The Sun.
London, England, 1820-07-21 00:00:00

tA:so' CHANCERY 10.:(ii:LitiON BILL.

Their Lordships resolved. into a Committee oh.
this Bill.

- -
Lord• RE.nESDILE entered .upon a discussion of
the general merits of the measure. The principle
he athnitted to be.good, as- some regulation was
evideutly necessary ; but several of the proposed
enactments iti•the Bill as it-then stood, wouldgre
quire much consideration and amendment.
therefore proposed several, of .which some, after
some discussion in the Committee, principally be-
tween the Noble and Learned Ltird:and• the Earl
of Limerick, were agreed to ; and the decision
upon others Was deferred to a future stage of the
Bill.

On the Clause Which went to incapacitate
Masters in the Irish Court of- Chancery from sit
ling as MeMbers in the. other House of Parlia7
men-, after The Ist day of August next, the dis-
cussion principally took place. It was strongly
and vitcrally objected- to by Lord Redesdale in
the tn-st instance,, who, declared his intention to
propose an inlportabtamendment thereto.
The'Earl of LIMERICK expressed his regret at
feeling ' obbged to differ from his Noble and
Learned Friend, but in this case he differed
widely from him,- and -he could not conceive
why a clause, which Was agreed to'after much dis-
cu.ssioaPlsewhere, was to be now abandoned. To
him it clearly appeared, that the Gentleman
who Iv-as-likely too-be more 'immediately • affect=
ed- by the, clause had disqualified., himself from
sittieg in the Imperial Farliament, inasmuch-as
he had declared upon oath that he had, as a
Master in the Irish Chancery, distinct, numerous,
-
and important duties-to*attend t 0..: • He would not
now trouble their Lordships with a detail upon
the point, but the 'examination of the Learned
Gentlemo.n In queStion occupied 'a full folio page.
He had stated distinctly that his official duties
,oecupicd, him -several hours in the day for ten
months out of twelVe. If that Gentleman Was
so very desirous of distinguishing- himself in Par-
liament,-he had nothing to dO butto abandon this
drudgery of an Irish' Master in Chaneery. But
while he 'held it, he could not off, necessity exe-
cute both duties properly. He was rather op-
posed to the 'principle of law officers also dis-
charging 'political duties. The latter.unedium had,
in Ireland, before the Union; been too much the
road to' high legal preferments.
,Since the Union
the pra.Ctiee was different, and much to the credit
of successive administrations. With such senti-
ments Ile mast feel it his duty to Oppose the clause.
The F lOf ENNISKILLEN thought such a pro-
vision' would operate not only hardly but unjustly
-with regard to the most respectable Gentleman
who had been just returned by a large majority
of the Electors-of the loyal city of Dublin. In
his case it would operate as an ex cyst facto law.
With respect to the Noble. Earl who so pointedly
supported, this Measure, and felt so much for the
vast population of Ireland, he was sorry they had
not amore of thailNoble Earl's company in .that
part of the United Kingdom.

Lord ITO.LLAND strongly supported the clause.,
He was surprised to hear it opposed, as. the rea-
sons in:favour•of the measure were so striking
and- nurnerOus,..that he hardly knew which to be.-
4in,with ; however, it was in fact only enforcing-,
the actnal law, though tint the custom: of Parlia-
Ment, which said, among other- dicta, that Masters
in Chancery shOuld not sit in the House of •Corn,
mots. Antlther adverse reason was, that Masters
in Chancery were the' servants of that (their
Loult‘hips') House: , • •
The Earl Of ENNisrctr.i.E's (across the table)
observed, Masters in ChanCery do 'sit in, Parlia-
ment here.-

Lord• HOLLAND continued.-----By the copszlettae,
hut not the /ex. Partidwßfi, they did ; but lif the
latter were in force, they could not sit in ParHa-
mr,:tt. thoUght he had assigned at least five
•
go3d, reasons, as -numerous as the fingers' on his
hand, in suppOrt of the clause: The
.Noble Lord
had spoken with his usual good humour of the
clause Orerating as an ex post facto law,but that
he conceived as rather an extraordinary objec-
tionfrom the Voble Earl's side of the - Ifouse,
when it was recollected :how numerous were -the
cxpost. facto legislative enactments. in subjects,
of. far greater importance' that proceeded from
the same quarter ; against the clause,in ques-
tion, he repeated he could not see how any satis-
'factory objection could be
.adduced.
The Earl of LlvEurpor, observed, the clues-
.tion for consideration was, whether the clause
before them, if not materially 'amended, could
be enacted with justice to the party. If the re-
turn were deemed queStionable or hnproper, a
petition could be easily prenntea in the proper