Star. — London, England, 1814-03-24 00:00:00

r •~ : P.IRLIiIKENTARr PROCEEDINGS. lIOUSE OF LORDS. MARCH (23. , Their Lordships met at ten o'clock this rnorning, an pt, teed , d t' hear CUi.IPSCI in the case of Selk r:g v. Davies arid others,' This was an Appeal from the Court of Session in Si&tlansi--• and the point in dispute between the parties was, whether a coni mission of bankruptcy in ugland transferred to the Assignees tie ptoperty of the Bankrupt in Scotland ? •I it Court of Sc;- sion had adjudged that it did, against which j;:dguteitt the preiert Appeal was made to the Howe of Lords. Mr. ADAM And Mr. Ltaen were heard of the part of the Apr:hilt, and , :dr SAMUEL ROMILLY and Mr. 'Wt.: lIIERALI.. 4 were 11:•ard for she Respondents. Mr. ADAM was also heard in reply, when it was ordered that jtalgaient be given in - this ca,e on I% londay. Mr. HYAM presented at the 1.31 r certain Annual Accounts from the Conuntssioners for the reduction of the National Debt. Qrdered to lie on the table. Mr. LICHFIELD, from the Privy Council, presented at the Bar a copy of an Order in Council, directing the Bank of England to Brake issues in specie-. Ordered !o lie on the table. Mr. Mac LEA si also presented at the Bar the Annual Accounts front the Chest at Greenwich, which were ordered to lie on the al/le.--Adjourned till to-morrow (this day). • ROUSE OF COMMONS. Mr. I.vitriELD, from the Privy Council Office, presented copies of certain Orders in Council relating to the issue ot specie from the Bank of England.— Ordered to lie on the table. • Mr. KINWiTON, from the Stamp 015ce, presented an account of the balance in the hands of the Distri butor of Stamps, from the 10th October to the 9th January last. COUNTY MAYO ELECTION. The SPEAKER acquainted the House that he had received from the Clerk of the Crown in Ireland a Petition from Martin Kirwan and Sir Neale 0.1)on . nell and others, complaining of an undue election for the County of Mayo. On the motion of the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHE QUER, this Petition was ori,;.!red to be taken into con sideration on Tuesday, the 18th of Apia next. CIVIL LIST. Mr. BENNETT asked the Chancellor of the Ex chequer, whether it was his intention to submit to the House, alter the recess, any proposition with respect to the Civil and Pension Lists ? The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER answered in the affirmative. WILD FOWL. Mr. WESTERN presented a Petition from various traders and occupiers of land on the hanks of the Thames against the Bill for the better preservation of the wild fowl —Ordered to lie on the table till the e. cond reading of the Bill. SIIIIIVItIGHTS OF THE PORT OF LONDON. Sir SAMUEL ROMILLY presented a Petition signed by two tht;usand useful artisans, whose busi ness was that of building !...hips in the put of London, complaining of an evil extending not alone to them selves, but to the national interests of the country.— The Petition stated, that ship-building in the private yards on the liver Thames had of late not only sunk into decay, but had bJen totally annihilated. As il lustrative of this fact, it stated, that there were be longing to different persons on the banks of the river Thames private yards, hi which there were forty-one slips tor building ships ; and in the whsle of these yards there was but one ship building. That of docks for repairing ships, double and single, there were 51 single, and eleven double, and in these there were. but eighteen vessels under repair, which circumstances, so injurious . to the Petitioners and to i the country, they stated, was aurihutable to the arrangements which had been made for building ships in India, whither a great number of the artisans heretofore employed in England had been constrained to fly ; and those who remained behind were entirely. destitute of the means of supporting their numerous families. The prayer of the Petition was, that the House would be pleased not to extend the time fir India-built ships being ad mitted to British registers. The Petition having been brought up, was read, and ordered to lie on the table. CORRUPTION OF BLOOD. Si: SAMUEL ROMILLY rose, in pursuance of his notice s to move for leave to bring in a Bill to take away the corruption of blood, in cases' of attainder for high treason and felony. He expressed a hope, that in rt in bringing this subject, which had been a te so fully discussed during the List Session, before the House, be'should not he accused of improper perse veranße. lie was apprehensive, that the real object of the Bill which he had introduced on a former oc casion had not beim correctly understood—a circum stance which was perhaps attributable to the impel-- feet manner in which he had ts:plained himself on moving for leave to bring it in. The Bill, the intro duction of which he has now in view, was precisely similar to that presented to the House before. The House would call to their recollection, that, by the law, as it it pie sent stood, a man convicted of high treason frufeited ail his lands, all his goods and chattels, and ail his personal property. With regard 'to persons attainted of felony, they only forte/sled their lands r . one year, and all their goods and cnattels, and personal effects. The Bill which he , el•ould being in would not at all vary this law ; for if it should pass iuto An Act, persons attainted of tl:e crime of high treason would, as heictolore, forfeit , all their lands and proveriy of every description.— Whether this was a wise or just law, or not, or whe ther it was expedient, when the law had removed a man from society, that his property should he confis • cared, and a punishment thereby tali on the innocent individuals whom he had left behind, or not, was a matter which had nothing to do with the piesent bill. That law would remain as it was, and would not be affected in any way by his Bill. The alteration which he had in contempt:it:on \vas confined to a part ot the anti , ut law, which was peculiar to Liztand, and NOllich did not apply to the other part of this island. 1 He meant that which in cases of attainder was known among lawyers by the term coropion ?f blood; the effect of which was, that where a man was attiiinted of a capital offence, he could not transmit a descent ; that was to say, such a person could not form a link by which the chain of a pedigree could be traced; and if an att limed pi.rson stood in the way of a pe digree, his descendants, however tar removed, would] be deprived of the means of establishing their right to lands, to which lie, if he were alive, vi•otrld have bad a prior light, and such land would escheat to the Lord of the Manor of 'whom the kind might be holden. As instance, if a man had a son and a grandson, and his St.ll f•hould be capitally convicted, it Jic should die intestate, his grandson would be de prived of die I:etie4c.tif any 4.1 ostitte . ot which he, might have been possessed; as, in consequence ofthe attainder of his son, Ott chain would be broken, and the land would escl-kat to the Lord of the Manor, whereby a punishment would he inflicted where pu .nishment was not intended. This law rested upon feudal principles, which svete by no means conform able to the modern ideas of justice. The punish.. ment rested solely upon accident ; for the grandfather might devise his land to his grandson, if he thought proper—and only io case of his neglecting so to do, would his grandson be punished, by the confiscation of his property, and its transmission to the Lord of /the M.mor. But it this case were considered' severe, how much more severe were those cases where the connection was not so immediate, and the relation ship more remote ? In the case of a '2oth cousin, for instance : there, in tracing a pedigree, if it should be found that one of the direct heirs, however far back, had been convicted of felony, the land would in like manner escheat. And what was apparently still more unjust, was, that corruption of blood only extended to personal estate, and did not at all apply to lease hold property. It was of this evil of which he com plained, and he was most anxious that such a relict of barbarism should not be found among our laws.— It was said, in the course of the discussions which took place on this bill in the course of last Sessions, that instances, against the recurrence of which he was desirous of guarding, were not likely to happen. It so happened, however, that at the very moment these assertions were made, an instance had occurred of that very sort ; and in a few weeks afterwards it happened to be his fortune, in a professional way, to have that case, which was precisely in point, intrust ed to his care. In this case a woman had been con victed of a murder in Oxfordshire fifty years ago, and the estate to which she would have been entitled, had she lived, had passed from one possessor to ano ther, and a valuable consideration bad been given for it; yet, notwithstanding the person in possession had paid the full value of the property, information hav ing been given that the property had escheated to the Crown, by reason of corruption of blood, an inquisi tion was instituted, and it was found that the land did in truth belong to the Crown, and it was in con sequence duly claimed. An application had, how ever, been made to the Court of Chancery, to tra. verse the inquisition, for the purpose of establishing that the land had not been held of the Crown, but tit a mesne Lord—and this motion having been acceded to, the question would shortly be brought to issue.— Having now, he trusted, fully explained his object, he begged to move for leave to bring in a Bi:1 o To take away Corruption of Blood in cases of Attainder for Felony and 'High Treason." The question having been put, Mr. YORKE said, it was not his intention to op. pose this motion, unless he felt himself authorised so to do by the general sense of the House. He could not help stating, however, that his opinion on this subject differed from the Honourable Gentleman's, which he extremely regretted, as he could not but doubt hi t s own judgment, when it was at variance with the opinions of a gentleman whose experience of the law of the land had entitled him to so much confidence. He thought no alteration ought to be made in the penal laws, unless it was made out that some strong evil had arisen from their existence in their present form. He was not without hopes, from what had passed on a former occasion, that the Hon. and Learned Gentleman would have left out that part of his Bill which related to high treason.-- Upon this head he conceived the House had express. ed a decided opinion. With regard to that part of the Bill which related to attainders for felony, pro vided the crime of high treason was omitted, he should not perhaps be disposed to object to it, al. though he thought corruption of blood should still exist in casts of murder. The Hon. Gentleman had admitted that this law had been derived from our ance.itors. This was a reason in his (Mr. Yorke's) mind why it should not be abrogated. The laws of England were of a Gothic frame; and although they bad arisen out of barbarism, the privileges which the subject enjoyed had arisen from the same source : he would therefore be loth that any alteration what ever should be made in them. He considered the effect of corruption of blood, whether the original cause of it was good or bad, of the greatest import ance to the general discipline and welfare of the State—an opinion in which he was confirmed by no less an authority than Lord Hale, who had said, that in cases of high treason, the most horrible punish. ment was not too dreadful or too severe. In a free country, in fact, the law of Treason, from every prin ciple of policy, ought to be severe; for, if it were not, so many modes of defence were given to the traitor, that the security of the State would be placed at con siderable hazard. Treason, of all other crimes, was the most atrocious, and on that ground he could not acquiesce in the proposition of thr. Hon. Gentleman. He could wish that' the Hon. Gentleman, whose labours had been so meritorious, would bring the whole plan for the amendment of the Criminal Laws, which he had formed, before the House at once, as' they would then be enabled to form their judgment upon it, without having their attention distracted by disjointed propositions. If the Hon. Gentleman's motion were now acceded to, he hoped he would give due notice of the second reading of his Bill, in order that the House might be freely prepared to meet it ; and he further trusted that the discussion might not be brought forward at a period when the Lawyers of the House were gone .the Circuits. The question having been again put, leave was given to bring in the Bill accordingly. Sir SAMUEL EUMILLY then moved for, and obtained leave to bring in a Bill for altering the pa ni•limeot for High Treason, by omitting that part of the sentence which directed that the bowels of the criminal should be taken out and burnt' before his face. In answer to a question from Mr.Yottica, the Hon. Gentleman said this Bill was precisely similar to that introduced on a former occasion. BRITISH tiIIIPPING. Mr.WALLACE moved that there should be laid before the House an%iccount of the number and ton nage of Ships built in the ports of London, Bristol, and Liverpool, since the Pith of his present Majesty. The Dover Insolvent Debtors' Bill was read a second time, and ordered to be committed to morrow. Mr. GRANT'S Indemnity Bill went through a Com mittee, the report was received. and the Bill read a. third time and passed.—Adjourned. • EAST-INDIA HOUSE. A Quarterly General Court was holden yesterday at the East-India House. The minutes. of the pre ceding Court were read, and several documents pre sented by the Chairman, among which was one rela tive to the Pensions on the Establishment—when the Chairman stated, that the pension granted to Mr. Hastings was not included, because it had expired. He added, that it was the unanimous opinion, how ever, of the Court of Directors that it should be re granted to that venerable and respectable gentleman, in which they hoped to have the concurrence of the General Court—(N e ar, 7sear.) With respect to Pen sions in general, it was the intention of the Direttors toi submit, at an early period, various particulars to the Court of Proprietors. A ballot was appolated for Thursday the Bth of April, upon the request of Lord H. W. Stuart, to termine whether his Lordship should return to India. • QUALIFIED PRoPRIETORS. Mr. R. JACKSON rose to submit his motion to the Court, respecting the eligibility of Proprietors to sit on Committees, who were not qualified to vote or ballot, and of taking part in the debates under simi lar disqualifications. He began by impressing upon the Court the difference between a privilege enjoyed from courtesy, and one which was in‘isted upon as a right, and contended that the claim set up by those Proprietors, who were not qualified to vot,e, of participating in the discussions of that Court, had nn other origin than that of courtesy. If, however, that courtesy was to be transformed into a right, the greatest dangers and inconveniences would ensue. The Learned Gentleman, after some general preli minary observations, proceeded to observe, that it, WAS not until the sth of William 111. in what was called the Great Charter, that :►ny thing like a quali fication was specified ; and therein it wasstated that no person who was not duly qualified should have either .g vote or yoke" in the proceedings of the Cou. t. The qualification required was .ICIOOO stock ; and the same Act set forth, that the Dire. tors, in calling Quarterly Courts, should call such only as were quili fied to vote therein. That enactment, he contended, remained still in force, as it had never been repealed l by any subsequent Act. He was aware that much might be said upon the advantage of allowing men possessing ability and science, to speak in that Court, though not qualified to vote upon any question ; but he was also aware that such a privilege had ot :en been ahlised. By the Charter of the 6th William and Mar) , every Proprietor, before he voted, m►ght be required to take his oath that the stock he held was for himself, and not in trust for any other person; and this law also was still in force. The said Charter further stated, that every Proprietor refusing or neglecting to take such oath, not only should not vote on any question, but should not even be admitted into the General Court. By the 10th William 111. the qualification was reduced from £lOOO to £5OO, because, as stated in the Act, many persons were excluded, to the prejudice of the general interests of the Company, as the votes were thus thrown into a few hands only. Many evils, however. resulted from this new arrangement. Collusive transfers, jobbing, &c. took place to a considerable extent ; and, to use the language of a Learned Friend of his, individuals who were Non-Proprietors at ten o'clock in the morning, became Proprietors at twelve, for the pur. pose, perhaps, of carrying some particular question, and were Non-Proprietors again at six o'clock in the evening. To remedy these proceedings, an Act was passed in 1767, requiring new qualifications, by which no person was entitled to vote who did not hold one thousand pounds stock, and had possessed that stock for twelve months. From these specific enactments, all of which still remained in force, he apprehended he had made out a sufficiently clear case, as to, the qualifications of Proprietors in voting, and the ab surdity of allowing those to speak in th 6. debates who were not entitled afterwards to vote upon the question in debate, was evident. Mr. Jackson then concluded by moving two Resolutions: the first, that no person should be admitted to sit in a Committee of Proprietors, who was not qualified to vote in a General Court ; this Resolution, if adopted, to be a bye-law : and, secondly, that no person should be allowed to take any part in their discussions who was not entitled to vote or ballot. The CHAIRMAN informed the Court, that in antici pation of the question then before them, he had ap plied, not only to their own Counsel, but to the Soli , citor and Attorney-General, as to the power pos sessed by that Court of making such bye-laws as were now proposed. If they wished, the opinion of those eminent legal characters should be read to them.— This was accordingly done, and the substance of the opinion was, that though the Court had a free power in appointing Committees, they being of its own creation altogether, yet it had no power to take away a right once vested by Act of Parliament in the Pro. prietors. Such a right they conceived the one claim ed by the holders of 4500 stock,- of partaking in the discussions, to be ; and therefore any bye-law, abro. gating that right, would be null and void. Mr. Jacicsox said, that as his first proposition was conceded by the law authorities, whose opinion had just been read, he should certainly press that, and withdraw the second, which they contended could not be adopted by any General Court. It would cer tainly be gaining something to prevent disqualified persons from sitting on Committees. Mr. PLUSIMEB vindicated himself, as one of those alluded to in the late Commit ee, who was disquali fied for sitting in it, and moved as an amendment, that the further consideration► of the question should be adjourned rine die. A long and desultory discussion now took place, upon, whether Mr. Jackson's propositions compre hended one motion or two, and whether, therefore, they should be put separately or together ? After much talking, and the Amendment being pressed, that was at length put and carried, as appeared upon a division, by a majority of eight, there being 33 for , it, and 25 against it. Mr. Htnaz then rose to make hie motion upon en. acting a Ilye-lasv, requiring that not less than sixty four qualified Proprietors should be present at the , voting of any sums of money ; but the Chairman stated, that the same legal authorities had been con sulted upon this question also, and their opinion (which was read) was, that if such a Bye-law were passed, it would be null and void. Mr. Hume, of course, did not make his motion, and the Court then adjourned. FREW!! PAPERS. TARBES, MARCH M. The Duke of Dalmatia has just addressed to army a Proclamation, full of energy. We extract the following passages : SOLDIERS !—You are called to new combats : Ihfre flI 'b• no repose for us, whether we be the assailants or the assailed, till this hostile army, form. •ed.of suck extraordinary elements, shall ,be annihi lated, or till it shall have evacuated the territory of the empire. NN , hatever be its numerical superiority, and whatever progress it may make, it does no; suspect the dangers which surround it, nor the perils whisk await it, but time will teach it, as well as thc. Gener a l who commands it, that it is not with impurity tht parts of our territory are invaded ; that it is not Wit h impunity that the french honour is insulted. " Soldiers !—The General mho commands the army against which we combat ceety day, has had the audacity to invite you, and to invite your coup. trymen to revolt and sedition. He speaks of peace, and the fire-brand; of discord are in bis train He speaks of peace, and he invites the French tc civil war. Thanks then be given him, for having thus made tts acquainted with, hi-. projectfr '— From this moment our forces are menaced a hundrzd fold ; and from this mnment he himself rallies rotted tEe Imperial Eagles, those who, seduced by decci!fel, appearances, had been able to believe that he nvdr. ,war in an honourable manner. " He has dared to insult the rational honow ; hr has had the baseness to excite the French to'betray their oaths, and to be guilty of perjury tor i ar„s th t i t Emperor; this offence cannot be avenged but in blood cs To arms !—Let this cry resour,d thte.;gl, the whole South of France. There is not a single /French. man who has not ter revenge himself, or he abjures his country, and from this moment he ought to he redioned among the number of the enemy. Fit a few days, and those who have been capable of be. lieving in the sincerity and delicacy of the line* will learn to their cost, that their artful proini.:es had . no other object than to enervate their courage, and to subjugate them : they will call to miud these ianimous beings, who calculate the sacrifices they must make to save their country; that the English have no other object in this war than to 4estroy France by itself, to reduce the French to servitude, like the Portuguese, the Sicilians, and all the ether people who groan under their yoke. 66 The history of the past will offer itself to the re membrance of these Anti-Frenchmen, who prefer transitory enjoyments to the safety 4 the great f t mily, and they will see the En g lish cause Frenchmen. to be butchered at Quiberon by the hands of French. men ; they will see the English at the head of e•:!ry. conspiracy, of the overthrow of all principles, of tat destruction. of all the establishments of greatness industry, to gratify their inordinate ambition and their ins4tiable avidity. Does there esist on the face of the globe a single point known to the English where they have not caused to be destroyed, L'y 'se. duction or by violence, the manufactories, the pro ductions of which eclipsed their own ? Such would be the fate of the French establishmects if the English obtained their end. " Soldiers! Let us devote to opprobrium and ge. neral execration, every Frenchman who shall have favoured, in any manner whatever, the insidious pro jects of the enemy ; even him who, though fur a mo ment subjected, shall not have tried all imaginable means to injure them. Let v.s also devote to opro brium, let us not acknowledge for Frenchmen Clcse who, though able to defend themselves, Make use of specious pretexts to dispense themselves from it. 66 From this moment there is no longer any boni between them and us, and we may anticipate in4.x: orable history which will transmit their ::arms wits execration to posterity. " As for us, our duty is marked out, honour and fidelity, that is our motto. To combat to the last the enemies of our august Emperur, and of our deAr France, respect to persons and property, to pity tl' misfortunes of those who are for a moment subjecte:'• and to hasten the instant of their deliverance, °bee ence and discipline ; implacable hatred to traitors and to the enemies of the Frencame, interminable war to those laito should attempt to divide in order to destroy us, as well as in the wretches who should desert the imperial eagles to range themselves under another standard. ‘. Let us have always in our minds fifteen ages 0: glory and the innumerable triumphs which havefen dered our country illustrious. Let us contemplate the prodigious efforts of our great Emperor, and his signal victories, which will eternize the French na me. Let us he worthy of him, and then we may bequeath to our posterity, without a stain, the inheritance which we have received from our fathers. Let us be French men, and let us die with arms in our hinds rather than survive our dishonour. " The Marshal of the Empire and Lieutenant-Ge neral of the Emperor, (Signed) 66 The Marshal Duke Of DALNIATIA." " lifad-quarters, March $." COMPIEGNE, MARCH 16. On the 14th the enemy shewed himself before Con.' piegne, from the other side of the Oise, coming bum Noy en ; alter a few cannon-shot, and a fire of small arms, he retired. The next day he returned in force with three picas of cannon, a howitzer, cavalry, and infantry. 1:11