Star.
London, England, 1818-05-20 00:00:00

seen in him Mr regard for liberty; he luid never wit-1
nessed in that Noble Lord any veneration or respect for •
the good sound principles of our recorded constitution.
When he considered the manner in which YleNoble
Lord had suspended the Habeas Corpus Act—when
he reflected on his refusal to hear the petitions of the
unfortunate persons who had been imprisoned under
that Suspension—when he remembered, that, after
ell, he had sought to cover the acts of himself and
n 1 colleagues by a Bill of Indemnity, founded on
the Report of a Secret Committee, chosen by them-
selves, and furnished only with such evidence as they'
chose to adduce--there was no man in whose hands
he should be more unwilling to entrust the exercise
of the powers of the Alien Bill--(hear, hear) Let
the House too remember, that his Majesty's Ministers
had on all occasions refused an inquiry into the man-
lier in which those powers had been exercised. This
was a most fatal blow to the character of this coun-
try ; and Ile could not but reflect, that when we
should have lost all our liberties, we should not even
have the compassion of any nation in the world; be-
cause it would be said, that a people who were so re-
gardless of the liberties of others, did not deserve to
enjoy their own—(Loud. cheering.)
Mr. Serjeaut COPLEY strongly advocated the
measure, and denied that it all infringed on the Con-
stitution. The inevitable consequence of relinquish-
ing the measure must be, that this country must be
thrown open to all who may be banished from their
own, on account of the atrocity and practical infamy
of their political conduct : they were men who were
inflamed with the most bitter animosity against this
country men without morality or religion—(hear)—
who still wished to propagate the desperate principles
of the French Revolution. This was the description
of persons whom the Gentlemen opposite wished to
be admitted to live in this country without restraint,
or without controul ; but he, for one, was not willing
to try the exiieriment of what quantity of poison the
body could inhale without destroying the constitu
tion.—(Hear, hear, hear.)—The Bill now in agita-
tion was directed to all the circumstances of our ac-
tual situation, and it was our duty to take care that
this country should not be attacked through the sides
of other States, which might ultimately affect our
domestic tranquillity—a tranquillity Which depended
on the system adopted by other countries. In 1816,
when this measure was last before the House, Gen-
tlemen opposite held precisely the same language ;
and they also held the same in 1793 ; but events had
shewn that their judgment was not infallible, when
they told us we had nothing to apprehend. There
was nothing in any of the Acts of Parliament that in
the slightest degree contravened the positions con-
tended fbr by any of the Gentlemen on his side of the
House. The Hon. and Learned Gentleman then re-
ferred to instances as tar back as the time of Henry
IV. to shew that the power of sending Aliens Out of
the country was always exercised by the Crown. The
Bill, therefore, was not brought in to give the Crown
any new authority, as any Alien might have been
sent out of the country without the operation of this
Bill ; for, by the common law, the King has the
power to send them away--only it must be done by,
• the tedious method of indictment. He concluded
• by entreating the House to consider whether they were
• in that situation to throw off the guards and securi-
ties which successive Parliaments had, in similar cir-

cumstaiices, considered necessary for the security of
these realms.--( Hear, Hear.)
Sir JAMES MACKINTOSH protested against they
doctrines of the Hon. and Learned Gentleman. The
question of the Law was wholly immaterial ; but the
Gentlemen opposite sought to extend the power of
the Crown, and it was for them to shew that circum-
stances required this extension. The Hon. Gentle-
man who spike last had only established the prero-
gative in question by quoting an instance four hun-
dred years ago, when the King had the power of
pressing men for the army by laud, and ..hen the
Act De heretice comburendo existed ; and as to the
cases dug out of the State Paper Office since the tine
of Elizabeth, they amounted to nothing. He defied
I the Hon. and Learned Gentleman to prove that for.
two hundred and forty years back there bad been
any instance of the banishing aliens by proclama-
tion. There was no doubt that the Executive had
the power of doing any thing for the 'security of the
State, and therefore it had that of banishing aliens—,
but was it ever exercised by proclamation P—(hear.),
He then defended the consistency of the Gentlemen
on his side, and said he believed that scarcely one of
them who had voted against the Act in 1793 was
now in the House, or had been in 1816: and what-'
ever might be thought by impartial posterity, he
would say, that not too much was done in 1793 to'
resist the increasing influence of the Crown at that
period. He felt great curiosity to know what cir-
cumstances had occurred that in the slightest degree ,
affected the opinions given by the Gentlemen who
opposed the Bill in 1816. It was a Bill intended to
oppress any unfortunate individual who had fled from
a despotic Government, and to send him back into
the jaws of his enemy. He thought the most dan-
gerous prir.ciple was the resting of this Bill on the
moral and political character of certain individuals;
for it would follow that when we received foreign
exiles in future, we must be held to approve of their
moral condLct, and thus act in hostility to the Go-
vernment that had exiled them. After making seve-
ral historical allusions, to shew that such' a measure
was unprecedented in times of peace, he deprecated
what he conceived to be an indifference in the House
to the fate of unfortunate men, the victims of fo-
reign tyranny, and a sort of contempt for every thing
founded on principles of liberty and justice. The law
seemed to be made to prevent the admission of three
Newspapers, and S 8 French exiles into this empire.
Suppose any future tyrants banished thousands of
persons, and they took refuge in this country, if the
Ambassador of the Sovereign who had expelled them
demanded that they should be sent away, what would
be the answer of the British Minister ? Would he say,
as Lord Liverpool did to Andreossi when he de-
manded the delivery up of M. Peltier,-that Ministers
had not the power to commit such an act ? In tilt.-
mer times we were despised by the Turks, Algerines,
and other despots, on account of the liberty we en-
joyed and divided with all the people of the earth
who set foot on our shores ; and to be so despised by
tyrants and slaves we accounted our glory. • But
henceforth if a foreigner were not given up, the Am,
bassador might say, " Cannot you pass . an Alien
Bill?" The Minister might answer, " not in titueuE
peace." But the Ambassador might reply, " sr it

rwas in 1816 and 1818 ;,it is a part of your system •
you did, it to preserve quiet in 1818; and what pre.
vents you in 1819, but that you were then friendly to
such and such Power, and you are now hostile to us.
If you pas. an Act then to exclude three Newspapers
and thirty-eight Exiles, there can be no reason why
you should not pass one now." Supposing (continued
the Honourable and Learned Gentleman), the con.
test in South America were to be decided against the
Independenti, which Goo forbid, and that a few un-
fortunate men found refuge in this country, would
not Spain accuse us of an inimical disposition? If
Messrs. Arguelles and Fontada were to escape from
their dungeons, and come here, those Gentlemen,
the leaders of a Government which we recognised,
we should be in the same predicament, or should
only have the horrible alternative of expelling those'
excellent persons. The Honourable and Learned
Gentleman next adverted to the Treaty of 1811, in,
which the Emperor of Russia recognized the Cones,
and recapitulating the events which hurled Bona-
parte from power, commiserated those two unfortir-
' nate Gentlemen, who ordered a Te DeAs to be surg
throughout Spain, for an event which was to plunge
them into a dungeon, and their country in slavery.—
But if they were delivered from the dungeon, what
would now become of them ? They would still con-
sider England as the asylum of liberty ; but they
would find under the Alien Bill that they would only
become a subject of quarrel between England and
Spain. Contrasting the conduct of Russia on many
occasions with that of this country, he observed that
the general opinion now seemed to be, that Muscovy
was at the head of a liberal and humane policy, and
England at the head of a prejudiced, monarchical,
and aristocratical party. But he would say that such
a system was not consistent with the wisdom and
policy of this country—(Hear, hear, hear.)
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL argued that, but
for this Bill, we should not have the same power as
was possessed by every other State ; and that the
power of the King, respecting Aliens, was authorked
by Magna Charta. As the King had the power of
recalling his subjects by proclamation, it was natural
that he should have the power of seuding away
Aliens, and he would venture to say, no Lawyer out
of the House would deny it. It was only to enable
the Crown to decide who should or who should not
stay in the country; and the only question, was, whe-
ther it would be wise at once to take off all restric-
tion of this sort ? As far as he recollected from read-
ing the debates, the same reasonings against the Bin
were used in 1793 as now ; but there was hardly any
penon who was not convinced by the events that
followed, that that measure was one of the principal
means of saving the country. The Honourable and
Learned Gentleman argued at some length in favour
of the expediency of the measure, and contended
that it violated no principle of our laws, but added
security to the country.

A division took place, when the numbers were--

Ayes
Nues

Alajut ity

- 67

The House then went into the Committee, when

Mr. BARHAM moved that the blank respecting
the time of the Bill be filled up with one year, in-
stead of two.—A division took place on the question:
Ayes
News
Majority for two years
Mr. J. P. GRANT proposed a clause that it should
be in the power of any Alien who might receive an
order of removal to specify the country, part, or place
to which he wished to be removed, and that he should
be permitted to transport himself in any ship that
might bC ready to sail.
51r. BROGbEN said the clause could not be re-
ceived, consistently with the forms of the House, no
motion for an instniction to the Committee to amend
the bill having been previously made.
Mr. GRANT, though he spoke with little confi-
dence in his knowledge of the forms of the House,
Was„of opinion a clause like that which he had pro-
posed might be received in the Committee.
The SPEAKER was of opinion it was imprmible
for the clause to he received in the Committee, but
it could be moved an the Report or on the third
reading of the Bill. • .
• Mr. GRANT consented to move his clause on a
future stage of the Bill.
Sir SAMUEL ROMILLY wished to move a clause
to except from the operation °Abe Bill such foreigners
as had been resident in this country from the Ist of
January, 1814.
Mr. LIROGDEN was opinion this clause could mit
be received, and the sense of the Committee appearing
against it, the Hon. and Learned Gentleman declined
moving it on the present occasion.
The House resumed, and the Report was ordered
to be received to-morrow, with an understanding that
' the Bill should not be read a third time till Friday.
The Irish Fever Holpital Bill was brought in, read a first
and second thrtet_and ordered to be committed on Friday.
Sir W. CURTIS put off his motion on the City Pctitinn till
Thursday:'

The Reports of the Committees of. Ways and Means and Sup-
ply, were brought up and agreed to.
• The other Orders oldie Day were &vino' of, and the House
adjourned at Twelve &Clock.

•
Sir D.WEDDEABURNI Bart. the preseni-Metnber of
Parliament.lar the Perth district of Boroughs, having
resigned, ARCII. +realm., Esq. of BlythswooeL
has offered himself as his successor, and has already
commenced an active canvass in Perth. A few days
ago, an Independent Son of Vulcan, clad in the
home-spun costume of his native hills, was very po-
litely addressed—hat in hand—by a.candidate for
his vote at an ensuing election; thinking the gentler
man who paid him so much attention was mistaken,
and looking round to see if he were addressing any
other person, with some deference accosted the can-
didate thus—,, Was ye speaking to me, Sir r—beinx
answered in the affirmative, And duly apprised of his
intentions, he shook his head, rather knowingly, and
answered—"'When we see twa or three o ye, we'll
be speaking about it!"
PORTEIL—We are concerned whist that the Inver-
tation into the evils of the Licensing System, as
affecting the price and quality of the national beve-
rage, makes but slow progress before the Committee
of the House of Commons, to whom it was referred
the week before last. Witnesses were examined every
day; and most important disclosures were made; but
during the last week the sittings of the Committee
were suspended altogether. In a few weeks more,. it
is understood, Parliament will be dispolveslt and thin
the inqiiirY will be at an end. •