Lord W. Hussellmoved the order of the day, for taking into consideration the special report of the committee of the late election for the borough of Knaresborough, which being read, he moved, that the house do concur in the first resolution. He said there was no occasion for his making any comments upon facts, which were sufficiently proved in the evidence before the committee, and since submitted to the house. Upon mature consideration, it was his opinion, and that of the committee, that, as the delinquents had not been parties before them, and consequently had not been heard in their own defence, instead of bringing them to the bar of the house, and hearing the whole of the evidence de novo, it would be much more desirable to move, as he then did, "that the following delinquents, viz. J. M. Allen R. Dewes, T. Abbott, W. Whitehead, Anne Howeton, W. Allison, and S. Henlock, be prosecuted by the Attorney General."
Mr. Roseexpressed his perfect satisfaction in this procedure, and the more so, as, if the allegations against one of the delinquents, J. M. Allen, an attorney, were true, the noble lord who presided in the court of king's bench had the power to strike him off the rolls; for though country attorneys had the means of rendering themselves useful and respectable, they were often the pests of the neighbourhood in which they lived.
The Master of the Rollssaid, that, though he was not forward in countenancing prosecutions on the part of the attorney:general by order of that house, yet he must approve of the present, as the tumult did not appear to be accidental, but of a premeditated and studied nature. He, however, should like to know whether any other prosecution had been commenced against these parties?—The several motions were then agreed to.—Adjourned.