Star. — London, England, 1808-01-30 00:00:00

FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE. FLORENCE, DEC. io. In pursuance of a Convention between their Ma jesties the Emperor of the French and King of Italy, and the King of Spain, Tuscany has been ceded to his Im nal - Majesty ; and yesterday evening the Queen to whom other States are to be azsigned) de parted ence with a train of between forty and fifty carriages, containing baggage and private property : after which the Etrunans were discharged from their oath of allegiance, and the Government declared to be dissolved, by the following proclamation ; Charles Louis, Infmt rf Spain, King of Etruria, die. and on the part of his Majesty, her Majesty Maria Louisa, In fanta of Spain, Queen Regent of Etruria. _ Whereas his Majesty the Emperor of the French and King of Italy, has informed us, that by virtue of a treaty concluded with his Catholic Majesty, other states are appointed for us in exchange for the kingdom of Etruria, ceded to the most illustrious Emperor by the aforesaid treaty ; we consider our reign in Etruria as dis solved from this day, and hence discharge the Etrurian nation from every oath of allegiance towards our Royal Person. Yet we cannot separate from subjects so dearly beloved, without publicly assuring them of our entire gratitude, and of the memory which we shall at all times retain of the faithful attachment which they have displayed during the time of our government. Yet if there is a thought which can diminish our affliction at such a separation, it is this, that the kingdom of Etruria—that so obedient a nation becomes subject to the happy government of a belynarch who is adorned with the most heroic virtues, among which the constant care is pre-eminent with which he labours to assure the prosperity of the people under his authority. MARIA LOUISA. Given the loth of December, 1807. PzIRLIA 3IENT zißr PROCEEDINGS. HOUSE OF LORDS, JANUARY 29. It was ordered, on the motion of the ARC HBI S HOP of CA NT ER.. Inlay, that the Lord Bishop of Norwich be requested to preach before their Lordships in the Collegiate Church of St.Peter,West minster, on to-morrow the 30th inst. being the Anniversary of the Martyrdom of King Charles 1. Ordered—That no Petitions for Private Bills be received after Monday, the 29th of February. Nor any Reports from the Judges thereon be received after Wednesday the Bth of April. Some routine business touching the judicial business of the House was then dis posed of. MOTION OF THANKS. Lord HAWKESBURY acquainted the House, that by an error in copying out the motion for the Thanks of the House, which were voted yesterday to the General Officers serving in the Ex pedition to the Baltic—the name of Major-General Thomas Gros venor was omitted. 'Their Lordships must all feel, when the well known professional merits of that officer, and the way in which be behaved, not only on that particular occasion, but in every other on which he was employed—that the omission must be dearly unintentional He would therefore, beg leave to rectify the error, by moving that the name of Major-General Thomas Grosvenor be inserted in- the said Vote of Thanks—which was ordered ac cordingly. . . . . . His Lordship then adverted to a second omission which bad been inadvertently made in the vote of last night, respecting the Expedition to the Baltic—this however was merely of a formal Eaturc, but which he would now rectify by moving, That to the other orders there be added the following—That the Captains of the several ships employed in the Expedition be requested to communicate the Thanks of the House to the Seamen and Marines on board their respective ships—which was also ordered. The House then adjournedpreforwea till to-morrow, when the meeting will take place merely preparatory to their Lordships' at tending Divine Service in Westminster Abbey. HOUSE OF COMMONS. ELECTION PETITIONS. The SPEAKER acquainted the House that the Petitions com plaining of undue Elections and Returns for the Boroughs of Shrewsbury and New Malton, and the Town of Liverpool, pend ing the last Session of Parliament, had not been renewed or cer tified, as required by an Act made in the 28th year of the King, and that same had been specified to the Court of Exchequer, according to said Act, the recognizan:_es thereby required not having been entered into, according to the provisions of the slid Act. T . :MASI:IIY ACCOUNTS. Mr. Roarer M;rFORD presented at the Bar certain Accounts from the 'Treasury, but being recognized by the Speaker, as Aa counts ordered by the last Padiament, they were rejected. CUSTOMS IN SCOTLAND. Mr. Mimirmen presented at the Bar certain Accounts from the Ccmmissioners of Cu toms in Scotland, of the number of Ships from Scotland, employed in the Whale Fishery, together with an amount of the Oil and Blubber imported by said Ships for the last yea. - .—Ordered to lie on the Table. CONVICTS. Mr. GRABAM presented at the Bar the Report of Axon Gra ham, Esq. Inspector of Convicts, concerning the state of the con victs now on the River Thames and at Portsmouth.—Ordered to he on the Table. PELHAM-NOUSE, GnEENWICIT. Mr. CHARLVI Poi.): gave notice, that he would on Wejnesday next move for leave to bring in a Bill to amend an Act passed for vesting Pe hate-house, Greenwich, in the hands of the NaVal Trustees, and for empowering said Trustees to elect a Chaplain, and also that there be laid before the House an Account of the number of Clerks and other Officers employed in such establish ment, together with their respective salaries. Mr. WARD was proceeding to comment on the nature of the Motion of which the Honourable Baronet had given notice, when he was called to order by the Speaker, and reminded that any debate, in consequence of a Notice just given, was inad missible. TOOLE PETITION. Mr. M. T. TAY Loa, after a few observations, moved that the heitring of the said Petition be postponed from Tuesday, the 2cl day of February, to Thursday the 11th of the same month.— C rdered. FOREIGN LICENCES. Mr. HORNER rose, pursuant to his notice, and said, that it would not be necessary for him to detain the House to any length, as the object of his motion could be stated in a very few words. He felt it, however, in the first place necessary to observe, in consequence of an observation which had fallen from a Right Honourable Gentleman opposite (Mr. Pei. lval), that it was not his intention, in making the lotion-he was about to make, to anticipate, in any !spect, the discussion that might hereafter arise, )on the legality . or policy of the Orderi of Counc il ; idler was-it his intention to comment upon those tences their alluded to by the Right Honourable ; his object was metely to put the House possession of such information as might enable t,rn to form an adequate judgment of the extent to . -hick a practice, (unqucstior . ably within the Act, Ind in its origin legal), had -been carried; whether 'ith regard to - safe conduct, or the commercial inter -surse in transports conveying foreign commodities :cm one to another.. He was aware, that never was !here a period in which it was more hazardous to at tempt to trade without those licences than the pre sent, and that, by conseque nce , never was there a _ . _ ime in which the granting of. lkences by the Privy ;ouacil was carried to such a serious extent ; but he contended, that thin very considemtion Was • the itrongest argument wily it Was necessary for the Le ;islatart of the country to ascertain its limits, - and if thix was not possible, to preznle zilch as - both th 4 minciples of commercial 'policy,' and constitutional' ..or, rendered necessaq. - T - - When *it was • COnsidered now largely the field gi riCimices.i ! as Opened, by the present extensive, almost universal system of block ade, the present would not be thought an unseason able opportunity for ascertaining the extent of the per sons to which the grant of those licences was entrus ted. Hehad said, that this unrestrained power was injurious upon two considerations ; Ist, upon that of commercial policy ; and 2dly, upon that of constitu tional law. With regard to the first, there could be no doubt, it was not politic to throw into the hands of his Majesty's executive Government the entire con troul of t'ne commercial intercourse of the country, upon such an uncertain principle, commercial men could not be expected to engage in any speculation, because there was no one uniform grounduponwhich to claim such licences, nor was there any recognized principle by which the persons exempted could as certain whether they laboured under any partial grie vance, or whether they were, for sufficient reas.on, ex empted from the benefits of such licence ; ar.d here he could not help observing, that certainly it did appear that those exemptions had been carried to a most se rious extent. But he had said, that this power of granting licences so unascertained was also contrary to the principles of the Constitutional law ; he meant those principles by which it was regulated, that no money could be taken from the subject but by the le gislative power. According to the true principles of the Constitution, nothing but the Parliament could levy money of the people ; and yet what was the im mediate effect of this system of granting licences with a discretionary power ? nothing less than that of esta blishing an impost, a system of taxation on the sub ject, in contradiction to the very spirit of the Consti tution, and in open violation of the law of the land.— By this system the entire foreign trade was thrown in to the hands of the executive, and thus the foreign trade was exclusively submitted to the controul of the licences of the executive, which licences were not authorized by Act of Parliament. The Honourable Gentleman concluded with moving, " That an humble Address be presented to his Majesty, pray ing that he would be graciously pleased to give directions to the proper Officers to lay before the House a list of all the Licences of Trade, granted by his Majesty's Most Honourable PrivyCoun eß to private persons, meaner that would have been illegal, unless under the authority of said licence, from the month of May 1803, to the Ist day of November last, inclusive." Mr. ROSE said, that there could be but one wish on the part of his Majesty's Ministers, with respect to the principle of the motion now before the House. The Honourable Gentleman had prefaced his mo tion with a speech that did him great credit, and shewed at once his candour and perspicuity. In the same spirit of candour, he would suggest to that Ho nourable Gentleman an amendment in the wording of the motion now before the House ; the motion went to require a list of the licences, &c. and there was annexed the distinction of legality and illegality, a distinction that, perhaps, it Would not be so easy to ascertain as might at first be imagined. As to the first objection, it would be scarcely possible to supply a list of all the licences granted within the five years, specifying each, and severally distinguish ing them. Mr. HORNER begged pardon for interrupting the Right Honourable Gentleman, but he thought he could save the House and the Right Honourable Gentleman much unnecessary trouble, by stating that the wording of the present motion, as far as related to the list of licences, specifying each, was a mistake, to be attributed to his inadvertency ; as his intention was to have moved rather for the number of licences so granted, which would as fully answer the ultimate object of his motion.—lt was then agreed upon that the papers to be laid before the House should be an account of the number of licences so granted, &c. Mr. ROSE could not avoid pressing upon the con sideration of Lhe Hon. Gentleman the propriety of another alteration in the wording of his motion. The distinction that was attempted to be laid down as to what orders were legal or illegal, would be necessa rily productive of delay, if not difficulty. Perhaps it was not going too far to say, that all such orders were in a manner illegal ; but yet, if such were not allowed and to a certain extent, it would be impossible in such times to carry on foreign trade at all. But even ad mitting this, he would yet say, that when the Hon. Gentleman had complainedsuch licences, as being unconstitutional, he should have adverted to the cir cumstance of an Act having been passed in the 43d of the King, authorising such grants of licences.— ' I As an illustration of the difficulty arising out of this ' distinction of legality or illegality, he would adduce an instan,e of three hundred licences being granted within a certain period of time. Now according to the present wording of the motion, those three hun dred could not be laid before the House till they had been submitted to the revision of the Privy Council, and till the Privy Council had decided which were in their opinion legal or illegal. He wished, therefore, to obviate this difficulty by omitting this distinction, and moving for the production of licences granted within stated times. As to what the Hon. Member had said he should make the subject of his second mo tion, namely, the fees granted to the Officers of the Privy Council, he thought that in general 'stated fees were much less liable to abuse than gratuities, which he should in every department whatever be prepared to set his face against. As to the precise nature of the fees of office on the granting of licences, the fees amounted, for a whole cargo, to merely fourteen pounds, including the stamp duty, which amounted to 11. 10s. ; *which fourteen pounds 91. 4s. 6d. was paid for the sign manual, 21. to the principal clerk, and 11. 10s. distributed among the other inferior officers, and 2s. 6d. to the office keeper. In stating this he would repeat, that there was nothing which he was more anxious to put a check to than the system of veratuities, He would join with any Gentleman in annexing to it any punishment seasonably rigorous, He would go so far as to subject it to the penalties of a simple felony. For there was no one existing abuse to which he was so anxious to put a stop. He had no other motive in suggesting these alterations to the Honourable Gentlernan, than to put him in the best war of coming at the information he sought for, which he believed could not be so readily obtained by the motion as it originally stood-4or the very merchants who solicited for licences were ip many in stances totall independent of those licences, though, front a very Notifiable caution,they had apOed for each licences. • Mr. HORNER replied to the getkell ect ehter7- iions of the Right' Hon. GeOepian, as the ilistl'ilction of th . legality on illegality of the licences, end denied that the 434 of the sing; as cited by the 4Right, How Gelithinan - 1 applikt, because the 'object of that Act related merely to a temporary suspension of the Navigation Act. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER. defended the necessity of this discretionary power being vested in the Privy Council, and said, that the ' object of all such orders was to ease the subject un der the operation of the strict letter of the law. He took this opportunity of repeating his doubts of the propriety or necessity of asking Parliament for an indemnity, with respect to the Orders of Council, in as much as it did not appear that in this instance more had been done than had been done before, and in a manner legalized by the Act already alluded to, the +fsd of his present Majesty. After some further con versation between Mr. Homer and Mr. Rose, as to the proposed alterations, it was finally agreed to by both Gentlemen, that the two motions should be to the following purport : That an humble Address be presented to his Majesty, praying that his Majesty would be graciously pleased to direct the proper Officers to LI before the House an account of the number of Li• cences recommended by the Lords of the Privy Council to he granted by his Majesty to private persons for commerciallkjeets from May 1803, to the 31st of Decerah::: last, diStinguishiurtise month or year. Th.:t an humble Address be presented to his MojLsty, pra . Yrtig; that he would be graciously pleased to direct the proper officers to lay before this House a return of the amount of fees or gratui ties yearly paid, and received on account of such licences, by all Clerks and O ffi cers, from May 1803 to the 31st of last De cember, spewing the receipt and distribution thereof, and spe cifying such persons, and according to what rate such fees were required ; which were agreed to. COPENHAGEN EXPEDITION. Mr. PONSONBY rose, among other purposes, to postpone his motion, fixed for Monday next, to the following Wednesday, and now to move for copies of such papers as his Majesty's Ministers were disposed to lay before the House—by this, the House would learn what papers, relating to this expedition, they were not so disposed to grant, and thus a subject of unmixed debate would come before the House. He was sorry to say, that, from a communication he had had with the Right Hon. Gentleman, he could with any effect move only for the following papers. He should first move, that an humble Address be presen ted for copies of the proclamation's issued by the Com manders of his Majesty's Naval and Military Forces, while before Copenhagen . ; and also copies or extracts of the communications with the Danish Government, touching the surrender of the Danish fleet by capitu lation—Secondly, that there be laid before this House copies of the articles of capitulation concluded be tween the Commanders of his Majesty's Naval and Military Forces, or either of them, and the Officers commandinghis Danish Majesty's Forces in the island of Zealand ; and thirdly, for the substance of such information as had been received from his Majest),'s Naval Officers, and the Officers of the Dock-yards, with respect to he state and the ccuidition of the Danish ships at the time of the surrender, or subsequent to their arrival in the British ports. His design in post poning his motion was merely to give time for the production of those papers, and to enable Gentlemen to come fully prepared to try the merits of the propo sition he should then have the honour of submitting to them. He wished, before he sat down, to know from the Right Hon. Secretary when the papers called for, relating to the offer on the part of this country to Russia, that that power should mediate between her and Denmark, subsequent to the expedition, would be laid before the House. Mr. Secretary CANNING replied, that as the House did not sit to-morrow, the papers requited could not be laid before the House till Monday. Mr. WHITBREAD was proceeding to move for certain accounts, &c. when upon a suggestion from the Chancellor of the Exchequer, relating to the ab sence of his noble colleague (Lord Castlereagh), Mr. Whitbread contented himself with giving notice, that he would on Monday move, that there be laid before that House an account of the names, tonnage. &c. of the transports employed in the Danish expedition, to gether with sailing instructions and place of rendez vous ; and also an account of how many were taken or lost, specifying which, and when and where so lost or captured. COMMITTEE OF SUPPLY. MR. WHARTON IN THE CHAIR.' The House having gone into a Committee to con sider further of the Supply granted to his Majesty.— Mr. WARD moved the following Resolutions, which were severally put and agreed to. Ist. A vote of 130,000 seamen, including, 31,400 Royal Ma rines, for the year 1808. 2d. That a sum not exceeding 3,126,5001. be granted to his Ma jesty for wages for the above seamen, for 13 months, at the rate of 11. 17s. per man per month. 3d. A sum not exceeding 3,211,0001. for victualling, at 11. 18s. per man per month. 4th. 5,170,0001. for wear and tear, at SI. per man per month. Mr. TIERNEY here wished to know whether any allowance was to be made for the stores brought from Copenhagen? Mr. ITUSKISSON answered, that no allowance was made in the estimates he was now proposing to the Committee. Mr. TIE RNEY--" What I expect would be this, that in consequence of the great quantity of stores coming to the public service, the estimates upon that head would be much less than usual. I wish, there fore, to know, if any allowance is intended to be made upon that account ?" Mr. HUSKISSON—" In point of money. no al lowance is to made." Mr. TIERNEY—" I wish to know whether the estimates of the year are to be as lArge as usual ?" Mr. HUSKISSON—" The estimate upon that head will be just as large as formerly." Mr. TIERNEY—" Then I wish to know, whether any valuation or statement of the amount of these stores is to be laid before the House ?" Mr. HUSKISSON—" I am not prepared to an swer that question. A sum will be proposed to Par liament upon a future day, adequate to make the purchase from the captors of the stores brought from Copenhagen . ; and it will be for the House to deter mine what will be the manner of disposing of them. It is thought that a valuation of them will be made out in the first place r but in respect to,d2e stores for which provision' is to be made, there' would be no dif. ference." • - Mr. TIERNEY-41 Then I am now'' under 'starbdt•that besides the exiSente of taking apse Stores, literal:ilk are yet to pay for them ?" The CHANCELLOR. of the EXCHEQUER— " kis in the view of the Ministry to reward 'those concerned in'that expedition. The estimate for stores will be such as will be ssecient for the supply of The year ; and, in that case, the Copenhagen will fall to be pt Annual Supply. The property Crown, it will be distributed judged most proper." Mr. WARD took occasii estimate for wear and tear wa 250,0001. less than it had been sequence of the Ordnance D ed to the Navy for wear and He lastly moved 521,0001, f vice, at the rate of 7s. per estimate, he took occasion to rily increased 2s. per man WI allowance of ss. per man hae The report was then brougl received on Monday next. REVERVON The Report of the Reversion " Banta, and the Bill ordered to be -and then engrossed. Adjqurned tc ear ; and, in that case, the stores that ra te :openhagen will fall to be purchased as tar ~nnual Supply. The property thereof b e ;„„!, Beath C :rown, it will be distributed in the mauves 6; tim •A e . ne udged most proper." Mr. WARD took occasion to obsery sores ; estimate for wear and tear was for the ca nts ', dig ?50,0001. less than it had been the precedin,T„ ;equence of the Ordnance Department bei ng . ' the I eel to the Navy for wear and tear to that • He lastly moved 521,0001, for Ordnan ce f or , vice, at the rate of 7s. per man per m a th . — estimate, he took occasion to observe, was , rily increased 2s. per man this yea r , - as the tithe I allowance of ss. per man had been found luso. • ' The report was then brought up, and o t l ertd da received on Monday next. Chalea REVERSION RILL. The Report of the Reversion Bar was brough t t h Ham ' Bankes, ar.d the Bill ordered to be read a third tim e i ; in a and then engrossed. Adjourned toMond ay . 7: 4 br aAI • THE EVENING STAR, 4 ' ll ' . LONDON. qty SATURDAY, JANUARY 30. 'cans Kixo CHARLES% MARTYRDOSS.NO busine ss /1/1;;. a nd ' IC Exchange. would PRICE OF STOCKS YESTERDAY, bf Pla Bank Stock 227 k India Bons, pay a i s . t4 sbOuld per Ct. Red. 631 641 Imperial 3 pee C at 3 per Ct. Cons. Ann. 63. 1 ,-i Imperial Annuities' • 4 per C. 84 Ex. Bills, is. di g , 2 : with t 5 per Cent. Navy 9611 Cranium, 31 • Long Ann. 18 1-101 English Tickets, 91 rR India Stock, 1711 Cons. for 25th ace, e v_ L cop 0 THE COURSE OF EXCHANGE to mot Amsterdam, 35 7 2 U Palermo, 92 Pula la to Bue Pitto at sight, 34 11 Rotterdam, 11 2 2 U Genoa, 4si Hamburgh, 34 4 2 U Leghorn ' 491 Video 1 Venice, 52 Li, p.. , apply Altona, 34 5 2 U. *ant pe r t 6 011 t h Paris 1 day's da. 23 6 Liv,. Naples, 42 Pitto, 2 Us. 23 10 . Lisbon, GO say Bourdeeuz, ditto 23 IQ Oporto, CO Madrid, ' • 41 Effect. Dubli n , le t their r Cadiz, 41 Effect. Cork., ill for six Bilboa, 41 Effect. New u :as , Agio on the Bank of iolland, p er c am. " ° • the .1k Opinions are divided respecting the Five •,•• the Line seen off Cork on the 23d histanr. I number agrees with that of the Rochefort 5q.... . e which originally consisted of six ship s , one of tl the Jemappe, having returned into port ; but, as •, e steered to the southward, it is aliedged they coold possibly be off Cork at the time alluded to. Sir JOHN DUCKWORTH'S squadron also , , e five ships, and is thought by many to be that so t " Cork. It is believed at the Admiralty, that the above • .1 were French. It is rather thought that Sir ' . 1 STRACNAN is in pursuit of the enemy more to 44 southward, and from him favourable act= •- I hourly expected. all Dispatches were yesterday received at the .• brig ralty from Lord Cou-prowoon. They were brat s ' to Portsmouth by the Tigre, which arriviclon . • • ' day from the Mediterranean. It is said, that Coturicwoon's dispatches, which are dated the. December, off Toulon, contain an account d' mation having been received by his Lordshici • the French had determined to make an amok ■ • Sicily ; and that, for that purpose, a naval face ' expected at Naples from Rochefort and Brest k ', probable, therefore, that the squadron which escaped from Rochefort has pr aceeded to the - terranean, and we shall be glad to have this .•! ' tore confirmed, for we shall then have every - to expect that some of our squadrons will fall in ' ' Ol them. Toulon is closely blockaded by our fleet, and French force in that port consists of only five a the line. Lord COLLINGWOOD has captured Seel • nish qhips of considerable value. • • 1 '1 Advises from Admirals PURVIS and Sir SMITH were received yesterday of so late a • , the middle of the present • month. They avid u material importance. The French and Spaniel • at Cadiz manifested, towards the end of D. •••.' a disposition to put to sea, but since that taw' have remained in a perfectly inactive state. ' Tagus continues to be closely blockaded. T 1 i 2 t parations for the siege of Gibraltar are contiod,.. the French and Spaniards, but the troops on the Spanish lines are not yet very numerous , A number of letters arrived yesterday from Holland, and Hamburgh. They all concur in' ploring the dreadful effects of the late tyrannici crees of BONAPARTE, and in foreboding eventual t to the mercantile interests, from a persevergo r those oppressive anfl impolitic expedients. • Another vessel arrived in the River yester Jay Lisbon, December.Th which place e she accounts lef brought roanboritt by the l h a er tter a ;: i . every important. The tumults and insurrections, 3 certainly did take place about the middle oflast have been so effectually quelled, that sin ce that I. a general tranquillity has prevailed, k one -' e it seems that the French hive shorn a desire t° ' ciliate the Portuguese. They hive ilot removed' Government appointed by the PaMcE REutsv aa . r- eve of his departure. Qf - course, the Pr isdicticl 1, this Government embraces . those departments,' which concern the civil administration, and 4 .. ;e impart a power to the administrators i n !a with the substantial prerogatives of the "'• Le 'power, at all dims sovereign. • music Mr hearir da Crdet M said, the I coult how( cons 4 . aRi cera moti resp( upor neitF licca In pc th^rc whit and with coot fron they tun sent time Cot con itro that pru I.l* nol • • 5 I