440 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1810. 



jeant-at-arms, touching his pro- 

 ceedings in the execution of sucli 

 warrants;the notices of the Speaker 

 referred to your committee ; the 

 demand made upon the serjeant- 

 at-arms of a copy of the warrant 

 under which he arrested sir Fran- 

 cis Burdett; the writ served upon 

 the Serjeant, and the summons 

 served upon the Speaker, and the 

 notice of declaration filed against 

 the Serjeant ; which said notices, 

 demand, writ, and summons, are 

 all at the suit or on behalf of the 

 said sir Francis Burdett, and all 

 bear the name of the same solici- 

 tor, John Ellis: — That the said 

 proceedings have been brought 

 against the Speaker and the Ser- 

 jeant on account of what was done 

 by them respectively in obedience 

 to the order of the House ; and 

 for the purpose of bringing into 

 question, before acourt of luvv, the 

 legality of the proceedings of the 

 House in ordering the commit- 

 ment of sir Francis Burdett, and 

 of the conduct of the Speaker and 

 the Serjeant, in obedience to that 

 order. 



I. Your committee, not in con- 

 sequence of any doubt upon the 

 question so intended to be raised, 

 but for the purpose of collecting 

 into one view such precedents of 

 the proceedings of the House, upon 

 cases of breach of privilege, as 

 might afford light upon this im- 

 portant subject, have, in the first 

 place, examined the journals, with 

 relation to the practice of the 

 House in commitment of persons, 

 whether members or others, for 

 breaches of privilege, by offensive 

 words or writings derogatory to 

 the honour and .tharacter of the 

 House, or of any of its members ; 

 and they have found numerous 

 instances, in the history of parlia- 

 ment, so far as the journals ex- 



tend, of the frequent, uniform, 

 and uninterrupted practice of the 

 House of Commons to commit to 

 different custodies, persons whom 

 they have adjudged guilty of a 

 breach of their privileges by so 

 offending. 



The statement of these prece- 

 dents, which establish the law of 

 parliament upon this point by the 

 usage of parliament ; the utility of 

 such law ; and the necessity which 

 exists for its continuance, in order 

 to maintain the dignity and in- 

 dependence of the House of Com- 

 mons ; its analogy to the acknow- 

 ledged powers of courts of justice, 

 and the recognition ofsuch rights 

 in various instances, by legal au- 

 thorities, by judicial decisions, and 

 by the other branch of the legis- 

 lature ; as well as the invariable 

 assertion and maintenance of it 

 by the House of Commons, are 

 topics which may be reserved for 

 a further report. And although 

 there are some instances in which 

 the House has thought fit to direct 

 prosecutions for such offences, yet 

 the committee confidently state, 

 that the more frequent practice of 

 the House, at all times, has been 

 to vindicate its own privileges by 

 its own authority. 



H. The subject which appears to 

 your committee to press most ur- 

 gently for an immediate report, 

 is the state of the law and the 

 practice of the House in cases 

 either of criminal prosecution or 

 civil action against any of itsmem- 

 bers, for any thing spoken or done 

 in the House of Commons ; or for 

 any proceeding against any of its 

 officers, or any other persons act- 

 ing under its authority. 



The principal instances to be 

 found under this head arose out of 

 thoseproceedings which, in the time 

 of Charles the First, Charles the 



