Campbell, put it, than a
question whether Parliament or the courts of law had the superiority;
and now Sir Robert Peel, as leader of the Opposition, came to the
support of Lord John Russell, declaring his opinion to be, first, that
"the House possessed every privilege necessary for the proper and
effectual discharge of its functions;" secondly, that "the publication
of evidence which had led the House to adopt any course was frequently
essential to justify that course to the nation;" and thirdly, that "to
judge of the extent of their privileges, and to vindicate them by their
own laws, belonged to the House alone." And he pressed strongly on the
House that it was "the duty of the House to fight the battle to the
last," though he confessed that "it was with pain that he had come to
the determination of entering into a contest with the courts of law." On
one point the judges agreed with the House of Commons. The House
committed the sheriffs; but, when they sued out their _habeas corpus_,
the judges decided that the return of the Sergeant-at-arms that they
were committed by the House for breach of privilege was a sufficient
return. Stockdale brought fresh actions. But meantime the case was
arousing a strong excitement in the country.[257] The singular hardship
of the position of the sheriffs excited general sympathy: if they obeyed
the House of Commons, which prohibited them from paying over to
Stockdale the damages which they had received for him, the Court of
Queen's Bench would be bound to attach them for disobedience to its
order.
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