The Sun.
London, England, 1819-06-17 00:00:00

BREACH OF PRIVILEGE.

Mr. W. SMITH rose to present a Petition from
the Reporter who had been yesterday committed
for a breach of privilege.—.l( was cottched in the
most respectful language, otherwise he would not
have taken upon himself to present it to the
House. The individual from whom ,it came had
already merited the approbation Of the House for
the way in which he had conducted himselt at the
bar, and the explanation which he had given „,e.
the circumstances under which he had committtd
that mistake for which he was 110 W soffering
der the displeasure of the House. It seemed to
be the general feeling among those Members who
were prcseut last night, whet) this Gentleman was
called before the House, that he had sufficiently
acquitted himself of the charge of intentional mis-
representation. He could' only add, that the
character of this Gentleman was exceedingly re-
spectable; his connexions were good, and he bad
the advantages of an excellent _ education. He
trusted that the House would be of opinion, that
the punishment which that individual had now
suffered was commensurate to his offence, and
that lie might now be discharged in the usual way.
He moved that the Petition be brought up.
[The Petition was then brought up am) rear).
It expressed the Petitioner's sincere regret 'for
having incurred the displeasure of the House ;
chat he had no intention to misrepresent any
telpher; that the circumstances which had oc-
casioned his mistake were before the House ; and
prayed that lie might be discharged in the usual
mode, on payment of his fees.]
Sir F. BURDETT said, that he felt it his duty to
protest against the powers assumed by the Hoose
in this case. It bad done more than any Court
of Left*: could do, and more than the Constitution
warranted. Nothing could be more, (inge Foos
than such a power as it hail users. It had called
before it an individual on (account of an alleged
breach of its privileges, and having extorted a
confession from him, punished him upon it.
This vas more monstrous than the power at-

tribute'' to IthaelarbanthtiS, 0( tvliont it Was said
—" custigoque." This was callel
the privileges of the HoUse ; hut l,e eond
riot
think of it except as an at hitrary and Most on"
warrantable exercise of power, most dangerons td
the liberty of the subject. At the same tittle ''_
was to he observed, that the report which teas
designated as a scandalous misrepresentation
• and a calumnious libel, appeared,.io the ,r)t
of more than one Member who was present at ibe
time, to be no more than a pretty accurate aceounc,
of what was said—even to the Mention of IbB.
cheering ''pleb had been so much talked
(Cries of No, no ! and Hear, hear !
front varioul
parts of the House.)--Ile thought the Gentlem1
an
in custody had been more than sufficiently P°
nished, and ought to he liberated immediateli
without payment of any tees.
Lord CA.STLEREAGEL—The Hon. Baronet
had just spoken scented to have done that which
was sometimes alleged against Connse! at the
Bar—he had appeared as the advocate of the
individual in custody, but for the sake of making
a speech to gratify his own feelings and btelina-
tions, had done more to injure the cause of filat
.
individual than any thing that had yet beet'
done. As to the protest of the Hon. Baronet.
against the privileges of the House, he 'Duct be
permitted to say that the Hon. Baronet could not,
he considered as' an iinpartial party in such a Mat'
ter.—(hear, hear !)—This was not the first oe"
casion On which he had endeavoured to beat (low°
the privileges of the House. But the Hotpot""
able Baronet had gone before the.Contts of 1,34
with the question, told it had there been decided,
against him. Yet the Hon. Bat once took thi9-
occasion to make a new attack upon the Law an" A-the
the Constitution. He trusted, however, that the
House wont(' always feel what was due to its
own dignity, and to the maintenance Of its pd.,'
vileges as the guardian of the liberties of the
people.—(llear, hear!)—As to the case of the
individual whose petition was. before the Flintse
there was this merit in it, that he had never tal'el
for himself such ground as the Hun. Baronet 11111
now occupied—he had not attempted to say 111'1
the Reportwas correct, or that the House ha('
no power to commit him. Indeed, in the whole
eu.irse of his examination at the bar, his e.'nvittec
had been such as to produce a very favour bl ja:
pression, and it had certainly been disiugni!'lie"
by a greater sense of propriety than the conduct .
of the Hon. Beronet.—(llear, hear !)
Mr. COUIITNEY (if Exeter) contended, that
though the conduct of the Reporter had not been
such to aggravate his offence, yet that ss he was
man of education, gifted with good abilities, 3'l"
of respectable 'connexions, he must have bee"
aware that the best coutse which lie could purs"e
would be to behave with decorum, and conciliate
the House by his conduct when called befote
If the offence had been committed by an ignorant
or illiterate person, it might haVe been passed over
with contempt. •
Mr. HUSKISSON said, that be could not allow'
the subject to pass without mentioning to the
Hon. Member (Mr. }Line) who was not in 10;
place when the Hon. Baronet spoke, that the
Hon. Baronet bail expressed an opinion that the
report which had beet' published was not far fro!"
tl:e truth, and that the Hon. Member had used
such expressions as those used in the report.
Mr. 1710IAR said, he was sure that it the Hour.
Baronet had been present on the occasion when
the r words in question were spoken, or when be
(Mr. H'lmf) bad last night and on a former night
5.r. expressly disavowed the accuracy of the red
port, that Hon. Baronet mould not have dared t
assert that the, report was correct. When be
bpnke the Words in question, he spoke coolly at'd
deliberately, and with a perfect recollection ot
villa( he said. He was as certain as he could be
of any thing, that he had used no such words as
those in the report ; and if it were possible clout
his own recollection was deficient, it I.V9S to be
recollected that no Member Fres:eat had heard any-
such Ivozds.

Lord BINNING wished to state that the
Member who spoke last had, within au hour l'rtsi3
•
the time when be received the newspaper ot
which the mistake a;,peared, delivered irrto his
(Lord B.'s) hands a mitten communication to
his Right lion. Friend, stating that the reporg
was a complete mistake, and giving a correct ac-
count of the words he haul used. Lie must further -
state that on Sunday he met an lion. Member of
this House; to whom he spoke on this suiject, a9a.:
to whom he was about to show the correct reporC
of what the other Hon. Member. (Mr. I
had spoken, wf en the Hon. Member to whom ii
now alluded, stopped him, said that he himself
hail been • present at the time, and that before 10
read rhe written account be would state from re'
collection what had been said by the other lion.
Member (Mr. Hume) ; on which he repeated very
exactly, and almost word for word, %t hat Was
written by the Hon. Member as the. true account
of his speech. After thiS, and after what had al-
ready passed in the Howe, he must express his •
surprise that the lion. Baronet should lend him.-
'sell' to such a statement as that which he had vett..
Lured to make on this occasion.

Mr. LITTLETON (of Staffordshire) said he was
the Member alluded to by the Noble• Lord who
spoke last, as having, repeated the words used bY
the Honourable Member (Mr. Hume), which,
on comparison, were found to correzpond with
the written account. He felt it his duty, on this
occasion to rise and'contirm the statement of (bac
Noble Lord,,,n, hich was correct in every respect,.
Mr. C. HUTCHINSON said, that justice to,
the Gentleman concerned,whomhe had seen that
morning, be rose to state that the only feeling.
on his mind seemed to be that of regret that did,
Right Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Canning). had not
been present last night, to -hear him solemnly
diaavow that he had any the slightest intention
of misrepresenting, or any antipathy to gratify.
These sentiments indeed were so hilly expressed
in his Petition, that be should not have adverted'
to them, were it-not to state from the indivi.r
dual himself that he was most anxious the Right
Honourable Gentleman and the House should
understand such were his present feeliogs. Ht
bad to complain of the Noble Lord's (Binning)
expressions towards the Right Honourable Ba-
ronet, imputing improper motives for the part 6,
had taken. lie had stated last night he wai-
among the first to contend for and uphold 114.

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lirive ii irn
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,ll Ii of ti')44 Ilatise; conceiving illeni• 311
plus -!,efle
'lo4rossary for the- protectintl.. nt the pen-
saw ; but not witbstandiug, whenever he
Dot 4,11 °Prtressive use made of them, he should
10_0, intimidated by the Noble Lord, or the
lII_
,r, [louse, front standing up and saying so.-
144,%"4 been surprised at the words of the Reso:
of
tit
last night, ou its beiug pot into the hand
sPedlivr, and had said it must have been
"nrti:ten l'ef°' e'; he investigation hati' been entered
il n• If he (Mr. \Hutchinson) had thonght it au
go2l,etnional erroi., Ire would not have deemed any
irds too strong, but observing the conduct of the
.I_elltieran at the Isar, and having been persuaded
teonsequence that the mistake had been coin-
ielelY "iniel"i"al, he bad hoped that the
.o?nourahle Gentleman might have made a
at, fie iti the terms, and he had no hesitation
il'aYing that he had been surprised at them.—
• e!iloult1 go further, as a representative of the
'er'Ple, and say, that he had been sorry for the
ti:e (IF I'3'4 hight—becatise, in his opinion,
.the
,br ntlemao hail been sufficiently punished by being-
:B "gill to the bar and reprimanded.. He was
,r•EY t° say, that last night, and oil a former oc.-
will," the House had exercised its privileges
1t" great sever it The person himself so-
Iteiri:1111;1! declared Ire had been influenced by no
eir "4" feeling whatever. As to one of the
'ad beet the cheers, the defect of which
1,,,4' been much relied on by the Right been
41"r"i'le Gentleman, the -case bad now Deets
11:1Stie, On' lit a great degree.• Two or three
tts.;l:o).".'
,i),,i d c.orroborated the statement in that
the , '' 'he impression -left on his mind by
thart`Neeeditigs of last night was two-told—first,
-jtr,- lib,eiadivirlual had no intention whatever of
bet.-I"'al; ; and, second, that as strong- a case had
froo: i,ale ton for the compassion of the House,
hers his own evidence and the statements of Mem-
,as cv •
u 5..,, ever had beets. -
il,reo'iricyllNNlNG ex`plained, and disclaimed any
taro net, to impute undue motives rto the LI
net. .
Th.
ovc
'he pe!i!ion was then brought uP and read.
was ' 'notion of M. W. SMITH, the Reporter
tpt ktia called in, shcittly reprimanded by the
111':::1:: (-11etri.:1:':edv,a,,litt:1:11%d bisel'eCilitttshitalterleodr fiths-et%l'llllftliirl e;
ablulYt
tt„tt lut [loose, in consideratiOn of his good coo-
DIN: h'td of the punishUsent he had suffered, was
of d thefto order him to be discharged on payment
..
It
1,.. ~ S .
, .
tf ti'e Reporter was then discharged on payment
.aer,
The"'•
of t rep inland of Mr. SPEAKER was- ordered to
i'tttetl on.the Journals of the House. •-
b 1,,, PROTESTANT DISSENTERS. f
i,s ril I\IIIYON still prUSellted a petition from certain
114,`,1' l's of the county of Yolk, praying that the
4,;:t'e wonitl idlow them to dispense with the pre-
14,Znioll_of marriage as established by the Church
Ig!anid.

Sir ri FOREIGN ENLISTMENT BILL.
of RANcts BURDRTT announced his intenfion
ild6,lll'sseiging a pet it ion to the House from certain
had iltains of Liverpo4, stating,-that they had
lie ift}",y commercial transactions. with the, pea-
-4.401:_ South America ; (hat the. Foreign Enlist.
exee,Tll. now beim e the H w
ouse, ould prove
sit ttli2,'`';..."('XlY injurious to them ; and praying that
ear( ',
`'"t pass into a law. He perfectly con-
the sentiments of the petitioners, and
4cei sor leave to p was
resent the petition.—lt
4 bev,"l!) read, ordered to lie on the table, and
ono .
Aet L, ed.
Clintt said, that he held hand a..
‘t1:014-4 trom the. inhabitants . of the I own of
‘1( (Ireland), praying that the Foreign En-
()per ltuttttent Bill mig Et ht not pass into w, as its
.110,144'1;s1voult1 be very injurious to th Trill. le
e
ilib :)„tir'hie Member highly approved of. the sen-
d''eidetl the petitioners. The Fall had his
(lisapproFront bation. every information
bt,te" he could collect, he heard much against n it;
tta "thing in favour of it. It was dliectet
/tea, "t the LWer its of the People of South Ame-
‘t.chlll w"se gito ions effirts every generous mint!
1)4, not only hold in the highest estimattolia,
ttOtit It every desired success.
143,1 'ts"iee-r(joiced hav\ seen an English .1
and r ""(er mplov e than exercising his talents
l'ret,ll'"er for the support of Tyranny against,
iti,,;(""o. This. Bill, directed against the I a-
A c" •Sooth America, Was odious to all'ianks.
tlistr"'lnittee had acknowledged the' extraordinary_
le„sses of Ireland. if our own resources are nokt
44(1('-3te for the Maintenance, then why check
11/11,,P"Ailiit the spirit of emigration ? Irwas t
eltef which the poorer 'classes of Ireland had
of Ifir 11;%r grievances. He hoped that the prayers
tltt-eli•ioners would. not prove too late, «Ad
II,: in the Ministers' abandoning the measure,
eett( eilre(l effect would beproduced. There were
dill e
matey adVocates in the House for t
aR,,•I i'ut the people were loud and unanimous
lie 14,81,4 nut of doors.—lt was read, ordered to
Aft table, and to be printed.
• Pir
1142,41 was about to present a petition
Cradle u till:liar prayer; trntn the manufacturers
ttoi,(l(`"rneo of Altiochester, against the Foreign
110 ,-;ll'ent and before he offered it to the
ttatt;er he thought it- incumbent upon him to
tft,:' that he entertained similar opinions uith
great expressed by the petitioners. They had.
oath and extensive dealings with the people of
0," America ; anti prayed that there might be
()%-,,(4"(14e in the law of England. to oblige the
Ntsriltnent of Spain.—The petition was read ;
red to lie on the table,'and to be printed.
CONVEYANCERS.
from a
eer(b•• '''YTTLETofst presented a petition
114 t 14
Class of Attornies, praying, that persons,
Per4Pcl3eily qualifiedor certified, might not; be
tleteil""l to act as Couveyancers.—Read anti.) or-
( 10 lie on the table.
SOLTERATION' OF THE MARRIAGE ACT.
froil
IALIES ACKINTOSU presented' a Pettitor
Ivadi,tJ M
e Unitarians of the Borough of South-
‘sl praying for an alteration 'in the ceremony
ttt widrriage Act, by the omission or amend-
{tart (4 part of the law,
.1r „
Rev; • ' • SMITH rose to make some observations ,
tb, 13 to subrnitting tO the House a proposition
n alteration of the Marriage Act. in refer-
ee ~... ,„
ti,at 'LP
his c tents'c isc Unitarians) he stated,
%Ist sc"ile palms Of the 'AIM riage Act were incon-
lor:nt with their religions relief. They there-
bed for au alteration ill the Act, so as to

. .
ieconeile it operation to their conscience: Sotlie
bisseni ers have serious objections to the law as
it now stood ; but the -persems who were exposed
to its operations in a conscientious point of view,
earnestly hoped that the House would grant
them relief, including in• the Amendment Bill
a new clause in their favour, relative to the
doctrine of the Trinity. In Scotland it waS a ci-
vil contract ; and in various parts of the Conti-
"tient it was also considered a civil contract. The
Act was passed about seventy years ago, When a
clause was introduced in•favour of the Jews and
Quakers, by exempting them front its operations.
If Jews and. Quakers had been exempted, because
they had applied fora clause in their favour, whet)
the law was introduced into Parliament, he 'saw
no reason tvhy other persons, front a principle of
-religion and conscience, shotild not be Indulged
with a similar exemption. It it true that, ac-
cording to the old - law, marriage was a 'civil,
not a religious, contract. Justice Blackstone
corroborates this doctrine by affirming that
" our law considers marriage merely as a
civil contract." All the -latter ceremonies in
the law were presented by the 29th George IL—
•The Hon. Member then entered -minutely into
the alterations proposed. The chief operation of
the new Bill-which he would have the honour- to
propose, authorised the Minisaer to perform the
marriage ceremony. without .using certaism words,.
to be explained in the It prOposed no ad-
ditional duties to the Ministers ; it proposed no
.reduction or omission of fees ; it proposed
no.. alteration, of- property ; in short, it was
chiefly.. to reconcile the scruples. of ~,the con-
science. No liberal person could, wish that
marriage should not be, consisteot with the re-
ligious -feelings of the persons concerned. Every
operation of the ceremony ought to be couge-
nial .with the feelings of time party. After various,
other ,remarks, time Honourable Member moved
for leave to bring in a Bill to alter and amend so
much of the Marriage Act or Ceremony as related
to Protestant Dissenters from the Church of
England.

Lord CASTLEREAGH would not object to the
motion, so far as it now • went. He, as well as
other Gentlemen, would be better enabled.to judge
of the operations of •the .Bill, after perusing the
clauses ; but he hoped that his consent to the
present motion would ;not be considered as pledg-
ing himself to any thing till be knew the contents
of the Bill.
Mr. WILBERFORCE entertained similar senti-
ments. He was, however, anxious, that marriage
should not be considered as merely a civil con-
tract, but _a religious contract also. By, the Mar-
riage Ceremony, Europe had obtained tire. greatest
advantage, and an iimazing transcendency over the
people and Governments of Asia. All farther re-
mai ks he would defer till the introduction of the
.Bill, when he would be better able to judge of the
proposed measure. .

. .
The tnotion was then agreed to ; and Mr. W.
SMiTH, Sir JAMES MAcKtNTosti, and other Gentle-
men, ordered to prepare and bring in the same.

Mr. CROKBR moved and obtained the second
reading of the Stockmarket Bill, authorizing the
ComtOsioners of the. Navy to establish a Market
for the convenience of the people of Pembroke
Dock.—Ordesed to be commirted on Tuesday
next.