The Sun. — London, England, 1812-01-08 00:00:00

lade Mice on gimiiai'4ubjeet by a Stoble Lord, or ke the call of "No Popery, with which the pea !nt Administration endeavoured to render auspicious tE operii^ and confirm the establishment of their ewer. But exporience might tell At)em with what I , erils and calamities such calls might be attended. l e, for one, was extremely well disposed to give very support in iris power to what he conceived 'Quid give vigour and efficacy to the Prince Re- Government. But the call on which the iuble Secretary seemed so much to rely, for up tolding the Government, .if answered in the spirit n which he feared it would be made, instead of ending to the support ot the Regent's Government, Pnuld, in his apprehension, rather contribute to r . ecipttate it. downfall. The Ear: 0 Livaaroot., in explanation, assured :he "Noble Dat-;e that he had .wholly mistaken his Intention and his meaning. When he talked of a call on the county y for their support of the Prince qegent's G.werninent, it was on no'narrow and par tial (=round that he rested his confidence, that the Call U . otild be tavonrably and almost universally an swered. In ,snaking use. of that expression, he C hiefly referred to t'he foreign politics and the fo rteign rel at i ons o f t h e ki ng d om , and on those points, he did not hesitate to say, that Government would have the approbation and ,ipplause ot a very gre.rt ii ) a i"ritt of the people. As to the ripd of any nble Lord to complain of what the Speech " li ned; as well as of what it contained, it was . r iver his int en ti on to 'dispute. It was impossible r eve.ry thing equally prominent in a Speech, L'?‘ it any essential happene to be omitted, any Aloble Lord was sorely at liberty to take the earliest P " ° ""nitvof bringing it under the consideration " the , FlTzwut.ram also conjured tLeir Lordships not to allow any, , telay to interpose, before they took Ihe state o f I re l an d i nto th e ir serious con-id - ration. 4t Was a subjea i n hi,: mind equally urgent and int- P e rtant ; and viewing it in that light, he should feel it 'us duty to call the attention of their Lordships to 't on a , early a day as possible. Inceedi I A: 0 '1 1 d delay it beyond Friday se'nnight ; and "'et: Lordships were accordingly, summoned fo , that (Li.: Lo —EIENVILLE could n t but make an obst Batt'' .or two, io 'cons-quence of the explanation \v lliett had just been givt'.•n by the Noble Secretary () IShte. Th, Noble n Lord see , ed to make an in -81 ;1113 ' , 00, %-hich h- had neither explained nor ju,..ti t ed. t:.ot tie (lord G.enville) had pledged himself (" c clir i„ - the call of general support toile Go -1,) ernment of the Prince Regent. He was perfectly SNnttble of the feat diffil!tNlties which surrounded the al.v tut station which was cast upon his . Royal 411 ghness, and nt- was ready to support him in sur mounting those difficulties which should be brought 31)(111 Win by the advice oi incapable Counsel -103• But be tie%er rua ! le,- nor would he make a n. Y- potnise of an ou•zpalitied support ,to any Go- Ir erhrnent. i Lola LivEßroot hsving intended any such i llinuation, or of 11,-iv ng called for the general sup trt cf the country, uaress on the grounds which e had already sAated. THE SPANISH COLONIES. Lord HOLLAND wished to take the earliest op. turtunity o f putting a question to a Noble Mir. dais (Wellesley), respeoing a transaLtion- which he ~ ` ,._ onsith.red as of the utmost importance, and. as one hid), if not spet-dilv brooght to some issue, might 1 4 all probability lead to the most ealatnitous results. A r hat 11.! had% in view was, the proposed mediation of the British GoVernment between the Spanish C olonies add the Mother Country. More than a Year and a half hid elapsed since the Caraccassnew.. 6 ' l a disposition, indeed a ddermination, to throw 421 their allegiance to the Spanish Goveinmeni, and that determination had since been carried into exe cution. Other paits of the Spanish pos‘essides had imitated the example, which had given rise to such 8 1 44041aq strife, and such sacrifice of human. '''es on both smdes,•that there was no calc ulatin g the mass of miseries w Blots any delay of the proposed mediation might produce. It was true that a .Ctitn... !fission had been appointed to carry that Med i a t i on Into effect ; but it did pot seen) to make any pro gress,Jar even to prepare and proceed to the arrange nlettt of the business upon which it w as su pp osed t hey were to be ernploved. He did net p retend to ,be very minuiely or very correctly informed on the 4 ubjeci. But he had acquiesced in the views which the Noble Marquis seemed to have taken of the I'lbject ; and he did expect that certain steps would ev e been taken without delay, correspondent to the nature of those views. Had these steps been taken, tr when were they likely to be takeh ? was the lfestion which he had now risen, to pUt to the loble narquis. Marquis WELLESLEY, in reply to the Noble *Lord, observed, that every step indicated by the •rlew of the subject which the Noble Lord did him the honour fo approve, bad been duly taken; and that if the mitter did not proceed with that celerity ' 4 'hiett might be wished, the delay was owing to those endless oh:MutU.l.ls which inveterate preju dices, narrow notions, conflicting interests, and the 'elfish spilit of monopoly never tailed: to throw in the way of time accomplish:nent of such an objeo.-,- As soon as could be, the Commission was appoint ed, and preparations made for its departure. The 'tharge of delay was not imputable to the British Go ‘'ernment ; they were all to a man anxious to price wed in this delicate business With dis- Patch. But the obstructions, and difficulties which t hey had horn so many quarters to encounter, were ;. ,. 110 t of a nature to be suraionnied on a sudden, or to 'e i removed by' ordinary means. It was necessary ,(,) approach with every possible deg ree of caution, rtidence, and cirumSpetlion ; and they hod accord:. Itialy been so approached. To tm eat the question in 44 abrupt and unconciliatory manner, would neces 4arily have put the issue to the utmost hazard. He , • sted the causes of delay would soon be. get over, Ind then- it would appear that there was no back "'artiness on our part to enter on the business of c onciliation with all the desirable dispatch. L ,I-Ord HOLLAND considered the answeref the No ;'e Marquis as rather vague and general, and there we not a satisfactory one to his question. 'he MMarquis WELLESLEY hd d to give Noble Lord as distinda an answer as endeavoure it was pos sible for him to give. Lord HO-LLAND said he was resolved to make in quiry into the subject, and he should theretore, on lukne early day, move for information respeding it, Wert he only to get those papers which were already notorious to the world. NOTICES. The Earl of LIVERPOOL gave notice, that on' Thursday next he should move for the Examination of the Physicians attending on his Majesty, Lord LIVERPOOL also gave notice, that on Friday next he should move the Thanks of that House to Lord Minto, and to Sir Samuel Auchmuty-and the gallant Army who had achieved the conquest of the Island of Java. Lord WALSINGILM was re-chosen Chairman of the Committee of their Lordships.—After which the House adjourned till Thursday: HOUSE OF COMMONS, TUESDAY, JAN. 7. The SPEAKER came down to the House about halt past three- o'clock. In a few ruit.utes after, the Deputy Usher of the Black Rod summoned, the attendance of the House in the House of Peers, to hear the Speech on the opening of the Session. The SPEAKER, attended by .the Members then present. in the House, went up to the House of Peers. NEW WRITS. the On their return, the SPEAKER acquainted House, that during the Recess, he had issued‘Writs for the Election of a Members fur the following pi aces' : For Fortrose, in the room of Peter Baillie, Esq. deceased ; for the city of York, in the room of Sir William Mordaont Milner, Bart'. deceased; for Tot ness, in the room of Wiltiain Adams; Esq. deceased ;. for Shrewsbury, in the room of Sir Thomas Tyrwhit Jones, Bari. deceased ; and for &Ist Grinstead, in the room of Sir Nathaniel Holland, Bart. deceased. New Writs were also ordered for the following places : For Weymouth, in the room of Sir J. Lowther Johnstone, Bert. deceased; for Lewes, in the room of Henry Phelley, Esq. deceased ; for ,Barnstaple, in the room of George Woodford Thelluson, Esq. deceased; and for Aldbororigh, in the room of John Macinahon, Esq. who slice his elet..tion, has ac cepted the Office of Pay-Master of Widows' Pen sions. The usual Bills (among which was the Clandes ine'Outlawry Bill) was read a first time. same principles - Which governed the:condo& the British Government at that time, Which were a de testation of the principles of liberty. To shew the faa was so, he might refer to many advocates of war ; the chief of them was Mr. Burke:who cer tainly wrote eloquently, but in his writings there was little of principle. When the war began, it was pretended to be about the opening of the Scheldt, a war for the Dutch, and so on ; it was continued under one pretext or the other, until at last the country was placed in its present situation, and the question now is, i‘ What are we at war for?" He knew it would be said in reply, " For the inde pendence of Spain." 'What then ? it became ne cessary for this country, so tond of liberty,•to.fight for ,the independence of Spain ! How was that in dependence to be secured ? Why, by placing on the Throne again a Sovereign who betrayed his country, and whom the peeople deposed. But then, it would be contended, he has rights. It, seethed. very singular that Government should understand the rights of Sovereigns, and deny the rights of the People. If Spain was lost, it would be in conse quence of the ' disiuchnation on our part to foster that spirit, which, properly supported and encou raged, could alone counteract the designs of France ; the love of freedoM, which was the primary cause of the revolution. In canvassing the topics in the speech, he begged to be understood as taking the speech as that of the Minister. To hold out hopes which no rational man can entertain was reprehensible—there was no chance of driving the French out )f Spain. Therefore, when he :mired the brightni T ss of the laurels which our arms had gained, he lamented at the same time that these laurels were barren, and that the results of our victories were little shot t of defeats. It was true General Hill had routed a small disision of the French, in which the utmost gallantry was displayed, but what could be ex pected from ,any exertions in the Peninsula ? Such was the situation of affairs abroad, but what was our situation at home ? Was it for .us, who' were erecting fortresses at home; to talk of suc cesses in the cause of freedom ? Why we .h.ad ex perienced nothing but failures, and the most re markable cause for these failures was the support which we uniformly and constantly gate to despo tism. It might be said, "Do the French *proclaim in their career the principles of liberty, and give it to all the world ?"—They did not ; out then they had the good sense to try to concili to the people of the countries they subdued, by getting rid of what ever was obnoxious to them in their Government. Was that our condu& in Spain ? It was not, In the very part, and the only part which was : in our possession, the Inquisition is suffred to remain. But what must strike every person with astonish ment was, that we. were fighting in Spain to Main tain the Catholic religion, to the exclu4ion of all others, while in England we refuse co-receive as al iies the most valuable part of the nation, because they profess the Catholic religion. The people of Ireland might well complain; t here was something almost amounting to treachery to the nation, in : keeping up the ferment in that part of the United Kingdom. It was . extraordinary that the Speech did not notice the slate of Ireland. It contained all the faults which could be inserted, by calling upon the nipposeet Representatives of the People.—(A cry of Oraer, Order !) Tise-SpaAttlpor.." That is not language which the HoUse can hear." Sir FRANCIS BURDETT proceeded. He did not consider he had ustal language which was unparlia inentary. If it could be proved that many of the Representatives were nut sent by the people; that the baiter for seats in Parliament was common ; that it had been avowed, and not only avowed that such suadices wete used, but that " it was es notorious as the sun at noon-day." then he thotight it was not necessary to be so over scrupulous and delicate in the epithets which he might use in the course of his speech. After what the House had heard on the subject dining a former Session, it would tot be conceived, he contended, that this 'House was the pure representation of the people at large. The . Hon. Baronet then recurred to the topics in the speech, and expressed his concern that the restriaions should have been imposed on his Royal Highness the PanaCe RedetsT, who ought not to tie shackled —those restrictions were insulting, and ought not to have been brought forward. However unfortu nate the people might think themselves on the oc casion, they would now have the happiness to re flect, that the time would soon expire when these restrictions would be removed, and the Execu tive Government be restored. Then they might expect to see that liberal system of English Po licy (to whiCh his Royal Highness had often pledg ed himself to adhere) once more effective; a sys tem which, at the close of the reign of George 11. had raised this country to the pinnacle of glory, and which again practised, we should be more se cure, more happy, and have mere glory. The Prince had seen persons of great abilities exer cise their talents on the subject of Government 5 some were advocates for an absolute form of -Go vernment, others for an aristocratical, and others (or a di.irpocrey, nod some had written in favour of` a mixed form ; but not one had written in fa vour of an oligarchy—an oligarchy of rotten bo toughs, which could not be found in the system of any other. Government but of England. .That oli garchy was the root of all the evils which at pre sent overwhelm the country. It was for the pur pose of calling the 'attention of the Prince to these evils that he now proposed the Address—evils which had led to the most serious consequences-- abroad, Sovereigns were chased from their thrones, Or abon.)Uned their, and at list were compelled to receive a scanty pittance of the kingdoms over which they reigned, at the hand of 'Buona parte. While such practices were catrying on .at. home, it was idle to call this country the w isest the brave'st, and the most free of all the nations in Europe. If we turned from the Continent, and looked at home, there was nothing consolatory— taxation he'd increased to an alarming degree; the industry chile people was paralysed by the frequent demands from the Government for -money, unt il at lerigth pauperism had ensued, and the vast sums thus raised - were extravagantly wasted. The Col let:tors of Taxes, though acting under an An of Parliament, were not acting coustitntionally, The exa&ious of Empaon and . Duciley, ice the Reign of Henry VIII. called forth the indignation of, the people s and they were consigned __to the block; for acting under the .ariCtion of an &c of Yana. gal. thent. the plea of an AR of Parliament jid not excuse them. Now, what was the situa- tion nt the country, burthened as it ttns with Sur veyot•s and Surcharges ? Every tnnut.y in the kingdom now had its Empsons and its budieys: In proportion as this system of extortion inektlasvd, the Government proceeded . in other respeas to eti= slave the people; and by the erection of fottressesi under the name of barracks, took ..nilitary possefsion of the country. They augmented the military force, and hired a great number of foreign mercenary Gentians. Could any thing be more awfti;ly alarm- ing ? The principal retnoustrance of the House of Commons,' in the-reign of Charles the First, was having 1 000 foreigners in his pay. Indeed the whole of the condo& of Government seemed as if they had lost all feeling ; our own soldiers were • , compelled to wear - a German garb, e, ith whiskers and trappings attached-to their dress. Were the enemy more alarmed at the sight of a pair of Gers man whiskers, than they would be at tf front of a smooth-laced Englishman ? Could any thing par lake .more of absurdity and of fol;v ? But these follies perhaps are intended as blinds to other and greater enormities. These were some of the griev ances. Another was, that system of military di.cis pline, as it is called, which was coining home very fast upon the - backs of all the people. Tee ery name of a Local Ailititiatnan was now dreaded : every man who is the lather of a family is liable to be diaggt d from his home under the Local Militia Aa and flog - ged s and it was no exaggefation to say s that this nation is 4` . a_flogged nation." Amongst the various goevances under which the country bends, in addition to extortioners and tax-gatherers, may be stated a subject which it was ituPossibie to pass over, viz. the Liberty of the Press, the resiric lions on which might be taken as the fair barome;er of the conduct of any Goternment. Wien we looked at the numerous informations CrlCOliSt it utiOtl , ally filed by the Attorney General ex officio, and re. collected that by virtue of such a power he might ex ercise it as often as he pleased, end prosecute whom he liked, the illegality of such a mode of proceeding was much to be deprecated. The number of eX q t . - fici q informations filed within the last few years ex- , seeded all that had ever been filed since the Re.olus Lion. The partiality evinced in these prosecutions. when some were hi - might up for jueement, and others excused, was a grievance which required re medy. It was the practice of some of the Jtidges to anticipate guilt, as in a recent caserthat of White, but the verd.ct of -an English Jury decided other wise ;—.others,, who were convicted, were sent to distant gaols, heavily fined, and itopiisoned in soli tary cells.. With such proceedings in stew, the . Hun: Baronet really thought there •.s as not much for the people to cangratulate themselves upon, in - respect to the boasted liberty of the press. The lon. Baronet concluded with sating, that he had proposed an Address, which would embrace all the :topics upon, which he had dilated, and to which he•; wished to call the attention of • his Royal Highness. He then , read Isis Adthess, which extended to au ; unusual length ; two of the passages in- it forced a . laugh from the House—they were as follows : .-- ", the British flag seemed to have waved only its hostility to .the happiness of mankind and of liberty." Under the name of redeemnig the Land Tax, a general (... , ;cation of property has taken place." • Lord CoctiaAt...N¢ seconded the A , ,ldress. of the Hon. Baronet, but in so low a tone of voice that we could not hear hint correctly. He was of opinion that the &hist) torce; in ihe Peniasula wee not able to cope with those of Buonaparie—that no hopes of ultimate success could arMe from the prutrad:on of the war in that quarter. He coadewned the con. dud of our Government with respect to Sicily, whith kingdom he thought, was under the most despotic. 'orm of Government, wita the exception of Porto. From thence theNo-.fle Lord took a short view ~ the situation of affairs at home, to which he agreed with all that the Hon. Mover had stated; and in the course of stating his opinion as to the war in due Peninsula (to which he recurred back), mentioned • what he conceived the House would think a curious fad, viz. thatal s ie bullocks and sheep , which are des-' tined for the support of our army, pass through the French army, the Officers of which receive bribes fur the permission of passage. The Address proposed by Sir Francis Burdett was then read from the Chair.—On the question being put— Lord JocuLvet rose and said, that, differing as he did, tromohe •Hon.• Baronet, in all the extra. neeus matter which he had introduced, he should throw himself on the indulgence of the Heuser while he confined himself to a review of thostitopics which were contained in the Speech of his Royal Highness the Prince Regent. The House, he was convinced, must join in those sentiinen s of resoer expressed therein, upon - the state of his Majesty's health; -and if so humble an individual as * hi iliSel f might undertake to condole with the feelings-of the• country upon this melancholy subjed, he would re-' -fer them to the attachment which his Majesty had ever borne to• the Constitution, and in which he was zealously imitated by his Royal Highness. l-fe drad no' doubt, that on recurring to the re colledion of his paternal cafe, they would be anxious to evince every respell to his Royal. Person, and -so to- provide, that if it pleased God he should awake from his trance, he Wight -find himself surrounded with a splendour ‘vlecis: should mark our gratitude; it was but a debt which we largely owed, for the care, the anxiety, and the justice -with which he had governed us so long. rhe time was now . , nigh, when the restrictionsiaos posed upon' the Prince Regent - Would cease ; and, ' however he might have differed originally,' as • to. a r 1 (1 11 e t he pr w o o p r r l i d et ayt- large,of irn p h o o s i w n , m t u h c e h m i , g i e h teobuchili [toped -avoid regarding them- at- this moment as so may proofs- of. -the. -anxiety of his. Highness to promote the. ood of - the people under any eircuee. stances. No man, he - was persuaded, on whatever side of the House he' was accustomed to_sit, enu:d withhold his approbation of the undaunted bravely and brilliant services of our army -in Portugal. :Nv man, he - was pet suaded, whatever his political opt- Iltorls might be, could deny to his (Lord Jocely it's) countrynian, Lord Wellington, the praise to whit:4 he was emitled, for manifesting to the Contineoe, front the efforts of an indignant nation, assisted by . 13,itish skill and intrepidity. But while 'he bore. , : testimony to the conduct of our own troops, l', would be wrong to pass over _that of our ,Allie 4, who,, under another gallant countryman - of hts, . Qsomal <Beresford, had done honour to the cause VOTE OF THANKS. - - . The Right Hon. Gentleman also acquainted the House that he had tecelved a letter from General Lord Viscount Wellington, *losing one from Gen. Blake, dated Purtalegre, 25th July, in return for Ihe Vote of Thanks of the 11th July to that gal lant General for his condua at the Battleof Albue ra, expressive of his gratit.ucle, in common with the Spanish Nation, for tlie assistance atiolded by the British Arius which had produced. such happy et-Yetis. PRINCE REGENT'S SPEECH. After a pallid' of some length, the SPEAKER. stated that the House had been in the 1--louse o f Peers, where the Lords Commissioners, authorized by his - Majesty's Commission, had delivered a Speech,. of which, to prevent - mistakes, he had obtained a copy.—(See lhe Lords,) • THE AIYDRESS. Lord JOCELYN rose for the. purpose of moving at Address, in the usual form of Parliamentary pro ceeding , , to the SpeeCh, but Sir FP,Ascts BURDETT, arose at the same moment also and claimed the at tention of the House. Tne SPEAKER informed the Hon. Baronet, that if he wished to address the House, .he was entirely in possession ,ot it. Sir FRANCIS BURDETT replied, that he rinst cer tainly did. The SPEAKER ordered the Hon. Baronet to pro. ceed. Sir FRANCIS BURDETT then stated, that be was extremely anxious to catch the .tirst.Motnent be could of offering his sentiments upon the present si tuation of thecountry. Its situation was so extra ordinary, from the system which had been pursued for a great number of years, and the resources were so reduced, that he conceived it to be his bounden duty to layl346re his Royal Highness the Prince Regent such an Address, as should draw forth the attention of his Royal Highness to the real slate of the country. In addressing his Royal High ness in the language ut truth, when stating the grievances under which the country Ebours, he telt, he should be doing. not. only what was most imputtant to the Prince, but to the country also. He felt .also that he should be addressing a Prince whose mind is differently construct ed from all the Princes who, -in the history of the country, had preceded him ; and wlwsat man ners, though pleasing, were so often mischievous. — It would be pleasing, therefore, to address a Prince, whose comprehensive understanding and magnani mity of mind would make, him., alive to the.dangets of the country. In submitting the Address for the approbation of the KOUSZ, he should propose to con cur with all those topics ir. the Spy-cell which reler to the exploits of our arms, and winch the exigen, cies of the times demand. He had heard with faction of those exptuits, and what man existed , that did nor participate in common with our brave coon trytnen in .arms—that did not give to them all that character of courage at least which was.emiuently possessed by our forefathers? But in the struggle in which they had been so bravely engaged, be saw none of - that ancient character, of the love of freedom for which our forefathers were so renowned. Indeed, thecoirdua of the war for the last eighteen -years, and he should not be overstating the period, were lie to say for half a century, had been of a nature to justify an opinion that the system which the Go vernment pursued .was wrong. Each year produced circumstances more calamitous than the preceding year, and evidently strewed that there was something radically wrong in theisystem. Having premised thus much, he would point out where the perma nent cause of all these calamit , ei was. In so doing, he should not • have' far back to search. It began, he might say, in'the American war.. If theGoven . m ent at that time had attended to the suggestions thrown out—to-the warning voice which was then raised. Ametica might have now heen.in union with this country ; but the Minister of that, day w-as deaf to the voice of wisdom, and the result was the separation of America horn the mother coon- Ftry. The zresent ,war was beg. Li on the very