The Sun.
London, England, 1805-06-26 00:00:00

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_ptipoluti (tat 1 .14 ftlt.er,Lie.cp.„,e.t,igte 1;411',
awered i. Cou'ld -"e
Noble. J.,mrd • with alt. his. inge.-;
-.4.. - • • -'' ' - ••
nuttj;; atisurer 'it liiviself?,: The Nizble Lord had
_stated, C.(311 isteii.,tly;,,l.lii4t lice "till preferred the,lni-
peaOnienc. in the Whole Itecords. of Pitiliament"
there was but one instatice of a
,tfosecution h,
the Attorney Petteial against ii Neil and.i43 that
an aigument for Adhering td a,ResolutioSe he Might
. say, inadvertently taken, when suelk ResoluCion was
contrary to the praefice of Parliamtnt from the cAr-
liest periods airs History lf they were to adhere
to the forth and not the sense of the .Hour c; they
should decide against what was the opinion of airna-
jority of near five hundred Members. This IN/I,titin
was not to rescind a Resolution of the House so much
as to carry into eflia the-sense of 'the'vast majority
of the Members. By adopting the Impeachment, •
they should get rid of the embamtssitent that would
attend the other course. They all knew the ferment
that existed, the MistakeS,and misrepresentations that
had taken place, and if the. Trial by impeachment
would not be so exPeditionS• as that in the King's.
Bench, was it not desirable that the trial should be
put off till the ferment should be allayed ? If the '
lion. Gentleman would consent: to prosecute on the
evidence, and riot include the charge of participation,
which'would involve the investigation of accounts,
the matter might go to a Jury. Any Lawyer would.
admit, that it any other mode, of trial could be dis-
tovered, it would be preferable to that by Jul),- if
the Jnry was to be adjourned, .whicht.should be the
case if complicated accounts were to be submitted
to their consideration. Impeaeh,mept -was wore
consistent with the dignity of the House, and with
the rank and station of the delinquent. He cAI- •
edOn the House. to follow the sense of the Majori-
ty, and• adopt a course which, it 7thiy had ewe to
:the di'seussion =entangled by forms, they would
'have adopted- that which 'was ',the 'sense of ,too
Members in opposition „to 43. • :. • --
- - Wr.. WILLLVIISJVIWNE thought the ,T
rouse
was indebted for the. situation in ,which they found
themselves to those who voted in the first instance
-against till: Crithinai PresecntiOn. . He' complained
Of the 'short notice which had been given of the Mo-
tion.at tuts, period of the pession, when:a week at
' least ought ' to. haiie been, cgiren. . '.`hough he dif-
'•ferred.frorn • the's& Hon: 'Prima's' Who'had conducted
the. whole of thii bUsinels with suclt•rnoderatiOn
,andability, with regret he was still dispbsedto give
the. preference to .Irupeachm:.nt. There was but one
Instance on' tlie.l,l,irnals df a ProsectitiOn"liy the At-
tomey-Ge i oral;ia ficrthat hadfailed in can Sequence Of
one technicalflaw. He preferr,e4.the Impeachment;
therefore; because technicaldefeas might sometimes
..find their way into the , pkoLve(lings in the CouitS ;
tind.the 'Government might order the Attorney Ge-
neral to: enter u, npli prpsequi.,-which,. from the man-
lier in which the business had been hitherto con-
dutaed,
.he did .not'thirik unlikely in this case. . He
was therefore an enemy to such proCeedings. The
Impeachment Would-be .more cons1:1 tent • wit ft. !the
dignity of the House, and . more satislaaory to the
Public. After a few more observatiOns ()fa similarly
judicions nature, thelion. Gentleman concluded by..
moving, That the .diseussion be adjourned to Mon-
day next.
The SP.E.eIKEI? having asked who seconded the
'Motion, and not bavilig observed' an intimation
made by Mr. Windham to that effeet, the discussion
proceeded. . .. •
.I'iIr.II(ILLM,VS, if he had been present in the
' first 'instance, Shobld have voted against Lord Afel-
vine, beCause he thoUght" he deserved punishment.
.—He had, since voted,against the Impeachment and
the Criminal Prosecution by the Attorney General,
But as the House had come to a lieSolotion in favour
of tho latter, he should:certainly vote against the re-
scinding that Resolution. „ ~ . - ' - • ' •• '
Ji.b.% /V/Nig./..4..4/ was,, from the beginning, in
tai our ofian Impeachment ; but the House having
resolved on a Prosecution by' the Attorney-General,
he was decidedly. againit rescindiw; that Resolution.
Besides, with all, his ,prepossessiou in favour of an
Impeachment, he never iuiderstood that a Proseett-
tion by the Attorney-General, in a case similar to tit&
present, was unconstitutional. -It had been stated
that onlyone precedent existed, 'by- Which the mea-
sure could be justified; but it shonld be recolleaed,
that precedents could not be numerous, for that Pro-
secutiong nf 'any nature against 'Peera'of the 'lcahn
had been. far from common. :. With ,regard to the;
technical errorin the case of Lord Ilaiii:tx, it was
certainly true, that technical errors, though tittal to a
Criminal Prosecution in an ordinary Court of J te:t ice,
might. not ' be fatal to" an IMpeaelunent ; 'but. this
must likewise. be. considered, that the condudors of
an Impeachment would' probably. not possess much
technical law, while those.who defended the delin-
quent would be' mined ' .at all points ' with it. ,As
to 'the' competence of the Triburial,lecould not ad-
Mit, in their full extent,. the eulogium on the, one
}land, and the censure on the ot her of the Courts of
Justice. He readily Allowed ltha-t. lie did not think
them completely the'.best . Tribunals for such sub-
jetclj.i...kut the, delinquency of Lord Melville was ra-
ther the.crime of a Statesthan titan a State Crime,
and'hel,vonld not go so far as' to say, that lie would
prefer beyond all 'comparison for its investigation a
;,.,louse of Lords to, a.4try.. He did not feel perfcaly
satisfied i'vith the fitness of the Attorney-Gener.il to
condua the ProSecutio, after the declaration lie had
made , .in the House. He was .certain, that that
Learned Gentleman would never allow his private
sentiments to interfere with his public duty, but
in tlitrt, declaration --he'-had contented himself with
expressing the difficulties under which , he laboured,
and did 'not go On'and say, he could and would in
fia ekecute the task assigned ,to hirn. With-
out he uwi . able, by his argnments, .to ct?n-
iirk*a-,/tiry, they would only tend to raise preju-
dices . against the Prosecution. Then 611110 the
questiOn, whether or not the. House ova's at liberty;
to chancre the . fOrm of proceeding wiiich it hat,
adopted" Mr. Windham *tended, that it had
no right to contravene tts fbrit.?r judgment. With-
out 4tleetini to doubt the ilia, how did the Learned
Gentleman college the SeriSe of the Howe on the
question ? What were the Parliamentary grounds
by viliCh he ascertained it ? Priiii intereinirse and
eOuversation might .afford him tii, Means ,of forming.
. a.juderri brit onit, bat this was not a fair mak of
cstiniatibn ; and, he protc.,tvd strongly aklinst the
tx:ltuntption. of what \li; the :iense, in dlr :4 coil-.
tradiaion.tO thelleclarvd vote of the I 10,1,,e. - I.'hure,
• Would be no end to this }Arid of loi-Ise.conje4itre if it
were once-admitted, and no futuro decisio:l of nir-
lianierit would be exempted from its op:,.raiii..l,, All