Star.
London, England, 1810-02-07 00:00:00

decide the fate of two contending pries is that
House, were for that reason the most important:—
When he heard, for instance, one set denouncing ano.
ther set of men as utterly incapable, and heard that
other arraigning their accusers as unworthy of being
their successors, he might be tempted to do what the
country did, and with a civil impartiality believe both
sides ; and adopt, as the character of each, that given
by the other. His Honourable Friend had spoken of
him as the Patron of the Press—as if it was his client.
The first was a prestimption he disclaimed ; and as to
the Press tieing his client, he could only say that be
was not a feed advocate, nor had he been bribed by
even flattery—but it had been the chief glory of his
life, that he had been the uniform and zealous advo-
cate of the Liberty of the Press ; and while he bad
life he should continue to be so. While, however' he
gloried in the honour of such a distinction, he could
not see upon what ground his Right Honourable
Friend put in his claim to a share in that honour. It
was that kind of fraternal embrace which he should
be cautious to admit of. His Right Hon. Friend
had, by implication, questioned the use of the Liberty
of the Press ! Could his Hon. Friend have been se-
rious ? Give me, said Mr. Sheridan, in a tone of
peculiar animation, give me but the Liberty of the
I Press, and I will give to the Minister a venal House
lof Peers— I will give him a corrupt and servile House
of Commons—l will give him the full swing of the
Patronage of Office—l will give him the whole host
of Ministerial influence—l will give him all the power
, that place can confer upon him, to purchase up
submission and overawe resistance ; and yet, armed
with the liberty of the press, I will go forth to meet
him undismayed ; I will attack the mighty fabrick he
has reared with that mightier engine; I will shake
down from its height corruption, and bury it beneath
the ruins of the abuses it was meant to shelter. (Hear,
hear, hear.) He said, that for the first time in his life
he had been tempted to wish that the Gallery had
been cleared. It was out of his affection for his Right
Honourable Friend, whose speech he wished had not
been heard by strangers—a speech containing sen-
timents that not only filled him with regret but horror.
He wished that none had been present to report a
speech, holding forth such broad and general propo-
sitions against the inestimable blessing of the liberty
of the press. Was it, the Right Hon. Gentleman
asked, the liberty of the press that brought on the
Revolution in France ? Was it not rather the extinc-
tion of that liberty which gave birth to, kept alive,
and perpetuated the series of calamities which that
unfortunate country has =Awed What had occa-
sioned the fall of all the rotten Monarchies of Europe?
Not the existence, bet the non-existence of the liberty
of the press. If the liberty of the press, the existence
of which, in this country, the Right Hon. Gentleman
seemed so lightly to esteem, or rather to regard it as
an evil and a misfortune, had existed in France, in
Austria, in Prussia, in Spain, Bonaparte would rot at
this time have been the Master of the Universe ! He
should notdwell longer on the speech of his Right Ho-
nourable Friend. That speech, he must agaiii sae,
he was sorry to hear, on accoust of the Right Hun.
Gentleman himself. He observed, however, that Gen-
tlemen opposite had not said any thing upon it, He
should only now beg to say a few words on what had
fallen from the Right Honourable Gentleman whe
originally moved the' standing order, and who still
adhered to his proposition. That Right Honourable
Gentleman had compared the House to a Grand
Jury, than which nothing could be more inapplicable,
as had been justly remarked by the worthy Baronet
fiehind'him (Sir F. Burdett). The Right Honour.
able Gentleman asked, did the House ever hear of
any person beiqg admitted to hear the evidence laid
before a Grand Jury ? Did the Right Honourable
Gentleman, however, ever hear ei a Grand Jury
publishing the evidence before them ? The Right
Hon. Gentleman seemed to forget, that the House
had before it all the written evidence to be adduced
already in print, and that the additional evidence,
from the hearing of which he desires to exclude the
public, can only consist of parole evidence, in confir-
mation of the evidence already printed and in the pos-
session of the public. The .Right Hon. Gentleman
consented, therefore, that the public should have all
that a Grand Jury would not give them, but objected
to what could be of no importance fterwards to
withhold. The two tribunals, however, were by no
means similar. The Grand Jury kept the evidence
no which they proceeded secret, that an eeposure of
it might not influence the Petty' Jury. Here there
leas no occasion for sect ecy-, The House were them-
selves to determine the question. It was worthy of re-
mark, however, that it was no:. the Noble Lord (Right
Hon. Gentleman) who, when Peers were afterwards
discovered in the House, desired them to withdraw.
No ; he 4:is rather desirous that they should stay.—
Here the House saw the consistency of the Right
Hon. Gentleman's argument. He was anxious to
enforce the Order as to all strangers who had not, nor
could have, any interest in the inquiry. Those lie
could not admit to be present. But as to Peers, who
might afterwards be called on to try the guilt or in-
nocence of some of the parties, to them he had no
objection, but was content that they should remain.
These were the sort of arguments by which it was;
sought to defeat his motion by the Noble Lord.—(A
Lugh.)—He begged pardon—the Right Honourable
Gentleman. He was not yet -a Noble Lord, though
he very soon might be. The Right Hon. Gentleman
had stated, that he was answerable to none but to his
constituents for his conduct in that house. It had been,
surmised, he pretended not to say how justly, that the
Right Hon. Gentleman would, at this moment, in an
official capacity, have been giving his assistance to
Ministers, were he not afraid of the ordeal he must
undergo in meeting his constituents. The part he was.
now acting, would not, Mr. Sheridan was convinced,
make the Right Hon. Gentleman more anxious toad.
venture on this trial. He should sit down with calling.'
on the House, not to rescind, but to refer to a Com.
mittee of Privileges these'Standing Ordei s, ridiculous
and absurd as they might be allowed to be. He had
stated the grounds on which he called on the Housp
to support his motion. The Standing Order in ques-
tion might be set aside without mischief to the forms
or dignity of the House. Such a reeasere would
greatly tend to conciliate the public feeling, now
doubly and trebly necessary after the extraordinary
speech of his Right Hon. Friend.— ( Loud alifilauro.)
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER
said; called on as he had been, and asked, if he meant
to shelter hit-itself under the speech of the Right Ho-
nOurable Gentleman (Mr. Wyndham), be thought it