The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — London, England, 1806-01-29 00:00:00

■ prn • terries, ever dimmed die lustre or :,;: .Icl-it:Cements t lir"' ! fle:Pr . I ) :. but humanity and mercy were the ch trocteristics of hi. glorious conduct after the hour of visaory. His conduct in pritiate life was squally admirable with that o•Lich he uniformly manifested in file protessionol caters.: All the yin; tuee witch mold aehen human nature, were tA he found in the illoorious N •Ison. The attribute to - mercy WAS whet most eosin-nay divinouished him. In the langu,44e of the Poet, it was nut his wish to a W..d.: through s hiskter to a throne, " Or shot the curio/ mast 011 in.inkind • It was impossilae the glorious example of such a man could he without a e -respondent effect on the diameter of others. lo this way was to he 'consi dernd the conduct of many of those who were !dod! under his command. The high opinion which the gallant Lord expressed for that met ito rious officer, whose conduct was more regularly the strhjud of consideration that night, was ecoially cre ditable to both. On leaving this country, he'es. pressed his satisfaction at the appointment of tie Noble Collingwool to the command ; and his pet feet confidence in his skill, talents; and exertion:. He then proceeded to comment on the gallant and meritorious conduct of Lord Collingwood, in the atom o f 'I raf o tgar, and of which many of the most skilful of the profession spoke in terms of un qualified applause. The first motion which he had to snhmit to their Lordships was, for the Thanks of the Hesse to Vice-Admiral Lord Collingwood ; the se tend was for the like to Rear-Admiral the Earl of Northesk ; and, lastly, to the subordinate officers sad seamen under their command ; and, if ever skill and bravery were manifested by British MS etre and seamen, on any one occasion more then another, it was in the anion cf Trafalgar. (*this splendid and important victory, there was one pronsisent circumstance to be considered ; namely, the great inequality of the contending fleets. He hie to apologise to their Lordships, for having dos Mined - them rather longer than was usual on such innsuatvs, but the proportionably greater magnitude mid importance of the particular occasion, he trusted, would plead his excuse. He then moved, " That the nooks of this House be given to Vice- Admiral Lord Collinoovnod, for his very gallant and me: itorious coodua in the command of dui Sinn tinder the late Admiral Lord Viscount Nelson. in the anion off Cape Trafalgar, on the 21st of Deober lair. and that the Lord Chancellor do coin natinicaot the said thanks to his Lordship." On the question being put, the Duke of Clarence mud Lord Viscount Hood rose at the same time; the latter was on his legs a s h ort t i me b e f ore t h e Rusyal Duke perceived him ; when he said—" I have no ohjeCtioa to his Lordship proceeding." The Noble Viscount, however, sat down. The Dute of CLARENCE observed, it was wenseeseary for him to trouble their Lordships at any length, after the very full, able, and eloquent moaner to which the Noble Secretary of State had !Ranched upon the eh-41.401er of his Noble and la assented Friend; he had also the happiness of know ing that illustrious Officer through a great part of -his professional career, and could bear ample testi mony of the correaness ot every part of the Secre tary d State's eulogium. As he stated yester day. be had been in habits of intimacy and friend- Vitp with him, twentyohnte out of the forty-seven •?ears of his life; and his charoaer, as arising from his professional conduit in almost every part of the world, eclipsed that of every other officio be had booms. The heroic actions of his Noble Friend: 'Since the year 170, the commencement of the last • war were so recent and so fresh in the recolleaiun er their Lordships, as to render it unnecessary for hint to dwell upon them. There were parts of the pro. • fissional condua of his Noble Friend which he could pot avoid alluding- to. His Royal Highness then , potieularised a variety of circumstances, indicative Otto' nautical skill, the straitness of discipline, and the unshaken - perseverance of the illustrious cots. sander in question; but no part of his recent con duet Ise thought more deserving of applause, than his vigorous decision immediately to pursue the aseeny to the West Indies, where the terror of Nel- An name was such as to frustrate their designs, . • ;11: a ltr i alize theirdertions. They fled with preci from that quarter of the globe ; but still . 1 illoy were pursued by the intrepid and enterprising ' seeetenander. He Adverted to the circumstance of - the unavoidable want of fresh provisions in the Bri • 1 fleet, under his Noble Friend's command, ' iiffettee provident care and strianess of discipline was • inch, as that scarcely one sick man was to be found •' hi it. With resneet to the influence of religion, he • believed its effea upon the mind of his Noble Friend, was, at least, unequalled in the example of any other officer. His Royal Highne:s quoted part of the gallant Viscount's address to the officers and men under his command, on the occasion of the ensuing battle at Trafalgar, which manifested his pions resignation to the will of Providence, and his confidence with respeet to a successful issue, where the cause was je-t. With respect to the express Motion under the consideration of their I aurdships, His Royal Highness was averse from any thing Mat might interrupt perfeft unanimity ; but Cue pe enlior importance of the occasion induced him to offer a proposition. in the way of amendment to the Motion. Thus was read by His Royal Highness ; and the principle seemed to he, the specific '!'hanks • of the Husiise, for the prompt obedience with which Lord Collingwool hod executed the orders of the late Commander.in•Chief ; for his intrepidity in forcing the enemy into action; and, more especially, for his exertions in destroying those ve eels which were captured, when he founi they could riot be retained. His Royal Highness then !landed his Amendment to Lord tiliwkestuury, for hi. perusal. Lord Viscount HOOD said. be o ::uld trouble their Lordships hut with a few woofs at the p:esent occasion. He hid. long euuteitonsed a very high opinion of tt.e merits of treat evolleot officer, L o u t ; Collingwood, and particulaoy admired his condua in the glorious and unparalleled triabiy off Cape Trafalgar. He would, howevuo. venture to s •y, that many Of those w' o CIITIMAnakti it. Ilig Ma jelly's 11 -es, w.inted nuly o,:port:inity to prove tiwnr. selves other Nelsons, in jaognuent, at web a: in valour. He had himself the guod fort doe to have the heroic Admiral, an often adverted to, under his summand ta the Meditioraneer, where he had pieced hit's in situations which affoded hull scope to is relents aid hi. enterprising spalt, anti his con duet on these vccasions steint..l to be is ell kayo a tia then Loa sishios. . l .] I Lord tiAITKPIS Y rose to explalo: with re. sera to thi - ,irtike o l proposition; what hr had nursed in the gra innance, was couched ac cording to the uniform rule on such occasions, which went toatata-the approhation generally ; and that mode; in * military point of view, would be re garded as the more desirable ; it would be better to leave the expressions general ; thtse observations he applied to the two first propositions ; with re sped to the third, approving the desttuelion of the captured ships, struck him :s the least objeCtionable. The Doke of Cl rt P:NC:E explained, that he rectolleeted a proceeding somewhat similar, in the Vote of Thanks for the victory off Cape St. Vin cent's, its 1797 Earl SPINCER agreed with his Royal High ness as to the very handsome manner in which the Noble Secretary rendered the tribute of applause to the unparalleled merits of the riles -1"1111 officer in question. Ile was glad that what fell from the Royal Duke, prevented his giving a silent vote on a so' jell of such import ance, and on which he felt so deeply. He fully agreed with every thing that fell from the Noble Secretary of State ; but though the catintry had to lantern the loss of Nelson, yet he trusted his glorious example would inspire the breasts of other commanders, in every particular, to emulate his admirable conduet. Lord Viscount SIDMOUTH observed, with all due deference to the Royal Duke, that nothing, on such an occasion as the present, ought to be pro posed, tending to interrupt that perk& unanimity which would otherwise pervade the House Ile fully concurred in the propriety of what was said of the m.sguitude, importance, and brilliancy of the vklnry, which gave rise to the present proceeding. He had also to thank His Royal Highness, for preventing him, ton, from having, perhaps, given a silent vote on the occasion; where his respect fur the illustrious individual in question, as a man, was not to he exceeded ; or his admiration of him. as an officer, to be equalled. The events of last summer, including the brilliant exploit of Sir R. Strachan, were not to be paralleled in the naval annals of the country. At the same time, he thought much praise Wai due to his Noble Friend, then present ( Earl St. Vincent), for his v'ry ju dicious original selection of Lord Nelson fur the important service he was entrusted with. lle could not refrain from adding his mite to the well-deserv ed panegyrics upon the illustrious Nelson, that evening. lie deplored his death, as a loss to the country, but that event created sentiments in the breasts of British Officers, pregnant with the elc menu of haute glory. Hi. life was devoted to the service of his country; his disp.sition was noble, generous, and humane /Near! lire!) ; it was no wonder, therefore, that in command he possessed such an• inestimable influence over those placed un der him ; his death made a deep and everlasting impression on the hearts and feelings of every man ; but an impression winch would hereafter tend to the glory and advantage of the country. Lord HAWKESBURY observed, with respect to the fitter part of the Royal Duke's amendment, the insertion of the words, and fur his conduct after the aftion," would be totally unobjeflionable, and generally met his Royal Highness's idea. The words were, therefore, ordered to be inserted; and the Motion, so amended, agreed to, new. dinar. His Lordship then proposed the Thanks of the House to Rear-Admiral the Earl of Northesk, for his conduct in the said action, and to the several Captains and subordinate Officers in the fleet. A short conversation here tank place between the Duke of Clarence, the Lord Chancellor, and the Noble Secretary of State, chiefly on the most regu lar form of couching the motions. His Royal High ness thinking the Thanks to Rear-Admiral the Earl of Northesk, ought to be the subjeet of a separate motion. At length the propriety of this observation seemed to be admitted, and the motion was divided accord ingly. The Thanks of the House to the Petty Officers'and Seamen, and to the Royal Marines, then followed, and were voted with equal unanimity. The Thanks of the House were then moved by Lord HAWKESBURY, to Rear-Admiral Sir Ri chard *trachea for his gallant and meritorious con. dull, in the capture of a squadron of the enemy, &c. and afterwards to the Officers and Seamen under his command. The Duke of CLARENCE took the opportu nity to express his very high approbation of the cha rater and professional coal's& of the gallant Officer in question, particularly on the important occasion which gave rise to the present motion. The Duke of NORFOLK took the opportunity to make some general observations, respecting the conduct and character of certain other officers, who were, perhaps, equally deserving of die praise and the gratitude if their country. He alluded to offi cers, who were employed in hard and close services, watching the enemy year after year, and through all weathers ; what displayed the greatest zeal and ta lents, and wanted only the opportunity to signalise themselves, perhaps as brilliantly AS those who were more fortunate. Such, for instance, was the ease of that veteran deserving officer, Admiral Corn wallis. With respect also to Sir Robert Calder, he seemed to express his regret at what had taken place. He certainly, with an inferior force, had obtain N:1 a decided victory, and made captures. He meant not to arraign the decision nt the Court Mar tial ; but, after such conduct on the part of that re spectable officer, he regretted things so turned out. as that he could not Ire included in the Vote of Thanks. The Earl of !IT. VINCENT said a few words in consequence of what fell from the Noble Duke, bu: in so low a torte,we could scarcely catch a word from bim. He seemed to express his sense of the merits of Sir R. Calder, as an officer ; but to be of opinion, that the topic alluded tn, with a reference to the good of His Majesty's naval service, should not be made matter of Parliamentary discussion. [His Royal Ilighness the Prince of W Ales, who was very near the Nohle Eat!, nodd4d his approbation two or three times, at wttat fell from bis Lordship.) The question was th!ri put ; the Thanks to Sir R. Strachan, &c. were voted unanimously, and the Lord Chancellor desired to communicate them in the usual way. After disposing of same routine business, their Lordships adjourned tiU to•morrow. - - os. HOUSE ofr ebaisootes. rooig presented a Petithirf from the blioister. Churchwardent, and Overseers, of the parish of Islington, in the county of'Miniesex, respeCiing certain parochial tegulatidiii—Ordered to lie on the table. General doscoyne preiented a Petition from the poor cnori nl dvhoirs in the gaol of Live' pool, praying rehof ; which was also ordered to lie on the table. Sorac Petitions relatore to private road bills, were also pees and di.noied of iii the seine manner. \111.; St VINCENT. M. .lEFn ERY lose, put want to notice, for the purpose of mowing, that the nisier of Wednesday Liar, for printing certain n.a.11 papers, should be discharged. He opposed the printing uf these pa pars, convinced, in his own mind, that they were merely brought forward by the friends of Earl St. Vincent, for the purposes of procrastination, and to cause delay, and throw difficulties in the way of in• vestigation, upon this subjea. From the numh:fr and quantity of those papers, a still greater delay must necessarily follow, in the printing of them ; however, if the House should not entirely acquiesce in this part of his motion, it was then his intention to propose referring the ohnle of them to a seleel committee, to determine whether all, or any, or none of them, was necessary to be printed. He further observed, that the printing of these volu minnos papery, many of which were wholly irrele vant to the subject matter of charge against the No ble Earl, would be attended with a very great and unnecessary expense. The c h arges he had to bring forward against that Noble Earl, related to that part of his condo& particularly during his Adminis tration, while at the head of the board of Admiral ty. He was far front bringing forward those charges, which his considered highly criminal, front any interested, sinister, or malicious motives; but he felt it incumbent on him, in discharge of his pub lic duty, to bring the conduel of that Noble Earl under a stria and full investigation before that Hotrce. Mr. TIERNEY rose to: . order : 6 thought the Hon. Member was not warranted in going so much at length into the subjein of his Motion. The SPEAKER replied, that the Hon. Member was perfeelly justifiable in explaining his reasons for making his Motion. Mr. Jk:FEERY resumed, and raid, he was not apt to extend his explanations farther than he thought might be necessary, to put the House in possession of the suhjeiff in question ; and, however the friends of the Noble Earl might wish to pro crastinate this investigation, it was his intention to bring it forward as spc..edily as possible, when he should lay before the I louse such satiatasnory proofs of the Noble Earl's misconduet, as would leave no doubt in their minds; and he then held in his hand documents sufficient fur that purpose, without referring to the voluminous papers which had been called for on the other side ; and, in spite of all the delay given by the public offices, in furnishing these papers. the friends of the Noble Earl would not find themselves able to exculpate him. In conclusion, he repeated, that his motive for pressing this Motioo, was not to create any unnecesearydeloy,but, on the contrary, to expedite the business ; and, he was confident, if these papers were even to be printed, the House would never have the patience so read through such voluminous matter, wholly irrelevant to the subjea ; he therefore moved, that the papers be not printed. Admiral MARKHAM said, he was much sur prised when the Hon. Gentleman first brought for ward those charges against Earl St. Vincent, to re but which, he found it necessary to move for seve ral of the papers in question: it was his intention still to bring forward all other papers for the excul pation of that Noble Earl. In all he had hitherto laid before the House, and all he had called for, he had the sanetion of the late Chancellor of the Ex chequer, and one paper only was objeeted to, as the disclosure of it might be of service to the enemies of this country. No objesion had hitherto been made to printing these papers, and he thought it extraor dinary that an objeCtion should be made at this pe riod of time; but he thought it more extraordinary, that the Hon. Gentleman, who thus brought for ward his charges, founded in scurrility and invec tive, should endeavour to shut out the real light from the public. From what had dmpoed from that Hon. Gentleman, he seemed to say, he had admitted that tbere were many papers he thought the Officer would not produce. He denied having ever said any thing so absurd : he said, one paper could not then be produced, owing to the ne x li. gence of the Officer, this was the Noon-day-Book, which had been regularly kept up for a series of years, and contained an account of every ship build ing or repairing. This. with other papers, which he should hereafter move for, but which could be got in two days notice at tnOet, were necessary for the exculpation of the Noble Earl, and he was sin cerely anxious, that the whole should be laid fully before the public ; wishing, at the same time, that all the scurrility and invealve which had been intro duced into those charges, might rebound with redoubled force on the head of the author of them. The cause the Noble Admiral had undertaken to de fend, he said, was not to be trifled away ; he con sidered it a question of great importance to this country, inasmuch as it involved the Whole naval concerns of the kingdom, and could not be decided in a moment ; ha, therefore, not only for ths !Sit tie Earl's sake, but that of the public at large, thought it would he highly improper to say any thing more oa the subjeCt, until all the rapers yet, laid before the House ; he could not, so conclusion; help ob serving, that he considered it a very indecent pro. eeeding, to bring this question forward at so early a period of the Session, particularly when a new Administration was in contemplation ; atter w hich, the investigation might take place with fl t ech more propriety. Mr. P. MOORE was of the came opinion with the Honourable Member who spike last ; but he thought toe Honourable Gentleman opposite (51r. Jeffery) had gone much farther, and accused the House of a dtrelietion of its duty, in Laying that it would tire the patience of the House to read all dose papers, and requiring them to rescind their own orders on these grounds. He therefore was of opinion, that these papers should be produced and printed, when he, for one, world peruse them. In the mean time he recommended it to the Honour. able Gentleman to make the anemic havvreVe. Me Ile should eta farther. ATTOR \EY-GENERAL considered t very. important, that unanimity in the mod e ot proceeding on a subject of this nature, should be observed ; and however voluminous the papers might be, he thought they should be printed, and the House could rot be justified in precluding the Noble Earl from prodneing all such papers as he considered necessary for hit exculpation. On thos e grconds, he also recommended the Honourable Gentleman to withdraw his Motion. Mr. Scrjeant 1.3E3 I.' thought the blot on not be withdrawn, Without the Honourable Gentleman's giving some tegion for bringing it forward. He appeared not only desirous to seleft his own evidence. but to name his own time for the investigation. He furtl.er said, . that the papers were %Molls irrelevant to the subject; but he would ask, was the Honourable Gentlerrun to he the sole lodge upon this bonsiness For, the rturoses of national justic.', he considered rtiaterill ihat these papers should be looked into. and shon!it ;07:;,;t& that the public might know the real Lai of the ctst.• ; he, therefore, thought i; cs!rernelv fit, that, dos *Aim should be resisted Tlii. linuourab:o Gentlernim, he continued, had ith4de his filutrge; without considering on what folowlation they were ereded; and from thence it was, lin sought now to prociastinate the invrrigation, in resisting the printing of the papers in question. Ire was con: fident, on the other hind, it was not tile objet of that House, to procristinate ihis matter, but to 14 it openly befire the public. He thetefore took it for granted, the Motion would not be pressed to division. Sir WILLIAM MILNER shortlt observed, that the Noble Earl who was the subjeft of debate, had for his services been favoured with the free dom of that City which he had the honour to re present (York,) and his constituents would have a right to complain, if he tacitly submitted to such a proceeding, as had been proposed by the Honour able Gentleman (Mr. Jeff:ly ) Mr. JEFFERY, in explanation, contended that the whole of the procrastination in this case, arose on the part of the Noble Earl's f:ieAs, and pledged himself not only to substantiate the Charges already preferred, but to !ring tore-aid otter Charges of misconduS, mismanagement, .ind gross ntogleS on the part of the Noble Earl, par ticularly While he presided over the Bo a rd of Al. miralty ; when, after being three years and a halt in °dike, he ploposed to alter and chang • tee syestem he had bzza so long pursuicg : and lie W fur thee show, that instead of "making any considerable a. - dition to t.l:e Navy of Great Britain , . hr did add fifty, ten, or even one ship to the force •n existence when he first wren into office. He r procce.ling further in this strain, when the Spzaker interrupted him, observing that he had tar ex ceeded the limits of any ISlction. Mr. JEFF ERY replied, he only intreated that no delay might lie imputable to him hereafter. Sir WILLIAM YOUNG considered th.t t' s Noble Earl and his friends were certainly tl e judges of what documents were necessary i the purposes of his defence. The charadft cf the Noble Earl was deeply involved in this investigat;en, and it was but fair, that the man so accused, should have the means of defending himself. Mr. TIERNEY observed, that the Honourable Gentleman (Mr—Jeffery) had said, that their desire ,n have those papers printed arose solely from a wish on the part of tile friends of Earl St. Vincent to pro crastinate this enquiry into his Lordship's condua. 'fins assertion he declared to be a foul calumny; but, on the contrary, contended,. that all the delay which had occurred, originated with the Honour able Gentleman himselt, who not only suffered one year to elapse, bet one year and an halt had passed after that Noble Earl went out of office. before any charges whatever were preferred again him. His Lordship's only wish, and that of his friends, was, that the business might be laid before the public, and fully investigated. He could not he:. however, suspetling, that something underhand had been doing in this business; he wished to know by - what means the Honourable Gentleman had come by his information ? (a loud cry of firer! Hear Had be gone privately to some of the Ofßces ? liter Hear ) And, if privately, it was scandalously and suspiciously done. He was, there fore, well aware, that, in some way or other, the I lonourahle Gentleman became acquainted with the contents of the papers which were moved for, as he asserted, for the purpose of procrastination alone; but Wll.,tever were his abilities in accusation, he we not also to be a judge of what was the necessary de fence. He had also mentioned the conduct of I:,e Noble Earl, with rcsped to the shipwrights; it WA. his wish, that his conduit, upon that occasion, should be perfealy understood ; and he was well convince!, Earl Se. Vincent cis-aired nothing more, than t: laic condo!' chordal he sifted to the very bottom and he was sure the Noble Earl would think the Honourable Gentleman ; nay, he did the: k him, in that Noble Earl's name, for leingii those chargAs forward. But the bargain the Hoc. Gentkmao wanted to make, was, that the accuser should be heard, but the accused should have it means of vindicating himself. He repeated, that there was no reason whatever to accuse the Noel.- Earl and• his frite.td. cif procrastination, who. on the contrary, courted investigation; and again assert eaf, that the charges were a foul calumny against that Noble Earl, whose enarader would rise supe rior to all such arial. iik•na. Mc...JEFFP.RY then rose, and was going hien a statement of Cada; when a loud cry of N 0 ! No! Cba:rl resounded from ad puts of the House. The SPEAKER informed the Hon. Member, that he loins confine himself to matter I esplaaa• Lion n;-Iy. He was proieeding agail,;n the same way, when the, cry of No ' At)/ Chou Cbok ! was repeated with ion!)1.! Irrce. NVEAKER.. sa'd, he Lad hoists! he had made himselt undenst.wd, and repeated his Wirer caution. Mr..i F. FFER replied, " Then, by way of et planation, I did tind•rt3ke this without premed:- •ation or consultation with any person whatever, n I neither did I ever see or read one single Jerry' n either of the offices, hut have had the Wlcte rt-r infulaution otu of those Aces ; and, 61n• I