Star. — London, England, 1823-02-25 00:00:00

.- __:. would not now be engaged in the work they had in for a long time unofficered. The other promefi a 4 hand. He had been mush surprised - by some pas . , wo u ld b e found to be pf Midshipmen who had p • , sages in a work calltela Treasury work, but not one, their examination for Lieutenan ts u p ward so f six y ears ; l he was sure, of the Treasury of the present day.—, having thereby been twelve years unprompted. The The taloa it was—" The Crisis of the Affairs of others would be Lieutenants and Captains of Fla Spain." This work told them to consider what would Ships coming home from foreign stations. With r be the conduct ofFrance—vihat the conduct of Aus. gard to the reduction on the whole Estimate our, tria, were we to take part with Spain. But what did the last, it was £220,000, chiefly derived from the we care for what France and Austria might do iu wear and tear, and victuals. Of the afranp-,ethent , any particular case as regarded this country ? As to with regard to the Marines, be would - reserve what France, he wished it to be borne in mind that we had he had to say for the motion of the Hon. Member. beaten the French on the very same ground already— . The Report was then agreed to. (Hear, hear).—And as to Austria, let her look to IRISH YEOMANRY CORPS. her.ltalian Provinces, now ripe for revolt, and which, Mr. GOULBURN postponed his motion for the every well-informed man knows, are ready to break second reading of this Act to the 6th of March. out upon England holding up her finger in token of Mr. HUME observed, that unless it was the in- assent—(Hear , hear). tention of Government to put down the system. of ) Mr. Secreiary CANNING 'thought the House Orange Lodges and their connexion with the Teo might expect it of him that he should take some part manry Corps, he should consider it his day to op in the discussion on the topic which had incidentally pose the Bill in every stage, so much did he consider arisen. But a few words, however, did he think he these Corps to disturb the peace of Ireland. was called •on to say; for amongst other qualities Mr. DAWSON would be happy to meet the which had been attributed to the Government by the charges of the Honourable Member, whenever he Hon. Member who had just sat down, prudence for- chose to bring them forward. In the meantime, he bade at this moment much discussion ; and he was begged to say, he considered it an unfair imputation exceedingte anxious to repress it if he could—(Hear, on the great majority of these Corps and Lodges to hear).—He must however say, that he should be say they disturbed the peace of the country. . acting unfairly were he not to reject any praise of Mr. JAMES GRATTAN expressed his concur fered to him as having acted with a new spirit, and rence with what had fallen from the Honourable upon novel principles, for he had found embodied in Member for Aberdeen. He believed it was well a State Paper, in the Office which he had now the known one of these Corps had done considerable honour to fulfil, that very course laid down, and those mischief in one part of Ireland. very principles promulgated, a faithful adherence to The second reading of the Irish Arms All was also postponed which_ had gained him the approbation of that to the 6th of March. House—(Hear, hear). —With respect to the other OUTRAGE ON-THE LORD LIEUTENANT OF IRELAND. compliments, the House would see that it was im- Mr. BAOWNLOW moved for copies of certain possible he could allow himself then to be led into Papers respecting law proceedings which had lately the consideration of them—(Hear, hear).—He would taken p'a.:e in the Court of King's Bench in Ireland. only add, that all discussion was inexpedient, whilst As this motion was closely connected with the con there remained a hope that what all Europe desired duct of the Irish Government, he thought himself might be accomplished, viz. a tranquil result; and bound to state, that inquiry into the constitutional that at the present moment, besides these general legality of that conduct was his sole object in bring seasons, there were circumstances which rendered it ing it forward, without at all anticipating convic peculiarly requisite that they should abstain from dis- tion. He wished to say no more at present, as he cession. He was, therefore, glad that the postpone- understood there would be no objection to the pro• merit of the motion relative to the Foreign Enlistment duction of these documents. He then moved for Bjg b had been decided on ; because it :would be ins. 1. Copies of the Committals of such persons as were engaged riot ea o t r re conspin d cy nu the 14th of December last, pbssible to go into discussion without bringing to atnt thee apittin bear upon it some of those topics it was desirable to 2. Cop ies of the Indictm e em r s for the said alleged riot or avoid. It was, however, but justice for him to avow, conspiracy, preferred to - the Grand Jury of Dublin, upon the' indeed it would be ungrateful not to say, that in tit of January last, and the finding of the Jury thereon-4Tbe Power conductin the otiation with the Foreig s la o s r t d words d. wereadded at the suggestion of Mr. Seam &cal.— g negn alluded to thus far, he had been mainly aided by the 3. r Copy of the Ex-officio Information on the same subject,' forbearance shewn by that House—( Cheers). which was tried in the Court of King's Bench by the Attorney. The Petition was read and ordered to be printed. General of Ireland. COLONEL WOOD. Upon the SPEAKER putting this last motion, Mr. CURWEN presented a Petition from a Gentle- Mr. PLUNKET'f said, he was desirous of claim man of the name of Wood, formerly in the 34th ing the attention of the House for a very few minutes, though Regiment, complaining of having been unjustly de ough not with any intention of offering the least opposition to the motion of the Hon. Member. He prived of his Military Commission, and praying for concluded it to be the Hon. Member's intention to an inquiry into his case, and such relief as the merits of it should seem to deserve. follow up his present motion for Papers with some, Lord PALMERSTON said, the case of this Gentle- ulterior proceedings, respecting what has recently nein was that of an individual who was a public happened at Dublin ; that was the legitimate period debtor, his Commission having been sold for the for discussing the conduct and the acts connected, liquidation of - his debt. This defalcation arose from with what bad so taken place. This was merely a l motion for Papers, and it was neither his intention his being engaged iu two bails, abOut the year 1796. to invite, nor to commence debate upon such an occa upon one of which he was a debtor to the extent of 5,8261. and upon the other tathe amount of 4,2071. sion. But he rose to express his extreme satisfaction These debts had been ascertained in the time of Mr. at finding that, at last, this question was to come re-, gularly forward—to express his extreme satisfactiop Windham to his entire satisfaction, and upon his re commendation the Commission had been sold. He that it was placed in the hands of an Hon. Member who discharged his duty so well to the House and to (Lord Palmerston)* finding that there was upwards of the Country upon all. occasions. He had no corn. 2,0001. due, and that this Gentleman had really no plaint whatever to make upon that ground; but be property, had taken on himself to relinquish the debt. He believectlie had been a Member of that did feel in some degree surprised at the duty falling - to the share of the Honourable Member ; because, House twice, "and A he had not • thought proper to urge Ns own claims, he (Lord PalmerstoOfelt con - upon a for Mer occasion, when a question was put to him upon the subject of the Catholic Question, a firmed in they . kw he had taken of the justice of the case. Right Hon. Baronet thought proper to enter upon, Colonel DAVIES said, that Colonel Wood had thii subject when he (Mr. Plunkett) had no never heard ofhis - being a public debtor till 1815 .-- opportu- The fact was, it was a matter between him arid his nity of reply, and to state that those were improper Proceedings, agent, and Government had no business to interfereroceedings, upon the propriety of which the House was hereafter to be called upon to deliberate and to in it at all. What this Gentleman now asked for was to be restored to his rank, in order to re-establish his judge—Wear).-Now, he had expected fr6m the lt-known talent of the Ri Hon. and Learned charattet. He derived no pay either retrospectively we or prospettivert. • Gentleman, that when he had ght anticipated the deci sion of the House, and characterized the proceedings Sit-1100E11T WILSON thought this Gentleman was entitled tti the protection of the House. which had been adopted as improper, he would him. The Petition was read, and ordered to be printed. self have come forward in a direct and manly manner MR. 10WRING. to support the charge, by bringing those proceedings, Lord ARCHIBALD HAMILTON gave notice, deration of the House—(Hear, hear). —As this was, and measures founded upon them, before the consi- that he should, on Thursday next, move for the Cor - respondence between Mr. Bowring and the Govern- not.the case, whenever the Hon. Member who now ment of this country. moved for these papers should bring forward his ul terior measure, he called u . the Right Hon. Ba' SUPPLY REPORT. On the Report of the Conunittee of Supply being brought up, Mr. HUME said, he wished to make a few remarks on the practice of Government in promotions in the Navy last year. The' House ought to know the ex tent of the dead weighf, as it was called, of the allow. antes to Naval Officers. By a Return of JaoUary, 1849., them were 5689 Officers, Lieutenants and up wards, at an expense of one million for half-pay alone. He did think that promotions in the Navy had now become the greatest matter of favour, and the greatest means of influence over that House. Last year there were a great number, and, he had no doubt a Return Would shew that scarcely any of them had any chirp whatever. It was an evil of great magni tude, foe the strength and glory of this country de pended on the state ofthe Navy. He was sute that not one-terith ought to have been promoted, and it would appear that the half-pay thus weighing on the country wht . a greater suin than all the reductions about to be made. Since the peace, 780 Officers had been promoted,_ making an increase of half-pay to about half's pillion . : Out of .5689 Officers, there were only 548 ininitptbyment last year, and notwith standing that' snail number, ISO were promoted last year. ih' i again repeated what he had said of the Marines lastleir, viz. that the Staff was greater than it should be; He wished also to observe with regard to the Ordlianef 'Craft, that they ought to be contracted for, as was the. way. with' the. Navy Board, and as was recommltirlded by. several Committees to that House. Sir JOHN OSBORN regretted that the Clerk .of the Orditatice was not in the House to answer the Honousable Gentleman on the topic he had last ad vertcdto. As to .thc system of promotions in the . Navy, whenever the Hon. Gentleman should bring forward any specific motion, the Admiralty would be. found ready to justify that system. It would be found that on foreign stations where promotion took plies', by casualties, the vacancies were filled up by Midsbip-, _......c, •.... _ .ipon ._ ,igt. ronet to stand up in support of his opinions, by se conding the Hon. Member upon that occasion. To that Hon. Member he begged to say, that as early a day as possible would be desirable for the full dis. cussion of the matter. He said this, not merely in reference to himself, though, individually, he felt a strong desire that his personal conduct should be in= vestigated without loss . of time, but because the ques tion involved the general conduct of the Adminis tration of the Government of Ireland under the Mar quis Wellesley. Sir J. STUART said that he would boldly avow to this House and the world that the proceedings in question were unconstitutional—(Hear). He was bound to say so; for although he felt great admira tion for his Right. Hon. Friend, if he might be allowed to call him so, yet he would not hesitate to do his duty. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER could 1)e not help putting it to the. House whether, under all ,the circumstances of the case, it would not be better on every account not to press discussion or. the pre sent occasien?(Hear, kear, .and " Go on.")—'llie motion was one for papers .merely, and they were to granted upon a mutual understanding between the parties concerned. The Right Hen. Baronet also declared openly his.opipion that the late proceedings, though not illegal, were highly. unconstitutional. Therefore as it was a matter involving queAior.s so important to the personal charactez of the Attorney- General for Ireland, so important to the Goveinment of Ireland, and consequently so . . important" to the country at large—it required the deliberate ar.d gra.vo , attention of the HOW; and kia better be deferred till the Home was fully. prepared _ to .tntertahl it. Mr. M. FITZGEALALD questicuaed the necessity of .waiting for the. production of papers before the I r transactions ih queation.should be eatulioed 'and ,dis. r Is • . 1c 'used. -Such .was.the agitated spttp'-of meet's, 4•s9ngs in Ireland, that it was doubtful whediet a. ptibiic ,eat- ,11 1~ 1 ~ Il I 1 1 I~ pressien of the feeling of that Hortseseete.not weft , confine himself simply to.pultitw.44, Resolutions-int., .sary biloritihatigitutioo could bevaimesk ,. *had .0e hands of the Chairmatt..;, 7 4lo liaisixtpikdk were lately betViittifbligst liti and4t did not aripett! to *en read, and severally agreed to.-- , -2, i .:- • him that on eithsetd r . l ofireladd,appea,red I Mr. Gement. and Mr, Izicitstign pad-m i li eus likely to be sati.Wed uritsth e Ilailiameny had pro. ito the Chancellor of the Ex. trequer. as to theAiitivi nonneed its opinion. There was no doubt of the tion.in which persons would be who bad compounded good intention of the Right Honourable the Chan-' for their Assessed Taxes) cellor of the Exchequer, but to him - the grounds TheCHANCEILLQR of the EXCHEQUER said, stated by that Right Hon. Gentleman, why discus- that such persons would have the:4464le ePli a d i ! Ilion should not take place, were so many reasons i measures. The view he took of it was this. A verses why it should not be delayed a moment—(!Wear).— I who had compounded for £lOO. Assessed:Tin= fir: The pet nal character of the Right lion. Gentleman, well upon the first Fore per Cent. as upoo.tlio4nkii.. the Attorney-General for Ireland, was under impu- 1 tional Five under the Act of last year; 4.6uttt dour tation, and therefore no time should be lost in re- only pay for I:50.. ' . . . lieving it from that condition. The importance of The house resumed, and the Report Was ordered the subject to the Irish Government, and to the coml. to be received on Friday. i given n ot!, .e, relative to the Combirratlon of Joutymen., ta try at large, were reasons for tin. same course being hlr. PETER MOORE pstpot!ed the motion of which te. nes pursued. It wits necessary that the opinions of the ira day se nnight. • British Gentlemen of chat House should be publicly this :1 declared, in order to calm the disquietude which had Feet) excited ;-and he therefore claimed for his coun try that the subject should receivezhe earliest possible attention. He lOOked to the Hoc. Member kilo had, moved the t etut n of these papers, far the appointment of the very first convenient day on which the question could be discussed--(Hear, tear).— Ile would ask that Hon. Member where was the necessity of having these papers at all ? After the indictments presented to the Grand Jury had been ignored, he would ask why they had been followed by ex.o . gc:o informatioo?— j (Hear, hear).—And -this was matter of notoriety. There were the public records of it, and it might h„ :•e. been ploceeded en at once, without the delay of moving for papers—(ica:).—lle again entreated that the subject would receive the earliest possible consi tieration, as being of the most vital importance to the peace of Ireland. Mr. CROKER said, he had looked at the two last motions with surprise, and should have risen to ex press it, had he not felt unwilling to place himself in opposition to the course which the House seemed to adopt without objection. But he did feel strong doubt as to the propriety of the interference of the House with legal proceedings not yet closed, and upon a motion to be thus granted on the moment, without previous notice or consideration. Ile did not mean to deny the power of the House so to in terfere; but that right had always been exercised with extreme caution. He left it to the best judges of Parliamentary practice to say, whether there was a precedent for such a line of proceeding ? Would it not be better and more consistent with the ordinary course of such measures, to have given notice of these motions, and, then to have debated upon the necessity of having the papers produced at all ? Ile rthought that, rather than establish a precedent, and, .ass he thought, a bad precedent, it would be advisable for the lion. Member to withdraw the last motion, ,which was not yet,carried, and give notice of it for Another day, when it could be fully discussed. Mr. BROWNLOW said, that having had the ho. moui to shesi his motions to the Right Hon. Secretary of State for the Home Department, to the Right Lion. the Chief Secretary for Ireland, and to the Attorney-General for Ireland, and they having stated that there was not the slightest objection to their being granted, he thought no 'blame could be at tached-to him for the mode he had adopted;—:(Hear, Missy).—Having procured these papers, it was natn rally expected from him that he should make them the ground of some ulterior mea s ure. This he should ;certainly do, and without loss of. time; for he was one of those mho considered that the matter had already slept too long without notice. It was, there fore, his intention to bring the subject before the ,House early after the recess, and as near to the day on which the Catholic Question was to be discussed as possible. He should state to-morrow, or next day, wben he had examined the state in which business Stood, the precise period at which his proposition would come before the House. Mr. A BERCROMB Y dissented from the objection taken by the Honourable Secretary to the Admiralty, as to the motion before the House. If the law pro ceedings to which it related had been still pending, then the objection would have been valid. The Ho nourable Member seemed to purpose following up his motion for papers with the proposal of a vote of censure. If this were the case, he thought it would have been better to give notice of the present mo tions, and so to have taken a preliminary debate upon the circumstances of the case. He had another grouod of objection, and he would put it to the can dour of, the Honourable Gentleman, whether thedis cussion ought to be put off till after the decision of the House upon the Catholic Question . ? He would put it to any man, let him be as great a friend to that question as the Right Honourable the Attorney- General for Ireland might be, or let him be as much opposed to it as the Honourable Gentleman himself, whether he could wish it to be decided upon under the feelings of irritation and distraction which now existed in Ireland in consequence of the late trans actions in that country ? He hadthe understanding to feel that it was a question which involved the hap piness and peace of Ireland, and therefore he desired that it might be approached with the utmost reason and calm deliberation., would put it to the Ho nourable Gentleman whether such would be the feel ings with which they approached it, if these matters remained without any decision or consideration on the part of the House of Commons? Mr. BROW NLOW replied, that he thought he had been perfectly clear in stating his intention of bring ing forward his ulterior measure before the debate upon the question of C a tholic Claims. With regard to his har•ing given notice of the present motions, and stating the purpose which he had with regard to the Papers, he was not at all aware that such a course was osuul, or expected, in. such cases.—The motion *as then agreed to. FOREIGN ENLISTMENT BILL. • Mr. BROUGHAM intimated, that in consequence Of the impottantcomMtiuication made to both llouses orl'ailiameat that evening, be. had been instructed by, it Friend -of his 41.4 rd Althorp) to postpone Ashieb stood for Thursday, relating to the repeil.4l the Foreign Enlistment Act. - • . ASSESSED TAXES ACT. r If* CH ANCELLOR theF,XCHEQVER moved that the lLoase should revolves itself . i ia a Cum mince upon she aboacilice. —The-House being in a Com mittee, the. Right Hon. Geotleamo stamp!' that he did . .notthi4k . to enter more tujjy into the Pmetlie#.4o.liitalte iy . the Act, otter *hat ballad already stated . to the douse. H: shot d SINVING Mtn. The CIF A NCf:I.LOR Of the EXCHEQL7r.R gave notice* that on Monday Den he should suhn)...l to the 1i0:43e a wort,* upon the Sinking Fred ERICADEMAJORA OF YEOMANRY. Mr. HUME had a - motion to submit to the Hence:. to which he apprehended there would he no objectioi. It appeared by a Parliamentery Paper lately re turned, that certain sums had been aPowed to nri gade Majors of Yeomanry. He believed the !louse had no notion that money was thus raid ; yet it ap peared by the Paper that upwards of 2X1,0061. had been I aid in pensions and salaries to members of Yeee.- rnanry Corps. These sums were said to he granted upon the authority of the 50dt George 111. Now, in that Act, there was a clause which expressly fasted: that no allowance should be made under the anthority of that Act to persons receiving half-pay and mili tary allowances. He moved for a Return of the I names of all persons who had teceived allowances as Brigade Majors of Yeomanry in Ireland, stating the length and nature of their services, the names of the medical officers who signed their certificates, the date of the certificates, the amount of the allowances, toge ther with the authorities under which, and the names of the persons by whom such allowances were granted. Mr. GOULBURN said, that with respes: . to the papers, on his part there would be no obv,tion to producing them. He had no wish than that of bring tag the acts of the Irish Government fully before tbe Public. He only rose to exptess his regret thatorpou a previous night, and before the documents barlbyerit produced, the Hon. Member had impugned-thecoms doct of an Honourable Officer, which, it be had waited for those documents, he could not it:v.l'llone. He was desirous of taking this opportunitY to -deny as publicly as the Hon. Member had prefer-led them, the charges against that Honourable Oillcer. The individnal in question was Major Edward Collis.; and the Hon. Member stated, that a i.eieion had been granted to him which he was not entitled to receive. for three particular seasons. The first was, that he was not above forty years of 'age: the •econd, that he had been a very little time in the service ; and the third, that he was in as good bodily heath as the Hon. Member himself. Now to proceed is order with these reasons. With regard to his age; he joined his regiment in America, in the rear 11'76, and in the 3-ear following he received a severe wound; so that the Honourable Member, with his Meat skill in figures, would be able to see that ajor Collis was considerably above the age he had stated at the time whed he received his allowance. For the very little time he had been in the service, they found forty-five years of service to his Majesty, and thirteen years as Brigade Major of Yeomanry. But the Hon. Member said that this pension had been granted to a person possessing all the bodily health and vigour which they daily and nightly witnessed in the Hon. Gentleman himself in that House. -Now it happened that for some years past the Government had been in the habit of examining into the claims for allowances, before they were granted, and the following was the result of an inquiry into this parti cular case:—" Report of the Physician.—l hereby certify that I have strictly examined Major Collis IS to the state of his health, and I find him perfectly ia equate to the discharge of his duties in this County and in the County of Galway, without imminent risk of his liter_ He is. sixty years of age; and of a deli cate constitution subject to gouty attacks and to liver complaints, in consequence of cold taken in the ser vice, and also paralytic affections"—(llear, hear). He would put it to the House, whether these afflic- . lions deserved the allowance or not, and. whether the reeompence for such services and sufferings was to. be described as a job ? But the Hon. Member said, that the Act did not give the power of making such allowances. It so happened that these fit igade-Ma jo' rs had always been considered as Civil Officers. They were excluded from the receipt of half-pav, and .. ,had no other Military allowance when thos,.com pelled toretire. This had been considered as Olegal ground for giving them an allowance under the Act. He had no objection to the production of the papers. • Mr. HUME explained, that this was not the case to which he alluded—(hear, hear).—He averred that this was the fact. He spoke of two instances where the allowance had been made; one was Edward Collis, whom he stated to have been hut ten years in - the service ; the other was Mr. Bridgemao, to whom ihe applied the remainder of his observations. He law the mistake in the Newspapers the next morning, and wrote to the Editors to correct it. He mai still at a loss to know by what authority the pensions bad been granted. The Act said, that half-pay and mili tary allowances were to be excluded. He did not see how it could be made out, that a Major of BrigaLler was not a military man. - They:o4as well attempt to prove that he was a woman. It may: be hid* law, but he was convinced that the Act did not autho• rise the allowances. 1 Mr. GOULBURN said, that it was, due to Nfajpl Bridgeman, as well as to- Majo,Coilis, to Correct - did Hon. Gentleman's statements respecting •him. - !'bed explanation, in either way, was inaccurate - wird inap• plicable. Now, Mr. Bridgeman, uho was represented by the lion. Gentleman, to e:) .. i.)y as good a canatta• tion as himself, and to be about his o.‘ll ag-what . joined the British service in - South Carolina' we' :filr: back as the year 1780; and had, in the latter 10414 , i his time, served ten years as a Ilrigade r A.l.tjer k:Shati . Irish Yeomanry ; but, even after this lengthof sereiseui there Was the most positive certifieatiem of infirmities,: 'from the'higli'apthority of Dr, ItteMie,.'Of'Plibliti..4 . ' 'Alit Bri4einAhad Taller) fiora his h0r,1e:14,414 apoplexy, while in.thc discliargeoihistisditiir,A4 hrhadfor esittrojettrs suffixed froai.siionotit ' ' . IF -- after conye in the reside Job in tip teen a lords years, ittral .upois nor two the pi, of we, timid tppics the oc rnarki way 1 per 111. Thi of th e Porte confine Hof ti consido kvbi e l i a that at mind 2SIL nbllly of 4 w e ariva!e, tin no .o •Coneeiv, of se:th e , towing advice A z •thanasis "lifter sa ! " . 1241 i Ow Mai Ltir : 11 ,"Picti utithi g 4 0 0 41*** b itut ..~ i >m sae 'not apps in p: triou at E *tan 111 Port. ship, cash": Jai Lord Ju hi: LIAIII I tier n to his prove Bit t'i 00ITel city a Cr< mark ttpon of eitl -an Er anc we , as elm a le in ]