The Sun. — London, England, 1812-03-18 00:00:00

ST. PiTl?lOlCii' Yesterday the friends to the BeneVoient Society of Patri c k ; A clad their Annivcr , a-y Dinner at ihe Free a s‘'ll's Tavern, the Marquis of LANSDOWNE in the %;haif. The cloth being removed, the Marquis of LANS.. 1) owN11 rose to propose a toast, 'in w filch, he wds fi c ° ll fltlent, all parties would concur. But before h e aid this, however; he thought it necessary to call the attentioit of the company to the particular, the exclo tve objed of their meeting, which was charity.— ial ihis alone i n th e i r v i ew , h e tr u ste r ihat for V th at day at least, all political feelings _which were, he :lWould not say contrary to, but separate from the ob ett of their meeting, woulif be forgotten. The 1 ( 3 3M3 Which it was his ciwy to propose, had been so framed that it was hoped .they would awake no Party spirit, and he trusted the current of their charity would flow freely, unmixed with, and on !tribarrassed by, feelings proceeding from any other 11°L lree. He concluded by proposing as a toast— The health of the King. Then followed The Prince Regent. Upon the health of his Royal Highness being I' v e 4, a few persons attempted to h - ss, but their ol ignant efforts were drowned in the applause of , rest of the Company. The Queen and Royal Family. The Army and Navy.. The Benevolent Society of St. Patrick. And The Mother of .St. Patrick. The Children educared by the Society were now 401 roduced and passed in procession down the room, o(1 furnished a most interesting siietti!cle. Lord '"1010A Oresented one of the bo) s with a medal, as a d istinguished badge of honour, at the same time cidresing him la a manner equally impressive and aPpropriate• 4 :S he Earl of Wellington, the gallant Armies he commands, success to the giorious struggle in the Peninsula, Wa s next given, and drunk with uuiversal applause. t.The Lord Mayor, the Sheriffli, and Corporation of the si l ,Y.o! London, with thauks to the Lord Mayor and Mr. - lieygate, for the honour of their company this day, Was Ilex( drunk with loud acchmations. The LORD MAyort returned thanks for the Cor- Porznion of the City of London, and for the Sheriffs; 61t for hi mse lf , h e h ar dl y k new h ow to t h an k t h em. Was himself half an Irishman, and felt not less q ' Linn for Ireland than for\ the City of which he illiad the honour t o be th e presiding Offi cer . I n con ~iustott he returned •a thousand thanks for the " u,, bur which they had conferred upon him. (Great OPPlstu.!e.)' Siit.“-ttr HEYGATE also returned thaiks : r-e. list of new subscriptions were read by the S " c, tiAry, and were extremely gratiiyhrg, as were "t Beni ral statements respecting the funds of the 4t)ei et'i. The new stabcriptions, added to the sums at the tables, made a total of 17511. , The next toasts were— Welsh t k " . u . ! meritorious the Scots C , rpor . ation and and prosivrity to all I liSiltUtlUnS that eat:gate:l the ° 'orant and succour the ite:p%ess. 4 1 ,: t i llt Marchioness of Downshi re, the Countess of Loudon th id 'ioira, and may e protection of th e poor be ever the ttJt the thotheiS and daughters of Ireland. T "v I , st caned t,p— -j lie LANSDOWNE, who observed, it was rilposslble. ti i c .a tt t let n u r a t ey the Pa trons of tide Chdrny, they trust therefore pass them ver- ; but as a splendid exception, he plop)he • The flealth of the Earl of Moira. Lord M-:IRA returned thanks with much feeling 'tlct eloquence. On 'his day, it seemed as it their 1)11- ort and S lint had spread his influence over them, cared forth a species of feeling distinct from ~.* , h3 t wa s usually to be met with. He expressed '" 11 great energy hi s affeCtiohs• for Ireland, .and l i x uited in t h at i n d e fi na bl e distinaion which was. „ e Pt up between ehe different parts of th e ern -11'1.".. These had the happy effect of making all "x4sus to maintain the hot oor of the country to nich they belonged. The effect of Meetings tike e Present-was to k eep up iuch di stinctions, and those who wished to unite the whole empire in one " i iscriminate mass, took an erroneous view of the tubieet. T o ta k e t h ose destintStions away, woulde to take away the bold and prominent. features of Country, and to reduce the people to such a r d le, that they might be compa r ed t o worn shil il"gs, of which the valu e gi ven th em by t i le Mi nt 41 4 been smoothed away. He spoke at some 'gill on the affairs of the Society, which he lta!ed to b e i n a more prosperous state t h in ever i h eY had been before. • In 1809, they had ! ) . 0 001. and one hundred and tw en ty child ren , ` l ' o v , ere relieved by the Charity. At present they about ,24,0001. and 159 children on the lista ulishmetit ; su that it would be seen that since 1809, th "gh 39 children had been added to the number of ttios e educated by the Secicty, yet their funds, 114 from experitneing any diminution, had -been ill-l ginentedby mare lhan . 4oool. His Lordship alter- Wards proposed the lieAth of The marquis of Lansdowne, Winch was drank will) great applause. The Marquis of LANSDUWNE felt much satisfac lkn on receiving such air honour from persons 4 1tose expressions were as generously warm as their lteaits were faithfully sincere O the Vice• President's being giveu and drunk b . ) the, company, Lint Mon NTJOY returned thanks. Mr. SHER IDSN, in consequence of being loudly C alled, alio returned thanks, and expressed his love for Ireland, and his atkuiration of the illustrious Princ e Regent. The hcalth of the Marquis Wellesley was p!oposed.by the Noble President, anti received With gre.:t applause. Mr. 11, NVELLEsiAv returned thanks. LANSDO vy NE now informed the Society, that the Duke 01 Devonshire Ltd consented to be their President for nexi year. He was happy in succeeding the Marquis of 1) 'wushire, and iu being succeeded by the Duke of Devonshire. He then' . gave— The Duke of Devonshire's heaith, which was drunk with three - miles thr.-e. heatih of the. Right I-ton. W. CURRAN was I'M given, for w lich Mr. R. CURRAN re!urned thanks. The'health of the Stewards and other OrTicers of the Society were alto drunk, and several Gentle , filen returned thank fur this honour. Tn the course of the- evening—a Non No4as DO. ,nine,":.-" Ocid save the .I(ing."•='.';-" Gloriotie.i 4°116," and 3 variety of other songs, were sung bY . Mr. TAYLOR, Mr. DidNum, Master BOYLE, and several other vocal performers. A Mr. WEris afforded great. einertalt!foent by sing ing " The Shamrock of. Erin," cornpoed for him by Mr. WHITTAKER ; and " The Filrrosa MOtio;" " A Fat gh a Ballaugh,"—Clear the way. The Marquis of LANSDOWE did not retire till near twelve o'clock.. The attendance was uncommonly numerous. - Lord KIRKWALL, who was one of the Vice-Presi dents, was, we are sorry to say, prevented by in diiPosition froth attending. FOR THE SUN. MR. EDITOR, The horses, it seems, are to be driven over the theatrical course again, after Lent. Nbw, Sir, as, they are likely to run away with all the profits of the benefits, which, in the good old times of the English stage, used to take place about that period, I think it would be but an a& of justice in the Pio prietors, to let those same horses kick up something for the advantage of those Performers on whom Nature has been so niggardly as only for bestow two legs.--4 do not objet to the conduct of tie Propri etors in taking advantage of the degeneracy of pub lic taste, by bringing forward such exhibitions, but I humbly conceive that the Performers have some right to profit by that degeneracy, particularly as they had no hand in promoting it, but were the tnelan choly witnesses of its progress. I propose then, Sir, it the horses are again to drive all before them, that they should be Fermitted to have a run in favour of the benefits. N : UNFORTUNATE BIPED. FRENCH LICENSES. It has already been stated, that the Board of Trade had refused to comply with so moth of the terms of the French Licenses as specified that exportations were first to be made from France before any im portation from England should be admitted. On,' this subject several appliCations have been made to the Board of Trade by the merchants interested in the commerce wi►h France. Yesterday the appli cations were renewed, when the Board of Trade came to an arrangement, with which the merchants appeared satisfied; of which these are the con ditions : To admit ale following articles to be imported from any port between the ri'et Ems and Caen, provided that the vessel in which they are imported is of 100 tons burthen or upwards. Articles allowed to be imported :—Cheese, seeds, fruits, bristLs',' clinkers, threads and tapes, perfu mery, silks throWn and organized, linens, lawns, cambries, lace, quicksilver, rushes, linen flax and yarn, jewellery, bronze, and bunks. The articles when imported are to be warehoused under the joint lock of the Crown and the merchant; until the counter exportation shill have been made, conformably to the conditions prescribed'and made known by Government. With respect to the staple commodities of France, such as wines aijd brandies, no alteration eas taken place. YORK ASSIZES. A. Briggs, a paper-manufat9urer, was capitally convicted of forging a stamp, to evade the duty ou paper. Eight other prisoners were ' - at;o capitally convitled. R. Jones was convicted of a misdemeanour, in buying to o guineas at a greater value than their legal .denomination. W. Jennings, an opulent farmer at Hayton, was charged with committing a rape on Mary Scarbo rough, on the 6to of November. This trial, from the respealable rank the prisoner held in society, and the nature of the charge, excited much interest, and the Court was greatly crowded. The prosecutrix said, that :;he liv,A with her husband, at Friday Thorp. She left home about t o'clock on the afternoon of Fri day, the 6th of November, with the intention of going to Pocklington ; when she had proceeded about one mile:and an bAlf on the road, she saw Mr. Jennings leading his horse. He had half of an hedge stake in his hand, and taking it in both hands, he pushed her with it down a declivity, and then threw her on the ground. Witness shouted as loud as possible, but the prisoner knelt upon her, andssaid he would knock her brains out if she made any more noise. He then accomplished his purpose. Witness was so much exhausted by her struggling, that she faint. ed away, and when, she came to herself, he was gone. Her - arms were much bruised, her clothes dirtied, wid her dress disordered. Witness men tioned the treatment she had received to the first person she met on the road (a Mr. Simpson). She also communicated it to her husband, as soon as she returned home, between three and four o'clock. Mr. Simpsnn said, he met the prosecutrix going towards Friday - Thorp. She complained to him of the usage she had received, stating that she had been ravished. Several witnesses were called on the part of the prosecution, but did not appear. - On the part of the defence, a vast body of evi dence was given, which completely falsified the story told by the prosecutrix. Every hour, and al most every moment, from 12 until tour o'clock in the afiernoyn, was accounted for, in a manner in consistent with what she had sworn. Tt►e evidence on the•part of the defence was so strong, that the Judge thought it unnecessary to stun up the evi dence, and the Jury immediately pronounced the prisoner " Not Guilty." The •prosecutrix, being in Court, was committed to the C istle, fur wilful and corrupt perjury, and a true bill has been found against her. Mr. WHARTON, on the third reading of the In demnity Bill, on Monday last, adverted to the clause which has the etfed of obviating the necessity of en rellin; Indentures of Clerkship in the case of At tonnes., and of filing affidavits of the execution of such i!identures and he intimated, that as that clause was tot in conformity to the general prin c!ple of that - annul Bid, it might be worth con- siCteralion, wht.:ll;er upon the next renewal of the 6.ett a clause ought, or ought not, to be in serted. I,7IPE,RL4L PARL!,I3IE:V2. HOUSEsOF PL—;:U2S, TUESDAY, MARCH 17. ROXI3UitGH ERAGES. The Committee of Privileges sat this day, and proceeded v,ith the further investigation of the Claims of Sir Jatles Junes Kerr, to the above ho nonit and digni , ie. Toe whole of the evidence referiing to the pcdt . oe of the claimant -vas gone through, and the Committee adjourned till the first Tuesday after the Easter Recess, when the Attor ney-Getleial will have an opportunity of replying, should he think proper. The LORD CHANCELLOR notified his intention of submitting a proposition to their Lordships, as the judgment of the House on the feu branch of this important cause, on the first 'Wednesday after the 'Recess, • The Route then resumed, and after prayers were read, the Bill for repealing the As of the 39th of Elizabeth passed atrough a Committee, and was re pot ted without any amendment. The Lords A& Amendment Bill was read a se cond time, and committed for to-morrow. The Royal Marine Mutiny Bill, the Local Militia Amendment, the Annual Indemnity, tlie Dublin Coals Importation, and a few private Bills, were brought up , from the Commons, by Sir James Graham and other Members, and severally read a first time.---Adjourned till to-morrow. ROUSE OF COMMONS. TUESDAY, MARCH 17. A Petition WA presented by Sir FRANCIS Bus- DETT, ' from a person named Samuel Fletcher, com plaining of gross injustice by the Excise Board, in having issued an extent ,on his premises, in conse quence of certain alleged frauds which he had com mitted against the Revenue. In this Petition he set forth, that there had been a combination against him by certain Excisemen, and that the result of the pioceedings of the Boai-d had led - to his total ruin. The Clerk began to rend the Petition, which con tained a great number of sheets of paper, full of words ; He had read for nearly three quarters of an hour, wheel he discovered that it was not signed. Uppn w hich The SraArt t*i intimated to the Hon. Baronet, that it would be well in ftitnre it' he would take the trouble to examine any PetitiOn he might have to present, before be gave the House so much un necessary trouble. The Petition was then returned to the Honour able Baronet. MANUFACTURERS OF LEicEsTEA. Mr. SAMUEL SMITH presented a Petition from certain Journeymen employed in frame work knit ting in the County of Leicester, praying for a re peal of the Orders in Council, and setting forth that the said orders were greaily injurious to their. trade. Ihe Petition was sign by eleven thousand persons. The. Edon. Member, and Mr. BABINGTON, who seconded the motion, (representatives for the town), staier that there had been a public meeting, in which th , -! men had come to certain resolutions, forming the ground-work of this Petition ; that at -the meeting they behaved towards their masters and the inhabitants with the greatest deference and reaped, conceiving that the best mode of obtaining relief was by an application to Parliament. The Petition was then laid on 'the table. Mr. P. Moons moved the second reading of the St. Luker's Iron Railway Bill. An amendment was moved by Lord Henniker, that instead of now," it be read a second , time " this day six months." This produced some conversation,' the SPEAKER suggesting the propriety of the interference of the House to proteEt the rights of the pro►noters of the measure, by adjourning the debate to give time to collea their views (Nlr. Moore not being prepared on the subjeEt). At length Mr. Mellish having as certained in the interim that the parties were not anxious to press it, the Amendment of the Noble Lord was agreed to, and the Bill of course lost. REFORM AND ELECTIONS. Mr. BRAND gave notice that he should on the 21st of April bring forward his [notion - reSpojing the necessity of Parliamentary Refor►b. Also that a Right Hon. Friend of his (the Member for Ta vistock) would on that day Move for a Bill to amend the state of the Representation in Scotland. Also that, a NoSle Lord (Member for Peterborough) would on that day move for a Bill to amend the mode of taking the Polls . in EleCtions. LEGAL TENDERS IN IRELAND. Lord CASTLEREAGEI preSented a petition from the inhabitant's of Belfast and its neighbourhood, pray ing the extension of the Bank NOte Leg2l Tender BIN to Ireland. The Noble Lord observed, that his Right Hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Ex chequer, had given notice of his intention to bring in a Bill for continuing - the /ICI of last year ❑pon the subjeCt, which had omitted Ireland' in its opera tion, from a conviaion that in the then state of things it was impossible to extend the - provisions of the Bill to that kingdom. Since then the liberality of the landlords had applied relief to the causes which prevented the adoption of the measure, and his Right Hon. Friend' intended to 'propose the extension of the Bill he was about to move for, to Ireland. Mr. W. POLE begged to say a few words upon the subje6t. It appeared to him that the people of Ireland would be exposed to the most serious incon veniences, if the all alluded to by his Noble Friend was not extended to that country. The reason why his Rigle Hon. Friend (Mr. Perceval) did not include Ireland in the Bill last year, was, that it was. brought forward at so late a period of • the. Session, that there were very few of the Irish Members pre sent. He had returned to Ireland last year before the Bill was brought in, or he certainly should have proposed to have extended it to Ireland. The Irish Government, however, would have negle&- ed its duty, if it had not turned its atten tion to a s.ubjed which so materially affeeled the interests of the people of that country, and they did communicate with hiri Right Honourable Friend upon the subject ; but in the absence of almost all the Members for Ireland, his Right Honour able Friend did not think it expedient to adopt a ,measure of so much importance to that With regard to . the payment of rents fu'lre!:. ki, hegpd to st'i'rs that a great diversity : titev:l , lo.!; In some gases hndiords had aotett ;vith greet liberality towaro . then - tenants, and in of hers .act their raids in the most rigid madnter ; and the (acct was, that at this moment in three carts of • Ireland Batik-notes were taken _at their regular 'yalue, whereas in the other they lost above ,';() per cent.—. It, therefore, appeared to him that the subjec)., as far as was concerned, should be considered, and the c.lyatttftge enjoyed in England should bet extended to that part of the Kingdom. Mr. STEWARD approved_ of the melsine, . The Petition Was accordingly tead;aod l'aid on thin table. , - • , , • • • BANK NOTE LEGAL TENDER BILL. The CHANCELLOR of the Excueautut then rose, for the purpose of moving, that. the AA of InseSes, sion, making Bank Notes a legal tender, in certain cases, be continued under certain amereiments e and extended to Ireland. It was not necesary, he.ob-; served, in this stage of the . proceeding, .toemake many observatiOns, but looking. back to the discus sion that took place last Session when he introduced the same m.•asure, he V, , :ks : avare that the Bill (if the House permitted him to briegit hi) would. not pass without occasioning very considerable discus- sions. He would shortly state the course which he would propose the house to adopt on the present occasion. He had no intention Whatever of lior, rying the Bill through the House, as many .Gentle-e men for Ireland were at present necessarily .en gaged in that kingdom, and from the nature of their engagements, would not be enabled to attend tile discussions for some time; he should therefore pro rose to read the Bill a first and second time before the holidays, to have it committed and printed, and alter tie holidays, to consider the provisions of it, -in order that Gentlemen from Ireland might be pre sent at the discussions. He would now barely state the nature of the provisions which induced him to . recommend a continuance of the measure. He did not intend to make any other alteration in the pro. visions further than to extend the operation of the Bill to Ireland, and the propriety of proViding that payments of Bank Notes into Court, out o 4 Court, and in process of law, should be deemed le gal payments. Since the passing of the last Bill, he had ascertained that in the Courts of King's Bench, Common Pleas, and Exchequer, there had been bur three anions brought on the question of legality of tender. One was an anion of replevin, tried .be fore Lord Ellenborough, where a- tender of Bank Notes was proved, but in the present state of the law, that was deemed not a sufficient-answer to the action. The other was an ['talon of my Lord King against one of his tenants for the purpose of raising the question : the money was paid into Court, and the proceedings were consequently stayed, the No ble Lord having pies iously given notice that he would not receive Bank Notes as a legal tender.— The other was an a&ion of the same nature. These were the only cases which he bad been able to find upon record. According to the provisions of the Bill, it did not occasion any impediment to prose cutions if the public were inclined to quarrel with it, therefore he was justified in saying that there was no great dispositio❑ to resist the measure, nor did the public feel much oppression from ir. Be cause if they feltaggrieved, actions in many instances would have been brought. The circumstance of so 'few being instituted spewed that the public were not anxioes to procure money in payment of their demands. It therefore a►forded a strange confirm ation of what he had predicted last Session, name ly, that the desire of receiving payments in cash did not arise out of a feeling generally prevalent, but was confined to the party out of which the measure originated. The Right Hon. Gentleman observed, that it might be said that there wasno legislative mea sure to-cause that demand to any considerable ex, tent ; but it did not follow,. therefore, in con sequence that the, disposition to receive money should not be increased. The rarity of the instances must afford very considerable consolation to the House, because in passing !Ike measure, they were only gi►ing legal security to tfiat species of payment which the larger portion of the country were con tent to receive. With these few observations he should content himself, and move, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to continue anti( amend the 51st of the King, relating to Bank Notes, ankt to extend the provisions of the said Ad to Ireland," Lord FOLKSTONE•tOOk the earliest opportunity of entering his protest against the measure, and to ex, press his utter astonishment at the flippant manner in which the Right Honourable Gentleman had in troduced it, well knowing that the etfed of it would be nothing short of making Bank Notes a legal tender. The Right Honourable Gentleman had, last Session given his express promise and ,pledge that the measure should not be renewed h %NJ _Out .4 previous examination into the causes for its renewal. The measure now proposed would go infinitely be yond the one of last Session, and. the Right • Hon. Gentleman could not deny it. (Mr. Perceval said " No !") Well then, observed the Noble Lord, it will have the same effect, as if it did. There were a variety of circumstances which rendered it ntcessaty before the Bill passed, to have an examination into the causes for ~its adoption, to ascertain whether any inconvenience did arise at Belfast, as stated itt Noble Lord's petition, for, as he -understood, the only circulating medium in that quarter was gui neas, it would be well to consiJer whit was the state of debtor and creditor contracts in Ireland, be cause the Bill of last Session was introduced expressly to relieve tenants. It therefore, would be desirable to ascertain whether contracts tat Belfast and its vicinity were made with a view to payments in gold. He rather supposed that the Petition was from tenants to be relieved froiri pay ments in cash. With rasped to. the Bill, lie was prepared to maintain on the lace of it, that it ought not to be renewed ; there being.no pretrice for it, the circumstance which induced its 'adoption last, Session being removed. Instead of th e p rice o f go ld increasing it had diminished considerably. Besides, experience had shewn that it was futile in its oro visions, and easily evaded. The RiOt Hon. Gen.., derma had last Session argued, that it woud have the efild. of producing an influx of gold and silver, but it had produced - a tonally ditferenteffeet. To be sure, gold tell in price, but not front lie operation of the Bill. So far from.. it, citane iltLoughout the country had disappeared in conse quence. People in country towns were Obliged. to coin tokens, and passengers were compelled ta -