The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — London, England, 1805-04-26 00:00:00

.. ^.t~.._ _.. and the; pressed that the Attorney tent ral shristisl peovei.ute, without any previous enquiry in A Cimmittee. He did not like the affeetation of penile applause that had manifested itself upon the present occasion. The House had so far only done its Juty, and it was by no means complimentary to talk of its ronduA in the case of Lnrd Melville, as :natter of surprise. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER ixpl Mr FULLER thought the best way would be to refer the further consid. ration of the business back to the Committee with vi hich it originated. Mr. FOX said, the Attorney General had fairly admitted, that when the business would come before the Court, in the shape of an Aai, , n, it would be necessary to shew, that the m int:y sued for he longed to the public, and not to Lord Melville, or Mr. Trotter; which, by reason of the manner the accounts of the latter were kept, it would be almost impossible to prove. It such a proceeding tar,auld not have any effett, he thought it would be She greatest dereliction of duty in the House to let the business out of their own hands. Mr. C•PiNittOspake nn the other side. Mr. Glass and Mr. FoNatamer delivered their opinions on the matter of law : the former supported the Amendment, and the latter Mr. Whitbread's Motion. Mr. WHITBREAD said he had been charged with shaping his condat for the purpose of obtain ing stray votes, but he thought he had shaped it for thdhonour of the House, and the welfare of the Nation. He concluded, by expressing his resolu tion of withdrawing his Motion relative to the Bill of Discovery by the Attorney General; and trusted, lte would not only have the Majority of the Hiaise, but the Right Hon. i:entleman himself, its favour of his Motion for the Committee The question being put, the House divided, and there a;peared--For Mr. Pitt's Amendment, 229 --Against it, 151—Majority, 7S. Strangers were not again admitted into the gal lery, though the debate continued for near an hour, We understand that Mr. Fox, on h;s return to his seat, moved that the members of the Committee should be chosen by ballot, on which a division took piace—For Mr. Fox's Motion, 120--Against it, :351—Majority, 131. Adjourned at 'FWO O'CLOCK. THE BRITISH P.H LE'Sn. I.ON DON, FRIDAY, Arro:. 26. AS we yesterday, Mr. Prry's circular letter to hie Parliamentary friends. given in some of the Papers, was incorreet. It announced only busi ness of importance after the recess, and not that he meant to bring forward a subjeCt of a Very extraordinary uatute last night. Mr. WHI TREAD proceeded to move for a men Committee to inquire farther into the matter of the Tcntii Report. Mr. Pirr moved an amendment limiting the inquiry, which vras carried. Several notices of motions were given, as will be seen hy our Report. The remainder of the Session promises to be extremely interesting and important. We have received New York Papers to the 13th tilt. To the great mortification of the Anti-Federal Party in Congress, Judge Cot ASE has been acquit ted. From the state of the Votes it appears that on three only out of the eight articles of im peachment, was there even an absolute majority against him ; and as the Constitution requires, to wards a vetdiet of condemnation, a majority of two thirds of the Senate, hi s Acquittal followed as a matter of course. By a Letter from Dover we learn, that %even of foe enemy's gun-boats, or schuyts, have been cap tured by our squadron off Boulogne, and one sunk. They had come ant to exercise the men ; hut the wiad dropping short, they were compelled to strike. A Letter from Plymouth, of the 23d, states the arrival of a lugger from the squadron of Sir .10111 S Ottor, with advices that a French squadron of ele ven sail of the line, seven ftigates, and seven bits, was seen to pass from the Mediterranean through the gut of Gibralur, on Ole 9th instant. The American slip Ri•v Sun, which bas arrived at Falmouth from the Isle of France, and left it the 10th of January, has brought passenger Mr. Mil.- CH att., 2d olic7r of the Priures Charlotte Indiaman, which was captured by I.muts's squadron in the Vizagapatam Rozds, who states, that intelligence bad arrived before they sailed, that 110 LKAII had been defeated by Lord LA Kr., with the loss of 186 pieces of cannon. No such account has been re ceived at the India House, nor Wel 4 it believed there. It is likewise reported, that the Marengo is on shore on a rock at the Isle of France, where it is supposed she cannot be got off. Welnesday evening, the India f!:•e: sailed, und er - coni'oy of the 13/cabeirn, Admiral Sir "Filo:, TR Ct. tremor and altlimigh the signal had been fly tor two days, sev:•ral of the passengers we e left he ; the contusion WAS hvyond uoscription ; fifty iineas were offered for a boat, which was refused r.• :he boatmen. who demanded one hundred guineas. o .e signal-gun by; tired for the fleet sailing, -t the Isle of Wight, wait. Ind, went into his chatti ly, shot himself. The th were the last of the :veal tire sad six last IJ : • signal-gun being tired ' a- iszer. who hail been at tl t fket, we understai • St-, a. ce,rr ••...e are to si • &null • wrltn was by.% r tiokmati tobtircti, Yesterday the Lown MAYOR held a Special COnrt, to consider of an Address to the King respeaing the condo& of Lord Melville. Mr. Iseputy GOODBEHERe addressed his Lord ship at some length. He remarked, that the gross and scandalous violations of the law, discovered by the Commissioners of Naval Enquiry, had so fully occupied the attention of the public, that it would be unnecessary for him to enter into much detail. Had this not been the case, he should have much regretted that it had not fallen in abler hands. he House of Commons had come to an independent decision, and it became now a duty we owe to our selves, our representatives, and the country, to give them every aid and encouragement to pursue those enquiries. When the whole country seemed to be impressed with the necessity of expressing its opi nion on such disgraceful peculations, it was impos sible for the Corporation of London to remain alone unconcerned. We were not involved in a party question, it was a question of morality, and our de cision might be of the utmost consequence. It was now to be determined, whether, atter such delin quency, established on the most palpable evidence, we were to leave our Representatives unsupported to contend against all the power and influence of Admi nistration to screen the delinquent. We have had addresses enough, on various occasions, in support of Ministers, often when their measures deserved re prehension ; and should we, when we found a man, under such circumstances, holding such a situation, remain unconcerned ? Did it not impose a most sa cred duty upon us, to approach His Majesty with ar dour and affedion, and express our congratula tions on the progress that had been made in bring ing such transadions to light, and our firm reli ance that His Majesty's paternal regard for his people will no longer suffer Lord Melville to remain in His hi ijesty's Councils ; and that such further en quiries mii;ht be made, as may lead to the deteaion and punishment of all offenders ? Conceiving that the Court could not have a stronger motive to ad dress His Majesty, when such peculations had been found to prevail for such a length of time ; pecula tion; which threatened, if not speedily correiled, to sap the foundations of the Constitution; he would move for an address, under a full confidence of meet ing with the concurrenceof the Court. He then moved his first Resolution (for which see the (runt page). Mr. &AO.: seconded the motion in an appropriate speech. He said, we had all witnessed addresses on sebjeds of small importance; but this was nothing less than the triumph of public virtue over venality and corruption, and from a quarter that rendered that triumph the more valuable—the Representatives of the people. It was necessary for us to give every effed to such exertions, to bring such a high delin quent to public justice, and to pursue those enquiries, that, by the exposure of abuses, and punishment of offenders, a reformation may be effeOed is the pub lic expenditure. It was necessary to shew the peo ple, that a persnn,with little less power andpatronage than belonged to Crowned Heads, was amenable to the law. It became the Corporation of London, as guardians of the morals of the people, to support such enquiri-s, and to reconcile them to the sacri fices they were called upon to make. Sir W. CeeT is disapproved of the address. The Home was pursuing the enquiry ; he had voted against Lord Melville. but row he thonght it should be left with Parliament, and the Noble Lord ought to have an opportunity of vindicating himself. Mr. S. 1)1 lot: moved the previous question, as f e was for leaving it to Parliament, convinced they would do their duty. Mr. Kest st.e seconded the previous question. Sir C. PRICE opposed die Add:ess, satisfied that this was not the time. Lord Melville had failed in his duty, and he had voted against him ; but he themght it should now remain with Parliament. Mr. PRRRINO spoke for the amendment. Mr. Alderman Comas declared, in the most de cisive terms, that the Corporation, and every Public Body in the Kingdom. ought to stand by and aid the Parliament. Can they forget the judgment passed on the Sheriffs? and will they forget the struggles and the influence which had and would be made by Ministers to serve delinquency ? Mr. GRIFFITii supported the original motion. Mr. WAITIIMAN declared, he should have been glad to be relieved from making any observations, as he laboured under severe indisposition ; but he could not help noticing an observation from a Gen tleman ( Mr. Dixon), that it was unnecessary to aid the Parliament in its proceedings against violations of law. although carried by one vote only, and he read a motion made by that Gentleman on a former occasion, in favour of the Minister, who had vita. lated the Constitution, by sendingmoney out of the kingdom without the consent of Parliament, while Parliament was sitting. It appeared that he was for supporting Parliament in favour of violators of the law. but not against them. Mr. CuiVERY and Mr. Spasms!' spoke for the original motion. The previous question was negatived by a great majority.—The original motion was then put t and only two Aldermen and two Commoners bald up against it : the Aldermen were Sir W. Curtis and Sir C. Price. Mr. WAITHMAN stated, that, by unpardonable negligence, he had omitted presenting a motion to the Livery of Loudon, at the late Common-Hall, which he was sure would have been highly approved of by them. Ile meant a vote of thanks to Mr. Wit is BREA°. He begged, however, to propose it now ; which was carried - unanimously. A•imiral Sir CH•aLu MIDDLETCN is appointed First ',old of the Admiralty, and is immediately to b:• advanced to the Peerage, by the title of Baron Barham, in Kcnt. He has expressly stipulated that, on a..count of his age, he is to be excused from all Cabinet Dinners, and front all Levees. We believe he is in his 83d year. ig Let those laugh who win," says the old Pro verb. Stern moralists may rail, therefore, as mach as they please against Lotteries ; but all their railingg. cannot invalidate the assertion, that many individuals annually rise, by this means, to opulence and lade pendeuce, who bad no other prospel in life of so sudden an elevation to the pre-eminence of wealth. Not one, in short, of this cynical tri're, but would seriously rejoice to possess even but a share of the first drawn number, in the now superlatively rich scheme, that presents no kss a Prize than 10,0001. • 1,- " X6iltiiffrAYeir Yesterday morning a meeting of the Eleflors of the Borough of Southwark took place at the Terwri . Hall, to take into consideration the condua of Lord Melville, as Treasurer of the Navy. The meeting was called in consequence of a Requisition, signed by twenty-two Ele&ors, to the High Bailiff, who appointed yesterday, at eleven o'clock, at which time numbers heGan to assemble. Soon after twelve. the High Bailiff not appearing, there was a general call for the Chair to be taken, and Mr. TOWNSEND, the Deputy High Bailiff, was called upon for that purpose, who immediately complied. He then ad dressed the Meeting, and informed them, they were convened together in consequence of a Requisition from a number of Eleaors, to Sir Wallin Lewes, the High Bailiff. At a late hour on Wednesday night he received a letter from Sir Watkin Lewes, requesting him to take the Chair, it not being con venient for him. Sir Watkin, to attend, in conse quence of material private business which he was obliged to attend tot that he would have deferred the Meting, had not the Gentlemen by whose desire it was called, requested it might take place on as early a day as possible. Mr. TOWNSEND having read the Requisition and the Signatures of the Gentlemen who signed it; Mr. SHEPLEY came forward, and addressed the Meeting by saying, he was extremely happy to observe so numerous and respeAable a body of Gentlemen present. And that. if there was no Gentleman who had Resolutions prepared,he would propose some which he had ready. No Gentleman offering any, he was called upon to proceed. He observed, that the Meeting was convened to consi der the condue of a man who had been exalted to some of the highet offices in this country, and who, it was to be lamented, had unworthily tilled them. He had aged in defiance of an express Al of Par liament, in contempt and defiance of his King and country. The very Al he had broke, he had pro moted in Parliament. He said, we often had to la ment the want of attention in our Representatives in Parliament to the public expenditure, and there was no doubt but millions have been squandered upon worthless charafters, while the people are groaning under the weight of 50,000,0001. a year of taxa tion. We had it from undoubted authority, as it came from a Member of the Admiralty Board, that one third of the public money in the Naval De partment was squandered away. We must now rejoice that Parliament had at length taken the business up, and, as the guardians and representa tives of the people, they were bound so to do.— It was now highly necessary, that a man, who was a Member of the present Administration, had been convieed and disgraced, that checks in future should be put upon every one who fills offices, who have the fingering of the public money. The most material caution would be necessary in the choice of their Repres-ntatives in Parliament. It was not to be expeeed Members of Parliament would coffee their own abuses from which they derive emolu ment; they would not impeach or hang themselves. He concluded with observing, he would not take up more of the time of the Meeting, as the matter had been more ably and meritoriously investigated by the Commissioners of Naval Enquiry. He then read the Resolutions (Pr avateb see Ma front of Ms Paper.) Mr. !'Lava. rose and said, he could not claim any merit in drawing the Resolutions which had been just read, but he perfectly coincided in the whole of them. He observed, if the people were to be silent upon this occasion, the very stones would cry out. This was not a party question, except it be a party of honest men against rsgues, and he hoped the party of honest men would triturph. He asked what would be said of the persons triad for petty larcenies, who were transported for stealing to the amount of a few pence, if such great rogues were suffered to escape ? He lamented that although the Meeting was so numerously and ;espeCtably at tended, he did not see several Gentlemen who usually attended such meetings of a public nature, for the purpose of supporting the cause of the Ministers ; and he could not but suppose that a Government of despotism, corruption, and peculation, would be ap proved by such, as they did not stand forward upon this occasion, to stigmatise the man who had been displaced by the Commons of England. Parliament had done their duty, and it was now for the people to do theirs, and support their Representatives in so goo.: a cause. The Parliament must not be sa tisfied with having done their duty in one instance, but must steadily follow up the glorious course they have begun. Many were now giving up their time as Commissioners for the collecting of taxes, fitc. in Military prosecutions, for the good of their country, but all in vain, while men such as Lord Melville and his companions, who have nothing at stake in the country, except what they get out of the public receipts, were permitted to use the national puree to their own private emolument and pecula tion. The only defence set up to the charges against Lord Melville, was a sham plea upon the record, viz. that the public had sustained no loss. Dr. Dodd's defence was the same; he intended to repay Lord Chesterfield. This did not satisfy the justice of the country, and he hoped that Lord Melville and his companions would have to answer the demands of the same public justice. There was an Augean stable to be cleansed, and it must be done with an Herculean arm, and with perseverance. He concluded with seconding the Resolutions. This Address was received with bursts of ap plause. Mr. Towering!) then put the question upon all the Resolutions singly, and they passed unanimous -1 till that which proposed the vote of thanks to the Representatives for the Borough, when it was inti mated by a Gentleman that both of them were in the neighbourhood, and would attend, if it was the pleasure of the Meeting. It was then agreed they should he sent for. Mr. CLARK addressed the Meeting, and said, be fore we have the pleasure of our Members being present, particularly Mr, Tierney, who has been the guardian of the people, at well as the Crown. Wheo Mr. Tierney was Treasurer of the Naiy, one of his first aes was to dismiss Trotter. During his continuance in office he had never fingered * far thing of the public money. He thought some words ought to be introduced in the Reeohttion, ex pensive of their sense of his honesty and integrity while in race. Mr. Suss Lae replied § that when be drew At the ~... , ._. . • eridany . Oildertit 4 . ark"' _• ie av :p ift;oy. the prisoner, the House otturtofts thl(KliseCu tors, at the suit of the peopliV. He did not Wish it to appear a narrow questtdp of rho Borough of Southwark, but the whale • kingdom defending their property. Mr. Ct. et explained—anal !aid, he by no means intended any personal attachtnmt to .31r. Tierney but he having filled the situation of Treasuter of the Navy, with such credit to himself, it the game et ,_ servation would have applied to Mr. Thorn ton , if he had held a similar situatio n, end aged in the same manner, he should have included him : bit:, as it did not meet the approbation of the meeting, he would withdraw his amen immt. ~leholntro~i. Mr. Tow ssew o read the petition, which was tins. nimously approved, and a general 11[1714 tof,k. pi ne . Mr. Townsend then vet y handsomely offered the use of the Town-hall, for receiving signatures. Mr. Thornton and Mr. Tierney at this time enter ed the Hall, and were received with genetal accla mations. Mr. TOWNSEND read the Resolutions on the Tenrh Report, instruaing them to present the Vettzio.a to ParliatTnt, and he also read the Petition. Mr. Tito iituron ssti,l, he felt great satisfafbm in perf!lly coinciding with the proceedings of the meeting. He anticipated their wishes. tie had no prejudices or partialities—and had no objeaion to follow up what the House of Commons had so laud ably begun He was once on a Committee of F. nances, and he must have his feelings to know, there were many abuses which required col rea.on. Mr.TI ERN EY trust you will believe, t h at _ _ I feel anxious to sift abuses to the bottom ; and that I shall set my face against them, wherever they may be found. I held a high of_•e for twelve auras, and protest I neirer have given a vote, that I did not, in my conscience, approve—nor have I ever sanc tioned a job. I shall be happy to aft with you, and you may depend upon my support; I but advise, that• whatever is done, may be done temperately. My language may be thought temporising ; but I am convinced by experience, that whatever is done, should be done with caution ;, weighing what yott are about ; and nor. by clamour. That abuses in the Government have been carried on to a great extent, there could he no doubt; one has been brought to light, ;aid the deteflion of others should be followed no. My cordon for the remainder of my time in Parliament shall be the same as that which first re. commended me to your notice."—Nrear man/ J. At half past one the meeting fir At up. WIN DS9 R R h I'l L Yesterday morning His MAJEsTV, mounted on a beautiful charger, attended by the Qv it an and Princess fsl Irv, in a chariot, drawn by six of .the white Hanoverian horses; Princesses ELiz LT ri and Am t• lAA, in' a phaeton and pair; Princess Sorra,. and Lady C- ANLEY, also in a phaeton and pair ; Prin cess SOPHIA of GLOUCESTES, and several Lilies, in a sociable and four ; the Equerries drawn by six beautiful cream-coloured horses, followed by the Kin 's State CoacKwith eight fi ne black horst*. richly caparisoned , and six fikAnum, and severs} grooms, in their full state dresses; Their Roy.l Highnesses the Dukes of YuRIC.CASSIM was, Kees, Cl/MOSUL i.ND. and Sussex, and Prince WILLIAM of Choirs:Estee, on horseback, with a numerous and splendid retinne of Nobility and Gentry, and Field Officers ; amongst whom we. noticed Earis WINCHELSZA, CUES IttIFIEL rh and MORETON; Lord Sr. HELEN'S; Generals GWYNN, MANNERS, and FITZROY ; Colonels Disnitowe, STOPTOND, and Sir SIDNEY SMITH, with all His MAJESTY'S Aides du-Cowt, followed by a long train of carriages and horsemen, proceeded to Windsor Great Park, where I His MAJESTY reviewed the Royal Regiment of Horse Guards Bine, to whom His MAJESTY, on Tuesday morning, presentod a handsome pia of silver kettle-drums. His MAJESTY was on the ground at ten o'clock. The troops were foment into line, in four squadrons; His MAILS'S,' having passed them in front and rear, they divided into half squadrons, and then in single files, forming again as soon as they had passed t they then wheeled into line, dismounted, marched in line, and gave a genet al s ilute ; then marched' F ait the KING in ordinary and quick time, remounted, and went through the sword exercise. Their wheelings, form ing of columns, dep'oying and charges, were per formed with great celerity and exaaneu. The bril liant assemblage of company, joined to the excel lent discipline which the troops evinced in every movement, rendered the tow ensemble highly grati fying. His MAJESTY left the ground, with the ROYAL FAMILY and attendants, about a quart.=• . before twelve. The ground was kept by a paw; the 9tb Light Dragoons. The Kiere and the whi,e of the FAMILY looked extremely well. His :tiA jEstT sae dressed in complete uniform of the corps he reviewed, and the Qur'an and Paincesscs, and the most part ofebefr attendants, in - nstlitery klabtta. was a most beautiful and interesting spettacle. No Trials of any interest occurred yesterday at the Old Bailey. At Newmarket there was more betting concern ing the Lottery than on the running houses. The betting embraced a variety of obseas; amongst which, what Office should sell the 30,0001. Prizes s two to one was in favour of Hoarisay. • The Lords of the Admiralty have lately adopted a measure for supplying His Majesty's ships in the Indian seas with seamen, ilf,ch, it is conceived, will prove highly beneficial to the public interest ; they have sent on board the Indiarnen that are on the point of sailing, near 100 fine lads, which are to be delivered on hoard the Admiral's ship on their arrival in India I the voyage to India, and a few months esperience in the cruisers, will make them expert seamen; be sides it has been proved, that young lads will Itani the climate much better than men, with 411 ti‘eca" that can be possibly taken. This plan, which is in• tended to be punned, will, in all probability, soon ' prevent the necessity of impressing the seamen how ' the East Indiamen, which hitherto has bard oe avoidable, from the great mortality and loss in His Majesty's ships, besides giving security to the anti time interests of the East I nffia.Consponr• LONDON:—Ptintad M GEVArTE DAVtUSON, het 3.i. Wyck street, St. Ile.nrntib, h JOiittki VDER, a the (Are, No, 13. itor% Cleatlmrs Si' nd0.h....11.4111. fer AI Peri, Ar• (rscro ) we ww d.o ) suiwwwa M. . „