the same; the necessity in which they originate, and the purposes for which they are exercised, are materially different. Both houses of parliament possess a complete and exclusive judicature upon all subjects concerning their respective privileges; the viola tion of which has ever been consider ed as a distinct offence, cognizable only in the respective houses of parliament, and punishable by their sentence; and this was demonstrated by so many precedents, that the difficulty was in selecting authorities, not in discovering them. These positions Mr W. Wynn established by facts drawn from the history of parliament, and by the doctrines which the ablest constitutional lawyers have laid down. "The question," he then continued, "is simply, whether the House of Commons does at this hour possess the power of imprisoning those who either insult its members for their parliamentary conduct, or degrade and vilify the character and proceedings of the house itself; and whether that power, if it be known to the laws, shall be enforced by such methods as are necessary for its legal exercise? Until the whole foundations of our law be subverted, there is but one issue on which such a question can be tried. If such a power be now first claimed and exercised, its origin must be shewn in some legislative act, expressly introducing the innovation; if, on the contrary, its exercise has been uninterrupted for centuries, and the instances of exertion are coeval with the records of parliament itself, it is for those who contend against it to shew by what act it has been abrogated. As well might a man be admitted to dispute the power of parliament to make laws, as the privilege by which alone it is enabled to exe

cute that function with dignity and independence. There have been many instances, and many more will probably occur, when the publication of a libel on an individual member may subject him to popular insult, or when that apprehension will deter him from the discharge of his duty. The attainder of Lord Stafford, the most unjust and disgraceful act that ever received the sanction of the legislature, was carried simply by the terror which resulted from posting up the names of its principal opponents as enemies of their country. By these means even the bold spirit of Lord Capel was intimidated into what, in the last moments of his life, he repented, as a coward consent to what his conscience disapproved. In all such instances, speedy and summary punishment is requisite, or, before an example can be made, the mischief which it is wished to prevent will have attained its utmost degree, It is indeed only under the existence of such a privilege that the practice of publishing the debates could subsist. Were this controul removed, the language of all public men would be continually misrepresented, not, as now too frequently happens, by error or inadvertency, but by wilful perversion, according to the violence of party, or malevolence of personal hostility. This must lead of necessity to a great public evil,-to the closing the gallery of the house, and debarring the people from all means of learning, through the press, the conduct of their representatives, and of correcting any misconceived opinions of public affairs, by the superior information and judgement of those by whom they are discussed in parliament."

Consistently with this view of the

subject, Mr W. Wynn moJune 8. ved some resolutions, that whoever presumed to commence or prosecute any action against any person for acts done in obedience to the orders of the house, any such persons, and all attornies, solicitors, counsellors, and serjeants at law, soliciting, prosecuting, or pleading in any such cases, were guilty of a high breach of the privileges of the house; that the actions commenced by Sir Francis Burdett, were for acts done in obedience to the orders of the house; and that the proper officer of the Court of King's Bench should be ordered to attend the house on the morrow with all records and proceed ings on the said actions. "Were ministers," he asked, "prepared for the consequences to which the measures they had adopted might lead? and did they intend that the commons should carry the question by writ of error before the other house of parliament, and that they should humbly sue for their privileges at the bar of the House of Lords? for before the lords the question would ultimately be brought, either by the house, or by those who resisted its privileges. Perhaps it might be said, that the lords would be as careful of the privileges of the commons as of their On the contrary it appeared, that it was from the other house of parliament that the privileges of the commons had experienced the most severe and frequent attacks; and if it should once be established that the commitments of the House of Commons could, by appeal, be brought under the judicature of the lords, the equality which has hitherto subsisted between those branches of the legisla

own.

ture, would be destroyed for ever, and the commons would retain no privileges but what the lords should, by their judgements on different occasions, think proper to admit them to. He did not propose that the house should immediately proceed to commit the solicitor, after the original offence had been overlooked; but if, after the resolutions for which he moved, these actions should be proceeded in, then it would undoubtedly be necessary to commit every person concerned in carrying them on.

"This," Mr Wynn continued, " is the latest moment for the assertion of our privileges. What then is now to be done? Recur to that principle which governed the practice of your ancestors, the principle that the proceedings of the House of Commons, in matters of privilege, shall not be questioned by any other tribunal. For the preservation of this vital princi ple new measures must be taken, if new measures are necessary; and who, in such a case, would hesitate to make a precedent, if it were true that none could be found? But there are precedents in our journals; in three cases the house has ordered the records of the inferior courts to be laid on the table, and has directed the obnoxious proceedings to be then taken off the file and destroyed. Many persons, however, there are, who think that these measures are indeed the proper course, but not the most prudent; that they are too strong for the present moment, and that we should now conciliate. But the opportunity for attending to such considerations is gone by. Many instances there undoubtedly were, where common prudence and good sense would induce

the members of the house to pass over offences altogether. Of such a nature, perhaps, in the opinion of many, was the paper of Mr Gale Jones, when it was originally complained of; but when it had been once regularly noticed, and by a formal complaint forced on the attention of the house, no member could doubt any longer as to the course to be pursued, or could hesitate to concur in the vote which the house finally passed upon that occasion, however he might have been disinclined to the original agitation of the question.

"As soon as that complaint was made, and unavoidably adopted, the country could not be deceived by any pretences to conciliation; nor would they have attributed such a conduct to any other motives, but those of unworthy cowardice. Was it likely, that those persons could be conciliated, who had directed their attacks against the House of Commons, simply because they thought that, at the present moment, this was more vulnerable than either of the other branches of the legislature? They would laugh to see the house affect moderation, by abandoning what for ages had been its only guard and defence. It was much the same sort of pledge of conciliation and peace, which a great country was formerly called upon to give to its enemies, by surrendering the whole of its fleet. The moment of conflict was not that for concession, even if concession were, on other grounds, adviseable, instead of being ruinous and destructive. These were times, when it was necessary to rise above the dread of temporary unpopularity."

Mr Wynn then adverted to the recent loss which that house and the country had sustained in the death of Mr Windham. "We should recol

lect," he said, "the great man whose loss we all have so lately deplored; who pursued his course firm and undeviating, frequently in direct opposition to the prevailing clamour; who, when the spirit of the nation was sunk to the lowest ebb of degradation, when the populace had actually drawn in triumph a French general through the streets of London, stood forward, almost alone, and raised their spirits by his own. To the stand then made by that illustrious person, and the small phalanx which rallied round him, it was to be attributed, that the ancient fortitude of the country was restored; that during seven years of war which had since occurred, we had heard of no petitions for peace, no unmanly complaints of the heavy and unparalleled burthens which it had been necessary to impose. Were my lamented friend now here, it would have been unnecessary for any other person to have brought forward this question. To imitate the strain of eloquence with which he would have enforced it, the felicity of illustration with which he would have adorned it, was impossible; but to emulate his determination and intrepidity, is in the power of every one. For myself," Mr Wynn concluded, "whatever may be the determination of the house, I am desirous to be able to state to my constituents that I have endeavoured to my utmost to preserve, uninjured and unimpaired, those privileges which they have intrusted to my hands, and which I feel to be the privileges, not of this house only, but of all the commons of England."

Mr Perceval replied to this able and manly speech, "that Mr Wynn argued upon the assumption that the tribunals would act contrary to the law of the land,-an assumption which

the house ought not to make. Neither ought the house, after having agreed to plead, to commit the inconsistency of resolving to punish the persons concerned in prosecuting the actions. The present resolutions ought not, therefore, to be passed, because they tended to overturn all that had been done. Earl Temple and Mr Adam supported Mr Wynn's motion, which was, however, negatived by 74 members against 14. And here those proceedings of the session terminated to which Sir Francis Burdett had given rise. His conduct, from the commencement of the session, had been in the highest degree reprehensible; it had been a series of direct, premeditated, and systematic insults to the House of Commons. If a regard for the liberty of the subject, and the law of the land, had been the real mo

tives of his conduct, he would have rested the question upon the case of Gale Jones, a case which all parties thought hard; for though, when it had been brought before the house, the house could not proceed otherwise than it did, most persons agreed in wishing that his conduct had never been made the subject of complaint. But it neither suited with the vanity nor the views of Sir Francis, that Jones should be the object of popular attention; he put himself forward, and thrust Jones out of sight, and throughout the whole of the subsequent pro ceedings, acted not like a man who loved and respected the laws and institutions of his country, but like a demagogue performing an insurrec tion, as soldiers fight mock-battles in a review, for the purpose of trying his strength against the government.

THE supplies voted for the year were 52,185,0001., of which the Irish proportion was 6,106,0001., leaving for England 46,079,0001. The ways and means which were provided left a surplus of 141,2021. These included a loan of 8,000,0001., at 41. 4s. and 34d. per cent., terms even more favourable than those of the preceding year. The annual charge to be provided for was 970,8331. It was proposed to meet this from the surplus of the consolidated fund, which, owing to the additions and regulations made in the stamp duties in 1808, was unexpectedly great.

"There was no reaMay 16. son," Mr Perceval said, "to apprehend any thing like decay in our finances; the more we looked at them, the more reason we had to be satisfied with their grow. ing prosperity. In that very year, when men of great authority anticipated a failure, there had actually been a very considerable increase. The official value of the imports was 36,255,2091., nearly five millions more than in the most prosperous year of peace. The exports of our manufactures amounted to 35,107,0001., between eight and nine millions more than they were in 1802. The ex

ports of foreign goods was nearly four millions less than at that time, but the average proved that the country was greatly progressive in prosperity; and this was seen in our external means and strength, as well as in our internal resources, as had happily been shewn to the conviction of the enemy. It was but a few years since that enemy declared that all he wanted was ships, colonies, and commerce; he had lost all his com merce, all his colonies, and his few remaining ships were pent up in their ports. This, too, was the enemy whose measures were represented as founded in wisdom, and executed with ability; while the government of this country had been uniformly charged with weakness, ignorance, folly and imbecillity. But the orders in council, the vilified measure of this vilified ministry, had reduced the receipts of the customs in France from two millions and a half to half a million, a diminution of four-fifths of the whole amount."

Mr Huskisson was little satisfied

with this statement. "Was it possible," he asked, "to go on adding from a million to 1,200,000l. every year to the public burthens, and could we hope to continue the war in this