Star. — London, England, 1802-04-13 00:00:00

PARLIA.III.N7 /Mr PROLEADIAGS. HOUSE OF LORDS, P.IONDAy,APRIT. 12. •_ - Ceiwifel were &car,: in eortiutution relative to the Scotch Apre.ii. Sir Kohew Prelton v. tue E..ri uiLus:doualJ. To t.)-morrow. A nuott•cr 121114,chielly private, were bratazht up from the Cot tr. Alexamlet. \.r. tafe...llcs am! tarikr Gentle- Lten. Amon;;11 the - .t were the S. w I..trait 1t tI. 4:.4 Gre na.la i.oaa The fe wets Itver..l:y read a file time. non• Was granted to I.ord b i:count Bultelev, oa h . . , own N:oticat, to attend a Private Comr.aitce of the Huai: of Cool:mats. • IRISH PLRRACIS. The Order of thiedity on ^ a Lich their Lordfhips a•tre fummoned, I',"RS mod, f,n taking into emit-l iberation a petition from Lard Vi:count Dillon, re -I.l;ive to an Appeal in which his Lordthip is one of tilt. parties. After .1 few words from Lord Vifcount CARLE• ros,;,splanatory of the nature of the cafe, and a Clot t esasnination of the agents at the bar by Lord ALVA%LMY, as Speaker, the laid petition-was or dered to lic rectived in the ufual way. The hhirptis of St., 00, after a few obfervations in reference to the refolutions which were recently made (landing orders, prefented a petition from tarry, Earl of Farnham, an Irifh Peer, conform able to the mock prefcribed by one of the raid or ders, &c. praying that his claim may be allowed. This circumftance, as well as a notification from Lord REDESDALE of an intended propofition pipe fabmitted by his Lordihip to a Committee of Pri .ileges on WeJneftlay, gave rife to a long &lot to: y, and in fome points of view, rather irregular con verfation, in which the Marquis of Sligo, Lords Red zfdale, Thurlow, Alvanley, Auckland, and the Earl of Sutrolk took a past. The intended plopofition of Lord Rcdefdale is relative to that part of the AR of Union, and that part of the Irifh A& incorporated therewith, which relates to the mode of returning, &c. the Irith reprefentative Peas ; to this he was induced by the cafe of the return of Lord Charleville as one of the twenty. eight Peers in the room of the late Lord Roll more, refpetiding the correanefs of which foam doubts teemed to be entertained. His Lordihip noticed the practice of figning the return by the Deputy Clerk-of the Crown inflead of the princi pal ; this and other points he propofed to fubmit to the confederation of the Committee of Privi leges, witha view of rendering the mode more in conformity withahe Aft of Union. The converfa. tion above alluded to, turned on certain points of formal qualification or eligibility of Ira Peers, under the provifion of the Afts in qiieffion, coded or to return reprefentative Peers—and alto on the requifite Reps, previoufly to their tins being al- lowed : on thefe heads much ferions tifference opinion between their Lordthips 14 not teem to obtain. One prominent point was. tile mode or de fcription of evidence which was requifite to ella blith the fait of the deceafe of any Peer, and that the claimant petitioning is the tidal} fon or other legal•heir to the title ; whether the affurance of one or more Noble Lords in the Houfe (hould be fuflicient, or whether, as was fometimes the mode, it fhould be eflablithed by oath at the bar ? Thefe and the other points adverted to, in the courfe of the converfation, were referred for fubfequent dif cuflion in the Committee of Privileges, into which it was ordered, on the motion of Lord Redefdale, that the Houle ihould refolve itfelf en Wednefday nest, and their Lordihips to be fununoned accord ingly. The farther confederation of the Petition of the Earl of FARNHAM was poftponed to the fame day, in confequence of which the Marquis of St.too pre fented Petitions from Lords CLowattoc,Astroutr, and Vifcount BULILELEY. Thefe were ordered to be taken into confederation the fame day. STADTNOLDIN AND DIFINITIVE TRIATY. The Earl of Car:user role to call the attention of their Lordfhips to fome points which he con ceived were of the lag importance, not only to that Houle, but to the Country in general. His Lordthip fluff adverted to the recent tranfadions in the way of Negotiation at Amiens, and particn• larly to the very extraordinary proceeding which took place relative to the compenfations to be made to the Prince of Orange. We underflood the Noble Earl to call the tranfaeion a fhameful one ; and after deferibing the general purpofe for which the National Plenipotentiaries had allembled, by whom a Definitive Treaty was recently figned, and in the itith Article of which it was folemnly agreed upon, that the branch of the Houfe of Naf fru, ellabli(hcd in the ci-devant Republic of the United Provinces, on account of its having expe riznecd fame loffes as well with refpeel to p r iv a t e property,as by a change of conftitution adopted in theft Countries, a compenlation thall be procured for them, equivalent to fuch loges. He Rated that the rifinifters of two of there Contra ling Powers, Balland and France, retired to a corner,. and there ithout the knowledge of the Miniiier from Great Britain, executed a feparate Treaty, by which the former Power was to be exonerated from any part of the charge of the Indemnities or compenfation in quellion, and exprefsly Rating that 11 ch provi lion was guaranteed by the Republic of France. On this proceeding the Noble Earl expreffed him. felt in ftrong and decifive language : the docu ment adverted, to was, to every appearance, official and regular, and was fanaioned by the quarter where, in fuch a cafe as that, the power and effi cient authority lay, namely, by Bonaparte ; he thought it extremely unjußifiable, that tll*.-: country by which tholelllultrionsPerfunages were plunder. ed of property to the amount of nearly too,oool. a year, and driven into diftrefs, fhould not at leall contribute towards the compenfations. It was, he believed, in his recolleaion,that a Nultle Secretary of State had Paid, it was judged better to make no mention of the compenfatron to the Prince of Orange in the Preliminaries; but thatlefpecial care should he taken of his intereffs in the Definitive Freaty. The proceeding alluded to was a moR ferious confidcration in every point of view: It became an important queftion, from what quarter the indemnifications were to be furnitbed, whether by Great Britain, which was jug emerging from erobarralllnent and difficulty, or by what other Country. His Lordfhip then proceeded to make lame .general obcervations upon the Definitive Treaty itfclf, wnich he confidered as an obje.o of the molt ftrious importance; as, by its cperation, other Treaties, advantageous arra honourable tr, this country, were to t xdire. The Mich had irirticular flatter for Pelf congratulation. It was, in tad, a triumph to them. We could no longer. nas gate to the Spice Iflands in our own bottoms. The favourable regulations which were obtained by the advantageous Treaty negotiated by a No.i hie Friend of his, were to exitt no more.—Thar Convention was highly to the interell and fecurity of this country, not only by the extention of her commerce, but as it tended to the preCervation of our poffeffions in India. In that quarter we were to look for nothing ; by the abrogation of the Treaty he alluded to, the feeds of frclh wars were fown in thofe countries. Another beneficial Treaty was alfo done away—we could no longer cut log. wood. The Methuen Treaty too was gone, and our commercial interefts with Portugal effentially injured. He again adverted to the confiderotion of the Indemnities to the Prince of Orange, to which he felt it his duty to call the particular attention of the Houle, and which was an addi. tional rearm for allowing a longer interval for the difcliTron of the Definitive 1 reaty, and may be a ground for the production of additional do- cuments. Tie Earl of Surroct expreffed his hope, that forte explanation would be given relative to fob . teas of fuch importance to the country at large; . and teemed to with that the Noble Lord would bring forward a motion on the fubjed. Lord Pr LHA lit•obferved fliortly, upon what fell from the Noble Earl who had fpoken before the laft, and teemed to think, that under all the cir cumftances of the cafe, and as affairs at prefent flood, no fpecific anfwer was neceffary, nor' in deed that any was called for, as he conceived the object of the Noble Earl to be, to profs to the at tention of the Houfe the great importance of the topics to which he had generally alluded, as well as to a confideration to which he had particularly adverted; and the Noble Secretary Paid, that he would not then obferve upon the authenticity of the fources of the Noble Earl's obfervatiuns, nor follow him in adverting to pointC whiff' were by no means regularly before the Houle. • Lord Get tom Ls rote once more to remind their Lordfhips of the fubjeas he had touched upon on i former day. He was aware that it was fome what irreular to do fo without a motion before the Hou fe; but they all knew it was eafy for him to make it regular by framing a motion for that purple. Indeed a fenfe of his duty would prompt him to make an immediate motion, and that would he to move an Addrefs to his Majeity, humbly praying that he would not fandion or permit the Definitive' Treaty to be ratified, and the ratifica tion exchanged, before exprefs fatisfaßion and le amity should have been obtained in refped to the compenfation to the Stadtholder, and the revival' and renewal of the feveral Treaties which this coun try flood engaged before the war began ; fuch a motion, he repeated it, a fenfe of his duty would impel him to make, were it not that it bad been requefted that no motion relative to the fubjedl fhould be preffed upon his Majefly'd Minitlers at that time. His Lordfhip faid, he did not with. to go over his arguments, when the Preliminary Ar ticles were under confideration, a fecond time, but their Lordfbips could not but recoiled the firers that he had laid upon.there not being any mention ' made of the Stadtholder, or his interefls, in chore articles. He was given to underhand, at the time, frdtn very high authority, (the Lord Chancellor), that care would be taken of the intereft of that Prince, and that they were more likely to be bet ter attended to without any fpecifie condition re fpeding them being inferted in the Preliminaries. Nay, he bad underitood at the time, what he had fi nce been convinced could not ave been the meaning of the Noble Lord, viz. that no mention was made of the Stockholder's interefts at his own exprefs defire. His Lordlhip urged theimportance and the neceflity of Minifters paying particular at tcntion to that point, and alfo to the renewal of the farmer treaties with this country. He declared. that the Stadtholder, in confequence of the tratif adion mentioned by the Noble Earl, flood in a worfe fituation in regard to his intereas, than' if no notice whatever had been taken of him in the Definitive Treaty ; and fo far had the importance of renewing the fevtral commercial treaties been from efcaping the anention of thofe who lately had the management of public affairs entrufted to them, that they never loft fight of them for a moment, and it was to be feen by adverting to the negocia tions at Lille, that the then Minilters made t'he re vival of tholi treaties an exprefs condition, and that the Plenipotentiaries ois the part of France would not agree to it. Histordlhip laid, the Preliminary Articles were open to h "rest objection, but the De finitive Treaty was full more to; he earneftly con jured Minifters, therefore, not to lofe the opportu nity that offered in the laft Rage of the bane's, to make good the deficiencies in the two treaties, to which he had alluded, and would take care to ob tain complete explanation and fecurity refpeding them.—The Houfe at length adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS. Mr. SPEAKta infomie4 the Houfe he had received a T.?tter, dated the 7th loft. from his Royal Highnefs.the Duke of lurk, iu anfwer to a Letter of the 6th, Inclofiug the Vote of Th4nks of the Houle to the Army, Navy, and Marines, for their gallant conduet in the cootie of the late sitar. Hla Itoyal Highncfs inured the Houfe that it was a circuital:lance of fingular fatif radian to Elm to have had the duty impofed upon him of com municating to the Army, Navy, and Mirines, the Thanks of the Houle for the meritorious Cervices rendered by them to his Majcfty and the Nation. The 24,cc/3,00c1. Loan Bill was read a third time and pafed, and ordered to the Lords. Mr. Srretr brought up the Report of the Committee ap. pointed to prepare an ritimate of the Expenees of the Militia F..iablifhment. Ordered to lie on the table. The Order of the Day was moved for the third reading of the AlfelTed Taxes Augmentation Bill. Mr. JuNcs fdd, if he had thought fuch a Commutation Tax as this would Isgve been brought forward, he never would hare exerted him fell to have obtained a repeal of the Income Tax. I le wished for deity, and moved au amendment, that the word " Wedneljoy" ilhould be fubititutcd fur the word " now." Mr. Alderman Coin,: conceived the MU would be Injurious to the Country, and las therefore would famed the motion. The motion as aawadcd, was pat and negatived. .The nucninn Was then put, and carried In the arrinal;v.r wit Lout a divifinn ; di Dill was read a third time, ;LC:. , , curt to Lords. •-•• —•-- .1 he frame I.)tizy Rcp....al tin wa,. read d coth:iLitted fur lo;c; ref.:l - ref ;•, the ..ontratliclton of an i :014 of An affertion relAtiv.• to the number of 11:1:, , D, :or forvry of 13ork Not,t. In mkr to remove 411 V Joubt upon the fubjeel, he , hottl , l,innmtliAtely after th ; fin. An Account to the NuntltLr of thole unfulthaate ctecut..l tor he L , ,,f c. An Accotrq vt..t. I n fcnted of the Amount of tt 1701411th . .. on C urn. I locr, into Scotland. (ink 4,t1 i tic on Tie Irilh I.incn inufa.ftury 11:11 was real a fccond and col - 1.014:M for Wean( :day. _ . . . . . . The read a fittt time, and or.lce,d t be re4da fe:ond time to-morrow. The Ser...tot , Nett• 'l'.. I iil was reported, and ordered to ir• read a t! , .rd time to-morrow. The Cuodoil wt., on u,c Clergy'. Itclidcnce Bill was &it rrcd t ,-morr,ry. UOTION FOA AN INQUIRY INTO THE. CONDUCT OF THE ATE MINISTERS. Sir Fitswcis Mose Ty—o Sir, the time hal at length arrived, when laying afide conjedure and nacertainty, we arc enabled to form an etimatc if 1 the profetlions, principles, and concha of tiicSe men who have for many years pall exercifed the Powers of Government in this country. New, I prefume, we may be permitted to make up the National Account of Blood and Treafiire, and thew the coulitry what has been received in vett:: n her the dreadful expenditure of both. it is now my duty to take a retrol;sea of the condua of his Majefly's Miniflers in the various and raWrg objeas they have from time to tinme pretended for engaging the country in the late war, and t:r continuing the contell after they had begun it ; but above all, it is my duty to fix the attention of the I loide on the many and ntifchievous altera tions which, by their fuggetlions and intliknce, bare brcn made in the laws ;—their aggetnions agaitill the free Contlitution of the Country, and their palpable and open war again( the rigirts, property, peace, and domellie rec twit y of the peo ple. In taking the retrofpea which I propofe, the orioin,, of the war, a fubjea In frequently difetor,:d, , will naturally prefent itfelf to inquiry, and a!- ! though it has been decided by Miniiters, and their 1 notorinufly corrupt adherents, that the war was a jull ml 4 necetfary war, let me now appeal from a decifion, obtained by corruption, to the feber judgment of the Houfe. Now that the whole fib. jet is before us, and the fallehoods, the fraud', and the artifices of Miniflers made mattifeit to the whole world—now that their fallacious and arrogant alfertions have been uniformly contra‘hacd—now that by their counfels the country has been brought into the perilous fituation in which it tlands, fine ly I thall not be told there are not pat pounds of enquiry into the deceptions praftifed by there labs: prophets and tricking impoffors. If Mini flers have deluded burner Parliaments, and obtained their rupport in con fequence of their holding out ground leis hopes of the attainment of pretended objeas, fiirely it is important we Should enquire whether if any fuch objeas had exiftence they .have not been yielded up by the Peace ? We than find, that under WIC and ftrange pretences, the fundamen tal laws of the land have been altered ; every bul wark of the Conflitution removed ; every thing taken away except corruption and abufe : we fhall find that while the people have had additional burthens heaped upon them by corruption, every thing has been done which was calculated to ren der their former burthens more grievous and more difficult to be endured: we (hall find that there is no fituation with regard to any part of the peopie of the country, from the Monarch on his Throne to the private Citizen, that has not been materi ally altered by his Majefty's late Minifters. The fituation of the King, the Queen, the Prince of Wales, both Houfes of Parliament, the Jthiges, the law, the military, the Bank of England, the City of London, the Tall Indies, tl.c Weft Indies, Scotland, Ireland, of the people a - large, has been altered under the pretence of refitting innovat 1 and change. To effea this change was the real objea of the war—a war not nireacd agaitilt enemies abroad, but againa the liberty, the pro:ler ty, manners, laws, cultorns, and habits of die p.:O - at home. I maintain that it was againft the very exiltence of the rights of the people h:s Ma jetty's late Minifters cOnipired to have the war.— This is notorious to the whole world, and I with to lix upon them the calamities of a war for which they alone are refpontible, and in which they have gained no viaory to boat except over the people of this country, who unfortunately confided in them. In this refpea their fuccefs has been corn. plat: indeed. The liberty of the prefs is dcttroycd. Printers and publifhers are at the mercy of Go verntnent ; and he muff be a bold man who A 1 ill dare to put pen to paper to exprels his feutiments at a pet iod when a fecund conviaion for a con. ltruaive libel may lenience him to tranfportatiOn to Botany Bay—at a period when a libel is a thing which cannot be defined—a fcare-crow in a garden may be called a libel—the geflures of a deaf and dumb man may be coldidered libellous; and We find the I:darks of Judges who eneniir;•.gr.: fuch conarnaion augmented ; we fee Star Cham ber fentences pronounced ; perfons con viaed re maining with their fentences pending over their head ;CriminalCourts adopting theunconflitutional habit of remanding perfons to be brought up at a diaant day ; Attorney Generals threatening juries with writs of attaint ; above fifty perfons prevent ed helm meeting under the penalty of death ; Trial by Jury taken away in alrooft all cafes where the revenue is concerned; an Income tax ereaeckon a principle of inquiatorial power—the molt private concerns forced to be revealed— Englithmen fummoned like culprits before Infpec. tors till they think proper to be fatisfied with the return they make of- their property—honourable tradefmen put to their oath, difbelieved, and held out to their fellow fubjeas as perjured, without the poffibility of obtaining any redrefs from their country; and what _particularly deferves to be remarked is, that ju ft prior to this unprincipled fcheme of plunder the law of perjury was altered, and the punilhment of tranfportation annexed to it. The repeal of Web a tax as the Income Tax is not enough; it .ought to be ftigmatized. We find too landed property confileated to a large amount, under the leveling pretence of a file of the Lri.l Tax : What, I would afk, does a man lain by cite l`t:re'ttafe . of t is, but the pr o b a h:h t% ; 4 , r „ ;Ic y: tax rnpored upon him ? A n.:t;s miv C.lllloly advance lateen, fev-nteen, or s ,•w.• si taxes at once, by the payment Qt ~,js , ost a loi's funt than the amount ol each; hat • IlLe•chliks tip ft) rohLed, cheated, and pluisdcr c,i, lie mill only have other taxes in the loom o f has tedeemed ; ,tom may again red- ern tax,..!„ and I.y the continmlnce of loch scheme of !situ,! a (..'eatleman of landed pr o p er . ts • ns.ry bs a l'ew years find hirnie!f in I`c.if,jr., 3 ,Cl . nothing mote than Iti, title We fit..{ the v.11 , •1e relating to the callody 01 pi. 1,41:::.s, about which the law was anci:ntly fo jea b,s;‘,ll.is beets entirely altered; all pr,adti on has been withdrawn from the objeds of Miniacria veng••;4l:ce, an. the pradice of fecret imprifon. meta, cli confinement, the changing the coftody I . :on) one prifon to another, and the famz fyttern of cruelty and oppreftion introduced which was 1 0 jtifily c , ,mplained of under the Stuarts. The laws of high trcafon have been altered ; the provitiors is the ilatnte of Edward 111. were ton plain far , no j et n Millers : No, they mull be bunglir.3 Traitors i td.ed who cannot elude them : they mutt have Raines introducing cGrntrudive trca. lons : ev,..:1 meeting- for the purpofe of pro. nccting Parliamentary Reform may be conitrued into au ad of high treafon. Sir, it was one of the exiles of pail,: execration with regard to one of the Roman Emperors thit his laws were placed lo high, and w itten fo fmall that no one cooll read them. S ca an objedion, I admit, does not apply to the laws of his Majelly's late Minitler•— they are written it charaders large enough, and placed where every one may read them, but mt. happily there are few who under(Ltiid them. The eft:ea of the ()Rem purfbed by the late Miniller: has been that of undermining the mArality, anl corrupting. the integrity of the country—they have ttiumplied over the ancient manners which chataderifed Englitlimen—they have deltroyed all fcnle and patrintifm in public men. The fame man who is loud to-day in his profeffions of pa. iotic virtue, and who ttands forth the champion of the 103c:ties of the people, and the promoter of Parliarnemary Ref am, will to morrow make no fdruple in recanting his fentiments, and perfe cuting thole who have adopted them : his profef. firms to his country are difregarded, and the only apology he thinks it at all . nrceffary to make is, that he is gros,•n %viler than when 11,; expreffed the opinion lie finds ,t convenient to abandon. MI- Maers are not contented with having taken away ou r old laws, and introduced new.ones, but they have even tranigi eff:d thole they have introduced ; they have, to nil their own expreffion, acted with a vigoor beyond the law. They have new mo delled Places and Offices; created a third Secre tary of State—a Ration unknown to the Conftitu tion—they have felefted needy creatures, depen• dent upon themfelves, and have invefted theni with the facred charade:. of Magiftrates. They have eretked fecret and murderous dungeons, under the controul of thofe corrupt Magiltiates. They have fent the money of the People out of the Country, and have brought over foreign merce naries, thinking them fitter inftruments of tyranny than our own fOleliers. They have year after year Ihrpended the Habeas Corpus Aa ; arrefted indif criminately Inch perfons—not whom they had proof againft, hut againft whom they expefted they might be able to extort evidence. Knowing what they did, they could not hut 'know. that all men aura be againft them, and therefore they fur peded every one ; fume were laid in irons, others were taken to bottles of confinement, where they weere. terrif i ed with the reprefentations made to them of the horrors of Cold-bath-fields, and the cruelties of Governor Aris, and urged to accufe their fellow fill,jeas as the only means of eleapinse, theinfelves. Molt of thole men having no inform. :akin to give, and not choofing to fave themfelves by falfe accufations ngainft others, were thruk into fOlitary cells, where• they experienced every species of cruelty—where they were expiated to evety act of perfonal indignity, and deprived of every confolation whatever—fecluded from their wives and ciiihken, without having the fmallett idea of the charge preferred againft them, or en tertaining a hope of being brought to the bar of their country, where they might have had an op portunity of' proving their innocence. At With health dellroyed, and broken hearts, after three, four, and eVen feven years confinement, have thefe unfortunate vidims been permitted to return to their ltarving and unproteded families. The Houle has been prevailed on to reject the Pe. titions of there men, aid to pals Bills ef- Indemni ty in favour of their oppreffors, without calling upon them for the !exit explanation. Parliament - has pa (Fed Bills of Indemnity, which I maintain hold tip the. Conftittition of the Country to fcnrn and Contempt., and make the rcfponfibility of Zs. • Miters a mete nothing. We find the prefent Mi niaers battening with a degree of anxiety to throw the fitield of proteelion over their preelecelfors ; Is it that they 'apprehend the day may arrive when they will have orcation to require their fuccelfors to do as much for them ?—I fear Ili, Majetty's Mi. Litters will go onaill they bring thernielves, and - Parliament for fupporting them, into Inch abhor rence, that the People of England, like the Peo ple of Ireland, will be glad to get rid of than and us too. It would have been fullicient forcly to have fecured them egainit die legal damages which might be awarded for the acts they have done, and to let the law take its coolie ; but , : it was not fo much the dread of paying damages, as to prevent the tales of difireis being told, that jultice was refund. It was therefore acceffary to reject the petitions of the objeds of Mir: aerial per. fee ution—to thin the gallei ies of the-t-lonfe of Com mops, and to bar up the entrance to the Come, of J office, that no well authenticated account of :!:.air proceedings might go forth to the public. Lc tno man fit ppote his life rs fafe under inch a lyftern, and when corruption has obtained filch a height thioNli nifters may commit what aEls they pleafe with im punity, and when the Floufe of Commons, whi , Is ought to be the guardian and protedor of the Peo. plc and the Laws, can be prevailed upon to p o's Bills of Indemnity for oppreffing the one aad