The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — London, England, 1806-05-21 00:00:00

R e I 4. .44%1' IMPERIAL PARLIAMLNT. f• .A 4 --....wisit.-IL 4.1 1% HOUSE OF LORDS-Altman/I ir, MAY 20. • .N • .A is The Lord Chancellor ante duet' to Ae Mine about four „O'clock, and, after putters, the 11,119 upon the tat:6e, all private, , 7 1 0 1 1pbe e event fomented in their respeCier stapes. 4.. A The &Me attlesiratry Rai s es' Rill was rev , a thirst time, avid pawed, mid a Message sent to acquaint the CW1111110415 there with. Mr. Alexander hrottett up, front the Covi.nena, the Public BMrmftin g Rill, and the Plank of lrrlsuti I'9 v ments 13.11 A feat trivet* Adis were hrer.ight up by sir .1 VV. A., rirrsou , Mr Chaplain, and either Gentlemen, and ses,rally read a brit tamp, The Hpuse was thou asllourneil during pleasure. Alinut five &duel( the II ruse r.-tutneJ, and the order of the dm (upon which their Li - n(11001e were SURlatO.redi !Or ore id reading ol the DEFENCE Ac r REPEAL Illt.l. being read, • Earl SPENCER rose, and in a speech or some -.. length, stated the grounds on which he conceived 1, 4 .- it politic, expedient, and proper, tha t t h e ir Lo r d. • ships should concur in the above measure In do ing this, he rested his case chiefly on what he con tended was notorious, namely, the ineffijenc). and • the oppressive as well at injurious tendency, of the Aft which the present Bill went to abrogate. The merits of the present Bill proceeded on the de ans-its of the AA alluded to; and on these alone, and net upon what might h.tve come to their Lord- Win' knowledge of what passed in another place. Ave contended the Hnts.e should decide. The proton measure should be discussed without any sefetenee to any other which might now be inl the contemplati-in of, or may he hereafter brought for ward by fits Majesty's Government. The mea sure which the present Bill went to repeal, had, af ter long experience, proved inefficient and injurious. Had it been successful, he should be one of the first to support it. In point of Gel, the Defence Bill proved to be mere art engine for raising money, than levying men. In proof of what he alleged with reaped to that measure, their Lordships would have only to rifer to the vs aious documents upon the table. The Noble Earl then entered upon a variety of calms- Lstious, drawn from these documents, in . it Jer to cor roborate his allegations ; but which our limits do not allow us to recite. He dwelt upon the small corn par.ttive proportion of men supplied by the Parish Of wass.. who were avowedly the principal engines in the system; and argued that those men were pro dueed at a proportlonably greater expellee than men levied bystprother mode which had previously been experintejned. The Bill evidently did not produce the aels intended from it. He argued, that even the deficiencies which it was intended to supply, were very far from being made up. As his Lordship proceeded, he read extralits from such do cuments as he referred to, in support of what he ad tranced. A great deal of this proceeded from the er roneous principle of relying so implicitly upon the parish Deicers, whose incapacity to akt as recruiting officers, soon became apparent. By way of general illustration, be stated, that within a given period, in which it was calealated. that for the whole of Great Britain, 41,453 men would be produced by these pariah officers, no more than 9918 were altually levied, leaving a deficiency of upwards of 31,000. What prospett, therefore, was there of such a mea sure being efficient ? So far from it, he contended that the Defence Bill, in its operation. instead of adding to the military force of the counuy, aaually diminished it. Any of the modes of supplying the army was, therefore. preferable to those provided by the Bill. To obstruCt the measure of recruiting the army, to clog the operation of the ordinary recruiting-officers, could never be the intention of the Right Honourable rprson who first proposed this Bill. Added to these objections, when he con sidered the immense expeuce at which the men were obtained ander the Defence AR, he must earnestly solicit the concurrence of their Lordships to the Bill before the lliiuse. He therefore moved, I. That this Bill be now read a Rd time." The Earl of CAMDEN regretted, that circum stances called upon hint to rise so early in the debate. particularly in opposition to any thing that fell from his Noble Friend ; he had ra ther it had fallen to the lot of any other Noble Lord ; but, in reference to the situation he filled at the time the Bill was proposed, and the decided part he had taken in urging sits adoption, he felt st incumbent on him to come forward in the present instance. He differed entirely from his Noble Friend, as to the cleft and operation of the mea sure complained of. He contended the circum stances of onr military force were much improved, by the operation of the Bill ; though, he corfessed, for some time the measure had not produced those beneficial effeds which were so confidently expelted from it. What he intended to propose on the pre sent occasion was, merely, that the second reading of the Bill should be postponed for three weeks, in which time, most probably, some measure. or system of measures, would be brought forward, in the way of substitution. If a Bill on the same principle, or near it, should be introduced, it should have his support, He did am sistend to follow his Noble Friend through that wide field of calculation, into which he had entered. The Bill in question, he insisted it would appear from ageneral view, and fair inference from the documents before the House, bad been eminently productive, even more than bad been espefted from it, within the latter periods. He farther contended, that under the present cir cumstances of the country, a compulsory principle, in whatever should be resorted to for the supply and keeping up the army, was necessary. It should be considered, that the measure in question was in tended to operate, not only is lieu of the ballots for the militia, but of those of the army of nurse ; and, therefore, the great produce which was ex peEted from it, might be inferred. A compul sory system, more or less. was indispencible ; hut to repeat the Defence Ad, without an adequate measure to substitute for it, would be impolitic and dangerous in the extreme. It was not a fair way of discussing the merits of that Bill, to refer t i papers. for proofs of what it had produced in the commencement of its operation ; but to consioii its latter prodoetiveness—its of eds even at the pre sent moment; they should consider the animal rate of its produce within the last three, even within the last five-months ; this was at a ratio not only equal. but superior to what had been expelled Item it. He did not cane forward on the present occasion. with any sp'irit. co/opposition to the weenier, of Hi. Majesty's Go :ernmeer. be.: merely from the result of his own eonviainne upAn the subject, and these remaining the rune, in vindication of his own con sistency. His Lordship concluded by moving, iii the way of amendment, tt that iiisicad of now, this Bill beread a second time this day three weeks.' On the elves:ion being put, Lord ST. JOHN rose, and, in a short speech, suo ported the Bill. With respect to the mousafe which it went to abrogate, he considered it in that light, toat the circumstance of its repeal would he the best substitute that could be atforded. He tntirely con curred in what Cad fallen from his Noble Friend ( Earl Spencer) whose colivincinp, stittemertts Yen. dered it unnecessary for him to trouble their Lord ships in detail upon the subWita. ' The Earl of WEtiT MOREL AND, ;isms able and animated speech. of considerable length, of wl.ich our limits preclude us even from stating an outline. opposed the Bili, and supported, in a more general and comprehensive view, the pinp. , siti,,n; adeanc by his Noble Fried, Earl Camden. He censured the impolicy which suggested the repeal of the mea sure in question, at a moment when it became not only produaive, but to a degree even beyond what was originally expelled from it ; and such a pro ceeding was still more censurable, when there was evidently no measure to substitute in lieu of it. In this part of his subjea, the Noble Earl glanced at the plan promulgated by one of His Majesty's Mi nisters, in the other House of Parliament. which, he contended, as being of public notoriety, could fairly and regularly be adverted to in that Reuse. His Lordship was proceeding to expatiate upon some leading consideratiods, on which he animad verted, and expressed his unqualified disapprobation ; while proceeding on this ground— Earl SPENCER spoke to order, and submitted whether the Noble Earl could regularly enter into such line cf discussiou, no topics, not only un- I conneded with the present question, but of which their Lordships could have no Parliamentary know ledge. On this interference, a short conversation took I place on the point of O l der, b etween t h e N o bl e Earl, and Lords MULtiRAVE, AWKES BURY% and ELDON. The Earl of WItiThtORELAND then re sumed his speech, and continued his arguments against the bill some time longer. Lord Viscount SIDMOU VII feeling himself al luded us more than once in the course of the Noble Earl's speech, who spoke last, replied to those pro positions, to whi -Is we allude, in the first instance ; the Noble Viscount then proceeded to argue in favour of the Bill, en the mounds of the inefficacy and injurious effects of the Act which it went to repeal, and which had been evinced by an experience sufficiently lung. for safely deciding upon the me rits of thejmeasure. After some farther observations. his Lotdship adverted to the illegality of the prac tiees of parish officers; strongly condemned the mea sures taken by His Majesty's late Ministers, to make this Bill efficient ; and considered that any advan tage which had been attributable to it, arose more from the measures, antecedently adopted, than any merit of its own. Ili' Lordship therefore supported the second reading of the Bill. Lord MULG RAVE, in an able speech, of great length, entored into a variety of arguments in sup port of the Defence Bill, which, he thought, had not been fairly dealt by ; as, if it had. lie was con vinced it would have answered every purpose. He therefore warmly supported the motion of his Noble Friend, for postponing the second trading of the Bel then before the House. The Earl of DERBY, in a very animated speech, condemned the Defence Aft, not only for its insuf ficiency, but lions the very principles of the Bill hull. He therefore supported the second reading. The Earl of ROSSLYN considered the Defence Act insufficient. unproductive, and in many cases mischievous; with all the inconveniences and in justice of compulsion, without compelling a single man. It had totally failed in all its purposes, and on these grounds he warmly voted for the original motion. Earl ROSSLYN, at some length. deprecated the Aft, and thought even it their Lordships were sa tisfied that the ingenuity of man could devise no other structure to supply the place of that measure, it would be adviseahle to repeal it. The Duke of MON fROSF. thought that the Legislature would do wisely, after the experience that had bees had on this aft, to divest it of the imperfeaions that were found to exist in it, and, instead of running from measure to measure, to per sist in this, as it might be modified; assured as they would be, that at least some of the concomitant im perfeaions of all measures, were removed. Lord DARNLEY considered the defeas of the Mt to be irremediable, and was sure that if their Lordships should that night agree to the repeal of it, they would meet with the unanimous concur rence of the country. Lord HAWK ESBURY defended the Ell, and expressed his full opinion, as far as he was at pre sent able. to form a judgment, that the nsemassies which had been in outline disclosed in the other I louse of Parliament as a substitute tor it, were ra dically defeaive, particularly as far as regarded the suboitution of compulsory training for voluntary servile. Earls CA RN A RVON, SPENCER, and RA D YOR, were warns advocates for the repeal of the Aft. Earl GROSVENOR said, that, iu giving his vote for the repeal of the A.l, he did not pledge himself to support the military measures which sere shortly to be proposed. The House then divided on the amendment, Contents SO, Proxies 10-40. Nun-contents 71, Proxies 26-97. Majority 57. The original motion was than put and carried ; and at half-past twelve o'clock the Lions' ad journed. 11OUSE OF COMMONS. Mr. Rain,. !invented a P , fits..ll fns ceitain Meitner, of linefo,lttLee, praying that Ihe Sol of lan Session oaf net be revealed; which we. referred s. U.. Cogaranteo on W. other Petitions reat.ne to that +eyed. Loped ..10,pe.h rhese..led au e , tintate of the dpbt. awl :heron of the Last lattn Go.rnineet abroad. Wee the ...monad the trib.rge• ter rise Vac, of Wake's lowed and St. lielees, ex thereat* 160 6 oi4 end to he on the table Sir J. !Loom ,bitnAht so toe Inns Temti C"neetten *lt. sitter a le. ant &divot to ha read a Id tines un..tvw. lie almbrnught in the {date A.l4.C,tip Force Repeal *high was reade first, and ortle'ett to be read • I:rcurol futile out Tburai y. f • Mr. Vatisittaregarmlbsted ao Accou - it of Om Arrears ulcer. rent Balmier-4 Mete hand; et 'rte Crdlectors of the "Ptater, fro-it Vie S'h of January t; J 4, to tire Si hof Jannary 18.4,dit• ling each year —..q-iered to be printed, A Message from the Loots soornoic-d that they had agreed to the Scots Judges' and kounitaariee of Edinburgh Salaries Big, and .tree other: of a ovate nature. Mr. AtIIX.II4I, brought up the report of tbeldibUotillery n , a , :tel he read a CIA tine to-morrow. S , • CHAR I.V.S PR [LT. noted for an Account of all Stair halt an Great &nein, specifying their tonnage, f.rim the.bth or Januar, 1750, to the b ,n of January 1506.—Ordered. Sir J. NEWPORT pee notice that he should move for prierprui;iie the Curtner proceedings on the Dublin Pating.lllll. till after the ,tress, Mr. Ainx.rnd•r brought up the report of the regolutions the Via. , and Means, for imposing a duty, by lie e, Meureries, which were agreed to, and a 1131 ord,re,i t o be brought in upon them. Mr. Charlet Wynne presented an Account of the Instrue.l trews given to Captains of Ships of War, and Leiters 0(1 Marque.s-etlrde.ed te he orkthe tree. a LORD MELVILI.rS SALANCRS. Mr. HUSKISSON adverted to a notice he had given of a motion for papers, sheeting the grounds on which the late Board of Treasury rettsittedlia interest on the balances in the hands of Lard - "le count Melville ; but, as he apprehended, that the discussion might interfere with some points of Ile evidence adduced by the Managers, in supper, of the Impeachment, he should defer his motion tit after the judgment should be given. NABOB OF ARCOT'S DIOTS. ter Mr. HOBBOUSE moved the ittcond readinio the Bill for extending the powers or the Commts ' sioners, appoineed to ascertain the nature of the claims upon tlfe Revenues of the Nabob of Arcot." Mr. IV. KEENE, in a speech of considerable length, but delivered in such a tone and manner as not to be at all times distinctly heard in he gallery, stated his objections to the Bill. As the public was obviously a partner in these transactions, it was right that Parliament should inquire into all the disbursements made from the Nabob's revenue , , as well as any impositions that might have been prace tined on them. All those who turned their at tention to India accounts, must know, that for these thiity sr forty years past, claims had been continu ally ridng up. and sometimes suddenly bursting out, upon the revenues of these Princes. These claims, after deliberate inquiry, bad been need& by the India Government abroad, but, nevertheless, did not cease to be pressed upon the Court of Direc tors here. That Court consequently gave orders that security should be givenfor the payment of live lacks of pagodas due to the Company in 1794, but the Board of Controul afterwards postponed that claim, and gave a preference to the other creditors. It had since, however, been explained, that these last Mgt arose out of the violation of poblic orders, and halk increased from small to very large sums. from the extravagant interest that was charged upon them., From the illegal manner in which these creditors aced, they could not be said to have any just title to recover. In prdof of this, he read an extra& from the publications, forbidding any of the Corn pany's servants to lend money to the native Princes, at a higher interest than lel. per cent. and making void all obligations bearing a higher rate of interest. In confirmation of this statement, he was fortified by the opinion of an 1100. Gent. ( Mr. Francis) who had paid great and laudable attention to all India sublet's who had passed, encompassed with the greatest diffi culties, many years of his life in India ; and, after leaving made a moderate fortune by the most' irre proachable means, returned to this country with a chatatter unsullied and uncontaminated by the vices and abuses which he left behind him: He then dwelt upon the various obligations and 'emu of attorney granted by the Princes of Arcot to Ger mans, English, Greeks, Armenians, 4c. which, after being rejetted brthe government in India, stood, for a time, at the discount of 991. per cent. After all, however, by these proceedings, upwards of five millions were actually taken out of the pockets of the several Nabobs. The only chance of getting rid of the incumbrances, was by means of a sinking fund. The Honourable Gentleman then expatiated on the charatters of several of these claimants, and dwelt particularly en that of Mr. M'Pherson, whose claim amounted to 102,0001. For this purpose he moved, "thatthe sth Report Of the Committee on In dia Affairs be read" (which being dune by the Clerk), it appeared that Mr. M•Pherson went to India as purser of a ship. and having ingratiated himself by some means into the favour and confidence of the then Nabob of Arcot, became a negotiator, on his part, against the interests of the East India Com pany. Mr. WILLIAM DI NDAS here interposed, ob serving, that however necessary it may be to know the characters of the persons alluded to, yet, if a whole volume should be allowed to be read. as every name occurred, it would be im possible for the public business to proceed. Mr. KEEN E then proceeded ; that,lie said, was the first report that threw any great light on all the tranaactions in Inds: and heitead himself a few pages more, in which it was stated, that Mr. M'Pbersois undertook to get an Act pf Parliament passed, to accommodate the interests of tke Nabob ; and for that purpose came over to England, and of fered a present of great value to the Duke of Grafton, the then Prime Minister. This present having been rejected by the Duke-, Mr. M'Pherson thought it might be more effectually bestowed on the sebordinste Monsters ; and stated to them, that what he had then to offer, made only a part of a much larger sum, which would be subsequently given. Failing in these overtures, he then offered to lend the treasury of that day the sum of 700,0001. at an interest of only O. per cent. to be repaid when they thought proper. Here, he said,,the nation could not sufficiently congratulate itself on the happy editis of the Revolution of 1W ; for, had such a turn beets offered to Charles 11. or his Ministcts, it would Lye been sufficient to purchase the Carnatic, aiid Beegal into the bargain. To drew the ptoll pry of the pro ceeding, he had only to obotive, that at the time this memorial came over, the Nobob himself was borrowing money at an exorbitant interest, and offering to borrow more, at an interest of 1201. per cent. Another claimant he had CO mention was Colonel Egerton, whose d. mind, as far as he coned see, was only rounded un the merit of his being the person who doors: I erd b•azott. and took him away as &prisoner. He thee adverted to the claim V of '3 6 ,1001. ota the part of Mr. Sullivan, who was re . presented in the Report to have been, at the same time, Sccretary to the India Government, and the Nabob of Arcot ; so that every proceeding of the govern. talent, and every order it narSys transmitted to the Nabob in the cotthe of hair an hour. li isr , 4 these, and many other grounds, he was against the bill, though he thoeght the commission was, by either means. rarialSle4iof beim, anteriortroe of city S. tria the to t 1.11.11 CT mans, Cap4uic avc.r.ls Mr..IOHNSTONE repressed this surprise o,lt the Hon. Gentleman should bate gone back inl a transaftion. of forty years, and read reports m a . 4 , at that period, many of which"seeire allowed to ~e no more relied on, than the reveries or Robinsca Crusoe. He was indignant at the mangier in which he had mentioned the name of yir John M`Pher. son, who had proved hinualf a (rasa se his c 011..... try, and had saved the Company iq ono ye 4 1,200,0001. was afterwards macho ißaraket by His Majesty, and Governor-Generil in by th e Company, in retnrn for his earnest service f t is to the question itLelf, ,he did n,rt know he siou: I vote in it, bat cou.d not bejr to hear as attack .1 that kind made on a person heo had a Ingh lege I it. of ( he I has trAi bee as i 1 file the its 1 is p rat] 1 nio for tu ~I OM the in. ieretore, inch indebted to Keene) for what be had done ; and though Sir Jobe kl•Pberson had sine that period been mado Go. vernor-General of In.dia, he thought it necassarr the House shendd inquire why a bond fwe 103,01.4. dated in 1796. and given to bins by the Nabob of Arcot. should not have bete Ireagtn. &MITI sooner. What has been the history of all abets debts It was. he said. utterly isnpossilde that ny man could read the proceedings of thatkeriorl i Lai irm lasi cb: Le: in, Jai --• the mixed emotjoas ,bf lisgnst, contempt, indig. nation, and horror, 'that such preceeangs should be allowed, and that 140,0001. a yen should be set apart to liquidate debts, contracted under such shameful and profligate circumstances. He should therefore oppose the Bill. Lord CA6ILEREAGH begged to offer a few observations on the subjea, as differing very widely in opinion from the Right Hon. and Leaned Gee 'leaven who had jt.st sat down. The simple retral and stare of the question, he said, was :hi:: as agreement had been entered into between the India Company and certain creditors of the Nabob of the Carnatie, who had preferred their claims for three debts, which agreement was refitted to cer tainCommissionergto inquire into those claims. The agreement is legal and binding between the parties, and the legislature is only called on to give facility to the tratisaseaion ; the only questicn for the Heine ro decide being whether they will lend their au.' thority to the Commissioners to administer an exit. without which no effeftual inquiry can be made. He allowed a great ploportinn of the claims were fraudulent, but many of them were known to be just, and ought to be inquired into. The . Hon: ur able and learned Gentleman had not said, that no claim against the Nabobs of the CATITeriC ought to be allowed ; and though the public have a rever sionary claim, and are therefore a third party, they are not therefore entitled to be the only party which should establish the trhunal, by which tke question is to be determined, and which shall in quire into those debts ; a decided majority of the Direltors were in favour of the agreement, and were satisfied with the arrangements. An adequate tribunal is requiste to sift the claim to the ',ya wn, because there is a possibility of some claims being founded in so mu: is justice, as to render in quiry necessary. The Company are now become Nabobs themselves, and therefore liable to thost debts, which the Nabob himself would be, if he were now in the possession of his territories. instead of them. A limitation of the sum had been lied, and the Company were on'y made liable is the sum of 136.0001. a year. He ',wild, therefore. ~ 43 t the Bill, as necessary for the ends of justice. Mr. FRANCIS said, that the debate on this subjeft was of infinite importance, and as the attend ance of members was now so very thin, he thought it would be better to postpone the debars until this day fortnight, which he then moved. Mr. HORHOUSE thought there was little tea um to expeft a tuller attendance on the day named by the Hon. Gentleman; but, however, lw vkuu , d nut oppose the motion, though he did oo; see ss:11 the debate should be postponed for such a !curb of time. • • 11•Ctor LAWRF:NCE said, there was busioese to come on to-moirow, which would take up some time, and indeed every day before the holidays. wa s occupied ; so be did not think, it the discussion was postponed, that it could come on much earlier theta the Jay the Hon. Gentleman had propoi,J. Mr. FRANCIS then named Fri-1 iy seek, ani it was agreed to adj , urn the debate until thai iy. 'Die Committee on the Americas luter.oura Bail was postponed until Thursday. The third reading of the Property Doty B.H. which stsod for tomorrow, was &denied Thursday, and the other orders being disposed Ot t the House adjautned. of ins to 1 of INN tb bin 101 d FORkluft TELLIGENCE. HAMA: <Gfl VILIiVA, MAT S. The late embarrassment into which the Coon of Vienna has been thrown, with resreet to the alriirs of Dalmatia, appears CO take a pacific turn; and seem. beyond a doubt, that the Cabinet 61 Vienna has thought it proper to yield to the oece,nty of prem.:sing peace. This cooje(ure is toilude.lo 4 the tollowir.g circumstances 'lhe French co lumn, which had made a movement in advance , has halted, and the Austrian prisoners have conti nued anis march. 2. The attend:Luta and Mai val ►ury Phi •ad W! Mt barl a I of a date evzl Ie mkt «e ►lue Sr i the ce... tatr P.q lib Shop i•d; Oen 109•3 bang «,l1 P e ft gear abj ly .vi erplattation, s a il, he hidforr4wr.ithwo.utKnEotticO;iri. made no attack on a..r min, but OAIT lea — veto actions from the Records of thg House. wiuta threw a light on tho.present citsesitres• Dr. LAWitENICIE expretaed• his intprise ani regret. that YET ahadilli al o ft:. this silk. joct had baccentlibelillete. , a' sr' bee no , so. It was necessity that that etiornio4 inalfOf car. ruption that had been carried on in India alsooki 13, sifted and erposed. As to the distaaaa of time, was nothing—the present debts were tisernodest rs. mains of claims, which those who truer them now, dared not bring forward at the period'altuded ,e. He thought. therefore, the House and the cuseur were much indebted to the Hon. Genidensan . .