The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — London, England, 1803-03-16 00:00:00

I liE ! E. 111.. !►a' ~.._.. . - 7.... all the rent statesmen in the natioti otight to rally react th: throne, and oifer their services to his Ma j.••sty,.; or ier to ferrn a combination of wisdom, ta n ea rgy, and vigour ; every distinguished poli tic c larader 'should dismiss his personal preju dices. his individual jealousies, and his party le:ling. Ile wished not to see an Administration composed of men of this or that particular party, but of men of all parties—men known only by the extent of their. abilities, the soundness of their judgment, and the decision of their minds Hiving dwelt upon these ideas for some time, the Earl concluded his speech, with apologizing for having somewhat irregularly taken up so mach of the time of the Committee. Lord PELHAM said, he believed he must be gin with begging pardon of the Committee for rising rather in a disorderly manner, to make a few observations on what had fallen from the Noble Bael, as it was impossible not to take some notice o► part of the Noble Lord's speech. The Noble Earl had taken upon him to censure his Majesty's servants, for having introduced the present Bill, when there were open to them two different courses to have pursued, which, in the Noble Earl's opinion, would have been, either of them, a preferable course to have followed. Had the Noble Lord forgot that the whole business of providing some relief for his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, was brought under cognizance of Parliament by a Mes sage froth the Crown ; that the object of that Mes sage had been closely followed up by the present Bill, which provided by anticipation after four years that was yet to run of the Bill of 1795, (which vested a certain part of the income then allowed and granted to his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, in certain commissioners or trustees for the discharge of his debts), and to put the Prince in possession of the whole of the income, which Par liament,llo 1795, thought proper to grant his Royal Highness ? This appeared to him to be the regular, natural, end dire course of proceeding that result ed from his Majesty's Message. Bid the Noble Earl said, the Prince was extremely ill-treated by the present Bill. From wham did the Noble Earl learn this.? He was persuaded the Prince of Wales did not either think, or feel himself to be at all ill-treated. He had himself, Lord P.m.!' A M said, .a rood share in the whole transadion, and he never heard of any such complaint. He believed it was an opinion peculiar to the Noble Earl. The Noble Earl talked of other debts and incumbrances which prevented his Royal Highness from re-assuming his state and dignity he could only say, that no such other debts as those alluded to by the Noble were before the Committee, or now un cler the consideration of the House. Under the plea of explaining an expression that had fallen from the Noble Earl on the preceding day, but which he confessed had escaped his notice, the Noble Earl had thought proper to indulge himself in a vehement attack upon his Majesty's Ministers, and to call upon them to vacate their situations, and make room for abler men. 'For his part, as one of those Ministers, he tould only say for himself, that he had not sought the situation he had the honour to hold: it had been his Majesty's royal pleasure to appoint him to it, and both when in office before, and now, though he had never been heard to make any pretensions to extraordinary or superior talents or abilities, yet he would not yield to any man in an honest endeavour to .discharge the duties of his office with satisladion to his Mt ysty, and advantage to the public. 'The Noble Earl had said, the present Administration did not possess the confidence of the people, and that they were incapable men. He was at a loss to imagine by what part of their condu& they should haveior feited the confidence of the people, or in what their incapacity had been so apparent. He had not heard any complaint either in their administration of affairs without doors, or in their parliamentary condud. His Lordship having justified himself and his Colleagues, and made a few other observations, apologized for having been drawls in unintentionally to say so much. 'f he Earl of CARLISLE rose again, and limi ted hisformer argument, part of which he rqeated. From what had fallen from the Noble Secretary of State, he said, one would be apt to imagine, that the debts and incumbrances which rendered his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales unable to set up his state and dignity for a year and a half to come, were new debts, debts never heard of before ; •whereas, in fan, they were known to be in existence 3.1 1795; .known t,, the Commissioners at that time, Int no provision had been made for them. With resard to what the Noble Secretary of State had said of his not having coveted his situation, he had .not,the F.arl said, charged him, or his colleagues, .v-ith any violent presumption in taking office, but he would tell the Noble Secretary, that for Ministers wit.) were deemed weak and incapable, to cling to office whemthey had not been able to gain•the con ;Hence of the people, and were univere,ally consi dered as a I.‘ierable, incapable Administralen, to Abe ~ exelusion of abler men, when we were on the eve of an inv. ision, and the country was in danger. was not men ly a violent presumption, but some thing worse, it was a criminal presumption, loading Ministers with a deep responsibility. his Lordship alluded to the .4.:x-Nlinister, and declared that in his ,or,:eion Mr. Pitt had saved the country. There were no two rr.wn to be met who were, he said, •of two opinions ,respecting the incapacity of the present A dminislation, and it was no secret, that 'they did not po, sess the confidence of the people.. 'With regard to the present bid, and the treatment vvehieh the Prince of Wales had experienced, at the 'hands of the prese it Ministers, he had a right to .littiatain his indiviittial Opinion as a Peer (If Parlia ment. He thougi. t the Prince had been ill-treated, and that the bill veils a -miserable, inefficient mea sure. The I.ORD C:1! !NCELLOR, in a 'speech of ,ronsiderable animati‘n and energy, reprehended the Earl of.Carlisle for tile unwarrantable freedom with whith•he had treated his Majesty's Ministers. The 'Noble Earl thinks pi oper to rise, when time House is in a Committee on an important Bill, to set off arith declaring., that h., !mans to take no part 'in that •Committee, nor does I. r mean to move any Amend ment, and yet he think s proper to indulge himself in pronouncing the 13i!1 avniserable, weak, inefficient measure, perfealy incetrable, and -inapplicable. If it Ile a miserable, int& ient measure, it,is a measure ewhieh hi; Majesty's Mi sisters have, after due consi deration, thought it th it . duty to propose to Parlia. a.-ad from which i;hey would not he driven by any strong expression the Noble Earl should make ; hi; Majesty's !S Enisters (thank God !) have shoulders broad enough ;o bear any observations which t km.l2 L 'F!JP illeVoble Earl may make upon theiN audit mother. Lord will tell the Noble Earl, he would be t',;.e man 'to tell the Noble Earl, that when he used the word is peril" the preceding night, he used a word which he ought not to have used. much less if he really meant it in the extraordinary sense in which he had that day thought proper to explain it. The . Noble Lord talked of Ministers haying lost the confi dence of the people ; what was that but adopting the unnecessary cant taken up by some speaker or other every day, which he had repeated again and again, his Lordship sai i i,from the first hour that he had ix seat in Parliament ? With regard to the situation which lie held, the Lord Chancellor declared it was well known that was the last thing he was desirous of obtaining ; hut he would tell the Noble Earl, that he was conscious that he had done his duty in it since he had held it ; and as to his colleagues and himself havinj lost the confidence of the people, they had received the best and most undeniable proofs to the contrary—the constant, uniform, and unvaried support of the Parliament of that pooplo— the support of both Houses, and the countenance and approbation of their Sovereign. The Bill at length passed through the CGrumittee, and was ordered to be reported. IRISII MAIL BILL. Lord AUCKLAND called the attention of the House for a moment, to an inaccuracy in the Irish Mail and Letter Bill, which he would more fully go into in the Committee tomorrow. A short conversation arose upon it between Lord PELIIAM, the Duke of NORFOLK, Lord AUCKLAND, and Lord LIMERICK. BILL. TO PREVENT FRIVOLOUS AND VENATIOUS ARRESTS. The Route resolved itself into a Committco on this Bill; when Lord RAwooN proposed several Amendments, and Lord ELLEN BOROUGH introduced sever.il new Clauses. Lord RAWDON said, he meant to move to have the Bill printed with the amendments, and to move its being recommitted when the Judges should re turn from the circuits. LORD CHANCELLOR promised his as sistance, when the Bill should be recommitted. Adjourned at Half-past Six o'Clock. HOUSE OF COMMONS. TUESDAY, MARCH 15. A Person from the StampOffiee presented, par suar.t to an Order made yesterday, an account of the sums received from the Lottery, from the sth of January 1802, to the corresponding day in Jan. 1803; togethcr with the surplos-money in the hands of the Receiver-General of the S;arnp Ordered to lie on the table. ELECTION COMMITTEES. Sir M. W. RIDLEY presented a Retition from JOHN HAIL, who bed refused to pay attention to the Order issued for his attendance on the Commit tee appointed to try the merits of a Petition com plaining of an undue elecllion for Great Grimsby ; and who, in execution of the Speaker's warrant, was now in the custody of the Serjeant at Arms. The Petition expressed strongly the contrition of the Petitioner for the offence which he had involun tarily been guilty which arose from inadvertence and no! from any contempt of the power and privi leges of the House. On the suggestion of the SPEAKER, Sir M. W. RIDLEY then moved, That the Petitioner be biought up to-mon ow to the bar of the House ; which was agree ti to. EEREFORDSIIIRE ELF.CTION. Mr. DICKINSON, Jun. reported to the House the decision of the Committee on this eldtion; which was, that Sir GEORqE CORNWA L L was duly eleded ; that J. G. COTTEREL, Esq. was not duly eleßed ; and that the Petition against the cha was neither frivolous nor vexatious. A new NVrlt was then ordered for a Member to se►ve in Parliament for the County of Hereford, in the room of J. G. Cotterch Esq. Petitions were presented from the Maltsters of Scarborough, Horncastle, and other places, pray ing for the repeal of the Malting Aa.—Ordered to lie on the table. On the Motion of Mr. TIERNEY, the House went into a Commitee on the Borough Pa, - ..ing which was ordered to be reported. GRAND JUNCTION CANAL. The IL.;se having resolved itself into a Com mittee on this Bill, • Sir J. W. ANDERSON observed, that the pro. visions of the Bill by no means corresponded with the description given of -it in the preamble. It au thorised a certain Company to raise 400,0001. for the purpose of carrying on a work, in which the pub lic convenience and .accommodation, if at ;111 at tended to, wtne not so much the objek(ts in their con templation, as their private and individual advan tage. He, therefore, moved to leave out the words 44 for public accommodation and such improve moms as the Company should think proper ;" v, hick was agreed to, and the Report ordered to b.: re ceived to-morrow. _ . _ 1112 Report of the Expiring Laws Bill was brought up; read a fist and se,:ond time, and agreed w. IRISH AFFAIRS. The CHANCELLOR of the IRISH EXCHE QUER (Mr. Corry) reminded the House, that he had several days ago given notice of his intention to swe for leave to ining in a Bill to restrain the Bank of Ireland from Payment in Specie, in the same. manner as had been done xvith the Bark of England. He deemed it necessary that they should be assimilated in their operations, and wished it to he understood, that tht restraint he proposed en Bank of Ireland was merely consequential on what had been imposed on the Bank of England; fin-, till that t,ok place, no such measure was thought of in Ireland, nor was it ever thought ne cessary even to' institute an inquiry into the re sources or solvency of the Irish Hank. Leave was given to bring in the Dill. The Irish Customs - and Excise fluty Bill was, on the Motion of Mr. Cony, read a third time ant passed. Mr. DICKINSON gave notice, that he should, to-morrow, rtnr:e for leave to bring in a Bill, for suspending, for a limited time, all prosecutions nr stituted against Clergymen for Non-residence. IRISH MILITIA. The House having resolved itself into a Com- ~, a, . . mlttce of the whole House on the Irish Militia Mr. Alexander in the Chair, Mr. WICKHAM (who previously moved and carried, that it be an instration to the Committee to make provision for filling up vacocies in the Mi litia) proposed a Clause, the objea of which was, to authorize the Commissioners of the Treasury to advance Bounties to persons entering and unrolling themselves in the Militia in Ireland, not exceeding four guineas per man. Mr. ELLIOT wished to be informed, what was the necessity for such an arrangement! Mr. WICKHAM replied, that according to the system hitherto adopted, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland was empowered to order the payment of two guineas, and no more, to persons enrolling themselves in the Irish Militia. That regulation was found not to be sufficiently effative, and it was deemed necessary to give the power of affording double that sum, which was not, however, peremp tory, but enabled the persons so authorised to ad vance the bountrfrom two to four guineas, as con venience or circumstances might require. - - Mr. ELLzur said, that notwithstanding this kind of explanation, he ,till foiled himself in rather an embarrassed preclieameet. Ile observed, that Irish interests had been very particularly attended to, towards the close of the last Session of Parlia ment ; but he could not consent to let a motion, like the present, pass by in total silence. No man felt more than he did the necesity of a strong Militia, but he wished them to be levied in Ireland es well as England, by the true constitutional mode of bal lot, and not by bounties ; for were the latter method adopted, the consequence would be, that the recruit ing-service for the regulars would be very much interrupted, as few would consent to go abroad when they could receive a bounty for their services at home. At the end of the last war, he observed, that the Irish Militia was disbanded, and he for one was never satisfied with the policy of that measure. There, were many reasons why he had not approved of it; and he was but little inclined to be reconciled to it now, when lie found it attended with a consi derable expenee. The law of drawing by ballot, he knew had ncycr been more than very partially en foeced in Ireland ; and to raise 30 or 40,000 men in the manner now proposed, would be rather levying an army of Feucibles than a Militia force; and he feared that few men would be found disposed to em bark on foreign service, who could get foisr guineas bounty for staying at home. Mr. WICK NAM replied, that the A& of the pre - sent Session, if the Hon. Gentleman took the trou ble to peruse it attentively, would be found calcu lated not to impede, but protdt the recruiting . of the line. There was no restraint on the description of persons who might be appointed by ballot, as very few of the balloted men served in person, but generally employed substitutes. The parishes, to hnd substitutes, were obliged to give bounties of six guineas, or more, per man ; whereas this Bill NOad impose the restraint 'let no more than four guineas should be given in any case. He was aware that the system of balloting had been adopted by the Irish Legislature, but it was found impraaicable to enforce it generally throughout the whole of the country. There were several reasons why it be came necessary to disband the Irish Militia at the peace ; but the principal one was, that having only enrolled themselves tiering the war, their time of service was then expired. It was indispensibly ne cessary to resort to the present method, or otherwise we should be without a Militia in Ireland ; the De puty Lieutenants in many of the counties having found it absolutely impossible to enforce the ballots ; and though this power of giving bounties would be granted, it need not be exercised unless necessity re quired it. The lion. Gentleman was also under a mistake, a strange one for a person who had been in a high official situation in Ireland (Secretary at War) in respdt to the number of the Irish Militia, which, instead of 30 or 40,000 men, as represented, he believed would scarcely exceed 18,000. Mr. ELLIOT rejoined, that from the last state ment it would appear that the Irish Militia was not to be raised upon constitutional militia prin ciples. The SECRETARY at VAR reminded the Com mittee, .that the objea of the measure now in clis cussiort, was only to enforce the present method of raising a Militia force in Ireland ; and would it be contended, that on an emergency, when a stror,g in ternal force may become necessary, it would be wrong to resort to the most efil%Ftual means of ob taining it? It was singular that the Hon. Member who war. so strenuous in his objeiaions, ;titer hav ing been one of the first to sound the trumpet of alarm, would now come forward with attempts to dishearten and depress the spirits of she people ! He doubted if it was even parliamentary in him to re serve himself so long, ;Ind now in this advanced stage to come suddenly forth with such objeaions. The Hon. Gentleman, from the otfic:al department he Limself held in Ireland, ought and must be con vinced that the Irish Militia never could be raised by ballot, though at this critical einergency, he thought proper to oppose a Bill to continue for twelve months longer a law which must otherwise expire in the space of a month or six weeks. As to any bad effe4 which might be itpprehene-.1 to the reeruiting in the line, from this measure, he confessed that he did not entertain ally. They %vele witnesses to the spirit and energy displayed by the Irish -NB litia in the late war. The English Militia certainly acted in a manner which refleaed the highest ho w-utr on their courage and patriotism ; yet when the liiil was passed for allowing them to enter into other corps, they in general confined their services.to Eng land or Europe, whereas the greatest pai t of the Irish Militia regiments offered to fight for the ho nour and interest.of the realm in any plirt of the globe. Sir LAWRENCE. PARSONS said, that to his conception, the objeaions to the present Bill were of a two-fold natnt!. The first related to the dan ger of its injuring the recruiting service for the line —and the second respeaed what was called an un comaitutional tendency. He could not, however, think, that there-was much force in any of these ar guments. As to the first, notwithstanding the un happily disturbed and distraa:'d state of the coun try, during the greater part of the last war, Ir. land was always found very fertile in supplies for the re .cruiting-service. This Bill .would, in Lis ,opinion, tend most to increase our force, by Laving two modes for levying it ; the one by barct, and the otherby the effect of bounties. With regard to the apastitutional part of the question, he wished, since i the Union, to have the Constitution of the two.couil. tries to be as much assimilated as possible, but the constitution of their respeOive armies was widely different. In Ireland, Roman Catholics were al lowed to serve in the army, and these were sup posed to be objecitionable ant disaffected, whom it might be prudent to exclude from the army ; but this power of seleaion would be lost in the base of bait. lot, and the persons drawn must be taken indis criminately. He had himself, he said, the honor of being Governor of a very respeaable county, and having called a general meeting, they came to fir, unanimous resolution, that the most secure and effectual method would be to recruit by bounties far the Militia. On those grounds, he would vote iv. favour of the Bill. Colonel FITZGERALD did not consider the measure as in any way unconst.tutional. He un. dnrstoo,i, that when the mode of drawing by ballot was first proposed in England, it appeared, to great many persons, extremely objectionable ; but what might have been objectionable here, would, in Ireland, be impracticable. When that use- thod was legislatively adopted in Ireland, k was entirely foreign to the notipns and habits of the people, nlr were there means of getting per, sons to attend the ballots, In Ireland there were no parish-laws ; and what was done here by the parishes, was done there by the Grand Jurie. When the ballots were attempted to be enforced, very few men, and not a, single regiment was raised. It was certainly a hardship, and so felt through the country,that a tenant of 301. or 401. a year should, by a ballot, be put upon equal terms with his land : . lord, who might have as many thousands. Even if the balloting system could be generally carried into effect, the substitutes would cost those why were drawn, or the parishes, ten or fifteen guinea E:„ whereas the recruit;, under this Bill, would cost no more than four guineas, and the expence be ulti.- mately provided for by tbc grand juries of the counties. General TA nETON expressed his full appro bation of the measure, and said, that had it not been for peculiar circumstances, he intended, siv weeks ago, to bring before the House a general vice of the state of the Irish Militia. He paid very hill: compliments to the ardour and spirits of the !rat Militia., while he had the honour of being amongst them. lletter troops could not be found than som; of the regiments which he had under his command, particularly the Athlone light infantry; for he hail known these regiments march twenty-five miles a day, throuh 3 di,%c;xlt country, without lea v ing a maxi bcl.in 4 them. Mr. ELLIOT, after apologizing to the Corn 7 mittee for troubling; them so often, said, that he was undoubtedly for having in this country the strongest force possible, but from all he had hi therto heard, he found his objeetionsrather strength, encd than removed. He considered this system as materially afre6ting the recruiting-service, to any impediments to which the beginning of a war was unquestionably the most inauspicious moment He could not help entertaining many doubts on the po licy of again embodying the Irish Militia, and had these doubts confirmed by confidential commu nications with the best-intbrnied persons in that country. The SECRETARY at WAR thought the last ol?servatioa of the Hon. Member seemed to simply something which ought not to be passed over with out an answer. However the interest of this coun try might lead it to an chiefly on the defensive, it would not be without the purtuing, as circumstag ces might require, offensive operations, which this Bill would tend to facilitate. The Hon. Gentle man seemed to mistake the nature of ballots for the Militia. Though the law was passed, it never had, nor could be carried into pranize in Ireland, and even here most of the ballo:ed men served by s4b stitutes. The IRISH ATTORNEY GENERAL (Right Hon. John Stewart) declared, that he never was more saryised than to find a gentleman, who had once an ocial situation in Ireland, labouring under such extraordinary misconceptions. He seemed to forget, that though the bounties to be paid under this Dill were to be advanced by order of the Lord Lieutenant, they would in the end be paid by direc tions from the Grand Juries of the counties. But there wits stronger reason for giving the preference to bounties over ballots. Asa Member of the Secret Committee in Ireland, at the commencement of the late unhappy insurrections, he had the opportunity of discovering, as would appear from the report, that it was the great objeFl of the rebels to get into the militia, in order that when they should be aimed, cloathed, and disciplined, they might (lc sert to the enemy. For this .reason, if he may bc.s allowed to offer advice, he would recommend great caution in the seleCtion of pt:rsons to be admitted in the militia. Mr. LEE and Colnnel BAGWELL spoke shortly in favour of the motion. Clause agreed to, and the Report of the Com mittee to be received to-morrow•. The ATTORNEY QENERAL gave notice, that he would move to-morrow for leave to bring in a Bill for regulating the office of Surveyor.-Gene ral of his Majesty's Forests. The .SECRETARY at WA R brought up a -Bill for providing for the Families of Militia-men, in .time of race; read a first time, and ordered to be read a second time to-morrow, and to be : printed. The SECRETARY AT WAR brought forward his motion for leave to bring in a Bill for compleat ing the establishment of officers of the Militia of Great Britain. When the following provisions seemed the outline.of the Bill: Ist. That field offi cers, who 14d served during last war, whether qua lified or not, should be called on to fill vacancies, if recommended. 2d. That captains who served last war should he appointed to vacancies, if recom mended, whether qualified or not. 3d. That Cap tain-Lieutenants should retain their rank, though the colonels had no companies. And 4th. That mi litia-men acing as artillery-men should have pay as such. Leiive was then given to bring in the Bill. Mr. CORRY ,moved, that a Committee be ap pointed to prepare estimates of the pay and cloth• ing.of the Irish Militia, andallowance to Subaltern Officers, for the year 1803. Agreed to. A Msage ut f i ro ny m t tl ii i i e w L i o th rd A s m an en no d u n n k e eias ed . their At. sent to t e h s e m Adjourned. Prok I