Star.
London, England, 1820-07-07 00:00:00

. _
ofinamein—____..
1 ministration of justice roused the deepest indignation. I
mix up personal considerations with this great ques- ' He cautioned Ministers, because'no man.coulif seethe '
, tion, which was between the People on one side and end ;—the boldest might shudder at the consequences.
the Queen on the other. He was convinced that the It was not against a fair trial that any feelings were
- 's- House acted wisely in agreeing to the Resolution to esitertained, but against proceedings to get a verdict.
. .:iaddiesnathe:•:gueen, and did not regret his vote on The Noble Lord had thought proper to talk of the
• thsti-deCirainnsahough he sincerely regretted that it : tone in which he (Mr. Bennett) had expressed his in-
, was not attended with the consequences he bad hoped I dignation at the terms offered to her Majesty in St.
for—(Hear, hear). lf, however, he had been aware, ! Omer's. In the persuasion that the steps taken were
as Ministei s were, of the extent of the charge, he was a departure fromepublic justice, had he expressed his
not sure that he would have acted so. On the con- indignation; and every honest man in the country
trarv, he thought they had thrown the responsibi- had felt the same indignation: He indeed was pro-
lity from themselves upon the House, in seeking a bahly disqualified from taking a fair view of the sub-
compromise, to which he never would have con- ject, because he had not been an accuser. But when=
sensed, had he believed the charges could be proven. ever the question came before that House, if unhap-
lastead of the suspensive course preferred by the pity it should ever come, no man would bring less of
Noble Lord, he was decidedly in favour of the con- party feeling into its consideration. Justice in favour
elusive. The Queen was at the bar of the Lords to of a helpless and desolate woman was called party!
defend herself, and he asked if it was consistent with Ample illustration of the feelings of party had been
justice to keep hanging over her head a second Court given on the other side. Every man in the country
of Inquiry if she escaped the first? If the preamble was satisfied whether party feelings operated on this
to the Bill was not proven, did the Noble Lord mean question, and where party feelings prevailed. He
to begin again in that House? Grand Juries, to at least would do his duty as'stontly as any Member,
which they had been in this instance compared, could in order to right the injured, and defeat persecution.
not do this, but ' must begin de novo on a separate The Illustrious Person who was now Queen of Eng-
case from the first. He then went over the sups land had been persecuted ever since she first landed
posable grounds mentioned by the Noble Lord, and on their shore. She had -not been a week in Eng-
concluded by moving—" That the order be now land (he was old enough to remember that period)
disciptiged." . when she began to be persecuted. Her person, her
Lord CASTLERF.AGH disclaimed any idea of manners, her gaiety, were misrepresented and slan-
corening the Bag in that House, if the Queen was ac- dered. ie would remind the Noble Lord, the Right
quitted in the other. Honourable Gentleman, and an Equity Lawyer else-
Mr. G. BENNETT began by expressing his sus- where, of the past they took in former pa; ts' of her
pi ise that none of his Majesty's Ministers had at- history. She •had been seducedseduced, he be-
tempted to ansv. er his Hon. Friend (Mr. Creevey); lieved, against her better judgment, certainly against
for, thoi.gh some unguarded expressions might have the strongest advice of Mr. Whitbread, the most ho-
falen from him, yet many of his observations had nest man then in England, to go out of this country.
been much to the purpose, and would have a sting- The authors of that step mi&ht have been rewarded:
,ing effect out of doors. Ministers were. bound to he would not look into the black and-dark intrigues.
stand up and to justify their master. The Noble A manuscript was iu the hands of his Honourable
Lord bad said, in express terms, that the King of Friend, the Member for Winchelsea (Mr. Brougham),
England had lent himself to an accommodation re- containing, in the strongest terms, the advice of Mr.
sleeting indecency and adultery. No Sovereign had Whitbread and the Member for Winchelsea, not to
ever been so publicly degraded. He did not believe- quit the shelter of her home, or leave the society and
that Ministers themselves had ever believed the security to be found only among her friends !
charges in the Green Bag, because, if they had be- They had anticipated the consequences of her going
lieved them, they could got have given such advice abroad ; they had anticipated the Spies, the Attornies,
as had been given. The Queen of England, charged and Vice-Chancellors, that would pursue her (Cheers);
with adultery; was not only to be.addressed by both they had anticipated the plots by which she would be
Houses of. Parliament, but she was to be acknow- assailed ; they had anticipated the consequences that
'sated in certain Courts near which she might chuse would arise from her frankness and gaiety of temper;'
to reside. The Right Honourable Gentleman (Mr. for, like Anne Boleyn, her lively and gay manners
Canning), after seeing all the charges in the Green afforded food for calumny--(Cheers).—They had
Bag had, in a most manly Ikea, a speech which did known and stated this before her Majesty had left
him the greatest credit iu his (Mr. Bennett's) estima-' the country ; but unhappily the advice given by the
don, professed his respect and affection for her Majesty. Right Hon. Gentleman, the very worst that could be
The Right Hon. Gentleman, aftes having seen the given, prevailed, though he did not accuse the Right
charges, had used the remarkable expressions that his Hon. Gentlemln, indeed, he believed him incapable,
attention, affection, ant respect, remained the same of giving advice with so base an intention. And who
as they had been. He could, therefore, produce the was the opponent of this Illustrious and much-injured
Right Hon. Gentleman as an authority opposed to Lady? The King was her opponent; he who was,
his colleagues, for he at least dissented. If in the • not absolute mastet of their lives and property, but
opinion of the other Ministers she was black with the grand source of distinction and honour, and often
guilt, in the Right Hon. Gentleman's opinion she was of property; who had a direct positive influence where
white as snow. He admitted that he had always her Majesty was to be tried—who held the means of
been against the agitation of this subject, and against reward, titles, orders, and ribands !
plunging the country into such a state as it now was Lord CASTLEREAGH rose to order, and inshted that it
doomed to experience. What was the feeling of the was not competent to any Member to make such an assertion
with respect to the influence of the Crown in either House
country upon this subject at-the present moment ?..... of Parliament.
From every part of the country one sentiment (whe- The SPEAKER expressed himself of the same opinion, and
ther just or not he knew not) of respect for her Ma- said it was highly improper to impute undue interference to the
•
testy, and of conviction that she was innocent, was Crown in the
he certainly wished to allude proceedingsof the Legislature.
heard. This was the natural result of the mode of Mr. BENNETT-said
to the King bona fele, but only in a Parliamentary manner.—
proceeding adopted against her Majesty. The Noble There was obviously, on this occasion, great difficulty in sepa-
Lord had come-down to that House and proposed rating the personal- character of the King from his political
the most hateful of measures—a Green Bag, to be character, when he was prosecutor in this country. But it
investigated by a Secret Committee ; and had, in
was the dds of the quesdon, where the King with all his power
woman
aomnd
annn influencetb ew as oe
other,
some degree, explained how it was to be composed. against
wonehiChsidred
ti pa dliesetitntute and
stand bfporizen,
The Queen's Legal Advisers were to be excluded : Although other classes abstained from those respects towards her
of course the Attorney and Solicitor-General must Majesty which it might be found inconvenient for the Courtly
also have been- excluded. The Committee then must adherents of power and fashion to bestow, that was made up to
have been formed (yet Ministers. talked of avoiding
shteartebythheermreceptiribinn
ww:stshebthsbeePweopooktre, who, viewingr hesrifnorsaaken
the
all party distinctions on this occasion !) out of' the ad- the Green Bags,l•esorted to against her, conceived that thgee'odds
heients and friends of the Noble Lord, out of what he were indeed against her, and therefore they threw themselves
would call a sort of Country Gentlemen of the Court! into the opposite scale. In this situation he cautioned Ministers
Some might have been from his side of the House, hoywfteheeltyngpraoceeds .
seeda.flatlre dericlialnotbsanT thatr the. Peoporle ethnic:min:dm
g
bat they nould have been those whom the Noble brought the names of the Royal Faultily into -Punfavourable and
Lord had known on former occasions to lend a wil- dangerous discussion. All knew well, that if her Majeuy's
ling ear to the stories of his Majesty's Government.. daughter were now alive ( Hear, hear, hear ! )—if the late King
were alive, and in the strengtht and vigobur of his faculties, pro.
But even they, he believed, would rather have fol-
tbatetetnersp.ted—m(otri;
lowed the Bight Houourable Gentleman's (Mr. Can- aeaceeri, g
litleetKeinpgres, en could
sbongbdeadot have
had lee;tn
fling) example; they would have refused to have opinion how she had been treated. He stated, on an authority
become her Majesty's accusers. But Ministers were which be could not doubt, that the late King had left a deco-
bmeeennt; containi
ed, ng nbuadnureereeinie which she
ea had
determined to have a verdict ages rest her, if not in
nd the. opinionrationnfs theshe
one way, in some other way. They had therefore Although provocation could be no justification of foul conduct,e).
got a jury to try her, who would have found her yet he could not see why the Crown should be exempted from
guilty, if she had been, as Czsar's wife ought to be, the general law which required that the party who applied for
even above suspicion. A Committee was formed of divorce should come into Court with clean hands—(Hear, hear).
which four Cabinet Ministers were members, and Thedc caution hse gave
respecting
theob leßoy%eldFwee' this,y, not to provoke
theand
one of them the Nestor of the Administration and institutions of the country, and the credit of the Monarchy—
the keeper of the King's conscience ! The keeper of discussions which the longest liver among them might rue till
his dying day--(Hear, hear). ' k was the saying of an able and
the King's conscience had been member of this Corn-
eloqtuent statesman,
ed nsnowMr. Burkes,upthartt " formerly
ed sttn situations tilore sz
midst, as the vice-keeper of the King's conscience persons had been member of the Milan Commission ! Did it.. tioned the Noble Lord, therefore, not to throw the country into
require any second7sight to know what the result of a state of confusion and discord, which the boldest could not
such an inquiry would be? Did not every man in the contemplate without terror. He should certainly vote for the
streets foresee the result? The Queen of England was A allies. TnlleEntiNEY said he had a duty toperfnrm to the Public,
new charged, as another Queen of England had for- and'he trusted he should always possess manliness enough re-
medy been charged. The just and pathetic language plicitly to declare his own real opinion. The motion of his Ho-
of Queen Anne Boleyn was—" Try me, but let me nourable and gallant Friend was undoubtedly introduced in a
have a lawful trial, and let not my sworn enemies sit
most proper and constitutional manner ; but he must say, tbill
he was no party to that motion, and 'that, if the question had
as my accusers and judges ; yea, let me receive an CMe to a vote, he could not have supported the proposition, be-
open trial, for my truth shall fear no open shame !" cause he thought that in the present state of the proceedings it
—The same language was now used by her Majesty, was unfit to introduce any extraneous anatter—(Hear, hear,
" Try me (she said), but let not my accusers and one-
from the J:finisterial sicie). Frtslll that day the House must pro-
•
ceedjudicially. He rejoiced at the situation in which it now
mks be my Judges; let me have an open trial, and I stood. It was at present known, through the Report of their
shall prove my innocence ; let not the Lord Chancel- Committee, that a formal proceeding had been instituted in an-
lor, the keeper of the King's'conscience, and three other place against her Majesty. The nature of that proceeding
other Cabinet Ministers, sit in secret judgment _upon bad nut been explainedd by the said
illteport.,
dand *II that Ment-
hol?
toa dwelt
intop
painful
nstpoenkseeep
,t their min. s icflettr
shouldo f all bia
me!" If they were not her Majesty s accusers, who
were her accusers ? Who were the advisers of the through the other House, should come down before them. pass
It
measures adopted against her ? The Secret Commit- was then only that he should say whit he thought on the sub-
tee had been compared to a Grand Jury. But it was ject and on the measure. 'I hen every one would do their duty,
not to the King, but to the Accuser, which was Parliament' •
a strange anomaly to find the accusers forming part and to the Accused, who was no less than the Queen of these
of the Grand Jury ; and stranger still to find them Realms. Her Majesty would then find that the strictest atten.
afterwards form part of the Petty Jury who were to tion would be paid to the merits of her case, and when that
sit in judgment and pronounce a verslicc upon the day should come, he, for one, would be prepared, without fear
or affection, to do his duty. NS. ith respect tothe two' courses
charges. It was a course of proceedings like this that proposed, he should prefer that suggested 'by his Hono able
affected the People of England ; this it was that Friend, as it would be a mockery to say, that after so many
caused the cry that was universally raised for the postponements, whether wise or unwiie, his Majesty's Message
ateen, and against her persecutors, who had put her was to be taken into consideration at a time when the House
under the ban of excommunication throughout liu- warhneottalibteloy
ft:, sit.
he H ()Mean- roe iliteethe
ontd Green
tat berg wouldved withoutrelainun
rope. This course of persecution it was that raised a specific motion. At the same time, be was glad to have heard
an angry feeling throughout the country. The Peo- the Noble Lord oppoaitt declare, that it was not intended to
plc never would have interfered when the admini- look into that Greco Bag for any new charges, as an apprehen-
ftornwardwasaegainntertstaihnered
Majesty
the Puinbsblice, thLnatrtilfst Isruideceusafationobrocono.ught-
titration of justice was fair and equal ; but a foul ad-