The Sun. — London, England, 1805-04-06 00:00:00

1:14.PER14 PAR'LIAMENt. .11011 SE OF PEERS. • FRIDAY, APRIL S. i _ . . - The Royal A ssent was g i vem brOommisston to the Customs and Exciste Additional Duties Bill, to the Additional Legacy Tax Bill, and to eleven Bills , of a'private or local description. s The Lord s C omra i ssoners were, the LORD Cieme7 titetdoe, Lord Waesteciima, and Lord Auct. LARD. 1 . The Bills up on the Table were forwarded in the ir ', 1 ttapedive st a g es , among t h em the 'lrish Spirit i Permit Bill, and the Bread Assize Bill, were read a second time; the American Tr. `Treaty, Neutral Ve • 1 ,, 4 1, Innkeep ers ' Allowarice, and Spanish T r ade 4 iills severally went through Committees of the ' whole House, without' Amendment, and were re. Ported; the Bengal Supreme Council Bill, and the Edinbu rg h P ol i ce Bill, were read a third tune and passed, On the occasion 'of the American Treaty and' Neutral Ships Bill being committed; Lord SHEFFIEen said, the Bill now before the House proposes to continue a Treaty .which con tains the must improvident concessions that can be made by a Maritime Country ; but as it is only fur one year, and th ere w ill b e another opportunity of discussing the subjeet, he should not then oppose the , . I " going int o a Committee, an d h e on l y meant now • If to protest against some of the terms ut that Treaty, le st exeeftetion should he formed, that ogjeftion Weted not be inade to them wilenever the question 101,111 tigAin be discussed.--Oro i sell ssed.—On the foreign American Ilittr etill r 5,,. 1,314, Lord Sit t FFIELD said, he should ' not o bjett to the Bill going to a Committee, as it ,t'its fo r a ii rnit , d period, hut that he could not sot ' . ler any susp t Hon of the N av i gat i on o r t ull/Oial§Y" th ten) to pass utterly un h ee d e d ,espec i ally at a time when British Ship Owners are labouring under severe d ;P re 'llon,marty oft Item almosfio insolvence, , throogh t ile Want of adequate employMene for their Siiipping, lh d from the great impositi ons an d difficulties to v'hieh they are subjeft ; an d 'h e s h ou l d ta k e t hi s op. ity of stat i ng, that unless the Navigation Mt is sttialy enforced, and the frofeeting Duties c eu.lized, se as to pot the British ship Owner on a l iming with the Neutral Owner, the Maritime rteeet of the Cuunt s ry will, i n a very f ew }ears , • .111 y annihilated. . (3 " the Motion of 'Jeri! AUCKLAN.Dc the Ac. counts lately presented respeeeing the atnoune of the Putt-Office Revenues for the last twenty yeareere epeetively, were ordered to be printed.. . a ., Several private Bills were brought upifrom .thee l..;)milions hy Mr. S. LEFEVRE, Mr. TRAIL, and oilier Gentlesnen, and respedively read a first time., Lord kIAWKESI3UItY moved the Order o f t h e Ij4 y for their Lordships' going into a Committee '') the Militia Rcdudion Bill. The House accord. . [ hely resolved into the Commiitee; and I r iOttlWAL. "Nrlll4 / 4 having taken the Chair, . The N06E.,:.;i,,:. P. E TART of STAT I I su ggested the eo nverlience, a'i h e knew of no Amendments.to be I'rOCuted, time of th of having Bill read short, in order to ' A ve the e Committie. 4 , ..filii 'fleeting t h e general eense ' of their Lord. l : g r M PS) Wag complied with, and the Clauses were e ed to by the C omm i ttee, without observation_ a nieodnient ; and t h e House resuming, the Be. '''' rr wma ferthwith received. Ltd HAWKESBUiLY then moved that the Bill be. , lea d a third timeem Ivioralay.—Orderede M N ! Van islegtuck, from, the Commissioners of ail! • Lord V a Copy of the last Letter of ~, i° 4l Viscount MaLVILLIZ, to the said Commit tiu,neri together with the Answer of the Board vv",e.rtt°3 pursuant to the Order of their Lordships ; which was ordered to lie on the Table. • tcr.4 v • lit 1 ," eeING, after slightly adverting to the pub s "eneftt accruing from the proceedings of the win? niissioners of Naval Inquiry, expressed his W h ether to learn from any of His Majesty's Ministers, tt Ziher it were the intention of Government to re. aeith.e!lill . 'to which authorised the Commissioners ' ' ° complete their investigation would be bb l'reftie 1 4c , 'able, in the course of the present Session, . 14 of their inquiries. t it te u'arlY with respea to one very important ob. namely, the concerns of the wh a e n t ir r t Board. He therefore wished -to learn, , er it were intended, or not, to prating the au. 111° . lit Y of the Commissioners 1 aetrd he k IJAWKESIWRY replied generally, that' kr 4 , n ew of no such determination on the , part of His th'sr',..tra Government ; - at least, he could not say the .. ne Wa s now so particularly informed as to sa,4 l " A re ntltios or sentiments of Ministers epon the ~. the as to-he able to give a decisive answer to reftestion of the Noble Baron. 44,,onnistered I,`,ll,!c)arhs of Abjuration and Fidelity being duly 1 0 - Me. I\44iihew Thomas Francis "411341 I B'll f I ter l' ' d • it le i or els ~atura izatton was tea 4 seconder - . . . C . me, and uferred to the consideratio n of a olOnsit tte. Lord fl • , Ni s m . isetESDURY presented, .by command' of Poo r, ire Y, Abstrao Accounts of tho State'of the tte_.it)t the years 4803 arid rao4; these were ex . ea TelY v6luminous, and were obliged to be brought They Wit la by one of the Servants of the House. id i Were, On the Motion of his Lordship, order.' 0 be printed. Mr, A k sou h I.IXANDIR, attended by Several Members", Xrd it t ti p from the Commons 'the Irish Militia ii„.44it)(l Sill.-- WhiChs on the Motion of Lord Pita ' d . " 11 "ItY. was forthwith reada first time. r ite Lewd Lur .4, second ti read . - shi p emceed that the Bill be printed, and me on Monday next,. and that their titles tr ti l'lPs be summoned fur that day ; whicit,on the 44 5'4 bring put were ordered atcordingly. Adjourned tilt dunday. nous OP COMMONS. Yltlalas A2'k2l,, 5. A Message from the Lords by the Black Rod re quiro the atteuddoce of the House at their Lot& k ul)t' Bar, where the Royal Assent was given kY ,wrtmissiun to the Additional Custom s aod Excise 4211 Bills, and, the Le gacy D uty Bill. ' A Me ssage from the Lords, by the Maners'in gal C.:O l i tt be" neerY s . Cll4 n,eed their Lordships' Assetit to the 131 l otifil3ol; 44ru. MAZOLLIANI brought iu 4 Bill for E .larg . . . ing the .Jail' of Portsmouth ; tiris read' a firsi time, and ordered to- be read a second rime. Mr. W. DI CKENSON: preiented additional Papers relative to Sir HaME POPHAM. . Sir H. MI DMAY moved, that these Papers be read at the Table, as they were of extreme import ance. Admiral M --AR.KHAM ohjefted, as none of the former Papers on this gubjed had been so read. A long conversation ensued, in which Sir R. BUXTON, Mr.. JEFFR I Rs, of Poole, and Sir W.Btra ROWS, sup. ported Sir H. MI LDMAY'S Motion. Lord TEM. Pcx declared, that he would in turn move, that all the other. Papers; relative to Sir H. POPHAM, be read in the same way. • The Motion was agreed to; and the,Clerk proceeded .to read the first Paper, whiCh .was a Letter from the Navy Board, explanatory of their Report. on the condua of Sir H. POPHAM, and certain circumstances conneded with that Report. The Clerk had proceeded for some time; but the Pa. per being of'great length, the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER suggested .the vast inconvenience of going through it, and recommended r an understand. ing, that such Papers should be read shortly, which was agreed to. The Papers were brdered to be printed. WEST INDIES. Mr. BAR NAM adverted to the alartp that pre. vailed on the state of our.affairs in'the West. Indies. The Right Hon. Gentleman opposite (the CHAN. CELLOS of the Excitequeit) knew the dismay in which the City was on this subjekt. It was con. caved that great mischief 144 hew done, and that the occasion of that-mi , chief had arisen from the neglect of Government. Whether that was the , case or nor, he would not bay, but he wished to pot some questions, wioi a view to ascertain whether proper measures had been taken for the security of our Possessiops and Property in that quarter,. that if such measures had been taken the *!enow. ledge of. the fat, might do away the alarm.— It sUch*lneasures had not been , taken, it would' be proper to . inquire why they. • had not ? He should, if it were necessary, move for such Ferrets as Would give information of all the measures taken since the commencement of the Wa r for _ the security of 'our West India Colonies ; but.,he would content him. self, in the present instance, with inquiring what information Government bad with, roped to the sailing of the RochefOrt Squadron, its force,its desti. , nation, and at what time this information had been received ? He should wish also for the instructions given to 'Admiral Cochrane, and•the dispatches re. :ceived from that Admiral from off Lisbon. He wished to denow, whether that Admiral sailed for the. West Indies, and at what time,, and what force he had with him ? • If these qnesiions.were satisfac.. cosily answered,. any Motion on the subjeCt would be unnecessary, as the time, was passed when the discloSnre they led to could be of :importance to the- Enemy. • The CHANCELLOR of the. EXCHEQUER' felt' himself Under the necessity of ablating in the strongest manner to the,questions ptnposed by the Hon. Gentleman. The 'time was by• no means. passed ',when the .disclosure of the particulars're. qeired - would be of importance to - the Enemy. On the cbntiary; it might be of the most material consequence to make these .particulars known to. them at present. He was certain, however, thin When the proper time Should come it would be evident' that there was no negted on the part of .His Maje s ty' s Government ; and he was sure the alarm that existed was beyond All proportion and almost, altogether unfounded. Mr. ST. JOHN said, there were, other Papers to•'whiCh his attentian had beed called, but it, the disclosure of them was of any importance, he would not press it. The Papers he alluded to were, an Account of our Naval Force in the West Indies in the last year ; 'and 4 similar Account for the ten years previous. The objedt was to shew, as he un. .derstood these Accounts would, that the Force in that quarter since the commencement of the War, was not greater thin that which had been kept there during the Peace. He gave notice, that he would move for these Papers on thelirst open day. • On the Motion of Sir W. SCOTT the House went into a Committee to consider of the Salaries of the Judges of the Vice Admiralty Courts, when they were fixed at the following sulns t for Malta, 30001. ; for the Bahama Islapds, 20001..; Bermuda, 20091. with an addition of an Annuity of *toool.—.The Report was ordered to be received on Monday. PROPERTY TAX. Tie . CHANCELi:ORof the EXCHEQUER moved, that the House should go into a Committee to consider of the propriety of some alterations he meant to propose in' the Property Tax MI : these were; first to facilitate the exemptions and reduetions, with respe to which there_ was now some diffi culty ; and'secondly, a provision for the better vatu. scion of Leases for Life or Years, with respett to which also there was some lovekhan at pre. sent: ,After- a few words from Mr. Fox, who stated that it was necessary to give additional facility to the ,abatements,, as the cxpence and trouble of going to the Commissoners,' or employing agents, frequently caused the holders of small annuities to acquiesce in the Tax .unnecessarily paid' for them by those from whom they derived this little income; from Mr.GAL. UK Awl,. who thought the exemption should be se. secured to Charities under 601. ; and Mr. BASTARD, who thought the Farmer should pay only ,for his aaual profits, and not for his estimated profits ac cording to the calculation of the Commissioners on the rent, leave was"given to bring in i Bill to repeal certain provisions of the Ad, and to consolidate and renter it more effeCtual. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said it was his wish that the Bill should be read a first and second time, and then printed, to lac considered during the H o lidays. The new regulation would be incorporated •with those of the' tomer'. ones that were suffered to remain, so that there woulti be but one Bill on the subject. The Chairman reported, and the Resolution was agreed to by the House. PREvENTioN OF SMUGGLING. The CHANCBLLOR of the EXCrQUER 'moved, that the kouse should go into a - (..ommittee to consider the propriety tA making some additionil provisions to check Smuggling, which would he ri.- most effedual means of augmenting the Public Re. venue. The first remedy he would 'propme• Wooi,l go to check 1110 smuggling of articies of hi t ,h duty, • • I • , sc . hich Were reiiiited to be colivqed- in ,packages over a certain size. lie would propose that such articles, improperly, Conveyed, should be seizable, if kind within too leagues of the English' coast, if in English Vessels, for, with respea to our own trade, we were at liberty to adopt ,what limits .we chose.. Another. provision would fie made with respeet to Guernsey and the Islands in • its vicinity, where Smuggling was carried on to an enormous amount. There would theref:)re be a distinct provision with respell to Vessels with packages below the legal size, approaching these Islands nearer than a certain distance. A further provision would be made,. when Ships were seized with. illegal packages on board, to' make the crews subjett to penalties, unles3 they transferred themselves, with their own consent, to His, Majesty's Navy. Thd'e smugglers who should resist the Officers of His Majesty's Customs to be subject to the same penalties which now applied to. resistance to Officers of the Revenue. The sale of seized spirits in the out.ports, . and the conveyance of spirits under proof, by permit, to he no longer allowed.; but all such spirits to he brought up to town, and applied in the best manner to the Public ServiCe. The Chairman of the , Currisnittee was instruded to move for leave-to brit.g in a Bill ac. emdingly ;. the Report was brought up, and leave was given. Mr. FRANCIS rose pursuant to his notice, and, in a very ooMprehensive Speech, enumerated the past transatlions, censured the present syst e m, and en. fervid the acknowledged policy of Britain_ in India. He began 'with representing, that in proportion as our Empire in that quarter increased, and it not's , comprehended the whole ?entre)ls, its burthens and its difficulties accumulated. This was a proof that it was not attended to by Parliament. PosSibly it may be too peat for 'Parliament toafford it that attention which it required.. If it was so, the greater the folly of eteritally tteeking to extend it still more. The extent and remoteness were unfailing sources of abuse ; but the most alarming part of the mischief was, that abuses generated Otte would soon be felt here, and that Empire, which, it properly governed, would be . a ,anuree of wealth and strength to us, would bring us but trouble, anti disaster, anti oppression. 'He took' the liberty of representing to the House, which. was so much changed with respea to its Members since he first entered it, why tie took such an interest in the,afe fairs of India. Here the Huh. Gentleman stated briefly and .runpatentationsly the circumstances' of his connexipn With India, since • he *first went out on a Parliamentary, appointment to the Council of Bengal, in 177 . 3, and the approbation which his conduet had received throughout. He thetf, - "traced the History of the British. Power in In. dia from its origin, in a permission to trade, throUgh the successive establishment of faaories, and. garrisons, to territories area conquests. - From the acquisition of Bengal in 1.765, it •had been the opinion of our 'wisest Politicians, .that `we. should rather study to preserve, than to in.. crease, 'our indien 'territory. Among these- able Politicians 'lie' mentioned Lord Clive as the first : Lard Clive had; restored the couquered possessions of Sujili Ui Dowlah, on -the express ground that 'the British 'Territory should be confined tai Bengal, Behar, and Orissa. This was the policy of, Mr. MASTrNas alto, whose name'he would never mention , but when he had an opportunity of mentioning it with approbation. The same principle was en.; forced in his instruftions. it wso, 045., whet( the French had an establishment at Pondicherry. Theve was a Resolutioo of, Parliement - to,the same effeet in :1782, - proposed by Lord MELVILLE, often at the head of the 'Bard df Controel. The same policy was insisted Lion in the Ael .of .t7S+, and in the Charter granted in t 793. But sinee that there had been continued deviai toes, and continual conquests, acquiesced. in by Parliament, and by she Country, as if success justified the violation of -the policy so clearly laid down by the law. To 'thew the magnitude of the British pOwer, and how little room there was for any apprehension as ta its security, he enumerated rite, naines,of the Soverei g n. ties either extinguished. by it, or so eompktely Merged, as to have. no longer an exittenceoulfiL;ient to alarm. Among these were the_Nebots-of Bengal, the Rajah of Bemires, the Nabob 'of Ode, the RP billet, the , Nabob of .Heliabaci, the -Nabob. of 'the Carnegie, the Mysore, in whicha child of five years old we's the Rsjsh, totally .dependent on the . Bri. tish power, the Rajah of Tanjore, the Sovereign of Delhi, the Rajah of Tr3V2IOCOO, the Subah 41 the Decan anti the Nizam. After all this, there. sure. ly 'Could be no apprehensions for our security from the Mehrattas. Marquis Wellesley—him. self had said, that on the extinaion of Tippon, our security in India was completely establish ed. He proceeded then to state the history of our interference in the disputes of the Matirattae. The Noble Marquis thought it .prudent to loins a league of neutrality with this people. This was difficult. •TheY Were under different Chiefs, and these Chiefs were at war with each other, but none of them was guilty of any aggression against us, As the first step to that which was thought so desirable for us, a Subsidiary Treaty was set on foot with the Peishwa, and it was proposed to him to receive a British Garrison into his capital, anti to eerie a portion of his territory for the maintenance of this Garrisen. The.Peithwa was by us sated the Sovereign, with a view to the uses we might make. of our can. nexiun with him ; 'but he was, in feet, hut the Mi. *lister of the Polygar Rajah ; and but a Fellow Chief of Holkar, Scindeah, and 'Bartle. Proposi. lions of a similar nature had heen made to Scin. deah, to whom our Ambasador had proposed to re. eeive British Garrisons into Agra and Delhi, anti to make a cession of Territory for the maintenance of these Garrisons The Ambassador was at the same time insttufted to.represent these offers as can. cessions for the security of this Chief. The Am. hissadors, Colonels Close and Allins, however, found thst there was in both instances tile most determined' aversion to this generous prottaion, and in their dispatches to the' Noble Marquis they excloimed most loudly against the wicked policy - of these Chiefs who were represented,' in various pasts _of ;the P..pers before t4d Hume, as inex r ienced youths. Oar . poticy afforded no, ho imurdbie contrASt with that of Tainetlane, who had t:, .sated he COI quer, but tu lac a iltittt SOVereign,' While we inundated ourselve9 as teaors but to subdue. Here the Hon. Gentlemad. adverted to the reasons given in stoiptirt of the War, which lie considered as . eXtreinely weak.-4 First,. as to the necessity of providing againsc the - Frencharwer in India ; there was, nu , such power. Lord Melvi!le and Lard Curnwallis had said, that the reduition of Tippoo destrdy . a ed the French . power: The so touch talked. of French force, tinder General Perron, did .not contain a dozen Frenchmen, and these, with Per. roll at; their head, were disgusted with- the Chiefi whorls they served, and desirous of, nothing mere than to be. allowed by tin to retire thr tugh our ter. ritory with their. wealth. He considered that the instruaions in European taaics, whiclowere se much dweltupon, went to ruin the military strength of the M thretras, who, like the Nubians of old, were formidable only by irregular &id desultory attacks, and rapid retreats. As an immense body. of Cavalry they were to be feared ; when on foot, and seeking to form themselves by European tanks, they were tube despised. He had to state further, that rite Malt. ,rattan, averse as they were to British alliaece, were still mare so,to connecting themselves with the French,. The Marquis Wellesley proposed to treat ' the. independent Marinate Chiefs as enemies if they opposed the placing of a British Garrison in Pooneh.;' What ! If - the Emperor of Austria had a dispute with 'seine of his States, and Bonaparte effcred to place a French Garr isonin Vienna, to guarantee his power, would it 'be contended that the Eleaort had no right to be jsalous for the independence of the Empire, -or to oppose the introduction of ssk Foreign Force t . The cases were, extaly the same. And the wereohe people of whose ambition we compleined, a while our Armies were in the heart of their territury; andwhese, rapacity we found so in.: tolerable, While ,we had Garrisons its their Capitals; and cleimed these doinioions for the support in' these Gtrrisons.. He - represented the danger of n'ew wars; which, though they could not reduce the British Power, would harass it with unprofitable campaign, lug,. so as to exhaust the Colonial Revenues, ant'' throw back as a Inn-then on Our.dotnestie resources what- ought rather to be a means of relief and as. sistance. He represented the. (longer, when oui. European Force was dispersed in small parties, of the Savoys being seduced by the Native Princes, an d t h e Bramins, their Emissaries, to join in' one ; concerted enrt to free themselves front our yoke. Nothing was. .mrire likely, to excite eltia general spieit than the intrbdatioe of British Garrisons into the Capitals of , the Naive Powers. A force of 25,000 Europeans, 20:000Kiug's troops, and !..:oo ef the Company's, spread over the vast extent a 1 coon. try which was comprehended in our territory, and the - , scent: of out military enierprizea, atf toted hut an' uncertain security against enterprizes taf (iiie kind, He therefore lamented that all the recent succei-es were gained at. so great an expense , of that Euroo pean blood which shophi. be 'preserved as the de. fence of our possessions- against native invasienp• conspiracy, insurreaitm, and rebellien. In sten_ tning,up the heads 'est: the arguments wills Which he prefaced his. Metioe, he paid a high compliment to the tolenttoof Marquis Wetoistey, Whith would be of the highest sere Cc. to his Country in auto. titer situation—but in. India they 'operated in dire.t opposition io the acknowledged policy of Britain in, that quarter.. The known qualities of Ole sue.. censor of the. Noble Movie,. indicated the fallacy of. the eystemihe,had,pur sued, 'as the remedy shoot! the disease. The fins earmee and moderation of Marquis Coe okeotOts, whose whole condua" and history merited utiveried approbatioe, wuuid, ha hoped, restore our o Fenpire in the )last Indie s to the eituati )11 it ought to lie in. I lie Motion would be shaped in such a may as to cast no refl:dion on,any oersoti. He did not•touch, on ehe War with kar,, becathe we were not informed ut its rnetives•; it atm . & hila that it: was a breach of the low that . . the Noble Marquis had rot sent advices of these things within .the year. eince the War had torsi. meneed. , He totiched on the situation of the , ivloo gel, and thought it worthy ^of the generosity of" Britain to make n provision for this unbrtursate scenthot of Tamerlane : there wes but one other fall to be colt:pared ,thiS--,it• was that of the Biorbons. lie concluded with moviog a Reseluo " That this House -adheres to the principles' of the Resolution unaeimonsly Agreed, to on the 21sr Ntly, a 782, recognized and edopted by two successive Aas of the Legislatere; that pursuing schemes of conquest in India was foreign to the wish, the honour, _.and th'e pelicy of admin."' Lord C 4STLiiR EAG H rose to zcpiy to the speech of the Hon. Gentleman, who, in his opinion, 41 unnecessarily endeavoured to eetablishett his claim to the attention of the (louse, by stating the ripe. Bence which he possessed on the affairs of India. He would, however, observe, ,that -the Hut, Gear. Skin iii'S atteFttitAt had chiefly, beers diretted to the financial concerns of our Asiatic Possessions, anti that he had seldnin,iocluded in his view the eaten.; s i oe range o f our political interests in that quarter‘ The. Noble Lord exposed the impossibility of en. tering, with any degree of accuracy, into (Ise his. Intl of such a large Empire as that of the F.llO. in the short space of a single night, anti the unreason. ableness of calling upon the House on so-superficial an examination of thesubjed, to seal the ignominy of the proceedings of the taut thirty yea rs , an d to as , sett that the a system pursued during that , period had been one of oppression and rapine. The' mode in which the Hon. Gentleman had coroluaed his argument rendered it peColiarly„ difficelt to - ans;Ver He had a tl e tt e d front the ito e. meese volum of Papers on. tilt Table prticorar,• pato-ages which he conceived calculated to maiittain tise. eo:itions ad. vanced by him , Lott die Hoose rtiUst convinced, that unless the context .were likewise produced, suah a Ocooedote was in the highest degtoe totfair. What rendered, the ditiaulty styli wearer was, that tioril this mon:lt:ea he was utterly unepprieed of the specia lie nPfUre, of the Honottruble Geul.frivAn i s Motion, which the House must reeolleti he had on 4 ior. , suer oec.isiori itt vain Cliciereitnifed to draw f rom huts. I„.Jfitt thele" difiaClV‘Mt4ges, 00,,,,0,r,a lie would, with .as little delay as possible, tronow tie Honourable -Gentleman through the gent,rel lines of his aceutraorts. A main Vit t of she Hanuerable Gentlemen's. argu7neut was the con strufli in that he put on the Ciause of tire tOs. Petliament, which declared what ought to b' is k