The Sun. — London, England, 1803-03-10 00:00:00

IMPE AZ 1 iI,L P A li. LIAMEN 7. 110 US E, OF PEERS. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9. Co ut.lstr, were heard in continuation relative to the Irish Appeal, Lt.ovn v. CRADv ; to peocced again on triclay. Earls BATHURST, Foicrcseur,Wwron, and Lord Hvv— elf N sort, %vele sworn, and took their seats. 'l'he various Bills before the House were forwarded in their tespedive stages.• The Order of the Day for taking His Majesty's Message into consideration, being read, Lord HOBART rose, to move an Address to His Majesty on, the occasion. He observed, that he could not entertain the smallest doubt with respect'to the Motion which he should shortly have the hoeulur to submit to the House. - He felt himself justified in anticipating the most perfeel unanimity in the ere sant instance. A communication is made front the Sovereign, that the most extensive Military Prcpa. rations were making on the Coasts of France and 4.lolland, and also, that important discussions were pending between His Majesty and the French Go. verninent, the result of which was very ,uncertain. In such a situation, he could hardly believe ,himself justified in supposing that a difference of opinion could prevail' as to the line of conduit proper or necessary to be adopted. In a partial consideration of the subjeel, be by no means wished tit disguise from their LOrdships—indeed it was a point of which they must in general be well aware, namely, that, there existed reasons for thinking that the state of certain of the French possessions abroad was such as might warrant or . call for the Prepara -tiotts that were making by France, independent of anyhostile designs which possibly might be harboured by her Goverttment ; but they must also at the same time see, anti feel for the situation of their own Country ;.and that, while discussions of the utmost iinportance are depending, they could not be justi. feed in not taking those precautions which the securityand honour of the Country required.—With respeel to - gni detailed exposition of those discus.. sions, h e -could hardly think, that at the present time, any thing of the kind could with any shadow of propriety be expetted from him.—He conceived it sufficient to say in the present , instance, that he saw no necessity fur the discussions not terminat ing satisfaelorily ; at the same time, it must be veiledly obvious to the House, that it was the , duty of Mini4ters to be prepared for the alter, native. It was certainly the earliest wish of Ministers not to see the tranquillity which subsisted between the two Countries interrupted : hut they at the same time hoped that nothing would' be wanting on the part of the Country to enable them to maintain that tranquillity in a way con sistently with the Honour, the Security, and the trite Interests of the British Nation, the spirit, the energy, and the resources of which, he doubted not, would be successfully exerted on such an occasion as the present. Under these impressions, he would no longer detain their Lordship*, but move an Address to His Majesty o,n the occasion of his most gracious Message. The Noble Secretary of State then moved the Address, which was couched in the usual form, echoing His Majesty's Message, and fraught with assurances of the cordial support of the House. On the Message being read from the Woolsack, and the question - ut, Earl SPENC kR rose, chiefly, if not entirely, for the purpose of signifying his full approbation of the proposition just now made by the Noble Secretary of State. He anticipated, with the Noble Lord, the .most perfeet unammity.on the occasion, and felt with him cordially as to the right line and system of condud o Welt was proper to be pursued sm such a crisis as the present., He also felt that in the relative situation of Great Britain and France, there existed circumstances that, under whatever degree of uncertainty, .called for the measures at lengrh resolved upon by. His Majesty's Ministers. The present crisis in which this Country was in volved, he held to be of that importance and magni tude, as to render him confident that there was not a man in that House, or scarcely an individual -the Country who would not join in offering ,to spill the last drop of their blood, or to spend their last shilling in support of its Honour and its most men_ chi!, Interest : for,his own part a after the uniform and decided opinions he hid so frequently given, as to the relative situation of the two Cuuarries, it could be little expeded that it firm and vigorous system of condutishould . not meet his full assent and approbation. lie could not, however, at the'same time: avoid observing, that he should feel more sa tisfatlion, if the Noble . Secretary of Stare b a d, not only for the satisfadion of the House, but for that of the Public and the Country, explained a lit tle fuller the situation of the moment, and adverted to those circumstances which have produced such a Sudden and marked alteration in the tenor and cont. plexion of His Majesty's Councils ` and Measures.— He would repeat, that his own opinions on these points had been loth; formed. He was perfectly satisfied, that a system of eonduti nice . that now resolved upon by Ministers, was that most likely to conduce to the preservation of Peace, 'a wish in which all true Friends of their Country must unite. A system of firmness and vigour was much more likely to ensure the continuance of Peace, than that line of conduit heretofore adopted by Ministers. Indeed, - in his opinion, the only chance that now restrained for the preservation of that blessing, was the effid of the measures now praposed: of Concession, and attempts at soothing our late Adversary, we had too much.. Were the line of conclud adopted earlier, in all human probability no necessity for it would exist At the pre sent moment. However, as matters stood, he hailed this first appearance of spirit and vigour in the Na tional Councils with joy and gladness, as the only means left for our salvation. He had at present nothing farther to offer; but upon an occasion of such great importance and magnitude, he could not give a silent vote, consistently with his feelings of duty, or the dictates of his c , oscienee. Lord GRENVILLE said, he had but a few words to offer on the present occasion. He cordially agreed with what fell from his Noble Friend who spoke last ; but, like him, the part he had always takeh with iesped to similar discussions, prevented him from giving a silent vote. He thought with his Noble Friend, that the adoption of the system vois abut to be acted upon, was the only, one that eould preserve the Blessings of Peace to the Cotlits+:) try. , He its like rise' of opinion that a system -1 cif ftetunes_and digrpty,lfearlieir . a4ed upon, would have ensured the cutifinuanee of Nate, and certain.., ly have obviated the necessity of suth an incipient system at 'present. • It was, he was firmly -can vinccd, Only because such a system was not earlier adopted, that the continuance of .Peace was now . . questionable.. However, • its adoption cven-now, would afFord to. the ;Country the best chance for the maintenance of that ..blessing 7 -but at , the same time, he had to observe, that the concitiet of NIL nisters in the 'present crisis 'should ,be such, as to enable . the Country to feel and know its real by which means, if the injustice of our Adversary rendered it necessary to forth the full powers and resources of the Country, they could be used with the greatest vigour and effed. .The reasonings of that day were warranted by the experience dt the .last eighteen months—they had seen the consequences, resulting from a System of concession and meanness; in Which all their . at... tempts at conciliation only elevated the arrogance and the .pretensions of the French Government. If there was'any chance remaining for the preservation of Peace, it would proceed from the measures now 'resorted to; at the saute time, it was with regret he had to consider,qhat in consequence of the former conduEl of Ministers, if we were now driven to the alternative of War, we should,have to meet a state of war under great and Many .disadvantages. Ces. sions the most important anti valuable had been made' with a view to operations either of an often. sive or a defensive nature ; these considerations should not withhold his concurrence' from the present ,Motion. On the contrary, he rejoiced at. this first appearance'Ufsound political wisdom, and vigorous determination on the part of Ministers. He hoped I auCh a system would be afted upon with due energy and perscVeiance: Upon the whole, the, Motion had his hearty concurrence ; and he was confident there could be no' difference of opinion in that House on such an occasion. They were in the'pre sent instance simply called upon to concur in mea. .sures for strengthening the hands of the King with necessary powers, at 4 crisis wherein discussions of acknowledged importance and, magnitude were pend. ing—tlie result. of which, was .known to be uncer rain-r-they were called upon no farther. His Lord ship concluded with expressing his hearty assent to the Motion. The Earl of 11101 RA, in expressing generally his concurrence in the Motion, observed, that hii support was rather qualified by the seeming back. wardness in the Noble Secretary of State, to give that degree of explanation, . which he thought ne. cessary, and at the same time unexceptionable; there were of course certain reservations, and these ,prO. ceeded chiefly upon the following grounds : they were by no means satisfied that the causes which incinced Ministers to come as they now did, did' not exist even long before ; the con. dui} of the French Government in many respals was well known. They were also unsatisfied whe. cher the crisis said to be now.arrived might not have been prevented or obviated, if earlier taken up, and the attention of Parliament called thereto, At the close of the last Session, no serious apprehensions from our late Enemies were declaredly entertained by Ministers, though, notwithstanding those sicela. rations, they thought it necessary to propos:: an in. crease of our Establishment. At that tittle every thing was doing or done in France, as fully as at the present moment when such serious apprehensions seemed to be entertained. They should be given to understand at least what it was that had thrown such a new colour on the pretensions of the Enemy ; what charge these was in the situation of France, or in the tone held by its Ruler. .Some intimation of these should at least be given, in order to enable them to judge of the extent of the proceeding now going on. Perhaps to a certain degree these explanatioes might be de. dined, on the ground that speaking too fully out . might give umbrage to the Ruler of France.—Uniz brage to ,that new Hannibal) who, has sworn on the altars of insatiable Ambition, an eternal en. mitr to this Country ! He would ask, has this man never shewn any disposition to induce unfavour.. able sentiments and conduit, on the part of others, against this Country? After expatiating some time on the manifest disposition of the First Consul of France against this Country, he contended, that we should place ourselves: oath; defensive, but id a dignified attitude ; that we should be prepared for the worst ; that we should betray no marks whatever of de. sponderice or dismay, but come forward manfully . , and shew ourselves not afraid of the result .of the alternative of War. A genuine and useful spirit should be shewn by our Government, 'and not an empty parade bf valour, for if the Fitst Consul had really advanced so tar in his system, as avowedly to render such precautionary measures necessary on .the part of our Government, he bad lost all,hope ofits stopping there ; their cunduet in such case should be such, as in effect to appeal to the sense of the 11 7 reeeh Nation ',against the ambit* and injustice of its Ruler, to let them . fairly see and decide, whether, in consequence of the head strong passionaof one man, they would be willing again to plunge into all the calamities of War. The effeil of such a line of 'conduit, if any thing of that kind could, would be to restrain the am. bition of the .First Consul, and to induce him seriously to pause before he should proceed to ex- IfealitiCl. A decided tone, and vigorous system of policy on our parts, would more than any other be , likely to prevent hostilities between the two Coon, tries. Such, in fail, as would have the effect, cam". paring little things to treat, of preventing a quarrel between any two manly Englishmen.. "On such tenni should wish to remain at Peace i - , but set your foot on such place, aod I shall consider it as the signal for instant War !" Such a mode would best con duce to the preservation of Peace; even with a Country governed, by the most despotic ruler."--. With respell to any important objefts in a train of Negotiation, lie confessed it might be improper now to inquire ; but he hoped, that information re. spelling those would, as soon as predicable, be laid before the House, as the people should, as soar, as pos. sible, be apprized of their real situation. Considering the subject in another point olview, and urging the policy of vigorous preparation, hisl.fordship observ ed, that We should not caudate upop the attempts of, BoNAPAitili j according to these principles or of conduCt which aftuate any other man.—We S i ttii(44.Make up our minds, as-to the probability at least," of attempti' upon this Country but for these 'l've should 'be . .prepated—we should look the =danger full in the face, and mOre; we should let our adiersaries- know that we are so deter mined: Their bpasr,. that England cannot contend :single.handed against France, should not go un. - noticed :- they might have against us. was perhaps when we were encumbered with what they would call assistance.—But how stood the fael P It 'Was, - that - when we were single-handed with France we. were always successful, and of this he thbught his Noble Friends near him (Lords NELSON and HuTcHrrisarirafforded a good praeli cal 'illustration. But above all, our Adversaries should .be made to understand, that if contending with them in this Country, we most confidently looked for signal and decisive success. In such a' possible coutingency, the safety. of the Capital should be especially • looked to. We should not talk of the imprattiCability of IniaSion we should consider the extent of Coast possessed by, as- well as the diameter of the Adversary we had to con tend with.• Therefore, what was possible was prac ticable, and what, was practicable we should consider as likely to be attempted. We sliould consider that in such a contest, we . should be playing our last stake. Such a contest should not be managed under a cdrn mon.place system, or official pra&ice of War—if so, we were lost indeed ! bur tire strength, the resources, the energies of the People and the Country, Should' be called firth and fairly brought into aelion. The first object of the Enemy in a descent, would doubt.. letisle the capital k ita security should be first looked , to.s s ss A great and powerful Army should he stationed betiv.tseo s it and the Coast—this, he.would wish to be undetitood ; and so circumstanced, he was of ' nion, the Officer commanding. the British Force ought to lose his head, if he did not [so we understood his Lordship) come to an .action with the Enemy before they reached the Capital. In such a crisis, the destruCtion of one Army ought to be risqued against that of the other. After dwelling upon these points, and urging the necessity of securing the Capital, especially from attack, which among other ill alas, the temporary elevation it might give to the few dlsafFeded spirits, should be guarded against, he again' urged the superior policy of vigorous prepara. tions, and . a -determination to be prepared for the worst, and above. all, to assume that tone and atti. tude which Should convince the Enemy that. no' 'wieder that should set, his foot in thiS Country, should be suffered to return to tell of his fate, The Earl of WESTMORL AND made a' few, observations upon, the general subject. He con. tended, that Great 13ritain was of herselfamply capable of asserting her .honour, maintaining ,het dominions, and preserving her independence. In such a contest, she needed no ally. Let Republics Court the alliance, or unite themselves 'to the Great NatiOn, the KingdOM Of Great Britain, under the auspices of : its Sovereign, aided by the spirit and resources of its People,' would stand atone, and in a dignified attitude. It was then unnecessary, as well as obviously improper, to enter into the discusSiOn of certain points adverted to by the - No: ble Earl, though in ants,eLci - poria a Vkw tbs. for. bearance of that 2 , -':ohle-Lord to inquire was highly ent i t led to approbation. lie trusted that due confidence would heplaced in Ministers on the pre. sen t occasion, as it was but fair to deem of them, that they would not rashly throw away those Blessings Of Peace which they so greatly 'exerted themselves to attain and secure. He could asittre his Noble Friends, that His Majesty's Ministers were as anxious for the preservation of those blessings as any men possibly could be, *- Lard AUCKLAND' followed on the same side : Be expressed hist conviCtiop 'that the Steps lately adopted, were not Unadvisedly taken; and that no Wish - whatever was -entertained by Ministers to plunge the Country again into the calamities 'Of War. He ,adverted' to the colossnl strength: of France,. and to the great extent of her Continental PoSseslitins or Infltence,, and. scouted the princioe advanced on the part of Vrancei that, Great Britain had no right to interfere in the concerns of the'Cori. anent; :There wo*sekfal,instances, as illustrated by his Lord Ship in argument, where the interfer. ence ; would be not .only justifiable, but laudable. After commenting some. on the prosperous si tuation and circumstances olthis CountrY,, and her ability, in every point of". view, successfully to cope • with France, his. , Lordship adverted parti cularly to the Financial, concerns of England, which, he observed, it was of late so 'much the praCtice to depreciate in France: .it was to evince w th; world, and to that Conotry in parti cular, the unprecedented prosperous Financial ,si tuation of this Country; that he moved for the va rious Accounts which were then before the House. To establish the positions adverted to, the Noble Lord 'entered into a variety of financial calculations, from which he deduced, that the Country now pos. sassed, after the discharge of Debt,' 1m Al/come of nut less than S,>venteen Millions a.year. This in come, in consequence df various operations, was increasing from day , to day ; that a rapid pregress was snaking in the liquidation of Debt. Added to these considerations was the immense Territorial PoscesssionsofGreat Britain; particularly in the East Indies, and which naturally incrased the magnitude of her strength and resources. These were leading and important fafts, which his Lordship observed, could not be too generally known, and with a re. ference to that publicity, he originally proposed the discussions he had alluded to. Mtcr A'few vvordi.in eXplanation between Lords MOIRA and AUCKLAND, the question was put, the Address was'voted diss:'and the Lords, with white staves, ordered to wait upon'His 'Majesty fr. speaing the same.—Their Lordships then dtijoaro ed till to-morrow. ROUSE OF COMMONS. WIIDNittiDAY, MARtil 9♦ The SPEAK tit took the Chair at three 'o'clock, when much Private Business was dispatched. . . SeVera! Members were sworn in and took their seats. Lord Au" pov an , one of the Committee appointed to try the merits of the 13ridgew3ter Eleaion, had leave of absence for a month. The Howe resolved itself into a Committee of the whole Houscon the Mutiny bill,'Anti the itepott wit* ordered to be recetyett to-morrow. Mr. E /UK FIVE rose, and in a very neat S peech, observed, that he had authorit; . . from His Royal Highness the Pt ince of Wales, to request (be Noble Lord, Poaeii £sTvit, not to pursue the Notice which lie had given a few es-enings ago, with re:.pea to an additional Grant to the 'Prince of Waits : that August Personage had commanded him to inform the .House, that His Royal Highness had not given lhis-concurrenco, to .his Lordship's .Notice, andit,svas the particular wish of the Prince, that nothing fur. • cher should be pursued with respea to Ms present situation,---fromthe-Unsetrted state-of Public Affairs; His Royal Highness had expressed .his high appro , bation of the wisdom and goodness of the Huusii to his melt - are. and--dignity. He said, the, Prince, had - given a grand example of public condua economy, in rejecting thoselottforts his Friends were about to make to add additional splendor to the Prince's 'elevated station. Mr. ERSKINE said, he was prepared to say, that His Royal Highness was . perfettly satisfied with His Majesty's paternal good ness, and the liberality of Parliament; and that the great objea he had in view in, bringing forward his , Claim, was to convince the Public he had not been a burthen to them, Ever since the Bill in the year . 1795, His Royal Highness, bad acquiesced in the wisdom of Parliament, and had sustained his present unpleasant situationduring the Whole -Warwithout • making any ne cessary, he said,. to make these 'observations, that application - to the Houses—it was no improper and false impression should he made on the public mind, 'with respea to the condua of His Royal Highne s s, w ho had n o bl y wav ed t he agitation of any questioec o n ne aed w i t h hi s di gn i t y and future comfortb, for the consider at i on o f t ho s e affairs con-, , neaed with the safety and honour of the Natio n which called for immediate discussion ; and he did nut doub t but every individ ua l w h o was acqua i n ted with the conductand politics of the Fr en ch N a tion would give his support to the Hou s e an d the Nation, M at* fending the Libe rt i es an d dignity of the Bri tish Sulijett ; for hie d If, he said, lie would give evert farthing he ItatraSquired for maintaining of his fa-'' ashy, to repel the base attacks of an enemy, a . 0 4. shed liis last drop of blood in the defence of 'his . Country. . Lard PORCIIRSTER said, he had - no objeett° 3 for the present to su b scr ib e to t h e w i s h of the,. Prince of W a l es , but that li e s h o uld n ot entialy abandon his principle; which was so necessary., fur the support of th e elevated station of his A ligoti! Personage. The -Ptince had given another;amung" :the number of instances, of the dignity., Of his Mittsli • in.waving the consideration of his own private 0) 01- forts for the public good, and leafing hi; affitito 6 .. a - di:iconcerte4 state, fur the:safety and proteElioU of the Subjea, with w h om h e i s a n Oka of uni- vernal admiration and C4iCefll. StiERIDAN rost, but 012. Sr EAK Er. 4aid, there was no question before the House. HIS WO EST‘"s MESSAGE: The CIiA,NCELI.LiR . al the Excitsotrett otoves!)' that the Order of the Dav for taking into consideraio, lion His Majesty's roost gracious Message, be now . .. read ; which being done, and the Message read by the SegaKea, hi moved, " That this Message he .1 now taken into.e 4 snvideration." Ordered. i. - 4-... ~ ..t.Lavo.si.4.oß . 0/ Me , tyfic ihca ORR then rose, to paoposa an Addre s s i n e an.,q afro His ":- His Majesty's most gracious Messiige, w hich ill 6 ' House had'just heard read from the t:tetir, and he felt peeledly confident that the 'aPPe" l which Hid.',r_iL Majesty had thereby ma d e to t h e wisdom, the Pt ll 7 : tic spirit, the'liberality, and the fortitude of his Parhament, bad not . been made in wain. .Thelc were two points to which His Majesty's Message referred of fFrancie .and d t l o i f u lr ia i n li , t i a : v a r n r t e t p i a le ra o ti t i i s l i e i r s , on o t e he D Co sc a u s,t i s .„ skin now subsisting between ',His. Majesty and die,. Government of France : either of 'those points, i s parately considered; would have required a yea.; degree Of vigilance; and eircilinspeaion, on the Part of Hii Majesty's Government ; but both combined, required still more of that vigilance and attenti on. , It had been stated to the Houle' by His Majesty, that the preparations in the Ports of France and' Holland,. are . avowedly direded frir the .purpose. of. Colonial Seivices., That, Mr. ADDINGTO.S. , said, it was possible, and, he hoped, *probable, WAS the purpose of these Armaments ; but on the authority_of Hii Majesty ' ,it was also stated, there were discussions - of great importance still subsisting, the result .of which must, as it wai' obvious to, the Houie, be uncertain ; His Majesty had therefore , made his gracious communication to the House, for the House must be aware, that however inotrensiii these•Artuaments might avowedly. be toWards us e yet•they might, .under circumstances, be applied to another purpose, and which it'WaS.' of the utmost importance to our interests to 'Countered. With . rasped to the, discussion referred to in this Majes-, ty's Message, he trusted the I louse would not .471": pest that. he should enter into the,nature, still let*, the detail of that discussion ; but_he.had the satiti.-:, ladion of thinking that the result of that discusslois might. be consonant to the true interests of this Country ; if, however, unfortunately, such bilould not be the result, His Majesty, conscious of the goodness of the Cause, head expressed a determination to refer to the great resources of the Couritry,, the witioin of the Councils, and the pride of th e Na tion, in support of the Honour of his Crown , an d the essentialinterests.of his People. If that unfor tunate. : ly should be the result, the House might be assured they should be possessed of every topic which could cast light on . every subjed which might be desired to come under discussion, on the condud of His M''' jesry'a Govetnment from the moment of the }Win' cation of the Treaty of Andeils to the present mornent• With regard to the nature of the measures to h', adopted in consequence of the present state (I things, he was not disposed to enter, at present' into that subject, but It would readily - occur to thc f . House, that there should he some augmentation 01 His Majesty's Naval Force, and probably some in': crease to our internal security, for the latter par s of which he bad reason to imagine that an intiteta• don would be .made by His Majesty to his ratii,al ment, that he had resopred for that purpose to tr Constitutional Force, by embodying the 1111ilitl!" It would indeed be matter of regret, that too r who had employed. themselves during a-long vv., l " and had already done so much, shou ld now be ct!!_ l on to make additional' sactificcs, but he hail 1 ",