The Sun.
London, England, 1867-02-13 00:00:00

lIITERIAL PARLIAMENI

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lIOUSE OF LORDS—LAST EVENING.
Tho Loris CIIANCELLOR took his seat on tho Woolsack
at 5 o'clock.

THF, LORD CHIEF BARON.

Earl RUSSELL presented a petition praying that the
Lord Chief Baron sh mild be dismissed from the distinguished
judicial functions which he has been called on to exercise,
iu consequence of his conduct in reference to the sub-
jects connected with the matters relating to Mr. Wason.
He considered that any one occupying the position of the
Lord Chief Baron should not be open to anything like sus-
picion, and the circumstances out of which the present pro-
ceedings ems? were of a nature calculated to excite suspicion.
The noble lord then went into a detail of all the facts con-
nected with the Parliamentary proceedings relating to the
inquiry respecting the Ipswich election in 1837, and the
part which Sir Fitzroy Kelly took in regard to the same.
The LORD CHANCELLOR said he had received from
the Lord Chief Baron information which enabled him to
refute the allegations contained in the petition. He must
sty he thought it would have better become the noble earl
if lie had refrained from presenting a petition, every alle-
gation of which he afterwards went on to refute. Assum-
ing every word in the petition was as true as ho should
prove it to be false, the circumstances referred to took place
30 years ago. During that period Sir F. Kelly had twice
filled the office of Solicitor-General. He has also stood six
contests for the county of Suffolk, and if there is any stain
on a man's moral character it is certain to be brought to
light at such a time. It is difficult to understand why, if
Mr. Wason believed in the charges he now made, he did
not bring them forward when Sir F. Kelly received his
first official appointment, for ho must have known such an
appointment conferred a sort of inchoate right to subse-
quent elevation to the bench. He was convinced that some
motives of other than a public character must have led Mr.
Wason to bring forward his present charge after keeping
silence so long; and he had asked Sir F. Kelly for an ex-
planation of the circumstance. It appeared that in 1837
Sir F. Kelly, then Mr. Kelly, stood for the borough of
Ipswich. Mr. Wason, who was the candidate on the other
side, having publicly accused him of telling a lie, Sir P.
Kelly sent him a challenge. Mr. Wason, being either re-
gardless of public opinion as it then was, or being mindful
of the Christian precept, "Bo not higlimiaded, but timid,"
refused to accept the challenge. He was therefore posted
as a liar and a coward. Upon that he flew for protection
to the courts, and applied for a criminal information
against Mr. Kelly for endeavouring to provoke him
to fight a duel. It was not because the court
thought that ho was not likely to be so provoked that
they discharged the rule, which they did on other
grounds. This is the source of the rancarous malice
which the petitioner has been nourishing for more than
thirty years ; crouching, waiting for his spring, until ho
thought he could inflict the most deadly blow on the cha-
racter of his right hon. friend. The first charge in the
petition is that Mr. Kelly did on the 11th April, 1835,
pledge his honour to a statement which he knew to be
false, and did thus deceive an election committee of the
House of Commons. And in a letter to Mr. Walpole it is
explained by Mr. Wason that the false statement alleged to
have been made by Mr. Kelly was that he did not. know a
certain Mr. Pilgrim, who was subsequently proved to have
acted as his agent at the election. Now it is perfectly un-
true that Sir F. Kelly ever denied that he knew Mr. Pil-
grim. On the contrary, he spoke of him as a clerk to
Messrs. Blake and Sewell, from whom ho had been in the
habit of receiving briefs for many years. All that he did
was, while acting as his own counsel in the absence of the
gentleman who should have represented him before the
committee, to insist that there was no evidence to prove
the agency of Pilgrim, and that therefore the sitting naem-
bers were not answerable for his acts. The committee
came to the same conclusion, and then adjourned for the
scrutiny. Before they re-assembled, Mr Pilgrim, having
had a charge of embezzlement preferred against him by his
employers, went over to the enemy's camp, proffered him-
self as a witness, and proved a particular act of bribery,
and also his own agency. Under these circumstances the
committee had no other choice than to rescind their pre-
vious resolution. But it is proved beyond a doubt by Mr.
Gurney's shorthand notes that Sir Fitzroy, then Mr.
Kelly, did not in the course of the speech he had made
before they adjourned deny his knowledge of Pilgrim, and
that he could not have done so was clear from the fact,
that when the committee reassembled no disgust was ex-
pressed at his again appearing before them, as must have
been the case had ho uttered the falsehood with which he
was charged. The second charge in the petition is
founded on an observation said to have fallen from the
late Lord Denman in the course of the argument ou
the criminal information against Mr. Wason ; but the
fact is the observation had not the slightest refe-
rence to Sir F. Kelly, but was merely addressed to an
argument of the then Attorney-General, who was counsel in
the case, and amounted to no more than a strong expression
of Lord Denman's opinion that, if a gentleman stated that
which he knew to be false, it did ❑ot in the least matter
whether he did or did not preface his words by any forte of
asseveration. The third charge in ►he petition is that the
late Sir R. Peel positively refused to appoint Sir F. Kelly
Solicitor-General on account of his conduct before the Ips-
wich election committee, and that the scruples of the right
hon. gentleman were only overcome by fraud, or, as Mr.
Wason said in his letter to the present Home Secretary,
"by as discreditable a dodge as was ever practised by men
in high position." Mr. Wason asserts that some one palmed
off upon Sir R. Peel, as a full report of the Ipswich case, a
blue-book which did not contain the speech of Mr. Kelly.
Now, he (the Lord Chancellor) was in a position to refute
this charge. He was Solicitor-Goueral when Sir W. Follett
died, in 1845. The funeral took place on the 4th of July.
Immediately afterwards he attended Sir R. Peel at White-
hall, and received from the right hon. baronet the intima-
tion that ho was to be advanced—to be Attorney-General.
He then said, " Who is to be my Solicitor-General ?" to
which Sir R. Peel immediately replied, "Kelly." And on
that very day, the 4th cf July, his learned friend received
from Sir Peel the notification of his appointment. There
was therefore no delay in the appointment—still less was
there any delay, because of Sir R. Peel's reluctance to ap-
point his lent ned friend on account of rumours affecting his
character. If his learned friend had been guilty of the con-
duct stated in this petition he would indeed have been un-
worthy to be raised to the judicial bench. But what could
their lordships think of the petitioner, Mr.Wason, who had
been now waiting for 30 years for an opportunity to bring
forward charges of this description whet they are likely
to be most injurious to the reputation of Sir F. Kelly ?
He thought they would be of opinion that the course he
has pursued on this occasion has underrated the accuracy
of the character with which he was branded in 1837.
He has at last drawn out the poisonous shaft which has
been steeped in venom so long. He has aimed at the Lord
Chief Baron, but it has fallen harmless to the ground ; and
his petition will remain on their lordships' table only as a
perpetual record of his folly and malignity. (Hear, hear.)
Lord ST. LEONARDS said that if the petition remained
on the table of the house it would be impossible for the
Chief Baron to retain his seat on the bench unless steps
were taken to clear his character front the charges brought
against him. Ho therefore appealed to Earl Russell to
withdraw the petition if lie were convinced, as he must be,
that these charges are unfounded. He need not enter into
art examination of the points which had been so fully dis-
cussed by the Lord Chancellor ; but there was another to
which ho would advert. Mr. Wason asserts that Sir R.
Peel hesitated to appoint Mr. Kelly as Solicitor-General,
and that he was only induced to do so by the influence of
Lord Leetsdale, who was then a member of the Cabinet.
Lord Lonsdale, however, denied that anything of the kind
ever occnrred ; and it was indeed perfectly impossible that
if Sir F. Kelly had been guilty of the conduct imputed to
hint he should have been six times elected member for the
county of Suffolk without a word being whispered against
his character.

Earl RUSSELL vindicated his conduct in presenting
the petition, on the ground that it did not relate to mat-
ters of private scandal, but contained charges against a
gentleman filling an important public office. In his opinion
it was much better than when such charges are made they
should be brought forward and refuted. The noble lord
on the woolsack had refuted Mr. Wason's allegations, and
shown them to be totally unfounded, and he thought that
it was much better that such a result should have been
attained than that the petitioner should have been enabled
to say that no hearing had been given to his complaints.
He was quite ready to withdraw the petition if such a
course was consistent with the practice of the house and
with the feelings of noble lords present—a point on
which he would be guided by the opinion of the Earl
of Derby. lie was fully satisfied that the conduct of
the learned judge against whom these charges had been
brought remains unstained, and that her Majesty's subjects
may have full confidence in his administration of justice,
not only on account of his knowledge of law, but of his
high character.
The Earl of DERBY said that if he were in the position
of the noble earl, and had felt it his duty to present this
ptition, lie should certainly now feel it his duty to with-
draw it after the discussion that had taken place. After
the complete refutation which Mr. Wason's charges had.
received, the House of Lords would only consult its dignity
by refusing to albw such scandalous, slanderous, and
calumnious statements to remain on the table.
Earl RUSSELL remarked that ho was quite ready to
withdraw tho petition.

The LORD CHANCELLOR, however, observed that
the more regular course would be to negative the moiiou.

THE THREATENED FENIAN RIOTS.

In answer to Lord STANLEY Of ALDERLEY,

The Earl of DERBY said—l can gi-To your lordships
little information as to the events which have taken
place at Chester, beyond that which has alree.dy appeared
in the public papers. On Saturday morning Air. Walpole
received information from Liverpool that there was con-
siderable excitement in that town, caused by an
extraordinary influx of strangers from Manchester,
Halifax, Staleybridge, Preston, and other places, all
of whom had come into the town on no apparent busi-
ness, and bore a very suspicious aspect. In the
course of the afternoon it became evident that tha
object of
,these parties was to go on to Chester and take

possession of the castle. The superintendent at Liverpool
accordingly sent oft an inspector at ten o'clock at night to
warn the authorities at Chester. The Secretary of State,
on receiving information of this, at once put the genaral
commanding the district and the Mayor of Chester in
communication, and authorised the latter if he thought it
necessary to send for au additional company of the 54th
Regiment from Preston. In the course of yesterday it
appeared that the number of strangers collected at
Chester had increased to between I,sooand 1,600, and that
they were bent on carrying out the design attributed to
them. Thereupon the mayor wrote to say that additional
troops were required, and requested authority to send for
them to Manchester and Preston. It was, however, the
opinion of the commander-in-chief that it was undesirable
to weaken the force at these places, and that if additional
troops were required, a battalion of Guards should be sent
down. That was telegraphed early last evening to the
Mayor of Chester, and in the meantime directions wore
given to have a train ready to convoy 500 men. At ten
o'clock last night a telegram was received from the mayor
stating that it was necessary that the troops should be sent,
and they accordingly left London at one o'clock this morn-
ing, arriving in Chester a few hours afterwards. Up to the
present time the Government have heard nothing more,
but I have seen a private telegram from Lord Grosvenor
(who has gone down to command the yeomanry) to Lord
Elcho, in which it is stated that the aspect of matters bad
been very serious, and that the town of Chester had only
been saved 113 the timely precautions taken.
TRAFFIC REGULATION METROPOLIS BILL.
The Earl of BELIIORE moved the second reading of
this bill, the object of which was, he said, to regulate the
traffic of the metropolis. It was proposed to prohibit the
cleaning and scavengering of the streets after ten o'clock
in the morning; to forbid the loading and unloading of
coals Sand casks between ton o'clock in the morning and
seven o'clock in the evening; to prevent persons loading
or unloading goods on the pavement or leaving them there
any longer than is necessary for the purpose of their being
conveyed into a house or warehouse from the vehicles in
which they are brought; to prohibit the driving of cattle
through the streets after ten o'clock in the morning; to pro-
vide that vehicles carrying iron girders, long ladders, or
articles of that description shall not be driven through the
streets between ten o'clock in the morning and seven o'clock
in the evening; that omnibuses and cabs shall put down
passengers as near the kerbstone as may be ; and that
placards shall not be carried through the streets. There
are also clauses in the bill enabling the authorities to make
special rules for the regulation of the traffic in narrow and
crowded thoroughfares, such as Cheapside and other streets.
By the portion of the bill relating to hackney carriages it
is provided that every person taking a cab of the stand
shall be bound to pay the driver at least a shilling, and
that, on the other hand, the cabman shall be bound to have
a lamp in the inside of his vehicle. Under other clauses
an encouragement is held out to cab proprietors to place a
superior class of vehicles than at present on the streets, for
which they will be authorised to charge a higher fare. At
present there is a great difficulty as to the removal of snow
from the streets, but this bill will make it tho duty of the
local authority to remove the snow both from the footway
and the roadway; and on their failure to do so they may
be summoned by any one before a magistrate. Under ano-
ther clause stray dogs wandering about the streets may be
seized by the police, and if not claimed within three days
they may be destroyed or sold. The bill will apply to the
district within a radius of four miles from Charing-cross.
In reply to Lord STANLEY Of ALDERLEY,

Tho Earl of BELMORE said that he was perfectly wil-
ling to refer the bill to a select committee, if this course
was thought desirable. The fare of Is. to be paid on hiring
a cab would cover a drive of two miles.
After a brief conversation, in which the Marquis of
WESTMEATH and the Earl of ELLIINBOROUGH took part,
the bill was read a second time.

The house adjourned at a quarter before 7 o'clock.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.—LAST EVENING.
The SPEAKER took the chair at four o'clock.
NEW MEMBER.

Sir. J. B. KizsLAKE took the oath and his seat for
Andoyer.

A petition was presented from Sir Fitzroy Kelly pray-
ing that before the publication of certain letters concerning
private character, which contain a number of fahie charges,
the house would institute a searching inquiry into the
whole of the circumstances connected therewith.