§ The Earl of Radnor moved the second reading of this Bill.
The Earl of Wicklowwould not oppose the second reading of this Bill, but he must express his surprise that it did not meet with opposition on the other side of the House, especially from the noble Earl (Earl Grey) and from the noble Baron (Lord Holland); On the last occasion that a similar Bill was before their Lordships, in the East Retford case, the noble Earl and the noble Baron opposed it, and it was only that day that he had read a long protest which the noble Baron on that occasion had entered on their Lordships' journals.
The Marquess of Clanricardesaid, that the Bill to which the noble Earl had referred, and against which his noble friend had entered a most constitutional protest, was quite different from the Bill now under consideration, and had been brought forward under totally different circumstances. 609 If the noble Earl had attended to what had taken place in regard to the Warwick Borough Bill, the decision of the House with regard to which had been the cause of the introduction of such a Bill as this, to indemnify the witnesses that were to be examined in support of the Liverpool Freemen Disfranchisement Bill, he would have seen, that it was not the original intention of the noble Lord who brought forward that Bill to adopt the course which the House had determined on. That noble Lord had proposed to pass the Warwick Bill, on the evidence that had been taken by the House of Commons; but as he perceived, that the majority of their Lordships were for taking evidence at their own bar, he saw that it would be only a waste of time to oppose such a course.
The Earl of Radnorobserved, that the noble Earl was rather hard upon his two noble friends, when he called on them to oppose a measure which he did not oppose himself.
Lord Hollanddid not know what right the noble Earl had to call upon him to make a speech on any particular measure brought before their Lordships. He had not given any opinion in favour of this Bill; the fact was, that his opinion was against it; but then it was a Bill which the course determined upon by their Lordships would appear to have rendered necessary. His objection to a Bill of this description lay so deep, that, if adopted by the House, their lordships would go further than they had hitherto done on matters of this kind. The noble Earl would find in the Protest to which he had referred, the grounds on which he objected to a measure of this nature.
§ The Bill was read a second time.