HISTORY OF EUROPE. 



81 



<' est respect and esteem, I beg this 

 " honourable house will view it as 

 " the unguarded language of the 

 " heart, and not a wilful intention 

 " to provoke the censure of a pow- 

 " cr, oil which our dearest rights 

 " and liberties depend ; I entreat 

 " you sir, that some allowance may 

 " be made for that freedom of dis- 

 " cussion of public affairs, which, 

 " for a long series of years, has been 

 " sanctioned by common usage, and 

 " that the hasty composition of a 

 " newspaper may not be considered 

 " as a deliberate design to offend this 

 " honourable house." Mr Stuart 

 was then desired by the speaker to 

 withdraw. 



Mr. Grey then moved, that Irter 

 Stuart, in publishing the said paper, 

 has been guilty of a high breach of 

 the privileges of this house. 



The Attorney General said he 

 would not oppose the motion, con- 

 sidering the paragraph to be a libel, 

 but those things wore different as- 

 pects, as, they were for us or against 

 us. He recollected when the public 

 prints made an hon. gentleman state, 

 at clubs, and meetings, that the house 

 of commons was lost to every thing 

 thatwas just and proper, that it was 

 of no use attending it, and tliat 

 it afforded no protection to the peo- 

 ple, — and yet the house had never 

 interfered. 



Mr. Fox observed, that he 

 thought it incontroverliblc that a 

 man may say ho should not attend 

 the house, because he could do no 

 senice in it, vithout being guiKy of 

 a libel ; he had said so, and it was 

 most certainly his opinion. As to 

 any other observations, if the right 

 honourable gentleman had shewn 

 him the prints he alluded to, he 

 ■w ould have fold him how far they 

 were accurate. lie did not think it 



Vol. XLVII. 



very candid to pass it orer at the 

 time it happened, and now bring it 

 forward, as an argumtntem ad homi- 

 nem, when such a libel as this was 

 before the house. He confessed 

 that he thought this a more serious 

 libel than many others, because it 

 seemed to be agreeable to the exe- 

 cutive power ; and in that case, 

 there must be strong suspicions 

 when it came from a person in the 

 pay of the government. 



The motion of Air. Grey was 

 then put and carried-, after which, 

 Mr. Atkins NVright moved, that 

 Mr. Peter Stuart be called to the 

 bar, reprimanded, and discharged. 



Mr. Grey said,' that, after the 

 paragraph in question had been 

 voted a liigh breach of privilege, 

 if the house chose to let it pass with 

 no greater mark of its displeasure, 

 he had no objection : after hearing 

 the apology that had been made, if 

 it were an apology, he would leave 

 them to their own discretion. 



The Chancellor of the Exchequer 

 said, that however he might be dis- 

 posed to lenity, as far as the indivi- 

 dual was concerned, yet, after hav- 

 ing once resolved that a person had 

 been guilty of a high bieach of pri- 

 vilege, he could not, consistently 

 .with the dignity of the house, be 

 instantly discharged ; and therefore 

 he moved, " That the said Peter 

 " Stuart be taken into thp custody 

 " of the sergeant at arms :'' which 

 was agreed to. 



The house having resolved itself 

 into a committee of ways and uicang, 



Mr. P'oster said, he should only 

 intrude upon the attention of the 

 committee for a few minutes. It 

 would be recollected, that, early in 

 the present session, he had stated, 

 that a loan of 1,000,000/. would 

 be proposed to be contracted for in 

 (j Ireland, 



