The Sun.
London, England, 1842-01-20 00:00:00

request cilSti:':! eo3iWeec:;:naouSfstanetahntthieeirieasousien a otitdhe rp
asy,
tahteomncoenecpply witii the
The answer of othe .Chancellor of the Exchequer to
this question is— •
is no legal-power in the Crown to de
so. If a Treasury warrant, signed by her Majesty, and
counter-signed by himself, were issued, and he were to
take it to the Exchequer, the answer would be, that there
was no legal means by which it could be paid; that her
Majesty had no power to-issue such a warrant; that they
could not pay any sum of money unless they were
directed to do so by a Bill passeaby
that house, and
concurred in by the rest of the LeFislature;"
Now, according to Mr. F. Baring, Chancellor of the
Exchequer, the House of Commons has been requesting'
the Crown to commit, and the Crown 'has been com-
mitting, acts which are against the law for a &eat many
years. The following grants, which are extracted from
the Annual Appropriation Acts, were Madeby Parlia-
ment, " To make good to his Majesty the like sums issued
in pursuance of the addresses of the House of Commons."
(Here are enumerated more than forty grants
of this description, made between 1774 and 1815,
amounting to 994,9741. Some of these, too, sup-
ported by the very men who now resist repeated
votes and addresses of the House of CoMmons.)
Now, are all these precedents against law? Or is a
Chancellor of the Exchequer empowered to call what-
ever suits his convenience law? The address and the
answer, on this occasion, were exactly the same as in the
case of Mr. Palmer, 1811. The answer in that case ap-
pears to have served as a precedent for framing the
answer in the present case. How did the House view
the answer on that question ? Mr. Whitbread said .-
1 " The answer conveyed the greatest possible insult on
the House, goinc, as it did to express a doubt of the in-
clination or of the ability to make good any sums which
his Royal Highness (the Prince Regent) might order to
be issued, in consequence of an address of that House."
Mr. Charles Wynn added :
"-In the present instance the privileges of the House
were attacked. Though against the principle of address
on such occasions, yet when done, it must be carried into
effect, and was entitled to all the weight and authority
the House could give to its proceedings. It was a noto-
rious fact, that the address of the House of Commons, or
their vote, was always considered as decisive on money
questions. Did the Exchequer ever wait for anything
else ? Did they ever wait for an act of appropriation?"
Mr. William Lamb (now Lord Melbourne) ob served :
" The Right Honourable Gentleman (the Chancellor
of the Exchequer) %I:mid have. acted more wisely if he
had lent a furthering band to the decision of the House
of Commons when they had agreed that the money ought
to be granted, instead of giving, as he had done, every
possible opposition to its effect. If such a principle were
to be acted upon it would come to this, that the votes of
the House would be considered as omnipotent when they
were given in support of the Minister, and of no effect
whatever when given against him."
The Chancellor of the Exchequer replied:—
" Had, not the Crown full authority to pause 'before it
complied with that or any address? That was all that
had been done in this instance. The right of refusal was
not Under consideration. It had not been done. What
was the answer complained of ? Why, the answer ex-
pressed the readiness of the Prince Regent to comply with
the wish of the House, but desired some little time for
consideration."—Hansard's Debates, 30th May,, 1811.
These remarks of Mr. Charles Wynn and Lord. Mel-
bourne place the question in its true light, and they are
applicable in every particular to the case which we are
now considering. It a Minister may treat in this.man-
ner with impunity the votes of the House of Commons,
it is clear that the House of Commons is a mere name,
and that the Minister of the Crown may adopt the words
of Louis the Fourteenth, with the substitution of " Par-
liament" for "retat," and say, " The Parliament! c'est
moi !" For,.as Mr. Charles Wynn observed, it is noto-
rious that the address of the House of Commons, or their
vote, was always considered as decisive in money ques-
tions. In other words, by the fundamental principles of
the Constitution, the House of Commons, though only a
limb of the Parliament or Sovereign in other questions,
is in money questions the Sovereign itself—in other words,
represents the whole Parliament. Its vote, therefore,
deliberately given and recorded, has in such questions
the force of law.

But observe what any opposition on the part of the
Chancellor of the Exchequer (of whatever party) to
carrying into effect the measure contemplated in the
Queen's answer, as quoted above, would amount to.
That answer is in effect the answer of the Queen's
Miniiieis, specifically the answer of the Chancellor of
the Exchequer. Now what name would belong to the
conduct of an individual who should solemnly assent to
the performance of a certain act, and then use every
effort in his power to hinder that act from being. accom-
plished? Yet this would be precisely the conduct of any
Chancellor of her Majesty's Exchequer, who, after this
address and this answer, should offer any opposition to
the House of Commons making good its deliberately
given and solemnly, recorded resolution.
It is a maxim ot the English law that there is no wrong
without a remedy. It was made one of the articles of
Lord Somer's impeachment, that in his argument, in the
Bankers' case he appeared to throw a. doubt upon this
principle—that he seemed to argue for the position that
there might be, that there were, cases in which the sub-
ject might have a right without a remedy„unless by pe-
tition to the person of the King ; a doctrine,: certainly,
which appears suite incompatible with the existence of
a free and constitutional Government—a doctrine which
was overthrown by the final and solemn deciiieli of the
House of Lords, which reversed Lord Somer's judgment
in the Bankers' Case, and affirmed that of the Barons of
the Exchequer and the majority of the Judges. In the
case before us the plaintiffs had suffered a grievous wrong,
and they adopted and strictly followed the course marked
out by the Constitution and laws of their country in
seeking a remedy. They submitted their case to the
decision of that Court, namely, the High Court:of Par-
liament (for it is almost unnecessary to repeat the ob-
servation of Mr. C. Wynn, a very high authority on that
point, that on money questions the House of Commons
represents the High Court of Parliament), to which
their adversary expressly referred them. That.
Court solemnly and deliberately gave judgnient in
their favour. It was not a judgment obtained, as
some are in their tribunal, by fraud, hy trick, by
haste, by negligence, by oversight on the part of :those
opposed to it. The question was repeatedly tuidMibe-
rately argued, and in everything that was done respect-
ing it the strictest regard was had to all the fyrixis;of the
House; and the opposite side in the cause, viz„;the.ctian-
cellor of the Exchequer, strained every nerve to,'Ohtain
a judgment in his own favour. Nevertheless, as we. have
said, judgment was recorded in favour of the plaintiffs.
The Queen's gracious answer .to the address of the
House was, that her Majesty would pay the money as
soon as Parliament should provide the means. Now, it
was clearly the duty of those who prepared the estimates
next after the receipt of this answer by the House, to in-
clude in them the sum of money which the Queen had
here given a clear and distinct "promise to pay."

DARING ATTEMPT at BURGLARY-.
(FROM A CORRESPONDENT.) •
Yesterday morning, at one, the neighbourhood of
Maida-hill was thrown into the utmost consternation
and alarm by the cries of " Murder ! Police ! Fire I"
and the springing of rattles. The inhabitants rushed
to their windows ; and one gentleman in his fright ran
into the streets in a state almost of nudity. It appears
that some thieves on the previous evening ascended the
roof of a newly-built house opposite the Paddington
Canal, Maida-hill, occupied. by Mr. Anderson, the vo-
calist, and in an attempt to get down the chimney, tho
robbers dropped a dark lantern in that gentleman's bed-
room.: Being awoke by the noise he gave the alarm, but
the thieves got clear off. The next day Mr. Anderson
gaveinf4rnation at the station-house of the circum-
stance, when he was assured attention should be paid
to his communication ; however, no additional police-
man was put on the beat, and, in consequence, this
morning the thieves again made their appearance, at-
tacked the policeman, and nearly murdered him. Half
an hour elapsed,before any othei constable made his-,ap-
pearance, notwithstanding that the cries for
.help. were
heard in•the lidgeware-road. 'At last two poheemepfnp-
peared, but the thieves had got off. ;Several serious.7rob_
beries have iatkly been committed in that vicinity,;, and
at one house the whole of the plate, worth nearly :I*9o/
was stolen and carried off. .

THE NIGER EXPEDITION.--LIVERPOOL,
TITESDAY.—The Lady Combermere arrived this morning
from Africa; she sailed from Bonny on the 19th October,
and from Clarence, Fernando Po, 26th October. She
left her Majesty's steam-ships Albert and Soudan' at
Clarence, returned from the Niger expedition, with all
hands sick. Captain Bird Allen, R.N., died at Clarence
on the 25th October.

THE BURNEY DIARY AND LETTERS.—It
is long since the announcement of any new work has
created so great an interest as that of the "Diary and
Letters of Madame D'Arblay." Persons are still living
who recollect the publication of the first production of
this eminent writer, and there scarcely exists a reader
of the Present day, we imagine, who has not. perused her
works with instruction and delight. The celebrity of
" Evelina" brought Miss Burney and her family into the
closest intimacy with Dr. Johnson, Burke; Reynolds, and
all the master-spirits of that time. Their sayings and
doings were, it appears, daily recorded with the utmost
fidelity by Miss Burney ; and we may, therefore, expect
to become participators in scenes and opinions which will
doubtless be contemplated with no less amusement than
instruction : in short, new stores of the wisdom of a past
age may be expected to be opened to the admiration of
the present generation.
ANNE BOLEYN.—The merited popularity of
Mrs. Thomson's publications, would be a sufficient pass-
port to her new work, without a word of encomium from
us. But it would be an act of injustiee to let such a
production as " Anne Boleyn" make its public way, aed
not offer some slight tribute to it on its !appearance, in
anticipation of the verdict which- the general voice will
record. " Anne Boleyn" is a historicairomance, com-
bining many highly interesting qualities. The subject 3
well chosen ; the actors in the tragedy are traditionallyth
distinct, and their parts varied for good and evil
times are remarkable, gorgeous, and picturesqu°:,_Tc`.
incidents, or, we should call them, the events, arc
ing, and their results important ; there isecairic. the
sad story, to fill the mind and affect thpeseh o:rnenmuts,
author, feeling the full force of allth
her theme. She has
bas
equal,,tocoto • have written;
displayed a degree of talent.
written this romance us in?ilVe"ry- page, the perform-
for it is, from first to lust, the best womanly. feel.
til, reflections upon tote de-
velopment apt andtbnet
ves
ante of .a woman, imbuedanstvifith,
and passions, and hallow-
velopment of humannne
elf
gentleness tknd virtue, which
ing the whole by a force in pointing the and
moral has nevertheless infinite
wish the "1"
tale.
adorning the we author-o on 'laving
k which we
„nohed a vier , can so cordially recom-
maccen% to all her sex ; act, however, excluding those or
rougher witure•-ekitergrY Gaieitei
- _