The Sun.
London, England, 1845-07-25 00:00:00

tinuance of the a trade, tut tat was not the question. The
question was—was this country prepared to abandon her former
line of policy—was she prepared to retrace her steps, and ren-
der her former exertions fruitless ? He would not deny that
Cie Government had not conic to the resolution of presenting
this Bill to Pin-Lament without great deliberation and great
regret.—( Hear, In ar. ) Every means had been taken
to prevail upon the Brazilian Government to act upon
the terms of the convention of 1826, but they were fruitless.
The Government hail, then, no alternative but to bring for-
ward the present measure, and act independently on their part,
or allow the slave trade on the coast of Africa to be carried on,
as formerly. by Br,zilian subjects. It was the opinion
of Sir William Foliett, whose name he could not
mention, without exciting a respect . for the memory of
that distinguished man, that in case Brazil refused to
act upon the treaty of 1841, England was fully justified
in exei cisii. g the right of search upon Brazilian vessels.
That was a right they hail exercised up to the present time.
Then, w.th respect to the production of papers which might be
rendered necessary for various purposes connected with the
public service, the Hon. Gentleman could not say that he had
ever refused to produce th,m, where such a course would pro-
mote, instead of it jure, the public service. It was necessary,
for the prometion of the interests of this country, that this
meesure shout] be passed into a law, but if Brazil would enter
into a treaty with them, not for the suppression of the slave
trade, but into new engagements, for the purpose of giving
effect to the original agreement of 1826, they would not proceed
with it. But it had been rendered necessary by the conduct of
Brazil for a long series of years, • ur:ng which they
had implored that country to take measures other
than those of a temporary nature. The Honour.
able Gentleman said th.,t tre m acute was imr'erfect.
beeause alterations of which he did not approve were made
when it, passed through Committee projlsrnra. These alters-
tio.!s were not, however, of such a nature as to alter
the object, whi.h the Bill had in view in any material
degree, and hail refer, nee to the continuance
of the mixed Commission for a period of six months.
There was another alteration, giving a part of the
proceeds of a slave vessel and of its cargo to those who had
aided in capturing it. He hot ed, therefore, that he had fully.
explained away the charge which had been brought against the
Government that the measure was imperfectly constructed, and
had been hurriedly introduced. Ile did not think that any
good object would be attained by producing the correspondence
or the instructions to which the motion referred.
Mr. HUTT said, if they passed this Bill, as he had every
reason to believe they would, in two Years they would find
their trade with Brazil utterly destroyed. The trade between
this country and Portugal was of the gri atest importance, and
an)thing tending to its injury, as he apprehended this measure
would, could not be t'oo much deprecated. Then they should re-
collect that other countries were anxious to enter into engage-
ments of a more beneficial nature with Portugal than we could
offer. The slave trade was not now carried on as formerly
under the Portuguese flag, although in other countries—under
the flag of the United states, for instance—it had greatly
augmented. But if the Brazilian flag did not afford the same
facilities as formerly for carrying on the slave trade, it was too
lucrative to be entirely got rid of; so that they would only
drive it into other channels offering facilities for carrying it on.
Lord PALMERSTON did not concur in the views which
were entertained by some of his Hon. Friends with respect to
the measure before them. Indeed he could not pursue any
other course, as he was the first to suggest the adoption of the
course which the Government were now pursuing. The
question which the House had to consider was whether the
treaty of 1826 was to be ten ;ere(' null and void, or whether
they should adopt measures to enable the Crown to carry it
into execution. He was of opinion that. if this country
entered into treaties with other countries and did
not enforce them, when any country became reluctant to carry
them rut, that they would bring disgrace upon themselves by
their negligence, and want Of national honour. The Govern-
ment or which he was a Member during the ten years they
were in office, used every argument in their power to induce
the Government of Brazil to carry out the engagements which
they had bound themselves to, but like their successors they
had riot succeeded in their object. Every time the question
of the slave trade was discussed, that treaty formed a promi-
nent portion of it. Were they then to be permitted to carry
on their traffic in slaves with perfect impunity, and were they
not to take those means which the treaty with Brazil placed in
their power? In that case he was ready to bear his shsre in
any responsibility which might ensue. if the Government
had not taken the course with Brazil which they did with re-
spect to the sugar duties—( Hear, hear)—if they had
taken the proper course, they should not have found
themselves in the position they now held, and would Lot have
occasioned that irritation in Brazil which threatened to put an
end to the treaty of 1817. When they asked Brazil to fulfil
her engagements they asked no more than they would perform
what they had agreed to do by treaty. He was
much afrai t, however, that the measure would not put an end
to the slave trade, as it would be driven to other portions of
the globe, offering facilities for carrying it on. The slave
trade of Brazil would be carried on under the flag of France
and of the United States. Ile took that opportunity of calling
the attention of the Government to the slave trade carried on
between Muscat and the Isle of Borneo, in the hope of its
receiving their attention during the recess. He did,
therefore, hope that her Majesty's Government would
make those representations to the French Government, which
would induce them to recal that ordinance. Slavery did not
exist in the Mauritius, and there was, therefore, an opportu-
nity of checking the importation of negroes, but it did exist in
the Isle of Bourbon, and he was afraid that a means might be
afforded for promoting the slave trade in the interior of Africa.
He trusted the Government would urge upon the Imaum of
Muscat to take all steps for stopping the trade within his domi-
nions. The Governor of Cuba had sent back the negroes
which had been introduced into his island. The negroes in
Cuba became forfeited to the Crown. and the consequence was
their liberty. The Dutch Governor had purchased these
negroes illegally, and he should say that as the Dutch Govern-
ment had no right to retain British subjects in, bondrge,
he hoped, therefore, that the Government would interfere to
set them at liberty. Then, again, no progress whatever had
been made in giving liberty to the Emancipadoes, and he
hoped the Government would insist on the liberation of those
men. By national law and by treaty we were entitled to demand
it. Those who were to be set at liberty were entitled to
the protection of the country, and he was quite sure that if
this point was pressed upon the Spanish Government, it would
go further than any other. He trusted that the papers of
next year would be more satisfactory than those of this year.
When tt e Government talked, no men could speak more
fairly, but when they came to act he was sorry nothing could
be seen, and their acts fell far short of their words. He
thought that the return which he had moved for last year
might have been ready by this time.
Sir It. PEEL said, that in explanation he might assure the
Noble Lord, that if he would appoint a time, he would request
Mr. Barry, in the Foreign Department, to show him that it
was no indisposition or negligence, but a real difficulty in
making out the return which prevented its being furnished.
Mr. M. GIBSON only wished to explain that it was not
competent for the House to make a law which should bind
Brazilian subjects. The circumstance of the executive having
declured the slave trade to be piracy, did not make it piracy, and
therefore they ought to be very careful how they legislated on
raise grounds.
The House then went into Committee' on the Bill, and on
the first clause being proposed,
Capt. PECHELL inquired whether the Admiralty had re-
ceived any account of the gallant conduct of Lieut. Streport, in
the capture of a slaver, and of the sufferings of Lieut. Wilson,
of the Star, and several of the crew on a raft ?
Sir G. COCKBURN replied that as yet they had received
no official communication.
Mr. HAWES thought the House should be put in posses-
sion of the negotiations by which the ruptures in the Brazilian
colonies had been caused, and which were issued between the
two Governments in the final arrangement of the stipulations
of the treaty.
Sir R. PEEL considered that the production of such papers
would tend to irritate rather than cement those differences
which ail must deplore ; at the same time that they would not
afford any information respecting the policy of the Govern-
ment, and therefore he must oppose their production".
Mr. M. GIBSON thought they were legislating in the dark,
and with blinded eyes, unless the correspondence which led to
the ruptures firs', and this ill 1 eventually, were freely laid be-
fore the House.
Mr. HAWES considered that the whole difficulties in re-
spect of legislating for the Brazil, and preserving concord in
the colony, was the fallacious amid inconsistent course pursued
by Government in making a difference between free and slate
grown sugar.
Lord PALNIERSTON said he had always imagined that the
favourable reception of the sugar of Brazil was a sine qua non
in the negotiat ions between this and the Brazilian Government.
The clause, as well as the second, were then agreed to.
On the third clause being put from the chair,
Sir THOMAS WILDE said that the Government had no
power whatever to make any conduct an act of piracy, unless by
the law of nations. The French Government passed a similar
concurrent Act. But the Brazilian Government had
not taken such a course. It was true they had announced
their intention of agreeing to the proposition, but no specific
law had been pissed, and the measure, if now carried, would
in reality be no more binding than if the Minister of the Crown
suggested an Act to the Sovereign which was not carried out
be the force of law. The Executive must always come to the
assistance of the Legislature, but, even if such had been the
case in Brazil, he should have denied the power of the Bra-
zilian Government to enter into the treaty with that of England
to make the sale of negroes piracy.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said that his Hon. and
Learned Frit nd was as well aware as he was, that Brazil was
peculiarly•circumstanced as regarded the slave treaties. He
knew that she had become a party to the slave treaty of 1817,
and though Brazil said, that now the mixed commission was at
an end, and that the slave-trade was abolished in her do-
minions, it was admitted that Brazil had passed no law, ex-
pressive of au abolition of the slave-trade, but she contended
that the fact of her declaring the slave-trade to be piracy,
amply sufficed to show that she held the principle that slavery
was extinct in her dominions. Now the question was, in what
mode this matter should be dealt with. His Honourable and
Learned Friend said that the Courts of Admiralty and Vice-
Admiralty had no power of dealing with Brazilian slaves as
pirates, but with all deference to his Hon. and Learned
Friend, he thought he was in this case in error, for
if the
acknowledged Brazilian
thatthe convention
the carrying
on the African slave trade as piracy, then surely they were
a
justified by the article of that convention in dealing with them
Governmentthey
recognisedhd, by
as pirates. Therefore, with regard to the first part of the
clause, he ventured to differ from his Hon. and Learned
Friend, and he was net prepared to abandon, without very
serious consideration, the stipulations contained in the latter
part of the clause.
Sir T. WILDE would ask how the Executive Government
could proceed against the subjects of foreign countries as
criminals under circumstances in which they could not proceed
against their own.—( Hear, hear.) reti(eyy could indeed pass
laws enacting that any aggression by the subjects of a foreign
nation upon the subjects of England, could be punished as
piracy, but they could not so proceed against the subjects of a
third nation.—( Hear, hear.)
Sir R. PEEL said there were two things to be considered—
an offence against the Brazilian subject, and an offence against
Brazilian property. He apprehended that in this case the Act
applied to the property
and
not to the subject, and, therefore,
he thought the posi
tion of the Hon. and Learned Member was
confirmed. He would take care that before the third reading
of the Bill, the clause should undergo further consideration, and
in the event of its being found that some alteration was ne-
cessary, the Committee might rely upon its being made.
Mr. M. GIBSON must take the liberty of asking some
further explanation as to this Bill. The Right Hon. Baronet
had stated that this Bill would not interfere with Brazilian sub-
jects. Now, how could the Right Hon. Baronet reconcile this
with a dispatch which had just been sent out to Brazil by Lord
Aberdeen, which stated that all Brazilian subjects found en-
gaged in the slave-trade were to be treated as pirates?-
Sir ROBERT PEEL replied that the treaty of 1826 gave
the power to deal both with the person and property of Bra-
zilians subjects found engaged in the slave-trade, but within
the last thirty years the power had only been applied to sub-
jects, and they did not intend to change that system by the
present
Captain PECHELL remarked that the treaty of 1826 only
gave this country power to deal with property and ships
actually engaged in the slave trade ; but by this Bill Govern-
ment proposed to deal with vessels which were only equipped
for the trade, The treaty, moreover, only gave them power
to destroy, and not to sell vessels which might be captured
while engaged in the slave-trade.
Sir R. PEEL said they had exercised the power of seizing
vessehe which were only equipped for the slave-trade for the

last thirty years, and he could See no objection to their con-
tinuing to do so.
After some fnrther discussion t 1.6 clause was agreed to, as
were also 4 and 5.

Clauses fi and 7 were agreed to, after a short discussion, as
was also clause 8.

Mr. MUTT F a d he did not much approve of the measure, as
it was one w hich involved a great deal of expense.
The other clauses were then agreed to, and the House
resumed.

REMOVAL OF PAUPERS RILL.
The House then went into Committee on the Removal of
Paupers Bill.

Captain JONES suggested an amendment in the 4th clause,
to which

Sir J. GRA fl AM.objected, . upon the gtound that the
amendment would have the efieiit of repealing the power of
removing paupers altogether. The clatbe only gave the power
of landi g paupers at the port nearest their native place, and
then of being sent on to that place, instead of being lauded at
Cork, for instance, which might he the place farthe.4 from their
native places.

Afte'r a few words from Sir R. FERGUSON, the clause
was agreed to.

Clau,e 5 was next proposed; and, alter a few words from Mr.
G. Palmer, Sir J. Graham, and Jr.A Darby, agreed to.
'1 he remaining clauie.s were disposed of and the House re-
sumed, and the Bill way ordered to be reported to. morrow at
twelve o'clock.

TAXING MASTERS' COURT OF CHANCERY
(IRELAND) BILL.
Upon the motion that the House go into Committee upon this
Bill,

Sir R. FERGUSON wished that it might be an instruction
to the Committee that some compensation might be given to
certain officers of the COurt of Chancery in Ireland, who would
be aggrieved by this Bill.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said he would
not consent that any such instruction should be given to the
Committee.

Mr. HAMILTON said he had a petition from certain
solicitors in Ireland, who prayed that they might be appointed
as taxing masters, they being the most competent persons. He
would suggest an amendment to the effect that solicitors of the
Court of t✓hancery'of twelve years' standing should be chosen
for the office id taxing master.
Mr. T. 13. C. :SNI rr tI opposed the amendment.. The effect
of the amendment would be to exclude barristers and many
attorneys of great taleriti and abilities who did not practice in
the Court of Chancery. lie objected to this principle of ex-
clurion, and. thought it would be unfair in its operation.
The clause was then agreed to.
The remaining clauses and the preamble were then agreed
to, and the House having resumed, the report was brought
up. and received.

TURNPIKE7ROADS (IRELAND) BILL.
This Pill passed through Committee—report on Monday.
DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE BILL.
This Bill also passed through Committee. Report this day.
REAL PROPERTY—(No. I.) BILL.
'The House then went into. Committee on this Bill.
The Bill went through Committee, and the House resumed.
The report was brought up and adopted, and the Bill, as
amended, was ordered to be printed.
ASSIGNMENT OF TERMS BILL.
The House then went into Committee on this Bill, the
clauses of which were agreed to, the report adopted, and the
Bill was ordered to be reed a third time tomorrow.
GRANTING OF .LEASES BILL.
After a.short conversation between Sir T. Wilde, Mr. M.
I. O'Connell, and the Attorney-General, the last of whom
cordially supported the measure, this Bill went through Com-
mittee, •

The report of the County Rates Bill was brought up, and
the Bill ordered to be read a third time to-morrow.
SCOTTISH TURNPIKE TRUSTS BILL.
On the motion being put for the committal of this Bill, i
was moved that it be committed that day three months.
Mr., P. M. STEWART supported the Bill, and declared
that the lion. Member had misrepresented its purpose and
purport. He was quite sure that this Bill would be looked
upon by the people of Scotland as an improvement on the
existing law, and, were it not so late at night, he could easily
dispose of the arguments of the Hon. Gentleman against it.
Mr. FORBES MACKENZIE confessed that he did not
agree with the views of the Honourable Member who had just
sat down, and intimated his intention of ♦oting against the
committal of the Bill.

Strangers were then ordered to withraw, and the House
divided, when there appeared—
For the amendment 42
Against it
Majority for the amendment
FEES (CRIMINAL COURTS) BILL.
Mr. ESCOTT, in moving the committal of this Bill, stated
that its object was to prevent a person being, in certain coun-
ties in England, compelled to purchase his right of pleading.
and his right of trial, when charged with a criminal offence, by
the payment of exorbitant fees to the officers of the local cri-
minal courts. They would never get any justice unless they
should decide that no person should be inflicted with any fine
beyond the damages for the offence. He was at a great loss to
know why this Bill should be opposed. This was a
mere question of money. These fees formed a con-
venient way, except to the parties who paid them,
of paying money into the pockets of men other-
wise respectable, but who would not be thoroughly
respectable as long as they received those fees. He wished
then that this Bill would be allowed to go into Committee. and
if any amendments were to be made as to the practical working
of it he would be most happy to listen to them. Though the
Bill might not be perfect, there was no doubt that it would do a
great deal of good, and would create a great admiration for the
administration of justice in this country and a love of the laws.
Sir JAMES GRAHAM said that they had now arrived at a
period of the session, and at an hour of the morning, when it
would be necessary to cut this matter short. He had heard
the Honourable Member say that the Bill was not
necessary ; but it was as necessary as most other measures
of superfluous legislation. With regard to parties acquitted,
he agreed with his Pon. Friend; but he totally differed from
him as to parties found guilty, for he did think this latter class
ought to be made to feel the infliction of the law.

Lord J. M ANNERS said it was impossible for any Member
to understand this, what he would call " hocus p6cus " legis-
lation.

Sir JAMES GRAHAM said that if the House sided with
him in staying the further progress of the 8,11, he would give
notice that, to-morrow, he would introduce a Bill for the
abolition of fees upon pleading and acquittal.
Mr. P. BORTH WICK briefly supported the motion.
Mr. ESCOTT, at the request of several Hon. Members,
then withdrew the Bill.
DRAINAGE BILL.

The Earl of LINCOLN moved for leave to bring in a Bill
for the Improvement of the Sewerage and Drainage of Towns
and populous Districts, and for making provision for an ample
supply of water, and for otherwise promoting the health and
convenience of the inhabitants. He said it was not his intention
to press the Bill through the House in the present session, but
simply to have it introduced and printed, and placed in lion.
Members' hands, so that their best attention might be given to
its details during the recess.
Leave was then given to introduce the Bill.
The other orders of the day were then disposed of, and the
House adjourned at Half-past One o'Clock.

SOUTH LONDON FLORICULTURAL SOCIETY.—The
third show of the flowers, fruits, and culinary vegetables, ex-
hibited under the auspices of this Society, and for the medals,
&c., they distribute, took place on Wednesday in the Surrey Zoological
Gardens. The collection of specimens was more than usually
good; indeed, it may be placed amongst the best collections ex-
hibited this year, or in any previous year. A great number of
prises were awarded by the judges, who, from the uniform excel.
lence of the specimens, had some difficulty in coming to a judg.
ment as to which were the best. The pines were very fine; the
grapes were also fine. The cucumbers were of their class ad-
mirable, and the more common products of the garden showed to
what excellence horticulture has now arrived. The most entitled to
praise among the flowers were the piccotees and the carnations.
Mr. G. Edmonds won the gold medal for the former, and Mr.
Reeves for the latter. The silver cup for the piccotees was also
won by Mr. 0. Edmonds the silver cup for carnations by Mr. J.
Edwards. Mr. B. Hawes, M.P.'s, prize of 51. was awarded to
Mr. Bruce, and the gold medal for orchidaceous plants to Mr.
Ayres. Unfortunately the day was unfavourable to the show.
Tents and marquees protected the company from the rain, and
great praise is due to Mr. Tyler, the lessee of the grounds, for his
excellent arrangements for the accommodation and gratification of
the exhibitors and visitors.

GOVERNMENT SCHOOL OF DESlGN,—Wednesday the
annual meeting, and the distribution of prizes to the successful
students took place at the rooms, Somerset House. The rooms
were hung with specimens of the students' skill, most of which
were performances reflecting great credit on the scholars them-
selves, as well as on those to whom the direction of their studies
has been entrusted. It was announced that the exhibition would
be open gratuitously to the public on Thursday (to-day) and on
Friday, between the hours of eleven and three.

THAMES I)lrTos.—At this very beautiful and
sequestered part of the Thames we entered a small, but ad-
mirably appointed hotel. called the Swan ; among the guests
were several noble lords and a noble ex.ambassader of celebrity.
Many of the wits and eminent writers of the day had also congre-
gated there ( Mr. Dickens, Mr. D. Jerrold, Mr. Shearman, &c.)
to enjoy the fine air and seclusion of this delightful spot on the
very margin of the river, and also the good things of mine host.
The fare is varied and excellent, combined with an attention, ele.
gance, and comfort not to be surpassed. We noticed too, the lady
of Mr. Hanaper, who is a sweetly mannered, finely formed, and
pretty young female, worthy to be called " the Flower of Dittos
Vale." She would indeed shine in " the Book of Beauty." The
liberal and attentive hest well deserves the patronage he seems to
be rewarded with. There were also at the inn two youthful ni.tives
of the island of Borneo, whose playful manners interested all.—
An easy Tour on the Thames, in July, 1845, from Oxford to
Richmond.

NIKES (WEDNESDAY) —Two fires took place on We 1-
nesday. The first broke out shortly after twelve o'clock, in the
apartment of Mr. J. Huntley, a lodger In the house of Mr.
Spry, baker, 44, Golden-lane, Barbican. The firemen had some
difficulty in effecting an entrance into the room, but when they
obtained admission they found a pillow and an empty sack and
part of the flooring on fire. Mr. Braidwood reports the origin of
the fire as " doubtful." The woman Huntley was given in charge
to the police by the landlord. Shortly after two o'clock a fire,
which was caused by a wash-house flue taking fire and igniting the
soot in the parlour chimney, occurred in the bed-roJm of Mr.
Lewis Phillips, by which the bed, bedstead, mattress, and furniture
were burned, and the room scorched all round very severely,:and
considerable damage was done to the other parts of the building.
By the exertions of the inmates, strangers, and police, the flames
were extinguished without the aid of the engines.

FALL OF A HOLIsE.—TIVO PERSONS KILLED.-
Between seven and eight on Wednesday morning the inhabitants
of the villageof East Stanford were alarmed by a loud crashing noise,
which was speediiy followed by the most heart-rending cries of dis-
tress. It was quickly ascertained that the end house of a row ex.
tending from the rear of the churchyard to an open plot of ground
Intended for the site of some new buildings, had fallen, and as it
was almost certain that several persons must have been within
the house at the time it fell, great consternation prevailed.
The fallen house was rented by a man named Parker, in the employ
of Mr. Joycelin, a maltster. Parker, with his wife and two
children, resided on the ground-floor, the upper part of the
house, which consisted of two stories, being occupied by a man
named Tyke, a brush-maker, with two boys (his sons) and a
decrepid man (his father). The brush-maker, with one of his sons,
was seen by a neighbour to leave the house at six o'clock on the
morning of the accident, going out for the day to sell his brushes.
Parker always leaves his home for the malt-house at five
o'clock in the morning, and the rest of the inmates, consisting of
Parker's wife and children, together with Pyke's son and father,
were supposed to be in the house when it fell. A number of per.
sons were soon at work clearing away portions of the rubbish, and
shortly afterwards the body of the old man was discovered dread-
fully crushed and quite dead. At a short distance from the re-
mains of the old man, the body of Pyke's son was dug out, and
though much injured the boy was alive, and hopes are entertained
of his recovery. A faint cry issuing from the remaining portions
of the ruins stimulated the people to fresh exertions, and after a
painful suspense of twenty minutes the men succeeded in taking
from the ruins Parker's two children perfectly uninjured. The
children slept in a kind of press-bedstead, and part of the rafters
having fallen in a sloping position across the bed, had sustained the
weight of the materials above. A further search discovered the
body of the mother. The remains of the unfortunate woman pre-
sented a horrid spectacle, life being quite extinct. Several houses
in the row of which the fallen building formed a part have been
lately pulled down, and the house in question had been shored up
preparatory to erecting some buildings, which are intended to cross
the space left by the demolished houses.

PROTEST fRIViLEGE OF

PARLIAMENT, JULY 4, 1845.
DISSENTIENT-

1. Because this House is now for the first time inter
fering to stop by force an action brought against a party
for a wrong done to a fellow subject in slanderous words,
alleged to have been fihely spoken, and in thus inter-
rosing its power, under the name of privilege, between
the subject and his strict legal right, sought to be made
good in a court of law by the course which the law has
prescribed.
2. Because, whatever right the House may be supposed
to derive from precedent, that is, from former instances
in which it has exercised similar powers, there can be no
doubt that in former times both -Houses' of Parliament
were wont toll° many acts, under the name of asserting
their privileges, acts saich, in the present day, and for a
long time past, both !louses of Parliament have wholly
abstained from doing, and which would now be consi-
dered by all mankind to be gross and wanton violations
of all justice.

3. Becate:e, though the right, however founded, nr
however proved, to do such acts as these, or even such
!tot; as the present of a far less objectionable kind, wore.
admitted, yet it is always a question of expediency and
discretkii whether or not this power, even if it be pos.
s. ssed by right, shall in any given case be exorcised :
and it ever behoves both Houses of Parliament to be most
cautious and abstinent in the use of powers like the-c.
which are assumed by them over parties charged with
offending against themselves, and are used by them in
their own case without the intervention of any impartit I
and judicial authority.
4 Because it is, in a peculiar manner, the duty 01
both !louses to abstain from such acts when they reflect
that there is no code of privilege promulgated whereby-
the people may know against what law they ofrcnd, thrit
the law is in each case declared, possibly made for the
first time, after the alleged breach of it has been corn
mitted, and made in the heat of the strife occasioned
by the alleged offence, that the Members of the two
Houses always differ among themselves both as to the
law and its application, and that they who promulgate
it are at once the lawgivers, parties, prosecutors, jurors,
judges, and executioners ; while in this instance alone
no power of extending mercy to the offender exists in
the State.

5. Because it behoves this House in a more peculiar
manner to avoid placing itself in so strange and ano-
malous a position, seeing that as it is the supreme court
of justice in the last resort in all cases criminal and civil.
so it ought to be most anxious ever to set the example
of strictly just, regular, legal procedure, and should most
carefully shun all violations of law and justice, and should
especially be slow to interfere with pending actions,
which may, in their result, come before itself as a high
court of appeal.
6. Because the cases in which it is expedient and jus-
tifiable, from absolute necessity, to interfere with the.
rights of individuals and the ordinary course of the law.
are of a description .wholly different from the present,
being actual obstructions offered to the proceedings of
the Houses, and which must be removed without any
delay, else the arm of Parliament would be paralysed.;
and because no objection could ever be raised to such
an exercise of power, and of rightful power, either
by the two Houses or by any other tribunal. But
constructive contempts like the present are of a wholly
different description, and no harm whatever can
arise from allowing them to be dealt with by the course
of the law as administered in the regular courts of jus-
tice, those courts to which the Sovereign as well as the
meanest of his subjects must always resort for the esta-
blishment of rights and punishment of wrongs—those
courts to which the Houses of Parliament may most
safely resort as the abodes of strict justice—courts pure
from all taint of corruption, free from all bias of in-
fluence, uncontrolled by the threats either of regal
authority or aristocratic insolence, or popular violence,
and to which neither faction nor fear can ever gain
access.

7. Because the argument that witnesses must be pro-
tected from vexatious and costly suits is wholly inappli-
cable to the case, inasmuch as no one pretends to doubt
that they may be prosecuted at the instance either of the
Crown or any individual, whether a Member of the
House or not; and if so prosecuted never could recover
one farthing of their costs, though ever so honourably
acquitted.

8. Because no punishment which can be inflicted
either by a prosecution or by the House upon a witness
for the most ss anton and the falsest slander of an indi-
vidual, can afford any reparation whatever to the party
thus injured, as the House has not by law the power, if
petitioned, to give any such compensation.
9. Because the protection of witnesses before the
Houses of Parliament never can be regarded as more
essential to the public weal than the protection of wit-
nesses before the courts of civil and criminal judicature ;
yet no one pretends to doubt that an action may be
brought against any person for slanderous worth
falsely spoken by him in giving his evidence before these
courts, and though no damages could be recovered if the
words were spoken in answer to a question put in the
cause, yet it is quite certain that the action must take
its course, and that nothing could be done by the court
to stop it ; so that the witness must be exposed to ex-
actly the same vexation and expense which are alleged
to form the only ground for interfering to stop the
action in the present case.
10. Because the order to prevent a defendant from
pleading, or the commitment of the plaintiff for a con-
s'ructive contempt, never can really stop the action,
‘‘liich may proceed through all its stages whatever be
done to the parties; unless, indeed, the greater and un-
heard-of violence were committed of arresting the
judges and their officers, and destroying the record and
tearing the proceedings from the file.
11. Because all the arguments drawn from alleged
analogies in a court of equity are wholly
wide of the question, inasmuch as the granting
an injunction to stay actions at law, or to prevent
receivers and other officers, or quasi officers, of the
court being sued for acts done under its authority,
are not granted discretionally, but are matter of strict
right ; and inasmuch as such injunctions only prevent
the party against whom they issue from obtaining his
remedy in one form, reserving it to him in another, nay
securing it to him in the court which stays the action ;
whereas the present proceeding deprives the party of all
remedy whatever, the House having no power or autho-
rity to grant him redress.
12. Because it is a great aggravation of the mischief
so justly complained of, that for the last nine years the
other House of Parliament has sold all the papers printed
by its authority, allowing a discount to encourage the
trade in those publications ,• and that though this House
has not as yet engaged in, this branch of business, yet it
communicates its prints to the other, which sells them
with its own.

13. Because the inexpediency, injustice, and cruelty
of exercising the alleged privileges of the House is
strongly illustrated by the peculiar circumstances of the
present case. A complaint is made by a peer that an
action has been brought against a witness. The defen-
dant is publicly described as a most respectable person,
who had served well in the Peninsula ; to the plaintiff is
applied the most severe and even coarse expression,
while in no court that tried the case could such praise
or censure of the character borne by the parties ever be
heard for an instant, much less proved in evidence ; and
while it is also manifi- st that precisely the same course
must have been pirsued had the respecab!* man
been the slanderer, and the censured man been
the injured party. Under the prejudices excited by
such statements, the parties are examined at the
bar. The plaintiff is compelled to disclose his case
t 3 the defendant. He describes himself as trievously
injured, and as severely suffering from the effect of the
attack made upon his character by he defendant. He
further declares that he was wholly ignorant of the
privileges of the house, wholly unconscious of his having
acted in breach of them by bringing his suit—a thing
the more easily believed when we reflect that the nature
of Parliamentary privilege wrs distinctly stated, in de-
bate, to be wholly unknown to the judges of the land,
and only understood by the House itself. Finally, the
attorney, who has been seized and imprisoned for fol-
lowing his client's instructions, declared that he acted
under the advice of counsel ; and afterwards informed
the House, through a Peer, that he bad received direc-
tions to discontinue the action ; yet both client and
I attorney are imprisoned, the attorney after this com-
munication was made ; and nothing whatever is done
against the counsel who deliberately advised the whole
proceeding.
14. Because nothing can be more unlike all the judi-
cial proceedings to which the present has been compared
than the course now iursued, inasmuch as whenever the
law has declared that a Court shall not proceed in any
case by reason of another jurisdiction being interfered
with, a particular mode of preventing this proceeding is
provided by the known law ; and in another and im-
portant particular, the present proceeding is extremely
unlike that of injunction, to which it has been likened,
for an injunction is commenced to stay proceeding in
one Court, in order that justice may be done in another
which has possession of the suit ; nor is any one pre-
vented unless he disobey the order so given ; whereas
we issue no order, but at once proceed to to punish the
party before he has been guilty of any disobedience, or
had any opportunity of doing what we desire he should
do, and we punish him on the sole ground of his having
broken some privilege unknown to him, and which we
admit is understood by nobody but ourselves.
15. Because, finally, it is all along affirmed in the
course of these discussions, that whatever privilege we do
not in any case exercise, we cease to possess ; whereas
there are many privileges most undeniably belonging to
us, some which in former times were constantly exer-
cised—some which we still declare to he ours on the face
of our standing orders—and none of which have now for
a long time past been exercised at all ; and in illustra-
tion of the varying usage which exists respecting such
privileges, it may further be remembered that a very
great change has come over this question, even within
the last forty years ; as no one can affect to think that
either the houses of Parliament or the Courts ofJustice
would at this day punish summarily for contempt tiIDSC
acts which frequently were thus visited within that pe-
riod of time, including the very publication for which Sir
Francis Burdett was sent to the Tower, and which raised
the last great discussion of the privilege question in
Parliament, in the Courts of Law, andiltiiuseiaam.
WICKLOW.

THE LATE MR. BOLTON CLIVE, M.P.—The re-
mainsgentleman will be removed for interment from Croy.
dontoofth ihefiasmily vault at Wormsbridge church, near Whitfield,
Herefordshire.
STATIONERS' AND PAPER• MANUFACTURERS' PRO-
VIDENT SOCIETY.—The sixth annual meeting of this institution
took place on Tuesday evening, at the Gerard's Hall Tavern, City,
W. Gaussen, Esq., one of the Vice. Presidents, in the chair. The
report of the last year's proceedings was of a highly satisfactory
character. The object of this society is, first, to raise a capital of
10,0001., and then grant annuities or give relief to masters and
their assistants in the trade who may, from age, infirmity, or needy
circumstances, require pecuniary aid. It appears that the capital
is already 5,5001. There is also a separate fund progressing to
erect an asylum.