The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — London, England, 1809-07-15 00:00:00

~„`'""' ...... 4-7.r!tr": - . I . f~ LAST INDIA 110173 Et Inrert. WRITERSIIIPS /IA 1.1 CADEri/UrAi The proceedings of the fig pact P9FlAlMugtseelL read— Mr. SANIOM • to ,14141 N. leintinsi • resolutiou of the Uhrecteni the'2d Msey,A ridative to the recall of ce;rtttita writerS apt P1...4e 4 . Sewn India. He said that flee sistiiect 'West already before the Court of Proprietees, end ,that the resolution alluded to v•us - :disapproved of by them. Their had referred it IrAaiii to the -Court of Directors, lost that Craft had de- , dared its adherence to its former opiiiiou, and pereevereul in its intention of receilime the writers and cadet-. '['i.e resolution of the Vreprietors was to goaded as to avoid givieg,any offetive to the Directors. if the one he shouldriow' priiipose was considered to WM, a (barna lesiguage, he hoped it wonlil be pardoned, 144 ariseig out of the circum stances of Inc case—[Here lie read MIMIC extracts fawn the R...port of the Court of Direeters, de claring alit they were still of tile Dime opinion, mid that the reasum, loreught forward Ire the Proprie tors, in obiectium to it, del 'sat appear comet mitre to theinl:.--1 le tweeted words to exprose fu. IiSIOIII4I - that au assembly of such eitligliteoed Men, with such a Chairusim et their head, should thick that it was necessary to their character, that they should persist in a measure, cruel and aulitst—re pugisaist to every moral and religious priiseiple.— What could be more cruel than to indict .o severe a punishment 'moil young men, for a fault its lellief) they had no share— , t which they might, with pro priety, lie presumed to Wire nu knowledge; what .coteld be mere uojiist ? The residuum, 'dated, diet all places ' , bustard by corrupt practires should be cull and voice It' this principle wise to be pushed to its full exteer, perieve the Direettire haul not acted op to their own resolution. Butt if those yoUng gentlemen were to be I shed for a le...itch of law, they (the Court) should consider the ter. comAances under wine!) that law wet promulgated. That great constitutional lawyer, Blackstone, had minted, diet the law should be notified to those who were to obey it. Imbed, it, was a truth so self evideot, as searcely to require ally authority to give I ..veight. What, then, was the notiecetion of this raw ? Was a solitary pahlitielen in t h e pews papers of Landon, Edinburgh, and thibtati, to be. considered as a sufficient notification? Such was the only one this law or, resole. ion ha 1 re-.rival ; said sorely it conk! not be coniiidered ua soffit:unit. With respect to himself, lie saw •-the Ga:Fitcr but very eeluloon ; and us to the newepapors of Edin burgh and Diable', h e d i d ne t know that he had ever seen these in his life; in fact, it was the Com mittee of the House of Conmsone which first brought this resolution before his eyes. If such Wm Isis igutirence-- Ind the iiisoraisew Of many per m* connected wide the department—that allow aresseassueht to he made f o r the ignorance of others ; isn4 with whit propriety could st be aseeruel that it had iciwrieoce.l that promulgation which law awl jestice required ? But the Directors had not conformed to directions laid (WWII by she Le gislature. According to Lord Ninth's' Regolation Ad, ell sets or reaolutioas of the Compatty were to he promulgated as extensively as ; even the tempter was predlallste4: It was directed that ciiines of all the rules mid regulations instituted at any period shoithl be placed in conspicuous placed in the India Honer, to be consulted from time to trine; with this directioa they hail sent com plied ; the publication of their resolution was con ducted in the manner he had already described, througli the medium of The Gazette and newspapers, so that he considered himself borne out in the oh serratirm. that it was ant promulgated MI prescrib ed by law. It had been sutra that the Compaity, like every other company. had a right to prescribe rules to threw who were received into its service ; this he admitted ; it had been also stated, that the resolution in question was prowitilipited, known., and violated ; certainly it must have been pmninl. gated awl kuown, before it could be violated ; bnt he had stated the vottiols npon which he thought it was lint pro uulgated and knoon; he therefore world infer that it could not be violated. Suppers. however, Cilia it was violated, they should con sider tlw nature or the crime, in order to estimate the degree of the puuishinent. There was a ma terial difference between the turpitude of those who bought places, awl of those who sold them; or even (if lie might sp.. ok It without offence) of those, who, by their negligence, permitted them to be *old. As he had spoken of negligence, and that the 11Pg ligence of Directors, he must, however unwillingly, mention the name of Mr Thellussoo. lie did 110 t 1111t1111 to charge him wills any corrupt priictie**, but he charged hint with carelessness—and for that crime he had voted against him. Upon this sub ject he would not say one word himself. but he would reheat what huil haiku from Mr. Thiel. losseou's own mouth, in the Committee of the Heim of Commons. lii a conversation with Mr. Barry 'la Proprietor). Mr. Barry said—" 1 wish you, Gentlemen Directors, would he more careful HI the distribntion of patronage." To the pro priety of this remark Mr. Thellosision *seemed.— A nother had mentioned to hint the (ince of a cadet ship, but was corrected by thteDirector, who not only kite* , that such sales were made, but was ue (imitated with the market-price. Mr. Woodford had said. shut, if Mr. Thellueson inquired into the partieulers of any promotion negotiated by hins, he weillti consider it as imeerious end unjestly sus picious; here were proofs of negligaitec, which be considered waist more reprehensible than that *mi. bated-violation of an Seni;roisitilgitted resolution, for which the Writers and- Cadets wcri to be re. celled. What could be more natural than for a 111411. having a large &linty, and wishing to provide for one of his sous, to purview* *situation which he had heard was 10 . be sold. What crime could lie charged against him ? Could it be said that lie us jured the service by sending an incapable person into it, after he had educated his child specifically for the itervice ? Before they inferred guilt, they should have some proof of iiitention.. Black stone laid it down as a maxim, that in unlawful art, without a vicious will, did not coostitute crime. If they followed his authority., lie knew not whet degree of crime they could impute to such a pur cheowe With reepect to the particular ewes" which the were to decide mom. he would offer a few word.. tie bad received a letter front Mr. !Leith, tl.e father of outer the young gentletueu. declaring, ~ I • _ALA -- that, until the Meeting of the Court on Friday, lie was i g norant of the resolution winch he was wild to have violated. Wit respect to Mr. •1114 ,, ":i1de, he would state settle particultrs also. Thset.Gen- Cerium hail beau promised a situation for his salty is a Director, lam ° inure. II mini , educates' e young . mansfor the nitration, and Ceing.disoppolut ed in it by the death of his ideate!, he purchaisd one ; but so far from c sposi himself to the elitrge of haring SJiit an ivicapalne pinsetteilito the service. his son becameAlistingisislird ley his abilities, nisi . inure that moment tinder recominemlatipia to fur- A tha., preferment. Admitting, therefeire, that they ...were aware of the resolution, the puiiiiihrueiit wad too severe. The Marquis Ileceariti recommended a scale of criiitesMontesquieu asserted, thut when punishineut was too severe, impituity would be the cousequence. The reselutimi of the I . )irectors would i.m to confound sill distincticuis, an d ()Loewe all gritilettiO,lS and degrees of pnwshmcut and of crime. There was Lowther argument in favour of his came, deducible tr i m the waive of contracts. The immortal Locke had observed, that, however men mightdiffer upon cat her points of morality, they all agreed . that cotton( is should be held inviolate. lie held a contract in his hand, by which these gen tlemen were received iota the service for five years, unless guilty of inieconduct ; and even in that case, it was provided that the/ should have a copy of the charges, end proper time allowed for the it „fence. He re eembered when Mr. Fox's India Bill woo brought forward, that a lawyer defined a contract, " a piece of parchrn ait with wax upon it," lie hoped they never would agree in such a definition. , The measure of which he compluined was 50 com pletely contrary to the spirit of the British law, that be thought the Directors should again consider it. There gas another case which he had almost for gotten, it was the case of Mm. Gardiner ; she was a widow, aud had made one of those ruckuses for her sou; should that be atigniatireel as a crone, or ackno.vlediol iesa virtue ? iie concluded with moving it resolution to the following effixt a That'll, Corset or P,nprietors It elinK Ms it the Conrt-of Directors still sabered to the Resolution of the Id of Wis., her the recall or Writers yid Cookie, is whom us hlnuie cuttid Le attached, tholizht it itreesotcy to dee:ale its distanit. it did isut think - such a ranwice essriwal t i (Ito character,tw consistent with the iuterests use Connally. 'it Reel Ible declined its opinion, that it should out Ms carried ions ear cution:, The Motion being seconded. . Mr:dat:sore Bartels said, that however nip: Moos the speech of the -Hon. Mciuber oust ha esteemed, us an ap.ical to the humanity of the Court, it was, ueverthelese, defective, when coon. dered as ap addreas.to their tusiicei They should riot authorise corruption, even though no law was made• against it. If there was 110 t positive law, there were feeliugs in the breast of every Mail, that must signify it was wrong. it the Grotletuetions tained auy injury iu being retailed, their linrents, not the Directors, were to blame. It became' the Company to avoid giving s handle to its ',inks. A vest empire, such as they governed; alsbi and could be governed by justice alone. The Oman melt In question ought to be recalled. A Proprietor, whew name we could not learn s spoke for some time. tie suggested the propriety of referring the matter to the Civil Governors of India, who might examine the individuals, and de cide upon the merits of the case. Mr. Al AIRY ATT said, that many principles had. beets advanced, winch he felt himself Willed to combat. This was, in fact, part of the question of reform; abuses had been known to exist, and they were to decide whether they should he checked or not? The House of COMIIIIOIIII had instituted in quiry. They themselves had proved reform to be sreermary, nisi abuses to exist, by the excluairm of one of their Directors; that Director was not chargeable with corruption ; but negligence it self should be punished. Ile had lately voted with much pleasure for a resolution founded upo.i a coming jealousy of nwn iii power ; in the present case he would vote furtive recall of the Writers and Cadets. The swim' was brandished harshly enoagli agaiost the Directors, and he could ate agree to, , grant Mai sty to the Cadets, without evea thee form of investigation. Besides, many' of the Propri etors ware charged with such purchases, and it would appear as if they declined inquiry and 'MI. nishmeut, lest it should fall upon ineinselves. The Legislature might with as leech propriety ohs frinichiae the Company for such acts, se it had many boroughs for corruption. Rescinding the resolution of the Directors would teach u dread ful lossou to their servants abroad; it would teach them that the Court of Directors could not coo tonal their conduct, awl that they might bud in. the Proprietors nu authority to resist them. Mr. Sitsiox seconded the motion, and, its the most ha n dsome inisse.icr, observed, that while Gee tleinc.o affected to deplore the hardships attending the recall of these prong Gentlemen, and the ex penses winch they would be thereby pet to, they should set on foot a sahstriptom to Betray these t 'Tenses ; let them ilo so, and he would, with pleasure, put his name doom fur five hundred guineas for that purpose. Mr..Sreennis, al re as lie was to the vital Mte rem* of the Company, wen conscientious in the dis charge of his duty towards them, could not but feel the inconvenience attached to any difference in opi- Mon from the Court of Directors on the present oc‘ eirainii ; but as this was a question neither of com merce. nor oriental policy, he would take the liberty of stating Ins reasons for that difference of opinion. He admitted the situation which the Itirectors were phiccd iu. imposed upon theme task of in violable int3exibihty sin the administration of the Comnauy's affairs, liar fear of iitiy imputative that might Le attached to their indulgence of rerlio g : hut these reasous did not shackle the Proprietors. A tiroteit had been entered. as it were, against their 'offering their passions to interfere ; this he could not List consider at a kind of fashionable cant of the day ; but lie would totiiutaiu, that the passions . were not to be excluded, when they writ exercised with a virtuous bias ; and yet. with this raistion. his !ion. Friend (the Moser of the previous question) h a d ealled their pi...ions in to his aid, when lie alarmed their fears fur the losebaf their Charter, as a cohaequence of isgreeiii% to the primmest RP .4111. 6011 ; while. at the saute time, he would hare those feelings excluded, in 'Considering the conse quences of recalbto Abe objects of it. One eicat iii particular was that of an aged widow e whis had Patted with ate omit sea, the prop -sod eta' w ~ .. _ .. of her old age. IVits this no ground fur feel ing ? or were they to decide without cousider- Mg the coneequeucee to the parties ? Were they: not bound also to confider the measure of penalty,' ass compare ,1 with the magnitude of theotfence The case of a housebreaker had been put ; he would take it, and ask, would it be an iinpruper aimed to his prunione to point out to hint the coo repo_ e'en of his isiedituted visdenee, the probable 'bloodshed that 'night attend his attempt?Hto Hum Friend, respectable us he was in every point of view, both 'in head and heart, had, however, token a fallacious view of the question ; he had as sumed, as the foundation of his argument, that the young Well were themselves guilty in the business. He wished, however, he hail condescended to have pointed out to theta wherein they really. were so ; as, by so doing, he would remove the pail' of hi- Hitting the punishineet. if he could only shew they were a party coucereed in the business, he, for one, would ask tio merry for them. indeed, even if their guilt could be made appear, there was nothing iu the proposed resolution inconsistent with their pu nishment ; but, if there was no guilt, and no cor maim), as applied to them—where was the force, or what became of the argument ? It war also said, the Proprietors had u personal intere-t, and conse quent feeding 011 the sub j ect ;if such theie were, let then walk out of the Court ; he could not be supposed so, for he knew not aim of the parties. The fact was, the Proprietors were not, could not be interested, nor could they have an improper bias on the ucesision ; but it was their duty to stand, as it were, between she Directors and those unfortunate yOUII K men, in order to save them, if possible, from the cousequences which the stern duty of the Directors might impose on them. IVith respect to the terms of the proposed resii . !ration, he could not but doubt the propriety of the distinction taken by the Court of Directors, between delinquencies after mei, and previous to it, upon the regulation of i7els. That regulation pointed at all such as improperly obtained their uppointinent. This term was certainly ambiguous, He it 'aright mean either the mere acquirement of i place, flowerer obtained, or that procure ment which would lie so interpreted, under the statute against obtaining by false preteaceo. lie thereiere comitlered the application of that regula , tiou should only apply where active and improper merits were te-ed by the parties themselves for gain niß their app ointments. tra. here then was their antherity for this visiting the sins of the fathers upon the children ? was not to be found in the Divine Law; fur there, as applied to human iiistau tiums, the reverie was expreasly laid down; ueithrr wes it to be discovered M any code of human legis lation, either sucieut or moderu. Eve) iu the ease of high treason, that attaintof.blood, which had ne ver lieu approved of, head been übrogated byano dern Unti:a; let here, where services had actually heel' performed Lty the urifortuuatirobjects of their severity, unit where, in the event of their persever ance in. punishment, no reenunpencecould be made, the law of the East belie Company went to the ex tremity of punishment of those whowere universally acknowledged to be themselves innocent. To justi fy a case of this nature they mint go to France for a precedent, they could not feud it in Euglish Jus tice : " Not she in British Cools who , takes her stand, Nan %AMA a n d well-puled batsore in her 'must; • Who sits for the just punishment of vice, Wub joidenitut cool and disquisition nice; Bost, liter the Justice set &grin rste trance, Who, froni impiittial truth marts her stance, Leeks to she heree decrees of barbarous times, And pinsisties the Pope fur Caesar's climes." The (virttion in fact narrowed itself' into this, were they to establish a precedent of severity when untie mach was to be found? It with hiod. the reasidu- Lion of the Coos( of Directors only went to rectal l such as were persoually guilty. lie could find no such principle iii the Resolution itself; tint were it other wise, was it nothing to recall these yoong men, to lose their time, to drag them a voyage ot half the circumference of the globe, merely, upon enta. blimhl lig their innocence.; to retrace then steps, die. graced and degraded by the imputation? This ihnlf-lieuemg eyelets he did nut like; it was worse . than at mut" rendering them absolutely incapable el ever serelng again. He did not by this meta to impute blame to those who praesseal sentiments opposite tsi his; he merely wished to guard the Proprietors against what might 'be termed the epi demic fever of the day--agninet cornietion. One extreme was ass less to be avoided theu the other. pion these grounds the resolution propound met witlahis entree concurrence. Mr. Reif late JACKSON entered into a very full defence of the decision adopted by the Board of Directors: Upon the former discussion, any thing mandatory on them, from the Court of Proprietors, bas stud' ly dischnimed ; and it was infected then, merely to recommend to the Directors to re. comider their determination. They did so accord ingly ; and, with the interests of the Company in view, they came bock to ray their duty required them to persevere. New they were fairly at Issue ; not as between the Directors and Proprietors, but between the Mover of the present resolution anti his friends, and the general and collective interests of the East India Company, as appeared by the very words of the revelation itself. Ile had, how ever, hoped the Proprietors would have looked at the law upon the subject, before they isslopted it., and ore if the 'measure proposed was iiractoceble muter that law. He certainly felt a difficulty iii lullow ins his lion. mid Learned Friend, elm, for want of better materials, hail smote a powerful appeal to . their ouseirsin, upon which he alone rebel. He also was a friend to compassion, but he had ever considered true philanthropy to commie in attest tine to the general good, and ant iu particular eases. Five or six individuals were not to lie re ferred to fifty millions of subjects, under the rare of the Director., who, by the decision of this slay, might he taught to disreganl the tartlets of the 1./melons ; and even in cases of treason come - to the Proprietors for support and protection. Wee there then a law to support the motion ? If there was not, and they shoold nntwithetanding support it s they might well expect the Parliament, ou the eepected renewal of their Charter, would take care to restrain nu in within proliso. bodusls. He then entered into a sliacii.sani of the several Char ters of the Comimoy. from which, he rootesoled. the Directors lied the (lustiest smarted slier the atolls eetht Compa.e., excepting only :II such Irr• - `!Pril cases as were specially excepted iu the several Act of Parliament. He then conib..teit a variety of ar. gutnents oilvanced by the Learned Gentleman who 'preceded hitn, repeatiug his preference or the pro. spenty of the many to the utivatitage of the few. lie concluded with observing, that as the merits of individuals hail iseen used as tin argument in their favour, lie would auswer,isi the words of the great Loud Thurlow, olio, upon a great and inelancludy occasion, a hen the royal indisposition seemed to cad for the transfer of some part of the preroga tive, and the amiable qualities of the personage to whom that transfer, was proposed to be made were urged, replied, " that he could not consent to transfer the ionstitubou_ to any amiability, hots. ever transceistlatit." Mr. LowNtsts thought the sword, and not the balance of justice, was used on this occasion. lie considered the conduct of the Directors as the coquetry of a yoitii girl. They wished as well to the voting men as the Proprietors themselves, but felt the delicacy of their situations. Mr. PETRI' Moriat, in support of the resolu— tion, recommended the *delve he had given upon the homer debate. namely, to turn clown the leaf it, what was past, under the security of the sta tute passed in the last session, for the preventiou of future abuses in the pm chase of places. Mr. QUIST (the Chairman) felt it his duty, in order, if possible, to prevent, by their vote of this day, any collision between the Proprietors and Di. rectors, as to their respective powers, as by law es. tablished, to lay before them au opinion width the Court of Directors had taken upon the subject, from the Attorney and !solicitor-General, anti oleo. standing Counsel, Mr. Adam. They had put two questions to theta, us to the legality of the appoint ments so corruptly obtained, and as to the power of recall ? They had unauisnously agreed, first, that, a-sinning those places had been purchased, that did nut of itself invalidate the appointineuts ; and, secondly, that the Proprietors poss.ssetl no power whatever of rescinding the deteriniiiation ut the Directorsof recalliug spch as had bt) improperly obtained their appointment. Mr. SAWSOM said' a few words in reply to the general arguments against his motion, when the pievious question was put, and carried by a very considerable spew of bands. . The Court was then adjourned. ti, Ilt lit lit NORFOLK COUNTY SESSIONS. ......... INTERESTING CAM On Thursday, at these County Sessions, was argued, before a Beach of. near Idly Magistiates. (Mr. BLOYILLSN Chairman) a cause, which, from its uovi-Ity, and the parties concerned, had for some time greatly excited public curiosity. Our reader* will recollect, that one of the chic goiwhich were brought against the fluke of Yoik, was les refusing Major Wtaichcote Turneeleave to sell his commission ; he, the Cointuander-in-Chief, being guided by the will of Lucy Anne Sinclair, or Su therland, who was supposed to have some consi derable influence with his Royal Highness. Major (now Mr.) Turner, resides at Buckeuham. near Attlebovough, in Norfolk ; and for some time Mrs. Sudierlaiiii had lived with his. Altercations bad atisets between the patties. and Mr. 'Punier exhi bited articles against this Lady fur a breach of the peace, stating. in his affidavit, that he was in bodily leer of hie lite, for Mrs. Sutherland had once de clared, in Kent, she witild be revensectom him ; that, since that tune, ou the Sth pf March. she • came to hie house. in Norfolk, ttiti took possession of it for *nine days; hut when Mrs. Sutherland came, he went away into Suff..lk. On Sunday, the 4th of June, Mn. Sutherland came in the morning before he was up, and again teak possession of hie house. He, the st (banter. sent amity to his bro ther-in-law's, the Rev. Mr. Methwuld, of Stow. ham; and, on their return on the following l'hur , - day, the affidavit stated M a. Sutherland luck ed the door against him, lot it was afterwards opened; and that when Mr. Turner and Mr. 3lethwold meet 10, Mrs. Sutherland hokling, in a menacing rummer, a large non fork in her hand, tschiltned--. If that rases) touch me, I all run this through his thick Lead ! '—Tile affidavit gotta on to mate, that Mr. Turner ap, hid to the Hun. George Herbert, to exhibit aitic . es of the peace against her, whets she ewers bel aved violcatly ; and he, Mr. Whichcote Turn r, being in buddy fear, bogie d that Court to r• strum th I said Lucy Arnie Sinclair Sutherland from staining him, by finding sureties for her keepiug the peace. Mr. A mentors, as Counsel for Mr. Turner. having rated the contents of the affidavit, coatend• ad, that Mr. Turner having sworn to the matters contained in it (and if he had sworn falsely. he might be indicted for perjury). the Court ought to grant his petition, and that Mrs. Sutherland ought not to h • permitted to reply, eitl.er by herself or her Counsel. Mr. Ptusteaaa, in a mauls and energetic •peech. observed, that the very foundation and greatest or ailment of the. British I AR, N as, that no oue could lie condemned unheard ; and he was colonies d that Bench would attend to Mr. Cooper, Mrs. Su ' rland's Counsel, and Mr. P. desired Mr. Coup to claim his request to he heard, not as a laicals - t a right. Mr. (,anent then, in a long and able speech, and quoting sorie legal piecctlentii to prose he ass correct. addressed the Court iii behalf of his female client, observing on the nature of those circum stances which were by law deemed admissible to warrant a recoguisnace living demanded for •• breach of the peace, and clearly defying those :ie. thins, which, however in ether respects they might violate the laws of the laud, still did not constitute a breach of the peeve in the manlier here intended to be represented. Mr. C. first stated, that any pr culler threat against the exhibitor must be of a re cent nature; but the threat of winch Mr. Turner finit complained, Mrs. 8. stryiug she would be reienged. appeared to have been made a very long time ago iii gent ; and Mr. Turner evidently was not alarmed by that, fu. a long period had elapsed, and sl tl ghi Mrs. Sutherland had been almost criustent ly with him since that time. yet she hod never at tempted to put that tneusee iuto execution ; as to the holding up a little fork, and even making use of the words elech Mrs. Sutherland in her an-,er might—yet even shot was only a conditional threat --etwoirlYs " that if se.:essary I will stand upon the