BRIDGNORTH ELECTION—MR. F. DUNDAS. (Hansard, 17 February 1853)

The SERJEANT-AT-ARMS
informed the House that he had taken Frederick Dundas, Esq. into his custody.

§ SIR HENRY WILLOUGHBY
said, he begged to state that the hon. Member had been detained by illness at Paris; but as soon as he heard that he was wanted to serve on the Bridgnorth Election Committee, he lost no time in hastening here.

MR. ROBERT- PALMER
said, he thought he was justified, by the circumstances of the case, in moving that the hon. Member should be discharged out of custody without paying the fees. As illness had been the cause of the hon. Gentleman's absence, he did not anticipate that any objection would be made to this Motion.

§ SIR ROBERT H. INGLIS
said, it would be an unusual and an unprecedented course to oppose such a Motion. But, at all events, he would call the attention of the House to the fact that all Members were bound, whether in Paris, in Orkney, or in London, to take notice of their obligations to that House. Illness was a ground of absence which no Member would hesitate to entertain; but it was fitting that every Member should know that his 180 first duty in that House was the public service, and that any neglect of that duty, on the part of any individual Member, necessarily exposed his fellow Members to very considerable inconvenience.

§ MR. BOUVERIE
said, that if the hon. Member for Orkney was ill, of course it was impossible that he should be able to attend; but he must say he thought it was the duty of that hon. Member, knowing that he was on the panel of service, and that he was unable to attend, to send notice of his illness, and that he was in consequence unable to be present. The inconvenience thus imposed on Members was very great; and not only so, but very great expense and inconvenience were entailed upon the parties. Of course, if the hon. Member's illness was such that he was unable to attend, and he was detained at Paris in consequence, not only could the Committee not be sworn, but they might be discharged; all the proceedings might have to be taken over again, and the witnesses kept in town from Bridgnorth at a considerable expense. He quite agreed to this Motion; but in similar cases, in future, he should take care to be one to oppose the discharge of Members without paying the fees.