Star. — London, England, 1813-06-02 00:00:00

— P.IRLIAMEN7'aRr PROCEEDINGS. HOUSE Or LORDS, JUNE 1. Lard BYRON presented a Petition from Major Cartwright, astimplaining of injuries, outrages, and oppression, which be had orient-seed and endured at Huddersfield, and other places in Yorkshire and Lancashire, both from the military and civil -power*, and urging the necessity of legislative interference, to prevent the recurrence of an abuse so flagrant and unconstitu- ' Clonal. The Petition stated, that while the Major was peace ably proceeding in the means of effecting that great political ob ject, to which a considerable portion of his life had been devoted, he was seized and carried before a Magistrate, who illegally de tained him, and by such conduct, connected with other eircum staucea, furnt,hed ground for a just apprehension that an active system had been arranged and adopted for trampling en public liberty, and suppressing all endeavours of patriotic men to pre serve and keep it alive. Earl Pl'l ZWiLLIAM conceived, that from the tenor and quality of the Petition presented by the Noble Lord, and which the House had listened to, it was such a one as their Lordships ought not to receive. Earl STANHOPE was of opinion that the Petition was per fectly consonant to the rights of the subject and the practice of Parliament. The Earl of LAUDERDALE was always friendly to the acceptance of petitions, and to the free discussion of. their merits and their objects; but he could not perceive in the Petition just read, any feature or character recommending it to attention. — On the whole he thought the Petition should be rejected. The D,uke of NOR lOLK took occasion to vindicate the cha racter of a Magistrate, Mr. Ratcliffe, who, in the Petition, had been named with censure. Lord BYRON and the Earl of LAUDERDALE explained. After some further observations from Lord St omper st, Earl STANHOPE, and an explanation from Lord SIDMOUT ti, the Pe tition was rejected. On the motion of the Duke of NORFOLK, the Catholics Re sidentiary Bill was ordered to be read the second time on Thurs. day, and the Lords to be summoned accordingly. '1 he other Bills on the Table were forwarded in their several stages, and their Lordships adjourned to to-morrow. HOUSE OF COMMONS. Sir J. NEWPORT brought In a Bill to amend and conies• rate the Laws respecting Landlord and Tenant in Ireland. Read a first time, and ordered to be read a second time to-morrow. The Manchester*Police Bill, the Manure Carriage Bill, and the Militia Amendment Bill were read a third time and passed. Sir J. NEWPORT postponed, until Thurpday se'nnight, his motion, which stood for Tuesday next, relative to Treasury Pay menu. On the motion of Mr. BYNG, a Meisage was ordered to be sent to the Howe of Ltird.t, requesting their Lohlships to permit the attendance of Lord Walsingbarn in the Committee on Mr. Palmer's Claim! Mr. WHARTON obtained leave to bring in a Bill to regu!ate persons dealing in certain Excisable articles. The Report of the Committee on the Custom House Duties Was ordered to be received to-morrow. Mr. SWAN obtained leave to bring in a Bill to explain and amend the Act of the present Session for granting additional du ties and customs on certain goods imported. A new Wilt was ordered for the Borough of Tralee, in the room of H. A. Herbert, Erg. who had acct pied the office of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds. • On the motion of Mr. SYNG, Mr. Calcraft, Mr. P Moore, Mr. Abercrombie, and Sir J. Anstruther, were added to the Committee on Mr. Pa!mer's claims. Mr. SWAN brought up the Report of the Fire Arms Bill, which was Agreed to, and the 13111 was ordered to be read a third time to•ntorruw. Sir H. PARNELL postponed his mc.tion reh:ive to tie Corn Trade, which stood for to-morrow until to-morrow se•nnight. '1 he House having resolved itself into a Committee on the con veyance of Writs 01 Elt Wan, on the motion of Mr. W. Wynne, a resolution was agreed to, to grant the annual sum of to his Majesty, for the purpose of ine:emnifylng the Officers of the Great hcnl *am the loss they would sustain in consequet.ce of the Bill in progress through Parliament. The Report was cr dered to Le received to-morrow. At the instance of Lord CASI'LEREAGII, Mr. CREEVEY deferred, until this thy fortnight, his motion on the subject of the late sentence passed upon him by the Court of King's Bench. CATHOLIC CLAM'S. Lerd CASTLEREAGH presented a Petition from the General Assembly of Ministers and Eiders of the Church of Scotland, convoked in Edinburgh, in favour of the claims under such regulations as would secure the Protestant Establishment, and pre vent the evils of foreign influence. On the motion that it should lie on the table, Mr. CANNING tuck the eppartunily to say a few words on the noble stand wh;ch had recently been made by the Catholics of England against that do =mineering iefitience of the Catholic priesthood which was calculated only to inspire an unfounded distrust of the Catholic body at large. (Hear, hear.) lie could not but augur favom ably to the Catholic cause, from the spirit of the Resolutions to which he allu ded ; and he entertained an ardent hope that the Ca tholic Body would make it still more impossible for the Legislature much longer to withhold their con. sent to the playcr with which they had lately ap proached Parliament, by spewing their determination in the first instance to emancipate themselves from any influence which might have an apparent tendency to render them unworthy of a participation in the rights and privileges cf their fellow-subjects. He trusted, that the example of tlx English Catholics would be followed elsewhere, :led he was persuaded, that in that vase the most beneficial consequences would result.—( licar, hear, hear.) The Petition was then ordered to lie on the tale. EAST INDIA - COMPANY'S AFFAIRS. On the mction of Lord CASTLEREAGH, the House resolved itself into a Committee on the affairs of India. His Lordship then adverted to the second Resolution he had to propose, namely, that of the Trade to China. He did not now wish to enter into tliscussion:, upon it until the Report should be brought up. He then moved— " That the existing restraints respecting the commercial inter► course with China shall be continued; and that the exclusivn trade in Tea shall be pkeserved to the said Company, for a tine: to be limited." Mr. CANNING said he should reserve- what he had to say on this question until the Report of the Resolution. Mr. THOMPSON thought it would be extraordi. nary to give the whole of the China trade to the Corn pany. V‘Te had no dominion over China, and he saw no reason why British merchants should be excluckd from this trade. Lord CASTLEREAGH said, that the manufac tures of this country might find their way to China by indirect channels. Mr. MARRYATT could never consent to give up this great and opulent trade to any one Com pany ; and it was a most extraordinary thing, that a trade, which was carried on by foreigners of every na tion, should be denied to thamerchants of this coun try, and that by an Act of their own Parliament.— The trade to China was much more valuable than any that now existed between Eltkland and India. Our merchant vessels did not now contain seamen enough for our use,and we never could have enough of seamen without a great 'carrying trade, which this measure went to do away. This want of good seamen was the chief cause of our late failures at sea. An Hon. Gentleman bad last night alluded to the horrors car- Tied on against unoffending nations by the slave traders. But he should have recollected the horrors committed ill India by the Company itself. He should have recollected that the. barbarities of the Company's servants were a subject of frequent corn plaint in that House ; Many of whose Members had formerly been bribed by the Company to bush these complaints. The Hon. Gentleman bad said, that the Company were the protectors of the natives of In dia ! Just such protectors as the eagle is to the dove, or the wolf to the lamb. In short, the Hon. Gentle man ought to have preserved a total silence respec ting the character of the•lndia Company. When the Company wanted to borrow money, we heard of nothing but the ftlourishing state of their affairs. But now, when they wanted to retain an exclusive mono poly, they talked or their great wants, and the ruin that must fall on them if they had not the exclusive trade secured to them. ' Joint Stock Companies had always been hostile to national prosperity. They had been declared so by several Acts of Parliament.— Nothing but individual exertion could promote our commerce ; and for these reasons he should oppose the • Resolution. Mr. SULLIVAN, with A view to shew the liber ality of the East India Company, pointed out several facilities which they had afforded to persons engaged in the fur trade with North America. Mr. STEPHEN supported the Resolution. Mr. GRANT replied to some of the statements of Mr. Marryatt ; and defended the Company from the attempts made by him. His charges were perfealy new to him (Mr. Grant), and he wished . the Hon. Gentleman, who had been a long time a Member of the Company, would bring forward documents and evidence.to prove the tirade he now uttered against them. Fer the improvements that had been made in India, he contended, the Company deserved the largest share of praise. It was with them that every great plan of improvement originated ; and they had established a most solid system of government and revenue there. Mr. MARRYATT, in explanation, said, he had purchased East India Stock in the same way as he would buy other stock ; hut it did not follow, that be should, on that account, approv'e of the rvasures of that Company. _ _ _ Sir R. PEELE animadverted, in strong terms of reprobation, on the language which had been used on the former evening, and appiied to the character of the British trader, which he thought had stood re spected in every part of Europe. He was glad, for rte was himself a British trader, that no son of his was present. if to be engaged in mercantile pursuits was a disgrace, and evidence of a disposition to carry on a traffic in African slaves, he was himself certainly a great delinquent. He was himself commissioned by Mr. Pitt, in 1793, to assure the manufacturers, .that the arrangement to be made with the Company should not interfere with the interests of their domestic trade. He was compelled, however, to give up this pledge by the clamour immediately raised by the Com ! pally on hearing it. It was impossible, he thought, that Parliament could any longer withhold from the British Merchants those privileges which were enjoyed 'by the Merchants of every other country. The con sequence of the existing system was, that the Ame ricans obtained long credits here, disposed of the car goes in the ports of South America, and with the proceeds carried on a trade with China. Mr. C. GRANT, jun. denied that he had cast any general reflections on the character of the British Merchant. After the ample explanation which he !had already given, it was neither liberal nor fair to make such observations as had fallen from the Ho nourable Baronet. The explanation which he had the night before given was courteously asked for ; had it been required in another tone, he should not have made it, and should therefore not now repeat it. Sir ROBERT PEELE stated, that he had not been present at the explanation alluded to. Mr. ROBERT THORNTON thought that at a time like the present, when the expenditure of the country was necessarily so great, and the taxes con sequintly so burdensome, Parliament would never consent to risk four milliOns of revenue. The trade to China was admitted on all sides to. be carried on by the Company with considerable profit, and that whilst it tarnished on easy terms the article of tea to ' the people, der ive.l to themselves considerable aid in maintaining their Indian administration. In 1664 two pounds and a halt of tea were first imported and presented by the Company, who. always courted the ' rising powers, although to no porpose, on this occa sion, to his Majesty King Charles lI.—(A lausk.)— ln Queen Elizabeth's trine the great cat beef ani I drank beer at breakfasa and the poor lived on bread and seater pottage. A'4 , hat was the case now ?—they all drank tea, aad the Company imported and sold not less than 2.5 millie sof pounds of it. The Com pany purchased the best was, and such was -their' credit in Chiira that if inferlui teas were imported, they had only to write that they had been sunk in the Thames. The utmost dangt - r was to be appre hended from the indiscriminate resort of traders and seamen to Canton ; our whole intercourse depended on the dexterous conduct cif the Company's super cargoes. Time duties had been raised from 12 per cent. since the period of the Commutation Act, they now amounted to D 6, yet the Company patiently submitted. Mr. PROTHEROE said, the persons who were called unreasonable delegates from the uutports de manded very limited concessions, and he hoped it would be telt generally that they had a right to what they asked. Lord CASTLEREAGH wished, for the sake of economizing tithe, to suggest, that the Report would be the best stage for discussing this Re.9alution ; and he wished the Committee might pass to the other Re solution, which was much more important. Mr. PONSONBY objected to the Resolution now before the Committee, the principle of which ought first to be debated ; because he could not conceive on what principle the exclusive monopoly of the China trade should be &iven up to the East-India Company. Sir JOHN NLWPORT also objected to this Reso lution. He would agree to no compromise that went to purchase any modification of any system. The - India Company now told the country a thing, which, in all ages and countries, was a phenomenon, namely, that competition would make goods dearer, and cause them to be of worse quality. Eqaily fallacious was the idea of danger from intercourse .with the Hindoos. The Hon. Chairman of the Company— one of the Indian Sovereigns—had spoken in a very imperial style ; but he hoped the Imperial Parliament would convince him that it had more imperial power. It was by the controuling favour of Parliament that the vices of the India Company and the vices of they system had been corrected ; and the natives of India were chiefly indebted' to Parliament for any advan tages they enjoyed. He would at all times oppose monopoly, of every kind. However desirable a mono poly might be when trade was in its infancy and car ried on bi factories, there was no such necessity at this time; because individuals were now as competent to carry on trade to India as; they were to the Baltic and the Mediterianean. On every ground then he would oppose the monopoly, and particularly the Re solution now before the House. Mr. BARING was in favour of the Company's enjoying the exclusive Trade to China. The nature of the Chinese Government was singular ; that and the Trade were anomalies. The whole Trade of China was a monopoly. The policy of the Chinese Government rendered them particularly jealous of strangers ; and it was with the greatest difficulty and danger that any such could gain admittance into that country. He was convinced that it was owing to that monopoly, mixed with the kind of political power enjoyed by the British Factory established at Canton, that the commodities of this country had found the extensive consumption they had done in that country. On the grounds, therefore, of the dan ger of losing our trade altogether, by any innovation of the present system, he thoueit the House , should allow the Company to enjoy this monopoly. Mr. PONSONBY said, those who were for limit ing the time of this monopoly were as much against the principles of the measure as he was ; for how otherwise could they reconcile the granting the Com pany a monopoly of this branch of trade for only 10 years, whilst the .other privileges were granted fer 20 years. Sods a proceeding, he was persuaded, could only arise from a wish on the.pirts of certain • Gentlemen, to promote a compromise between the Company and his Majesty's Ministers. His Hon. Friend, oho had just sat down, had said, that the Chi nese were an extraordinary people, and he seemed to say, they would trade with no other persons but a monopoly. It might, perhaps, be so; but lie must confess, he had never read such an account of them in any.amhor ; and if such was indeed the character of the Chinese Government, how were we to account for their trade with America, where there was no mo nopoly.•' His Hon. Friend had also said, the Chinese pade was necessary to he given to the Company, to induce them to undertake the Government of the In dian Empire; and that such was the reason adduced by the Company for wishing to have that trade exclu sively. He was rather inclined to believe there were other reasons which induced. the Company to desire this monopoly. By the Act of 1791 i, the Company were allowed a dividend of 10 per cent. It the ex elusive trade to China were taken away, where would be the security for tho payment of that dividend ? Besides this, it was well known that the patronage enjoyed in China by the Company was most valua ble, and that this exclusive trade to China gave all persons concerned in the direction of the Company's affairs an opportunity of putting all their connections in the high road to fortune. For these reasons, and for the purpose of remunerating the Company for a loss sustained by them on other branches of their trade, at the expence of the country in general, it was, that it was now sought to renew to the Com pany the exclusive monopoly of the trade to China.— The Right Honourable Gentleman then proceeded to combat all the arguments adduced to provothat opening the trade would be attended with political danger, or a loss of revenue, and concluded by op posing the Resolution. Mr. BATHURST adverted to the singular cha racter and modes of the Chinese people. He denied that the Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Baring) bad said the Chinese would only trade with a monopoly ; but it was plain they were a most jealous people, and that the Government did not consider the trade as very valuable : they had confined it to one port only, and it was only by a strict attention to certain rules and regulations, and by a knowledge or the modes and customs of the country, that that trade could be ren dered beneficial to this country. The Company, how• ever, had contributed, by its prudent management, to gain the confidence even of this jealous Govern ment; and whi:st other nations were excluded entirely hom this trade, the stamp of the Company was a passport for goods to any part of that great empire; but by t:ic admission of strangers, indiscriminately, limo that trade, we should run the risk of exciting the jealousy of the Chinese Government, and perhaps be, I in consequence, excluded from the trade of that ern : pre entirely. Mr. PONsONBV and Mr. BATHURST explained. Mr. PH I LI, IPS was against giving the monopoly in( this branch of the trade to the Company. The I House would be surprised at hearing what was the advantage derived by the Company from haying this monopoly, and the sum paid to them out of the pockets to the Public. The Hon. Gentleman (Mr. B airsg) hid estimated this advantage 4t £500,000 ; ! he ( Mr. Phillips) would be very happy to unite with Ns Hon. Friend, and any other Gentleman in giving 1 to die Public' double that sum for his monopoly.— ' The Hon. Gentleman then entered into a calculation and comparison of the price paid for tea by the American Public, and the Public of this country, and contended that we were paying 50 per cent. more for our teas to the Company that. what was paid by the consumers in America for teas of the same quality. In 1810, the quantity of tea sold in this country amounted to upwards of 43,000,000 in value ; and here, therefore, was a sum taken out of the pockets of the Public of upwards of ,1,500,000; vi hic li could not have been the case had there been an open trade and fair competition. For these anal other reasons he should oppose the Resolution. Mr. C. FORBES spoke in tavour of ope n i ng t h e I trade with India. Mr. C. GRANT contended, that a variety of mis tAternents had been made respecting the advantages derived by the East India Company from the trade with India and China. Among the rest it had been stated that a pound of tea could be bought at New York for 1O d. which in China he was sure could not be bought for less than 2s. Lord mn.:roN said, the question was not now whether the monopoly should be long or short, but whether they should admit the principle of monopoly in carrying on a trade with China. He denied that the Company had the smallest claim to the China trade, though he TA illingly admitted their claim s h. the India trade, the establishment anti extension of which had so largely depended upon their exertii. n: . The Noble Lord then proceeded to examine tlie t i„,„ breaches into which he conceived the ol.:ecti ins t , the extension of the trade to divide thems t f tet, namely, the imp ra c t i ca bili t y o f t i le G overnment ti China, and the danger likely to result to the reven.4. On the first, he ridiculed the idea the Chinese vernment, who were repres:nted to despise cum. merce, admitting into their territories the agents or a commercial company, and refusing admittance t, the agents of a great Monarch. As to the secri l i, such provisions might be made as would not cmly guard but greatly extend the revenue ; fir on- ni;t nufactures would go ou progresive,y in,:rea,l through that vast extent of territory compriEJ the empire of China. .01 the v..lr)le, he co ac. iv,-,; his duty to vote against the Re.,:lution. Mr. CANNING saij, in vo..ing for t!:f proposition he was only an::iou Vt.it the mor,i),,,i ) the China trade should not he instantly General GASCOVNE and Mr. Frxt.Af spla: port of the Resolution, which v..as put and c:sri:.:4l without a division. Lord CAS . FLEREA.GI-1 said, the tion was very complex, and it would perhaps ln neces sary to take the sense of the Knise on each prrvi.o. Mr. TIERNEY suggested the-propriety of r poning the third Resolution 111 to-nrui row, 211,1 the mean time they might 'roceed to tke tion of the succeeding and l .•si important prop:*&ors.. This proposal was 4nm:di:l:cll. conip ikd „i t h , an! the fourth, filth, sixth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, :in,; twelfth Resolutions 'were agreed to, v - ithout are amendments, and the seventh, eightli, and titirttent4 Resolutions were postponed till another d:ty. The Chairman reported progiess, and olrailed leave to sit again to-morrow.—Adjourned at Elae/. MURDER OF MR. AND MRS. BONAP. APPREHENSION AND EXAMIN.I.rION OF P1111.!.' NICHOLSON. In consequence of some suspicion attaching tn ffie conduct of Nichulion, footman to the deceased, a warrant was granted by the Luau Meson for it apprehension, and Forester, one of the City oflice:4, went in quest of him. After a diligent inquiry, en Monday, the officer traced him to lVhiteciniprl, where he found him on horseback, drinking at the i:n door of the Three Nuns, with an old acquaintance. The officer laid hold of the bi idle cl the horse, .414 after a smart scuffle, in which Nicholson received sone slight bruises, he was secured, and conveyed to Gi,t. spur street Compeer. The pi isoner was in a state et intoxication, approaching to inanity. Sir CHARLEi FLOWER, and Mr. ASILLS CoorEn, saw him there, and asked him vailous questions ; but.nothing 1:4: a confession, or admission of, guilt, could be dr.itivz from him. On the same day he was examined beton. the LORD MAYolt ; but such was the drunken state of the prisoner, that a rational answer could not b extracted from him, and lie was remanded for a further hearing next day. Yesterday fie was again brought to the Mansicn House. From the questions put .to the prisoner, It appeared, that he had conducted himself since the death,cif his master and mistrebs in the most impru. dent itul unfeeling manner, Which tended more ei induce suspicion than any other evi..ience brought against him. Ile said, that the night preceding the _murder he went to bed about twelve o'clock, and knew nothink of what bad happened until canal up by the housemaid, about eight o'clock next morning. He was the only male servant that slept in the hc.usE. Sine of the windows be. had fastened inside at the usual hour, and the rest were attended to by the housemaid. On the murder being discovered, and the servants assenibled, he, with others, weft to the room where lay his master and mistress. The former leas limed quite dead, in a mangled state, and the latter jug discovered signs of life : he was able to ascertain the fact by placing his ear near to the mouth of his mis tress. The floor was covered with blood and other matter, which had come from his master. kie con ceived he was doing right in taking the sheets , tf his master's bed, and with them to clear away site nuisance; having done so, he took the soiled linen to the room whete he slept. The groom was pre sent, and assisted him to pull the upper sheet from his own bed to wrap those of his master in. The sheets, altogether, he put under his own bed. Up this point he was closely pressed, and was desired to explain his particular motive for using thz sheets to absorb the blood, and then afterwards to fold them in the linen from his own bed, when he ought to have known, that in such cases nothing should be disturbed about- the persons of the deceased. — He answe ied, he was ignorant of that ; what he had .done was with die best intent, conceiving as he did that so horrid and unpleasant a sight would have been offensive to any person having occasion to enter the room. The other servants, tie admitted, would touch nothing, and did not think themselves justined in doing so. His night-shirt, he said, he lett in his bed when he got up, and might be found. He wrs then asked as to a toot-mark in blood, which appear ed on the stairs leading horn his apartment to ii.at in which the murders were committed. He said, if there were any, it might have been done whets he went backward and forward with the soiled sheets: but he was told, that the mark had been seen befiire he left his room in the first instance. He was strip , ped and examined is a private room, in order to s ee he had any bruises about him, which he migll have received in the conflict with Mr. Bosaa. Tri fling bruises were found on his person, par.iciam ' ene on his forehead; but those were explained been received in the scuffle with Forester. The City officer being called to this point, admitted that it probable the fresh wound on the prisoner's forehead had been received as stated, from the manner in which he came in contact with the ground. On being questioned as to his conduct on the ivy; to town, the prisoner admitted that he lettCiiisiehurst. a little after eight o'clock, and that he refreshed eini7. self and the horse three times on the road, larnselt with three glasses of rum, and the horse with Once pints of porter; and notwithstanding this, it api ear ed both from his own admission, and from ma tion derived from Mr. ASTLF.Y COOPER, that per formed the whole of his journey in about 401'111111 •`. He first went to Mr. COOPER to give that gentivin information of his mistress still exhibiting• sigr, of Resolution tit Trade to Chii discussion:, up up. He then " That the exi course with trade in Tea thal to be limited." Mr. CA ND had to say c Resolution. , • Mr. THOti nary to give 11 pang. We h, no reason wit) from this trad Lord CAS' tures of this co indirect chann Mr. MARI up this great pany ; and it trade, which Lion, should b try, and that 1 The trade to C that now exist, merchant vessi forour use,and without a gre; went to do at the chief cause Gentleman hat