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Committee, which was laid on the table of this House; which report stated, that some of the persons implicated in the plot there adverted to, had been apprehended -and these, I believe, were the persons finally liberated. With respect to the trials at Derby, I deny the justice of the doctrine laid down by the hon. and learned gentleman. He says" We conceive we did enough, when we brought evidence forward to convict these conspirators-we had no right to do more--we were not called on to adduce any thing that might lay open the real system, which, on that occasion, had been acted on-with reference to that, the public ought to be left in the dark." Now, Sir, I verily believe, that the crime for which those unfortunate men suffered was as much the production of Mr. Oliver-was as much the effect of the measures taken by his majesty's ministers as any other transaction in which Mr. Oliver had taken a part. I believe it was the work of Mr. Oliver-the agent of lord Sidmouth, the instrument of ministers; and, if it was so, I do not envy them the triumph which seems to fill them with so much pride, of having convicted and executed those three miserable individuals. With respect to the trials of Mr. Hone, no man could read them without clearly seeing, that either the government were influenced by that spirit of persecution, the existence of which his majesty's attorney-general denied, or else that they were quite incapable of properly carrying on proceedings of that nature. But what I most object to in these trials is, the degradation to which they tended to bring our courts of justice, and those to whom the administration of our laws is confided. Could any man, who wished to uphold the dignity of our courts of justice-who was desirous of supporting the honour and respectability of the expounders of the law -read those trials, and not feel, that the whole proceeding was calculated infinitely more to lower and degrade the dignity of our courts, and to hold up to contempt those who presided and those who practised, than the obnoxious publications were suited to throw ridicule on religion, or to produce impiety? I believe ministers, in following the business up, had two distinct objects in view; first, the persecution of Mr. Hone, whose conviction would, in some degree, bear out the assertion made during the last session, that the country teemed with blasphemous publications; and next, to ground some mea

sure on the proceedings, for the purpose of impairing the trial by jury. This is my conscientious opinion; and I am sure I am not singular in maintaining it. But this was not the only step taken by ministers during the recess, that went to lower, in the eyes of the people, that which should always be viewed with respect and veneration and confidence-the administration of the law. The scene which occurred in the court of King's-bench, two or three days ago, sufficiently shows this. But of that I shall say nothing; because it will, perhaps, come regularly under the consideration of the House.

I shall now allude to another transaction, in which I am more immediately concerned. I mean the case of the persons confined under the law for the suspension of the Habeas Corpus act-persons placed in solitary confinement, by order of his majesty's government, in direct opposition to the opinion of a court of justice. Ministers may say, that that court of justice is mistaken. But still it is a court of law, and ought to be held up to the respect, not to the contempt, of the people. I speak of the court of quarter sessions.

Now, Sir, to come to the Address. I cannot entirely agree to the sentiments contained in it. There is one part of it, which contains an expression of the approbation of the House of the measures of his majesty's government, and attributes the present improved state of the public feeling to their conduct. [Cries of" No, no!" It so struck me, when it was read; and most indubitably, I do not agree in such a sentiment. [Cries of "No, no!"] I understand there is no such thing in the address, and therefore I shall pursue that subject no farther. There is, however, a promise in the Address, to agree in all that has been done with respect to Spain and Portugal; which I am by no means prepared to do. But, at a future day, I probably shall have an opportunity of stating my opinion on that subject, and I shall now say nothing respecting it. But, Sir, what I decidedly find fault with in this address is, the absence of a suitable expression of feeling-of such feeling as best becomes an English House of Commons, at a time when all our liberties are lying prostrate at the feet of ministers, when our freedom may be assailed by a secretary of state in a manner unprecedented at any former period of our history! Another thing which I object to in the address is its flatness-its.

"O! it contains nothing; it pledges you to nothing; and, therefore, you may agree to it."

With respect to the lamentable event, which the whole country deplores, I cannot avoid expressing my surprise, that the same course was not adopted, as was pursued on the death of the late duke of Gloucester. On that occasion, a separate address of condolence was voted-it was not introduced amongst other matters-it stood alone, as it ought to stand-which, I think, was a much more respectful mode of proceeding than that which had now been proposed. I complain of the Address, Sir, because, as I said before, it contains nothing specific with reference to the state of the country-because it does not notice the situation in which we are placed, with our liberties lying prostrate before his majesty's ministers. There are many points wholly overlooked, which appear to me to be of the greatest importance. The expiration of the Bank Restriction act-if indeed it be allowed to take place

want of point-its not bearing on specific objects, but dealing entirely on generalities. The hon. gentleman who seconded it says, "there is nothing in the address that can be objected to, and therefore I recommend it to the House." This is not the way in which addresses were formerly voted. The Speech from the throne ought to be a sort of exposition of the state of the country, with reference to its foreign and domestic relations. But lately a practice has prevailed, of making those speeches of a very flimsy texture. To use a common phrase, they are drawn up in a very "wishy washy" manner. This is done, in order to leave the House as little matter for discussion as possible. I complain of this system, and refer to the practice which prevailed in the time of king William, which has always been placed amongst the best periods of our constitutional history. If we look at the Journals we shall find, that when a speech was delivered from the throne, an answer was not returned on that day, but two or three days were suf--is by no means a light matter. The fered to elapse, during which the Speech was considered, and then an answer was given. There was a great deal of sense in this. For, as a speech from the throne contained a statement of the situation of the country, gentlemen could not be expected to make up their minds in a moment, on so comprehensive a subject; and, therefore, time for consideration was required and was conceded. It is curious for the House to observe, how, by degrees, this useful practice has been eaten out by the ministers of the crown; so that we are at this day called on to give our assent to an address, the echo of a speech which we have only heard read once. Before this practice was adopted, it was usual within his recollection for the Lords to meet at the treasury, and the Commons to assemble at the Cock-pit, where they heard the Speech read, which was intended to be delivered from the throne; and thus they came to the discussion, in some degree prepared to offer their opinions. I recollect before I came into parliament, it was the practice to have the Speech intended to be delivered from the throne, printed and distributed the day before it was to be pronounced; by which means gentlemen had some opportunity given them of analyzing its contents. But now we are called on to decide, without having any opportunity of considering the Speech or Address; and the apology always is, (VOL. XXXVII.)

war in India, which is not mentioned,
cannot surely be considered as a matter
of trifling importance. There is also
another act, which is almost as disgrace-
ful, though certainly not so oppressive as
the Habeas Corpus Suspension act,
which will expire this session, and which
I hope will never be renewed. I advert
to the Alien act. This also was unnoticed.
Now, Sir, with respect to the late princess
Charlotte, I could wish that a more specific
mention should be made. I could wish
our grief for the irreparable loss which
the country has sustained to be more
decidedly marked. I am the more anxi-
ous to state my feelings on this subject,
because I was, in some degree, the means
of laying before parliament, matters con-
nected with a branch of the House of
Brunswick which occasioned a right
hon. gentleman, whom I did not see be-
fore, but who has just now taken his seat,
(Mr. Canning,) to declare, that I was an
enemy to the House of Brunswick.* I
never was an enemy to that House-and,
therefore, I wish to state my unfeigned
feelings of regret at the deplorable event
which has filled the country with grief-
which has fallen with dreadful violence on
the House of Brunswick-which has de-
prived it of its greatest ornament. I am
the more desirous to call the attention of
* See Vol. 13, p. 625.

(E)

could say any thing on this occasion without giving way to his feelings on that most afflicting subject. But other topics of a very different nature had been introduced; and one noble lord had, in the course of his speech, said what he could wish had been spared, but as the subject had been entered upon, he must protest against what had been said, as being likely to create an injurious feeling as to the admi

the House to this point, because the sorrow which has been manifested by all classes of the community, does away with the idea of that disaffection, which was said to exist in every part of the country. I am sure, Sir, if the last and greatest plague of Egypt had fallen on this country-if, on the breaking of the morning, we found one dead in every house-the sorrow of the people could not have been more poignant, or more generally ex-nistration of public justice; namely, that pressed. The grief occasioned by this sad event has been universal: and the people, in their addresses to the throne, have stated their reason for feeling so acutely on the occasion. They lamented the loss of that bright promise of a virtuous and beneficent sovereign, which they had so long contemplated with feelings of delight. Every one of their addresses mentioned the private and public virtues of this amiable Princess. Every one of them eulogized the exemplary manner in which she filled each station, to discharge the duties of which she had been called, during her short but honourable life. If any persons believe that there are enemies to the House of Brunswick-if any persons think that disaffection towards it exists-they must be taught by the uniform conduct of the people on this melancholy occasion, that it is not directed against that part of it which is dignified by virtue. If there be hostility to any part of that House-and I do not believe that there is-let those who are the objects of it attribute it to themselves, and not to any base feeling of the popular mind.

Lord Castlereagh said, that if this was the only occasion on which many of the subjects touched upon during the present discussion could be debated, he might feel himself called upon to say something in answer to what had fallen from the noble lord and the hon. and learned gentleman opposite. But as numerous occasions would arise when those topics would come naturally before the House, and the examination of them be fully entered upon, it was not his intention to take up the time of the House in the discussion of any of the questions at this time. In saying this, nothing was farther from his thoughts than to complain of any hon. gentleman who had so far taken a part in the present debate as to express their deep feeling of that awful calamity which the whole nation deplored. He would be sorry to think there was any member in the House who

the condemnation and execution of the persons at Derby were brought about by the tampering of agents employed by government. This was not the proper time to enter into a full refutation of this calumny. But such a time would come, and he would undertake then to disprove the assertion as strongly and as com. pletely, as that which was not the truth could be disproved. In the mean time, he would assert, that there was not a scintilla of evidence produced during the trials to implicate Oliver in the transactions of the criminals; nor was there any one circumstance connected with the whole proceedings, which in any way implicated Oliver, excepting the last words of one of the unfortunate men, and these were uttered under circumstances which must strip them of all title to notice. With regard to the matter immediately under the consideration of the House, his majesty's ministers were in no degree disposed to imagine that the view which hon. members on the opposite side took of their conduct was at all altered. They were persuaded that those hon. members would again assert that the state of the country was not such as to require those precautionary measures which had been adopted. An hon. and learned gentleman had insinuated that there was a conspiracy among his majesty's ministers, and that they intended to propose some measures to parliament totally repugnant to the principles of the constitution. He trusted, however, that there was no one in the House who would go along with that hon. and learned member in what he had said upon this occasion; for it savoured much of a disposition to misrepresent what was in itself sufficiently plain. He had already stated to the House the intention of his majesty's government with respect to the repeal of the bill which suspended the Habeas Corpus act. Upon that question when the proper time came, he would be fully prepared to enter into a discussion of the propriety of the course of policy

which had been adopted. It was the intention of his majesty's government not to withhold from parliament the knowledge of what had been the state of the country since the last inquiry that was made into it. It was probable that on an early day he should have a communication to make to the House on this subject; and he trusted, when the inquiry he mentioned was made, it would be seen, that the measures adopted were not merely salutary, as being prudential and cautionary, but also that the state of internal tranquillity which enabled government to propose to parliament that an end should be put to that law, was owing to the timely adop. tion of those very measures.-In passing over the various topics which had been brought into the debate, relative to the exercise of the powers conferred by that law, he wished it to be understood, that he did so only because a more proper time would occur for entering upon the discussion of them: and he assured the noble lord, that ministers were not disposed to shrink from that discussion; on the contrary, they felt convinced it would be in their power to satisfy parliament and the country that those powers had been exercised with a proper discretion; that if the powers so entrusted were unusually great, they had been used in mercy and in justice; that in the exercise of these powers, the government had not shrunk from the performance of a faithful duty; and that having so happily carried the country through dangers certainly very consider able, they could now congratulate it on having escaped such danger. In saying this, he did not wish to lull the country into a feeling that there was now absolutely no danger, and that the peril was quite gone by. The happiness was, that it was so much diminished, that extraordinary powers were no longer necessary to overcome it. Upon the other parts of the Speech, he had only to remark, that the picture they afforded of the state of the country was most gratifying and consolatory, beyond what could be given of any country under similar circumstances. Perhaps no instance could be produced in the history of nations of a revival so rapid from a state of extreme distress. On these grounds he trusted that whatever difference might prevail as to the policy of the measures pursued by his majesty's government on a general view of the state of the nation and the topics treated of in the Speech, no such difference of opinion would pre

vail as to the Address, as would disturb the unanimity of the House.

Mr. Bennet expressed his entire concurrence with the noble lord behind him, as to the conduct of his majesty's ministers; for he could assure the House, he was prepared to prove, upon the proper occasion, that notwithstanding those confident assertions by which ministers contrived to persuade some gentlemen to agree to their measures of restriction upon the liberty of the subject, the greater part, if not the whole, of the disaffection which formed the ground work of their proposition, was created by emissaries employed and paid by ministers themselves. [Hear, hear!]

Mr. Brougham did not wish to protract the debate, but he could not refrain from saying a few words, though without any view to disturb the unanimity of the House. That part of the Address which stated the sorrow of the House for the great and irreparable calamity which the nation had sustained, met with his most hearty concurrence. The very mention of such a subject was a sufficient reason for excluding any other topics which might tend to disturb that unanimity which was so desirable on such an occasion; but if any thing were wanting to confirm that unanimity, it might safely be presumed the speech of the noble lord who had but just sat down, must have had that effect. For it appeared that the points on which it was most likely that a difference of opinion would arise-namely, the transactions which had taken place since the last report of the secret committee, were, at a very early period, to come under discussion. And he gathered from the speech of the noble lord this most gratifying conclusion-that it was at length the intention of his majesty's government to produce evidence as to the state of the nation before a committee of the House, before which also witnesses might be called and examined; so that in the course of the examinations which would then take place, they would hear, on the one hand the evidence on which ministers had acted, and, on the other hand, they would hear that evidence on which his hon. friend who spoke last, undertook to prove that the representations of government were incorrect. Until this inquiry took place, it would be premature to enter into any farther discussion of the subject. As to the state of the country, and the measures which had been adopted, his opinions remained un

altered. Nothing had come out to shake | alleged, ministers might have something his opinion, that the evidence and want of to offer in their defence, or rather in evidence showed that those measures were proof of the energy and industry of that quite uncalled for by the state of the people whom their misconduct and extracountry. As to the other topics in the vagance had been unable to break down. Address, he remarked that it said nothing But what had those ministers presented in as to the causes to which the improvement atonement for their delinquency? Why, in the state of the country was to be at- truly, a recommendation to build churches. tributed; nor did it say any thing implying This, however was not a new expedient; a pledge that the House would approve for it was the practice of sinners in all the treaty with Spain. If it did, there ages to build churches. If, indeed, miwould be cause enough to disturb the unanisters had proposed to enlarge the jails nimity of the House; but in his present view of it there was no such cause. Lord Castlereagh rose to explain, and observed, that the hon. and learned gentleman was mistaken if he supposed that it was intended by ministers to propose the constitution of any committee, different in character from those which had taken place last session upon the subject alluded to.

Mr. Brougham could not but express his regret at having been mistaken as to the intention of the noble lord with respect to the mode of the promised inquiry. He still anxiously hoped he had not so far mistaken the noble lord, as that the inquiry would turn out to be merely an examination of documents prepared by government and sent down to the House in a green bag. If that was to be all, it would be a mere mockery.

Lord Cochrane thought the Address extremely unsatisfactory, inasmuch as it held out no promise of economy or retrenchment. How different was this composition from the Speech of the American president, which had lately appeared in the public Journals. In that speech, from the chief ruler of a nation which our ministers threatened and sought to destroy in the late war, there was a distinct recital of evidence to prove its general improvement. In the Speech before the House there was no doubt a confident assertion of national prosperity, but no specific instance of that prosperity was alluded to. The reason was obvious; for no specific instance could be cited. That, indeed, was impossible amidst the misery that universally prevailed, while the revenue was notoriously deficient, while the work-houses were crowded with paupers, while the streets were thronged with starving seamen, and the poor-rates advanced beyond any former precedent. If any evidence were adduced to establish the fact, that the country was in that state of prosperity which this Speech

or the alms-houses, where at least the inmates might be saved from starving, or to do any thing for the solid benefit of the public, they might lay some claim to praise. But their allegation of prosperity, and their proposition of improvement was really a mockery of the public understanding. It was obviously impossible that any country could go on in the state in which England was at present, with a falling revenue and a starving peoplewith a greater degree of misery among the population, than was to be found under any arbitrary government which the British ministers might desire to imitate. For in no nation in Europe, not even in Spain, Italy, or Portugal, could such mendicity and wretchedness be found as were at present daily witnessed in the public streets of this vast metropolis. For the reasons he had mentioned, he could not hesitate to pronounce this Address a direct insult to the feelings and to the understanding of the country.

The Address was agreed to nem. con.

HOUSE OF LORDS.
Wednesday, January 28.

HABEAS CORPUS SUSPENSION REPEAL BILL.] Lord Sidmouth presented a bill for repealing the act passed in the last session of parliament, to empower his majesty to secure and detain persons suspected of conspiring against his majesty's person and government. Having read the title of the bill, his lordship moved that it be now read a first time. The bill was accordingly read a first time. After which, on the noble lord's motion, the standing order relative to the progress of public bills was suspended. On the motion for the second reading of the bill,

Lord Holland, though he certainly did not rise to oppose the motion, could not avoid saying a few words on the circumstances which had led to it. His majesty's ministers had dwelt on the difficulties

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