Star. — London, England, 1808-03-12 00:00:00

FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE. PARTS. iI4RCH 2. Two days ago a Deputation of the Members of the Institute belonging to the Class of French Language and Literature, was admitted to an audience of the Emperor. 'M. Chet iey 4ddiessed his M aj esty in a speech, describing the rogriss of literature since the year 1789, to which his 'Majesty made The following answer Gentlemen, for the French language hav ing become the universal language, we have to thank you, and the ingenious men who have -sat, and still sit, among you. I set a high value on the successful issue 'of your labours, which are equally advantageous in enlightening my people, and in promoting the glory of my crown. I have heard your Address with satisfaction, and you may rely, on my protection." NAPLES, FEB. 18. The siege of Scylla is prosecuted with all expedi7. tion. There is every reason to believe that the Eng lish and the binditti will in a few days be driven out of the last strong hold they possess in Calabria. It was the division of Regnier which took Reggio. A great quantity of heavy artillery was found in .the fortress. Besides the nine hundred men who com posed the garrison, we have made prisoners two him dred men, who were found on board the English brig which was stranded on the coast. The naval C.aptaio Gaston, and Sixty-seven other officers of rank are among the prisoners. This . exprditionhal al ready put into mg hands l2oo linsetieii and 42 pieces of cannon. The Neapollilui eittier el hilged proofs of their usual courage. ROME, FEBRUARY 2. !NOTICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE, CARDINAL CASsoNI. gi His Holiness Pius VII. being unable to conform to all the demands made on him by the French Go vernment, and to the extent required of him, as it is contrary to his sacred duties, and the dictates of his conscience; and being thus compelled to submit to toe disastrous , consequences which have been threat-, ened, and to the military occupation of his capital, in case he should not submit to such demands: eg Yielding, therefore, in all humility of heart, to the inscrutable determinations of the MOST HIGH, he places his Caine in the hands of the ALMIGHTY; and beiiig unwilling to fail in the essential obligations of guaranteeing the rights of his Sovereignty, be has commanded us to protest, and formally protests in his own name, as well as in that of his successors, against any occupation whatever of his dominions, be ing desirous that the rights of the Holy Chair should remain, now and henceforward, uninjured and un touched. As the Vicar on Earth of that Gon of PEAcs who taught by„his divine example humility and patience, he has no doubt but his most beloved subjects, who have given him so many repeated proofs of obedience and attachni , 2nt, will make is their-pe culiar study to pteserye peace and tranquillity, pri vate as well as public, which his Holiness exhorts, and expressly commands ; and that, far from com mitting any excesses, they will rather respect the in dividuals of a nation, from whom, during his jour ney, and stay in Paris,' he received so maist.eatter irre. testimonies of devotiolt and regSrd." • BANNS OF THE ELBE, FEB. 27. • The French a-tit - not-Wei on the Weser respeet ships which arrive there under the Dutch flag with legal cargoes, and certificates of origin, but permit none sail again, either loaded es unloaded. Any Dutch ships, therefore, that extend their voyage beyond the left bank of the Jande, cannot return. Ships sailing Under the Kniphausen, Oldenburgh, Papenburgh, Mecklenburgh, or Portugueze flags, are detained by the same aethwities, and placed under sequestration. It is expected at Ilremen, that in a short time French Custom-house Officers will be placed at the gates and Earriers of the town. All merchandize arriv ing by land must then be provided with certificates of origin, a formality which has not yet been re quired at any other place. tb fa C Ai re O IT Ai C li fi.IRLIAmEivTARr PROCEEDINGS. .3 HOUSE OF LORDS, MARCH 11. The Serat r.R, with several Members of the House of Corn h.oling attended below the bar, pursuant to the Kum eons of the black Rod, the Royal Assent was given by Commission to the following Bills, vi. . the Ten Millions and a Half Exchequer Bills din Treakirer of the Navy's Regulatirin Bill, arid the Petty Customs Regulation Bill, with tiro other Bills of a private nature. Phe llonarniaairiner4 were, the Lord Camscerioß, the Ezrl of AYLI.SIMRT, and Lord WALSINONAM. The Sugar I:ousties and Drawback Bill, and the Sugar A ddi *lona' Bounties Bill, were severally committed, and ordered to be reset a third time on Monday. Mr. WHARTON, %Ulla deputation from the House of Com. Pions, brought up the AMericiui Loyalists' Commissioners* Invest ment Bill, the Maine Mutiny Bill, the Bristol Port Bill, with some others of a private nature, which were severally read a fuss time, and ordered to he read .a second time. ' • The Earl of SUFFOUt gave notice, that he should, on Maidast next, move for a Copy of the Correspondence between Mr. Oar— like and the Government, from January, 1807, up to the ekes Of his mission. Lord SIDMOUTH gave notice, that he should on Friday nett move far an account of the number of Danish Captaint•Of WO, with their Vessels and Cargoes, together with the nbinber of each Crew detained in British Parts, in consequene.e•of 'the Late rupture with Denmark. 6\t EHLSLi . . s • The Earl of LAUDERDALE a:ire:Weems% the if the Noble Lord ( Mulgrave) could.inktm him 1.• Esther the fornwr subsidy grantedlo•Sniedensratto 14 in 4 laded in the present Convention j.nrsi I..GRAiit replied, that, fie .waa . not quite prepared to answer the Noble Lord's questioni• hot he was rather inclined to think, that 'the further F‘ihßitir was imluded in -the present convention. • GREY expressed Much astonishment at the Nob*. ,nrd's . v. - ant of knoWledge upon' this :Object, •Ito . rc especially as it was the particular province bihis Maje.ity'A Ministers to be perfettlfinfOrmed nee all :ugh tomes. • 'l',ord Nllll.O RAVE replied, thar When questions wßre put*- pi his ''Majesty's Ministers in..that 'soft of *ajt, they. Aid noffeel 'themselves hound to aqiifier rl4rn r . when they did, it was - mere - Matter 'of Car. tiAy ink if the Noble Earl wished to make a specific *p l ptioei urn the subject, he should be *read* ttigteet it; ' 1 1%4 give 'every necessary information to the Ho3:ei in areul - .4 . form. .. • • ' • '"' MR. •(;;F I , ARre.S APIPOINTMENT. • - Earl • of lIARDWICKE rose to recipeit in- . trinitionfrom ttiosciatho were betteiictedwith th fortins ariOtzulations 4* Howe' utiiitt . k subject 'in which hiic.haiacter 'was ' edi i.lb had b een co *the , • .; isi If I' • . ... a transaction which took place wlsile he held a high I and distinguished official situation in another part of the United Kingdom. He wished for an opportunity of vindicating himself from those calumnies to that House and the public, and therefore begged to know whether it was necessary for him formally to move for papers relating to the transaction alluded to, or to make any specific motion upon the subject ;—or whether it w3iild be merely sufficient to state the matter to the House ? Earl BATHURST suggested the propriety of the Noble Earl's making a specific motion, and fixing a day for that purpose. [ The Earl of HAItDWICKE proposed Monday next. The Earl of LAUDERDALE observed, that his motion upon the commercial policy of the late Orders in Council stood for that day. Earl IjATHU RST suggested the propriety of the Noble Earl (Hardwicio) bringing on his motion to morrow. Lord GRENVILLE observed, that he should then move that the House be summoned to-morrow. Earl BATHURST replied, that he should with plraW any opposition to the question coming forward on Thursday, sooner than give the House the trouhke of being summone d to-morrow. After a few words more from the Earls of HARD WICKE, LAUDERDALE, BATJIURST, and Lord aItEN VILLE, Lord LAUDERDALE moved , that the order for takinginto consideration the commercial popsy of the Orders in Council on Monday next, be discharged,, and fixed for Wednesday, in order to give Lord Hard ricke an opportunity of bringing on his motion. His Lordship then read the several propositions which he meant to submit to the House on that night, all of which were declaratory of the pernicious ten dency of the Orders in Council in a commercial point of view. DEBTOR AND CREDITOR. The Order of the Day, for the second reading of the Debtor and Creditor Bill being read, The Earl of MOIRA rose, to declare his motives for bringing forward this measure. He assured the House he was not actuated by any popular fee'ings or motives ; for upon this question the tide of popu larity must ever run against him, although he was the advocate for a most numerous but unfortunate class of persons ; and it was a firm conviction in his own mind of the necessity and utility of such a mea sure that induced him to persevere in bringing it forward. The descriptions of debtors which this Bill was intendid to embrace were of two different kinds ; the one was the debtor confined upon mesne process ; the other, the debtor in execution. By the present practice of the Court of King's Bench, and the other Courts suing out mesne process, the writ of one term was made returnable the next ; and the party were liable to be arrested and held to bail to any amount, upon the mere affidavit of the creditor, who had until the next term to file his declaration, or by application to the Court, might enlarge the time even for two terms more ; so that for the space of five terms, an unfortunate debtor, under the present' practice, must remain in prison, before he even can know the nature and precise amount of the demanct against him. This related to the debtor of the final description, who has no remedy, without even the benefit or allowance of meat, drink, or even a bed to lie ,on, except through the mercy.or huManity clf his keeper • and thus many honest end industr ious men are thrown into gaol, with this extreme quantity of penalty pressed upon him, before any thing is proved against him, and he is deprived perhaps for ever of the means of discharging the debt. The rendition of the other class, namely, those charged in execution, was in some respects better, having the power of suing for their groats ; but, even of this, many hundreds were deprived from their notices 'be ing irregular, from the mismanagement of their At torney, from their ignorance of the subject, and from various other causes. This class also had another advantage, by taking the benefit of the Lord's Act, and other Insolvency Acts ; but upon the whole, much was wanting to be done for the relief of both classes. The Noble Lord then proceeded to state to the House, a Report from the Thatched House So ciety for the Relief of Debtors, from which he shewed that upwards of seven hundred persons had been re lieved by that Society in a short space of time, all of whom had been confined under mesne process, and for the most trifling sums of money. His Lord ship particularly remarked the case of a poor wo man confined in Macclesfield gaol,.now under process of deliverance by the Society, who had been arrested for 11. 7s. 44. for bread, cheese, and butter, and the costs amounted to upwards of 91. and many other *1 simi ar cases. His Lordship admitted the many be nefits arising from this Society, but lamented that their benevolence should injure the very cause they sought to remedy, as it had in a great measure prevented the I . proper remedy being applied by an act of the Legsi liture. Upon the whole, his Lordship was clearly of opinion, that the present mode of suing by mew process' as more highly injurious to the creditor than the debtor, and was a fiction in law which the present Bill weat,to cure. :- Lord ELLEN-BOROUGH gave the Nobler.tail .every Credit for the motives which induced him to twin fUrWaid this measure, motives which must 4 . hhuour to every feeling heari • .bat he saw this Bill Wight with the. most mi schievous and pernicious tendencies, going* to subvert all those rules which had been 'laid down by the most able, profoundly learned, and he might say, the most sanctified Judges that ever ,Oat on the benches of this kingdom. The very manner in which the Bill was drawn up was the .most preposterous that could be. He well knew the Noble Earl had never stooped to the minutiz of draw ing this Bill ; but whoever the person was to whom the Noble Fail had entrusted it, he had d_ the most perfect ignorance of all the existing laws upon ,this subject; and the speech of the Noble Earl was *only an. aggravation of the inconveniences that exis ted, and could not tend to heal the wound it must in flict. ' His Lordship then entered into a minute detail fil6 the-rules of the Court upon this subject, which -WerefOrmed and established so far back as the year 1656;, by some of the most enlightened, profound, and sanctified Judges that graced the Bench of those or any succeeding times. His Lordship then com mented. at' great length upon every. clause in the Bill, which he considered preposterous, fidiculoµs,- and in acme respects_tOmplete baldirdash. • in coir l l 6 •King upon the cliuses-emPoWering Justices at session to ~' ': i , inflict pillory property, lloryor he ose transportation bry ed up ., h o a n t s clause t o rSc w• lt ing e s written in blood, and more attributable to a Draco than a X.ycurgus. He cited several passages from Lord Chief Justice Hale, to prove that such innova lpeonrgniceisotaubs.lislhnedthirsuvleieswwh•tereconnosticioenreldy .tid th °a e nngs p e r till e p seit ' bth m ue e t asure, and concluded by declaring his Most decided disapprobation of it. Lord HOLLAND lamented extremely, that a bill of this• important character came before so few of their Lordships • and that it had also to encounter the hostility of the Noble and Learned Lord who spoke last. He had Made minute critical com ments on the form of the Bill, and had magnified these into a degree of importance they did not deserve. It would scarcely be supp•sed that the sur plus tern of President, in addition to Chairmen of the Quarter Sessions, a mere clerical error, had occa. sioned as much grave comment, as if the most gm:s blunders had been committed, not in the form, but in the substance and principle of the Bill. Their Lord ships would Lee that this was not the time for such learned criticisms on the accidents of the measure — they were now to consider the spirit, character, and operadon of the Bill, and the shape in which it should be presented for the sanction of the House might be fitly discussed in the Committee. Taking the ques tion then in this general view, he would examine what were the objects of his Noble Friend; (Lord Moira). They were, 1. To obtain the liberty of the debtor, on the surrender of his property. 2. To com pel' fraudulent debtors to make satisfaction to their; claimants out of their effects. The next question. was, how far these desirable ends would be obtained by the change in the law of debtor and creditor here' recommended ? With regard to the first, the autho-• rity of Lord Hale had been cited, in order to skew that any variations in this law would be pernicious ; and for this purpose a general remark of that great and learned Judge had been Mu oduced, on the dan-. ger of innovating with respect to legislative arrange ments. Such a passage might as fitly be applied to any or to every subject as the present ; and if it ope rated in any way, it was to skew that the errors of our public law should be expunged, and that the ju ridical institutions of the country should be founded OR that immovable basis of truth and justice between man and man, that no future alterations would be necessary. With such a design he would most hear tily concur ; and to this end his endeavours, as refe rable to this Bill, and to every legislative measure, were uniformly directed. He did not approve the employment of great names on occasions to which I their venerable authority was inapplicable ; as high I I characters had been introduced, he would notice a few, whose opinions on this subject could not be in different to their country. That great man, Mr. Burke, had openly avowed, that this law ought to undergo very material alterations. Dr. Johnson had explicitly de clared, that the only intention of the imprisonment of the debtor was to compel him to discharge the claim of his creditor ; and, the surrender of his effects attai ned to the extent to which his substance would satisfy the demand, all future punishment was unjust and impolitic. On the whole, he hoped that trifling ver bal objections would not induce their Lordships to reject the Bill, as he was convinced that in the Com mittee, without sacrificing the spirit of the measure, it might undergo such modifications, in regard to the form, as would remove all the legal objections which had been so fully stated. Lord MOIRA was astonished to hear from the Noble and Learned Lord a quotation from Judge jilale, to shew that innovation in the law was perni cious. Every new law, and every correction or va riation of the old law, was innovation; and their Lord ships were such fOrmidable innovators, that they sat in that House almost for the sole purpose of intro ducing such changes -in the established law of the .land. If they were to abandon this task, assigned them by the Constitution of their country, the sole aim and object of which was innovation, they would no longer continue a branch of the British Legisla ture,and they might retire to a private station with out detriment to the kingdom. He entertained very different sentiments on the subject. The changes to which human affairs were constantly exposed, the al ' aerations in national policy, 'and the mutability of our external relations, made it frequently expedient.sol to vary our juridical institutions, as to accommodate them to the public exigencies, under the new forms they progressively assumed. Authorities the most respectable had been cited in support of the principle of this bill. It was not less powerfully supported 1)7 facts than by authority. A benevolent society ha& been established at the Thatched House, for the relief of Debtors, and the journals of that body skewed, ' that from the year 1792 to 1802, no fewer than 12,590 had been released by their munificence—and, of this number of debtors, 11 , 600 had been i m p ri d soned for debts on the average under 455. It was no-. 1 toritius that many persons had been consigned 'to ae dungeon for .a long succession of years, from the iris bility to discharge claims equally trifling. Such iv state of things could not be endured in:this enlight-: ened nation—and to remove a greater by a lesser Insolvent Acts were periodically passed. But motivlsil of humanity were not the only inducements to these . measures—it was found that the jails of the tingdow l were. so:grievously surcharged with inhabitants,. That it became necessary. to open the doors to the old in mates, for the admission of new ones ; and all these inefficient schemes were to be continued, instead of adopting the general project comprised in this, bill for the permanent relief of the debtor, and for the early satisfaction of the creditor ; the one was to be per mitted to bid defiance to his claimant within the walls of his prison, and there to indulge in idleness, extra vagance, and debauchery, while the other was to be allowed to gratify his malignity and revenge, perhaps on an innocent sufferer, whose necessities alone con stituted his crime, He concluded with conjuring their Lordships to mitigate the calamities of the un fortunate, byfroceeding with this bill. The question being put from the Woolsack, a di vision took place, when the numbers were-- Against the second reading 9—For it s—Majority 4.—Adjourned at half-past 9 o'clock till Monday. HOUSE OF COMMONS. The Deputy Usher ()fate Black Rod appeared at the Bar, and summoned the Hovel to. appear in the House of Lords, to hear the-Royal Asten.t given by Commiesion to certain Bills. Tile Speaker attended :ccordingty, and on his return in formed House, that At RoYarlssient had beengiven by Commission to the Ten Millions and a Half•Exchtquer Bills Bill, the Tria- stifninhe Nair?' Regulation till, and tile Poty Cusatt sr A BBL o ~, Mr. CANIP.BELI. brourhe up a W". for uritriFir,r tite ci: Glasgow with water, which w us read a fro, and o;dere4 t 74 read a second time on Monday. .. A Message from the Lords al tuonuced their usoat to the S clikk Creditors Bill. The Annual Accounts of the West-lndia Dock Co,nplay .._ presented at the Bar, and ordered to lie on the Tattle. -"` A Person from th;LondonDock Contpany presented as a e ,...... of the Progress of the Works, and also of the Receipts -ova bursements of the Company from Nuventb?t 30, Itso6, to 4 vember 30 . 19 0 7. 1 Mr. WIiARII/14 brought up The Report of the CrannitnoL, the . Mutiny Bill. The Resolutions were read and agreed to, the Bill ordered to be read a third time onlVlteiday. 44 Lord FOLKSI-0 NE gave notice, on the part of Sir FRAtiflt BURDETT, that the Honourable Baronet Jute:tired, un tlit ts t d reading of the Mutiny phi, to pro ese a clause to pi event Os,ezo in the Army from being dismissed front the 'service wit4 o , 4 a Court Martial. Sir THOMAS TutrroN postponed his notice relative to s e Carnatic, which stood for Monday the ttist of Nlatch, t o I d , day the 12th of April. The Expiring Laws' Continuance Bill, the Expiring Laws' Pe,. rtuanee Bill, and the lriqh Expiring LaSvs Bill, went sc.-ercr, throu.th a Commlttve, and the reports were all order to be : . ceiwil on Monday. OsarY . bn mer ica *lister of 1 Obj ect ' lad ore no t to tie better al 0. 111 a w e edtb :S g fe: t h e r ee t v s :en s b ar: a ri 0 ge e how I that i it would be ~., tr ade . 14 t . STJ s pe aker, g &Y. ?dlr. BA d m, s tate 1 Mr. Ro a measure tile 'utter!' to coolfla unve icial . - _ ST ) INDIA eosi o e N . The President r (f . i ßoard f Confront the - s a li r di d oe s ura t s h tei e o.lin c a l dt o h s ce e oam o c f ceo t tun l o te tzts l adosenttoSetrhmes s it i na o ab n tlieo, o nre f DUNDAS) requested the House to recollect,•th — ,, ' to con to th t affairs of the East India Company ; and br t h ose counts, it appeared that a very considerable dei g n had oaken place in the commercial concerns of k h e c Company for,the last year, and ho was app 1 . the saute would be the case in the present . ye, r , Irk thought it. thoretore necessary that an enquiry sh oo k be inade into the causes of that defici t, . . and wh et wonld be the best means of preventing the store m future) . He Was in hopes, that hefoic this time th e annual accounts from the Noble Lord at the head - the . Government io India would have been receired but they were.not yet arrived, though he bettered that such accounts were.to be had as would enabl e the Committee to form a judgment on the heads h e proposed. He was convinced, he said, that the bust ness could in no way be so well done in detail, as by a Committee above-stairs. In 1793, a rule was hid down for an annual account of the Company's affairs to be laid before Parliament, but it had been found impossible to comply with that rule. He should th e i. core propose, that a Committee be appointed to en. e quire into the state of the affairs of the India Corn. .iatPoat[:leillun.enntat.i pany, to enter into all such details as might appear necessary to them to make known to the House and i co bv ncl a u p ded intpo b e y d moving_ to mls LC the ptiblic. He proposed also , that the Committee Ya e Tha a se t rcStelc7Cosmm He e e into the Present state'of the affairt of the East India Company, and ay report to the House their observi• tionsahereupon." ' . • Mr. CREEVEY said, he did not rise to oppose the inaction—on the contrary, 'he was extremely glad to find, that at length the Right Himourable Gentle manyas convinced, as he himself had long been, u the necessity of such a Committee, and such an in. yestigation. He had long conidered discussing the affstirt of the Company in the form of a Budget as idle and nugatory, and calculated only to deceive the House, the 'Public, and the Cornpapy, on the reel stile of their affairs. He wished to be informed whe 'ther the territorial revenues of the Company we to he the objects Ofinquiry by this Committee ? DUNDAS said, he wished it to be perfectly understood, that it was intended that the .phole , fairs of the Company, territorial: and commercial, should be enquired into. He thought, however, the commercial concerns should be the first object of in• qulry. The motion was then agreed to, and the fol. ' lowing Gentlemen appointed on the Committee : .11,11 r. Dundas Mr. Johnstone Sir 1. Anstruther J.earcl Castlereagh Mr. Cretvey Sir R. l'eele • ' . The Chancellor of Mr. C. Grant Mr. Sturges Boor the Exchequer Mr. C. Mills Lord Morpeth Mr. Grenville Mr. Patterson Mr. Fitzhugh Mr. Wilberforce Mr. N. Vansittart Mr. Hohhouse Mr. Wallace Mr. Tierney Mt. Vanderitigni I. Colonel STANLEY presented a petition from a g reat number 1 al Manufacturers at Manchester, against the Bill on the Orden he Council. He stated, that several of the petitioners bad lone time ago communicated their opinions privately to the Maned. br of the Exchequer, informing him how injurious the (Mimi' Council would be tp their trade. He moved that the petition b 5 I brought up, which was agree 4 to, and (wing read, it Wilt 0rd0.4 that the petition be considered on Thursday next, and that the petitioners be heard by themselves or Counsel. The Committee of Ways and Means was postponed tillMoodn. 'ADJOURNED DEBATE—ORDERS IN COUNCIL The Order of the day for resuming the adjourned debate on the Orders in Council Bill having been-rneight ad, Lord FOLKESTONE said , that he was last of opinion the petitioners against. this Bill should not be heard ; but as the House had determined to hear them, and on a day subsequent to the passing of the Bill, it *odd be nugatory and of no avail ; he there fore wished that the debate' should be adjetamed fur. titer till 'after Thursday, and would move, as to ithendment, that inst eightad of the word tonow," be. ad . " Monday se'nn." 1 The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER lilieughtit would look more kind and indulgent, and fess di'srespectful to the petitioners, as they had cotm ti tlfe - House in a respectful manner, to hear thembi Alb& Counsel,. and to know their case. He felt that they should not be suffered to obstruct the Bill ff there be a grievance, it would, in his opinion, b , f bitier for the House to give the pe titioners an oiip4. trinity of being 'heard, than to say tliey shpuld . not a all he attended to. went, STANLEY shortly supported the am which,. on the question, being put, was * an .Sred without a division. the Mr. WHITBREAD asked th e Chancellor of Exchequer whether the subsidy in the tresitY v:ln to ' *Sweden, laid on the table yesterday, w as in adiiitio . i t 'the subsidies in any former treaty, or eoinprised 1 . The CHANCELLOR Of the EXCIIEgt..; " said it vias comprised in it. •ned debate on the Orders in Council Bil l to be The,Order of the day was read for the dotage: sinned. • ! thought it was unjust as to neutrals, and inevistroeys s ,,t, Mr. A. BARING spoke ag ainst the fill. _He a 4 a measure: The chief ground taken b y I *as stated in the' preamble to the Orckrs of Cr . _ to be that the Government of F rance had i"'nedl,7_. tai' Decrees, ' The question was, how far , we_ justified in making ne utrals Safer for this • tallition could, in his opinion, be justified in: h t r ts w,, . c 'theile assumed . by Miffisters, that neutrals ni_us p consequences of the r etaliation which 114 . b-C