Star. — London, England, 1815-05-25 00:00:00

- , . , 1 • ; , E , • , . . r . t ~ • , . • , .. , • "., : ~.• "..; •, ~,,, • ~ I,', .t.'• L', • ' . W , • .... • s'. s' t • i .• t ''. I ... . • , .. ~ . . . • . - . . ..... Just puisi shed, in French M arenas English, By H. 50. Conduit-street, EPORT nt the STATE of FRANCE, made► .3LL to the King In Council by Viscount CHKIBAUERIAND, Miniit a Plenipotentiary of his Most Chris lan Mole cy for the Court of Sweden. Just re.bliabed, le French and Engl , sh, ECOLLEC'FIONS ITALY, ENGLAND, &to and AMERICA.—Py M. de (7HATEAUBRIAND. aver. Aiso, by the some ditstingnisbed Writer ' An Historical, Political, and Mural Esay on Revolutions, ancient and modern, fiv. , . Printed for H. Colburn, Conduit-street. PARLMMENTARr PROCEEDINGS. HOUSE OF LORDS, MAY 24. Lord Ettstiaostottan again officiated as Speaker this (hi, ht consequence of the continued indisposition of the Loa u CHAN• CiLLUS. Mr. Kingston presented at the Bar certain Annual Accounts front the'Directors of the East India Company, pursuant to the Act of the 54th of his Majesty.—Ordered to Be on the table. •Ilie Militia Laws Amendment, the Irish Assessed faxes, and the lsish Excise Duties Bill., wer: read a third time and passed. A private Bill was brought up front the Commons by Lotd Jo WILY pi and others, and read a first tinte. The Scots Mad Houses Bill received some amendments in a Committee, on the suggestion of Lord REDESUALE. 'To be exported to-morrow. The Scot* Hawkers and Pedlars Regulation Bill was read a Mond time, and comittive.l for to-morrow. On the motion of the Marquis of LANsDOWNE, the recom mitment of Lord Roseberry's Devotee Bid was deterred till to imorrow.---Adjtnt rind. • • HOUSE OF COMMONS. There being 150 Members present before four o'clock, the for the Dow npatrick Election Committee took place, when the following Gentlemen were chosen: Messrs A Buller, C. Bathurst, W. Rashtey, M. Barne, H. C. Clement, C. E. Wilson, J. Bolivia, R. Arkwrigh• W. R Cart wright, J. Brogden, J. Marryatt, C. Buller, J. N. iazekerley, H. .Wrottesley, and G. Holtord. As soon as the Ballot was over, Lord CASTLARZAGII post visaed his notice of the motion for the Address till to-mortises — (this day). • The House went into a Committee on the Weights and Mea sures Bat Resolutions were agreed to, and the tardier pro gress of the Bill fixed for Friday se'onight. The Local Militia, White kierrirg fishery. Irish Hired Ser vants, and some other Bills were ordered for a third reading to-morrow. MONUMENT TO SIR E. PAKENHAM. General GASCOIGNE wished to know whether it woo the inte.ution of Government to propose the erection of a Monument to that gallant officer, General Sir Edward Pakenham? I.urd CAS I'LEKLAGH said, that as to the mein, and die tiuguithed services of-that gallant Officer there could be but one opinion ; but the action m which be tell was not of a description to call Itir such a public testimony, and the adoption of it would be opening a door to a precedent which might prove extremely expensme and inctervenient. Urrieral GASCOIONE would not admit that this would ope rate as a precedent. He should therefore give notice, ilia on Monday next, he would move for an Address to the Prince Re gent on the subject. On being, however, reminded by the Speaker, that the House would not sit on Monday, he said he should take an early opportunity of bringing forward the mode°. Sir JOHN N.EW POR r complained of delay in the execution of the Orders of the House, relative to the production of certain Accounts relative to the Stamp Duties of Ireland, and moved that they be laid beforsothe House forthwith. Agreed to. Mr. bIRCH animadverted on the Grants made by Govern ttient to the Liverpool Port and Dock Company, and after ens.' tering into a detail of the different sums they had borrowed and tspeuded, he moved that the Papers relative thereto should be titru.lt.ced and printed, preparatory to the appolutmentwf a Com mittee of Inquiry. After several explanation on the part of the CtIANCELLOR of the E'en egllta, and replies from Mr. Iitt4NICT7, Sir 1. New • !UST ' and General GASCOIGNE, the motion ',named to. Lord C.sTLEREAGH presented a variety of Papers, amongst which were some relative to Naples, which were ordered to lie am the table and to be pointed. Lord PAL MERsION postponed the consideration of the Allay Exuatodinaries, till enday sena:gilt. GRANT TO LORD iiRLVILLE. Lord MILTON, on rising to bring forward a mo-1 'ion on this subject, with the particulars of which the House acre well acquainted, disclaimed all ~otives for interference but those of his public duty. He had no feelings of an advei se nature towards the deceased nobleman or any of his relatives or friends. but on public grounds ~nly he -deemed it necessary' to take up the subject. The history of the grant might be traced to the letter of the Earl of Buckinghamshire to the Court of Directors, of the date of the 14th Ja nuary, 18 This letter, which had long been before the House, referred to a conversation which the No- Isle Earl, as President of the Board of Conti mil, had bad with the Chairman of the India Company ; bin there was no Parliamentary knowledge of the subject previous to this letter. It recommended the granting of a sum of money to the present Lord Melville, a person who was not a servant of the Company but a - Amister of the Crown ; it stated the high situation field by his. Lordship's father, and rtcomniended,. that to avoid the discredit uhich would attach to his meniory, by the non-payment of his debts, the sum of A 20,000 should be proposed to the Coon of Di rectors, to be granted to his son. Tire great object, .eiowever, of me Board of Comicial, was to prevent the fairish expenditure of the funds of the ,Compauy, and the object of the act by which it was fined, teas to chet.k profusion and corrupt practices in In ,slia. But he would contend, that it yias eqUally' within the view of the Legislature, to extend the opt- of the Act to the prevention of such practices at home, or to any quarter of the Globe where they might take place. It was an object of the Act to pre vent the originating of - any grant with the- Zpard of 4Contioul. tie then insisted that the httiv was a ipublic document, and not a private communication, as ha' been maintained by the Gentlemen opposite. lie proceeded to contepd that the late I. , ..trsi d entitled to compensation, should lave .re 4ceived it .by aorote of Parliament as. a servant of the Crown, and not from the funds of the Company.— This body and the King's Ministers bad not only se. palate, but °ton conflicting interests; and he woold risk a it was tit or decorous that a person who was planed in the very office of controuling theCom piny ought to receive rewards front it? The view that ttie Court of Directors appeared to take of the. tommunication was perfectly honourable and con; aisteut. They resolved that the letter should be sob united to a General Court of Proprietors, and having done this, they d.lemed it their duty to go no farther. Toe last-mentioned Court, however, decided by ballot, that the grant should be made; but this did not change the nature of the application, which was like canvassing for money, and a precedent for truck. lug the patronage of the Government for the •patru. .naive of the Company.. Seth a grant wars peculiarly iimppropiime at a time - when the Right Honourable kientietnan connect4l' with the Board of Contronl r. W.olace) *as passing a Bill through the House ,u prevent tue COmpany 'hem granting annuities to the Vildows and children of their own Officers LA servants. It was only two or three Seisions ago since the Company -came to Parliament, to beg a ban, and got two millions and a half advanced to thorn; and it was admitted by those who_ rook --- the part of the Company, that the latter had by this Means got a balanced re 900,000 it% their favour ; and the very next year the Ministers go,to the same Com pany whom they had been obliged to bolster up, and ask them to give £20,000 to one of their friends, at die very time when they were unable to reward their own s wants. On the whole, considering the circum stances under which the grant had been made, it was a subject which called loudly for to; expression of the opinion of Parliament, as a job which was corrupt in its conception and mischievous in its effects. He should therefore propose certain Resolutions of cen sure on the President of the Board of Controul. 'They welt., to the effect, that this Nobleman, by the transa (il the litet in question, had acted contrary to the s i lirit of the Act of the 2 1 ab of his present M Testy, by on a Grant of Money out of the Revenues of the Company & that the House could not view we bout extreme jealousy the lavish expeudithre of the public money ; and that the conduct of the President tended to introduce a system contrary to the interests for which the said Board was established, and highly prejudicial to the public interests. The qucstiGn being put, Mr. WALLACE said, he felt it his duty, with a sincerity equal to that of the Noble Lord, to oppose the motion ; as he was of opinion it did not bear the eharacter, in any respect, which the Noble Lord had attributed to it. He would insist that the Act of Parliament had not been violated, and that the conduct of the Noble Lord had been rearked by no thing which was incompatible with the duties of the situation that he hell. A: to the Letter, he. still held the opinim he originally entertained of it ; it was certainly a private and by no means a public communication. But supposing it were even ac knowledged to be a public document, still he would maintain that the sending of such a letter was in no respect a violation of the Act. The Noble Lord seemed to think that there was some prohibition against the Board of Controul interfering to recom mend any grant to be made; but so far from it, no thing was more clear than the words of the Act in this respect. He would agree withahe Noble Lord, that though the Act goes only to contronl and check abuses in India, yet any abuses within the range of the Company's influence came equally under its spi• rat and meaning. The Noble Lord; however, must be very little acquainted• with the body to whom that letter was directed, if he could suppose that any ins proper application to them would meet with any thing but iiiflexible resistance. The :tight Honour able Gentleman then took a view of the Act of 179 a, to thew that it empowered the Board of Controul to recommend and advise to the Court of Directors pe cuniary grants, and that this Board was not esta blished merely to check the proceedings of the Coin pany, bit to, superintend and confirm whatever re lated to their civil and .military operations. As to the expression of the Noble Lord, that the letter ori ginated a grant of money, he denied that it'would do any such thing, as the money of the Companc could no more he granted without the consent of the Pio prietws, than the money of the public could be given away by Parliament without the consent of the House. He would add, that the Board of Controul was not only permitted by the Act of Parliament to give such a recommendation as that contained - in t'se letter, hut it was their duty to do so, as hi this spect they only gave their best ud vice respecting the administration of the revenues and of justice. In a case, for instance, like that of General Gillespie, whose promptness and valour had possibly saved our Indian empire, by restoring order and discipline when the army was in a state of mutiny, he for one should not think the Board of Controul stepped at all out of its way, in taking upon itself to recommend such meritorious exertions to great and munificent rewards. He denied that the course which had been pursued liy the Board of Conn-out with respect to Lord Melville, had been contrary to the letter or the spirit of the law—he meant that spirit which was embodied in the letter of it, and he-knew of no other. The letter of the Earl of Buckinghamshire had been written in consequence of an application made to him by Mr. R. Thornton, the President of the East India Company. In a conversation with the Noble .Lord, Mr. Thornton had stated,. a vote to Lord Melville was in contemplation, but before any resolution was coin to on the subject, he wicked to hear the opinion of the President of the Board- of Contronl, as it was very undesirable that such a grant should be made by the Proprietors. to be subsequently negatived. On this ground he applied for the opinion of the Booed of Controul, and the Noble.Lord,avhen asked the question, had answered with his accustomed frankness. The answer which be gave. Mr. Thore au requested to have in the form of a letter, and this was the origin of the present most formidable attack. The 'letter of Lord Buckinghamshire. of which so much had been said, war written at the desire of the President of that Body, whose privileges had been said ao have been in this instance so unjustly invaded; that which had been complained of as an injury done to them, had, in fact, been done solely for their con venience. He proceeded at some length, to spew that . there had been no impropriety on the part of the tart of Buckinghamshire, and that the East, India Company had lung been in the habit of rewarding, as they had done in this instance, great national ser vices, by which they were benefited. He was so far from entertaining any dread of the precedent thus established, that he was decidedly of opinion, the greatest benefit the East India Company could de sire, was that the precedent should animate others to perform services like those which they thus acknow ledged, and he wished for one to see many such claimants on their generosity. .Atiter summing up the great services of Lord Melville, during a long politicallife t in the course of which he had rescued the affairs of the East India Company out of the chaos in which they were involved, and brought them into a flourishing and prosperous state, he con cluded, expressing a deterusivation to oppose, the motion. Sir J. NEWPORT thought the question before tae House, and the precedent which it went to esta blish, more extensive in itsconseqttences, and ofinuch' greater importance than any thing merely connected with the merits or demerits of the late Lord Melville. e - astr -- s -- t .li.c the coarse which bairbe.ea pussosd by 4!. - • the Sarl of Stickingl4lll44s, in teamnroending it to the Eastlndia Company to make a ((rant of 420,(100 in consideration ot his (Lord Melville's) servicir.— It was quite to preeedented that one Cabinet Minister should recommend his Colleague to a Conamrrci a Company, to obtain for him pecuniary assistance, as Lord Buckingh'amshire• had done by the present Lord Melville. He denied that the services of Lord Melville had raised' the East India Company to that state of prosperity which might be supposed, from hearing the speeclt Of the Hon. Gentleman, and he (Sir .1. Newport), bad be been in the situation ot the President of the Board of Controul, he certainly 'could never have brought himself so to recommend a grant to a colleague, from a Company whose inte rests were particularly coutiied to lib care. 11%! had been surprised to hear the Right Hon. C:entlemait say Be knew nothing of the spirit of an Act of Par liament but from its letter. If such principles gene rally regulated the official condnct of that Right Honourable Gentleman, lie could not be surprised if his decisions were very different from those which he (Sir J. Newport) could bring himself to mom- i mend or sopp Mr. WHITSHED KEENE observed how little' our empire in India depended on the physical strength of this country, independent ot th e more p owerful force of moral agency. This strength, the vety foun.latien of our authority, was owing in a great measure to the wise and energetic measures pursued by the late Lord Melville, whom he eulogised as the greatest benefactor of India. Considering him in such a light, he had voted originally, as a Proptietor, for the grant, and he should now oppose every motion that would tend to question its general po- licy.— (Hear hear.) Lord A. HAMILTON .conceived the letter to bear every mark of publicity that was necessary. It originated from a public office, was written on a public subject, and was attended with all the conse. qtrences and influence of a public communication. — Regarding it as such, he would consider it the act of a Minister, and censure it as an improper exercise of ministerial discretion. Lord CASTLEREAGH conceived that the House were not to judge whether the grant was ad visable or not ; that question struld he left for those individual% whose property svzs iiivolved by their own decision. .He dwelt, with particular emphasis, on the opinion expressed by Mr. W. Keene, whose general experience and large property in the India Stock, entitled him to every attention on the subject. He contended, that the grant 4 money, in recom pense for actual services, wai perfectly consistent with the " due administration * of the Company's money, required in the oath of the Commissieners.— lit this, both the letter and sphit of the Act of Par liament completely •concurred. He defended thel ' letter as a...neans *f communicating the sentimentsl of persons connected with the administration of the Airs,• end thought that such previous communics ion on every meartrie pregnant with the highest utility. The letter could nut be considered as official, whether in its origin or consequences; it arose from a carrel circumstance, and w attended with no result, for the Court of Directors paid no regard to it. and the grant of the money was the voluntary act of the Court of Proprietors. Could it be said that any undue influence. was exercised over them, or over the fourteen Gentlemen who subscribed the Requisition ? As to the favour or affection which was supposed to influ lice the Board of Controul in' contravention of their oaths, he denied the supposi tion, and considered it a mere colouring thrown over the entire question. The advice was given conscien tiously, and perhaps a similar imputation may be' thrown on acts Ip:filmed by the Right Hon. Baronet (Sir John Newport) when in office, yet which were performed most conscientiously. He concluded by opposing the mocker. Sir J. NEWPOKT.--ii If the Noble Lord means .to make any allusion to any public act of mine, let him speak it out. Ido not wish to have any thing concealed." Lord CA.STLEREAGH....." I did not mean to allude to any of the Right Hon. Baronet's acts par ticularly ; I only said, that a similar false colour. ing may have been thrown over, similar acts of his wiser] in office, which were no doubt done consci entiously." Sir J. NEWPORT.—" I never advised giving l money to my colleagues." Mr. HOWARTH observed, that the.Nter was • considered not as originating a grant of money, hut' as merely recoMmendatory, and that on a very par ticularreasoli, the debts of the iste Lord Melville having fallen on the present. But how did-the Noble Lord who wrote that letter know of the* private affairs of Lord Melville ? Was he left executor of the will `was lie a trustee under it, that be should thus stig matise the dead, and paupetize the living ? He re marked on the depressed state of the India Company's finances, of which he drew a very gloomy picture.— At the time of their coming to the House for assis once, ,their paper was in a very depreciated state in Bengal, and they vsere obliged to have recourse to a. very eetraordinary mode of caking the loan, holdingi the Treasury open for twelve months, to receive money horn eve:) , quarter... Surely. when the pecu- i niary situation of the Company was so embarrassed, the President of the Board of Controul had not paid a due regard to their interests, when be recommend ed such a grant. It was true, a majority of the Pro prietors expressed themselves in favour of the grant— but it was most extraordinary, that none of the worthy Aldermen (three of whom had voted for it) who made themselves conspicuous on that occasion, were now present to state their reasons for the course they had adopted. Mr. WALLACE entered into a short statement, to prove that the pecuniary affairs of the Company were not so deplorable its the last Speaker had de scribed theta to be. Mr. MARRYATT observed, it was highly b. nourahle to the late Lord Mer ret lvi p ile i , tohiz over t other wham subject had been taken op by the po y of in p au ir e e n c c to e rs c , ou w l h d ic h h e mexigeritit eita7inssnteotad likelyo fthe th C a t o Court cohncadeidt the e, ar rQrirs, once et s o poke in t c h o e m h i igngh have been open to the' suspicion of an impr o p er in ttoerfterheevncoet.e fi l e ; ng sense they entertained of the services of the late Lord•lielville. and paid a pioper tribute to the vir tues of his son • who had undertak en voluntarily to discharge his father's debts. He should , oppose the, • . • Mr. lON3ONBY said, ai the present 4retuoir related to the conduct of a N ible Lord (Buckin 4 iiiinshire,), in the discharge of his public duty, il r felt himself hound to express an opinion on it. L. mild not think that the course adopteJ by the Poe. :Went of the flonrd of .0 introul, on this oreateiiiii, was correct orjusieflihle. If the illerlis of 'the.lat e Lord Melville were !to great as they had been repre. rented, it was very string -, that neiT fo the Court of Directors, nor the Court of Proprietors, had nor Riced them—and by a spontaneous and v i o litany act, granted that remuneration, for past ben, fi irie which had since originated with the Board of c„ R. trout. It was said, that, in recommendin g thi s vote, the Board of Controul had committed lib vi,,. lotion either of the letter or spirit of the Act. Ti le letter of the Act was not invaded; hot, lie tv.s L I no means satisfied, that its spirit was Fp t violitcd Our of the provisions Al .that Act went to prevms the Boyd of ,Contreul from originating or . u . its 0 1 money ; anothet rendered necessary for the C orn . pany, where they made a grim of mote than 47.0 a ye;,r, to su b m i t i t to, the Board of Control,' for their approbation. From this it appeared, that one of the: principal (bales of that Board was, to sop, , aitmli and it necessary, ro correct, the ex rerid i i ure of trp, ney by the Court of Directens. It did appiar, t o Li m , that the grant now in question was riot given -for 0 :a se: vices of the Lite L !rd Melv.lle: his veliie.im bttttliattit.l i twas t was lf lv) y e rwas ' 3f t h ose tiuw 0 made for the convenience of the presentoLrotridie. die.o the merits of the late Lord Melville .re so grea t , tt x nt e ita r gr d a i l i t i t ar ay to u '. tit in long i circumstances, h:tore the C omp iil c rather felt his merits to be such as to call for tiiis lac : , sum. Here he begged to observe, that the circtini. stances i f the late Lord Melville ought not to o ver , ;e in a case of this kind. For had he been the ricliest man in the community, he might have pliorturia those services which called (or t.nittneratioo— an d i t would have been equally proper to have offered th e reward, thus earned, although probably it w mid LI have been accepted. It was said, that the letter et the Noble Lord in this case, did not i II .uence ille East India Company. He k iew the letter did iiiit contain any tiling that could strictly be called matter of itillaence, as it respected the Directors or P ro pn e . tors. But could any m in, candidly speaking, thitek that the saggestion or recommendation of Lie Presi. d ent o f the B card of Controul, urging, as he did, the Cout C of p;rectGrs to do something fur the late Lord Melviile's family, would have no ant/Routd wit a document be.reccived, without produciti some ktc. gree of influence ? It was, however, observed, 6t this letter had not induced the 1) rectors to do fee act recommended, 'since that act originated in vi Court of Proprietors. This was perfectly true—ti papers proved the fact. But why did. not the l'i prietors perform this act, &/:r.! the letter was g-at the Chairman of ',he Court of Directors? It a. competent tar them to have proceeded iXf re, S wt .!S .otter the receipt of that Ritter. baited, had el voted this sum of money, in ea: first iitsta:tee, : ~;rant wield hive coax witu a Much lieut.+ gull It would then at , Fear tai have erigitiated w ikemselves, and not to have arisen Isom oliediet to the dircctions of a I ighor power. 11.2 felt very great person LI resp ct for the Noble Lord the head of the lioord of Contionl, but, in t: instance, his interference Was by no means ce fro lie nos almost the last Mali who tug et to hi mad_ such a wio { tcli,,n route Z'oui i of Ihrectors. . i fhe Noble Lord (Casa:re:4lh) argued, 'll4 dr, was no more impropiety in a mutual common' Lion between the Board of C row! and the Cour: Directors, than there was in a cononureication tween the two Houses of Vdri14111:11i. this UJI very uufortunate illustration of the Noble Lot proposition. The diff.rent par sof the C-nstitte wee.: independent of each other—and, when a ct mottle:Own took place between the taco lio t iei Parliament, it was between par tes who wire er; and who were perfectly independent. But, is present instance, the communication was betweeii . i parties, one of vellOat was appointed to shoe.: control the other, and who must, conser i oeiltl), i sess a very • considerable influence. 'foe co , which had been adopted, reminded him of a st,s,ry had somewhere read.—A Mat, tra% oiling ta i i along a road, suddenly heard a cry ol—" ije':.to ' or the Jove of Goo !" toed he sees lying Le! ..):e in the path-way, a h a t. Looking about I.;in, to ./. cover from whom this cry of " Cliari , .y" cm -4 observes a musket pointed towards tom, out neighbouring hedge. On making this Li Kovery, very prudently throws his moi.cy into rd:c hat, I though no pmson had held out any dir ect dire. compel him to the act. So it was in t! e present ci The Board of Control, no chebt, without any ide iiifluencing the East India Compar y, suggest, e commend, a certain grant to be made ; :11.41 the , prietors, being charitably and kindly disposed (tIIG. not so unanimously us might have been aspecte: a charitable occasion, there being 'ISO agaii;:t vote, and 455 for it), in compliance with this gestion, or recommendation, agree to part with a large sum. (Laughter.) Mr. BATHURST observed, that the concl illustration of the tight Hon. Gentleman wit icularly unhappy. In the case lie had mentioned. tear of personal danger operated on the travel; but, from the unloaded state of the arms made G by the Board of Centro'. no opptehenricn w!!,E could be entertained by the Coui t of Proprietor 1 The Right lien. Gentleman :Isked, why some had not been taken, for the remuneration ot j'Melville during his life ? The fact was, the I pang had grained Win a pension, payable as tai their late Charter existed ; and the anereat tv continuation of that grant, arising from the et tossed state in which he Nit his affairs. The 1 Hon. Gentleman then defended the propriety ol grant, which, lie argued, was no more lial:le jection than that which was C011:el red no ibe pi Lord Cornwallis, for the services palm - null rather ; auclooncludedbyexprioising liLs hostility motion. The House then divided—when there arp" Par the Motion 30—Against it 86--MsjefitY The Board (A Longitude was read a brit, ordered : to be read second time to-tnotrow. The Tobacco Drawb a cks fill was read a sel time, and ordered to be committed Ml Fria,' The CHANCELLOR of EXCHEQL; brought in a Bill, " for granting to bis j:SI,Y ) ut to tees veil the rate. K: reerce relt id .1 t:.:, hare there unit. ti a Le. usiq aft f corn. 4:',1 • poi. CUll.lst e tc let, : 13 I 0) a try,:te ,lt d rear ty t Cast • 0f 1 , ,;;t cu e :- a v-7f :1 VAS t• 4 ' . 3l:Cf + GS: A t 14 4 ' • ! C. lolng It 31 11 t Al. 3 Rlcti Ot ;.X ! EC r w r P Ae s eil rb r ,, G t rt ya'