The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — London, England, 1807-01-29 00:00:00

. INPZRI4L PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF LOK t)S, J••. 43. • The Howe proceeded further in the Appeal CUM. Sir Watkin Lewes and Daughter • Mor es arid others. Mr. Richards was heard in con tinuation on behalf of the Respondents ; after which the Solicitor-General replied on the part of the Ap pellants. Mr. Laiwll, in the absence of the lAttorney-Ges. weal, addressed their Lordships, in answer to-some • observations alfeelieg thevights of the mortgag•ees. The further consideration was appointed for Thursday se'rinieht. The Earl of DARTMOUTH reported His Ma j-sty's gracious Answer to the Address of the douse, relative to the Correspondence between His Nieje.ty's Government and the•respcitive Colonial Assemblies, relating to the treatment of African lalionrers, ere slaves, on the various estates in the West India islands. Its purport was, that His WWI graciously pleased to order the same utcordingly. After some routine business was disposed of i , the - Rouse adjourned until to-morrow. HOME. OF CuMMONS. The House proceeded this day to ballot for two Eleltinn Coruna; tees. The following Members were appointed u a Committee to try the merits of the Stitalli Petition : 14... G. G. Y. Vemon. sir RA ph WNluru lenri,k, Esq. Lord Henry Marra. Wilt yin \UI.UIng. Esq. Henry Holland. L' , l Ss/Oswald 41eV, Bart. Awatt.m R.bars, Esq. Lad.l.l , u Toynar. Lou. Tnatuas Knox. Nathaniel %axon, Esq. Le•en, ky Rutlv•rfurcl, Esq. Jo..a eolletk Hill, Sty. tad of E.t.t..... The folios ing Members were n-rt apppninted to try the merits of tore Tregony Veit:tan Petition: )paltryEa+ J. De Penthieu. Sou. 1110 Ssarl.e. Ch..lla. /Atli., Fag. Hoe. • , :r. J. l.guica.T.l. Ewl• T. tithr,:cy. W. 1 1 1 !..p. a. Es 1 R. A. f./aatcl: Sir Meth Wtvt...R.diey. dart. Jo.. NI eurAl. Esq. LW at Yarmouth. Jas. Topptas, Esq. Stir Jamas Pottroey. The two list Gentlemen of each of these Com. littees, weto appointed Nominees. When strangers were admitted, we found Mr. fiIiA.G(JE BATHURSr stating, that as he conceived that the Committee appointed to in apt& the Journals of the House of Commons for prec dents in Cawthorne's ease, had not sufficient paweri, he should move, to-morrow, that the Or der their appoiatment be rescinded, riff the puttiose of proposing another Committee, with alit. qu at e 'powers. Mr. lIORHOU SE moved, " 'chat the Report of she titers I.epre Committee, laid before :lie HOUSit, on the 27th of February, 1804, be-404 before the Committee, now sitting upon the Petition of the are&nrs of that Compaay."—thdered. Sir Jehn hLvtpint brought op the. Iri,h Treee•• tiny Bills Bill, which was read a fist, and • q(- tic red to be read a second time to-morrow. .• tag rt KretAT OP MILITARY INQUIRY. Lend ARCHIBALD HAMILTON, alter stat ing the degree of attention, intoyto. and iewliuge wfUi:h the Iliad Report ot the Conosnissioneis of Inquiry had emitted in the 'albite mind, morel, 'Mtn there be laid le 2 fore the Home. a iteentn of the Barrack St:Tidies, tuinished by Alrximder Davison, h...6qi dosing tl,e last year of his being so ernployesh string the Articles furnish . od. their qualities. quaninie-s, and prices, and the .particular Barracks to wi ich they were delivered, and stating the total Al2lolant. Also a similar Re turn6l the Supplies furnished by the Chmruissary. General. dur ng the Scat year of his Ming ap pointed to supply these Articles." . Mr. SIAIRGF.eI BOURNIL seconded this Mo tine. and said it was exert divi,tly desirable that every information shcutJ Le laid b4ore the House. allnded to the Pireeis which were produced du:- Last Parliament. relative to the Barrack Department. and thought it would b- obvious to all who had read them, that it wai the intention of the late Government to restriiin th: prema ture issue of public money for Barrack flcr. Vices. I - le explained the mode in which he meant this to have Leen done; and added, that after the M;:tica now 1114.1.. Ly the Noble Lord was disposed cf, he move. •• rhea the Pepin laid before the House, on the Vi"i of Match, Isoti t bring a Beet:la:ion et His Maje%ty. relative to the safe emtady of money iittrC fed an the hands of the Bair.sek-Master General, be reprinted for the use .f the House." Both these Motions were severally agreed to. Sir T. Tliki.TON gate notice ot his intention of submittit.g a motion for the re-printing of the Papers relative to the Assumption of the ( lnvernment of the Carnatic by the East India Company. He regretted that this rit`jelt had not fallen into abler bands; but he was extremely gloat') find that be Well likely to receive room t Irmo both sides of the House, and teereture it was necessary that, at all events, the matter clinuld be properly elucidated. Mr. C. W. W. Wynne, pursuant to a former Order of the I aretse, presented Copies of Circular I.ett-rs sent by Government to the Leeds Lieu 'truants of Counties. These were ordered to be printed. The same Member then brought up two Bills, the one tp contiriee an Aa to prevent the seduflinn of Soldiers and Sailors from their Allegiance; and the other to continue an AS of the Irish Parlia ment, felled 't The Irish Gun Powder Bill." Both these Bills were severally real a first, and ordered to be read a second time. The Thames Police Bill was read a second time, and nedered to he committed. The Corn Intercourse Bill was committed, and the Report erderril t.) he received to-marrow. Tiie House went into a Committee upon the Woollen Yarn Expoetation Bill ; the Report mai /none, up by Mr. Hothouse, and he obtained leave to biipz in a Bill for allowing the expertation an ts/illy A a Bruited quantity tit - Wu:Ea Yarn to Caned x. IRIUTY OF RF.AL EgT‘TF. FUR PERSON Obal.s The •SOLICITOR-ZENERAL, its pOUU.alree. er his entice, rose. to submit to the House the pro - •key of adopting some new regulations upon th:s . , snbjea, and to propose a Bill for iLat purpose. He observed.that the taw had hithetto been en exceed ingly inicliquate to •the prevemion of thia . many evils that arose upnn this point, and at the same aime, the remedy was so very plain. that it Was, scarcely necessary for him to comment ranch upon the propriety of adopting some new regulations, an I cleating a change. In order, however, to prevent any misconception of his motives, and to explain, more minutely than he had hitherto done, the na ture of the Bill of which he had given notice, he could not help enlarging at present upon the sub ject. lie should commence by observing. that something similar to what he was now proposing, had bien thought of some years ago, by high and • respectable authorities. The plan, however,: had never been properly digested, and Consequently the °llea in view had never yet beet accom plished. It was well known, that. by the law in its present state, the owner of freehold property may. notwithstanding the debts which• be had justly contraaed, convey over to the object of his capricious bounty, that species of property which ought in equity to have one to satisfy the claims of his lawful creditors. Phis the holder of free hold property could do, ahhnugh, perhaps, to the total ruin of a creditor, whose own and whose fa mily's existence might depend solely upon the punanal payment of what was doe to him by loch a debtor. He did not dispute the propriety pCfreehold estates being in general guarded as winch as possi ble for the benefit of the descendant of their original prop' is s ; but in a great commercial state, such as Great Britain, where so much depended upon the pennnal payment of e , .bt< cnntraifted in trade, it was surely but just and rt esonable, and it would be most advantageous to the country at large, that the surest prospect of their discharge should be held out. In this particular, however, there s-as a great deficiency in the law, as Wet present existed ; arid it was astonishing, that it should have remain ed so till this motile:sr. All debts, due upo s nego ciable securities., are merely simple contract debts. Cases have very frequently occurred, in which rn , n have embarked it great niets...atile adventures, and wio-, although possessed of great landed properties. have not the means of extricating themselves, and were therefore under the necessity of borrowing Money Item others, who were, no doubt, induced to advance. from a kaoss ledge of their debtors being in easy circumstances. To such cr. divers, there was apparently no great danger or risk to arise during the life time of honest individuals to whom they had advanced; but how ,wi-h was 'ilfe case altered, when the terminetion of exigence put an end to their favourable prospects of repayment, when they found their debtors leaving the hulk of their pro perty•to heirs, 2nd leaving their creditors to suffer. I believe thiirto. is peculiar to England and Ireland. In every part of the Continent of Europe, where their laws are derived from she Roman law, no person can smiths himself to thus. rights And prvileges of an heir, without subjeaing ltitri,eit to all tae oblig I tions of hi, ancestor. It is the praetice of some States to iLGUICSIN the, moral obligation upon their children, to pay the debts of their parents, previous treiggewJetig to their own permaal mijoyments ; o zedecni, as it were, that fail which had formerly existed betwixt the original d'-titer and his creditor. Thai the heir at law should inherit that property • upon which a 'credit had been originally givea, he believed was peculiar to the southern putt of this island.' it is not so by the law of Scotia:rd.-I'o digaver the origin of that law, it was necessary to go back to a remote period of time, when society was in a very :life. ent state from what it Is at present ; a time when intirely different modes and habits of life preveiled. It was necessary CIA: the House, in judging cf this subjea, shoals' look back to those feudal times, when every proprietor of land held it by feudal tenure, to owe service and ..licgiance to his Lord, where the aftenation of prolog}, or even of changing the meant, was not permitted.— Where catch chi ages were not permitted, therefore,. it necessarily follower!, that the occupiers of such estate/ could not be permitted to canttatt debts, so as to affea the property, that being only an in (tired mode of alienation. Hence has originated that law which exists, to prevent personal debts from being paid fom the real estates '1 he heirs of the tenants were obliged to retain their land ed property free fern ateaation. in order to enable them to Ji.charge their military duties. By the Statute of Westminster, in the 13th year of the Reign of King Edward the First, the right of alien ation was; first permitted, and the creditor was allowed to have recourse to h elf of the land. A few years afterwards, the 84.1111te of Quasi Engrain: was pa , sed ; and the 1 • .e has ever since remained in its then state—a law which had so far overcome the sound reasonings of our ancestors, as to ex ist for no less a period than five hundred years.— The more be considered whist was the present state of the law, upon this Auf-ject, he cou:d not but feel, the more fore.bly. the ttr,!rn:y of the reasons to change it. The law that is so regardless of the rights of creditors, is, at the same time, the most severe upon debtors who are possessed of mere personal property.' One cannot; but be surprised that it should be so negligent, in one respea, and so rigid in the ether. The mischiefs, which na turaily and inevitably resulted from this incon gruity, were truly grievous. A man, en mid in trade, witty have given a large cre dit to a perion. having a large landed pro perty, and his debtor dies without having had an opporturity of paying his debts, or to have made provis.on for them The consequence is, that , the onsuspealing tradesman, who has trusted him, while he has no mean: whatever of getting payment. is oppressed by the claims of his own creditor ; who, by the rigidaess of the law, force from him his personal chattels, or doom his person to per petual imprisonment. That unfortunate man must remain to spend his time in idleneg, suffer all the co itagion of a gaol, and perhaps end his days in misery and want ; unless by good fortune one of those extraordinary acs takes place, which, when our capaciuns gaols are filled with prisoners, the legis lature thiaks proper to adopt for the purpose of doing away one.evil, perhaps by the gra ituess of another. .oust by their supreme authority, cancelling contraa s , and relieving those persons who are bound by them. What he had stated to the House, was not an imegiftary case ; it was one which had often happened. and must inevitably arid frequently happen, so long as the Lea : pilaw:it islaweil such laws • .P , •••,• . • • ta exlit. • 1-fe should be 'Memel) , many, if hs trey thing he had said as to heirs who were entitled to the real property of an indaddital . dying without dig chargitay, his debts, he should be mi.represented as _wishing to sacritice their interests. It was no re proach to them; they had and •übtrdly a right to enjoy what the law has given them. It these was a repeoac'n any where, it was r reproach against the Legislature of the country. far having allowed • such a law so long is remain in existence. It had at first occurred to him, that it• would be most expedient to place the simple eontrad creditor in the same situation as the specialty ceeditor, that they should have in every particular the same privileges. It had afterwards, however, appeared, that it would be most expedient only to declare, that the real estates should be assets to be administered in a Court of Equity. It was in that Court, indeed, where real estates could be assets, far any thing for it was there only where it could be ascertained that the personal funds have been exhausted,. and the real estate sub jelled to any part of the piyment of such debts, or that it can be sold. There could not, therefore, be any reason to complain. It might be proper, how ever, to apprise those who were not of the profes sion, that Courts of Faidity have attempted to sup ply some remedy to the evils which he enumerated ; unfortunately, however, a very imperfed one. They are bound to discharge, first, the specialty debts. What was denominated marshalling the assets, was a step which was deemed bold in, Chancellors to put into pradice. It was his intention, to apply this BiU also to Ireland, for in that country he 1143 not learnt of any difference existing as to the law in this particu lar. It was necessary, when a persan proposed to the House to remedy an evil, to state the advantages and disadvantages of the present state of things, for it was only by thus corneal ing the one with the other, that the House could be called upon to make any material alteration. lle had endeavoured to state the case as fairly as he could, from what he had been enabled to learn upon the subjed, after the most anxious investigation. He had, upon the whole, found nothing but an unmixed evil, without the smallest portion of gotta like', to result from it. After the explanation he had given, he should only trouble the House farther, by moving. " For leave to bring in a Bill, •to make the freehold estates of persons who died indebted, assets far the payment of their simple contred debts." This Motion was seconded by the ATTORN EY- GENERAL, without any obseraations. Mr. C. W. W. WYNNE then rose, and said, that, after what had been stated by the Right lion. . and Learned Gentleman, which entirely met with his approbation, he should not have risen, had he not wished merely to express a hope that he (the Solicitor-General) would not stop there, but that he would apply his mind to devise an efedual remedy, not only as to the estates of those :As are dead, hot also to the estates of those said are livias. IT. meant, that viine measures ought to be adopted, in order to gi►e additional efficacy to the dght of rile Motion was put from the Chair, and carried nons con. soon after which the [louse adjourned. G 077 is' MI tiG H MAIL. COPINHAOtN, *CC. 9. The report of the batteries of the fortress of Cronenburgh having been entirely destroye.l, oa the 2011 of this month, during a violent storm, mid that the &snug: WAS estimated at one million of fix-dol lars, is grosAy exaggerated. ILSINEUN. JAN. 12. Captains liorneman and Schuh, who arrived here, this day, from Dantzick, which they left a fortnight since, state, that the garrison, composed of Prussians and Poles, amounts to 20,u0D men; that no apprehensions are entertained there of the French, and that the latter seem determined to di rea their operations against Koningsberg. ••• Per the £*u•Q• treat the New York Pipet', ea the tut pge. THE BRITISH PRESS. LONDON, THURSDAY, JAIVAIT 29. W e lately announced the capture of two Dutch East lndiamen and a frigate. The New-York Pa pers, which we received yesterday, contain the fol lowing intelligence upon this subjeet : A letter, dated Batavia, Sept. 14, 1806, says t -14 The Dutch Spice Fleet, from the Moluccas, bound for this place, has been captured by an English country ship and frigate. This fleet is valued at three or four millions Spanish dollars—a loss which mu.t be most seriously kit by the Company at this momer.t." In further confirmation of this account, we have been favoured with the following correa translation of the dispatches of the late Govenor.General of the India N-edclerlande (the Netherlands), found(on board the Danish ship L'stte, detained en her •op. age from Bstavia ai Copenhagen, and sent into I),Artmouth by Ills NIA) :rv ' s ship Pia% Ric RD JANYLRIM. Curtin:ander. } ~- DU NI! OFFIcIAI. DISPATCHES. I! With the severest 1,. lings of ailliaion, I have to mention, that according to the late3t authentic in telligence here, upon the ‘2o,h July, 1801 S, in the latitude of Saleyer Islar,ls, the Baravian ft igate the Paris, and the corvette the Wallannr, coming from Amboyna, and having under corm'' , t:.e Prarwie and the Sanwa, two very large ship , I.clonging to the Company, completely left n %iris mace, cloves, and nutmegs, had an engagemen: with an English frigate and a brig, and the un:ortunato issue was, that the frigate was fumed to sot render, and both the C...apsny's ships are bee , rme the prey of the enemy. We know no further particulars. .'except ttat the 71%.7.4e: escaped by Right, and got to Macassar ; but the intelligence has eaat um. venal dejettion over eviry one here, and truly not without reason, as the loss amoumi to full a million dollars in specie, which C:e sale ni the spices was to have replaced, and the blow will be severely felt by the Treasury, the chest of which is already in so &twisted a condition." The value of the spices, on board the ViJorie and BeJervis, was estimated at Batavia a: full 600,02C1. sterling. The prime cost price, iu the Spice lalaods, was upwards of a million Spanish duliare. is Wet, The Captain and the First Lieutenant of the Dutch frigate Pallas, were killed the first broadside. The names of the English frigate and brig are not men. tioncd. The IncLamen are new, and the largest and most btautiful vessels the Dina Asiatic Company possess. nese sl!ies contain the entire produce of all the Dutch spice es , ahliqiments of the growth of 1805. Thus. should this precious freight reach lki. fain in safety. they certainly will prove as rich prises as ever rewarded the bravery of British Tars, The Dutch Company are in the habit of employing neutral bottoms to carry their coffee, &c. from Ila. tavia to Amsterdam. We fear that this severe loss may induce them to adopt the same fraudulent, but successful means of carrying their spice; from Ambcyna to Batavia. Yesterday we received New Yolk Papers to the Gth instant, the contents of which are of con siderable importance. Tuey contain the first sum mons of the Spanish Commander at Buenos Ayres to General Benesroen, and the spirited refusal of the latter ; with many other interesting particulars respeeling that event, not to be found in the official dispatches from Sir HOME POPM•M and Col. Brice. noose. These accounts add, that of the four ships of the line, that presented themselves before the place, one was sunk and two were stranded. This is not true. The sh;p lost was probably the W.!Ther transport, as stated in this Paper on Monday. We do not find in these papers any notice of the captnre of Monte Video. reported yesterday on the alleged authority of a Ncw York Paper, of the Seth last. In consequence of an Address of the Governor of the State of 0:iio, to the Legislature, that body, on the 6th December, passed a law, ordering the seizure of all vessels fitted oat within the jurischEtion of the State, for the purpose of disturbing the Iran. qnillity of the United States, and of all persons en listing man th it purpose. Ten boats have been seized, in eons:evicts:T. and some per sans h Time Grand Jury hare thrown opt tha againrt Cal. E:trr, and Col. John Adair; but Judeer Sebastian has be'n dismissed. It appears that he was in the pay of the Spanish Government. Seven teen witnesses, mostly the intimate (rinds of Col. Burr, were examined before the Grand Jury, and it clearly appeared, from their evidence, that the rumour, circulated throughout the United States, that Col. Burr's objet was to divide the Union, and separate the Eastern from the Western States, is totally fats: and groundless. A letter from Washington. dated the 27th, states, that the differences between Spain and America are settled. The Bill suspending the British Non-Importation AB, has reccieed the assent of the Pam otter. It remits all '...nalties, incurred in the interval, upon payment of costs. In addition to the ankles to which we have al luded, the New York Papers contain an Address from the Governmein of Hayti to the merchants of neutral nations, offering the most liberal encou rarment to trade with that ibland—Lut want of room obliges us to defer it; insertion until to-morrow. l'he report of the great defeat of the French, subsequent to the 27th, has not received any addi tional confirmation. A Gottenhurgh Mail arrived yesterday, with Letters and Papers to the 20th ; and we have also received Dutch Papers to the 23.1, but they contain nothing of any interest. The Spider sloop of war sailed from Malta on the lith of December. with the Mars, —; Phenix, Eitto ; and the Albsom, —, from Loa. don, under convoy for Smyrna. The Derhill, —, from thenada for London, is put is.to Ilfracombe, with damage. the Mezert, S•NDALL, from Leith for London, is carried into the Humber by some pilot boats, baying bee:i found without any person on board. . The Lise/y, Domovrix, horn London, for Buenos Ayres. passed Madeira, with a fair winJ, un the Sd of December, all well. The sl.ip„Vo i rdaka, nt L.ith. Capt. WM. Ho,- frt.m Mate to London, put i , to S..r.Jima. on the 29 h et November. after beating shout fifty-three clAyi, and wall proceed the fist oppor tunity. An Olive canvass is on foot at Lancaster, prepa ratory to an exprited chains), in the event of the disqualification of C 01011•1 CIiVI7IIORNR. ate of the Candidates is Mr:Pars-se. who was M e mber fat tie hmourth of Newtown, in the but Parli.t ment. The other Candidate is a ruti.e of Lan caster It is reported, that the following Gentlemen ate to be made lid sio's Counsel, aad to har.: parent% of precedence s Mr. A. tiAkT, Mr.. LtACN, Mr. end Mr. MARL se. They are all pleaders/ of coitsidesable eminence at the Chancery bee. Yette rivei li tf light At t On se