Commons Sitting of 10 July 1805

MINUTES.
A message from the lords acquainted the house, that their lordships had agreed, without any amendment, to the following bills: The Irish Fire Hearth Duty Regulation bill, the Hop Duty bill, the Irish Paper Duty Regulation bill, the Scotch Assessors' bill, the Irish Customs Regulation bill, the Irish Military Survey bill, the Irish Distillery bill, the Irish Property Exemption bill, the Southern Whale Fishery bill, Quarantine Indemnity bill, the Sugar Drawback bill, the Linen Drawback bill, the Ballast and Lastage bill, the Ipswich Port Duty bill, and to the Thames Tunnel bill with an amendment, to which they desired the concurrence of the house.—Mr. Bulley, from the Exchequer, presented an account of the amount of the produce of the Permanent Taxes, and of the Consolidated Fund; which was ordered to lie on the table.—Mr. Meux; from the EastIndia House, presented two accounts; one, the expence of building the Cornwallis, of 46 guns, at Bombay; the other, the expence of building the Bombay Frigate, of 32 guns. Ordered to lie on the table.—New, Writs were ordered for Wigton, &c. in the room Stewart. esq. who had accepted the Chiltern Hundreds; and for Cockermouth, in the room of J. Graham, esq. who had accepted the stewardship of the Hundred of East Hundred.—Sir A. S. Hamond gave notice, that to-morrow he should Move that there be laid before the house the memorial of the commissioners of the navy, in answer

823
to the third report of the commissioners of naval enquiry, unless the house would permit him to present it now, which he was prepared to do. Mr. Whitbread having made some observations against the immediate presentment of this memorial, the Speaker interfered, and the notice was ordered to stand for to-morrow.—On the motion of Mr. Long, an humble addrsss was ordered to be presented to his majesty, praying, that he would be graciously pleased to confer some ecclesiastical dignity on the rev. S. Smith, chaplain of the house of commons. An address was likewise ordered to be presented to the king. for an advance of 1,200 l. to H. Alexander, esq. for his services as chairman of the committee of Ways and Means. The Usual addresses were voted for remuneration to the different clerks and officers of the house. On the motion of Mr. Huskisson, an address Was ordered to be presented to his majesty, praying, that he would order the sum of 3,250 l. Irish currency, to be advanced to the commissioners of the lottery in Ireland, and to the commissioners on outstanding prizes. The Speaker then attended in the house Of lords in consequence of a message from their lordships; and, on his return, informed the house, that he had heard the royal assent given by commission to a number of public and private bills.

CASE OF CAPTAIN WRIGHT.
Sir Sidney Smith rose and expressed his regret that he was not present yesterday, when a right hon. friend of his (Mr. Windham) took occasion, in a manner so highly honourable to his character, to call the attention of the house to the situation of a gallant friend of his, captain Wright, who was now a prisoner in the Temple at Paris. The honourable officer added that if the right hon. gent. he bad alluded to, should not bring forward a motion on the subject, he would to-morrow move, that there should be laid before the house copies of the correspondence which has taken place, through the Spanish government, between our ministers and the government of France, with respect to the arrest and detention of captain Wright.

IMPEACHMENT OF LORD MELVILLE.
Mr. Whitbread brought in a bill to prevent the proceedings in the impeachment against lord Melville, from being affected by any prorogation or dissolution of parliament. This bill was read a first and second time, committed, and the report brought up. Upon the motion for agreeing to the report,
The Attorney General rose, and after disclaiming any wish to throw the least impediment in the way of the Impeachment, sub
824
mitted to the consideration of the house, whether, if the bill were passed in its present form, an inference would not arise, that an impeachment was abated by a prorogation or dissolution of parliament, and of course interfere with the privileges of that house. This was a question which he apprehended was completely determined in the negative, in Mr. Hastings's case, and he was unwilling that this bill should proceed in such a shape, as to raise a doubt on the subject. Its present objectionable form, he observed, was founded upon a precedent that had taken place, previous to the determination he had alluded to. The right hon. gent. concluded with expressing a wish, that the third reading of the bill should be postponed till to-morrow, in order that it should be so altered, as to guard against any improper inference.
Mr. Whitbread observed that this was a literal transcript of the bill introduced by Mr. Burke, in the case of Mr. Hastings's impeachment; and the author of that bill was certainly not liable to the suspicion of wishing to trench Upon, or to excite a doubt as to the privileges of that house. The ob-object of this bill the honourable member explained to be such, that unless it were adopted, the committee for managing the Impeachment would not he enabled to report to the house on the first day of the next sessions, if they thought necessary, the result of the evidence they had already examined, hut would, on the contrary, be obliged to go through the examination of the same evidence over again. It was with a view to provide against such a circumstance, that he proposed this bill, which he did not conceive calculated to cast any doubt upon the privileges of that house, or he should have been among the last to have brought it forward. From the advanced period of the session, and the consequent necessity of expedition, the hon. gent. was desirous that the bill should not be delayed in its progress, but that it should be read a third time to-day.
Mr. S. Bourne concurred in the Observations of the Attorney-general.
The Speaker observed, that the bill had two distinct objects, first to provide that the proceedings depending in that house on the articles of impeachment against lord. Melville should not be discontinued by any prorogation or dissolution of parliament; the second imported a different provision, that the said article should be proceeded upon in the next session, as to the other house of parliament in the event of a prorogation or dissolution,

825
in the same manner as if no such prorogation or dissolution had taken place. Against the first part of the bill there did not appear to be any objection, but the second was conceived to cast some doubt upon the established privilege and jurisdiction of that house to Continue an impeachment notwithstanding any prorogation or dissolution of parliament. The bill, however, the right hon. gent. had no doubt, would be so modelled as to, remove the objectionable. part.—The bill after being altered, according to the Speaker's suggestion, was engrossed, read a third time, passed, and ordered, to the lords.—Adjourned.