The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — London, England, 1806-04-29 00:00:00

• • eancernent; fnr, on the two late glorieux viltnees of Trafalgar and Admiral Duckworth, all the first Lienten ants were made Masters and Commanders. Ile felt it, therefore, his duty to oppose this prepo sitirn, as likely to be attended with inconveniencies .As to the other point, the Noble Lord hod misun derstood him. As to the increase mentioned of those petty Officers called Captains of the top, of the forecastle, of the mast, and of the poop, to make any as to itemiser, beyond the sum granted, was not in his power, all he meant was, a regulation, by which ten, which was the number at present in :he larger ships. should be increased to fifteen, and proportionately in the smaller ones. He was sure what. the Noble Lord had proposed was what he deemed the best for the service, hut as the sum was now voted, it would be impossible to make any al teration at present. The Resolution was then read and agreed to. lotoE kCIP4ENT A MectAge from the Lords, informed the House, tli't their Lordships would give orders for the sum rosin!: further Witnesses to attend the trial of Lord l'iscriunt Melville, according to their desire. PROPERTY TA x. • Me CA Rit after a few (Arse, vations, made in so : o tone of voice, that we could only guess at their pique t from the nature of the motion, viz. that he eoz Voreigners ought to pay the Property Tax, without exemptions, moved, " That an Atertent be laid before the House of the axtount of all ,•Ite,tiptinns to Foreivers, with respect to the Delia rat theoleinta parable at the bank, for that part of the United Kowloon totted Great Britain, and at!o nut of the Fllllll4 of the Fair 111114 and South Sea Compamee, under the Property Tax of 1805." Lord HENRY PETTY spoke also in so low a tone, that we could cot hear hirn, so as to state pre cisely what he said; hut, as far as we could form an opinion, he seemed to think it was unwise to make 'any alteration in the mode of collecting it, and that Foreieners ought to be exempted. Mr. ItOSE thought the Motion should be for as • Acconnt of Sums held by Foreigners, and the House uould know what the exemptions were. He thought however, they ought to be exempted, otherwise they might withdraw their Money from our Funds, .and place it elsewhere. Mr. FRANCIS differed on that point; if Foreign ers were to withdraw their bloney, where could they put it with equal security ? He thought the property of Foreigners ought to be liable as well as others. Mr. HUSKISSON said, that Foreigners might withdraw their money and place it either in the Irish Bank or in the American Funds. The motion was then agreed to. Lord H. PET TYgAve notice, Out he would. on Friday, move for leave to bring in a bill for the bet ter regulation of the office of Receiver.Generol of the Customs. MARQUIS WELLESLEY. Mr. PAUL moved, "That the Article of Im peachment presented against Marquis Wellesley be printed." On the question being put, it was negatived. Mr. PAUL then rose and said, he wished he could forget the conduet of individuals on the re scinding the vote for the printing of that article. He feared the House would hereafter have great reason to regret having done so. It had been said, be came ;tit , ' that Howe on purpose to prefer charges against Marquis Wellesley. He denied that this was the case ; but if it had been, a residence of thirteen years in India enabled him to bring these charges. He was surprised at the conduit of the Noble Marquis'• relatives, and particularly the Flo nnurable General who had stood up in defence of rnoteirrs,in the charge against which he wAshimsell implicated. His principal reason for rising this evening, was to chew that he was entitled to have it printed. Ile had precedents And praCtice both is his favour. There were three cases, those of Lord Arlington, the Earl of DAnby, and Lord Co ainestry ; but the caws that were conclusive, were l i those of Mr. Hastings and Sir Elijah hotel. On the tOth of December, 1787, Sir Gilbert Elliot moved, " That the Article of Impeachment against Sir Elijah Impey do lie on the table;" and imme diately afterwards moved, "that it be pi inted."— Tbis was a ease direolly in point. and he desired to have it read, which was done by the Clerk ; and by which it appeared, that an order was made for the printing. It was once, he said, his in tention, to have matted tor a Sete& Committee ; but, on consulting the Secretary of State, he convinced him it was not a proper mode of pro ceeding. He then moved for Papers in order to lay the grounds of an Impeachment, and would now adduce proof of many allegations contained in the Charges, and when he viewed the proceedings against Mr. klAstings, Sir E. Impey, and Lord he could not concelve why he shoul 1 not be listened to. He held in his hand proofs of the wasteful and extravagant expenditure of Marquis 4 W.llesley, of bis seizing the Company's Investments int , ndect for Cantor, of his seizing the territories of Cole, Surat, and the Mabrattao and having at the same time increased the Debt of the Cc:many, lour ' tern Millions. He made some severe refleftiono en the unneeesaivey expences ot the Marquis's newGis vernment House ; which, he sail, arnovnted in the whole to the sum of 009,0001. He thllo said,hewould • enter on no more details, as he thought he had made out sufficient evidence to stilastantiate the charge, as well as to induce the House to concur in his Motion by printing. Whet he considered as con clusive on the case, was • the letter% ot Marquis Cornwallis, describing the embarrassel situation of India. When the Noble Marquis assumed the Go vernment of that country, the debt of the Company was ice more than eleven millions, and he had 1-tt it at thirty-one millions, in addition to five millions MOM of loan, fee the service of the present year. In his mode of proceeding. he contended, that he had reed is a moiler and constitutional manner ; and beton:flatted with moving, " rlMt the articles of imeetschirsart now exhibited against the Marquis Wellesley. Ix emote.'." Dr. LAM Ids NC E said. that from motives of cha rity, as writ as daty, he should second the motion to the Hon. Centleman. The \lot*: r 4 DOUGL %Staid, he lamented eat beetle is the i louse air the farmer discussion, when he thnught the Notts- lots' not very properly rxscinded the order it had befel, made for the printing of the charge*. It was true. that the cisarge rested at preset upon little more than the ~e tt;on of an HonoutaMe Me , un,upported and unprotetied, math no motion which the proceedings of the House did not t.,ler ate ; but at present it WAS no more than a dead let. ter, which it was prv'per to revive or animate, by having the charges prin t ed, in order to enable that Home fairly to judge of it. He had lately, he said, been led to enquire more than be did before, inw the state of the affairs of India ; and the result of his investigation was, that he found in the Administration, many great and manifold evils, which, instead of assisting the finances of this coun try, must now become a burthen to it ; and, in feet. ' we were already advancing money as a loan to the Company. It was therefore a considerable hard ship to the people of England to transmit its wealth to a foreign country, where it was not properly taken care of. He was of the opinion given some time since by an Hen. IGertleman (Mr. Francis,) that the Members of that House would soon have to protect the finances of this country against the dis tresses of India ; and that child. resting on the bosom of its nurse, would infuse a poisonous vapour, which would. if not taken care of, have a tendency to destroy is. Mr. SHERIDAN thought, that if the House acted irregularly in discharging the former order for printing, no doubt but its proceeding would have been corrected from the chair. He had objeded to the suggestion for the charge being withdrawn, upon the ground that he could not admit the necessity of giving preliminary evidence. He was aware that there were precedents boils ways ; but lie preferred the mode of appointing a acted committee to con sider of the charg es; but the Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Paul) took the! ltaordinary course of first insisting on his right of laying the 'Hinges on the table, as if he had no evidence: to liirodUce, though now on a sudden he was prepared, as it should appear, with most voluminous evidence, for he Moved for no less than 40 papers, with a view to these Charges ; and those moved for by them who meant to defend the conduft of the Noble Marquis, amounted to no less than 41. Upon the whole, he should .object to the printing of this charge, if there were any prosped that the papers moved tor, with a reference to it, should be brought forward in a day or two ; as he could satisfy ►imself with reading the charge, without also having before him the evidence on which it was founded. Mr. LEE adverted to the four precedents al luded to by Mr. Paul. and contended that they made against the order of his proceeding. In the case of Lord Coningsby, the evidence was previous. ly brought and laid upon the table. Four years before the impeachment et Mr. Hastings, a commit. tee was appointeo, on the motion of the pr. sent Lord Melville, to enquire into his conduit% and made their report agaithz him ; after which, Mr. Bus ke came down to the House, and alter the report was received, moved that it should be printed betties be exhibited the articles of charge. In the third case, that of Sir Elijah lmpey, the House had, two years before the articles were printed, voted an Att t.re.s to His Majedy, praying for his recall; and, lastly, in Lord Meiville's case, the House had be fore it full and complete evidence intim several Re port, of the Naval Commissioners. lie said be did nut mean to give any opposition to the motion, though he thought it right to let the Honourable (initial:use see that he was not suppoi ted by his precedents; but as he understood that there wee some of the papers moved for, which could not possibly be produced in the course of the present session, the House, he thought, should pause before they gave public circulation to the charge. Mr. WIND tiAM said, that :here was a question arising out of this Motion, which was ot more im portance than the case itself, tor it appeared to him ot tittle consequence, whether the charge were printed or not. Ine mode adopted by ins Hon. Friend (Mr. Paul), it he may be ahowed to apply that name to a short Acquaintance, which did not coinmeit..e till since the arrival of teat Hon. Gentleman hoes a'aruad ; he meant, that of bringing the charge first, And me evidence afterwards, was a cows, worth was sanctioned as well by precedents as wis dom. It. was of great importance to the House of Commons, that the grounds of Impeachment should not be narrowed, or laid uown by precedents, it they were even in opposition to this mode, as there were no more than about nineteen of them in all, which were too few to govern a sublet of so much variety. They were not sufficiently numerous, its the nature ot the proceedings themselves. to em brace the whole principle of Impeachment. 11 f in deed, the piecedents were all unfform, and on one side, they night carry with them some authority ; but that was not the use. He thought there should be as little übstrudion as possible to charges of Im peachment against persons of great aurnosity and power ; And he was seldom mote shocked than on A late occasion, when be observed the lion. Mover of these proceedings. scouted, discountenanced, and even threatened with a censure, for what he con sidered as a faithful discharge of his duty ; that Honourable. Member, though of great and long experietice in India Affair', was in that House and the country, little• more than a stranger, with out any share of weight or influence. l'ur his own par:, he was not yet sufficiently master of the subject, to be able to form any decide,* opinion on it ; but he world maintain, that unless the charge was absurd or frivolous on the face of it, so as to justify that ridicule which sonic seemed disposed to apply to it, the House had a right to appoint a day for taking it into consideration. As such charges were not likely to be often brought against persons powettully conneded, it was the more incumbent on the House nut to discountenance them ; Ana it should be remembered, that independently of this dire% charge, some speeches were made by other Gentlemen in that Motive, containing matter of AC. cusation against the Noble Marquis, which had gone abroad, and might, upon invesugatioti, turn out to be ot great consequence. Thougn a different course of proceeding from that here pradised, might nave generally prevailed, it did nut billow that it was necei4iry, indispensible, :tad applicable to all CAt. - S. It the papers were first moveo, it might so that though the fads charged may be true, tae House may get weary of the sut,jed, and it.) to qg eons:: of it, but it the charge Were War. 111-1 J:, than it would be incumbent. even in the party accused, to Aria;{ it to an issue. Wnen papers were ordered to be printal, it WAS kanwn to be only for the use of the Members of that Clouse, and though they might • • afterwards go Abroad, as was generally the case, they should net make that the rule of their own proceedings, Upon these groktads, he should vote for the printing of the charge. • Mr. Secretary FOX said. 'hot though he did not rise fot,the purproe of opposing the motion, he dif fered with his Right Honourable Friend in the ap plication of some of hi, piincip!es. lie had no difference whatever in the principle, that any mem her had a right, striCtly speaking, to bring his i charge first, and even to have a day appointed for discussing it : b u t he wild not help think*, that a person who did so, a/led injudiciously, as nothing was more fair, than, that the evidence should he on their table before they came to decide upon it. The excuse made by his Right Honourable Friend could not well apply to a gentleman who moved for so many papers, and never was denied any of them; and fox that same Honourable Member, after having moved for a great number of papers, so far back as ten months ago, which were ordered by the House, but not yet produced, to come forward with a charge, to which none of these pa pers applied, he must consider as a mode of pro ceeding that was rather preposterous. He had this day made a long speech, which he himself, no doubt, thought conneeted with the charge, but which conneEtioa, it would require a very capacious mind to discover. Some persons seemed to be of opinion, that the papers moved for, would be soon produced; while others were of opinion, that along time would elapse, before they could be presoaked; but, be that as it may, such language, as s• I de mind the printing of the charge," could not be very agreeable to the ears of that House, as no Member was entitled to demand, as a matter of right, what was always understood to be a matter of coaveni ence or discretion. It maybe objefted, that though the papers were only to be printed for the use of the Members of that House, they may obtain an irre gular and injurious circulation. He would not, how ever, on that account, oppoae it ; as the House had it in its power to take care that no improper use should be made of it. If it were thought improper, or likely to produce inkirioas consequences to the Noble Marquis, by getting into irregular cir culation, which he confessed he did not believe could be the effeft of it, that effJek might easily be guarded against. He thought the busi ness should, in one way or other, be so arranged. as to enable the Howse to come to some speedy deter *Coition On the charge, and after the whole should be before them. some pause should he allowed for a ptoper investigation of the subjeft ; but be thought it extremely wrong iu any membe r . to come down from day to day, and, upon a simple motion for papers, be allowed to wake speeches, which could only be proper at the time of enforcing the charge. All who were acquainted with the late Mr. liurie, must know, that when warmed with any subjea, he was not very abstinent is matters of form ; but though he had said much to inculpate Mr. Halts. ings, two or thkee years before, yet, when the impeachment was•in agitation, he did not dwell upon the strong grounds if accusation, till the proper time ; and that was an example which be thought worthy of being imitated. He concluded with observing, that when he stated to Mr. Paul. in private. his objeftions to a seleft committee to - -lee into the nature of the charges. he gave it Mr. PAUL explained, that of the voluminous papers produced, their were only three of them, and these short ooes, which were brought forward en his motion. The bhurtpore Papers were not pre. sawed, nor any others that he moved for, except those relative to Chide. S;r Ait 1 . 1-l Ult WELLESLEY said, that the praaice of Parliament in such cases had ale auy been shewn to le, that the evidence should Rene. rally, if not always, precede the charges, and he saw no necessity for deviating from that 'aeon the pre sent occasion ; though he admitted, that every ease should stand upon its own peculiar merits. The charge of the Honourable Gentleman againia his Noble relation, was for squandering the money of the East India Company, in unnecessary purposes of personal splendour ; but the papers hi therto produced (those of Oude) applied to charzes of which as yet be bad given no notice. With regard to the money takes from the Canton Tr e•• wry. his answer to it was, that this and other pro ceedings which were adverted to, had received the approbation of tke Court of Diredor!. :aid that if the money were so disposed of, these was a propor tionate increase of assets both at home and abroad. As to the observation, that he himself was impli cated in some of the proceedings, his short reply was, that what he did in India, was in obedience to the orders he had received. Doaor LAWRENCE rose, and adverted to the precedents which had been quoted in the course of the debate, particularly that of Mr. Hastings. none of which he conceived bore on the present case. The SPEAKER here reminded the Learned Gen tleman. that having before spoken, he was to confine himself to explanation. Doctor LAWRENCE. however, proceeded at some length, in the course of which he declared. that his sense of the business would have been. for the Hon. Gentleman who made the Motion to have withdrawn it, and waited until the evidence was betore the House ; hut, as be had nut thought pro per to do that, he could not, as the business now stood, see any good reason against printing the charge Sir ARTHUR WELLESLEY explained. Mr. PERCIVAL conceived, that the real question then before the Honsa was, whether or not this were a proper stage to have the charge against the Mar quis Wellea.ey printed ? lie confessed, he was much swayed by the arguments of the Right Hon. Gentlemen opposite hi a. ; ;int was much a.ronished to hear them declare their intention of vs tiog tor the printing of the charge, as they we►e decideul ) of opinion, that the Motion was premature. It Ai.- pealed to him. as if they were inclined to submit to the Motion, merely because the Hon. Gentleman had made a positive demand or. the House, though that had already been deaied. The Hon. Gentle man then adverted to the arguments which had been used in the course of the debate. A Right Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Fox) had said, that this charge, when printed, could be given out to the Members alone ; but he would ask, if that plan were pursued, could there be any certainty that it would not be laid before the public? Under dose considerations, . •. .• . • . • he thought that the duly course the House hal to pursue was, to do that which was considered Lest oppressive ; and as the inconvenience was more ag tint the printing, than for it, he would oppose the present Motion. Dr. LAWRENCE and Mr. PERCIVAL ex phoned. Lord HENRY PETTY was inclined to think, that it would have been much better if the I-honour.. able Gentleman who made the Maio:4 had agreed to the first suggestion oF the Learaed Ger.tleraiin who seconded it, and not pressed it on the Housm He also c - inceiv .d that it was of na importat - ,ce whe-evm; whether the charge was or was not n w printed ; bit he thought it was always the oje of the accuser, to bring hreard hie •-h•o-ge and 1 evidence at the same time; wh tt evideaee was suffi cient, la., with him entirely to detcraiile. In the present case, therefore, he considered tl,e Honoura ble Mover as the best j *dr-, whether the evidet co on the table were sufficient, and hewould there:me move for the printing or the Noir. Mr. BATItURS d was of the same Opinion. that this motion ought not to have Sten pre he did not th ek breams it was preseil, c. ar cwre- • fore the House should ar ee to it. H did not . pretend to say, that there wete no cmel in charges might be produced before evide-ce:e he believed there were rode except those with which, is they originated at hone, the Membine were acquainted. The Hon. Gentleman then said. • 4 that as the Hon: Moiler would not agree to with draw his motion, he thought a motion for ere Or der of the Day wool be most ,Ipplicalsle, and coo eluded by moving the previous istiestien. Mr. CORRY seconded the motion, as, he tail, it would put the parties into a relative situation, ono with another. It would be no hardship to the 14.- assurable Gentleman who made the original motion, as alt papers to .stilistanti.re the charge wi-re net before )be House ; and it would appear as if the Hoase of Commlbns were resolved io !typist hint throtighOin, if the paper were allowed to be rioted- Mr. WILLIAM SMITH said, it appeNod tb him to be rather an irregular mode so Twist the ckarge before all the eviaence was pmshoosil. The very circumstance of. some or th, evidewee Wag already helm e the Horse, was a secants against it. and he theref-,re *add vote against this original motion _ coincided in et: Mr. JOHNSTONE. in part, nien with the Right Hoe. Secretes, of Stat . bifswever, differed with him In neasy iseencial vim% and, after arguing the question Fee dem, time. he declared that he felt himself precluded altogether from giving any vote ea the occasion. Mr. GRANT thought it his duty to inform the House, that the papers which constituted the evi dence. Could not be got reedy and printed for considerable time; not, he conceived. during the present Session ; he had also to stair, tf at it would hz necessary for wino ()cadmium, connerleil with the India House, to cantle down and move for trims papers, before the bitsiness could cons- to a final de temmaation. For these reasons, he opposed the printing of the charge. Sir AR I'HUR WELLESLEY exalainad. Mr. WINI)HAM, js explanation, said. that when he ba 1 before delivered his opini'sn, hi conceived that the Hon. Gentlestma would have- wittistrasYrl hie thadon. but he now thought, .that. .motion lately made by h.s Han. Friend, reconciled every Ming, mod he would support it. Mr. SHERIDAN explained. Mr. PAUL denied.:) he informed, what mode of proceeding he should ad , ios, as be di4 not wish to pssist sigaiitat the sense of the I louse! The SPRAK. ER i n formed him, that he was to decide whether he would have the question put.. whether he would, with the leave of the House, with draw his motion Mr. PAUL said. he would consent to withdraw it, is the House seemed so inclined Mr Ba'' r st not wishing to withdraw the mo tion for the previous q•aerti••n •rarg r' were ordered to wt.hs:Aw. but no divisi..n t ark ; .la e ; on again returoorg t • toe Gallery, we un..eistood that the two moti• .ns were t :malty withdrawn. On our re-airm..st• ro he gallery. we Found the question had been put In i!.e second reeding of the IRON LW I Pi. Mr. ROSE said, the • . one wh:ch would bear harder upon the Ferro -rct of the min try, than any which had bet,. g :Abet ed. It would operate in the prop •I t ion of a tax of 10s. upon every husbas.dry horse ; ar.o f I two, he throcht an additional tax upon horses would be lest objedionable. Lord HENRY PETTY seas *war-. that the tax b-re hravily ; but thought that, neither : T an farmers, nor the iron-founders, was it calculated to press so severely as had been imagined. He ad mitted, that it was a subjet which merited gr.ve consideration ; and, in order to its baring every at- j tendon that it could experience in a Comm nee, he would propose, that the consideration of t he PM. petty Tax, which stood for Friday, should be ti;•- ferred till Monday neat. and that this tax sh , uld go t into a Committee on Friday. in the room of it. Sir J. WROTTESLEY. with a view to disen cumber the debate on Friday, would ask now, whe ther any thing were proposed to be insist to obviate the difficulty of giving a sufficient drawback to the maim adurers engaged in the export trade? A num ber of gentlemen in town. whose opinions deserved . the attention of the House. thought the proposed drawback insufficient, as it seemed the utmos• to be allowed, did not exceed 41. per ton. The deductions on account of the ordnance All 1 naval stores, woad be considerable. •f Hm. Genilrman then pro ceeded to point out m.r.e omissions in the returns of the consumption of iron in the narY, made to the House front the Navy Board ; and expressed a hope, that use Nohle Lord would use his inßuoice to pr retire every information for the House, con twzte.l vw,tn the subjefi. Lo: .1 iI EN itY PETTY concurred in the expe diency of the House having every inform itimi that could be aterdea. With respell to the deduaions which had been roz.ced, they were not near!. so large as seemed t I .; Mien red. The p ^hie Lord recapoulated v r .s ii-rures, by which it appeared, that the den •.• • mounted. on the average of the two last ~ to 199.J90 1 . If it were found expedimt, the s r tick coda be ex rer.Oed is the Committee. Air. Wilberfore:, Mr. Hawkins &awes, and r i 4 11 I i