The Sun.
London, England, 1834-02-14 00:00:00

Burke, that was nothing to the point. The Hon. Bar net
had suggested th it the fulness of the calendar haul been
the cause of the Learned Baron's sittings ; neither was
this an excuse.
Sir R. INGLIS denounced the inquiry as altogether
unprecedented, and, if allowed to become a precedent, a
most dangerous one. He did not mean to set about any
special pleading in this case—(A laugh)—lie did not mean
to say that the speech had or had not been made by Alr.
Baron Smith—this was not the question—the question,
and a most important one, was, whether the House, sit-
ting in its judicial character, should on such legally un-
supported evidence as this, proceed, not to inquiry, but to
judgment ; for the very fact of granting such anin-
quiry was in itself punishment. This was not
proper treatment of a man like Baron Smith, a
man of first-rate talent and integrity that, at
least, all parties allowed—(Hear, hear)—and on whose
judicial character not a shadow of imputation was cast.
It was highly dangerous too as a precedent. Not even
the Right Hon. Secretary, skilled as he was in points
of precedence, bad been able to cite an instance of the
kind ; not even the Hon. and Learned Baron—he meant
the Hon. and Learned Member for Dublin—though he
seemed in a fair way for attaining the judicial dignity
—(A laugh)—not even he could produce a precedent for
the case. He (Sir R. Inglis) protested also, most strongly,
against the mode of the proposed trial of Baron Smith.
Bring any charges they pleased, but let them be brought
before the House in an act of impeachment, and let the
evidence he more worthy of attention than a newspaper
report. The Hon. and Learned Gentleman would ap-
pear to wish to prescribe geographical boundaries to the
Judges of the land in their care of public safety ; but
he (Sir R. Inglis) thought that Mr. Baron Smith had
done perfectly right, when he saw three-fourths of Ire-
land agitated by political incendiaries, to warn those
whom he addressed against the delusions of those incen-
diaries, and to denounce political agitation as the great
curse of Ireland. He had done no more than all other
Judges had done under similar circumstances, particu-
larly in cases where a Special Commission had been
found necessary; and he instanced the year 1812 among
others, when Judges had in their addresses ascribed the
crimes to be punished to their causes, and had warned
the country against those causes. He trusted the House
would not s unction this Committee, and he should there-
fore move the previous question.
Mr. SINCLAIR seconded the motion. He was sur-
prised to hear that his Right Hon. Friend the Secretary
for Ireland, for whom he entertain ad a high respect, had
changed his mind since lie c ime down to the House.
What new light had been thrown upon the subject ? The
charge was two-fold ; first, that of having commenced the
proceedings of the Court at too late an hour, and continued
them until late in the night—undoubtedly a serious evil ;
but he thought that the first part of the charge had been
satisfactorily accounted for ; and when Judges are li-
mited in the num)er of days, it often happens that they
are obliged to protract trials until a late hour. He knew
that this had lately been the case at the Glasgow Assizes,
where the Judge had been compelled to preside during a
great number of consecutive hours. The next accusation
was, that of having promulgated a political charge ; but
surely the Right Hun. Secretary must have been quite
familiar with its import before he came down to the
House, and nothing connected with its contents could
have induced him to change his mind. Though it was
generally not advisable to express political opinions from
the Bench, it was difficult in Ireland for a Judge, who
deeply felt for the evils of his country—in trying individu-
als for crimes—not to allude to the system of agitation
which he might justly consider as their chief source. He
was afraid that the Protestants in Ireland—the natural
allies of this country—would consider this case as an indi-
cation that Government intended to discountenance them,
and sacrifice their interests at the shrine of their active
and agitating opponents.
The SOLICITOR-GENERAL felt bound to support
the original motion. In doing so lie was influenced by
no party or political motive. On the contrary, he had
lately had an opportunity of forming an acquaintance with
the Learned Baron, who was the object of the present
inquiry, who was an amiable and accomplished man; but
if the Hon. and Learned Member for Duldin made it
appear he was a bad Judge, it was but fit and proper
that he should be removed. He (the Solicitor-General)
saw nothing better than the mode proposed by the Hon.
Member for Tamworth. There should not be any dis-
tinction made between English and Irish Judges. They
should be treated in exactly the same manner, and if
such a charge as that brought by the Hon. and Learned
Member fir Dublin were proved against an English
Judge he would not be suffered to remain on the 13,ncli
for three months longer. He hoped the charge would
prove unfounded. The charge against the Learned Baron
resolved itself into two heads The first was, a neglect
of his judici it functions—the next was, that he had
fallen into a habit, not that; he had done so once, but
that he had contracted a habit in addressing Grand
Juries, of indulging in party and political harangues. In
support of the first charge it was stated by a Member
of that House, that the Learned Baron generally
came into the Court so late as twelve, one, two, and
half-past three o'clock. If this were true, might not
such a practice lead indirectly to injustice ? Had it
not the appearance of neglect? Would it not give
colour to a charge of incapacity? Had not the
Bar cause of complaint under these circumstances, whe-
ther it was the consequence of age, infirmity, or neglect?
No matter what the cause, injurious consequences fol-
lowed.—(Hear, hear.) When such serious charges were
made, should not inquiry be allowed ?—( Hear.) He (the
Solicitor-General) had gone circuit many years, and the
usual course was, to open the Court at seven or eight
o'clock. To open at such late hours as those named in
the charge, by wasting the time of witnesses in criminal
cases, might tend to defeat the ends of justice, and would
in itself be sufficient cause for removal. The other charge
was that, in October last (and not then for the first
time, but in pursuance of a habit), the Learned Baron
wantonly and deliberately delivered himself of a party
and political harangue in his charge to a Grand Jury—a
charge calculated, it may be supposed, to contain matter
offensive to many of those to whom it was addressed. This
was not the practice with English Judges. Theirs was a
comparatively dull proceeding. They contented them-
selves with instructing the Grand Juries in the duties
they were called upon to perform ; pointing out how they
were to act with regard to the hills which might be brought
before them, and directing them in all matters relating to
the law. If they made themselves partisans—if they
entered into controversial disputes on political matters—
more especially on topics about which the Jury might be
divided in opinion—they violated their duties, and were
unfit for their offices.—(Hear, hear.) In such a case a
Jut or would be warranted in taking up his own view of
the question, if he differed in politics or religion ; and should
the Judge say he eat there not to discuss politics, but
administer justice, the Juror might well reply, " I wish
you had remembered that before ; but after such an ap-
peal I cannot hesitate to reply." The House could not
refuse the inquiry. An Hon. and Learned Member had
made a statement which called for it. Let that statement
be proved or disproved. Perhaps the Hon. and Learned
Member was misinformed ; he earnestly hoped so ; he
anxiously wished that the Learned Baron might return to
Ireland vindicated front the charge. Much hid been said
of Irish agitation, and great anxiety was expressed for
putting it down. He too was anxious to have agitation
put down, and was particularly desirous that the punish-
ment due to it should light upon the right head—should
visit those by whom it had been created and fomented.—
(Hear, hear.) If the House wished to put down agita-
tion, they should by no means encourage political harangues
from the Bench, which must, of necessity, have the
opposite tendency, and, in a case like this, where proof of
the charge was preferred, lie thought it the duty of the
House not to refuse investigation.
Sir J. SCARLETT had nut seen the notice until that
evening, and when lie did, could not believe that it could
have one concurrent voice. His Hon. and Learned Friend
insisted that, if the charges were made out, it was a case in
which the Judge should be removed. He (Sir James) did not
see the consistency between his Hon. and Learned Friend
and the Secretary for Ireland. The Learned Member for
Dublin was certainly consistent, but no Government
should support such a measure without a previous inves-
tigation. The precedent was a bad one, and would tend
to lessen the moral courage of Judges, who could not ful.
fil the important duties attached to their offices unless
they could rely with some confidence on the support of
the Government. If the motion were carried—if the
confidence in support from Government were so greatly
diminished, it was his opinion that every Judge in the land
should resign--(Cheers.) What were the grounds of the
inquiry? The charges were two fold. The first charge
might arise from press of business, which might compel
the Judge to sit to a late hour in the night. The practice
was not without precedent. It had been the old custom,
but one which had been abandoned ; and, in hie (Sir
James Scarlett's) opinion, very properly abandoned. But
where was the allegation that thestc.olainteplhaionutrsbeweenremuindnee
c?-
Deisd'artyheobrarimapnruorpinerur?? illali anyaidany prisoner petitioned in
consequence?—(Cheers.) The statement was, that the
Judge came into the Court at a late hour, but there was
no mention of any ill consequences ensuing. The Hon.
arid Learned Gentleman went on to show that many
Judges—and, amongst others, Mr. Justice Chambers—

were in the habit of sitting to late hours. He insisted that
;he inquiry, if granted, would invo've the dignity of the judi-
cial character ; and trusted the House would not, without
due deliberation, establish such a precedent. Unless the
charge were combined with injury inflicted in some quar-
ter, he did not see how it would be proceeded with. The
King's Speech from the Throne could not be considered a
party speech, and yet it touched upon politics. There
was some analogy between a Judge's charge and a speech
from the Throne.—(No, no.) No one could be so astute
as to make out from what he (Sir James) s till that a
Judge was warranted in extending his observations beyond
the domestic state of the country. When the King's
Speech spoke of severe laws for Ireland, and a determina-
tion to maintain the union inviolate, it could not be called
a party speech. Neither when a Judge, in his charge,
urges the danger of such discussions as would lead to se-
ptration, could it come under such a de•ignation. On the
contrary, it was the duty of the Bench to warn those
within the sphere of its influence against the excesses into
which too many had been led by the unhappy counsel of
those who had betrayed them.—(Cheers.) Was the
charge unexampled ? Did no English Judges act in the
same way? During the French war were not such
charges frequent, and in one instance an application had
been made to have it printed ? Nay, proclamation bad
been made by the Crown, calling for such aid front several
judges and magistrates, who accordingly complied.—
(Cheers.) No Government could be so weak as to comply
with such a motion, unless they believed the allegations,
and as far as regarded Ireland, the precedent was full of
danger.
Mr. HALCOMB said, if the Learned Judge were to be
the subject of accusations, let him, at least, be tried before
the proper tribunal, and let the House of Commons openly
stand forward as his accusers. How was the case to be
proved now ? It could not ; for the Select Committee
had no power to examine witnesses upon oath. He had
put this point before, he believed, in some measure to the
annoyance of the House.—(Hear, bear.) If Hon. Gen-
tlemen meant by that cheer he had annoyed them—
(Hear, hear)—and he perceived he had—he could only
say, he believed it so important, that in the honouraole
discharge of his duties as a Member of Parliament he
should feel himself compelled to annoy them once snore.
Lord ALTHORP—The Hon. and Learned Gentleman
had very accurately stated the mode by which only Judges
could be removed from their situations ; but the Hon. and
Learned Gentleman and others had followed that up to a
very odd conclusion.—(Hear, hear.) They seemed to
consider, that because an address from both Houses of
Parliament was requisite to remove a Judge, therefore that
House was bound not to inquire into the conduct of the
Learned Baron.—(Hear, hear.) Why? Could any
gentleman say, that because they bad vested in them only
the constitutional power of impeaching a Judge, or of ad-
dressing Crown to remove them, that they should take
so serious a proceeding without making any previous in-
quiry, merely because they could not in a Select Com-
mittee examine witnesses on oath ? Whenever the time
should arrive th it the House might feel itself dis-
posed to adopt such a course, he hoped it never
would be taken without a previous and full inquiry.
—(Hear, hear, hear.) It had been argued, and re-
no culpability, and as it the whole charge consisted in
argued, that the charge against the Learned Judge involved
what had taken place at Armagh. But if the charge
were not one of corruption—if it were not one in any
way disgraceful to the Learned Judge, which it was not—
it, at least, if true, amounted to this—that a Judge who
came into Court at so late an hour, and who neglected his
duty as this Judge was represented to have, acted in a
manner personally unbecoming, and which rendered him
unfit to discharge the duties of his high situation.—
(Cheers. ) This did not, as had been assumed by the
Hon. and Learned Member for Norwich, take place on
one or two occasions only, but was stated to be his habi-
tual practice. It had been said on the ether side—why
now come forward to make a charge, on the ground of
what you knew to have been on habitual practice ? Why,
it was for that very reason. It was because it was an
habitual practice. It was because it was not confined to
one or two solitary occasions, that it was brought forward
as a charge. —(Hear, hear.) But, according to his own
view of the case, this was not to be considered as the
greatest part of the charge against the Learned Baron.
The practice in which that Learned Person indulged,
of making political speeches in his charges to the
Grand Jury, was a very great evil in the administration
of justice.—(Loud cheers.) The Han. and Learned
Gentleman had said that his Hon. Friend was much
mistaken in saying that the Judge insulted the Grand
Jury; because, said he, the Grand Jury coincided in
opinion with the Judge. It might possibly be so in that
case ; but if a Judge were to make a charge of a political
nature, taking his chan-e of what the opinions of the
Grand Jury might be, he might very possibly enter into
the discussion of certain topics which would be personally
disagreeable, and which those to whom they were ad-
dressed could net but consider as in the nature of an in-
sult.—(Hear, hear.) He was afraid that the practice of
making political charges was, as was said, very common
in Ireland. He had the greatest dislike to seeing them,
even when it might almost be said they were fully justi-
fied by the nature of the offences which they had to try.
It was a practice which was pregnant with the worst
consequeeces, and one which was calculated to bring into
disrepute and dislike the sery fountain of justice.—(Hear,
hear.) It had been objected to the appointment of the
Committee, that though not professedly seeking the con-
detonation of the Judge, it would virtually have that
operation. He admitted that if the case were proved
against hitn, that proof would certainly carry condernna
tion svith it. It was also said that the House ought not
to consent to the inquiry, unless it were the general
feeling that the charges were founded on truth, and that
such an interpretation would be put by the public on
the success of the motion. Why, from all the inquiries
he had been able to make, he had no hesitation in
saying that he believed the Judge had been guilty of this
misconduct.—(Hear, hear.) That being the case, he
saw nothing in this reasoning to induce him to refuse the
Committee. He admitted that such a proceeding was
most undesirable, and that the conduct of a Judge ought
not to be brought before that House except in cases where
the public interest suffered by it.—(Hear, hear.) Any
attack made on Judges in the course of a debate, when
their conduct was not fairly before the House, was cer-
tainly improper, but that observation did not apply to the
present case, when the subject was brought openly and
fully before their consideration. The House would cer-
tainly
abandon one of its most important functions if it
refused to entertain this motion, for in Parliament alone
could the misconduct of the Judges of the land be pro-
perly considered. On these grounds, he- felt it would be
impossible for him, after what had been seated of the
conduct of the Le arned Baron, to refuse his assent to
the motion.—(Cheers.) The Right Honrurable Baronet,
the Member for Tamworth, spoke of the independence
of the Judges. No man could be more desirous to
preserve that independence than he was, and he
thought one of the best means of preserving it was
never to refuse an inquiry into their misconduct.—(Hear,
hear.) He should be most happy if the misconduct
imputed to the Learned Baron should turn out to be un-
true; but as the case at present stood, he could not resist
the motion. He agreed with the Hon. and Learned
Gentleman, that if such statements were made against
an English Judge, there would be but one opinion on the
subject. Ile thought it most desirable not only to assi-
milate the laws of the two countries, but to assimilate the
ads mostminis dtereesiradb—
thleem.Euer, (aHear.) It
wasmost
just as who
wel a
thosehear)—
and be could not imagine any better mode of cementing
the threatened connexion between the two countries than
that the people of Ireland should know, that whenever
conduct
they brought a charge against any Irish functionary, he
would be treated precisely in the same manner as any
English functionary; that there would be no attempt on
the part of that House to screen him from inquiry ; and
that his misconduct, if proved, would be visited with the
censure which it justly deserved.—(Loud cheers.)
Mr. PLUMPTRE said he bad never been more deeply
pained than this evening, on learning
of his Majesty's Government with regard to this motion.
He considered that determination as one of the greatest
mistakes they had ever committed.—(Cheers.) It was a
most unhappy determination—it was a most unjust one.
—(Loud cheers.) It was contrary to the expectations of
those who generally acted with them ; it was calculated to
bring the Judges of the land into disrepute ; it was calcu-
lated to gag and stop their mouths—(Hear, bear)—;nd
to impede the very course of justice. He might be wrong,
but these were his sincere sentiments.—(Cheers.)
Mr. FINN said that no act of the present Administra-
tion was calculated to give more confidence to the people
of Ireland than the granting of this Committee.—(Hear.)

Mr. SPAN KIE then addressed the House, but, un-
fortunately, the Hon. and Learned Gentleman spoke so
indistinctly as to be frequently inaudible. He said that,
in his opinion, there was no offence against Mr. Baron
smith at all worthy of inquiry.—(Hear, hear.) The charge
was unsustained by proof ; but taking it for granted that
the delinquencies imputed to him were true, and could be
proved, they would not be worthy of the time bestowed
upon them.—(Cheers from the Opposition.) What cen•
sure—what punishment could they inflict upon him ?
(Hear, hear.) It appeared, as the Hon. and Leal nt•4l
Gentleman said, from the evidence which had long Ite Li
lying on their table, that this Learned Judge, though lie