The Sun.
London, England, 1810-03-28 00:00:00

I vl.~'i:RiAL I'ARJAA'' ANT.

1100S1; OF PEEPS,

TUESDAY, `,l A 11Cti 27.

The Cornm;tii privikgt.s heard Counsel on the
iclaitn to the Banbury Peerage. ' ,
On the second readint of the Irish Distillery
.ord •DALiNi.mr, in a • short Speech pointed
roilt ~..••••, • h,. +1;0,12 ht would' aiise from
this B'll, in conseqnence of its encouraging the con-
sumption of ar4ent.sPirits among the lo:Aer orth-N.
Lord BATI-11.31:5T, ,i;opbr„,-Oblie.rve-1, that when
tht• ~f \ IS still
ptaCtised in the interior of the cot-tatty. This Bill
would therefore nrobahly has \-e. the eff-ct -Co iieluce
the small contraband distillers to take out lii7eliqes,
and, do that by• -law which they otherwise would do
contrary to law.
lAVElit'uoL laid some Papers on the table,
and. Lord LI A I:13W I niC. E presented a Petition frOm the
De-ilers in Corn ar Wisbeach, praying for some re-
gulations in.that market:
The Private Bills :before. the House-were' for-
ward-d in their stages, and their Lordships ad-
journed. •

HOUSE OF. COMMONS.

TUESDAY, MARCH ,27!
jt FK4NC,B:IIO}W.ETT.

Mr. sLETni3iiii?§, in consequonce of the notice

which he had ,esierday given, rose with a degree
of pain and embarrassment, which •he declared -he
had never hi-fore fit; tti. -make .1 coinplaint against
one of the: MemLers of the 17,)itekt coinwth,s of
Great Brawn, who,..in hi; opinion,-.had violated the
privileges of the fittuse. lie did not mean'to.ehter
Upon the snbject itt4clf, but it -was his-intention,
to lay upon the. Tahl,• the document .which the
Hon. Bar 'net, who 'a as the object of the motion,
had ?dmitted was-puhl.st,ed- by his authority. For'
the purpose of sitvihg the tiny; of -the House,
he had marked certau passages in that
_docamew,_.
which, in his c' pinion; more .p:irticCilatjy justified
him in the charge which he Intd:preferred*against the
Lint.. Baronet. (The Hon. Member them gavein.at,
t Tani, Colbeirs freckly Political Register. of
Satur..lay last.)
-The Si*AKER desired the Clerk to I,roceed to read

the P.-per -complained of. ±Le 'wished tlx knew
t. 'whether the Hob. IZ:ml3-r, ~any other 'Hon.
Niember, was dqstroug. that. part,: only,' or that the
whole or the Poi:iis:r should be read'? •
, Mr. L•rkißitlDGE lainentc,cl• that l.e should in-
trude UpOkl. the at erViori of, the .at time
when so irnpoi tint a disgossiop as: tivit of the Wal-

cheren Inquiry wils in Its.progress. _He_rep,elited ttiat

he had marked she iagt.s the "Paper which. ap-
peared 16 him to he ri-iwt.uonLtxtons; at the game
iime, he had not the slit:thirst objection to the -c,.hule
being read,
The SPEAKER--" Clerk, sea& the Paper:"

111 c accordingly'b,2gon. to read Sir Fi ancis
Burdett's Letter to Ins .Collstitunts,, but
.had not
finished -halla dvit-4 sentenC•es, whn • •

Mr. FL Sumt.ieti sli, tie to order.. :He conceived
that_it world be extremely convenient 'to. postpone
the discussion of tqs subject, consideration of the
important bUsiiiess which stood. for that night.•
The SPEAKER, 'hOWC:Vel,',CieCiartd, that
prock:eW:d .so fat•,• it • b'Oond..the. power of auy
Hon: Membef thterminati.: the pioceediog. A com-
plain' having been .toad =a} an Hon. Member of
the House; for a breach of privilege, it was indispen-
sabre that -the House Should know, the grounds .upon
w:iich it .was preferred ; after which they would. de...
terminit what course vursue. Until that time, they
could not do otherwise than hear the whole of the
complaint, "and also the whole of What the Hon.
Member had' to say in his defence.- The Hon. Mem-
ber alCainst-whoM the charge was preferred would
then withdraw, and the House would enter Into the
consideration of tiie•steps which it would become
them toadop. t.
The Clerk proceeded to read the Letter, and the
" Argument' which iollowedi the- whole of which
occnpieJ nearly an hour and a half .
The SPEAKER-- Sir Francis Burdett:

Lord FOLKSTONE -Splke to, order. The Hot.
Gentleman had merely stated that his Hon.
,Friend'!
had been guilty of a gross breach of their privileges,
and had followed that general statemeat, by laying
on the table a dOcument,
,which is had taken neatly
an hour and 0 half. to read.- It seemed absolutely
utcessary that the Hon. Gentleman thould point out
the Itarliettlar passages-to which he alluded, and ex-
Va.n is vies of the subjeti, 'that hislion.• Friend
mt,;ht know with what pr,cise offence be -was
charse.(L Unless tYs was done it was impossiole
for hi.: Ho.r. Fri-nd tO rise to answer an acctisation
vaE;tio. and inde.finitt..
Mr. LETtiERIDGE` rlAted,- that he bail no Objec-
tion to point out. the passages, which struck hirti as
ofle.fisive. He bad. before tatcd, that with
at liew to save the time of the.Houst,t, lie l.ad marks:
ed t-o,e pis !gi.s in the Paper which he had riven
order-that, if t be.Honse chose, those passages
216ne might have beep read. He (Mr. Lethbridge),
had no thought, however,' 'that it would become
•him to press 40c41 a partial evading upon the House,
lest it shOuld have been- imputed. to him that he
wished to ground his loeus..4itoti;upou garbled ex-'
tracts. He was ready now,to state the passages, and
tht n. to adopt any line of condua -Which the flOuve,.
in its wisdom, might thii.k it proper to purSue. He
was influenced by no -feeling of personal hostility to-
wards the:Hon. Baronet,'Ont merely by his sense of
ditty as au Englishman, and as the it9prosentative of
_As indeftendent a body of men as existed in she coun-
try. He said', the. first passage to which he wished
particularly to call the attention of the House, was
the commencement of tie Hon. Baronet's Letter to
his Constithents Age 42 t of the Reoter).. Jt.was
as follows :
" The House of Commons hiving. passed . a vote which
amounts to a declaration, that an order of theirs is to be of
more weight than Magna,Chana and the Laws of the Land,
I Mira: it my duty ti lay my sentiments thereon before my
character as freemen, and even whose
persimiarsaiet), "depends,in so great a degree upon the de-
cition 'ihis gvestion, a question of. no less ihip-ortance
than this i. whether our' liberty be still to be, secured by
the lawsot faot forefathers, or be to lie at the absolute
in:4.y of a p-rt our feVoN-subjeds colleded together by
of which it is not necessary tor me to describe."
-He appealed to the House whether that passage
;110::e would not have justified hiiu in bringing the
übjed uudei:their cont.tder.itiun ? It was followed

. ,
by (;therF, which ',he would proceed to read : the
fist of .which (page 425), after asking •why the
House, if they Could send_ whom they plci-4,0,ta a.
ja.l in London; might ,not send their prisoner. to
York jail, confine then) in solitary cells, or fold
them with chains and bolts, the flonotirable 13aroott.
said--

" They have not gene these lengths yet ; but 'What is
there to ►estrain them if they are td be the sole judges of the.
extent of their own 1)0,,....er5., and if they are. to ekerciso those
powers withotit any controuf, and without leaving the par.
ties whom they choose to Oafish,' any-molleol, appeal, any
means of redress. " - . .

The next p.issage almost immediately followed --

" 1 shall (1. all that- novurenmins in-my power"-towards
the c,,treelion of -this,. as,l deem it, tnosi euormoui abuse of
power, and most dasigerous.of all encroachments upon the,
rights ithd liberties 'ot Englishmen."

With this p issage, the Hon. Baronet closed his
letter. Next came .the " Aigurnent." In p.. 426,
would netbund the following passnge

• Had 1 not been Prevented by •iridi, position from. being.
preseot•when the House of .Commons passed, by ,voie, a
sentence otitnprisonment On Mr. Cale FaleS, -I should haNie
endeavoured to shew, that under the false notion of. Privi-
lege, they were exercising a power; and committing an at
of oppresSion, ill suited to the charader of guardians of pub.
lie liberty, and destiudive of the first and most important
object of the cOnstitutioni viz. the personal security of the
subj.ed."

In page 426 the folloiving passage occurreed

't Founded on such a basis, fortified by such authorities as
I shall nave
,occasion to appeal to in the progress of this
inquiry, I have little doubt of being able•to convince .every
impartial mind, that the HoUse of Commons, by proceeding
to judAroctict passing a sentence.of imprisonment —and issu-
ink a wayratit of commitment, has gone beyond its prescribed
lunits,-acted in a Manner inconsistent with tale ends of its
institution ; and viotatesrthe fundamental principles of the
'law and Constitution of thejand."

. Passing onward, to page'446, the House' would
meet with the following pAssAgc
" By proceeding Ohs they • had exercised a jurisdiaiOn
not vested in them; a .jurtbdlttiort beyond the Anna. ,of
King, Lords, ond Commons, while May,na Charra reihains
tiiirepealea and ropealed at can neN,r lac, till England
shall have' ound her grave corruptionot a 11:01IbV. Of
ComninonS;" •

In adverting to the Speqlter'g warrant for com-
mitting Mr. Jones to Ne.wgate,.. the Hon. Baronet
expressed. iihns.elf in .the tohowing terms

" • Let this -instrument -this thing, sii .genei-is,- he con-
trasted with the description' above given. ot ine properties of
a lawful warrant. Does it,not evidently appear ttiat.this
\piece of unsealed paper,signed by the .Spe.iker, by wlin.:ll'an
untried sic
„tett nas been outAweti, hears n c feature or lega-
lity ? and that trorn the commencement of this; proceeling,
inns progress; and to its concldsien, there "is not•one step"
that has.not been marked in a peculiar 'manner with dis-e-
-s-pe...t torthe laws"; a disresped in which go I the parts have
been wondcrlully . consistent attirouglioue in eenstitUt.ing the
most Unia.wtui aCt4rze mind •of Man can possibly conceive."

The'last passago' with which he vould't.ro.uble
the House -was contained in page 457. • , • •

" -'l'hey still, it seems,'were ettiboldenedto retain 'an ille-
gal power not pretended to even by the King ; bbt which,
these local Sovereigns over the King, claim .as otrigitt. —But,
no wonder, when they have so entitciy departed trout . the
ends oftheir institution, as was offered to be
‘proved by Mr.
Maddocks, and'acknowiedged by themselves in the never
_be-tirrgorren meriting of the ittii of May; 11309 ; whjn from
being the lower or interior (tot it is the same senset •one,being
.EngliSh the other a Lain word; branch of 'the: Legi,lature,
. they have become the prOprietors, by.Burgage tenure, of the
whole representation ; and in that capacity inflated With their
higtr-blown fanciful ideas of Majesty, and tricked out in the
'trappings of Itoyalty, think privilege and protection beneath
-their dignity, assume the sword of :prerogative, and lord it
equally over the King and the People."
e would' trouble the House._ no further but. to
say, that on these
.specific passago he made his
charue- 'against. the. Honourable .Baronet for a
.
violauort of the prwileges of the House of Com-
mons: .

A paUse ensuing, the SPEAKER remarked, that
the course of proceeding was, alter a. complaint had
beery-. made, and after the complexion' of that
complaint had been ascertained, to hear the lienotiv.
able -Member against,- whom -it had been pre-
fei red. ,

Sir F-BI.7•RDETT then addressed the. Chair for a-
very,few minutes, but in so low a tone of -voice,
-that we
.are not sure •we correctly understood the
Honourable Baronet. As far as we could
Pendency of his observations he appeared to us
to say, that the pipe's which .had heen-puhlishe4
under his name, and which' had just been read by
the Clerk contained Opinions which he had not
formed without much consideration, and from which
he did.not see any reason to depart. It was impos--.
Bible to understznd: what the Hon .dent. opposite
meant by 'the term "Privileges of the House." He,
begced to know, whether it was necessary for him
to withdraw.

The SPEAKER replied, that a matter Qf complaint
of a breach of -privilege had been stated -by one Hon:
Member against the another ;. the uniform- course
under such circumstances was, that the person ac-:
cused was first heard in his defence, in which he
might'admit, deny, or extenuate the matter with
which he was charged, and that then he was re-
quired to withdraw. It then became the duty of
the accuser to submit to the flouse,some proposit.
lions declaratory of their opinion on then fads before
then), and of his proposition the House would'dis-
pose at its pleasure. Unless therefore the House
departed from its usual coufge.of proceeding; which
had beet) hitherto unchanged, and which be hdped
was unchangeable, the-Hon. Baronet must with-
-draw before any other proposition could be made.
.(2l loud cry of withdraw ! withdraw and Sir 1.
•flurdett accordingly withdrew.)

Mr. WiLsot,; ;Ow, a-jd," was,. cotruntmcing some
01)F:1-rations, when he was interrupted by
The SPEAKER, who. said; That the lionj3aronet
having withdrawn, ;i was 't he duty of the Hon. Gen-
tleman • in,• whom the affair originated-, to bring,
forward such motion as hr, might think tuost
advi-
sable. •

Lord OSSULSTON was also proceeclng to make
some.observations, when

The SPEAKER again interfered. As yet there
was no quebtion before the House. _
Lord OSSULSIOII made some further observations,
which were wholly inaudible in the Gallery, He
was stopped- by th*r cries of " Chair, Chair !" •
The SPEAKER rose, in obedience. to the, call of
the House, to set- the Noble Lord right.- As far
as the transaction had: proceeded it I.v[ts perfealy
in conformity to the usage of the House It now.
,remained for the Hpnourabele Gentleman to make
his motion. , .

.LETHBRIDGE then said, that as It was the
pleasure of the House, he would proceed to make
such motions as appeared to him to be the roost
advisable, Jo doing. thisite shoitld be extremely
short, for •Itiany-rea.scitti, the prittcipal one'of which
was; that—

Lord Foig.sTON/3 spoke to order. The Hon.

Gentleman had already- made a.:speech-on the pre-
sent occasion. :If it were the Hon. Gentleman',
intention to advance any !tin fler arginnents befl,r
the. motion, he contended that
fully rrititled.to hear them. His Hon. Friend.
•ttir Onque,tionable right to hear all the charges that
were io' be, preferred' against itim,_althongh_ the.
usage at the. House might require that he shOuld
withdiaw immediately before't he motion.
• The SPEAKER. apprehended- that the course which
the Hon. Gentleman was about; to pursue was iier-
fedly consistent with the fbrnis of the House._
ll-
was about to -submit 'to the 'HO w;e'a preposition of
which they were to judge, a 'proposition founded on
the complaint which the aimottrable Batonet against.
whoth-it.was preferred had ken pteSent to bear.,
He apprehended that it was the duty of the Ho
pourable Gentleman now'.to oifer his motion, tic
companied with whatever reasons be might think it
necessary to offer to the House, 'to .induca theut to
adopt it. , •
4-The CHANCELLOR or liie.Exontßoui coincidrd.
With the Speaker, that such was the 'proper trithle
of proceeding.

-Lord Tor.x.sron persevered in his original opi-
nion, and adduced several precedent 4 in support of
it. His Him. Friend bad been called on for his d!--
fence, but-it was impossible t r him to say any third
`on the (unless indeed hi:',',IMPTV retracted pr,
repeated 'his -opinion) until he had: ,bear 4 the argo-
meats by which the charge against him was to .be
supported.
TOe SPEAKER explained two gistina coorsts, of
proceediog 'which the "Nol Lod had mihgh,,d in
leis &ins'ideralion" of the point. de took the 9ulti of
the prindpte 'on' which Hie House proceeded to_be.
•:)./Pmber charged ,sh,ulcilhave not of
the ',tibstance of the chore, but not -of the argu-
ments in support of
Mr LETHI)itIDGE contirmed: He assure t. the
that,he lud, many reasons- fur being. coielse
in his address; the principal.one of which wa, his
being little accustomed to speak to.a public assorn::
blv. Painfol and difficult as the ti•,sk was he
had sudde.dy bo-n 'called upon, to execute, he, had
thig c nsolatiA),.that t e master was s,) clear that it
required no elucid He 'shoiild propose .two
resoltv ions, and•-•he trusted ;jhar ther:wOuld.he
adopted by the House if they ,wished, to- preserve
their ownchatac,er and t'-at of ad Euglanci... He
spoke from the bOttom of his .11.2 art. (and Ire wished
that the forms of the House-did •not ireclude the
Hon. Baronet from hearing' him) when he Alechred
if 'to be his firm opinion, that if the House were de-
sirous of saving its character from utter .destrildion,
it was high time that a.siop shoUld be :put to vac-
tices such as he complained of.- He. had heard it
asserted in that House, and. 'the -assertion made his
_hair s6tid. an end, that in point of character the
the House " had riot a leg. to"stand on." He trusted
that-the House,•in justice.th itscit rncl the country,
wouldput a stop to such proceedings, and cdtichlded•
by moving two resolutions. •
• •

• i. That a Letter signed Francis. Burdett, and a further ar-
ticle,
.entitled-an: Argument,- inserted -in. Cobheit's, Weekly,
•Register.of- the i,4ih of March, 18in, is a linclious and :.,.:iii-
dalous-paper, Teflecting on the. rights and privileges of ttle
House of Commons. .

i. That Sir Francis
.Ettudett, Bart.-;wlio. had. perinitr.,,l.
the letter and further _article to be.. printed. -with aut he_
rity; had viqlated the rights and privileges of the Home. of
"Commons•

Mr Mii.NEs 'seconded' the-motion. The course'
of proceedingin this arse had. deemed- un,.
usual. i• this was not the fed, for, it was filly jttsti-
lied by precedent, and he instanced, in proof of
his assertion, the_ precedent of
.Mr,:..Arthur Hall,.
who sn long back as the 4tb of. February .15-08, was
committed to prison. for a siarnar offence.•. Tills'
evinced the jealousy of their forefathers
,with
sped to their rights. and privileges, and he trusted
that
_ihe House .of. Commons of 18 to vuould, not„
be 'more regardtess of _their tights and. privileges
.than the' House of Commons of 1508. He adjured
the House to censider the dangers which nitglit arise.
from allowing sack a .vebernent attack upon their
character and dignity to pass unpunished. A spirit
bad lately been raised in this cotintry by a class,_o" f
persons, few in number„ but .active, in disposition,
which it became the House to ri94_.,11,, if. they wished
to preserve the estimation in-which they 114 --biiher.
to been had.

Mr. PoNsbany had never been inclined to shew
a disrespect :for the charatter of the House,_ but .he
thought the-sn'r)jeCt required the gravest • and Most
deliberate cOnsiderkftiOn, to the pied that
.they might
come to a satisfactory conclusion., Tile Hon. Ge,t-
tleman had caused a very long paper to be read, in
.which he had pointed. out soma ohjedionable
The,House must., however, he aware, that to jud,;e
,from some parts of a long document of the Whole
paper, without comparing the various,. was very dif-
*ticult,.mo-e e,sFecially when it involved a. point .of
law. He hoped the House would trot suspect him
of shrinking trout the-discussion when he ,proposed
an adjournment of that debate. There Wo• .ther
important question before the House, for they
were all prepared. •Ou that subject he -had some
plain] to Jheir atlention. 'For. the subject then be-
fore the House, he thought it probable they were
not so -well prepared. He was not, for his 'own
parr: He would therefore move as anamehdment.
that debate should be adjourned till that day se'n.7
night,

The CHANCELLO •of the EXCHEQUER had no
intention to oppose the adjouiliment of the sub-
,but 11(1-was averse. to its being adjourned, for so
long a time. He though the earliest day that could
be. named for .restuning, the debate, most des-T.,
able, as far as it respected-the- House as well, As
•the individual. , The Meinber 'alluded to had been
desired, to .withdraw.; he'did not say how far 'that
Circumstance interfered With his voting on another
-question ; but if the law of the House would per-
mit to do so, which he theught Might be ques-
tioned, it was. not- very consistent with the diguiiy
of Padiament, that a Member shQuld take part in
their proceedings who had just .viaited their pri-
.vileges. He would, therefore, prcipose to the. Hon.
Member, opposite, that
.the debate should be
resotu-
ed to-morrow (Wednesday), or on Thursday.:, He
thonght it due -to the charatierer the House, that
the discussion of ,a subject so important should not
be deferred longer than was necessary. He hoped
the -ion,-Gentleman would name to-morrow; if
he. Would- not, he (the ChaliCaor'Of 'the Exchequer)
would.move =amendment to that effect. He eon..
.curred with the proposition of adjpurning the. de-