Star.
London, England, 1818-05-15 00:00:00

be resisted. Qn what ground could this be done,
unless it wirkthatv,otga itaiLe a case against his
Nlajesty3MitDav?'kA(Ao%ll2lw.)—He conclUded
by moving for copies of any letters, or the substance
of any communication which may have taken place
between the Commissioners for inquiring into the

roes, emoluments, and offices of Courts of Justice
and the Secretary of State for the Home Depart-
ment, relative to the expediency of filling up any
office in the Commissary Courts of Scotland, and
for copies of similar letters, or communications from
any Commissary or Commissary Clerk to the Home
Department—( hear, hear.)
Mr. BATHURST had not heard any thing stated
by the Noble Lord which could induce him to pro..
duce the correspondence alluded to, supposing it to
exist. As to the appointment to an office, the aboli-
tion. of. which had been recommended by the Com-
missioners, it had not been corruptly made, with the
view of influencing any election. The nature of the
Commissary Courts in Scotland was like that of our
inferior Ecclesiastical Courts. No probates of wills
could be obtained without them, and they could not
therefore be abolished until some other arrangement
had been made to supply their place, in order that the
interests of the public should not suffer. Feeling the
importance of their duties, the Court of Session took
upon itself to appoint Commissaries ad interim, till
his Majesty's pleasure should be known. By the laws
of Scotland, those offices were given to individuals
quaindiu se bene gesserint, so that whenever the ap-
pointment was confirmed by Government,. it of ne-
cessity conferred a life interest in the office. It could
not be understood that appointments ad interim were
to remain unsettled until Parliament should have
taken some measure on the subject. He (Mr. Ba-
thurst) owed it to his Noble Friend (Lord Sidmouth)
to declare, that no representation of the kind alluded
to by the Noble Lord has been made to the Home
Department, either by the Board of Commissioners
or any individual of them. The Noble Lord had
elerefure laboured under a complete mistake.

Sir JOHN NEWPORT had seen, in several in-
stances, that when commissions had been carried
against the will of Ministers, justice was not done to
the Public. In the present case, the Commissioners
had amply done their duty, and could not be respon-
sible for the inaction of the Government. The per-
seas connected with the Administration of helm.),
had acted in a very different manner: they had gone
t) the full extent of the recommendations of the
Commissioners, and instituted proceedings and legis-
lative measures to secure to the public the benefit; of
Close commissions.
Mr. WILLIAM DUNDAS contended that the last
report of the Commissioners had only been presented
and ordered to be printed on the Lith of February,
1818 ; and that as the question was not merely one
of abolishing certain offices, but of supplying their
place when abolished, it could scarcely be expected
that any measure could have yet been brought on
tie subject.
Mr. J. P. GRANT insisted that it was neither more
nor less than a job, to give some persons a compen-
sation for offices granted to them for life. A Bill had
been introduced to abolish these offices, and why had
it not been acted upon? The Commissioners of ln-
spiky had reported that they ought to be abolished,
both in then Reports of last year a!,.d this: therefore
the least Government could have done was to sus-
pend the giving of these appointments ; and yet one
appointment had been made on the 12th of March,
1817, therefore this person had a claim to compen-
sation, which appeared to be the only object in ap-
pointing. him. On these grounds he concurred an
toe motion.

Air. CLIVE stated the proceedings of the different
Commissions of Inquiry, and defer.ded the appoint-
ment, as being advised to be necessary, and as having
been made before the presentation of the Report.
Lord ARCHIBALD HAMILTON replied to the
different arguments against the motion, and explained
some points on which he had been misapprehended.
The question was then put and negatived.
FORGERY OF BANK OF ENGLAND NOTES.

Sir J. MACKINTOSH rose, agreeably to his no-
tice, to move for a Committee to inquire into the
means of preventing of Forgeries of Bank of Eng-
land Notes, and to report their opinion thereon, and
said, that notwithstanding all he had before heard,
he could not, till he had been made acquainted with
their final determination, have supposed that those
persons who had, I.e thought, too much weight in
that House, the Bank Directors, would resist this
motion, the natural result of the course of inquiry on
which the House had already entered, by agreeing
to the motions which he had proposed. The House
Lad already established an important principle, that
the concerns of the Bank of England, connected with
an evil so enormous as the increase of Forgeries,'
should not be considered as out of the roach of the
cognizance of Parliament. The argument on which
the Bank had relied had been finally overruled—yet
that pretence, flimsy as it was, that the concerns of
the Bank must be considered only as those of a pri-
vate company, had been relied upon till the House
was on the point of dividing, but the Bank Directors,
apprehensive of the result of that appeal, had con-
sented to the inquiry into the legal expenses pro-
duced by one of the greatest evils which could afflict
the country. Though the Bank had now determined
to resist further inquiry, he was not without hopes,
that if those independent Members who had de-
servedly so much weight as well with the House as
the Country, would again show themselves, neither
the Ministers nor the Bank would press for a division
is wh'cli they would anticipate a defeat. In calling
the attention of the 1-I.Juse once more to this subject,
he wished to spare both their time and their patience
—to dwell on the unspeakable importance of the sub-
ject would be a waste of both. It had been admitted
on the former discussion, that the magnitude of the
evil called for inquiry ; and it appeared the unani-
mous sense of the House that some measure was ne-
cessary to mitigate, at the least, this evil. Few ques-
tions had excited more interest among the public at
large ; and perhaps the greatest interest had been felt
among the quietest part of the community—among
those who took the least interest in the ordinary
course of political affairs, or in those questions which
most agitated that House—at the spectacle of guilt
and blood which had followed the stoppage of cash
payments—(hear, hear). It was useless to state a num-
ber of facts, to which no strength would be added by

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