Star.
London, England, 1805-04-26 00:00:00

Member of Parliament..and he would leave to the
Honfe to decide a• it pleated upon the motion he
made.

Mt. FOX ohferred, that Vie hell way of (hewing
a ditrsfoion to a& impattialls, would be.to .ftrifer
every cafe to tell limn it% own mesita. He could
not, for one, aeeer the fugge lion c:f the Right Ho.
nuntalJe Gentletn.sn, and confider lath obfervations
np.m thr proetedings ref PArliainttlt aiattworthritt.
notice. On the contrary, he was the mine anxious

to take it up maw, becalife he thooghe he could' per..
ceive a difpofition in Government to prowl praQieei
of themoure-of (hut complained of by hie-Honour.
aide Friend. When he• fAw the Treafurer of the
Nary btaving the Honk. and ptottaing thole •Who
had tattled to+nfa•ry queßions pet by a COM* tet
apPekted by themfelve., he thought it high tune for
PA 'hastens to inter fere and na tint:tin its authority and
refpadt. When another cafe (hold be brought Mr-
ard, it would be for the H'sufe to decide. accord-
ing to, the antere of it, what line of proceeding it
would?be pod proper to adopt.
-Me. CANNING could not refrain from adverting
to what lead fallen from the lift fpealter. The Han.
Gentlemen Rated as a realm for putfuing. with fig-
nal veastame, the petfon who was the objea of the
motion, that the Trcafurer of the Navy braved the
}loufe. How ?by (motioning in his employment a
Gentleman, whole condat was in no way whatever
enneleited with the faa or &lice which was the

.gratind of complaint. Although he had a high re-
, Ake fee the logic of, the Hon. Member, he could
-,trot, coofi tent with his old-fathioned notions of can-
. doter andionice, bring himfelf to admit, that becaufe
the Treafurer of the Navy kept one man in his place,
it would be proper for thin Houle to fall with lignel
vengoance,en another who was no way connected
him. • He could b.-ing himfelf as little to agree
with the Hon. Gentleman in his as in his ho.
maniry, and he mull corfels he heard with aftonills-
Joent an carfervistion fo rokitrary to the principles of
. humanity efcape from his lips. Witlt refpee to Mr.
,Wilt m, he would take that opportunity of alluring I
the Houk, that he had no more individual concern
rot perfottel regard for that Gentleman, than femme
.eutb whom he had no acquaintance. . Mr.
he w..ohi allow, refuted to anfwer certain quellion.,
, and availed himfelf of a chide in the A& of Parlia•
nient • but the Houfe could not, in its justice; refute
to take along with them what was the foliation of
4 that Gentleman. He was nehlter more nor lets than
14 Clovis in the:Navy Office, holding a (dilation which
was merely ministerial, and debuted, by the very
nature of his-office, from offing difiactinnally. He
yeas bound to follow the order& which were given to
hitr.. and he had no.more prover to exercise his free
et than the pen which, in the comic of his bufinefs,
he held in his hand ; he was, in the fuilell import of
the arord, a mere inttrument. Could it be thought
exteaciedinagy then, if that Gentleman, conceiving,
from the Report of the Comniilfioners, that he had,
in that his minifterial capacity, aged illegally, thould
decline to anlwer quentont, tending :en involve him
:in legal guilt, and to fobjee him to all the ;reins and
penalties confequent upon it ? What was the meaning
of the lids chute in the All for enabling the Cont.
million of Naval Enquiry, if it were not meant to
pinta, petfone fo fituated ? Was it to prnteil pylons
who ailed wilfully, and not thofe who had no dd•
cretionary prove left to them ? Gentlemen would do
well to retake the occafiun of introducing that
tlaufe. It was propoled by a *Noble Lord in the
other Hou(e (the Lord Chancellor), for the ergot('
purpofaof protein g thole who might have, in obe-
dience ro orders which they were bound to obey,
committed aft*. for which they might, polßbly, be
liable to legal profecution. As to continuing Mr.
ViTilfon in his fituation, he mond fay, that whenever
Parliament &mild czpiefs an opinion to that Gentle-
man's difadvantage, he would do his duty and ye.
Melee him. • Until that opinion were expreffed, not-
Withftanding all the clamour oneof doors, the attacks
upon-bietwithin, and the imputation and unpopu-
larity be might draw upon himfelf, he could not,
agreeable to his notions of impartial Janice, be guilty
of fo bale and flagrant a violation ofit as to difmifs
him. He put it to the candour, to the humanity of
the Right Hon. Gentleman, whether he, were he in
his Situation, as Treafurer cf the Navy, would do fo ?
Mr. FOX, in explanation, thaed, that he did not
Mean to fay that the non-diftniffal of Mr. Wilfon
was a reafut for punifhing the Printer of the Oracle,
but he would maintain that this was a proper time
far taking tip the confideration of an offence of that
nature. As to flying in the face of Parliament, that
was not now the quellion to be argued; when it
Should be brought forward, he would not decline to
fay what he thought oldie moduli of the Right Ho
*curable Gen.lonan.
Mr. CANNING explained.
The ATTORNEY GENERAL wilhed to make
one or two obtervations on the tendency of the argu-
ments advanced by an Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Fox)
oppofite. That Gentleman would appear to have
two different lets of principles applicable to libellous
cafes 6 one fuieed to his views when in the minority,
and the other to them when in the ma4rity. In his
official Situation, oblervations jawed in prints and
pamphlets were often laid before him which were
aadoutitedly libellous ; but he did not think that one
or two intemperate exprelfions in a free e•women' on
political occurrences, were always ft labials fir
prnfectition. He waited that the Hon. Member wbo
made the motion, would content to defer it for a
Short time, and tkat it Should rather be confidered a
notice of motion, than as one which it was intended
to prefs upon the confederation of the Houle. By
Such conduit, Parliament would, prove that it did not I
:perk the charaiter of intemperance, a hie.' had been
Ito improperly applied to it. He thought it would be
'pure fur the honour and dignity of Parliament to
jor.eted, itr inch a cafe, with a dignified moderation,
and leave the offence, and the Author of it, to the
judgment of the ordinary tribunals. Mr. Wilfon of-
tended legally, (Mittel not morally, in the farad
degree with his fupenor, and he had as full, nay
even a much nronger claim to the protection of the
(OA ebusfe, than the perfon under whole authority he
sided. The principles of the AO would defend Mr.
refuting to anfwer queflions which would'
to legal profecution. When the fifth
itroduced into the Bill hoe/Roofed it, be.
• of opinion the common taw proteiffett
the neceffity of accufing bintfelf. Even
prow:din claufe, if any of the coal,


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