Star.
London, England, 1830-03-03 00:00:00

• oppressiVe. 'Thinking thus, could he do otherwise than moot the
subject in this house. But before proceeding further, perhaps he
ought to give the reason why he, a lawyer, felt himself
aa th orised in so characterising these proceedings. ( Hear,
- hear, -hear.) He assured the house that the conclusion
to which he had come, be it right or wrong, was not the
effect of hasty adoption; he had given the matter long and
serious consideration, for he was convinced from the begin-
ning that nothing short of a very strong case of oppression
nhti vexation could justify him in bringing this before the
house, which he did not advocate in a 'Court of Law. He
now came to the facts of the case, which he should state shortly.
Few gentlemen could be ignorant that very recently Mr. Almeida
was tried upon three infoimatione, at the suit of the Attorney-Gene-
rah Upon the first for a libel upon the Lord Chancellor (Lord
Lyndhurst) ; upon the second. roe a libel upon the pat of Wel-
lington and his -.llnjesty—(a laugh) ; and upon the third, upon.a—
Whom or west In was unaole to characterise, and which he could
not describe better than as a kind of ostnibuilibel—(bnnts of
laughter), an omnibus libel—(continued laughing),.—oe what In
cookery-was called a hotch.potbia.(roses of laughter). And against
whom was this libel P Against the King P—against the &sem-
picot :—against the right honourable gentleman, the• Home Seem-
tray. whom he (Sir Charles) was easy to see mixed op in this af•
fair, no his dignity would seem to lapin a prosecution to shim.
self— (increased laughter);—against Ministers, seldom the House
- of Commons cam coins/dans dais ; in fact, alarger aggregation of
objects and subjects in the way of prosecutors could nowhere bed,
fooott in any of the precedents, or the various fame which the re-
cords of Weittminstet Hat exhibited—(Cisers.) tie was about,
as he said before, to move for minutes of thescproceedkp t
znd if in commenting upon them he •shinthl• happen to speak.
is any way approaching to mwoodity, aneseDeue eionlat4 k was'
Hs anxious wish to avoid it, although It ;wes-tfillknek to
confine oneself to speak de re, without ablie ash et. Pets
roan. if it were possible to treat the °Ake ir Ationmy-seen
nerd in eh% case as an abstain thing, ash was the mode Wadi&
he wished to treat it, for if any man •suffined pal tltent his iliemita,,
he assured the house most conscientiously, and as of Moors,
that nobody would be more distressed at it. than he. It
undoubtedly was, to treat a case like titbits that of A, B, C, lost be
should try to Milt it so, and if, unfortunately, he exceeded the limits
which he had prescribed himself; if he traoscended the
lations which he had drawn; if he said any thing which gave the
slightest offence, he wished to retract it, indicts:so es;lm suppose
it never to have been said, and to take it for granted that be was sin-
cerelyanxious to avoid elmmitting himself in say respect, In a shim-
. don it which he was open to reprehension and reproba -These
were the three eases, the proceedings of which fie would take the
liberty of calling for copies oE With respect to the thee of these'
cases, be had already said, and he said It with the most re.
spectful deference to the Lord Chancellor, and in the strati hope.
that any thing which he there said would not dissolve the dos hoer
which they felt to do justice to one another r, with this pet be
should say that he thought the lord Chancellor Lyndhurst
did perfectly right in taking proceedings ageism Mr. Alex-
ander, for charging him with promoting, for a bribe god scam..
modation, his (Sir Cheeks Wetherell's) learned and able
friend to the office of Solicitor-General, when s body knew that
such promotion was fairly earned by his great talams as a lawyer,
hie high reputation was solely the reward of his own merits, and not
bestowed for any of the dirty motives insinuated in this publication..
And further with respect to Lord Lyndhurst, he (Sir Charles We.
sherd!) must soy, and he was are the noble lord's personal Mends
would bear him out, that he had ever cheerfully performed his
duty, as an individual member of the profession, meddles in the
court of that learned lord, to him as its head and that when In the
office of Attorney. General he was as willing as any one to give all
the reasonable protection which could be expected from his office.
To tile history then of these proceedings. The noble and leaned
lord was attached ; he was called upon to defend himielf—that, by
the consciousness of his not having done cross; and, secondly,
the requirement of public opinion. In amsonance to the
voice of private feeling-and public duty, he determined upon_ being.
Ing to punishment a party who had inculpated him of a legal alma
and moral corruption, In the appointment of the learned person as
the office in question. A criminal• lamination was moved for by
his (Sir C) honourable and learned friend, the Att -fie-•
neral, in the Court of King's Bench r. sad if be (Sir C.) iiiwed
from that learned person as to the legality and censtitutionalakt
of these measures, he did so in the fuU consciousness of his saes.
rior knowledge, great talents and powers. which it did net- remake'
anieulogy'from him to do justice to, for they were generally- known:
However, with all the deference which he had for • hie
and, setting aside private feeling. which, of coarse, no :Men
wantonly wound, he must say that he thought these ptomain.
were unjustifiable,and if this conveyed anyeensure it was I em-
sure upon the office, not upon the individual who filled it.
hear.) The information was filed—but perhaps it was nessiosey
to premise- that it wan for the applicant previously to
make an affidavit denying truth of the isslanadons son.
tallied in the alleged libel. Such an affidavit did the Lord
Chancellor make ; a similar one was made by Sir &hard &glen.
Matters coming to this pats, Mr. Alameda was called upon he
his defence ; and this he made by disclaiming, to the most positive
manner, any !illusion to the Loyd Chancellor. He (Sir C.) would
not further pursue this part of the subject which was but collateral
to his motion—for he had here nothing to do with the merits *either
of the information oe the answer—but would call attendee to what
followed. What, then, was done after the affidavit by Alexander}
Lord Lyndhurst—the head of the law, the Lord high.C.imacellor of
Great Britain—acting by the King's Attontey.Genced (in Weems
a private advocate, however, not a public prosocutotevleittlied
for arid obtained a criminal information against de
having put, him to the vexation, trouble, and expense of first meeting
a prosecution at his suit as a private individual, and bearing his de.
fence to that suit, what does be do then P • Why, the Attorney-Ge-
neral, acting vistas (OM, upon his own responsibility, proceeds to
file ex.officio informations against the same individual in a way,
which he (Sir C. Wetherell) took the liberty of 'eying, the whole
tradition of Westminster Hall, gave no similar example of, for its
geniality, unfairness, and opprentivenots--(cheering.) To that
statement he pledged his reputation' as a lawyer..—(he an) The
subject was before the House, and he had, he believed, feisty elated
the circumstances of it ; it did inn become him, under such cir-
cumstances, to speak very positively, or to be very latrusive•of his
private opinions, but if he might be allowed
th to speak with 'nu-
ance upon any subject, he would repeat, that this proceeding of the
Lord Chancellor and the Attorney-General—the obtaining an in.
formation for libel, according to all the rules of the Court against
a• defendant, and then abandoning it, and filing a new charge by ex.
officio infonnadon--was a case unheard of and unprecedented in
the annals of ' Westminster Hall.—(Loud cheers.) He asserted
arch conduct to be a breech of the Constitution of the realm,
a violation of all the rights of the people, and he was
confident that he was not the only Masi- who thought so
" For," said the Right Honourable and Learned Gentleman,
let Westminster Hall be polled, and if there be a single .lawyer,
excepting always the Attorney-General,:and those who were asso-
ciated with him in those proceedings, I say, and I say it
advisedly, that if there be a single laiser, who would say,
upon fits oath at your bar; that their,* proceeding were bible.
wise than unprecedented in law, I ail not a jowyee and knownothing of Westminster Hall. (Tunntletious cheering.) If so,-
. then, and that they had been folloWeil cansiquentOi nem-
. does to the defendant, war
.Glider)_ not meissated
in•saying that they were harassing* connive, sad madam:pro.
ccedinp ? And this was one of thessenplaines ditch he had to make.
He had proved them to be unprecednitesi, be eliould now show that
the proceedings were oppressive and vexat(ous. For the reasons, quo
eezarus, they were these—in the Hier place, the defendant was put
to double expense, he was obliged to take his trial twice for the
same offence. The house would See that the right bon. Secretary
for the Home Department, had brought in a bill, for which
be (Sir Chides) was very grateful fee preventing persons acquitted
of offences, from paying fees. It would be for the right hoe. gent.
.new to my, whether after this case of a man being put a second time
upon his trial, some provisions ought not to be mode for him in this
Act. (Hear, hear, hear.) With this statement of the subordinate
circumstances. of the case, he ahOuld proceed to allow -hew such
practices might lead to the greatest mischief. It was by no
means necessary to stop We to mk the learned
of the Court of King's Batch. ability, talent, and upejll47.-
ness of Lord Tenterden, Mr. Justice Bally, and their learned also-
. elates, required no eulogy from him. But how were they placid by
the. Attoency-General ? He , Brat obtained a criminal into,.
onion and then proceeded to Me an ea-offkis for the same Wm—as
as he was undoubtedly qualified to do, without knee from say court
whatever. Mr. Alexandeismployaw learned gent. remarkable for
his great talent and public spirit, -Mr. DOOMS, to defend him.—'
This gent. makes out such a case of hardphip to the court, that
their lordships say, " We cannot prevent ahe Attorney-General
from filing his ex-officio, but we will take care that he doss mot
abuse our information, and we will, therefore, put him under Mims
not to proceed with this, if he persist* in his ex.officio. The AelliNley•
Genets' is called apba to elect which he will proceed upon; hat be
• Minds upon his nght, and the counted that they cannot
_interfere
further. This was an undoubted right in the Attiessey-Osasefli and
when be (Sir Charles,) was In the office ,_fie marked.
_upon an
• occasion when, having. asked to put af
.a Sid 'on admit, it
• was said upon the other side Who nemitery, but he refit* to
make one; and the court watiVestl a ettie Ore SITOUI
Lion. Thus die matter send . •the Attrapep=
• bang tied ups to the 4tiwtiedhegeosisiss which he had obtained
*no the cast. • The hmlitithesl- ARlll;whof biskosd hind
and she itty:thlot -If • Aetna's bin
.toa Am tytd >< /Await. the, bogs
tritig tbs‘
em gitto prescsowit sad Weds *a
.thes..l4l4soullase he
proved, a thing very unllkelit was math' to 6 °ltalic".