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Article PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS. Page 1 of 12 →
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Parliamentary Proceedings.
PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS .
HOUSE or LORDS , FEE . 3 . T- 'HE order of the day being moved for summoning the House on the third reading of the Bill for the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act , the Earl of Lauderdale rose to propose" that some more definite time than that mentioned in the Bill should be fixed fj _ the termination of the act . It would not be disputed , he presumed , t . ' iat every act of the Legislature should be independent of the Crownand therefore he movedthat instead of the last day of the present
, , Session of Parliament * the " first of July next" be inserted . This amendment was adopled without any debate . Lord Grenville , on moving that the Bill do pass , took an opportunity of entering at considerable lenglh into the motives which had induced his Majesty ' s ministers to bring forward a Bill for renewing the former Act , which he declared the origin , notwithstanding ihe late acquittals , in his opinion , the same causes in a great degree still existedfor though guilt had not been proved against any
, individual , it was evident from the trials that a conspiracy had been on foot . It had no doubt been checked , but it had not been subdued . He therefore had no difficulty in giving his opinion , that nothing had occurred which ought to induce the House 10 oppose the renewal of the Act , and therefore he moved that the Bill do now pass . The Earl of Guildford wafmly condemned the repeated attempts of Ministers to deprive the people of the most valuable privilege which they enjoyed . He had
opposed the Bill from the beginning , backed as it was by the weight and author rity of the reports of Committees of both Houses ' of Parliament , which had slated that treasonable plots did exist . He for one never believed that any plot or tonspiracy whatever existed , which the common law of the laud was not fiillj ; adequate to punish , without resorting to the extraordinary-measure of a suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act . If he then was of that opinion , the result of the trials in consequence had , he believed , convi ; i <*_ -d every unprejudiced
and disinterested man 111 the kingdom , that no conspiracy had ' in fact existed , for all the conspirators , as they were called , had been acquitted by the verdict of their country . For these reasons he certainly should give his most decided negative to the Bill . After the Earl of Guildford had concluded , the debate became general . The ! Duke of Leeds , Earl of Warwick , Ear ) of Carlisle ,. Lord Hawkesbury , Ear . Spencer , Viscount Sidney , Lord Kinnoul , Lord Chancellor , and Lord Auckland , speaking in favour of the Bill , and the Earl of Lauderdale , Duke of
Bedford , and the Marquis of Lansdown against it ; the last-mentioned Noble Peer said , he intended to have left the House without making a single observation , but for the arrogant language of those noble Lords who had supported this extraordinary measure . The Noble Marquis always understood this to be an Act to protect the subject from arbitrary imprisonment , and any attempt to abridge his liberties was a palpable violation of the Constitution . It had been urged that 1 ilia measure had been repeatedly resorted to in cases of great emergency ; but he would contend that the emergency ought to be made out to the satisfaction of
the country . Not a single additional fact had been slated since the introduction of-the original Bill , and the House , was called upon to renew the Act , on the report of a Committee , which had been completely negatived by a jury of the country . He should not so far degrade the jurisprudence of the country , as to put the report of a Secret Committee in competition with the verdict of a Jury . The former was the produce of men who were born and bred in politics : the hitler was ihe opinion of twelve plain honest men , delivered under the solemn obligation of an oath . The contempt shewn to these proceedings put'the Noble . Marquis in mind of an expression used by a Noble Lord ( Lord Grantley ) on another occasion , lluM " he regarded theiv ' . opinioiu no more than ' . he resolution of a sei of drunken porters . "
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Parliamentary Proceedings.
PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS .
HOUSE or LORDS , FEE . 3 . T- 'HE order of the day being moved for summoning the House on the third reading of the Bill for the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act , the Earl of Lauderdale rose to propose" that some more definite time than that mentioned in the Bill should be fixed fj _ the termination of the act . It would not be disputed , he presumed , t . ' iat every act of the Legislature should be independent of the Crownand therefore he movedthat instead of the last day of the present
, , Session of Parliament * the " first of July next" be inserted . This amendment was adopled without any debate . Lord Grenville , on moving that the Bill do pass , took an opportunity of entering at considerable lenglh into the motives which had induced his Majesty ' s ministers to bring forward a Bill for renewing the former Act , which he declared the origin , notwithstanding ihe late acquittals , in his opinion , the same causes in a great degree still existedfor though guilt had not been proved against any
, individual , it was evident from the trials that a conspiracy had been on foot . It had no doubt been checked , but it had not been subdued . He therefore had no difficulty in giving his opinion , that nothing had occurred which ought to induce the House 10 oppose the renewal of the Act , and therefore he moved that the Bill do now pass . The Earl of Guildford wafmly condemned the repeated attempts of Ministers to deprive the people of the most valuable privilege which they enjoyed . He had
opposed the Bill from the beginning , backed as it was by the weight and author rity of the reports of Committees of both Houses ' of Parliament , which had slated that treasonable plots did exist . He for one never believed that any plot or tonspiracy whatever existed , which the common law of the laud was not fiillj ; adequate to punish , without resorting to the extraordinary-measure of a suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act . If he then was of that opinion , the result of the trials in consequence had , he believed , convi ; i <*_ -d every unprejudiced
and disinterested man 111 the kingdom , that no conspiracy had ' in fact existed , for all the conspirators , as they were called , had been acquitted by the verdict of their country . For these reasons he certainly should give his most decided negative to the Bill . After the Earl of Guildford had concluded , the debate became general . The ! Duke of Leeds , Earl of Warwick , Ear ) of Carlisle ,. Lord Hawkesbury , Ear . Spencer , Viscount Sidney , Lord Kinnoul , Lord Chancellor , and Lord Auckland , speaking in favour of the Bill , and the Earl of Lauderdale , Duke of
Bedford , and the Marquis of Lansdown against it ; the last-mentioned Noble Peer said , he intended to have left the House without making a single observation , but for the arrogant language of those noble Lords who had supported this extraordinary measure . The Noble Marquis always understood this to be an Act to protect the subject from arbitrary imprisonment , and any attempt to abridge his liberties was a palpable violation of the Constitution . It had been urged that 1 ilia measure had been repeatedly resorted to in cases of great emergency ; but he would contend that the emergency ought to be made out to the satisfaction of
the country . Not a single additional fact had been slated since the introduction of-the original Bill , and the House , was called upon to renew the Act , on the report of a Committee , which had been completely negatived by a jury of the country . He should not so far degrade the jurisprudence of the country , as to put the report of a Secret Committee in competition with the verdict of a Jury . The former was the produce of men who were born and bred in politics : the hitler was ihe opinion of twelve plain honest men , delivered under the solemn obligation of an oath . The contempt shewn to these proceedings put'the Noble . Marquis in mind of an expression used by a Noble Lord ( Lord Grantley ) on another occasion , lluM " he regarded theiv ' . opinioiu no more than ' . he resolution of a sei of drunken porters . "