The Sun.
London, England, 1829-05-18 00:00:00

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COMMITTEE OF PRIVILEGEg--4,FAIY. PEERAGE.

Mr. ADAMS, Counsel for Mr. George Leigh, upon
this Peerage being called on, informed their Lord-
ships that several witnesses were in attendance, but
in consequence of the late notice that bad been
giVen, rio opportunity bad been afforded to the par-
tiei to hgve,tbfrit sworn at their Lordships' bar this
Session. He i...citif&Netl that he had no precedent
whatever to offer upon the & nts Pnd roost there-
fore leave it to their Lordships' for deeitioirs whe-
ther it was competent for those witnesses (xi be
before they were re-sworn.
Their Lordships after some consideration thought
Ruch e course m ght be pursued, but in consequence
of the fitidr p!itte of the Berkeley Peerage, their
Lordships would take that first; apprehending they
should be able to cotnpleteit to-day, andthe witnesses
in the Leigh Peerage might be kept in attendantei
in case they should be required.

BERKELEY PEERAGE.
Their Lordships' then proceeded with this
Peerage.
Mr. FONBLANQUE, as COuosel for Col. Berkeley,
the petitioner, opened the pTtititin to the House,
Colonel Berkeley as the possessor of the lands held
by the former Baron of Berkeley, insisted by his pe•
tition that he was entitled in consequence of the
tenure of those possessions to a seat in their Lord-
ships' House. The Learned Counsel was quite aware
there was some degree of novelty in the proposition
he had to lay down on part of the petitioner. Anciently
there could have been little or no doubt upon the
question ; but in consequence of the alteration that
had taken place in the law, the case now involved
some difficulty. It was his intention to refer to a
series of authorities, for the purpose of establishing
the proposition, that a right to sit in this House at-
tached upon the possession of lands. The result of
the labours of the Select Committee did not put
the House in possession of any thing like a po-
sitive conclusion as to the course that should
be adopted. According to the Norman law,
the dignity of a Noble of the realm was at-
tached to the possession of land. Dow far that
was a wise law he should not say. He did not ap-
pear before the House as an advocate of the pro-
priety of the law as it stood. The question before
the House was not whether the right could be con-
ferred, but whether it should be allowed ; and should
the conviction of their Lordships' mind coincide with
his, they would feel no difficulty in allowing the
claim of the petitioners, and at the same time be
discharging their duties to their Sovereign. The
previous Barons of Berkeley had sat in their Lord-
ships' House by no other right than the possession
of these lands, and should that proposition be made
out, he had no doubt the antiquity of the . claim
would have much weight attached to it. It would
be incumbent upon him to prove the petitioner in pos-
session of the property, and also to satisfy the
House of the previous possession of the petitioner's
ancestors. Formerly no Baron sat, except under
the right of possession of lands. Whether such a ,
policy was just was not for him to say, but it deserved
great coasideration. It was his intention to
bring before their Lordships the authority of
the first historians and the most profound antiquaries.
He would refer their Lordships to the case of the
Earl of Arundel, in Henry the Sixth's time, also
Lord Abergavenny, and Lord Roos, during the reign
of James the Fiat; all of which clearly established
the proposition for which he was contending. He
would found his claim upon the 24th chapter and
11th section of the Act of Charles the Second.
What could Ise meant by the word feudal used in
that Act, but the right of sitting in their Lordships'
House. It was not in respect of the Ecclesiastical
dignities, high and powerful as they were, that their
seats were taken, but in consequence of the pos-
session of land. The Learned Counsel went at
great length into the authorities, citing, those of
Matthew Paris, the laws in the time of Edward the
Confessor, the recognition of those laws in William
the Conqueror's, Henry the First's, and Henry the
Ild.'s days, the Constitute of Clarendon, and Magna
Charts, all of which the Learned Counsel con-
tended established his proposition, namely, that
though the Barony was extinct in consequence of
the failure of issue, yet that the person who by de-
scent, even in possession of the lands formerly be-
longing to the barony, and from which alone the
right to it proceeded, was entitled to the privileges
attached to it, and consequently a seat in their Lord-
ships' House. It was true no evidence could be ad-
duced of a claim like the present ever being heard
judicially before their Lordships before, but he trust-
ed their Lordships would not feel much difficulty in
granting the petitioner what he asked.
The Learned Counsel had not concluded his argu-
ments when we left.