The Sun. — London, England, 1807-07-29 00:00:00

1 IMPERIAL 1)_1 I:LIAMENI, HOUSE OF PEERS. TUESDAY, JULY 28. • Mr. Auxu,was heard in the Appeal, the Duke of Hamilton v. Scott. A g reii number of public and private Bills were hrougtt up from the Commons, and read a first time. Among the former were the Irish Insurrec tion, the Irish Fisheri, and the Irish Annuities Bills.. MESSAGES FROM MS MAIESTY. Lord HAWKESBURY delivered a Message from his Mrjestv, stating, that a Treaty bad been concluded between hiS Majesty and the King of Prussia, in Fe bruary last, when an advance of !MON'. was made to his Prussian Majesty,, and that during the cam , fmi'gn his Majesty's Government had sent arms for the Prussian Troops, amounting to a sum not exceed . P in. , 200,0001. in making good which sums his Ma- jesty confidently loOked to the concurrence of theii .Lordships. Lord HA,NtricastwitY then moved, that his 'Ma jest y's most gracious CommunicatiOn be taken into consideration to-marrow. Lords HoLLANn and LAUDERDALE thought it un usual to naive so' early a day for the consideration of _twitters of such importance. If the Noble Secretary !want to move nothing more than the usual Address of Thanks to his Majesty for his gracious Message, ti e . :e ,might be no objeCtion to it ; hut when an Address of that kind might involve points of the serious .consequeneeS and et etas, assenting to the Address might be construed into an assent to the matters referred to in it, and a - pledge supposed to be given by the House of its concurrence; they thought proper 'to observe that such matters should not be discussed till a more distant day, when time should have been tallowed maturely•to consider the • Papers then were to be laid on the table and printed. ' Lord HAwKESBURT contended, that agreeing to the Address, Noble Lords were .not pledged to agree to the matters referred to in the'Papers; but only to thank his Majesty for his gracious Com munication, and express their readineSs to concur in making good the'sums alluded to in the Mesiage: Lord LAUDERDALE reminded the House of a Message brought down last War for a Loan for Austria, when, the Message was discussed 'bef ore . • any of the Papers were laid before the House ex.; plainina the nature of the grant. LorcrHASVg.p.SBURY then laid, a Cppy,a4e treaty with PruSsia .upon the table, together with other Papers conneeted therewith.;' which were ordered to be printed. Lord lIAWKESBURY delivered anotlTr ,Message from his. Majesty, which generally - )!*.!cpeles the usual Vote of Credit at the close of the SesSion. It was ordered also to be taken into consideration to morrO 1,011 1 - kwicttsnuay then moved, that the Irish . Insurredion Bill be read,a secOnd'time to-morrow. Lord LAUDERDALE suggested that the Bill was not hetore the House in a state that afforded their Lordships an opportunity of informing themselves oi its. contents, and that therefore, tintil it was printed, the Second:reading ought not to take place. ~Lotd Hitwxasanav said the Bill , was ready to be qoiv q rpci,' and moved that it be'read a second time. to-morrow, ''if then printed.-- , Ordered., The Bills on the table, the Irish Militia Pay a n d Clothing Bills, &c. were read a third time, after which the } - loui Adjourned. ROUSE OF COMMONS, TUESDAY,. JULY 28. The Dublin* City Improve Mont Bill watt read a third time and passed. The. Bill for Paving the Pa rish of St. MiChaers,. Limerick, was read a second tithe, and committed to a Seieet Committee. Mr, alderman SHAW offered a Petition from Wit. Spurrier, who hed been ordered to attend the r!otse, to answer as to the detention of the Poole W .Petition went to excuse the conduct of the. Petitioner, who' prayed the indulgence of the The SPRAIM suggested,. that it was informal to receive a Petition, from an individual ordered to at tend in his person.. ,The individual would have an ~,reepertunity to offer his excuse in the course of his examination et the bar. It was ordered that there be laid before the House n Ateoent of the Vecancies'existing in the Captains and Stibalt‘ems' Commissions in the Militia Regi ments, specifyitie each Regiment. The Irish:likhery Bill, and the Irish Annuity Bill, were read a third tirue, and passed. The House in a Committee, on the A6ts relating to the Duties on Silk; passed, on the Motion of Mr. Ito: . is; a Resolution for the better . Regnlation of the Duties on all Printed and Stained Silks, . except Ii eel kerchiefs. The Report to be received to , rearrow. Tile Coffee Warehousing : Bill went th roug h a CoMmittee. 'The Report to be received to-Morrow. Mr. Rose brought in a Bill for allowing the !Im portation of certain Articles into the ,West I.:olorties, in American bottoms. Belirm a. flow tit tie, itn,l ordered to be read a second time to-morrow. Mr. hetiesTotot moved ti.e third reading of q,‘le phcznix Vre Office Bill, and offered same' argot tnents to remove the objeaions ; which,. he under, steod, were to be made to it by the Attorney-Gent-', r,d, who objected to pie Bill, on the:grouud that it , sk erit to give to the Company many Of the rights and privileges of a Corporation, without the care psoally taken in constituting Corporations. The Mt'tiuu for reading the Bill a third titne•this clay, was neg eived, - end the Hill ordered to be read . a third dine tit;i (ley Oak:b. mouths. Mr. HusyesseN troeght in a Hill to:atithotise the 01eetieg of the I.,etter4.contained in the Two. 'Hem-- :burgh .`4 , l,Lii!, chat could riot be forwarded: 'The Hill was read a first time, and ordered to be readet se , rood time to-merrew. The Saettter4ll 1" at WArt presented an • AcCount: of i,he peaces of the Royal IViilitary C anal: The Military inquiry Hill went,ihroUgh a Com , the Report was received, and the Bill or- '' to be read a thirdtiote .tomerrow. TREAT ‘‘, rut! I' RUSSIA AND SWEDEN. Secretary CANNING presented at the Bar a CLiry I tlit Ify of entered into hitt Ween lit:, j,:sty and Ow ;cing,.pf , The Right bei.:tutary, oTttii.)Papef . had been read by the Clerk, stated that this treaty had been framed at Memel on the gpth Marc ► ; Wt. the ra tification of the King of • Prussia had net arrived for many months after, and' the events that bad since oe curre4.l had entirely superseded the prpvisions agreed upon. The `Hon. Secretary then presented a Message from his Majesty, of which the following is the substance : GEORGE R. " his MAIESTY thinks it proper to acquaint the House of Commons, that he has entered into certain Subsidiary Engagements With the Kt NG of Swa at ,w hich he will order to be laid before the House is soon as a Copy.pl the Treaty can be made out : and also that his Majesty's Minister to the KI u , of P a uss t A . had, in consequence of a power in vested in him, made advances to the amount of too,sool. for the service of that Sovereign ; and that supplies of arms and military stores have alio been furnished to his Pa o,ss rA :4 MAJ ES tv,to an amount not exceeding 25a,0001. Hrs m 4, jury recommends to his faithful Commons to make good the expences thus incurred." Mr. Secretary CANNING , conceived, that in moving that his Majesty's most Gracious Message be referred to the Committee of Supply, it would not be necessary to go into any explanation. As to, the communication which was mentioned as intended to be madey he had to say ; that art arrangement had in part been entered into with Prussia ; and in the event of the Treaty with that Power having been carried into effeel, the advances that bad been made wtatlct have' been deduCted out of the instalments of subsidy w Mich should have becoMe due in the course of the campaign. T!le events that had happened had rendered this intention fruitless, and as the Treaty was not likely to take effe6t, the 100,0001. advanced, and the 200,0001. the cost of arms, re mained to be, provided for by a vote of the Com mittee of Supply. • A conversation ensued, in which Mr. WHIT.. BREAD said, he understood, in• the conversation with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on a former night, that though the l'reaty.with Prussia was contingent, and the contingency had not taken place, the Treaty with'Sweden was positiVe. Mr. Secretary CANNING said with a reserva— tion of the particulars till he should be ordered to lay the Treaty before the House) that the Treaty with Sweden was on the basis of the former Treaty with his Swedish Majesty, but providing for an aug mentation of the Swedish force in Potntirania front fourteen thousand to eighteen thousand men. It was not necessary for bin) to say how far this *rreaty was to be considered as in force now. Un doubtedly, if the Prussian Treaty had been in force, its prpvistons 'would be of a much larger nature than. those 'of the Treaty with Sweden. But the Treaty with Prussia bad been put an end to,at 'the same' time and by the same events as. the Continental War. The engagementsr with Sweden had been entered into three weeks ago. The . Messige was referred to the Committee of Supply. • A I.Vle4sage, of ,which the, following is the sub stance, was then brought' dow,n by the Chancellor of the Exchequer : . • . GEORGE R. " H is MAJIESTY relying upon the unifidm loyalty and zeal of his faithful Commons,and thinking itof the utmost import ance in the present arduous crisis to be Prepared for ouch emergencies as may arise, , recominends it to his faithful • Commons to make such provisions as may enable his MA. JESTY to counteraa the designs of the Enemy, and to take such measures`as the exigencies of afl'airs may require." This Message also was referred to the Committee of Supply. On the Motion of Mr. ADAM, a new Writ was ordered • for the County of Kinross, in the room of Mr. ADAM, who, having been eleCted for Kincar dineshire also, had made his ele&ion to serve for the latter. POOLE WRIT. On the motion of Mr. JEFFERY, the House went into the further consideration of the complaint Of the delay in the delivery of the Poole Writ.. Mr. Jonathan Brundreth was called in, and on examination - stated, that he received the .Writ un :the morning of the 30th of April, and delivered it to Mr. James Weston, at two o'clock on the same day, in Fencherch-street, in the presence of an old Gentleman, who, he afterwards found, was Mr. William Spurrier. He recognized Mr. , Spurrier when he. went to Poole to ascertain the delivery of the Writ. He arrived in Poole on Monday, the t Bth of May, and saw Mr. Spurrier, who.told him the Writ had been delivered. 'He was satisfied on hearing that it was delivered, relying on'Mr. Spur rier's veracity. ' Atr. WILLIAM SPURRIER was then called in, and on examination stated he had received the Writ on 30th April last. He delivered the Writ on the t7th May, where he was satisfied the Sheriff received it. His ignorance was the sole cause of his holding over the Writ so long. No person at Poole knew of his having the Writ. The Sheriff of Poole is his' relation, his wife's brother.- He knew of no inquiry after the Writ till the Saturday before he, delivered it. He never knew that the Writ was cried at Poole. He knew of no - person who was not of age at the time he received the Writ, and who was of age at - the - time when he delivered it. This .person could not have voted if he had delivered the Writ immediately. This person was no relation of his, neither was any of the Candidates. He thought that persOn would- have voted for Mr.. Garland, but I he voted for Sir Richard Bickerton. He' was in London, and took the Writ to lake care of it; know... jug it would be in safe hands. He did not deli ver it, becalase, likel Bill of Exchange drawn at 40 days 6 ti ht, he did not think it right .to deliver it till the p OriOd when. it Should be obligatory to make the R own. , He paid 30 guineas for the Writ : it was w, 'IA he was asked to pay.: he wal not - ,repaid 4 :bor did 'he expect to be. He knew from the thai t be was to pay money for the Writ, but 'he did riot know how tuna. He was prepared /to pay WWI should he asked of him. On a question irorn the CIIIANCP,LLOR of the ExcHEAtiEtt,'" he admitted that h ha heard there were to hive been ether CandiL lines, besides those who stood. Oct . being questio.led - .whe i he answered, Sir Home ,Popliart; Hi s Ow Spurrier's) ion also, was expeaed to have been a Ontididate. Fle admitted that he knew of a person L' who 'arrived with the most urgent ex i-ledition f t vn'irelatid, and voted for Mr. Garland. On a que . 6ooll heal Mr. JONES, he admitted that - : •principitl reason for getting poss,essiOn of the Writ that his son intended totatrd'been a Can didate. He did not look fora receipt 2 for the Writ, because he relied on the Sheriff's bonottrOle,cha r , racier. Neither the Sheriff, nor any. others en in Poole, knew that he had had the Writ, till the:pro ceedings on the present investigation had been the. means of letting them into the fa& Mr. Spurrier having been then ordered to with draw, The CHANCELLOR of , the EXCHEQUER said, it had . been universally admitted, that same re. ! med.y was nn.ecessars , 'itf.the present pralice of issu ing Writs. 'A: remedy was to be proposed by an. Hon. Gentleman. on the • other. side (Mr. Barham). Every Gentleman would lend his aid to render this remedy more perfea, and when it should have re ceived the oncurrence of the other Branches of the Legislature, he hoped it would be effea.ual. With respe& to. the present case, he did not• think it would be right to press Upon the individkial.: But as,it was evident that the obtaining and delaying of. the Writ had arisen from some Motives not perfeEtr ly correa, he thought w some animadversion .3hould take place, though he was of. opinion ,that any punishment the House should think proper to in onht to cease as soon as • an opportunity to terminate it (limpid be afforded by petittou from the individtial. The SPE4 KER suggested, that the first proceed ing ought to be a Resolution that Mr. William Spurrier, in unduly retaining. the Writ for the last Eleetion for Members to serve in Parliament for the County of the Town of Poole, for 17 days, ttct b4ert guilty of a breach of the privileges of that House. The question being put on this Resolution,' Lord H. PETTY felt it was quite itppossile:to refuse his assent to the Resolution, but 'from the universality of similar pradices, of which some instances little short of that now before the House had . been com municated to him very recently., he thought the individual now under the anintadVersion of the House ought to be 'discharged as ~s non. after his committal as possible. He urged the propriety of adopting a general remedy for the abuK ; such a remedy was essential io the honour and charaeter of the House, in .preference to severity in a particu lar instance. , • The CHANCELLOR if the EXCHEQUER said,. an Hon. Gentleman on the other side had pro- posed to introduce a general remedial measure,' which he was sure every Gentleman would be ready, ,to support. He intended to move that Mr. Spur rier.'be committed to the custody of the Serjeant at Arms ; and though it was not Parliamentary to speak of an understanding to that effea, he was sure, that as soon as a proper submission 'should. be made, the House would give the relief reqUired., Mr. BARHAM urged the propriety of : a geueral're-. medy, and with a view to obtain "some information calculated to promote that object, proposed to call in and examine the Messenger of the .Great Seal as to the general proceedings about the issue of Writs. 'Mr. Rosa objected to the examination of the Messenger of the Great Seal, who could speak to nothing beyond the pratliee of his office. The Messenger of the Great Seal was particularly in• strut - led to take no fees but thos'e that custom had established (perhaps without right) ; five gnineas for a Writ for a ( lierough, and twice as much for a Writ for a County or City. The principal remedy for the abuses complained of was to provide for the im mediate delivery of the Writ to the Sheriff. After a few words from I‘,lr. SMITH and Mr. STURGES BOURNE, who had no objection to the: strietest inquiries into the praelice at the Crown Office, so far as the Members of the present Admi nistration could be affeded by it, it Was agreed that Mr. Spurrier was guilty of a ,breach of-the privileges of the . House, and .he was ordered to be. committed to the custody of the Serjeant at .Artits: The CHANCELLOR 'Of the ESCHEWER took 'Oc casion to state, that the committal of Mr. Brundreth to Newgatei former night, was grounded on his Itrirnalitecon a refusal to answer questiOns. This was an offence, without the immediate pdnishment and correction of which the House could not proceed in any of the investigations and ,niquiries essential , to • its Constitution. The nature of the case inquired into depended upon the taets that should be disclosed and discovered, and admitted of quite a.ditferent course of proceeding. Mr. JEFFERY stated, that the Messenger of the Great Seal, and the other persons ordered to.attend at the bar, were not at all implicated in the critni nal 'part of the transaelion. He therefore. moved, that the Order for their attendance be diScharged. Mr. BARHAM then moved, that the Deputy Mes• senger of the Crown Ise called to-the Bar. This was - opposed by Sir JOHN SINCLAIR, and the gallery was cleared tin a division, but, after some discussion, we understand that the motion was•with drawn. MILITIA VOLUNTEERING BILI.. The Order of the Day having been read for going into a Committee on she Militia Volunteering Bill, Lord. CASTLEREAGH moved, that the Speaker do now leave the Chair. Lord MILTON stated,. at some length, his ob.: jeetions' to the Bill, which no pectiliar emergency called for, and which would so materislly affect that important and constitutional branch of our defence, the Militia. An additional ballot for .the Militia would be most oppressive on a part, and a part alone, of the landed- property, for which reason be should always object to any extension of the Militia beyond what was indispensably necessary for the home gar rison.. If the families of the men who might 'enlist from the. Militia into the Regulars were, to be pro vided forby .the parishes, it would be most burthen some on them, as ,they would also have to provide fbr the families of the men who would be ballotted into the Additional Militia, The Noble Lord's . . Bill would completely destroy his Right Hon. Friend's plari,beneficial as it was, and highly as it had' been approved by the country. We should provide, :not for an emergency, but prepare our population to sus taM a protracred contest, If an immediate invasion . .were threatened; such an extraordinary exertion would i)e excusable, but not in the present situation of affairs. ' , - , • sir T. TU4TON declared, that it had lon4 ap peared 'to him -144 the Coun t required a large, nal I tar} force; but he obje&ed strongly to the ballot, and dwelt particular4v on the inecrtality cedistre.4 which it occasioned: . With pue solitary exception,..h' prOved of all the Continental . qieasbres of the late Administration ; for lie' had always been oropiniOn, that if Europe could not save itself. Great Rrito;., could not save it. There could be bit one oinion, that in the present situation of pubic abiry a large military force was indispensable ; but he deprecated , the diminution of the Milian for that purpose. Nor Aid he think the adoption.of the Army of ,Reserve Adt would be advisable. He was most solicitous to keep up the-Volunteer Force, and however economy was necessary, he, condemned that false parsimony which . would deprive that force of the encourage ment which was indispensable to its maintenance. He would recommend that the Officers should be 'empowered to enforce. attendance, and the men en couraged to attend. Let 'them be paid for their time, and the objea would be accomplished. The Militia and Volunteers (although he knew they, were not half so numerous as had been stated) might form a most important and most constitutional aid to- the Regular Army.. He felt great reluCtance in thus stating his objeCtions to the Noble Lord's Bill. Colonel 1100 D had hoped, that in the,present situation of the 'Country, all party considerations Would have been-laid aside ; and expreskd his asto nishment at the sentiments that had been promul gated on this subjeet. With great relu&ance he gave.his consent to the deterioration of that most constitutional force, the ; but when he re fleeted on the present state of Europe, ii was impos sible for him to withhold it. He thought, that the Plan of his Noble Friend was the only one that could give thedesirable force. A Right Hon. Gentle-, man , had last night said, that we had nothing to ' apprehend, because Bonaparte and his army were at such a distance; but in 'six months they might)* on the opposite shores. He then entered into* best mode of defence in case of invasion, recommended strongly the erection . .of .Marte/.IQ Towers, and the fortification of our arsenals and dock-yards, which were now unable to resist a , siege of-a fortnight, or three weeks. He should give the present question his decided support. • Mr. D4VIS GIDDY, although he could not apt . prove, in every, point, of the plan of the late itt. Hon. Secretary of State for the War Department, yet thought, that if Suffered to proceed, it would be " very produaive; and_ he regretted that the Noble Lord's plan would interfere with it. Still, how ever, it appeared, that some sort of compulsion was necessary. to provicje a large Military Force, but he did not altogether see the utility of the volunteering from the Militia; and expieised his preference of a ballot direaly for the Army. As a majority of the House, however, had determined in favour of the Noble Lord's plan, he should eheerfully acquiesce in that determination. Sir O. WARILINDER repeated his former argu ments en thii subjeft, and contended, that the dish , posable force now existing, which amounted to 81,000 men, was amply sufficient. His grand ob je&ion to the Noble Lord's plan was.. that it ap.; peared a temporary' remedy for a permanent evil,. while the plan of his Right Hon. Friend opposed a permanent remedy to a permanent . evil. He ex preSsed his astonishment, that at a moment like the' present, Ministeri should venture to disorganize the defence of the Country; and detailed the inconvef nieneies and disadvantages to which the Militia must ahe huhjeed by the measure, one principal source of which would be the distance lit which the regill)"" were at from their reTee'tive conntics. I-To cil,ap proyed of the Noble Lord's plan but a:. it was sanc tioned by• Parliament, he s hould exert himself to carry it into effect. Air: BA BINGTOW contended, - that the Noble Lord's Bill would not give the Country the number of .men which he had himself declar , ..l was necesT sary. Were we to sit down contented with 36,000 men, when 150,000 men were required ? Ws , ought to have men not only to resist the attack in case of invasion, but to repair the loss which in curt sequence must be sustained. The Training, Bill of the Flight Hon. Gentleman opposite had been very beneficial in many points of view, and he deptecNit" ed:• all interference with it, except to pia it into eX . QCUtiOrl. As to the Army of, Reserve Act, if ti"t were tried, he th o u g ht i t wou ld f a il. - • • - Lord COCIinANE declared, that, the only part Q t . the Noble Lord's plan which 'appeared to him to fall heavily upon the people, was the ballot for the Militia, for whi c h som e alleviation .might be, ~,ttna , ought to be, pro v id e d. H e t h oug h t a ll ow i ng t he NW 'Wit to enter voluntarily into the Line was a mostwise measure. • Colonel BAGWELL did not thi n k t h e numericalforce of the Line w o uld b e so muc h i ncreas ed at seemed to be anticipated. Mr. IPINDHiIif entered into a general defenc e of the Training Bill, a nd w hil e he allowt.d, tha t like every other mea s u re , i t ' • had detects — defects which be should he most happy to join in c oerectingt maintained that it had not more of such defects Oil any,other measure of a similar nature. After all that had been sa id o f t h e greatness of the existing danger, and the grandeur of the Noble' Lord's Pla n ' what was it to produce ?. Simply the difference ber tween 36,000 men, and the number which the re; gular recruiting might otherwise have been expic" to afford. Adverting to the remission of the sne s ,, incurred under the Defence Act, he allowed that duo' remission would•render more difficult a recorrenn c to any. such measure; but then he contended that; recurrence tcrany such measure was to be shttnn eu ;. The iplestian . had beenoyhether the enforcement to those fines would not have been an act of flagran t injustice. He repeated what an .Hon. Baronet had said, that the Noble Lord's measure was one of tein porary relief for a lasting et it,. , General TARLETOA, stated several cases its which the plans and systems of the Right Hon; Gentleman opposite had discouraged and depresse" f the Volunteers. He denied that the appointment ° Inspecting Field Officers was unnecessary, and c°o - that the General Officers could not exeent a the duty for which those Inspecting Field Officer: were appointed. He wished that the Inipectin, Field Officers had more power,' for by the sme lt% ration of the Volunt eers , we should save the troub le of Training Bills, orally plans of a similar nature. With regard to the Militia, which were the yell stamina of the force which was to defeat the enemy in case of i nvas i on, t h e o bj ect was t o o btain a ,posahle torce, „sorequisite in the res ent .eircnf ao stantes of the world. It had been said, there In emergency at present. No was not the Coupe try . env•rnne t i by m o re d a nge rs than any during experience of a n y man living 2 Wh en t he first Ge m h neral.df the.age .(for so he ou td acknow.e dge um it to be) had acquired such immense power, wo t s . • 1! /Int for • •