Star.
London, England, 1810-03-29 00:00:00

gee-Ai:in often 'discusses!, not so much as to the right
• of the Yslimse to commit fur breaches of privilege, in
certain cases, but as to how far the exercise of such
rights extended ; where their limits should be placed ;
whether. they should he exercised where the.offence is
renieciieble in other Courts, or the offence be brought
immediately before the House and pronounced. upon.
-.Ali these and more were points upon *Which much
di'l'l -race of opinidii *xisted. He meant not at that
sti•oe to enter upon the great question, nor to draw
oily. particular limitations to the exercise, of privileges
- • and ; nor to say whether the question of corn-
' mittal by that House" in cases of libel should open
their views to any.new law upon the subject ; nor to
draw into consideration aed debate any particula'r'
passages. in the paper complained of.. It would be,
iirdeed, a question of great importance to that House,'
• and to the subject, if, Nrhile they were occupied with
anotheieimportant and complicate.d.discussion, they
should rashly and impetuously come to .a decision
upon this matter. It did not matter at present whe-
ther he agreed with or dissented from the Resolu-
tions proposed. lamight, perhaps, be incumbent on
him to say something of his opinion, which he should
do afterwards, and could not then hesitate to mention,
since he always avoided the concealment of his opi-•
nions. There was one part of the passages complained
-of, he meant the last, which he was inclined' to think,
-came under every definition of a breach of privi-
lege that he had known ; and he was disposed to
vote for such a determination, under such modifica-
tions and amendments as he should propose. The
passage to which be particularly alluded, states, that
the }louse of Commons had, " by burgage tenure,
" become the proprietors of the whole representation,
4, and in that capacity, inflated with their high blown
" fanciful ideas of Majesty, and tricked out• in the
48 trappings of royalty, think privilege and protection
it beneath their dignity, assume the • sword of preio-
gative, and lord it equally over the King and the
gg people." But still, when he was called upon to
call it ~ libellous and scandalous, and reflecting on
the just rights and privileges of that House," he must
ask, what were those rights ? He had run over that
morning very'has•ily, a work of that great Lawyer,
Mr. Hargrave. He wanted time to examine him and
my Lord Hale. and other great Constitutional Law-
yers on this, and opportunity to mature his opinions.
My Lord Hale had said, that such questions ought
not to be adjudged by the House as are remediable
in the courts of law. Was not a libel so? Could
there be any thing more apposite ? Was not that the
proceeding in the case of -Reeves ? Was he brought
to judgment by the House ? Was not the Attorney
General ordered to prosecute? He did not wish to'
pretend to a shew of learning ; there were many
points to consider ; one, he thought, might amount
to a breach, bat the others required much examina-
tion. He was unable to decide whether a Member
might say or not to his constituents whatever he had
delivered in that House? This and. many other points
were not clear, though included in the 'general de-
scription. Many of them had been stated by Sir
Francis Burdett in the House, and had been enlarged
upon and defended by others. How far he was right,
having been here unrerrinvintiod by the Speaker, he
could ,not tell. Another offensive passage began thus,
that the House of Commons haA -passed a vote
4, which amounts to a declaration that an order of
al theirs is to be of more weight than Magna Charta,•
4, and the laws ofthe !and ;" and ended by describing
Is the House as a part of our fellow-subjects, collected
" together ly means which it is not necessary for me to de-
scribe." Now, if the worthy Baronet had a right to
say what he had said in that House, it was absolutely
moderation in him, to forbear from stating the means
by which some elections to the House were obtained.
That after recent evidence and admission of the fact,
be should have re stated it in terms so moderate and
gentle, was matter of surprise The Hon. Gentle-
man must not have recollected the transactions of:
only the last session ! • (Hear. Hear.) He should
abstain it m many other remarks on the facts charged;
but would say, that there was no part of thealetter
that had not h se expressed in stronger terms in that
House, even than noose of the last passage; to a mo-
dified, model ate resolution of their disapprobation of
which he felt prepared to assent; but on that he could
animadvert afterwards. He wished to be sincere ;
• but he found not a word that was not in Sir Francis
Burdett's speech, delivered in Parliament at a time
whets he had not himself the good fortune to be pre-
sent and give his opinion on the question of Parlia-
mentary Reform. it was delivered in the freedom
of speech in Parliament, and why might it not be
published ? He desired to .have constiutional learn-
ing on that head. He would avoid the merits ;
but he desired a proper, calm, sedate consideration,
of so gr:ave and important a business.
As he hoped he might. call the Honourable Mover
his friend, he would say to him, " grant time." Was
there a man it the country who would not think that
consideration was demanded ? He did think the
Right Honourable Gentleman
,opposite was glad to
catch at the opportunity which this business afforded,
for diverting the attention of an attentive House, and"
the feelings of an indignant people, from the serious
discussions that were going forward, and in which
the honour, character, and interests of the House
and the country, were so deeply concerned—(Hear,
hear.)—lie was convinced that his Hon. Friend,
Mr. Lethbridge, would, in his cooler moments, regret
that he had, upon this occasion, allowed himself to
be made the instrument for such a purpose—(Hser,
hear, hear) ;—and that lie should-have been persuad-
ed to throw out this :aft to the indignant feelings of
the House upon that other great question !—(Hear,
hear.)—He was willing to believe that he would be'
the first to rise and second the Amendment with
which he was about to conclude.-a•-(Hear.)—The
nourable Member then moved, that the debate be ad-
journedaill to morrow se'nnight.
Mr. LETHBRIDGE rote immediately and said,
he did not rise to second the adjOurnment of his Ho-
nourable Friend.
On the Amendment being put from the Chair,
Mr. LETHBRIDGE again rose and said, that as
the Mover of the Resolutions before the House, he
could net consent to the proposition for adjourning
the debate. He had most certainly, at the time when
he brought forward the Resolutions, been sensible
that he was entering upon a grave and serious sub-
ject, and it had never been in his contemplation to
' not been
i placed.

proceed in it with precipitancy. That hat
at any time his wish, and he conceived he I