Star. — London, England, 1809-05-06 00:00:00

GLASGOW, PAISLEY, AND ARDROSSAN CANAL. I \I CTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, That a Special Meeting of the I'roprie:ors of the said Canal is appointed to be bele, at th:- Ton.ine Inn, New Town, Paisley, on Monday tit• 19th day of May inst. at twelve o'clock at noon; in order to take into consid ration tke mode of raising a sum to complete the Works contracted fur: and the Proprietors are required to meet auordingly. By Ortle•r of the Committee of Management, rai`lt"ts 4lt:NraTr_llo97. .'- — 7olf WVI.IE, Clerk. ME RC P: PTED LETIE R. The following letter was intercepted last winter on the Ft ench conrier who was bearing it to Madrid, by a Spanish peaSltt, from whom it passed into the hands of the British Minister : INTERCEPTED LETTER FROM M. CHAMPAGNY, MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, TO 110NAPARfE. " December 11, 1808. " Sire—The cot - respondence of this day does not furnish me with any letter to lay before your Majesty. " M. de P omanzoft has conversed with me upon the dispatches he received irons St. Petersburg!' yesterday. The Emperor, his Muster, had the goodness to write. to him, upon the affairs of his department, s letter of tour panes, which places him altogether au courant. fittore he received it, he rcarceiy conceived himself to be Minister for Foreign Aff.sirs : for he was no longer informed of any thing. He had the kindness to give me an analysis of it is as folhws: ----- " The Erni. eror of Russia speaks of the success he has just obtained in Finland; yet he is but half satisfied with- General lluxhowden, and he means. to remove him. The reply of the Enelish Government deprives him of almost all hope of a speedy peace; yet he thinks. it is of ,iruportance always to keep a door open for negociat ion, and afterwards, whatever be flit success of it, to go forward. He had given an example of this in his reply to Prince Knurakin, who had given him an account ,etf. the little success he tad had in' demanding of the Court - of . Vienna the acknowiedgment of Joseph the First. M. de R:oniar:zoff read me this letter of the Emperor to Prince Kourakin ; I think your Maje , ty will he satisfied with it. The Emperor of Russia is as•ort:shed at the refusal of Austria, under the pretext on which it is founded. Austria wishes first to know the result of the con ferences at Erfurth. Is it by disobliging, (says the Emperor) • that she pretends to merit complaisance ? Why is she uneasy ' at what has been signed at Erfurth ? Far from having wished 4 to injure the interests of Austria; there was stipulated them • the integrity of that Monarchy; (this assertion is evidently a miktake of the Emperor's, who had not the Treaty before him, an error occasioned probably Isy the recollection of some conversa tions with your Majesty). ' Thus, while lam occupied with her • interests, (continues the Emperor) she replies by a refusal to • accede to the deMand I had made of her; and in seeming to 4 seek my frit ndship, she evinces to me her distrust of my con ' duct at Erfurth.' " The Emperor accuses Austria •of contradictions in all her conduct, and in the language of M. de Metternich, M. de Sta dion, and M. Vincent ; he says, that the acknowledgment de manded of her was hut the effect of the manetie;re..d which it was wished to show Ite.r, in thus dispensing with the demand of a ca tegorical declaration upon the rrodigious increase of her military force. He does not see what is the object which she is pursuing; ai:d after l.avirg observed, that when King Joseph shall he at Aladrid, the refusal of Austria to acknowledge him will only be an act of ridicule, he declares, that if she has formed the sense less project of framing a new Coalition, by leaguing herself with England, Turkey, at.d the Spanish Insurgents, he is in a condition to oppose it; and that, witted with the Emperor Napoleon, he could easily break that new league, which would be to Austria the cause of disasters, if not of total ruin. " Such is the reply of the Emperor Ale gander to Prince Kou rakin ; it was ti be sent to the Russian Chargé d'Affaires at Vi enna, who had orders to communicate it to M. de Stadion. The Chat ge d'Affaires has lately written to M. Kourakin. It appears that this dispatch of the Emperor's had not reached him, though it is dated the Bth November. " I could have wished that M. de Rornaraoff would have left me a copy, hut I soon perceived that he was desirous of present ing it himself to your Majesty, and that he was in hopes of your speedy return. 'J hat hope was too sweet to every Frenchman, as well a, to M. de Romanzoff (who respects and admires your Majesty almost as much as a Frenchman), for me to weaken the hope I am fond 4:t skaring with him. But if it cannot be soon rea:ized, I shall mtew to your Majesty the demand of repairing to you, if, after the reply from England, my remaining here should anear useless. " I had :lie sa,ist, ctinn to announce to M. de Romanzoff the arrival of your Majesty at St. Martin, near Madrid, referring him fur the detail; to the Bulletin, which will appear to-morrow, of the conteMs of which I am not yet ;stormed. " I am, with resp Let, Sire, your Majesty's most f a i t hf u l an d devoted servant and st.P.ject, (Signed) " cif AM rAGNY." f A I I I I MI P..II?LI.4MEAr7:rII?r PROCEEDINGS. HOUSE OF LORDS, MAY S. Counsel were heard at some leogth, viz. Sir SAMUEL ROMILLY and Mr. RlcrtAeD, , relative to the Appeal Cause, Page v. Ha milton. The further hcarirg wzs def.-rred till Tuesday. The Bill for exttnt:irg the Time for the Scots Courts Commis sioners to make their Report, and the Colonial Customs Oaths Bill, passed through a Committee of the whole House, and wure reported without any amendment. The Nova Scotia Trade Bill, the Admiralty Droits Bill, and se veral others, chiefly piiratr, were brought up from the Cm-o nions by Mr. W iena lON and other Members, and severally read a lust e. '1 be Bills upon the table were respectively forwarded. The further bearing . of ti:r Scots Appeal Cause, Arnott and others, was postponed ti:! Monday. CRULLTY TO ANIMALS. Lord ERSKINE,in pursuance of the notice he had given some time since, presented a Bill, the object of which was the better prevention of cruelty to animals. He would mereiy move that tl'e Bill be printed. On Monday he thought the Prim's' would be on the Table, when he should propose a day for its second reading, probably Friday next. The Bill was then ordered to be prmted.—Adjourned. EOTTSE OF COMMONc. ME. ROBERT DUNDAs took the oaths and his Seat. The House went into a Committee upcn the Glass Duty Col lection Bill; which, after some observations from Mr. Huskisson, Mr. B Bathurst, and Sir J. Newport, the'several clauses w ere agreed to, and Report ordered for Monday. Sir J. NEIKTORT gave notice of his intention to move for a Crinniirtee, on 1 hursday next, in order to refer to them Stamp and Post-Office incidents. '1 i e Scotch Local Militia Bill was read a second time, and or dc to he col - emitted to-morrow. Mr. MUM! R gave notice of his intention to move, on the month, sonn: motion relative to the.Post-Office. lord I'o CHESTLR Five notice that he should, on Friday, move tt.r (,enviiirt er to search the Lords' Journals for prece dent, as tc..he StilEding Order with revect to Divorce Bills. ClJARcib:s ACAINSI"I II E RICHT lION. SPENCER PERCEVAL, ANT) UM!) VISCOUNT cAsTLF:iteiton• Mr. NIA DDOCIiS rose, in consequence of a pre vious notice Nvhich he had given, with respect to some charges which Le meant to alledge 'against his Ma jesty's `.l;ri:t.rs. The Honourable GentleiCut said, ‘ ,6 Aware as I t the little claim which I possess to the att , •ntion , w se , — e t ) I never be induced ihr that 1,...s •I• ! , ),•:;...i) my duty. I am inti:eild theref,, :e , by th(.: st7 , 4i;y2st sense of duty, to bring lorwarsl dial ‘,f curt option against two of iLs Mernbtr,'.— (lira, futir . 1 ) i l lerc will he no occasion tor met ,, stat:.• thip i z . more at pr esent • than to obso ye, that le;nl:tte my pro c.,edings by the forms of the 1 1 !alir.g one genera l obs, tvati,n, that the hirli I shall after . wards have to di , :close are t,t glaring and dange rous a nature, that it becomes the dignity if this House to institute tut Inquiry. If," as on a forme r night, there arc, in the opinio n c f some persOns, Gen tlemen who have descry:4 the nanies of traitors and , i acobilis for pursuing corruption, I trust that lit bring ins, these charges forward I shall not be deemed de serving of those epithets.—(Loud crier of hear, hear.) I My object is only to call the attention of the House to these practices, which, if Suffered to continue, will in time sap the very foundation of this free and happy constitution.—( Hear, hear.)-1 beg leave, Sir, to move, that the Journals of this House, of the 13th February, 1700, be read as far as they relate to the cases of Samuel and Francis Shepherd, Esqrs. then Members of this House." 'The Clerk accordingly read the Resolutions, from which it ap peared, that Samuel Shepherd, Esq. bad been guilty of bribery and corruption ; and that he should be heard, and evidence called to the liar cf the House. On the 15th of February following the charges were delivered in. The acts of bribery, as we collected, were relating to New port, Southampton, Malmesbury, &c. On the sth of March following, evidence was examined as to the charge respecting Newport—Samuel Shepherd, Esq. was ad judged guilty of bribery and corruption, and several other reso lutions were put and carried. The result was, that Samuel Shep herd, Esq., was committed to the Tower, &c. Mr. MADDOCKS then rose again, and observed, that the precedents having beenread, it appeared that in the first place, the step which the House took in Mr. Shepherd's case, was to receive information of the Charges, then to hear Evidence, and, lastly, to come to a decision upon that evidence. Under this impression, and conceiving that in following this pre cedent he was strictly proceeding according to form, he should inform the House, that the Right Hon., Spencer Perceval, by the means of the Hon. Henry Wellesley, and by other Agents, had been guilty of Corrupt and Criminal Practices ; and also that Lord Viscount Castlereagh had been guilty of similar prac tices. He should therefore move, " That the Charges against the Right Honourable Spencer Perceval, and Lord Castlereagh, be beard at the Bar of this House on Tuesday next." The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER,— " I know not the course which the House took in 1700, but since that time I do know that it has been usual for any Honourable Member when he has ft Charge to bring forward, to give some intimation to the party accused, previous thereto.— (Hear, hear.) The present motion had been brought forward with out any particular statement against me ; and there fore, Sir, I shall do nothing but make my bow, and le we the question to the decision of the House." Mr. Perceval then retired. Sir JOHN ANSTRUTHER contended, whether the party accused stood in the responsible situation of Minister or not, still there were principles upon which the conduct of the House must be .governed. The Hon. Member, in his opinion, would have been more consistent if he had considered the situation of the party before he had come forward with a proposition of so extraordinary a nature—(Loud cries of Hear, hear !)—What was it ?—The Hon. Gentleman wish ed the House to assume, that they were in possession of the specific charges of corruption. Would the House say what information the Honourable Mem ber had given .with respect to the charge against the Right Honourable Spencer Perceval ?—( Hear, hear IJ—What was he called upon to answer in his place, or to provide Counsel to defend ? The Hon. Baronet had always understood, that in Courts of Justice, and as far as his experience went as to the proceedings in Parliament, upon charges, that they equally partook of the legality of form. Had it ever been heard, that in a British Court of Justice, a man had been called upon for a defence without knowing the nature of his' accusation—(Loud cries of Hear, hear !)—lf the Hon. Gentlemen were permitted to accuse in this kind of manner, and the Gentlemen were to withdraw upon the accusation being made against them, why the Hon. Gentleman might in tact have the whole House to himself—(A. loud laugh).—This was a serious matter, and seemed to him to be part of a general system of scattering loose and indefinite charges.—The Hon. Gentleman had certainly mistaken the precedent it had formed, a long examination before a Committee of the House. --[Here Mr. Maddox abserr'ed, that the Hon. Baronet had better look at the Journals.]—The Hon. Gentleman was certainly mistaken. The Resolutions proved that a Committee of Privileges must have taken a long examination, because there was a variety of other Resolutions. Sir FRANCIS BURDETT apprehended there warn of much difficulty in the mode of proceeding.— It was evident that there were precedents to shew that the House proceeded invariably upon the infor mation of any Hon. Member, who, of course, took the responsibility upon himself. He rather thought , that his Hon. F r ie n d, ho wever , wou ld h ave no o bj ec - ; tion to state'to the House the precise nature of the ' charge. There had been a case in point in the reign of Charles 11. in which a Member (Sir Thomas Lee) had been accused of bribery, upon the information of an Hon. Member, and the House granted a Commit tee of Inquiry, upon as slight grounds. Mr. BiDbULPH observed, that the surprise which had been testified by the other side of the House at the manner in which his Hon. Friend had brought forward his Motion, was not greater than his own at the manner in which it had been met.— He had not been aware of the subject of the Motion until he had entered the House ; and having asked his Hon. Friend, he had thought that it was the im perious duty of some of the friends of the Right Hon. Gentleman and the Noble Lord charged, even to se cond the Motion, in order to clear their characters.— He could not conceive it possible that Ministers could sit in their situations if even a hint had been thrown out against their public characters. Formerly, it had been the practice, if persons holding responsible situations had been charged with being the agents of corruption, their feelings would have been aroused, and-they had come forward and demanded an in-. "quiry. By their silence on this occasion this night, they admitted the truth of the reports. No Minister, until he took or found an opportunity of clearing himself, was fit to hold a responsible situation. It had been said that the charge contained nothing. He desired the Hon. Member who had so stated to say whether in substance it did not contain some thing. He would only beg the House to look at it. Two Ministers had been accused of indirect practices to procure the return of Members to ment. If that was not a subject for the solemn in vcstigation of the House, he was at a hiss to know what was. He trusted therefore the Hoitse would not suffer the Motion to be scouted on account of its being irregular in point of form. . • Mr. B. BATHURST said, he did not know where the Hon. 'Gentleman - who had just sat' doWn had found the substance . s ,f this chine: The reception which it bad met with seemed tube the.opinion.of the • House at large. 'What was the object of it ? It went to accuse every public man who had held a responsi= ble situation with a dereliction of duty—(H•ar, —lf such a mode abringing forward a charge was to be entertained by the House, any Hon. Member might get up in hii place, and say, I have a charge to make against such and such a Member, and the House would be bound instantly to inquire into it. He ' was afraid that this mode bad originated from places where the Hon. Gentleman frequented. He knew that persons who were in the habit of attending those public meetings had entertained opinions, that men holding public situations were not fit to sit in that House. The Motion had not been brought forward, he was afraid, for any sober purpose of eliciting truth, but of adding fuel to that cry of corruption which was so prevalent abroad—( Hear, hear). It was indeed Spargere voter in vulgam ambiguar. Indeed he saw no substance in it. It was full of suspicion and hints. If the Hon. Gentleman had stated some thing in a tangible form, then indeed the House might have adopted the . Motion. He would not go into the precedent of the case alluded to by the Hon. Ba ronet, as it did not stand upon the same footing with the present motion. To entertain it, would be con trary to the ideas which he held of individual jus tice. The Hon. Gentleman had not given the least intimation of the nature of the charge, or the grounds which induced him to make it. If the House were to go the monstrous length of adopting it, the Hon. Gentleman might to-morrow get up and charge him with a similar offence. There was a mode of stating the charge so as to put the House into possession of facts. Then the Hon. Members might be heard in their defence—the course was a very plain one. On the present occasion, the Right Hon. Gentleman could do nothing but retire as he had done. The House must see that it was a public case, and that they were bound to say that the case was not brought fairly before them. Mr. BIDDULPH rose to correct a mistake of the Right Honourable Gentleman, he had not the least knowledge of the Right Honourable Gentleman, and therefore he had no right to impute to him hav ing been at places which he had never frequented in his life. Mr. WHITBREAD here spoke to order ; he ob served, that his Honourable Friend had misunder stood the Right Honourable Gentleman, for his ob servation had been general, and not as applicable to him. Mr. B. BATHURST admitted he had so said ; but he begged pardon of the Honourable Gentleman if he had been misinformed ; he certainly had sup posed that he had attended those public meetings. Mr. BIDDULPH denied that he ever had atten ded them. Mr. CARTWRIGHT observed, that it was cus tomary for any Honourable Member to give notice of any motion which he had to make personally. He said that sufficient grounds had not been laid to justify the steps which the Honourable Gentleman wished should be taken. He therefore could not consent to the motion. Mr. MADDOCKS, in answer, begged leave to state, that when he gave notice of the motion, he had generally said it related to the conduct of Ministers in procuring the return of Members. If he had pro ceeded wrong, it had not been his fault, he had taken a light to guide him in his way, he had referred to the precedents on the Journals, which he conceived was the best reference which young Members could have. He was ready to apologise if he had acted wrong ; but he had brought forward the motion in such a shape, from an earnest desire to conduct it according to the forms and precedents of the House. He had consulted several Gentlemen both in and out of the House, and they all concurred with him, that he was right in the mode adopted. It was much bet ter than for him to have told a story, and sent it out to the country before those against whom he made the charge could have an opportunity of being heard. It was, as he hoped, a sort of delicate attention which the Home would not find fault with. But he was ready now to state—(a great cry of Chair, Chair, Chair )—on which The SPEAKER observed, that the rule of pro-• ceeding which had been adopted, called upon him to stop the Honourable Member. The course which the House had invariably taken when Members had been heard, and then had withdrawn, obliged him to state, that the time was past in which it was necessary to enter into particulars of any charge : he believed, the fundamental rule of Parliament was so. As to.the mode, the Honourable Member would allow him to say, that though the forms of the House precluded his going into the investigation, yet he conceived it was the right and duty of the House at all times to receive charges of pOlitical misconduct against any Member hoisting a public situation. Another mode was by oral charges, stated by a Member in his place. With respect to the precedent, the . Journals were so constructed, they made no speeches, but they implied that information had beea received by the House on the subject. The substantial sense of the words would shew it, tor the word 6 , thereupon" implied, that•the. House were in possession Of the facts of the case ; that something had passed which had made it neces sary for the accused to be heard in his defence.— Having stated thus much, the Honourable Gentle man was not shut out from farther inquiry. Upon the present question they must come to a decision— Aye or No. Mr. MADDOCKS declared he had no wish to state any thing against the Right Hon. Gentleman in his absence. Mr. Secretary CANNING was not desirous of attributing to the Hon. Gentleman any improper mo tives. It arose from an error in his conception.— There could be but one sentiment in the House as to the propriety of getting•rid of the question. If the Hon. Gentleman had intimated his wish to withdraw the question, he should have no objection ; but he hoped it would not be deemed uncourteous proceed ing, if he called on the House to come to a decided negative, in order.that a proceeding which was evi dently founded in mistake should not be liable to re currence. Mr. WHITBREAD thought the reason assigned by the Right Hon. Secretary for withdrawing the motion, because it would make the case of Shipherd a mistaken one in point of precedent, was not,cor rect. His Honourable. Friend had thought it right in these times to make 'a general charge, rather.than enter into particulars. The. House had been told often enough of time-wasting Committees ; .and in .Order to avoid falling into the error of calling for a C, ; ,,,. mittee, he had generalized the charge, taking eale , however, to select two of the principal Membete (e . the Government as the objects, which he did at hi own risk and responsibility. He had heard reoch of late of an awkward word, called " tangible.'' TI a Honourable Gentleman ( Mr. Bathurst ) ha d j ust call ed for the charges to be put in a tangible laugh !J—Why they were tangible enough, and unite distinct from the system pursued elsewhere of attack against the Government. The Right Honourable Gentleman now accused had also, when the late charges against his Royal Highness the Commar l e ar in Chief were first stated, declared that they ev era not in a tangible shape : put them," said he,. ; a tangible shape, and then we'll talk to you." w e ll, they were so put, and then the Right Hon. (les tleman's tangibility slid from under his grasp._, (Hear, hear!) —A great deal had been said ab aut se cieties and public m e eting s , and of speeches made at those meetings to influence and excite the public mind.—(Loud cries of hear, hear, from the Mini:tcr:al ride!)—What, he would ask, was it that excited d„ r public mind? Why, the late investigation ! h ir. was it that had further excited and kept alive see i t cion of corruption ? Why, the crimes which had bete), acknowledged and proved against persons holding high Official situations ; hut which had not been ac. ted upon by the House of Commons I—(Lsati of hear, hear I)—With respect to any part which he might have taken at these Meetings, he was neither ashamed nor afraid to avow it. If what he had said had been correctly repeated, he was not ashama ed of it, nor would he retract. He was not sorry he had gone among the people.—(Hear, hear !)—H . had not attended at one of thoi-e Meetingi, (the Conv: t and Anchor) ; not because he did not think it per;. per, but because advantage might be taken of it, t) excite the public mind against poisons attending tiros Meetings—(Hear, hear!) —He had always been P. strenuous supporter of Parliamentary Reform, such a Reform as should lead to an alteration in the pre• sent construction of the House of @ommons. He bd. no wish to exclude from Parliament such Officers of State as the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the First Lord of the Treasury, the Secretary of State, an lie fact the great and efficient Officers of the Crown. He would not go so far as the Act of Settlement in 1 700 went as to exclusion ; but he would go the lengt saying, that he did see before him persons (whom he would not name) who ought to be excluded—Lcad tries of hear, hear!)—lf such a measure was to be brought forward, he would in supporting it go great lengths. The Honourable Gentleman admitted that the corruptions in the State were not grosser than in former times ; on the contrary, they were not se gross.—(Hear, hear !)—But though they wire not so, that formed_ no ground for denying inquiries into abuses. With respect to the preser.t Motion, he wished his Honohrable Friend not th withdraw it, cause it•was essential to the honour, the 4inity, and the privileges of Parliament, to investigate the accu sation. lie thought his Hon. Friend should have stated the natu of the charges. Mr. YORK conceived, that any Gentlernan who knew the History of his Country would have abstain . ed from making the motion. This'country was the freest in the world—the independence and liberty the subject had been at no time of ,our Hist, ry great.— ( Hear, hear ! )—The mourable Genth m had taken upon himself to violate the most corn:rem principles of justice. The best way for the Hoax to mark its sense of the impropriety of his coadeot, would be by inserting an Amendment, importing-- 4 ' That the charges not having been stated, or seeci fiedi therefore it was rejected." The motion was a most ridiculous one, and by ad -pting his Amu'.', matt, a lesson would be read to other Geatiemen to attend to the proceedings of the House. Mr. GOOCH defended his conduct at County Meetings ; condemned the speeches of other Gentle men at particular meetings, as having done more to destroy public unanimity than any thing else. As for the patriotism of the Hon. Gcnaemap, lie would :is soon give his vote to Mrs. Clarke for her virtue, as to the Hon. Gentlemen rot' their patriotism—( Hear,hmr! —There was a power behind the benches on which they sat greater than themselves, though they con ceived themselves the essence of concentrated political purity.—( Hear, hear!)—He respected the Hon. Ba ronet (Sir F. Burden), but he must dissent from every principle which he had ever uttered. Mr. LYTTLETON contended, that the voice of the people was to be heard by the resolutions which had followed the meetings alluded to, and also of the country at large. He complained of being misrepre sented by the public press. Heiwished his Hon. Friend to stand on the privilege of Parliament, and not to withdraw his motion. The charge in his opi nion was definite enough. If there was any one point in which the nation was aggrieved, it was the inilu ence of the Crown which had materially increased in the House. . •Mr. BRAND thought, the line of debate which had been adopted varied extremely from the original me tion.-!-The doctrines which he had heard this night .from the other side of the House Were strange, they seemed to proceed from Gentlemen not conversant with the history and constitution of their country. — ( Hear, hear .)—He had ever understood that it was the antient, free, and acknowledged principles of the Constitution, for constituents to direct their Represen• tatives—that a moderate, practical, and enlightnAl Reform, pressed by meetings regularly and constitu tionally convened, could not lead to mischief, but would open the eyes of the House, and benefit the Nation !- (Hear, hear! )—He was astonished to hear Gentlemen declaim against those meetings—tl-t principle he was ready to defend. Mr. S. BOURNE condemned the motion, as hay. ing for its object the accusation of individual Mem bers of the Government, without their being hearj iu defence. Mr. HUTCHINSON and Mr.WYNNE siippcm it.—The Motion was then put, and negatived with"L a division.. Some conversation then took place between Mr. CANNING, Mr. MADDOCKS, &c. as to the brill: , int; il:e Charges again forward.—Mr. PERCEVAL an d'' Lord CASTLEREAGH having returned into the House, Mr. WHITBREAD wished it to be now proceeded on. At length it was agreed that it should stand for Tliur day Am. COLONEL- GORDON'S GRANT. Sir 0. MOSEI.F.Y rose to bring forward his motion On subject. He had perunst theyvera whi h had brew 1 • l