The Sun. — London, England, 1803-07-09 00:00:00

IMPERUL PARLIMVIENT. HOUSE OF PEERS, FRIDAY, JULY 8. Tut various Bills before the HouSe were forwarded in their Mt - waive stages. ALAMANDIM mid others brought up from the Com mons the Adjutants and' Serjeant-Majors Bill, the Militia Pay and Cloathing, anti the London Port Bill. These Bills were severally read a first time. On the question for the House to resolve itself into a ' Committee on the Lottery Bill, which stood for that stage thereof this day, • . The Earl of SUFFOLK rose,, and observed, that as the Bill was one tending to the defence of the -Country, and the proSecution of the War, what he 'was about to say appt!ared to him to be in order. --a• He first adverted to the Address of the City of London, whitAt was not of such. a tenor or com plexion as he thought should, in the present critical circumtances of the Country, come from that quar ter ; it breathed not that spirit of patriotism and energy which was so highly desirable at present : it called not for a vigorous prosecution of the War, but, on the contrary, appeared to lfim to lie rather of a tame and pacific tendency. He was under the correction of any of ,their Lordships, were, his ob servations in those reopeas not well found;ed, but sentiments on this important subjeft hi wished , should go forward to the `City, itself. 'What he should have s pt4neipally. - to animadvert upon, an . the eondud of the • Metropolis at present, was • the quota of men proposed to be furnished by . it to the Army of Reserve. Be did not know authoritatively what the precise number of men to be furnished by ;he City. of London was, but through the medium of the Public Prints he learned, it was not to exceed Bo°. • This number, with a reference to the. wealth or population of the flitish Metropolis, was miserably inadequate : Soo Men from such a place, fOT the defence . of the Country, was no more-thae a drop of water in the ocean, and the more especially, when it was considered the great, the mighty, the incalculable stake. which London had in the present contest : they shoold consider that London would he the first ()Ned of an invading Enemy. Instead of holding back, as it appealed to do, Loselon should be the first to come forward, to take the lead, ;tato set an „ener. getic and patriotic examPle, and give the tone to all the other cities and edam in the Empire. What . ,was the condust cif the City of - Paris, when France, was entered by an invading Army of Austrians.and Prussians ? Even the very women of that Metropolis came forward and exerted themselves ; they even assisted in forming the fortifications. He had no objedion to state what he deemed the proper number of men which London should furnish in the present circumstances of the, Country : it should furnish 20,000 men ; in reseed to which, he thought that half the Officers may he appointed by tliteCity, the other moiety by the King, and who also should have the exclusive 'appointment of the Officer who . should command the whole force. The Noble Earl made some farther observations on the apparent apathy of the City of London, and dwelt on the great and superior interest whicit it had in the issue of the present contest, which should animate it to great and vigorous exertions. The Earl of 11101R41 regretted That his Noble Friend should have conceived ideas so very errone. o u t o f the feelings, the sentiments, anti the inten. tions of the City of London, with repel to the present situation and circum,tances of the Country. He was, on the contrary, very confident, and indeed had ,-mite reason to know, that the City of London was at this moment itotlessa with the deepest feel. ings, of loyalty and genuine 'devotion to - the King; and animated with an ardent zeal aril enthusiasm for the honour and the defence of the Country. He felt confident, that thit: City of London world come forward with a'consideeable and efTediee force,' to aid in the - defence of the Country, mid specific measures on 'this head would have been ere now ptoposed from that-quarter, were it not apprehended that - such proceedings would embarrass the present defensive measures adtpred on the part of His 'Mita jesty's Government. fie .had opportunities of learning the sentiments of the City in those FespeCts, in conversations on the subjea with some of th e leading and most attspeCtable persons in that quarter. He entertained no doubt that the City, impressed as it was, and conscious of the great stake it had in the issue, would duly come forward with a powerful and extensive assistance, end on a scale proportionate to its immense wealth and numerous population, and which he repented won't! leave been slime before this time, were it not for the reason he had stated. . Lord HOBART said, he did not rise to vindicate the conduit or charade,. of the City of London; as i: needed no apology, He felt confident that the Metropolis would duly come forward and assist in the defence of the Country, in a met patriotic and exemplary manner, He rose to observe as to one point Which fell from the Noble ,Earl (SUFFOLK), namely, with resped to the Soo men'. to be fur. ;fished by the City, that was merely the quota to be forniahed with ,a reference to one particular mea. note only—the Army 'of- Reserve will, which had lately received the Royal Assent ; that proportion was exclusively confined to that regulation,' and trot connected with any other measure, which it' might be necessary to adopt under the present cir. 'cumstances ()false CountrY. Tit i r Earl of SUFFOLK, in explanation, ex preesed his satisludion at what he had heard from the Noble Lords, . Still he must' contend that the assistance to he, furnished by the Me. .ought. to be large in preportion to its pooplatioei which he thought to be about at ninth .of that - of the whole kingdom. His LOrdship then alluded, comparatively, to the large proportion o f .ten tttrnished by the County to which_ he belonged, to the Militias, which was tat from tieing pnpul ,vus. The 4oRp,CHANCE4.I,O N tH ) eaid that the question be•had to put was, that this house do re-I_ solve itself into a ComMittee upon the Lottery Bill. ,ordered accordingly ; the House in a Committee went through the Bill, and-ordered the Elliott to be received to.:ttorrow. • 'the prints of the Bill being laid upon the Table, Lord Hottattr moved the 'second reading of the tirh Additional Force Bill , which aOuttiisly took place; his Lordship thewmoved that the Bill be committed to:morrow. Ordered. The Five Million Exchequer Loan Bin was brought up fr,om the Commons, and read a first time.—Adjourned till to.moirow. HOUSE OF COMMONS, TRIDAY, "JULY 8. Tint Exchequer Bills Bill was read a third time and passed.' The Guernsey Corn Bill and the Wine Bonding Bill were read a second time, and ordered to be com mitted on Monday. A Message received from the Lords stated, that their Lordships had passed a -Bill to render Justices of the Peace more safe in the execution of their duty, to which they desired the concurrence of the Commons.--The Bill was read a first time, and ordered to be 'read a second time on tVlonday. Sir WILLIAM SCOTT rose, pursuant to the notice he had given, to move for leave to bring in a Bill for making certain regulations with regard to Prize Agents. It certainly would be admitted by - every body, that our naval defenders were, en. titled to every eocouragement and to every protec. lion that , could be.afforded them. Their geneial improvidence with regard to their o wn proper t y had lot% been known,andacknoWledged,,and it had always been the pradice of the Legislature to eri deavour to protect their property for them. It was true that many of the mischiefs of which they coin. pl4ined, and many of the impositions which were, pradised upon them, arose from their proVerbial itiattention.and improvidence with regard 'to their own concerns, and it would be found extremely difficult to guard against those mischiefs, without in some degree breaking in upon the 'right which 'every person pdssesSed of disposing of his own pro. perty. All persons in the Navy had now the right of appointing their Own Agents and Trustees, and• of revoking that appointment whenever they pleased. They had a 'power of transferring to any person, I even in the' first week of a War, 'the whole of, their cetaingent. in all the prizes which they. might take during the Whole course of its continuance, a n d th at , • for any conSideration, 'however trilling or made. quate. These powers were certainly not more than what were necessarily incident with the rights cf property. But it should be recolleCted, that the species of property of which he was speaking pro. ceeded entirely from the wise and gracious benevo_ hence of 'the Crown ; it was 'a property to,which they had no antecedent right.. Any legislative measure, therefore, which tended to and protect that property, could not be considered as a violation of their rights. 1h proposing some-regu. lations upon this subjed, he should endeavour to do . that which he thought it was wise to do in all le. gislative MC.3BUtebj viz. to depart as little as it was possible from present usage. It had been suggested that it would be proper to appoint a public office, with officers, appointed either by His Majesty or by * Parliament, vested with sufficient powers to conduct the whole business of Prizes upon one gene. ral system. He would not take upon .himself to, deny din such a system might not be attended with great advantages, particularly in the later stages of business relartve to Prizes, and after it quitted the Courts who were to decide upon the questions ; but in the earlier parts of the business, it would be,ett. tended 'with'difficulties, and perhaps would not 'he found very convenient ; and he was not sure that the advantages which ,it was peoposed to derive from this system might not be: obtain e d f ro m a mo ditication,ot the present system. The plan which he would propose would be • one which would leave to the parties the nomination of those in when) they were to confide their interest,' This would, in his opioion, beenore acceptable to the Legislature, be. cause: it would be more acceptable. :to the parties concerned ; and this system further recommended itself to hiS preference, because it paid a due regard to the existing interests of those who were em •pfoyed as Agents. 'They were 'in general a most meritorious body of men, and many.Of the corn. ',hams against, them arose from the unfounded:in. patience of- those by whom they were employed. He should propose, therefore, to leave to naval per. sons the.appniottnent of their own Agents, but with . some regulatioas which would guard against impro.' per emitted on their part. Besides % their private character as Agents, he wished to invest them with a kind'of public charader, which would'make• them , more atm purpose,nable to the la w ; f or t hi s he . would propose to make them register their powers of attorney in the court of Admiralty. The next regulatidn he proposed was, toot after having, re. gistered their powers of attorney, they give secu. rity to a considerable amount for the due execution of their trust. There was no security required at present, and as seamen had the power of appointing every person, however low in circumstances or de ficient in charade?, to be his Agent, it-was really astonishing that; there was so little .cause of com. plaint. This regulation would Confine the office of Agent to persons of ,property or of credit. The .next regulatioh he proposed was, that these letters of attorney should not be .revoked during the pen. dency of any business, without a complaint being made to the COUrt. This was meant to obviate an inconvenience which arose from sailors frequently 'changing their Agents upon the misrepresentation of interested persons. 'This occasioned considerable confusion; and , the property, by chanting hands, often sustained considerable diminution. He would also propose, that in cases of appeal, the property Should be vested in the public securities, which was not the case at present, and the! consequence of 'which was, that it was the interest of the ,Agent to keep the matter pending as long as pos. side,, and his interest was therefore at variance with that of his - principal., Another regulation was that after the time for an appeal had elapsed, or after an appeal had beetidecided, that the Judge of the Admiralty should have power - to:Cot-rpel a 'distributiOn of the property. This was net the case at present, out every individual cOncerned had, nor:nilel means 'of obtaining his property if it .was withheld, except by an aditio at Common or by filing a•Aill iii Chancery. - ; The next it'Ttil..zion was,to prevent any Seaman from making- those ge. neral powers of Attorney, to which be had before alluded, and by 'which they might for the most trifling temporary gratification, shyest themselves of all the prop - erty to which they might be .entitled during the whole War. There ought to be specific Letters of Attorney pointing to each particular capture. — The last regulation which he should propose was to carted a great inconvenience : when a vessel was cap tured in any distant part, in the East or West Indies, and carried into a port there, it frequently happened that the 'captors were ordered to another station, and remained for a long time in the most distressing . ignorance respe6ting the fate of their Prize, or per haps -never obtained any information about it ; to prevent this he proposed that the Registers of the different Courti in these distant parts of His Ma jesty's dominions, should be obliged to make ,a re turn every six months of the Prizes that had been determined in their Courts. These were the prin cipal modifications which she should propose to in. troduce into the Bill, and he begged to 011 the at ten. tion of the House to them, particularly of such Members' as were Naval Officers.—They had the . advantage of being approved of by the Noble Lord at the head of the AdMitalty. There were other de tails which he did not propose to intrOd uce into this Bill, as he understood they had engaged the attention of the CoMmissioners for inquiring into abuses. He concluded with moving for leave to bring in a Bill for the encouragement of Seamen, and for the more effeaual manning of the Navy. Mr. JOHNSTONE said, he did not mean to oppose the Motion, but he lamented that this Bill had been found necessary, because, it shewed that there was no hope of that mediation which had been looked up to with so much confidence as the'means of terminating the War—He was apprehensive that it would throw too. much businesS into the, Court' of Admiralty even for the abilities of the Right Hon. and Learned Gentle Man who presided in it to get throughHe said there were ago appeal causes now undecided, and he was apprehensive that. the regulation of this would obstrud that'dispatch in the 'determination of causes 'with rev, to neutral Ships which we were bound to use by our engagements with Foreign-- Powers— ; He suggested the idea of compelling one of. the 'judges from each . of the Courts in We stm i nster H a ll to ass i st at the i r- Jeisure in hearing of causes of this kind in order to expedite their decision: Admiral BERKELEY said, that he understood that Some suggestions upon this subjiy4 were' likely to come'from a quarter he was not at liberty then to name, and he wished ihe Right Hon. Gentleman to postpOne his Bill fora few days, in order that he might have the benefit of them. The 'ATTORNEY:GENERAL. replied, that it was not necessary to postpone the Bill for that pur. poire, because those suggestions might be adopted in future Stages of the Bill. With regard to what bad fallen from the Hon. Gentleman who spoke laot but one, it could not be siipposed; that after the House had given its countenance to the condua of Mini. sters respeding the War, that they ,would now postpone the encouragement. which it was proposed to give to the Naval Defenders. of the Country, from the slight and distantliopes of the Mediation to which the Hon. Gentleman had alluded. Mr. IVILBERPO RCA said he was sorry to heat the Learned Gentleman' use the term " slight and distant hope," when speaking of ti mediation which had been looked op to with so much expedation as a means of terminating'the present War. The ii TO RN EY GE NE RAL said, he kid used that Phrase when the mediation was urged as a rea., wn fur delaying the present 081. Leave ryas then gi ven to b r i ng i n the Bill. The SEcItETAR'Y at WAR gave notice that he should On Tuesday next (as the Bill for the Army of Reserve was now disposed of) move for leave ( 0 bring in a Bill to render more effeaual an Ad 'pas sed at the commencement of the present Se;sion to provide fur the effedual defence of the realm. The Bell Rock Light.house Bill was read.a first time, and w a s , or d ere d to b e read a second time o n Monday. . The Bristol Port Bill was read a third time and passed. General GASCOYNE withdrew the notice he had given of a motion for Monday, for giving re lief to the persons concerned in the Export Trade,. but he could floc fix the day ,when he would bring it forward. The Report of the Assessed .Tax Consolidation Bill being brought up, Mr. EY RE moved that the Bill should be re. committed. He said the penalty tipun the Surveyor for any unjust Surcharge, ,was' by the Bill tool, and dismissal florn his office. This penalty he thought would tend to prevent any slight miscondua on the part of the Surveyor from being punished, 'because there might be many cases in which he might de.- seive some degree - of censure when it would be too harsh to impose so. severe a punishment. A short conversation took place between the ArrotorlY GENERAL, Mr. WM:' SMITH, the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER, and Mr. Vit‘IITTART, after which, it was agreed that the ATTOR:REY GENE. um, should, on 4 .4he third reading., propose a clause, giving a power to mitigate this penalty, and to Allow a part 'of it to be given to the person ag. . • grieved. The report was then , agreed. to, and.the Bill was ordered to be read a third time on Monday. The New Forest Black Came Bill passed through a COM. tnittee,,-Report on ivlottilay. Sir ItOneit-r fluxtoiv ,brought up the Report of Queen Anne's Bounty Bill, which was read 411 d agreed to, and the Bill ordered to he read a third time on Monday. • Mr. Bit A GGK brought *up the Report of the Committee appointed to consider the charges on His 'Maje!ity's Civil List Revenue, which was ordered to bet laid on the Table and to be printed, and to be taken into consideration this day se'nnight. Mr. VANsITTARt gai , e notice of his intention to move on Monday for leave to bring in a /1411 to aniend the Ads' f the 24, the 39th, and 4orli of his present Majesty, the one called the Bum,-boat Ad, 'and the others relative to the Thames Nolice: • The Committee of Ways and Means and Supply were postponed till Monday, as were also the Committees on the Irish Malt Bill, and the Irish; Treasury Bills Bill. • The Committee on the Irish Militia ranniliea Bill _was deferred till Wednesday. The Lofda Amendments in the 1 rich Parsonage House Bill were rca 1 and agreed to. The_ Irish Revenue 11111 was,urdered to be read a third time on Monday,—Adjourilerl at half past six till Monday, TO CORRESPONDENTS.. Ve Letter addressed to Sir Plill:4P STEPITENS, respelling , the Corps of Royal Marinas - , dbalt appear the first open day. ,i; sstbjett at the present moment of material importessesic to the Qatar, at large, MAILS. Olit. LRRIVtD. Fiambu rgh ; - o -...........••••••••10..• PRICE 0i: STOCKS, THIS DAY AT TWk:LVE. O'CLOCK. Consols - si with Div. Urnihuin - - - 4 Drs• THE SUN. tot-Sl4 QUIS DICERS II ALIL:I4 AUTIILAT t LONDON, yUL Y 9, 1803. We have received a Letter from our Corre. spondent at Falmouth, conveying apiece of genre which we feel it our duty to communi cate, without pledging ourselves for its truth , and upon which, when confirmed, we shall most joyfully congratulate our Country. The circum. stances of our intelligence art these On Tuesday last a' Pilot belonging to Helford, in Cornwall, boarded a Prussian Galliot from Ali cant, with salt, which Vessel hid the morning before been boarded by some persons belong ing to a Guernsey Privateer 'returning from a Cruize, which persons said, that Admiral CORN• WALL IS bad taken the Convoy from St. Domingo, ittehtdiftg the Men of War. We have only to ads to this account, our sincere whiles chat it may le true! Our Portsmouth Letter informs us, that a Nem phew and Niece of. the-CHIEF CoNsui, have Leen taken Prisoners on,theirpassage from St. Domingo, and brought into that Port. . ~. THIS morning we received the Paris Paters to the 6th inst. The FIST CONSUL arrived at Boo logne on the Ist inst. at eleven o'clock at night. A t half past two o'clock in the morning he visited the Port and , all the Batteries ; he ordered six Gun-boars and five Spanish Sloops to perform some evolutions, but in order to give the First Consul a complete view of their manoeuvres, they never ventured beyond gunshot from the shore. The next day the First Consul was entertained with a real Engagement be tween an English Frigate and two Cutters, :IA some of the Freiich Gun.boats. The result of the contest is not stated ; we may therefore suppose it was not very favourable to the French, even though it was in the presence of BONAYARTE himself, whop as the Mossiteur expresses it, 4 assito upon the oc. casion, At Hanover, Commissioners were expetied front with General I.l l lux T i x a re" Cap/rho:en, and Delegates Iron , liamburgb, to e nter of the Elbe.. It is i s nto izi , aniNtheegovtiraetelon Navigation confidently said, that the Semite of Irlamburgh ha*, o ff er ed a. very consider a ble sum, if the Trenclt . ' will allow that City to continue its trade direa.: with England. Meanwhile trade languishes Ogre, entirely.• If thii Negotiation does not succeed, — ' ; they will he obliged to : trade by the Sound and . ,: , Luoeck, which will much injure Hamburgh. Th6.l Senate of that City, it is said, •has consented that . the French ReOnblio should have a Garrison as-A Cuxhaven. I An Article from the Hague of the agth ult. con• tains an order for Reprisals against England. Ai ter,reciting the grievances of which the English Government has been the cause, the seizure of its vessels and the dismissal, of its Mi n i ster , ' t h e Bata. vial Government considering, as well -the honour of their Nation, as their Connexions with their higb ally France, decree, that there'shall be not 04 measures of precaution and Reprisals, but also every species of serious and intrepid attack on do hart of the Republic, to be prepared without detaY• They then proceed to threaten our Ships with %ill that- Ships, • suffer ; excepting, however, " r Fishing-boats, in the hopes that a similar exceP . ,tion will be made in, their favour. . Letters from Rome rate, that an English Syria' drop was then cruiLing in the Road of Naples, anti i► was feared had seized upon the islands oh Capri► Pncida, and Ischia. These Papers state the arrival of the Frigate La Consolante on the iotl► ult. from Gmaatakupo after a passage of twenty.fivc, days, wi►h Rear. AdMiral, LAcaossi on board. La C:onsclante it stated to have taken on her passage an English Vessel of 20 guns., _ Dispatches were received al Milein on the 13 3 ult. respeaing the reception of the' French Troops in the Kingdom of Naples, which is stated to have bee"' very amicable. The English there. had ,quitter { the country, and embarked on board severtyl Eng' fish Vessels. It does not appear, on what . Jai the French entered the Neapolitan - territorie4 but this article leaves no doubt of their being there., There seems to be a great contradi.)ion with respea to the days of BONAPARTIOS arrival At dit' ferent places. A Letter from Douai states, that $ notice had been published by the Prefeetuet, an- nouncing the arrival of the First Consul on , the 3oth ult. at Outdid, and that he was to -set out OP Saturday► fot Lille.