The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — London, England, 1806-02-28 00:00:00

. . :s . . Judges; het the late proceedings were rash,l as involved m them points of constitutional im perance. With resort% to the fidl, so notch the, ohje,rt: of the Noble and Learned Lord's re prehension, his mind was made up as to its jus tice., or expediency, whatever the opinion of the I ertned Judges might be. Were their answer as ex; lie* aft in fait. it was lIWA.AIC , t, it would have no etfeN•upou his mind. He liked not the ptac tire of calliretrepon the Judges for their opinion upot particular questions; such a principle, if pushed to" far, would go to Tynan the tuttßiors of chat House, in such CAWS nugatory, and operate upon it a. p species of controul. It dial not become that sous-, he thought. laa refer particular qu-sti,ins to the Judges; but to refer gaiseral quertions. with a view to Laming the law upon pleat occcasions, in the construCtion of an Ast of Parliament, of the like ; but the pranice of rcterring qaestinns arisims from particular insranees, WA 1 n .f C l llls , lnArit with the dignity of the House ; they rui;,ht as well re fer the whole body of the evidenr•. or call upon them to kt , ow whether individual ohjeas of accu sation befor-. them, were guilty or innocent.— He rather differed from the opinions of certain Noble Lords, with respell to the reeent answers of the Earned Judges ; that to the third qiiestion, wits completely satisfaCtory ; and the season which ap peared to he assigned as to the second question, WAS. that there was no difference between it and the first ; towards the conclusion of his speech, his Lordship mentioned his entertaining the idea of proposing a Cosnmit.ee to search for pietedeats ; with respell to the reasons heretofore assigned by , the Learned Judges, for not answering questions referred to them by that House. Earl STAN HOPE said, if the Noble Lord who spoke last, had the misery, as he had, of attending the trial of Warren Hastings far six years, he would t. know, that it was the general practice of the Houser to submit particular questions to the Judges ter their opinions, and that the majotily of instances re forted, (luring that trial stele particular considera • Li ons . .If a Tiestjun were s o g.ner . tlly teamed, as I. ill.Olve both negative and positive answers. it -...... 'd be shaped so as to ennble a elioind Nitric-it tower to be given : on this ground he had no lion to the near quest' ; but after that cries. oe nee like it should be rot, and the answer 1, it was his intention, if no other Peer more !wont than himself shook' vitne t.q•wArd. to it that which shotid involve a Zi`lll.lll OPIZIOn , - upon all cases o wi.ich the oriAinal question re forest. In his opinion, th- law, as applying to every Case, should be as general .is the nature of the case would admit. It oistltt to extend t., the eases of any witnesses examined before any ttibunsil; and to regWate, with respedd to the evidence to be risen in any criminal prosecution or suit. A considera tion, which, among whets, strongly induced such a conviCtion in his mind, was what occurred on the aforesaid trial of Warren Hastings, in the instance of Sir El.jaS Imaey, who demurred to answering a certaio question. in order that he might consider how the answer might affeet himself. At that time, a pending impeachment of that witness was before dse House of Commons. 'these considerations in- aria lar ti duce.' him to thnk, that the law, in that respelt, re quired alteratirn ; and, in that view, it was his in tention to submit a short Bill to the House, after the Judges had dellvered their opinions %ion o hat was about to be refer: is" to them. The LORD CHANCELLOR (Erskine) made a few observations. He first adverted to the pro teddings which had hitherto taken pl ice on the oc casion, and did not appear to consider the easel's involving those difficulties which some Noble Lords seemed to apprehend. If the questions, in the 'plaints of the learned Judges, were so put, as to in duce a difference of opinion among them, u to the welter proper to be given upon such a general proposition, the House would hare to consider what further questions were proper to be put. so as to satisfy their minds upon the doubts entertained; oe what further course was proper to be pursued, so as,.if they should think roper. to render such sp.'s. noes capable of a distinft answer. With respea to the repre n,t sen ,ie tat i ti t n i,f o i V r h y e J to ul t Es ii tta ise t th t eL t an w s a w s e a r mut for their Lordships, and not the Lcaaned 'hedges to deride upon Lord GRCNVII LE highly approved of what had fallen from his Noble Friend en the Woolsack. That the Lec'ned Judges had differed in their opi nions as to the qiiesti.ms put, was plain from the tree veer communication. And the answer given was of that *attire, namely ' that the question was too'genetally put to be satisfadtorily alswered, as could not, considering the situation in which that House was paced by the constitution, be received by their Lordships ; the main proposition of the question was one which admitted a distial answer as to the law. it was either true or false. As melee generality of the questi 'n, that may be remedied, and the proposition may be put as aplicAble to cer tiro persons, in certain situations, aticl answered at.. cot ding' y. He bared_ the answer given n i igh t Is •V! proceeded from a n o ver anxiety cam the occa sion. With respeß, however. to the particular question proposed. it would be better not to press it now, as such might hare the appearance of retogniring the answer upon, the table. Ile then uttered to the kencial subject, aril observed, it would be reticently desirable, as far .1• possiiiit, to avoid doing any thing, either by judicial inquiry, or logislative permi•sion, that may have an . ffett or i bear urea a particular case, in the intersei between such a period as the resent, and that in which it may be Istcught hclore them for et taL Lord HAWKtSBURY espeessed his approba tion of the great. r past of what fell trim tLe Noble Lord. He, however, thought the mode of pro ceeding. is the thing now stood, a matter of no smell consideration. It should be put into A rega -1 lay course, and in a way the most respeflful to the, Jadges. Had the tire ror annunciation of the Lpinced Chief Justice been taken down rerd.i.m , a eel-olar proceeding might have been in.tirmed upon, its on ancgl,er gerund of preceding might be (—wit), were itio Foe orderitood that the Judges had r...it selnlarly given iu their answers. and so take time for further consideration. With respect to whar_a Nobleta.l said, of his intention to amend ,' the law in sue cases, by a general hill. he did not L think 11i: cleaned object would be attained by such a ! ninstve. -1 ► Los d NUCKLAND vot.4 shortly in explanatii:a. i___ 'The EArl of R ADNOR said a few worth re spenitt,; propriety of getting the opinions of tate Learned %crier/et, upon the occasion. Lord' ELDON. in explanation, ternat Led, that feetiag his opinion, so confidently as he did, WAS the cause of his putting the qu siun genet-atty. Alter enforcing some of his former oihset rations, he said, dte hest way would be in such a case, not to ..et upon what the sense or the .01!11.1i1.11 airy parti cular individual might be.; bit: upon wnat was conceived to he the general seise ••f the House. As things stood, he thought it wcitld to advis.ihts :t.iiurn the debate till to-morrow, wnets the .Tit Iyrrs might attenl; and affording time for further consi deration, in the interval, they n.ight then, if deemed proper, delt•itr their opinions, Set l ' afigh After a few fatthtr remarks, the and Learned Lord redifeecl these proposittin•x to the shape of motion, wnici!, on the queition being pu: (Lord Auckland's motion being previously agreed to he withdrawn), and meeting the general sense of their Lordships, was ordered accordingly. Theo:second relding of the Bill from which the above discussion originated, was then postponed till Tuesday next. Earl Spencer presented a Petition from Brigacher- General Waber Kerr, setting forth his claims to the Dukedom of Roxburgh, which was referred to the Committee of Privileges. On the Motion of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Thanks of the liouse w.re ordered to be given to the Lord Bishop of Bristol, for the excellent Ser mon preached by hint, before their Lordships, on Wednesday, the 26:h inst. in the Collegiate Clitirsh of Westminster ; and that his Lordship lie requited to cause a sufficient number of copies of the sante to be printed for the use of the blouse.—Adj.:ut tied. HOUSE OF COMNIONS. A Message from the L. ,, rdr announcer , , that they had agreed to the Fire Mllttons I..xcheiliter Bill. On the motion of Mr. MST FR, the House voted its Thanks to the Dean of Itapho•, for the Ssrmon he peached before them on the Fast Day, and reqnrsted that lie should have it printed. Dr Dnigenin brought in his Bill to amend Ole A.R of the nib of G..orge 11. relative to the First Fruits Office in Ireland ; which was read a first, and oidcred to be read a second time on Nlonday next. EAST INDIA AFFAIRS. Mr. FRANCIS said, that as he understood there wonld be no objecilion to what he had to propose, he would, wohnur further notice, move, *a That there be laid the House an account of all Copies or Extracts received from the Presidency of flieng4 relatiro to the sum of :11,2941. purporting to be money lent in advance to Guipar." Lord NIORPE.TH said, that there was no oh jesflion to the motion, which was agreed to, nem. cen. Lord FOLKSTONF. then moved, " That there be laid before the House a list of all Pensions paid or ;savable by the East-India Company since the year 179 a, specifying the amount of the sums paid, the names of the persons who had received them, and the nature of the services for which they were granted." The SPEAKER reminded him, that, according to rule, which for a considerable time was allowed to prevail in the House, notice should he given of ar.y tnc:ion ss hich was likely to be objeSed to. Lord FOLKSTONE said, he did not know upon what parliamentary ground such a rule could have obtained, and was therefore inclined to persist in his moron. unl..fss some Gen:lemma thought pro pet to ohjait to it. The St'EAK ER said, he Impel the H gist would do him the justice to think .that he could have no pri vate motive in reverting to what for many years was the usual practice. and found:•d on what seemed to be the pleasure of t►e House. I; was certainly, fur some years past, a constant rule of the House, that no motion should be brought forward without pre vious notice, except for the produClion of the ordinary accounts of the preceding year ; and the season of the rule, he conc.ived to be, that a motion which, in the absenceof official personsmight he passed in one day, should cot be liable to be rescinded no the day fol lowing. If, however, the House shoirld be nose pleased to determine it otherwise, it would be his duty no longer to comi..tie the enforcement of the practice. Lord FOLKSTONg still persevered in thinking that the pradice alluded to ought not to be enforced; for, if the m.jority of the Houle should feel any otletlinn to a motion, it would be always i❑ their power to have the debate upon it adjourned. Mr. FRANCIS, as an old Merniter of the House, wished to state, that in the first two cr thiee Par liaments which he had the honour of attending, it was not the common pea Rite to give a notice of any vnoti.m, which was not likely to be debated. This, however, was not a motion which involved an♦ question of policy ; it was a public account, which the House had a right to be in possession of ; and as every one mu.t be aware, that if the poise of tbe East India Ceaspasy ware empty. it must Ise fiilei up from this country, the House of Commons. as the guardians of the purse of die nation, was as much entitled to call frr that, as any other public account whateeer. He was, therefore. of °pinto:a. that the motion required no previc.us notice, because the propriety of its produfli.a could not be debated. Mr. PERCIVAL spole in favour of the prevail ing prallice, and thought ma Member could oh jed to give notice. unless he had a disposition to take the House by surprise. There may be times. be observed, when, perhaps, there might be only one Member of that House capable judging on the propriety or impropriety of producing papers. That Member might be assent on one particular day ; tint if a notice were g; %feu, he would, of course, fee; it his dory to attend to it. General TA RLE CON thought. that, in the pre sera icstance. there was one good and sufficient ground for requiring a notice. as there paid to be ufl mare dun One India D:renar Chet, present in his place. Mr. beczetary FOX sail, he considered the pre/lies of giving notice on ordinary ace ',io ns , a, an *hose winch was so long suffered to peevail, that it was not at present easy to get rid of it ianrt.e. diately. to the present instance, h..wever, he saw n o octagon whatever far a notice, a‘ Le did not un derstand that there would be say oNtaiva tu the Motion. If any M. at!rer of the Coart of l'11;rellors stated any reroo wFiy he tni;tlit wadi for delay, he static no doubt bat the Noble Lord scruld niaatgly consent to it. "fhe prarftice now attempted to be enforced, he cont.! only consider a a general instance of relarstion of duty, t♦:r.l wvt ant to be found in the otiginal constitution of Parliament. In at constitutional view, every Metutter WAS supposed to be bound to attend upon all questions re living to the Supplies, the Ways and Meyns, and every rape ttliture of the public money. Whatevtr modes might lanerly have prevailed, he confessed, that he liked the old prarßice better, which was to attend to all suNeas of grievance; and he was con vinced that the custom of giving notice on such ne caiions WAS not 'molded ois the principles of Ca.! rights of Parliament. M. P. MOORE thought a notice to be ur.ne cessar y, at least if no ohjeftion were statti to the motion. Lord FOLKSTONE explained, that he wished some gen-eel role to be at once adopted, in this re spet, to regulate the proceedings of the House. It was in the power of any gentleman, who felt any difficulty or objection to his proposition, to move an aljournment of the debate, which he should nit ob ject to, if any sufficient reason wet e given for it Mr. LEE was of opinion, that this question should at once he decided, cne way or other. The Right Hon. Secretary (Mr. Fox) appeared to him rather to incline to a notice being given in the present itt,- stance, conformably to praCtice. What he wished to suggest W:l5, that it should be made a part of the law of Parliament, for every Member to desist from pressing a motion without notice, if it shonli be ob jeCted to; for if no precise tele were so:fired to ob tain, there might be no end to such desultory de bates. Lord MO RPE Ili said, he agreed in op:ition with his Hon. Friend who spoke last; hut if no n!sjeetion should be stated, he thought a notice needless. Alir a few word, more, of triffinz importance, the Motion W 3• a..-ireed to. ',net! MORPETII moved, "That there be lad before the !Unice, Accounts of the revenues of Ben gal, Be::ares and Oude; of Bahar and Orissa ; and of the Settlement of Fort St. George, and the places sithordinate thereto ; of the annual charges upon them, under the heads of Civil, Military, and Political ; the expences of the fortifications of f o rt Marlborough, fart St. George, and Brnbay, from the sth of February, 1800. to ditto, 180.5, together with sever al other accounts, preparatory to tie India Budget ;" all of which were agreed to; as was also an account of the estimate of losses during the above period, on the sales of the East ludia Company. Alderman PRINSEP gave notice, that he would ti-morrow move for an account of the hellion and stores exported from this country to in the years 18034. arscot - NTe. The CHANCELLOR of the EX":1-1F.QI_TER moved for an Account of all offices granted m Ire land, for two or more concurrent lives, with benefit of survivorship. Also, an Account of all duties re tained. and having no drawback, on all foreign and colonial goods and merchandise exported from Great Britain to Ireland, and from Ireland to great Britain, from the sth of February, in the Tears ISUI-t-3.4, to the 5,11 of Fehruaty, 1806, which were agreed tn. EFFECTIVE VOLUNTEERS Mr. WHI I BRE• AD. in pursuance of a former notice, rose to make a Motion; to which he supposed there could be no objedirin, as, in its present criti cal situation, the country had a right to know what it had to exped from the different Volunteer Corps, should it be found necessary to cell them into edual service. That information was the more desirable now, as the present was the year an which a large sum of money might be necessary to be sored for their clothing. Before it incurred this exiience, the couotry should accurately know the state of their effedive force. He made no doubt bet some of them would be found ready, and in a ssate to prove effediee, on the day of trial ; but, as there might be others not of that description, it was the more requisite to have the returns he meant now to call for. He made no doubt that his Right Honourable Friends, now in official situations, would pay due attention to this important Ellie& and he tkought he might safely leave the remainder of what may he deemed necessary, to them. He trusted they would also duly consider the rank which Volunteer Officers were now allowed to hold in His Majesty's service; for, though he had the honour to be himself the Commandant of aVolunteer Corps,heconfened that he should be sorry to be ever placed in the disagrce able situation, in point of rank, to which he nirght be exposed in case of adual service, and which he had too modest an opinion of himself to suppose that he could be !a:ay adequate to. He e included with niwring. That there be laid before the !louse returns of the different effeetive Volunteer corps of Cavalry, Irfantry, and Artillery, distinguishing each Corps, and the names of the inspeeling and other Officers, by whom the returns were signed." General TA RLETON esp;essed bit approbation of die motion, as he was convinced the Volunteers themselves wi,hed that their effective force should be known to the country ; for they were anxious to he found in the state that could be most desired, parti cularly at this dangerous season of the year, when people might naturally look to the cousinencemeut of the carossaign. The motion was agreed to without any opposi tion. ORVWN costes The CECRETARY at %VAR, in compliance with his former notice. moved for leave to bring in a bill to extend the provestons of a late Aft, authorrsieg the enlisnaent of Foreign Corps, and to indeninly all persons who were concerned in lug them. Ile thought it unnecessary to occupy any more of the time or the House, than to state, that the former An only audsuresed the recruiting of those troops to the amonnt of 10.00, of which only 6,000 were enrolled at that time; hut the recruiting since augmented ;Poo more, mskorg, in the whole, 13.000 men, which it was now prop.oad to legalise. —Ordeferl. iirPh7l - I,3tephent brnattht in the Marine Muti. rep iha. w h:ch Was read a Sr.t, and o:Jered to be read A sec,Ald lime to-morrow. Visc.ll7Nr ST. vrscrsrs AVNUITY. The CHANCELLOR of the F. XCH EWER moed. that the ILuse shwald mole* itself auto a -. ~ F Committee on Rig M..jesty's Message, r•laire Er, Lord St. Vincent's Annuity. He said he had it is command from His Majesty to inform them, thst it %V AS his original intention to have recommended to them, that the ar.nuity to the Noble Earl should have been continued to the h‘ur next male heirs of his Epr.lship's body, or such as should enjoy the title of Earl St. Vincent ; but, by accident or mis take, that intention was not, at the time, mentioned in the proceedings of that House. lie thought he might appeal to an Honourable Gentleman oppo. sire (Mr. Rose), for the cot redress of t Ras statement, and thought it right to have it distinftly understood, that this w as not intended as any additional favour to that great and distinguished Nobleman ; thoagE, when it was considered, that at this ardumis and at his advanced age, he willingly ste,iped for. ward in an aoclive service, he could make no doubt, that were it even an additional grant, no objeaio n would he made to it He then made a Motion to the cffea mentigned in his speech. Mr. ROSE said, he rose to confirm the sta i tammti made by the Noble Lord; but nb.etted, Opt as t h e title of Viscount was a later creation torn Jon), tl.e nephews of the gallant Nolslemin, whoever else might inherit the firmer title, cou l d not have had th e annum continued to eels, wi t h. out another message from the Cro‘si.,,itot4r to the present. He owed it a;to to Earl St. Vincent to declare, that whin His Nlai-st's i., , eiitions in this selves% were communicated to him, he said be was perfectly satisF.ed with the reward, alrrady be stowed on him ; and disclaimed any wis:, for laszthcs benefits. The communication made by Lord Henry Petty seas then referred to the Committee, which adopted the resolution proposed, and On !!_use oiderei t'.e repot t to be received to•morrow. OFFICE. OF TREASURER OF THE ORDNAktCF, _ . The CHANCELLOR of she EXCHEQUER moved for leave to bring in a Bill fur the be:ter rt gu!ation of the Office of Fie.isurer of the Ordnance. Die practice heretofore had been, lie said, for those Officers to retain large balances of the public aio,,ey in their hands ; and the principal objee of the present measure was, to give the public sofficient secure, for the due application of such stuns. and impose hush penalties on non-compliance with 41.- intended aft, as were done by a former one upon Treasurers cf the Navy. He would do the late lioard of Orilistette the justice to mention, that it bad issued an ord.v for the payment of all balances in the bards of tiw Treasurer; but he also now gave ootirre. that he present measure was only a part of the system ha meant to propose. for in &rig to s miles regula tions the Post Office, the Excise, the Customs, and every co-her Board connefted with the receipt or expenditure of the public money. Mr. LONG, after bearing testimony to the trea sures which Lord Chatham, whilst in or was pur suing to the same effee, expres.ed his satisfaction st Gosling that the same regulations were meant to oe extended to all the public offices. He thought, how ever, that, in the course of ibis arrangement, it the mosey a-:cruing were, in all cases, to be deposited is the Bank of England, it may be a proper Consider-, ation, whether there should not be i icrease of sa lary to the officers who heretofore bad the berorit of holding :ems of money for some time is their hands ? Without any further consideration, leave w rs givcn to bring in the Bill. The Bill for regulating the parition of lands is Ireland, was reported, and us tiered to be read a third time ta-morrow. Lord TF.NIPLE moved, that the House should resolve itse:t into a Committee on the Greenland Whale-Fishery Lill. Mr. LEE the; observed, that of late years the bounty on the importation sof toil article Was in creas!J from I OW. to 600 L upon each skip, in pro portion to the tonna&e; but what he wished to press upon the considerntion of the house was, that the *hole benefit of these bounties was .sclusively con fined to the ports of England. By the operation of the measure. the Greenland %Vitale Compaq was considerable I but, as the law stood. if such a company should be established in Waterford, is Ireland, which was very convenient for the trade, it could receive no benat horn rise bonnties. which be held to be contrary to the AsSt of Colon. by whit's it was provided, that in all commerce of this kihd. there should be no distine•cn, nee exclusive advao tage in favour of any ef the suhjeas of the United Kingdoms. It was, he said. his intention to have prbposed a specific measure to remedy this distine ; bat he was Willing to forego it, if it were the intention of His Majesty's Ministers to submit a general motion to emend the benefits of the boun ties to all parts of His Majesty's dominions. Lord TEMPLE replied, that the subjea alluded m formed no part of the present Bill. which had only for its olsjeas to enable ships in the Greenland trades to complete th. ir cargoes and complements of men at Shetland and other ports. However, when the suhjee of boutaies was under consideratiot• he shoo d be happy to receive every assistance the lion. Mernher could al , rd him. Mr. LEE rejoined. tftst he was conSdesst the bounties were included in the Bill of last year. which went under the same title as the present. Mr. N. vANsrrrAwr said, he bel;eveil the lion Gentleman who spoke last was mistaken is hi statement. Mr. LEE persisted in contending the contrary. Leave was then given to bring in the BEI. Mr. N. A'ANSITIART moved for the appoint ment cf Committees to prepare an estimate of the pay and ciothing of the Miiitia of Oitat Britain. for the year 1,06; to estimate the allawancts to be made to subaltern Office's cf bliiitis, in time of peace ; and the allowance to he ma i: to Adjutants arid Serjeant-Majors of M.l,tia, is case of being dis ernbudied ; which was agreed to. and similar consi derations. respeeting the Militia of Ire:.aci were ordered to be referral to the same Committees. It was also ordered, on the motion cf Mr. Va - sitter; that there be :aid before House as Ac count ne Estimate of the Duties et Excise, charge& and outstandiag from the sth of Agra, 1835. to :5e St.% cf April, 180 C, as fair as the same could be made The Indemnity 13:11 went through a Cosmritue. and was ordered to be reported to-n o•row. Alter disposing of the routir.e orders of the day. the house adjourned till to-morrow. THE At three a o f His MAJ Admiralty the Cape of The bells of church were Eled in hono of the Adm by sending t tion to the tl Mr. Crey Mayor the M.jesty'a fo Baitd and Si " Capt Dow this afternoon, the Cape of G " The nem, Ton, spieler Si, Cape on the 4t en the 6th, aio Enemy lost 711( itesonkif, a Ca Cape T.) en anc key's mow " Gemara! J retired, wi td the o , tiatry. A t , ue " Marfkon- Half p This ever town, but ci dence that dence, Kr 1. Dons, with wriii , h for th founded, pei tion of our a standing su the Comma would be in we lament it it was not the Desirable to as a 7, titan 4a events aript of a I :kb, which /me, this gni Dracsit, of CAina:z and The N.le month, from which, we t of the Lat.'', re, can, wloch beer authorit die the repot The fleet ing of the I! the sourrei s had mit mai a 4,1 those to the tbotley 4 "/ , much i Setarel