them, he wished it to be decided as speedily as possible. his life which might be pointed out, no matter by whom, as oppressive or fraudu→ lent. Was the House ready to assume a power to that extent? Was there no re Mr. Hudson Gurney said, it did appear to him that the House of Commons, which at that moment was engaged in the con-medy, if a magistrate misbehaved himself, sideration of matters of the most portentous nature, ought not to have its attention divided by the introduction of this inquiry. Was it proper, at such a time, that, night after night, the Commons of Great Britain should waste their time in discussing the merits of this story of a Surrey justice and the fleece of a ram? Mr. Calcraft said, that the way to administer substantial justice was, not to proceed until the person accused was prepared to make his defence. They might then proceed with the accusations. With this object in view, the inquiry ought to be postponed until Thursday. Mr. S. Bourne knew of no means by which this inquiry could be prosecuted, except that of examining and cross-examining witnesses on the same day. It was evident, that a very different aspect might be given to the case, if witnesses were examined directly on one day, and were subjected to cross-examination on another. Such a proceeding would form a most mischievous precedent. Mr. W. Lamb could not help expressing the strong objection which he entertained against going into this inquiry at all. The case, so far as he could comprehend it, was, that the accused party had, without sufficient grounds, committed an individual for felony. Admitting that to be the fact -supposing, for argument's sake, the individual to have been actuated by vindictive motives-still, he contended, that this was not the place to institute a prosecution, or to seek for redress. If such a principle were allowed, parliament would be constantly applied to, instead of the courts of law. Every trespass, every trifling error, committed by a magistrate, however innocently, would be brought before parliament. He would ask, were they fit to exercise judicial functions in a case like this? Did it make any difference whether the accused party was a magistrate for Surrey, or one of the justices of the great session of Wales? Some of the acts alleged against him were neither perpetrated in his magisterial nor judicial capacity. The House, it seemed, was called on to exercise its judgment, not merely on any thing improper that might appear after judicial inquiry, but they were asked to go further, and to look into any act of but an appeal to parliament? Every case of injury, which the complaining party had the power of prosecuting in a court of law, might be brought before parliament, if the system was once tolerated. He did not think that this was the constitutional course; and he must say, that of all things, he viewed with the greatest sorrow and alarm, a judicial sentence passed by a popular assembly. If that House proceeded to pronounce sentence of condemnation on individuals, they would, in the end, shake the whole system of constitutional law, and lay the foundation for violence and injustice. Of late years motions of this kind had been made, which, as they enlisted the feelings of men, were exceedingly dangerous. Last session, a motion was submitted to the House relative to the case of Mr. Smith, of Demerara. The House was called on to vote a condemnatory address; and, in support of the case, documents were adduced, not one of which would have been received as evidence in a court below. Any prece dent of this kind he considered most dangerous; and therefore he intreated the House to proceed no further in this business. There might be some inconvenience in this course; but it would be better to put up with it, than to encounter the peril which an opposite line of conduct would certainly create. Mr. Brougham wished to say one word with respect to the evidence adduced in the case of Mr. Smith. He admitted, that there was not one document which would have been received in a court below in this country. But, it unfortunately happened, that the evidence on which that case was founded, though it would not be received here, was received in Demerara. Mr. Peel felt very strongly the obser vations of his hon. friend; and, if this had been an original motion, perhaps he would have acceded to his view of the case. But, as the inquiry had been already entertained, he thought there would be considerable difficulty in stopping where they were. Lord John Russell said, it was a prin ciple of the constitution, that judges should only be removable for partial or improper conduct; and it seemed to him quite clear, that when a serious stain was thrown on the character of a person in a judicial situation, it was the duty of that House to inquire whether the individual was fit to exercise the important functions attached to his situation. This was due to the constitution of the country and to the judges themselves, whose respectability alone could be supported by the general opinion which the country entertained of their uprightness and integrity. Whether a court of law was or was not open to the complainant, was a matter of little importance in this case. The redress granted in a court of law was redress to the individual for the injury he had suffered. But when the subject came before that House, it was not for compensation to the individual. The question then was, what step should be taken for the sake of the public, with respect to a judge who was charged with having violated the principles of justice in a transaction between man and man? The best way, he thought, would be to proceed with the case on Thursday. The entry in the Journal, of the 27th June, 1825, was then read, as follows: "Mr. Denman, in his place, charged Mr. Kenrick, one of his majesty's justices of great session in Wales, a justice of the peace for Surrey, and recorder of Dover, that he preferred before a neighbouring magistrate a charge of felony against a poor man named John Franks, without any sufficient proof of the same; on which charge the said John Franks was committed to prison, where he remained till he was discharged at the sessions by the verdict of a jury, acquitting him instantly on the same evidence which had been adduced by Mr. Kenrick as the ground of his commitment:-That, during the imprisonment of the said John Franks, Mr. Kenrick made repeated offers to procure a lenient sentence to be passed upon him, provided he would plead guilty to the charge; and applied to the clerk of the peace, and the chairman of sessions, to permit him to withdraw the prosecution, alleging Franks's good character as a reason for wishing to do so:-That, shortly afterwards, in answer to some public animadversion on his own conduct, he wrote and published a ibellous letter against the said John Franks, calumniating his character, and imputing to him crimes of which he was not guilty."" Mr. Denman said, that as he had re"ceived no notice of the opposition which had broken out upon this occasion, he wished, before he made his motion, to know whether it was intended formally to oppose it; because, if such an intention existed, he should be sorry to have his lips sealed, by simply making that motion in the beginning, instead of reserving it for the end of such observations as he might deem it proper to address to the House. He thought it was impossible for any man who had read the first page of the history of England, to doubt that it was the duty of parliament to inquire into the conduct of judges. Were they to pause in exercising that power, because his acts were amenable to the law of the land? The very fact that they were contrary to the law, was an aggravation of the offence. If any man really entertained doubts on this subject, he should like them to be expressed. He thought the House had acted most properly in entertaining this inquiry last session; and he was sure that they would be guilty of an abandonment of a most sacred duty, if they did not proceed with it now. He should move "That the said Charge be considered in a committee of the whole House on Friday; that a copy of the Charge be communicated to Mr. Kenrick; and that Mr. Kenrick have leave to attend the House, on Friday, by himself, his counsel or agents."-Agreed to. BANK CHARTER AND PROMISSORY NOTES ACTS.] Mr. Brogden appearing at the bar with the report of the Resolutions of the committee on the above acts, He Mr. Calcraft said, that as he had not had an opportunity last night of delivering his opinion on the nature of the plan proposed by ministers, he would, in as few words as possible, state explicitly what his view of the subject was. could assure the House that his opinions were not at all altered after hearing most attentively the whole of this protracted discussion. With the greatest wish to concur in the sentiments of the majority on this occasion, he felt, after giving the question the best consideration in his power, that they were going to legislate in a most improvident and imprudent manner. He was not a favourer of that sort of currency which it was the object of the chancellor of the Exchequer to remove. He wished as much as any man for a sound metallic currency; and when misfortunes, such as those which had lately occurred, pressed heavily on the poor, he should exceedingly rejoice if might just as well be found fault with as they could be obviated by the operation the banking system; for a nefarious sysof a metallic currency. But he thought tem of gambling had of late prevailed to the House was proceeding to legislate a most alarming extent in most of our without having made sufficient inquiry into commercial transactions; and some of the causes of the present disastrous situa- these wild speculations, he was sorry to tion of the country; and he was sure say, had been countenanced by members there was no instance on record where of that House; and, owing to their having the legislature, at an equally momen- been so countenanced, had caused more tous crisis, had acted with equal pre- disastrous consequences than the breaking cipitation. Some hon. gentlemen had of twenty or thirty country bankers. He attributed our present calamities to one must confess that the division last night cause; others had ascribed them to had surprised him in the extreme; but he another. Surely, then, as we were not would make bold to say that, notwithagreed upon this most important point, standing the majority, as to the number it became us to examine into and clearly of votes, was so great in favour of the reascertain it, before we could hope to re- solution, the general sense of the House move the effects that had been caused by was against it. The course, in his opinion, it. He could scarcely convince himself most proper for the House to have adoptthat he was addressing the same body of ed would have been, in the first place to gentlemen who constituted this House in have instituted a most careful inquiry as 1822, and who almost unanimously con- to the cause of the distress. He himself curred in passing the act for continuing attributed it principally to the Bank, the the issuing of one and two pound notes bubbles, and the over-trading. A pause for ten years from that period. This in legislation ought, at any rate, to be measure was brought forward immediately made, until the present ferment had subafter the repeal of the Bank Restriction sided; for, proceeding to legislate on this act, and the minority against it was only point in the agitated state of the country, six. No one had insisted, that the issue was like beginning to rebuild a house of those small notes was the primary cause which had been burnt down before the of our present distress; and yet the issuers rubbish had been removed. The Secreof them were to be dealt with as if this tary of State for the Home Department was the case. From the best information had contended, that this measure must be from different parts of the country, it ap- carried "now or never;" but for his part, peared that manufacturers were every- although he wished the country ultimately where obliged to discharge their workmen, to return to a metallic currency, he did because they had no currency wherewith not conceive "now" the proper time for to pay them their wages. Yet, in the face doing so. As far as the country bankers of this state of things, we were called were concerned, the issuing of these small upon still further to contract, or, more notes was the most troublesome part of properly speaking, to cause the entire their business; and he was convinced, withdrawal of the small issues of the coun- that if they were left to themselves, they try bankers; for such must be the imme- would, by degrees, withdraw them from diate effect of this resolution, although by circulation; but it was galling to them to the letter of it, the continuance of the have such a resolution as the present circulation ofthese small notes was permit- passed, which cast a stigma upon them, ted for three years. And how was the and obliquely insinuated, that the whole deficiency in the currency which would of our present distress was to be ascribed be caused by such withdrawal to be sup- to these issues. He thought it might be plied? He was extremely happy that, in as well, however, to let the present meathe course of this discussion, nothing had sure pass in silence; as he could not hope been said that could in any way affect the to defeat it, when he saw so many hon. gen character of the country bankers as a tlemen whose opinions were against it, body, although the banking system itself prepared to give their votes for it. With had met with most liberal abuse; and yet regard to the proposed plan of joint-stock it was somewhat remarkable, that hon. banks, he was convinced that country gentlemen, who had for years fostered bankers of good credit had nothing to and encouraged this system, should now apprehend from it; for, after having passed all at once have discovered its pernicious safely through the late severe ordeal, contendency. The whole system of trade fidence in them would be so strong as to VOL. XIV. 2 B enable them successfully to compete with any joint-stock banks; and, if there could be found gentlemen willing to enter into these last-mentioned establishments, he saw no objection to their formation. He hoped, however, that government, before they passed the present measure, would relieve the Bank from the weight with which it was at present incumbered. The Bank had a duty to perform to the public, and it ought to have its hands untied, so that it might be able to perform it. He did not despair, that, in a mighty country like this, things would settle down to their proper course; that in time the paper circulation would be got rid of; and that, if there was a demand for gold, there would be a corresponding supplyon the old mercantile principle, that when a legitimate demand existed, an adequate supply would come. Mr. Hudson Gurney said, in the observations he had to make, he should confine himself to that which was purely prac tical. He believed, that the amount of gold coin likely to be wanted, in order to replace the one-pound notes withdrawn, had been very greatly under-estimated; as he had no doubt that four-fifths of that which was issued would, in the first instance, be hoarded; and until those persons were supplied who, under the influence of distrust, were thus endeavouring to secure themselves, there could be no free circulation of sovereigns. As he had said before, he was still of opinion, that it was impossible to return to a circulation entirely metallic, unless some alteration took place in the Mint regulations. In that opinion he continued firm; and was decided in his conviction, that if government were to pursue, in their strictness, the measures they were driving forward, they would bring the country to a standstill; but in this, whether he were right, or whether wrong, it had nothing to do with that which he wished more immediately to urge. The immediate object was, to supply some medium of sufficient security, that could not be run in more rapidly than it was physically possible to meet, and which would not be hoarded. The resolution which went to allow the bankers' notes to pass for three years longer, was, in its nature, nugatory. That species of circulation was discredited in public opinion; and the being thus cried down was nearly tantamount to its immediate suppression. He should, therefore, on the bringing up the report, again move as an amendment, that the words "Bank of England" be omitted; convinced that the only possible way in which the government could carry into effect their own views, would be, in the first instance, to allow the notes of the Bank of England to take the place of the private paper; as then, unshackled by the opposition of any private interests, they might afterwards deal with the matter as circumstances might enable them to do; and, instead of the bankers having an interest in filling the country with their own notes, to the exclusion of gold, they would find them anxious to get coin into their respective districts, and only using the Bank paper, when the other could not be obtained, either in sufficient amount, or with sufficient rapidity. But, above all things, the government ought to make every effort to flood the country with silver. During the times of the Bank restriction, the only real embarrassment known was the occasional deficiency of silver coin to pay the labourer. By the substitution of Bank of England notes for the paper withdrawn, and by throwing into the circulation an ample supply of silver for all minor payments, it was possible that the measures proposed might be carried through; but it was evidently not possible that the operation could be performed in any other manner. Mr. Ellice said, that having voted in support of the proposition of the chancellor of the Exchequer, in opposition to certain opinions which he had been in the habit of expressing, he was desirous of explaining to the House the grounds of his vote. He quite concurred with his hon. friend, the member for Callington, as to the distressing examples which the history of our currency afforded of the effects of that nefarious system which now, thank God! they were about to get rid of. When the bill of 1819 passed, he was in a small division; not that he objected to a metallic circulation, but because he wished to have a standard accommodated to the circumstances of the country, and which would keep pace with the contracts of individuals. However, the House passed that bill, determined, at all events, to make the experiment of compelling the country to meet all their engagements, and individuals to fulfil all their contracts, according to the ancient standard. Now, he would ask, what were the consequences of departing from that resolution? The result was, that every departure made it more difficult to approach that period man sat in 1819, the consequence of which was, that we were to return to cash payments. Every one remembered the distress which ensued, and then the country bankers issued their notes. Then followed, in 1824 and 1825, what was called great prosperity. The momentary pressure was removed, but it removed us still further from the object we had in view. He thought the statement which had been made by the hon. member for Taunton, of the amount of the Bank of England's engagements for the government, was entitled to great attention. In fact, by a paper which he held in his hand, it appeared that the Bank had 700,000%. locked up in Exchequer bills more than had been stated. The honourable Bank director, who favoured them with some explanations last night of the connexion between the Bank and the government, had said, that it had not been the wish of the Bank to advance money on mortgages, or on the dead weight, as it was called; but they had been induced to do so by the representations of the government, who stated it as being for the interest of the country. He wished to know where the blame was to rest. For his own part, he could not attach any blame to the Bank, placed as they were, in a situation of difficulty, with the merchants pressing them on one side, and government on the other. At the time when the resumption of cash payments was first agitated, the Bank declared they could not, with safety to themselves or the country, attempt to pay in gold, unless ten millions of the nineteen millions then owing them by the government, was repaid. Yet the Bank, in 1825, were placed in the same situation, with respect to their advances to government, that they were in when they declared they could not, with safety, attempt the resumption of cash payments. The state of our currency had led to that accumulation of money which finally exploded in all those loans which had exhausted the treasure of the country. When we came to look for all this money to replace our circulation, he agreed with the hon. gen tleman, that we should find the country in a very curious situation. Much of the present evils arose from over-speculation, and that was caused by the increase of the country circulation, and the reduction of the interest on the national debt. These were the two causes which drove the money out of this country. Russia, Austria, Spain, and the South American when its provisions could be carried into execution; and, if the postponement which his hon. friend had recommended was adopted, that difficulty would be still more increased, and then, in fact, we might despair of ever arriving at the great object so much desired. There were three periods in which immense quantities of paper had been circulated in the country. The first was in 1813-14; the second in 1817 and 1818; and lastly, in 1824 and 1825. He could not but think there was a great deal in the argument of the hon. member for Taunton, that at the termination of the war there was a great facility of obtaining gold from the continent, as we had means of export then which did not at present exist. In his opinion, therefore, it was more in the power of the country, in 1815 and 1816, to return to a metallic currency, than it ever had been since. The right hon. the President of the Board of Trade would refer them to the amount of our exports of last year; but, he would ask, how much of them had been paid for? One half of them had gone in foreign loans, which might never be repaid; and therefore no argument could be founded on the amount of our last year's exports, to shew the capability of the country to return to a metallic currency. Much had been said about theory, and the opinion of practical men of business; for his own part, he had listened attentively to what had been advanced, and he believed the House was legislating at present in utter ignorance of consequences. But, was that any reason why we should go on with these pitiful one and two pound notes? Far better, as his hon. and learned friend, the member for Winchelsea observed, to return to a currency which we understood; and if the time should arrive when it should be a question whether the country was able to fulfil its engagements, then let us manfully look at the difficulties, and take measures to provide for them. It was not a little strange, that every time that an approach had been made to cash payments, the country had started back from the prospects which opened. In 1815 and 1816, the pressure was on the agricultural interest. How that had been alleviated, he need not say; but it appeared that, in 1817 and 1818, an immense quantity of paper was issued, and that relieved the distress for the time, to fall again with greater force, at a subsequent period, on some other great interest of the country. The committee of the right hon. gentle |