The Sun.
London, England, 1805-04-26 00:00:00

FRIDAY, APRIL 26, 1805,

IMPERML PARLMMENT.

HOUSE OF PEERS.

THURSDAY, APRIL 25.

The Committee on the Universities Advawson Bill, which
stood for to-morrpw, .was' on the Motion of the Bishop of
Ox Ito RD, adjourned till Monday.
A Clerk from the Irish Secretary of State's Office present-
ed an Account of the State of the Prisons in 'lreland in 1804.
Lord Su r roLx. called the attention of the House to the
high price of Bread in the Metropolis t he understood It was
considerably cheaper in dif*rent parts of the Country, so low
in some as a shilling tho quartern loaf ; this he thought was
chiefly owing to the unprincipled prat ices of Mcalmen and
Millers at the distance of fifteen or twenty miles from town,
who by their machinations kept up the price of Bread. The
best remedy for this, in his mind, would be the establish-
ment of public Magax,ines ; for instance, at Uxbridge, and
places abaut the sante distance, and front that to supply the
Metropolis, as occasion might require. He forbore at pre-
sent to make any Motion'on the snbjea.
Some arrangements were made with respel to the hearing
.of Appeals.:
The Leith Harbour Improvement Bill was brought up
from Ow Commons, and read a first time.—Adjourned.

• • 110 US OP COMMONS.
1-ItittsnAirs APRIL'2S.
The Sr taxers, on taking the Chair, informed the Gen-
tlemen present, that the House had been to wait on His
MAiLa T It with the Resolutions relative to Lord Melville;
and read His Majesty's most gracious Answer' expressing
the attention he always paid to the sentiments of the House
of Commons, and his sense of the importance of the matter
which was the subjed of Untie Resolutions.
On the Motion of Mr. W. Sul r }l, a new Writ was ordered
for the Eledion ofa Member for the City of Hereford, in the
room of Mr. Sendamore, deceased.
A Person from the Office of Chief Secretary, for Ireland
presented Copies of the Depositions of. the Persoris confined
in the Gaol of Kilmainham, Dublin, on charges of Treason.
On the Motion of Sir T. Mare ALF I, was ordered, after
a few objethons front .Mr..k. Mooax, that the St. Pancras
Parish Bill be read a second time on Tuesday next.
Sir lonN ANDERSON obtained leave to bring in a Bill for
snaking a Tunnel under the Thames at Rotherhithe.
Mr. Le,. rose, pursuant to his notice, to move far leave to
' bring in a Bill to enable the Private Bankers in Ireland to
issue Notes for il. and 21. He represented that the Private
Bankers in this Country had that liberty, and that it was
doubly necessrtry in Ireland, where the great number of small
,farmers brought their produce to market in very small pro-
portions, and where the general transadions of trade were on
a very small stale indeed. Leave was given. Mr. Lae, at
the same time, obtained leave to bring in a Bill for the Better
Recovery of Small Debts in Ireland.
Dater Du tciRN A N gave notice of his intention to move
to-morrow tar leave to bring in a kill fur amending and better
carrying into otlirel the Laws relating to Queen Anne's Boun-
ty in Ireland, particularly with resped to Livings under the
value of tool.
LORD MELVILLE..
Mr. H. Time nroo presented a Petition from Southwark,
approving the Resoluriuna of the House on the conduct of
Lord Melville, and expressing a hope that further steps
would be ftiopted towards the repression and punishment of
the delinquencies that had been disclosed.
Sir W. CURT is presented a Petition from the Lord ItLyor
and Livery of London, and Common-Hall, expressing the ap-
probation of the City of the conduct of the House 911 this
occasion ; and praying, that further steps may be taken for
the detedion and punishment of maims:4km.
Lord FoLitsrorsx presented a similar Petition from Sails-
bury. . _

of the Dilly Papers, that it was impossi'bl'e for him
• not to call the attention of the House to it.--
The proper course in this case was to read the pas.
sage, then to deliVer in the Paper at the Table, and
afterwards, if the sense of the House should be that
it amounted to a breach of privilege, to move that
the Printer be ordered to attend at the Bar, to an-
swer for himself and to abide the pleasure of the
House. Here the Hon. Gentleman read the para.
graph, which lamented that the Government was
deprived of the able support of Lord Melville,
stating, that the Noble Lord had been condemned
without trial, by means of prejudice artificially
created, 'and that when an appeal was offered to
his intemperate judges,' a presumptuous nega.
tive had been given to the proposition.---The,pa.
ragraph went further to rellat very strongly on the
charafter, situation, and motives of the most sc.
tive among Lord Melville's. accusers.—Mr. GittY
consisleod ,this as gross a .libel on the House of
Commoas as he had ever read. He therefore moved,
on its being read at the Table, that the Printer be
ottiered to attend at the Bar to.morrow.
The CHANCELLOR rf the 'EXCH.EeVER
had' no objeCtion to the Motion, because the para.
graph, on the first impression, appeared to be libel.
'loos, But, at the same time, he had to observe,
that if the House were now to begin to animadvert
on every thing that was said in Newspapers, a very
large field would be opened, in which . the privi.
leges of the House shout(' be enforced impartially
and without reserve. This was not the first
time that Newspapers had indulged in licentious
anti disrespedful comments on Parliament and its
proceedings. He, therefore, only begged it may
be understood, if Gentlemen had now made up
their, minds to enforce the stria privileges of the.
House in this respen, not with the intention.of par-
tial vexation, but with a general view to repteis
things inconsistent with the dignity and chatataer
of the House, and the resped due to it, he begged
it to be understood that it was to be done generally,
uniformly, and without any favour or partiality
whatsoever.
Mr. GREY said, he did not exaCily understand
the object of the Right Hon.. Gentleman's observa-
tions. He complained of a paragrapti, the. libellous
tendency of which the Right Min. Gentleman him.
self was under ;he necessity of confessing. With
resped to the general enforcement of the principle,
all he had done was to seleci one instance, in which
it was confessedly proper to enforce it : if other
instances struck other Gentlemen they wereat liber-
ty to take the sense of the House upon them. The
Right Hun. Gentleman alluded generally to sup.
posed offences of this kind, without any specification
of time, place, or manner.
_He knew not what it

. _
was intended to comprize under this suppositioh of
congregated guilt, but when he recolletted the his.
wry of the last ten years, he saw no disposition to
forbearance on the part of the Right Hon. Gentle.
man or his friends. The extraordinary Ads of
Parliament, not against what was injurious to the
charadter of the House, but to the' character of the
Hon. Gentleman and his Administration, were in
every man's recollection. If, however, any other
instance in which the charaCter of the House was so
vilely traduced, ihould be brought forward, he
would be as little disposed as any man to (Mat to
its being animadverted upon with equal severity.
FOX felt himself' called upon to say a few
words as to the impartiality with which the Right
Hon. Gentleman said thiS privilege, if 'once CM,
cited, should be enforced, If, because qne gross
Libel was to be punished, the House was to be
called upon to animadvert upon every slight of.
fence, it would certainly, be going too far. 'Ecry
cast should stand on its own merits. This was 'a

case of particular importance. This House should
always be jealous of its character, .but particularly
at a time when the House had rime to a resolution
which was gratifying to the whole Country, and
whet, those who were in high situations in the Go.
vernment wanted to screen and to prated those
the House and the Country thought worthy of
punishment. When Gentlemen recolletted all that
had passed in the House before she holidays, and
all that had passed out ,of doors since when they
considered that after the Resolutions which had
been laid before His Majesty, not any one step
had been taken ro conform to the wishes of the.

House; when the Treasurer of the Navy Was seen
braying the House, and continuing in office a per.
son who had refused to answer on dub before the
Commissioners; when all these circumstances were

put together, it should be acknowledged, this was
a time in which the House was particularly called
upon to take up a Libel of this sort. Though all
Libels were punishable, it was for a falitious body,
like thee House, to judge of the times and degrees
in which it would enturce it ; and in this judgment
it would be influenced much by the,consideration
of the powers of the Administration opposed to it,
and the mariner 'in-which those powers were qter.
rise& It was for these reasons that•this Libel was
particularly an object for the consideration of the
flou.e. If any other Libel should occur which was

worthy .of the notice of the. House, it was compe.
tent to any Mmber to propose it, and the House
would judge whether it was fit' to be considered.
He was at all times ofripinion that when the House

'was grossly insulted,' the offence should be taken up
as it ought, and that -it.should be,shewn the House
was nut to be insulted with impunity.
Mr. CANNING, kit himself partivularly called
upon, 'because the kiln. Gentleman considered this
as an aggravated case, and assigned for the ground
of this aggravation that- he had -braved the House
of Comernms by continuing, k office 41 'man who
had refused to answer before the Commissioners of
Inquiry. With, resped to Mr. Wilson, he haa
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