The Sun. — London, England, 1802-04-13 00:00:00

IMPERIdL PARLI/IMENT. HOUSE OF PELRS. MONDAY, APRIL 12. COUNSEL were heard in continuation relative to the Scotci Appeal, Sir ROBERT PRESTON v. the Earl of DuNnoN ALI), —To proceed again to-iorrow. . _ A' riumberaf:Bil ls, chiefly private, were brought up trom the Commohl by Mr. ALEXANDER, Mr. LASCELLES and other Ckkuktinliti—Amongst them were the New Loan Bill, and the Grenada Merchants' Loan Bill. These were severally read a fitSt t Permission has granted to Lord Viscotint, BULK EL E on his own Mutibil, to attend a private ComMittee of the House of Commons. • • The Order of the Day'Niii which their Lordships were summoned, was read, for tang into consideration a Petition . from Lord Viscount Dit.iox, relative to an Appeal in which hb Lordship is one of the Parties. Aftera few trvords from Lord Viscount CARLETON, ex planatory of the nature of the case, and a short examination of the Agents at 'the Bar, by Lord ALVANLEY, as Speaker, the said Petition was ordered to be received in the usual way. The Marquis of SLI co, atter a tew observations in refer ence, as_ we understood, to the Resolutions which were re cently made Standing Orders, presented 'a Petition from BARRY, Earl of FAR Nn Am, an Irish Peer, conformable to the mode prescribed by one of the said Orders, Scc. praying that his claim may be allowed. This circumstance, as well as a notification from Lord REDDESDALE Of an intended proposition to be submitted by his Lordship to a Committee of Pri vileges on Wednesday, gave rise to a long desul tory, and in some points of view, rather irregular conversation, in which the Marquis of SLico, Lords REDDESDALE, THURLOW, ALVANL EY, AUCKLAND, and the Earl Of SUFFOLK took a part. The intended proposition of Lord REDDESDALE is, as we could collect, relative to that part of the Mt of Union, and that part of the Irish At incor porated therewith, which relates to the mode of re ' turning, &c. the Irish Representative Peers ; to this he was induced by the case of the return of Lord CHARLEVILLE as . one of the twenty.eight Peers in the room of the late 1.46 rd ROSSNIORE, re speding the corredness of which some doubts seemed to be entertained. His Lordship noticed the praftice of signing the return by the Deputy Clerk of the Crown instead of the Principal ; this and other points be propesed to submit to the consi deration of the Committee of Privileges, with a view of rendering the mode more in conformity with the Aft of Union. The conversation above alluded to, turned on certain points of formal quali fication or eligibility of Irish Peers, under the pro vision of the Afis in question, to cleft or to return Representative Peers—and also on . the requisite steps, previously to their claims being allowed : on these heads much serious difference of opinion between their Lordships did not seem to obtain. One prominent point was, the mode Or description of evidence which was requisite to establish the fad of the decease of any Peer, and that the Claim ant petitioning is the eldest son or other legal heir to the title ; whether the assurance of one or more Noble Lords in the House should be , sufficient, or whether; as was sometimes the mode, it should be established by oath at the Bar.—These and the _other points adverted to, in the course of the con yersation, were, as we understood, referred for subsequent discussion in the Committee of Privi leges, into which it was ordered, on' the Motion of Lord RE DDESDALE, that the House should resolve itself on Wednesday next, and their Lordships to be summoned accordingly. The'farther consideration of the Petition of the -Earl of FAatizzAm was ,postponed to the same day, in consequence of which' the Marquis of., SLIGO presented Petitions from Lords CLONBROC, ASHTOUN, and another Peer, whose title we could not coilea.—These were ordered to be taken into consideration the same day. . The Earl of CARLISLE'rose to call the atten •tion of their Lordships to some points which he conceived were of the last importance, not only to that House, but to the country in general.—His Lordship first adverted to the recent transaetions in the way of Negotiation at Amiens, and particu_ larly to the very, extraordinary proceeding which took place relative to the compensations to be made to the Prince of Orange. We understood the Noble Earl to call the transaCtion a shameful one ; and after describing the general purpose for which the National Plenipotentiaries had assembled, by whom a Definitive Treaty was recently signed, and in the 18th Article of which it was solemnly agreed upon, that the branch of the House of Nas sau, established in the ci-devant Republic of the United Provinces, on account of its having expe rienced some losses, as well with respett to private property, as by a change of Constitution adapted in these Countries, a compensati,on .shall he procured for them, equivalent to such losses. He stated that the-Ainisters of two of these Contracting Powers, Holland and France, retired to a corner, and there, without the knowledge of the Minister from Great Britain, executed a separate Treaty, by,which the former Power was 'to be exonerated from any part of the charge of the Indemnities or compensation in question, and expressly stating that such provi sion, was guaranteed by the Republic. of France. On this proceeding the Noble Earl expressed him self in strong and decisive 'language : the docu,' ment adverted to, was, to every appearance, official and regular, and was. sanctioned by the quarter where, in such a case as that,. the power and effi dent authority lay, namely, by Bonaparte ; he thought it extremely unjustifiable, that the country by which those Illustrious Personages Were plunder ed of property to the amount of nearly zoo,oool. year, and driven into distress,' should not at least contribute towards the compensations. It was, he believed, in his te - colletflion, that a Noble Secretary of State had said, it was judged better to make, no mention of the compensation to the Prince of -Orange in the Preliminaries ; but that especial care should be taken of his interests in the was Treaty. The proc ee di ng a ll u d e d to a trot serious consideration in every point of view. Ii became an important question, from what quarter the indemnifications were to be furnished, whether by Great Britain, which was just emerging from embarrassment and difficulty, or by what other , ' Country. His Lordship then proceeded to 'make some general observations upon the Definitive Treaty itself, which he considered as an' objed 'of the most serious importance,; as by its opera tion other Treaties, advantageous • and honour able to this country, Nen to expire. The Dutch'. had particular matter for self.congratulatiol. It was, in laß, a triumph to them. We could no longer navigate to the Spice Islands in our own bottoms. The favourable regulations which were. obtained by the advantageous Treaty negotiated by a Noble Friend of his, were to exist no more.— That Convention was highly to the interest and se curity of this Country, not only by the extension of her Commerce, but as. it tended to the preserva tion of our possessions in India. In that quarter we were to look for nothing ; by, the 'abrogation of the Treaty he alluded to, the seeds of fresh Wars were sown in chose countries.. Another beneficial Treaty was also done away—we could no longer cut Log_ wood. The Methuen Treaty too was gone, and our commercial interests with Portugal essentially injut - ed. He again adverted to the consideration of the In demnities to the Prince of Orange, to which he felt it his duty to call the particular attention of the House, and which was an additional reason forallow ing a longer interval for• the discussion of the De finitive Treaty, and may be aground fur the pro duaion of additional documents. The Earl of SUFFOLK expressed his hope, that some explanation would be given, relative to sub_ jets of such importance to the Country at large ; and seemed to wish, that the Noble Lord would bling forward a Motion on the subjed. Lord PELHAM observed shortly, upon what fell from the Noble Earl who had spoken before the last, and 'seemed to-think, that under all the cir cumstances of the case, and as affairs at present stood, no specific answer was necessary, nor indeed, that any was called for ; as he conceived,the ob jed of the Noble - Earl to be, to press to the atten tion of the House, the great importance of the topics to which he had generally alluded, as. well as to a consideration to which he had • particularly ad verted : and we understood 'the Noble Secretary to say, that he would not- -then observe upon the au thenticity of the sources of the Noble Earl's observa tions, nor follow him in adverting to points, which were by no means regularly before the House. ' Lord (7: RENVILLE observed, it would not only be advantageous, but easy to frame a Motion upon the present occasion; it was with radiance he came forward, but he was impelled by the para mount considerations of duty, and he had -no hesi tation in saying, that under. the present circum stances, the most saltitary step the House could take, would be humbly to address His Majesty, beseech ing him to suspend all Ratification until solid satin_ faction was rendered to the country on all those great, inestimable and incalculable objets to which he had the honour to draw their Lordships' atten tion •on a former evening, and to some of which the Noble Earl had so properly adverted. Not one of these points, great as their importance individually were, nor were - any of the VII., - riot's concessions which had been matle—of equal magnitude, pregnant with events—or indeed to weigh a feather in the scale, compared with the omission of renewing, either expressly, or other wise, the Convention of /787, and negleding to place the Country, in that resped, in the situation she was in before the War. In consequence of the non-renewal of that Treaty, it was impossible our Governments in India could subsist-; by its falling to the gound, an opportunity would be afforded to the French, to spread themselves over a ll ou r I n di an Territories, and the residence of immense numbers would thereby be 'tolerated, who were not sUbjed to the control of our judicature or police. This sale_ • tary and advantageous Convention, if not renewed, must, by the general custom, and the unquestionable principle of the Law of Nations, fail to. the ground. If any doubt pievailed as to this result, what had happened within the last five years, would- de cide it. He alluded to the negotiation at Lisle, on which occasion the renewal of the Treaty was stipulated on our part, but the French refused to renew it, as by that means it would, as was their wish, fall to the ground : another consideration r.:- speding our interests in India was, that we - should in one article of Commerce alone, lose about half a Million of Revenue, in the permission which would be afforded to the FrenCh, to supply the Bengal provinces with the article of -Salt. On these and other grounds he . , thought the House would be justified in voting an Address to the Throne, to suspend the Ratification of the Treaty. His Lord ship seemed to agree with what had-fallen from the Noble Earl, respeding the compensations, to the Prince of Orange, and on that point, he believ ed, they were told by Noble Lords on the other side, that it would not be for the advantage of that Prince to have his claims discussed in the Preliminaries, but reserved for subsequent discus sion ; and not only this, but they were understood to say, that the Prince of Orange was hithself de sirous that no mention should he made of his claims in the Preliminaries . ; however, his opinion was,. that the Prince's interests Were , now in a worse state than they would have been if touched upon in the first instance, and left to the effeds of after:le gotiation. What he had urged on these various topics was purely in a conscientious discharge of his duty-. He had forborne till within these few days, when the consideration of -events impelled him to come forward ; and he would observe, that nu- ' merous events had occurred since the passing of-the Preliminaries, all of Which afforded a strong ground to Ministers—and called upon them to form a strong er and more advantageous Definitive Treaty than would otherwise be necessary.— He hoped that every proyer, degrice of information would be called for by the House, and the necessary papers produced ; he trusted - that this last remaining stay would not be lelinquished, but that their Lordships would take every pradicable step, at least, for the security of the Country. The various Bills before the HouSe - Were then forwarded in their „respedive stages, and some pri vate business disposed of.—After which -the House adjourned till to.morrow. HOUSE OF COMMONS., MONDAY, APRIL IL. THE SPEAKER read a letter from His Royal Highness the DUKE of YORK, in answer to the Tit nks of the (louse voted to the Army. The Loan Bill was read a third time and passed. Mr. STEELE brought up the Report of the Militia Esti• nun*, which were ordered to Le on the Ors the Order of the Day for the third reading of the 1 3ill for an additional Duty on Windows and Hous;:a oz:n; moved, Jonas Mr . conjured the House to postpone the passing of this Bill tier some time: It was la6ng a heavy burden on the poor, from which they were exempted even by. the In come Tax.. If he had known' this consequence was to fol low, he should never have moved for the Repeal of that Tax. He concluded by Moving that - " Wednesday nett" be sub stituted for " now." • On the question bzing put on Mr. Jos' ES'S Motion ) it was negatived without a Division. The Bill was then real a third time and passed: • The Bill &r the Repeal of the Income Tax was read a se cond time, and ordered to be committed to-morrow. The hill for the better regulation of the' Linen,Manufao.- tures in lreland, WAS read, a second time, and ordered to be committed on Wednesday. • The Bank Restrietion Bill was read a first tune, and or dered to be read a second time to-inorrow: The Bill for allowing His Majesty certain Dnties on Ser vants, was read a second time, and ordered to be committed tc-morrow. The House to go into, a Committee on the Clergy Non-re sidence Bill to-morrow. Sir FRANCIS BURDETT rose, in consequence of an intimation he had given on a former day, and spoke nearly as follows " The time is at length arrived when the Inquiry which I am about to move for can be instituted on solid and known grounds.. Conjedstre and speculation may now be _laid' aside; we.are now enabled, from fads, to form an opinion of the principles and intentions of those Ministers who were lately in power. We have now the means of making up our accounts, : and of ascer taining what we hove received for all the blood and treasure expended in this ruinous War, all the, sa crifices made of our constitution and • When these Ministers have performed their part • and retired from the scene, it is now our duty to take a retrosped of their coodud, arid obsers- - e how their lofty promises have been fulfilled ; but above all, it is our duty particularly to advert -to the mischievous alterations which have been introduced into our laws, and the monstrous, - the ruinous at tacks which have been made on our Constitution. It is our duty to, advert to the attacks which ; have been made on the personal liberty and the domestic security of the 'People. In- entering, upon the in vestigation of the condud of the late Ministry, the first topic that strikes our attention is the late War. ,Though this subjed has Often been discussed in this House, though Ministers and their notorious and corrupted adherents have graced- it 'with re peated votes of approbation, yet now that' the real views and principles of these Ministers have been brought to light by the constant tutor of their condud,. we - may venture to appeal to, .the ..sound sense 'of the House on this subject. There is now before' the Public sufficient ground for 'an inquiry into the condud of those impostors, who covered their pernicious' views with the most specious -pre.: texts. These Ministers deldded former Parliaments into a prosecution of .obleds which were at length abandoned by a Treaty of Peace. They deluded these Parliaments intd a sacrifice of the Constitu tion; and Laws, Liberties—all have been subverted under the strange pretext of Security. Every rank, every condition of people have felt their d.estrudive influence. There .is no situation of life, from the highest to the lowest, that has ~not been materially altered: The Prince of Wisnes, as well as the meanest subject, has felt obstacles opposed to the acquisition of his just rights. The Parliament, the Bank of England, the East India Company, the People at large, have all undergone a change. To accomplish this change was, Lbelieve, the real and ultimate objeEt of • the War — s -(A cry of Hear, hear." shall not enter ar present into:a detail of all the Foreign Failures which have arisen from the miscondat of Ministers, because these are already known to all the world, and because 1 wish ra titer to call your attention to the triumphs which they gained over the Constitution at home. In the latter they have succeeded as 'completely as they failed the former. Liberty-has been completely conquered, The treason laws have entirely done away the freedom of speech ; nay,, the very deaf and dumb may' be guilty of Treason, and sign-posts and scare-crows May be construed into Libels, Star Chamber sentences have been issued against the most trivial offences., When any one was so unfortunate as to incur the displeasure of Ministers, a sen tence was kept suspended over his head for years, to the disgrace of all justice. He was brought op, remanded, again brought up, and again sent back to his prison. All meetings of the- People were suppressed. If more than fifty persons assembled together, they were liable to be put to death by military execution. An inquisitorial power of the worst kind was introduced; an inquisition into the private. and domestic concerns of individuals; and every one was obliged to disclose his affairs, and the amount of his property, to the Inquisitors, under a' severe penalty The repeal sof the duty. on In come, the tax to which this 'Odious inquisitorial power was attached, is not sufficient. Property has been confiscated to a large amount. One Land Tax has been sold to the Proprietor, only to make way for a new one ; and if this system be continued, and one Land Tax thus accumulated on another, the Proprietor will soon have nothing left hut. his title-deeds. The. whole protedion of the laws is now withdrawn. Suspected persons are removed'at pleasure from one custody to anOther, and carried to distant prisons, in oppositioit to all the fundamental principles of the Constitution. Treason laws have been multiplied without number. The antient laws were too plain, too easily comprehended, for the purposes of Ministers. Laws have, therefore, now been introduced so complicated, that no, one can know what they are, nor what is Treason. The abominable system of Construdive Treason has been introduced, which prevents alike all complaints of grievances, and all measures for salutary reform; nd even all conversation on the subjed. The laws are purposely written in such small charaders, and hung so high, that no one can read them. Barracks have been raised in different quarters of the Coun try. The Military Power has, 'on all occasions; been called forth, while the Civil Power has been studiously degraded. But these Ministers have not only triumphed over English Liberty, they have also triumphed over English Honour, and'English sense of shame. They. niak.e no scruple to recount their promises of ref;)rtn, and to avow their breach of them. When-private and public principle are thus lost, things must soon hasten to final destruc tion.- These Ministers were not content with de stroying the old laws—they even aded, as they them selves expressed it, with a rigour that went beyond 1 ' beell the letter of their own laws. Ever)" step 1135 'r taken to vilify the Constitution , ard to ten !er 01 9 . own power supreme.' They to: k care to have mat strat es chosen from amongst the meanest of the peop 4te eci They filled the murderous dungeons with susPeilei. n ! tierce: sent money abroad, and introduced foreign r persons. Without the consent of th is House, naries into the kingdom, as more prop er instrume_no to e)tecu t e their designs than British soldiers• itisY their own authOrity they issued general watra n et i l ' and apprehended, not only accused persons,' but e v _j such a4,were . .only suspeCted. 'heir fears betray them into those measures. They were conscious they deserved universal hatred, and they.therefoi: believed every one to be their eneK. this s Y ste t e mag istra of oppression was carried so far, that one than give the prisoner a copy declared he Would rather submit to. the penalty commitment. Various cruelties were inflieted W u , the prisoners : some of them were for a time w e , fed andlodged,' with a view to make them diseluh% their accOmpliCes, while the horrors of Cold-hatio • fields were continually presented to their eY es ' r d, a ce() 0 Case 'of refuSal. Every art was .employed' ing to the cant phrase of the Magistrates, t° V ag , the Prisoner sing out. The wretched Prisoner " iler o f, the warrant un ing no discovery'io make; and being willing ra ho to undergo the .miseries . of cold and faminekt,tb, falsely accuse the innocent„was sent to Cld er .„ fields, and delivered_over into the hands of G ° :_i f nor Aris. The part he aEted in these the true reasons why' that monster W 3 .5 P i rClt i , e n i s li. and an increase of salary, instead ofdeseive" P: a.. ment, awarded him. In the cells of this Po s°- de,. posed to cold, hunger, and brutal insolenceue4 barred even from the wretched consolation 0 15 e by their wives and . children, men have been shut tip of order of Ministers, and denied the Ptiv i ' e° hese being brought to trial. After a confinement i n ; ye n dungeons, prolonged to two, three, and ,eve'' seven to year ' s, they have at last perhaps been perMi tt i ; a ieJ return to their ruined families. They wet e ,,`",: s iefs even the privilege, of complaining ; for N" A °.- a rrer at once got rid of their petitions, anal th e ",: s s of punishment, by inducing the House t° ,F - h t t ov tne:oureeted, Bill of Indemnity. Thit was the most fa t 3 I b Cel‘ of all, as it at once took away the 0013 c h eep which the nation has on Ministers, by dc )i i ng h 3 r; their responsibility—(Cv . of " Heez;•." )----;- v e o P ; sent Minister, in obtaining this a ft to u' i '.,t ise for his predecessor and patron, discovers vi`: l ` C O' are to expeft from, himself. I n demnity wn cc es* tinue to be' multiplied 'On Indemnity, a nd a',.' - c l i o 'to legal 'redress against Ministers will thu s , u , e ,d the punishment of their crimes, even upon up. But Ministers were too strong io ute: 6 - ti o• It was the fear that the' horridcony', i he publicly, told, 'that made them call for thi s 13 ; 5 ar e Indemnity. No man's life isl safe, if Min,i e st p ° ;rli 3 ' allowed thus to go an with'iMpunitv. 11 *,re3' ment can thus be prevailed upon,' without t re i s son assigned, to pass Bills of Indemnity, ti`i jos' an end of all personal security. The con-r s , o o . o cci,, ll tice has here been turned aside, in order r°;, - 1 0' the crimes of Ministers. I did not inde ed' " Ic e " tr' of stood forward, that *such men as the late Ministers would C ol° l oil . tale sho°;'Lli of us begging for pardon through the medium a i ; o ltilf, of Indemnity. I thought they would hav e " ro an° Necessity. But they have not deigned t° ec ti- and rested their defence on the g' 6 , 0 0 . any appeal to law. The injustice of their ifd c o ‘ t v u i r t l h t o tl u te r se a tr i m ng id, t , ings is proved, by their being at length oh li g. t i e tri o ble b p ri lo ng tter t s he a l g u ain t . ( l ) ou t s r e i n ai n ..... „:A :c l i t:; o ll , has been said by Ministers of the Coo9!'-`; hot and the means _ employed to 'preserve '',, t ' c is 0° our 500,000,0001. of Public Debt, they have .not dwelt with 'equal ea11''.,23,-stile9 0 , 1 t he P - 0 t he t at have been ereded, the powers give n f t „, Lb; Army,'the Inquisition established into proP er ';'an° restraints imposed on opinions, a shackled Presil'oos) Country b and a Wl in has,is t r y i n i d n e t e l e d m , a beggared People—a confiding House of (-;°,:f this , .ut when we turn our eyes to Ireland, to the ', co p, tism exercised in that wretched Count ry, , ire b a : tr airl' n b ifi ee e n d. ren ' d f e h r e ed si r cl u e a p t l i : cni i l e c s l) :- :w son i to congratulate ourselves on not having Y e '"" et li)Y et the same pitch of misery. The measures aßP t o d • inisters, in Ireland, are too glaring t 0 b e P,ftlie o . ver. To enable the House to form an opju i T l iisly' situation of that country, a subjea to which i 14llgr:tr,i men have paid too little attention, or w -th r . c :l o # • to . which they have been misled by false rerres.,ioat tions, it is necessary to go back to the (Ir t r io 3r M causes of the troubles in that Country. i : % 0 0 a the close of the American War, 10 or, ; 0 ' 0' troops stationed in Ireland were remove" ', coo' theatre of war. In their absence, Ireland w r a- un cler filed to . its own national troops, w ho were le'' t his no restraint but that of opinion.' I rue n A ri i ferefi r last circumstance particularly, to skew 11 °?: -,-, Ive" their conduet was then when left to th e e' from what it was lately ; and if it was ' :sole s it was in consequence of the bad In e. r id, adopted by Ministers.. At that s former ,P: o sed assemblies of armed men heard and a ls , ta cle s their grievances with moderation. I ` . ° °b c t ing s " were at that time' opposed to public rae, ol . o lo there were . no' murders, no military ~,riuncei no free:quarters, no bills of indemnity• n e t° itv was that France, at 'that time, did not da re , „ 5 clel vide Ireland, as' she knew that a country ti l ,", .." aote. fended by Citiien-Soldiers, was unconquer' f the But Iceland soon found herself the prey of intrigues of British Ministers. That :Ind e r e 0 9 • • d Parliament ,in which she at first rejoice ' e no soonthe discovered to be nugatory. he a toriously sold in it. The efoquenee of t ha Prime Minister, before he was Mir , is teri e forio , tended much to increase their desire of r st ir was t But - • tas soon as he became Minister, an' . be , ported by the troops returned from Anler' ca 'd, 10 1 once changed his principles. But his w° r C r be gone too deepinto the minds of the Irish t o her one sily.effaced, and the necessity of a reform iri i that day ' It • - fou'' t ne' every more apparent: was 0 5 order , to accomplish this desirable objea , it s en I cessary to avoid all religious controversie9' inutO, arose the United Irishmen. UnanimitY aria Zits afiettion appeared' in all their p oceedings'to die union of Irishmen stung_ the Minister able dis soul. heardlnsteaf promoting. sycll rentable position, ' osed to be . passed. theiro ' ur t hic° " and aboMinable - Cdnvention Bill. Thi s '''' O was intended to *suppress, ' ga-v° 'llgtvf ,vjg .r.---- i .