The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — London, England, 1805-02-16 00:00:00

mow • ticm against this Bill, signed by 10,000 traders of Liverrn-d, in behalf of themselves. and toillions who were .employ; 4.1 arid derived their livelihood from the trade in que%ti:m. He would not detain the House any longer at present, as he understood thel..! was ;soother oue:,tion of great importance re maining for discussion. but he should take another • opportunity of delivering his sentiments freely on the !whir& Mr. WILBEAFORCE then moved, that the House do now resolve into a Committee. Sir W. YOUNG said, that he should this night decline takiag the sans.: of the /loose on this •point of form, as he should have sufficient Aspottunities of opposing it. He %v as by no me,rawsattsfied that the present Motion etiald pass, merely as a matter of, course, and should therefore , give his negative to it. . - The House then resolved itself into a Committee, Mr. Bankes in the Chair. Mr. WILBERFORCE disclaimed any idea of. forcing the mestere with rapidity, or taking the House by surprise. He afted merely in the usual manner, as srauld appear by a reference to the inn:mils. The Bill he had to move for was :already • prepared to avoid the complain of precipitancy. He should not bring it in to be re-ad a first time till Monday next, and should move the second reading of it on this day fortnight. He then moved for leave to bring in a Bill for the abolirion of the Slave Trade s fo r a time to be limited, which was agreed to, and the Report received immediately. I . IRISH HABEAS CORPUS SUSPENSION. Sir EVAN KEPEAN, without any preface, moved the order of the Day lot the House resolv ing its It into a Committee on the Bill for Suspend ing the Habeas .Corpus Atit in Ireland, until six weeks after the next Meeti,ng of Parliament, which was accordingly done. • Mr. ALLXANDER in the Chair. . . Lord HVNRY I'ETTY, in pursuance of the notice which ::c gavi yesterday, rose to mote all Amendment in the Bill, to limit its operation to the Is. of March next. He ;lid this upon the ground, that the vlidsters, taking all the responsibility on themselves, pressed forward this harsh measure without airs pervious Parliamentary enquiry; and the only arg invent they made use of to justity their conduct was the pressure of time, fearing that the . Bill now in face might expire before the enquiry could be ended. The House, however, must be aware, that, during the preceding part of the Ses-. l ion, there was little to prevent the eoquir l y Isom taking place, if they thought proper to ilstadMift but as they alleged that argument, Imp would only go to the continuation of the lint ted tine, doting which, there could bie.Wees ease for not enquiring into the necessity- .oCans— The liberties of so large a portion of the sobs jefts of the United Kingdom were not to be sported with ; they were not to be sacrificed, I. vcn for a moment, except upon the ground t!'ey alleged, of want of time, and imperious necessity, in the manlier of a S`nitiUlt cense um aliiia.t ncrers::ctiv.— Something had been thrown out of danger to that country, but he would appeal to the Right Hon. Gentleman opposite to him (Mr. Foster), who was intimately aequiated with the state of Ireland, and sat upon its Committees of Enquiry. He would appeal to his knowledge and experience, and request of him, if he knew of any danger, except that from an external enemy. which threatened alike all parts of the dominions, to state what the danger was, and what were the esrouods upon which he founded his ap prehensions ? He was far from wishing to press indi reCt disclosures, or to anticipate the discus .:on of an important measure, which must come cn in the present Session of Parliament, to which the present Ministers stood Pledged, and the event of which may eouiblf decide the very fate of Ireland; but, • whatever may be the religious prejudices or °pi r.,ons of the majority of the Irish people, he could • never think so meanly of that generous race of men, as to degrade them with the suspicion that, whatever griovancei they may complain of, they would seek refuge under arbitrary power, or under so detectible a government as that Which was thrown out as an allurement to them. The House, by voting in fa your of his motion, which would keep the Bill in force, chile an inquiry took place, could apprehend no danger, and they would have this , advantage, that the question, if revived, would come before the House upon a fair, equitable, and Parliamentary ground. If it should appear that the seeds of rebellion were sown in Ireland, on which at present he did not wish to express any decided opinion, then this mea sure would be necessary, in order to secure them ; but without previous and fall enquiry, that House should not touch but with reverence the sacred al. tar of British or Irish liberty. His Lordship then moved his Amt.ndrrent, to leave out the words !* six weeks after the next meeting of parliament," and insert the words " the lst of March nest." 4, _ The CHANCELLOR of the' EXCHEQUER Mid, that though the noble Lord introduced the amendment he proposed with great ability, and in such a manner as could not fail of making a deep impression, he felt himself under the necessity of supporting the original motion. He readily ac knowledged, that the noble Lord did great justice to the motion, but he was by no means satisfied that he stated the grounds of this question truly. If pre. • vious entriry was theAllit absolutely necessary, it woold certainly be tight to introduce a short bill, dining the csistence of which the enquiry might take place; !nits proceeding upon precedent, he could not but coo...der the measure pet feely justifiable, and absolutely necessary, upon the ground of public notoriety. In this ;.usition he had a right to expect the coucturenee and support of a Right Hon. Gen tleman opposite to him (Mr. Windham), who was the zealoos advocate of the bill on a former and si milar occasion, and whose opinion could net be doubted, as he had strenuously ailed upon it. The very s ime points upon which that Right Hon. Gentlemen defended this measure before were still as mush in existence as at any former period.— That the camp was collating together bands of re bels and emigrants from Ireland ; that he had Irish • regiments, Irish officers, Irish generals, Irish com mittees, as well as spies and correspondents in that country, was a matter of public and evident noto riety. Under such circumstances, this measure had necessity, as well as notoriety, for its basis. To avoid enquiry was, at present, a measure of lenity . in the Government, as it might possibly happen -. that it would hazard the liv,s of some individuals who now fund thaw. is ..s is perlea safety. ■ 2. - ... c I. . . Mr. CHARLES.WYNIsIE spoke at s some tengtf. in favour of the Amendment. He referred to dif ferent periods of English history, and particularly the rebellinn which broke out in Scotland in the year 1745, to ihew that the danger was imminent; and though it was a matter of notoriety that tl:e rebels were in arms, and tizhting against the King's troops, yet the Habeas Corms at seas Got saspemdtd with out a previ.nis parliamentary enquiry. When the act was before suspended in the reign of Queen Anne, a paniamentary enquiry • al , o preceded it ; and even at the period of the first rebellion, and when there was a foreign enemy fighting in that country, the !tabus Corpus act was not suspended till alter a long, and mature enquity before Com mittees both of the English and Irish Parliaments. As to the rebellion, or insurrection, or riot, or what- ever it may he c alled, on the 23d July, 1802, :t was produced by the enthusiastic conduct of an unthink ing and fanatical young man, the and conse quences of which must have been buried long before this time. . The Legislature ought to pause before it established so ba4 a precedent, which, whatever might be its consequences now, may have a very bad effect upon posterity. To exemplify the abuse which had in &rater times taken place in the exer cise of this power, he instanced the case of a person who had been confined twenty years in the Tower, before he was brought to trial. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER wished to set the Hon. Gentleman right in the case be last mentioned. The person be alluded to was not confined so long in consequence of the suspen sion of the Habeas Corpus, but in consequence of repeated aas of parliament passed fcr that purpose. • Mr. WINDHAM conceived the Amendment of the Noble Lord rot to have been clearly understood, as the oblation he made was not perhaps at all, but certainly not so much to tie measure itself, as to its being adopted without a previous parliament ary enquiry. The Rt Hon. Gentleman (4r Pitt) did him the honour to state his conduct nq a former occasion, when he certainly adopted the measure upon public notoriety, because the danger was pre sent, and staring them in the face ; but the Right Hon. Gentleman must recalled, that even then he expressed his opinion that an enquiry should first he instituted, but that he was overruled by that Right Hon. Gentleman himself, and others, on the ground that the danger was both pressing and notorious But on no occasion did he say that this suspension should continue always, foil when he supported it on the spur of the moment, his support was founded both upon necessity and notoriety. He had now no ground or information before him, to shew that this measure was bottOmed either in one or the other. lie now wanted the notoriety, and had reason to think and believe, that since the passing of :he att now in force, a great change had taken place in the minds and dispositions of the people of Ireland. Here there was no information brought forward, no danger was made apparent, no necessity o:ewn, no notoriety established, and yet the I louse was called upon to pass this a& of suspension of the li berties of the people of Ire! old. as it were by accla mation, and will no moo: than twenty-four hours notice. The Suspension WI in the former was pass ed under a mistake; for the insurreetion which oc casiossed it turned nut since to have been not ge neral,but ahsalutely local, and merely, as he under stood, accidental. He admitted, as was done by the Noble Lord who moved the Amendment, that the measure *ay be necessary, but there was no proof of it. There was some reason for it in the former instance; he thought there was reason for it ; but the Ministers did not think proper to give them any now. - If it should be admitted that the enemy having Irish Officers, and Irish Generals, and Officers and regiments, should be a justifica tion of suspending the liberties of the people of Ire land, there never was, nor ever would be, a time of war when the same argument would not equally prevail. Ile defied any one to mention the time of war in which all these circumstances did not uni formly happen. Considering the temper of the people of Ireland, he thought that even decorum towards them required that an investigation should take place into the necessity of the measure. If this precipitation should be understood by them, as proceeding from inattention and indifference, it might he produffive of the most fatal effnts. For all these and other reasons, with which he should not detain the House at present, he should vote for the Amendment proposed by the Noble Lord, and it would, in every view, be pettedly sal-, and tend to render the measure at th's time much less odious than it was likely to be if the original motion should be hastily adopted. Mr. MARTIN (of. Galway) was also in favour of the Amendment. Tie spoke from a thorough local and personal knowledge of the people of Ire land in general, and more particularly of those in the province of Connaught, where he was convinced they were so loyal, well-disposed, and tranquil, that such a Bill as the present was far from being ne-. eessary. The House was called mann to pass this , iafringing on the birth-rights of the people, in the same manner as it passed votes of credi: de pending on the responsibility of the Moister for the mode of its application. Supposing even the no toriety which they spoke of to exist, surely notoriety could be made a ground of Parliamentary proceed- i ing, unless upon such a pressure as would afford no room for enquiry; but the amendment of the Noble Lord would obviate all difficulties, and 'it would keep the suspension in force during the time that the enquiry was prosecuting. He -could never withhold his opposition to a till which dealt out to Ireland a measure different from what was adopted in the case of any (oher part of the United Kingdom. Why not give them the setidaftion of instituting the enquiry ? No person ever detilated the solvency of the Bank of England. Thar was a matter of public notoriety, and yet, when it was thought neces s ary to suspend its payment in specie, the House was not called Upon to do so, without a previous enqiury into that solvency. which no one had a doubt of. Why should the people of Ire land be trusted with less ceremony As to the clta raQer of the Lord Lieutenant and his Secretary, it made no legislative ground for So severe a measure as the present. He never knew a Lord Lieutenant in that cocoo ry who was not represented as a very . amiable man. He never heard of a eleereury who was not said to be possessed of the highestatalents, and overffuwing with humanity and - benevolence. But these accounts, corning from a certain descrip tion of persons, were not always to be depended . - • • npon. The flattery towards men in power was car. the. cteintry would be left open to those scenes of tied to such excess, that he could recollea Gantle- bloodsh e d which it had been before stained with, men having seriously asserted, and mentioned in a nd which, he said, residing in it, he had a better public companies, that Lori Hobart was a much right to know then any of those gentlemen who did more eloquent man than Mr. Flood had ever been. not. 'Thesepinegerics were easily obtained, but he Mr. MAY said, he represented a part of the thought the people of Ireland would indeed be very North of Ireland, which certainly was as 1(141, an d hardly dealt with, if they ha Ino other security for ,is sillier, as any part of the United Kingdom h ut that was not ale case in the southern and Western their liberties than the chat - after of those who ma y happen to be in power. parts of the courtry. Mr. WARD said, that at every time this ques- Earl TEMPLE took a review of what 1:1,1 tion was stirred in the House, whenever the Suspen- been said on the subjea, and Concluded by sion of the Habeas Corpus An was moved for, the before th'e Address was presented to His Ma; same topics were brought forward, and the same sib- stating, that Ireland was perfesctly quiet and trano,ol, jeetions refuted, which Gentlemen thought prop er why did not the Representatives of Ireland step ,-- to renew in the course of the present debate. In ward, and prevent that House going to the font ~f proof of this assertion, he se's r eferring to some oh- the Throne with an Address, which did not cont . :in serrations made in the last Session, when he was in- one word of truth, relative to that wifortunate terrupted by country ? Lord A RCHIBALD HAMILTON, who said, Mr. MA sr and Donor DVICZN AN explained. it was disorderly to refer to' the speeches made in Earl TEMPLE also explained, and s ,id, he un that House in any former debate. derstood the Gentleman to have hiseed, that the Mr. WA RD proceeded, and in reply to the last Members fot England had not the same love I e Noble Speaker, said, he had a right, he believed, Ireland, As those who represented it. to refer to any thing generally, which was more of Colonel HUTCHINSON said, he was convinced, an historical nature t h a n an y di re a a ll us i on to what if His Majesty's Ministers had known the turn this might have been uttered by any individual in A debate would have taken, they never would ha" former debate. Those Gentlemen who spoke of brought it forward. He was sure they could not have the probably had effefts of this measure, reminded wished to hear such words pass as they had that him of the Captain of a ship, who, being bound night heard in the course of the debate. He con. upon a long and perilous voyage, expended a con- eluded by saying it was his decided intention to sup. siderable sum in the purchase of medicines for the port the suspension of the aft. use of his crew; but on bis return, complained Lord HENRY PE'[ I'Y shortly observed, be hal that he 'had thrown away his money, AS he had said that notoriety was a sistfi• ient ground for re not, dining the voyage, had one sick person on newing the aft, but it should, he thought, be that board. So it was with the opposers of this Bill notoriety of existing disturbances, which would pit Grey were always fearful of the consequence, and, it beyond the possibility of doubt, that imminent when the time of its renewal arrived, found they had danger might ensue if the suspension of this A a nothing to complain of. It was not, in his opinion, was not agreed to. The Question was now loudly true, that when this measure was resorted to, there and the House divided, was not a strong spirit of rebellion, and if it was for- For the Amendment—Ayes 54—Noes 139 tunately suppressed, it was only done by measures of Ata: 'city 103. •ille Bill was then ordered to be reported.— vigour, as that which was now proposed. The histori cal references made, if further pursued, would shew Adjourned to Monday. that the measure, in its present state, was by no means unprecedented. When the aft was 'upended, in the reign of William 111. no other ground was laid before Parliament but what was mentioned in His Majesty's Speech from the Throne; and when the Suspension Aft was about to expire in the next year, it was renewed without any previous enquiry in Parliament. In the year 17A a similar conduft was pursued, and the Habeas Corpus Aft suspended, without any enquiry, or any information at all be yond what was conveyed in His Majesty's Speech from the Throne. It was true that a strong pro test was entered against that measure in the House of Lords, but the leading argument of the protest was, not that there was no committee of inquiry, but that the existence of the conspiracy was a mat ter of notoriety seven months before. (The Hon iNtmnber, we presume, though lie did not mention it, alluded to the conspiracy of Christopher buyer, who was hanrßed for treason in the reign of George the First.) He made use, he said, of these cases, in order to sliew that it was not the antient or esta blished custom of Parliament to base recourse to previous evidence in proceedings of this kind. Mr. WIRDHAM and Mr. WARD both said a few words in explanation. Sir JOH g NEWPORT observed, that in all the eases quoted by tile Honourable Gentleman, the suspension took place on the authority of speeches from the Throne ; but in the present in stance, even that authority was wanting. The cit.• cunistances of Ireland had not altered since the , meeting of parliament; and as the Ministers had then the same grounds for this measure that they Could possibly pretend to now, why not make it a pan in His Majesty's speech, for he had a parlia mentary right to consider the speech from the Throne as the speech of the Minister? To speak more plainly, it was very well known that both the Speech and the Address were of his manufaaure. Haying omitted to mention so very important a cir cumstance in His Majesty's Speech, how could they have the confidence to come to the House, and in the second month state to the House, that the necessity of a measure was a matter of public notoriety. For Isis own part, he protested against it being attributed to him, that he denied the necessity of the measure; but, as the amend ment would leave time enough to inquire, he wished the inquiry to be instituted. There was no reason, no colour, for associating this situation of Ireland, with the rebellion of 1798, but even then, the duration of the bill was limited; and the Habeas Corpus Aft afterwards suspended, till that circumstance, which, for some purposes, was called a rebellion, and, for other purposes, a paltry riot, took place, on the 24th of July ; which alarmed, for the moment, the country and the Par iament. , . THEATRES Rtwo's —This Evening, the New Opeta of Z AIR 1, 3 the end of the first act will be a Divertiseteent ; aft, the ts; the New Ballet of I.A BELLE LAI IMRE. Dauar-Lawa.—This Evening, the New Comedy of Till' HONEY MOON—with a New Melo Duque, edged Tat: LADY OF THE ROCK. Covent-Deepen...This Evening (never acted), a New Comedy called TO MARRY, OR NOT TO MIKRY ;11 which a Young Lady will wake her knit appeareoc,•—with the Muocal Entertainment of PAUL AND VIRGINIA. PRICE OF STOCKS YESTERDAY Bank Stock 178 3 kw, Cent. Red. &per Cent. Oneida.. ... 39 94al ♦ per Cent .. 764 b per Cent. Nam• N per Cent. Loyalty 101 1004 Conrols for .. .. ... 581 9.1 9k I.,.uery Tickets 241. les THE BRITISH Pit ESn. SATURDAY. FZIIRUAILY IG. We have more than once stated that the loan would be for about 25 millions, or thereaboats.' This statement. which wts contrary to the general opinion, as well as the account of all our contem poraries, is now confirmed. The Gentlemen who mean to bid for the loan, yesterday waited upon the Minister, when the amnunt was declared. It is 221 billions for England and Ireland, inzliidir:„; five millions for Continental purposes : 151'.. 3 per cent. Consols is to be given for every 1001. and the bidding is to be in the 3 per cent. Reduced. There are four lists, viz. Sir F. Bastrio, Co. and AN- ozasrzis ; Go.z.metin and Co; * Cuari . t, Ru. SAM, TULLLUSSOM, and WAR.° ; and. the Gen tlemen of the Stock Exchange. All the stock had been btnight up, under the idea that the loan would have been very smell. The an nouncercent. there( 're, of so large a sum, and of the appropriati , :n of a part for Continental use, ex cited much dismay in the city. The account, how ever, was received too late to have any eifee urn the funds, ai it was not generally known ur.til the close of the mai ket. The bidding is to take plat, on Monday. Mr. FOX said, that he did not tie for the pur pose of now entering into the merits of this ques tion, but to beg the Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Wald). who dwelt so much upon historical precedents, to re-consider whether he was justified in the assertion, that no parliamentary inquiry took place on the subject of the conspiracy in 17V. Mr. MstIAGHTEN said, he did not suppose any Gentleman in that House denied, that there might not at least be a necessity lot tt.e Suspension of that Al. The present law was m.:de to continue for six weeks after the commencement of the present Ses sions ; the question now'was, whether it should not be continued for six weeks after the commencement of the ensuing Sessions, and they were • discussing, • whether there existed a sufficient notoriety of di.- tarbances in Ireland to wars ant that continuance Colonel BAGIYE observed, that in the part of the country in which he lived, the notoriety teas suf ficiently manifested: such acts of atrocity were corn. mitred as would remove every doubt that scold be entertained on the subject. • Lord DE 1.11. IQUIF.KE said, he thought the records of the Courts of Justice in Leland were sufficient proofs of the notoriety of existing disturb ances. The Debate, last night, ill the House of Lrrei upon the Earl of DARNLEY'S Motion, was render c.I still more interesting by some personal allusi ,whici, were ably answered by Lord GRENVILLE. We yesterday gave the speech of the COUINILL. LOR of ST %TB to the Legislative Body, on before it the letter of dunks. %RTC to the King ENGLAND, and Lord Nir centove's answer, up-' the dtlr instant. A similar communieation tr..> made upon the same day to the Tribunate and the Conservative Senate, accompanied by speeches in the same hostile spirit, boasting of the strength and resources of France, ridiculiiig the, military pre parations and spirit of England, and treating her hopes of a Continental alliance as an idle chimera. We understand that the irryinosith has procceJel for India with her convoy. There is to be a silver coinage of eleven pent. piece, and a copper coin.tge of halfpenny, 'bra' farthing, and twopenny pieces, for Ireland. The emit is to be different from that oh England, under the idea that it will be an obstacle to exportation We understand, that the otter o 1 executing it has been made to the Bask of Iteland. Mr. KINNAIRD thought it the dory of the Douse, as curators of the people, to enquire strictly into every thing which the Government 'should lay before them, tending to nice away, or abridge, in any respell, the liberty of the people, who►e repre sentatives they were. Dr. DUIGENAN observed, the Suspension AiS L I being in force, was the reason why so few Ads of atrocity were committed, and if it was not renewed, IMAlDON:—.Printed by GEORG,. DA/UNION, N. Wreh wreet, St. ekatent's. ba.,l +,l4blishod by JOI6/0 1 RYDER, at the tare, No. IN, Rath of St. Clvrieni . l'ht.rth, Strad, where Oolere foe the p.p., Lc. (port-P.') I be duly attended to. ' I ,-. t) P . P w bi 3 1 01 01 ,