Star. — London, England, 1811-04-03 00:00:00

lUght Honourable Friend had' Aid; Olaf byttie itn before the House we should depart from the wise prin ciples which had governed the Legislature for a cen tury. He must be permitted to say that this state ment was not correct—not more than eighteen years ago, an Act passed for the purpose Of prOmoting the growth of Sugar by a reduction of the &Sties. At the present moment all West-India property Was labouring under peculiar embarrassments—it had none of the encouragements, or even ordinary returns which are always esteemed essential to the pteserea tion of property in land. The whole profit on West India produce was no more than a small profit on stock, affording nothing for rent. His Right Hon. Friend had attributed all the misfortunes of the colo nial proprietors to excessive speculation and to the spirit of overtrading. There could not be, he was sorry to say, a more convincing proof of the extreme want of information on this subject, on the part of his Right Hon. Friend, than this observation. The distress of the West India planters arose from various causes, many of which were entirely out of their controul. 'The nemerous conquests achieved, and the immense quantities of produce brought into the market in con sequence, had necessarily operated to depreciate the value of colonial property. It appeared by the Re port of the Committee in 1808, that the use of barley might in many cases be superseded by other grain; and although any change operating to this effect might be injurious to individuals, in a question of this nature the general interests were entitled to the first consideration. If the coloniei were important to the mother-country, their interests ought not to he ne glected, and he challenged any gentleman to produce an instance in which they had been backward in sup porting the interests of the country. Mr. MARRYATT followed on the same side in an ingenious speech, in which he strongly remarked on what he termed the invincible repugnance of ate' land owners to bear their equ;table share of the bur dens of the people, and endeavoured to prove that the event nal ruin of the colonies m ustnecessarily be deeply fdt by the agricultural interest at home. Mr. SHAW (of Dublin), complained in strong terms of the introduction of a clause into this Bill, which was not only foreign to the avowed object of i the Bill, but in direct violation of the 6th article of the Act of Union. [Here the Honourable Gentle. man read the article, and compared it with the pre amble and title of the Bill, in neither of which, he said, was there one syllable about Ireland.]—This Bill was now on its way to Ireland ; and what must the people of that country think at finding in it a clause continuing the suspension of the intercourse between the two countries? The clause and the mode of intro- clueing it was enough to excite the suspicion of its having been smuggled into the Bill, for the purpose of taking the Irish members by surprise. (Hear, hear.) Gentlemen were quite indignant at any wish of the Irish people for a repeal of the Union ; but hecould not help saying, that, if after all, Ireland had been promised, for consenting to part with her resident Parliament, she - should find het interests thus treated, either with such Leqligence or injustice, he could not see how she could avoid complaining. He, for his part, was determined not to let such unseemingly negligence towards that part of the United Kingdom pass unnoticed. He then went into the question as affecting the interests of the Irish distilleries, compared with those of the Engli'sh, and said, that the former were now ready to meet the latter on the question of the countervailing duties and drawbacks. Mr. COKE opposed the measure, and gave a prac tical example of its evil tendency, as particularly af fecting the county of Norfolk, in which even barley 'was not to be produced but by the arts of husbandry, and a careful amelioration of the soil. In Norfolk 33 shillings was certainly not a remunerating price to the growth of barley. The Honourable Member read several extracts from Mr. Burke's pamphlet of a , Thoughts on Scarcity," in which he strongly dis apptoves of throwing any artificial obstructions in the way of men who never get a return gem their capital in less than a year, and, in many instances, not in a less period than two or three years ; and declared that in the 35 years during which he had been a Member of that House, he had never known or seen a Minister who attempted to carry any measure favourable to the_ general interests of agriculture. Mr. ROSE explained. Mr. ELLIS urged a variety of arguments in illus trazion of the convertibility of different species of grain to different uses; of the impossibility of the bill creating' any competition except under circumstances unfavourable to the latter, between the foreign grower of barley and the West India proprietor. Mr. WESTERN contended, that the great cheap ness of sugar would give a decided preference in the re,ll consumption created by the demand of the Dis tirerics. Lord BINNING acknowledged that he had com munications from counties in Scotland about their distresses; but these were not ascribed to this mea sure. He had indeed presented a petition from the county of Haddington complaining of this measure. But he believed these distresses to be attributable to ether causes, much more efficacious than this of which so much apprehension was vainly entertained. Mr. ADAM stated the question to be, whether the second reading should be postponed for six weeks ; not with a view to get rid of it altogether, but for the purpose of investigation. The result might indeed Le the loss of the measure ; but if-that should appear, to he in itself proper, it was a result not to be de r recAted. The Right Honourable Gentleman who eriginateil the measure was wrong in the principle on which he had founded it, and his results were very far from being correct. But before he came to that point, )•,' observed that there were certain general principles kwerning the subject, of which those who origina ted and supported the measure did not seem to be r.vare. A Gentleman on the other side had said that they had called the distilleries a granary. What. sc.rne individuals might haie said he did lint know; but of this he was sure, that when he had before spoken upon the subject, he had considered the distilleries, not as a granary, but as a consumer. Such was the nature of agriculture that you could not destroy a great consumer without at the same time destroying the energy of the farmer in improvement. The return upon his capital, is had been truly stated, be could not have in less thin' a year, and his risk was increased'by the uncer tainty of the. seasons: This went to increase the risk still More, and prevent the good year from being a compensation fur the bad. This measure z ed a 11.6 "initsw [nice for barley. It was a bounty on au. -• gat.—* 4iseettragement to farmiis. and to Prikturtlen and, by diminishing the quantity, was sure in the end to raise the price. This measure introduced a certain price, beyond which barley could not rise ; but im portation had never operated as a maximum. The' expence of carriage, insurance, &c. &c. contributed to encumber importation • and though the importa - tion price was 83a. the barley here sometimes rose to 475. before the importation of foreign barley. Thetnportation was far foam being such a discou ragement tp agricultural production as this Measure .vas. He then proceeded to state the mistake into which the Right Honourable Gentleman opposite had fallen: if the Right Honourable Gentleman drew his inferences from the calculations and evi dence in the Reports of 1808, barley upon the plan now proposed could have no chance with sugar.— They were not placed on an equal footing. He then read part of the evidence from the Reports, contain ing the opinions and calculations of certain eminent distillers, and chewed from these that the Right lion. Gentleman was mistaken in his conclusions, and that his equalization scheme was utterly erroneous, pro vided the evidence in question was to be depended on. In opposition to this they had nothing but the ift,re dixit of the Right Hon. Gentleman. This was surely a strong reason for further investigation. Observing upon what had fallen from his Noble Friend (Bin ning), he stated that complaints had been made to him ( Mr. Adam) from various quarters, from Forfar, Kincardine, &c. where this measure was considered as one great cause of their distress, though no doubt there were other causes. The greatest writers on po litical economy had disapproved of all limitations on I the growth of grain. This was a great question, in which the landlord and farmer united to preserve the interests of Agricultnre. Consider, he said, the situa tion of Europe—it was no longer a great republic • where the wants of one country might be supplied by another. We might be shut out entirely from the Continent, and left to our own resources. This then was not a time to depress the farmer—to restrain the growth of grain. Or if you must try experiments, you ought at least, to be as certain as possible of their • effects ; and again, therefore, he maintained, that there I was the strongest ground for further investigation. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said, in answer to what had been stated by the Hon. Member for Dublin, relative to the expression of years in the bill, that no more than one year was intended, and that the suspension of the right to export from Ireland to this country distilled spirits, should only continue for four months. With respect to the ob jections which had been urged, from a supposed hos tility in the bill to the interest of agriculture, and par ticulirly the agriculture of the county of Norfolk, after what had been said by an Hon. Friend over against him, he was astonished that any one should again get up and predict the ruin of agriculture. For a ' considerable number of years past the produce of this island has been unequal to the consumption. The 45,000 quarters of barley consumed by distilleries at most in England and Scotland, bore so small a repot.- ' tion to the barley grown in the country, that it would never warrant any of the gloomy predictions held out. It had been said that nothing had been done for agri culture. If agriculture needed encouragement, cer tainly it ought to have the preference to sugar ; but the fact was, that notwithstanding the prohibition of distillation from grain for these two years past, agri culture had been so much on the increase, that for the last year 153 Inclosure Bills were passed, and for the present year, 168 Bills for England only, of which 21 were for the county of Norfolk, and 19 for Wales, which he believed had few, if any, Inclosure Bilk be fore. With respect to what had been said by his Learned Friend (Mr. Adam) it had been found by Mr. Benville, since the period of the Report, that by an improved method, they were enabled to draw spirit from sugar so as to afford an additional halfpenny on every gallon of wash. The present system was only intended to be permanent, if found practicable at the end of a year. , The only danger to be apprehended was to the revenue, because it might be impossible to prevent distillation from grain while duty was paying on sugar. Sir JOHN NEWPORT deprecated all tampering with agriculture when not justified by necessity. He considered the clause objected to by the Member for Dublin not warranted by the resolutions, and sur reptitiously introduced—and he was astonished that . the Irish Chancellor of the Exchequer, the only Irish Member in the Committee, could so far desert the in terests of Ireland, as-to consent to the introduction. It was a violation of the 6th article of the Union. Mr. TIGHE said this was a violation of the. only article of the Union in favour of Ireland. It Members would give themselves the trouble of looking into the articles of Union, they would find that the exporta tion from Ireland was confined to Members of Parlia- tnent and Distilled Spirits. The Irish Parliament was not a national but a sectarian Parliament, and its dissolution was contemplated by the people of Ireland with apathy. They sold their liberties for distillation, and perhaps it might be objected to them that they were not unjustly now suffering the curse pronounced on him who sold his birthright for a mess of pottage. The question was then loudly called for, and the House divided— For the 2d Reading 74—Against it 49—Majority 25. oavw ANC! ESTIMATES. The Report of the Ordnance Estimates was brought up, Mr. HUTCHINSON observed in the Estimate for Ireland the sum of £100,589 for fortifications on Spike Island in Cork Harbour • a sum of 8 6,400 for the powder manufactory at Ballingcalling, and two other sums of £3,100 and £10,400 for a magazine on Rocky Island, and new works on Howl Cowling Island. He said the powder was conveyed for six miles by land-carriage, of which half a mile was through the populous city of Cork, where an explo sion might be productive of the most awful conse quences. To obviate this risk, a canal might be car= ried from the powder-works to the river for a length of about three miles, which would reach that part of the river where it becomes navigable, and could be made at no great expence, by which means the pow der could be conveyed to Rocky Island. Sir JOHN NEWPORT objected to the lateness of the hour for bringing on business of such import ance. He objected to the sumptuous nature of the buildings for the Artillery Officers in Ireland. - Mr. ASHLEY coogEi. said that he was not aware of what had been suggested by Sit Uonourable Member (Mr. Hutchinson ) to whom be felt hiniseli *7"77 4- ' • • 'a - • • .10 tinder abligithni for the Coninitinientiti 4rhith be ttended The,Oiffscent, items of the. Report 'pare then selia rat,ly put 60 %greed tn.—Adjourned. THE EVENINGTATt. LONDON. t-, WEDNESDAY, APRIL f PRICF. OF STOCKS THIS DAY AT ONE 3 per Cent. Cons money, 641 65—for account 64i 61 Reduced shut- .4 per Coot. altut-5 per Cent. Navy 9" Excheq. Bills 3s. to 51. pr.-3.7indt, 245. 25i. preta. PRICE OF STOCKS YESTERDAY.' S per Cent. Red. Arm .' , ut India Bonds. ITs to 21a. pr. S per Cent. Coss. 641 th Infp Ann. 01 3-16/14 4 per Cents. shut facheq. Rills, par Ss. prom. 5 per Cent. Navy 91i S: ate Lottery Tickets £22 101 Lutz Ann. shut irons. for aec. diii Swedish Papers to the 19th ultimo were receiied this morning, but they contain nothing relative to the political circumstances of that country. A Canal is about to be dug between the Seine and the Baltic. A subscription has been set on foot in Denmark for the relief of the Danish prisoners now in England. The illness of the King of Sweden proceeds from shivering fill. Private letters brought by the Heligoland Mail of yesterday mention a circumstance which has occa sioned a considerable sensation on the Continent.— The Archduke of AUSTRIA, brother to the Empress, has suddenly disappeared with his most valuable moveables, and i: is believed will soon be in Eng. land. Some say that his rett-eat is in consequente of his being threatened with the vengeance of NAPo- LION for his expressed disapprobation of the union of MARIA LOUISA with that Ruler. He proceeded, in the first instance, to Salonica, whence he is under stood to have sailed for this country. The following is an extract from a letter upon this subject : " Our Emperor's brother, the Archduke FRANCIS, who embarked at Salonica for England with about three millions of money, besides jewels, has probably ere this arrived with you. His absconding causes some bustle in our Cabinet, and nothing transpires about his destination. It k difficult to guess its ope ration on our gouty state body, and the haughty minds of our neighbours." Advices from Gottenburgh one day later than those brought by the mail, mention an occurrence which has excited much conversation in that town. On the 22d ult. an English cutter cut out a Danish ship from Wingo Bay, which coring to the know. ledge of the Danish Consul at Gorenburgh, he com plained of the affair to the principal Magistrate of the place, who replied, that without orders from his Go vernment it was not within his province to interfere in the matter ; but added (sarcastically, vie presume), that the Danish Consul might, if he thought proper, procee,d on board the British ship of war, and claim the vessel on account of his Government. The Con sul, feeling himself dreadfully aggrieved by this an swer, immediately sent off a remonstrance to Stock holm on the subject ; and the next mail will probably tarnish us with an siccount of the proceedings of the Government on this case. The'expected official dispatches from Lord Witt.- . LINGTON had not arrived when this Paper was put to press; but the wind being now favourable they may be looked for hourly. Accounts may also be momentarily expected from Cadiz.—ln the mean time we subjoin a letter from an Officer belonging to the 37th Regiment, who was' in the battle of Barron, brought by the Ann of Lon. don, which arrived at Cork, in 14 days from Lisbon, on Thutsday last. The Ann has brought no freslf particulars respecting the retreat of MASSEXA " ISLA DE LEON, MARCH 8. 14 I cannot attempt to delineate the transactions of yesterday . g the ever memorable sth of March, a day that will ever be re membered by the Prince's Irish, sad by those who witnessed a scene of enthusiastic valour never surpassed, sad I will venture to say, never equalled.—We prothily bring with us a trophy that will long record the result of two successive charges against two regintenrs,•the Bth and 47th (French). The former came into the field, 1600 grenadiers, the finest looking men I ever saw; and from the centre of their column we took their Eagles, one of which is now standing by the side of Major GOUGR, who glori ously led on the regiment : the man who had charge of the other was obliged to throw it away from excessive fatigue, and a wound, wLich you will not wonder at when 1 tell you, we were under arms thirty-two hours, and marching sixteen hours before the action commenced.—The scene of this charge will ever be die.. teeming to my feelings : the French waited till we came within about twenty paces of them before they broke, and as they were in column, when they did they could not get away, it was there. fore a scene of meet dreadful carnage.—They appeared so fright. ened and confounded, they made, while we were amongst them (about a quarter of an hour) little or no opposition. We should have taken or destroyed the whole regiment, but at this moment the 47th French regiment came down on our right, and General GRA unm, who was during the whole action in the midst of it, pointed them out, and begged Major Goole would call of his men.—l will net say all, as we were in the midst of the Bth French. With the greatest difficulty, by almost cutting them down, the , right wing collected, with which we charged the 47th ; but after firing until we came to within about 50 paces of them, they, for us fortunately, broke and fled ; for had they done their duty, fatigued and jaded as our men were at the moment, they , must have cut be to pieces. We were therefore, after they broke, unable to follow them; but took the howitser attached to them ; thus ended this glorious action, after two. hours and a half's roar of cannon and musquetry. 'The Spaniards were not engaged.-- We had *boot 4000, the enemy about 9000 men opposed to us; and they will long remember it. " General GRAHAM sends the Eagle to our august PatroaNtliet Prince of WALE, as an offering of our devotion. Every thintle° now quiet. We daily look forward, to finding the enemy bre raised the siege—it is certain they have lost 301,0 men ; our Isms ere 1:100. 'I he wounded however, being taken care of, are Mpg very well. The name of the place where the action took !has his Pigiadela Barrusa." The 87th is principally composed of volunteers from the Irish militia.—Major GOUGH is son to Lieu.' tenant-Colonel Gouou, who commands the Limerick City Regiment. The 87tb was raised by Sir Joust kov.mx, the present Colonel, and is, called The Nam of Wales's Irish Volunteers. • • - .. __ _. ~_ tf4VAL INTTLMGEIVM . .. . . • PLYMOUII-1, APRIL 1. 'afternoon "afteion arrived "the FistMehired cutter, Minded by Lieutenant Hoi.t.it 8 0, from a.cruize hi Bitsyne-r , Quiberon Bay. She has M o onlit in with her a fine Dta Nadonal schooner, richly laden, which, she captured testers': . se'nnight o ff Bourdesi , s. The schonner was from Batavia, baravt to floordeaux, and had been fiv e month: ri , l /4 tr pa•sage ; she bat spies on board to the antount of several thourend pounds, and other valuable produce, besidti mute specie.. Shy mistook the FANCW for a French fishing-boar and lay t o for her some tire. till she perceived her mi,:ake, when she attemp te d to maker her l oad escape by rennirg, but,after a chary of four &Ibis, the Frurgcr came up with and captured bei-,.wit bout exchanging a shot. Thu schooner mounted 14 guns,. which she anew overboard in thsi cliacit ; she was, however, very badly &ganne t , having orgy 111 hands MI board, who had experienced much Adticulty is writhing the ship to Europe. She will provea rr.tist valuable prize to,xlm FANCY, which carries but 8 guns,and has not more then,•B3 or 30 hands. There was stn other vessel in company. Also vu. rived the Pot cft z AS, of 74 gene, from P irtsmou: h. ' 'T'he AMAZON frigate has scut in a Frei.cli b:ig, of 14 guns, and tB2 men; she is quite new, only out,a France twa days, and had made no captures. —Wiwi strong at K. . PORTSMOUTH, APRII. 2. • Arrived his Majesty's ships 'lt awick, from off Cherhargh 1 WOu LYZR IN Z andAN I ,frunl a er.dze; and the Ptatursoll N I. r, at Se. Helmer, front Plymouth. SaiNd his Majesty's ships V. LIA NT, SAIL ['EDON, MANLY, WOW:fin Ik, and CONQLI6TADOR, for the Downs: The WOOLVER IN c takes Convoy to Ciadiz,Cl. braltar, and into the Niediteiranean; the Neste to Giternse , and - • Al Jersey. 'the AMELIA gives instructions for Quebec, inlilie.4 of the MERCURY. Went oit of Harbour, his Majesty's .hipe ARETRUSA, AQUILINE, and BOYNE, fIR guns, built at Pdhts• 'outh—her first voyage. Wind westerly. YARMOU TH, APRIL ft. - Arrived here from die Nore this motiting the Lvwx slents ei war, Captain PERCIVAL ; REDBREAST, Sir GEORGE KEITH; nd the BEAM, lieutenant BANE., Commander. SAO tilt HEARTY gun-brig, on a cruize, Paised this port a fleet of up. Wards •l 40 sail, under convoy, hound to .Helitiand. Ships in , the Roads Roebuck, Desiree, 13ravedegerin, Exertion, Alert, Pigmy, • liekler, and Swan. Ships in the harbour Leveret, Portia, lEmms, Patriot, Jabde, and Cheerful.--wind S. S. E. , ' NAVAL APPOINTMENTS. Captain A. R. Kerr, to the Acastt ; Hon. Captain Pakenhatn to the Saklattha, rice Stuart, deceased; Captain G. D. Sak, t.tho Unicorn; Captain Bowles, to the Aquilon. Mr. Henry Kent (son of John Kent, Esq. Steward of the Nava Hospital at Plymouth), is promoted to be a I.lrntenant, and ap pointed to the Fantome. WINDSOR CAVELL, APRIL S. ig His MAJESTY continues to go on well. " W. DEBERDEN, 111. ISAILLIL" It has been reported within these few days that Wel MAJESTY IS somewhat indisposed. We regret to ack that the nature of the disease is Palsy. The Essex American frigate sailed from Cowes for France on Monday. She is to make the port of Cher. bourg, where she is to wait for dispatches from ,the American Charge d'Affaires at Paris, and on receiv ing which she is to return to the Isle of Wight, *hi ther Mr. Postrnev will proceed (.n or about :he Bth or 10th instant. The statement of his haVinggiven orders for his property to be unpacked, with the view of re. maining here some time longer, is wholly without foundation. Three cartels arrived at Plymouth on Sund a y front Morlaix. One of them has brought bonye five ladies, who had been eight years detained in France. Mrs. Bolen (the Lady of Mr. Boyd, of the house of Boyd, Benfield, and Co.) is also arrived. The only intelli gence that has transpired is, that the French Govern ment has desistes from granting any more licences. ARMY.—Yesterday morning 600 of the ;',cl batta lion of the Ist Regiment of Guards, under Colonel Com!, marched from Portman-street Barracks, in high spirits and complete military, ostume and equip ment, for embarkation at Portsmouth, whence they will proceed with all possible expedition to reinforce the garrison of Cadiz. Sir RICHARD PHILLIPS'S expected Work on the Jury System will appear to-morrow, and we understand it discusses at length the agitated questions relative to Legislative Commitments, Informations ex efrio, Libel Law, New Trials, National Education, Banish• ments for Misdemeanours, and Capital Punishments. General GASCOYNE has recently given two notices of Motions in the House of Commons, in which there appears to be a great disparity. if we understand the General correctly, on the Bth ulttimo, he gave notice of a motion for Tuesday the 26th, for a Committee to take into consideration the present pay of the Br ' tish Officers. On the 21st the General postponed un til to-morrow the 4th instant, the motion which - stood ' for the 26th ult. relative to " Mess Allowances, to be granted to the Officers of the Army." Now, it does not appear to us that the General's first notice alluded to Mess Allowances, but was founded on the broad basis of an " Enquiry into the present state of the • Pay of the British Officers." Thus then there is a great and discouraging disparity, between the first and second notice given by General GascovNe : this will be the more striking when it is recollected that the es timates for the year 1810 included the Allowance for Messes at the rate of re2oo for each regiment; and the subject cannot therefore be in any way connected. with General Gascortra'a motion, as is evident from the allowances being carried back to December 1809, which was of course long anterior to his noticei. General GASCOYNE now occupies a high and corn. manding situation in the eyes of his brother officers, who look with eager confidence to his exertions in their cause. They look to him for relief from a blind and indiscriminate system of Taxation which weighs most heavily upon the Naval and Military servants of the State. We trust that General GASCOYNIC and his able coadjutor Colonel GREY, to whose excellent 1 Pamphlet on the subject we have more than once had occasion to call the attention of our readers, will ne ver depart from their purpose until they have obtain ed their desirable end. The advocates for the Abo lition of the Slave Trade were at one time nearly as few in number, and yet, by zeal and perseverance, they ultimately attained their object. May the friends of the army be on this occasion equally successful with the friends of humanity! This atoning two Portuguese sailors were exe cuted in front of Newgate for cutting and maiming an Englishman in an affray at Wapping. foretk Blair, Who was also ordered for execution this morn ing, for forgery, has received a respite for seven days. MARK-LANE.—We have not many fresh arrivals of Wheat to-day, but tolerable supplies on hand, chiefly second and inferior, which have very few boy. ers ; Fine nearly at Monday's quotation—Barley in :Iron supply, and with Malt fully supports last prices. Peas and Beans of each kind vary but little, not many of the latter—The quantities of Oats on hand are again somewhat considerable, and this trade quoted • nearly at the late reduction—Flour this week is lower full 55. per sack. ...II