The Statesman.
London, England, 1818-02-04 00:00:00

"TILE STATESMAN

Was it to he endured that tie Parliament of France,
instead of the Parliament of treat Britain._ were to
,„diciatte Aw,..,the,oapt of: Dieted • blir alley lens
%to
, to reseirte,;(heir.itatments its cadb ?Was to ike ea.
dared that they were tote depindent on any despot
of &rope, or on the Legialatons of France, for the
decision of the question, whether it was .eapedienc-
-foe Bank of • England *to resume pal rents le '
specie? He could conceive nothing Inolni digiading!
to the country, or iii
.Legislature. His Noble
• Friend had pot the 'cat! -14 communication to the'
French Legislature, that the Bank of France Cosa
not pay Weald', in "aitisequeitie of a loan made ea
the account of Englassil, and WOdoubledly such an as-
seniors. there would be seeded at. England had ob-
tained loane, and was cap the of prOcuriog loans to
a larger amount than all the States of Enrope. could
obtain 'credit for, and yet the Bank of France had
continued its payments in specie. What then was.
there, that because France negotiated a loan in. Pros.
ilia or Russia, of a small amount compared with the
means of this country, that the Bank of England.
should be prevented from resuming its payments in
specie ? He begged to be understood as not meaning!
CO assert that the Bank of England was enable to re-
some its payments in specie, because be knew nothing
upon the subject ; but if it was intended that the re-;
sumption should be delayed, he treated an enquiry
would be instituted, so as to embrace all the details
of the subject, and all the information that it was
possible to procure. If, indeed, it were tree, that
the negotiation of foreign loans could preitentoe.
Bank of England from resuming its cash payments,
it was a secret of the most lamentable nature to the
lauded, the commercial, and 'the monied interests of
the country.
The conversation here dropped.
ti Et it ET COMMITTEE.
Lord SIDMOUTH reminded their Lordships that
he yesterday intimated his intention of proposing
that the Papers on the state of the country, which he
had laid on the table by the• command of the Prince
Regent, should be submitted to the consideration of
a Committee chosen by their Lordships. He accord •
itsgly now . moved that the Papers be referred to a
Secret Committee. *
The Marquis of i.ANSDOWNE would not oc-
cupy much of their Lordships' time; but when it was
considered what had been the nature of the early
proceedings on the subject to which the Papers pro-
posed to be referred to a Committee related, be
thought it necessary to call the attention of the House
to the course now proposed to be adopted by the
Noble Secretary of State. He thought their Lord-

jtees as Se ir satisfied from
ftrodocd a Attila, Report : he eat
whether such a Report 'gr.,
derail *oddity' more than a solemn
irliddilso &die& whatever could resign _ __:_.criuntry
it large.' The Noble Lord hail referred to the pre-
etainf Or ROI 4 thillifilamideet led to *BAH of . Int
domniff.kkiift,ho-iiits.of power exercised by Minis-
r -
s;' but Olio till' he tintl sees and heard, after all
Wmisters bed pledged themselves to "Wore; netlike
' uumbecof verdicts they had subsequently recovered ;
—[ l]—after it had todly stated
hil Er
that a but too great real ethat the
served 'use /soot had. them s excited the
disturbances that half occurred, he -thought"that be-
fore they passed such a Bill they ought to be well
satisfied, whether ail the sets of inserrection proved,
(and there were none proved but at Derby) were not
attributable to this very agents employed by Minis-
ters. If their Lordships should be content, on a
secret enquiry, completely to indemnify Ministers
for all that had passed, sad by that means preClude
all those who had been. Injured in forruns health,
and character, who had languished in dungeons; or
groaned beneath*/ welight of fetters, from any hope
of retrieving their losses, or establishing their chem.
ter—if tfreir Lordships should be satisfied to • give
such an indemnity es should exclude these victims of
power from all redress of their wrongs—if their
Lordships should act thus, they would not do their
duty to themselves or to their country. He would
enter into the subject no further et that time ; the
question would be more fully discussed in the pro-
ceedings on the Committee; but he must enter his
caveat againt instituting an enquiry on the conduct of
Ministers upon any mere shoeing of their own, and
making theta at once their own accusers, witnesses,
aad judges.—[Hcar, hear I] '
The Earl of LIVERPOOL said, the only ques-
tion was, to refer these Pipers to a Committee, ac-
cording to the invariable usage of the House. That
Committee would determine as to them should seem
enpedient, and it would then be for the House, on
receiving the Report, to deal withlt as they should
think proper. As to giving powers to the Committee
as suggested by the Noble Marquis (Lansdowne), it
was clearly contrary to the constant practice of the
House, which differed in that respect from the House
of Commons. There was no precedent in their Lord-
ships' House for empowering a Committee to send
(or persons, papers, and records; the practice Sias,
for the Committee to apply to the House to order
the attendance of whatever witnesses they thought
necessary, or to direct whatever papers were thought
requisite to be laid before them. As to the saner.
lion that the Bipeds of the Committees had been fal-
sified, he had to state, in the first instance, that in
`that House the Committee were unanimous in their
it.
I 'wort, and that in the other House ibe Committee
here unanimous In their Report upon the evidence,
though some of them differed as to the expediency of
impending the Habeas Corpus Act : and in the
'second, so far from the Reports been falsified, a
Grand Jury at Derby bad found a Bill of Indict.
talent for High Treason against 36 individuals; all of
'whom were either convicted, or complitely eonfessed
their guilt. He was at a loss to conceive any objec-
tiou to referring these Papers to a Committee, such
'baying been the constant usage of the House.
The Marquis of LANSDOWNE, in explanation,
stated, that he bad made uo objection to the motion,
Ant had merely pot it, whether, under all circum-
stances, it would not be more advisable to give the
enquiry a more extended form. If, by the result of
their Lordships' determination, a door should not be
open to information from all quarters, and to the in.
terests of all parties, the enquiry would probably be
not satisfactory to the House, and certainly out to
the country.
- The Earl of CARNAR VON in explanation, said,
he bad net asserted that die trials for High Treason
bad falsified the Reports of last year, but that they
bad not borne them out ; and if the Committee were
to make out a case on such documents as Ministers
only should lay before it, the result could be no other
than a Report such as Ministers might send forth!
without any Committee at all.
The motion was then agreed to, for referring the
Papers to Committee of Secrecy, to consist of eleven
Lords, to be chosen by ballot. The ballot to take
place on Thursday, at five o'clock.
'Adjourned till Thursday.