The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — London, England, 1803-05-05 00:00:00

I r, El t .~ Ir . I ~ i l / 4 k l' ~ F~ 8 4 1 ed Friend's Minute 'engesairie; it Must be ?Mein .. hered, that a lady, who, after having brought her husband a numerous offspring, was conviard of adultery, was not entitled to expea extraordinary lenity at the hands of the Legislature. In the pre. sent case it was not possible to imagine that there was the smallest collusion, but it appeared that, from the parties hting anxious, were honourably and undo. niably to avoid the imputation of collusion, they had fallen upon the intmdußion of a clause, which, in ordinary cases, %stead have induced the greatest suspicion that collusion was at the bottom of the whole proceeding ; for what could lend a stronger colour to a presumption, that it was a bargain be tween a husband and wife, and that the former said to the latter, " If you will agree to come into my proposal of a divorce, 111 leave you as I found you, in full possession of all your fortune, and all other advantages that may have ac crued to you since your marriage." The latter pan of the clause, which enalted, " that she shall and may hell all goods, chattels, personal, and anis whatsoever, that she shall at any time here after become siz ed of by descent, gifts, purchase or otherwise," was a matter of mere surplusage, and wholly urx.ecessary, as every body knew, that after a Legislative Divorce a vinratle watrimos what. , er came. to her washer own. The preceding part of .he clam was altogether most objedionable, and would nee be allowed to stand, as it would form a dangerous prec:dent for the future. His Lerdslip eriae(sed in common with his Noble F.-lend, who movwd that the clause be omitted. his gratification that the great and scrupulous attention which their I,athhips had paid to Divorce Bills, of late had considerably tended to decrease their somber, and by holding out greater difficulties to the passing such Bills, had served to secure and promote the morals of the people. Before he sat down, his Lordship said, he concurred entirely with his Noble Friend (Lori Auckland), that iF the lady stood in need of provision, the regular mode was for her to petition the House for that purpose, and therefore, it would be right to allow time for her dying so, if she thought proper, by postponing the further sitting of the Committee for a few days. On th e motion being put the clause was omitted. When the Preamble came to he considered, the lord CI I IN(7ELLO R said, a clause of it seemed, from want of accurate attention, to have escaped, which ought not to stand, and that referred to the bastardizing the legitimate issue of the marriage, which was against all form, and contrary to the known law of the land. He therefore Moved, for the better consideration of that matter, that the fur tiler sitting be adjourned to Monday next.—Or dered. The Nottingham Police Bill was brought up from the Commons by Mr. I. H. Lrowne and others, and presented ; and, also, a private Bill by Mr. Wal pole, which were both read a first time. Adjourned. in .1 ',try sten time afttrarat:ls. He saw n 6 greamils for a comparison between the report of this commission, in point of time, with that of the year 1","'0. It did Ant appear, that there was any delay in the progress of the enquiry, nor did he ob serve much in the original motion, if it had not been accompanied by a strung manner of expression which has the appearance of a rebuke, and an insinuation of unnecess try delay. This charge has been rather implied, an direetly made ; and I should be happy to hear ftitim the lion. Baro net, something tending to disclaim any imputation of that kind. He has now made an allusion to some thing that 1 had the honour of mentioning pre vintisly to the Christmas rcce'c, and conneCted it with an implied charge that the Board of Admiralty had been miserably parsimonious, and starved those establishments which are necessary to the public service. 1 never said that in any emergency fifty sail of the line would be ready within a month for service, as it would not be ascertained whether the warnber of men necessary could be procured within that time. It is not difficult to calculate, in the present state of the British navy, the time when • such a number of vessels may be ready, but it can not be so easy to ascertain at what period the neces sary number of men could be provided ,• that must depend in a great measure on the state of shipping in the merchant service, which the present Board of Admiralty has been very anxious to accommodate, and has nut even filled up the supplies requisite for the navy, by impressing against protections. He could not state the precis,: period when such a num ber of ships would be ready equipped for aCtual ser vice. The state of preparation I can however as sert to be much greater than has been generally re presented, and more than the public are aware of. Phis is not the time for making any disclosure of that state of forwardness which, in a very few days must, in all probability, be communicated to the public ; hut it may be relied upon, that it is such as would gratify all those who are lovers of their country. It is, however, generally known, that there are thirty-two sail of the line in com mission in the British ports, independently of those upon foreign stations. The Admiralty has used no unjustifiable means for racniiting the navy. They had peoportioned their exertions to the re speclive interests of the naval and mercantile ser vice. If exigency required, the men might be pro cured, but the condua of the Admiralty has been guided by a view to general accommodation. Infor mer periods this country seldom commenced a war with an existing establishment of more than 16,000 or 18,000 sailors, whereas, at present, the esta blishment is go high as 50,000, and though the exertions are more vigorous than on any former occasion, the utmost regard has hitherto been paid to commercial interests. I apprehended that in saving so much, he had imitated the example which he before reproved in going into par ticulars, which perhaps were not quite consistent with regular order ; but I think it has been called for, and warranted by the remarks that have been already introduced. The only excuse I have is, that I have been very solicitous that this subjea should not be misunderstood, and anxious to bring HOUSE OF COMMONS. WEDNESDAY, MAY 4. A MtLage from the Lords annou.iced their Lord ships assent to a Bill for preventing vexatious arrests, and to several private Bills. Mr. WICK/IAM moved that there be laid be fore the House a copy of the evidence taken by the C'orimissioners of Accounts on the Dublin paving and street repairing Committee. Lord LEVISUN COWER moved the Order of the Day on the further consideration of the Report of the Committee on County Bridg'es. When the Resolutions were agreed t4i, and a Bill ordered to be brought in accordingly. Mr. HOWARD. thee some observations, moved that the I)roiteich Road Bill he recommitted. Tile motion was opposed by Mr. Hurst, Sir Ro bert Buxton, Sir Laurence Parsons, and Mr Dick ins, and supported by Mr. &urges, and Sir Wil 'Lim Geary. Strangers were ordered to withdraw, when a di e:lion took place. For the R( Against it forward such a statement, upon this subjea particu larly, as shall vindicate the conduit of his Majes ty's servants, myself included, from any neg let of duty in what the public interest is so much concerned.----The answer already given by an honourable Ft lend near me, (Admiral Pole) must be sufficient to satisfy the House until the approaching time when the subjeet must have full and fair discussion. In the mean time, in order to leave the qmsstion open, without direaly negativing the motion, 1 /be leave to get rid of it by moviag the Order of the Day." Mr. CANNING said, that the commission was appointed in the idea that great abuses prevailed in. tln: civil department of the Admiralty department. It passed with extraordinary precipitation. He did not hear that any person had since failed. Mr. Ta:lor.adid not appear to him to be in any degree culpable ; nor was it unworthy of any Member of that House to enquire how those extraordinary powers were executed. When the commission was appointed, the Ministers gave as a reason for it, that the measure was expedient, as the country was then in a state of profound peace. It was, perhaps, one of those questions which ought not to be stirred in a period of hostility, but having been agitated at all, it was necessary that the House and the Nation should know what had been done. The Honour. able Member who, in compliance with the duty which he owed to his constituents, ought not to have been rebuked in the manner he had been by the Right Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Addington). An en quiry should be instituted, but the subject could not be investigated without a report from the c,,m missioners. If any Member had even any private reason to believe, independently of any public docu. ments, that Mr. Taylor was injured, it was right to propose that he, or any other person similarly circumstanced, should be redressed by that HOUR& Any person possessed of the feelings of gentlemen or the principles of humanity must be desirous that Mr. Taylor should be set right in the public opinion. He would not go into any el,traneons matter, but he could not approve of inflicting grievances on a man when justice required that he s:i be re dressed& he therefore supported the nr. •ion for the commissioners being directed to make a :.;•cedy re port. The Hun. Gentleman had said, that the naval force of this country was stronger than it had been et the commencement of the Last war ; but every thing of this nature should be judged of by compa. Arian. At present Gentlemen seemed to go upon a retrograde sort of arithmetic, calculating on the • difference between the naval and military force of the respedive nations. It was said heretofore, that we should have fifty ships cf the line ready to put to sea in a.-nonth after any emerge.icy. But there was a reserve with regard to the number of men. We certainly had a considerable fleet of frigates, for which there were probably men enough ; lout those frigates could not resolve themselves into ships of the line; nor would the same number of hands do for the one which would be sufficient for the other. With regard to this state of preparation, in order to enable the House to judge of it, hi moved that his Majesty's Message of the Bth of March last be read—( 'lris was done accordingly, pro forma)...- With due respell to his Majesty's Message, he con ceived that it ought to be believed, and nct consi dered as made in a precipitate and careless manner. That communication informed them, that-military. preparations were making in tht ports of i ranee and Holland ; and yet . hc searcelr reconcile it to the declaration now, by one of *the Lords of • 141 :12 hlajoi ity —52 The Resolution was then agreed to and a Bill ordered accordingly. Sir HENRY MILDNIAY rose to express his surprise that no report bad been yet made to the House by the Committee appointed to enquire into the frauds and abuses of the Navy, and the conduit of Prize Agents, though fur months had elapsed w nee the appointment of that Committee, notwith e .wading the striA injunition of that House that the connr.issioners should report from time to time.— He did net presume to throw any imputation on the conduit of the Committee, or to insinuate that they NW not chine their duty in a mast impartial and strenuous manner. But the question was r,ne on which the public mind rested much expeenuion, and felt much anxiety. lie there f ore moved, o that tine commissioner; appointed to enquire into the fr olds and abuses of the Navy and the conduit of Prize .Igents, should forthwith report the progress snade therein." Admiral POLE defended the c.a.._ ers of the navy. He said their proceedings wool.: be submitted to the House AS soon as a fair copy should be made out, and be was confident the staterneot would give general satisfaction, that they had honourably discharged the duty assigned them. Cape. MARKHAM declined going into the sub _Oa at large, but gave his opinion as a Member of the &ant, that the Block Conte...a was a bad one. l le defended the proceedings of the commissioners said was cunfident that if a comparative view of th; naval state of the country, before and after the ap pointment tof the commissioners was taLen, it would allied a prospea no less flattering and advantage ous to the country, than highly honourable to those concerned. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER then spoke to the following 'feet I perfectly concur in the opinion of the Hon. Gentleman, who exculpated the Admiralty Board from any degree of blame, but regret to have heard so many par ticulars dwelt upon by the Hon. Gentleman who brought forward this motion. All the topics refer red to, will of course compose a part of the report ' of the commissioners inctituted for the purposes of this inquiry, and it could scarcely be thought too much to wait for that report before the Noose 'till proceed to a diviiion. It has been announced by an l ion. Member whois One of the commissionerr a that •le.: floats might expea2 st report front them in a very tor days, itefthat two or three mcue would he Made . ~ f ` - As 11: - A4 .... els. -0 . ' 4 •••• .11400 4 , .... A y . .. Je...••• tA , r.. •••.... ... ..... 4. .7__ -. 7, ‘ z -,.. 4.----. 110111111111 K., ..„... . t •Mk- the Adm;ralty, that the tench ptcparations amount ed to nu more than a few contemptible fishing boats. Mr. FOX thought that the measure should be weighed and compared with the exigency of the case. He did not pretend to have any more private knowledge on the subject than any other Member ; but from the public information he could collea, he could state it as his conviaion, that the present First Lord of the Admiralty had taken care to make very sufficient preparations for any occasion that may and rive; and the result of enquiry would be, and on that he had the most perfect reliance, that the Noble Lord alluded to would be able to give a very satisfac tory answer to whatever might be brought forward. Th.f. - e was in the proceedings of the Hoard an evi dent good intention, connected with the ability, to root out the abuses so long complained of. In his con duct, that gallant Nobleman would not be intimidated by the clamor or insurrection of any jobbers against him. Hewas himself far from being a friend to grant ing too strong powers. A former Administration did not scruple to adopt strong measures against the subjeas of this country, whom they considered to be adverse to them, and he thought the present Administration was rather to be commended, for adopting strong measures against the prevalence of abuses. Captain MARKHAM said, that he could not, on comparison, but hold the naval force of the ene my in contempt, and that at no moment was the English navy more superior to its adversaries than it was at present. Sir H. NIH.DMAY replied shortly after, when he obtained leave of the House to withdraw his motion. • Mr. LEE moved the Order of the Day for the consideration of the Irish Law Courts Bill. He said there was a question of very considerable im portance relative to the Irish Law Courts before the House ; and as it had been now three years un der deliberation, he was anxious it should be brought to a conclusion. It was of the greatest consequence to Ireland ; the object of it was to put Ireland, with regard to its Law Courts, precisely on the same foot ing as England : the consequence of the measure would be to lessen the expence of suitors. A mea sure of so much importance, he trusted, would not meet with any objection. The principal measure in the Bill was to enforce the more speedy appearance of Defendants to process. The only mode known to our ancestors of compelling an appearance, was to arrest the body of the Defendant ; or if he could not be found, to issue a second writ to distrain his goods to compel his appearance. For two or three centuries this continued to be the praflice, but in the reign of King George I. an Ad of Par liament passed, by which it was enaded, that if a Defendant did not appear in eight days after the service of process, the Plaintiff might enter an ap pearance for him, and file a declaration against him, the same as if he had appeared himself. The rea son was, because the party having disobeyed the writ was guilty of a contempt. All he wanted was to extend that law to Ireland, and thereby give the suitors the same facility in that country as in this. The reason a similar At had not passed in Ireland was, the people of that country not having had a Parliament so attentive to their interests; had the same laws which governed this country been ex tended to them, a vast deal of those inconveniences which had taken place would have been avoided. It was true, a measure had been adopted for alter ing part of the law of Ireland, but it had not gone the length of the Statute of George I. The con sequence of that measure had been, that all the business had run into the Court of Exchequer, a Court which, of all others, ought not to have a common law jurisdiction, for there were only two days in the week appropriated to the dispatch of common law business, which, in the Courts of King's Bench, and Common Pleas, every day in the week was so appropriated. The effect of this was, that all the business having got into the Court of Exchequer, the quantity was so great, and the suitors found themselves so entangled in delay, that the mischief was as bad as before the law had been altered. The Hon. Member adverted to the con do& of the different Judges of the King's Bench and Common Pleas ; observing, that the want of zeal and energy in the one, the negligence of another,i and the indifference of all, had prevented any step being taken to extend the benefit of the measure to the Common Law Courts. The inter ests of individuals too had been partly the means of justice not having been done. Having thus stated the reason for the law of England in this resped not having been applied to Ireland, he trusted no un worthy passions, or private motives, would prevent the adoption of the measure he should propose. With regard to the compensations, his object was this : all who possessed offices during life were en titled to compensation, but those who only held of fices during pleasure, had not the same right to compensation; he should therefore confine himself to offices during life. If any other Gentleman thought proper to move to extend his motion to offices dur ing pleasure ; he should not object to the proposi tion, though he should not support it. Ile could not give his support to a measure which might go the extent of putting this country to an expence of .20,0001. He had stated generally the ground on which his motion should stand. It was a Bill that had the sandion of the Judges of Ireland, for those who had framed it, had thought it their duty to sub- Mit it to persons, syho were most conversant with the laws of that country. He remarked, that there was one person (a Noble Lord) who held an office in the Exchequer, to whose claims to compensation it was necessary to refer. • He had seen the patent, and a letter on the subject. He conceived, that the Noble. Lord he had alluded to, had as legal a right to compensation as any man could possibly have. He should conceive it a great infringement of that Noble Lord's right to divest him of his estate, without allowing him a compensation. It was impossible for him to state what losses any individual might sustain, for that would depend in the quantity of business which went from the Ex ei quer to the other Courts. He could not define what the losses might be in future. 'I he only way to ascertain it, was within a given time after passing the Ad, to issue a commission to in quire what were. the values of the office for three or four years back, and whatever sum they. should, • &Id, that should be the value o f • the offices a: . d amount of the compensation ; and that every y. , • after an inquiry should be made, what 10vi:.!5 were sustained, and that whatever was "theatiMitiurn,.s.ioulti.remain a charge on the consoli anted ft*. A cause had been prepared to that ef- • " .a feet ; but he brad been advised not to present it till a future opportunity. The Honourable Member concluded, by moving, "'That the House should re iolve itself into a Committee, to consider of the mode of carrying into effect the objects he had re ferred to in his speech." Mr. ALEXANDER expressed a different opinion from the Hon. Gentleman who preceded him. Ho thought the question might as well be discussed without any personal allusions to charaeter, and warmly defended the conduit of Lord Annaly. Mr. fiTZGERALD (Prime Serjeant of Ireland before the Union) argued on tke same side, from his own personal experience, of the proceedings of the Court in which bird Annaly presided, and promised. in some future stage of the Bill, to sheet that no abuse wl;ttevcr was attributable to him. He was, however, friendly to compensation being given to those who had offices in the Exchequer for life ; and also to others who, from , professional habits, and being long in that ine of life, may be incapacitated from turning themselves, at an advanced period of life, to any other pursuits. Some other Members were rising to speak, when Sir E. COOTE observed, that the attendance was then too thin to proceed upon business of such portance, and moved that the House be counted ; and there being only 2ti Members present, the House adjourned till to-morrow. COM NI AND OF TI({:IR M A.l EST) F..S THEATRE-ROI:IL, DRURr-LANE.• 'fills EVENING will be performed a New Comedy, called THE MARRIAGE PROMISE. The Charaleii by Mr. C. Kemble, Mr. Dwyer, Mr. My ron, Mr llollingiwortli, Mr. itui. Mr. Palmer, Mr,. Pope, Mr. Powell, Mr. Pors.o, Mr. Evain4. Mrs. Powell. Miss Mellon, MN. Jordan, Mrs. fi,arks Mrs. Maddecks. To which sit3l be A HOUSE TO BE SOLD. The pith Night of the N.-w Coined) will he no Saturday, • THEATRR-R0r.11,, COVENT-GARDEN. THIS EVENING will he re:et.ted a New Comedy called JOHN BULL; Or, AN ENGLISIIMAN's FIRE: SIDE. The principal Charat4ers ' Mr, Lewis, Mr. Murray, Mr. Fawcett, Mr. Johnstone, Mr. 11. Johnston, Mr. Blanchaid, Mr. Emery, Mr. ‘Vaddy, Mrs. Gibbs, Mrs. Davenport, and Mrs. H. Johnston. With a Lyrical Epilogue by Mr. Johnstone. To which will be added, THE LYING VALET. To-moirow, the New Comedy, with The Farmer. The CR I T ge 6 upon the Exhibition at Someniet House, wiil be found in the last page. THE BRITISH PRESS. LONDON, THURSDAY, M•Y 5. The money market opened yesterday morning upon a rise, and in the course of the day the 3 per cent. Consols were done at 651. This improvement was contrary to the general expalation, as many warlike rumours were in circulation. Among the most prevalent, it was said.that a very severe press took place upon the River in the preceding night. It was also confidently reported, that Government had sent orders, through the Custom-house, to prevent the sailing of several ships in the Thames, laden with salt-petre, for Holland. Public rumours, however, have so frequently proved false, they are becorne inoperative ; and, in the absence of real intelligence, the description of the buyers or sellers has the principal influence upon the market. If house of respe.lability, and supposed to possess good information, sells :Jut to a considerable amount, hundreds take the alarm, and follow the example. If the same house buys to a considerable amount, the same blind confidence follows, and hence this daily fluauation in the Funds. This is the natural consequence of a state of suspense, and the universal feeling in the public mind that we just touch upon, the crisis of the negotiation. At half after nine o'clock yesterday morning, the French Ambassador waited upon Lord fl A wicts ev, at his house in St. James's-square, and re.. mained in conference with him until after twelve. We do not know what inference to draw from Cris circumstance, but we think that so long a conversa tion, at a moment when the discussions are supposed to be drawn to a point, appears extraordinary. The, inference drawn upon'Change from the circumstance, when known there, was probably unfavourable to peaCe, as the Funds declined until the close of the mar ket. They left off, however, one per cent. higher than upon the precedingday. Areport had also prevailed in the morning, that the French five per cents. had fallen to •49 ; but it had no effea, as the Stocks rose •in the face of it, long after it was generally known. From the conversation, however, which took place last night, in the House of Commons, we fear the result of the diplomatic conference in the morning, is not pacific. Upon a Motion by Sir H. MI Ln- MAY, that the Commissioners appointed to enquirc into the abuses of the Navy, should report the pro gress which they had made, Captain MARKTWI spoke of the French fleet with contempt ; and the CHANCELLOR .of the EXCHEQUER, in answer to the charge of neglea in our Navy, asserted that we have 32 ships of the line in commission for the brae service, and that if they are not completely manned, it is merely out of tenderness to the commercial in terest. He also said, that in a very few days he would have to lay an account of the preparations before the House ; that he looked forward with anxiety to the day when his conduit should be examined, and would facilitate its arrival as much as possible.— Nothing certainly occurred upon the subjea of the negotiation, but the tone . and manner of the speak ers were conceived warlike by those who were pre. • .