Star.
London, England, 1824-02-19 00:00:00

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ward was the identicalmeasure which he had last year
the honour to propose. It v•ould be quite ridiculous in
Min to claim the credit c.f framing a Bill calculated to
remedy the inconveniences of the existing Bankrupt
Laws, numerous and complicated a... they were. He
had given,the subject all the *attention is his power to.
bestow 111,en it, and had used every exertion of which he
was capable in forwarding its execution'; but he (Mr.
Smith) did not possess eittiet•the naeans or the legal in-
formation requisite for the complete eerformance of
such a task, and he had therefore availed himself of the
ablest assistance in his power to procure. The main
author of tine measure was a well-known Solicitor in
the City, of thename of Fteslsfield, who for twe -years
had gratuitously devoted almost the whole of his time
to the prosecution of this woe It. The Bill, therefore,
had his must cordial concurrence; and the alterations in
the Bankrupt Laws which it proposed to effect were
such as were most desirable, One alteration in -parti-
cular appeared to him to be necessary in that part of
the law which the Right Honourable Gentleman had
t6uched upon relating to certificate, which was to pre-
vent the withholding of a bankrupt's certificate upon
the opposition of a single creditor.
Mr. Setjeant ONSLOW said he could not suffer that
opportunity to pass without expressing his satisfaction
that this'nleasure had been brought into the House. A
long course of experience as a Commissioner of Bank-
rupts enabled him to say it was a most important and
necessary mea Aire, and could not fail to be productive
of extensive benefit.
Mr. AI3EftCROMBY trusted he should be pardoned
if he troubled the House with a word or two of observ-
anion on the measure in contemplation, which related to
u bjec t of considerable importance, and one deeply
affecting the interests of a large portion of the people of
England. If the object of his Hon. and Learned Friend
• was merely to reprint in a different form all the Acts
of Parl'ament relating to Bankruptcy now existing, he
could not see the nece.sity or utility of such a measure.
If, on the contrary, it was his intention to make alte.
rations in the existing Acts, by leaving out certain
parts, and introducing other material alterations, he
would find that the task he had imposed on himself
was one of extreme difficulty, and an eat: emely arduous
undertaking ; and he hoped the Public would find no
cause to complain of the result of his labours. He
agreed with his Honourable and Learned Friend in the
• tew which he took "of the expediency of allowing indi-
viduals, under certain restrictions, to subject themselves
to the operation of the Bankrupt Laws. Such an alter-
ation, founded on the principle of the cessio bonorum
Act of Scotland, he highly approved, and could not
doubt of its proving highly beneficial. But, if he al-
tered the law in that respect, he would find that- there
were many other alterations requisite. He ought to
change entirely the character of the Act of Bankruptcy,
which as the law at present stood, partook of the na•
tut e of a Criminal Act. It should be divested altogether
of i:s criminal character, and rendered more consistent
s' ith the general spirit of the remainder of the com-
mercial law of the country.—Lowe was given to bring
in the Bill..

THE CRIMINAL LAW OF THE ISLE OT MAN.
Mr. CURWEN rose to bring forward the motion of
which he had given notice, for a Copy of the Instruc-
tions transmitted by his Majesty's Government to the
Duke of Athol, as Governor of the Isle of Man, direct-,
int him to make certain alterations in the Constitution
and Administration of the Criminal Law in that Island.
The subject of this motion was a matter of the deepest
importance as related to that Island ; and in order to
bring it more fully within the comprehension of the
House, it was necessary that he should state she Consti.
tution of the Island. That Constitution consisted first
of a Governor appointed by the Crown, then of a Lieu-
tenant-Governor, an Attorney and Solicitor-General,
four Judges who were called Deemsters, and the
House of Keys, who were the Rept esentatives of the Is-
land, and consisted of twenty-four Membersiforming the
Legislative Body ; laws passed by them having the full
force of law on approval by the Governor. The Criminal
Court was formed by the Governor, the four Deemsters, a
Jury, and the House of Keys assembling in the open air,
on a place called theTynwald Mount. This Constitution
had prevailed in the island from the earliest periods of
its history. Recently, however, a revolution was at-
tempted to be effected in the Constitution of that island,
which struck all persons connected with that part of the
kingdom with alarm. and merited, in his (Mr. Cur-
wen's) opinion, the serious attention of that House. At
a meeting of the people and their representatives, upon
theTynwald Mount, on the Oth of this month, the Duke
.of Athol for the first time stated, that he had received
,instructions from the Secretary of State for the Home
Department, directing that the attendance of the House
Of Keys should not be permitted there in future. This
declaration excited great surprise; but when explana-
tion was demanded, the Duke of Athol instantly dis-
solved the Assembly, and refused to give any at the time.
When, however, a subsequent application was made for
a copy of his speech, in order to found ulterior proceed-
ings upon it, it was promised, but that promise had not
been kept, and the people of that island, a population
of 40,000 persons, whose complaint certainly deserved
some attention, had no alternative but to make the appeal
which they now did through him, or be deprived of their
ancient tights and privileges at the will and pleasure of
the Governor. He said the appeal of the people of that
island, for although he (Mr. Curwen) had been, prevented
by circumstances from presenting a formal petition
upon the subject. he still felt justified, connected as he
u as with that Island, and knowing the sentiments of the
great body of its inhabitants, to consider him elf as
their representative upon this occasion. Their case he
felt, and he trusted he should be able to make the
House feel, was a hard one. In one moment, without
giving them an opportunity for defence or expostula-
tion, one of the legislative bodies of the Island, and
that too the one especially flamed to guard the rights
a the people, was dissolved. There would alertly be
another Court of Tynwald held; and he asked the
House in what state were the judicial proceedings likely
to be conducted? On the one hand, there were the
Demisters or Judges of the Island, and the Jury ap-
pointed to try the issues between the Crown and the
j risoners brought before them. On the other hand,
there was the House of Keys, who for 400 years had
enjoyed the privilege of interposing their advice and
giving their vote. This body had bees dissolved by the
Governor ; they had resisted that decree, and they
would of course be at their post to claim their ancient
rrisitege. Would the Judge then be justified it, Fro '
*looming senteuce upon any person arraigned before
lion, until this question had been set at rest? If he did
so; if influenced by the authority of the Governor, he
so far forgot his dutj as to laid himself to a proceeding