The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — London, England, 1803-04-05 00:00:00

k 7 '', ? i • r I' '1 •,-••=• ' k f rt 1 there, should be indiCied and stand a trial for life ; so that if sere poor girl got a pair of shoes, aid went Au - ay evict them, ehe would he liable to the uperation of this clause. Another went to empower the oyetteeti to out children, Of certein afire, or other persons, from the said workhouse, during hay-making or harvest time, for the beneit of the pee tit the pet ish ; said such persons, so Wired, Ale to repine wlwo ti eir work is dome, to the workhouse, with their implements ; aod, I suppose, said the Hon. Gem. with an over.ter to whip them home. method of providing for the poor, reminds one of Deaa Swift's suggestion to the poor of lie lend,—when oppressed with wart, to fatten their their children, and eat then). lie concluded by hoping, that the jnsticc of the House would not suffer the petitioners to go unheard. If they were tefused that bon, he would consider it one of the harshest measures ever adopted by the I louse. V:. HILLIARD explained. Mr. 'SYNC said, he had been called upon to state hi, reasons in favour of the Rill: he would state, dee the great proprietors wore for it. It is true 1 log persons signed a petition against it ; but a greet number of these were not to be found ; and a great number mere paid no rates ; so that they vet.: riterceted in opposing it. It was impossible tor the colleaers to gather in the rates with suc cess, r the system which at piesent prevails— The parish was so exlensive, and places which were some time since occupied by tarns-houses and fields, being now entirely knit upon. lie sheaved the Hon. Gentleman an emended Bill, from which he might have selected his clauses. He would state, lon] hurself, that a great majority of the people of property and respeCtability were for it ; and as they were left the power uf electing their own officers, inspecting accounts, and appealing to magistrates, he saw no one right or pi ivilege which they were deprived of. Nlr. SHEBID.IN said, the Hon Geed:nein snewed him an amended Bill, but did not user it to him ; having but one himself he could not part with it. Mr. FOX would not enter much upon this busi ness at present ; he should barely remark on the nomination of the Guardians. The I ion. Gentle man seys, the majority (lithe parish are for the rnea slue ; then let the parish name the guardians, and not make it an aet of the legislature ; they should name them, and not the representatives of the people at large. And ought not couniel to he heard, bet sixty persons ;are put over their heeds ? Out of this sixty, he understood, thirty were to be appointed by one party ; but it seenis the gentlemen and trades men could not be classed under one head, with any degree of satisfaetion. lie wished to avoid any party appearance which thie might give a colour to, happening so soon after a contested eleaion ; ice be lieved a Clergyman who was against this Bill, voted against the sitting member ; he thereibre hoped that every idea vf party woitid lee excluded from it. Sir ICULI.IAM PI LTENEY was for the peti tion. Mr. HOBLIOUSE said, as the Bill was totally a tered, it ninst therefore be presumed that counsel were nut heard respthing it ; the palish appeared to have been hitlieito well governed ; he was thLrcfore for complying A% ith the prayer of the Petition. \lr. BALDWIN said, he had attended the com mittee regularly for five days ; he conceived that I,7ounsel having been heard once, notwithstanding aay alterations, was quite sufficient; and he never saw so much attention paid to any private Bill as was paid to this M the Committee. Sir FRANCIS 111;R1)1 4 ..TT said, no counsel had yet opened his lips on the amended clauses, which thtirely altered the Giil, so much as to make it a t ew one. Mr. bYNG earl tilled. Strangers Nvcre ors!et ed to rithdraw, and a divi sion wok place ; w•i:cn the numbers were, Against the Pe:ition 11 1 Tor it Majority against it —66 When strangers were re-admitted, after the bir FRANCIS BURDETT was arguing against the unprecedented measure of parish gn • rdians no minating themselves. It was evident, he said, that the majority of the parish were against the Bill, and were extremely desirous that these guardians should themselves be guarded ; whereas at present there would be no contront *itatever over their expendi ture. This would be tvetcling a kind of Parish Tri bune, without any proof that there was any occasion tOr it, or so much as an allegation that there had been any tumultuons proceedings in the yes :y. ile tonid nut but distrust a set of persons, pu ready to take upon them a duty, for which it did nut ap pear that any one would be obliged to them. On Looking over the list, he observed that there were some independent Members amongst them ; not withstanding which, he conceived several others to be objedionable ;• as he was informed that amongst them were some who not long .ince had even re ceived parish assianice. He raid, that should he wit succeed, and inked be saw no great chance of it in opposing the Bill generally, he should at least endeavour to qualify it by introducing an Amend ment hi one of the main Clauses. Mr. FOX also urged the propriety of giving further time for examining and nuking alterations in the names upon the list. The motion for the third reading of die Bill was then put and carried, without a division. sir F. BURDETT nett proposed an alteration in the names, and began be mainlining that of 75.. Xmas Wilkinson.; which being negatived without a ilVision, he declined offering any others. Mr. 511F.RIDAN gave his Hon. Friend (Mr. Byng) credit for the purity of his motives; but could scare;le believe that his political education would allow him to be the stedfast advocate of self elations. To spew the eagerness with which the plan was punted, he could assure the House, on the authorty of such information as he could rely that Mr Fleming, a person of irreproachable ruin dna and charasier, who had been collator of the. taxes in the parish of Pancras for sixteen yens past, was dismissed this very day for no other reason than that was not a friend td) this Bill. Seeing the tonne the House was 144 to talw on the present occasion, what he bast chiefly to press upon the House was that in.,oreat :Jr.d improsie :.; pa l i s h, stieP a principle /Asyirie self-elecliva ci sixty-one gvariliaiut shouhl not *continued in perpetuity. By a clause in ifre - as provided, that if any of the guardians the -'d be preyented, or Legied, ur refo.e, to a5l, from Jeath, illness. removal tO another parish, Sec. a suseral useenog ut tise reolaii.ios .• .. T - -~- •• • guardians was to be convoked, in order to choose a person to replace them. With this view ht would move, that instead of the words " general meeting of the guardians," the words "general meeting of die patishioneis" should be substituted, and that the officer should be appointed according to the majo rity of suffrages. A division then wok place upon the Amendment, when the nninbers were— For the Arne: latent - - - Againt it Majority . - - —36 During the exclusion of strangers, the debates upon the Bill further coatimied for sorac time; "tier which the Bill was passed and ordered to du:Lords. DUN FER M LINE ELECTION. On our re-admission, we found Mr. BRAGGE speaking to the order of the day, Ow renewing the adjourned debate on the punish meld to be infliJied on James Trotter for refusing to obey the Speaker's warrant, requiring his at tendance to give evidence before the Dunfermline Committee.) He said, that the House, by its late proceeding, had thought proper to divide the charges agaiust the prisoner; and as he had yet nu opportunity of defending himself against the aggra vated accusations, he thought it but justice to have him caned to the bar, and :o hear what he had to say in his defence against the second charge. The SPEAKER stated, that, in point of order, it was not necessary to call a culprit to the bar, upon a motion for committing him to Neu-gate. Mr. SHERIDAN reminded the 'House that the prisoner was at the bar befOre, and had an oppor tunity of making whatever defence he thought pro per. Surely, it would not be proposed to hear hi; parol defence against evidence given against him upon oath, nor to lead the report of the Committee to put him in possession of all the testimony ad duced. Independently of the proceeding being ir regular, he apprehended it would be unfriendly to the prkonerfor the I louse again to set up the whole of the case for re-hearing. 'Those who would advise Mr. Trotter to urge this, would not be aning the friend ly part they intended, but would place him ou a more disadvantageous ground. Mr. IIRAGGE disclaimed any friendship for James 'I rotter, or any knowledge either of him or the case, beyond what he heard in the !louse. The case was certainly a new one, and he should be sorry if any thing he had said should have the effen of operating against him. Mr. TIERNE a . said, that as ?n appeal had been made to his candour, he was ready to give way to any reasonable suggestion, and to defer the whole of the debate to a tuture day, if Gentlemen thought proper. lie knew, he said, of no more than one charge against the prisoner, which was that of dis obedience to the Speaker's warrant, and that charge had been sulastantiated by the Report of the Com mittee. The only question that he saw was, whe ther this effince should be punished by a more mild or more severe sentence ? He wished, upon every occasion, when his duty would allow him, to lean to the moderate and merciful side ; and had James Trotter been advised by his friends, or thought proper himself to present a petition, stating his fears of the new and aggravating circumstances alledged against him, he should be for hearing any thing he had to say ; but Gentlemen must be aware that the prisoner brought all these difficulties on himself, as he might if he pleased have vindicated himself by attending before the Committee previously to the Repi art. ShauldTrotter think it right to bring any evidence to disprove the aggravating circumstances, he should like to hear evidence also on the Opposite side,which might tend to implicateothers as the itiders and abettors of his offence. His proposal he observed merely went to the of commitment to New gate but if he presented a petitien for leave to enter on his defence, he (Mr. Tierney) would put in his claim to be heard at length upon the whole of the case, conscientiously believing that the case might be brought home to other persons. The prisoner had no right in justice to be heard, though the House might consent to hear him in its candour. If any of the friends of Mr. Trotter should advise him to present a petition of the description he be fere alluded to, he trusted they would not do it suddenly or without giving due and timely notice. He then moved, That James Trotter, in wilfully disobeying the Speaker's warrant, calling upon him to give evidence upon the Dunfermline Committee, was guilty of a high breach of the privileges of that I louse. The motion was carried nrm. con. The SPKAKER said, that this addition would only tend to weaken the resolution, as every ,diso bedience to an order of that House was in itself un questionably a breach of privilege. The motion was then entered un the journals, as having been agreed to. Mr. TIERNEY next moved, that for the above offence the said James Trotter be committed to his Majesty's gaol of Newgate. Mr. BRAGGE again contended that there were now two distinfl charges against the prisoner; the first for wilfnl disobedience of the Speaker's warrant, and the second, alledging that he had done so from corrupt motives. They were perfe&ly distin& and separate, and the latter brought in by way of ag- Tvation. The Hon. Gentleman, indeed, (Mr. ierney) had said, that he would nut obje& to Trotter's bringing evidence ; but his usual accuracy should here inform him, that it would be impossible for the prisoner, by any evidence, to con trovert the second charge, which included what the Committee did not repon-Lhis having attempted to bribe another person. Were this to be allowed, the prisoner would evidently be in a situation of great disadvantage, not authorised by the principles of natural justice. Mr. TIERNEY could not conceive what ad vantage it could attend the prisoner to.be heard on his own assertion against evidence given upon oath, which was a mode of examination that the whole House was not competent to adopt, though it was not. only permitted, but also enjoined in its Com mittees. lie acknowledged that he felt sore on the Right Holt. Gentleman (Mr. Kragge) considering him to be standing there as the agent merely of any, of the parties, while he was acing the part which he height became him as a Member of Parliament. tb: had fairly stated at the outset that all his infor mation respe:bing this affair came from Sir John Henderson, and that Gentlemen, when alledging such grievances, had a claim upon the patient at tention of any Member of that House. He re minded the I louse that all the minutes of the pro ceedings on the table were brought there against his will, as he was pc:fatly satisfied with what ap pcarcd upon the nee of the Report of the Corn- Mittee. The pztpers were pibduced ia conselnence • of sc,me obset %%atom from the Lord Advocate of Scotland, the Chancellor of the F.!:chequer, and some other Members, at rresent in their places. For himself, he neither wished ft,r, nor wanted them. For himself, he declared, that he did not. wish to sift the matter any further; but if it were to he fully investigated, he had reason to think that the transaCtions involved in this business were such as would re:flea disgrace on persons of very high rank i n t h e country. 111 r. 1/1( GE regretted that the Hon. Gentle man should feel hurt at any thing which fell from him, and begged him to call to mind that he had not made the slightest insinuation of. any under hand proc •edings. But he persisted in the opinion he betore expressed, thought he contcsscd that Trot ter was fidly conviaed of a foul breach of the pri vileges of that House. Ile again, however, dis claimed his Iving a friend or an advocate of that person. Mr. S 1F.12 MA N said, he had the mistyrtune to differ entirely with his 11m. Friend (Mr. Tierney) and must contend that Trotter could not be heard at the bar, to counteract evidence given upon oath. The only charge against hint was, that of disobedi ence to the warrant, and he woukl object to any new clwrges whkh would amount t(, re-triad of the whole case. Supposing, for instance, that upon such a re trial, Trotter should be convkkd of bribery, am an agent, it would be a 'resumption of that power of judging controverted eleCtions, whi ch the wh,le louse was very properly deprived of by Mr. Gren ville's AR ; and it must be evident, that if the Committee had that in evidence, it must have made void the eleCtion of the present sitting Member. As to the only charge against the prisoner, of disobe dience to the warrant, he should be ready to hear any justification he might have from sickness, or other unavoidable misfortunes, but he would go no farther. Ihe !louse, indeed, was at liberty to take up the charge of bribery in another leay, but he presumed they could not regularly do it in a ques tion of privilege. Mr. TIERNEY, in explanation, said, he did not think any point of form should veclude the pri soner from removing any unfavourable impressions, if he could. _ _ . Mr. SIIERIDAN replied, that he believed it would scarcely be considered as nothing, to go into evidence tending to chew that the sitting Member held his situation in that house by a foul title. Mr. FRAN KLAND submitted, that this was all matter collateral with Mr. Grenville's Bill ; and, as the House had to judge of things arising out of it, the only mode of proceed►ng was by parliamentary forms. If no evidence was admissible but such as was taken on oath, the consequence would be thii all former usages and forms of Parliament would be hil;hly absurd. The motion for James Trotter being committed to the goal of Newgate, was, then agreed to, n.•,n. ion. Upon the Motion of Mr. Coiinv, the House :e -solied itself into a Committee, on certain Revenue Aas. Mr. CORRY said, it was his object to continue the A&s for another year, without any alteration. He moved, that the ACt of the Stith year of his present Majesty, passed in Iceland, to secure the Collection of the Duties on Papers printed, &c. be continued till the 29th September 1:504. He made similar Motions, with regard to several other Re venue Ails of the Irish Parliament. _ A Message from the Lords informed the House, that their Lordships had agreed to the Surveyor- General of Forests Bill, the Greenland Whale- Fishery Bill, and the Clergymen's Non-residence Bill. Rear-Admiral Sir James Saumarez's Annuity Bill was read a third time, passed, and ordered to the Lords. The 4,000,000 Exchequer Bills Bill was read a third time. Mr. CORRY presented Petitions from the Go vernor and Guardians of the Charity for the relict of Lying-in Women at Dublin, and the Governor and Guardians of the Female Orphan House at Dublin, praying for relief. Orderd-to be laid upon the Table. _ _ He afterwards brought up the estimates of the expences required for the relief of those and other Charities in Dublin. Mr. HOBHOUSE postponed the further consi deration of the Report of the Grenada Loan Bill till to-morrow. Mr. ALEXANDER brought up the Report of the Committee on the Espiiing Laws, which was agreed to. Mr. CORRY moved the Order for the further con sideration of the Report of the Committee on the Short-Hand Writers. The Resolutions stated, that it was the opinion of the Committee, that on the appointment of Sara Committees, persons skilled in the art of Writing Short-Hand should be employed in taking The minutes of the evidence. That they should be al lowed two guineas per day, and a shilling per sheet, containing seventy-two words, and that the expellee should he defrayed by the parties, and he computed from the beginning of the present Stssions. The American Commissioners' Bill was reported, and ordered to be read a third time to-morrow. The Committees of Ways and Means and Sup ply, were deferred till Wednesday.—The other Or ders of the Day were postponed, and the !louse adjourned. TIJE BRITISH PRESS. LONDON, TUESDAY, A nit 5. Yesterday we received 3 Mon'teur of Friday last. It copies fiom the London papers the articles of the Convention signed at the Cape of Good Hope, and concludes it with the following expression, thus set forth " A CAPITE LIMON in time of Peace ! ! ! 1! , Lord COKE, in his comments upon LvvrEtvorr, observes, that wherever you meet " an &c." you may be sure it contains some deep and obstruse learning." The Moniteur probably conceiving the world to be of Lord COKE'S opinion, is very apt to indulge in those general and laconic expressions mysteriously thrown out, as pregnant with Very frivol-tint rnea.r ioff. It did so upon the death of the Emperor PAot. :dill the Passage of the Sound; but neither the Mo n lie!, r, or any of its commentators, have yet favour ed the world wick an explanation. If it means by the words " A CA pm; LAT' oN in time of Peace !!! !!" thus impressed and embellished, to convey an idea of any thing extraordinary and uncommon, nothing can he more preposterous and absurd. Does the Moniteur think a Convention in Time of peace an ex traordinary thing ?---aConvention which was merely the delay of the execution of an agreement until some doubt and difficulties attending it should be explained. Has the Monitexr never heard of a libel pronounced by one Government upon ancther in time of peace ? Has it never heard of a chal lenge to fight single handed in time of peace of threats, insults, encroachments, and the sub jugation of independent Staus, all in a time of profound peace ? That the Morriteur, seeing the condua of the FIRST Comut sinee the execu tion •of the Treaty of Amiens, and w:Hr tLe recolleaion of i.s own official ii.sults to every independent Power in Europe, and to England particularly, should consider the late trancae tion at the Cape an extraordinary circumstance time of peace, would indeed surprise us, 7f we were not so well acquainted with judicial blindness, or its incorrigible propensity to misrepresentation. The funds yesterlay, experienced a great flnaua tion. At the opening of the market, they, were ti 94, and they fell in five minute•: to tit j, aud left off at 6'2l—We have been always cl opinion, th it the weight of the account has been a princi i .al cause of the depreciation of the funds. A more formidable one was never encountered upon the St , ck Ex change. In addition to the failures which we have already mentione,l, two occurred yesterday,and many are expeCted. This, however, being settling-Jay, we shall be able to ascertain the eflea of this particular cause in its full extent and oFeration, and hence forth we shall be more competent to judge how far public credit is afFeaed purely by the present poli ti.al crisis. W 4 have received virinut communi cations by the Harnburgh Mail, the Dutch Mail, and frem our private Correspondent as Paris, but we have reserved our opinion upon them until after this day's account. Upon to-morrow, therefeze, or some future day, we shall discuss the subjeet, as well upon general political grounds, as upon the mutual warlike preparations of Franca and England ; for, though we believe Russia and Prussia have it itt their power to do away all jealousies between the two countries, yet the public mind, as well as the Government, ought to be prepared for the alter native of Peace or War. A letter from Calais, April 3, says, fi e Affairs have suddenly taken an appearance of war in thi; place and alorr , the coast. Three thortand .roops came in here last night and this morning e :Hy ; two thousand more marched into Boulogne, and at Obtend, Dunkirk, and in every place, troops are hourly flowing in:" A letter from Dover of the 3d says, " It, seems the English at Paris begin to take alarm, and are hastening home. Three, battlions, of. 1200 men each, arrived in Boulogne yesterday lind the day before, for the ostensible purpose of working at the works in the harbour. Some I•rench troops are also arrived at Calais from Arras. The ruincur cif war seems to spread more in France. Yesterday, about six p. to the squadron in the Downs, under the command of Admiral THOR BOROUGH, sailed to the Northward. A draft of pilots for the ships was made both from hence arid Deal. We learn also that the ships at the lsh.re sailed about the same time ; it is said they are gcre to cruise off Goree. Dle csrs. OGI i.VY and EDwA sp WARENDER are this instant arrived in town with dispatches, and so eager are they to go, that, it being low water, they are going in the Adventure open boat." Rear-Admiral TIIORNBOROUGH, when upon the point of sailing with his squadron on Friday, re ceived counter-orders, and still remains iu the Downs. Sir THOMAS Tstoct, accompanied by his Lady, left town on Saturday, for Portsmouth, to take his passage On board • the jum, fiigate, for Gibraltar. It is understood that•the Duke of *ewr-will haw gone to Italy by the time of Sir 'I•HOMAs'S arrival. A Lieutenant arrived at the Admiralty, on Sunday afternoon from Weymouth, to give information of a number of people having attacked the persons ern- • ployed in the impress service in that neighbourhood, by which some few were wounded. This being Settling Day at the Stock Exchange, great apprehensions are entertained of some of the principal speculators being unable to comply with their bargains, owing to the great fluduation in the funds since the last settling day. The St. James's Loyal - Volunteers received a cir cular letter yesterday, requesting their immediate attendance this evening (April sth) on the parade. in Dulfoar's-place, Broad-street, for the purpose of embody ing the corps. The Solicitor General has given an opinion, " that persons bailout-a or inrolled in the Militia, before any order for embodying or calling the sum: into actual service, are not entitled to any allowance under the 122 Se hod of the Militia Al lately pass:d." An Hon. Baronet, whose late election has made * and continues to make considerable noise in the county of Middlesex, was, very lately, we under stand, called upon for an explanati:m on the part of another Gentleman, professing the same line of po litics, whom he w.is charged of speaking of with too much freedom ; but, as t.ie.liaronet disclaimed having said any oi.iisive or injurious to the complainant, the affair will of course be amicably adjusted. . amlok