§ Mr. Tennysonrose to offer an humble petition from an individual who had recently fallen under the displeasure of the House, and had for some days been suffering the punishment which it had inflicted upon him. The petitioner was sir William Manners. The House would recollect, that on the 5th 549 inst. it had ordered him to be taken into the custody of the serjeant at amis. On the 7th, that officer reported that sir William had quitted his residence in Leicestershire at six on the same evening on which the order was made; and on this report, the House after examining the messenger, thought fit to resolve that the petitioner had absconded in order to avoid being taken into custody pursuant to the order of the 5th instant. He (Mr. Tennyson) was not in the House when it came to this resolution, and he did not propose now to question or examine its propriety. It stood as a resolution of the House, and as such he should bow to its authority. But in consequence of this resolution, when on Monday se'nnight it appeared that sir William had surrendered himself to the serjeant at arms, the House ordered, that having so absconded, he should be committed to Newgate. Thus he had now lain a prisoner during eight days. He would have petitioned sooner, but feared that at an earlier period the House would not be disposed to listen to him, and he would not even now have presumed to approach it, if he had not understood that the House was about to separate for some time. He therefore threw himself upon that merciful indulgence which it had on similar occasions extended to others, and would now, he trusted, extend to him. The petitioner stated, that the moment he heard of the order, he came to London as expeditiously as his infirmities would permit, and surrendered himself into custody, giving notice to the Grantham Election committee that he was ready to give evidence if required, and the petitioner also expressed his extreme sorrow that he should have offended the House. He (Mr. Tennyson) deemed it right to inform the House, that after discharging his duty by moving that the petition should lie on the table, he should make no ulterior motion upon it, and would state his reasons. He understood, that when a person had been committed to Newgate for a breach of privilege, the precedented course was, that he should not be discharged without being first called to the bar and reprimanded. It therefore appeared to him, that in dealing with a case, such as the House had adjudged this to be, it might not deem it expedient to depart from that course, and in an ordinary case he should have felt that all he could have 550 done for the petitioner, consistently with his duty to the House, would have been to move that sir W. Manners be brought to the bar at a future day, in order to be reprimanded and discharged; but he found the circumstances of this case were such, that he could not justify such a motion to himself or to the House. He was informed that the petitioner was in such a state of health in all respects, and his frame and powers so disordered, that it was more than probable that he could not support the shock of a reprimand delivered in the impressive manner in which they were accustomed to hear it from the chair without risking the most serious, lamentable, and immediate consequences to the petitioner. This, he believed, was known to several members of the House; and he understood that a medical gentleman was at hand to satisfy it on the subject, if it thought fit to pursue the inquiry. While, under these circumstances, he could not take upon himself the heavy responsibility of making the usual motion on this occasion [Hear!] yet he should not presume to invite the House to depart from its wonted course, not being aware how far it might be disposed to participate in his feelings, or indeed, inexperienced as he was, how far even if it did, it could or ought to act upon them If it could so act, he trusted it would be inclined to spare to this unhappy individual, prostrate as he now lay before the House, as well as to itself, a most painful exhibition; and instead of adopting the harsher alternative of leaving him, after preferring this humble petition, to languish in gaol for several months, when they were about to separate to their enjoyments in the country, some course would be devised by which the ends of mercy as well as of justice, and the end of maintaining the privileges, authority, and dignity of the House, might be equally and effectually answered.
The petition was then brought up and read. It stated, amongst other things, that the petitioner could not move from his bed or chair without the support of two or three persons, and that his health was still further endangered by his remaining in Newgate.
§ Mr. Tennyson,on moving that the petition should he on the table, stated, that he had a certificate in his hand from the medical gentleman in attendance, which he would read, that the House might be apprised of what was to be expected from 551 his testimony. The hon. member then read the certificate, which corresponded with the evidence afterwards given.
The Marquis of Titchfieldthought the House would desire to hear the evidence of the medical gentleman alluded to, and therefore moved that Mr. William Hutchiuson Box, the surgeon of Newgate, be called in.
Mr. Box,surgeon of Newgate, was called in, and stated, that he had seen sir W. Manners this morning; that he was in a high state of mental irritation; that he had lost the use of his lower extremities, and of one of his arms, by a paralytic affection; and that he does not think he could be brought to the bar without great risk, on account of the general state of excitement and mental irritation under which he labours.
The Marquis of Titchfieldthought that after what had been stated to the House, it would not hesitate to take the only course which occurred to him as proper to adopt. He deemed it unnecessary to trouble the House by enlarging upon the grounds which had been so fully urged, persuaded that the feelings they must have excited were in unison with his own. He should, therefore, move that sir W. Manners be discharged from Newgate on paying his fees.
After a short conversation, the motion was agreed to.