The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — London, England, 1807-03-27 00:00:00

• . wo es totally de fi cient. Nay , w h a t th e Ni de Ord bas sat.;, only n oves to rue, that sh •uld acs --- , jai voices-me be woe made, it will only serve to r kt t h e appetites of the Catholics of !retold tor w e groat! ; and this is not only a deduClion of tea s,. bolo cou.eityl w an ave.. ed manifesto of that iv of t h e {rise people. Hut, my Lords, observe i rdL!ial measure. We te' exise quenees ass e die Catholics of Ireland. that we consider ahem too dangerous to be entrusted with any , e 6ees in the civil department of Goe c eerw.et, we eel eve them unsafe ascot ants in Legislation, or in t h e councils of the State ; yet we will admit ts.em to the highest ranks of the ssemiiiig force of tl , e awr y, What shallow sophistry ! Yes, tell them et c aw, that although .they shall not be entrusted e eh the implements of peace. and the exercise of the Legislative lundions ; yet they shall be girded with Ole. Sword of uinar, Prlwcr, and th eance. a means of ut, my teking areple and sangy veng B Lards, let rite for a moment draw your attention to the main point of discussion ; and from which I ter:airily should not have swerved so much, had it not been partly necessary te follow the Noble Lord o n o opencd the debate. Pha diipeteh which was Wel hefore Hi; Nlejesty, previous to its transmission to Ireland, did, ip the very first instance, meet with lii ; Mejestyrii entire disapprobation and his de *Jed iicgetive, In c hisequence of this avowal of his ancient•hestility to tile measure, the Noble Baron addressed to His Majesty a long letter. requesting His Misj•esty would retrael his avowal ef Ma hes:Atte, and permit the Bill to be Ibsen so as to admit the right of the Catho li der cettain rehrielions; the letter stated «we only wish you• to agree (as yea have on a former occasion:) to the principle of the former Bill, so as to prevent the eof 1793 be coming a deed letter, and thus extend the privi lege formerly granted To the Catholics in Ireland to t h rte in your Majesty's forces in England." What eel then he twee clean . , than that the King, its giv ei • cement to the measure proposed, was de nt ..ly of neini in, that he was (Illy sanetioning the 1793, and rendering itefr-efisal ; and diese -1 ee could not hr thought to have embraced within the meenine of the Aft, those restrietions which I hid all Along conceived to he inconsistent h los duty, and the interest of the Nation he was I , to defend and protect. The N ft iron ;Ilea received taw lef:ions to confirm, as far AS pos. able, the bill to that of 1793 ; how far such a con formanna had taken place, the House is corn ne:ent to decide. Wets respeel to the teserves w: the N •qe By. exoefted to be ad Mitt dto exist in his hew. eufd it to say, that inch were totally tic insistent with r ,e spirit of the Constitution ; it is t s separate the King (rain the Enecntive Govern • mew ; it is to throw the wools odium of ..toy napopular measure on the Sovereign. - "' r Rohl • Lord has been ingenuous in his confes s • to has been undouluelly erroneous in his con , • , however the Noble Lord may have t • t .!ctitated by an anxiety for :he prosperity and reefere of a minter so intimately canneeted with Ragland, I beg leave to assure hi ei, it shall be eo • • lets the ebyeele of the present Ministers to contra• tzate. and unite the en: rgies and population of the soontry in her defence, against the threats of oar p:oete and mena( ing tne. " The Earl of NlO IRA supported the statements et his Nit'le Friend, and adverted to the en gagement rutted into by a Cabinet Minister in toissiiig to his seat ; hie Lordship observed, that he was swoin to perform his duty, by giving to His Majoty the best a hike he was able ; with this obligation his fete colleagues in of. b:a had endeevoused to do their duty ; and he was happy the present q testier' had at iSPii, as their great oejed was to submit the whole of their con s:met to the public. In cone hisien, his Lordship observed, that he end his ellieteues in nffice were iedebted in :he highest degree in His Mejeeys for hit gracious condescension a: all times towards teem; and 'deferred their firm opinion. that in this matter liis 'elaiesty had been situated by a high testa of dery sowerds subjeds• Lied MELVILLE expressed himself highly I Beatified that this subjefl had crone under public die- tssion, as he was setoied that every one, from one cud et the bland to the other. should have full Lnewledge of she traneaaion. Ile then adverted to the conluel of Mr. Pitt, in 1831, who declared that he would net remain in office, uniess be could intro duce the measure of Crohnic Emeecipetion; and it was a iretorieus feel. that, spars his return into offite, having fairly stated the circumstance., he did pledge himself that !le never would resume to dis. tueb His elaje-ty's mind with that sitejtiel in future. bezelHi leave to ask the Noble laird (Gren ville) whether he would no: ha ie gone into office with that illustrioes man (:le. Pit.) and pledged himself in the same term.? The N.eile Lord asked, sets their no other means of conciliating the people irelaud, but by the conce-sieri of this gartieular measure, by which Fps Majesty was put in such a predicament ? Lard GRANVILLE. in explanation. said, that from the distinct question weich had bees put to Mat, he felt it his duty immediately to answer it. The Noble Viscount had asked, whether he meant to ineineate. tint he would not, in toeitioSion with Mr. lint, have m tde such a pledge ? He expressly hated, that however great his resped ter the talents or Mr. Pitt, he yet could not have taken upon him arty Ace, without a most cemplete reserve to him self of his opinions urea this particular subjen. Lewd ROLLAN D. in a most animated and spi rited speech, supported the measures of the late Mi nisters. We regret our limit, will not permit a The Earl of CARNARVON supported the late Ministry with warmth, rind considered the language e: the present Ministry 4$ amounting to high treason. Lord HAWILEStiLIitY defended the hlisis try troth this. ooeisssurete East of CekiitN•AliVON explained. MI! Earl of BUCICt*.IGH NISHIRE thought, that any concession! to. the Montan Catholics of Melted. wouii only testi to diatub the peace and Wenqullitysol the country. Lord ERSKINE. although he admitted him. self to be tine of the per.nns whn opposed the Ca tholic Bill s warmly supportlid the conduct of the Ex-Ministers. The Ent of BIN KINQHAMS; II RE explained ;i t some length. The Mario; r,f STAFFORD gave *not:ce, that he would, on Wednesday se'cnight, submit some propocitions to the House, upon the subjeft of the ussin•S of this night. Lord HAW KESBURY wished hire to explain the nature of hi, motion; but the Noble Marquis did not make any answer. The Rine, at Twelve o'clock, adjourned to Wednesday ,e'nnight. 110 USE 7F crietatOete. Lord Folkestone brought up a 1111 for the im provement of the Harbour of Folkestone, in the county of Kent, which was reed first and second time, and ordered to be committed Sir Charles Price brought no the Temple Bar, and Seow• I fill Improvement Rill; also the Smith field Market Regitletion Bill ; which were severally read a first and second time, and ordered to be committed. Mr. Cobb, from the Auditor's Office, presented' at the Bar several Accounts from the Commissi-in ers for auditing the Public Accounts, which were ordered to lie on the Table, arid be printed Mr. Sheridan brought up a Bill for ereCting a Bridge across the river Thames, opposite South empton-rtreet, in the Sirand, to the hurry side, which was read a first time. Sir Samuel Romilly also brought up a Bill, for making the Freehold Estates ot perseni iving, liable to the Bankrupt Laws, assets in the hands ot Creditors ; which was likewise read a first rime, and ordered to be reel a second time out Thursday the 9th of April next. Sir John Newport brought up a Mil for emcee:l ing several Ards relating to the Poor in Ireland, which was read a first time; also a Ixll to em power the Judges in Ireland to aepoint certaiu Offieers to administer Oaths, which were severally read a first time, and ordered to be reed a second time on the 9th of April next. Sir JOHN NEWPORT also moved for, and brought up, an A.ccoent of the duties upon Spirits for a certain period, which was ordered to lie on the Table. and he printed. Mr.,ROBSON roe., and said, it was its inten tion, iMmediately after the Easter recess, i steunit a motion for the cnnsideret ion of the House, upon the srthjelt of the Barrack Department lie com plained of the great delay which had taken place in printing these papers, a, a consriierahle injury to the public ele did not hawerer name any particit lay day tor the porpose Upon mono i of Mr. LEIGH lECK, a month's time was grant-.t for bringi gin a Bill for inclosine certain pert: of he Forest of Charlwell, in lesec t shire, upon th• special grounds, that the lands to be inclosed co-A.46rd 32 parishes, and upwards of 18,000 acre:. A d twiny of the Landholders had not .s yet Agreed n ie the terms. Upon es eon re Mr CI:EEVY, the House went into a C ormi•ree teem the Petition fee erefting a Bridge eerie •he Fee:. neur River, in the coonries of Ce,o. i ry i 0 tire '4rerineuth, and le.e, was given to ferri t e ie re W. te en +h --Maddoxie His Me E jesty to meke certein gr ves • B. , sq. fir that proem!. Mr. 11013.1:eU SE brought up the Report of the Cernmotee ot Nays and AiTearts upon the Iri4l His .gee ; the s?..t.r•ti Resolutions were read and agreed to, and hills ordered to be brought in pur suant thereto. Upon the order of the day for the third reading of the Sicilian Prize Motyy Bill, the Advocate Generel brought iip acl vise to be inserted in the Bill, for vesting in the hands of the Ambassador such sums as had been Alm teed a; prize money to certain officers and seamen of his Sicilian Majesty. Atter a short conversation be'wern AI viral Markham, Mr. Biker, and the Advocate General, the clause WAS agreed to, and the Bill read a third time, arid pissed. The 'Preesurer of the Navy's Regulation Bill was read a third time, and pissed. The London Dock Company Bill was ordered to be committed on Wednesday se'neignt. A new writ was moved for, for Northampton, in the room of the Right Hon. Spencer Perceval, who, since his Edenton, had accepted the place of Chan cellor of the Exrheq ter, and Chancellor of th e Duchy of Lancaster, datrinz plot:are On the motion of Mr. HDSKISSON, a new IVrir was ordered for the town of Northampton, in the room of Mr. Perceval, who, since his Eire - lion, has accepted the office of Chancellor of the Exche quer, and also the ollsee of Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, during His Majesty's pleasure. CAME OF TIME CHANGE OF ADMINISTRATION. Mr. HUSKISSON moved, " That this House do at its rising adjourn to Wednesday se'nnight." On this motion being proposed from the Chair, Viscount IiOVsTICK rose and addressed the House as follows ri-eff The motion which has just now been made by the Right Hun Gentleman, is one which has been usual at this period of the 78,14. and I trust it will not be thought improper._ if 1 embrace this opportunity of giving to the House that explanation to which I allimfed some days ago, and or which I formally gave notice yesterday. It is an explanation which is of the first importance to my self, and one which I think is due to my Colleagues. Tiler the circumstances which have led to the re cent change in His Majesty's Councils should be fusdy explained. and known to the public. is a mate ter that cannot be disputed. It is of importance, to'), that the House should rece*.ve etch explanation, in order that the Members of it may be able to term A power estimate and opinion of the char:after and conduce of those parsons who have retired, and that they may judge of the consequences likely to result to the c untry by the change which has teken place. It is of importance to the 'lnuit-, in the decision of the question now read term the Chair, inesmuch as the propriety of a lung or short adjournment may be dependent upon the necessity of adopting sume -esures to avert the consequences of the extreordanaty events which have Worn place. To myself personally, every feel ing of honour tenders it important, that I may as soon as possible convince those who have sup ported me in this House, that my conduct has not been such as is make them repent of the kindness and ioduleence which I h ore experienced from them. Undoubtedly, Sir, every moment's delay in explaining my condutt, upon this most important and itsterestiog suhjea, has been exeeedingly painful • hf me ; yet I conceived it to be my duty to abstain from saying any thing by way ! of that iatend4l ex planation, till such time as /die .feLtiesty had. des dared his intention of effeetini; ;hat change which puts it now in my power to bring the whole circum stances under the review nt the House. Anximes, however, as I may be, to take t..e earliest possible moment to make the statement, 1 mu .t confess that I feel considerable regret in being placed under the necessity of doing so, in the absence of chore whose presence some may think was requisite, in order to watch the accuracy of my statement, and to acquiesce in it, or to cone& its inaccuracies, should any oceir therein. I do not mean to impute to the Right Honourable Gentleman (Mr. Sturges gownej who made some observations last 'light, as to the impropriety of bringing such mat ters before Inc Hoose, in the absence of certain %I:tubers of His Majesty's New Adminis tration, that he entertained the belief, that I would state to the House any thing wilfully iccnr reß ; I only suppose, that he alluded to that de gree of partiality which. in most cases, naturally arises, when a 1114 R% own conduit is the subjeet of his own ex p lanation aril jastrfeat on —rle conceived, I suppose. that I w•iuid be dispoiee to give as favourable a view of my own conduit es possible, and it is with no other view that I there!' fore mentiou my regret at being under the necessity of bringing it forward in the absence of those per sons he alluded to. lam as anxious as they can be, that they should be present upon such an occasion; but I hope that this matter will yet be discussed at some future time, and that they will thereby have an opportunity either of making a restatement, if y think it necessary, or of entering int) a further vestigation, and sifting every part of the details ::etch I may this day feel myself disposed to ent-r upon. It is neither is my nature nor in my habit, to shrink from the exarnmet;on ot any man; but I feel my self in that situatizm, that I must either take this early opportunity, not wolotanding the absence of certain individuals, most tnaterialle interested in the present question, or submit yet longer to the currency of false re ports, and misrepresentation, supported by partial exttafts from confidential papers. (The Noble Viscount was here alluding to the Extraas from cer tain Letters addressed to Lord Grenville and him self, which appeared in a olorning Paper, of Mon day and Tuesday last. This allusion was followed by loud and reiterated cries of Hear ! bear! hear so as to interrupt the Noble Viscount for a consi dei able time.) In justice to tor& and to my Colleagues (continued he) I mike this statement, upon the coneiaion, that a fair, Carldli, and c,rreA statement, can be the only said it. to such misre presentations. I conceive this, e .e. dose. to he my only method of geeieiaing my csooluet w this House, ton'. 43 a Member of the late Adminiatia tion, a 7•:cesber of Parliament. In every point my duty calls upon me to state e , ' ..stance. Ido not know, that, in any suation, os under any other circumstances, . eutd have suffered such a period of time to elapse. In justice to myself, to my colleegueb, and to the public at loge. it was =possible WE =U. in °- present instance, to delay ray explanation, CO time as the prisons alluded to could resume theh seats in this House. Sir, in eeling thus, howeveir upon the present occasion, their absence will havr, this effea, that 1 shell not only confine my iele orialy to what 1 conceive to be a true statement of the teas, but shall avoid every tning that can possibly lead to argument or discussston.— I shall leave such points for a future occasion; andt I rust that on au truly day after the holyiays, an opportunity will be afforded the House by some individuals, whoever they may be, of judging of toe whole matters act o ways connected with the cause of the change which has ne.v taken place :laving premised thus much, Sir, I shall now pro. cerd to the statement I proposed to make upon this occasion. When the late Administration was formed, there were many Members admitted into it, whose opinions and principles, with roped to I what is called the Catholic Question, they had of themselves very recently manifested to the public, in a manner the most authentic, both by their speeches and by their votes in pArliarnen:. They came into Parliament at a time when their mons and opinions upon that particular topic were well known. lam sure that there was not, hi any quarter, exile Rations or suspicions entertained, that those persons. whose charsiters were so well known, could be induced, for the sake of emolument or pre ' ferment, to abandon those principles and opinions which they formerly expressed, when coming into office ; no such requisition was made from them, nor did they come into the Government under any such stipulation; which, if it bad been elaeled of them, they would have found themselves bound in duty then as now, to decline suhmitting to. At tile same time that it was known what were their opinions, it was also known what were the prevailing opinions in Ireland upon the Catholic Question. As all Ministers are bound in duty to give advice to His Majesty upon all occasions, and upon all subjelts, so upon the other hand , I can safel y sa y , the late Ministry came into the Government with an anxious end sincere desire to ark up to their duty, and at the same time to avoid, if possible, the propeiing of any subjea which could in any degree prove repugnant to those feelings and opinions of His Majesty, which they were, from every motive of affection and attachment, bound to respea. Such were the principles upon which those who composed the lace Alcuiaistretion came into power. they hoped, by a prudent, lenient, and conciliating sys tem of Government, to keep that question totally at rest, and their hopes and expeaations were flat. tered with every appearance of propablesoccess, for a considerable while after tney had taken possession o f those official situations to which His Majesty had thought proper to appoint them. However, Sr.i towards the end of last year, there did occur eh curnstances in the West of Ireland (the most valu• able, but I am sfrud the most vulnerable part of the British dominions), that engaged their most anxious attention ; and, indeed, the general situa tion of that country had materially done so, ever since they came into the Government. The dts turbances, I say, which occurred last year, en gaged not only their attention, but increased their anxiety. Notwithstanding that they were urged by many persons (who are fonder of the policy of c ourse than I am), to adopt force, in order to re- .uce "m l W'"' ... . . • dace that spirit of revolt which • existed in the Vt st of Ireland; yet they declined it, se dreg ha' of succeeding, watoint bavieg email lie to the vigorous exertions re tee known powers of the law, recommended by their more Sollesiiste and u. lee - leg advisers. They, determined to aeopt thew measures, which would give never se-tie/awls tee the people of Ireland, 416,1 S'lCil as woolo coolies that polity which they preveouly pursued. , So• veral opinions wire bias aod • Ute ;exult of .041 first &Jibe/ALIN,* was the measure Which, i lassal, brought into teis biatise. lowa' reeettorniended, to than, as a measure calcoleted to get the bettor of a great bar to the augineatasson of the err o 4 the empire at largo, as affording the means eterei cruitir.g Our MILSATYaiid naval force r so Weenie" at the presmt moment. It was their cepviction. that the measure sic proposed, was the b st edapte ed for adrniuing those persons who are at present excluded, by what I may say is the ill•undersoioid policy of the present Adinthioration. Tole q icetion oew agitated, is what has hitherto been called die C.,- tholic Question ; but je is improperly_ so eeliej a s it at present relates tq end sepia:Cunt/6 other .bo. .enters from the Ostablishedchurch, as oleo thossie4 it would further tend to the treequillity,of p by ao.dingout to-Gentlemen ofoll dewilressoseto pooped Orrising its theoriser and navy, and uulualiog motives of string attaeninent Amongst that people in general towards this country. Ir was euggesied as being the most proper for dressing torth Use su perabundant population of that country, ai a sonrcu of strength tor the detente of the whole British Empire. I do not know that it is iteee-sasy relate circumstances upon :his occasion. which have beeu formerly so often alluded to. It is enough for me, at present, to state, that the late Adeadustou. lion thought, that by taking this measure, they were not ineaJing, but streogthenino the general security of this country, as well as irelend itself which is materially interwoven, not only with t. welfare, but the very existence of the Booth Em pire. They were endeavouring to pretreat that discontent in Ireland, which (*hail ian invitee:re of • that country take place, which may God avert I; they foreeavir would tend mot violently to shake the foundation of our Established Church.— As friends, therefore, to the Established Church, they contemplated this measure. When that mea sure was in contemplation, there arrived ac counts from Ireland, transmitted by the Lord Lieu tenant, of a disposition having been manifested !iy the Catholics to prosecute those claims, vouch they had so recently urged in a former `S ession of .mss imperial Parliament. I, who had formerly sup ported thou claims, did think that the giving there encourage.nent, by :soy other means titan those already agreed, to in ate Cabinet. would be ea tremely impolitic. ft was a measure intended to be used as a mode of preventing the introdudicto of such an applic:stion as that I now allude to ; and it was one whicii tended to afford setieloesion to the generality of the Catholic inhabitants of 'relate'. Such were the general inducements, both upon policy and priaciple, which tmcoteragee us to bring such 4 measure forward, ani we had no apprehero eiosO.l6)ot it. 441 liiill7.;upsorpg-Abe ieae to which the q lotion ot Catholic konitscipatioa was formerly eaposed. In eon:ensplating th • law passed by the Irish Parliamenr, in the year 1793, there spe peered to esi t in it a strange incor.gr tity ; and at toe same time we wete aware el the 'lineations of the Government of that country, as manitested upon the occasion of passing that Bill, by Lord Hobart, now Eat' of Buzionghernshire, to intro c:uce similar laws, or to extend the provisions of that al, at some future period, to this country. He had the authority of that Notle Lord, stating generally, that such a pledge had been given to toe Irish Ca tholics ; and tn aztore this measure was not only to be considered upon tler growsdi of policy and prin ciple, but also upon that of keeping yoserel good faith, by giving to men that boors witeu had oeen, upon a termer occasion, promised to th eta, under the sacred authority of Government. Upon this last ground alone, the late Admi estratie did hope the measure they were about to introduce would meet with twat general approbation, from a:I parties, which, upon other grounds, they linked t i. It was, therefore, upon all these grounde intimated to His Majesty, that such a measure was in agitation ; and a detailed dispatch was written, and sent to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. (a document which I wish I could lay before the House upon the present occasion), stating all the reasons which induced us to propose this nico.tue. and convey* the several opinions of the Cabinet. That written dispatch was previously sent to His Nlejesty by a Cabinet Minister. ( Hear ! he,,r. l ) To that first proposal, undoubtedly I must say, Mot His M vjesty indeed expressed his strong disseot. Upon this the Cabinet Aeon deliberated en it, and they again mole a respectful representation to Hip Majesty. as to the particular grounds upon which they were inclissed to think such a measure expe dient, both in point of police, priociple, good faith. and general security of its 'dominions. To that re presentation came an answer from His Majesty. expressing still considerable reluctance certainly but, at the same time, adhibiting his consent. ( LonJ and repeated cries of Hear ! hear!) i repeat it oir, that that answer, while it was conceived in terms :f reluctance, conveyed, at the same time, a /waive es. - sent. ( Hear ! hoar ! ) Under the sanction of tai t high authority, anothrr dispatch was sent of to •' Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, ;red soon after wards a meeting was held by the Ceaolies, in constgeeece of its having transpired, th ro ugh the intormete a4,f Mr. Elliot, the ptinrioot Secretary to the Loid Lieutenant, that this nseesure was to be Mau duced into the Mutsu,' Bill. Some discussion arose upon the subject, and a question was put to Mr. Elliot by Mr. O'Connor, as to whether t' e Bill went to admit Catholics into all ranks of Army ? or whether they were to be precluded trout those of Commaseier-in.Chief and of %taster-tee ner:6l of rho Utdderice, as was the case in the Irish Bill ? Mr. El i /MCI answer was, that he coyote/ell no restridions were in view, except the imposing ccte tam oaths, as expressed in the Bill itself. Although Mr. Elliot expressed himself thus deuettally, yet the 'sooting immediately conceived they *ere to enjoy e - 1 offices. Dispatches to that purpose were sent to E eis land, forwarded to His Majesty, and received his I ful perusal ; and no objeCtion was stated. to the wee. sure that was thus intended to be ietrodneed. Hoe. ever, Sir, dm:: slid Attlee, subsequently to ereas WOW I ,~