Star. — London, England, 1812-02-11 00:00:00

or. 01 be icr .... uto o f Ms predecessor, Mr. tit urnmona clm be Ti e A.) succeeded that Gentler nan , h e 5 . 0 3 instructions from Lord Mulgrave, then Fo- Tg s secret ary, to expedite the erection of that buil - iti g n He did so ; and meant at fi rst to sell part of T hine• d which formed the grant of the Porte, which li s ou lb ae e produced a sum of some amount to surds the erection of the building ; but understaa flint t hi s might be extremely offensive to the • , re , he laid aside that intention. The p a l ace was i' saeding ly large, but it was not commenced by 01 and he was ready to state all the items of ex de at tending its erection, if at all tho ug h t neces 911r- Then he had drawn upon Government for . 1 4 on account`of the furniture of this m ans i on , ', inch he had given in allthe receipts and vouchers. le e was also the sum of £5,817 incurred by ex. Acts of insurance and freightage of the furniture ri ot this country. All those items of expence were opper ted by the necessary vouchers. And really he t o submit to the House the policy of a British mihassador supporting a certain degree of dignity at t e a t where so much attention was paid to show. To e next head of account was that of extraordinary Niets ements:—and here there was a sum of eeS;933 expenses of messengers. This might seem loge; but then it was to be considered, that he had nconduct an extensive correspondence with St. Pe esbaigh, with Bagdad, and Egypt ; and it was ne-, aw ry to employ messengers, in most instances, from de irregularity of the posts. The next source of ex- Im o, was presents to the Ministers of the Porte and o che Janissaries, amounting in all t , ca £1,859.55. sd. ? T hiessen, however, had never received any other present but that of two pelisses from the Sultan. This practice had been abolished by Lord Elgin ; and his immediate predecessor, Mr. Drummond, -had also abolished the old practice of the Ambassador receiving F easts from those who were under his protection.— Thee was al.o a sum of £1,863 to the Dragomans. Is former times the Levant Company had been at the whole expence of the Dragomans ; but this was mot done in the case of an extraordinary embassy.— Of all the sums he had hitherto mentioned, he could safely say, that not one shilling , had passed through his hands individually ; the whole had been trans acted through the medium of bankers and agents.— The next article was that of extraordinary expenses relating to himself u—and first, his salary was fixed at £6,5}2 a-year ; but he could assure the House, t h at it was quite impossible for him to live upon it, and support the dignay of a British Ambassador at the Sublime Poke. Of this he acquainted Isis Court at the earliest opportunity ; and M. Italinsky, the Rus sian Ambassador, whose friendly opinion on the extent eflesestalaiishment he took, declared that he thought that establishment too small, because 1. omp and show were more important at the Perte than at any other Court in Europe. The route of his mission, Which was by way of Vienna, where he found it necessary n stay for some had also given rise to incre:t sed expense. He had written to Government, stating neimpossibility of going on without an increase of salary; and during the time of his embassy, the whole additional sum for which he had drawn upon thorn amounted to £8153 in three years. He must also kgleave to add, that during the time of this embassy, Iliad been under the necessity of disbursing every " stilling of his private fortune—(Hear, hear) ; —and thathe had to pay, and even now was paying a debt • which he had contracted in his official emplornent. l . lie did notniren to make a 'merit o f t hi s ; for . the satisfaction which he .had felt in pc:forming those functions with which he was hououreA, would he to hinr a sufficient gratification. He would not say that his private affairs had been ruined; but this lie would say, that if all those sums which he had spent from hit private fortune while employed in the public ser vice, were put together, they would purchase an an-1 leery at least equal to any pension for past services that would be granted limr if out of oflice.•—(Hear.) —He concluded by stating, that he was willing to give any farther publicity that might be required to every part of his conduct. Mr. R. ADA[R was happy to have it in his power to confirm the statement ju.t made to the House, in every part where he had been appcialed to. As to the building of the Palace, he thought it was necessary ; and tint t h e expenses attending - it ought very fairly te be defrayed by the Government. Though no per stn was less incli ne d t h an hi mse lf to rev i ve the mett les of a forgotten controversy, y et he begged to trou- Lie the House w i t h a few circu mst ances connected , w writs th e d eparture o f his Hon. Fri en d from c onstan-! ain oPle. H. certainly Conf esse d, t h at if he had been seConstantiaople under the circumstances in which lin Hon. Friend was, he could not have acted other-1 vise than his Hon. Friend did : b u t, at a re same t i me , iPMt . • ICC to the Government which placed the settee- ' 40n at the disposal of the British A mbassador, he must sal that that squadron was fully adequat e to the objects unich it WAS 1112:11ded to accomplish. , o blame, how- , c'et, attached to the gallant Admiral, nor as he sail knew, !party other prson although it istalas regret-1 p. a tetithat the B e eitish:fleet did not u p t h e to walls of tantieople. As soon as the fleet had effected the Passage of the Dardanelles, so great was the consttr *on of the Turks, who thought the forts impregna- t o ie e_ avin t. st any human effert, that the Sultan declared! 7 t Das ; rani his determi nat i on not to h ave hi s cap i ta l " 11 e d and o r d ere d S e hi st i an i to qu i t Constanti . Sebasria n i burnt his papers ; but the Sultan htitgm some; re-assured by. Spanish ar, a negociaticn the A lrn AS gociatten was artfully set on foot, which latf, uttunately succeeded, and to the su c c ess o f w hi c h tue tecurastanc es which afterwards occurred ought in soli* measure to be attributed 11.. ARBUTHNOT said, .he had one word more :0 address to Fri end b th e cluse, of which his Honourable re , was h a d reminded him. Whate v e r f a il ure occur . to be attributed solely to him. It was he _7 p. e th c a ed t leas responsible for it, as the force which was under his controul was entirely adequate e ry ß oses for which it was sent out. p o C re l gn lollP AGWELL justified the expenditure of Ministers, which, from what he saw himself S weden, 4l Lor . must be neces sar ily ver y great . a G. LEVESON GOWER explained the na "c of the items against his name in the Civil List. , tirst item of Jisooo was expende m d in following d 7tsnelcpoenror of Russia through Germany in 1806. 'i.e occurred in 1808 on hi s di sm i ssa l f rom art of Pe ters b urg h . On the whole he had to e ass7:lrr. the . I li v euse, that h e was no ga i ner b y hi e m i ss i ons. ELLESLEY said, - that of all te 'Alio eve ß r undertouk a forei g n embasy, no h on p e ersons was a rt .r. • less likely or less incliifea to slielter)iimielf behind the secrecy connected with that station than the Marquis Wellesley. That Noble Lord went out on a Special Commission ; the amount of the charge against his name was £16,000 ; but when deductions were made from that sinis, which arose from the loss of several effects, and from other claws, his expences would be found reduced to £12,000 ; and when it was consi dered that Lord Wellesley bad to keep a table I•r all the officers who resorted to him, in a country where the articles of life were then extremely dear, the House would judge whether that sum was more exorbitant than his station and situation required. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER could not help remarking how reasonable all :he ex pences connected with the foreign missions had been found, when they had thus been subjected to minute examination. There were, however, many secret sources of expenditure, which it would be inconve nient to the public service, and ruinous to individuals, to explain. As the object of the proposed Commit tee was to compare the expenditure with the estimate of the Civil List, he had generally no objection to such an inquiry ; but the Treasury accounts, he con ceived, would be quite sufficient for the satisfaction ofthe House, without calling f(:r the books of the King's Kitchen. If, in the course of the inquiry, any thing more particular than the Treasury accounts should be found necessary, then such farther particulars could be moved for. The Right Hon. Gentleman then said a few words concerning the expediency of fitting up Windsor and the other Palaces ; the expenccs at tend Anton which, he contended werenot unreason able. Mr. TIERNEY said he would not be bound in the Committee by what the Right Honourable Gen tleman stated. He did not wish to push the exami nation of the Civil List Expenditure to an unneces sary extreme; but if it should be found that a veil of secrecy was to be thrown over certain items, he should like to know whether those items were not included under the head of Secret Service Money ? The Right Honourable Gentleman had asked, Whether the House wished to poke into the King's kitchen ? or whether they would not be satisfied with the accounts flom the Treasury ? The very reason that he wished for a particular examination was, that these Treasury accounts were unsatisfactory. The Treasury accounts, therefore, he would not take. As to what was said about the Royal palaces, he was not inclined to cramp the Sovereign in this respect, but some•bounds ought to be established somewhere ; for it might happen, that some artful builder might get a hold of the Royal ear, and by undue means cause an expense in this repect quite unreasonable and unnecessary. He should he the last man to deny every branch of the Royal Family every convenience befitting their rank; but he thought tlat there had been too great an un willingness to cavil with Royal wishes ; and he wished that such an unwillingness had not existed. Mr. LONG said, be thought the House was de sired to take a different course to what it ever did before. He wished it to be understood what the powers of the Committee were to be, and whether they should be allowed to send for persons, papers, and records. He thought they ought to consider Mr. Burke's Act, and whether the checks contained therein bad been attended to. For his own part, it was his opinion they had not been effectual, though they might be made so ; and with that understanding that they should endeavour to make them so, he would give every assistance to the Committee in his power to Mr. TIERNEY said, his object was to know how the exceedings had arisen, which was not to be at .tained by merely having papers before them. He thought they ought to have viva voce evidence as to many very material articles, without the power of calling for which the Committee would be nugatory. Mr. BATHURST thought this was a question of economy, but not of such a nature as to give a power to the Committee to send for persons, papers, and re cords. He thought the chief part of the inquiry would be in the departments of the Lord Chamber lain and the Lord Steward ; and those might furnish sufficient vouchers to satisfy the Committee, without sending for persons. It was not like the case of a private person ; greit delicacy should be used in in vestigating the accounts of a Sovereign. There were various checks which the Committee would have to resort to; and checks were the best mode of ascer taining the truth. Mr. EDEN said, the object he had in view in moving for a Committee, was to enquire whit had been the expellees of the Civil List, and to ascertain what part had been properly and what improperly incurred. It might be necessary to send for persons ; and without a power to do so, the object of a Corn snittee would not be attained in the way ire thought it ought to be. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said, that when notice was given of the present mo tion for an inquiry into the expences of theCivilList, no one could conceive it would be proper to go into extracrdinary matters, or that larger powers should he given than were usually given to Committees.— He should suppose the House would not proceed otherwise than they had usually done. If the Com mittee found the information laid before them was not sufficient, they might come to the House for far ther powers ; but till they did so, there would be no occasion for those powers. As to the part which his Honourable Friend (Mr. Bankes) wished to add to the motion, he thought he might better obtain his object by an Address to the Crown. He, therefore, wished him to withdraw his motion. Mr. W. WYNNE said, he was at a loss to con ceive how the Committee were to proceed without a power to send for persons, papers, and records. It might be necessary to call on the Lord Ch imberlain and Lord Steward personally to appear before the Committee ' • and if it was to be thus confined, it would be useless. Mr. BANKES agreed to withdraw his motion; which was, with leave of the House, withdrawn ac cordingly. • Mr. COURTENAY said, that if the House dele gated to this Committee a power to send for persons, papers, and records, they would give a power they had never given before, nor had ever exercised them selves. He should, therefore, oppose the Committee, if those powers were to be granted. Great stress had been laid on the excess of the Expenditure in 1804 ; but if they made a comparison, by taking an average of the three years before that period, they would find the excess did not amount to more than about 0119,000 a-year. He thought it would be indeceut in the ticus4.l to commence rich an twiry at thi time. His present Majesty, during a long reign had obtained the good opinion and the blessings of his people. Should the House, then, proceed to nuke. this enquiry, it would look as if they wished, by con trasting him with other Princes, to cast a censure on the last years of hi's life fur an excess in his Civil Ex penditure, which others hai not incurred. Mr. GILES thought, that without the power to send for persons, papers, and records, the Committee would be of no avail ; and that if the Chancellor of the Exchequer meant to rifase that power, he had much better act with sincerity at once, and refuse the Committee altogether. Mr. W. SMITH said, if those powers were denied to the Committee. it would be better not to grant it at all. In most of the blanches of the Civil List, the enquiry might go cn without any ;nfringements of delicacy ; and where delicacy was necessary, no doubt it would be used. Mr. BASTARD said, the patience of the country was already exhausted ; and if the people conceived this Committee was appointed merely for delay, it would greatly increase their discontent. The Motion was then put from the Chair, and agreed to ; and the following Members were named as the Committee : Mr. Eden Mr. Dundas Mr. Bathurst Mr. R. Wellesley Mr. R. Wharton Sir. J. Sebright Mr Giles Mr. Courtenay I.ord Binning Lord Deurt Mr. llerney Mr. Husklsson Mr. M'Donald Mr. Vernon Mr. D. Giddy Mr. C. Long Nlr. Manners Sutton Sir C. Burrell Mr. Freemmtle Lord Morpeth Lord A. Hamilton. When the names were all read from the Chair, The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER proposed, that the name of Mr. N. Vansittart should be suhstitnted for that of Lord A. Hamilton. Mr. HORNER said, he walld rather have Mr. Vansittart's name added to the C o mmit tee . _ _ The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER objected, bs•cau - ,e the Committee was to c( nsist only of 2l Memhs?rs, and the addition would make it 22. Mr. HORNE It said, he had frequently been on Committees originally consisting only of 21, to which Members had been added making them 22 and 23. Mr. WHITBREAD said the same ; and that if the Right Honourable Gentleman did not consent to have the name added, he should take the sense of the House on the proposed substitution. A division accordingly took place on Mr. Perce. val's motion.—Ayes 84—Noes 26. It was afterwards moved by Mr. EDEN, that the Committee have power to send for persons, papers, and records—on which a division took place.—Ayes 27—Noes 80. We understand that Mr. TIERNEY then declared to the House, that he would not attend the Committee. Mr. EDEN did the same. It was understood that all the rest of the Members on that side of the House, who were named on it, meant to adopt the same line of conduct. Mr. MARTIN moved, " That there be laid before the House Accounts of the suitors' Money in the High Courts of Admiralty, on the Ist days of Linuaiy, 1810, 1811, and 18 1:, specifying the sums laid out by order of the Court."—Agreed to. The CHANCELLOR of the 1 XCHEqUER moved for seve ral Accouuzs relating to the Royal Household, which were re ferral to the L'st Committee. The Bill fur the Amendment of the late Act relative to the building of Drury-lane Theatre was read bra: time. The Report of the Naval Stores Embezzlement Bill was re ceived, the amendments agreed to, and the Bill ordered to be read a third time to-morrow.—Adjourned. THE EVENING STAR. LONDON. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11. PRICE OF OCKS THIS DAY AT OISE h t 'LOCK 3 per Ct. Cons. for money 6241—D0. far acc.ii2ii 3 prr Ct. Reduced C 2-4 per Cent. 78; 5 per Ct. 93! t —Bonds 174. 18s. pr.—Omnium Exch. tills it, 1:;s. pre.—Long Anne. ltii Swir I's is the only Office that sold a Prize of £20,000 in Shares, in the last Lottery. Mr. WILLIAM PORTER, a Gentleman who is at tached to the American Legation at Paris, left Lon don this morning with Dispatches from the Ameri can Charge d'Affaires here, to Mr. BARLOW at Paris. —Mr. PORTER proceeds to France in the Hornet American sloop of war now at Cowes ; and as he Was ordered off rather suddenly, a report prevailed in the City which we shall be most happy to find con firmed—that all the differences between this coun. try and the United States are in a train of amicable adjustment. We stated yesterday, on the authority of the ad vices brought by the Anholt Mail, that the French troops had occupied Stralsund. We now learn that their numbers amount to 6000, and they have already opened the batteries upon Swedish vessels. The for tifications had been destroyed on the former visit of the French, and SCHILL had ineffectually endeavoured to restore them ; the place was therefore treated as an open town. The garrison, consisting only of a few hundred men, with the Governor and the military chest, made their escape by sea to Car'shams. About 12 or 15 vessels, in different states of loading, left the port at the same time, but not without being fired upon by the batteries. On this occasion a temporary embargo has been imposed on the shipping at Carl shams. If we may credit certain private letters from Paris, it ,v,ould appear as if the Emperor had it in contem plation to visit the north of Europe in person ; orders having been issued to all the public offices to have their business so arranged as to enable him to leave Paris in a month. There are also letters in town from Paris, which state, that BONAPARTE was to set out on the 20th of the present month, to take the command of the French army on the frontiers of Po land, which by that time will amount to 140,000 men. It is added, that an Austrian force has advanced into Gallicia. RICHARD BIRNIE, Esq. who has been a most zea lous and efficient Magistrate for years in Westminster, is, we are kappy to say, appointed a Police Magistrate. rifV4L thrE L LICENCE. LOSS OF THE LAUREL. WXTRACT OF A LLTTLIt FROM AN OFFICER OF THAT FESSFIIN " Plymouth Dock, Fehrottry 8. " We had for the last five weeks been employed blockading four line•of-battle shisss, in the poet of L'Orimit. 'J'he Maidstone fr:gate was dispatched by Sir Harry Neale, to order us to Quit. bt eon Bay, where we arrived on the evening of the 3oth. The fleet was employed all that night in watering the Laurel;as we had ' ten selected as one of three frigates ordered to pursue three Frencn tigates that had escaped from the Loire. At eight in the morning of the 31st we weighed, in company with the Rota and Rhin frigates, made sail through the passage Taigneuse, a (Hi. cult and arduous one at all times; it plowing v,rty hard, the Rota led through the passage, the Laurel unto tunati:ly ft:huered the Rota's Pilot lest the marks and got bewildered, it bervg the at extremely hazy. he l'.ota escaped the rocks—we anfortunatey struck on the Covivv, a sunken rock, as did The Rhin, but was not damaged to tLe extent the Lanni was, whose tine keel anti part of the main immediately &sated alongside, and a large bolts in her bottom. 'I he laurel wns backed off and brought to an anchor, sails fulled, and all hands to the rrnips. In this &sat truus state wet continue d pan ring fur one hrur and a half, when it was reported the slip was gaining fast, and would be down in ten minutes. Nn time was to be hat to rrevent the ship sinking in ten fathoms water—the cable v'us cut. and the ship run on shore on a reef of rocks, about one niiie from the French coast, iu order to save the lives of the men. The teeny directly com menced a heavy fire of shot and shell , frc'n their batieries and field-pieces. 171 order to save the lives of the crew, a flag of truce was hoisted. '1 he enemy continued their fire until we dispatchvsl three boats, with about 70 mm and !Jur c;ficers, on shore, when the fire ceased, we imagine, in coui.c.iit.ence of our officers re monstraing egainst the inhumanity of t:ring on defenceless rat :n ; but such was t'seir want of feclir:g, Ord must for ever stamp the trench Ezrne with infamy, that they wt uld not seffer cur boat, to return for tl:e remainder of the °Meets and ship's company, who must have perished, had it not beer. •or the brave and indefa tigable Clipt. Sommerville, who, in defiance of all danger and against the ren:onstrance of his rilot, worked hi:ship up am, tug the rocks, brought her to anchor, and took the remainder, officers at:d ship's coml. any,off the wreck, after remaining there several hours, wi t h ne prospect of saving our lives, except by a raft we were then pre. paring, on Rota's boat; taking the remainder of the men from the Laurel, the enemy commenced firing on the boats, un til they were out of reach of shot. " At the time of my quitting the ship, she was entirely under water ; the men were barging on the weather bulwark fur seve ral hours before leaving the wreck. Thus was lost one of the finest, fast sailing Chips his Majesty ever posszised, from the tart. ness of the weather, and igno:ance of the French pilots." NAIIFS or OFIICCRS NOT PRISONERS.—Pirn I. ; Cliterant O'Shiitighnessy; Mr. Hodge, Master ; Mr. Mercer, Perrier; Mr. Crofton, R. M.; sirs. Crowley, Corneck, Clayton, Lambert, Eaton, and Cu dner, Midshipmen; and It r. I,Vbichelow, Cie! k. PRISONEKS.—Lieutt nants 111 one and Green; Mr. Forbes, Surgeon ; Mr. Chozi:er, I.ieut. R. M.; Mr. Galway, Msciship. man ; Mes►rs. Diggs, *Pghe, and M'Carthy.. PLYMOUTH, FEBRUAkY P . Arrived the DErreouD • tender from Limerick, with new raised men for tI:P Navy ;the lisitNeavA, 38 guns, from Portsmouth. The P ELORUS, which arrived yes terday, brought home part of the crew of the LAUREL frigate, which was lost in Quiberon Bay—all her crew were saved. Sailed the DIANA, of 16 guns, Captain FERRIS, and the ACHATSS, of 18 guns, ow a cruise the HERMES, of 21 guns, v.ith a King's Messenger, bearing dispatches.—Came up harbour to refit, the TEDIERAIRE e 78, and the MAuxiFiceNr, 74.—Wind S. E. this etas preyed one of the finest days we h..ve had for many months. PoWrsMOUTH, FEBRUARY 10. ArVived his Majesty's ship Rosy, with a convoy for the Downs N •14TH STAR and SWAN, from a CrU;ze ; and the Coldstream East IndiAman t from tit* Downs. Sailed irs 01..jesty's ships PoncurlNk, Cos. Him:, and Denwm, on a an ze.—Wind e.tsterly. DF.AI., FEBRUARY 10. The Astell, Asia, Prince Regent, Chapman, and Coldstream East Indiamea, did rot put back yester day. Sailed the Larkins and Auspicious East India men, and the whole of the outward-bound convoy, under protection of his Majesty's ships RAPID, BEAGLE, and several others STRENUOUS and FORWARD, for Leith ; and tli i ROYALIST, on a cruize.—Wind &E. CORK, FEBRUARY S. The Lancaster, Mt;Ltes, proceeding to this port to join convoy for Dominica, was stranded at Water. ford on Thursday—crew saved. It is feared the vessel and cargo will be lost. A small Naval Promotion has taken place wThin thcse few days, but prinoipally, we understand, in the rank of Captains. Not any Admirals are included in the arrangement. A paragraph has appeared in most of the papers stating, that letters frem Gibraltar mention that his Majesty's ship CONQUEROR had been unfortunately becalmed under a French battery, near Toulon, until 170 of her men were killed. We have the satisfaction to state that his Majesty's ship ConQueaort, Captain FELLOWS, is now, and has been for nearly a month, in the Medway between Sheerness and Chatham. I 11 A letter fr.rtn Gotteaburgh, dated February 3, says: —" Our trade contiimes without life, and hitherto no conjecture can be made if it will revive with the sea son. Aspects are rattier gloomy, as the French, 6000 strong, entered Swedish Pomerania on the 26th ult. at cne day's notice of their approach. Yhis thews very little kindness to our Crown Prince. It is per haps in the plan of the Great Emperor to occupy also the Prussian ports." • BREAM—This day there being no Court of Alder. men, the Lord Mayor, after inspecting the Returns, ordered it to rise 2d. per Peck Loaf. Yesterday, upwards of 30 volunteers for the East India Company's military service, and a number ef fine recruits for different regiments, were landed at Miller's Wharf, from Leith. They were embarked on board the London and Edinburgh Company's fine new smack Eclipse, Captain Tio . Loa. From the I°l:owing article, it will aprear that the Catholic Delegates are proceeding in their pmsicu tions against the Irish Magistrates who committed them : . - COURT OF CONIMON PLEAS AND EXCHEQUER. " DUBLIN, FEBRUARY 8. CATHOLIZ DELIGATES. (Ntlf KI.IIL'RR, lICUILLOO, AWb OTIlliall) •- AS PLAINTifYII, ACh:N.T CIIII/1 , 31,/,'' ICI D. IwNLII. In this caiise, C ‘unstlinr PFsNEFAI um:, senior, applied on behalf cif the slefendant, for time in plead, • to the first chy of next Tem.—Court granted thy Mrtion.— A similar application was made in the Court 451*C:cr. - mon Pleas."