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

hem. The provisions of the Biil, as he had ob er-e were evaded in respeEt to selling guineas, Oor the offence was selling them for Bank of Eng land notes ; now, persons inclined to speculaie, had only to procure Country B uik notes, and they avoid ed the penalties of the B;11. Various means had been resorted to for entrapping the unwary into the ,cornmiqion of toe crime ; Bow-street officers were employed fur the purpose, and yet only one coe viaion had occurred ; the Bill, therefore, in his opinion, was useless, and lie trusted the House Vl , ould pause before they consented to permit the Right Hon. Gentleman to introduce another of the same kind. Lord CASTLEREAGH was not disposod at present to go into any arguments on the B. 11." He should enly notice that the Noble Lord seemed to adhere lo the opinions entertained by him last Session, and to press hi , opposition before the Bill was brought iii. He wished to correa him in two points, in %virich he appeared to be under 'misapprehension wi,h respeß t. what be (Lord C.) and his Right lon. Friend had stated. The reason which he had for not extending the measure to Ireland last Ses sion, was on account of the absence of many Irish Members, and not from any view that. it would not be desirable for that coun!ry. He had stated that it was his opinion that the circumstances of Ireland, in acettain degree, varied from those of England, so as to exclude at that time its introduction. As to the supposed pledge 01 his Right Hon. Friend, he apprehended that be had stated quite the reverse of what the Noble Lord had imputed to him ; for his Right Hon. Friend had stated, that it nothing short of making Bank notes a legal tender would serve to cornea the evil, .a remedy to that extent must be applied; Ile thought, that so long as the Bank of Engiand were prohibited by law from paying their notes in gold, the Legislature owed it to the subjea to protea him against any demands which were not under-these circumstances equitable ; because, by not affording that protection, great injustice would be done to the subjeds of the realm. In that opi nion his Right Hon. Friend had coincided. With resr;e6l to the practice i4l Belfast and its vicinity, the Noble Lord was misinformed, for the practice was the reverse of what - he had stated ; commas were made there to ptfy in pounds sterling, and not in gold. Guineas bad ceased to be the.• circulating medium, and therefore the subjeti could not pay his debts in gold. Lord 'FOLKESTONE, in "explanation, expressed his concern that he should have misunderstood the Noble Lord and the Right Hon. Gentleman; Mr. TIERNE2' would not oppose the bringing in. of the Bill, for a Bill of more impottance than.the one now proposed had seldom been moved for, or one that more required the serious deliberation of Parliament, and which ought to be thoroughly un derstood here and elsewhere. He was not prepared to say that in any one stage of the Bill he should trouble the House with his opinions. It had been most amply and fully discussed in one of the ablest reports of the committee of last Session, strength ened by subsequent discussions upon that report. — Much obloquy had been thrown upon those g:ving their opinions upon Lord Stanhope's Bill.; they had been charged with wishing to throw .public credit into contusion ; it was therefore an ungraCious task now to venture upon discussion. Much encourage ment could not be expected when having got from bad to worse, it he attempted to discuss the pro priety of the measure. The speech of the Right Honourable Gentleman would warrant him in say ing, that to all intents and purposes the objed of the present Bill was to make Bank note; a legal tender.—(Mr. Perceval shook his head.)—He was to understand by that motion he was wring in his assumption, but he would defy the Right Honour able Gentleman to prove the contrary. Was be to understand then they were legal tender only when pet s.ns were sued in Courts of Justice ) What law could compel him to part with his goods without money, and did not this Bill go that length ? Sup pose, for instance, he were to,go into a silversmith's shop and contrad for i QOOl. watt') of plate, which of course %you'd be delivered to him, and tendered Bank notes in payment, the shopkeeper under the Bill dare not refuse to deliver the goods. If he did lie (Mr. T.) could sue him in a Coors of Law for the performance of his contra&. Arguments how ever were unnecessary, and he would not press them on the House either now nor at any future time.— He twat satisfied, that in bringing the measure for ward, the Right Honourable Gentleman must feel infinite pain at heart ; but the fa& was, that the Right Honourable Gentleman was compelled to the measure by his intercourse with the Bank of Eng land, and dare not meddle with them. The Bank Corporation were hi; masters ; on them the whole '• of the finances of the country depended. His No ble Fiend had stated the necessity, of entering into an examination of the affairs of the Bank ; that, however, was denied formerly, for the reasons he had already stated. What was the etre& of that dt ?—lt was a dire& fraud on the public, for Par lianient to make Bank paper equivalent to gold, when they did not know the state of the affairs of the Bank. They might talk of France and her risignats, but France had not protested her assignats, without shewing to the nation, that they t 4 ere se , cured upon the national domains; at least, they so pretended, and kept up the appearance of solvency. The Right Honourable Gentleman had not even goi,e that length.. He could not siiew what wealth the Bank had to discharge their debts. If Parlia ment chose, -therefore, to erea the Bank of Log land into a sort of mastership over them it was well; but by this ill-phiced confidence they were striking a vital blow at the credit of therEmpire. re speCt to issues of paper, theie was no limitation on them—their own interest would guide them on the occision. 'To ta:k of the forbeirance of the Bank %vas to say nothing to the purpose; the Direiitors, many of them he well knew and respected indir &Lilly, but as a corporate body they were not en titled to much confidence. The Right Honourable Gentleman haJ accommodated himself to their pur poses and 'views; they were greedy of gain, and Ittes.trielion in their issues, whet, left to their discic tion, was not to be 'depended upon. After this firw•tion was disposed of, he should move for a Cornet tee to inquire into the affairs of the Bank generally. What was the state of the country ? the commercial interest hall been taught to believe they might depend' on the Bank, and they did so, LONPON : Printed by '! At the SWN OFFICI but what sort of dependence was it ? The Right Honourable Gentleman might say when he made that assertion, " Oh, you want to destroy public credit." He did not want any such thing ; ell he wished was to upbold public credit ; but the Right Honourable Gentleman was proud of his own strength—he plumed himself on his individual stout ness; he was so confident of his own strength that he cared not w !tether he was in a majority, or in a minority, with the Bank at his elbow, and he this day wished to give an earnest of his .stoutness.— There was .nu other man than hienself would ever have. thought of making Bank paper a legal tender. He was convinced that the greatest danger would arise from the measure; he' felt the deepest convic tion that the.ciedit of the country was blasted for ever, unless the progress of paper circulation was stopped. He declared most sincerely, before God, that was his opinion, and therefore he trusted the House would pause before they consented to ruin public credit. - The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said, be would make a few observations upon what had fallen from the Right Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Tierney). He could assure him, that he had never entertained or stated it as his opinion, that any opposition adopt ed by the Gentle Men on the other side, had for its objed to destroy the credit of the country. The opinion which he had entertained and avowed was, that the measures recommended by them would have an injurious effed. When the Right Hon.. Gentleman said,- that be (the Chancellor of the Ex chequer) plumed himself on his stoutness, he never was more tnistaken in his life, than in supposing that he carried that stoutness to such an extreme as to be indifferent whether he was in a majority or a minority. Any perseverance which Gentlemen might be disposed to attribute to him, areseirom a conviaion. upin his part, that the measures he pur sued were approved by a great majority of .the feel ing and judgment of the country. Indeed the Right Hob. Gentleman himself appeared to have the same impression, for the reason he had assigned for sim ply protesting against the measure, instead of op posing it directly, was the popularity it had obtained, by artful means. The Right Hon. Gentleman had given him ,credit for feeling pain on the necessity of . proposing such &measure ; he certainly did feel pain, but at the same tine he did not hesitate to propose it, from a conviction of its necessity. He was sure that at.y one would feel great dlffiLulty and relucl ance in doing any thing to shake the credit of the Bank of England intentionally, but when the Right Hon. Gentleman represented them as a corporation greedy of gain, he did not seem to be aware of the tendency of the remark. But such was the system of the Right Hon. Gentleman, that every argument and observation which could be adduced in support of it, must have a tendency to shake the credit of the Bank, nor could any person wishing to do so (of which he entirely acquitted the Right Honourable Gentleman), by any effort of, ingenuity, string three sentences together better calculated to produce such an effea. He hoped, that as the Right Honourable Getleman declined opposing the present measure, from an idea that he would not be successful, he would continue to ael upon the same principle in other cases where success was equally impro bable. Mr. TIERNEY begged to assure the Right Hon. Gentleman, lest he should laboUr under any mis take upon that subject, that he never in his life met a Gentleman whom he was more inclined to Oppose._ The House then divided— For the Motion - - Against it Majority , - -47 On being re-admitted, we found Mr. TIERNEY on his legs, moving for a Secret Committee to ex . - amine into the total amount of the outstanding debt of the &ink of England, and the means of discharg ing the same, and also into the operation - of the Or der in Council of the (2.7 th of Feb. i 797. Mr. MANNING thought the motion unnecessary. An the paper in circulation down to this morning amounted to 22,500,0001. a smaller sum than was usual in former years. He was surprised that the Right Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Tierney) ; who was him self in office, should hold those securities in such contempt by which every individual held his property. The statement he had made ought to be satisfadory to a certain degree to every holder of Bank paper. As to what had been said repecting the sordid views of the Bank, he would answer it by a challenge to the Right Hon. Gentleman to point out an instance in which his accusation was verified, and he was him self aware of many in which the contrary ap peared. - Mr. HENRY THORNTON opposed the motion for a Committee,. as he thought the Bill-should pass. Mr. GEORGE JOHNSTONE 'felt himself called upon to vote for the motion, which he s:.ould do, %%itlt out meaning to cast the slightest imputation on the Bank of England. Mr. MARII'IOTT thought the credit bOth of the BAnk and of the Governmeitt would be best served by inquiring into their aflitir3. The more we went on in the paper system, the more, in his opinion, we should expose ourselves to dangerous conse quences. The Deputy Governor had declared him self last year against making Bank Notes a legal tender ; this year, hos.vever, he relaxed a little in his objections, and next year would probably find him still mote inclined to relaxation. He then went into a train of argument, so prove that the restii6tion Du she Bank, which prohibited payment in specie, was the great cause of the failure of banks ; and, stated, that previous to that period such a cireutust.ince was so rare, that the failure of the Bank of Fordyce and Company was enumerated in the Chronological Table with the tire of Lon don and other extraordinary events. Since that period, however, eleven houses bad failed, and the wonder was altogether remo‘ed twin the oc curtence. Mr. MANNING said, the bill comMonly called Lord Stanhope's Bill, was not desired by the Bank. Mr. BARING saw no reason why the Bank should shun inquiry, but the Howie would do well to con sider whether the appointment of a Committee would not have a tendency to excite distrust abroad. Mr. FTIBBERT opposed the motion, and bore les timony to the condua of the Bank of England, which, he said, had kted, from the purest motives, MARRIED. Lately, at Nottingham, by the Rev. H. 1. Maddock, the. Rev. Charles Arnold, Vicar of Royden, and Chaplain to his Grace the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, to LouiSa youngest daughter of Benjamin Maddock, Esq. o f Nottingham. On Thursday last, in Dublin, 'by special license, at the house of G. Bushe, Esq. the Right Hon Lord Ennismore. to Miss Latham, daughter,of the late john Latham, Esq. of Meldrum, in the County of Tipperary. On the lath inst. at Nottingham, Mr. Lcatham Howar4 of Cannon -street, to Miss Swann, of the former place. The same day, at St. Lawrence, Jewry, Captain Aleviit der, of the Royal. Navy, to Charlotte, youngest daughter of -the late I olin brow ne, Esq. esterclav, at St. i‘largaret's, Westminster, oseph row, Esq.. of Great George-street, to Mrs. Fisher, of 'tor quay, Devon. The same day, at Greenwich Church, Edward Beck, Esq. Surgeon of the Royal Artillery, to Eliza Arabella, eldrst daughter of I. W. Wood, Esq. of Croom's.hill, Greenwictr, late Commander in the Hon. Last India Company's 'service. DIED. On Tuesday the 3d inst. after a very short illness, Mr. Richard Stun, yeoman, of West Grinstead, aged yea's. Ott the 7th inst. Maria I I ungerford 0 ffley, youngest daugh ter of Major-General the lion. I.lm Crewe. - - On Wednesday morning last, Mr. Bonniface, yeoman, cf Climping, near Arundel, aged 75 years. On the 14th inst.. at Maryland-point, Essex, Thomas Kilner, Esq. (in Monday, in Half-Moon -street, Piccadilly, William 'ones, Esq. late of Madras. PRICE OF STOCKS R 0 W 11AS WOOD, :A . No. 3s, Maiden-lane, Covent-garden; and Published by WI I LIAM ARM IC; E R SCRIPPS, .South Molton-street, G rosvepor-square, No, lie, Strand, where idvertisements, Orders for the raper, • ketiers for the Editor, &c. (post-paid), tuost be addrebsed. YEST&RUAY. Bank Stock, shut India Bonds. ri's 13s. pr. Navy t; per lent. 91k 91 Exchey. 1;i1 Ib, 3d per day, 4 per Cent. shut ' par, is. pr.-3,d. der day, 3 per Cent. Red. shut 4s. Is. pr. 3 per Cent. Cons. 6o ii Uranium, Bin L. Ann. shut Imperial 3 per Cent. India Stock, Cons. for Loth April,6oii 14.1G1 - 1 WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE TO-NIOR- Morning, 38 min. after 6. Evening, 3 min. after 7. and with a desire to promote the advantage of corn- coerce. Mr. ABERCROMBIE, adverting to an expression which had fallen from, Alr. Baring, contended, that as it was admitted that the Ba►ik had not bullion to pay their debts, while t I,eir debts wete increasing to a► , indefinite extent, the House was called upon to adopt inquiry. Mr. MANNING explained. Mr. BARING said, the observation he had made was, that there was not a sufficiency of bullion to enable the Bank to resume cash payments.. Mr. TieRNEy made a short reply. One of the Bank Direr ors having admitted that it would not be convenient to the Bank at present to pay in specie, and tli Bank having themselves declared in 1797, that they were ready to resume their payments in specie, it followed, that their present situation was not so good as their situation in f7g7, and this.was an additional argument in favour of a Committee of Inquiry. The CHANCELLOR of the Excnriatrea, in answer to the declaration of an Honourable and Learned Gentleman that all the land of the country might be confiscated to pay the Exchequer Bills in the pos. sessibn of the Bank, observed, that the Bank could -not possess more Exchequer Bills than were issued by Government, viz-. forty-three or forty-four mil lions. On the subje6t ot the motion, he thought that on the Right Honourable Genileman,s own chewing it ought not to be acceded to ; for the Right Hon. Gentleman asserted that the B ink' was an extravagantly overgrown and rich corporation.- 7 What necessity then for an inquiry into its situa tion ? As to the security for Bank notes, it was ample. Besides the assets in the hands ot the Bank, it should be recolleded that the Bank notes were receivable at the Exchequer, and that double the whole amount in circulation was received there yearly. Mr. TIERNEY, in explanation; said that he had not represented the Bank as great and flourishing, .and abounding in wealth. He allowed that they, had made great profits ; but his next motion would shew how he thought they had dissipated those those profits. In consequence of the restri6tions imposed on their payment -in specie, the Batik had certainly made enormous profits; but these they had d;v*d among themselves, and for aught he and the/country knew, hid left nothing for their creditors. The motion was put, and negatived without a division. Mr. TIERNIIY then moved for an account of all sums divided by the Bank of England, on their capi, tal, from sth January 1797, to sth January 1812, specifying the sum in each year. Mr. MANNING thought this motion an unneces, sary interference wilh the internal concerns of the Bank. Every oHe knew what those' dividends had been. Mr. BARHAM, ahhough he objected to the for mer motion, supported this, on the ground that all possible information on the state of the Bank should be afforded. Rlr. GRENFELL stated, that the bonusses divided among the Proprietors of Bank Stock, since 1797, amounted to 32 1 per cent, on the capital. Mr. BARING thought the motion unnecessary. Mr, MARRIOTT Contended that it was never in tended by the rests ittions on the payment in specie' that the Bank should make thq large sum which they had wade out of the public distress. He attri buted their unwillingness to skew the slate in %vhich they were, not to any doubt of their solvency, but to their being ashamed of their enormous profits. Thd motion. was the❑ negatived without a divi sion. IRELAND. Mr. W. Pone obtained leave to bring in the fol lowing Bills A Bill to enable the coadjutors of Archbishops and Bishops in IrelAnd to execute the powers of Archbishops and Bishops respeCtively. This Bill he said was necessary, in consequence of the unfortunate situation of the Archbishop of Dub lin. His Grace being nearly incapable of per forming his duties, the Archbishop of Cashel Ind been appointed his Coadjutor ; but the Coadjutor had not the power of the Archbishop, to enforce re sidence, and Oo other acts for the goOd of the Church ; this Bill therefore became necessary. A Bill to amend the Laws relating to the Irish Militia. The objed of this Bill he said, was, to per ►nit the enlisting of a certAin proportion of boys, under I 4 years of age, as was the case in the Eng lish Militia. The Bill also gave to the Commander in-Chief the shine power over the Irish Militia,when in this country, that the Commander of the forces had over them t.k hen they were in Ireland. A Bill to amend Ole , Ad of last Session for mak— ing provision for We Families of Militia Men in Ireland ; and A Bill to enable the Wives and Families of Sol diers embirkiug in Ireland for Foreign Service, to return to their homes. The Loan Bill %%ent through a Committee, the report of which was ordered to received to-morrow. REPORT OF THE SUPPLY. Mr. LosatNGTLe brought up the Iteport of the Committee of Supply. The Rt..soluti o for granting 2,000„0001. for the aid of Pot ttwal, was read and agreed to. On the Motion for agreeing to the resolution for granting 80,0001. to commence the Brt'akwater in Plymouth Sound, a lung couveration arose. Sir HOME Popnam stated, at considerable length, the objections which he entertained to the measure, which consisted chiefly of the injury which it might occasion by filhog up Cawsand Bay, the danger hich, in a gale of wind, would attend even so kw as eight or ten sail ot. the line in endeavouring to ob tain shy ter behind the Breakwater, and the difficulty with which a fleet could get out trom behind it,with precisely that wind which would enable a fleet from Brest to reach Ireland in forty.eight hours. He strongly recommended, before the-adoption of •any plan on the subject, that a Committee of experienced Naval Officers should be appointed, deliberately to examine the practicability and probable result of the. proposed scheme. Captain Beresford, Sir J. Yorke, Sir R. Bicker ton, and Sir C. Pole, on the contrary, argued warmly in support of the intended measure, contro-.. versed some:l some of the professional statements of the Hon. Admiral, and deprecated any further de lay in the commencement elan undertaking se nu poitant to the naval service. Lord COCHRANE impuled the supposed necessity for this breakwater to the usage of making men of war take : in their masts, &c. in open .road. steads, ins'ead of going into harbour fur that pur- - pose ; a praclice which occaS °tied the greatest dis- . content in the Navy, as it prevented the sailors from ever getting on Shore. Under the existing circum stances of the country, he thought every expence not absolutely necessary ought to be avoided ; but, if he might be permitted to do so, he would move as an amendment to the question- before the House, " That towards the construction of this Breakwater, a duty of 50 per cent, be le% ied ,on all StnecureS, which the Com.rittees of,Parliament had (Lclarea ought to be abolished,-and a duty of 20 per cent. -on all other sinecures." The SPEAKER observed, that it was not competent to the Noble Lord to make such an amendment. All that the House could do was, direEtly to 3:•sent to - or dissent from the motion for agreeing to the Resolution. Lord COCHRANE said, that the money which, ac cording to his proposition, might be raised . from the holders of Revenue Offices, would be much better employed in dropping stones into Plymouth Sound, than in giving burgundy, champagne, and dances to the ladies of London. After some further discussion, in which Mr. W. Keene, Mr. Grenfell, Mr. Herbert, Mr. Whit bread, Mr. Baring, and Mr. Yorke participated, the Reiolution was agreed The other Orders of the Day were then disposed of, and at Eleven o'Clock the House adjourned. MAIDSTONE, MARCH 17.—Yesterday evening at six o'clock, on the arrival of the Right Hon. Sir A. MACDONALD, Lord Chief Baron, and Sir NASH Gaose, Knr. commenced the Assizes ror this County. Their Lordship's we're escorted in by JOHN WELLS, Esq. High Sheriff, and his suite. Alighting at the Court- Hall, they opened their com mission for holding the some, and afterwards ad journed the Court to this morning. Our Gaol Ca lendar presents a list of 94 offenders for trial, which, we are sorry to express, is an increase on -that of March 1811. On the Civil side much busineA is also expeded. At the late Assizes at Northampton, John Wad dington, an inhabitant of that town (which Was lately a depot for prisoners of war on 'parole), was. tried before Mr. Justice BAILEY, upon an indid ment, charging him with aiding in the escape from Northampton of two prisoners of war, named Jules . -Douzair and John Henry Ziloff, who absconded' from their parole in. the night of the 31st of August last. It appeared in-evidence that Waddington had aded as conduaor of the two F►enchmen, and was apprehended With them the same night in the mail coach at,Dunstable, on their road to London. The Jury, without hesitation, found the defendanr guilty ; and he was sentenced (in addition to an imprisonment of seven months, which he bad un dergone from the'time of his being apprehended), to be confined in the common gaol of the comuy for two years ; to pay a fine to the King of tool. to be farther imprisoned till that tine be paid, and, at the expiration of his imprisonment, to cute: nkra-. a recognizance of tool. will) two swell, s in the sum of 501. each, for his good behaviour for the term of three years. It hoped that this may ope rate as arr example to.deter others from the com mission of similar crimes. On Tuesday evening, between seven and eight o'clock, as Mr. Daniel, coach-builder, of Old Bond street, was travelling in a gig over Barnes Common, he was stopped by a single footpad, who seized hi* horse's head, presented a, pistol, and robbed Mr. Daniel of a NI. and two IL Bank-notes. The two soldiers who some time since robbed Mr. Blaker and Mr. Chapman, of Brighton,-on highway, near Patcham, and made their escape,, it is said, have been apprehended in Yorkshire. On Monday morning were seen at Carlisle the beautiful phenomenon of two parkelia, or mock suns, i❑ the heavens. They were first observed aboUt ten o'clock, and appeared of variable bright ness until near twelve, when they vanished. • BIRTH. On Monday last, at Lyrnington, the Lady of Sir John C. Hollywood, Bart. of a Son and Heir.