GENERAL HISTORY. 



[123 



occasion to speak very slightingly 

 of the former then intended bill. 

 The second reading of his bill was, 

 however, negatived by a division 

 of 31 against 10. 



The defeat in the la^t session of 

 the attack upon informations ex- 

 officio did not prevent the noble 

 lord (Holland), who had a princi- 

 pal share in it, from bringing the 

 matter again before parliament, 

 though in a different shape. His 

 lordship, on July 3, presented to 

 the House of Lords two bills rela- 

 tive to ex~officio informations, the 

 object of the first of which he 

 stated to be, to prevent delay be- 

 tween the commission of the offence 

 and the filing of the information, 

 and between thelatterand proceed- 

 ing to trial; andthat of thesecond, 

 to repeal so much of the act of the 

 48th of the King, as related to 

 holding persons to bail upon ex- 

 officio informations. They were 

 then read a first time and ordered 

 to be printed. 



The order of the day for the se- 

 cond reading being moved on the 

 17th, Lord Holland rose, and made 

 his introductory speech on the sub- 

 ject. As the whole of his argu- 

 ment, as well as those which fol- 

 lowed, were of a legal nature, it is 

 impossible to do them justice in 

 the abridged form which our com- 

 pass would admit, and we must 

 therefore content ourselves histori- 

 cally with a sketch of the result. 

 His lordship after arguing at length 

 upon the abuses to which these in- 

 formations were liable, and the 

 power they gave of inflicting pe- 

 nalties upon obnoxious persons, 

 for which the law gave no redress, 

 came to the purport of the bill he 

 intended to move, which was only 

 the first of the above mentioned, 



the late period of the session hav- 

 ing induced him to defer the se- 

 cond. He said, it was a measure 

 merely of regulation. It left un- 

 touched the purposes for which 

 these informations were instituted : 

 it did not interfere with the speedy 

 prosecntion of enormous offences; 

 but meant to counteract that prin- 

 ciple by which the terror of a cri- 

 minal information was kept hang- 

 ing over a man's head. The first 

 clause enacted, that no informa- 

 tion should be filed by the attor- 

 ney-general within Great Britain 

 and Ireland, unless it should be 

 filed and exhibited in a given time 

 (to be specified) after the misde- 

 meanor or offence committed. 

 The second was, that if any infor- 

 mation ex-officio be not proceeded 

 upon, and the offender brought to 

 trial within so many months, all 

 further proceedings upon the same 

 should cease, except such trial 

 should, upon cause shown, have 

 been postponed by a rule or order 

 of the King's Bench. His lord- 

 ship concluded by moving the se- 

 cond leading of the bill. 



Lord Ellenborough expressed his 

 surprise at the bill which had been 

 brought in, and wished his lord- 

 ship had taken better advice on 

 the subject. He made many legal 

 objections to it, and showed the in- 

 conveniences to which it would 

 give rise. He concluded with say- 

 ing, that it was of so light and fri- 

 volous a nature, that he would not 

 propose that it be read a second 

 time this day three months, but 

 would treat it as it deserved, by 

 moving "that it be rejected." 



Lord Erskine stated a number of 

 arguments in defence of the bdl, 

 and said, with respect to some of 

 the objections made by the chief 



justice 



