HISTORY OF EUROPE. 



97 



court would at once have commit- 

 ted those then without a trial. 



The Solicitor-peneral said, that 

 the question before the House 

 was, whether Jones, convicted on 

 his own confession by the unani- 

 mous vote of the House of a gross 

 breach of privilege (which con- 

 tained in itselfa gross and scandal- 

 ous contempt), and punished for 

 his offence in the way that appear- 

 ed most fitting to the House, was 

 guilty or not ? As far as the pre- 

 sent practice could be traced, it 

 was found to be legal and consti- 

 tutional. It was open to Jones to 

 apply by petition; and, for his own 

 part, he might agree to his dis- 

 charge in this way, the next mo- 

 ment after the disposition of the 

 question as it now stood : but he 

 would not, and he trusted the 

 House would not, relax now, after 

 hearing the kind of arguments ad- 

 duced by the honourable baronet. 

 If they did, it would be said that 

 they yielded because they doubt- 

 ed their own right. 



Mr. Sheridan said, that he should 

 certainly vote for the release of 

 Mr. John Jones, but not on the 

 principles contained in thehonour- 

 ablebaronet'sspeech. Why should 

 Jones fall an unwilling sacrifice to 

 doctrines which he never propa- 

 gated, and perhaps never enter- 

 tained ? Did he ever say, with the 

 honourablebaronetjihattheHouse 

 bad no jurisdiction over any per- 

 sons, except its own members ? — 

 Mr. Sheridan, in the course of 

 his discussion of this subject, 

 showed, as he had indeed done on 

 other occasions, in a verymasterly 

 manner, the advantages accruing 

 from the liberty of the press. On 

 this subject he told a very import- 

 ant anecdote. Lord North had 



Vol. LII. 



attempted, at the conclusion of 

 the American war, to exclude the 

 public from the House of Com- 

 mons. He had the power, and 

 exercised it for above a session 

 and a half. What was the con- 

 sequence ? Every county had its 

 parliament, and every village in 

 the empire its delegates. Clubs 

 assembled, and societies sprung 

 up for the discussion of their 

 rights, and the examination of 

 their grievances. The result, how- 

 ever, was, that the minister, seeing 

 his mistake, restored the usual 

 opportunity of communication be- 

 tween the people and their repre- 

 sentatives. If he had not done so, 

 no one knewwhat mighthave hap- 

 pened. He remembered well that; 

 much mischief was apprehended : 

 but the danger was dissipated by 

 the restoration of that freedom 

 which was the most effectual foe 

 to that kind of danger — Mr. She- 

 ridan being anxious to rescue the 

 House from its warfare with the 

 British Forum, moved the amend- 

 ment, " that John Gale Jones 

 should be discharged, in conse- 

 quence of the contrition he had 

 expressed for his offence against 

 the privileges of the House, and 

 the period he had been imprisoned 

 in Newgate." This amendment; 

 being delivered to the Speaker, 

 he observed, in reply to a question 

 that had been put to him by 

 Mr. Sheridan, that an application 

 should be made to the House, by 

 petition, from the prisoner.— The 

 amendment being read. 



The Chancellor of the Exche- 

 quer said, that he could not see 

 why the House should be called 

 upon on the very day on which 

 they had heard a doctrine avowed 

 that implicated the existence of 



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