The Sun. — London, England, 1803-04-23 00:00:00

IMPERIAL, PI4RL7 tII'~IBh7'• HOUSE OF , PEERS. FRIDAY, APO/. 22. Ttil'.rß toidships, pursuant to the Order of the Day, re / srdved into a Conututtee'of Privileges, and Lord Aft LsIN kisc having taken the hair, • , • I ' Mr. ToWNI:,ELND, of the Herald's Office, •and sr. CUL: r „ an'Officer of the Archbishop':: Court at 'Calterbury, were farther examined respecting certain point s toulhing the chum of the Rev. Mr. Ra. v rs, to the Barony of 6-,antlos. A ; - -21 . ~ .hich their Lordships deferred the farther considera -1,! ;!::: case till Monday next. , 1 horse then resumed, and after Prayers *re read, ti,l. Assent was given, by Comntission, to nue public as t private Bills; the Inutter consisted of the Fair. Million Exs.netlner Bills Loan, the American. Loyalists, tee Militia tf.o . ers ' anti Sir ianiesSautharcz's Annuity Bill. ;The Lords COMOIiSbiOtiVES were, the Lorin CtiA Lon, tie Earl of ROST-I N, and Lord W A L 3 INGHAM, torn Viscount COURTNEY took the Oatht and his Seat.• The new Bishop of Bs tsz oL, 'Dr. Pelnalp) to w how the oaths-were adthitusferedon it former evening,was introduced in r o e terms Usual on the introduaion of Soiritual , Pecis • • iz,evcrenti Prelate was So pported 4 , ) y the Bishops W 24. f z and'S r. AsAP.H. The various Bills bet Ore the House were forwarded in their 7 . li!.t6tiVe: StilteS ;• and a few Bills, which were brought up 1r err the Conmtans, were severally read a first tithe. ,"1 :le Earl Qt Li NSERICK presented a - Petition from a person : rt. the name of fohn - Hervey, now confined in. the Four Covrt•.; NfirAullsca Prison, in Dublin, praying that the Be. ry:fit3 lnsolven(l),:btors' Bill oily beextencied to him. Bill in question contains a provkiou, excluding froth hit aniong others, those confwed fur d a m a ge s giv e n f ur s..etinetion. The Petitioner, in the prewar instance, had a ie'rclicA of that deseription giVen hitt!, but there were fline circurintaitees nt his c,,t,e, which were stared by the N o tt e E ar l, t vh, e h, i n lii s opini9n, it t:care : 4ly s:o.tbrth in the ixetirhut, would entitle hint to the consider.ito artrution of • 4 'Noble .Far!-roncluded by moving, that-the Petition I r now received . . Thio ropthitioo, artcr a few observations from the LoRD C 31 . A rpCX. t.t)% tc•-:peZlii , l; the propriety vr. the eNviuding pruvibion, awl on the iiarticular circumstances of the l'eti ?loner's caw, which ma- for in, matter for future considera tion* wa , l agreefl to by thin liour...e. The hoads or the p e ti. ti,lo v.-ere e,td, and it was Ortierett to lie on the ,Table. routine husine-;s was then disposed at, their ‘oradtipa acijotinted till L'lVlonthiy. 'IOUS E OF 00 1111110 NS, VRIDAY, APRIL 2Z. Ttrt. r At; w informed the Ilonse, that the Royal Assent had been give" iiy Commission to the Exchowei* Bills Bill, Sir lames Salintiires's - Annuity Bill, the Militia Officers' Bill,,and the American Commissiorers' • tor buildiint 4 New Tneatrb at Glasgow, was read a 'third time and passed. A Report of the Committee, appointed to prepare alt Es, .innate of the Allowances to 'Serjeant-Majors.and Adjutants of:plc Militia, when disembodied, was brought up and or- . ttmyl to lie on the Table. • bile Expiiirut Laws Bill was read a third time and passed. B .lThe Irish Revenue Juli was.read a third time and passed. Mr. Smi—ri4 mod the/Order of . .the Day, for taking into consideration the. Report of the Com mittee appointed to try and daterntine the merits of the Ilchester Elcainn. The first Resolution being read as follows, • Resolved, That such a system of Corruption was, formed, imd such instances of-individual aels of Bribery were com mitted previous to thesairi Eleaion with a view to intln t-nce the same, as to render it incumbent on this CoMmittec , to submit the same •to the must serips consider4ion of the House ; in Order that such proceedittgs may he 'instituted itmon as the ilouSe in its wisdom nta) think proper to 000 p t . )Ur. SMYTH. said, it was not hisintention to trouble 'the Haase many minutes. as he did not 'at lirei.ent mean to enter at large into the case, but , th , !uglit it necessary to say, that proofs of a dis , conspiracy had been made out so cle.ir, not ,„ of o n e, but by the eviticoce of ,riy to the Committc,., that 'he hail nit doubt but House would t:itir utmost detestation of the Ofrznee, and order proper means to 'be taken to bring theoffendets to justice. Ai the circumstances the case were ktiown to every Memberin the llouse,..it would 'be . unnecessary for lily to give a itcrail of, the, conduct of several persons who were guilty of gross bribery anti corruption in the late . 11;lettion for Ilchester : two of the 'number were, ' White Parsons, .and Mr. Alex. Davison ; he snoulii therefore move that the first Resolution should' he taken into consideration, and when•the House s..as satisfied of tl.e guilt of the persons mentioned thittinstrations should be given . to the ATTORNEY' •GRNFit At.. to prosecute Mr. White Parsons and . Mr, Davison. Sir M. W. RiP4EY said; before the House could 'fairly 'judg=e Whiither the persons mentioned in the Resolution were guilty - of Bribery and Corruption, of which they .had been accused, something mote than that which bad already been. stated, should . he off'redf . to the considers:ion of .Parliamznr. It was wish to whA r parti,:uhr point it Was that ) to the Gentlemen mentioned in the ResOlu. it was necessary. to stare the particular aCts of ;.a,f!ri', that affeoed Mr White Nisrins, Mr Ravi . -others, and not put the question . in that ge, way which hIA been done : eVery.cireum starlet coonetled with the condo& of the Offenders, hon)d be fairty laid befOre the House, btiore any Yftivilser could venture to give his assen; the Re. 4 , 11114. n. Arb.. WALL/ICIS rose, anal began to take a ge. rtal view ()lam Illawigtment of thellchester Dec- , . tiUfi..when 17,? SPE/IWER saiJ, he thought it was..,iie. re, , .313 , to say, that the qaestion hefine the House iva3 entirety confined to the Cow,ideration of the Te !o4:titln which applied to Mr.. White FarAoni, and r. Do vison; and not to the general merit 4 of the • Mr. W ALL ACE,said, he thought it was neces. sary to take a view Of - the whole of the tirctimstances cun:ietieti with the - 11 chester Eledinn, before the 11;tne could judge of the question before thorn, 'qls'.Aion being whether a Prosecution shou:d instituted against-certain persons Mentioned • the Resolution, for Bribery and Corruption. con.,idered it highly necessary to be acquaint - . with dl the circumstances reladng to their in order to judge of their guilt or in c:-:.nct-, and 'whether there - were - sufficient to scild the patties to trial,' fur theoffence ; ;• ( -y lide e h . e,i charged with. It was his opinion, :u.t the House, in this case,. was similar to a Grand whose duty it was to learn every particular with the - purport of the indiftmect, before Ot - -y sent the in.liyidual to trial. It appeared to that so much confusion attached to this ques. i.on, that there would be a great•difficulty to bring guile home to Alexander Davison. Qdffeld told a story, which amounts to this, that Mr. 1'.,t,,( 1 . procured a person to go down to the. 80. to bribe dl the Medina in this aft of corruption My. Davison was connected but from a 'fair investigation of ail the circum; stances, it would he impropee to give any credit to it. A person of the name of Houlton, who' is counated ,with this question, is well known -to be a professed dealer in Boroughs, and whose evidence is not to be attended to. In his mind there did tint appear any conneelion between him and the sitting member. He hid taken some pains to consider the minutes of the Committee, and though some blame might attach to Mr. Davison, there did not appear any good grounds to send him to trial. He was sure, if the House in' ita wisdom should think it right to institute a prosecution against Mr. Davison, a jury would acquit him. Mr. BURDON said, on looking over the report of the,Committee,' he was satisfied there was the most clear proofs of bribery and corruption ; he certainly did not mean to couple Davison with some of the others, who were engaged in this;-seene of iniquity, but he thought , his conduft was not altogether right. It appeared that the Ele4ors were purchased at 3o pounds per man ; this was an incontrovertible fact. As to the evidence of Old. field, he thought that person could not-be consider. ed in any other light than a King's evidence; he was _extremely sorry that men_ should sell their suffrage for a few pounds, such. condat lessened their importance, and rendered them wretches of the utmost contempt.. Added to the persons already. mentioned, he thought Mr. Happen' ought to be put, with the rest on their 'trial, and he did not doubt but they would he convieled. As far as he vas able to judge the merits of the case, it Was his opinion that the resolution should receive the vote of the House. Mr; JOHNSTONE said, we ought not to engage HisMajesty'sArroß NEr Nelt ALM institute a pro. secut ion against th , :se persons, with Ont good grounds, and he, for one thought there was sufficient ground to prose Cutes the persons in question. The evidence of Oldfield was confirmed by many circumstances which had been made out in so clear a way, that there can be no doubt of their guilt. It, did not appear to him that Davison could he, separated from the rest : there was no doubt. but he was involved in their wickednesi, and it had been pretty clearly proved, that 'he was deeply concerned in carrying bribery as far as it could be carrietL He thoUght the crime was of p very serious nature, and that Parliament would not discharge their duty unless Mr. Davis'on - was put on, his trial. Mr. Siwrrn explained. Mr. CALA' PAT said; that the whole, of the parties, ought to come before a Court' of Justic;.' The first Resolution was then agreed to. The second Resolution being : read, as follows : Resolved, That Alexander Davison. of St. James's square, was engaged in the said SyStem of Corruption, Lord Co L t said a few wordy in favour of the Re solution. Mr. SHERIDAN said, there' was 'certainly no. thing like proof, that Mr..Davison had been guilty of the offence he was accused of ; and before the House gave,instrudions to the ATTORNEY.GENERAL to prosecute the Gentleman named in the - ReiOlu. lion, it was necessary to know more of case. An Hon. Gentlethan bad ' taken the liberty to call the Eledors of this Borough " a set of wretches," for having taken Thirty Pounds each for their vote. Ile would beg leave to inform that Gentle. man, .that a great many elevated Charaders had no other way of getting a Born Ugh, but by pecuniary influence. With resped to Mr. Davison, there was no. proof that lie used Bribery ; though 301. a man had been given, it did not appear that he had any particular.conncdion With the .Corruption talk ed of: all that had been said, did not prove that an atom of Corruption had flown from Mr. Davison; AMITTART spoke decidedly against the condua of the persoirrmenrioned in the Resolutions, and observed, that Mr. Davison might have peti tioned the House, and.hav e be e n h e ard in his de fence.', Much hail been said that the testimony of one or two persoos could not be depended on ; "bur, their e,vidence had been corroborated by the testi many of many odic's, whose evidence could nut he objected, to. He, was, satisfied that they had corn. 'flitted a very gross offence, and he did not doubt but the Grand Jun. would find a Bill against them, whenever it wal preferred; The MASTEJc of the ,ROLLS said, from the npi . nion he had of the case, he would not advise' the Hou4 to be too hasty in prosecuting persons for the offence now the subjeCt Of debate, 'I he proseco.: lions that have been. generally instituted against persons by the order of the House, have been for libels against-the House, and which were only no. ticed by, the .House. With respe4 to prosecutions for Bribery, that was originally an offence at coma 'mon' law, but it was made a most serious offence by .the statute of G. 11. When that act passed the Corn:: Mons, the penalty for bribing at eleetions was fifty pounds, but in the Lords, who were by no means fairourable to the bill, the penalty was made five hundred pound's, -in the ...expeftation that the Commons would not agree to the. amendment. Contrary, however, to g2nr! . ,;l exile Cation, the commons agreed to the amendment made by' the Lords, and the penalty for each individual aCi of Bribery of.CoUrse was soOl. Upon this Statute, therefore, any person might sue for the penalty, so that a prosecution by a commoo Informer, and a prosecution ordered by. that House, might exist at the same time. In other cases the Attorney. General might issue a noll tromp; ; but if any person should institute a prosecution upon the statute of Geo. IL the At;or. ney.General could not stop it, and the.two prose. cations must go on together. It therefore appeared to him not consistent with the dignity of the Hou se to institute a Prosecution, where -a firosec ut i on might at the same time he going on by a Ommon Informer., antl he understood that in the present case there were aaions going on against Mr. Davi. son to recover penalties to the amount of 48,0001. It was always a principle ailed upon by that, House, not to prejudge any question which was likely to come before a Court of Justice for decision. It was true, that theoretically speaking, the Debates of that House could not circulate outside of wails ;= hut, in point of fat, the sentiments of the IVlembers of that House were made known to the Public, and it would be extremely inconveoienr if a Jury hilottiti come to try these persons with the opinions of zt: Members of that House, ok)on their guilt or cenee,.hefore them. The iniblication of a common hand-bill before a Trial, to influence the minds of a Jury, was considered as highlrcriminal, and pu nished accordingly. He did not wish to affirm po sitively what he was not absolutely certain cf, but be believed that there was on instance where a Pro. secution had been ordered by that House, where another Prosecution was going on at the same time. It was upon these grounds, .and not upon any opi nion he had formed upon the faels'of the case, that he thought this Prosecution otight not to be insti. toted. -. An Hon. Gentleman had stated, that al though there might be Prosecutions for Bribery in stituted by. other persons, yet that the House might institute a Prosecution for a Conspiracy. He had nor read .theevidence with a view to that question, and should• require further time to consider it, before he,,gave an opinion. upon it. Upon-all these grounds he should •move• the previous question. Mr. FOX said, he approved of the previous question, because it would not 'stand in the way of any further proceedings, if -it should he thought necessary. Mr. i3RAGdE said, he should vote for the pre. vious question, it being understood that it would not stand in the way of any further proceedings. The House had already determined that a system of Corruption had been formed at Ilchester, and that further proceedings should be instituted : therefore the House had in some degree prejudged the guts tion.—With resped to the alions which had been bronght, they might, for ought he knew, be collu sive. Mr. PANS I7TART said, W it were true that there were actions brought, he should vote fur the previous question. Mr. GREY merely rose to call the recollection of Gentlemen to the-situation in which the House was placed. They had determined (that which they certainly could not help determining) that there was a scandalous scene of corruption dis played in this case, and that further proceedings should be instituted. Whether Davison or the others were concerned in the corruption, it was cer tain that corruption was praCtised. But if' these persons were acquitted on. the prosecutions now carrying on, would the House then take up the business, after a jury had determined that they were not guilty of bribery ?—Then the Resolution would remain upon the Journals, and also the Res°_ lotion that further proceedings should be instituted. In his opinion, it would be,better if the Committee had advised the House to adopt some measures with respett to the Borough, or those who had taken bribes, as in the case of Shoreham and other places, either enlarging the number of voters, or by dis. franchising those who had abused their privileges. But after the Resolution which the House had come to, he thought the business ought not to rest in silence. BRAG9E explained. The [notion for the previous question was then agreed to.. • The Resolution with respell to Mr. White Par sons was then read. ResoLved, That John ‘Vhite Parsons, of West Camels, in the County of Somerset, was alto cogaged in the said System of Corruption. Mr. SMYTH moved, that the Resolution should be a g **cc(' • co. . . The MASTER of the. ROLLS moved the pre vious question. He said a Prosecution. was insti. cured either against Parsons or licippin, but he did not know which. • ne CHANCELLOR of. the EXCHEQUER said, that the observation of an Honourable Nlem. her (Mr. GREY) would relieve the House from the difficulty arising from the Resolution which they had , adopted. The Househad committed itself to this extent, that bribery :had. been committed at Ilchester ; but it was material that thellotise should indicate a disposition to adopt, some measure Won' the . occasion. if the House would not determine that these ,persons were guilty of.bribery, it ought to order, the Report to he taken i nto c ons ideration at a future day ; for unless there was a recorded intention of 'following it up, it would appear' to the Poblic as if the whole•.affair was dismissed. He begged to he understood as giving no opinion upon the filets of the, case, for he was almost ashamed to say, ,that he had nor perused the Minutes .of the Evidence with sufficient attention. The Previous Question was then agreed to upon the other Resolutions. The farther consideration of the Report was put off till Mond a y . fortnight. The Clergymens' Residence Bill w e n t through a Comtnittee, and the Report was ordered to be taken into consideration on Tuesday sennight. HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND. „ - - • The CHANCELLOR of tyre EXCHEQUER sail, be had presented a Report, drawn up by order of the Lords of the Treasury; by a person-employed to make a Survey of the Highlandi, of Scotland. The matter of the Report was extremely interesting to that ,part . of the Kingdom, and might be, pro-- dative of great alivantagei to a valtrable and loyal People. 4 must be extremely desirable to encou rage and extend the Manufaflures and Conimeree of the : Highlands of Scotland. The pursuit'nal such an °hied was desirable at all times ; but the atten.. tion of. Parliament was rendered peculiarly itnport_ ant and urgent, in consegtience of particular cir. cumstances which had occurred. He alluded to a stibjnft which was in the knowledge, and excited the regret of every body, viz. the Emigration s which had taken place, and which. were expeCted to take place, from that part of the Kingdom. - The best Way to prevent that Emigration,' would be to, giv& Employment to . .'numerous bodies of people , and ht the'same time to' afford the means of en_ couragiot and extending Commerce and Manufac. tures.' He then Moved, ” That the said Report be referred to a Select Committee, of which five was to be a quorum"---,4reed The C:wurnii tees o! Supply, and Ways, and Means, wcre put off till Monday. Adjutitne,l at seven o'clock till Mond4y. NIAII.S. • AtRIVto. F• -• •••• 0 11..t:Itit.r4it - ['RICE OF STOCKS,. 1111$ k]A.Y AT T, 1...% o'c L o c ,. • • . T H Tr, SUN. ♦JLI'4 QUISDICIRK rAtsum Aupaiti? LONDON, APRIL 23, 15,:3. JUST as this Paper was put to,Pre4s, we received the Paris Papers to the list inst. They do not bring any Intelligence of great importance. The Funds have declined to 53. 60. ...Yesterday evening the, Peliguin Sloop of Wgr arrived at Spithead from, the Cape .IfGeod MY, with an account of the Surrender of that place by Lieut.-General DUNDAS to the Dutch Forces on the 2. ISt of February. On the preceding day a ?reclamation was issued by the General, absolving all the Inhabitants of the Colony from their Oath of Allegiance to HIS BRITANNIC MAI ESTYA Six days French Journals are now due, the weather having been so boisterous, with the wind at W. that no Packet could get out of Calair Harbour. We end, however, by our Doerr Letter, that yes. terday morning, at eight o'clock, a French Boat ar• rived there with private Dispatches for a Merchant in Town, which were forwarded by Express ; and w e have heard this morning, that a Broker came ye;- teiday afternoon upon the Stock Exchange, and soli for a Foreign House to a very large amount, at a time when many of the Brokers had gone away'► and business was supposed to be over. This added materially to the depression of the Funds, wh ich had already sunk considerably in consequence of the misconception, or misrepresentation,- of the words used by the Minister on Tuesday evening last having been done away►. The Consols were, for Money, at three o'clock,'about 66f, but fell as low as 634.. This morning, however, they r allied a little again, being at twelve o'clock ar-6.1.!;" , Of JIMA MAJESTIES did not yesterday, as lAA our Coternporiries predieled, visit the Royal DM: . bition at Somerset-houce. His MAJESTY It 3 Buckingham house at eight o'clock in the moo ing ; and on his arrival at Windsor, did not•huo t t but soon after took his usual ride in Windsor GreA Park, attended by General GWYN. the EqUerl in waiting. HER MAJESTY and the PaptcEssits,.with their usual attdadints, left Buckingliam.bouse about twelve o'clock for Windsor. Ba t h An Installation" Of Knights of the, i talked of about to take place in May,- but the.in' , stsilation of those of the Garter was, as ouGe / ef t : will recollea, dispensed with last fill' '" MAJESTY. :Lord Ma I LLE gives an Entertainment this it day at his house at Wimbledon, at %thief' thl Minister, Mr. J. H. ADDINGTON, and severe other Persons of Distintlion will be present. Yesterday there was a meeting of the Board (4 Trade at the Earl of Live R torn's office. There was a report yesterday upon the Stoc k Exchange, that Rear-Admiral Tit o ars oItuVG H ha captured two. Dutch Frigates; but for this rer r ; 'there seems to be no grounit• whatever. for 4 Letters announce no arrivals from that Admir' t ,Squitttron, nor do we find that any such conununica• tion has been „received at the Admiralty. A List-of Direelors of the United Compaq d Merchants of England, Trading to the gittit-I n(fics ‘ for the Year I 803 : Sir William 13ensleY, Part. Charles Mills, Esq Jacob llosanquet,Esq.N Chair.. Thomas Parry, E' man, Edward Parry, Esq. • A ' sir J. Smith Burges,,Bart. R. Chichi!ley Plowden, Lsys Joseph Cotton, Esq. Abrahain Robarts, Eig• I'' v Sir Lionel Darell, Hart: Jol Joan ßoberts, Es.q. D e P t/ .William Devaynes, Esq. Gouge Smith, Esq . ,. The Hon. W. Elphinstone, Robert Thornton, 'ig. Simon Fraser, Esq. Williams Thornton* L' i q' Charles Grant, Esq. Sweny Tame, Esq., . John kluddleston Esq. Jahn Travers. Esq. Will. Adair lack s on, Esq. Stepheti Willlalast ' 0 " . Sir Steph. Lushington, Bart. Last night, at seven' o'clock, His Grace th e D°44l of BEDPOILD, accompanied by Sir H. Fril" PL ia .. STONHAUGH, passed over Westminster.briag e a chaise andretinue, fot four, with a grand Dover' there to embark for France. • 1 Yesterday, at the Old Bailey, the Dutch Ada bassador, M. SCHINIMELPENNINCK, SO ur n t o i Bench the whole day. Lords. NELSON, H° l 7 - r a and MINTo, were likewise upon the lienc,h. ;,,. HOOD sat in the Ordinary's Box,' the bend) be"' f quite full before his Lordship came. On Thursday last WILLIANt PUICOUS Slkiiiii: Esq. of King ' s College , was eleded Fellow o f tha t Society. A detachment of .thirty men, four officeili n f i r . serjeants, and two corporal's, from the 36th .. I , e g:: mcnt of Foot, arrived in Athlone on the Itth It's: e for the purpose of being instructed in th caenv exercise. Similar detachments from every orders ° It egin of. Foot 4) the western distria, are tinder an t the same place, for the like purpose.. . - : io Mr. JAMES AIKIN who died. o n Sunday 106 the 64th year of his age, was one ofa race of aal that are now nearly extinct . If his powers til,. ,not qualify him to take ► leading part in the higllr charaCtets of the drama, he always drew from lil and represeraed natural charaders with spit it a n judgm:nt. There was an air of firmness and Sit!: plieity in his manner that ti e lirlgq, and gave the force of nature to his aalelci He was a man of excellent sense, and though ITT,.. , in his manners, of the most determined s pirit. 7 .aiwaYs ,appealed to 1 119 had read much, and reflected upon.what he f e c a l ', •- I le. was , so reduced.- by his illness, ‘vbielj wss e l , pr.inful and lingering kind, that he had long wisi co hit the last awful dropping of the curtain. . , ,