that it was most likely that Prince
Albert, after his connection with this country had ceased,
would continue to reside here, and it would be much
better he should do so voluntarily than otherwise, and
with regard to the second part, he thought it would be
impossible for the Prince to comply with it, because the
clause of his Hon. and Gallant Friend said—" The
Protestant religion as by law established within these
realms." It was not necessary to become the husband
of her Majesty to become " a Protestant as by law esta-
blished within these realms ;" for instance, he did not
know to what particular profession Prince Albert be-
longed, but if he belonged to the Lutheran Church, that
would not disqualify him, and it was hard to say that,
if a Lutheran he might marry her Majesty, but that
unless he adhered to the Protest ant faith as
by law established in these realms, upon her death
he should forfeit the provision made for him
He gave his vote on this occasion because he would
not in any rustmer imply the slightest distrust of the
future husband of her Majesty.—( Hear, hear.)
Lord JOHN RUSSELL said, after what the Right
Hon. Gentleman bad said it was quite unnecessary for
him to enter into any reasons for opposing the Gallant
Gentleman's motion. He entirely agreed with the
Right Hon. Baronet that he did not think it at all ad-
visable in a matter of this kind to show any mistrust of
the person about to be established among us, and whom
he lived would become attached to the country, its
people, and its habits.—( Hear, hear.) It was not done
on former occasions ; and with respect to Queen Ade-
laide, she had become attached to the country, and
conducted herself with that propriety, and exhibited
those virtues which had ever distinguished her during
the time she was Queen-Consort. With respect to
the Duchess of Kent, he thought a similar proposition
had been made ; but the general sense of country was
that it would be far better to leave it to the sense of pro-
priety,attachment to the country,and love for her daughter,
which animated the duchess of Kent, than to place such
a provision in the Act of Parliament, and in that
matter the country had nn reason to regret the trust
placed in her Royal Highness. The Hon. and Gallant
Gentleman had gone into the case of the King of the
Belgians, but every one was aware that after the un-
timely death of the Princess Charlotte, his situation in
this country was entirely altered, and, having gone into
a foreign country, and accepted its throne, he had
shown a just and proper sense of what was due to the
generosity and liberality which this country had shown
to him. He must say, he did not entertain any Jealousy
that persons allied to the King of the Belgians or
Prince Albert, were allied to Roman Catholics ; and
with respect to the Royal Family of France, he was
glad of any ties which could connect that country with
this.—(Hear.) The Right Hon. Gentleman had
truly said that the last clause was incapable of
operation.—(Hear, hear.) He did not see how, as
the Hon. and Gallant Gentleman had drawn, it would
be possible for Prince Albert to comply with it. The
" Protestant religion, as by law established within these
realms," was the Church of England, and the Episco-
pal establishment thereto belonging ; but the Protestant
religion in Scotland, was the Presbyterian, and there-
fore according to the clause of the Hon. Gentleman, he
would have to profess at once the Church of England
and Scotland, which it would be impossible Prince
Albert could comply with. He thought the House
would agree with him in wishing that the Hon. and
Gallant Member would not press a division on the sub-
ject. He had acquired great fame by the success of
his motion the other night, and he would advise him
to rest satisfied with it.—(Laughter.)
Sir R. INGLIS could never see, without regret, and
shame, the amount of money returned to that country by
Prince Leopold, the King of the Belgians. If he could
foresee that they would never be called upon to restrict the
grant, he would vote for its being now passed without any
restrictions ; but he could not conceal from himself that
there might come another House of Commons which
would, in the eveut of his Serene Highness going abroad,
call upon them to restrict the future payments of his
annuity ; on these grounds he should support the proviso.:
Colonel SIBTHORP, after the suggestions that had
been made, would withdraw tho amendment.
The Bill then went thruugh Committee, and was ordered
to be read a third time to-morrow.

SUPPLY,
On the motion of the CHANCELLOR of the EX-
CHEQUER, the House went into Committee of Supply.
A vote of two millions from the aids to make up the
deficiency of the last year, was taken, and ordered to be
reported to. morrow.
The House then resumed.
LIBRARY COMMITTEE.
On the motion of Sir R. INGLIS, the following
Members were appointed the Select Committee on the
Library :—Sir Robe: t Harry Inglis, Mr. Chancellor of
the &cheap2r, Sir Robert Peel, Sir Henry Hardinge,
Dr. Lushington, Mr. Goulburn, Mr. Shaw, the Lord
Advocate, Mr. Williams Wynn, Mr. Warburton, Mr.
Gladstone, Mr. Fazakerley, Mr. Gally Knight, Mr. Ac-
land, Lord Viscount Mahon, Mr. Pendarves.
METROPOLITAN IMPROVEMENTS.
Sir MATTHEW WOOD moved the re-appointment
of the Select Committee on Metropolis Improvements as
follows :—Sir Matthew Wood, Mr. Robert Steuart, Sir
Robert Peel, Lord Viscount Lowther, Mr. Herries, Sir
Robert Harry Inglis, Mr. Wakley, Sir De Lacy Evans,
Mr. Clay, Mr. George Palmer, Mr. Pendarves, Mr. Bar-
nard, Sir Benjamin Hall, Mr. Planta, Mr: John Abel
Smith.

Colonel WOOD said a report had gone abroad that
these improvements were intended to be effected by laying
an additional tax upon coal. If such were the case, he
was sure the House would not entertain the proposition
for one moment. It was said that it was intended to pur-
chase up the shares of Vauxhall, and Waterloo-bridges,
for the purpose c.f throwing them open to the public;
and that the River Thames was to be embanked from
Staines-br'd se to Greenwich, in a way that would convert
it into a Du ch canal,—(A laugh.) When such extensive
" improvements" were contemplated, he was anxious that
some Members connected with the county of Middlesex
be added to the Committee. He would propose, there-
fore, that the two Members for Middlesex, and one of
the Members for East and one of the Members for West
Surrey, be added to the Committee—making the entire
number 19 instead of 15.
Sir M. WOOD said the improvements of the
Honourable and Gallant Member went far beyond
those contemplated by the Committee. It was, he
believed, intended to open a line of street from Oxford-
street to St. Giles's, a second from Coventry-street through
Leicester-square, and another in the neighbourhood
of
Whitechapel. These were the only three improvements
at present in contemplation. The Hon. and Gallant
Member could know nothing about how the money for these
purposes was to be raised. With regard to the proposed
embankment of the Thames, he thought it would be likely
to rescue it from the appearance of a stagnant Dutch
canal, which it at present presented, by having a rapid
current flowing through it. It appeared that the Hon.
and Gallant Member came forward more as the ally of the
coal trade, than as the advocate of the interests of the
coal consumers, because the tax in contemplation would
fall much more upon the former than the latter class. He
objected to the appointment of two Members for Middle-
sex, when there was only one out of the four Members for
London on the Committee.
After a few words from Mr. GOULBURN,
Mr. HUME objected to the continuance of any tax
upon coals—it was a very pernicious one, and interf,red
very much with the comforts of the poorer classes. The
country had derived great benefit from the efforts of the
Hon. Member for London to effect improvements in the
Metropolis : hut he hoped care would be taken to effect
these in a manner which would not be objectionable to the
great bulk of the community. He would suggest the ad-
dition of one Member for Southwark, one for Surrey, and
one for Middlesex to the Committee.
Mr. HERRIES hoped the Committee would fully con-
sider all the evidence laid before it, before it came to any
decision as to the improvements to be carried out. He
thought, however, the House need be under no apprehen.
sion that the Committee meant to undertake any of the
extensive schemes of improvement which h el alarmed the
mind of the Hon. and Gallant Member for Middlesex. It
was supposed that it was part of the business of the new
Committee to propose the laying of a new tax upon coal.
There was no additional duty to be imposed beyond that
which had been originally granted. He thought it right to
say so much to remove the misapprehension which generally
prevailed on the subject, and which tended in some mea-
sure to obstruct the very useful labours of the Committee.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER was
understood to suggest that one Member for Middlesex and
one for Surrey should be added to the original list.
Colonel WOOD said that he would have no objection
to accept the compromise, and if the rules of the House
permitted him he would move that Mr. Kemble, one of the
Members for East Surrey, and Captain T. Wood, one of
the Members for Middlesex be added to the Committee.
Ile would have preferred to have added the name of Mr.
Byng, but he was afraid the lion. Gentleman might not be
able to attend the Committee.—The motion was agreed to.
Mr. HUME then gave notice that to-morrow he would
move that Mr. D'Eyncourt, Member for Lambeth,—and
Ur. Humphery, Member for Southwark,--be added to the
Committee.
PRIVILEGES OF PARLIAMENT.
Sir R. INGLIS said that befcre ko brought forward the
motion of which he had given notice, in reference to the
petition of the Corporation of London, he wished to ask his
Right Hon. Friend ( Sir E. Su Igen) whether it would be

Measure to pose: .:e his motion to mats way, far tiee
of which the Hon. Member for East Stissec had giren notice
Sir E. SUGD EN willingly pospJeed his motion.
Whereupon
Sir R. INGLIS said that be would not trouble', the
/louse with
Mr. DA RB Y then rose and sod, that he fain;
craved the indulgence of the House, on account
of the impertance of his motion. He would not ge
into the question of privi;egs, in avoiiling which he might
fairly ask that Hoe. Members from whom he fad differed
on previous discussions, might not consider that he con-
ceded anything to them. He should first consider the
peculiar situation in which the Sheriffs were placed, and
the grounds on which the majority of that House had con-
sented to their committal. It had been admit-
ted, on every side, that they behaved with
honour, and it could not be disputed that they
were bound by their oaths to take that course, for which
they were now suffering; they had not used that oath as a
shield to protect their opinions—he thought no one could
accuse them of that--(ilear)—it had been said that some
friends of his took a narrow and even a quibbling view of
this question. If the heir of England required a defence,
he was not the man that would presume to undertake it.
It appeared to him that they must be narrow-minded
themselves, who would attribute narrow views to gentlemen
of the highest literary and intellectual attainments, many
of whom had obtained the highest honours at the Univer-
sities, and amongst whom were to be found men who bad
adorned the Bench, and now graced the Senate. Those
gentlemen had felt that the Sheriffs were bound to obey
the law as they had done ; and every man in that House
must acknowledge that the conduct of the Sheriffs at the
bar was such as became English gentlemen.—( Hear.)
Their conduct was such a; to convince any one that they
were actuated by feelings that did them honour. They were
merely the instruments of the Court of Queen's Bench,
and if it were clear that they had acted with strict-
ness end sincerity, and according to what they conceived
to be the obligations of their oath, he asked, were they to
be coerced into a declaration of regret which they could
not feel for having done what they conceive to be their
duty. They had already stated that they regretted to have
been compelled to act against the orders of the House, at
the same time that they have no intention to treat the
House with disrespect. The House might proceed to
punish Stockdale, who was the principal mover in the ac-
tion, i n order to deter him from becoming the mover in
another action. But what could be done with the She-
riffs? They could not without breaking their oaths pur-
sue upon another occasion a different course from that
which they had pursued in this. It could not be
supposed that any punishment inflicted upon them
would prevent them from paying again the same respect
to their oaths, and the House could gain nothing by their
further incarceration. The principle upon which many
Gentlemen voted for their committal was, that although
they had acted conscientiously, it was necessary to 'mark
the sense in which the House held its privileges. But
they would not now further the vindication of privilege by
their confinement. He was totally unaware of the time
for which they might be confined, or of what might occur
to put an end to all those proceedings ; he believed that he
should again have the opportunity of addressing the House,
but he was not aware what argument could be adduced
to show why those men should be confined further, after
they had, in deference to that House, placed themselves in
a worse condition than they would have been in if they
had otherwise acted. He concluded by moving that Wm.
Evans and John Wheelton should be discharged from the
the custody of the Sergeant at-Arms.
The A TTO RN E Y.. GENERAL rose with great reluc-
tance to oppose this motion, but he felt bound to do so as
a public duty. If the privileges of the House had been
vindicated he should have been the first person to move the
discharge of the Sheriffs. But he believed that nothing had
been done at all to vindicate their privileges, and he must
say that the Hon. and Learned Member for East Sussex
might sec that nothing to that effect had been done. As
far as he (the Attorney-General) had heard, the Hon. and
Learned Member had advanced nothing to show that those
who had agreed in committing the Sheriffs ought to con-
cur in his motion. The House, by a large majority,
had determined that the privilege belonged to the House.
But the Hon, and Learned Member had all along main-
tained that the law and the privilege were at variance, and
that whatever was laid in a Court of Law, as law, must
be so taken in the High Court of Parliament. But he
(the Attorney-General) believed that it was necessary for
the House to take upon itself to decide this question of privi-
lege. It had decided that those who obeyed the Court
of Queen's Bench, instead of the mandate of that House,
should be committed. The Hon. Member for Montgomery
had laid down the law on this subject, with a learning
which belonged to him; but no instance had been shown
of a case in which a person committed by that House had
been discharged without a petition applying for the dis-
charge and expressing sorrow. In this case there had
been no such thing ; on the contrary, the Sheriffs had set
the [louse at defiance. Look to their acts. The House
had made an order, which still stood on its books, that the
Sheriffs, having unlawfully levied the money on a
servant ef the House should refund the same. But
they refused to do so.--.( Hear.) They said they were
the officers of the Court of Queen's Bench. But he (the
Attorney-General) denied that they were the officers of
that Court, more than they were the officers of the Court
of Parliament. It was a mistake to suppose that they
were bound to obey the mandates of the Court of Queen's
Bench in opposition to the mandates of that House, which
was superior to the Queen's Bench. He believed that
House was superior ; and, if so, the Sheriffs would
have discharged their duty by obeying it, as, in-
deed, they were bound by their oath to do. If a
Member of that House were arrested for debt
the Sheriff might keep him in custody notwithstand-
ing his privilege. If they did so, and were called before
the House for breach of privilege, their auswer would be
that they were bound to obey the Court of Queen's Bench
according to the oath ; there was no justification of the line
of conduct they had pursued. He did not think that their
sufferings were very severe. They had had the consola-
tion of visits from Members of Parliament.--( A leugh.)
They had been treated as martyrs, and they were
laying the foundation of subscriptions and pieces of plate,
with which, no doubt, they would be presented, —( Hear,
hear, and a laugh.) The question was, should they
now be discharged, having sent no petition, and
having done nothing at all to satisfy the House?
What would be the consequence of the adoption of such a
course. Why, the consequence would be that if another
action was brought in violation of the privileges of the
the House, the Sheriffs of Middlesex would act
in obedience to any of the writs from the Court of
Queen's Bench, and would totally disregard any order
of that House, and would set their privileges at defiance.
As to keeping Mr. Stockdale in custody, what benefit
would be derived from that if the Sheriffs were
allowed to escape?.—why, their actions would be brought,
and if the Sheriff found that he could escape with a few
days' confinement, he would execute the writs of the Court
of Queen's Bench, and set the orders of the House at de-
fiance. The House would by that means ultimately lose
all its privileges, or at least the Court of Queen's Bench
would decide upon them. Every Member would be lia'ule
to an indictment who showed any paper published by that
House which was supposed to contain any thing crimina-
tory.—( Hear, hear.) He had been told by the Librarian
of the British Museum that he was placed in a state of
consternation, for he was afraid to bring down any report
or papers printed by the order of the Commons or Lords,
lest it should contain a libel. Under these circumstances,
he (the Attorney-General) thought the motion of the Hon
Member for East Sussex was premature. —( Hear, hear.)
What might hereafter be done it was impossible for him
to say ; but upon this he was clear, that until a
petition was presented by the Sheriffs, or until they
did something, allowing a sense of contrition it was
utterly impossible for the House to release them. In his
opinion, unless the House acre detesmined to persevere it
would be much better that they should give up their pri-
vileges altogether.—(Hear, hear.) Under these circum-
stances he must strenuously oppose the motion of the Hon.
and Learned Member oppissite.—( Hear, hear.)
Sir ROBERT INGLIS said that the Hon. Member
for East Sussex had, with good taste, abstained from in-
troducing the question of privilege, but the Attorney-
General had entered int) it at no inconsiderable length._
(Hear, hear.) Ile was satisfied that the eeneral feeling
of the House was in favour of the Sheriffs, and he must
confess for himself that be could scarcely reetrain his feel-
ings when the motion was made for their committal.
He would ask the Attorney-General whether the privileges
of the Sioux° had not been sufficiently vindicated. The
right of the House to commit for contempt had been re-
cognised by the Court of Queen's Bench ; the case, there-
fore, was not now as it had hitherto been, for the Court of
Queen's Bench instead of setting itself up against the pri-
vileges of the House had recognised them, and therefore it
was that his Hon. and Learned Friend the Member for
East Sussex had brought forward his motion. The Hon.
and Learned Attorney-General had talked of the comfort
of the Sheriffs, of the levees of friends that they had had,
and so on : perhaps he was not aware that the room in
which they were confined did not exceed in size the
table before the chair.—(Hear, hear, and laughter.)
He would ask the Learned Attorney-General how he would
like to be confined for ten days in his own chamber, or
his own room, or in a chamber the size of the table before
the chair ?—( Hear. hear, and laughter.) Ile ( Sir R.
Inglis) had no doubt that the Hon. and Learned Gentle-
men would be most happy to get free from such imprison-
ment.—( Laughter.) The Attorney General had next
stated that the Sheriffs were not bound to obey the Queen's
writ, lie (Sir. R. Inglis) could scarcely believe his own
ears, when he heard that statement from the first law
officer of the Crown.—( Hear, hear.) As the Learned
Attorney-General seemed ignorant of the oath the She-
riffs had taken, he ( Sir R. Inglis) would take the liberty
of reading part of it :—" I will fairly return, and fairly
serve all the King's writs, according to the best of my
skill and knowledge." Now he (Sir Robert In-
glis) would call upon any Member of that House
to read through the oath taken by the Sheriffs, and
then to say whether he entertained any doubt
that it was the duty of the Sheriffs to obey the Queen's
writs. The question was not whether the Sheriffs had
sworn to obey the law, but whether they had sworn to obey
the Queen's writs ? Was the writ of the Speaker of equal
effect over those who were not Members of that House, as
the Queen's writ ? Certainly not ; and he believed that
oe
ur thel d ws werep fewo rt alnayw yseureshopurtopoofsi
ttihoant. HouseTh e
Ao rttoirnn
eiyt. that
neral had said, what benefit would they derive if they kept
Stockdale in custody, and let the Sheriffs free? Why,
be said, by so doing they would make themselves the
laughing st scks of the country. The question, and the
only question, in his ( Sir R. Inglis's) mind was, had the
Sheriffs of London done any thing to justify the House
in retaining them in custody ? As to what the Honour-
able and Learned Member had stated as to the
danger arising to the librarian of the British Mu-
seum, he thought that completely beside the question,
because no malice conld be proved on his part. He appre-
hended that if any person maliciously circulated the Re-
ports of that House in the immediate neighbourhood of the
party implicated in them, that that would be looked upon
as malicious ; that the communication would not be consi-
dered privileged; and the party printing, and the party
circulating, would reader themselves liable to have an ac-
tion
against them. A great deal had been said about the