Star. — London, England, 1813-06-24 00:00:00

•Mlf I a new constitution to Sicily, and the more slimly to obtain the reform of abuses, Lord Bentinck, of his full authority, and unknown to the King, convoked a new Parliament, which he took care to compose as judiciously as his Military Commission. A new Constitution, in effect, proceeded from the bosom of this strange assembly, an ill-framed and monstrous copy of the English Constitution. That of Sicily actually placed the King in tutellage. Among other innovations, it gave Parliament the exclusive'. right of making war or {peace ; to dismiss all the Magistrates, confiscate all common, royal, or eccle siastical property; abolish pensions, and thus place several hundred individuals between the misery and the Marne of owing their existence to the favour of their opp_reasors. The Regent allowed the Parliament to undertake the nation should maintain 7000 men to serve the English cans-, wherever their presence might be use fut. These 7000 men'have lately been demanded to form part of an expedition upon the toast of Spain, and lord BenLinck's.army remains in Sicily, to finish what he has commenced, the great work, which his 'Proclamations call the regeneration of the kingdom. A - nervous disorder threatened the Hereditary Prince's life; he expressed a desire to see his fathe r Lord Bentinck dared, not to refuse skis ; but the King was obliged to some by night, and retureed, sifter being concealed chuhig the day in thi Regent's 'apartment. Not contented with having debased the Royal Fa mily, Lord Bentinck dared - to ask Ferdinand, that the Queen should be given as an hostage, if he did not choose to definitively abdicate in favour of his sen. The Xing had the courage to refuse him. The British Envoy then offered the Queen a pass. port to proceed to Austria, but she saw die snare, and learned that in effect it was Lord Bentinck's inten tion. to have her stopped by English ships, which would conduct her to London. In his rage Lord Bentinck inundated the island with Emissaries, who accused the Sovereigns of being devoted to the cause of France, of having impove rished the country, attempted individual liberty, ty rannized over his subjects. These Agents particularly calumniated the Queen, represented her as the prin-` cipal cause of all the people's sufferings, and endea voured to make it be thought that her death or ba sishment would be a public benefit. But the people knew their real enemies; they were upon their guard against their insinuations, and hardly knew which they detested most, the proud despotism under which they groaned, or the Barons whose tur bulence prepared this obscure and atrocious dominion. They knew the plan the latter had formed to estab lish an aristocratical Government upon the ruins of she Throne; they understood that the Conn of Lon don, which wished to obtain possession of Italy, at rst flattered the hopes.of the conspirators, and that interposing, like the judge in the fable, between the* Princes who aspired to the Regency, it afterwards condemned their pretensions tp equal oblivion. The people, confirmed in their resentments, un faithful subjects and foreigners, who collecting the unworthy fruit of their treagm, came under the false appearance of friendship, to deprive an allied Prince of Sovereign authority, from this Prince, who, in his relations, had always manifested for the Court of Londein so marked a predilection, that the Sovereign houses to whom it was related - were offended at it. If the English dare not yet avow 'facts so memo rable, and so worthy of figuring in the annals of their policy, it is just that their cotemporaries collect them, sp order that history may some day perpetuate their remembrance. The Monitcur of the 17th June contains, under the head Army of Arragon, an extract cif a letter from the Duke of Albufera, Commander of the Army of Arragon, to the Minister at War, dated Valencia, 24th May, 1813, stating, that on the Ist and 2d of that month, the troops of Colonel Trayle made a fruitless attack on the fort of Onda. This partizan, it is added, being encouraged and supplied with arms by the English Consul Tupper, had dune much mis chief in the goberstacion: of Castellon and Pensicola. The fort of Balmer had been blockaded for 36 days by the troops of Eroles, but General Count Maureu Matthew, by a rapid march from Baralna to Tarra cona, put Eroles to flight, while, at the same time, olonel Pleque, leaving Tortosa with a column and supply of provisions, completely revictualled the fort, l iipd frustrated all the hopes of the enemy. Captain Beaumont, Aide-de-Camp to General Hu tert, in the night between the 15th and 16,n, sur prised a party of four hundred Ggerillas, the greater part of whom were killed. General Clausel conti pues the pursuit of Mina, and General Paris has taken advantage of these movements to send off from aragossa for France, on the :;7th, 2400 prisc;ners and 20 officers, ' By the, last accounts from Madrid, which are of ,9th and 17th, every thing was then quiet there, and no rnovtount of the army had been made. The same Monittur, under the head of Army of the South cf Spair, contains a report, addressed by the General of Divisii n, Foy, to General Clauzel, ommander of the Army of the South of Spain, dated Liqueytio, 2d *lune : In it he states that his division set out from Bilboa \tack the two batta of from 800 to 1000 WAS SO successful, , of whom 27 were drowned, without the or wounded on his Biscay, he says i may •stroyed s and the Ist , of arms and stores, Mondef ; a, their great di r depot at Bedar :luclesl 44 Qn the 3;st into the sea porti be tas the coast is fire armed vessels which of Gascony are gone 1 0 41LIAMIRT4Ar PROCZEDINGS. HOUSE OF LORDS, JUNE U. Te Hones met at ten O'clock - in the mo • . In the Appeal from tbreourt of Session in " Hen demon and snootier v. Allan and others," Mr. Nolan end Mt. Scirlett wan heard for the Appellents, and Mr. Parks for the Respondenta—lud , a Why te Dickson,` In the Appeal v. Dickson," Judgment was aerated. In an Appeal from the Court of Session " Hall and another V. Ross," Si r Samuel Ito:Wily and Mr. Adam, jun. were heard for the Appellant, and Mr. Thompson and Mr. Murray for the Respondents.--Judinent partly reversed and partly remitted to the Court of Session. The Cape Wine 11111. th 3 Irish id& Dudes Bali and the Irish Militia Bill, were read a second dine and committed for to. 1 morrow. The Lottery Bill, the Trish Arms Bill, and the Irish Conn _Howes Bill, passed through Committees and were reported 'The Manure Carriage Bill passed through a Coninaittee."—;te port on Wednesday. The Irish Tobacco Bill was read a third time and pawed. The third reading of the Irish Catholic Officers' Bid was, on the motion of the Duke of Noe/OS.li, fixed for Friday. A Message from the Commons by Mr. ADS/MOTO?' and other Members, desired a conference relative to the amendment made by their-Lordships In the Militia Enlistment Bill. The conference being agreed to, and Mr. Qualms ' the Do. puty Usher of the Black Rod, having announced that the Com mons were waiting the conference in the Painted Chamber, the Managers appointed by the Lords, namely, the Lord President (Earl of HAAROWSY), the Earls of MACCLESVISLID, BUCKING ! . NANISDIRR, RADNOR LIVIA root., Pow's, and Lord Viscount SIDNOWTH went for th . On their return the Earl of HARROWS* reported that the Commons disagreed to-the clause added by the Lords, on the ground that it was unnecessary. A Message was ordered to be sent to the Common., desiring a present conference in the Painted Chamber relative to the East India Resohitions. This having been agreed to, and th e Commons being waiting, the same Managers ( with e exception of the Earl of R.tostoa who was not at the time in the House, and in stead of whom t h e Bishop of Cutcnes raft was appointed) went forth. On their return the Earl of Hammy/sr reported that they had communicated to the Commons the agreement of the Lords to the East India Resolutions. A Message from the Commons by Mr. ROBINSON and other Members, desired another canference relative to the East Judia question. The conference being agreed to, and the Commons being ready In the Painted Chamber, the same Managers as in the last conference went forth. On their return, the liar) of HARROWST reported that the Commons bad communicated a Resolution (that agreed to last night In the House of Commons) relative to fadlitating the introduction of Christian knowledge into India.--This Resolution, on his Lordship's motion, was or dered to be taken into consideration to-morrow, and the Lords to be summoned. A number of Petitions were presented by Lord Easstnz for facilitating the introduction of Christian Knowledge lute India, which were ordered to lie on the table. The Irish Cotton Trade Bill passed through a Committee with amendments.—. Report to-morrow. On the motion of Lord Ea PKINZ some papers were ordered relative to Mr. Palmeri claims. On the motion of the Earl of I.AODERIDAI IL a Committee was appointed, to consist of all the Lord. who have been prevent this Fession, and to Inert on Friday at one o'clock, to take into con sideration the agreement with Mr. Palmer, sud to report to the House. , On his Lordship's motion al.lo a message was ordered to be sent to the Commons, dewing leave ter the attendance of the Right Hon. C. Long and the Right Hon. George Rose, to give evidence before the Committee. '1 he Election Write bill passed through a Committee with amendments.—Report to-morrow. The Duke of NORFOLK observed upon the compensation given in the Bill of 4520 per annum to the Messenger of the Great Seal in lieu of his fees for the delivery of Writs, and wish. ed to know the nature of those fees. Lord Viscount biDMOUTH stated, that the fee had been li mited to ten guineas upon each writ, and the annual sum alluded to was given as a compensation for the loss of those fees, the object of the Bill being that the writs should be transmitted wit bort delay to the proper officer. Lord BOktRINGDON gave notice of hij intention to move the second reading of the Vaccination Bill on Wednesday. On the motion of the Earl of LAVDEROALC the consideration of the Borthwkk Peerage was postponed till Tuesday, and his Lordship postponed his own motion in this case till Friday. Adjourned till to-morrow (this day). HOUSE OF COMMONS. On the Motion of Mr. H. ADDINGTON, Managers were appointed to hold a conference with the Lords on the subject of an Amendment made by their Lordihips on the Militia Enlist ment Bill. '1 he Managers being appointed went forth, and on their return, Mr. Addington reported the result of the conference, which was ordered to lie on the table. Conferences were also held with the Lords on the subject of the Resolutions on the East India Company's Affairs, the keperts of which were also ordered to lie on the table. The Irish National Debt Bill went through a Report to-morrow. 1 he Irish '!'okras Bill was read a second time Mr. LONG obtained leave to bring In a Bill to facilitate the making up of the Paymaster's accounts. Mr. WESTElibil presented a Petition from a Mr. Trotter, complaining of a denial of access to the Court of Session in Scot land. It appeared that co Advocate would sign his Petition, which was a preliminary ha the scotch Courts, and he was thereby prevented from prosecuting his suit. Mr. ABERCROMBIE thought a sufficient case was not made out fee the Interference of the House. if the Ban iettrs of Scot land, than whom there was nut any where a more Just a d ho nourable body of men, bad refused to sign the Petition, au doubt there was something improper in the man's case. Mr. WESTERN had no acquaintance with the nature of the transaction ; though he had felt it to be his duty to present the Petition.—Ordered to lie on the table. M: . SMIIH moved the second reading of the Trinity f‘s be understood there was no opposition in tended, he :,iientd wish it to go at once into the Commirtse to make a lea , alterations. It was then read a second time, and went through a Comm'rtee, in which a tew verbal alterations were inserted in the kill. The Report was then received, and ordered to be taken Into cons. .on on Monday neat. Mr. HORNER rose to ask the Rie.t Honourable Gentleman opposite, whether it was his lotto:loft to submit any proposition to Parliament, tr. increase the pensions of r..t.red Judges, so as to restore the proportion which once existed between the income of acting Judges, and those who bad left the& nch. The CHAN:. ELLOR of the EXCHEQG said, there were some arrangev:ents under consideration as to u.e judicial depart ment, but 11,1 was not prepared with any measure. • • on the 27th bl.,y, in order to ' attack the two batta- lkas pf ilivay, consisting each of from 800 to 1900 •n, in which attack he says he was SO successful, Jat he made prisuners SCO'snen & of whom 27 were • fEcers, and 200 were killed_ or drowned, without the os3 r.f a bippc wan eat, killed or wounded on his own LiJc. the 2d heittalitm of Biscay, he says, may ccpsittqfd as corn' letely destroyed & and the 1.41. lost 50Q men in its He had caused a magazine of arms and stores, bich the insurgents had at Mondega, their great at Zhattr, :nit! thtir powder Ofepat at Bedar. Tons, to be 4.st: oyed ; #le coaciades, "On the Slst , ay and Ist June I Kilt irOPPS into the Sea ports be 44 weep pilboit and quipna. Thus the coast is free roar Bayonne to irsant,ova. The armed vessels which 4 , insurgents 44 ift the'po of aascony are gore 'oSoptatuirr ! '' . T g A. Hov q . yebtpday i.. chiartetly general car was held, when the di/Offen!' on the tampan?* tock, for the half year for.meneing !fie 1 5111 January st i and endinithe .th Jupy next, was declared to be pcOlt-72 - W fillsnFn C closet! ' e er the committee for inspecting the Conn- any' 4t s Bye z lAwL in Op room Ot k 01111143: eq• aegiathe 7 ORANGE LODGES. Mr. FR EEMANTLE gave notice that an Honourable Friend of bls, not then in the House, would to-morrow, bring under the optii-e of the House, certain illegal Societies existing to this coun try, under the name of Orange Lodges. THOMAS CROGAN. Lord A. HAMILTON moved the order of the Day, for bringing Thomas Crogan to the Bar, in or. der to his being discharged ; and in doing this he could not avoid congratulating the House on the abrogation of a practice which had so long guided their proceedings—lie meant the enforcing persons confinrd by them, previous to their being discharged, to petition the House, acknowledging their guilt, and the Justice of their punishment ; a practice which, in his opinion, was contrary to justice, and not necessary tor the support of the dignity of the House. Mr. Cro g an having been placed at the Bar, in the custody of the Serjeant Arms, the SP4AKEI4 ad dressed him as follows : " Thomas Croggn, this House having hnd under its consideration dig proceedings which took place at theist election for the Borough of Tregony, rrsol cied, that you, opeply and corruptly, endeavoured to procutse die return c 4 two Members to represent !hat borough in Farliamem, contrary to the orders of this Houw, to the freedom of election, atn4 to the I,Aws i$ 9onstit4ion of this and ; jo Rabrypienct oithstoffence, you were committed to his Majesty's gaol of Newgate. In, these transactions it appears, according to the evidence before this House, that the part you bore was prominent.and profligate, inviting some persons by the promise of a large reward, to undertake the general task of corrupting the Borough, and holding out to others the prospect of a specific fund, from which the price of their votes was to be paid. Such flagrant conduct was justly visited by the severity of this House, in sending you to confine ment. Considering the length of your imprisonment, the House is now induced to order your discharge, hoping that the notoriety of your offence and of your punishment, will check the occurrence of similar practices ; and you are now discharged, on paying your fees. Serjeant, take him from the Bar." Mr. Crogan—Mr. Speaker, I am unable —" The SPEAKER—" Serjeant, take him away." He was immediately removed from the Bar. Tits satexasn Tnaxry. On the Report of the Resolution of the Committee of Supply for granting a Subsidy to Sweden being brought up, Mr. BANKES said, though he had no intention of opposing this grant, he wished now to take that opportunity, which had not before occurred, of de livering his sentiments on this most important subject; and, preparatory to so doing, he should move to have read the Resolution entered on the Journals in De cember, 1796, relative to the rant of a Subsidy to Austria. The Resolution having been read, stating, " That the issue of money by Ministers, during a sitting of Parliament, without communicating the same to the House, should not be drawn irate a pre cedent, except in a case of equal necessity." Mr. Bankes renewed. He should cot have drawn the at tention of the House to this subject now, had it not appeared that the case of the recent secret advance to Sweden differed most materially from the advance tr.) Austria, there being in the present case no necessity for concealing the grant, although the object of it could not, perhaps, have been communicated. He' thought, in this case, the House had reason to com plain of having been kept in the dark longer than was necessary. Of the Treaty itself be highly dis approved ; and for this reason, that it was- one by which, of all others, we paid the most and got the least. What did we get by it ? nothing . morf than that priority should be given to th e ex pedition to the Continent rather than to the seizure of Norway. He had particularly to complain of the ambiguity which ran through this Treaty, and expressed his doubts whether the Noble Lord would be able to answer se veral of the questions which he should have to put to him. I t particularly appeared to him that wewereliable, and should be called upon, to do all we had engaged to do, and should receive nothing in return : and that the result to us would be the loss of this great sum (C 1,000,000 of money) and the giving up a most vA luable island, whilst we should receive no benefit in return. He wished to ask whether all the benefits which we ever contemplated receiving from this Treaty did not depend upon the Swedes being joined by 35,000, Russians ? Whether it was ever probable that Russia would ever furnish this contingent ? And if it was not, where was the policy of entering into such a Treaty as this ? Another question he wished to ask, was, whether, if Sweden was included in the armis tice ? or if not, whe t h er R uss i a , froth being included in it, was not prevented sending his contingent ? and if, in either of those cases, we were not to be re leased from paying these monthly Subsidies ? If we, were not, there was a great neglect in the interests of this country. He would also ask whether, in the event of Sweden making peace with France, but not with Denmark, we should not, under the articles of this Treaty, be liable to be called on to assist Sweden in taking possession of Norway ? The Hon, Gentle man then, after taking an extended review of the foundation of the Treaty, said, it appeared to him a contract, improvidently entered into—and that it was probable we should lose this large sum of money without receiving any equivalent whatever. He de precated in strong terms the stipulations for giving up Guadaloupe, an island so important, which hsa cost us so much to obtain possession of, and which had proved and might prove so mischievous to our interests whilst in the hands of an enemy; pnd wished to know v briber, if the present Artnisticibhould ter minate in a Peace, the barely landing the Swedish troops at Stralsund, was sufficient to call on us to fulfil our stiputit,on for the cession of this important Island ? The H.m. Gentleman then adverted to what he considered as the only advantage which this coun try was to receive in return for all their sacrifices, viz. the right of Entrepot in tour Swedish ports, for a term of twenty years ; but even allowing every pos sible importance to this concession to this country, and that there was every wish and inclination on the part of Sweden, to insure to us all ahe advantages result ing from that arrangement, how could we insure to ourselves the continuation of the power of Sweden to extend those advantages to us for a continuance ? Might not Sweden, as she and Russia had before been obliged to do by the power of France, again ex clude us from those ports ? He concluded by calling on the Noble Lord (Castlereagh) to explain the strong reason which could induce him to enter into what appeared, in every view of it, a rash and expen sive agreement, by which we might be engaged in a war with Denmark, after all other contests on the Continent had ceased. Lord CASTLEREAGH having, on a former night, gone at length into this question, he should now only feel it necessiry to answer those questions which had been put to him by the Hun. Gentleman just sat down ; and first, as to having made advances while Parliament was sitting, without making any communication to the House; he had, before thrown himself on the House, and pleaded the necessity, and stated, that, under all the circumstances, he had thought it better to advance on his own responsibi. lity the sums called for from the funds placed at the disposal iat the Crown, than to come to the House for a grant, at a time when he could not have stated the grounds on which he made that 'application,-.. As to the Honourable Gentleman% apprehens►ons of the Treaty tailing from 3 want of concert oil the part of Russia, ne could assure him, that there was the fullest assurance of the Treaty tiring tultilled by the Prince Royal qt Sweden, who had the cause he had embarked m as sincerely ist beat; as any pian could have; apil who hag 4 'tune now under his command in Cormany t.►r eaireeoiiis the amount of h►, contingent ! As to the Right lion, gentleman's question respecting Geact4loupc, he ty.its tigt prepared to give the Honourable Gentleman any answer ; lt d his Majesty's Government were not justified in making any disclosure on this point at present. The Treaty was, on the whole, the most important that could be entered into in the existing state of the world; and the force under the Prince of Sweden was the best calculated of any to cnntroul the power of France, by giving an eff ec t ua l ass i stance to R uss i a. Mr. BANKES, in explanation, said, he thought k would be more wise and dignified for us to hare en. tered into a direct Treaty with Russia. Lord CASTLEREAGH said, the best time and manner had been chosen for obtaining the wished for co-operation.—The Resolution was then agreed to. 0011MITTEX OF SUPPLYPORDNANCE UTIMATES. The House having resolved itself into a Committee of Supply, Mr. R. WARD rose to propose the Ordnance Es. timates. The Estimate, he stated, would exceed that of last year, by 5e150,000. The new expenses were £330,000. There was, consequently, a diminution in the current expenses, principally on the ankle of Stores. The new expenses were principally on the Horse Artillery and Artillery Drivers, and in pus. chase of Land. The sum it might be necessary to remark on was £90,000, for theptunhase of Land at Portsmouth. Vast sums had been expended on the works of that place, and these works would be use. less, unless a comparatively small sum was expended in completing them. When the late Duke of Rich. mond had, man?' years ago, asked for money to corn. plete the works, at was re fu sed him. The consequence was, that the ground intended to be purchased was covered with houses: and he thought it would be better for the strength of Portsmouth, that the whole of this ground should be in the possession of Govern. meat ; for if these houses should get into the posses. ion of an enemy, they could be turned into a means el' annoying our works. To prevent, however, any evil from an enemy attacking the (omega on the land side, it was deemed necessary to erect works at Hilf sea, which would completely annoy and obstruct an enemy on the land side. He then concluded with moving his Resolutions. Mr. CALCRAFT said, that an invasion could not be effected unless the enemy were masters of the sea, in which ease Portsmouth could not stand. He hoped that before any thing were proceeded into, an estimate of the whole work would be laid before Par liament, for to this sort of expenditure no limit. could otherwise be set. In the case of Jersey, they began with a few thousands—in 1806, they voted 030,000; then 4215,000, £20,000, £lO,OOO, £37,000, £40,000, and in this year 5160,000. So that the whole expence was 4244,000. Praise was due to the Hon. Gentle. man (Mr. Ward), on the small amount of the " Un provided," and for the estabiishment of Sappers, and the augmentation of the Horse Artillery ; he did not, however, see any necessity for the augmentatioe of tha Artillery Drivers' Corps. Mr. tREEMANTLE- doubted whether it would be advisable at this time to expend £90,000 in new works, for which there was no apparent necessity. Under our present difficulties, the purchases in ques tion should not have bees made, when there appeared no necessity for them. • Mr. J. SMITH called to the attention of the Com mittee the expence of 022,300 in Trinidad. Mr. POLE CAREW observed, though the de. fences of Plymouth Dock (in the neighbourhood of which he resided) had been improved, yet houses had been suffered to be erected on the glacis, of such substance, that even in ruins they would afford a lodgment for a besieging army; so that all expense was thrown away unless they were demolished. Mr. BARING objected to the expenditure on Portsmouth, the fortification being one wtoet l ewsr, even after this expense, remain imperfect. Mr. HUSKISSON hoped, that even if the ground were purchased at Portsmouth, no other expense would be incurred ; but that the fortificat.ons there 'might remain a lesson of works useless, or worse thus useless. Mr. WARD expressed pleasure at the candouz manifested on the other side of the House. The plan of obtaining an estimate of the whole work. before any thing was expended, was pursued by the Master s General of the Ordnance. Mr. BARIVG. Mr. FRIIIMANTLE, and :sir. W*an, severally explained. Colonel WOOD said the barracks at Portsmouth were unfit for Ilse in ease of an attack on the town, The docks might be destroyed on the Gosport as well as the Portsmouth side, and much more expense must be incurred to answer any effectual purpose. Tney had better either do good, or not do any thing. The several sums were then voted. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCREQUER. after passing a very high encomium on the services of the army under the command of Lord Wellington, moved, that the sum of £662,000 be granted for the extraordinary expenses of the army. The Hon. W. BENNET said he wished for infor mation on some of the articles of expense. The Chan cellor of the Exchequer had observed truly. that the principal item was tne Peninsula war. He must enter his protest against the prosecution of a war which would wrench the last shilling from the pockets of the poor, and plunge every ramify its the country into distress. The success of this war was, to say the lust, problematical, the ruin and loss certain and dreadful. The Hon. Member - then alluded to the grants to Col. Wingfield for raising recruits in Africa for the W , .st India service, and to Count Delahaye, for raising Dutch recruits. The latter he could not und-rstantc and the former be thought highly mischievous, and likely to be a cover for carrying on the Slave Trade, He commented severely on titivtonduct of the Pont'. guese in persisting to carry on that abominable tr dfic with circumstances of cruelty the most atrocious, while we were wasting our heart's blood in defence of their liberty and independence. He thought Govern men; might to insist on their ab.unl inment of it. He ought not to torget that one grant was to a Mr. F. Cator, for the Invention of a new military cap. He stiould be glad to know who it was that had advised the Prince Regent to adopt this most absurd and con temptible dress. It was so absurd that when a regi ment entered a town, a horse soldier was often obliged to parade the streets t reconcile the peop l e t o the sight of it. Out war expenses in the last year alone. had increased hp millions. He would advise men to consider the consequenc , sot this ruinous sys tem of unbounded expense—A syste n which must end in destroying in people, units; the people y it. Mr. STF.VHEN defended the conduct et Guveii.- snel iior pm rho ; l ad the of t raw tale beir. this pea to I led the itse me tin ow dui no wk bei bei of Fr cci ha st; li; of