PROCEEDINGS AGAINST SIR FRANCIS BURDETT.
During these proceedings the standing order of the house for the exclusion of strangers was enforced, chiefly by the instrumentality of Mr. Charles Yorke. This exclusion of strangers, however, not only failed in the object, for which it was intended—that of keeping the public ignorant of what passed within the walls of St. Stephens—but led to new troubles and disgraceful scenes. At this time there was a debating society in London, called the “British Forum,” the president and chief orator of which was one Gale Jones, who, though an obscure individual, was suddenly raised into the dignity of a patriot and martyr. Gale Jones proposed the subject of the exclusion of strangers from the house of commons, as a proper subject of discussion in the British Forum; and in this debate the conduct of Mr. Yorke was so freely censured, that he was resolved to punish the delinquent. He complained of a breach of privilege, and Gale Jones was brought to the bar of the commons; and notwithstanding a humble apology made by him, he was committed to Newgate. Sir Francis Burdett was not in the house when a vote for his committal passed; but on the 12th of March he loudly condemned the measure as a violation of the common law, of Magna Charta, and of the trial by jury, in a case where the offence was punishable by the ordinary course of justice; and concluded by moving that Gale Jones be forthwith discharged. Sir Francis was outvoted by a large majority; and in consequence of this decision he printed his speech in an enlarged form, and with stronger language than he had used in the house. It was published in Cobbett’s Register, with his own name appended to it, and accompanied with a letter to his constituents. The paper was a libel from beginning to end; but the question which gave most offence was that in which Sir Francis denied the right of the house to commit for breach of privilege. The house determined to assert their privilege; and they replied to Sir Francis by a vote that he should be committed to the Tower, on the speaker’s warrant, for a libel on the commons. This warrant was issued; but Sir Francis shut himself up in his mansion in Piccadilly, barring his doors and windows, and declaring that he would yield only to force, A letter was sent to the speaker expressive of this resolution, of his contempt for the house, and his conviction that the warrant was illegal, On the receipt of this letter the opinion of the attorney-general was taken; in consequence of which the ser-geant-at-arms, accompanied by a number of police-officers and a detachment of troops, proceeded to his mansion, and, after some altercation, conveyed Sir Francis to the Tower. Before this the mob had collected round the house of the right honourable baronet, in token of their admiration of his patriotism, while they had broken the windows of many of his known opponents in token of their displeasure. They accompanied him to the Tower; and in the way they so grossly insulted his escort, that the soldiers fired in self-defence, and two individuals were killed, while several more were wounded. Petitions were presented by some public bodies, particularly the electors of Westminster and London, praying for the release of Sir Francis; but he continued in confinement to the end of the session, when he was released. Subsequently Sir Francis commenced actions against the speaker of the house of commons, who issued the warrant; against the ser-geant-at-arms, for executing it; and against Earl Moira, governor of the Tower, for illegal imprisonment. His object was to ascertain whether an appeal lay to a court of law against the house, acting as accuser and judge, in proceedings that affected the liberty of the subject. The judges, however, would not admit that any unlawful measure had been adopted in his case, or that the warrant issued by the speaker was an illegal instrument. The privilege, therefore, of the house was confirmed, and its claims solemnly recognised by the courts of law. Since the “No-popery” riots of Lord George Gordon, there had not been a commotion in London equal to that which attended this question of privilege: in the sight of the public at large, he was “a martyr of liberty.” Gale Jones, also, who was liberated with him at the close of the session, shared the popular favour. The mob were waiting at the Tower-gates on the day of his release, in order to escort him with popular applause to his residence; and great was their disappointment when it was discovered, that with one or two friends he had retreated from the Tower by water. Gale Jones, however, gratified them by allowing them not only to surround the hackney coach in which he departed from Newgate, but also to chalk his name upon the panels. As he went along, he stopped from time to time to harangue his admiring attendants: and one of the leading topics of complaint which fell from the patriot’s lips was, that he had been turned out of Newgate at two minutes’ notice! Many left behind within the dreary walls of that prison would have congratulated themselves on their escape, had they been turned out with even less ceremony than Gale Jones.