The Sun.
London, England, 1818-03-06 00:00:00

INDEMNITY .BILL,

The Bali of LIVERPOOL NOVed the third reacting
`or the'lndenwity Bill.
• - Lord AUCKLAND said, notwithstanding he al-
lowed that several amendments, and in some re-
spects inrprovementk, had been made in the Bill,
lie could not bring his-mind to vote for it in its
present state. lie should not, however, de-
cidedly oppose the third reading, but would move
that the Bill he re-cominirteci, in order to its be-
ing divided into two Separate Bills, as the present
'referred, to Objects Which were properly the ob-
jects ofidistinct and Separate legislative provisions.
fie held it necessary those respectable 'Magistrates
who had acted laudablyon the recent occasions
"should receive 'a l'arli.rinerrtary protection. But
when he considered bow small a portion of actual
information on the snbject was before the noose,
`and when all that torili place went more on thc
presumption of what :night have happened, than
:from what they knew had actwilly-'Occisrml, he
couhi not reconcile it to his public duty to acquiesce
in the measure ac it now stood. lie therefore
proved that the Bill be re-committed.

The LORD CnAract.:LLott put the question from
the WoolsaA, that the words " now read a thiiet
time" Siam' part of the notion.
Lord KING made a variety of observations
stEtainst the measure. The rejection of a proviso
moved by a Nobie awl Learned Friend in_ the
Committee, to exctude frnut its protection per-
sons-who had avei maliciotisiy.in the perform-
ance of their fonctions, confirmed hint the more

in his hostility to the uneasore‘ The considera-
tion also, that every thing which htid been dotje
proceeded upon ex-parte grounds, and the' pro-
ceedings' in many respects wearing . rather the
character of those of the Itiquisition, or of (he
holy office, at least as fur as regarded their se-
crecy, farther stren4thened-his-sentiments. lie,
deprecated the adoption of such a Bill also on a
ground of its 'constituting a danget'ons precedent
—the indemnity Act of 1818 he feared would be
often adverted to. Ald he.was farther apprehen-
Sive tevitemen.. to treason and rebellion would
be en enraged by the protection extended tplhose

who promoted it; when it was seen they were
.protected and patronised by persons in the highest
office. Much stress had been laid on the alleged
. connexion between the partial disturbances in the
country and the ►n tchinations in London, but
the whole of. this rested merely ott the' evidence of
Oliver- alone. Thus viewing the questio;i, he

coiiiti tint at least but suppoil the motioli of his
Noble Frienil%

Earl BistnutisT•cnintended that the proposition.
of the Noble Lord, tor tlividing the Bill into two
f•
i
parts, was one highly n i consistent n its nature,
and utterly incompatible wide the plinciple col
which the measure evidently prOceeded. The
Noble Lord was willing to aford_proreetiOn to the
Magistrates, but the more important object was
to give the due and necessary protections to those
persons who afforded that information upon which
the Magistrates acted so laudably for the:preser4
vation itna security of the country., Any depar
tine. from that. principle would reduce these re.=
speetable persons (the Magistrates) to a distress-
ing and dangerous dilemma; they might he com-
pelled, in their own defence, to give up those
sources whence their infatuation was deriVed.---,
With respect to a Bill of Indemnity, their Lord-
ships were aware that all Acts of Suspension were
unavoidably followed by me,snres of the
And such measures as the present were genet ally
to-rounded on the nworiety of the facts ; that in
1801 proceeded on the known occurrences which
elicited in the course of several years. -The pre-
sent was grounded on specific and 'known facts,
aptl.there was not only the decision of a pom-
miltee taken on the oecasloo, hut,it had the pe-
cufiar reconatendation that no warrants were
issued except on information upon oath ; this
circumstance materially aisiinguished it from
the case of 1801.- The measure, he must contend,
vas 'necessary for the safety of the country; in
this view, with refer-rime to its necessary effect
upon' future occurrences, so long an established
yule Might not :o be departed from. 'The prin-
ciple which governed the conduct of the Secretary
of State'throughout the whole of the proteedings
was highly to his credit, and chit fly with respect
to his issuing no warrants except upon informa-
tion-stated upon oath ; and' what bad happened
iu Courts of Justice, though verdicts may not
have attached upon some of the accusol, yet it
clearly sheaved the existence of a dangerous con-
spiracy. He deprecated any line of conduct that
would leave *men'Who acted so laudably exposed
to all the effects of aggra'vated party malice. The
whole of what was done towards the suppression
of "a most dangerous and alarming conspiracy
unavoidably proceeded on- the principle of confi-
dence its his Majesty's Government, a confidence
which alone enabled the Government to stew
they liad duly exercised the extraordinary potters
entrusted to them. • And he trusted Parliament.
Would set its face against a line of conduct which
would" materially tend to counteract or destroy
all the good 'which had been achieved.

Earl GROSVENOR expressed very contrary sen-
timents of the measure before their Lordships..
ftr from thinking a sufficient 'ground laid
for a Bill of hidemnity. now 'were they to
know that no inforMations were given but upon
oath, when the,whnle was but an ex=parte state-
ment ? in the case of 1801, he believed the sante
course was adopted ; but should they not also
receive information upon oath on rhe other side
of the question > Though he would support the
motion of his Noble Friend, he should, for him-
self, protest against the :further progress of the
measure. In the view of its future operation as
a precedent, he regarded its, tendency as danger-
ous, and be Mint again contend that there was no.
proof that- the powerS vested iu his Majesty's Go.
Vermtient were properly exercised. His Lord-
ship then entered into 'a detailed view of a va-
riety of circumstances, which he conceived to
lead to that state of thiugs which gave riseH
eventually to the meastire under consideration;
and upon nearly 'thewbole of those points he cen-
sured the'line of polieyadopted by his Majesi,y's
Government. .1 nthecourse of these obaervat ions he
adverted to the prow. minus of certain printers for
the publication, of religions parodies—which pro-
secutions, lie asserted, increased-in a ten(oldtde-
gree the publicity and the &Inger, such as it was,
of such publications; Ile had heard hut little of
them until that injudicious determination of Mi-
nisters to persist in prosectiting. After impugn-
ing the iinancialsystem of Ministers, he adverted
to (1)6 great militaryimwer lodged in their hands,
Witbwhich, and from the other advantages they
possessed, he could never think there had been
necessity for suspending the Habeas Corps's Act
at all ; and of course no necessity for the adoption
of so dangerous and- unconstitutional a measure as
that now proposed:
The Bishop of liIISETER expressed his surprise
at what had fallen- from the Noble Earl on the
subject of those dangerous religious parodies,
which he seemed to treat so Hghtly ; the more Si,,;
as be had always considered the 'Noble Lord as a'
serious man. For his. part", he regarded these
publications in •a very dangerous light ; and al
though a witty casual prodnction of an individual
m ry have' been overlooked, it was no reason why
a cotitinned series of the most dangerous libels
and parodies against the established religion of
th country'shOuld besot/et-61 to proceed without
prevention or punishment. The consequences of
such pUhlications may be highly calamitous. No
small mischief had I.).‘en occasioned
,by them, awl
it was the duty of his Majesty's Governmens, by
every meatta in ahe:r power, to prevent the Conti-
nuance of a.praet ice so dangerous, and of_ t his he
tholiglit the Nrible Earl -himself must be suffi-
ciently aware.. .
Earl GnoSves.on, in explanation, repeated
opinion, that the piosecutions, instead
of".aliayitrg, tended only to increase the evil; it
{tserred too widely to disseminate those ohnnxioas
publi,cat ions, ofwhich.not one in a hundred were
seen before the prosectitions took_ place. Abstract.:
edly no mat) could hold the interests of religion
more sacred than himself.

The Bishop of EkETEK contended, that the
dangerons -pnblitatiobs in ,question were widely
disseminated among the lower orders betore Ole
prosecutions had been instituted. . •
Lord 11.91.1.. e agreed in opinion with:the Hon.
;Ind 'Rev. Prelate ; and took occasion to
psue-
gyrise the conduct o the Magistrates- who had
been active in •suppretising the late disturbances,
:and whom • he • thought highly worthy of the pro-
tection of Parliament.

-The Loup CH, .:cm:LA.OR eXpressett his opinion,
tht, Avith respect to the extraordinary propnsi-
ti-(Th Of dividing the .13ill" into Imo, he'ditl tint rem
callet a sihgle wort} from at”, ae,Nobit L.wds
which applied to that point. Witli tegard Et) the

conduct of his Majesty's CovernMent, they had
endeavoured, throughout this Arduous and critical
Inisiness, to discharge their duty to Vie countrytlrt
large„ but in some views there was"nrore to:te
•anPrehended from sosn Of the rich than &bin the
prir. The poblicationiyhic-WO prOperly calted•
for the reprehension of the Reverend Prelate, and
others of that character, were not Duly directed.
against the Established Church, but against reli-
gion- in general. Did any Noble Lord mean to
say, that when the country, was literally deluged
with such publications as those alluded.to, and
those obviously calculated for the purpose of even
destroring the altar and the throne, that his Ma-
jesty's Government were to hesitate in applying
the powers of the taw, with a view tc) their coun-
teraction, and, for the support of these great bul-
warks of every thing dear to us !.-;-(1-lear
When thousands, nay, millions of such publica-
tions were inchistrionsly circulated throughout- the
country, let their Lordships renrember. well what
such publications had given rise won former
occasions itt this coontrv, alnl more recently
in other countries. Those who sent them into
the country. were answerable also for what indi-
vidual mischief they had occasioned,- 'for what
many persons had suffered, not politically, but
for the commission of capital ofienees, and that
was :acknowledged in the confessions of these
individuals; under sue!) circumstances, were they
to be w.thheld from proCeeding, when all that
was worth preserving in the country was ac-
tudly aimed at,?---(Hear, hear, hear r)--1-le had-
Inicrthe misfortune to live in times when it wag
'largely attempted, by the dissemination oflibels,
not upon Ministers, nor 111)01) individuals, for al
leged conduct (o,ough either would afford ample
grounds), but in foilowitig'up a general system of'
libelling for the destruction of the public:charac-
ter, and the Constitution of the country; and the
thr: y of those who directed its Councils, in*such a
case, was not for a moment doubtful. Let those
times be looked to, and they would find that great
obloquy was endeavoured to be cast upon himself,
anti on those with whom he acted, for tit,ir con:.
duct at that critical and eventfuiperiod. Let them
now consider what the coinhict of the preseot
Law Officers of the Crown had been, and say
whether they did not think it not only justifiable,
,but laudable and exemplary ; and whether,. by a
faithful and zealous dischar4e of their public du-
ties in acting as they slid, they were not richly de-
serving, not of oblinvy or censure, but of the
thanks and the applause of the country ?—(l.lear,
hear r)

The Marquis of LANspowtic argued at some
length in support of the amendment.
The Earl of .‘VESTMORLAND spoke against it.
The Earl of CARNARVON spoke against the Bill,
and in support of the amendment.
After the Noble Earl had concluded, the ques-
tion was loudly called P>r, nod the strangers were
excluded, preparatory to a
Pending the exelntimm, Lord AUCItI.D'S
amendment was, we undetstan4negativcd without

On the main question for the third re4,ling of
the Bill (the Earl of CARNARYON having moved-
that that proceeding should orke.place o►► this day
thrce months), a division took !dace.

Not Contents 49, Proxivq. . 49 Q 3
Comtemts.
• Alajoilt,- fur the third read i:rg of the 8i11.....16
Adjo-ulnetl till to-morrow.