The Sun. — London, England, 1819-03-31 00:00:00

tors. His Lordship maintained that the grant 10,0001. was necessary for the discharge of the additional - expences unavoidably incurred by the Royal Duke as Custos. It ,was but a poor mum. Iteration when the private grants mitt. pensions which were necessarily_ entailed upon him as Custos were considered. The amiable qualizieS of his Royal Highness their Lordships were as well acquainted with as he was ; and they all ac knowledged his private and public worth% And wich regard to the sum of , 10,0001. a year being - paid out of the Pt ivy Purse, hi , Lordship would by no means consent to such a proposition, ;the Privy Purse being, strictly speaking, the private property of Isis Majesty. It reqtrired effort his part to prove the truth of his assertion ; ttori,.if his health did not prevent him, he would have no objections to, go into a detail of proof and a series of argumenfto establish the-truth of this important allegation. ..The &id of I)ARNL6Y claimed the privilege of sharing with the late Noble Speaker the just enco, mitosis bestowed, ou the Duke of Yolk, whether viewed as'a private or public character. tut he could riot help condetnning Ministers fur involving hi; Royal Highness in such a disagreeable di lemma. It would have beets much more to their honour had they advised the Royal Duke to with draw Iris claim to the 10,0001. a-year, than to have forced - him into this unpopular situation.— Every past of his Royal Ili;,zhness's public -con duet deserved and obtaineyl the . highest praise, while his private worth was universally acknow ledged. His Royal Highness was eminently dis tinguished for the , best qualities cif the heart ; hjs kind hospitalities and Royal munificence were well known ; and his Lordship therefore lamented that Ministers had in this instance acted so diametri cally opposite to what was the grand characteristic pf the Royal Duke. Were the Royal Custos to come down, to Parliament, and formally to decline the grant now so much censored, the act would redound to his eternal fame. If his Royal, High ness were circumscribed by narrow circumstances, so as to render the additio►►al office with which he Avas invested an additional burthen upon his purse and upon'. his mind, his Lordship assured the House that he would be the last man in the world to 'oppose the grant ; but when he knew that his Royal Highness's income was magnificent —cer tainly arot more than he deerved—he thought it his public duty as a Member of that ,House 'Co resist this proposition. He wished that Ministers bad placed his Royal Highness in such a situation PS to have come with irresistible claims on the public but from't he pressure of the times, from the necessities of the country, from the impo verished state of the people; he was., called upon imperatively to condemn the measure. The Marquess of LANSDOli'tift referred to an early part of a former Session of Parliament.when the Windsor Estaglishment was supposed to have been , finally settled—even prospectively—what ever event should happen. When the Royil Mae. riage was finally arranged in Parliament, the ex tent of the Royal 'Windsor Esahlishment was at the same time disengsed ; and it was thought. that, 'the subject in no :attire case would again he brooght forward. No man was more friendly to every ,arrangement , which could add to the con torts of the.venerahle Individual whose absence they ail deplored. It had formerly been the po liey, as well as the duty of Parliament, that not only every comfort shoald he administered to his Majesty, but that even the digpity and splendor of the Throne should in nu manner be diminished. These attentions' were thought absolutely requi site, so long as there remained anrhope o f hi s Majesty's recovery. Thirie who had advised and formed these arrangements were actuated by the most l a ud a ble motives. They 'wished,. should 4 have pleased Ditine Providence to have restored our beloved SoVereign to his health and faculties, that on the very first dawn of his returning rea son, he should find all his favourite servants, and all his usual attendants, without any diminution in splendor or magnificence. This was the plan recommended, and agreed to by Parliament, un der the administration of Mr. Perceval. It had, however, since been discovered, that - those hopes of recovery were not likely to he realized, and therefore a mo're economical 'dal) had been intro duced, by which the Windsor Estahliihment had _been considerably reduced, and thus a great sav ing followed to the Public. When the suggestion was first made, Isis Lordship thought the mea sure a fair one, and the Bill had consequently his approbation. With regard to the present Bid, h'e was lost called upon to‘oppose the principle of it. That he had no objection to ; but Vlthough he might consent to a general i principle, he .was by no means bound to particular claoses. The grant of ten thomandpoonds he therefore cooden4n ed, W . Z. 101110111 k, ,liliviSC, and IMlleCeSSiiry in the a:Ariz-ate. It found expedient, and such a sour proposed for the.services which the Public had derived from his Royal 14loicss's assiduous and faithful discharge• of his duties to the State, his Lordship did not think that, the case being closely eotde,out, he would oppose it. No man knew berer the public and private worth of the Royal Duke than he did. In, all bit various offi cial employments hehad conducted' himself with the strictest integrity and honour; and, as a public - man, flo better character ever came before Parliament. But ir.the exercise of his new and important office, he could not consent to the grant of 10,000 i-a-year, when the country was - 'impo‘verished, and the population starving. With regard tb the Privy Purse„ from which this sum ought t'o be taken, it taken at all, he considered it no more the private property of the King than any part of the Civil L'st. it originally part Of the latter; and, in the course of a few years • after' the commeireement of this reign, received the present denomination of the Privy Parse of the King, and consequently by some bad been eria•neously thought to be a separate fond from the Civil List. But whatever might be the a'p `profariate designation originally of the Privy Purse, the moneyhelonging to it had always been,appli- cable to th'e services of the monarchy, and never, it's commencement, had been corsidered as.the private property of his Mjesty; For many years it hat! been received through the medium o f the Civil List, and as included n tliat aggregate stun h;,il dq-signatiun than part of that esia biishUieot. The Noble Marquess _b e li e v e d t h at e nith - low termed the Privy Purse had first re- ceived that distingnishing denomination when Mr. Burke introduced his celebrated .Bill. His Lordship said, .that he spoke from the authority of his Majesty himself, who acknowledged 'that he required in that arrangement. that what was Bien called th e PrA , 3 7 Purse shoulenot he included. In obedience to the Royal-command, the two became for 'the first time separate funds,p:Olongh time s'utior appropriated to: the rrivy rurse • came from, ihe Civil List. It was no more the King's private , ptoperty than any other property of the Crown ; anti 'Parliament, at the time, never intended that it should he considered in any other light than as toopetty opp4icable to the public services of the Monarchy. The . argument advanced in favour of the erant, that the Royal Duke might , find it ieirisite to bestow pensions or annuities ott Illerit , ions ' persons for particu lar services, was, in his. Lordship's opinion, ab surd, if norfallacions. lf the Royal Duke were empowered to make grants front the Privy Purse, it &hold be no longer considered as private pro perty, because it was attachable by the Royal Duke for the servicei'of the State. And it pri vate property, as' the sup l porters'of Government maintained, Wily did s Ministers em Royal his. Highness to violate such an engagement ? If pri vate property, it was unalienable, mod therefore . , the power granted to his Royal Highness by Mi nisters was the power,of violating' the p r i vate property of . the King—the power of committing a robbery on time Privy Purse. The office with which his Royal Highness was now invested, was a great and important office.; and his Lordship. had no doubt but that the Royal Duke would dis charge the duties with the strictest fid e li t y, h o . tutor, and affection. But, from every view of the proposition, his Lordship was induced to give his vote against the grant.. The Elrl of LAUDERDALE explained.—He glanced once more at time nature and tendency of the Privy Purse ; extolled his Majesty's weII kUOVIO munificence ; and stated that the monies of the Privy Pnrse•—tile private property of the King—had always been applicable to the purposes of grants anti Charities of various descriptions of meritorious persons. - The LORD CHANCELLOR maintained, that the Privy Purse was as much the private property of his Majesty as that of their Lordships was their own particular private property. By the Acts of the 39th and_4oth of his present Majesty, the vereign was fully'and expressly empowered to b u y and sell property ot: any kind through the medium of the Privy Purse, it. theretore became the pri vate property of his Majesty, and was thus sanc tioned by Parliament. Those therefore who maintained a Contrary. .opiuion, acted from a mis conception of the lasv, or from the want of any knowledge of it. By the 39th and 40th 'of the present reign, , the personal property of his Ma jesty, including the Privy Porse, be came as notc h. his private property as that ot any other indi vidual in his dominions. Those who framed the Act (tad in contemplation every point which could tend to secure the private property of his Ma jesty, and therefore acted wisely in every stt 2 p, so AS to prevent any fwore disputes on the, subject. His Majesty, by this arrangement, was empower ed to bequeath and bestow any property acquired by the application- of the Privy Purse in any man ner and to any person ,he pleased. In case of his demise without having willed away such pro perty, it did not revert like the Royal d oma i ns to the Croton, but to the personal heir ot his najesty, as his own private property. The P r i v y Purse was thus,deemed inviolable and,inalienable, and could not be applied' to the public service,— If their Lordships approved of the principle as applicabl e to private individuals, they could not surely refuse the benefit of the same principle to his Majesty or to his heirs. This Act of Parlia ment, found e d on these two statutes, gave his Majesty as solid a right to the Privy Purse, or to the proceeds of it, in whatever tnanper, as his own • private property, as the right of any individual was,' established by an Act ot the Legislature. The Plivy Purse, therefore, or the proceeds of it, ei ther in land or in other shape, gave his Majesty a personal tight to all such property till the extre mity of life, till death itself. if God's I'rovi deuce should restore his Majesty to his health, anti to the exercise of his Teasoning powers--.-and such an event was not an impossibility—it would afford our beloved Sovereign the greatest pleasure to find, that during his absence from the func tions of Government the most salutary arrange- ments had been adopted for his personal comforts and private property.. Al t h oug h vi rtua ll y ' a b sent frorn the throne, and its - powers anti splendour, yet he still continued to he-Our King ; and not withstanding his Majesty might continue to be visited. by the band of ProVidence, yet that ' hand of Providence alone could separate him front ; Iris people. Witty regard to the Grant of 10,0001. a-year to the Royal Duke, for the purpose of defraying the additional expellees of his new and important office, his Lordship stated, that he woUld have objected to it had it come inthe shape of a gratuity. Front the per- Son invested with such a high office, 'you could not demand paltCy or trifling details of the ex pences incur i ted—not ,what such and such post horses, or such and such a journey cost—not even the average stun requisite for tlre discharge of such an office. Their Lordships ought to place the Duke of York in such a - situation as to increase rather than to diminish the dignity and splendour of the Crown. Lord KING objected not wily, to the conduct of Ministeri, by forcing , the unpopular grant of 10.0001. a-year through Parliament, but disap proved of so numerous a Cabinet as that now coostituied. After the discussion of last year, his Lordship haf i r hoped not to have heard of the un popular grant now before thrnt. With every de ference and respect to his Royal Highness, who in this instance . was merely the instrument of the Ministers, his Lordship declared that he would vote against that pact of the Bill. It was an on• necessary appendage to the Royal Person. . The Marquess of BUTE soppot ted the grant of 10.0001. a year to the tioyal mem tioposed opwil his 11 ,, val Highness new do- I k s; and additiopal exr• fIC 5, they ought to af ford him the meßns of supportin g hislestahlish went. j? teas nut a grant to his Royal ighnes as Doke 01 York it was a g r ant to t h e Custos— a grant for the maintenance of the Roydl,dignity, " and, therefore, should have the Noble Marquess'? support. It would afford his Royal Highries , the means of rewarding, the old and faithful servants of, the Crown, and such deserved the ap pi ohation of their Lordships. Earl •GfiogY thought that, as one of the guardians of thr public, he bad a right,. to in ire nto• the,. j . exprtftiiture (4,l,l7Npublic monies. , .1) rant 11\ bow Utiliei;';i l ls - eNhifu lie-Ciiidenined,‘as he 010 not find any thing which could justify it. 'Their Lordships bad heard•much of the expences about to be incurred by the Royal Duke, in consequence of his new office. Fur his part, lie could. not even guess at any thing which could warrant such an expenditure. If, as a Noble Lord bad stated, the expences of such 'a personage were impossible to he smentioned or ascertained, then why act with a wanton profusion of such a vast sum in‘ addition to the vast sums which his Royal Highness now enjoys ? If it was neither possible to state n or to imagine the expences of the Custos, as some Noble Lords. insinuated ,then why sanction a grant to the amount now proposed ? His Lord ship concluded by promising it his direct, negative. The question was then put and carried without a division ; and the report ordered to be received to-morrow. At half-past nine o'clock the House adjourned. HOU'SE OF COMMONS. The Gallery was not opened until near five o'clock, the House being employed in balloting for a Committee on the Lancaster Election. Several Members entered the House after the ballot, but were qxcused, with an understanding, however, that in future this lenity would not be extended 'under similar circumstances. .Mr. A. BARING, Sir V. BURDRTT, and Mr. BATEIURST, were ordered to attsnd the ballot on Thursday next. Lord tASTLEREAGH moved, that Albany/Saville be ordered into the eustody ,of the Serjeant at Army. The motion was withdrawn, on the ground of iu►iisposition. The names of the Members who were absent on this day's ballot were ordeted.to be reported to morrow. Mr. Wympr thought the hest way to avoid the inconveniences,they had witnessed that day inns not to bnye the ►iuors opened until after the names were called over. The Carlisle 'Canal - Bill was read a third time and passed. TRELAWNI"S DIVORCE BILL. Mr. TENNYSON having moved the second read ing of the Trelawny Divorce Bill, Mr' M. A. TAYLOR said, that us this was the first Bill of the kind that bad passed the other House during the present Session, he would ling leave to make a few observations upon it. For sOnte tithe the House never ullowet: a Bill of this nature to pass without containin some provision for the diroeeed Lady. At a time that Mr. Fox and Mr. Pitt had seats in that House, he (Mr. T.) succeeded in persuading them that the guilty, unfortunate, victim of seduction should not,. by divorce, be placed in such a situation as -must reduce her to greater misery, and deprive her of the means of repentance. To prevent such evils, whenever a Bill of this kind was before the House not containing any provision, he endeavoured to prevail' upon them not to allow it to pass unless it was introduced. He was determined to persevere in this line of proceeding. The Bill Ives then read a second time, and committed for to-morrow se'nnight. LONDON CLERGY. A Petition was presented' from the parish of St. Dunstan's in the East, against the London Clergy Mt.—Ordered to lie upon the table. COAL DrTIES. Mr. MELLISH presented a Petition from the parish of St. Mary's, Whitechapel, praying for relief from the Coal Duties.—Ordered to lie on the table. Another Petition Was presented from the same place against the Parish Apprentice Bill. CRIMINAL LAW. .Mr. WESTERN said, he held in his hand a Peti tion, very numerously and respectably signed,. from the eastern, parts of the county of Essex, praying that the House would take into conside ration the present state of the Criminal'Code. He had a Petition from Mahlon also to the same effect. He begged to take this opportunity of asking the Noble Lord opposite (Castlereagh) whether, when the Committee was appointed on' the Criminal Code and . the state o f the G ao l s , it was in the contemplation of Government to refer to them, as one brarich of this important inquiry, the expediency of more .frequent gaol deliveries. The length of time that elapsed at present be,- tweet) one gaol delivery and another was deeply felt, and was, in his•opinitim,• . one of the, worst parts of our criminal Jurisprudence. `Many victuals, by this meals, were unnecessarily con— fined for many weeks at a great expellee. 10 con sidering the state and discipline of the rants, it would be desirable that the• Committee shoirld report upon this subject. Another gaol delivery between the Spring and Summer Assizes would lessen the expense of prisoners to the public at least 301. per cent. He knew a late instance in' which the munber of persons to he tried were SO, forty or whom were discharged by proclamation at the close of rite Assiies, and many more were. acquitted. A great Nut of the expnce inclined by detaining them, and much bardshipto them selves; might have been saved, if the gaol delivery had taken place befole. Lord CA3TLEREAGH could not say such a mea sure was in contemplation when the Committee was proposed. No application to that effect was made from any quarter. He Saw nothing, how ever, in die constitution of die Committee, that could prevent them from taking the subject into consideration. The Petitions were then referred to the Com mittee on the Criminal Code. COAL DUTIES. Petitions were presented trorn Truro, and Col ville, Warwickshire, against any alteration in the Coal Duties.—Ordered to lie on the table. ' DISTILLERY, LAWS. General HART presented a Petition from Col daff, in Ireland, prAying for- anamendment of the Irish Distillery Laws, LANCASTER ELECTION. The following are the MAIMS of the Coniznittee : a appointed to inquire into the Lancaster El eetio- Petition :—• Lord Lascelles, Sir W. Con.Tere, Sir E. Knatchb ail, Sir rd Poring, Charles Paget, Si'r J.'Montgoawry, Mr. Finlay , Cranborue, Sir M. M. Sylsr l / 2 A. Iti?swell, Mr. Holiblott. N'" Drake,-Lord Normantiy, and Mr. Wilbraham. POOR R.V'E. . The VanNates AneVoo-43 - 111 sta. brN . 1-" h! 'il by V 2.8. BOURNE.-jr- was rcud 4 3 45 t little' and corc eetflAci'bt read a . iecond time on Alou' ll Y next. • ", CLAIMS ON rit,ANcE. On the Motion o f Lord CASTLEREAGH. the gee coNid reading of the Claims on France WA' postponed until Monday LETTERS IN THE CASE OF MR. QUIN. r o On the Motion of Sir R. WILSON, the W ry ', produced in the case of Mr. Quin were ordffe d l . e returned to the parties by tv . itom delivere d, by whom received. LICENSING SYSTEM. Sir FRANCIS BURDETT presented 'a re',. tifl from a Publican residin g a t Plymouth, enini us ':; ing of the arbitrary co n du c t o f the Magistr ates Licensing .houses. It appeared that the P h et ti a ; boner had kept the Rising Sun public-14 0 " se s - v • On a n d i s ti t;h r s e e t q u u r e n n subsequently given plie d i t fortip and a.re i l l e e f t t v a t this i f eo t u nh i tc " r b gi sich c lao e cai r ei: i i:i s :p e n oieetadnsis•itleirtil‘rea,pinektuthille),lol:eii‘anvbttviny, unless ars oe t plsr t ie i ee l srn d esptoea t oni ,ni.ialivt y move iletwouldthtoenviipi.tie,intc,:i: 00$et The tition be laid on the table, and then li k e th s e h mi-; n g sl i t l i v oi‘ t e e lu s ri n ,.i o . o ‘ t bs t i ' e c ;, y e p t N b r o e Ni Brewers' Committee last t e to l e t b is intention to move that .400 Court of La w wdalsec t tef he l t m o o t s l t te pr P o e p t e it r ion; h e rr the Court Petitioner to apply for redress ; he vri' s eer i taC that if the allegations of the Petitioner cold( substantiated, an information against the ' ll4 Crates would be immediitely granted. o f iIY~ Mr. HUMR remembered that the objec t Petition was for the purpose of bringing : 4/ is' public grievance before th e House.- lie `,n' ran: C rates isptno ; possessedrefusean( power cice of acting with - nse without anY Jan' e reirt redress. He though it proper- to make servatioos, because the subject apne 3 r ed c° Veti' of the greatest importance. He ha cl ! f i r :badl y tions of a similar prayer which he sh°" - present to the House. . ' out Mr. DAWSON objected to the time l' o et t : o i_ cecca p , e; of a similar nature had been some tented to the House and it wa s rejected, " for jut the House considered that the proper Ph i " investigation was a Court of Lsw• c a s es th e Mr..thavEY observed, that many c a ' ea l to want of pecuniary means- prevented an AVl ) pu b!ie a Court of Law ; he thought this gr,jledaittio.tr grievance required sortie legislative r e ''', - •,;; 0 0 esn- Sir FRANCIS BURDETT said, the P e . of art braced two objects, the one the po prie ; re. application to a Court of Law for l'e ls° , ll „„blie dress, the other was a complaint of a gre 3. , r - a , it grievance ; if the petition should be rece' ve ir i 'o f would not Preclude this petitioner frbin his legal remedy were he so disposed. The P- 'sent case was a sample of the abuses that Pr and which very materially affected the IM' piness of the lower classes of society, 'v b°- upon a tax of lid. per pot was imposed in the coustalf, tion of bier; and no less a revenue than 4,00 0, 0 per annum was paid by the country. tittlttau it 0' Mr. W. WYNN and Mr. DAWSON In plained. as n°= The CHANCELLOR Of the Excuso veg w reseo g aware that there was any grounds for•the Phe application; he should therefore mov e that bate be adjourned until to-morrow. Mr. HUME hoped the petition to be laid on the table. er of t he Mr. G. LAMB thought, that if the pro)/ former , petition was a mere rep'etition a the 'f Int ' •, hut I there might he reason for rejecting loner corn-. it appealed MS the case, the Pe tit I could plained of a great public grievance, b e see any objection to its being received. wog. The CHANCELLOROf the ExcnEauEn C oil Mr. BROUGHAM wished the House r e in the tliat the petitioner prayed for relief. King's Bench there was no means of his that ing pecuniary redress ; the process in th a t o f the would merely go to obtain the nunis ittileli m peos ie Magistrates ; but if could not award C O— ' go s ° tion in damages. He was not prepared Weceiveri "Ohl be allow a far as to say that no petitions shoold r in that House because the parties had f/ inedy in a Court of Law, o p, r Mr. W. WYNN thought it would b e eXce unwise to encourage those kind of petit the plea of poverty, fUr if i t 0, 00 1(1 he s t s i o it would afford an opportunity to Per s , ° , ll , s ,'str 3t A el ; posed to expose the characters or tetw ' d e • L without effording 'cheat the opportun. - '„, ° a spe ct de b a r s%, themselves. There might be sa r en 't deb t " — cases excepted, hot lie thought the r c ' - w as afi re shOold be postponed. The question tNaS then put, w hen • t to adjourn the debate limit to-morronr• miontes Sir F. IluanaTT then moved, tha t the iot ed. of the Brewers' COmmittee should be o t be Sir ftotiEtur WILSON hoped ther e yr" it wo ol( any objection to the motion, because din , oft afford MemberS an opportunity 4,4. read Report during the Holidays ' flier 111 e Mr. W. WYNN wished to know whe Committee had reported the Evidence ? a t bi te ' Sir M. W. RIDLEY said, the COMlllittee 5 , ite• in the last Session, and he did not think port had been made. jet the Sir F. BURDETT said, lie should then notice of his ;notion stand for to-niorroW• or, I‘l.!erfl. ~ o PAr t IV Nivy, Ip i res:n s t e e t d til l g P f e o t r i t t ly C 0 had rendered, and the difficulties lie bun. the ' gone, without any renitineration, and pixy House to take., it into consideration. at ther it A t 6 The SPEAKER signified to the House I' 'tvere two Marginal Notes in re d ink ; au ( ' to n not appear whether these Notes were int e ei. tle c hef be taken as' a part of the Pet ition, or vv were to be introduced. vithilro4 Upon this Mr. PALMER asked leave to the Petition, which was granted. SUITORS' MONEY IN CHANCERY. Mr. M. A. TAYLOR said he wo.!(1 OCCUPY attention of the douse , but a % erY few