The Sun.
London, England, 1818-02-07 00:00:00

Mr. BROGIIEN broliglv
Committee of Scrutiny,
that the ballot bad fillet]

The Attorney-General ..
The Right Hun. G. Canning
The Rigl:t Hun. C.lorke •
Mr. W. Egerton
Mr. W. `Wilberforce-
Mr. B. Wilbraham
Mr. W. Dundas
The Right Hun. B. reel
Sir W. Curtis •
and
Admiral Franks.
Upon the name of Lord G. Cavendish. being

hers :
Lord Milton -
Lord G. Cavendish
Mr. C. W. NVynne
Lord Castlereagh
Lord Lascelles
Right Hon. C. lathorst
The Hon. Win. Lamb
Sir A. Pigott
Sir W. Scott
Sir J.
The Solicitor-General

Sir M. RIDLEY .begged to state to the House,
that it was impossibly for.his Noble Friend to at-
tend upon theCommittee,and,therefore,he thought
that another name should be substituted for that
of the Ntsble Lord.

When the name of Lord Castlereagh was read,
Mr. BaouonAm oi)served, that the Noble Lon)

was a party coact rued, and by being a Member of
the Committee•would be made a judge in his own
cause. He, therefore, waa desirous that the sense
of the House should be taken as to the eligibility
of the Noble Lord to be a member of the Com-
mittee. According to the mode of proceeding
upon the present occasion, the Select Committee
would be chosen by a select body of that House,
and would consist chiefly of persons in the service
of Government. The name of his Hon Friend,
Sir A. Pigott, was liable to the same observation
that had been made on that of Lord G Caven-
dish.• His Learned Friend could pot attend, and
had declined attendance upon a former. Committee.
The names of all the Members having been

reA,
Lord .CASTLEREAGH observed, that the mode
adopted 'upon the present occasion was agreeable
to the uniform practice of the House, and it was
unusual to object .to the name of any individual
So nominated. No name could be more proper
than that of Lord Cavendish, and the House
was not. to- proceed upon an observation by a
single Atember to alter the usual mode of pro-
ceeding. With respect to himself, a broad ground
of disqualification hail been taken; and which, if
applicable to the present case, would operate to
prevent his giving his opinion. at all in that
HOuse ? •

Ilr..l3aouGuAm said, the Noble Lori seemed to

think no objection was Admissible after the ballot.
But the proceeding by ballot was quite in the
dark, and without a previous list, it was impossi-
ble to know the nature of the -Committee. It
might so happen, that the names of 21 persons
might be drawn:who should be-physically incapable
to attend, and who might be beyond sea. Was
the House in such a case to be tied up by the
ballot ? The obvious remedy would be a second
ballot, should the majority be beyond sea. Such
a case was not likely to occur in its fun extent,
but had pro /unto occurred in the case of the Mem-
ber. for -Derby, who, tkough-n most competent
Member, was unable to attend. It was alto
known that Sir A. Pigott would not attend, and

perhaps a third Gentleman- whom he had in his
eye, but should not name. Should not the ab-
sence of these Members be supplied By the pre-
sent mode of proceeding, the Ministers themselves,
their friends and connections, would form almost
the while of the Committee ; and. to a Committee
so constituted,• should an investigation so import-
ant be committed ? au such a Committee the Noble
Lord (Castlereagh) could not-be confronted face
to face, as could he done in the House. Against
some of the :Members of the Committe it- was in-
tended to bring actions, and to seek for redress iu
a Court of Law. Was it to be tolerated then, that
these men should determine whether the Evanses
and the• other sufferers should be at liberty to
bring their actions or not, and thus to be exempt-
ed from all'responsibdity ? Ile should move, that
• •
the ballot 'be recommenced.

• The'SPEAKER 'begged to ask what was the ques-
tiOU before the House?

Lord CASTLEREAGIL—That , the Committee
meet to-morrow.

Mr. WILBERPORCE observed, that unless some
understanding existed, it would be impossible to
form a Committee by ballot. He conceived the
ballot to be the fairest mode ; as by it none but
the individual himself could know for whom he
vo►ed. A mutual understanding, was, however,
indispensable, in order to form a Committee. He,
for example, might put names its a list that none
else bad put, and thus his power of nominvion
would be thrown away. But there should be
more on the lists than those who agreed with
Ministers.

The SPEAKER stated, that there was no prece-
dent for expunging one name and substituting an-
other. Such a proceeding would jump over a
number of orders of the House. No trace existed
of such a proceeding unless in the case of a Par-
liamentary disqualification. A disinclination to
serve was not sufficient, unless there was a physi-
cal impossibility of doing so.
Mr. CALCRAFT obierved, tbot the Order of the

House bad been satisfied by the ballot, and in a
subsequent stage Cie House might fill up the
names of those who could.not attend. Ile had
himself once been upon 'a scrutiny, and as he had
never been sworn to secrecy, felt himself at li-
berty to mention what had occurred. Out of
103 lists, 97 were written in the same hand, and
feu• the same names, and he. believed came from
a quarter not far off. He hoped that on Monday
the names of-those who could not-attend would
be supplied by others. • _ _

Mr. WILBERFORCE- said, that any person to
whom. a list should be given might, if he pleased,
expunge any name, and 'none could know it,
Mr. CANNING observed, that the absence of any
MeMber could easily be remedied, as the House
had a power to compel the attendance of Mem-
bers. • ,

Sir \V. BURROUGiiS saw 'no reason why the
House should not alter the ballot.

The SPEAKER said, that a question .had once
been started, _whether Sir Joseph • Jekyll could sit
upon a similar Committee,' as he had not taken
the oaths ; hut Sir Joseph having been nominated,
was held to be qualified.
Sir W. 1-InßttooGns proceeded to observe, that
the authori:y of -the House was competent to re-
view the ballot, and to Provide -against any incon-
venience that might arise. If Lord G. Cavendish
could not attend, the number of the COmmittee
would be less than 21, .and still less in the event
of the non-attendance of Sir A. Pigott. In the
course of the last-Session the -Solieitor7General
had been added by motion to a Committee chosen
by ballot. • The lionse could give effect to its pro-
ceedings, Were it known that the Noble Lord was
unable to attend: He thought it would be ad-
iiahle that the meeting of 'the Commit-tee should.
be postponed till Lord Cavendish should he
able to attend. 'At all events, he trusted the
House would remedy the abuse that was threat-
en-ed. [lad the ComMittee been appointed by no-
mination. the objection could have been stated,
and another Member have been substituted. -

Sir M iinnEy stated, that the absence of the
Noble Lord was the effect of necessity, The ques-
tion waa then put and carried, that the Cominittee
should meet to-morrow, and have power to send for
persons, papers, and records"; that seven should
be a quorum, and that the secret papers relative
to the State of the Country should be referred to
the same Committee.

Lord PALMERSTON presented certain Papers re-
ative to the Army Estimate.

Mr. BROGDEN moved for an Account of the
number of Surchar2.es on the Assessed Taxes, and
of the Appeals tor the last year.—Adjourned to
Monday.

PROPROSED INCREASE OF CHURCHES.

A Meeting was yesterday held at the Freema-
sons'favern, Great Queen-street, for the purpose
of raising a Fund to assist in the building of addi-
tional Churches and Chapels in the various pa-
rishes of the City of London, its vicinity,- and
throughout the kingdom generally. ' 'the Assem-
bly was composed of a numerous body of the
higher classes of society, but particularly of the
most distinguished Members of Church 'and State.
His Grace the ArchbiShop of CANTERkURY took
the Chair, and explained- the object of the Meet-
ing.
Among those who took an active part in the proceedings of
the day, we observed the Bishops of London, Gloucester,
Chester, and Londatr; his GraCe; the Duke of Northumber-
land' ; Lords Sidmonth and Shaftesbury; •Mtisrs.'LooK, Wil-
berforce, Grant, &c. Nearly the whole Bench of Bishops,
"(W. LONG, Esq. we believe) remark-
ed,
and a
Onet loefats
Assemblyhe LayPe were present.
that the institution. of the • Society seeute,d. to interfere
with the intended bounty of Parliament, which, in obedience
to the gracious recommendation of the Regent, would no
doubt. do all that was necessary.
The Archbishop of CANTEnnur.Y; in explanatiot, said,
that while the fullest confidence was placed iu.thg liberality:
of p„,ljameht, in its patronage of the object the present
Assembly was met to promote, it was eritain that in many,.
lf not in every case, the Parliamentary Grant,as appropriated
to each parish, would be found inefficient fur the intended
purpose. In many very populous parishes, the inltabitants
generally were too needy to afford contributions, ss'lilleot the
same time, their Churches were incapable ofaccommodating

them at Divine Worship. To supply this deficiency the pie-
sent Society was about to be formed.
. _ _

The Bishop of LONDON, in recommending the views of the
Society, related the fact of a parish Church, situate in the
vicinity of the metropolis., where the population had become
•so great, that the majority of the patishimiers had ceased to
visit the church, from an absolute want of room. To add to
this inconvenience, a sort of colony had been recently esta-
Wined within the same parish, but four miles front the
Church, and the inhabitants, in consequence, might be said
to have no place of worship whatever.
For the assistance of parishes, it was further urged, that in
some cases Churches had actually been built, but could not
be endowed, front circumstances of 'poverty.
Pt number of Resolutions, for the purpose of carrying the
object of the meeting into effect, were then passed, -and the
Assembly separated. •

ANTIQUITIES IN LOWER EGYPT.—Those who
feel an interest in whatever relates. to the Anti-
quities of Egypt, will be glad to hear' that the
researches of some travellers now in that country
have been rewarded with considerable sneeesi.—
It is stated, " That Captain C. and Mr.' Salt
have made excavations of importance near the
Sphinx, and have •explored some new pas-
sages under the principal Pyramid of Giza ;
.that Captain C. has discovered an apartment im-
mediately above the King's Chamber, and exact-
ly of the same size • and the same fine workman-
ship." We hope that these Gentlemen here--
after lay the result of their inquiries and re-
searches before the public ;, 'but, in tire • mean
time, on the principle.of.euuntcuique, and without
any intention of detracting frOm their merit, we
think it right to state, that the late Mr. Davi-
son (formerly British Consul at Algiers), whose
modest and unambitious character prevented
him from publishing the remarks he had made
during his residence in the-East, had already dis-
covered that apartment. His account of the
chamber, which he was the first to explore, and
which no other traveller had noticed, together
with some curious details respecting his descent
into the pits and wells of the great Pyramid, are
now given to the world from his papers in the
possession of his friends.—See Walpole's Memoirs
relating to European and Asiatic Turkey, pp. 350
—354.

Yesterday a Court of Directors was held at the
East India House, when Captain T. F. BALDeR.
STON was sword into the *command
,of the ship
Asia, consigned to Bengal 4ud Madras.

■

LAW INTELLIGENCE•

COURT OF KING'S BENCH, FED• 6.

WILLIAM ASHFORD V. ABRAHAM THORNTO-) 1

APPEAL OF MURDER;
the
This being the day aointed for arguing e,
demurrer by the appellantp to the appellees <<t
plication, in this unusual proceeding, the
.'l°- -
was crowded to excess at an early hour. • • he.
As soon as the Judges took their seatB/1
case was called on, and the parties being Prcseo •
were allowed to sit during the argument.
tiff ress
Mr. CHITTY, in a learned and ingenious a- r,
to the Court, endeavoured to support the (101:4,
.rer. Ile commenced by reciting the.speckal
e,
ings in the cause (which are fresh in the recu"ei
don of the public), and upon the face of then
submitted that t he appellee's replication to the
ter-plea was insufficient in law to entitle )
wage baud with the appellant, upon two gr"iglec
Ist. Because it was not competent for the O
•r
in his answerro the counter-plea, to Stitte cu'
•
stances affording a presumption of Innocence; and ...
2d, because the circumstances as they were st4k.
in the replication afi-,rded no answer to co '
ter-plea. Io support of those propositiouP,i ,
contended, that by the existing law of the la.fl';ig
person appealed for a supposed marder ri„ie
entitled to wage baud where there was evi`le"lo
affording a presumption of guilt. It could
disputed, that the right of appeal existed at cull° d
law, and was recognized by the statutes
Gloucester Gth Ed. I C. 9. and 3d Hem.
1. ; but in order to support the ortaltr7lo.
tiou which he contended for, 0.-• ,"),11%1 '
following authorities, as decisive to
where there are circtimstinces afforditvi,'„.<4,4l
presumption of guilt the appellee nisi
to wage wage battel, -viz.:- 13-St

Glanville B. 14, c.-1, 350, 353, c. 2, 357. Br c 4 11,0
c. 18, 136, 137, a. - Eleta B. 1, c. 31, 47. Britton 40. r
Mirror 158. Staniftirdc 11,,C. B. 3, c. 13, 176. 1.11.1:e.t.5
belt's Abridgmetit;, Pl.. '4 1 188, a. Hearne's AutiquLit:
172, 202, 219, 222. •Pulton's Abridgment, 185, b..
294, b. 2 Inst. 247; c. Hawk. P. C. 8.2, c•.45' 5.23
Dnfresne's Glossary, 2 vol. 187. Montescinieu's S. I."' B. 0;
c. 25. Robertson's Charles VI. 975. Reeve's HistorY
English Law, 2 vol. 25. Dr:- Henry's History of Great lir
tain, 1 vol. 352, and Barritto.ton on the Statutes:,
326. Erskine's flistOr.s4 the Scnis. 11 Law, 463. AnT,Dn'',:l.
lo anonymous. 11 State Trials biTiargrace,. '2•789 and in
157. Fitzherbert's-Abr. P 1.411. Bro'ali's Abridgment
Battail. 1 State Trials, 11. Clarendon's Case. 2 14431.
Ttial, 553. Slaughtelford's Case, 9th State
12 Modern Rep. 373. Trentain's P. Ct B. 31, c. 2, '`.
&remit v. Abbott. 1 Wilson, 405. • „eil
Upon all these several authorities the Leaci:o
Counsel commented as he proceeded, conter"i%o
that they sustained the proposition with whicitjer
set out. Applying this doctrine to the case-0110
the consideration of the Court, he argued the tot
pleadings upon the record disclosed such preg"
suspicion of the appellee's guilt, as. to call lIP4
the Court to deny the right of battel, and c"1,10
him to conclude with the general issue to
country ; and in aid.of this part of the argooliA e 116:
he cited Dalton's Justice of the Peace. C. Vai."
and Phillips's Law of Evidence, 129. Ile (
contended that the appellee's replication is'os 171-1:4
in form, inasmuch as it replied fresh facts Ll'
appellant's counterplea ; and cited authorities 1,,‘ 4
this position ; and lastly, be contended that
I
of autrefAs acquit set fort the TeplicOtOV;ti:: asa
rebut the -suspicions of guilt in-ipotesi to
as to entitle hint to wage battel, ond for "'lig
referterf t 0.2 ,Strange,Bs3. S. B. 704. ii7i150,,15-;
Kennedy.-- 1 Wilson, 132. Buller's P
N. .
Phillips's "La w of Evidence, 960. fie
some 04 her. 'objections to the replication, prti'do-t:
lady, as to, neat part which pelated to ;
ccentending there was not a sufficient. averigt,:c
that the appellee could not have been on the stet
'at +he time the-rape and murder were coriato'ttL.
and ulion- this point hi cited Foster, c. 6. got
;1114-upon all, thesc grounds, after au argtullol
whicp lasted; more than four.hours, he sub"',l“ito
that the appellee -ought not to be nil4lt A
wage battel, but ought to be compelled to -
trial by a Jury of the-Country. (15t'
The further argument of the case WB5 P-
paned until to-morrow (this dad ).

VIOL 14
Surctm.--.-Tbursday afternoon, Mrs.
pe,,
Parker, a-Lady occupying a bouile in }3ry
Shbreditch, was found banging to the
11
by a rope-; she was cut down whilst ‘varrw, '-
was quite dead.-
The body of a genteel dressed rnan,.in a „r
blue great coat, was found floating on the
at Bridge, Chelsea, on Werlneail;sl,,
evening—if was conveyed to an adjoining ftlibi,fc
house to be owned. He did not appear to 11.3
been long, itube water.

I