The National Register. — London, England, 1809-04-30 00:00:00

• APRIL 30. The. Chancellor of the Exchcquer.did not conceive the BM proposed by the Noble Lerd was of that 'importance or magni tide his Lordship seemed to attqat to it. He did not mean, how • ever, to give any opposition to the Bill, but Concluded that it would he expedient to re•wrve its introduction for the commence ment of the lieu Session of Parliament, at which time the pre leat.Aet,respecting reversionary situations would be near its ex piration, and there would be an abundance of time to discuss the merits of the Bill now proposed. Mr. Tierney thought it most extraordinary that tire Bill at tempted to be introduced, and which met %% ith the warm sup port of Ministers last Session, should now be treated with con tempt. Such conduct he deemed highly suspicious, and from the backwardness of the Right lion. Gentlemen on the Treasury Bench to express their sentiments, it would appear as if they wished to get rid of the measure altogether, and by their silence pass a tacit dkapprobation. Mr. Whitbread supported the expediency of the immediate discussion of the Bill, and averted that the abolition of the re versionary places would be attended with a very considerable saving. If his sentiments were adhered to, on the former Bill being rejected to by the Lords, it should have been sent hack to that Houie without alteration. It was rejected by their Lorth , hips on the ground of its trespassieg on the privileges of royalty ; and, if he was informed correctly, the Chancellor said he would advise the Xing to grant a reversionary place itninediately, in order to convince the House of Commons of the presumption of their measures. Mr. Canning said, that although the balance of his sentiments preponderated against the bill, what bad fallen from Mr. W hit bread, with respect to the Lord Chancellor, be begged leave to say, he had never beard of such an expression being used by his Lordship, nor did he believe his Lordship had ever expressed himself to that effect. The quel , tion was then put and the House divided, For the original motion 106—Against it IVI. Majority 15. LOCAL MILITIA' BILL. The Order of the Day for the third reading of the Loral Mi litia Bill having been read, Mr. (tiles renewed his objections to the mode of ballot proposed by the measure. Several new clauses were then brought up, and added to the* bill by way of riders. The Bill was then read the third time, and passed. The House resolved itself into a Committee of Supply, in which the follow - in.-sums were voted to his Majesty : For repairing road: in Englnbd - . L. 5569 0 0 Fur roads, bridges; fto.. in the Highlands of Scot land For the inland navigation - • For printing jonr:r.ls of the House, &c. To «m. Nlellisb, t,41. for an equal sum expended - by him in rendering aisistance to•the inhalsi tants of the settlement in Davis' strait For relief given to thu iohabitatits of the Faro • islands - . - - •For furnishing offices with stationary For better securing public roads leading to the me trOpolis For stores, For the maintenance of British soldiers on the toast • of Africa - • 22,000 lo,ono 0 0.) 20,000. 0 0 1011 0 5265 19 0 1500 0 0 (21114 3 11 63•15 16 4 114 18 1 And otheranntrai sums for miscellaneous; purposes: The Compa.sionate Fund Bill - was retul a third time, and pasted; after 14 hich the House adjourned at half-past one. • • 7uesday, April 25. CH AII 1 , 7. At: IN ST T.Ott D A STLER rA Lind Archibild Sir--I beg Nave to im pr:-.ss upon the Ilowe, that nothing of a perz.ooal nature ac ,tuntes my present proceeding - against the Noble Lord. My view is directed solely tow at& his public -official character, and the conduct he has evinced iu the execution of los public functions. I cannot help Collin?, the attention of the House to the absolute necessity there is for a rigid adherence to impar tial justice. .With regard to the subject I have the honour of intro ducing, it i 3 not my intention to proceed beyond t hat is con tained in the evidence on the table of the florae, nor do I in• tend to make any charge beyond what the testimony of the Nohle Lord before the Committee gives ample ground for. I therefore conceive it sufficient on that evidence, to call for a vote of censure on his Lordship's conduct. The nature of the transactions w hid) form the basis of the present charges, lappear by the evidence to have commenced itt the )ear 1803, 275 The Noble Lurd received a loiter from a per-on of the nome of Reding, -ioi:otagting hit Lordship, that he had the HIP:irlS of pro curiu.;l7a seat in Patila;pent. hi:4 4 l.ordship lit:tying at that time vacated his seat. on act eptapee of the seals. for the Colonial Department. • His Lordship, however, informed air. Reding that he did not want a Seat in Parliament for hiinse:f, but that a friend of his did.: His Lordship then enclosed the letter to Lord Clancarty, and never saw ~Mr. .Reding aftecwaitis. His Lord ship wig then asked - if he had any conversatiou with Lord Clan earty, as connected with_this tranSaction of Mr. Reding, in which a.writership was offered to Lord Clancarty'snomi not ion ; to which he replied, that some time after he had enclosed Mr. Reding'S letter to Lord Claticarty, Lord Clancarty told him that he hada negotiation with Mr. Reding, with a view to procure a seat in Parliament, which he said had failed; inasmuch as the proposition he had made to Mr. Reding, which V61:1 of a pecuni ary nature, had been declined by the person who was supposed to have the in fl uence to procure the seat in Parliament. It ap peared, therefore, from this statement, that his Lordship had eery intention of carrying on,the negotiation, although he asserted he never saw Mr. Reding after the first meeting, wnich would appear to be a mere subterfuge from the vali dity of the charge of impropriety. From this ci;eusu stance it appeared, there witr not alone the Noble Lords con cerned in this negotiation for the seat in Parliament, but there is athird person, of still higher rank-1 allude to a Peer of the realm (the Marquis of Sligo) ; how, therefore, can the Chancellor of the Exchequer expect—hOw'can the House expect, that any exer tion will be made for the support of the laws about to he intro duced fur the suppression of the infamous traffic in places, when it is seen that two public functionaries and a Peer of the other House hold up so infamous au example to the public ? The Noble Lord was a servant to the Crown, and as such he was hound to uphold the Government of the country, and support the reputation of himself and his fellow Ministers ; but instead of being guided by such conscientious feelings, he was guilty himself of the most flagrant misconduct. Ile should at least h )ve avoided an iota ton upon the strict and established rut I laid down for the c uidance of other persons. 1 appre- Item! the Noble Lord conld have no patent for an exclu.ixe de. arture from these roles. 1 carve couceive Lord Clanearty has ceived the Noble Lord; ;inn if he har not deceived h.m, his Lordship mast have naturally concluded, for he had full rea-em to believe it, that this patrot age was about to he COlll et led iota some pecuniary consideration. t Ussc Lord Castleredgb, liy Id. countenance, e,spressed strong marks of indigtOtion - .) I ties ',sappy to see the Noble Lord's feelings'nre ihtllgnant nt gugh an insinuation; but I must confess such a feeling would better be come him, were the facts stated its:the evidence less incontro vertible. I must now call the attention of thst House to the feature of dissatisfactinn ex pressed by the •Noble! , Lord, still more disgusting than any thing et y submitted. alludeto an affecta tion of disdain on the subject of the last observation expressed in the examination of a Mr. Davis, in which the Noble Lord ex pressed a desire, that every• thirg relative to the irritership should he explained by Mr. Davis, in order that the party who 1:a.1 made use of his Lordship's name should be detected; and exhorting Mr. Datis, in a letter, to lend his aid to discover the party who would be daring enough to make so improper a use of his name, in oider tit their being ex owed: and all this took place after the former negotiation had begun, continued, and washroken off. The Noble Lord affects to be indigtant, and threatens to expose the person who used his ratne;—but fur what purpose ? Fur no other purpose than to hide his own guilt,• and to prevent himself from being exposed. No doubt, he would rather expose Mr. Reding and Mr. Davis, than him self. It was somewhat extraordinary, however, that this dread all took place after the Noble Lord had negociated those corti rupt transactions, and began to fear, that conduct so gross would meet the potence) e. T he Chancel lor of the Exchequer had thought proper, in conser!uenre of an advertisement appearing in .a pub- Lc paper, to lodge a sum of money, and to take every Step is h s power to entrap the party who held themselves out as the public agents of so obnoxious a traffic. Had that trap, se ad. mirattly contrived, been applied to the negociat ion of the No ble Lord, the Chancellor of the Exchequer would be somewhat surprised to have found his Lordship in the trap. It was only to be regretted it, was not applied a little sooner; when, in all probability, the Right Hon. Gentleman would have found his two colleagues most active in the propagation of those abuses which he was so assidunattly endeavouring to suppress. Such flagrant and Oaring delinquency cannot be too severely punish. I ed. The evidence is clear and decisive, and no doubt eau exist 1 of the guilt of the Noble Lord. The question fur the coo. . - TFlENA'Tioii.iiiGiiiTii.