The Sun.
London, England, 1827-06-30 00:00:00

the- charges contained in a petition presented to the
Home from Mr. Bishop Burnett,. Lord Charles
Somerset availed himself of leave of absence to quit his Go-
vernment at the Cape of Good Hope, for the purpose of
meeting his accusers at home. A Committee sat to in-

vestigate the charges against him, and the Honourable
Member for Winchelsea 7.dmitted that the Report

of that Coraroi,ttee was satisfactory, and disproved all the
charies against Lord Charles Somerset, except the
charge of corruption in his judicial capacity. Upon
this particular Point, however, ftirther evidence had
since that time been laid before the House ; and if
the Hon. Member for Wineheisea considered that charge

was also ;oritradieted---. He (Lord E. Somerset) called
Upon the Hon. and Learned Gentleman to state his opi-
nion.—(Hear, hear hear.)—As for the petition of Sir
Rufane Doultio, so far from proving the charges
against Lord Charles Somerset, he believed that the
Louse would agree with him that the Gallant General's
petition was a complete refutation of the charges against
his Noble Relative. He (Lord E. Somerset) assured the
Hruse that his Noble Relative was most anxious to meet .the

charges made against him, and wap disappointed beyond
expression'that no fair opportunity had been allowed him
of repelling those charges. The Honourable Member for
Arundel (Mr. Lombe) had given notice of a motion on
the %subject, but on the night for which that motion
was axed, abandoned his post without giving any expla-

ration. This course he scarcely thought fair towards his
Noble Relation.—(Hear, hear, bear.)—His Noble Re-
lativiJ most anxious wish was an inquiry, but after

the dandonment of the lion: Member for Arundel's
motion, he conceived that them was no immediate thance
of being allowed an opportunity of meeting his accusers,
and had, therefore, adopted the Course of resigning
his government of the Oti;e of Good Hope. He
trusted, however, that in taking this step the House would

not consider that his Noble Relation feared inquiry, on the

contrary, he courted it;_ but he believed the House and
the country were now perfectly well convinced that
the charges against his Noble Relative were unfounded,
and got up by persons to whom be should not more parti-
cularly allude, for the purpose of forwarding their
own objects. In conclusion, he had only to repeat,
that his Noble Relative was now as ready and de-
sirous for enquiry as he had ever been, and he called upon
the lion. Secretary to state the opinion of his Majesty's

Government on the course Lord Chat•les Somerset had

adopted in tendering his resignation,
.subsowror4, to the

abandonment of the Hon. Member for Arundel'imotion,
Mr. AIABERLY said his Gallant Friend Sir Ftufani,
Donkin was_ready to aubstantiate the charges he bad pre-

ferret' against Cord Charles Somerset, and as the sub-
ject had been forced on him (Mr. Maberly) he must say
that he Could not join in the acquittal for which the Noble
Lord called.—(Hear,)—He thought there ought to be an
inquiry. There was enough before the House to justify
inqukry; it was due to the petitioners.—(Hear.)—He
(Air. Maherly) did not pronounce judgment on Lord
Charles Somerset, but he could not acquit hire, and he fel'

himself bound to say thus much, as the . Noble Lord bad
alluded in such terms to bis Gallant Friend (Sir Doukin.)
Mr. BROUGHAM said, that he (Mr. B.) about two
years ago, had presented' a petition from Mr. Bishop Bur-
nett, complaining of the conduct of Lord Charles Somerset,

and he was also certain that at that time he had stated to
the Howe that his knowledge of the accuracy of the charge
was more or teas imperfect, hut that there was one accuse-

tion—namely,a charge of direct judicial corruption on the
part of the Noble Lord, as Judge of Appeals at the Cape,

;lo gross beyond all precedent, that if well founded, be woidc
feel it hie duty himself to impeach the Noble Lord. Hay.
_ _ _ _

ing so far pledged himself at that time, the Noble- Lord
was now entitled to demand of him, after the lapse o.

two years was granted for inquiring, what the result
of the- investigation was, and he felt himself bound to
give a plain and simple answer to that question. On
the farmer occasion, he stated th,,t he did not vouch

for the facts of the petition, further than that he hal

examined Mr. Burnett generally on the nature of his
allegations and proofs, and that he had received from
that gentleman a clear and copious statement. He
had since, however, a. better source of information, ads-
mg from the circumstance that he bad been profes-

sionally engaged in a case before the. Privy Council,
wherein some of the parties in quet.:ion were affected. The
information he then received convinced him that a very
serious misuaderstanding in the important point of dates
existed. The principal charge against Lord C. Somerset
was, that a person of the name of Donor, who had an ap-

peal before him, did on the intimation of the Gorernor'
Secretary, purchase a horse from the Governor for ten
thousand dollars, which at the rate of ss. per dollar, which
he imagined vas the value of the coin in that colony,
would amount to 2,.5001. It was saki the purchaser did
not receive the horse, but that, titooble Lord kept it till
it died, but that he received a more valuable compensation
for his money, in the reversal of the judgment given against
him, and in a decision in his favour by the Noble Lord. Now,
in the first place, the value of the dollar in the colony was
but one Is. 6d. instead of 55., which at once reduced the
price of the horse to 7001., under which a high-bred En-
glish hone could not be imported into the colony. The
horse died soon after, and the fact was, that Lord C. So-
merset, out of kindness to the man who had previously, pur-
chased it, gave him one hundred pounds and another
horse. All this led him to doubt the information he
had previously received, and on the principle; which he
had scrupulously adhered to, of considering
.every
man innocent until proved guilty, he determined to
investigate the matter more fully before he ventured
to proceed with it in the Home. But here came
the main fact : the horse was purchased on the let Sep-
tember, and the sentence was given on the 30th May pre-
ceding—(Hear and laughter)—and what at once put an
end to the enormity of the case, the sentence was given
against the purchaser of the Horse.—(Hear and laughter.)
The :souse would see that this wail quite enough to induce
him not to persevere in carrying up an impeachment to the
House of Lords for high crimes and misdemeanours against
the Noble Lord. He would not go so far as the Noble
Lord in saying that because one charge was found to be
manifestly, and almost incredibly groundless, therefore all
the charges brought by other parties—all `..e charges
brought by a Gallant Officer of high rank, and of unint-
peached character, as far as he knew—for he thought it
right to acknowledge that he knew nothing of the parties_
he would not pronounce every one of these charges false
and groundless, a.neljoin in casting imputations upon the Gal-
lant Officer. But he would always go so far as this, that as
often as he should hear a gross charge brought against
any individual—were he in public or in private life—were
his station high or low, let his character in the country
be elevated or humble, obscure or powerful, he would do
what he considered to be a fair measure of Justice—that
is to say, that when so gross and flagrant a charge should
be found to signally fail, he would lend to the individual
so accused a much stronger presumption in his favour,
9noad ccetera—as to the remainder of the charges into
'Wiles he had not had an opportunity of inquiring, than he
"'Pull be (iiEpoceci on general principles to extend. This
!'e cenceived to he a fair maxim of justice, which he would
b^ desirous to see acted upon in his own case, and he was
therefore disposed to extend it to others. Although.
!_koounlil
.not agree with the Noble Lord, in calling Sir Rufane
0 t a calumniator, or in absolutely acquitting Lord
Charles Somerset, he wished to see some grounds upon
which a mature judgment could be formed upon the whole
case. Sir Butane bonkin, it I vas desirous to bring for-
ward his charges, but who ‘"vasemtoe'aff, rd him the opportunity.
He was not a Member of that House—he had not the same
privilege, of making
himself heard as he
had. He might write a paragraph which
Brougham)
graph which would call forth
a reply, and thus produce a paper war, and fir-ills, termi-
nate in suits at law. But this was not the
way in which
the question could be settled. Let some Honourable Mem-
ber of that House—the Honourable Member for Arundel,
since it appeared that he had formed such an intention,
bring the question before the House. In the interim, it
was no more than fair to the .Noble Lord who was ac_
cused, since it was not possible to pronounce his unqualified
suspend all harsh and smsu
acquittal, at least to pport
ed
that he had
it but fair to add,
construction. He-thought
not read Sir Rufane Donkin's pamphlet, not having been
sufficiently acquainted with the details of the subject. Be_
it)
fore he sat down, there was one circumsfaucrelit g,to
the Cape of Good Hope, to which be thought' r his duty
to advert in 'a few words, and without at all meaning to
convey any personal or particular application. It was un-
derstood that there was a little doubt prevailing in the
minds of English barristers, in consequence of certain
appointments in some of the Colonial districts, and
amongst the rest„ in the Cape of GoOd Hope, as to
the, propriety of sending out, as Judges td the Colonies,
persons who were not English lawyers. He was one
of those who would be extremely averse to such a practice.
fie thought it would not be safe to place in such an office
any man, who,he might • ' •
thongh be acquainted with the
civil law, was not well versed in the English law, and
trained and habituated to the trial by Jury,
and the English
law of evidence.—(Hear, hear.)—He` would be sorry to
sec any practice prevail contrary to this maxim. He was
Ocinviiti-ed that a knowledge of the civil law, upon which
the Dutch law existing in some of the Colonies was
founded, would not be a sufficient qualification for tile dis-
charge of those important functions. But as to the civil
law, there was no knowledge of it 'o be obtained in Scot-
land. It had been proved at a recent trial at Lancaster,
that this was mere sham and farce. A young man about
to be examined, bad nothing to do but to go the evening