Star. — London, England, 1821-02-10 00:00:00

I. l " rv. Ni bs 411111 \''. •N. t ; ;tliY PROCEEDINGS • HOUSE OF,LORDS, FEBRUARY 9. VOA a Mind In/ heard' in n - thi Scotch Appeal, Gordon su Min ton ; alter which the House adjourned to Monday. HOUSE OF COMMONS. tr.= "The &mem took the Chair 'Achim a quarter to four, and the House was engaged for nearly an bane with Petition; and ' • Private Bills. = The Sheriffs of the Qty of London^ appeared . it tie For of the House, and Mr. Sheriff Wiltimus being asked by the Sraaxxa hathe held in his hand? replied, " A Petition from the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Common Council of the City of London, which we are ordered to present to this House." After the Sheriffs retired, the Petition was read. him' ".3`. that leave be giVen !Avg in a BIN for Amending • the friars Bridge Act.. •. Mr. WYNN presented a Petition for Lighting with Gas Waterloo Bridge. Another of a like niture was presented from Whitechapel.— a Both Petitions were ordered to lie on the table. • Mr. CURTEIS presented two Petitions from the Farmers , of the County of Susan; complaining of the depressed state of • the prices of Agricultural produce, and praying the House to in stitute an inquiry into the same.—Ordered to lie on tie table. Mr. MARRYATT presented a „redden 'from tie Men • chants, Ship-owners, and Magistrates, of the Town of Mimed • chi, in the Province of New Brunswick, in North Anserkisti The Honourable. Member stated, that in consequence of a SW. port' made last Session ,by a. Select Colnmittee .of the other House of Parliament on the subject of the Shipping and Timber Trade, the Petitioners were apprehensive that it emirs contem plation of Parliament to make in the laws regulating the Tim ber Trade, some alterations which might prove injurious not only to themselves, but to • this country also. They therefore prayed that no legislative enactment might be made until they had an opportunity of being lint heard at the Bar of that Ho nourable House. The Honourable Member referred •to some calculations which he had made • on paper, and pressed at some length the arguments used ti the the Petitioners. I. COFFIN supporte i Die PetitiOn. • Mr. .1. P. GRANT defended the Report of the Lords' Com mittee fr.,m the observationi of the Honourable Member who presented the Petition.' Mr. T. WILSON; presented a siiuilar Petition from the Merchants and Ship-owners of the Town of Montreal. Mr. RICA I? 1)0 did not think proper at present to take up the time of the I louse, but he could not help expressing his sur prise at seeing 'boss; Gentlemen, from whom the Petitions pro ceeded, coming forward stud protesting against those doctrines of free trade and honourible competition, which it was the ob ject of the Lords Committee to r-Lornmend, and which those same Gehtlemen hid always advocated, whenever they seemed ' to have a tendency to promote their own intcretts.—Both Peti tionrwere laid on the table. Mr. J. P. GRANT, on the part of Lord John Russell, post poned, until the 22d instant, the notice which that Noble Lord bad given of a motion complaining of Military outrage at a County Meeting holden at Kilmainham, County of Dublin.— • The Honourable Member said this postponement became ne ces.ary, in consequence of the absence of the Right Honourable , the Secretary for Ireland. Mr. LAMBTON, seeing the President of the Board of Trade in his place, wished to ask that Right Honourable Gen tleman a question. It was known that the Marquis of Hast ings had removed the restrictions on the Press in India; but the report had been very prevalent in this country, that a Cen sorship had been again imposed on it, and he wished to know from that Right Hon. Gentleman if the report was true? Mr. ROBINSON said, he was not aware of any such orders sent out from this country, but he believed the regulations of the Marquis of Hastings continued in full force. Lord G. CAVENDISH presented a Petition, which was signed by .500 Land-occupiers, in and about Scarsdale, who oc. cupied between them 47,000 acres of land. The Petitioners com plained of the reduced prices of all sorts of Agricultural produce, and prayed the House to inquire into the causes and gram them sell:C.—Laid on the table. • lilt. Alderman WOOD gave notice, that on Monday he would move for a Select Committee on the present state of London Bridge. • On the motion of Mr. WALLACE, it was ordered that the House do request a Copy of the Report of the Lords' Qum! mittee on Foreign Trade, after the usual manner. On the motion of Sir J. NEWPORT, returns were ordered, of the amount of all payments for Stationery, &c. made to Mr.. A. B. King, fur Palk Offices in Ireland. On the motion of Mr. G. BENNETT, a Return was °Morel of all the Informations filed, and Convictions had on them, ter • Blasphemous Libels for one year. On the motion of tie CHANCELLOR of the EXCHE QUER, it was ordered that the House, at its rising, do adjourn until Monday. Mr. CURTEIS gave notice that, an Wednesday, he would move for a Return of the •Amount of all the Corn that was Contracted for by the British Government for the use of the Colonies for a limited period. RESTORATION OF THE QUEEN'S NAME TO THE LITURGY. Sir ROBERT WILSON rose, and commenced, by observing, that, after the proceedings of that' Hotise in approbation of the recent conduct of Ministers—the presentation of Petitions by a repre sentative of the many, and not by a delegate of cor porative bodies, was but a cheerless duty—(Hear). It was a duty, however, that he should perform, in the most formal manner, in order that the People of England might become acquainted with the senti ments of their fellow-countrymen, and might be ena bled to judge of the way in which that House was constituted—(Hear). In spite of the late decision of that House, it was the duty of the People to per severe in addressing it by Petitions, and to try whe ther they could not, by repeatedly addressing it, bat ter down those formidable ramparts which prevented them from having access to the Throne—(Hear, hear). It was right, before he presented the Petition which he held in his hand, for him to notice the ca lumnies which had been industriously circulated against the Queen, and the parties whose Petition he was then presenting. It was said that the Queen had lavished large sums of money on the processions which, during the last six months, had proceeded to the Royalresidence—(Loud cheers from both sides of the House). He was authorized by the operative Brassfounders in the Metropolis to state, that the capital expended in preparing the insignia, the ar mour, and the other decorations of their procession, which was got up with so much taste and ingenuity, amounted to no less a sum than £7,000; and that the extra charges on the last day were more than £loo—(Hear). All this sum was provided for by the master brass-manufacturers and their workmen, each workman subscribing '2s. for each procession, and are master manufacturers giving them the materials out of which the emblems, armour, &c. were manufac tut:ed—(Hothr). They had desired him to state, that they should, have thonght themselves disgraced for ever, if they liaa received money from any quarter to get up their procession, which- they declared to have been a spontaneous tribute of affection to their insulted and persecuted Queen. Their loyalty, they informed him, was not confined to her Majesty alone ; Kbut wauivell to the Laws, to the Constitution, to th e g,,and to every member of the Royal Family, Haring stated thus much on behalf of the Petitioners, who assured him they would come forward in a simi lar manner, in case any attempt should be made to, render any_otherincilyidual of the Royal Family the victim of umilir hpprnssion, ht should now proceed to say, that the Petition whichle had to , Present .was signed by 1184 persons connected with the brass trade of the Metropolis. The Petitioners declared, that the only utethod of salting the country fan: the , most danperotts convulsions; was by restorintler Majesty's name to the Littirgy-.-(01mrs)--and that the same power which was then „paled to des - dor the Queen chi ht be eicoetad to , destroy- abates to-morrow: They pr27od tifa y tthetk tot tiTest"er" . tors migh to pa the eipeases by their 111 e a -pro on their. o‘ per sions and property—(Cheers frosts Me Opposition)— ' and called itifott the Mouse to refuse their assent to all grants of ummy which might be asked for to cover suck expenses—.(Hear, .hqt.r).—k was his in tention tO sapport the prayer.* this. Petition when ever those expenses came befo*Parliament—(Hear, hear).—He was sorry that - the Noble Lord was 'not in his plate that evening, and especially when he recol lected the cause of his - absence; bnt he trusted that somebody Would cause what he was then going to say to meet either the ear or the eye of the Noble Lord. There were circumstances calculated to ex cite a strong suspicion that a connexion existed be tween the Hanoverian and the Milan Commissions ; and he trusted that •the Noble Lord would explain how it came to pass, that after the Hanoverian !lister., Baron Ompteda, had been discovered fabri cating keys to pick the locks of his Royal Mistress, be should be sent to the Court of Rome, on what, to ill outward appearance, was an hotourable mission. Her Majesty's Attorney-General had offered to prove at the Bar of the House of Lords, and was ready, he believed, to prove at the Bar of that House, that this same Baron Ompteda had offered a thousand guineas to a most respectable Gentleman at the head of the Municipal Government at Rome, on condition that he should assist him in suborning her Majesty's ser vants to give evidence against their Royal Mistress. This circumstance, he thought, demanded explana tion. The gallant Genetal then concluded by moving that the Petition be brought up.—The Petition was brought up, read, and laid on the table. On the motion " that the Petition be printed," Alderman C. SMITH opposed the printing, on the ground of the expense to which it subjected the Pub lic. The Petition was, however, ordered to be printed. Sir ROBERT WILSON presented another Petition from the.Parisb of Warborough; in Chillingford, in the County of Oxford. It was of . 'a similar nature with that• which he had just then' presented to the House; but it contained besides a prayer, to which he hoped attention might be given ; and that , was, that a change might be made in the present system of Government—and that economy might be re garded in every part of the State. He begged to make one observation in allusion to the debate of last evening on the Birmingham Petition. The Honour able Member for Staffordshire (Mr. Littleton), in the course of that debate, had insinuated that the Fund holder ought to be called on to'rniskr some sacrifice of his property to the necessities of the State: An other Honourable Member was pleased to call the Fundholders drones and monsters, who were fed by the labours of the industrious. He should only ob serve, that these were the ver y principles with which a Noble Lord used to charge the Spenceans, and which seemed now to be avowed on his side of the House.—The Petition was laid on the table. be left to the law. Mr. BRIGHT adverted to the nature of the office of Sheriff, and contended, that the person fillingthat office, who refused . to act according to the legal de finition of his duties, ought , to be arraigned before the House of Commons. If anything deserved the important consideration of the House more than ano ther, it - was the right of petition of the People. Mr. BOOTLE WILBRAHAM admitted, that the right of petition deserved the utmost attention and vigilance of the House. But this was not a case of the violation of that privilege. He contended that the circumstances of this case did not demand the interference of Parliament. It was rather strange that the Noble Lord should have thought himself justified in inferring, that the Sheriff was a dependent of Ministers, merely because he was a member of a Corps of Yeomanry. Lord BELGRAVE said, that the Corps to which he was attached had been lately raised. •. Mr. B. WILBRAHANI said, that he was yet to learn how either circumstance could justify the con clusion of the Noble Lord. The Sheriff in question he did not 'know ; but, from all he heard, he be lieved him to be' a young man of independent cha racter. He cld not think that the House ought to interfere in t Tis case, at least whilst only one side of it was before them. Mr. HONYWOOD made a few observations in explanation, in consequence of an allusion being made to what had fallen from him on a former night, in presenting the Petition from the County of Kent. Mr. CR Mi VEY said, that if the facts stated by the Noble Lord (Belgrave) were true, he saw no alterna tive but to have the Sheriff brought up to their Bar. Whilst on his legs, he wished tv notice an allusion that bad been made to the conduct of certain Mem bers of that House on the day of the prorogation ofi Parliament. Now, he wished to state, that there were no hisses on that day • but there were cries of " Shame, shame r and " T his is improper !" and he' was, too, happy in being considered as one of the individuals who uttered those cries. He did so from a conviction, that nothing could be more disgraceful or disrespectful to Parliament, than the conduct of Ministers upon that occasion. Mr. PHILLIPS said, that it appeared to him that the conduct of the Sheriff was highly illegal; and he trusted that the House would vindicate its privileges, by ordering the Sheriff to its Bar. Sir JOHN NEWPORT spoke to the same effect, and applauded the conduct of the Noble Lord who brought forward the motion. Mauch conduct as that of the Sheriff was legal and justifiable, the-right of petition was nothing but a mockery. Mr. B. WILBRAHAM, in explanation, wished to be understood as saying, that the House had no right to interfere, in a matter that remained between the Crown and the Sheriff. Mr. STUART WORTLEY did not see that the privileges of that House were concerned in the ease of a Meeting to address the King.. He begged to say, that he agreed fully in censunng the conduct of those Sheriff's who refused t% call Meetings in pur suance of Requisitions properly signed, and when there was no danger of a violation of the public peace. It would be a good lesson to teach all•such, that they were not to consult their political preju dices, but to consider that they were bound to give the People an opportunity of assembling when they should think fit—( Hear). Lord BELGRAVE said, that he imputed no mo-, tives to the Sheriff, but merely stated facts. The No= ble Lord read a Protest, which was handed up to that Officer, upon the occasion of the Meeting, contain ing a statement of the grounds upon which his con duct was considered to be illegal and unjustifiable. A MEMBER from under the Gallery said, that it was the duty of the House to protect the People, whether they were assembled to address the King or to petition that House. But he would not agree to any order for the attendance of the Sheriff • at their Bar, without some preliminary investigation. Mr. CREEVEY said he would forbear giving any notice upon the subject until he consulted the Jour nals, where a case similar to this was recorded. Lord BELGRAVE said, that he had been himself a witness to the conduct of the Sheriff, and was pre pared with evidence to substantiate what he,had said. Mr. STUART WORTLEY, in explanation, said, that he did not mean to state that the House ought not to interfere, because the Assembly had been con sidering an Address to the King, but because there was no violation of their privileges. The Petition was then brought up, laid on the table, and ordered to be• printed. DETENTION OF A BRITISH SUBJECT ABROAD. • Mr. DENMAN presented a Petition which he had received that Morning by the post, from an indivi dual of whom he knew' nothing, stating that be was a British subject, and was_now in prison in Ghent, undfr a charge of having attempted to obtain money of a Banker in Paris by a forged instrument, pur porting to be a letter from a Scotch Bank. He set forth, that being thrown into prison, and not having the opportunity or the means of making his de fence, he applied to the -British Ambassador (Lord Clancarty) and to the King of the Netherlands for relief, without effect, and prayed that the House would use its best endeavours to induce the English Goyermnent to demand his • enlargement. The Honoprable Member said,' he was afraid that the prayer of the Petition could not be - exactly complied , with, but that be was sure it would not be too: uch to express a hope that Ministers would make some in quiry into the circumstances set forth in the Petition. It was laid on the tabli, and ordered - to be printed. ' • ' QUEEN'S PROVISION. The CHANCELLOR of the - EXCHEQUER, 'in moving the Order of the Diy for the second reading of the Queen's Provision Bill, said, that the only question which the motion brought before the House was; whether or not it was fitting that a provision -should be made Tor - her Majesty, the amount .of it would. properly come antler the consideration.of the Houseiu the - Committee. . - The Bill was then read the second-time, and Fro®: the Mr, .IeO I 4RTON said, thatirowing to the . great tior-her prosissatel.ple blejaigg, hewap e not able to get near , and Oat enougft -to the , husinii iolsear bay past Of ifesb 4 °Y , teedings., wis sorry 0 say, thaethe M ray I:barn trim anything but tins kgal and constitutionatMeet- Igerseco" lug it ought to be. ' He vilisdicatisd the independ_ incurred character and respectability Of the Sheriff. He re- Emu pap - commended that the conduct of the Sheriff should CONDUCT OF SHERIFFS. Lord BELGIt AVE presented a Petition, complain ing of the conduct of the High Sheriff of the County of Chester. Notwithstanding that the rights of the subject had been invaded, yet he should feel very great reluctance in coming forward to make any statement that might bear on the character of any individual, had he not been called on by the earnest entreaty of three hundred very respectable Free holders, to explain to that House their complaints.— The facts of the case were, that the Sheriff had been required to convenes Public Meeting oflhe Nobility, Clergy, Freeholders, and other Inhabitants, with a view to draw up an Address to the King, expressive of their loyalty and attachment. The Sheriff, in call ing the Meeting, limited-it to Freeholders only, to the exclusion of all others. having a roll of the Freeholders of the County, he (the Sheriff' could not be at a loss to know who were Freeholder and who were not. What could be more monstrous than such conduct ? as if the Freeholders had possessed a mo nopoly of loyalty, and exclusive attachment to the. King and Constitution. Several thousands, who were not Freeholders, attended at the Meeting; and he, should say, they were as attached to the Constitution as any others. A very near relative of his attended, with the intention of proposing an Amendment ; and the moment of his rising in the Meeting was the signal for confusion. His rising bad produced such tumult and confusion " as eye Lath not seen nor ear heard." And he should state to the House what the nature was of that Amendment which had caused so much confusion and noise. It went to state the strongest attachment to the Constitution and laws of these realms, to pray for the dismissal of the King's present Advisers, and to recommend the insertion of her Majesty's name in the Liturgy. He should ask it these were not very fit subjects for an Address ? Was it not proper the People should declare their loyalty ? Was it not right to recommend to his Majesty to dismiss from his presence those who were the real authors of the distresses of the country ? Was it not fit 'that the Queen, who had stood her trial and bad been acquitted, should have the full benefit of that acquittal ? He would ask, if it were not more loyal to discusi these subjects, than to poisoi the King's 'mind by instilling into his ears the wicked est falsehoods—that he stands on the brink of a pre- 1 cipice—that he should guard against his People thusloading a brave and suffering People with ca lumny and abuse? When the Amendment was read to the Meeting, the People received it with applause. And the Sheriff being asked to put it to the vote, be replied he would not, and would take entirely on himself the revonsibility—( Cries of Hear ! from the Opposition).—He exhorted the House to attend to the circumstance of the Sherif having usurped the exercise of a discretion which ° he coniendeddid not reside in that Officer. Where discretion in a public Magistrate began, there law and liberty ended— hear).—The Sheriff 'had no legal right to sit exclusively at the head of a Meeting which be convened—he was only there to collect the sentiments of the Meeting: There was such a thing as a zockd Sherif f. and it was said, too, to be a prerogative of the. Crown; however illegal it was. 'An Officer coM. ing wider:fltu t description, was a great means, in thy hands of secorrUpt Ministry; to keep'up an improper influence. He concluded by *Win/ that the Petitt be brought ug. dered to be committed on ordered to be printed. ENGLANO AND \ Mr. DENNISON wished n slily order had been given 13} Commander in the Mediterranean going from this country to fOr the service of the Neapolitan: a- most respectable merchant : easployed in rating a vessel with stores for the supply of, he mir of Naples —(Hear).—But he " from Naples, stating, that Sit would stop any ship going , stores, and therefore his fraeni sending out kis vessel. The CHANCELLOR of the he would not pretend to answer subject which did not belong -, he would say tliat he knew of effect alluded to being given 1' ment to any Officer. it was ki must proceed from the Privy reason to think that no such order The, information, therefore, :s, wholly &Ise and unfounded—t, Mr. DENNISON expressed ' the statement of the Right Hon. NSW POST OP' Mr. GORDON asked what about the New Post Office, and was to be made about the T the service of that building. Mr. LUSHINGTON answered, Of a new Post Office had two ment of the City, and the ereci public accommodation. The' tained. He could answer fur they had never impeded Parliu Several. Members declared tit the least improvement eifecte,' done towards the erection of , WAYS ANT) AL The House haring resolve,' tee of Ways and Means, _ _ _ • The CIIANCLLLO II of tat that he had only one altertat • consideration of'the Commit Duties of Excise, which had war, were, by an Act of P.a.] continued,for five years loagt expire in the July of the prt therefore, propose that such subsequent Acts, were not tilt a still further time, should be longer, and added to the annual foreign spirits, he conceived, approbation of Parliament, ant plation to bring the subject ui of the House every year, rather , yond that period, because he concet brought under the view of P. - would have the effect of deterrit of preventing or checking coin vigilancerof the Revenue had in a great measure, and the foreign spirits had been greatl: last two years • so that Parli: satisfaction o f knowing that i been greatly checked, at least Hear).—Supposing then, that the Revenue Officers, smug& 'the House would see •that a devised than that upon foreign utmost that it could go, both • crease of the Revenue, and . for rals of the people. The next make was rather of a nominal signmeat of five millions on the service of 1821. He mot SUpplies -of the year, the sum Malt made in Great Britain,* ; Majesty, be continued for one Mr. CREEVEY said, that sound constitutional prctice money, until the distresses of viated, he would now move a: the Chairman do report progress, the same mction until he had from Ministers that the burdens be seriously considered. The HI forget the complaints from all the table; and especially the Petit ham, the conversation on whi t pression of an opinion never before House—a Member proposed an property : when the fund-holder ster, the Chancellor of the Excheqt what would Mr. Pitt have said he thought showed the affairs in a bad state indeed, when one to go to war with the other. was, that not one word. dropped answer to all these complaints; went—nothing of economy was proposed He would pot vote for one fat thing of .* some plan of relief wa s proposed, or . given by Minister s . Now themonster tha , I the attention of Parliament and the People the placemen in that House—he meant the placemen. What could be expected from the of Commons as long as it had among its placemen under the fashionable names of of the Admiralty and Junior Lords of the A and who did nothing for what they received not mean to deny, but on the contrary was allow, that it was of great use to have some members of his. Majesty's Government sitting House. But as to those other Gentlemen v" places under the Crown, with salaries at of the Crown, he hoped they would not be with him if he considered them as subject!? mime objections as pensioners. The law said d pensioners were not to sit in Parliament. in his opinion, ought to say also, that large salaries• at the pleasure of the , not sit in Parliament. But these were only • meat of a pack which was so close that it *•,,, possible to break i n u p on them— (Hear). Hear ). r report made to this House in 1808, it - there were seventy-two Members who them salaries amounting in the whole to per annum— ( Hear). And that 'numb er °f begs was sufficient to vote, and often vote away,the money of the country. Were submit to this? Was it not too much to' b o 1 31 kir ti Monday.! e a P n i e sa s : 11:1 t ht Govern "6 I t f! en: wer] 4 °l ri e int l l w i i rh n t pnw he Sir hGa.dmoortreceivdde::: iengtdo i N va l s Pi" dete u r . r 4h er i f: : 1 ;1 'the EXCHE Q U ER, • might say, th e p i a answer :ne se :, tt, ig to his depart /nem ; A of no anth erey m by the Briti s h ivy Council, and h e r order was e ver , :so far as he knee , I—(Hear). er a , i sed° , a rr li c t r i : P bt t h a n.l i e c s i o ln : E.Ge nr s se yo : ll f . n ftler :::: 64 : •1 : 11 . 1 i1 and what Rim e ill' P edipa w▪ ered, that the bull NO objects the inn I Ice first of thee are r ir the Treasury Bills. , rliament. ti d that thre had net h ted by all t h at a 4; .t . the Post Office. MEANS. it ved itself into a C.„ p the EXCHEQUER B ration to propo se f or , nb mittee. In 1816 . a ad been raised during. '..rliament, direct e d to Cl iger, so that they g present year; he w e ,: it h of those Duties directed to be c. ' : be kept up form e , •ti nual taxes. The day. 41 .d, _would meet with and he had it in t under the c.. ' al ether than continue' * 1 e conceived that its . de Parliament 'every • 411 terring the smuggle, as contraband trade. 3 11 iad prevented- ~a c e actual cm:sepia Cc atly increased *kW 16 rliament would been , Cl it if smugglierhal •di ast it had not •1 111 that by the vigilaact • uggling was mu- dr a better tax cooldnot en ign spirits pushed te th with a view tot*: " or the' benefit of the xt proposition he hal , th inn], nature, fie...the W n the .aids of 1116, ,1? 1 moved that trowel W um -of Is per basil nO 1, already grained ine year longer. it conformably to the oil ._,• e pf opposing grain of the people sere as an amendment,* ts„ gress, and would - d obtained some • ^ lens of the people House wouldecteei 7 all departments thee' e Petition fr u om Bir o. h before mentioned nut °, ( 7 lan attack,on tbefink r older was called ape -. 5 Exchequer laughed: , 11 .la ka aid to it? Thee rs of the country*, He one party in it • aii : tspwpdoticfpe;as ß na u op t thfrro t ooi h npofm e gss: dom s p t f r phi i nistersittorb king .y:theti: , or soot • re : monster that he • , and the People 'toes . tt. ' —he meant the ineidli !:petted from the 1! 0 n no id among its ingtedr! , a bye names of Lay lAP lq ile rao set rh contraryre to dys receivedofh a v t hee was is somech DVernMent sitting • ler Gentlemen who los erthr h weu s m a o l u ari nlad es sneso a uti t abb.t ;l l: 00607 in I Parliament. Thei s !' . also, that persons b an( to .e of the Crown, .l hese were only a get so close that it was tt 4 Cm—(Hear) . Fro. 1808, it appeared .f fibers who had amolg i u the whole to £159 ! that 'number of Nef j en and often stetuallY 't country. ntry. Were tbel th : much to be ar