The Sun. — London, England, 1804-04-06 00:00:00

: , k4os IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. ROUSE OF PEERS, THURSDAY, APRIL j• Li the course of this, A Meeting took place this day, being the first after-the Recess. - - Tilt. Earl W EST M E AT-H, one of the Irish Re . - pteentatlye Peers, and Lord UM DE HOWIE', Ilieie - SWorn and took their seats. Mr. FowLitt, from the Cominissioners of the Customs, presented an Account. of :he Balances and Arrears due, from the severA„Colleetors at the Ports in,, tiglanti, on the sth of January last, as far as the could be road , ' up. • Ordere:. : l-to" lie on the Table; Their Lordships then adjourned cluing pleasure ; ;:iftetan interval of abOut half an hour the House was reamed. Tle Bilis upon the Table were forwarded in their respeCtive stages. _ The Order for committing the Scotch Bank Bill was dicohJiged; and renewed for to-morrow. The. EAttr... of DAftTMOUrli . reporteci His Ma:. jesty's Answer to : - a'recent Address of.theii Lord ship, (tespeding the produftion of certain State F e vers ? ) the effla of which was,. that His Majesty would give diredions Accordingly. VOLUNTEtit • , : The °Met of the Day tieing read, for the House tvesave.itsell into a Cinimittee upon this Bill, ' Lard GRENVILLE oliierved, that with respeet , t94 .. y . ftv important subje7i, .fOrinTilg r epart of ihe present Bill, and which had undergone soine discus. sionlrevious to the Recess, it Was-not his inten. tiOn to ofTer any observations upon it in the Com mittee, as he proposed or, a future day to bring in a Bijfup(..m the subjea. • . I'ffeir Ecirdships then went into a Committee upoolllsoliilli Lord W ALS] NGNAM in the Chair. The consideration of the preamble being post poned, tle Committee proceeded to discuss the Clauses and Provisions of the Bill, and several Amendments were proposed by Lord GRENVILLE. One of these related to the Exemptions, and which, in particular, gave rise to a discussion of sortie length. The Noble Lord observed, it should be Clear and explicit, how far the Exemptions, in certain cases, were meant to be extended. This was by no means the case, as the Bill then stood : as, to qualify 'for these, it was necessary that Returns of certain attendances at exercise, &c. should be made at three distinet periods of the year: the first of those was on of before the first of January in each year, and the last was on the list of September. How a return could be made before the first of January in each year, was to him inexplicable, yet so it was provided in the Bill ; and with respeo to those Volunteers who did not attend . the days of exercise, Sec. ,until after the 21st of September, as num bers of the working People could not, on account of the .har.vesr,-or other necessary occupations, great doubts obtained as the law at present stood. With a'view to obviate these doubts, and to 'place_ that part bf the measure under some systematic regula. rion,- he' moved an amendment to the effeet, that no Volunteers included in the Returns made- between the itt of May 1803, and :the Ist of May 1804, should be liable to any ballot which took place before the iSt of Atiust.lBo4. b • 11,4 WK ES BTJ RY observed, that a great deal of when fell from the Noble Lord referred to the principle of the Bill, and not to . any part which could regularly fall under the consideration of a Commi,tee. The operation of the Bill was to be coicfly prospedive ; its obje4 was to repeal the existing A6U, nron .the subjea; and to provide a sYstela for the ,future regulation of the Volunteer Corps. He disapproved of the Noble Lord's Amend. 'Dent. Lord HARiM;WBY made some general observa tions upon what he considered as the total want,of system or consistency in the condufl of Ministers with respe& to the Volun,teer Corps, and he ad yerted to certain parts of the Bill, in illustration of his positions. I,ord KING 'supported what had fallen from Lord Carkytt,LE open the subjea. .The LORD CHANCELLOR, in an Address to the Curnmittec at some length,vindicated the Conduft of Qovernment npon the subjca in question. The Lord took, occasion to vindicate also the con_ duff of the. Law Officers of the Crown, with respell so the opinions given, &c. and with which undue licence had been taken: he did not mean in Parlia tneptary Debates, but in Pamphlets, and other modes of. public discussion, where these respatable Gentlemen had not an opportunity of defending themselves. He thought thip rather hard. He oh. served, that on the occasion alluded to, the former course of prat.lice had been followed. They should consider the impracticability of framing an MI so ps to meet every possible case, and to obviate every contingent difficulty. He remarked upon the far greater facility to find fault than to amend. - Lords GRENWILLE and HARROWBY spoke in cx. planation, and severally disclaimed an intention in IL: ; , bat. they had said, to reflea in the slightest de gree upon His Majesty's present Law Officers : the latter Peer professed the warmest personal friend. Ship : for the Learned ATTORNEY GENERAL. Lord HAI'PKESBURr spoke shortly in support of what ,had been advanced by hisl•Tobie - and . -ljearn... eel Frierid. He thought the course adopted with re ' spea to taking the Opinion of His Majesty's Law Officers, as to the Construction of. the AEts, was • prelcqable to promulgating what might be the inter, pretatic..n of Ministers thereof—end. much more 5.,-,ti;facctorY to Individuals. • :After some further discussion, the Amendment . poposed by Lord Gaislif 11. LE was negatived. On the Clause which went to authorize His Ma. isty to accept the services of an additiOnal Corps. of Yeomanry or Volunteers, a discusion of . consi. tier4)le length took place. The principal Speakers Were Lock G . RENVILI:E arid linwpctslauvr, the LORD CHANCELLOR, DARNLEY, Rpu,-* and AUCKLAND, the E.tls of WiticHiLsEA, 14py.,E;.4AND, ROMNEY, SPENCER, and CAIANAIit.. yoN, in the present circnmstances of the Country, of creasing the number of Volunteer Corps, or Of the number of Men to which they now actually amount. He thought, so far from entertaining an idea of in creasing the number of Corps, a provision should be made for to incorporate smaller bodies, so as to render the force in general more susceptible of sys. tematic regulation. Under these impressions he proposed the - oiniSsion of the Words in the Clause whiehinaEted as above. This proposition was strongly opposed by the Earl of WESTKORLAND, the LORD CHANCEL LOR, Lord flAmcEseuitY and other Peers.—One of the leading arguments was, the impolicy of depriving ~the King of the power of ,accepting such offers as might be made to replace those Vo lunteers who may retire, now an unlimited power of resignation was recognised ; it was not contend. ed that the number of Corps ought to be increased, and still less that the aggregate number, with a re. ference. to the other military services of the Coun. try, of Volunteers, should be increased beyond their present amount. The LORD CHANCELLOR particularly re marked the inconsistency of those who professed to censure Government at one time for repressing the zeal and energy of Volunteers in coming forward, and now blamed Ministers for keeping them up in too great numbers ; he believed there was not a sin. gleVolunteer who would, in the event of Invasion, take advantage of his power of resignation, but would come for Ward and die, if necessary, in the defence of the Country. Lord GRENVILLE, in reply to what had been urged by those Peers who advocated the Clause in its present form, argued at considerable length, and with great force arid ability, in defence of his proposition ; in remarking what had fallen from a Noble Lord (AUCKLAND), respeding the impro. priety, under the present circumstances, of render ing the Country diffident of His Majesty's present Government, lie said he for one strongly felt a diffi dence. He had assigned his reasons for such, and it was his objet to inspire their Lordships also with a similar diffidence. Lord HoBART, in remarking upon the Noble Lord's confident assertions of the difficulties thrown in the way of the Volunteer system, observed, that did such clogs and difficulties exist, the numbers could never have swelled to their present amount. The Duke of Motirraose made a few obserwa tiOns upon the subjea; he differed from the Noble Lord (GR ENy ULF) in many of . his positions, and seemed to think the power should be given, when the unlimited power of resignation was considered, to His Majesty to accept the future offers of service by Volunteers. The question was then put, and the Clause or_ dered to stand in its original form. One or two other amendments proposed by 1,30 GRENVILLE were also negatived. Upon the Clause which relates to the Exeinp, Lions, Lard GRENVILLE proposed an -Amentim , ..ot, the effeCi of which was, to prevent any Exemption being granted to any Volunteer Corps to be enrolled ,in future. His Lordship said, that if it were deter mined, that the Volunteers at present existing should enjoy all these exemptions, he saw no reason • ,why they shouTd be granted to any Volunteers to 'be raised in future, and thereby to increase the dif ficulties of recruiting for the Army, and ballotting for the Army of Reserve and Militia. This amendment produced a long conversation, in which the advantages and disadvantages of grant ing exemptions to the Volunteers were discussed. The amendment was opposed by the. Lott]) CHAN CELLOR, Lord HAWKESBURY, Lord HOBART, Lord WESTMORLAND, and Lord AUCKLAND, who con. tended that it was expedient that as few distinftions as possible should subsist between different Vountecr Corps, and that the effeEt of this clause would be to increase the number of exemptions, because as the number of Volunteers was now supposed to be suffie cient, it was not to be supposed that new Corps would be embodied, unless in the case of the resignation of old Corps, or their services being discontinued, and in these cases they would become liable to all the ballots ; consequently it would make no dif ference, or at least a very trifling one. The Amendment was supported by Lord HAR. ROWBY, Lord CARNARVON, Lord KING, Lord SPENCER, and Lord DARNLEY, who agreed that t h e Exemptions had already been extended much too far, and that they imposed a very heavy burthen upon those who were not in Volunteer Corps, by re ducing so considerably the number of men, out of whom the Militia and Army of Reserve were to be ballot tech After a few further observations from Lord HAWYCESBURY, the Earls Of WINCHILSEA, ROM. NET, and CAMDEN, the House divided upon the Amendment. For the Clause as it originally stood . 41 Against it - The Committee then reported progress, and bad leave to sit again to-morrow. Adjourned at Eleven o'Clock till To.rorrow. ROUSE OF COMMONS. THURSDAY, ArKIL 5. AN Account was laid before the House of the Im. portation, Exportation, &c. of Corn, Flour, Rice, Potatoes, &c. into and out of Ireland, for a given period, already mentioned, when the. Motion was made. Ordered to be laid on the. Table. A Message from the Lords informed the House, the Lords had agreed to the Innkeepers' Rate of Subsistence Bill on Quartering Soldiers, and to se veral private Bills, without any Amendment. The Order of the Day upon the County of Stir. ling EleCtion was discharged, and the subjeCt-matter of the Petition was ordered to be taken into conside ration on the Ist of May next, on the Motion of Mr2CREVET. Mr. Secretary YORKE brought up a List of the Regiments and Companies of the Irish Militia who have Made a voluntary offer of their services to be employed in any part of Great Britain durin6 the War. Ordered to be laid on the Table and !F) be printed. An Account was laid befoFe the House of the MAILS. DUE. ARR,IVSD. Hamburgh z PRICE OF STOCKS, THIS DAY AT TWZI.Vk O'CLOCIC• Consols THE SUN. iiOLEI; . 4 QUIP DICERS .FALSUM AUDiCAT ? LONDON, APRIL 6, 1804, W E yesterday announced to our Readers, that . the state of our affairs at Ceylon had taken alavour. able turn ; and the Official Dispatches which have been received, amply confirm that, statement.— It appears that the Candians, flushed, with the success which they had obtained by means of treachery at Candia, were encouraged to make a" attempt upon the important Post of Hang.. ; the attack was made by the KING in Person, at the head of a numerous Army, but after an Action of two hours, they were defeated with Mat slauoliter. Th. Royal Standard W* taken, besides 4Everai piece 4 of cannon; a number Pf M‘4sltrets, and a large quantity of ammunition. The King 4. Candy fled as soon as the A.taion commenced, but his indignation at this complete defeat was so great, tha; he caused two of his principal Ministers, and area; number of other persons, to be immediately put t° death. The consequence of this Vidory was, that at! .E-nemy were very soon driven from every part thr British: Possessions ; two ',detachments under Captains . Pott.ocr and BIJCHAN then entered tlig 'Candian territories, and on the 12th September again defeated the Candians at Orkanda, and afterwards retook possession of Roeviairelle, a large and por l ' 'taus town, in which they found considerable saga'' .zines of Piovisions, besides Artillery, Ammunition? &c. The King's Palace and ?zoo houses were ball!' • Our loss in these different Aclions was exceeding ir small ; none of our men were killed, and only a f eW • wounded.—We sincerely hope that these successes will be the means of restoring tranquillity ; for if t ilf expeEted attack should bC - Made by Admiral 1 - 10 i# ZINIC while we are - engaged in a War with th t ► Candians, our possessions in that most valuab le Island would at least be considerably endangered' A Report was yesterday in circulation, that a/s. Engagement had taken place between Lord Ns" / and the Toulon Fleet, in which the latter were ti e ; feated, with the loss of six Sail of the Line, 211 w that our gallant Admiral was either killed dangerottsly wounded. It appears, however, ° l ' d it was only one of the idle rumours of the day) no accounts whatever were received at the 40 1$)1' ralty upon the subjea. ADYICES were yesterday received, importiogi that the French Government had applied to the s e' nate of Hamburgk, to Lubec, and the Haas' T requesting• that all Frenchmen who attempted t° 4311 1,1 ' tain a passage for the B r iti s h Dominions, sh° l / 1 be put under arrest. The s ame a d v ic e s state, that . the several Governments to whom this aprlic ati° bad been made, had complied with the reques t ' -" Thcre can bc no doubt, we understand, of the tru th of these accounts, and it will serve to shew the spea in which France holds other States, as w ell if their IndependeAce; Yesterday morning I-11s MAJESTY rode in fif e ., Queen's. Riaiog Ho.use.—Ahout one o'clock MAJESTY gave audiences, and transaaed busine9. with.the LORD CUANCELLOR, Earl DARTmovlfft and M. ADDINGTON. Eat L,WINC.HILSEA Js eXpetaed_ to be Groom of the Stole. e t -Yesterday about one - thinek, Earl ST. Vi i t hip bad an interview with Lord HAwKEsgurtio' 1 Office in Downing street, • ~b 1 laisp Lo . pt.—Agreeably to the notice gi„;: r t l e- Mr. CottßY, the Chancellor of the Irish nifis quer, ,the following Gentlemen ,waited upon„i c v yestetday t at twelve o'clock, to know the es'" tars thereof, previous to the Bidding; Messrs. SCOTT, IDLE, and Co. SHEWELL and ELLIS. , ORDA'INE,and SHAW' ' 1 : i . 1 JOHN and ABRAHAM •ATKINS. • KENCH and BURROUGHS. R E EVE and GREEN, ....- .„, r )to when Mr. Ccotay acquainted them, the sum ti t i • ed would be Two . Millions, to be raised in tole' 0 , where the Giddings are to take place. But in c°lo sequence of some questions being put which to CHANCFLI,OR did not think himself at libeloy answer, the Meeting was postponed until SO° , January y ifnroemlostihvet,Ciat appears atritlopiaPeao or Monday. By the the a accounts n o t f s re ceived j Cap e o f 3 o so to d ft i m r ti b s o o a n m fg e: h t i ha i m es d e p b t; r:e e s v n i p o i r a u ep i s d , l o i r n i n n eo s a i n i t s h e v e g e re i s ie: e n l : s :: i o: , R A te destined against Ceylon. The Expedition, ',sere informed, sailed on the 22d of January. 'fbe re - 011 sixlarge Batavian vessels engaged in this s ervic e ° v of troops and stores. The Embargo was no t t ote taken off vessels bound to the Eastward (the" r it which the Expedition took), until 7o hours oreieee had sailed. Those vessels which intend ed t° :10e another course, were permitted to leave the r in 24. hours. t lier s ' The Cape was left almost destitute of s°-`„s, It was con e nured that the Expedition was 04 in concert with Admiral Litiors's Squaci r°° ' that a place of rendezvous had been fixed.. re fe: New-York Papers to the 22c1 February a.-risao ceived. Dr. PR r esTL E Y died in Nor on the 6th February. He was nearly 71. days he had been certain of his approaching "55er, The several Officers employed on the linnr!; o of vice are ordered to use the utmost ciertiona ;Nei curing men for the' Fleet, and to accept of all healthy boys. • The Constables of the different Police n ote have been furnished with Press.warrants-, to 4 , 01 them to apprehend all seafaring "D perfiOn9. 0 . The most laudable.zeal is pervadi n g the i Volunteer Regiments in the West Riding o f 'shire : having received an invitat ion from n doff ment to go out for 'a few weeks on pernon„.. e f e they are eagerly preparing to march. "' po es / field Regiment, bout 400, are now ar D" st tOoi t : the Halifax Regiment, a fine body r° 74 mo rc e received .the proposal with raptures ; the: l l 4. o ? to . Doncaster on the 23d instant, 10 r t . % ;v e st 144 ; lifax,ays q atl n o t u h t c 4 r oo etgrn w o e f httearShgeoffieiloti.sieltbh; ; rrtArc Battalicms of LeeCiti'Voitinteets, about Ow 1 ;0 00 I.ojoooft I o g, to 'York in a few days • the Craven t he march to Leeds ; the Upper Aggbig , 13° ds ; ,*. L e e ;E h march to york, on the return of r"` 0 . the ' w ig Wakefield, about 400, march to itil)° ,4 ll rso nd4 • " inst. and many ot4er Cores, W.c nme spin follow • ~~~~ raft bet of Seamen and Marines in His Majesty's 6 . . r " i t4e, Ship ant Vessels of different descriptions in Con mission, &c. 'during . a certain period, and orderekt.to be printed. Mr. VAN;ITTART ' moved for an Account to he laid before the House of all 'the Exchequer Bills is sued under the - authOnty of fourrdifFerent Aas Parliament, for the service of the year 1803, out standing and unproVided for. Ordered.: And also'for ariEstitnate of all.guties iin•Boncts, &c. distinguishing each article, &c.—Ordered. Mr. CoRRY brought up the Irish Flax Seed . Bill, which was read a first time, and Ordered to be read a second time to : mOrrew, and to be printecL_ The Dublin Police Bill was read a second time, and ordered to be committed. LISKEARD ELECTION. Mr. Sil sit t DAN moved ,the Order of the Day, which was for resuming the Debate on the subject of the Liskeard Elation—which being read, The SPEAKER reminded the House of the State of the question, which was, whether the consideration of a Petition before the House should be postponed Or riot. Upon which a desultory conversation took place. Mr. SHERIDAN moved, that the . said Oreler be discharged. Mr. BURROUGHS said, that neither the,Peti tion of Mr. HUSKISSOIT, nor that of Mr. THOMAS SHERIDAN, stated any case upon which the House was called upon to take this matter into considera tion, under the provisions of the Grenville Aft; and, therefore, that the subject ought to end here, as far as regarded this Petition ; but he blamed the conclud of the Returning Officer, who had caused this double return to be made, and for which Ile thought the Under-Sheriff ought to beheld respon sible. The SECRETARY at WAR said, that some of the observations he had just heard, rather belonged to another question which the Howie had decided, than the present, upon which he thought the Mt was imperative, and that the House must, therefore, refer this matter to a Committee. Mr. BURROUGHS explained. Mr. HENDERSON 'thought that this matter did not come within the provision of the Grenville A&, and that the House ought not to refer it to a Committee, but that the Clerk of the Crown ought to be ordered to attend the House to-morrow, to alfer the return, by taking out entirely th•!t par; of it which refers to Mr. THOMAS SHERIDANI and' that the Under-Sheriff be ordered to attend the House, for what the Hon. Member called gross mis condtot. Mr. SHERIDAN doubted whether the Hon. Gentleman who bad just spoken had paid to this case all the attention necessary to understand it, and contended, that the Ad. of, Parliament in this case was impericive upon the House, and that the übjett of'it must be referted to a Committee. He disclaimed all ideas of wishing to keep Mi. Fitts- KISSON from his seat until the [merits of the Elettion, were determined. He had wishes to the contrary, and CO had his Honourable Relation, who was the oppocite Candidate, for which reasoo he had aban- • cloned the Return, at which the Maws' of ache Borough were dissaiisfied, and ea far were they • from giving up the contest, that he had reason to believe they were about to institute a proceeding'. upon the statute of King William,. for •Making a false Return. - Mr. W. DUNDAS juqified what . he had said on a former occasion upon this subjeEt, snd begged leave to repeat, that he disclaimed all idea of con- . netting, in any manner whatever, Mr. THOMAS SHERIDAN with the miscondutt which bad caused to the House so much trouble upon the subjett Of the Return of this Election. After a few words from Mr. Cox, and from Mr. HENDERSON and Mr. BURROUGHS in explanation, and Mr. SPEAKER upon the Orders of the House, the question was put, " That this order he dis. charged ;" which was carried in the affirmative. IVir:SHERIDA.N then moved, " That .the said Petition be taken into consideration on the -3d of May next."—Ordered. Mr. Cox proceeded to move, that the considera. tion of the other Petition on this Eledioa on The Merits, should he postponed, until the return shall have been decided, for the purpose of saving trouble and expence to the parties, Bcc. This Motion, after a few observations from the SECRETARY at WAR and Mr. SHERIDAN, was withdrawn, and converted into a notice, that it shall be made to-morrow. _ _ _ Mr. SHERIDAN presented a Pe.titition of certain Eleaors of this Borough, complaining of an undue Return-, &c. Refetied to the Committee on the Eleaion.= Adjourned.