Star.
London, England, 1824-03-02 00:00:00

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ae roeflae io the motive of a justification lesocrimina-
t to iif others Or offonsive to any one's teelings. After
st oho, tee poi -i-- ' in re-hearings, his Noble Friend is
room ted to ;idea so;,I, o therefore, teally before things
ate so represented, particularly by Gentlemen with
gowns on their hacks, they should at least take care to
be accurate, for it -is their brisine,s to be so." Did this
totter expression constoute a bleach of privilege? It
would he the height of injustice to imagine it did, after,
generally speaking, so much temper had been preserved
in attemotiug to repel a very grave and serious charge.
—(Hear). It was rhetely a recommendation to Gentle-
men with gowns on their backs to be careful in circu-
lating changes such as had appeared, very improperly
certainly. in a certain Newspaper, and Which he telt and
'clew to be utitounded. After the humour and plea-o
satiny which had been infused into this discussion by al
Right I lonom able Gentleman opposite, he was not at
all prepared to expect the subject would have been so
treated or the expressions construed as a breach of pri-
viiege. Was it intended by this proceeding to deter
the Noble L'nd from the perforthance of his duty?
These wet e con,iderations which would 'laterally render
it very singular in the public estimation if this speech
of the Noble Lord were selected for consideration in the
mode now preset led by the Honourable and Learned
Gentleman's motion. It was clear that the speech had
been uttered on the spur oT the moment, and that thete
was no delibet ate intention of violating the privileges
of that House, and least of all of holding but a threat to
professional men as to the line of conduct theii ideas of
duty might induce them to adopt; mote particularly
whilst engaged in delberatitins or discussions within
those wall,. If the House should agree with him'n
these two points he trusted it would preveat their adopt-
ing that • step which the Honourable, and Learned
Mover himself had even said would be taken with dif-
fieulty, and which it would in his opinion be their in-
•terest to avoid—( Cheers).
Sir JAMES MACKINTOSH said, sale rejection of
the present Motion would be a most dangerous blow to •
the privileges of the House and to the Constitution it-
self—(Hear, hear). There had been a bleach of the
privilege of the House,- and a false cliarge against a
Member of that House, and of a profession which it
was essential to the administration of justice-should be
independent. The serious consideration of the House
had been called to the proceedings of a high Court of
Judicat tit e, and would the House endure that the Judge
of that Court should bring 'a false charge against a
Member of that House for exercising his privilege, and
discharging his dirty on that' question?—(llear, hear.)
The Honourable Gentleman who spoke last had said,
that as the reports of debates in Newspapers were tole-
rated, they must not notice attacks made on those re-
ports, by persons on whom they ieflected ; but in this
case the attack was not em the Newspaper, but directly
on the Member ; the Newspaper wore no gown on its
back—( Hear, hear). The HonourableGentleman had
said, would not the Noble Lord be alloWed to vindicate
his character?—certainly he should ; but not by at-
tacking a Member of that House before he made in-
quiry, and found by whom he was accused. All that
had been said in defence of Lord Eldon amounted only
to pleas of mitigation; and should not be admitted in
bar of inquiry—(lkar, hear). The Attorney-General
had said, that because the Honourable and Learned
Gentleman-had not studied- the newspapers, and com-
plained of the reports, the Chancellor should not be
censured for the language he had used; but how could
he require that his Honourable Friend should study
newspapers, and not requite of the Lord Chancellor
that he shotrid ascertain the truth before he condemned
a Member of that House ?—(hear, hear.) Th.tt House
had made many struggles against power. Was it ever
known in any of those snuggles, that any Judge had'
the audacity to condemn any Member of that House
far any speech he made in it on the subject of the abuses
in that Judges. Court ?—(Hcar, hear.) The conduct of
the Lord Chancellor, continued tiic lion. Member, on
this occasion, had a direct tendency to render it impos-
sible for this House to discharge some of its highest
and most important constitutional funEtions. The
rouse of Commons has been engaged in struggles of
various kinds fOr many hundred years; it has been en-
gaged in struggles with the Crown, which loose some-
times been carried beyond due bounds, but which, upon
the whole, have been conducted with a spirit and an
energy which have succeeded in securing to us the
blessings of a free Constitution—which have ended in
making us a great and happy people. But in the whole
course of these straggles; there has never yet been an
instance of any Magistrate, in any Court of Justice,
vim was so presumptuous and daring as to arraign
a 'Menthe' of the Howe of Commons for a speech
delivered in the course of a parliameotary inquiry
into tie c nduct of that Magistrate—(Hear, hear).—
If the House is ready to abdicate its functions al-
together—ii it is prepared to abandon all intention
of inquity into the abuses of Courts of Justice, then;
Wrest, might this motion to be rejected. It has
been said, and said most truly, that my Honourable
and Learned Fiend will discharge his duty featlessly
and independently, both in this House and in Courts of
Justice, regarding hut little the approbation or disap-
probation of the Lord Chancellor. But it cannot be
hence inferred that the conduct of the Lord Chancellor
m ill have no effect on the independence of the Bar.—
When we consider'the multitude of young men of ta-
lents rising at the Bar, who are still in a state of obscu-
rity.strogglingo ith adversity, and depressed by poverty,
it cannot be_sieaied that the conduct of the Lord Chan-
cellor is calculatesl to have a lamentable effect on their
integrity and independence. insiead of being the in-
trepid champions and zealous preset vets of the liberties
of their counts y—the prOudest distinction to which a
lawyer can aspite—the conduct of the Chancellor is col-
t elated to check their rising energies—to repress all ge-
reruns exertion—to produce a servile, obsequious bar,
of which ti.e members nitro distinguished for their
baseness may, in time, deg' ale the Bench—fit instru-
ments in the hands of power to oppless their colliery- ,
men, and destiny the free Constitution of England—
( 1 kae, hear).
Mr. W. WYNN was ready to admit that nothing had
fallen froM the Hollow:tide and Learned Gentleman
(Mt. Aberci otnt) ) which justified the comment made
opon his speech uttered on Tuesday last. There was,
however, some excuse for the conduct of the Lord
Chancellor, and Ire thnsight the House would be guilty
of an injustice, trolley proceeded any further on this
occasion. lit was well aware, that in saying this, he
would be represented as deserting the course lie had so
long pursued on subjects of this nature; but he now
said, as he had often said berme, that he had rather
tolerate a trivial breach of their privileges, than
push them beyond due bounds, and direct them
to uses fur which they atter wen: intended.

•
Had the Lord Chancellor thought proper, he might have
punished the proprietor of the newspaper for a con-
' tempt in misrepresenting his Court; but he did not
descend to such a course of pi oceeding ; he warmly de-
nied the charge, and strongly contradicted that which
every other man would have been wanting to himself if
he did not do. The Lord Chancellor did not state
where this charge was made; he named no individual
as the author of the falsehood ; then came his commen-
tary, arid the only part of it giving a colour to shew
that he was guilty cf a breach of our privileges, was
when he talked of persons having " black gowns on
their hacks." If these terms had all been used, no
breach, he contended, would have been committed.
He was asked, was a Member of this House to be at-
tacked for stating his opinions upon the appoint-
ment of a judicial inquiry ? and he answered No.
But if 'a false charge were made; if, fir instance,
such an officer as the Lord Chancellor was charged
with evading ati Act of Parliament, for unworthy
and improper purposes, he had a right to say
that such a charge was an " utter falsehood:—
If the motion of the Hon. Member were assented to, the
House would be inquiring into the carpus delicti, and
would be putting an individual on his trial before the
bill of indictment was found ; and consequently before
it tuns proved that any offence whatever had been com-
mitted. It would be most cruel to deny the Lord Chan..
cellor, or any other individual, an opOrtunity of de-
fending himself (and his conduct upon this occasion
amounted to merely a defence) against a charge
which had appeared in all the Newspapers, and had
been circulated to the remotest corner of the Empire.
He would, therefore, nude:Atte influence of chi; feeling,
• vote against the motion; and if it were carried, he could
not help thinking that the House would be inflicting the
deepest wound upon its dignity and privilege.
Mr. W. WILLI ASlS.thought if the House acted consistently
with its former decisions, it would agree to the motion before it.
lilt then, on inquiry, appeared that the charge against the Lord
Chancellor was well founded, be, for one, Would then be ready to
receive any explanation the Noble Lord would offer—([fear, hear).
If ever there was an ucEasion which called rot the House to assert
its privileges, it was when a Member of *at House, for whom aU
entertained the highest respect, made a charge in his place against
the Lord Chancellor, of having committed a breach of the privileges
of the House. If the Lord Chancellor would, after the motion
was agreed to, communicate to the House, by any of its Members,
that be did not intend any attack on ks privileges, or any of its.
Members, he (Mr. Williams) hoped the House and the Honourable
.and Learned Gentleman would be satisfied.
Mr. A REItCRO NI BY said his first duty was to make kis ac-
knowledgments to the Gentlemen opposite' fur the frank manner
in which they bad admitted that his speech in that Boise had not
justified any animadversion—(Hear, hear). lie wasmtsongly in-
fluenced in the course he had taken by respect for the Privileges of
that House, and the members of the profession to which he had
the honour to belong. He had stated the procee4ing to which he
intended to resort to persons for whose opinion be entertained the
greatest respect, sad it had received their approbation. He should
not offer one word to influence the decision of the House.—The
House divided, when the numbers were—
A yes
Noes