GENERAL HISTORY. 



[29 



that all the persons who were so 

 arrested and detained, and who 

 were not prosecuted, have been 

 at different times discharged, as 

 the state of the country, and 

 the circumstances attending the 

 several trials which had taken 

 place, were judged to permit. 



The comnn'ttee understand that, 

 up to a certain period, expecta- 

 tions were entertained of" being 

 able to bring to trial a large 

 proportion of the persons so 

 arrested and detained; but that 

 these expectations have from 

 time to time been unavoidably 

 relinquished. 



On the whole, therefore, it has 

 appeared to the committee, that 

 the government, in the execution 

 of the powers vested in it, by the 

 two acts before mentioned, has 

 acted with due discretion and 

 moderation; and as far as appears 

 to the committee, the magistrates 

 in the several disturbed districts 

 have, by their activity and vigi- 

 lance, contributed materially to the 

 preservation of the public peace." 



The report was ordered to be 

 printed. 



The Dule of Montrose, on 

 February 25th, presented to their 

 lordships a bill founded upon the 

 Report of the Secret Committee, 

 and intituled a "bill for indemnify- 

 ing persons who, since the 26th 

 of January 1817, have acted in 

 apprehending, imprisoning, or 

 detaining in custody, persons 

 suspected of high treason, or 

 treasonable practices, and in the 

 suppression of tumultuous and 

 unlawful assemljlies." It was 

 not necessary for him to say any 

 thing in its support in this stage. 

 He should merely propose that 

 the bill be now read a first time. 



The Earl of Lauderdale would 

 not have troubled their lordships 

 with any observations on the 

 noble duke's proposition at the 

 present moment, if he did not 

 conceive that it involved a ques- 

 tion of considerable constitutional 

 difficulty and importance. From 

 the title of the bill it appeared to 

 be for the purpose of indemnifying 

 his majesty's ministers for every 

 act they had done under the 

 suspension of the Habeas Corpus. 

 Now what was the situation in 

 which their lordships were placed? 

 They knew by the Journals of the 

 other House of parliament, that 

 papers had also been sent to that 

 House, and referred to a com- 

 mittee. That committee had not 

 yet reported; and their report 

 might be such as to render any 

 proceedings of the kind now 

 proposed, very improper to be 

 adopted by their lordships. He 

 reminded the House that on a 

 former occasion they had decided, 

 in agreement with the opinion of 

 a noble and learned lord, that 

 they would not entertain a certain 

 measure because it might come 

 before them in a judicial capacity. 

 On the same ground this bill was 

 not fit to be entertained ; for if 

 any principle of their proceedings 

 was more to be regarded than 

 another, it was this — that the 

 House ought never to give an 

 extrajudicial opinion. 



The Earl of Lirerpool saw no 

 possible ground for delay in the 

 objection stated by the noble 

 lord. If it was good for any 

 thing, it would be equally good 

 against the appointment of a 

 committee to inquire into the 

 conduct of ministers on the papers 

 which - had been submitted to 



their 



