Star.
London, England, 1823-04-16 00:00:00

Mr. BROUGHAM made with much pain the de-
' elaration, that the conduct of his Right lion. Friend
I had not .bien constitutional.-" The tarsal,-if
I not the legal *principle, was certain' y kpoinst hirßight
Hon. Friend. At that late-hour of the night it was a
serious thing to 'enter into eighteen' Cases, and 'he v. as
!.piad he-could dispense with such Zases,•as none of
them bore upon the point. 'None of these eighteen
• cases applied to the Conduct of the Attorney• General,
I but to that of the Court of King's Bench, in granting
`informations. Four;nnly of the cases were English,
and in which the Court of King's Bench had been
called upon to interfere. No man, he believed, was old
enough to tecollect a case in which an Attorney-Ce•
neral of England ever dreamt even of filing an infor-
mation aftrr a-Grand Jury had ignored a bill. This
was a fact going far to shew. that no such power
ought to exist,' and was better than a thousand such

cases as those cited by the Irish Attorney-General.-:
If an ex officio ever was to be filed, he thought the
opportunity for doing it now existed against the
High Sheriff; and if the Attorney-General was this
night to be acquitted on the charge made 12y him against
the Sheriff, of the high crime of packing -a Jury,
he (Mr. Brougham) would ask, could the House se-
parate without their taking some steps against that
individual ? One thing, however, he bad heard in the
evening's debate, and that Was what had fallen horn
the Right Hon. Secretary for Ireland, who had said,
and no doubt was desirous that the House should be-
lieve him, that never was there a Government more
united than the present; whilst he, on the mitrary,
when be looked at the Bench cyposite, thought he
never saw a Government more chequered, especially
on every Irish question. Like the keys of a harpsi-
chord, black and white alternately, till he came to
his two Learned Friends, the Attorney and Solicitor-
General for England, and there it was all black, for
they were both against the Catholics(llear, hear).
‘Vhitever change took place, whether. by death, or
by retirement and pension, the first care was to fill
up the vacancy, so as to keep the balance equal on
that great vital question, which he considered as so
closely connected with the vital interests of Ireland.
The Hon. Member proceeded to comment on the di-
visions which existed in the Irish Government in Ire-
land, and strongly condemned the Orange faction.—
It was his ardent wish to see the differences of Ire-
land buried in oblivion, arid he felt it to be his first
duty, in the prosecution of that object, to oppose the
bad set by which it had been so long misgoverned.
Mr. Secretary CANNING said he entirely agreed
with the lion. and Learned Gentleman, so far as his
object was to put an end to the dissention which un-
fortunately prevailed in Ireland. It was his wish to
give to neither party a triumph which might distress
the other. He differed, however, from the Hon. and
Learned Gentleman, inasmuch as he was desirous
this should be the final proceeding on.the subject.
The Hon. and Learned Gentleman had taken a most
extraordinary course to promote the tranquillity of
Ireland, when he held out MeMbers of its Govern-
ment to odium. If theory couhl be reduced to prac-
tice, many might. expect a Government in Ireland,
entertaining, but one opinion on one great question,
yet-. it was lolly to look for agreement on that sub-
ject in any Goverisment 'at 'the present time. The
moment Was ill chosen by the lion. and Learned
Gentlenaan for representing that no confidence could
be given to the Government of Ireland. Foralie.first
time Jilting many years a disposition bad been shevva
to introduce in Ireland a Guveri.o,ent Nelr. would
administer impartiality to all. He was convinced
that whatever might be the feeling with regard to
Lord Wellesley's Government, there was no ground
for complaint. If disunion had arisen in Ireland it was
not on account of partiality in the Government.
It was almost impossible to form an Administration
unanimous on the subject to which the lion. and
Learned Gentleman alluded. There always had
been, since the Union, a party in the Administration
whose opinion differed radically on that single ques-
tion. If the Hon. and Learned Gentleman and his
friends were to forma new Administration to-morrow,
it would not be possible to procure unanimity on that
subject. It was the duty of the House to do every
thing for the amelioration of Ireland, and there had
been no backwardness in bringing forward measures
for her benefit. It was really ungrateful at !Lich a
moment to use invective. The Hon. and Learned
Gentleman would do more ih lending a helping hand
than in agitating public feeling. He opposed the
motion, with a view that the Right Hon. Cientleinan
might carry back to Ireland, not a triumph, but
proof that, with the Government of Ireland, he frac:
the confidence of Parliament. On that ground the
Right Hon. Gent. might at least have his acquittal.
Mr. DALY urged the necessity of inquiring intc
the conduct of the High Sheriff of Dublin, and ex-
pressed a hope that no opposition would be offere%:
to a motion having that object.
Mr. BROUGHAM said he should redeem his
pledge, by giving notice of a motion, if no other
Member took up the subject.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL did not wish to
prolong the discussion, but called on as he had been,
'he could not avoid making a few observations. He
concluded that his Right Hon. and Learned Friend
had not acted illegally in filing an ea-el/Trio informa-
tion after the Grand Jury had ignored the bill. The le-
gality of the proceeding wag admitted by Lawyers.
Every Lawyer knew, if a bill was igaored by the Grand
Jury, it was not a bar to further proceedings before
the Court of King's Bench. According to the argu-
ment of his Honourable and Learned Friend, if the
Grand Jury ignored a bill charging a grave offence,
the Crown had no remedy.. Thar was placing the
Crown in a worse situation than the Constitution al-
lowed. He could not bring his mind to believe his
Honourable and Learned Friend had any doubt in his
own mind on the legality of the proceeding. He
contended that the conduct of the Attorney-General
for Ireland was borne out by law. His clear opinion
was, that, as faras.thrs •law was concerned, the-At-
torney-General for. Ireland was completely justified.
'Mr. SCARLETT said, he was induced to rise for
the purpose of stating a difference which arose In the
argument. He admitted that the conduct. Of the Ate
torrrey-General was legal, but it Could not be' caltel
constitotional. It had been the custom in the Eti, •
.chequer to discharge the Jury when *they were dig-
posed to find a verdict against the Crown, #pd give
up the prosecution. Atter a Grand Tury had thrown
Out a bill, rt Could tibt be ednititbtiodal to ftle an ts-
ditio biforMation." The Attdrbey-Cierseril atight-to
i.ttississi with the Mph, withstus going from the