The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — London, England, 1806-05-14 00:00:00

I IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. SOUSE OF LORDS.... rt. 1141111 r, MAT 13. --- Snot, after three o'clock, theti returned from the lligh Court of Parliament, in Westminster hall, to their own Home, where they renamed aorrie time in close disc tn, ' and - the "tranyrs exclude!. Peadieg this, their Lordships tirade on order for the farther procimiing o f Trial of Vis count Melville t 1-morrow; and that a Message be rent to ac quaint the Cronin. a therewith. And farther, on the sugges tion, we understand, of Ills Royal Highness .the Duke of CLIRENCE, that the third reading of the Slave Trade Limit. Mimi Hill, 'won which Order the Peers were summoned, be postponed until Emilie; with an atvontpany nig Order frir sum- Montag their Lordships for that day. - Oa the doors being ripen.-d, their Lordships proceeded to forward the Bills upon the Toole, chiefly private, in their re spective stages. Tee West Indian Intereonrse Rill was read a third time, and pant ‘4.1. A Message ordered to acquaint the COmMont there- The Earl of Westmoreland presente I a Petition horn cer tain inhahitan s of the town and nen:lino...rite al of Mauches• eer, against the Slave Trade Limitation R. I, praying that the mine may not pass into a law.—Ordered to lie on the Table. One ei their Lonlships, we believe the Earl of Radnor, lbsving seine observations to make upon points of privilege, end torching the pruceediugs of the High Court iii West Minster hall, the strangers were orderel to withdraw, anti the doors ware kept shut trim • time. The Order for tatting His Majesty's Messige into considera• Wait, 'es:re:Ling the intended provision for the enntreled Mindy of Nelson, was, on the soggestion of Lord OREN \'ILLE, apparently on grounds of accommodation is seine of their Lordships, discharged ; and an Order Wail mods for taking the lain. into eonaitteration totnuriow ; mid swim:oiling the Lords upon the occasion. After the strangers were again admitted, some routine and private business was d.saosed uf ; and certain documents, the drift end tendency of which we could net co'deet, were, on the Motion of Lord SPEN.:Ed (Margot& of Illandford) dened to be laid before the limier ..-edpourned till to-morrow, wa-n their Lorkshi is stand summoned ter this Committee on Oho lonalwant NOUSE OF COMMONS. -warm Mr. TELLOWES moved, s. That the Report of the Corn elius** appoiated wercmiue into tne Retums Tonle Us ch.: &shops, to that Fluu.e, of the desid .nt Clergy tri each Dioces:, he road;' which was read arcirdiligl.. 'rho Hou Gentleman then mad, that het was determined to pee weenier the Aet of the 434 of the Ring, for enforcing the la‘idania of toe Clergy, be of any avail ; and w,tuid , the that pur woe, every Feap while he coutreued a hlomber of the House, ilmike a similar "notion, and bring tile Returns under the eye W attention tit the Howe. A Mot-age ersin the Lards leformed the Hose, that their I,ordships would irocAssi with the Taal of Ilex , / Viscount Melville, tomorrow motring, at tea n'clock ; and also that the Lards had passed A hall t enable His %faiesty, in Conseil, to par ...r: the I up..rtatiost and Exportation of nelatot goods, to and from t le Colonies in the West Indicter.' Americo, an amoral bottom:, during tne ear, to winch they desired the eoncurrence of that house Mr. Hurst 1.1. n the Costal who at- Ilend awl prictoe 1.1 the ' l / 4 11 , shalma Court, praying to bo lemild by tnamselvss an Coon..e, agarnd the $.3 n o w pending for to recuVery of small Dews in tne b.rough or Southwark: Alen a Petition to the MMe eta-•S. from the Attorneys efihellid Court ; both of vrhicb were o•dt.ted to on the rabie. The Lambeth theism...lra Hill was read a thud time, and paired Mr. Owen, from the East India Company, ',wonted at •he Nat, an Accouat, pursuant Vaal Choler of the House, of the 17th, Febroa.y Isst.—O•dered to be pricirtal. la was ordered, that the Ac °until presented to the -House, by Mr. Owen, net the 18th April, be also printed. Lord MOR PITH mired for an Account of the bonded' and ether D-tts of the East India Company, at the several rfondentlirs-- , Speciffing Obit Illakitit due cu those payable to England. o.chwel. l'. Stephens brought rep an Account of the Iron and Iron Wm.% tons +had for th- o.e 01 the Nave, by Contract, Ge the last five Years --Ordered to be Frinted. Mr. ROBSON( gave eintic,-, that he would nn Friday mute fir metain P.-pors rear ice to the Barrack Departruelit. The Irt-ii Loan Rill, and the Inch *I reentry hdis BILL, se verally went ibrouali Conunktu. , . and the repnrll4llllfarardee.d to be received to-uionow Mr. PARNEL gave notice, that he would to-mornm move far an Account ca the Irish and English Bane Notes, now nn eiretdetrott. The tsf•itiey A-i Contineanee Bill sheireadm second time, Sad ordered to 66c...4111*nd tn. mores, RE P7A I .. OF ADDITIONAL FORCE ACT. Mr. Secretary Mo aNiara,s.iii moved the third treading of the Bill fur die Repeal of the Addi tional Force Act. SirJ. PULTENEY complained that the Hon. Members who brought forward this Repeal Bill, bad assigned no reasons fear doing away as Aft, of the operation 0: which in future, he had a very favourable opinion, were a suffered to cnotioue, nor had they suhcriturecl any other military measure in its stead. He could not, therelore, suffer the Bill to be read a third time, without repeating his ob. jeftious to it. He read an tette& from a French Ordinance, made in 178 t. which shewed, that th• enlistments in the French army were always for r s 0414 years, and that no discharge would be given in time of war ; but that such mot, whose terms of service were expired, should be entitled to certain monthly allowances, in proportion to the bounty money they originally received. if the Right Ho*. Gentleman's system of enlisting for limited service was mire adopted, let such men as those to enter * for five or seven years do so, but he win led the pre sent army to continue to go on rertuitieg as before. and that those who were still disposed, to enlist for general service, might have the option of doing so ; tont he strongly protested against any man's being allowed his disharge in time of war. • General LOFTUS said, he was not present whew. the measure was first introduced, and would there fore confine himself to that part of it which was then before the Heine, as he wished to make a few observations, having voted for the Act now to be repealed, and which, he thought, had the parishes acted locally, and been active, might have enceeeded. They had, however. molted too mulch to crimps, instead of parish officers, and he knew an , instance in toe City of London, where fourteen out of sixteen men, who had enlisted, and received the high bounties one day, deserted the next, to play the same game, he doubted not. some where else. T:1;$ was with him a very strong reason for repealing the 1111. It was to high bounties, and not to the parish officers, they were indebted for all the men that had been procured under that Aet, and he was fca-ful his Lig)! Hon rien I ( Mr. Win.lham) noulsi find, however Is:a Able his intended system might be, that if those high bnunt.es should be discontinued, he world not be able ta raise ruen ; he said this merely to rant his Right Rooms-able Irriend on his gturd being * in his •tatiuns. with the •vsped with nxiety ive his men ;: ea:ly .. ag.i.r.it being czki sisignine in his expectat • W W I ONO one point in which he agreed wit, Um. Baronet who ai".ke last ; with ail the Tel be erietitaine.l fur hi: Right klur.. Friend, and I . •!1 rtibilt c eri c‘r 6oJeir he rePu the servrte, j b in e ills zeAi andi•dt„r a : never gv Im mo el that4rart which went to the giviag the:: disc!..o,,c i: - . :ioaa of war. it i wouid go • • ..i--- ......i....... injure the discipline of the airily, and aj an officer he must protest against it. In the American war he was employed in the recruiting service, and got as many men as he wished for, who enlisted for five and seven years, or during the war and he had no doubt but they would be equally glad to enlist on those terms now, with the exception of the difference in the quantum of bounty. Ile highly approved the idea of his Right Hon. Friend for improving the situation of the Chelsea Pensioners, as he knew that those poor old men being liable to be called on again after they had served twenty-four years, if they had not completed twenty-five years, and taken from their families, had done great injury to the recruiting service. For these reasons he should vote for the third reading of the present Bill. Lord:DE BLAQUI ERE said a few words; but we could not hear whether for or against the Bal. Mr: YORKE complained most seriously of the extraordinary silence observed by Ministers on this subjeft, and said, the only reason given for the re peal of the Additional Force Aft had been the de velopemeat of the plan of the Right Hon. Secre tary, on the details and nature of which he had been silent ever since. lie had, he owned, opposed that Act when first brought forward, because it pro fessed tolproduce a greater number of men, than, he thought, could be raised by it ; but inasmuch as it was similar in its principle to the Army of Reserve Al. which retained the ballot, he would not agree to repeal it, without some substitute in its stead. He expressed his astonishment, that Minis; ter s should thuspersist in withholding from the House exery kind of explanation as to the nature of the system they proposed to adopt, instead of that which they were so eager to get rid of. lie could only attribute it to some froward prejudices they had taken up, whilst on the other side of the House, and which they seemed determined pertina-• ciously to adher e to. They ought, howeet, to recoiled, that they were the King's sworn servant,, and bound, in such perilous times as the present, to give His Majesty the best advice, unwarped by prejudice of any kind, and that they ailed to ail cases under great responsibility. He approved the Additional Force Aft, because it appeared clearly from the papers on the Table, that it had produce.' 10,000 men yearly, over and above, and in addi tion to the ordinary recruiting for the Army ; and that if suffered to continue, it was likely to he still I more produsieve. The ordinary recruiting, he said, was 12,000 men a year—the casualties of the army we5,e1.3.000 men ; so that by recruiting in the ordi nary way, sistiaersd sot keep up the army establish mint by 1900 snen* year. Ministers ought to pre parefor gfeatet exigencies. and more extensive ca sualties, for losses ;eds. field, which mgt., amount, by different battles, to several thousands, and enlist ing for limited service was not likely to do this. There must be some intermediate and subsidiary', course, and that the Additicmal Force Bid provided; and though he proffered the Army of Reserve and the ballot, yet the Additional Force Bill did raise certain number of men. This was the first instance of so important a change being proposed without any reason given for it. Had the Right Honour able Secretary prepared any calculation of how many men were to be obtained by his neer plan ? had he any proof to adduce, that aches men were once discharged. they would be likely to en list again ? In the American War they took the cnsuaMes at 17,000 moo, and they never could, at that tine ' with their effixts and aftivity in recruit ing, reins the army, beyond the casitalties, more than 1,2u0 men, and she Right lion. t.Frentlem in ought not to Hatter himself, thaa his philosophical and sentimental plans will be likely to lured more. He would not, ehergore, consent to the repeal of the Additional Force 43, till something further was substituted in its snake. Mr. AY RE thought the Right Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Windham), evasaserfeftly right in not assign ing the reas ens on which he aftelLtill he brought for ward his plans for the consideration of the House he hat no doubt lie lentil! then give them at full length, and that would be the hest and most proper season for going into a discussion on them. The only thing then before the Flouse was the repeal of the Additional Force Aft; if he thought it a good one, lie would not vote for its repeal ; but he deemed it to he very much the contrary of a good one ; it had been explained by General Officers, instead of Deputy Lieutenants and Magistrates, and more for the advantage of Crimps than Parish Officers. The former of those had raised the bounties to twenty six guineas a man, and if we were compelled to raise the number of men we wanted yearly, at that rate. it would amount to upwards of five millions a-year. The Bill was, on his opinion, in many other respells, highly oppressive, and he should, there fore. vote for its repeal. Mr. Secretary Vs'INDIIAM said, he should not have occasion to trouble the House at any length, as the Hon. Gentleman, who spoke last, had so ably and so handsomely anticipated him in many observations he should otherwise have thought it necessary to make. It appeared to him from what had been said from various parts of the House, that his silence seemed, by some I lon. Members, to be looked on as rather contumelious ; though, for his own part, he could not see• bow contumely could Lilly or properly be attributed to him for not speak ing on matters not then before the House. The Hon. Gentlemen on the other side of the House. bad made a great clamour about p. pees which had been laid before the House, and which, they said, contained so much intportant information. A Noble i Lord had indeed brought forward a mass of papers and the Hon. Gentlemen were so eager and zealous to cull their sweets, that the only guest at the table. who could not get a seat, was the master of the feast. And what were those important papers, with all their information? They had never been heard of during a year and a halt after the Aft had passed. That Aft had never, during all that time, been arced upora--it was really defund—absolutely dead, till Lord Hawkesbury's letter first endea voured to revive it. his was the prologue to the play. The Hon. Gentleman put him in mind of mo dern novelists, who, for the sake of variety, began with a marriage, with which others used to con clude ; so the Honourable Gentlemen begin the r tragedy with the death of their hero; and iu tie sec ma aft, they take the part of the Humane Jo,:icty, and with all the apparatus of those papers. endeavour to bring him to a complete state of re . Tin Noble Lattl's Letter /sad been "7" used as a kind of Coronet's Inquest; to discover, if possible,' how their hero came by his death; and the AR being professedly passed for pro viding a permanent and effeEtual force, and having done every thing else but that, he thought they might fairly return a verdid of feta de sr.= In reality it was so to all intents and purposes ; for if it should produce the number of men required, it would go beyond its quotas ; it would, in fact, do nn service, for the quotas would be reduced tO supply the casualties for 9000 men—not 9aoo men; and in that case the Act is equally inefficient, whe ther it succeed or fail. One thing it had produced, which required its speedy repeal, and that was the evil of high bounties, which had actually in a man ner destroyed the ordinary recruiting; and as his Right Hon. Friend (Mr. Fox) had said on a former night, he did not know that die MI had obtained a single man for general service. In fact, its ore ration had been nothing but the influence of money, through the medium of oppression ; for how could you expect to make parish officers understand how to recruit with effect against regular-bred, tho rougL-paced crimps. The churchwarden, or over seer, is generally looked upon to be a grave and so lemn man, whose conduct and behaviour are ex pected to give a good example to his fellow pa rishioners—a kind of Custer Martini in the parish. Would you have such a character go skipping about the parish, from alehouse to alek,u.e, d.vert ing .end seducing the lads of the village ; and like Serjean: Kite. with his jovial recruits, Timor .1p• pierce and Cater "'carousals, singing— : tt We shall lead more happy bees, sy getting rid at brats and wives, That scold and brawl, both night and day, Over the hills and far away.. —Would you have these grave and sober men cry ing nut to the servants in the parish..-. 4 Come, my lad, you tha'n't any longer brush your master's coat, nor carry your mistress's cloak and pattens to Church on a Sunday—You are a fine lad—l can see preferment written in your face—you shall be a Gras/men Soldier, and I would underwrite you for a Canter, at lea: t.''—This is a language certainly not sui•ed to parish officers though he had no I..uts , rt o raperly encouraged, they would corn: to it in tme. and most eloquently declaim in favour of " a short life and a merry one ;" but let the House consider what havoc this must make in the habits and morals of the people ; and in his opinion, that consideration Acme would say enough against the ; rho cotattr y would be ruined by its success, and that was a strong argument against it. He alluded to the instance mentioned by an Hon. Member on a former night, of a Parish Of ficer, at Leicester, having found out the secret of the Ad, by svf.i.:ll he hat made a pretty pickings, and became one at the completest sad mast atlive crimps in the kingdom. The Biil pretended to want men, and no: money; but the people of the country knew better, and answered A`a, ..tie—you say you want men, but we.ltnnw you want monef, and money you .hall haste, and not men ;" and in this hewn.. Id back the sagacity of the country politicians against those of St. James's ; the fact had been proved, that scarcely a man had been procured by it, but from the high bounties. He would only say one word more, which was in answer to the objetion started by an Elonouroble Friend of his on a former night, against the clause for re turning the bounties. H: thought the evil of refund ing was the least of the two. If those who had al ready paid the fines, were to be held to it. aod oblig ed to lose the money, injustice and oppte.sion would take place ; they h.ad been compelled to pay for 'not raising men, which it was not in their pow er to rai<e, and the House should not lose sight set that escelleut adage-- •-• Nitmu tenetor al i tatcm. his was not a tax, but a penalty; and there was no pr.:Tat-60n between the inconveniencies that would result from the ez.aalion of the fines. and the es pence to the public of repaying them beck. rider all these considerations, he must press the third reading of the present Bill. Mr. PERCIVAL thought the last topic the Right Hon. Gentleman had touched on, required some further consideration, and, for his part, he con sidered the injustice of it glaring, whether it was looked at prospeCtively. or remove:lively. The effeCt of the clause he referred to Wes . that it would indemnify the country for their disobedience to the last Bill ; and here he could not help observing on the triumphant manslet in which the pro sent Min ster: aCted, with respect to this Bill ; they thought it a high honour to triumph over the measure of that great man, now no more, being well aware that they never could have done it in his life-time. But he would advise the Right Honourable Gentlemen not to be so much intoxicated with their own sweet fortune, as to prevent them front paying that atten tion to the affairs of the nation, which the circum stances of the time required. The more he considered the effeft that this clause would have, the more he was convinced of its impropriety ; it would create a sort of appellant juriediztion over the Legislature of the country, and woul4 give the great mass of the people the power of jot in of the propriety or utility of any At of Parliament. Henceforth, instead of the d,fferent branches of the Legislature receiving petitions against any Bill, they should. collectively. when about to pass an Ail, petition the people for leave to do it ; and, instead of the Aa rimnieg--" May it pletse Your tslaje.ty, be it 'maned, &c." it should be worded, •• Be it sub mitted to the gaud sense of the people " This would be the situation we should be brought to by this clause ; and he should have thought the Right Hon. Gentleman would be the asst person who would have legislated in this mantic ; sod, indeed, he did think that it the Bill passed, As it row stood, the Right Honourable Gentleman, after he had the triumph of cart ying it through the House. would see the absurdity of this clause. This grows injus tice in the Defence Bill, which the Right Honour able Gentleman had said so much of, aftually existed since the year 1799, in the Militia Bill, as, by it. .51. was to be paid by the parish. for every mill they were deficient. It was, in fan, an as. aimed habit of the Right Honourable Gentleman. to dell nut his censure on every mea.nte which came in his way, provided it was not introduce.' by himself, and en institute a system of reviling against this and every other minimum. One, in particular, that of balloting, had received much abut; • bet. es we were not sure that he would net rely 4 on it next year, he did not clink tee Gentleman should have dealt sn hardly with it, as it would be very awkward for hint to have recourse to it hereafter. It had been stated, that by the Ad. ditional Force Bill, there was a total imponibility of raising men; now this he never could believe, as it was evident, that some of the parishes procured their entire number. Now, the Right Hon. Gentle. man, if he chose to ael consistently with this clause of his Bill, should go back to the original system of the Army of Reserve, and suffer it to ad on it also; but, he supposed, the Right Hon. Secretary thought that would be purchasing justice at too dear a rate. Insteitd of doing this, however, he brought in this fresh measure, which was to aft &petit on all, though it originated from the de fault of some who gave themselves no trouble about the raising of men, and not front any defi ciency in the Bill, which, no dank, was competent to supply the army. The Army of Reserve Act, under which some men were raised, wl.o were now in the Army, contained a claute which made provision for the wives and children of the soldiers ; now by the present 8.11, that Act would be repealed, sad these poor people would be totally deprived of support. From this it was evident that it wanted amendment, and he thought it would be the best way to add a rider to it. which shoal,' ge with the Right /lon. Gentleman, in his tiiumplisuit car, and telt the world, that he, no more than tithe: s, was infallible. He then concluded'by saying, that, for the present, he must give his voice ageinst the third reading. Mr. WINDHAM, in explanation, declared, that he never had said he wished for the total abolition of ballot, but merely that it was the last measure that should be resorted to. Mr. eiHERIDAN said, he had linened with at tention to the arguments, mixed with vehemence, of the lionoureble Gentleman, and perceived tnat he directed the former ageing the clause, and the letter against the Bill itselfe—With rope fl to what had been said of the etre& this Bill would have, by repealing the Army of R.:- set ye Dill, he could only observe, that even if his Right Honourable Friend had not been aware of all the bearings of his Bili, it should rot have been ad verted to by the Right Honourable Gentleman, as he and his friends were more than twenty months in understanding their own Bill ; and indeed from a specimen the Honourable (nice gave in the bill-drawing way, ix supposed, from the little imowleage he had of the Defence Bill, he must have drawn it also. He could not b u t thank the Learned Ge n tleman for the advice he had given him and his friends,_ not to be intoxicated with the sweets of their present si tuation, and in return, he thought he might recom mend it to him, not to lee out of conceit with, or mortified at his present situation. Much stress had been laid on the circumstance of some of tite pa rishes producing their complement of men ; but the fa 3 was, that not one of them had raised the men. except by a breath of the law, and he defied any Gentleman to prove to the contrary t n. , r did be think it any thing paradoxical, for this reason, to say, that the perishes which found the men should be fined in preference to those which did not, as they had raised them in dire •.olaiion of an A.% of Parliament. In the case of Leicestershire, the House had hems informed by the Hon Member lie that county, that a wholesale Crimp was there met e nth. who took the hesiuess on his own hands, and produ ced the men t and here he could not help reverting to .1 very ungracious remark which had been made on a former night, on the Hon. Member he had just spoken of, by In Hen. Gentleman opposite to him ( Mr. Canning, Member for Tralee iu Ireland), for atit living more amongst his constituents. It was strange. he thought, that that remark had been made, as he very mach questioned whether the lion. Geutlemen who made it, knew, or had even ever seen the face of one of his constituents. The Right Hon. Gentleman then referred to several pa tithes, in all of which, he said. the men woes raised in direft violation of the law. He was the more astonished at the Opposition to the repeal of the present Act, as he was convinces that tite Right run. Gentleman, who hioright it in, if now alive, would not only not oppose it, but ntuld him self move for the repeal of it. The simple question. he thought was, whether it WAS. or was not. sue cessful ? he certainly thought it was rot, and that at should be celled in the preamble, « A Bill for de grading the whole king& sm, a Bill for rectuitine, and a Bill fur raising bounties, end more effectually encouraging mutiny and desert.on." Tne Hon. Gentlemen professed themsely-s not in the heist in clined to oppose the repeal of the Defence Bill, but all taiey wanted was to know what would be the substitute. It was like a man who had a wen on his throat, but would not let the surge in take it oh, who ofered to put him in the same way he wa. before. because he would not tell him what he in tended to substitute, and he supposed, by the saint rule. he would not be permitted to shoot a mad dug in the road. The circular letter of the Noble Stets tary of State, of ntst Dec. went directly to serriede the law, and was of a tendency man culp able. The instruatons dealt out in this way. and through the inspeaing ollcers who were sent about the country. were of a nature which left' little to regret that the All had not ;vowed more efficient 1 tot had t.•n times the number of men beon raised under it, they were obtained in a was , so eiaremely disateefill, that the evil would only have been aggravated. It had heen atttibuted to the Gentlemen on this side of the I louse. that they assumed triumph over the Bills and uncharitably stabbed a: the mesncry of a de ceased stateemee (Mr. )'its). He disclaimed such a Jesporitinn ; said, as fer'as regarded the letter of the Sift of Dec. which, as being little less than treason. was so justly the sobjent of the sorriest enlmadverieon. he totally acquitted that distinguistied man from having been a party to it ; it was unhappily indited whilst he lay on his death bed, or he (Mr. Sheridan) believed the Noble Lord (Hawkesbury) would not have been permitted to fully his reputation by issu ing it. It hal benn said also, that the Bill was op posed by some out of hatred to the person by whom it had beets. introduced. He was sure it was not sentiment which found hatnottr in the bosom of any man. to died to the Bill. on account of hatred to his (Mr. rites) TORMUI. For himself, there was Oct a nlaw hying of whose transcendent talents sed intlexibln inter•ty he had R higher opinion. lit he I had the misfortune, for rniny years of his life, to the political opposes: of that Right Hosboulib.,'