The Statesman.
London, England, 1810-04-17 00:00:00

)9t Can say that the merely retaining such an opi.
Mon, bit not *acting upon such as opinion, is an
offence of greater magnitude than that which he
has committed, and for which 'a few weeks im..
prisonment has been already generally acknow-
ledged to be sufficient ; that fur this omission to
resent a petition he shall be imprisoned as lnng
us this House has power to imprison, fur he must
he enlarged on the prorogation, and cannot be
imprisoned any more, at least until the Ilouse
meets again. Now, supposing him to be incorri-
gible in his opinion, would the Blouse insist on
keeping him in Newgato, without the power. of
obtaining his writ of Habeas Corpus, and without
hail, on that account ? I ask, is this such an pf.•
fence as to call for the severest punishment which
this House has the power of inflicting; for the
present question is, not whether he shall be di,.
charged now or not ; but whether he shall remain
in Newgitte as lung as this Please has the power
of keeping him there? Must the right of the
House of Uointnons to imprison any body depend
upon the valuable pledge of the assurance of
..). G.,
Jones, that he is of that opinion ? pear, hear,
hear !] lam sure that no further argument that
1 can Adams*, either to the common sense or to the
humanity of this How, can be necessary ; and,
therefore, I now move you, Sir,

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d.

64 That John Gale Jones he brought to-morrow to the Bar
of thh House to he d6char;ed."
Mr. Secretary ItY111:11.-141-uch as ho admired
the speech of the Hun. Member who had just spo.
len, he must dissent from him on the main qucs.

lion. if it had been necessary for the offending
person to deny his opinion at the Bar, he (Mr.
11.)(1...r) might admit the reasoning of his Hon..
Friend. (Sir S. Romilly) ; but it was now common
place ; and as it did not touch the point, must pass
away with other eloquent effusions of the same
kind. The only thing required was a petition,
praying fur release, and ezpressing contrition for
baying incurred the displeasure of the House. The
present question was merely, if there was any
thing in Mr. Jones's case to authorize a deviation
from the custom of requiring a submission before
the House. He might retain his opinions► but he
was only asked todo now what he did when he
was already at the Bar [llcar, hear from the
Opposition.] Aullon. Gentleman had been ap-
Plied to to present a petition in his behalf. [Hear,
hear !] This circumstance did not materially al-
ter the case. Mr. Jones might hare been let out a
snout!' ago ; but he remained in prison, to brave
the House, and after proving them wrong, force
them to deviate from their usual practice, and
dismiss him without the proper submission at their
liar.

Lord A. HAMILTON felt peculiarly anxious
that no doubt of his sentiments should be left on
this occasion. The doctrines of the Right Hon.

Secretary were not of an order-to heal the breach
that was between the House and the Country.—
The person whose case was now under considera-
tion hail done nothing deroOory to the priiileges
of tire House. Breach of privilege was a general
cry/ and undefined cant/ which never struck his
ears without raising a suspicion of those frpm
whom it came. Reporting the debates of the
[louse h4l been idly coostrued into a breach of
privilege, *xsnd at length it was peaceably acqui-
esced in as an advantage. But he was glad to find
that no appendage had been hung to the question
of the rnlease. He (Lord A. Hamilton) had stated
his opinion when thee question first came before the
House ; he then thought that the [louse wandered
strangely from its due course when it condescend.
ed to take up a private quarrel—the offence was
given by Mr. Jones to Mr. Yorke—an individual
against !an individual. As the quarrel was private,
it oughi4 to have been determined between private
persons. The House, occupied as it should be in
the great concerns of the Empire, should not have
stooped from its dignity, to pour the weight of its
vcitio.atice on a man, of whom they knew nothing
more than that he had turned Mr. Yorke, the
Teller of the Exchequer, to ridicule. By the un-
fortunate notice which the House was led to take
of that quarrel, a train of circumstances, some dis-
graceful, some most disastrous, were drawn on,
till the pilvileges of the House begat) to be looked
on by the people as instruments of danger, and
questioned by even themselves as rights of usurpa-
tion. Perhaps the circumstances under which
Mr. Jones's irritation arose, were such as might
justify no slight popular discontent. A great ex-
pedition, the greatest that ever left a British port,
lead failed—the Officers threw the blame on each
other— the Ministry came to open violence upon
it—the people demanded an inquiry into the
causes of that most dreadful calamity—the !louse
promised it—public expectation was awakened,
and waiting to see justice done. The trial began,
and instantly the gates of that great temple of na-
tional justice were shot. Was it nut natural that
the excluded people should at least express their
surprise ? that wandering round the courts of that
Temple, they should be dissatisfied with hearing
only the broken and scattered responses that might
be periodically issued from the shrine, to feed and
to elude.popular anxiety ? Admitting that such a
feeling was wrong, it was natural-; and Mr. Jones
was only i,ne, among many, who felt displeased at
the act and its author—but his offence was not le-
velled at the House. in what predicament would
the House be-placed by the doctrines of the Right
Bon. Secretary ? Ile admitted that the petition
was proposed [hear, hear !] ; and did he actu.
silly think it becoming the dignity of that House,
to ineasura its punishment not by the quantity of
the effence, not by the natural principles of jus-
tice, bat the power of the offcader to held out
Opinion—thus making the- wisdom of the
Mate tete the idle combatant of the folly of an
individual, and forcing their good sense to depend
upon Mr. Jones's obstinacy. An adjournment
might be so managed as to confine the prisoner for
any indefinite time ; and was this to be called only
a tit punislitnents for want of facility in the acces-
ed person ? With respect to Parliamentary privi-
leges, he (Lord A. Hamilton) revered them, as
they ought to be Fevered, in the mild exercise of
their power but if that power was strong, its
use ought to be delicate—and to make their privi-
lege! 11.4 t they ought to be in poiut of vigour,