Star.
London, England, 1814-03-31 00:00:00

THE SPEECH OF THE SPEAKER.

Mr. CARTWRIGHT, seeing a Right Honour-
able Gentleman in his place, begged to be informed
what day had been fixed upon by the Noble Lord
his friend (Morpeth) for the motion respecting the
late :address of the Speaker ?
Mr. YONSONBY replied, that Friday, the 22d
April had been chosen, as it was supposed that by
that day the sittilig of the variNs Quarter Sessions
would be concluded.

Mr. CARTWRIGHT was of opinion the; many
Members could not be returned and in their places
by that early day. He apprehended too that any
notice fur a call of the House for the 22d of April
would be shorter than custom required.
Mr. PONSONBY replied, that more than three
weeks notice would be allowed ; and he knew that
from particular circumstances it would not be conve-
nient to his Noble Friend to fix a later day for his
motion. The Monday succeeding would be the fur.
thest possible postponement.
Mr. CARTWRIGHT remarked, that adjourn-
ments had recently been made for the convenience
of the attendance of the Irish Members ; and he 41n-
ped that this slight accommodation to the general
wish of country Members would not be resisted.

Mr. PONSONBY denied that adjournments had
at any time been Made solely for the convenience of
the Irish Members—(Hear, hear.) He saw Ito ade
quate reason for postponing the subject beyond the
22d April. _ _

Mr.-CARTWRIGHT moved that the House
should be called over on the 22d April.
Mr. PONSONBY begged to 'be allowed to second
the motion, since it met with his entire concurrence.

Mr. BANKES thought that the House a tut-A
-pot
to be left in the dark, as to the shape in which this
important question would be brought before it ; nor
ought the distinguished individual who was the sub-
ject of it to be taken by surprise.
Mr. PONSONBY.—" I beg to take the liberty of
saying, that not only is there no disposition to take the
individual whose speech is to be the subject of dis-
cussion by surprise, but that no question can easily
come before this,House which would take the Hon.
Member in question by surprise."—(Hear, hear.)
Mr. BAN KES answered, t'i.at no Member of the
House, in a question of a personal nature like the
present, ought to be taken by surprise—(Hear, hear.)
He also begged to take the liberty of saying, that the
situation of things in which the high individual in
question was now placed, had never occurred, and
would never have been permitted to have occurred,
with regard to any-other person,
Mr. TIERNEY felt himself called upon to state,
that he knew it to be the intention of his Noble
Friend (Lord Morpeth) to communicate to the
Speaker, personally, the nature of the motion he in-
tended to submit, a sufficient time before the 224:1
April, to enable him to meet it in any way he might
deem expedient, But was it ever heard until this
night, that the House was previously to be put in pos.
session of the terms of the motion ? A notice had been'
given, that one Mr. Speaker's Speech, on a certain
occasion, will be taken into consideration on a certain
day, and the Speaker was. informed in due time of
the nature of the motion : this was all that in can-
dour or courtesy could be required, and all that had
ever been done.

Mr. BATHURST maintained that it was by no
means unusual to state to the House the nature of a
motion which was to be made on a day a fortnight
or more subsequent. He begged to ask whether a
single instance could be produced where a question of
privilege had been hung up like the present ? (Mar,
hear.) He required to be informed also, whether
there ever was a case before, wl.ere, after a deity so
lung, the individual who was to introduce the subject
'had not made up his mind upon the precise name of
the motion he would submit to the House ? Jt was
not yet known what sort of complaint was to be made
afainst the speech of the Right Hon. Gentlermoi.—
'1 he Noble L►►rd had not yet determined what his
motion shoulei be ii was he not resolved upon the ge-
neral bearing and effect of it ? The House ought not
to be satisfied with a guess at the terms of a motion
on so important a discus • qa. (Thar.)
Mr. C. WYNNE observed, that the whole of this
dispute arose from the nose' and Lll:CQlitAltUticlai

doctrine which had of late years been introduced,
that it was necessary to give a notice before a motion
was made. ( Hear, hear.) There was no Parliamen-
tary rule for any such proceedings ; it was an innova-
tion destructive of the privileges of Members, and
ought to be abolished. (Hear.) The original teason
for giving a notice was to collect a sufficient atter,
dance on the day the subject was to be disciissed, but
,it was entirely at the option of the individnal vtitether
he would or would not give it. If it was contended
that the House had a right to expect it, he distinctly
an.! expressly denied it. Ile protested warm) y against
the system of 'catechising and requiring the exact
words
iel atli;nmotoioton m
nitob,eis intrf,
madefouncead
, time was tenet.
ed tor considering it, if the Member relitsedrtroevpiooi.utb.
pone it, the House had tLen the power to adjourn.the consideration of it to a future day ; but it h3c
no power to controul a Member in making.a mot?,.;,
at any time he thought it exped:.:4:!,
communication. ( Ikar,
Mr. V ANSI 11:ART.—Tie I lo!ve 0:04LI recd.
lect, tliac the character of an indi7idual, occupyinc,q
the most distinguished place in I 10n5..., vol ve-1
in the motion proposed to be made oil a I.:iure d
No doubt the Noble Lord and his friends have, beton.
this time? made their determination upon the form ct
the motion they will adopt. Th's, I apprehend, i-.
the first time that any Men,ber has heel) allowed to
bring forward a personal charge—(The word
lowed" was echoed from many parts of the Ho-se,
add consid?rable confusio7 was created by the em.
ploy ment of it by Mr. V ansi!tart.)
Mr. WYNNE,—Mr. Speaker, I r:se to order,
Surely this house will not .endtire to be told that a
Member is not to be ollowd to make any motion at
any time he thinks proper. (Hear, hear, /.tar.)-11
the right, the tind.uhted right, of every Member, and
I call the Right I lon. Gentleinm to ord.'s.

Mr. VAN'S' IT RT.--,-11 it L. the tight of any
Member, the House wiil take care that no motion is
brought forward and decided without due delibrra,
tion. (4t/ r, hear.)—at is true that the 'louse has the
remedy in its own fratid,7, by adjourning the subject:
but it may not be proJent to compel the Hothe to
exert itsrightinthis respect.

Mr. WHITI:REAI3.—When o.e Right Her..
Gentleman talks ofallowing Members In forward
motions, he seems to forget that it is the undisputed
right of any Member ,even to bring forward an im.
peachment, and to lay it upon the table, without no
Lice. (Hear, hear.)—lf any thing could deter my No.
ble Friend from doing that which courtesy only re-
quires, it woi:ld be the employment of such a term as
allowed. Were I placed in the situatiOn of the Noble
Lord, it would operate strongly upon my mind *riot
to do even the courtesy of communicating my motion,
lest it should in future be construed into a duty.—
(Hear, hear.)—Even with regard to the very indivi.
dual now in the Chair, it is not unprecedeeted
make a motion without the notice of a moment, at
the conclusion of a debate. It will be in the recollee-
tion of the House, that only a few Sessions ago, when
,an imputation was supposed to have been cast upon
the Speaker, an Hon. Gentleman, then Secretary of
State, without notice, on the very evening that the
imputation was cast, submitted to the House a com-
plimentary proposition upon the subject. It i; true
that the motion of my Noble Friend will he rather of
an opposite nature, but the same reasoning Applies,
and it might have been argued then. with as much
reason as the contrary. is contended now, that the
House should be put in possession of the precise
words in which the vote of commendation of the Chain
was couched. I protest against any such practice,
and were I the Noble Lord, 1 would not coutneini
cate my motion even to the Speaker, one day ear.
her, but perhaps some days later, in consequence of
this attempt to draW out the very terms of the niceion.
When the Pion. Gentleman (Mr. Cartwright) taleed
of previous adjournments, did he mean to siy that
they were made merely for the convenience if the,
Irish Members ? It is impossible. A Noble Viscoilet
(Castlereagh) now absent, tool: part in the discessio
11 on those occasions—his manner was Ira very
to the tone employed by his representatives to day,
and I lament that they have not new the benefit of
his assistance; if they had, they would never have
been so unwise as to take the high ground they h ,ve
assumed on this occasion, from which they have
been tumbled, partly by their own weakness and in-
capacity, to maintain themselves any where, and
partly by the slippery and untenable nature of the
ground on which they ven t ured tau-cad." (hear, hear.)
Mr.WALLACE said that his Right Hon. Friend
(the Chancellor of the Exchequer) ;:at men to
say that a Member should not be allowed make a
motion, but that the House would never permit such
a subject to be discussed without due deliberation,:
(Hear, hear.) lc was not a question whether a Mem-
ber should be allowed to exert his privilege. He knew
the Noble Lord (Morpeth) too well to think he would
do any thing inconsistent with the most honourable
conduche--(//ear, hear.)
Mr. PONSONBY, without deciding what the
Right Hon. Gentleman meant by the employment
of the offensive word allow, expressed his conviction
that his Noble Friend would do nothing that was in-
consistent with due courtesy, but even to the Speaker
he did not know that courtesy would require that the
identical words of the intended motion should be
communicated until it was announced to the whole
House. A; to the general nature and import of
it
he put it to any Member, whether he could say epee
his honour that he did not know generally what WaS
the nature of the motion to be propesed on the 2.2 ii
of April ?—(lleor,/r, ar.)—No man of common sense
could he ignorant that it was rather disapproving
than approving 0:e address of the Speaker. It he had,
had k in his power then to read the motion, after
what had-been said, he would not indulge the cute'.
sity of the other side of the House.
Mr. COURTNEY said that hp, for one, was reall
very ignorant—(Near)—of the natute ot the motion
of the Noble Lord. It might be for a supposed
breach of privilege, or misconduct in the exercise of
a privilege ; or one or both of them. It was of consi-
derable importance in his view that the I louse should
he infOrmed more particularly upon the subject.
The CHANCELLOR ot the EXCHEQUEIZ,
What I said has been so misrepresented, th. tit be-
comes necessary for me to give some explanation.
meant 6 take a distinction between a notice and 4
charge : notices are, I admit, undoubtedly in all cases
mere matters of courtesy, but I apprehend that a per-
sonal charge w:.s never di:cussed on the very day. I