making this assertion, in consequence of the evidence which had been laid before the committee; and the impression it made upon him, in common with every other member of the committee, was, that if this bill did not pass, every thing valuable in the laws and constitution would be liable to be overset and convulsed by the machinations of wicked men, availing themselves of an unfortunate scarcity, to foment discontent, and further their own purposes. In supporting a bill for the suspension of the Habeas Corpus act, he was ready to admit that it was a measure of great vigour, and one to which he gave his assent with great reluctance, because there was no man more sensible than he was of the value and importance of that act; an act more important, perhaps, than any other on our statute book. In the present state of affairs, however, his majesty's ministers would, in his opinion, have been guilty of a gross dereliction of their duty, if, knowing the peril of the country, they had not resorted to this measure. The committee appointed to investigate this business were men of high honour and character, and they had with one voice agreed upon the necessity Mr. J. Horne Tooke said, that if there of the measure. He would maintain that was any thing which could drive him to it was a most lenient measure; and parti- despair with regard to the fate of the cularly to those persons against whom it country, it was what he had witnessed was intended. Was it not lenity to them that night. When he heard men who to prevent treason, which was intended, filled high legal situations under the from being carried into effect? and that crown make solemn appeals to Heaven, was the object of the bill. But there ap- and expect to obtain credit for their aspeared to be a considerable degree of in-sertions; when he heard such language consistency in the manner in which gentlemen opposed the bill; for at one moment it was represented as a measure of extraordinary severity, and the next it was said that it was useless, for that ministers had hardly taken up any persons in consequence of the power which was vested in their hands. One ground of argument upon which gentlemen had relied was, that many persons had been taken up, but had not been brought to trial; upon this point he wished to ask, whether it was not important to conceal from the public view those communications which were made to government, and which enabled it to provide for the safety of the state? Every gentleman must feel how essential it was, that the channels through which government received its intelligence should not be publicly known. If the person who made the communications were once produced as a witness, he could not again be useful in that way. It therefore became question of computation, whether it was better to punish one man, or to keep entire their means of communication? 'It had been said, that no witnesses had been examined against the persons accused of high treason, but the spies of government; but in return, he wished gentlemen would point out an instance in which the testimony of these witnesses had been falsified. In point of fact, the assertion was not correct; for there were witnesses of another description examined. These witnesses had not only not been contradicted, but their evidence had been most materially confirmed by subsequent events. He begged leave to remind the House, that, if it had not been for subsequent events, "the sainted O'Connor," who had been praised till he was sick of hearing it, would have gone to his grave (whenever he went there) loaded with all the praise which his compurgators had bestowed so liberally upon him. He should therefore give his support to the bill; convinced that ministers would have been guilty of accelerating the ruin of the country, if they had not proposed it. and such doctrines come from them as they had advanced, what must he think of the situation of the future subjects of this land, when these learned gentlemen were hereafter to sit as judges on the bench? One learned gentleman had talked about the dangers of assassination, and had asked, whether it would be proper, when such a thing was apprehended, to wait for the common forms of the law. But he would ask if no assassination was ever to be apprehended from his majesty's ministers? There certainly was, and he himself had been assassinated [a laugh]: he stated nothing but what was true, and it was a thing that none should laugh at. He believed what he was then saying would make some impression on the chancellor of the exchequer, whom he loved and admired, and of whom he knew a little at a time when that right hon. gentleman felt that peace and tranquillity of mind which he never would feel again. He knew his principles and his heart; and be knew it was his misfortune to have fallen a victim to one of the noblest and best passions that ever animated the human breast. That right hon. gentleman had fallen a victim to his gratitude; and that was the cause of his being placed in the situation he now held. But, as a father and a husband, he ought to feel for those who were fathers and husbands also; and when power was placed in his hands, he ought to take care that it should not be abused in the manner it had been by former ministers. But the power that had been vested in the hands of ministers did not alone proceed from such a bill as the present; almost the whole of the constitution was gone, and therefore more danger was likely to arise from trusting them with the suspension of the Habeas Corpus act. The freedom of the constitution and the safety of the country depended on the separate distribution of the various functions of government among distinct bodies. But now, this distribution was done away, and all the powers, both legislative, judicial, and executive, were united in one hand, namely, in that of the minister of the crown. Nor was this all. The ministers had, to their other powers, added even the functions of jailors, and had subjected men to rigorous confine ment without any charge. Several gentlemen had thought proper to laugh when he said he had been assassinated: but he would ask if it was not assassination for a man to be kept for the space of ɛeven months in close custody, and during that time to be deprived of the comforts of conversing with, or even seeing his nearest and dearest friends and relations? It might be said that this privilege was granted to those who had solicited it; but it should have been given without solicitation. It was true, he was the only person among the prisoners confined at that time who was not permitted to see his friends, because he had not asked for such permission. But the prevention was a violation of all liberty, and contrary to the very ends of punishment, by which every thing relating to the punishment was to be done in the most public manner. The custody in which a man was kept should be no more solitary or secret than his execution. He wished to know what our forefathers would say if a criminal, after condemnation had happened to be executed secretly in prison. No such thing could be done by law; much less was there any law to authorize the keeping an innocent man in solitary confinement. Even a man condemned to suffer death wished to die in public. He could speak from his own feelings. He had the courage not to be afraid of injury; though he did not set up for a brave man. He did at one time expect to have been led to a public execution; and at that very time his greatest consolation was, the hope that this execution should take place in public, and that he might have an opportunity of saying to those around him, that death was not so full of terrors as some people might suppose. He would call on gentlemen on the opposite side of the House to give an account to the House and the country why the laws were abused? He also wished the new minister would consider the situation in which the country was left in his hands; he conjured him not to take the power about to be given; and if he did, that he would keep it as short a time as possible. A learned gentleman had said, that the present was nothing more than a temporary measure, It was seven years, however, since the measure had been first introduced; and a measure of that continuance, and which was now to be renewed could not be called temporary, nor was it possible that a treasonable and dangerous conspiracy could last so long as seven years in any country. He was not frantic enough to expect a tenth part of a vote by all he should say; but he hoped he should make some impresssion on the right hon. gen. tleman who had taken upon him the management of the country in the state to which it was now reduced, and how long this war was likely to last. He would find the enemy in a situation of being magna. nimous and politic at the same time. He would say he was extremely desirous of making peace with this country; that he was ready to abandon those colonial possessions, on the acquisition of which an ex-minister had lately dwelt with so much exultation; but while he appeared to make such sacrifices on the part of France, while he declared that the islands should be no bone of contention, he would say that he had to consult the interest of his allies, and tell this country that she must give up to the Dutch the Cape of Good Hope, and the ships which had been taken from thence. The bill was read a first time. On the motion that it be read a second time, the House divided: EAS { ..... } 190 34 Mr. Baker......... Mr. Curwen Mr. Wilberforce Bird The bill was then read a second time, mmitted, reported, read a third time, d passed. The Seditious Meeting ll was also presented, and read a first ne. It was read a second time on the llowing day, and after a short debate, as passed on the 20th. Debate in the Lords on the Habeas orpus Suspension Bill.] April 17. On e order of the day for the second readg of the bill, The Earl of Moira rose to state his bjections to the manner in which it was troduced. In a case of such peculiar elicacy in a constitutional point of view, t was always the practice to introduce it y a recommendation from the crown, or particular report, stating the specific rounds which rendered such a measure necessary. In the former of these cases ninisters were responsible; in the latter, every noble lord had the facts before him, and would be enabled to form his judgment on the expediency of the measure; but, in the present mode of proceeding, the House had neither of these advantages. Ministers were not responsible; and the report being general, their lordships were called on to act upon confidence. It was natural for every new administration to wish to strengthen its hands and to possess the confidence of the country. To gain this confidence, it was necessary that the people should be fully convinced of the necessity of these strong measures which it should bring forward. They therefore expected from their lordships, who were their hereditary representatives, that they would not entertain a question which so deeply affected their security, merely upon a general report of a committee. Lord Boringdon contended, that it appeared in the report that the disaffected in this country were carrying on a treasonable correspondence with persons of a similar description in Ireland. This was an answer to the objection, that no fact was stated in the report to justify the measure; which, he contended, was one of mildness and moderation to the disaffected few, and of protection and security to the people at large. Lord Hobart would assert, that the opinion of the committee was formed upon the fullest examination of the evidence before them, and their recommendation to adopt this bill given upon the fullest conviction of its absolute necessity. The urgency which called for this measure would induce him to move the House to pass it immediately through its several stages. Lord Holland contended, that when noble lords were unable to perceive the necessity of resorting to a measure of this nature, they were naturally led to argue that the grounds of its adoption were inadequate and unsatisfactory. On those by whom the measure was proposed, it was incumbent to present to the House a specific case of necessity. He censured ministers for not adhering to the ancient constitutional practice in cases of this kind, and, without any message from the throne, on the general unsubstantiated report of a committee, calling on the House to agree to a bill which involved the suspension of the constitution. The grounds contained in the report were far from satisfying his mind; nor could he consent to renounce the most important support of the liberties of the people, on such general assertions of the existence of a conspiracy as those which it stated. He was anxious to understand to what length so dangerous a doctrine was to be extended. It was the duty of the House to proceed on the idea that the power which it vested in ministers was liable to great abuse. His lordship pointedly alluded to the solitary imprisonments and coercive severities which had been practised under the authority of similar bills, and severely censured the conduct of ministers in resisting the dismissal from office of Aris, the gaoler of Coldbath-fields prison. The same system of coercion had been tried in Ireland, and, instead of tranquillity, it had driven the people to open rebellion. The same system here was hourly push. ing the country into the most alarming situation. The abandonment of those severe and unconstitutional measures, and the re-establishment of British liberty on its ancient and venerable footing, would do more to tranquillise the popular mind than all the irritating measures that ministers could devise. The Earl of Westmorland vindicated the conduct of the committee which had been appointed, and the report they had made. With regard to the use which ministers had made of the former suspension of this act, he challenged the noble lord to prove that any good and loyal subject had been put into prison in consequence of such suspension. The power with which ministers were entrusted had in no case been abused. Lord Grenville thought, that enough had been stated in the report of the committee, to satisfy their lordships of the expediency of adopting the measure. It had been stated, that a conspiracy of the same nature still existed, which had involved Ireland in such calamities, and which, had it not been for the vigilance of ministers and parliament, would have involved this country in similar distresses. Their lordships committee had stated, that the report of the Commons had been fully proved; and they stated this fact as the result of their own inquiries on the subject. But a degree of proof had been required by noble lords, which was incompatible with the very object of appointing a committee of secrecy. The committee had stated that the same conspiracy existed, and was still pursued in this country, as had plunged Ireland in rebellion. The continuance of this conspiracy-constituted a good reason for the continuance of the present measure. The committee had likewise stated, that the design of the conspirators was, to cause a sudden explosion, which was intended to take place in the interval between the expiration of the former bills and the renewal of those now before the House. This of itself afforded a reason, not merely for passing the bill, but for doing so with as little delay as possible. pension Bill]. The following Protest was entered on the Journals: "Dissentient, 1. "Because no sign of disaffection to the constitution of the country has hi therto appeared in the body of the people. 2. Because the leading argument which has been made use of in favour of the said suspension, namely, that it was to prevent a few disaffected persons from corrupting the mass of the people is nugatory, since the application of the same principle would be equally strong to the preservation of all wholesome restraint of power in the punishment of all other crimes as well as high treason, and would do away the very essence and groundwork of liberty under the law; a few of fenders in every branch of crime never being wanting to palliate on those grounds the substitution of discretionary power for law. 3. "Because the constitution unmuti. lated, is abundantly provided in itself with adequate means for its own protection. 4. Because the Suspension of the said Habeas Corpus Act is, in fact, levelled against the wants of the people, and not against the efforts of Jacobinism, which have long ceased to be any thing but the derision of all Europe. 5. "Because the suspension of the said act has no pretensions to alleviate the wants, or redress the grievances of the people, but merely to stifle for awhile the complaints they occasion. 6. Because the suspension of the said act of Habeas Corpus has a natural tendency to infuse into the present existing discontents, a turn of a political nature, to which they are at present a perfect stranger, by cutting off from the subject the privilege of freely communicating his ideas without restraint, and thereby driving him to extremities, which, under a free government, he would have no occasion to resort to. 7. "Because considering the suspension of the said act of Habeas Corpus on the grounds on which it is endeavoured to be justified, it does not appear to be a mea sure of temporary necessity, called for by local and adventitious circumstances, but rather to form part of a general system of resistance to certain disputed points of morality, which must carry equal weight with them at all times, and in all ages, as long as men continue to receive from the Protest against the Habeas Corpus Sus- Almighty the same intellectual faculties. The bill was then read a second time. After which it went through the remaining stages, and was passed. were found to have existed at that period, under various denominations; observing only, that the subsequent information has corrothe same time, that it has proved to the borated every statement in that Report, at committee, that by the effect of the measures which parliament had adopted their meetings have been considerably checked, and the spirit which had excited them in a great degree repressed. "Because it appears from certain transactions both in this House and where, that the undoubted privilege keeping the proceedings of the legisre secret, is endeavoured to be exded to the seclusion of the body of the ion from knowing in what manner they governed, and that the suspension of Habeas Corpus act will give a colour such a jealous, timid, and self-accusing stem. 9. Because it behoves every member this House to ascertain by what reated acts, whether it is really intended govern Englishmen free born, by prinples which it is thought necessary to onceal from them, and that the suspenon of the Habeas Corpus act cannot il to operate on the fears of members of his House, to deter them from carrying bis and other laudable undertakings into execution. 10. "Because when the Habeas Corpus act was last suspended, the powers that were thereby vested were most shamefully abused, as appeared by the Report of a Select Committee of the House of Commons formed to inquire into the circum Their lordships having been pleased to refer to this committee the bill for reviving and continuing an act for preventing Seditious Meetings and Assemblies, the committee thought it their duty to proceed immediately on the special matter of that reference, and they must, in the first place, recall their lordships attention to the Report of a committee Jaid before them on the 27th of May 1799, together with the Report of the committee of the House of Commons referred to in that report for a full explanation of the nature of the Seditious Meetings and Assemblies, which [VOL. XXXV.] When it became known to some of the most stirring members of the society, which, under the name of the London Corresponding Society, is so particularly described in the former Report, that the act for preventing seditious meetings had expired, they drew together at first in small parties with a degree of caution, changing frequently their place of meeting, and omitting their accustomed forms, being still apprehensive, as they expressed themselves, of the act, which had not beas Corpus act. In this condition various then expired, for the suspension of the Haplans were formed in different meetings for resuming and carrying on with more security their former practices. Among other devices, one was proposed and adopted by a considerable number, to assume the name and appearance of a Benefit Society. Those who were thus to take the name of a Benefit Society had no other purpose but to mask under the name a Political Society, it was expressly declared, that no fund, raised formed for purposes the most flagitious; for by regular contribution, should form the stock of this society; no persons admitted members but those of democratic sentiments, who were to receive copies of the rules of a Benefit Society, not that they should be observed, but that they might deceive the magistrates, in case any of the meetings should be suspected; converting thereby, in fraud of the law, an excellent establishment for the relief of the sober and industrious poor, into an instrument for the destruction of sobriety and industry. Many members of the former Corresponding Society and their friends were in this manner engaged. Others appear to have been at the same time concerting a deeper design of a Secret Society, which after it had attained a proper maturity, was announced to the Benefit Society that had been established about three weeks, and became numerous, by two persons in the character of delegates from a Society of Emancipation, and desiring to know whether the pretended Benefit Society would connect itself with their Society. The proposal was favourably received, and a future meeting appointed, at which they should be furnished with the instructions of the plan of that society. At that meeting the instructions produced in writing were to this effect:The members to be admitted by a test, or declaration on oath, to be sworn on the Bible, when it can be produced; but it is observed, that since Paine's Age of Reason, it is looked [40] |