''  Lord  Chief  Justice. — Let  judgment  be  entoed

Jmlgment  ^^^    ^^^  j^^  „

So  much  for  Buckingham !

"  And  afterwards  Mr.  Williams  was  fined  10,000i.,  and  upon

payment  of  8,000/.,  satisfaction  was  acknowledged

upon  record."
The  whole  proceeding,  I  suppose,  was  over  in  five  minutes.    The


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PARLIAMENTARY  PRIVILBQB.  287

That  aw  onoot  Couiwel  for  the  Crown,  who  had  to  hegin  in  support
be  <^iigukbed  ^f  ^j^^  demurrer  ia  immediately  stopped  by  the
Court — ^with  an  intimation,  that  the  plea  is  idle  and
inaignificant ;  and  the  Counsel  for  the  Defendant,  before  he  had
finished  hia  first  sentence,  is  put  down  with  a  jeer  at  the  House  of
Commons  presuming  to  be  a  Court.
If  Mr.  PoUezfen  was  not  as  has  been  suspected,  in  collusion
with  the  prosecutor;  he  must  at  least  be  severely  blamed
for  his  dastardly  submission,  however  slender  his  hope  might
be,  of  maldng  any  impression  upon  the  Court  by  further  argu-
ment.
I  do  not  wonder  that  my  Learned  Friend,  Mr.  Curwood,  should
disclaim  any  reliance  upon  such  an  authority ;  but  at  the  same  time
let  me  make  this  observation,  that  unless  that  case  was  rightly
decided,  the  present  action  cannot  be  supported.  U  rightly
decided,  it  would  be  a  direct  authority  for  my  Learned  Friend.  It
cannot  be  distinguished  from  the  present ;  it  is  on  all  fours  with  it ;
he  is  bound  to  defend  it ;  but  he  acknowledges  that  he  must  sur.
render  it.  WbjJ  because  it  was  a  prosecution  for  what  had  been
done  under  the  authority  of  the  House  of  Commons.
