Star. — London, England, 1813-05-06 00:00:00

FR INCH PAPERS. FRANKFORT. APRIL IL - The Emperor set out yesterday, at eight o'clock in the evening, from Mi.) ence, and arrived here a little before eleven o'clock. His Majesty only stopped the time necessary to change horses. He took the road sef Hanau. The immediate suite of the Emperor only consisted of five carriages. His Serene Highness the Prince of Neufchatel, the Duke of Vicenza, and the Duke of Friuli, accompanied his Majesty. The passage of the persons belonging to his Majesty's suite lasted all the night. There Serene Highnesses the Grand Duke and Duchess of Baden arrived here to-day. RATISEON, APRIL 21. Count Marcoline, Cabinet Minister ; Count Sinet Pilsach, Minister of State; Major General de Lan genau, and Lieutenant General de Gersdorf, as well as many persons in the suite of their Majesties the King and Queen of Saxony, set out the evening be lot e yesterday. A considerable transport of baggage also departed, which had a military escort, and took the road to Rez, to proceed to Bohemia. .PARLMMENTARr PROCEEDINGS. HOUSE OF LORDS, MAY 5. The Earl of Seim Boeotian, Lord MitintzTon, and Lord 'PAOLT, took the oaths and their seats. The Earl ef LONSDALE presented a Petition from Kirby Lonsdale, in the county of Westmorland, praying that measures would be adopted by the LegisLiture for the diffusion of Chris tian knowledge in India, and that for such end a Protestant Church establishment should there be formed. Lord MELVII.LE presented tvo Petitions, one from the Inhabitants of Greenock, and the other from the Ministers and V.iders of the Presbytery of Angus and Mearns.shires, to the name effect. The Earl of RADNOR presented a Petition from Walling ford, to the same effect. They were all ordered to Ile on the Table. Mr. LusutsioToN, and others from the Commons, brought up the Marine °them' Wine Bill, the Merchants Mates' Bond. the Irish Butter, and a few private Bills, which were read the Brut time. The Irish Sugar Spirits and the Bermuda Trade Bills were read fps second time, and committed for to-morrow. Mn SUIT q, front Greenwich Hospital, presented an account the expentes incurred under the Prize Act of the 48th of eke King. - The further consideration of the Curates' Bill was, on the station of the Earl of HARROWBY, postponed to Tuesday ant. The LORD CHANCELLOR, on the subject of Appeals, ad eterting to those which were to be heard on Friday next, observed, that it was intended to appoint the three first causes on the list. Of those, the two first might probably be heard at length; and the third, in part. He gave this intimation with a vilw te the attendance of the parties concerned in those causes. The Bills on the Table were forwarded in their several stages, and their Lordships adjourned tilt - to-morrow (this day). HOUSE OF COMMONS. Counsel were heard, and witnesses called in a Committee on Chamberlayne's Divorce BM, The SPEAKER observed, that as Monday next was the last day appointed for receiving the Reports of Private Committees, it was desirable, in order to prevent futuie embarrassment, that Member. would conic down to the House at an earlier hour. Mr. DUNDAS presented a Petition from certain persons in Edinburgh, praying for legislative encouragement in propagating the Gospel in India. Several other Petitions of the same tenor were presented from Cornwall and Bedfordshire. Mit LYTTLETON moved for a Copy of the Minutes of the Court-Martial held on the Officers and Crew of his Majesty's ship Java. PAPERS RESPECTING THE PUNISHMENT OF MR. HANCOCK. Sir F. BURDETT rose and commenced by ob serving, that he did not conceive justice would be fully done in the case of Hancock, which was lately under the consideration of the House, unless all the documents connected with the proceedings of the Court of Inquiry were laid upon the Table. lie was actuated by no wish to encourage a sort of in subordination in any rank or description, still less so in a military body, the very existence of which de pended en the observance of discipline and regula rity. The facts, however, which had been repre sented to him were of that nature, and constituted a case of such aggravation, that he should consider ? himself as deserting his duty and refusing to listen to the calls of justice, if he did not persist in moving for the production of those papers. When he first brought the question under consideration, he was Unacquainted with the character of the parties on either side, but it was most gratifying to him to say, that from all the information which he had ' since received, and the subsequent inquiries he had made, it appeared that Captain Phillimore was not only unexceptionable, but stood as high as that of any officer in the navy.--(Hear, hear, hear.)— He had likewise learned, that the character of the' supposed sufferer was not of the same favourable de-' i - scription. What he contended now w as , th a t thi s ' t was not the case merely of an individual, but that of the whole British navy, and that the Public was en ' titled, after all that had passed upon the subject, to) have an ample and circumstantial statement of the 1 1, proceedings of the Court of In qu i r y l a id b e f ore th em , I and not to be referred to general or particular cha racter in either of the parties. He was happy, how: . ever, to embrace the opportunity of reading those testimonials which he had received, to the kindness i and humanity which had characterised the conduct ....... of Captain Phillimore.—[Here the Hon. Baronet • read the letter signed by the crew of the Diadem, ' anti by Captain I-far:met, Captain Phillimore's- suc cesstr.]—The impression on his mind undoubtedly bad been, that Hancock, wearing the uniform of an officer, atter losing a leg and a thigh in the service, and attaining die age of twenty-two, had suffered an ignominious punishment, the infliction of which it was under ►ucn circumst-nces impossible to justify. if a justific4tion could be produced or established, it would gratify him much to hear it, and to find that 40 unusual au act of severity was no departure from that correct and laudable course of conduct which it appeared Captain Phillimore had generally pursued. If he stood in the situation of the avowed fiend and advoclte ct Captain Philimore, he should think that he was now acting no other part in moving for the Papers in question, than would become hun in that character. He could see no possible injury likely or possible to result to the public service from their pro duction ; but, on the contrary, very great danger and inconvenience to the public interests, from those secret tribunals which could not pronounce a corn. piece asquittal any more than they could legally convict. and which only served the purpose of casting ;fur and calumny on innocence on the one hand, o r . acrcenirg and protecting guilt on the other. lie, tberdore movett, that the minutes of the Court of Inquiry held on Captzia Phillimore be laistupon the, Table of the House. The SPEAKER enquired who seconded the motion ? After some pause, Mr. LYTTLETON said, that as no other Gentleman seemed disposed to second the motion of the Hon. Baronet, although he should have felt great hesitation as to his vote upon the question, the friendship which he entertained for . Captain Phillimore urged him not to lose the oppor tunity of doing justice to that friendship, and of pay. ing his tribute to the character and conduct of that respected officer. This he could not have done on that occasion when the Hon. Baronet first brought forward this vague accusation against that honour. able officer, but was now enabled to do by the result of the Court of Inquiry, and by the admissions of the Honourable Baronet himself. It was not difficult to anticipate the fate of the present motion, and it was unavoidable therefore in him to refer the House to the weight of character compared on either side as the guide cf their judgment. On the one side they had the explicit testimony of numerous officers, all of unimpeached honour and credit ;—on the other, they had the declaration only of an interested wit ness, and the opinions of an Honourable Baronet, for whose honour and veracity he had the greatest re spect, but for whose judgment in this affair he bad no respect at all. He had once passed three weeks on board Captain Phillimore's ship, and never before met with an officer who appeared to have so much ' dislike to those corporal punishments to which the 1 Honourable Baronet himself had so many objections. Every thing in the nature of punishment was accom plished by shame and ridicule alone. To accede is these circumstances to the motion would be to esta blish an example which might be of the most injuri ous consequence. He had himself frequently called for the reports of the proceedings of Courts. Martial, but never without being possessed of a strong . a priori presumption, and without ample previous inquiry. Some line must obviously be drawn, or no end could be imagined to the reviews of judgments which the House would be called upon to take.—(Hear, hear.) He had spoken certainly with a strong impression of friendship, but he trusted he had not distorted or coloured facts;. and he was quite persuaded that Captain Phillimore himself had no dread of the pro duction of these papers. Mr. W. DUNDAS remarked, that the Honoura ble Baronet had morde out no case for inducing the House to review the judgment of those Officers of unimpeachable character and integrity, and that he seemed disposed to set his face against all discipline and authority of every description. ' . Mr. DICKENSON, from his knowledge of all the facts, was enabled to say, that Hancock, after a long course of the most disgraceful conduct, had at length been threatened with punishment for an act of mu. tiny. He refused to be so punished, when Captain Phillimore told him he should be flogged. On fur .ther reflection, fearing lest this might injure his fu ture interests, he resolved to take him below, and flog him, like a boy. He was sorry to say that the lan guage now used by disorderly. seamen, when threat ened with punishment, wag, then we will appeal to Sir Francis Burdett."—(Loud cries of hear, hear.) Let the House consider what must be the situation of the Captain of a ship, if, amidst his other arduous and perilous duties, he should be reduced to contend with a spirit of this inflexible description. It was not the punishment inflicted, nor those who inflicted it, that caused the cruelty and the alarm • but the prac tice of those men who were con s ta n tly engaged in stirring up the lower orders against the higher. The Honourable Baronet had disclaimed, in a subdued, an humble, and an altered tone, any disposition to promote or encourage insubordination. How was this tone to be reconciled with the temper of that letter which he had written coolly, and sent deliberately to the populace Palace-yard, in which, without the apology of the heat of speaking, and certainly with no effusion of eloquence, he told them, that his plea , sure was in addressing them, not in doing his duty ; in Parliament ?—(Hear, hear.) When, he asked, was pure democracy snore openly avowed ? The Duke of Orleans himself, who spent his life in corrupting the multitude, and consuming for this unworthy pur pose, a fortune larger even than the Hon. Baronet's, had never uttered a sentiment more servilely demo cratic. In his first speech, so different in substance and manner from his present, the Hon. Baronet had expressed his confidence that Captain Phillimore's promotion was stopped. Here the Hoa. Gentleman referred to Sir F. Burdett's complaint of the treat ment of the prisoners in Ilckester gaol, and concluded by stating his intention to resist the motion. Mr. CROKER was astonished that the Hon. Ba ronet should have declared that he knew not on what grounds this motion could be opposed, when the grounds were precisely those on which the Honour able Baronet had begged leave to withdraw his mo tion of a former night, with the difference only of the , separate characters of the individuals immediately concerned being fully ascertained. Now the Hon. Baronet came down, with a milk and water speech, as if his only desire was to conciliate Captain Philli more, although but a few nights had elapsed since he professed the greatest alarm at the report of that Officer being appointed to another ship. He had in his hand the testimonials of all the Captains under whom Hancock had served, all declaring him to be most incorrigible, almost always drunk, and his con duct to be most disgraceful to the service. He had now the honour to tell the Honourable Baronet that Captain Phillimore had been just appointed to one or the finest frigates in the navy, and probably would not choose to encumber himself with Mr. Hancock any longer. He was determined not to permit the Hon. Baronet to withdraw his motion after the state of ferment and uneasiness in which the minds of offi cers had been kept, and trusted that the House would not fail to set a seal and mark upon it. Mr. SWAN related several particulars relative to the character and youthful appearance of Hancock, which he had received from_a relative on board the vessel. Lord COCHRANE had understood that Captain Phillimore was the only Officer in the British Navy who bad been able entirely to dispense with the prac tice of flogging in his ship. He was against the ma tion, because he did not see how the House could Celtic to any judgment upon the proceedings of a Court unknown to the law, where neither Judges nor witnesses were bound by an oath, and which could in its operation only be comparcd to that Inquisition which once existed in this country. It would be to sanction tribunals of this nature, in his opinion, to re view their proceedings in that House. With respect to Captain Phillimore personally, he had always heard him spoken of as a deserving, able, and amiable Offi cer ; and had seen letters from Hancock's uncle, thanking him for his lenityand liberality tohis nephew. Mr. OSBORNE vindicated Courts of Inquiry from the observations of the Noble Lord. Mr. WYNNE could not see what beneficial effect a motion of this kind could have upon the service, or operate otherwise than to make Parliament odious. That House was undoubtedly a Court of review upon all military tribunals, but still such appeals ought to be rarely and cautiously made. With re spect to the distinction between the Courts of Inquiry and Courts-Martial, it would be productive of the most serious inconvenience were every offence to be submitted, in the first instance, to the latter. He thought the Hen. Baronet ought to have made fuller inquiry, and to have given a longer notice, before he brought this subject under the consideration of the House. Neither was it perhaps fair, in justice to Captain Phillimore, to let such statements go abroad to the world without enabling him to put in his an swer at the same time. Mr. CROKER observed, that the Court of In quiry had been held at the immediate desire of Han ' cock himself, in order to discover whether there was ground for referring his complaint to a Court-Martial. Sir FRANCIS BURDETT said, there appeared to be no small degree of misconception, and, indeed, of misrepresentation pervading all the speeches which had been heard in opposition to his motion. In the first place, he must contradict in the most decisive terms the unworthy insinuations in which the Right Hon. the Secretary of the Admiralty had indulged himself, as to his motives in rendering his tribute to the character of Captain Phillimore. The Honour able Gentleman who seconded his motion for the sake merely of gratifying a feeling of friendship, had untruly charged him with bringing forward a vague accusation. Had he not named the specific offence of which he complained, that of/it-Ain/dor, treating and flogging a man of twenty-two like a boy ? Was he wrong in supposing a punishment thus disgrace ful and ignominious was unfit to be inflicted on a Naval Officer ? He had been originally misinformed as to Hancock's birth—he now understood he was the son of a private seaman ; but this only served to make his case the stronger, for he had a right to as sume, that, being born in so humble a station, he could no: have reached the rank he was in without having recce un.nded himself to promotion for good conduct, however changed t: conduct might re cently have become. To suppose the contrary, would not be more injurious te him, than to the cre dit of those who had so promoted him. He was there, however, not to vindicate the character of Hancock, but to vindicate the naval character and the naval uniform of England from degradation.— He was not aiming at the subversion, but the preser vation of discipline, when he condemned irregular modes of punishment. The authority given to mili tary bodies by that House of inflicting punishment, was one which could be communicated without re luctance. It was the character of men to acquiesce in all punishments that were founded in regularity and justice. He had been accused of instituting no previous inquiry : he had made the fullest into all the facts which he stated, and he now reasserted these facts, and challenged contradiction. With the , character of the parties it was not incumbent on him to interfere. When he first nientioneu the case, he had bad no communication whatever from Han cock; and as to his being an interested witness, every prosecutor who had been injured might be called so, with equal propriety. The Right Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Croker) had intimated that the sen tence of the Court of Inquiry had been favourable to Captain Phillimore.—{Mr. Croker here said, he had stated nothing on the subject.] Was it then other wise ? The Noble Lord's reasoning against his mo tion appeared to him to be the strongest that could be urged in its favour—that of the unconstitutional and dangerous character of these secret and inquisi torial proceedings. The petty childishness of men tioning his name did not, in his-opinion, render the argument of the Hon. Gentleman below him (Mr. Dickenson) very formidable. It certainly was not very desirable to press the motion, with such an ar ray as he now saw on the other side of the House— Lords of the Treasury, functionaries from the Admi ralty, and others—all, no doubt, very independent Gentlemen (a laugh), but who, it he was rigntly in formed, had heretofore taken a very different view of Captain Phillimore's merits from what they now seemed disposed to do, insomuch that in consequence of charges which were preferred against him by Ad miral Berkeley, they kept him in hot water for no less a space of time than two years. It was not ul timately thought expedient to bring him to a Court Martial ; but he should be glad to be informed why it had been found so . to supersede him in the com mand of a sh:p ? Mr. CROKER," Captain Phillimore was depri ved of the command of one ship, only in order that the command of another attended with greater ad vantages might be conferred on him." Sir FRANCIS BURDETT— ,, Then the Minutes of the Court of Inquiry held on the conduct of Cap tain Phillimore ought to be made public, that it may be known how just and reasonable the rewards are to which he has been thought entitled." Mr. CROKER, rising in explanation, said, that the Hon. Baronet opposite, when he had preferred a grave charge of misrepresentation against him, should have stated in what that misrepresentation consisted: from what he had said, indeed, he could collect that there were two points in particular in which he con ceived himself misrepresented ; the one was, that he had been stated to have asserted that Mr. Hancock was a person of high honour—the other, that he asserted him to have been the companion of Lord Nelson. He was still of opinion that the Honour. able Baronet had made assertions to that effect. He bad talked of Hancock as a young gentleman, and had uniformly affixed to his name the stile and titles usually appropriated t o persons of honour, and h a d complained, that in his person a young gentleman had been duhonoured. This was assuredly virtually affirming him to be a man of honour. With respect to the footing on which he had asserted him to have stood with Lord Nelson, the Hon. Baronet had sta. ted that he had called him his companion, in the in ve of what recoil, him as to quen' Sir now before, Mr. T man las sui tories sated M: Han, victories for what the point expres , be shok .'s victory. I repeat, that I have not willingly misre presented any thing the Hon. Baronet said, nor caa I feel towards him in any other way than I did when making she observations of which he has complai..- ed, in language, which I mint say, was neither co:, sistent with the usage of Parliament nor the courtesy of Gentlemen." Sir FRANCIS BURDETT.—e , I am perfectly indifferent as to what feelings the Hon. ermtlemart may cherish towards me. I did not mean to use lan. guage which was not perfectly Parliamentary, nor did I swerve from any courtesy which was due to the Hon. Gentleman." Mr. LYTTLETON said, in explanation, that the Honourable Baronet had taxed him with making vague assertions ; he conceived that the application of the epithet tyuh would have been more approprt• ately applied to what he had advanced.—The Hon. Gentleman was then proceeding to detail his reasons for this, but was stopped by a cry of Sink, spoke 1 from various parts of the House, and obliged to N. sume his seat. LOAGaGe•le G ••••., • I.GN le sense in which all those who hai shared V % ories might have been termed his companion s . I t lot for him to form .conjectures as to the st ve vhich he had used the word companion. He 11J.: I it, and in so doing had afforded sufficient grour,.'s what he (Mr. Croker) had said. On neither of points on which the Hon. Baronet seemed to :eive himself misrepresented had be been so : he willing, indeed, to accept his own interpretation, rhat he had said ; but, with respect to that, llection was perfectly clear, and he would not ply su unmerited, or himself so bad a compliment, ) retract any thing he had advanced in cone. Ice of it. it F. BURDETT.—" The Hon. Gentlem)r. states quite a different thing from what he stated ,re. He now taxes me with having talked (i Hancock as aGentleman. Sir, he was a gentl:. 1, his situation gave him a claim to be consi( l ,l::.,l uch, if his birth did not, as his sharing tile vic. ,s of Lord Nelson gave him a claim to be de, k ; . id as his companion." Ir. CROKER..^." The Hon. Baronet calLi acock the companion of Lord Nelson ; to ressed properly what appears was his meanirg ,hould have said, the associate of Lord Nelson.'; RELIEF TO PIRSONS DEWING THE TRINITY. --------- __ _. . _. Mr. W. SMITH said, ht believed no opposition would be made to the motion he //a t % about to submit to the House, and he therefore woulaites ra t ite up two 'minutes of their attention. The Act of King William, known by the name of the Toleration Act, #shied to persons who disbelieved in the Trinity the t. eeernefit of toleration. An Act of the 19th of his preset Majesty required only the general belief in the Soctrines of Christianity and the Scriptures : but it so happened, that though by the Act of the 19th it wai not necessary to subscribe the Articles of the Cl-ich of England, professing the belief in the Trinity, the Acts of the 9th and 10th of King William were not repealed. By these Acts, persons who in writing or conversation deny the existence of any of the persons of the Trinity, are disabled in law from holding any office, civil, eccle siastical, or military, on conviction ; and it a second time convicted, they are disabled to sue or prose cute in any action or information, or to be the guar. dian of any child, and liable to be imprisoned for three years. The only object of his Bill was to do away these penalties. He said the liberal Act which wag passed last year s was highly creditable to the fi ber... lity of the Ministers of this country, and the times in which we lived. The only question now for consi• der.ttion was, whether those persons dissenti ng front the Church o f: England, should be still liable to the penaltiei of the Acts of King' William? He tneretbre, moved for leave to bring in a Bill for granting far. they Relief to the different persuasions 01 Christians in this Country, who disbelieved the Doctrine of the Trinity. The SPEAKER observed, that the regular course was to move first, that the motion should be submit. ted to a Committee of the whole House; which was accordingly done. Lord CASTLEREAGH said, he certainly did not see any reason to object to the principle of' the Bill. When the Bill was before the House, he would then be enabled to see if there was any thing in the mode of granting the relief liable to objection. The House went into a Committee, when leave was moved for and obtained, to bring in the Bill in question. SUPPLY. The House then went into a Committee of Supply, in, which the following sums were voted ; £1632 for the Westminster Improvements. £l7lB for the Relief of the French Refugee Clergy, for the year 1813. £3OOO for the Board of Agriculture for the current yea:. £25,229 for the Royal Navy Asylum. £22,513 for ditto. £28,407 for the erection of additional buildings to the Peni. tentiary House at Milbank. The SPEAKER. then resumed the Chair, and the aeport of the Committee was ordered to be received tolnorrow% lIISCILLANEOUS. Mr. HERBERT postponed his moti on --- for the production olf Report of the Conunisstoners of Naval Inquiry, till Friday. Mr. BARING postponed his motion relative to ships captured by the Americans. The Ship-owners Relief Bill was read a second time, and or. dried to be committed to-morrow. The Report of the Committee on the Highway Bill was or. deted to be taken into further consideration on Friday next. 'I he Committee on the Irish Roads bill was postponed till Wednesday next. The Committee of Ways and Means was postponed till Fd. day next. The Report of the Committee on the Irish Parish Churches Bill was ordered to be taken into consideration to-morrow. The Battle Axe Guards' Bill went through a Committee of the House.—Report to-snurrow. The Irish Officers' Widows' Pension Bill was read a thiri time, and passed. A Petition was presented from Palslrf, by a Gentleman, is favour of the propagatlen of the Christian Religion in the East Indies.—Ordered to lie upon the table —Adjourned. 1 The amount of the proceeding; in the Committee of the House of Commons, on Mr. HoLsts St/Names Bill, to provide places for depositing County Records, was incorrect. The claose for building houses for the residence of Clerks of the Peace was lost, not, as was stated, by a majority of 68 against 56, but of 68 against 151 and Sir SAMUSL ROMILLY'S clause for abolishing acquittal fees in the case of Clerks of the Peace, to be hereafter appointed, WAS carried by a majority of 56 again* 0,