Star. — London, England, 1813-03-03 00:00:00

' P4IRLIAMENI ART PROCEEDINGS. HOUSF OF foRDs, PIARCH S. Counsel was heard coi!clutively it: tte Appeal Cause, " Clay tuts at. Wren, - ;oil jurigmen• qieti for Friday. Lord SHEFFIELD presented A petition frnai the ship. builders , rope-makers, ar.d others of the port of London ; another from ;lie same description of persons, in Lynn l!egis; awl a third troni tree:lock, against the pracric- of rigisterit,g, ;is English r!iips, the , ships of the. Fast Ititha Conirany built In i •I he Martinis CAMDEN•presented a petition from the ship ' owners r.r Lancaster, against the renewal of the East Lidia Com pany's Charter. s The Bishop of LINCOLN presented Petitions, severally, from the Ari..h I eacon Clergy of Lincoln, of the coialties of Berks and Leict ster, and from those of East Griaattad, against the Claims of the Catholics. Lord HOLLAND, who wished to knew whether these Pe titii.tis proceeded from public me.tinga ? wag answered by the Noble Prela e, that the meetings from which the" proceeded, were in constquinicc of public nouce issued by the several Deacons. TI -e Earl of ENNVKIILEN presented a Petition from the Clergy and Protestant Inhabitants of the county of Leitrim, against the Catho!ic claims. The meeting, thy Noble Lird stated, in answer to a question from Lord Holland, was in con sequence of a summons from the High Sheriff, and was signed by 1000 Dames. the Local Tokens' Bill was read a third time and passed. _ _ . Mr. Foster, troni the Trustees of the Liverpool D . ock, presen ted papers, which were ordered to lie on the Table. "I heir Ler,Lihips then adjourned to half past two o'clock on Thursday. HOUSE OF COMMONS. FIER ROYAI- HIGHNESS THE PRINCESS OF WALES. Soon after the SPEAKER had taken the Chair, he rose, and addressed the House to the following effect It is my duty to acquaint the House, that yesterday evening, as I was sitting in this Chair, a letter was brought to me, which purported to be from her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales. As the letter was without date and signature, and as it was given b% an unknown persOn to one of the Messen. gers at the door of the House, I felt it to be due to the respect which I owe to her Royal Highness as veil as to the House, not to take any step on the re ceipt or it until I had f illy ascertained its authen ticity. I hope that so far I shall not be considered as lsavii.g failed iu the discharge of the trust reposed in me, or as having shewn ditpositim to interpose un necessary impediments in the was' of any persons mho might to lay their c ises before this House. (ihar, licar.) 1 ant tom- enabled to state to the llon,e, that die letter which I received yesterday was authentic ; and with the leave of the House, 1 kill read to them a krer w h;cii I have this day received from her Highness, enclosing a dated dupli cate of her R 0y.4 Highness's origin;:l communication. i s i t the rle.,ture of the House that these letters should be rea‘i "—( Goren)! cries of Rend, read.) "Ilw SPLAKEIt then read the Envelope, and the ori ginal letter. hey were in substance as follow : ENVELOPE. " Minuagu li , )ube, Blackheath, March 2, 1813. " The Princess of WALES, by her own desire, as w:..11 as by the advice of her Counsellors, did yester day ttanbmiz to Mr. Speaker a Letter, which she was anxious should hive been tead, without delay, to the l!ouse of Commons, aid which she requests may be read to the House this very day ; lot which purpose her Itoy,l Highness encloses a duplicate." DUPLICAI E OF TIIE OItICINAL LE rrEn. " Moi.tagu House, Blackhead., March I, 1813. " The Princess of WALES informs Mr. Speaker,, that she Las received from Lord Viscount Sidmoutlf, a copy of a Report, made in pursuance of the orders • of his Roy;il Highness the Prince Regent, by certain Members of his Mjtsty's Most Honourable Prfvy Council, to whom, it appears that his Royal High ness had been advised to refer certain documents and other evi:!ence respecting the character and conduct 4)f litr Royal Highness. gg The Report is of such a nature that her Royal Highness feels persuaded no person can read it with out being sensible of the aspersions which it casts upon her ; and although it is so vague as to render it impos,ible to discover the icnour of the charge, yet, as her Royal 1-li. , bness is conscious of no offence, she feel, it du , ! to herself,. to the illustrious Hcuses with which she is connected by blood and marriage, anJ to the people among whom she holds so distinguished a rank, not to rest under any imputation affecting her honour. The Princess of WALcs ha; not been permitted to know ou wh.lt evidence the Members of the Privy Council poceeded in their investigation; nor has her Royal Highne ss been allowed to be beard in her own defence. She knew only by common rumour that such an ing:iiry had been instituted, until the result WAS COMMlinitated to her ill the form cf the Report. She knows ,rat whether she is to consider the Mem- , bers of the Privy Council by whom her crialuct has been inquired into, as a body, to wht.rn sl:e would be auth' risil.d to apply !or redress, or in their indivi. dual capacity, as persons st:ketedto make t:ie Report on her conduct. The Princess of WArrs 13, therefore, compelled to throw herselt on the wisdom and justice cf Parlia ment, apd she earnestly desires A full iuvestigation of her conduct during the wl:ole period of her residence in this country. Her Royal Highness feats no scru tiny, howtver strict, provided it be conducted by impartial Judges, and in a fair and open manner, be fore a tribunal known to the Constitution. , g It is her Royal Highness's wish, tither to be treated as innocent, or to be proved guilty. 64 Her R iyal Highness desires tl.at ►his letter may be communicated to the House of Commons." A pause of a minute having ensued, Mr. WHITBREAD observed, - that the Letter which had just been read by the Speaker could not fail, not only to interest t very parson wl o had he::rd it, but to appear to all to be of such importance as to require the immediate attention of the House. He apprehended it W 35 impossible that such a communi caiou could be made itom so high a quarter, and • sufered to pass, with being simply read, in silence. He had waited MAU a Noble Lord opposite, a nister of State (one of the confidential Servants of the Crown when her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales's conduct was formerly taken into considera tion, by that part of his Majesty's most Honourable Privy Council, particularly and popularly designated tinder the name of the Cabinet, and who must have been one of that body of Privy Counsellors to whom the consideration of her Royal Highness's conduct had recently been submitted)—he had waited until he saw that Noble Lord take his place (an intimation, as lie presumed, that it was not that Noble Lord's intention to make any proposition on the subject), before he had risen to address the Chair. Not seeing any other Hon. Member disposed to pfoceed in the business, he wished to ask the Noble Lord, whether it was his intention to call the further attention of the House to her Royal Highness's Letter ? . Lord CASTLEREAGH replied, that no person could feel more thoroughly than himself the import ance and delicacy of the present subject. But, as a notice was entered on the books of the House, of a , motion It no further distant period than the day after to-morrow, relative to her Royal Highness the Prin. cess of Wales, it did not appear to him to be neces sary, at present, to enter on the transaction alluded to. Whatever delicacy he might entertain -on the subject, when the proper day should arrive, necessity might probably impose on him the obligation of fully explaining all the circumstances of the case. But he trusted the House would agree with him, that he had fulfilled his public duty in not anticipating the ex pected discussion. Mr. WHITBREAD inquired if the Honourable Member who had given the notice (Mr. Cochrane Johnstone) was in the House ? It so, he trusted that he would enter into some explanation on the subject. The letter \Shia had been read by the Speaker, hvowedly originated with her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales. The Honouraible Member who bad given notice of a motion it'Lttive to her Royal Highness, could alone say whether he was authorized by, or whether he acted in concurrence with-her Royal Highness. He (Mr. Whitbread) apprehended not. As it appeared that the lion. Member was not in the House, it might be expedient that when he came, he should be informed of the grounds on IA hich it might be expected by the Hotter that he would declare whe ther his motion was or was not founded on any un derstanding with her. Royal Highness. If the Hon. Member should state that he had no authority from her Royal H•ghness, it would then be for the House to decide on the propriety of taking her Royal High ness's communication into their most serious and de liberate consideration (as lie trusted they would) in dependently of a notice with which it would appear to be wholly unconnected. • Ot hut' Ku) , al rugnness. 64 The Report is of s • Highness feels persuades out being. sensible of el: upon her ; and althougl impossible to discover th as her Royal Highnessi • feels it due to 'herself, to which she is connected to the people among wlic • a rank, not to rest and • her honour. The Princess of \V. to know on what eviden, Council proceeded in the Royal Highntss been all defence. She knew onl such an ins:l:dry had bee was corarmaticated to h, She knoWs .ncit whether hers of the Privy Counci been inquired into, as be auth, rised to apply • dual capacity, as persons on her conduct. s' The Princess of W. to throw herself on the mew, and she earnestly her conduct during the v in this country. Her R tiny, however strict, pi impartial Judges, and in fore a tribunal known to , t It is her Royal F treated as innocent, or t 44 Her Royal Highne be communicated to the A pause of a minute Mr. WHITB It EA] which had just been n 4 7 fad, not only to interev it, but to appear to all ti require the immediate apprehended it was ;MI »Lion, could be made MISCELLANIES. Sir JOHN COX HIPPESLEY intimated, that he would move .to-motrow, ler the return of the strength and distribution of the Irish Rerments of Militia, at present quartered lii England and Wales. 'lite Honourable Baronet corrected a mis-statement which he lied made in a pamphlet, respectivg the number of per sons professing the Roman Catholic religion on board his Ma jrrey'4 navy, and which had been refuted in a recent rebate, trout the oihtr side of the House. The mistake was oct.a-ioned by information which lie had received, upon application at the Admiralty, :aid which, he was sorry to find, could not be relied upon. Mr. WHYTE brought up the Report of the Ballot of the Commit t‘.e appointed to examine the contested Election Petitions fur the County of Pembroke. The Ellowing are the Members bAllotted : Messrs. R. li. Lee, Sandford Graham. Angfistus Fos ter, S. Hcotl, - Mowbray, Leader, Guise K ast.lcigh, l.urd F. Osborne, Bradshaw Mttliuen, Wlllotighby, Pocock, Dicken son, and Hall. On the motion of Mr. BENSON, the db riumerous Petitions againA the Leather Tax were ordered to be referred to a Select Committee, who, on being a: pointed, were ordered to report their proceedings to the House The following Members were ballotted for a Committee, to take into consideration the contested Election Petitlnis of I.i -verpool :—Hon. N. fellowet, Sir E. Knatchboll, Finn. (1. Aber crombie, Sir J. Amin':her, R. Barnard, Esq. W. R Cartwright, Esq. It. W. Newman, Esq. R. Snirtb, Esq. Sir M. Sykes, lion. E. Finch, Lord Kensington, Hon. W. P. Mackenzie, General Dun lop, R. P. Heron, Esq Lord W. Russell. ADJOURNED DEBATE ON THE CATHOLIC QUESTION. Sir H. PARNELL, adverting to the observations which had been made on the subject last night by a Right Honourable Gentleman who had recently filled a high official situation in Ireland (Mr. W. Pole), characterised those observations as most candid and honest, and peculiarly entitled to the attention of every individual in the House. That Right Hon. Gent tem an was a most competent witness to the facts of the case. Having filled the office of Chief Secre tary of ireland for five years, and having resided in that coomry tor many more years in a private capa city, he was eminently qualified to speak on the 'sub ject. That Right Honourable Gentleman had truly stated, that not only the Catholics of the highest class but the Catholics of the very lowest order, telt deeply interested in the decision of the question before the House. He had also truly stated, that the opinion of the greit majority of the Protestants of Ireland was in favour of Catholic Emancipattbn ; thus re moving one of the thief arguments that had been hi therto resorted to by its opponents. But the most material declaration that had been made by the Right Hon. Gentleman was, that of late the Catholics had made such great actinisit;ons in riches and in know ledge, that it was impossible thingscould remain as they were. Parliament must make up their minds either to grant the required concessions, or to re-enact the ancient penal code. Much emphasis had been laid on the tone assumed by the Catholics. If they had been violent in their speeches, they had been taught to be so by the example of their opponents. Let the blouse recollect the attempt made by Government, to put down the Catholic Board when k first assem bled ; let them recollect the arrest of Lord Fingal,' and the other Members of that Board ; let them re• collect the sub.equent trials; let them recollect the speech of the Attorney-General on those trials ; let them recollect those circumstances, and they would find abundant cause for irritation in tire Catholic mind. Al:ove all, let them recollect the character of a late negociation for a new Administration. One of the conditions of that negociation — a condition which was understood to be acceded to by the Illus trious Personage at the head of public affairs—was concession to the Catholics. When, therefore, at the end of that negociation, the Catholics saw recalled to power the party who had been avowedly hostile LO them, they must have been more than men had not some of the asperities of disappointment been evinced in their conduct. But, as had been admirably said by his Right Hon. Friend near bins (Mr. Grattan), 'the =duct of a part of the Catholics was not the *abject •of consideration. The question should be determined Upon the solemn and permanent principles rot' general and wise legislation. Nor were the peti tions that had been prewoted against Catholic eman cipation entitled to much respect. He had examined their character ; and in doing so, he had distinguished between those which proceeded from the clergy, and those which proceeded from the laity. Only three counties in England had been assembled by public requisition for the purpose of petitioning Parliament on the subject. From Kent and Oxfcrdshire, petitions had certainly been presented against" the Catholic claim ; but of the two petitions which had that night been presented from Cornwall, one professed no ob jection to an inquiry into the claims, and the other was unequivocally favourable to them. There were nine counties in England. from only one town in each of which—three counties, from only two towns in each of which—and five counties, from more than two towns in each of which petitions had been presented against the Catholic claims. From twenty coun ties in England there had been no petition on the (part of the laity. Twenty-three of the petitions that had been presented from various towns were from the Mayors and Corporations, and not from the general inhabitants of the respective places. It was necessary also that 'the House should recollect, that from the whole of Scotland not a hingle peti tion against the Catholics had been received. The just inference from all these facts was, that the adver saries of concession, formed but a very small portion of the community. Driven out of their other argu ments, the opponents of emancipation were compelled again to have recourse to that rubbish avhich Mr. Burke, so long ago as the year 1795, thought had been removed from any future consideration on the subject. They again founded their objections or. points in the Catholic faith which the Catholics had themselves long abandoned as untenable. Those doctrines which, two years ago, Lord Liverpool al lowed were maintained by the Cathol . cs ; these dot:- trines, whicleeven Mr. Perceval, in the debates of last year, had admitted not to be fair grouods of oppesi. tion to their claims, were once more insisted upon, and placed in the front of the battle. To the tri umphant period of ignorance had these :holsters re turned, who could bring themselves to oppose CaCio ; lie emancipation with all their force, but who could not have the patience and decourn to sit on their i bench and heat the arguments of those by whom it 4 A - as supported.-a-[The Treasury Bench was utterly deserted during the Honourable Baronet's spcech.]— Reverting to the petitions that had been presented against the Catholics, and the publications that had proceeded f rom the press against them, he reprdbated the conduct of the Clergy, and the heads of the Clergy, on the subject. The Bishop of Lincoln, con ceiving, it seemed, that the church was in danger, had delivered to his clergy that, which was a bad politi cal pamphlet, instead of a good religious charge. It was a publication unfounded in its statements, and • garbled and incorrect in its quotations and extracts ; and yet it was a work of no light import. It charged the Catholics of Ireland with holding opinions of a most dangerous nature. It endear "tired to impress in this country that the rebellion of 17i)S was a Ca tholic rebellion. Of !his he was persuaded, that had the Reverend Bishop advanced these charges against an individual instead of against a whole body, he might have been convicted of a libel. In support of this opinion, he instanced the case of a pamphlet entitled A fair Wire:rotation ar Ireand,j in which the author, a person of the name of Latten, was prosecuted by a person of the name of Wright,l to whom he had attributed dispositions similar to thbse which had been recently asci ibed by the Bisito? ' of Lincoln to the great body of the Catholics of Le land. Lord Kenyon, b:sfore whom the cause was tried, declared the publication to be a most atrocious libel ; and the plaintiff obtained £5OO damages.— What was the criminality of a libel ?—that it tended to disturb the public peace. Surely the public peace was in greater danger of being disturbed by libelling a whole people, than by libelling a single individual. As far as lie could form any opinion on the subject, he thought the publication to which he had alluded ought to be made th , :. subject of a distinct motion in that House ; and that Parliament should deliver its sentiments on the charge made in it of treasonable principles and treasonable practices against the whole people of Ireland. But there was another document, and that on the table of that House, of a still more reprehensible nature. Ile alluded to the petition from the inhabitants of Huddersfield drawn up at :t meeting at which a clergyman, the reverend Mr. Coates, pre sided. This petition actually declared, " that the Catholics considered it to be a praise-worthy act to murder heretics." Thus, there was on the table of the House a paper—sanctioned by a clergyman of the Established Church—charging the Catholics with eneertaining murder as a principle of their religion ? ll'hen so great a body was the object of so foul an imputation, an opportunity ought assuredly to be afforded of ascertaining the accuracy of the state ment, in order th it, if true, it might be pi oved to be so ; if false, that the stain might be wiped away. There were two species of authorities to which the House might have recourse on which to ground their decision cf this most important question—on the one hand, they might t;irtn their judgment train the va rious scraps which purported to he the opinions of the Catholics, and .were to be found scattered in various Pamphlets, Newspapers, and other pubiicatioos cf the same stamp ; on die other, they had the motto rity of the Irish Bishops, the Pop_ hirnielf, and tl:e Foreign Universities ; on this rein the whole ques tion rested, for if the House were to ptFler the first mentioned authorities, to pi es, the mattcr any fur ther was useless ; whereas, it the latter were pre ferred, they must of necessity et-int every An Hon. Member had adduced the to,th agre...l to be taken in the year 1791 by the Catholics, :o; proof of the influence of the Pope, tint this had been explained on a former night by an Honourable Baronet who sat near him, and shewn to manifeA as extraordinary respect for that Gl varnment, to the interests of which it was supposed to be hostile. The oath adopted at the period elludeci to seas sane ionetl by Pope Pius the Sixth, all that part tr hich was deemed obnoxious being expunged. 'lleac - was oae objection adduced by the impugners of the tholie clai ms s l evea to be nugatory, and the others were• equally easy to r e lute. The doctrine of satisfaction, for instance-, vas urged against them. Now there went(' be found a clarse iu the oath taken by the Irish I . 3sliors, imp tinz, MINIIIPP that they would enter into no t which might militate against the allegiance owed to their lawful Sovereign the King of Great Britain. Ano ther objection was, the doctrine at exclusive salva don. NVith respect to he could chew, that less could be imputed to the Catholics than any other de. nomination of Christranc, There was actually no reformed Church, the Church of England not et. cepted, but what acknowledged this as one of the i r principal tenets. Th.z Hon. &feather then read a ssage from some expositivn of Calvinistic faith, in which was the foHowing sentence: 1 ,~ " Eirra Freest& culla sales, nuna peccandi renessio." Thus, a passage from one of the thirty-nine Articles of the Church of Engl and, of a similar import is and,. lastly, an exposition of the Creed of the Itcmish' Church, relative to the point in question, which cot- . chided with an assumption, that thtrc were mans- . concealtitt children of the Cletrch in the various sects !which had separated fForia her. The Hon. Metnuee then, after again dwelling on the falsehood of the charges which had been advanced against Catholics ' ' , proceeded to read a passage fiorn a Catholic theolo. - 'disclaimed miter, named Gother, in st hich he vehemtntlf 'disclaimed the doctrine last alluded to, sayiagie cursed are we if we do not detest all these hellish OW. tices, as much as those who impute them to us.-- t Hear, hear)—The Hon. Heather next adverted to a speech on the Catholic qttesti..n, delivered on a for mer occasion by the late Mr. Perceval, in which he had said, that it was extraordinary that neither the . Pope or the Irish Bishops had disavowed the odionc doctrines imputed to them, adding, that an Ho nourable Member, whom he did not now see ht his plate, had, in the course of the present debate, 7nti mated a suspicion as to the fictitious nature - ei'tlie I statement froutthe foreign Universitie t. In order t o rebut these insinuations, the lionooreble Member read a passage fte m e document, purporting to be A communication from the (:. liege of Cardira's, in which they reprobated the du: rine tit it it was lawful to invade the write:ries of Pro:estatit Soseviei;tte, or put them to (teeth, as horrid and dezesteble.— But the fact uejs, the HAL Menther went on to say that the question had been already decided by one of those Legislative enactments to which the-% owed some of the privileges they .already enjoyed, and which went to acknowledge their fitness to hold those offices to which they now aspired. But it %%QS con tended that their admission to them would be con• I trary to the principles of tee Revolution. The false- I hood of this chewy was more ably exposed an one of the speeches of the late M.. Fox t.ap he could hope to expose it.—[ficre the lion. Nit mtler red s :ne extracts frem the speech to which :.e heti' alluded, !and which went to shew, that previous. to. 'lie Rev.... lution, and even subsequent to that period', little or ne jealousy had-been entertaiaed of the Catholics as such.] lie then adverted to the opinions of Sir Wire. Ulackstone, who had not, he contended, as it was I imputed to him, affirmed that the penal laws against the Catholics could never be repealed, but only i hat they could not he repealed without proper secu rities being given for the maintenance of the esta olislied religion, and oho hid even goneaeter :as [a Assert, that when ail fear of the Pretender was re. •noved, nod the river of the Pope should f eve Le. come insignificant, not only in lingieni, bac in the Papel Commies of Europe, then all restrict:ells al lecting the Roman Catholics might be seteei done away, and they continued free front their poeveire { till a new and unfavourable change in their civil ! principles might make it necessary to revise them. Ii the Catholics had been an object of apprehen. 1 sion at the Revolution, some °late& would heve i been introduced into the Bill of Rights, ir• wh i ch the terror felt by the netiou would have been ex pressed ; but no such clause appeared in it ; nor was theee even a chest: in it by virtue of which Catholics were excluded from Perliement. But how many great authorities might be referred to, to sltew tnat the admission of the Catholics to the advantages of the Constitution, would not be contrary to :el of its fundamental principles. Mr. Fox and Mr. Pet, and several other great men, had urged the expediency of repealing the Penal Laws; would they have done so had they conceived that the repeal is: them would have had that effect ? The Catholics hap long-been a calumniated body, and the spirit of calumny did eet I seem likely to relax aught of its activity. A. Prelate I of the Church of Engend, the Bishop of Linceln, i had recently taxed them with being the proinowe i I and agents .in the late rebellion in [lrian.' ; new this charge was utterly unfounded in tact: the rebellioe originated with the Protestant lli.senters in the Not tit lof Ireland, these, it were true, were supported by the Catholic peasantry, hut from the Catholic Clergy they. received no assistance or co-operation ; indeed, e r tar horn diet Ewing the Lase, their Bishops lead been vet y active and uselul in purti ig down the rebellion, in which not one Priest Lidding a benefice had been con cerned, and of near 3tiOu Priests which constituted the Clerical Body, not more than eight or Dine had I been impliceied ; and these were mcii who, for lin ! pr:per conduct, had hen excluded from the exercisa 1 of their sacerdotal tate:wins ; moreover, of the ‘2h j leader!. of the rebellion who had been sent to Fort I St. Gtor;.s, not above three or four were Catholic.. ; end, indeed, Mr. Pitt lied declared that it was not a Latledic rebellion. . The assertion te the Bishop, he ( truited, he had shewn to be untrue, and he hoped 'that when the House looked back and perceived whet teeny had beers the conduct a t the Catlielics, that the contrast wouLd have its doe effect iii their fa yetis. —thee I; ad putietti dly falfilled every at title of the Treece el Linietick : its the rebellion of 1715, there• sv:e; n0.....t sit.gle his!' Cacho' c concetned. In the. America!: e or whet had 'oven their colidoct ? \Vilerr the count: y was lett sa itheet troops, and they had due opportunity i I maniiesting any dislike th, I neg e• eiaertain e weidA d.s: Government, they hiJa.eed ti • :he most ceitc. able and orderly manner piesible. 1f their coedect in reletion to ihe 'Freely of Limerick: as ere compared wi t h til.:t if King Willi on and Pis ,ti:cess o es, a contrast wool,' be presented, by no i means advatit4geotis to the latter. By teat. treaty, every advantage tiny could wash for was . geented them ; and the compact was shat thy after shamefully ve.laied, v. het. the 1:s. (-wive of this coeiety shnulli have taken the tiirite:a opportunity to rati;y a treaty, • \elude though seolated, is still binding. Mr. Ne . l IL li R AHA M Boon, I:. teed,' not per. ceive any advaieage chat was likely to be derived from the p:escnt 'notion being agreed to. The per. sons who in a Cerritnittee would eiviec.:te 'he claims of the Catholics had shevn thews:hes unable to de.