The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-02-07 00:00:00

IRISH MUNICIPAL BILL

Lord Moarara brought in the municipal corporations
(Ireland) bill, which was read a first time, and ordered to be
read a second time on Friday se'rinight.

PRIVILEGE.

Mr. Daum. then moved that Wm. Evans, Esq., and John
Wheaton, Esq., sheriff of Middlesex, " be discharged from
the custody of the sergeant-at-arms."
Sir R. INGLIS seconded the motion.

The ATTORNEY-GENERAL opposed the motion which the
hon. member had made for the liberation of the sheriff. If
the privileges of the house had been vindicated, he (the At-
torney-General) would have been the last to have opposed
the motion, but if the motion was now agreed to, he would
say that the privileges of the house would be for ever lost—
(hear, heal.) The honourable member had not advanced a
single reason to show why the sheriff ehould be liberated. A
largemajority of the house had decided that the conduct of
the sheriff was a breach of privilege, and that the privilege
was part and parcel of the law of the laud. The hon. mem-
ber seemed to think that the opinion of an interior court—a
court of law—ought to overrule the decision of the High
Court of Parliament.
Sir R. IN GLIB thought that as the hon. member for East
Sussex (Mr. Darby) had abstained from entering into the
question of nrivilege, the Attorney-General had unnecessarily
travelled into that part of the subject. He (Sir R. I.) would
ask were the privileges of the house not already vindicated,
as the Court of Queen's Bench had decided in favour of the
power of the house to commit for contempt ? The case was
no longer in the state it was before the Court of Queen's
Bench had recognised their privileges. It was very well for
the Attorney-General to talk lightly of the sufferings of the
two gentlemen. The room in which they were confined did
not exceed in size the table before the speaker—(hear, hear)l
and he would ask the Attorney-General how he would like to
be compelled to reside, even in his own house, in a room of
such small dimensions. He would call the attention of the
how el to the terms of the oath which a party serving the
'office of sheriff had to take. He ..,wears that he will truly
return and truly serve all tilt' :Queen's writs to the best of
his knowledge. He would put it to the house whether any
person taking such an oath was not bound by it to act as the
sheriffs had done. He would ask not whether they were jus-
tified in committing the sheriffs, but whether they would be
now justified in not releasing them.
Sir WILLIasi FOLLETT said, that he felt very forcibly that
the enlargement of the sheriffs would lose half its force upon
the public opinion, and leave them half its grace if there
were to be a division on it, or if the boon were qualified by
a condition. (Loud cheers.) If this course could not, in the
noble lord's mind, he taken to-night, or if the time had gone
by for taking such a course, in that noble lord's mind, he
would now express his hope that the noble lord would be
able to come down to the house on a future night and make
a proposition for their discharge without any condition.
(Cries of " oh, oh," and cheering.) If that, however, should
not be agreeable to the noble lord, and.the question should,
contrary to his wish and suggestion, be pressed to a division,
he should certainly vote with his lion. friend the member for
Sussex. (Loud cheering from the opposition side of the
house.)
The SOLICITOR-GENERAL opposed the motion in a speech
of consderable length.
Sir E. SUGDEN rose, and there beihg some indisposition to
proceed with the debate, Mr. Pryme moved the adjournment,
which was agreed to. The house then adjourned.

HOUSE OF LORDS—TUESDAY.
Some petitions were presented on various subjects.
CUURCB OF SCOTLAND.
The Earl of ABERDEEN gave notice, that on Thursday
next, in presenting petitions to the house, he would put a
question to the noble marquis opposite, respecting. the inten-
tentions of her majesty's government, with reference to the
present state of the church of Scotland. -

INLAND WAREHOUSES.
Viscount STRANGFORD said that in consequence of com mu-
nications he had received from various commercial bodies,
and also in consequence of a bill being introduced into the
other house of parliament on the subject of inland warehouses
preciseh similar in its provisions to the bill of last year—he
was anxious to know whether the noble viscount opposite
would have any objection to produce any opinions that might
have been given by any of the fiscal boards in the coun-
try as to the probable operation of that bill on the revenue.
Viscount MELBOURNE would inquire whether there were
any such documents.
Viscount STRANGFORD thought it was impossible to legis-
late satisfactorily on the subject without having those papers
before the house.