The Sun.
London, England, 1835-06-27 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY, JUNE 27, 1535.

Mr. L ABO CHE RE presented a petition from Taunton,
in favour of the Appropriation Clause of Lord John Russell.—
( Hear.)
Mr. R. PALMER presented a petition from Berkshire,
against the Irish Church Ap-t,ropriation Clause.
IPSWICA ELECTION.
Mr. P. 111. STEIVY...A.RT begged to call the attention of
the House to a r...etition from John B. Dasent, one of the pri-
soners
at Pr'..,ent confined in Newgate, by the decision of the
Ipswich _Election Committee. He would therefore move,
now chat the petitioner had expressed his contrition
f(s.-.. the offence which he had committed, and still more
his willingness to come down and give full and free evidence
on every matter with which he was acquainted, that the pe-
titioner be now called to the bar, in pursuance of his (Mr.
Stewart's) motion. His earnest wish was, that every circum-
stance connected with this case should be brought to light,
and that every individual who had it in his power to give evi-
dence, and bring to light any thing connected with so impor-
tant a matter, should be brought within the power of the House.
The principle upon which he made the motion was this,
and it was in conformity with every precedent on the
subject, that having vindicated the character and dignity
of that House, and having inflicted a punishment which
certainly equalled any for which they had a precedent,
they should now begin to relieve Newgate of its burthens—
( Cries of " Hear," and laughter)—and that they should not
unnecessarily detain those individuals further from their duties
to their families, many of which were numerous and suffering.
He would only further state, Mr. Dasent had come forward
and given evidence before the Committee. He now said that
he was willing, and would come forward at any time, and
make a full and free confession of all the circumstances
connected with the case. He moved that J. B. Dasent be
called to the bar.
The question was put, and the ayes were very numerous.
Mr. G ISBO RNE rose not to oppose the motion, but he felt
that it was necessary shortly to state to the House the manner
in which the evidence given by and against Mr. Dasent agreed
with the statements in the petition. The Hon. Gentleman
then contrasted the statements alluded to above. He would
ask why Mr. Dasent had not given all the evidence he
could, before the Committee ?—( Hear, hear, hear.)
Instead of his coming before the Committee being a
palliation of his crime it was an aggravation of it, for he was
called upon not to give evidence for the petitioners, but
merely for the purpose of saving the seats of the sitting
Members. He felt himself perfectly justified in saying that
Mr. Kelly had put his friend and pupil into the box, not
for the purpose of giving evidence in order to elucidate
the truth, but to admit that he had bribed voters, and also
to say that it was without the authority of the prisoners,
Dundas and Kelly. It was not to remove the stain which had
been cast upon his own character, but to affirm that he was
guilty before the Committee, in order to save the scats
of the sitting Members. The reason why he did
not oppose the discharge of Mr, Dasent, was, that in

the report he held in his hand he found plenty of
evidence to justify the House in instructing his Majesty's At-
torney- General to proceed against him for bribery, and he would
make that motion as soon as the one before the House was
disposed of. He would not oppose the motion for his diischarge
—the punishment had been enough for absconding. He
would make that motion if the House would permit him, as
soon as this trotion was disposed of, if he had that
permission, he would not say another word upon the present
motion ; if not, then he would lay before the House the evidence
given before the Committee against Mr. Dasent. The lion.
Gentleman then read the evidence upon Mr. Dasent's case.
The evidence appeared to establish a clear case, and on that it
was his intention to move, that John Dacent be prosecuted for
bribery. He stated this, because he thought Hon. Members
would wish to know what they intended to do before they voted
upon this question.
Lord JOHN RUSSELL agreed that, as far the
offence of absconding was concerned, the petitioner had
sufficiently suffered—( hear, hear)—to enable the House
now to call him to the bar for the purpose of
discharging him. With regard to the other question, he
thought it would be far better for the House to confine
itself to the exercise of its power in the committal of the par-
ties to Newgate at present, and to take time to consider what
should be done in reference to the other point. He thought
the punishment was so far adequate, and that the House would
be justified in ordering the discharge of the prisoner. Upon
the other question he hoped the House would take ample time
to deliberate.—( Hear.)
Mr. D. \V. HARVEY did not concur in the course of the
present proceedings. It might have been announced that, at
half-past five o'clock, there would be performed the farce of
" A Contempt of this House made Easy."--( Laughter.)
If they were sitting there in a judicial capacity, deliberating
what was to be done with a man whom they had made their
prisoner, they ought surely to understand well the case before
they came to a conclusion ; but the truth was that
there was not one in ten of those now called upon to decide
who knew any thing at all of the matter —( Hear, hear.)
There had been two charges incidentally brought . out
during this dicussion : one was, that the petitioner who
now asked for the clemency of the House, being a necessary
witness before a tribunal of which this House was the ex-
clusive party, had absconded, to avoid its process, and that
having undergone a very few days' punishment, he Was
now to be reprimanded by the Speaker, with all the courtesy
of language for which he was proverbial ; and secondly,
upon another charge, he was to be prosecuted by the
Attorney-General, but he would say nothing of that,
because it would be dealt with in another way ; and he
was going to say by a higher tribunal than this, but certainly one
equally important. If the powers of this House were defective, it
became the more necessary to guard them by the severity of that
punishment which they were able to inflict. Who was the cul-
prit ? Was he of unlettered mind, uninformed of the obligations
he owes to his country's institutions ? Was he some thoughtless
individual entrapped by various means into an unsuspected
criminality, and made the unintentional agent of an improper
person ? Was he like one of those unfortunate men whose
case was before the House last night ?—( Hear, hear, hear)--
men who were undergoing seven years transportation, torn
from all the comforts that belong even to the cheerless station
of our distressed peasantry—( Hear)—and every sympathy which
tied them to their country, cut asunder because they erred
through ignorance ?—( Hear.) On the contrary, who was this
individual ?—( Hear.) He was at that moment a Bar-
rister—a man who was presumed to have gone through an
intelligent and enlightened course of education to
fit him for the practice of the law.—( Hear, hear, hear.)
He was one of the pupils of that Mr. Kelly, who from a
shopkeeper and tea-dealer, was now sitting amongst the
silken Judges of an irresponsible cluster.—(Great con-
fusion and cheering.) He appeAred to be a pupil of that
Mr. Kelly, who by some accident was transferred from the
situation he alluded to, to that high station which was denied
to' the props of the land—he was sitting upon the character
of those persons who applied to be admitted to the Inns of
Court. In ordinary cases of an individual avoiding the
process of a common tribunal, what was the nature of the
punishment which was applied to him? There was an
individual belonging to an enlightened profession, the intro-
duction to which was not only the highest class of education,
but also pre-eminent moral fitness—they found him studiously
avoiding the power of the highest tribunal. Ignorance
was no plea for a man of this description. What would
be the judgment pronounced by Mr. Dasent himself?
He had placed himself (as he thought) in the high car-
reer of promotion, which had hitherto been the grand
conduit to all judicial dignities—( Hear, hear)—whence
there was one step to the Bench itself. What would be his
judgment—what would be Mr. Kelly's judgment—if
lie saw an uncultivated, unlettered man brought to
the bar in the ordinary course of justice, being arraigned of
avoiding a subpoena of the Court? But here was a double
offence—there was not only the evasion of the ordinary process,
but there was concealment from the effects of his own crimi-
nality. lie scarcely could conceive a charge of a na-
ture more complicated or criminal than this.—( Hear.)
Now what was the punishment that this Gentleman had to
endure—three weeks' imprisonment, with all the luxuries that
could be afforded in the receptacle for those who had
misconducted themselves.—( Hear, and cheering) Apart
from being a free agent without the walls of Newgate,
he apprehended there were few cases in which luxuries could
be so fully enjoyed as in Newgate, provided an individual had
only the means to obtain them, which be had no doubt these
parties had.
An HoN. MEMBER observed that they slept two in a bed.—
(A laugh.)
Mr. D. W. HARVEY said no doubt that was so ; but con-
sidering the good-will subsisting between the parties, he thought
'that would not make much difference. He was as well situated
as the man who was in the enjoyment of 2,0001. He had
one of the best rooms in the house of the Governor, and every
luxury that he could wish. In his opinion Mr. Dacent had not
undergone the punishment that was often inflicted on inno-
cence. Who was there who had not seen accounts of mi-
serable beings brought up before the Lord Mayor on some such
charge as that of having stolen a loaf of bread from a baker's
shop, probably for the purpose of appeasing hunger ? On a
statement being made by the officer, that the prosecutor was
out of town,' and would return in a fortnight, or that all the
evidence was not cortiplete, with what indifference—with what
an absence of feeling on the subject, in this House, or through
the various ranks of opulence and distinction, was that unfortu-
nate person " remanded till this day week ;" then brought up
again, and " remanded till this day fortnight ?"—( A laugh.)
There were no sympathies for him.—( Hear, hear ) And if,
eventually, on his being brought up, it turned out that
there was no prosecution, or that there existed no founda-
tion for the charge, then, indeed, there was some appear-
ance of commiseration ; and it was discoverable up in a
corner, in a sort of parenthesis, which told them that the
Lord Mayor had presented the miserable being with a
crown out of his own pocket.—(Great laughter.) What,
however, was the course in a case like the present ? Here
was an individual who had been convicted of a grave offence;
he had been under restraint for three weeks, and sympathy
was all alive in his behalf ; they were told that he was a young
gentleman of great promise, belonging to a profession of high
character, that he was most respectably connected, and that
some regard should be had for the feelings of himself and.
friends.—(Hear, hear.) It might be said also—let them see
what awaited him—he was about to be handed over to the
tender mercies of his Majesty's Attorney-General I To this
he would say, could it be imagined that if this person were
now called to the bar and discharged, they would ever hear of
him in this House again ? If, however, a motion were here-
after made, to the effect that his Majesty's Attorney-Gene-
ral be instructed to prosecute Mr. Dasent in a court of
justice, he could fancy the cries of " Oh, oh !" with which
Hon. Members would mark their sense of such a pro-
position.—( Laughter.) They would exclaim, " What 1 bring
up his name again I Was he not confined in Newgate for a
fortnight or three weeks? Was he not taken away from
his family and friends, and confined
,in the house of the
Governor ?—( A laugh.) Was he not in solitary confine-
ment ?" Then the Noble Lord opposite, who, with his va-
rious important occupations, was too much engaged to be
very alive to matters of this sort, the Noble Lord would,
perhaps, rise Isom his seat, and make it a request to the Hon.
Member who had given notice of the motion, that he would
put it off till after the third reading of the Municipal Corpora-
tions Bill.—(Much laughter.) Then, on some after occasion,
probably, another Hon. Member would beg to remind the
Hon. Gentleman that the Irish Church measure stood for this
evening, and he would much consult the public interest if he
would give way in favour of so important a subject.—( Laugh
ter.) So, between the Municipal -Corporations and Irish
Church Reform, Mr. Dasent, the offender, would make his
escape.—( A laugh.) But then at the end of the session, per-
haps, some Hon. Member would rise to say that he did so to
give notice, on popular grounds, in order that his constituents
might understand that he was alive to these matters, that next
session he should consider it-his paramount duty to bring the
subject forward.—( Shouts of laughter.) Well, next session
it was brought forward, and what was the general sentiment?
why, that it was not at all decent to renew the matter. It
would be said, here was a young man of brilliant character,
of high attainments, of amiable -feelings, and with most re-
spectable connections—if there should be any Hon. Member
who knew Mr. Dasent, and could speak to his respecta-
bility, that would be enough, that would be conclusive—
but at all events it would be asked whether, in the case of
such an individual, it was fair, sifter the lapse of a period of
four months, for his name to be again brought before the
public, and submitted to the vulgar gaze ? It would be
urged that he ought not again to be subject to vulgar imputa-
tions being cast upon him, that to pursue such a course
would be inconsiderate and unkind, and the House would be
implored not to visit its judgment upon the young gentleman
with vindictive feelings. If he were now brought before them,
it would be but consistent with such conduct, if the Speaker
were to address him in these words : " John Bury Dasent, I
congratulate you on the insufficiency of the power of this
House to punish you to the extent that your serious offence
requires—( A laugh) ; but you must understand that this House
is full of indignation when it contemplates the acts of which
you have been guilty. It is hoped, however, that the imprison-
ment you have already suffered will prove a check to you,
and that you will not again be so indiscreet as to go to
such a place as Ipswich, unless you are better versed in
the means of escaping detection."--4 Continued laughter.)—
He would say seriously, that if they were to conscientiously
of
metthhei duties as judges, let them go through the process
something
were to hav their
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only
,airly understood in what character it was that they
were called there. Having left the House at one o'clock
this viciy7d for by
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rslr• At terelva o'clock he took his seat as Chairman o I
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the Committee on Public Charities, and since the Come
mittee he had been giving his attendance in the House.
He was not supposing that his industry was more signal
than that of all who were about him, but he did say that
he had no time to look into the evidence to enlighten him
as to any judgment that he could reflect on with satisfaction.
With regard to Mr. Dasent, he had never seen or heard of
him till he saw the report of the Committee ; it was not his
wish that any man should be incarcerated for an hour ; but
looking at this as a judicial subject—feeling himself called on
as one of 600 individuals whose duty it was to pronounce an
opinion, contemplating this House as the highest court 'of
jurisdiction in the country, and in that capacity called under
solemn circumstances for their adjudication, he must say that
he thought more time ought to be allowed for investigation
before they adjudicated on any one of the cases of the peti-
tioners. If they were this evening to discharge Mr. Dasent
for having evaded service of the process of the House, and if
then the Hon. Member for Derbyshire were to move that his
Majesty's Attorney-General should be ordered to prosecute him
for bribery, many lion. Members would say that the latter was
another question altogether—that whether they should indict for
bribery, and expose to all the penalties attaching to that offence,
this young and hopeful man, was a matter for grave consideration.
Would it be wise first to let the bird out of the cage, with
the intention of then determining whether they should let
fly at him ? If the House were prepared to adopt the reso-
lution of the Hon. Member for Derbyshire, and to effect that
his Majesty's Attorney. General was to prosecute Mr. Dasent
for bribery, then he should say, let that individual by all means
be instantly let out of custody ; but if, in the first place, they
determined that he should he reprimanded and discharged,
then he would venture to say that they never would come to
the resolution, that this person was to be prosecuted for bri-
bery. It would be said that there were two charges against
him ; one vas that he had evaded the process of the highest
court of judicature in the kingdom, and the other was that
he had committed an offence which exposed him to statutable
penalties. With reference to the punishment Mr. Dasent
had suffered, he wculd ask, was not every witness bound to
attend a court of justice under the severest penalties?
It was nothing to say that they had unseated the late
Members for Ipswich, because the whole weight of the case
might have fallen upon this state of things. If the question
was to be disposed of in a spirit of whining sympathy, then it
was only for them to say to Mr. Dasent that they had not the
power to detain him longer—that they regretted the interrup-
tion that had occurred to his domestic comfort, and the other
inconveniences he had sustained—that he would depart from
the bar, carrying with him the admiration of the House—that
they trusted that during his incarceration the keeper of New-
gate had shown him every delicate attention—(Laughter)—
and that if he ever should find his way into that House again,
they would afford him an excellent reception, since he had
shown by his ingenuity that his qualifications were considerable.
The Hon. and Learned Gentleman concluded by saying, that
though not acting on his oath in that House, he felt imposed
'upon him the higher obligation of being called on honourably
to discharge his duty, and he was actuated by that feeling when
he called on the House to adopt a different course 'from the one
which had been proposed.—( Cheers.)
Mr. STEWART explained. Judging by the powerful
and somewhat fanciful speech of the Hon. Member for South-
, wark he had evidently laboured under a mistake as to the
grounds on which he (Mr. Stewart) proposed the motion.
It was not on the ground of clemency, but on that of jus-
tice. He ( Mr. Stewart) had said that he would not go into
the evidence upon the subject, and he anticipated there might
come another allegation, at present unproved, on which, in
addition to the crime proved of contempt for non-attendance
on the warrant of the Speaker, the House might have to adju-
dicate. His motion was simply that Mr. Dasent be called to
the bar.
Mr. CHAPMAN wished the case sifted to the bottom.
After a few words from Mr. Warburton, Mr. Campbell,
and Mr. Hardy, amid loud cries of " Question,"
Mr. R. WASON was understood to say, that taking into
consideration the willingness with which the parties in custody
had offered to give their further evidence on the subject of
the proceedings at the election, he thought that they might
very fairly be liberated. (The Hon. Gentleman was here
interrupted by loud cries of " Divide," and strangers were or-
dered to withdraw.)
The House then divided, when there appeared—
For the motion l9O
Against it
Majority against the motion —49
When we returned to the gallery a brief conversation be-
tween Mr. Hawes, the Speaker, and Mr. D. W. Harvey, was
going on, but none of it reached us.
Mr. HAWES then rose to call the attention of the House
to the petitioner Pilgrim. Pilgrim was a mere servant or
clerk-to one of the parties ;he was no principal in the trans-
action. What he had done he did under the direction and
control of others, who were his employers. That Pilgrim had
been guilty there was no manner of doubt, but it was for the
House to say how far guilty with his own privity, and how far
he acted under the orders of his employers. With respect to
the allegation against him of felony, he (Mr. Hawes) had
nothing whatever to say to it. He had only to put it to the
House whether, on the case of contempt, there was sufficient
reason for his discharge. He (Mr. Hawes) thought there was,
and that, in the capacity of clerk or agent, he had a title to
their clemency. The Hon. Member then read a passage from
the petition of Pilgrim in extenuation. It stated that, in ab-
senting himself from the service of the Speaker's warrant, as
well as in all the prior and subsequent transactions, he was
induced to act at the instigation of Messrs. Sewell and Blake,
his masters, Mr. Keith, Fitzroy Kelly, Esq., and his friend
Mr. Clipperton, and that he relied for immunity on their high
legal knowledge and extensive experience, being himself un-
acquainted professionally with the law. He (Mr. Hawes)
conceived that, as the petitioner had shown himself to be
merely the clerk or agent of one of the parties to the transac-
tion, and as he had disavowed solemnly any idea of invasion
of the privileges of the House, it would be beneath their dig-
nity to visit him with any more punishment, or proceed fur-
ther against him. He concluded by moving that John Pilgrim
be called to the bar of the House, to be reprimanded by the
Speaker, and then discharged out of custody.
Mr. HUME supported the motion of the Hon. Member for
Lambeth, because he'was satisfied that every thing which had
been done by Pilgrim was done by the bidding of his masters.
Though he certainly was an agent in the guilt of bribery, he
was, as certainly, not so guilty as those by whose will he was
swayed, and under whose orders he acted.
Mr. WODE HOUSE did not rise to oppose the motion, but
to set the House right respecting Messrs. Sewell and Blake.
These gentlemen distinctly denied all that which the petition
of Pilgrim affirmed of them, with the exception of the circum-
stance of directing him to proceed to Ipswich. That they ad-
mitted ; but all the rest they solemnly and distinctly denied.
With respect to the charge of felony made by them against
Pilgrim, which had been so much commented on within and
without the House, as affecting the character of these gentle-
men, he (Mr. Wodehouse) had a word or two say. He had
been very recently at Norwich,and had ascertained from his own
knowledge that the prosecution was a bona fide one. He had
seen the opinion of Mr. Sydney Taylor on it ; and he had
heard from Mr. Money, the cashier of Messrs. Sewell and
Blake, the important fact, that the twenty pounds alleged by the
petitioner Pilgrim to have been given him by those gentlemen,
was given him by him (Mr. Money) without their consent, and
without their having the slightest knowledge of the transac-
tion.---(Cries of " Oh, oh.") He was ready, on their part,
to state that they were fully prepared to meet any charge
which could be preferred against them at that or any other
tribunal.
Mr. GISBORNE was satisfied that no individual could
read the evidence taken before the Committee without coming
at once to the conclusion that Pilgrim had gone to Norwich
at Messrs,. Sewell and Blake's directions, for the purposes on
which he had been convicted ; and that these Gentlemen,
knowing these purposes, had sent him there to accomplish
them.
Mr. R. WASON said, Pilgrim had received 201. on going
to the Continent. There was nothing to rebut that fact. He
(Mr. Wason) would beg to ask the Hon. Member whether
that was included in the charge of embezzlement against
Pilgrim ?
Mr. WODE HOUSE replied in the negative. •
Mr. WA SON continued—The charge of embezzlement
reduced itself then to 61. two years ago, and 3/. about a year-
and.a-half ago. Yet, with these charges standing against
him, 201. was paid him by the parties, and nothing was said
about them.
Lord STOR MONT said, there had been much importance
attached to the fact of Pilgrim's having received 201., and
Hon. Members had asserted, on the authority of that indi-
vidual, that Messrs. Sewell and Blake were parties to his
guilt, and cognizant of his flight ; but these Gentlemen posi-
tively denied all knowledge of the transaction; and it was for
the House to determine between the credit due to the affirma-
tion of Pilgrim as opposed to that denial. There could be
little doubt as to which was most valuable. Messrs. Sewell
and Blake were gentlemen of the highest respectability.—
(lryonlliocnal.
Memberc h cheers.) ) s t Hean d
n(
pL
ionr d
his Stormont)plaoplace
and shouldsaytheylike
we
rtoo
nsoete.
an_
-:( Hear, and laughter.) The Hon. Member (Mr. Wason,
we believe) cheered him; did he mean to do so? They were
gentlemen of extensive business, well known in Norfolk, Suf-
folk, and all the adjoining counties, and a shadow had never
been attempted to be cast on their character before.
Mr. HAWES read another passage from the petition of
Pilgrim. It was to the effect that he had gone to Ipswich
by the direction of Mr. Blake, that he had been induced to
leave Norwich by Mr. Keith, and that he had been sup-
plied with 20/. for that purpose by Messrs. Sewell, Blake,
and Keith.
Mr. P. STEWART said, that it was not quite in order to
introduce Messrs. Sewell and Blake into the case before the
House. They were highly respectable no doubt. though he
protested against anything contained in the petition of these
respectable Gentlemen being taken to invalidate the state-
ments in Pilgrim's petition.
Mr. C. BARCLAY said that in his business it was no un-
common thing. for a clerk who had been long in his employ-
ment to obtain from the cashier, without his ( Mr. Bar-
clay's) cognizance, as much as 301. or 40/. at a time, and
to pay it by instalments. This he felt bound to state, in
corroboration of the assertion of Messrs. Sewell and Blake,
that they knew nothing of the 201. stated to have been paid
to Pilgrim.
Mr. BL AC KSTONE said that Mr. Keith had denied that
he knew anything about Pilgrim, having absconded, for
when Pilgrim came to consult him on the subject, he referred
him to his own legal adviser, Mr. Jay, the solicitor, of Nor-
wich. In fact, Mr. Keith did not know where Pilgrim had
even gone to, for he stated in his evidence that he went to
Clipperton to inquire where Pilgrim was, and that for some
time Clipperton refused to tell him. He could not sit and
hear such insinuations thrown out against that highly-respec-
table firm, Messrs. Sewell, Blake, and Keith, without vindi-
cating their characters from such aspersions. Pilgrim was the
son of an old servant cif the firm, and in his youth he corn-