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LONDON, FF:JDAY EYEINING, FEBRUARY 14. 1834.

MEXICO.

! brotherly invitation, then may the homicidal sword meet
in our breasts impregnable b-trriers to defend our country.

THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC TO HIS FELLOW

PLAN.

1. A National Assembly shall be established for the
purpose of consolidating the march of the Government,
and putting an end to domestic contention.
2. To conciliate as far as possible the various interests,
the social distinctjons, as well as the (minions compro-
mised in the present struggle, an as,embly shall be in-
stituted, consisting of fiiur individuals for each state and
territory, chosen by lot, who, having met in a place
appointNd• for the purpose, shall form the said National
Assembly.
3. This Assembly shall he invested with the soy-reign
character during the period of its existence, which shall
be 99 business days from the time of installation, and
the per,ons of the members composing the Assembly shall
be inviolable during the continuance of their legislative
mission.

4. The four individuals chosen by lot in eich state and
territory shall consist of an officer of the rank of c.iptain
upwards,—a parish priest, a practising lawyer, and a
landowner, whose landed property clear of all incumbrance,
amounts to 25,000 dollars—all such individuals as have
taken an active part in the existing revolution being ex-
cluded from these four classes.

The states will respectively furnish to the members
',f tht,Assetobly the allowances n cessary for them.
6. To assist the said election by lot, lists shall be formed
in each state and territory of all the permanent residents
belonging to each of the four mentioned classes, and the
election shall be conducted publicly in each capital.
7. With respect to the time and place of the meet-
ing of the National Assembly, the belligerent parties, ac-
cepting this plan of conciliation, will agree among them-
selves as to the day and place. The existing general
Congress will arrange the formalities of it, installation.
The belligerent parties, accepting the present plan,
shall immediately ce.ise all hostilities. The executive power
shall be deposited, during the period of the existence of
the National Assembly, in the President of the Supreme
Court of Justice, and the existing Legislative body shall
susp-nd its sittings.
9. A general amnesty for all political offenees shall be
proclaimed, and all prorrty confiscated for political causes
shall be restored to the original owners.
10. Upon giving in their adherence to the present plan
of conciliation, all those who have declared in favour of
any other shall immediately withdraw from all anterior
agreements.
Mexico, Dec. 13, 1833.

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF LORDS, FEB. 13.

The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the Woolsack
shortly after five o'clock.
The Duke of RICHMOND presented petitions from
Donnington, and another parish in the county of Lincoln,
praying for an extended renewal of the Labour Rate Act.
The Noble Duke observed that he understood the peti-
tioners had tried the labour rite, and found it must be-
neficial.

C-1-;/ if

(PlucE 7v.)

to bring the case of one Irish Judge before the public, I
because he thought in doing so, it would in all proba-
bility lead to an alteration in the administration of
justice in Ireland. The Judges in Ireland had grown
so old that they were really incompetent to dis-
charge their duties.—(Hear, hear.) There was one
species of economy which he regarded as the worst.
That was, the making the retiring salaries of Judges in-
finitely lower than their incomes while on the Bench. In
consequence of this, there was added to the considera-
tion of descending from the dignity and honour (in
the retirement of a Judge) which he held while in
office, the feeling that he was to sustain a great loss in
his Exchequer. He did not think there could be any j
money better applied in Ireland, and possibly in England too,
than in buying off Judges who had grown too old
for the discharge of their duties. However, the difference
between the income of a judge while in office, and his I
retiring salary was so great, that he (Mr. O'Connell) sup- I
posed every judge would die in his office, and not retire
while he was able to sign his quarterly receipt. The ;
first allegation against Baron Smith was, that ecarcely
on any day did he attend in Court, before from
half-past twelve till four o'clock at the earliest. His
state of health was such as enabled him to sit out the
night, but not to rise by day.—(A laugh.) The Hon.
Member for Monaghan obtained a return last year, which, I
though exceedingly defective, showed how very unable i
this gentleman was to continue longer on the judicial I
Bench. The Clerks of the Assizes had been directed I
to return the number of hours (luring which each of
the judges sat. Certain counties were selected, and
returns of the hours for each of those counties made.
In the county of Armagh sittings were held from after-
noon and continued till midnight. What was the state I
of the wretched prisoners kept in the dock till that
hour, or the jurors, who were all fatigued and asleep ? The ;
witnesses having dined, or at least having taken some i
refreshment—was that a fit time, or were those fit
circumstances to decide on the lives of men? No ; and the
consequence was, that out of the great number who were 1
brought up for trial, only two were convicted. He
(Mr. O'Connell) recollected, at the Court of Nisi Prins,
after last Michaelmas Term, when the Learned Judge did
not come into Court until past twelve and sometimes
half.past one in the month of December. What was the
consequence ? Why, he happened at the time to be
employed as counsel for a merchant in Liverpool, who
Was seeking to recover the cost of coals delivered
and not paid for ; twelve or fourteen witnesses were brought
from Liverpool to Dublin at an enormous expense and
attended the sittings each day, hut the case was not
called on, because the Learned Judge did not choose to
come into Court at a proper time. This was vexatious, yet
there was no help for it or satisfaction, and this enormous
expenditure must be again repeated before any chance be
afforded of recovering the amount due. It may be said
that the duty at the time devolved upon the Chief
Baron ; hut that was no reason why Baron
Smith should take upon himself to discharge it, and not
do so afterwards; but it really did devolve upon Baron
Smith, as the Chief Baron at the time was unwell. He
(Mr. O'Connell) would put it to that House,
whether Englisbmen would endure such omissions
and neglect of duty as those be instanced now ?
If the House granted him a Committee, he was
prepared to lay before them sufficient testimony of
the facts he had alleged.—( Hear, hear.) He remembered
once going a circuit with the same Baron, who then
presided over the Civil Court. It was in the city of
Limerick ; the judge who presided over the criminal
court went to business at eight o'clock in the morning,
and rose at four. Baron Smith never went into court
before half past three, and did not rise till three in the
morning. He (Mr. O'Connell) had been employed in
almost every case, and after leaving Judge Fletcher's Court,
he afterwards attended the civil business until that un-
seasonable hour. In the Court of Exchequer the same
Baron came at a very late hour in the day, and after ap-
pearing to write a letter departed, taking no father
part in the proceedings. If such neglect as that furnished
a case deserving the consideration of that House, what
would they think of his becoming invested with the
functions of a politician ? In September, 1833, at a
special commission held in Dublin—for commissions are
held four times a year in Dublin, while here they are held
eight times—the calendar of a population of upwards of
300,000 contained only seventeen names on it ; four of
which were for cow-stealing, three for petty larceny, three
for pig-stealing, one case of bigamy, and a case of
an attorney for swindling.—(Loud laughter.) Now,
if ever there was an occasion in which a Judge
might repose or relax a little from his duties, this
was, undoubtedly, one ; he had no law to explain—no
Grand Jury to charge—yet still, he (Mr. O'Connell)
could prove that he wrote with his own hand, or, at least,
corrected.it, and sent to the newspapers, the charge he de-
livered on this occasion—a charge embracing every topic,
except the one it should.—(Laughter.) He replied to the
speeches of his Majesty's Ministers—said how vigilant he
had been for the last three years—and what he (Mr. O'C.)
considered worst of all, endeavoured to foment religious
discord in the country, which had been dormant so
long. Such coming from a Judge, remarkable for his
former opinions, rendered it doubly mischievous. He
(Mr. O'C.) recounted the substance of the charge deli-
vered by Baron Smith on the occasion alluded to.
—(Hear, hear.) The first observation was one where
he apprised them of the state of the country as
requiring observations from him on the bench. What
would be ((aid if a Judge, appointed to try felons at
the Old Bailey, were to go out of his way in order to
give a dissertation on the state of the country? It was
contrary to common sense to say that a Judge who
entered on a crusade of politics, was fit to exercise
his judicial duties. The Hon. and Learned Member read
a succeeding passage, in which Mr. Baron Smith said,
when he found the state of the country to be misunderstood,
he sounded the tocsin. Now he (Mr. O'C.) denied that I
that was a part of the duty of a Judge; it was not his I
duty to explain the political state of the country. He
ought to be neutral with regard to politics, and to have
his mind, like a juryman, perfectly free from bias of any
kind.—(Hear.) It was intolerable for any Judge to
say, that because the political state of the country was
supposed to be misunderstood, he sounded the tocsin and
explained it. In a subsequent paragraph the Learned
Baronet spoke of " the audacity of factious leaders,', and
made some severe comments on them, and of their increase
in numbers.—(Hear, hear, from several Members.) Au
Hon. Baronet near him cried " Hear, hear," but sup-
pose the Learned Judge had to try one of those factious
leaders—(Hear, hear)—in what a situation would he be
placed when he found the Attorney-General against him,
and that the Judge not only had made up his mind
upon the verdict but had passed sentence upon him.—
(Hear, hear.) He (Mr. O'Connell) felt obliged to the
Hon. Baronet for that cheer. The Learned Baron next
alluded to the opposition to taxes and tithes; and the
Hun. and Learned Member asked whether that was judi-
cial—was it impartiality ? The business of the Judges of
the land was to act impartially and without reference to
politics. It was his (Mr. O'C.'s) intention to have the
charge read by the clerk; and he would just state in general
terms what it contained. The Learned Baron attacked
the Hon. Member for Drogheda for what he bad said in
this House, and commented on a speech delivered by that
Hon. Member last session ; he next took up the cudgels
for a brother Judge (Mr. Baron Pennefather), and the
discussion of a question as between that learned person
and the Members of this House. That speech might have
been very well if delivered on a political hustings, or at a
political dinner, but it was unbecoming in a Judge to deliver
it. He also discussed the right of petitioning, and the abuse;
of that right, and complained that the conversations in
the House tended to degrade the diguity of the Bench.
The Judges were surely responsible to the House of
Commons—it was a part of the duty of a Member of
Parliament to watch over the conduct of the Judges. He
(Mr. O'Connell) thought, that looking at all those cir-
cumstances, particularly at the late hours at which the
Learned Baron tried prisoners for felony, the House
was bound to investigate the conduct of this gentleman.
This Judge also proceeded to touch upon Cabinet Minis-
ters ; nothing escaped : rents, mates, tithes, and Cabine
e
Ministers—all were brought into his speech. He sounded
his tocsin upon every thing, and this upon the trial of some
pig and cow stealers. that what he(Mr. O'C.) principally
objected to was the revival of dissension. This Judge
went on to say--" It had been remarked that there wa•
no longer a Catholic party in Ireland—they had got all they
wanted, and were quiet. Why then was there so much taboo;
of our Church, and such delight at the diminution of nu,.
B.shops ?" Taat was a gross calumny, for instead of re
juicing at the diminution of the Protestant Bishops, 1,
1 and other Members of the same persuasion in that House,