88 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1810. 



bate goes on. The strangers are 

 in possession of all that has passed ; 

 and thus, by its very operation, the 

 object of that standing order was 

 defeated. But if that order claim- 

 ed such particular reverence, it 

 should be remembered, that there 

 were many others which any other 

 member could move to have en- 

 forced — instances of theseMr.She- 

 ridan mentioned. There was also, 

 he observed, another order which 

 held it to be the privilege of mem- 

 bers to pass strangers through the 

 House into the gallery, except 

 while the House was sitting. — 

 Here then were two orders wholly 

 irreconcileable, unless it was in- 

 tended that members shouldintro- 

 duce their friends for the purpose 

 of being committed to the custody 

 of the serjeant-at-arms. Was it 

 not, then, a duty to reconcile such 

 orders to themselves, and to com- 

 mon sense ? It was not his inten- 

 tion to move for the repeal of the 

 order, or to maintain that there 

 never could arise an occasion when 

 strangers ought to be excluded ; 

 but lie did wish the order to be so 

 modified, that it should not de- 

 pend on the caprice or pleasure of 

 any individual member, but be fair- 

 ly submitted to the decision of the 

 House, When strangers were in- 

 troduced by members they should 

 be allowed to continue, except 

 when the question was such that 

 it was not proper to be discussed 

 before strangers. — When the cha- 

 racter of the king's son was to be 

 investigated, not a syllable had 

 been heard of the exclusion of 

 strangers ; but when ihe conduct 

 and character of ministers were to 

 be inquired into, then it appeared 

 to be a subject too tender and de- 

 licate for public inspection in that 

 House. Mr. Sheridan thought that 



there never was a period in our 

 history in which it was more ne- 

 cessary for parliament to conciliate 

 the public ; therefore he moved, 

 •' That a committee of privileges 

 be appointed to meet to-morrow, 

 in the Speaker's chamber, to con- 

 sider the order of the 25th of 

 January last." 



Mr. Windham wished to know 

 in what manner the daily pub- 

 lishing the debates was advanta- 

 geous to the country. He asked 

 what was the value to their con- 

 stituents of knowing what was 

 passing in that house ? Supposing 

 they should never know, it was 

 only the difference between a re- 

 presentative government and a de- 

 mocracy. Tillthelast thirty years, 

 or a few years farther back, it was 

 not even permitted to publish the 

 debates of that House. So lately as 

 the times of Dr. Johnson the de- 

 bates were never published but un- 

 der fictitiousnames. Hehad heard 

 that proprietors of papers had talk- 

 ed of the injustice of closed doors. 

 This was to consider the admission 

 of strangers into the gallery as a 

 privilege. But though he might, 

 perhaps, think it useful to let 

 this practice continue, after having 

 so long prevailed, he did notallovr 

 it to be a privilege. Were (hat the 

 case, we should come into a state 

 of democracy : a state like that of 

 Athens. If admission into the gal- 

 leries had been winked at, this was 

 DO reason that it should be conti- 

 nued on all occasions, and that 

 persons should make a trade of 

 what they obtained from thegalle- 

 ries : among which persons were 

 to be found persons of all descrip- 

 tions : bankrupts, lottery-office 

 keepers, stockbrokers, footmen, 

 and decayed tradesmen. He did 

 not wish to establish such a power 



