The Sun.
London, England, 1818-04-29 00:00:00

NORTHERN CIRCUIT.

Mr. M. A. TAYLOR brought up a Report from
the Northern Circuit Commit►ee. He begged to
call the attention of the House to the importance
of this subject. In the inquiry which had taken
place, it had been found that persons, many of
whom had ultimately been acquitted, had been
imprisoned for eight or nine months before they
were brought to trial. It was unnecessary to
dwell'on the hardship of these cases. He might
add, that marry causes had been suffered to stand
over for two years before they were brought to
trial. This had frequently been known in the
counties of Northumberland, Westmorland, and
Durham. It might he said, in fact, that the bu-
siness of these counties had not been done at
all. It had been found at York, that of eight
Special Jury causes, six bad remained untried,
though the parties had been put to the expense
of holding themselves and their witnesses in rea-
diness. He knew that he should meet with „op-
position on this subject, lint was determined go
persevere. It would be•seen that the Committee

humbly recommended that the Northern Circuit
should be divided ; but the Counsel were of opi-
nion that none but the established Judges of the
land should be sent on that important- Circuit.
This was urged in consequence of a report fink
bad gone abroad, that it was in contemplation u)

send a Commission down, con isting of a Ser-
jeant at Law and others, to transact certain parts

.. .
ot the business of the Circuit.

He hopedsuch

course %soukd not be adopted, as be was confident a
remedy to the existing evil could not be thus sup-
plied, and any expedient of the kind he must pro•
flounce to be a dclnsion. fie trusted the Report
of the Committee would be acted upon, and that
the evil in question would be done away. If a
remedy were not afforded, it was his determinar
tion to move an Address to the Prince Regent on

the trthiec't. . had noiv only to move taut The
BATOrt should be printed; •
•
Mr. Ctitt‘v EN went aiong with his Hon. Friend
in fall he had said, and seconded the motion.'
The rteport was ordered to he nrifited.
H. PARNELL .gave notice, that on Thtfrs7
day se'iniLlit he would
.move fur the appoint-
ment f a Committee to take into consideration
the laws for the preservation of the peace in ire-

Lout. •,
The see.nd reading of the Shve Trade Itegula-
tioo Bill pimpotied till Friday.
AljettoAn I.'oon presented a Petition
from tl.c Parish of St. Gregory against the Parish
V,:stty Bill ,--Ordered to be laid on the table.

JOURNALS OF THE HOUSE.
The Sre.ar.e. eal!ed the AO entionof the I-louse
to the state t,t their Journals, the index to which
I►ad oily hero brought Up to the period of the
trilh liehinti. For the last 17 years none
had been n►.►rle. It could be obvious to the
House, ►hit to bribe the index up to the present
year must he work of great labour, and one
that required great nicety' in the execution, and
no-mote time ought to be consumed in preparing
it than oral al►solutelt neeessaty. Under these
0-culustauces, pethaps tl►e noose would allow
Liu) to recomm,4nd to them the Coarse which bad
pt►r,nc•d in 1766, u•hett a Cowniittee was
move.; fm • into.the slate pt the Journals,
ond to. re pot t what might appear ptol►er to he
done thereon. •

. Mr BATHURST Collsidereet the Ilmise. to
.he
much obliged to the tip. aker for directing. their
Eittenlion to ;his stibie(:l, Hod gave t otice that be
Would to-.morrow twve for the tiprinunent' of
a Committee to itiquiie into 'the state of the
auurnals.

PENsIONS OF OFFICERS' WIDOWS.
Mr. LYTTLETON rose to call the attention of
the Hoese to this subject. An order hail lately
been made, that po peltSion should he ;:ranted to
any Officvt's widow,,if her income was three
times as yreftt as- the rate of the pension site
might be entitled to claim and afterward: the
limitation was fixed at tour tithes the amotu'it of
the income. This might be considered a conces-
; but lie must say,' that it had noth,itig of
justice in it. It it was ititetided' to enter' upon
.system of-rgid economy, Ministers surely ought
trot to begin by she:china. the feelings ot those whit
had tendered the most important services to their
country. The question now was, _whether Go-
reahtolt
.ryes to keep faith with the ',truly', by
d;,•• e justice to met itorions Officers. The total
eeeee ot widows' eensions was not quite
100',0001.,ayear,aud Ole amount or each pension
was very small. That of a General's widow .was
only 120/. ; that of a Lieut.-Colonel's, 801. ; and
that ot a Ceivain's widow, SCI: Then, "if a Ge-
steral's widow possessed an income of 480/. a year,
site was to be dept'ved of her pension. It would
be a case ot still greater tiateb,!,ip to deprive a
's (flow of the pension, it her income
be 2001. a:year. Fends were often-r-ased
for ebc oeo fit of widows, ottt Of subscriptions'
liaict rii,c,ru,i!ionAliy by Oflicerii, and oto ct in-
sirrau -es on ht it lives ; and ifOific-ces, by. great.
exertions, -raised income's for their widows, waS•
'it jest that the widows should lima be depiived
of peneions, because' stick sacrifices .had been.
mode by their husbands while living ? The-
-ogic'ers, 'then, had' been contributing to the
service- of- the Government, and they were to:
lose their light because/ they had for many years
been meting ae economical provision fur their
families., When he he-ard of the proposed regn-
liCioe, he felt the .greatest surprise,- and be felt
there was tit) groom' tor it whatever, except the
-recommendation of the Finante Committee.• A
Merre•er of the,Comtnittee had asked if the Dowa-
ger Duchess of -Nortloonberland could draw her
.pension'-? but that in'tet kectitory ergument used
in a Committee-room ought to have no weight
with the House. Besides, it 1111134 be recollected,
that the Metnberi of that Committee were the
friends of the Ministers, and they must have had
. a bias favourable to their views. In fact, the
nisters omitted to do the. principal thing which
was recommended by the Committee; for they
gave allowances for wounds and for superamoute
• lion, but wreaked all their vergeance on the
flow's pensions. it was . impossible that this
• lensintss'coold ever he justly settled, unless- the
arrangements were prosoective. The total amount
of. the fund was 98,00 Q/. odd; 'and by this plan
of 11.1inisiers, the total saving'might be about 20
0r.30,000/. atid was it worth while to gall the
feelings of brave men for such a paltry saving as
this ? Every year the saving -would be less ; and
-without any thing of importance being gained, a,
general discontent would be created "throughout
the army by kis impolitic nod trilling plan
When grants were lately proposed to be made to
the Royal Dukes, was it itoeteded to make theta.
ont of the peusiouS• of ()facers' widows ? There
was uo principle like this' to be found any where
'lke effect of this v.gul.4meAevould bee-blw,
if airy officer was indutrikiourarriNrogal, he sit*
to he' puel.,,hed in the pe.r.sou of his widoori:. hie
1 •
the WidOS only it improvdent men were to I.tel
benefited. Besides, the natural iendenc-v ot this
tier old be, eva'sion anti perjuty tin the Pei' of the.
widow ; .O:teoertv might be lett iu trust, aid tire:
trust tr,i;lit lie insecure,: The whole business,
then, o as ;tnitiOrat, as well as being impolitic and
It the' teguktion %%as Vlicient, it was
cruel in the highest degree. Ile did- not believe
it oriein'attiti either 'at the Morse Guards, or the
War °Ace, or with the iliostriOes .Prinee, who.
was at' the Mend of the army. He believed it ori--
"Onated with Ministers; anti that it ears a Trea—
Stire edi7t, if:snefl iii opposition to all persors con--
Peered with tee ertny, fttr the. sake of a paltry
saving, which was inconsistent witty the usual
p:e we( uiees Mifhisters, an& which- would pro-
d i-e a great deed ot mist hier, doing any
good to the c,),intry ; and he trusted the Hoitse
woold applaud the- entire rejection of the plan.
ti,:o. 'Member toneltuled %Otis moving a
A.i.iress to his !loyal Highness the Piincc
1.!'• , ee;:ressive Of the disaonrobatiou'of lice
e Lee torlet, poioting twit its
le..ticv etol 1!;jorl'Aol ri ntftncy, anti beseeching
or, t ess • eel the said Ceder.
P coned i rnotinit---•
it 1, (.1.:,r1 AVlirit it t'-iii tire
!,,tovide for Widows
that by the 21st:

} ....

. .
-of Charles the First, 3,000 i. had been•granted-to
certain widows, who bad petitioned for pensions•
In 1547 a provision had been made tor the willows-.
of officers, when the army was about to be dis-
banded. lie mentioned these things to show
what had been the custom of •the country, even
before a standing army 'had become necessary.
Officers, who had been 50 years in the service,
could'not remember any system•to have been act-
ed upon with respect to widows, but that which
was now broken in upon by:the regulation Which
was the subject:of the present motion. The war-
rant of Queen Anne, issued in 1768, regulating
the amount of her bounty to be allowed to.Otii-
cers who had served in Spain, Pomp), and
France, provided 4' that all Widows of Officers
laying claim to thesame,slionlil be reviled to show
'that they had no'pension, allowance, or other pro-
vision from the Crown, nor any sufficietit •or teason—
able maintenance lett them by their late husbands."
This regulation laid been made mote than a hun-
dred years ago, for the Widows of Officers who
had served in Spain, Portugal, .No mention
was made of the Widows of those who' bad served
in Flanders:, bat it was not to be supposed-that at
that
_period, four years after the battle of Blen-
heim, they were forgotten. They could not have
been less provided for ; possibly a better provi-
sion was fin the 'for them. Ile then noticed what
had been done respecting Officers' %Vizlows in 1717,
and in 1763, and proceedea strongly to aninotit-
vent on the 'change now 111Mte in a system %vhich,
tinder thel,beral consideration of, our Monarch,had
till now been preserved from being broken in upon.
Was it not till now, after victories unparalleled in
our history had raised the fame of our arm., that
it was Inn id the nation could. not pay the intett•st
of sums previously Leis:tett away, without cur-
tailing the number of Widows who received. Pen-
.signs Was economy tO be displayed here, in
discontinuing .Pensioos which bad beet, so hardly
earned, while other classes of pensioners f.eceised
theirs in full, whether they had earned them or
not i 11e entreated. the house to consider the
question solely on its own, merits:, Comparisons
might seem-,invidious, and he wished to ,nuke
none, but must just remark, that the practice or
Belli ig cominissiooi in 'lie Army ;Ilene a distinc-
tion between the ease of its Offieers- anil that of
those in the Navy. Ile ploceedetl ai,ew ;that
the new regulation was not recommtaided by tic
Committee of Finance, while the t ecoinnienda-
lions, which they had given were. hut hope! teed y
acted upon. lie trusted the cause of the Widows,
which was that of justice, would meet with the'
approbation of that House, and that the Address
would he carried.
Mr. Jolla: SMITH thouttlit the case of the
Widows one of great hardship, and considered
the reesdation to, he font d. d grass's infer .rice.
At first be had thooght it impossible that such
reghlatioD could he plopdsed, and lie still almost
doubted it what he had heard on the 'object was
Correct. Upon the whole, he thought it wars in-
cumbent upon. the klouse in its ju•t ice ao catry
the Macs..
F. Lewts •rstpleined tl.e dderelice .which
had heretofore exi-•ed between . the. tflarn
the navy. The navy pensioners si''''iiiif..-
11A ht 4
orbireted to certain linutations of ioromc.,
No
such goaTicarion had existed in the army. Tile
fi he
Committee of Finance had thought it their 'hay
to inquire- on what that difference , was grourtiled,
which was found to be the cause of much jealawl
and heart-burnine;
g and which it had -appeared
most desirable to do array. It was pettedly
aereed that .all diviimilarity between the, two ser-
vices should be clone away with.
Lord PALMERSTON said, the original warrant
(which, however, never was issued), stated, that
the penlion should not be granted where the in-
come was_
.more than double the pension. The
warrant now 'issued made the pension payable
where slielticome was four times-.the pension, and,l
that, it should only be payable in cases where the
date of the marriage was posterior to that of the
warrant. This, then, was enough to do away
with any' notion of a breach of faith. As to the
contributions which had been alludek to, they
were so iusinificaiit, that they never could bar
tire widow of the pension. The question as to
where this pension had originated had been in\-
swtred by thellon. Gentleman who spoke last.
Though the FinanceCammittee had not mention-.
ed the subject in their Report, yet it was with
them that it originated.. The case of La,ty Gil-
lespie had been mentioned., The allowance to that
Lady Was granted on
.account of her husband
having been killed in action: It was said that the
measure %yea inconsistent with the terms of the
letter Set forth in the Finance 'Report. Butt in-
asmuch.as the increased allowance only extended
to marriages subsequent to the date of the war-
it could riot affect any thing clone previously
to that time. As to the propriety of assimilating
the two services, ,14 was allowed on ail hands, and
this very day an order, he believed, was issued
~ILotit the Admiralty, increasing the allowance to
Are-Willows nrf..Naval Officers. Nothing could he
intVe unpleasari; than to curtail tl;e allowaocCto
Officeu's wounded in. action, or to dimioisls the
pensioneirt heWstitute :sisters, Or mother, of Of.
Fteers.• • :If ,AVal a thing so • repugnant that no
Menther of any Government could be sv pposed. to
adopt- Stich tocas•nres from choice. In all that bad
been done, with relation' to' the present. eahieet,
the.recionmeadations: of the Finance I.;ottimittee
and of the lionse. had been exactly attended to.
Colonel' ST AN tioPE thOlight that it Would be
more coosonant to aat which w,,:s to be expeeterl,
ill a great unit ion,' that the Widows or Officers
should not he compelled to accept it, as a elta!isy,
and sire in forma pauperis for that reward which
the services of their basbands mast have well
earned. • Yotwh bstanding his to ofessioual preju-
dices, be had always considered the ,Navy' as lite.
st roog- aunt of the country. 'l'llerefore there.
sloruld be no dissimilarity bet weer thet ;en service's.
—ilArt:,Ceozett said, that the Fund out of which.
th'e Widows of Naval Officers aerie paid, alibongh
it ultiniately was suPplikd by the lorhlic mooey,
yet apparently •it was not. It.•was contributed
by a deduction •frout Officers' pay. riltre -was,
also a contiiinoinn. fycon the. pay of se, nen; for
every hundredth ; seamen was a fictitious man,
called the w!dows'...mtko.-,--(/), laugh.)----So that
for every 99 seamen there e• as one, a ft : I
personage, whose pay was laid abide to torn) .tlic
Widows' Fund,..---The word " charity" Bari Inca

--• "-

remarked upon; but Ite cold-4 only .say,, it
,Was ti,e
'words used in the original order in qeorge the
First's time. 'ln the case of the ArmY; the'Crown
kept in its own breast the power of decidint on
every individual case. Best in the navy that
MIS delegated to a corporation of officers. By Mr.
Burke's Bill the Fund waseharged in the estimates
in general.- The Naval Fund was not a public one,
and never was voted with the estimates. Of late
yearg, it hstd always struck him that the offieers.
of the army stood in a very different si nation
from the officers of the navy, owing to the circuit)•
stance of the former often purchasing their com-.
missions. IVhen an officer on half-pay in the
Filmy married, his widow did not get any pension,
although the widow of a half-pay officer who was
married at the time he was placed ou half-pay did
receive a pension. Bit in the navy the case was
quite-different as to half-pay
,officrrs. Therefore,
notwithstanding all that was said, the assimilation
between the two services was not complete. -He
wished that some imfeiry should be instituted for
the 'purpose of deridina- what could best he done
%lit!) respect to the of the regulations
in both services as to Widows' Pensions.
Mr, CALCRAFT Could not help thinking it very
strange, r..t mit withstanding what had been said
as to the Finance Committee. these %vas not in
.ny of their Repot rs-one single word on the sub-
jeer of lVidotrs' Psosions. lie was vet y flinch
surprised to 10.ar the Nob), Lorsd, who seemed to
~tev thaf this !Lime, because it had pressed the

,eceisi,ll 01 eeono•ny and redttetinn of the 'hilt-

tare e4t.ab:1,111110 t, rt commended or tt as Fe.
SpooSibie for so pal rv, so pititul t pik,ce Ot eco-
nomy ~s.tialt now under dlictl•Sion ;hell had
the House, or when had any Member of the
fiow.-e. tin this liight, said that the allowances,
of the Widows Of those w:ol had fought and bird
for *heir country on;:,ht to he diminished ? lie
would ,as, nothing as io the similati!y 'or dissimi-
larity at the naval and military set vit es, because
he thottglit it had nothing to do with the'rptes-
Hon before-the 'llouse. The tWor services, wet e
similar in nothing but in their glorious services.
lf the warrant now complAined of was rescinded,
he would undertake to show. to-morrow, fife
hundred ways in which the ntnney might he saved.
Mr". WILBEII.Fonct;:. hoped, that the Noble Lord
(Lord P,diner;ton) would, upon consideration, on
hi: own principles, accede ,to the roposal now
made. There -was an express engagement with
-every Officer,,who had entered the service, that
his gait ow% should receive AO tillOW'aliCe. There

- - -
was a tendency in military life to, something like
dissoluteness. ntld not the Llouse, therefore,
do every !Ling to Make an Officer look forward to
the comfort of his wife and children ? There
.was no saying how tar this principle might- go.—
It might make an atm), a safe instrument ; and
whether in triumph or defeat,. gave it
.a value
above every thing else. It WAS right twentertain
a constittnioulje.aionsy of the army ;. but there
was nothing in that' pll cipie which' went against
this proposal—nay, it was one of the most power-
ful reasons in tayour ref it, for it united the army.
by one Holt more to the Civil State. The Army
had upon our patitude -which we could'
never adcqudiely pay.•.:ile could trot, therefore,
but hope that the NOble Lord would accede to
the motion. •

er4).±.! CnaNCELLoR Of ille'LXcHEQUElisaid, that
he felt no siittne in confessing that th'e regulation
hoW Tit.stuili IV )6 vitt ot that system of eco-
tnny; ',llajesty'sGoverntnent„ a.s well-
from thuir 9wit wish asirom the rccommendation
of'Paritament, hid thonght it proper to adopt.—
Independent of the mere "question'eff pecuniary
niattetai it most he observed -that tlie-:differ-
ence b. twren the Army. awl Navy had been for
some vears a subject ut annualdistussitur. Tire
Widows' Pension 4 both of Alloy and Navy were
in their origin Merely eleemosynary, and stood
upon no claim of ritr,*t. The potter a granting
t b
pension o any Officer's widow ad always laecn
discretionary It was certainly a discretion Very
liberally exercised, but still it was n dihcierion,
and the pension was never demandable. as a right.
If it teas the pleasure of Parliament to increase
the allowance to widows-, lie couid'Asstite the

louse, thctt it w+•ould give his XL-11cm y's

ters f teat satisfaction to fulfil any such wish.—.
From what had vu•setiebe collected that there was
a %cry stiong`feeling in. the House* favour of •,
increasing the allowance, and as there was tto
dispOSitiiin on the part of his Majesty's Govern-
ment to' continue in force the regulation,eom-
plainer! of, therefore, if the lion. tientlentab
Would agree to dispose of his motion in such a
way- that the subject might be bronght before the
[loose in a regular way as a cotuninuir,ation from
the Crown, no difficulty could-. occur on the
subject.
Mr. LYTTLETON expressed much pleasure at
what had fallen from the WWl' Ron. the Chan-
vel!or of the .Exchequer,
.HlO said,,t that he would
tither withdraw his motion or dispirs'e of kin such
way as toe house might judge. be,t4,...; - ' -
The CHANCE'LLoR of the ExCHEQUER Said; he.
accepted with pleasure the courtesy of the lion.
Gentleman. Certainly the Measure would come_
much-better from the. Crown-- Ile. intended, if
the Hon. Gentlematr would withdraw his-motion,
to take' up the subject generally, and. move for
the appointment of a Commits:se to inquire into
what regulatiOns on this subiect would be moo
beneficial in all the services. .
Mr. LYTTLETON.said,IIe had only one word to
say—if the Right. Hon. Gentleman,would promise
Ito recomMend to • the :Crown lo withdraw the
warrant,- he would witltdrAw 1). s motion.
Tie CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said, that
i.e agreed :vibe proposal.--I heillotioll Was then
. withdrawn. • , . _
a
e
nsiiiilr. iberT. ()t.Csou,iitt7. tsit(a)7.l%phriecsieinijscit(l,..:l,ttll,,estoirian of
dint.eh
1
, •granted by tire Cominissioners tiq the Affairs of
India. . .