The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — London, England, 1807-02-28 00:00:00

s 0 be ful• I 34 Noble user. ▪ dm arr.' , 1 rill •r is 11:01 at VI,/ It WI. * elm bcq I' cu., fore DAN tour • t ink of a Former vote of the House ; and afierettanis s:ating, that the Petitiowirs were disfranchised, and t i nt eerson of :heir choicei..vas thereby prevented from !elk a his seat,. Such statement:, he appre hended, caul f not be maintained, aft:r the House had already r ‘orerted their mode of procedure upon the original Petition. The delay complained of was originally agreed to, with a view to the fair under standing of the several alLigations of that Petition. It was first postponed. not upon the allegation of his Right Hon. Friend, hut upon the application of the Petitioner hini , lf, who stated, that he could not be ready with his evidence. The second postponement ha Seen owing In its heing deemed inconvenient to consider it +mon the day formerly appointed, on ac count r.l the Circuits preventing the Counsel from attending upon that day. Such were the grounds u yiu which the Huse had con,ented to the delay, and not for the purpose of depriving any persons of their rights of voting. He thoeght also, that there were some suhsequent terms in that Petition, which rendered it iruprop, for the House to listen to it. When he found Petitioners coming forwards and saying that they insisted and dc'aaided that the Rinse should proceed with severity against these whom they were pleased to denominate offenders, before an invescigat on of the caw tack place, or Counsel were heard, he could not think that such a consist& entitled their Petition to be listened to. He could not acquit the lion. Member of responsibility in having presented it. It was not his intention to prnnos: any proceeding upon the subjett, without having further intertto•rion ; hut he !wood that in wli..• • ver way the House should determine to m ete', tire delinquents on either side (if Any) would be made to leel rignious censure. The Hon. Mem ber wit. had presented this Petition, had a much greater duty to perform than he was aware of, an.: was bound in delved the Petition which he presented. M-. C. W. W. WYNNTA ttionght that the louse would be cometomi‘ing its own dignity, if it allowed such a Peiton rii be referred. Earl PEN itLE , eisere•d, that however much di. ...sal the House might be, upon all occasions, to receive Petitirits, yet they had a right to demand. in: • • tee other hand, that the language of such Pe,itir!.‘ sh ull he decornue. and such as was h:- covnt g its digni-y. He did not conceive .t se add he re •cier to refer such a Petition to a Commitee, till such tine as it was stated in proper terms. Mr VULLER having taken up the Petition in questi• . and examined it. rose. with seemingly teat indignation. and said. that ha saw enough of •r, when i.e found in it tee words **demand" and •• (Here the I ion.Memher threw the l'eition .rt him, upon the floor, with great violence. to the astonishment of all present). t• If they are (can tieried he) to petition this House, let these Elednis Westminster Come up with submission. and nut insorh itml degrade this House of Commons." Mr. 14HITEREA1) submitted that it would be there prudent for ti-e Hon. Gentlemanwho brought forward the Petition to withdraw it, and amen the style of it, by making the Petitioner express themselves with moderation and decotum. He Ap prehended that the Howe was not in the custom of bearing Petitions, vroieh were dire fly against their own decisions. The evreis drwand and hoist were not surely derorotts in that House; but, at Ole same time, the error wit not such as to make him re. jeSI lisseaUsg to thy Petition when properly crotched It was improper to crave an all upon a bare •asscrtion, wiieout any prof, or to demo , d any pro ceeding against a Member. before any Allegation lad been proved against him. if them allegations were true. they ought to be proved ; and therefore the Petitioners could have no objection to present a Petition couched in proper and respeCtful termr. If they did not do so, it would only shoe that they had i some other object in vice , . The Petition now presented ought, therefore, to he withdrawn it pos. Bible ; and, if not, he would °hie& it on :recount of irs prayer. There cralld be nothing ohjeetionahle to this proposal, in point of time, because it might le brought forward upon M on d a y. Mr. EIDDULPH stated, that the way in which the Noble Lord had expresse i himself, would make Lim (Mr. B.) extremely delicate in regard to the part he should aCt upon this occasion. The Peti tion was presented to bins as being an Eleetor of Westminster. He conceived it his duty, no dock. to examine the matter contained in it. but having no other opportunity, he merely looked at it in one of the. Comm tee-rooms, and stated the stefft of it to several Members, who all assured him, that there was nothing so improper in it. as to prevent him. trorn presenting it to the House. With regard to the ex used, as to the decision of the House. he believed they had been occasioned by the manner the Petitioners' minds were a:lifted. and ant from ar.y di.respeCt; as to the sub:event part of the Petition, where tney nse the words. " insist and de mand," he thought it had been taken up in a very extraordinary and hasty war, by those H .• nourAhie Gentlemen who had ohjeded to it. lie should be to know. why it ought to he called improper ? What is it they demand ? They demand not that summary justice should be executed, hut that atter the decision of the House, justice shall follow. in consequence of the standing Order of the Howe. He must acknowledge, that to read:rig that Petitirre at first, it did not import to irn such ideas as had been taken up, and he still per sisted in thiating, that the expiession of Orrin and was not improper upon such an occasion. Mr. MON ('AGUE felt extremely desirons that the Hon. Member wnnl.4 relieve the I! ruse -rum the ungracious necessity of being obliged to vej,B the petition. It was true that the right of asititioning was an inestimable and s steed privi lege with the people of the country, but the Howe was not less bound to defend its own condeCt and decisions with a corresponding dignity. The Hon. Gentleman could feel no difficulty in yielding to what appeared the general feeling of the lime on the subjeet. He had declared be was by no means interested in the issue. The warm exp•etsions which had fallen from the Noble Lord opposite (Howickj might for a moment operate with the Istmlier to persevere in his motion ; at the saera• time he must admit that the exptesoions were not Calmer than the ease warranted. With cc. speel to the consttutlion which the Hon. Mover tbnught Fiver to pot on the terms t• hunt and demasid." lie could 1.,y no meats subset ihe to it. I He could not see teat the applicition of such terms went only to the natural consequences, or that the retiti.)n•rs were iaddced to rile them as truisms which the conduit of the Home jii,tified. Tr.ey, in no degree, resembled such prorosi!ions is arithmetic, as that two and two make U.ur, or that proposition in Euclid, that tho three a n;it-i of a triangle are equal to two right aligl s-- On the contrary, their immediate meaning was far removed Irons the nature of such proposition;, and could only be considered as disrespeSful to the character or the House. He put it again and again to the 11 , m. Mover to withdraw the Petition, assuring him that it was more noble, none dignified, And more consistent with true magnanimay, to pause before he drove the House to the only alternative left, namely, that of tejet!tiag the Petition. General VYSE observed, that whatever opinion may be formed by the House, as to the nature of the Petition, or however precipitate and ceosurAble the Hon. Gentleman, who presented it, may ap pear, he still could not admit his pewsr to with draw the Petition. It was a trust confided ei him by a number el the Elefinrs of the city of West minster, and he really conli not see how the Hon. Mover, when he presented it to the I louse, could at all exercise his discretion. The Hon. Mr. LY'fTLETON contended, that the reference made by the Petitioners to a former docision of the House, was in :thigh degree ids o per. The impropi iety was not alone limited to the tone, het was eetually to be found in the words of the Pei:ion a.eigether ; the manner of addressing the House was far from being decent, and no body of ennui. (lents had a right to insult, through the Haus_ of Commons, the greet culleflive body. which that House represented. The Hon. . reelß said, he was one of those individuals, to whose the Hon. Member had sees meted the perusal of this Petition. From the view of it, which he had taken, he was by no :means pre pared to have heard his hasty opinion made a z•nund for preseuting it to the House. But he would still never sh:nsk from supporting in public. that opinion, weich, under the circumstance of the case, he was in private ~onversatiun induced to give. He n reeeetsd what he then said, t •at the Petitien• in his °pigeon, contained nothing offensive to the charaslet an I dignity of the Hots, • ; and most particularly in Mersin,: to a subject, which that House, in itsjuti.cielespacits was called noon to in vestigate. The Petition on'y iCSISSCU upon th- justic e, which, in outs appropriate.) for shat put: r est., the claimer): his a rig.3t to demean f. Mr. S lERIDAN—" Mr. 'meeker, an Honaute able Geelemaii at the other sees of the H use, (General Vy , e) has strenuously recommended test we should divest our minds of all 3 tags of reseo ment in tone tering this subjeet. . - sseure you, Sir, that to cherish such feeling . • • r cce sisteut with my habits of life, as it is etefseily foteig• Iran my nature and disposition. A. the s.ms time. I cannot abstain from declaring, that when I sous der the ties cf friendship which have ret:sted netwe n the Hon. Mover and myself, when I xecelleet that I have participated in his hospitality. and Jett we lived on terms of mutual intimacy, he at least might have condes:eneed to apprize me t f his intention to present this petition. It was coadult which I had a right to exped from his politeness, his ses e sriselity. indeed I , um hts saltness. But, Rite I am tint di-ciiiiraged Mom befog kept in ig norance of the intention, nor upon this case. any more than on tl,e petition presented by the Nohle Lord (Folkestone), who, under the influence eithei et his wishes or his duties, has interested himself in this husinc , o, do I call tor delay; on the contrary, every po.sible expedition in investigating the merits of this tran.aetion, has, on every occasion. been my peculiar desire. With respeit to the language of the Petition, I think, from the tenour of my par liamentary life, I can claim the credit of being the last man in this Heese who would oppose a Peti tion coming from the British people, for any inad vertence ageing either from heat or hurry. From this feeling it was, that I seconded the motion for referring this Petition to a Committee of Privileges. But I still must express to the House my full con viction, that thisPeution was drawn up in those par ticular terms, for the purpose of offending this House, and ccmsequensly to excite its resentment. What does it convey, either in its spirit or in its lan guage? Not that th*Petitiooers insist on ju cite trona this Horse;—not that they pray for the inter ference of this lipase to preserve their elective rights. But they insist and demand, that the House of Commons will support its own privileges —that it will have the spuit, and possess the vigi lance, of guarding its own rights from intringemeet, and its own dignity from insult. Is this. I ask, a decent lesson to give the House, with respeet to its deities and its feelings? if the Petition be unfit for this House to receive, how can it, I ask, degrade its own char:tiler by any compromise? oieconsistents ly with its feelings, bow and beg thatthe Hon. Gent. may be induced to withdraw that Petition, which should never have been presented ? 't Whet is the difficulty in the case ? None. The House has neither to admit the principle laid down in the Petition; nor to assert its own privileges. Then let us decide upon the one or the other ; hut it is beneath the character of this House to lower itself, by coaxing art Honourable Member to with draw that eshich a ii the general opinion ought ne ver to have been received. For my own part, I am anxious that it should undergo Cie fullest and most immediate consideration. I am anxious that the whole of my conseel, during the progress of the Westminster Contest, until this hour, should be accurately and impartially investigated. For what has happened, I, from the first moment, prepared nsyseP, determined to encounter all that libel, Ca. lueiny, malice, and perjury. could. or can °EDO." Mr. ROBINSON thought that every member who read the Petition must acknowledge that it contained language highly improper. The Peti tioners complained of their being disfranchised, and the two reasons upon which they grounded that opi nion, were truly extraordinary. The first was, that one of their representatives was engaged in the service of his King and Country, and could not attend :o his dunes as a Senator. This circum stance, it it constituted either disqualification or dis franchisement, was well known to them at the time they Heeled him for Westminster. The other rea son was, that in consequence of the decision of this House, their legal representative was prevented Isom immediately taking his plate is this House. Z -r 3 . • If this could be censidered as a eau'e of disfran chisement, it most certainly existed, i.-fetiotis to the decision of she House, which enlarged ti relied for takii,g 'bet return icte clietsider rtion. Under the int ss 'he had, he' should conceive it Lis duty to vote let the reje.ftien of the Petition, unless it was withdrawn. Mr. ADAM submitted to the judgment of the whether the present Petition did not require altre•atio, ? It wes•universally admitted, that the right of petitioning was tettainly inherent in the Constitutina, but .it v.-as equally a matter of faa, and generally understood, that the m-mh.r should attentively consider, sad be responsible for the ellegahons of the Petitions which he shoul.# I think it his duty to present. The first goer j tion was, Whether the present Pat Hon s eanld be refer-ed to a Committee of Privileges? In j the mean time, another (omits° has ari..'a, I with re.pest to certain indecorous terms insert- I ed is it. Hie opposition was not to the solo :dance or mode, with an intenti m of refusing its prayer, but was solely dire led against the lan guage which it breathed, as being incensistent with the dignity and forms of the House. It happmied to himself, in his former Parliamentary exertioes. to have pier:tided a Petition:, not compatiile with the usages of Parliament, but hie had the usual remedy in such eases, he Lad to alter the improper part, and the antidote appeared .on the Journals of the House. It the &aka was to obtain full and osi h t arsti4 l juriee, be 'recommended to the H..n. Gentleman to withdraw is for the purpo:e ef alter ation, pledging himself to • bring it forw.ed on a fu;urr OrCiilloll. fly inch conduit the dignity of the mouse, the right of Petition; and the privileges of :At peolfle, were each respedively preserved. Mr. fiIIiDULVH declared himself unwiUing to trespass on the time of the House, but he found himself called upon to reply to some observation which had fallen horn Hon. Gentlemen at the other side. He could assure •ne Hon. Member. (Mr. Lamb), that he had not the remotest ides of an im proper allusion to him, is,. did he make any in correct use of the authwrity of his name. The Right Hon. Gentleman opposite (Mr. Sheridan), had charged him, in a wiy more or less gentlemanly. of a we t of frankness, in not communicating hi, in ten:: in with respect to this Petition. On this point he could only say, that the necessity never 04st / A o him • Was it a new CJS,, and had it not been oeeintisly brought before the House, he certainly .vouti Mere apprised the Right Hon. Gentleman. iespe& to the Petition itself, he slisuld con sider himself a very bed advocate, were he to per. I s-very is eressi!.g it, contrary twthe general feeling I of the H•suse ; bin he may be allowed to state his opinion, that it was the strong :region of unlet tered earn, wiiheut any view of insulting the dig nity of that House, or trenching on its ptivileges. l'o such a class of men, he conceived it his duty to give every facility of laying the statement of their ;vice owes before the legislature. He should now move to withdraw if the Right Hon. Gentleman wtio seconded the former motion was inclined to coincide. Mr. SI-IF RIDAN said, he was forted to yield his C9IIICTII. more to comply with the wish of 6 1 . , House. :ban any incliner:on of his own. SLAVE TRADE. On the order of t'.e day being read for the noose resolving itself into a Conimittee on the Slave Trade Abolition Bill, Sir CHARLES POLE declared himself sn im pressed with the impolicy of the Abolition, that he was indliced s in every stage, to thwart a Bill, ruin ous to the colonies and to the cc •nmerce of the country ; a measure which will put into :be hands of the enemy, objet, on which he had so stedfastly hr ..o ais attenuon,ans.i t).. want of which, in a greet degree, restrained the er•.,:reess of his arms, and prevented the a:complishruenQ cf . .'lose menaces, with which he had so long threatens . • Empire. It was a great sacrifice to risk =v.:h. ..! of the British exports, or imports to a large anionnt, independent of the employment given to inch a number of seamen, as are aonnelly engaged in the trade with Africa. He wished not to delay the House, but he strenuously recommended a pro longation of the time when the Bill should begin to operate, and a total change of the preamble of the Bill. Mr. C W. WI LLIA MS W YNNE said, he was a friend, from the fullest convietion, to the meAsure of abolition. He was influ.•nceJ, not from popular clamour, but public duty. 1 . 11! discussio tor twenty years, had completely proved the policy of its adoption. Mr. HUGHAN row, for the first time in a pub lic assembly, to state hts opinion nn t:tis s•thjeEl ; an opinion which had the benefit of ten years expe rience in the colonies. He c.•ntende4, that the questioa assumed a nrw shape within the few last )ears, in consequence of a variety of events. such as the insuirellion in Grenada. the Carib and Ma roon ware, and, above all, the revolution in tit. Do mingo. He did not conceive the present Bill would be at all praakable; on the contrary, he feared, the situation of the Negro, at present happy and contented, would be changed much to his disad vantage, and at the expence of colonial low and ruin. Mr. BROWNE (Member fot Heyslon), entered into a long and able orpiment, against the prin ciples of the measoert and although be did think the Slave Trade contrary to humanity, yet. as the Abolition of it must involve the interests of many thousands of individuals, be thought it should nct be suddenly put a stop to, upon natives of public policy, and for the safety of our Writ India pos sessions. He then adverted to the pro tiers among the Negroes themselves, in their own cottony, and referred to Mr. Muni, Park's Arromid gl the bar rio, (7 . r /rhea, from which he contended, that an Abolition of Slavery there was hopeless, it being heredmiry. This country only enjoyed absut mist fifth of the African trade, and were we to relin. quish it, otlwr countries would carry it on, to a greater extent than ever the only way, therefore, in which this great principle could be carried into 'Get, would be to impress other nations of Europe with a concurrent opinion upon this trade, and to induce a sincerity of feeling upon these points.— 'lhe injuries arising to property in that country would be immense; and the consequences likely to result from the measure might arise from a sudden paroxysm of dibcooteat, and lead to all the rerolu denary horrors which Earope and tbi WOO(' ! , -0. experienced for some year.. past. He corchtd it -4 very eloquent and...ime-essive spec. h, by s seihki that, in his opinion, der Sill war incenipcter• . zh Object t it profereid to ageomp'i.b, and these - ore met with his 'tecid d disapOv .bation. l'‘' Mr. BAR.HAM etre red into an ext.i.p.s ion of the Planirr in the West l•wees. Yr. •ri rhe charge of cruelty •to tee Siaves, ant quoted several instances of kindiiess and litigianny ors •the pat of the Over,ter, tr) A Ardsc,t- Sisves, and ' the gratitude of the latter in neut.,. He corst.Jer. ad, that in nnarr to premor. am • , •ies..4l c;v:Pan tion and religion am .ng • the Neer -4; it aid he necessary to educate them, and to ac•.r.rnpli.ir t' tj it would be necessary to gwe them .note libel', a this, however. woul ! b. a , I 411)0111U! exp •rimert a and he Was at tt tots •• :ay, w•-at villk I. '•)e he best mode to remedy the evil. After corne furt'•ei cbe serve•ions. the Hononeabie Memlwe cone .1 by expressing himself a siik cr. 1:1 .d este 5 Bill, ....r the same rime that he thou neces.ary to entree) many of those errors had gone abroad vitt , nine& to the -.! . Negroes in the West Ind. s. He thong t . k was now noel) , performed, and as this cocky had deter mined to Atvali.h the Stave T•a te, .t m•..t n the end be et titian, abolished by all nations. Mr. COURTENAY, after adverting to the opi nions of Mr. Pitt and lir. Ilse upon * awi r et. who, though on almost every otWolitisa: que.tioa wres t so miens, to each other, yere Suited alma this. and having passed a most eloquent and well. deserved eulogitur, upon the persever :nee kr , . m.o. rive. i.f the original Mover of this question, (Mr. Whberiorce), he concluded by giving hit mo.• an qualified concurrence to electorate. which . ; con. sidered as .setting a glorious example to alt the na. dons in the world. Sir R A I.Pii MI I. E ANKE made slew Auer WA. dons stro•a„ly in favuur of t• rne..ert Mr• - . hlf..htiTAGUI!.. it., spcei_lt oi censiderahle length, supported the measure in tVI L carmen tbanoer ~. he took a general view of thin:Foments against*: and, in adverti..g to the tieee.l: of .6 Him. Friend (Mr. Ifibbert), he begged ;bat ikon. Friend to cortestler w: at would be his kilo s, were he to be taken from the civic banqu.t, he eh joyed ell the luxuries of Ilf .• , 4n4: 1 piny into a state of slavery and bondage I wOuldiste. M a'hP/1 entertr.n the s.ore aendieents upon this 'iertit. 'flak he now urged against iffle insasurtel., idailth, be G - ...lgratulkued the, House up 71 :Fe .! a.m.. plishment of die MOO .'ernr.:', le ot•jed, and ex - 5 , piessitl his warmest. Opt . -.. ' cilil of tfic oitfit • -... Mr HIDREitT. in ts :v to his iiiiip. frtt.•• I, o'oserved. tlat hr wasolow is Ltte„vereaft Auer' 'ha had tlescrieed. He war. EP ' s ..: 0 liv-- r rtetli`e-ss n.an of the city 'of 1 ii•tf,Y. — ; I'4' b.. tf: h e r :., 1- queued upon the luturem ref ale brie 11.-Atit. at bore the burden of a :1,v4 ; tsar ht hadessis,• I , el all his pr perty in our %%era lattia Corcutie si k i he fe'•':. the shackles of the Shire iii ; .itrisl Vizi; as i he • u longer tejoyed teat freedottt use wae'bitilete !.cc seared of. Alter some geueral tbitevvisfsids, he concluded by exiiret.ing hi. decided po.iirs...6 tn. the measore is its present shape. LT . , Mr. hATHRSI . t.hjetited to the Age of' del t s P.M, as well as the con-. critnces which wctilti xii..e avoidably remelt Itsrin passing tt fate arhillP Tie re commen•led a gradual dectea'.e. Mr. MONTAGUE w•stred to er:ulpitte hintseit from the charge brought against him by ibe ties. Gentleman (Mr. Bathurst). of hav•vg implica ed the late Adminishaticn of his Noble Relative in the deft:: of this Bill on a former nccasmn. Mr. JACOB agreed in tire justice and expetliiihty of the abolition of the trade. Mr. Secrete: y NVINDIIAM stated, that he h•d hitherto remained silent, bo'h Imam:: he per -d many Gentlemen extremely,. anxious to J. r their sentiments, and was also aware t7t4tre woutd be another npportunity, no receiving the ',pun .1 the Committee, fo•r Gendemen to deliver their Anti meats no the aa:ure and tent.lency of t!• • dill. He found it, however, his .iuty to declare, titat thLugh he had such an utter abhorrence of slat•esy in-every form, yet when such scions eonsequer:es as u•e• mentioned by the supp•.rtrn of the trade could i s sibly be apprehended from thus speedily atttetii•t•mg it, he should feel himself iniperiuusly called t t. 4 examine and investigate whether these cense. quences, might not eventually ii.jure the eau,. of humanity and justice, wt tcb they vete treat.' to support, at least it would be it,, duty, he felt, to pause before Le could decide on the expediency of a measure, to which be could not hell- s..yi.•g he saw at present some very ju.t grounds id of j. Eton. Mr. WHITBREAD was extremely sorry to hear svbiit had fallen from the enlightened Secre tary ; after the business had been already so amply investigated, hr was surprised to find his Right Hon. Friend could entertain any doubts of its ex pediency and justice. An Hon. Gentleman, in the c.iurse of the debate, had 'aid. the House had been hurried away by the eloquence of the Natl. Lord, into a fit of indiscieet humanity ; be had only to lament, the House had treated the suhje. With t.-ma much coldness, and calculated the pr -Isable advan—..s' tages and disadvantages of t:•e measure, -ith tar mercantile accuracy. Use had' were called to sacrifice either liritis'a put can blood. Yet even this was not the great Statesman, Mr. Pitt, had p: cued ' 'inn of the nation, that we should b• ers by the total abolitionist . the Trade. said, that other nations still continued , 'frade, and therefore it would be extremes li•ic in us to abolish it ; to as then a.as the glory of setting the brightest examete temded humanity. tie concluded with lating the original Author et the n•easor prospect of seeing his humane intention so tulfilled. Some explanation then took rlare. BATHURST and Mr. FL LLlat. Lord HOWILK then propnsed, should go into Committee, pre blanks should he titled up. that the then printed, and be re-committed on nest. This proposition was then put end the lion.e a eat into a Committee aceori The other Otters of the Day scene ported u Bitnntlay next. At MU 0 1 .:LO.:E. he House adj,urned Monday. ere, with mee forgotten 'Ley profit, or Afii. e ease. for tl;At to the eatidar Itiznatellgosir- I. It hom wed the Skirt ;tremely impb. t: as terpc:lo tm:•te of rich cnorrarm. :2SUrc vr.th the • 1:ion so nearly between Mt. that the Fill r, in which the &II should be on Wednestli, d tarried, and :oranply. .ere then post- adj,ernetl ti 1 /