§ MR. WALPOLEsaid he begged to move that Lord Hotham be discharged from further attendance on, and that Mr. E. C. Egerton be added to the Committee on the London Writ.
§ LORD HOTHAMsaid he wished there should be no misconception as to his anxiety to be relieved from further attendance on the Committee upon the London Writ. On Wednesday the House adopted the recommendation of the Committee, that the application of Baron de Rothschild to be heard by counsel should be granted. He was one of the majority of the Committee 851 who felt that the application could not, with propriety, be refused, but he was unable to prevail on a majority to concur with him that, if it were desirable the case should be argued by counsel on the one side, it was contrary to reason, justice, and propriety, that it should not be argued, in like manner, on the other. It had been asked which was the other side, and who had an interest adverse to Baron de Rothschild? To that he replied, it was the interest of the House to take care no one should take part in its deliberations whose title to his seat was not unquestionable. It appeared to him also desirable, with or without any precedent, that some arrangement should be adopted similar to that in the other House with regard to extinct or dormant peerages, when the law officers of the Crown were always ordered to attend to see no claim was granted which was not clearly and satisfactorily made out by the evidence. He would not have shrunk from the responsibility of serving on the Committee had no counsel at all been ordered, as he should then have rested on the guidance of the legal Members of the Committee; but as it had been determined that the case of Baron de Rothschild should be stated to the Committee by counsel, he felt that his place ought to be filled by some gentleman of the legal profession, whose habits and education would guard him from the danger, on the one hand, of being led captive by the onesided arguments of an ingenious counsel, or, on the other, of being prejudiced by the impression that counsel was there to maintain, at all hazards, the claim of the individual in whose service he was retained. From those dangers he did not feel that he should be free, and as he might, therefore, do injustice to the case of Baron de Rothschild, he earnestly desired to be relieved from further attendance on the Committee.
§ MR. T. DUNCOMBEsaid, he hoped the noble Lord would reconsider his decision, because, if he were right, he (Mr. Duncombe) ought to follow the noble Lord's example, for he also had voted in favour of hearing counsel in Baron de Rothschild's case. The Committee was composed of eleven Members; at present seven of those were lawyers, and they required an eighth to bewilder the other three. He did not understand why they might not have heard the legal Members on the Committee and then decided, though he would not say they would all have 852 concurred. Surely, seven legal Members, including gentlemen of such high reputation as the Lord Advocate, the Attorney and Solicitor General, the right hon. the Member for Midhurst, and the right hon. and learned Member for the Dublin University, were sufficient, in a Committee of eleven, to decide a point of this kind. It would be very inconvenient if the noble Lord persisted in withdrawing at this point, because, after hearing counsel, in all probability the Committee would, a few hours afterwards, come to a decision, and it was not fair to the hon. Member, whoever he might be, to place him on the Committee, when he had heard neither the evidence nor the arguments. The Committee would sustain a great loss in the withdrawal of the noble Lord, and he therefore hoped the noble Lord would reconsider his decision.
§ LORD HOTHAMsaid, he had no alternative but to yield, as the feeling of the House appeared to be adverse to his request. He was only anxious to perform the duty satisfactorily to himself and to the House.
§ MR. WALPOLEsaid, he was glad the noble Lord had consented to remain on the Committee. He had been extremely anxious that the noble Lord should not retire, and he was perfectly confident the noble Lord would form as sound a judgment on the question as any Member of the House.
§ Motion, by leave, withdrawn.