a clock in his way, and he recollected that the time was a little past seven o'clock. When he arrived at the Home Office there was nobody there to give him any information, there was no person with whom he could communicate, and he begged to know whether it was usual for the official persons whose duty it was to attend there, to go away from thence at such an early hour, especially in times of such difficulty and danger as the present? If such was the usual practice in that office, he would not say a word more on that point. He must be permitted, however, to observe, that on an occasion like that of yesterday, when such attacks as had been made by the mob on himself, and on other Peers sitting on that side of the House, might have been expected, some persons ought to have been in attendance at the Home Office to receive their complaints, and to afford them protection. He thought that such persons ought to be found in attendance at the Home Office, and it was under that impression that he went there to seek for their assistance. But he found no such person there, and he was consequently obliged to have recourse to a person connected with the police, who, he must say, gave him every assistance. The fact was, that if such outrageous proceedings as those to which he was alluding were not prevented and put down, they would have no government in this country but the government of a mob. If the Government did not put down such proceedings, and if the mob were allowed to go on with the attacks which they were making on noble Lords on that side of the House, both in their progress to, and on their return from the House, on account of the conscientious discharge of their duty, he would repeat, that mob government would be, in fact, the order of the day, and the regular Government of the country would stand the chance of being accused of neglecting its duty through the fear of the mob. Before he sat down he would entreat his Majesty's Ministers to guard against the doings of the mob which was announced for to-morrow. He would caution them to prevent such large collections of the people, under existing circumstances, as were announced for that occasion. If they did not do so, tumult, and riot, and disorder, might be the result; and attacks might be renewed on the lives and properties of those noble Lords who had given a conscientious vote against the Reform VOL. VIII. {Third? Series Bill. It was not so much on account of the attacks which had been made personally upon himself or upon his property, that he drew the attention of the noble Lord opposite to this subject; it was on account of his anxiety for the general good of the country, and for the preservation of the public peace. The Marquis of Londonderry said, that he had also some circumstances to state illustrative of the system of outrage carried on against noble Lords on that side of the House, to which he wished to call the attention of the Secretary for the Home Department. He should not have done so on account of any personal attacks that had been made upon himself, but as the noble Duke who had just sat down had mentioned the attacks which had been made on his person and property, he (the Marquis of Londonderry) would state to their Lordships what had occurred to him in his coming down to and returning from the House yesterday. On his coming down to the House he was assailed by a large mob, and he was also in his return from the discharge of his duties in that House, again attacked by a furious mob. He would not say that all arrangements for the prevention of such outrageous proceedings had been neglected by Government, but it did so happen on this occasion, that there was not a single policeman stationed in Parliament-street, where an immense and riotous mob was assembled, though there was a considerable police force in the immediate neighbourhood of the House. He was proceeding home. from the House in his cabriolet, when this mob in Parliament-street attacked him. They seized his cabriolet, endeavoured to drag him out of it, and one big strong fellow hit him a violent blow with a stick on his arm. If the mob had succeeded in pulling him out of his cabriolet, he was quite sure they would have murdered him; but, fortunately for him, the individual who was with him in the cabriolet drove the horse forward, and he thus escaped from the mob. He did not state the circumstances of this attack upon his life through fear or alarm. Knowing, as he did, that we can all die but once, and that when our time arrives we must go, he was not accessible to personal intimidation. But he, and the other Peers in that House who were made the objects of such attacks on the part of an outrageous mob, had a right to demand protection from his R Majesty's Government. His Majesty's | his Majesty's subjects. He deeply lamented Ministers should have remembered that the state of excitement in this town at such attacks might be made, and should present: he deeply regretted the agitation have been prepared to provide their Lord- which prevailed in it, and he deeply and ships with due protection both for their sincerely lamented that any noble Lord, or persons and properties. He (the Marquis any individual, should have been exposed of Londonderry) had not only been per-to acts of outrage and violence. He could sonally attacked and his life put in danger, but a large mob had also attacked his house, and if the windows of his house had been mended since the former attack which was made upon it, they would have been all broken. As it was, such as had been mended were all broken last night by the mob. He thought that under such circumstances he had a right to call for the protection of his Majesty's Government. The Government were bound to protect the lives and properties of all his Majesty's subjects, which included, of course, the noble Lords on both sides of that House, and to see that none of them should be made the victims of popular fury. The Peers of Parliament should be defended against the assaults of a violent mob, in their progress to and from that House. They were entitled to that protection while discharging the important duties which devolved upon them. He must say, that if such proceedings on the part of the mob were allowed to go on, and if such attacks were to be permitted upon the persons as well as the properties of the Members of that House, he, for one, was determined to carry arms about with him for his protection, and he would now declare, that if any man should attack him again in the way that he was attacked last night, he would use the arms which he would carry with him in his vindication and selfdefence. If any man should strike him as the fellow did last night, he would use those arms in his defence. Again he would call on his Majesty's Government to take proper precautions against such outrageous proceedings on the part of the mob-again he would urge on them the necessity of taking such steps as were necessary under existing circumstances to afford protection to the Members of that House in the discharge of their public duties. assure the noble Lords who had complained of such acts of outrage, and he could assure the House, that no individual could be more anxious than he was to use every effort in his power, and to direct all the energy and force of the law towards repressing every species of violence and outrage. When, however, he was told that means of defence should have been provided against the attacks which might have been expected upon the houses of noble Lords on the opposite side of the House, he begged their Lordships to bear this in mind, that when a violent agitation prevailed, when great crowds of people were collected together in different parts of the town, and when the rabble were led to commit those acts of outrage, some of which had been unfortunately committed on this occasion-when such a state of things existed, it was impossible for the Secretary for the Home Department, and for the Magistrates, with any force that was in their possession, or that they could bring together, to guard every house in town that might be supposed liable to be attacked. He exceedingly regretted that the house of the noble Duke opposite should have been attacked in the manner he had stated. The noble Duke stated, that on his applying at the Home Office, he could find no person there to give him assistance, or information as to where he could procure it. He must beg, therefore, to state in his own vindication, that every arrangement had been made by the persons connected with the Home Office which it was in their power to make, for the preservation of the peace of the town last evening, and if the noble Duke had applied either to the police-office in his neighbourhood in Marylebone-street, or to the police-office in Scotland-yard, instead of going to the Home Office, he would have found that assistance which he required. When the noble Duke did apply to the police, as he had stated, that assistance was afforded to him, as the Viscount Melbourne begged to assure the noble Marquis and the noble Duke opposite, that the first desire of his Majesty's Government in general, and of him-report made to him that morning stated, self in particular, as it was his especial duty, was to afford every possible protection both to the persons and properties of all promptly and efficiently. Again he would say, that the outrages on property were deeply to be lamented and deprecated, and the outrages upon the persons of individuals were still more to be deplored and deprecated. He was exceedingly sorry to hear that the noble Marquis opposite (Londonderry) had been attacked in the violent manner that he had stated. It was much to be regretted, sincerely and exceedingly to be deprecated, and this observation applied to the case of other Peers as well as to that of the noble Marquis, that any particular course which they might have felt it necessary to pursue on any public question should expose them to popular displeasure. He need not repeat that he regretted it much. He need not say, that he deprecated and condemned in the strongest manner the display of any thing like violence towards them. Every thing that depended on his Majesty's Government would be done to preserve the public peace. But the noble Marquis must see, that the Government, take what steps it might, could not prevent many things that had occurred, as the result of popular excitement in the metropolis; but he repeated that it was the firm determination of Government to use all means at its disposal to prevent the violation. of the public peace. The Marquis of Londonderry said, that he fully concurred in every thing that had fallen from the noble Viscount. He was quite sure that the subject would engage the noble Lord's best attention, and that he would use all the means in his power for the protection of the persons and property of the noble Lords in that House, in common with the rest of the King's subjects. He would, however, beg to suggest to the noble Lord the propriety of having a police force stationed along Parliament-street and Whitehall, as well as in Palace-yard, in order to afford safe and free access to that House. Such a course was absolutely necessary, as the crowds were generally collected in greatest force beyond the line where the police were stationed. Lord Wharncliffe said, he was ready to bear his testimony to the zeal and activity of the noble Secretary for the Home Department, in the steps he had taken to preserve the public tranquillity. He did believe that every possible means had been taken in that respect, and for guarding the persons and property of the Members of that House. Certainly, considering the excitement that prevailed, as one of the consequences of the vote to which they had come the other day, he was ready to say, that it was a consequence for which he was well prepared, and which he fully expected at the time when he had given his vote. He did not think that the inhabitants of the metropolis had done any thing to disgrace themselves. He was happy to see such prudence exhibited by them. Notwithstanding the means that were tried to create excitement among the people, he was satisfied, and felt a confident hope, that they would treat their Lordships with respect, and would believe that their Lordships, in coming to the decision to which they had come, had no intention of injuring their liberties, but rather, that in the vote to which the people might think, perhaps, they had wrongly come, had taken that course which to them appeared the best for the protection and preservation of the rights and liberties of the people. He must say, in justice to the inhabitants of this town, that they had not committed any thing in the way of disturbance of public order, beyond what he had reason to expect, or even so much. Lord Ellenborough said, that no public excitement prevailed on this subject in the metropolis, that had not been mainly and entirely occasioned by the public Press, and if his Majesty's Ministers did not take steps to coerce that Press, but allowed it to pursue its present criminal course with perfect impunity, there was no calculating what mischief might happen. He gave the noble Viscount credit for what he had stated, and he had no doubt that his Majesty's Ministers would do what they could to preserve the public peacewhat was expected from them both as Ministers and as gentlemen and men of honour. Subject dropped. SELECT VESTRIES BILL.] Viscount Melbourne moved the second reading of the Select Vestries Bill. The Duke of Wellington asked what was the object of the Bill? Viscount Melbourne said, that it went to establish several new, and he, considered, necessary, regulations with respect to the powers of vestries in general, and select vestries in particular, with respect to which, great excitement at present prevailed in the metropolis, and in several of the large towns throughout the kingdom. It appeared that the common-law right of all polis, feared that some such measure as rate-payers to vote at vestries was found | vestries in several parishes in this metroto be extremely inconvenient in large and populous parishes, and in order to facilitate the proceedings of vestries, it was found necessary, in many cases, to have the business of the parish confided to select bodies. This, however, was, in its turn, found to lead to some abuses, and to very general dissatisfaction. It was complained of from all quarters, and its inconvenience was admitted even by many of the members of those select bodies, that it was a system which required alteration. The object of the present Bill was, to make those amendments which were considered necessary in the system. He would now move, that the Bill should be read a second time, and be referred to a Committee up-stairs. One of its chief objects.was, to introduce a system of general election from the whole body of rate-payers, under certain regulations. As the measure was one the necessity of which seemed to be admitted by all parties, he supposed there would be no objection to its being now read a second time. Lord Skelmersdale said, he would not object to the second reading, on the understanding that it was to be referred to a Select Committee, as he considered the Bill would require considerable amendment before it could be passed into a law. The Duke of Wellington thought, that that clause in the Bill which left it optional with a parish to avail itself of it or not, would not have the effect of allaying the excitement which at present existed on this subject: he feared it would have the contrary effect to what was intended, and was, therefore, particularly objectionable. He admitted that the system in many of the parishes in the metropolis required amendment, but why not confine the Bill to the metropolis, or why not apply Mr. Sturges Bourne's Act to the metropolitan parishes, as a remedy for the evils complained of? Lord King said, that much greater excitement would be caused if this Bill was thrown out, than could possibly arise from the operation of any clause in it, such as that alluded to by the noble Duke. It being admitted on all hands that the existing system required revision and amendment, whatever they did for that purpose should, in order to effect the objects which they had in view, be done as speedily as possible. The Bishop of London, speaking from what he knew of the system of select Bill read a second time, and Committee appointed. SCOTCH APPEALS.] The Lord Chancellor moved the Order of the Day for the second reading of the Scotch Court of Session Bill, for the purpose of postponing it to Thursday. Lord Wynford could not let that opportunity pass without asserting that he was ready to maintain the correctness of the judgment he had pronounced in this cause, and which his noble and learned friend had last night impugned. The Bill assumed that he directed the issue to be tried by a Jury of merchants, but he did no such thing. The Lord Chancellor was sorry that his noble and learned friend felt so much annoyed on this subject, or that he should at all imagine that his professional character was affected by it. He had yet to learn that a knowledge of the Scotch law or practice formed any portion of the education of an English lawyer. On the contrary, he believed that the better lawyer an English advocate was, the less he was likely to know of the practice of Scotch law, and the more probable it was, that he should fall into the mistake that special Juries, so familiar to the mind of an English practitioner, should be also found in a country so civilized as Scotland. He was anxious to postpone this Bill to Thursday, in order to have the advantage of the presence of his noble and learned predecessor, in whose time this judgment had been pronounced, and who was fully acquainted with all the circumstances of the case, which he himself was not. He did not imagine that any doubt existed as to the propriety of passing this Bill; but after what had fallen from his noble and learned friend, he should make particular inquiries concerning it. Lord Wynford said, he held in his hand the judgment which he had pronounced, and it contained no such words as, " Special Jury of Merchants." The words in it were" Special Jury." Lord Ellenborough suggested, that the proper course would be, to refer the matter to a Committee of privileges. It appeared to him that if an error had been committed, their Lordships could correct it without an Act of Parliament, and that it was not expedient to involve the House of Commons in an act to correct an error in their own judicial proceedings. At present there was no foundation for such a bill in the shape of a petition from the parties in the cause; and, even if the proceeding were a right one, it should not be done hastily, and without a due observance of the rules and orders of the House. The Lord Chancellor said, this was not a Bill for the purpose of altering a judgment of the House, but for the purpose of placing a cause in a state fit for a rehearing. There would be abundance of time for discussing the subject on Thursday. oath, and it was now said, that this could not be, as the original parties to the suit. had long since died; but that fact did not vitiate or annul the judgment; for if their Lordships decided in a case to-day, that the parties should be examined on oath, and those parties should die to-morrow, that fact would not annul the judgment. Even supposing the judgment in this particular case wrong, there was no occasion for an Act of Parliament to correct the error. He should be sorry to think it necessary to apply to the House of Commons to correct a clerical error in one of their Lordships' judicial decisions, and to suppose that they did not possess a power vested in the lowest Courts in the kingdom, of correcting errors in their own decisions. The Lord Chancellor said, it would be inconvenient to proceed with this discussion now in the absence of the noble and learned Lord (Lyndhurst) with whom the Judges in Scotland had corresponded on the subject, who was fully acquainted with it, and who had no doubt that there was a mistake. He begged to assure his noble and learned friend (Lord Wynford) that there was nothing more common in Scotch practice than to refer to an accountant the decision of disputed matters of fact. The second reading fixed for Thursday. II OUSE OF COMMONS, Tuesday, October 11, 1831. MINUTES.] Bills. Read a first time; Lunatics; Baking Trade (Ireland); to amend 59th George 3rd, for the Relief and Employment of the Poor; and also to repeal the provisions of several Acts relating to Grand Jury Presentments (Ireland.) Read a third time; the Consolidated Fund Appropriation; Special Constables; Valuation of Land (Ireland); Military Accounts (Ireland). Lord Wynford said, that as a lawyer and as a layman, he had no doubt as to the correctness of the judgment he had given. This cause related to a partnership, and, to the disgrace of the judicature of the country, it had been before the Courts since the period of the American war. The Scotch Judges, instead of sending a question of a matter of fact, which the case involved, to a Jury, sent it to an accountant for decision. He (Lord Wynford), Returns ordered. seeing that it was a cause that ought to be tried by a Jury, ordered it to be sent to one, and the parties to be examined, and he was, in point of law, justified in sending it to a Special Jury in Scotland, as, by a late Act of Parliament, Juries had been introduced into that country for the trial of important civil causes. He had to complain that the Judges in Scotland, and the parties interested in this matter, had not corresponded with him on the subject, and that they had withheld all their light from the very individual who would now have to defend the judgment. In pursuance of the practice of the Courts of Equity in England in similar cases, he had ordered that the parties should be examined on On the Motion of Mr. SPRING RICE, the number of Half-pay Officers of the Army employed in any Civil Office paid by Government, specifying the name of the Officer, his military rank, annual amount of Halfpay received, Annual Amount of Half-pay forfeited, Salary or Fees of Civil Office; description of Office, and where situated, &c.; also, specifying, how many Officers are on Half-pay at rates below 5s. a-day, and of these how many receive Civil Salaries under 150l., 2007., and 250%, ayear, together with their Half-pay; how many are on Half-pay at rates below 7s. a-day, receiving, with their Half-pay, Civil Salaries; and how many at rates above 78.; also, the number of Half-pay Officers in the year 1831, who are in receipt of Civil Salaries exceeding twice the amount of their Half-pay, and who now receive their Half-pay, together with the Civil Salary, under the Clause of the Appropriation Act of 1820, stating the amount of Half-pay received; also, the increased charge of Half-pay which was actually incurred, in the year 1821, over and above the charge in the preceding year, in consequence of the clause, in the Appropriation Act of 1820, allowing Half-pay Officers, under certain restrictions, to receive their Half-pay with Civil Salaries; also the actual saving of Expense for one year to the public, from July, 1828, when the Appro |