HOUSE OF LORDS. Thursday, December 1. TRIAL BY JURY IN SCOTLAND.] The Lord Chancellor presented a Bill, the object of which, he observed, was the introduction of trial by jury, in civil causes, in Scotland. The proposed measure had undergone much and attentive discussion on the part of those who were most interested in the question, whether such a regulation would or would not be beneficial. With respect to the general principle of the measure, he entertained no doubt but the mode of trial by jury, in certain cases, and with respect to matters of fact, would be productive of great utility to the judgments of that country. Whether all the enactments proposed by the Bill, of which he was about to move the first reading, should form part of the law of that country, was a question upon which he had no difficulty in stating he entertained considerable doubts. Upon its general principle, he repeated, he had no doubts. In this view of the case, he should move the first reading of the Bill, for the purpose of its being put into that state that all their lordships might form an opinion, not only of its principle, but of its detailed enactments. His lordship then moved the first reading of the Bill, which was intituled, “ An Act for the better Administration of Justice in Scotland, by the introduction of the Trial by Jury in Civil Causes." The Bill was read a first time, and ordered to be printed. COURTS-MARTIAL ON CAPTAIN BROWN AND COLONEL QUENTIN.] The Earl of Egremont gave notice of his intention, after the recess, to move for an Address to the Prince Regent, with a view that the minutes of the naval Court-martial held on captain Brown, together with the opinion of the Court upon that subject, should be laid before the House; and also for those of the Court-martial held upon colonel Quentin, and the opinion of the Court upon the case. He wished to be allowed to say a few words on this occasion. In coming forward in this way, he was not actuated in the least degree by any spirit of opposition to his Majesty's ministers; on the contrary, particularly with respect to his noble friend opposite, his opinion was, that none could be found more competent. His intention was by no means to interfere with the sentences of those Courts-martial; but his object was to endeavour to convince their lordships of the necessity of parliamentary interference, in order to fix some limits to the proceedings of these Courts. In order to obviate misapprehensions that might possibly arise with respect to his intended motion, he deemed it but justice to declare, that, in his mind, there was no analogy between the two cases to which he had adverted: so far from it, he conceived the cases to have been directly opposite; but the consideration of both might tend to the object he had in view. He wished to press for no opinion whatever at present; but was strongly of opinion some regulation was called for; and he should be happy if any other noble lord more competent to the task than himself would come forward and take a task out of his hands. The Earl of Liverpool observed, that, at the present moment, he trusted his noble friend could not call for any opinion on his part. In the present instance, it was merely the notice of a motion to be brought before the House after the recess; and he only deemed it necessary to say now, that, with respect to one of the cases, he was totally ignorant of it. It fell within the province of no particular department; and what the nature of the case was he did not know. He meant the case of captain Brown. With respect to the other, his information was, as was that of their lordships in general, from its being a matter of public notoriety. Farther he could only say, that if the desired production was meant to ground some new regulation, it was impossible for him to state his opinion until he knew the nature of the proposition. In the first view of such a subject, he meant to say it would require a very strong case to induce the House to agree to a motion for the production of documents, such as those referred to, for such an object. There must be some very special circumstances in a case to call for such an interference. STATE OF AFFAIRS ON THE CONTINENT.] In pursuance of the notice he had given, The Earl of Donoughmore rose, and said, that the House being then sitting, in consequence of a notice which he had given, it became necessary for him to state those reasons which had made him think it his duty to refrain, under the present circumstances, from submitting his intended Norway to a foreign yoke; and that a nation, so brave and so unoffending, had not been starved out of its independence by the operations of a British fleet. That our engagements with the kings of Sicily and of Naples had not been so inconsistent and contradictory, as to have justified the general impression, that our own subsidies to the one, had furnished that power with the means of making an hostile attack on those possessions which we had guaranteed to the other. That our minister at the Congress of Vienna, had received instructions from the Prince Regent, never to consent to any arrangement which should not guarantee to Saxony its existence under its present sovereign, as a separate independent state. That he had been instructed steadily to keep in view the independence and integrity of Poland, as the great continental barrier against the encroachments of France, or those of any other European power. motion to their lordships consideration. The subject he had certainly considered a most important and pressing object of inquiry; nor had its importance been lessened, in his estimation, by any thing which had since intervened. It had been increased, on the contrary, very much in his mind, by the occurrences of almost every passing day. By the notice which he had given, and the selection of as late a time for the discussion as the period of the expected adjournment would permit, he had endeavourd to ensure, by the best means in his power, as full an attendance of the House as possible; and he had, in addition, made use of whatever influence he could be supposed to possess, for the same purpose. He did not, however, complain of the very scanty attendance of noble lords. They had left town under the supposition that nothing material remained to be discussed before the recess; and had so made their arrangements that they had found it not possible for them to return just now. His intention had been to have submitted certain propositions to their consideration, in the hope that they might be adopted by that House, as a ground upon which his royal highness the Prince Regent should be called upon to give instructions to our minister at Vienna, respecting his conduct upon the pending negociations. But it would be ridiculous to submit gravely to the then miserably thin attendance of members such considerations as he had alluded to, as if they were really, and for effective purposes, the lords spiritual and temporal in parliament assembled. He had thought it his bounden duty to abstain from so doing. But, to satisfy their lordships that he had not ventured to throw loosely before them a subject of such vast importance, without his having given it the best and most mature consideration of which he was capable, he should desire their permission to state, in justice to himself, and not with a view of obtaining a pledge from any member of the House, what those points were which he had intended to request their lordships to submit, by Address, to the Prince Regent. It had been his intention, that it should have been humbly represented to his royal highness the Prince Regent, how gratifying it would be to the feelings of that House, to receive an authentic declaration by command of his Royal Highness, that the power and resources of this country had not contributed to the subjugation of And, finally, that he had been directed not to suffer his attention to be diverted from those sound principles of policy and of justice by the deceitful offer of any increase of territory to Hanover, inasmuch as no such accession could make that feeble state sufficiently strong to stand by herself, but would be the certain means of engaging Great Britain, as a principal, in every future continental war. And it was my intention to have concluded with an humble application to the Prince Regent, that his Royal Highness would be pleased to cause it to be impressed upon the recollection of our negociator what the declarations of the allied powers had been, when they had passed the French frontier, and subsequently, when they had arrived at the gates of Paris: and, above all, that this great and generous nation had engaged in this long and arduous contest, as the deliverer of others from the oppression of the strong; not as herself a sharer in the plunder of the weak and the defenceless. These principles the noble earl pledged himself to bring under the consideration of the House after the recess, unless it should be undertaken by some person of more weight and authority than himself. Lord Grenville said, he attended in his place in consequence of the summons which he had received, in common with the rest of their lordships, for the purpose of delivering his sentiments on the motion which he expected would have been brought forward by his noble friend. That motion was one which met with his entire approbation, and whenever his noble friend chose to bring it forward, he should be ready to give it his support. After, however, what had fallen from his noble friend, he should reserve what he had to say till after the motion for adjournment. damage that had been done, how they could best apply a remedy to the evils which the magnitude of our efforts had necessarily produced. In the present situation of the country, the duties of parliament were numerous, weighty, and pressing. There was hardly a branch of the public administration that did not require the maturest deliberation on the part of the legislature; and yet, under these circumstances, an adjournment for MOTION OF ADJOURNMENT TILL FE-two, or from two to three months, was proBRUARY.] The Earl of Liverpool then moved, that the House do adjourn till Thursday the 9th of February next. posed, without a single reason assigned for that extraordinary proposition. At an early period of the session he had mentioned one great subject, which ought to have received from parliament not only mature, but unremitting deliberation; a matter, of all others, of the highest im Lord Grenville said, that to that motion he must decidedly object. When the noble earl made such a motion, a motion to adjourn for a period of from two to three months, it would have been but be-portance; a subject immediately concoming to have stated some grounds for nected with the food of the people. He so extraordinary a proceeding; but the had then adverted to the dangerous and noble earl had barely put the question of impolitic course, as he conceived it to be, adjournment, without assigning a single which had been adopted with respect to reason to induce their lordships to adopt a that object of primary importance: he course so unusual, and had therefore regretted that he differed upon that quesyielded it to him to state the grounds tion with many for whose opinions in upon which he thought such a course, at general he had the highest possible rethis moment, highly improper. Their spect; but he came there to state his own lordships had been called together at a opinions with freedom. Their lordships time when legislative deliberation was would do well to consider, whether, with more than usually necessary. Though the impression which the agitation of such the grand difficulties under which this a question in parliament, which the intercountry had struggled so long had now position of the legislature on such a subbeen removed, yet it might be justly said,ject was likely to create, it was fitting that this was a session of more urgent business than any session that the oldest among their lordships could possibly remember. He had on a former occasion expressed his regret, that it had not been thought proper to call their attention, in the old constitutional manner, to the circunstances of Europe, and the result which was likely to follow from the great and almost desperate efforts that had been made by this country. But even if it had been justifiable to throw a veil over the transactions which were now going on abroad-transactions, he grieved to say, which did not appear to bode well for the future peace of Europe,-still a veil ought not to be thrown over the internal situation of the country. They were now called upon to review the state of the country after a series of tremendous efforts, such as had never before been made by any nation, which had closed the struggle without the loss of its political existence. They were called upon to consider how they could best repair the that parliament should turn their backs on that subject, and suspend the investigation for two or three months. If the agricultural interest was hard pressed, and who could deny that it was so; if the manufacturing interest was also pressed; if a measure was under consideration which immediately concerned the food of the people; if there was danger in adopting any course that should have a tendency to make that food dearer; and if it was of the highest importance to consider well whether it was not wiser to leave that matter to itself without any legislative interposition than to enact new restraints; if it was necessary at any rate that parliament should come to a decision on the subject either one way or the other, why was it now proposed that the House should adjourn for a period of between two and three months? It was of the last consequence to the welfare of the community, that the legislature should at any rate decide whether they were to innovate or to leave matters as they were; should receive in payment that for which they really stipulated by their contracts, and not that which the very existence of the law proved to be not in their eyes of equal value. If they considered what that situation of things must be, in which no one could receive in payment that which he stipulated for by his contract, they must soon attend seriously to the subject, unless they meant to abandon the very name of honesty and justice. Never was there a subject with respect to which they were more called upon to retrace their steps; never did there exist a subject where more mature deliberation, more strict caution were necessary, in deciding upon the steps by which they ought to return to the paths of honesty and justice. Yet, under all these difficulties, under all this real pressure of public business, parliament was called upon to suspend its deliberations, to give up all attention to its public duties, for a period of from two to three months, merely for the personal convenience of some of the servants of the for the state in which those questions were | at present allowed to remain was fraught with the evils which belonged to both conditions. Was this a situation in which that subject ought to be left? Was it fitting that parliament should turn its back upon it for such a long period? Was it becoming or decent that parliament should separate without having taken any step in the matter-without having paid it any attention except the single sentence which he had uttered respecting it at the open. ing of the session? Yet, now the House was called upon to separate, to refuse to give attention to the public business upon which their sovereign had called upon them to deliberate. The House, under the circumstances, was desired to turn its back upon the public business for two, or nearly three months, and that not by the act of the sovereign, who by prerogative might, under ministerial responsibility, have put an end to the session; but by its own act, in opposition to the declared wish of the sovereign, in disobedience to his express commands, and in utter disregard of the duties which they had been called upon to discharge. There was another subject to which the attention of parliament ought to be called without delay-he meant the state of the circulating medium of the country; a subject which, on some future occasion, must be well considered and fully debated. On former occasions, when it was proposed to bring that question before parliament, it was said that the nation was at war, and that a measure, which in theory no one approved, was necessary for self-defence, and the preservation of the country; he meant that law by which the subject was compelled to accept payments in a depreciated paper currency. If he had been asked, whether this had been necessary for carrying on the war, he should have said-no. It had been contended, that our efforts could not be supported without that measure; but, in his opinion, they were rather cramped than aided by the continuance of that regulation. Be that, however, as it might, these efforts were over; and they had now to consider how they could best put an end to a system which no one was hardy enough to say ought to be continued. That question must be attended to, and speedily, if they meant to give the landlord, to give the manufacturer, to give every one, in short, that security which all ought to have, namely, that they (VOL. XXIX.) crown. He next came to the mention of a subject which it was impossible to touch on without shuddering-he meant the state of the finances of the country. He considered that this country had solely been enabled to continue the great exertions which it had so long made by the operations of the sinking fund, established by a provident wisdom. The exertions of the last year had, however, consumed a large portion of that fund; and this would shortly be bereft of any means but increased taxation to supply the profuse expenditure of the country. This consideration could not be separated from the question, how they were to reduce those enormous establishments with which the country was at present burthened. The country now enjoyed the name of peace, and it was warranted in the expectation of deriving some of the benefits of it. There never, he would repeat, was such an example as that exhibited by parliament, given by any body of men anxious to retain the good opinion of their constituents. With no public motives for their conduct, they were about to turn their backs on their country, and to leave it for the next two or three months to shift for itself; to declare that parliament would not even consider what were the remedies which its situation demanded-that they would not even hear them. In mentioning the reduction of the establishments of (2 S) the country, it was impossible not to allude to the 75,000 men which we were bound to keep up on the continent of Europe in a time of peace. He was astonished how such an idea could ever enter the head of any person in this country, as that of soliciting the princes of Europe to receive subsidies for the purpose of aggrandizing and raising up certain powers of Europe to such a magnitude, that no hope would be left for the preservation of any independent state. The object of this expenditure was to destroy every vestige of independent power on the continent. He could never consent to the wringing from the pockets of the peasantry of this country, sums to be thus expended in the accomplishment of objects of a nature not less detestable than that for which the tyrant under which Europe had so long suffered, was at length driven from his throne. It was impossible to consider this keeping up of 75,000 men on the continent in any other light than a subsidizing of a few of the powers of Europe, to destroy every vestige of free dom there. The country was now also carrying on a war of conquest at half the distance of the globe from us. When America had not half its present population, its subjugation was found to be an effort beyond the power of this country to effect. Yet with all our past experience, this, it appeared, was an effort which we were at present seeking. The war was now no longer carried on for those objects which had been stated to parliament, but for purposes which it was the absolute duty of parliament, before they gave them their support, to sift to the bottom. He had stated to their lordships his opinion, that from the moment the American government were apprized of the repeal of the orders in council, the war was just on the part of this country, and he had always therefore continued to give it his feeble support. He had done so because he considered, on the faith of the declaration from the throne, that we were at war for the maintenance of our maritime rightsan object for which he would shed the last drop of his blood. But they now found that when ministers were declaiming against aggrandizement, and when there was but one general voice of approbation in parliament in consequence of such disclaimer of conquest or aggrandizement, and of the moderate and pacific councils which were entertained by the govern ment of this country-that at that very moment they were making on America such demands as could have no other effect but to unite against them the voice of every individual in that country, and of every independent man in every independent country in the world; demands which were not justified by any conquests, of cessions of territory, and the effect of which could only be to retard the peace, and to unite that country against us, on whose disunion rested our best hopes of continuing the war with success. We had so unhappily chosen the subjects of these demands, as, in the first place, to irritate the feelings of every individual throughout the country; and, in the second place, to inflict a punishment, not on those who gave us cause of complaint, but those who had shewn some disposition of amity to this country. We had demanded from them the establishment of a barrier of an independent Indian country between Canada and the United States. Were they studiously to labour to devise a topic calculated to excite universal irritation against us, and to carry terror and alarm home to every cottage of the United States, they could have hit on nothing more successful than the establishment of an independent Indian territory; and that neither the United States nor Great Britain should have power to pur chase, but that any other state might. Was it meant by this that France should have a power to make purchase there? Or was it meant to place Spain in that situation? That independent country, as it was called, would be a mere refuge for outlaws and robbers, and would be productive of as much inconvenience to Ca nada as to the United States. The next demand was to give us a complete command of the waters. There was also a water barrier between us and France; and how would'it be received if the command of this water barrier were asked to be given to this country? This power was neither more nor less than the power of making an irruption into other countries at pleasure. But all this was not enough, unless we sought also out the state most friendly to us, and required from them, as the reward of their friendly dispositions, the cession of part of their territories. Could there be found a man out of the circle of those who made these propositions, who for a moment would doubt as to the effect which they must necessarily have produced? But all this was not |