The Statesman.
London, England, 1810-04-18 00:00:00

IfinitalMo-4 unnecessary for' jtim to say, that he
asereettke hes sentiments ex pressed •by his Noble
rilerid, and-heartily concurred in the truth and
isiopriety of the Resolutions they had just tweed-
[..lpplateses.] lie joined with them in all
titeir feelings towards their honest aadleeroliggt
Representative, Sir Francis Burdett, antitleeffwe4
•tahat he aiteennal it the glorytA his life to ho AIL •
bled to call that honourable man his fridend.4.lF
plause.] He had read with all the attention th tM
was due to it; the letter addressed by Sir Fraticis
to his Constituents, and upon the matittest delite-
ratioe, he could look upon it in no other light
than that of an able 'and fair discussion. elms a
great constitutional question ; it appeared to , him
Ito be any thing rather than a libel. Ili that fetter
there was one expression that had been much in.
shited upon in the course of the discussions upsiii
' it, as most-offensive and libellous—it was that
passage in which the Speaker's warrant was tie.
scribed as a thing sal geßeris;
.new, In order to
thew that this assertion was not altogether so un-
fouedsal as had been pretended, and as nothing ,
had as yet been said upon that part of the subject,
except its the Resolutions, he would take the li.
berty of trespassiug upon their attention for a few
moments, while he proceeded to trace the pro.
grcss of this warrant front the time of its being
issued by the Sleeker, to that of its being carried
into effect. [Near, hear!] It appeared then
that the Speaker after having drawn up his war,
rant, presented it to the Serjeaut, who proceeded
to execute it, but on his arrival at the House
of Sir Francis Burdett, he stumbles npon the
unforsecn obstacle of a closed hall-door [a.
laugh.] How was this formidable barrier to be
disposed of? The Serjeant looked at his warrant,
and then at the door, and could make nothing of
either ; he found Meisel( at a loss, neither more
nor less than what they called puzzled, and as its
such cases sage advice is desirable, he turns away
from tho ball-door and proceeds to consult the
Speaker—and what does the Speaker ? Why, he
refers to the warrant, 'and after due deliberation,
finds himself just as much puzzled as the Serjeant
had been [a laugh]; but there was to lie another
puzzle—the Speak 4r having advised the Serjeant to
consult the Magistrates, away goes the Serjeant
to the. Bow-street Officers, but they understood
too yell the nature of a legal warrant to be 'able
to make any thing of an iustrnment with which
they were so wholly unacquainted [upplaaseslw'
and so the Bow-street Officers being as mach
:la, as either the Scrjeant or the Speaker hips-
self, refused to give any advice at all upon' (the
subject [a laugh]; they understood the laws.
of the land, but they did rwt Airetenti to „the
knowledge of . a Speaker's Warrant. --But
there was to .be yet another puzzle—[A
laugh]--and it was fated that this all-potent.
and undisputed butte:neat of power, that had pui.
zled the Serjeatit, the:Speaker, and the Bow-street
Magistrates, was to puzzle no Ices than a Cabinet
Council. (Laughter) The Serjeant in his distress
turns from Bow-street • to the grave collected wis-
dom of the Government, where all the first men
of the St ite, the learned, the mighty, and the
wise, were assembled together in Cutincil, the
Lord High Chancellor himself, and, to crown all,
the unheard of talents of the wise emit of the
East'. (Bursts of laughter, *ith cries of we
know hins well.") With all this accession nf.wii.
dom, what did this great Commit of State in °Wee
to solve the puzzle? Why, they resolved upon
calling iii the Attorney General to help them.—
(laughter) As soon as the Cabinet Council had,
resolved themselves puzzled, the Chancellor of the
Exchequer, hioiself a lawyer, advises the Serjeant
to ask advice of the Attorney General—.-just s all
the others hid, after -geave deliberations, hat, sid.
vised him to take advice of somebody else (Le:tigh-
ter). Weil thee, the unfortunate "per, sifter
travelling so far to no purpose, nowthat it was
before toe 'Attorney Goners!, might 'be thought
to be in sight of land (leughter)e—aeeordingly
the. Attorney General bears• down upon it
with the whole weight of his legal knowledge,
and after studying, and deliberating, and revolt.
this great Law. Officer gives it is hi* opinion
and advice, that the Serjeant should—lay a state
of the case before him, the Attorney General.=-
[Laughter.] So much, for this plain and expli.
cit piece of paper, so permission, intelligible,
and indisputable, though it puzzled the Serjeant
*rho was to execute it, the Speaker, who issued
it, the Civil authority, flat was to enforce it, the
Privy Council that cnictiened it, and the Attor. ,
ney General that was to ekplain it. [..lpplauses] I
But after puzzling so pion there
was,
one
party yet to be puzzled, and that a •British
Jury.—[Here Mr. Wardlie•wes interrupted by
the repeated acclamations of the Electors.] ' It
perhaps remained for a British'Jury to skew, if
tetsti what it was, for that, slight beimpessible,..
what it was not. [4pplwases.J And yet, though
itbild puzzled the knowledge and the wisdom of
itsigtite, it was a libel to call it " a thing sui ge.l
iiirr4V,l" In the name of common sense, what *all
It ?, lie would not:quarrel about words, but was
it, or was it not,- a thing that no betty could uit. I
deritandl [Loud applause]. If it was usage,
Why had it been stated upon all hands that their
was, no precedent fur breaking open outer doors
to enforee)o, And if it law, why were ffll the
Lawyers at such a stand ?
.Wilsjialstosld it prove sheb
a stumbling block to, a (Sloolsannesiat Of Lawyers.?
lle would slow beg learegeteeuble them evith one
r
two ofiscreittions on 4 case nut yet adverted in.
When this ease of Mr. (hale Junta was first before
the Rouse of Commons, how. high and pompous
*is the litigaage of certain Gentletrem upon the
prffileges of Parliament—privilege, and toothiest
!but privilege, great because undefined, its' olsseessl
'thy was pleaded as proof of ita authority. The'
'ouse was the judge et its .awn privaters;
shit no•other power whatever had a right to gel:
illindrate, or to circutnseribe them—the House
rilbee ciiuld best knew and deride upon theltown-
reilegtv. But how was thin high tone teetered
the subsequent title of Sir Fiances Medea
I.ms
at;it those mighty privatise, of width shy
thas, alone mild Jedge, shifted their grimed,
1 and instead of rusting ;spun the ussMsed discretion
of the noose itself,, a question •said•to involve
avian, is tsAtissely referred to the decision 01
•
jrcii I . ityst,e•