The Sun. — London, England, 1807-01-29 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMEM: HOUSE OF PEERS, WEDNESDAY, JAN. 28. Counsel were further heard in the Appeal„Lewis v. Morgan. Lord DARrMO3TH informed their Lordships, that his Majesty had given dire&ions for laying before them, pursuant to their Address, Copies of any Cor respondence which had taken place with the Colo-. trial Governments, respe&ing the Amelioration of the Condition of the Slaves.--Adjourned, HOUSE OF COMMONS, WEDNESDAY, JAN. 28. The SPEAKER attended at half past three o'clock, and at four proceeded to the Ballot of the' two Com mittees, which stood for this day, to try the merits of the contested Ele6tions of Saltash and Tregony. On the former, the following are the Members Chosen SALTASH COMMITTEE. G. C. Vernon, Esq.. ' Earl of Euston. W. Kenrick, Esq. Sir R. Milbanke, Bart. W, Manning, Esq. Lord H. MoOre, Sir A. Moseley, Bart; W. Bonham, Esq. Lord 1. Thynne. A. Robarts, Esq. N. Saxton, Esq. J. W. T. Knox, Esq. J. Rutherford, Esq. )oho Leech, Esq. and T. P. Bastard, Esq. Nominees. TRECONY COMMITTEE. Non. W. Howard. Sir James Fulteney, Bart. Right H0i...7". Steele. A. De Ponthieu, Esq. Hon. B. Bouverie. C. Mills, Esq. R. Wilson, Esq. j. Lemon, Esq. Hon. E . Phipps. Ppm Shelley, Esq. Sir M. W. Ridley, Bart. R. A. Daniels, Esq. Earl of Yarmouth. 'Y'. Mitchell, Esq. aild James Topping, Esq. Nominees. On the Motion of Mr. ByNG, the Stratford-le- Bow Water-Works Bill was read a second time ; and on the Motion that it be committed, Mr. PLUMER. said he hoped his Hon. Friend ivould not attempt to hurry this Bill in its progress through the House, as he understood there were ob jeCtions to it from the New River Company, and from the People of Hertfordshire. - The SPEAKER said those complaints out of doors were not to be attended to, and the House had as yet appointed no time for the commitment of the Bill; . which was then ordered to a Committee above stairs, to whom the Petition of the London Dock. Company against the Bill was alsofordered to be•re ferred. 1111. HOBHOUiE moved, that the Report of the Committee of the Sierra Leone Company, dated Feb. 7, 1804, be referred to the Committee ap pointed to take into consideration the Petition of that Company now pending.—Ordered. Sir JOHN SZtiwrotcr brought up a Bill for raising i,000,0001. Irish currency on Treasury Bills in lre+ land ; which was read a first time, and ordered to bt read a second time to-morrow. BARRACK DEPARTMENT. Lord A, II A !WILTON said, he now rose to move for certain Papers relative to a subjeft which had al ready, in some degree, occupied the attention of the House, and which, he believed, had out of doors ex cited universal indignation. He then moved— " That there be laid before the House a Return of the barrack Supplies for the four,years during which A. Davison, Esq. was employed therein, enumera ting the articles under different heads; specifying the ytalitiei, the amount, and charges, respectively." STI,IIi4LES BOL/ANE seconded the 1110 , Cott, tarn said, it Lave him great pleasure to find an inqairy was tO be made into the subjea. There 'Was a Paper on this head presented to the House dur • ing the last Se.:sioo of the,last Parliament, which con tetintql a general statement . of the w-ticles wikuted for the Barrack Department, and 'he' moved team that Paper be re.-j), tilted ; which, with Lord A. ,Hamil tou s Motion, was . accordingly agreed to. Sir sTnomAs Tt7RThN gave notice, that:be - would on Monday fortnight move for • the production of Papers relatint to the Assumption of the Govern- . Anent tai the Carnatic by the past . lndia Company. 11t.Vii,LLIANs WyNtsttr presented the Circular Letter to the Lord Lieutenants of Counties, pur suant to an Order of the House.—Ordered to be printed. Mr. WILLTAMS WYNNE brought up the Reduc tion Bill, and the Irish Gimpowder 13111 ; they were severally read a first 'time, and ordered to be read a second time to-morrow. . FREEHOLD ESTATES ASSET 81LL..... The SO UCITO J R 11, rose, pursuant to notice, tnd said, that the evils which it was. t j #te ob ject of th .! proposed Bill to do aWay, 'Were of a na ture st.) magnitudinous, and, indeed, in general, so well understood and so long complained against, that Ile should not think it advisable "to. detain the House with any prefatory ob rvations in farbur.of the re tnedy suggested; . tvere it not that it had been once submitted to that HoUSe before, and had been for molly rejected. .This circumstance, perhaps, ren ,clered it necessary_ for him in the present instance to trouble the House with one or two introductory observations as to the evils which the Legislature; were so imperiously called upon to remove; and as to the retudy" he-should have the honour of sub mitting to .that House, conceiving that remedy to be, in his humble judgment, competent to remove them. Gentlemen were aware, that,. by the laws of England, a man seised of a freehold estate might Contract debts to any amount. without subjecting that fee to the responsibility of the debts incurred - , provided the debtor had passed no securities under teal." Boa debts and bills of exchange, which were not undersea!, it was unnecessary to say, did nor affect freehold estates. If, then,- a man; owner of a freehold estate, at extravagant habits, and - of that unmeaning profusion which prompted him - rather to be generous than just, should die indebted to one or more creditors in an enormous amount, and in-. stead of bat rug left sufficient means to satisfy their *just demands, should, with a caprice worthy of his prudenee, have transferred to some unknown un deserving • heir that ..ntire estate -which was the source of their confidence, and ought to have been their remuneration—he appealed to that House what Must have been the sentiments of such ita'-itijured bady of men as the creditors in stieha case. d Mat ter how wanton or caprieious:the will= itself that Constituted the heir, his , title iu law-is indisputable to that property, which,. hi common jtistfee,-ouhf to have been another's.' He may look Witif in tifference upon the claims of -Creditors, who have, unfortueately for 'themselves, founded them upon no stronger principle than the honour of their debtere but it is not for the Legislature of a great commercial country to look with indifference upon any measure that tends-to shake that generous confidence Which is • the support of British credit and the pride of • British commerce; but were even the law itself not objectionable, still the abuses of which it has been productive would sufficiently warrant its abolition. He regretted that there had occurred within the re colle4tion of the present age so many instances of men possessed offreehold estates, Who, finding them . selves overwhelmed with an accumulation Of debt,- bad resolved upon the desperate alternative of ; priving themselves of existence, and thus, by a sort of posthumons - injustice, put out of the reach- of their creditors every possible- means of redress or recompence: Strange as it is,' that. such a mho should exist in any country, it is still more unac countable. that such a rule Should be peculiar to this .country. On the Continent heirs are subject to the debts of those from whom they inherit, and grate ful it is to observe the . pious industry with which they persevere in their efforts to redeem the faith they justly conceive to have been pledged by those who held before them. In Scotland this rule is not entirely recognized—why it continued in force in England down to the present day, was what he found difficult to account for ? To trace its origin it was necessary to recur to the feudal times, when allodial property was annihilated, and that in order to secure any it was necessary to hold it of a su perior liege—the relations between the .vassal and the lord rendered all alienation of property impiae ticable, and when, after the gradual relaxations from the strielness of this rule, the owner was a ll owe d to relieve half his property,, and subsequently the whole. The statute Of the iath of Edward theTirst,, called from its own commencing words the statute of " Quia Empteus,': was engted for the purpose of checking the then progressively increasing system of subinfeudation, so that the law may be now said to have survived for five hundred years the reason that produced it, and therefore to have. been for five hundred years, if pot mischievous, at least, useless, and yet not what all useless laws should be, obsolete. He could iipchelp remarkieg upon the inconsistency of this law, ltiose, e. hen it was so desirable it should be strict, and in other respeas rigid to a de gree bordering upon a severity almost censur able.—ln the case of personal goods, and all, Species of chattel interest, the operation of this law in iniorcing the payment of - debts. Was known to be summary, decisive, and efficient. He coeld not say inueh in favour of the impartial appli- I cation of that law, which, while it screened the • freehold estate of the idle, the dissipated or disho ! nest debtor, gave up the iierson and property of his perhaps struggling creditor to all the fatal conse quences of some unforseen vicissitude of trade, the little he had (his all) to bankruptcy, and himself to the moral as well as physical contagion of a gaol, where he is doomed to linger out the wretched rem nant of his days in unavailing sorrow, unless restor ed to the world by one of those rare instances of the interposition of the legislature to ameliorate toe stern rigour of the law. As all debts due upon negotiable securities were simple contract debts, the object of the Bill to be proposed would be to put all simple contract creditors upon the same footing Iv; t h special creditors. Gentlemen of that House who were tint conversant in his profession might .nut be aware that a Court of Equity was the only Curt in which real estates could possibly be made liable to simple con-. tract debt:;. This Serious evil, Courts of Equity have .endeavoured to remedy, by .a mode of proceeding, which professional men understood by the terms marshalling of assets." He should conclude by observing, that in order to. combat the general pre judice against innovation, it is the duty of any per, son proposing that one measure should be .adopted in the place of another, not only to state the alledged good cads of the new, but also the advantages and disadvantages of the old one. In the latter statem en t he had certainly' been partial, but he was unavoida bly so. He.had stated the disadvantages only, be cause in his view of tilt measure (and it was not an inattentive one) it appeared but productive of -pure.' and unmixed evil. He had now only to apologize to the House for trespassing so long upon their time, and hoped that if he had been guilty of prolixity, it would be rather imputed to an anxiety in t him, to make himself as clear and intelligent as possible tip on a subject of slid), importance to the landed and commercial interests of the country. He concluded by moving, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to make the freehold estates-of persens dying in debt . assets for the payment of simple contrast debts. The ATTORN EY -G ENE RAL second e d the motion. 11 , 1r.Wt 5 MSWYNNE hoped the Honourable and Learned Gentleman would not stop here, but apply his mind to a similar consideration as affeeting the. estates of the The Thames Police Bill was, read a second time, and ordered to be committed for this day - se'nnight, The Grain Intercourse Bill went...through a etirn mittee. • The Rowe went into a Committee on the Aets relating to Wool and Yarn. Sir JOHN NEWPQRT, intimating the necessity of making presents to the American Indians, of various articles composed of worsted yarn, moved, that the Chairman be justrthed to 'ask leave to bring ii a Bill . to allow the annual exportation of Worsted:larn Canada. This being agreed to, Cap House was resumed, the Report was received, and leave granted accord., ingly.—Adjourned. MAILS. ARRIVLD--1 Lisbon, 3 VVateiford. Dua—t Gottenburgh, i uolin;* t Witerford. ' PRICE OF STOCKS THIS DAY AT TWE&VE Consols - - 6oi L 0 IV D 0 TAURSDA.Y, JANUARY 29, 1807. No official intelligence from the Continent bad 'reached Town when this Paper was put to. Pren" hnt we have mac:) to . that Government du not * entertain the Mallen doOt of •the truth of the ac tat*, which were received tin Sat4day.. Moors have been circulated, without any authority, "of vietories obtained by the French subsequent to the 3d January, and it was even asserted that Go'-' vernment had received French Papers containing the Bulletins which announced that fa&. We stated on Tuesday that Government had received no such Papersk there appears , therefore to be no foundation whatever for the report. But though no official details have yet been received respeCting the vi&ory of the Rus ' sians, yet all the accounts which have been received from the Continent within these three or four . days concur in mentioning the total defeat of the French. The Dutch Papers which have been received do net, it:is true, announce the defeat of BONAl'ARTE—they dare not do it; but we believe that very little doubt is entertained upon the subject in Holland, received this morning the .following . Letter from . Dover, which shews the anxiety of the Dutch Go vernment to prevent the accounts of the successes of the Russians from reaching England. " DOVER, JAN. 28.—Came in the Belisarius, of New York, MILLE.R, from Amsterdam, for "New Orleans, with butter and cheese. Before the Ship -was suffered to proceed on her voyage, the captain was obliged to enter in.tn a Bond not to go into any English Pert, being fearful that he would communi pte the reports in circulation, that the Freneh had been deteated, with the loss of u,net) men, and that in retreating from the theatre of war, the Poles had risen upon.therg en nzasse, and massacred be, tween 10 and 20,000 men." The Hale, Capt, Ba.aNsToN, arrived in the River yesterday from Copenhagen. Capt. B. sr.Med on the: 0h hist, and he states, that at that time it was'- confidently believed that a 4ciiire yitfit(4,y had been obtained by the Itussians. Letters tatvq also been received from Warsaw, dated the 4th ;• . of course , personl writing froin that Cite would be very cautious in their statements, but one of Ole letters reeeived ypsWday, by a very tespee.tahle house in the City, has the following short but signi.%:_ ficant postscript : " 1v B. and co. have .ktopped . -:-.. minus 50,0001." If the writer troartt merely to announce airier,: eantile . failure, he would probably have been :more explic;,t, and we eannpt b.ut believe that tll.e N. 8.. were meant for NAPOL.ON 40NA?4RTE., Ws have received Anzericem Pcoers to, the 6th inst. from which we bave Made • several Extracts. The Bill for suspending tae Non.imrNrtaiirt At; has passed, conswiu,ently the trade with Great taiu is again perfectly free. Colonel fly-aa sless been acquittcd oX all the Charges brokrht against , The snbie& of the Aill which the S.ot.rcrvolt.; GENERAL la . st night moved for leave to bring into the House of Commons, is of the highest importance to the commercial part of the community. It I A a measure founded upo.n humanity and the interests of substantial justice.. The objet} of it is, to render _ freehold Estatea of persons who die in debt assets for the payment of their simple contraa debts. The law has too long been wholly inadecia rene_ dx,. the evils arisinKfrom the want of•sueh a provision, It will tend to render the prOprietors of landed pro perty more prudent, more . iust, And not less regard ful of their heirs., It will also tend to • obviate necessity of ',Ads •of Insolvency, by' which. many persons are inaterially injured, and often brought to ruin by th,e misfortune - of' theii . • Creditors; rather than by their fraud or extrava; ga nee. It is impOisible to do justice to the eloquent,• clear, and accurate Speech which Sir SAMUEL. Ro tor delivered, on-this occasion. explained -the' subje& with the utmost pe * rs s picnity, and enfcirced the po'icy as well as,iustice - pf the proposed measure with irresistibje force of argument. As far as the s.ubjed admitted, we may indeed fairly say, that a More luminous, appropriate, and impressive ,Speech never was heao., in Parliament. Tua Aesolutions which Lord H. PETTY is this. day, to submit to the HOOK of Commons, 'are we under , stand intended to develops an entirei new and exten sive system of Finance. Lord GRENVILLE has, we know, devoted his attention with - unwearied persever ance to. this subjeet ever since he came into office, and he has matured a System of Finance most compre. hensive in its nature, and which promises, to t x most heneficial in its effelis. • We.-have the pleasure to inform, the pAblic, , that the - ,4rigade of British Troops, under the orders of General . WYN YAR4 4 arrived in.Skily on ,the 3th, Qf . Dec.ernber,.in the. very best state of health, th ere . tia scarcely a case of . serious illness among the _Never,. in fact, . - Were the accommodatiou itid7l , mforts of our brave countrymen in arms more amply e rovided for-than in the whole of the Expe dition's which halie lately been fitted out. riche a Svc Brigade landed a; Catania, in which, place and . ii,.neight7ourhood the corps are for the . present 'to' be stationed. Yeiterday the,payrnent of 'His Majesty's . Frans hoki-, to Michaelmas quaittr, took'place. Aeording to all accounts, of BON AP A RIM anxi his t ; ruvps in Poland, they gas Ot swimmingly. 0, • • NifFA L NEWS. Pok rgskailTit, JAN. .---Atrivi the I)evasta4 .itietrz r 6Ortl' Downs ; also the Monarch :§chotiner, Viki.r.4cit Master, retaken on a voyage, from Guernsey to Gibraltar by the Revolutionaire, in • company I.vith several- other \Teasels of Veat. Airivecl also the 'Cuod intent, Cltai,e , :krAti; fret- London ; Brit4h Tart, HuDGEspirorn borer • firm, , RQB&ON,a9II 14112 U, CHASOLint, froth and r}end• General SIVAHT is eXptiaed . telatidaotri the Se rapis this evening; that Ship his leen fileased fro' quarantine to-day. N. B. Since writing the Above, "thit Cetieral landed, with Commissioner 8i1.414, anti aril h saS oifor Lyndon. • EA M Q ~.1A tt .5? 6.—Arrived the Piinciss tliiar teth Packet, Klau, - with Mails from Lisbon; is 111 9 . Left thetif liig Majesty's Ship :Lively, anti' Printe bf Wiles and Townshencl Pa . cke ts. The Dula of Kent - Packet, from Jamaica, .ir k t daar, oxpekr:lecl. 4'y ,a -letter received here from Lisbon, by 2 Met". catrtile 4.30tt3e it is said that 412 of the British Troops were killed at the re •capture' of Blienos Ayres. Vessel from „Rio Jaheira, arrived at Lisbon, Confirm. ; this report. PLY MOUTII, JAN. V7.--.-A.TrlVea the Phrpbe Frigats from tlie.Nortia Sea. Saila the ►'a Frigate on a Cruize. Th e Lavinia -` Frig a t e came into Harbour tb morning to Tcfitt DEAL, JAN. eB.—Arrived the Fearless Gun-brig' from a Cruize, and remain in the Downs with tilo: Ships as. per iiut, SHEERNMS, JAR. 27.—Arrived the Sally Annoy Ship, E. CIZETICAM, Esq. Commander. Arrived this evening the 44str.ea Frigate, C*etail ) . DyNn4n, front Copenhagen, where sh e p li t tCa refit, after the heavy gale she encotintered when Pli her pas.4-,ge w4h,Lord HuTegiNsoN on board; have nat-yet been able, to learn any news from her re.' ipeahig the state--of the Continent. JAN.2B.--Avril-ed the Swift Sloop War, COO Jolts WluotiT. T.'!M! , fc. - On Monday we announced thecaptureofa Walt Frigate, and two Dutch Jndiamen, richly laden, frog ) , the East Indies. The f o ll ow i ng h as been transmitte d to us, as the otficol account, from the Dutch G - vernor of patayia, sent by, a Danish Ship, which has been detained and brought into one of our WAS, - With the severest feelings of atiii6tion, I hat's, totrigivicriAhq;apcorck.it tg. vatho -I...oewrx;i4t isinttity l argt ... • ligence here, upon the '2o t ofiuly, 180, in the 141 . ' tude of Salayer Islands, the &nay ian Frigatetlia.Par, /as, and the Corvette the corning tro4-I.ArP. - boytka, tgld having uticier convoy the liauria and M.. #ctavis,,teni, , Ory large -Ships helongip l i to the C 0. 04 parry, completely laden . with mace; Cloy* and DOI' tnegs, had au engages e.nt with an Zvi FrigateM• a Brig; and the unfortunate issue w as , that Ille.rigativ • was orced to surrender, and botth the Cotnpangl Ships are become the preyuf the Enemy. We know , further parttculars, 'except that the Willia/r4 escaped by flight, and got t Macasser ; btu Lim act of it Las cast a universal dejection over every one hen and truly nut without reason, as the los) amounts t hull a million of dollars in speCie, which the sale . the spices was to have replaced, and the blovv be severely felt by the Treasury i the chest; of whit , * is already in so exhausted a coridi s ciort;" . • The value of the spices on *IA the Vitiorie ark Rataifie were estimated. at Batavia, at full tioo,oo9 l ' sterling; the prime 'cost price, in, the Spice Islands, was upwards pf a million Spanish -.dollars in, saver., The Captain and the First Lieutenant of t.he. D u tch Frigate Pallas were killed tie first brOadsidc. TlO names of the EngliSh Frigate. d Brig are nor, men" tioned. The Indiakeii are new, and the largesraPO ilest Nesliets'the Asiatic Compank . posce.ved. Tl 4 cimtain,ed the entire produce of the Dutch spicy establishments of the growth of 1805, and wi4 prove as rich .prizes.as ever rewarded the. valour 4114 (1 skill of British, rfamen.. • - . Yesterday,. at twelve o'clock, Hts MA34S2IX sir f " iive4 in town from Windsor, escorted by. i i, party O f Light Horse. . .At two , o'cloc k His Mklnsirii4eld a pr i vate TA O . at the Ctimen./ kataCe, which was attended by The - Archbishop of C a nt e rb ur y, t h e LortrChancellor, - A Lord Prebident of the Council, the First Lord of the rie 3 : sury, the Three Secritaries of State, _the First Loci of t 1 3.1 Admiralty, the Mast er -Gen era l o f .t h e Or d nance, the Lor a Chamberlain, the Chief Governor or India, the judge Ad/_° . ' mca 'Earl Uxbridge , Lords Somerville and 1 - leathfield, '''' ' Bishop of Durham:, Sir S; Colterell, and Genera GordoP' Lord MINTO had an audience of His MAJEoff and had the *honour of being introduced to HP vMAJESTY by Visciiiitit Ifowicx, upon his'being 01 3 : plainted Governoi - of 'lndia. His Lordship at the same time toolt , leUvelef His MAJESTY, previous 'l4s leaving Englanc. , r• • • The Bishop of Dtra4Arit laid before His MAily Tyr his late Charm -delivered to the Cl e rgy of . 1 0 Diocese.. His MAJESTY- hekla Privy Council, and afterward s gave private auatences to the LORD CuAsoELLos/ earls SPENCER 'and OXBRIDGE, *and Lords GaAs' VILI f R and HOWICK. At five O'CIOCIOIiS MAJESTY set off on his return to, Nkrinclior Ma dame Brisrpt . t, whose musical talents are ( 14 ': Orvedly admired, has just experienced a severe 10 . 1' hi the death Of her only child, a Most promising gl"' Who, though.only five: years of age, had mad e an e'b i l traordinary progress in the English, French, 1111 „ Italian languages, as'well as in knowledge of n!`" t i sic.—This amiable an 4 acomplished child cl ic yesterday mcruins . . • T HE QUIA cym. A•upstAr? • •