Star. — London, England, 1801-03-31 00:00:00

MI PRUSSIA BERLIN, MARCH 17. • I b We fiill expeet a deciiive anfwer t: ran ::nglatd to the Note of the tath ut. dcliveti.d by t , 1 , 1" Court to the Enghill Ambailicior.—Cekinel k Coo, of the General `tai., who had hitherto beca with the Army of demarcation in Weiiphalia, ha, been c flied hither, aml :et out for Peterlinirgh, on bufinelS of importance, acc.,mpa nied by the Secretary of Legation, ?kl. llt ScF' .—Ti:c Ruffian 'Cc:inferior, and Knight of l‘falta, d'Ustti, is gone to Paris, as courier It is thovlit that the obje& of his jottracy are negociatiors which the Emperor of Raffia intends to open in favour of thole German Princes that are related to hint, and whole cattle he defends. The Ruffian Captain, M. L' St.INN, has alfo. paired thron;,h this city, on his way for Paris. It is laid that the alliance between the three great powers, I'ruilia, Ruffia, and France, is confirm ed, and grounded on a lining hall...—Rerpeilling Ruffian glnds, the Court of St. Peterfburgh has declared, that all articles neceirary for the con. fumption of the Pruirian dominions may be ex ported from Rullt into Pruflia, on a certificate from the Dirc&r,--Gerieral at Berlin. It is laid that ail Prullian regiments are to be put in me tion. Ordtr., have been riven for in fpeeling the magazines of utentils for the waggons belonging to the army. The declaration of Pruflia againft England has been received at St. Peterfburgh with great latif falion. The order not to tell any goods to Pruf flan merchants has been revoked. Letters from St. Peterfburgh of the the ad inflant, (late, that a meeting of the trade had been called by the Im perial Chamber, which offered to the merchants frigates for !hipping their goods, in the name of : the Crown. PARLIAMENTARr PROCEEDINGS. HOUSE• OF LORDS, MONDAY, MARCH 30. The fecond reading of Mrs. Addifon's Divorce Bill ftanding one of the Orders of the Day, the Lord Chancellor took his feat at the Table, and Mr. Adam came to the Bar as Counfcl for Mrs. Addifon. Mr. ADAM opened the nature of his cafe, and Rat a' the feveral rafts to which he meant to ezamine witneffes and adduce evidence. He began with obferving, that the petition of a wife for a divorce was almott a novelty to be addreffed to their Lord fhips : he tiled the term tthaill; he believed, though the law books were Merit in that refpea, there were precedents to be found on their Jour- nals to Phew that iuch applications had been made to their Lord hips, and litiened to, and he hoped, before he had done, to be able to convince their Lordfhips that the cafe of Mrs. Addifon was fit not only to be entertained by their Lordlhips, but, he mulled, that they would be of °pillion that his Client was entitled to the relief for which (lie was a fuitor. According to the praCtice of that Houfe, it was always, he believed, expeCied that a Coun fcl on the behalf of a Petitioner fhould bring proof of the marriage and of the adulterous rafts, and be able to lay before their Lordfhips the fentence of the Eceleflaftical Court, of having granted a Divorce a M.nJa r! flora, and a copy of the ver dift and judgment of the Court of King's Bench, with the ftatement of damages given. It fo hap pened, Mr. Adam fitid, that he could not pro duce this ver - liet of the Court of King's Bench, becaufe, as their Lordfhip.: well knew, a wife Could not, by the Law of Englans, maintain a fuit in a Common Law Court againil ti. bufband for adultery, though fhe might bring he 7 againft him for cruel ufar, and on other ac counts; bat he fhottli be a' lv amply to fupply this defirieney of evidence, 1:1 -roducing the judg ment and verdii of the Cow! of King's Bench, apinli Mr. Addifon, who was convided of adul tery with Mrs. Campbell, his wife's own fitter, upon an aClion brought at the fuit of Mr. Camp bell, the Lady's huizand ; and who recovered pool. damages. The LORD CHANCELLOR Aced Mr. Adam if be was prepared to argue the admiffibility of inch evidence then ? Mr. ADAM raid he w 7.5 not, but would prepare himfelf to argue it if their Lordfhips would gise bim time. The LORD CHANCILLOR laid, undoubtedly the Bottle would. Mr. ADAM then went through the reft of his 1 , care, and laid, as he Ihould bring proof of Mr. Addifon's having carried on an inceftuous inter courfe with Mrs. Campbell, who was Mrs. Addi. fon's eldeft filler, and as Mrs. Addifon ritufl he conuemied to a life of perpetual celibacy, if the divorce was refacd her, he trufted their Lord fhps would feel themrelves obliged, in point of juftize, to grant the Divorce prayed for. He then proceeded to call his witneffe , , and produced the Chrgyman who marred Mr. and Mrs. Addifon abniit the ;,:tr t7B9,at St. Clement Dane's Church. —He alio produced the witneffcs c.f the marriage, and the feraence of Divorce a Alenfa d Thoro pro nounced by the Ecclefuel:cal Court. In proof of the inirintie of Mr. Aeld•liiii with Mrs. Campbell, be c.,1:‘41 a maid tevv.nt, who lived wilh the fa sraly in the ye are 1791, 1794, and 1794, and it was . ea.i!,:ifbed alt Mr. Addifon parfued hi; purport for fo herert lie fucceedcd in his ~ bjeet. A tv:iter, at Nee? Hall lon, South Oecii's. fe rv, in Scwiarii, gae e evidence, that fiaving heard (tom the fervants skit they rufpected was carryiry , on t wecn Mr. Adei.fon and Mrs. Camp bell, and hearing that the room in which Mrs. Carr.!,bell flept was locket!, and Mr. Addifon in ir, ca.-ratty pronT:ed him to bore a hole in the do:-,r, 11:NPigh whit.% he peeped leveral times, nti i the p ticks in a 1.:1.41if •11 c: iminal. -.—Mr data about is pr - tatice the iuch•ntent a ,,.; e. ein:t Mr. A.:dal:in far the t,d'iltery,. and. I.:nib-I-flood woulti air, azain b. ; u-t d it Lorthhip,, as he beard Dr. Lanyixii, who Vs - r. now is Wiz, vv;alel, on bi. sett:l - r. to En A lani.., att.tioncr at their 134: for Lir ru:se CeauptiCl—/thea The LORD Cl!. NCILLOR Paid, Countel muft _ . His L:rc'i-:p went to the Woo Yank, and , .:it a paper which he had commit %d to writii at the Table, addrelfed their Lord (hips. raid the Learned Gentleman was a iciliak•:u in fuppofing that it was indifpen fably neretfary in all applications fur Divorce to lay fv:fori: Hoyle the Verdia and Judgment of the C owl. of Kit:7:s Bench. There were various Tweeed,itta, on the Journals to (hew that, under fonve circumitances, that form v:as abfolately im potlible to be complied with, and the Divorce had been graitted without it. He recollened two of them—the one of a Sea Captain, who had been out of the e+•ur.:ry for two years, and on his re turn he found one el tad horn and another ready to he brought into the world, though he had not Peen hii wife for two years. • Lady had been lo tree clf her favours during his abience that it was impoiiible to afcertain Mtn was the father of either of the children, and therefore, as the in jured hufband could not find a Defendant, he could not poilibly bring an anion for D images-in the Court of King's Bench. Another cafe in which no judgment of that Court was pronounced, was that of - a Lady who went over to France during her hulband's te.....ance, and obtained a regular di vorce there, under the new Laws of Divorce made fince the Revolution, and lbe married another man in France. In that cafe no action for Adultery there committed could be tried in an Engin Court, of Law. His Lordfhip faid, he thought it necdfary to throw out thefe obfervations and as a doubt hung on his mind, as to the admiflibility of a copy of a verdiet and judgment in a dilliat cafe, which they were told would he hereafter exhibited, as a ground of application for a Bill of Divorce, as matter of evidence in the prefent inflance, he had therefore drawn up a queitinn upon that point, and if the Houle concurred in opinion with him, and efpe cially his Noble and Learned Friend ( Lord Clare) he would move it, and propofed to have the qucf tion folemnly argued at their Bar by the Learned Counfel, who had fo clearly and ably opened the cafe, on fome future day. Thc Earl of CLARE faid, he concurred with his Noble Friend entirely in his law, and It: thought it right to let the Learned Connie', who had dill played fo much ability, underhand, that fomething better and more full evidence of the continuity of Mr. Addifon's intrigue, and fumething left vague than the look converfation of fervants, and the i.roof of the criminal fags, than what arofe from the teflimony of a waiter at an inn, would be ex peeled, before the Divorce prayed for would be granted. Mr. Adam was called to the Bar, and raid if their Lordlhips would allow him, on a future day he would give further grounds of evidence in Support o f the ncefluous intercourfc and converfation, and the continuance of Mr. Addifon's intrigue with Mrs Campbell. The LORD CtIA4CELLOR contented, and then put the queftion on the motion he had hated to the Houfe. The queition was ordered to be argued at the Bar next Tuefday fent:tight. PAPER CURRENCY, &C. The Order of the Day for fummoning their Lordfhips being read, a &oil converfation enfued between the Earls of SUFFOLK and WARWICK, in regard to the nature of their refpedive propoft ti(.ll,, and the point of priority, both having been fixed for this evening ; in the courfe of which the former Peer mentioned, that he had not yet de cided whether or not he thould propofe any fpeci fic Motion, but merely to call the attention of the Houle to the important points which he meant to recur to, and to point out to his Majefty's Minifters thole remedies which ftruck him as the molt likely to prove effedual. Lords HOBART and MULGKAVI feverally ob (erred upon the improp:i,:tv effing the Houfe at any length, except where a fpecific Mo tion was intende.f. _ _ The Earl of Surroex Paid, that in that cafe he certainly should conclude with a Motion. He then oblerved, that, with refpdt to his motives fur thus coming forward, there was nothing perfonal in them. He was folely atluated by public confi derations ;—neither ambition nor avarice formed any part of his charaEler. He wanted nothing— and his tole with was to fulfil his duty as an inde , pendent Peer. What he witted to call the atten tion of the Houfe to was of the kit importance to all defcriptions of perfons, particularly the poorer orders of the People—namely, the prefent im menfely High Price of Provifions.—This evil he attributed to various caufes, the first of which, he inlitled, was the continuance of the war. lie well knew the initaenfe confumption of the Army and Navy, which were not over-rated at 4.00,000 men, and the great wage attending Inch confump tion ; which laft would go very fir, in a period of Peace, towards obviating the evil they now had to lament, The mode of purchasing Cattle, too. aggravated the Scarcity and heartiest's. as alfo did the manner in which Grain was bought tip, patti cularly in London. The increafe of Taxes alfo contributed highly to increafe the evils, and thefe sprung dirt:illy from the IVar but what more than any thing elk contributed •In. ',relent High ?rice of Proviiinns, was the enormous extent of the Paper Currency. It had been calculated there were no Ict, than four hundred Country hanks, which mull futility a moil alarming iffue of Paper. This he contended, al:lffed, in a confiderable de gree, the prices-of Grain, and tended much more than any deficit:Ley in the Harvetl, to enhance them. His Loreffilip here teferred to the evidence of a Noble Earl (then abkut) given before the Committee, and of whore eharafter he (poke in terms of unqualified approbation. .He read copi ous Earaeis from the Minutes of the Noble Earl's E :idence (Egremout ), which he %%tithed were print ed for •Jle general information of their Lordthips, and intimated his intention of making a Motion to eiTett. He i4iJ, from thefts it appeared to be the Nt.l)lc Earl's opinion, that. the late harvelt was up on the whole at. average crop, which was an addi. timid reafon with him for dunking that the Paper Currency kcp'. iip lie prices of Corn. He raid, the affii Rance which the Farmers received from thefe Country Bankers, enabled them to withhold their Corn. He again expreffed his with that their Lordtl43 would agree to have the Noble Earl's Evidence printed, as, in his mind, nethin,?.. fu cleave and to (lecifiee had yet been offered on the fubjett. He then proceeded to fitzgell thole remedies which he thought molllikely to :tauter the piopofcd en .L. He meant merely to threw tlieni opt, in III: hope that Minillers would digell and improve them, v. I. ich his imperfea abilities weir Itne(ltt:tl to. tk firli propofct' that the number at Banktrs thould he tak , ai, and, as far as priffible, the extent of the Paper Circulation alma:tined. It may he laid this was a private trantaftion, with the Legit:a ttire fhould rot interfere, hut h: nui:le,l that, where private trontaaions tended to public ii cries, it was the duty of the Legill (tore to interfere ; there were two Ads, he raid, pa , fed this reign, the effect of which went, in Ihme degree, to reilrain thefe allies, a menfure which was much more need fary at prefent. He would alto fuggcll the expe dient of laying on a Shilling Stamp Duty upon every Note idued ; this would have the (Sea of abridging their cireulo:ion—if not, the Public would have 5 per cent. out of the immenfe p r oilf s of thole Bankers. Another expedient, the effeas ' of which would be very beneficial, was the ells-1 blifliment of Public Granaries. A great difference, exiled between the weights and meafures in dif ferent parts of the kingdom, and there he thought fhould be equalized. With rcfpet to the fade of., Corn in the Metropolis, he thought there fhould be two inftead of one market, which would give the public thole benefits obvioutly refulting from competition. Another important confideration ' with refpel to the prices of Grain was, the im menfc body of Cavalry maintained in the kingdom, for which number he thought there called no necefti ty. The immenfe qnantities of Land lying' walk, from feven to eight Millions of Acres, was another cattle of the prefent evils ; were thefe re claimed and taken into cultivation, the molt bene ficial effeEts would be produced. He alfo thought that all the country markets fhould be held on the fame alayos by the prefent mode, a great opportu nity was afforded to the machinations of foreftal ling, 8:e. Thefe were the principal points which the Noble Earl fuggefted in the firft inftance, as likely to obviate in their adoption, the evils com plained of; and he concluded by moving, ,4 That it be an inftrudion to the Committee of the Honfe, to inquire into the extent of the paper currency, and what effect the fame has with relped to the prefent High Prices of Provifions." Lord HOBART Etid, it was not his intention to follow the Noble Earl in the various tlatcments he had jut delivered, but he obferved that the motion was at leall unneceflary, as the Committee whom it was propcfed to infirud, were diligently employed in invelligating the very important fub jeds under their confideration. That he was con fident that whatever appeared to them mot wife and expedient to recommend, they would do, and they were already confiderably advanced in their work. He therefore thought it improper, at prefent at leaf, to inftrud them upon any particular point. With relped to an official document, to which the Noble Earl teemed to allude, the Letter of a Noble Duke, he was, upon inquiry, fully convinced that every line of it was juftified by the exiling circum !lances, and its circulation through the country was attended with very beneficial effeds. In re. gard to the Noble Earl's ohfervations on the late harvetts, and the Rate of the country with refried to provifions, he begged to refer their Lordfhips to the important reports of both Houfes of Parlia. ment ; from thefe, on which his Lordlhip °Nerved fomewhat in detail, it would appear that the pre fent Scarcity was to be attributed to the difpen fation of PROVIDENCE, and which, of courfe, was the operating caufe of the high prices. With re. ' fped to the point on which the Noble Earl laid fo much ftrefs, the Country Banks, he was not then prepared to give a decided opinion ; but he was certain the Bottle would feel the impolicy, not to fay danger, of treating upon that fyftem by means of which this country has rifen to an unexampled height of profperity and happinefs ; and they fhould entertain, with the utmoft caution, any pro pofition tending to interrupt that fy (lent, or to trench upon any particular branch of commerce. In regard to the high prices of corn arifing from thefe, or from the war, no potations could be more erroneous ; the latter had already been ably argued and decided upon by the Houfe. Added to which. the Reports of the Committees he had already re ferred to, and a reference to the prices of corn in former years, particularly in 1793, 4, and 1797, (refpening which his Lordfhip entered into lonic detailed calculations,) filmed tile fallity of the potations. In thefe periods the iffue of Country Bank Paper was never thought of as the caufes of the high prices, Is hy then fhould it produce that effed now ? He then touched upon the point of the Wafle.Lands, refpeding which the Committee I were then butily employed, whofe merits, in what they had already done, was very ably pointed out by the Noble Lord, as well as thole beneficial efreds which the public had every reafon to taped would rcfult from their future labours. The Earl of WARWICK faid, that much of what had fallen from the Noble Earl anticipated what he himfelf had propufed to fuggefl, in favour of the motion. Lord Aura LA w n ohferved, that the Noble Earl had attiihtited much of what he had to deprecate, to a popular caufe, and one which was in general very ill underttood. What the Noble Earl laid, had a tendency to thake the commercial ()item of the country ; the nature and procefs of the inftitu thms fo much deferied, were egregiottfly mifcon ceived—the itfue was for value received—the point was plaits—the iffuer was ultimately anfwerable ; his fign upon the paper gave it value, 44 the upon a piece of metal gives it a nominal, or a dif ferent value from the real. lisle banks create a little circle of fecurity round them; the proceeding was limilar to that of lending money. When the paper came round again it was repaid by the iffuer. His Lordlhip entered into tome calculations to evince that there eftablithments had far from an injurious tendency, and concluded by expreffing his hype. that on a (ration of fuch delicacy and importance, the Houfe would be lcd by its men good feufe, and not induced to tamper with tint fyllcm which had conferred the greateil praaical benefits upon the country. 'rho Duke of Arum exprefred his opinion that the fcarcity complained of principally arofe Iron; the chfpenfittions of PROVIDENCE, and enzeted int., fume detail to they: the clabiiflimvot of Fevinci: pailicularly in the Not•th?rii part: (.1 the Lir-gd.4.1, prcdt:',_ed loin: very falutary e :Tea s. Ettrl h.s~.sit st did rot inatet;ally obj' to the nal:on of the Nol,le Earl, at the fame time that he tionbted dn. eptcli2pcy of it. After a fcsv v.-ortls from the 1'.;,r1 of Sttproty, in reply, biti motion was put and nzg.ztiveci. HIGH PK:)VISIOXE. The Earl of WAr.WICK laid, he would nor t i • tam the Houle long with the motion he wa , .:11:01:r to fubmit to their Lordthips. l'er.baded as lie that the high price of prcviiions proceeded iron. artificial caufes, he felt himfelf called upon to loin; the motion he meant to rropofe before the II 'oft.. In fopport of his opinion he adverted to the law quantities of corn continually in the river Thames. and in all the granaries on its banks, as a proof t): monopoly. The only remedy he coulti fee for th, evil was--firfl, to afcertain the einanti.y of c, a ie the kingdom, and then to compel Ow holder s of to fell it at a given price. lbging the neeetrity thefe objeCts, he concluded with a motion to th, following purport : " To authorize all M.ig:ar.fte and other proper Officers thr , :4onit the king.!,:.n to make returns to that Houfe of the qua.lti..v Corn, Hour, and Grain, in their ditlrids." Lord MORTON • oppofed the motion. The Duke of Mori-toss faid, he wa rot ry t find the Noble Earl bring forward the prefcnt'sno. tion ; of his intentions in doing fo, no man could have a doubt and no perfon was more ready :a bear tellimony of them than his Graco, becanfe ha was well convinced a better man did not ezill than the Noble Earl, yet he was forry to fay, he had taken a wrong ground, The Committee appointed by that Houle had done every thing men could do to alleviate the fufferings of their fellow creatures, and he was well perfuaded it would gladly receive any information the Noble Earl had to give on the fubjed of the prefcnt fcarcity, and at upon it with that vigilance which has marked all its ma tures ; he dapproved of the remedy propofed by the Noble Earl, becaufe he did not think, if it were pradicablc, it could have any beneficial effect, but of the impracticability of it no man could have the 'Mika doubt—how was the return to be made ? It was a fad well afeertained, that farmers wen very unwilling to give fuch information as the ;no tion went to demand, and he doubted the power of the Houfe, in the thane the Noble Earl propofed, to force the returns. He difapproved of creating refentment in the minds of the lower enders of the people againft any dthriptirm of porfons, particu larly when they were not really culpable. The people, with a patience which refiedcd great credit upon them, had borne their fufferings from a on. vidion th tt they were the difpentattions of PR OV/- °VICE : Alt if they were told that their rniferies were produced by the avarice of any let of men, they would not bear it fo tamely--for his pair, he had no doubt as to a fcarcity. There had been 4 great outcry about the quantity of corn in the rive; Thames, but the Haute would reflect that the live 7 Thames was now become a det4 for almo't the whole of the kingdom, from the great ti 711 city of London, and confequently its ta of procuring, fupplics. He knew of corn Orin; lent from London to Leicefter very lately; a eircen, Rance perhaps that never hetore occurred, and which clearly proves that leart.itY does en d. Is.. Noble Duke vindicated the conduct of the Com • tee from the blame imputed to them by the 1•:. `ale ,earl, and concluded by laying, on the grounds lie had hated, he (hould vote againft the motion : he never could approve of a maxims" The Earl of AVaawick role to explain ; he de clared if any thing which he had faid could be con , ltrued into a cenfure on the Committee, it mull have proceeded from his having been milcuoccived by the Houfc, owing to his manner of delivery's himfelf; but certainly fuch was never his intention: he did not mean to throw the fmalleit iniputation upon was fatisfied it had *Red according to the belt judgment it could form from the evidence laid before it. _ _ Lord HOBART faid, he should trouble the Houle but a very Ihort time; he had merely to acquaint their Lordfhips, that having been informed that a report had gone abroad of corn having been dimwit into the river Thames ; he felt it his duty to af cistain, as well as he WAS able, the fad. He ac cordingly applied to a perfon from whom he ima gined it was moil likely he lhould obtain the de fired information ; and that perfon, unable to fpeak as to the fait himfclf, referred him to a Merchant in the City, who he :aired him would rttisfi Lim fully on the fubjed. The Noble Lord laid he im mediately fent to that Merchant, who declared the ilatement to be falfe. .............._ Lord 13 _ contended that the means the Noble Earl had propofed could not remedy the evil, but would create much diiratifaftion ; lie therefore oppofed it, and would oppofe any mea fure which would produce a maximui.i. The Duke of Bsproitzi confined his oppofition to the meafure to the inutility of it—he faw no good purple that could be anfwered by reminding the poor of their fufferings. He was perfuadecl a liar city did exill ; and if the Noble Lord would refer back to the fituation of the country in August laft, he could not doubt it—for at that period his Grace faid he knew many inflame- in counties NA re- I markable fur poverty of foil, that die poor inhabi tants fpent hours, nay almoft Whole days, at the doors of bakers, waiting for bread. As to what produced the fcarcity, fhould declare his fend mcnts on that fubjetct when the committee made its report. As to a maximum, he considered it a bad =afore. _ Tie motion was then put, and negatived with out a divifion. The bills Mafia of the Rolls Bill was read a fe cond time, and ordered to be committed to-mot row ; upon which,the Duke of Bedford intimated as intention of oppofing h.—Adjourned at 9 o'clock, i