The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — London, England, 1803-06-29 00:00:00

lIVP'" 1* ~' ,:. •i , I . -i. , • • • • • • ' • •• . . • • ". •orr. • • • • • SlitTh g TANA was attempted, and while the Hesse was in The dismaion. the Hon. Member eadeavoured to avail hiniself of the indelgence of tire Howe, in order to do the same thing, by reading it as a paitt of his ipecch. He never 'knew any attempt made se contr.n•y to the spirit of the oryleri of the. House. Capt. (:OCHRANE adtuowleeMed that he was not very conversant with these orders, but had been I told, the ise — wisit liberty tee seed 'whatever he I shosight ',roper as it pact of his speech. - .1 he SP4A.KEdt kiforreed hint that such a pro- I cee.fiug *his neither-orderly tun regular. Mr.l - 10WARC adverted to a precedent in &- your ci the .proceedsog, when the then Secretary (Mr. Dundas) upeat a charge being brought for ward, leas allowed to read, as a part of his speech, a letter from the Duke of York, which was after wards laid upon the table. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER observed, that the proceeding alluded to, was the reverse of this, as the letter then read was one which was wished to be laid upon the table, whereas the present Memorial was strongly objeeted to. Mr. W. DUNDAS said, he had-never heard so bad an illustration of a litre CAMe as that advanced by she Hew. Gentleman opposite him (Mr. Howard). His Right Hon. Relation, on the occasion alluded to, read as eatrth, and not the whole, of a letter, sshich besides did not relate to any thing by which the public service could be a sufferer. The Hon. Offi cer spewed his want elf knowledge of parliamentary forms, when he attempted to read a paper which the House was deliberating whether it would receive or not. Mr. XINNAIRD retorted the expression of " lame cause," on the Hon. Gentleman who spoke lait—who, he said, had himself done his best to help a I..me dog over the stile. The great differ ence between reading the whole, and part of a pa per, was, that the one might firm a ground for sonic proceeding, and the other would not ; for which reason, he submitted, with great deference, to high authority, whether the Memorial ought not to be read. Colonel BASTARD was of opinion, that if ,the oriicrs of thie House prevented the Hon, Offi cer from reading the whole of the Memorial as a part of his speech, he ought at least to be allowed to read such extraas as he might think necessary to the illustration of his case, in which he would be justified by the precedent already alluded to. (The Howe, by a cry of hear ! bear! seemed gene rally to cancur in this opinion.) Captain COCHit ANE then said, that with the permission of the House, he would proceed to read such extracts as appeared to him necessary for the better information of the House. Commenting on his extraits as he went on, he said he was obliged to p:ty 18,3551. for the expences for li.sses of vessels in the Court of Appeals. This it must be allowed was a great deal of money, his pocket felt it; but the King's Proctor went on always aging against Ls Majesty's Officers. He had a list (which he produced) of SW causes, in which the King's Proc tor appeared against the interests of the Navy. He was gland that an enquiry was set on foot into the nefarious proceedings of the Customs; for he had suffered much by them. The Customs and the other Boards knew very well how to stick together ; but the Officers of the Navy had never been known to stand by each other in this respea, or else these abuses could not have been suffered to continue so long. [ Ile Hon. Gentleman then brought many heavy charges against the conduit of Mr. Hesseltine ; which motives of delicacy, and the apprehension of being led into any mistatement, must induce us to forbear Ong into any detail of.) He complained that the officers had no will of their own. That the proftors and their secret agents led them into whatever bills and expences they pleased, wh;cli they were obliged to pay, and rhos was the money taken out of their pockets. What security, upon any pnrirication made, could Vie of have, that the priaors did not retain the same secret agents still? All he wished was, that in whatever Bill may be brought in, the House would guard their interests in future, and let them put up with the losses they had hitherto sustained. The °Weft of his Memorial, and all he wanted from it, WAS that they may be permitted to choose their own agents ; or if they should be obliged to em ploy th King's Proctors the same proitors should be con tined to that service, and not allowed to ad both for them and against them. He concluded with saying, 64 Though people talked much of taylors bills, this proctor's bill beats all the taylors I ever heard of." Dr. LAWRENCE said, that it would be very much to his individual interest, that the Noble and Gallant Officer should succeed in his object, but he feared the Memorial was roach as the House could not consent to receive. Were he to follow him through all his statements, he believed, he would find very little difficulty in sliming that the Gallant 'Member was by no means acquainted with his own interest, and much less with the constitution of these Boards and Courts, on which he was so liberal of his animadversions. He would first ask, what grounds of &causation could be afforded by a Me. mortal which would not betaken as evidence in any court whatever ? Certainly none. But it was corn-I petent to the Honourable Gentleman, laying aside his Memorial, to make a motion on the merits of hit race, and take the judgment of the House, whether he laid down a sufficient ground for a vote of censure against Earl Spencer. In speaking of the effect of memorials, he would put a sup posed case, and imagine that a memorial should be presented by some foreign' state complaining that a lititish officer commanding on a station, had thrown as it were a dragnet across the sea to haul in every vessel that should come in his way ; sup pose that foreign state should complain of the in jurious lashes and inconveniencies it experienced fro'm such conduit, he would leave it to the can dour of the Hon. and Gallant Officer himself, to say whether, without further enquiry, such charges contained iu a bare memorial ou"ht t , to be taken as sufficient grounds of accusation ? But taking the sub jet on its especial merits, he contended, that accord ing to the Gallant Officer's statemenrof his own case, he should have said more than he did, for he had a right to be charged with the interest as well as the wearing and damages of the cargoes of the ship Gmernity which he detained, and which had been re stored, without any appeal, as having been clearly proved to be American property. He assured the Hun. Officer that it required a good deal of diffi culty and addyess to save all-these expences on the occasion he alluded to. He did not seem to know that the Julia) of hie complaint was always, and ~~ _ -=-• •I • a, twist eves be, intiteeniees trith the of a coast? y which v. nrindrul lif VIC *VC nee eetabliebed rights or natives. The genial office*, he complained of had duties to perfiwas and pro teltion to afford to the eights of neutral nations, as well as our own officers, if we wished io ,avoiel, be. iseg involved as :grew. rs in wars which fnighe ever threaten our existence. The appeals of neutral vessels must be pirsued by his Majesty's officers, and it had often been a subjeet of complaint amongst these neutrals that our own officers had the mono• poly in their power of all the qualifications which led the Crown Officers to their eminent situations. The Hon. Gein. complained, that on his return from America, he found that some proceedings had been taken without his knowledge, and others had been omitted. These omissions, however, he believed would bt found unavoidable and proper ; and as to the proceedings taken, it was sufficient that notice had been served upon the Agents ; for it would be hard indeed, if neutral vessels nnder claim, were to wait till personal notices could be served on Officers, in ail, and even the most distant quarters of theworld. —As to the charges n corruption and secret ag ency brought forward against some most respeetablGen denten, he need only say, that it was not in their power to be exempt even if they had the disposition ; for the proctors were only the channels through which a case came in the first instance, nd was afterwards brought lief°• e the,Council, when their funetions al together ceased. [The remainder of the Learned Gentlemen's speech was a zealous defence of the condua of in dividuals, which it would be idle in us to report, as we abstained from entering into the nature of the particular charges against them.] The SPEAKER begged Captain Cochrane would confine himself to explain the particulars contained in the papers, and not to reply to the arguments used by the Honourable Member who spoke last. Captain COCHRANE then said a few words in explanation. Mr. JOHNSTONE said, it was the duty of the House to redress any instance of flagrant wrong, and to appoint a Committee for that purpose. If what the Gallant Officer had advanced, appeared to rest on parliamentary ground, an investigation ought consequently to ensue. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said, he did not, when he made the motion, enter tain any other opinion than the appeal did not rest upon parliamentary ground, therefore did not see why it should not be discharged. Sir NVILLIAM SCOTT spoke in behalf of the King's Proetor, and the proceedings which took place relative to the prize causes. He observed, that those who turned out to be their own lawyers, frequently found themselves deficient in talents. A greater system of justice had never existed in any tribunal, than in that wherein the present complaints were derived ; complaints which might create suspicion in weak minds, to the injury of respectable persons. The only consideration the Hon.Memberhad forsupposing that collusive measures had been used duringthe trials of the causes, was merely because the same were de fended by the King's Prodor. It was not upon the information to be derived from the hangers-on about a Court, the Hon. Member was to form suspicions so injurious to persons of the highest charaders. Suppose even there had been an undue interest used, there were other means of redress than an appeal to the House of Commons. If a gentleman found his attorney had overcharged his bill, he could not reasonably make appeal to Parliament ; there were other ways to procure justice, and justice in all instances would undoubtedly be found, if properly sought for. Was the Honourable Member to bring in a bill like a taylor's bill, and beg the House to cut the same short with their shears ? The Hon. Member had complained much respecting the ves sels called the Black Joie and Pew J ack ;he had only to say on that point, that if they had proceeded longer than they did in the business respeding those vessels, there would have been added some feet more in length to the Honourable Member's bill. He was surprised that a person possessed of the sense which he knew the Honourable Member was, should have doubted the honour and justice of such a re spedable Court. If the Hon. Member was not safe in their hands, in whet hands was safety to be found ? He observed that he should dismiss the sub jed with giving a piece of advice to the Hon. Mem ber, namely, in future, to repose his prize interests in the hands of those whom the Government of the country had appointed to that, and without ap prehension. He described the pureness with which prize causes were conducted, and concluded with observing, that the good sense of the House would see the impropriety of the appeal, as one of a mis chievous tendency. Captain COCHRANE in explanation said, he en tertained the highest respeCt for the Honourable Member who spoke last ; his complaint alluded to a Mr. Silk and others. Sir STEPHEN LUSHINGTON spoke in vindi cation of the King's Proctor, with whose condud, he observed, the whole navy were highly satisfied. Mr. HURST said, he- believed there did exist a time when the Honourable Member had same thing to complain of, and that was when the prize causes were tried ; but every one who krew any thing of the persons who presided at the time of the trials would conclude, that had an application been made, every abuse would have been remedied. We was against the paper being laid on the table, as tending to asperse established characters. Colonel BASTARD said, if the Honourable Member could prove there had been a collusion, every person who had been accessary to the same, . ought to be dismissed from His Majesty's service. . He was of an opinion that the papers ought to be laid on the table, in order to make an inquiry whether there was truth in the representation. He way. inclined • . . t _ to think there was ground to suspea collusion, as he had received a memorial on the same subjeft, signed by no less than forty °dicers of His Majesty's navy. On talking with those persons some time after, he found they did not wish to proceed in the business, —he advised them not, as it might be the means of their ruin, from the resentment they were likely to experience on the part of the Admiralty. If the Honourable Member could prove that justice had not been done in the trial of one cause out of the IN, he was entitled to the consideration of the House. . Sir WILLIAM WYNNE expressed his belief, that the conduct of the official persons in the Court of Admiralty had ever been fair in the distribution of justice. He bad seen several of the , ceases eon dos:-ted which the Hon. Member complained of, the whole of which appeared to have been legally do. .. c 5. 72.'r .of .thea withstanding,__ attentpted tions He did not wash to detain the House longer than while he states he did not believe any Persons could be found to discharge the im portant trust reposed in them with stride integrity than those who presi:led-in the Court of Admiralty at the period when the causes were tried which then became the subject of complaint. Captain HARVEY said, no part of the navy had any claim to the vessels. He observed, that it was naturally the wish of persons in the navy, that those who were zonneEled with their affairs, should not be connected with the adverse party. His reason for supporting the motion was, because Commis sioners were now sitting to wham the paper might be referred. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER stated, that the Commissioners had only cognizance over prize agency, not of prize causes. 'The King's Advocate opposed the motion of.the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Mr. WILISERFORCE said, that if . ever there was a case in which an .applic-ttiiin for a document ought not to be rejeCted, it was at present. It was the province and. charader of the House not to re jeCt it, ovided any fair ground was made out. He urged the House to consent to a proposition which was so much the wish of the officer s of the navy. Sir STEPHEN LUSHINGTON justified the condat of the King's Proftor. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said it was not true, th it a memorial had been pre sented to the Admiralty, which had not been at tended to; on the contrary, it had been referred to his Learned Friend, who had immediately put an end to what was deemed an unseemly conneCtion. His reason for moving for the purpose of getting rid of the order4was on the merits of the case, and from a regard to the proceedings of the House. If he thought it necessary to have an enquiry, he should move to discharge the order, because the motion for the inquiry ought to precede that for the paper. 6 Mr. HUTCHINSON thought it was a question worths , the grave attention of the House, and one which'ought not lightly to be treated. He hoped the Chancellor of the Exchequer would not forget . the state of things, or, at a moment when so much reliance was placed on the profession, meet the question by the forms of the House. The ()Nth of the inquiry was not personal punishment, but mere ly the amendment of an abuse. Mr. ALEXANDER said, that on great cccasicns of this kind, the House must conduCt itself on ge neral principles. He thought the King's ProCtor having a partner• was improper, and therefore upon complaint, that conneaion had been discharged.— His Right Hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Ex chequer could not have a wish to support an indi vidual against the feeling of the Navy. He thought the complaint ought to be made in the first instance to the Court of Admiralty, the Judge of which had power of his officers like the Judges of all other Courts. To pass by the Court and appeal in the first instance, was a pradice which might be pro• dative of material inconvenience. Sir WILLIAM GEARY was of opinion, that if a case could be made out at any future time, an in. quiry ought to be instituted. The question was put, that the Order of the Day should be discharged, and was carried in the a&r. mative. CLERGY RESIDENCE BILL. ----- - The Order of the Day was moved, for taking into consideration the amendments made by the Lords in the Clergy Residence Bill. The SPEAKER said, it was his duty to state to the House, that in the amendmenti made by the Lords, there were introduced matters of a pecuniary nature. There were some exemptions in cases where this I louse had not exempted persons. In the last amendment was a: direet claim to impose a pecuni ary penalty. This Was a matter with regard to which the House had, and he trusted always would exercise an exclusive privilege. He hoped, therefore, that some Member would propose that these amend menu should be taken into consideration at a dis tant day. Sir W. SCOTT moved, that the amendments should be taken into- further consideration this day three niona. , . He begged leave to say it was his intention to move for leave to bring in another Bill upon the subjeft. The motion of adi" - tvias put, and carried hem. tor?. Sir WILLIAM SCOTT' moved for leave to bring in a Bill to amend the laws relating to spi ritual persons holding farms, and for enforcing the residence of spiritual persons on their benefices in England and Ireland. Mr.SPE A KER observed, that if the Bill the Hon. Gentleman proposed to brinq in was, in its general miter:, the same ; he wished the licuse to observe, that although it nevet :ailed, and he hoped never would fail to assert its privileges in passing laws ; yet in /natters of great importance, it had permitted Bills to be brought in on the same subject. Leave was given to bring in the Bill. The additional g.xcise Duties Bill was read a third time.—Upon the motion that it should pass, Mr. HUTCHINSON rose to suggest the pro priety of the measure to the consideration of his Majesty' Ministers. He considered that it was a measure which bore upon the AR of Union, and would ;area the Irish distilleries in a way which was adverse to the spirit of that AR. He observed, that by the operation of the Bill, several thousand pounds-worth of spirits in England, would avoid paying the new duty. Mr. CURRY said, he had taken great pains on the subjen ; there were certainly inconveniencies in the Bill, but he knew of no possible remedy. Ile was persuaded that when the country was about to make a great exertion, there was nothing in the AR of Union to induce Parliament to hesitate. Sir LAWRENCE PARSONS said, he was of opinion the Bill was not in opposition to the prin ciple: of the AR of Union. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER Lsinled o that the inconvenience of the Irish distiller, tassequence of the Bill, was not greater than on .ütt English ntanulisturer. VANSUTART observed, that the ebjec against the Bill were not material. Mr. WICKHAM iustiaed the Bill, gad after some • • by Mr. Hutchinson an I Mr. Cwry, th passed. Irish Importation Exci;e Bill, uas read a ordered to be read a second time to-incr. ,CDOWAL moved a new Writ for Stran , room of John Spalding, Esq. who had accepted the Chiltern Hundreds. The Irish Promissory Notes and Bills of Exchange Bill, was read a first, and ordered to be read a se cond time to-morrow. The Militia Pay and Cloathing Bill was read a first, and ordered to be read a second time to-rncr. row. On the Motion of Mr. CORRY, the Committee on the Salt Petre Duties in Ireland, was deferred till to-morrow. The Irish Revenue Bill was postponed till Thurs day. The House went into a Concnittee on the Sco:th. General Defence Bill. The SECRETARY at WAR. said, this Bill was exaelly like the one which went through A Corn nUttee yesterday. There was, however, some altera tion with regard to the mode of furnishing the quotas. It was found more adviseable to resort to the calculation of the Militia last year. By so doing, the number would amount to three fourths or the number of men raised by the last Militia Aft. The Iteport was received, and ordered to be taken into further consideration to-morrow, and printed. The Unlawful Combination Bill was reported, and ordered to be read a third time. The other Orders of the Day were deferred, and the House adjourned at half past nine. • THEATRE-RorAz.„ 1 orm4.RKE7'.f THIS EVENING will be presented, The Tragedy of KING RICHARD THE THIRD, King Henry the Sixth, Mr. Ittisset ; Prince of Walet Miss Davis; Duke of York, Mks H. K e l l y ; Duke o f G loster, Mr. Ellistnn„ (his Second Appearance in t.t.d Char-at:ler) 4.E.01l of Richmond, Mr. Palmer. Queen Elizabeth, Mu. Goodall i Duchess of York, MN. Cleland ; Lady Anne, Mrs. T. Woodiall. To which will be added, a Musical Farce, called THE POOR SOLDIER. Patrick, Mrs. Harlowe ; Dermot, Mr. Truetnan; Fitar w e Mr. Palmes, Kathlane, Miss Davis; Norah, Mrs. Atkins. " The Intrigues of the Fressch in the Turkish Empire," a. 4 several other Articles ot imperiance • are still excluded by the length of the Parliamentary Debahr. THE 1 ill TISH PRESS. LONDON, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29. We yesterday received the Moniteur of the 24th . It contains our budget at considerable length, an& several addresses to the Fiasr CONSUL—The latter are in the common style of rant and fury against this Country, and of fulsome adulation to the Corsican. One of these addresses says—" The English wilt have war ; they shall have war. &fore that genius to wham the Alps lowered themselves, the Ocean will eeome solid ! and even in the centre of England our warriors, under your direCtion, will find and signa lize a plain of Marengo." Until within these few days the Moniteur coatained, immediately after the title of the paper, the following notice " We are authorised to inform our Subscribers, that from the date of the 7th Nivose, year 8, the 3funarair is the oul7 Oleial Journal." Within the last fortnight the notice has been al tered. It is now as follows : " From► the dite of the ith Isfivo-r, year 8, the ans of th. Government and of the Constituted Antisurium, contained is the 3lnts4tur, are official." This alteration has, in all probability, been made for the purpose of enabling the Isionikur to continue its scurrilities against this country, with out subje&ing the French Government to the odium of authorising their insertion. We were disappointed in not finding in the Afonikur a Consular Decree against the importation of English Merchandize into France. The article alluded to, bears evident marks of authenticity ; and although it has only been com municated by private letters, we do not hesitate to consider it genuine. Some persons have in terpreted this Decree, as containing contrary provisions, and still leaving a pretence for the continuance of the trade which it areas to prohibit_ Upon a careful perusal of the decree, we do not discover any tl ing to warrant that construCtion. The clause which has been unaccountably relied upon as a relaxation, appears, on the contrary, to be a rigour of the ordinance. It makes all English merchandize imported into France, direCtly or in direetly, liable to confiscation ; and the more effec tually to guard against such importation, it requires that all neutral vessels shall be furnished with a de claration that no part of the cargo is of English ruanufaaure. A certain penalty attaches to the neutral vessel negleCting to furnish itself with such. declaration ; but there is nothing in the decree from which we can presume that proof of the cargo being English, will not in all cases subjeft the vessel to confiscation. Yesterday also arrived a mail from Hamhurgh. Our letters. from that city are of the 21st. We have the sAtisfaftion that the independence of the Hans Towns is to be maintained, and consequently that these channels for the circulation of our mer. chandize through the Continent will remain open: -- . We have reason to believe that Mr. Hs ut loon. ROWAN has received His IdAjcsves pardon, and is now in this thy. No man ever felt more for the suf. ferings of the poor of Ireland titan Mr. Ito waN. The benevolence of his nature, ankprobably a belief on the IV? ": "lir I P , ... J„ It 1 . that difitit e tt been' Veaplatiation . errest•tkorn is apprehens ion collusive rassos Bal was pas the. AdMi , u apprehension of being ' The Irisl dismissed from is Majesty's service; in answer to first, and m which he would resort to the fad: Was the Honour- row. able Member.dismissad who made the.appeal, net- - •Mr. MA( withstandins„ he . had attentpted such represents- rats - , in: the I •