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to the 31st January 1811, with the names of the persons against whom the informations were filed.” Lord Ellenborough could not see any grounds in the statement made by the noble lord which called upon their lordships to grant the produc. tion of the documents moved for. He did not see why persons in high stations ought to be made the objects of invidious investigation upon grounds of hazardous conjecture. As for the information sought for, what could the noble lord learn from those documents which he did not know already? If there were any matter of special interest to which he was anxious to refer, every facility in his (lord Ellenborough's) power should not be wanting to the noble lord, to enable him to come at the required fact; but he was afraid that this was not the sort of facility that was either wished for or expected. He had reason to know that the facility with which inquity in certain cases had been made, was painful to the parties making it. They might have their own reasons for wishing obstacles in the way of the information sought for; but with respect to one information required by the noble lord, it he had as yet met any obstacle, that obstacle he (lord Ellerbough) should cheerfully assist to remove; but it was not to be informed that the noble lord had brough, is present motion. The noble lord had talked in a high tone of an obiter diction of lord Hale's. 11 lord Hale had ever sand-so,, which he (lord Ellenborough) believed he never had, his judgement must have been as dormant as in such case he must have wished the law itself to have been: but he never said so: it was not to be credited that a man so perfect in his knowledge of the laws and

the constitution as lord Hale was, could possibly have said so. The law of informations, not the law of the land! What was law, if this was not? for it had been made law by the same authority that had made all the laws that held the government together. It was as much law as that which gave the noble lord the right of speaking in that house-it was as much law as the law which put the crown of this realm on the brow of the sovereign. But he would recommend the noble lord to trace back the law of informations. He could recommend him a book upon that subject, and would refer him to the case to be found in page 119 of " Shower's History of the Law of Informa tions." He would there find the law of informations to be as old as the common law. If the noble lord questions the expediency of the law, why not propose that it be repealed? But while it is law, law undoubted and acknowledged, let him not question its legality. On receiving notice of the noble lord's present motion, he was curious to know how often this bill had been acted on. He inspected the neces sary documents accordingly. And now he would ask their lordships, how often did they think this bill had been acted upon since its enactment? But once in the whole four years; there was but one solitary instance of its being acted uponand he would tell their lordships in what case that was-the case of a man, one Gorman, who, after having been prosecuted for a libel, and alter an information had beca filed against him, had the hardhood to publish it again. And yet this was the mighty abuse of that act! this, forsooth, was one of the ruinous stretches of power which threatened the government

Were he to

with subversion, and put the subjects of George the Third on a par with those of Bonaparté! He knew nothing more to be deprecated in that house, than violent and vague declamations resting upon no grounds, (Hear! bear! from lord Holland.) He was aware to what he subjected himself by what had fallen from him. The noble lord might call all that he had sud a mere arade; but in all that he had said, did he not bottom himself on facts? (Hear! bear! from lord Holland.) The cries of the noble lord could not convince him that he had not. He was used to tumults and alarms-they never yet could put him down. die the next moment, he never would yield for one moment to tumult. The noble lord, if not towards him (lord Ellenborough), might at least in courtesy towards the house adopt a different tone of exclamation. He repeated, that he knew nothing more mischievous in its tendency than inoculating the public mind with groundless apprehensions of imaginary evils. Where there has appeared to him any instance of going beyond the limits of a wise discretion, it had never passed unbranded by him. His abhorrence of the licentiousness of the press was founded upon his love of liberty, which burned as strong in his breast as in that of the noble lord. If there was one mode more efficacious than another to ruin the liberty of the country, it was by nerating that groundless distrust the great officers of justice, which such needless and vexatious jealousy was calculated to inspire. Lord Stanhope, in justice to his ble friend, could not help stating, at in point of fact he certainly d not question the legality of inormations ex officio. What he did

question, he did not believe even the chief justice himself could contradict him in, and that was, that the mode of exercising the power of filing informations ex officio might be such as to become illegal. What! when those informations, invented for the purposes of expedition, were suffered to hang protracted over the head of an individual, would any man say that such an exercise of them did not become illegal? No man could say otherwise. Yet this was all his noble friend asserted; and the misrepresentation to which he had been subjected must of course have arisen from his being misunderstood. He had asserted, also, that

the hanging those informations suspended in terorem over the heads of individuals, an act so different from their original intention, could be done for no other earthly purpose than that of upholding influ ence.

Lord Erskine said he was convinced that his noble friend had not the least idea of disparaging the administration of justice, or reflecting in any degree upon the purity either of the law or its officers. All he had asked for was, the number of informations filed within a certain time. In this he did not call into question the legality of informations ex officio. By no means; they were as old as the constitution of the country, and had come down to us with the ancient statutes and institutions of the realm. It was an undisputed and indisputable right of the crown, to enter a suggestion on the commission of a misdemeanour by an individual: the reason of this was, that there were some cases so peculiar and pressing in their nature, as to call for an instantaneous proceeding. His noble friend's motion went to suppose

I 3

nothing

nothing-he only asked for the number of informations, and this did not necessarily anticipate any abuse. No: even though, on the grant of the motion, that number should, within a given time, be ten times as great as the number within a former given time, still it might happen that the cause of these multiplied informations was the increase of publications; and he believed it was a known fact, that for one newspaper published ten years ago, there were ten published at present. He did not pledge himself as to how he should vote on the subject which might arise in case this motion was granted; but the question now was, Would they reject that which went merely to seek information and ascertain truth? With respect to the question of special juries, the right of rejection was here with held, and from the very nature of the case some prejudice must naturally exist. He did not mean to accuse the master of the crown office; no doubt he was a very honest man; but still he must select that special jury from those who may be supposed to be in some degree connected with the revenue. He did not wish to see ex officio in formations done away; but still he should wish to see the administration of justice popular; and he here quoted the case of Hatfield, which he said impressed his mind with an exemplification of it that he could never forget.

The lord chancellor and other noble lords spoke on the subject, and at the close of the debate

Lord Holland said he must again declare, that his object was not to alter the law; nor would he consider those who might vote for his motion as pledged for his opinions. His purpose was regulation, and

not change; which regulation should apply to the time within which the information should be filed--the period between that and the prosecuting it-and lastly, the time between the verdict and the bringing up the person for judgement. Before he sat down, he trusted he should be allowed to say a few words in justification of the motives which induced him to call the attention of their lordships to this subject. He hoped they would give him credit for being superior to any party impulse upon so grave and important a question. However essential he might consi. der parties in a free government, this was one of the few occasions in which the exercise of such a spirit would be most unbecoming; of none such was he conscious.

The house then divided, Contents 12-Non-contents 24-Majo. rity against the motion 12.

The same subject, and with similar success, was ably discussed in the lower house, on a motion introduced and supported most eloquently by lord Folkestone.-Adjourned.

House of commons, March 5.Mr. Brougham rose, agreeably to notice, to move for leave to bring in a bill for rendering more effectual the act for the abolition of the slave trade. He moved that the resolution of the house in the year 1806, declaring the slave trade to be contrary to justice, humanity, and sound policy; and also, that the resolution of the house of date 15th June 1810, by which they express their indignation at the attempts made by individuals to ren der of none effect the act of the legislature for the abolishing of that traffic, and declare that they will early in the next session of parlia ment adopt measures for the bet

ter

ter carrying of the act into execution, be read. These being read, the honourable member said that he now rose, in pursuance of the notice he had given, and of the resolutions which had just been read, to move for leave to bring in a bill for the more effectually preventing the dealing in slaves. The honour able member gave a long detail of the enormities which had been practised by captains and others since the abolition of the slave trade, and concluded by moving for leave to bring in a bill to render more effectual the act for the abolition of the slave trade.

Mr. Wilberforce strongly supported the measure now recommended to the house, and begged of his honourable and learned friend to accept of his warmest thanks for the great trouble and anxiety he had shown in bringing the matter before the house. He hoped, that as they had a great deal to answer for in allowing so horrid a traffic to exist for such a length of time in this country, the house would now do all they could to make a compensation for the evils they had so long suffered to exist, by providing, by every means in their power, for its total prevention in future. The measure f his honourable and learned friend, he trusted, would have this effect. He had no doubt it would be unanimously agreed to; but, if it should prove ineffectual, other measures must be resorted to.

Mr. Perceval fully agree in the necessity of taking every step that should be found necessary for totally stopping so unjust a traffic. He could not suffer the business to pass, however, without distinctly stating, that the object of the honourable and learned gentleman, as imparted to him, did not go to

make the offence a capital felony, but one punishable by transportation or imprisonment.

Mr. Brougham explained, that such was his object in the first instance. He should propose transportation for any period not exceeding 14 years, or imprisonment for not more than three nor less than two years. It was impossible, however, for him to pledge him. self that he might not afterwards, if the present measure was found inadequate, move that the punishment be made capital.

Mr. Canning, though no person (he said) viewed the traffic with more horror than he did, was still of opinion, that having been so long suffered to exist, the house ought not at once to go the length of punishing it with death. To the proposition of the honourable and learned gentleman as now stated by him, he (Mr. Canning) gave his hearty as

sent.

The motion was then put, and carried nemine contradicente; and Mr. Brougham, Mr. Wilberforce, &c. had leave to prepare and bring in the bill: this was afterwards brought in, discussed, carried through the two houses, and passed into a law.

Mr. Whitbread rose, for the purpose of objecting to the arrangement proposed by the right honourable gentleman opposite respecting orders and notices. He considered that it would produce much inconvenience, and that it went directly to subvert public liberty, by placing the business of that house at the disposal of the ininister of the day. He wished to know, had any additional trouble to ministers arisen in this session, which rendered such an innovation necessary?-Three such sessions as the three last could not properly be anticipated. They were distin14 guished

guished by tedious and public examinations at their bar, a circumstance which had not been known for twenty years before. The right honourable gentleman pretended that he was compelled to propose this innovation by the additional pressure of public business; but the fact was, that this pressure was owing to the right honourable gentleman himself, who decreased the session as the urgency augmented. He should, therefore, oppose the innovation, in limine, on the simple ground of its giving the crown, through its ministers, a control over the house.

The chancellor of the exchequer replied, and the motion was car

ried.

March 7-Mr. Ponsonby.-In rising to address the house, pursuant to my previous notice, it affords me the highest satisfaction to see in his place that right honourable member (Mr. W. Pole) whose circular letter, lying by the order of this house on its table, is the cause of the motion with which I shall have the honour to conclude. Whether that motion shall succeed or not, it will at least produce the beneficial effect of giving the right honourable member the opportu nity of declaring the motives which actuated the Irish government to have recourse to the measures recommended in his circular letter. That letter is a most important document-it is a mandate to the entire magistracy of Ireland, desiring them, under certain suppositions, to arrest three-fourths of the population of Ireland. What the circumstances were which called for this unexpected measure, and at the particular moment produced - that decision of the Irish government which led to the promulgation of this letter, must be informa

tion most important to the state of the empire, Those circumstances are yet new to us; there is nothing in the letter calculated to inform us of the necessity of its circulation. It was notorious that the catholic committee had been sitting for months, nay for years, under the very eye of the Irish government

that it had declared its intention of adding to its numbers twenty, four days before this circular letter was issued. In this document the catholic committee is designated as an illegal meeting. That meeting had, in the view of the Irish government, continued its sitting, Of the statements given in a Dublin newspaper, either the lord lieutenant or his subordinate ministers could not be ignorant. I am therefore most anxious to know, why such committee was suffered to proceed unquestioned-why, this very measure of adding to their numbers so openly avowed, but which has since, in this house, been made the justification of this circular letter, they were allowed to go on, from the 1st of January to the 12th of February following? The administration did not, perhaps, think itself permanent; there was at the time a notion of a change: but surely, if such fatal conséquences as were attributed were likely to arise from the proceedings of that committee, no administration could be actuated by such unmanly and selfish views as from such a consideration to avoid the necessary means of averting the evil, and thereby transmit the mischief as a legacy to their suc cessors. It was not however till the 12th of February, immediately after his royal highness the prince regent was placed at the head of the executive government, under fetters and limitations, that this letter was

issued,

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