The National Register. — London, England, 1813-04-04 00:00:00

APRIL, I. on Wednesday next, for the production of Papers relative to the civil, political, and ihe commercial state of India, upon which oc cte•ion he ,hould state at length his sentiments thereon. The Earl of LIVERPOOL would reserve what he had to say on the Aihject till the occasion should be afforded on Wednesday next, INIR:11 the Noble flarquis Apo d subiMt his intended motion. Lord Gar.IVILLIFi expressed his opinion that the Resolutions poblish.-d by Mini•ters would not, if carried into a law, answer the ru d proposed. Alla a few words from the Earl of RUCKINGIIANSUIRE, the Petition was received, and the Lords ordered to be summoned fir Wednesday next. PETITIONS 'FOII. PEACE. Lord HP.LLAND stated, that lie hod certain Petition% to present on a sul.ject of the highest importance, and he trusted, that as he did eot mean to give any; 'toilet of a motiou for taking these pen- Gina onto considaration, their Lordships would, in justice to the petitioners, and the humble individual who addressed them, give him le7.ve to make a few observations. He most fully and entirely . comairred Nvith the petitioners, in thinking that the 4 'StOratloll at the blessings of peace was, after the 6;4(711 - lees that had been already made, peculiarly desirable at the present moment ; and that to ap- Farauee, at least, there had 'aeen opportunities tier neeociation for the accomplishment of that ohjee. But still these might he only appearenees, and theretnre be was not prepared to say that his Ilaijesty's Government had been actually guilty of cul pable negligeeee in nest taking advautave of the proper opportimo tios rot. entering into negociatiou. These petitions proceeded solely front the spontaneous impulse of the petitioners theniselvas. "tsho arts had been used,—no suggestions had been made to procure them. He had even ventured to dissuade them from offering them at all to Parliament; because, though he agreed with them in the cpiuions expressed in their petitions, lie was doubtful whether the presenting them to Parliament would he' the best means of pro eonieg their own object. The reasons he gave for his doubts been considered by the Petitioners; and, after mature deliberation, they had again requested him to present them. lie 'tow, thou, presented these petitions ; and had to state, that the languaee was not only respecttid, but highly sensible and proper. The Pt (loners, though they neve" the great sacrifices which had already been made, stated, at the same, that they were perfectly willing to make stir: greater sacrifices, it' the pretensions of the enemy should be pitch as this country could not, in consistency with its honour and interest, accede to : but for the reason which he had already mentioned, he did not feel it his duty to fix a day for moving the taking of these Petitions into consideration. lf, indeed, he could believe that the Ministers entertained such mad mid extravagant notions as that of eonipiefdy cridshing the wriwt Prince at the head of the French Government,—if he could believe that they had in any degree sanctioned a certain paper and proclamation,—their Lordships would understand what he meant when lie alluded to it, (probably the Proclamation of Louis XVIII.) --if lie could believe that they well , resolved to make no peace, ex. eept on the ground of wresting from the French the flints of coif years exertion,—then, indeed, be should say, that it was time to tieing the subject forward in Parliament. Not having, however, any particular reason to believe, that the Ministers did insist upon any such extravagant pretensions, he di4l not think it proper to carry the matter farther at present. There was no rEt'lleilllniti but oaelit to shed the last drop of his blond rather than accede to any noels pretensions; and there was tio trielishinan that ought to shed ally blood in supporting them. He should have dismissed the sub ject with this observation, were it not that there was one point upon which he was axiom to give some explanation. lii a discus-. :ion which had taken place relative to the affairs of the Penin sula, the opinion which he had given had been very much misun derstood ; and that, too, in quarters where he was particidarly de siyona.not to be misunderstood. He had been at ail times of opi nion that the independence of Spain ought to be supported undar that Government which they themselves chose—namely, that of Ferdinand VII. and their own National Cates. Having been always of that opinion before, he saw nothing in the present ciretun! stances of the Continent to make him Aimee it. lie desired, there fore, that it mighthe understood, that he was decidedly favourable to the policy of maintainiug the independence of Spain in the manner he had stated—of maintaining it by every warlike exertion that could possibly be made, It . oecessary —while he thought that if it could he effected by negociation, it would be proper to make some sacrifices for that purpose. It' this was the course vii.ich he had always thought to be recommended bv sound policy, the case was much stronger, when the faith of the nation was engaged. He eoucluded by 'lmaging several Petitious flow difiereut places iu TN! NATIONAL REGISTER. 213 the Counties of Del by witl Leici•stur iii titvoor ufl'qace ; anti mile • Petitions to the same effect from the town and _neighbourhood of Nottingham; which were laid on the table. PRISONERS OF WAR. The Marquis of L:lNusuowNK said, that adverting to the fore. going Petitions, he had also individually, as the friend of huma nity, to embrace that opportunity of calling the attention of Go vernment to a matter ‘vhich they, and every friend to humanity and justice; eagerly sought after ; namely, to the Exchange of Pri soners. A report had certainly been circulated, that a negociation for that most desirable objeet had been entered into and broken off. The purport of his rising was to w•certain from Ministers whether that was the fact , and if so, upon what grounds did it brenk off? The Earl of LivEniloot. au"swered, that no man" in the land was more cattiest to accomplish that object than every man of the King's Ministers. But the fact is, that no direct or official com municatioo upon the subject was made—am *intimation was merely. given by a person, certainly of good and sufficient aulliority, to' that effect ; but as • soon as Ministers expressed a readiness to go into the negociation, it then came out that the enemy woqld agree to no terms, but to those which Goveinment here had airtijden obliged to refuse, as wholly incompatible with justice, .orliW'any policy or prudence: SHONA FTERS RILL. The Order of the Day for the second reading of the Shoplifters' Bill was read, and the subject was discussed- -and the fill opposed by several Noble Peers, ai►d supported by otlitsts. After which the liowie adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS, MONDAY, JlARcu `.)9. On the Order it' the Day for bridging up the Report of the Sine cure Abolition Bill, it was apposed by Mr. Dolfoid, Lord Cw.tle; reaab, 11r. Bathurst, Mr. Ryder, wail 11r. troker, and supported . by Mr. Bank s, Mr. Calllting, Mr. Ponsonby, Mr. It 1 liorliton o 11r. 11uskisson, Mr. W. Smith, and odium The House then vidcd ; for the Report be;ng fanlight up, against it, 80. —'fhe Report was then brought op.—Adjourned. TUFSDAY, MARCH O. Mr. Cu TTAN infornietl the House, his Catholic Dill wnold not 1w presented till after Easter. rA'•r IN1)IA The Weymouth Election Bin kto prevent the splitting of votes); vas read a second time. Tl►e House resolved itself into a Committee, on the East India Charter Resolutions, and Warren Hastings, Esq. was the firstwit ness called on the part of the. Company. A cl►air wa:: placed tol• hint near the bar. _ _ Mr. Hastings was examined by Mr. ADAM both as to the pro bable effects of an unrestrained intercourse of Europeans ith the natives of India, and as to the probability of extending the trade to that country. In his opinion, the unrestrained intercourse of Eu ropeans tit the natives would he hurtful and tuitions to the Com pany's interests, awl to the Government and poilee of that country. The nativt.s were naturally timid, but might oe provoked to all the foroeities of insurrection, as it was not unlikely that, in such a case, the superiority ‘yllich they now allow to Emdis'anen, mig;tt then be comet t. d to the purposes of tyranny and eppression o v e r th em . Any cause that woald give them such provocation as to 'bake them dissatisfied, would naturally tend -to encourage the neighbourinf; native's to an invasion of our Empire. As to the trade, the mass of the peop!e in India I:ad no wants whirb could pot be sonplied at their own doors;, and had no means of purchasing luxuries. 'rho wealthier class of Hawkins were also simple in their habits, and not accustomed to spend much of their superfluous wealth in the pin-- chase of European luxinies. The habits of the nation had been nearly stationary from the time we first came int. , the country. Mr. Hastings, after having finished his evidence, addressta the Committee for a short time He said, that although he felt tttaji tude to the Company for the employment they Oa: given Inin in the active time of his life, yet his evidence was not biassed by that attachment. He had years ago written a ktt ter to the Govelmr and Detuty-Governor of the Company, at the time their pre;ent Charter wa..: tcd, and lie then pointed out the dangers from au irruption of Enropean adventurers. He had repeated this opinion in 1 atc.2, and again last April. Being questioned by Mr. GREN FELL, as to the employment of missions for the purpose - of converting tin' Hindoos to Christianity He stated, that during his residence, a Mr. Sdeat ti awl Mr. E'er tun& wf.: cogaged itt such a mission: the latter pretended to haft A