The Sun. — London, England, 1801-02-17 00:00:00

powerfully- for his giving attendance than any Order for a Call. -General LOFTUS said, that if it was intended that the Call be enforced at the time proposed, it would prove very inconvenient to many Gen., tiemen from Ireland. Fie should therefore wish it to be postponed to a more remote period. Colonel GASCOY NE apprehended that it would•be still more inconvenient , to Gentlemen from Ireland, if the Order were postponed. Lord CASTLEREAGH observed, that the Irish Members had already received a week or ten days notice of the time proposed for the Call. The Order of the' Day for the Call of, the House on that Day fortnight was discharged, and afterwards fixed for Tuesday the 3d of March. THANKS TO THE LATE SPEAKER. Colonel FULL ARTON said, he rose for the purpose of moving a Vote of Thanks to the Rt. Hon. HENRY ADDINGTON, for his faithful and impartial attention to the important duties of his Office whilst Speaker of that House. There were many circumstances which prevented him .from digressing, by way of observation, on the pecu liar circumstance in which the Right. Hon. Gen tleman had stood. He should therefore content himself with moving, " That the Thanks of this House, be expressed in the strongest terms, to the Rt. lion. flps:Ry • ADDINGII3I4, for the exemplary and distin guished manner in which he performed the Duties of Speaker during the whole period in which he has occupied the Chair of the House of Com mons ; that he be assured, that the•proofs which he has uniformly given of attachment to the Con stitution, the steadiness with which he has main- tained the Privileges and Dignity of thiS House, 'the ability, integrity, and unremitting attention Parliamentary business, which have so emi nently marked the whole of his Condtia, justly entitle him to'our Approbation, Respdt, and Gra titude." This Motion being seconded by the HOnourable ROBERT GREVILLE; Lord BELGRAPE said, he fully concurred in *the present Motion, and had risen to express' his hearty acquiescence in it, and he doubted not but that in this declaration 'he spoke the unani.: mous sentiment of the House ; for himself indivi dually, he could. not but strongly express his sense of gratitude for the distinguished manner in which the Right Hon. Gentleman had filled that "Chair, " which," (addressing the present Speaker) Lord BELGRAVE added, " you, Sir; now with so mud) credit, and, I trust; will . long con. tinue to occupy, as we may well entertain a san guine hope that your talenta will not be long un distinguished in these perilous md try ing. times." Mr. ii. 4. TAYLOR said, that no one could , more readily express. his sense 'of the talents of the lute. Sneaker thairhimsef; but at the same dale, he hoped that upon this Subjed, Gentle men would not intermingle the ,reasons for -His Majesty's calling upon the Right 'Hon. Gentle. man to fill another situation. Prri-said, that whenever any Question arose. which 'night refer to any or die eircum. stances leading to the • subjdl of his quitting the situation which he had the, honour to fill, be must hope - for more than one oppOrtimity of his ' expressing them to the House. The present, how ever, was not that occasion. But he was 'sure that the Question now moved, was. one on,which there could exist no difference of opinion. The House certainly owed a tiebt of gratitude to one. of the most worthy Charafters, and from. the manner in which that Gentleman had filled the Chair, he was persuated they would now be una nimous., and at the same time agree to reserve to another opportunity' the. discussion of points ,on 'which Gentlemet might probably disagree in opLtion ; bia . o6.4ucl.‘Werence would, he" trusted, intermingle itself upon . the present occasion. - The Motiot of thanks was then put, anti car ried Nem. Crit. CdMUITTEE OF SUPPLY. The Order of the Day being read ' for the House going Into a Committee of Supply to HIS MAJESTY, Mr. HAR . RISON I sa id, that as this was pre paratory to the House being called upon to vote an increase of a perpetual Annuity of Twenty-eight Millions, for which new Taxe4 mutt he raised, to the mount of Two Millions annually, he must :oppose the SPEAKER'S leavieg the Chair: :The liouse was called upon • to' agree to this, at a time when it BM ro;pstensiblp Minister, and when the person who ought to be responsible to his Country, and whom the house might deem it 'expedient to give dire .lions, or•impose restric tions, was not in his This •was now a fad of notoriety. He had observed, that when the Right Hon. Gentlematf (Mr. PITT) had been that evening at the liar, .svit - if a Message from IVlikjarry, he had been addressed from 'the Chair, . not by the title of CHANCELLOR of. the rixexr.ou ER, but simply by, his own name. At present there was an unusual expenditure; Dur. ing the American War, the Loan called for was not more than Thirteen Millions; in the year before the last,, the :Stun'regaired was Eighteen Millions ; in , -the last- year, it amounted : . 'to Twenty Millions and a Half.; and this year, it was said, that. the' Loan required would be • for Twenty-eight Millions, not but that he was pet tedly sensibl6 that there must be large supplies ; but what he had to say, was, that theHouscought to pause, and, befirre voting them, that they ought fo know tyho were the official persons, to direct the t3overliment of the Country, and whether-they were enabled to come forward with full peoers and intentions of making• Peace, and putting a stop to a destrudis e War ? Or whether it was their in . tention to carry on the., same system which had brought such calaMities ppon the Country, and to waste the money of 'the Country in-idle Ex.' ?editions, and in such a manner as to disgust every Power w 4 which we were connected, and which had brought us to oppose the gigantic power of France empty, handed, deserted as we DOW were by almost every: Power of Europe.— It was too much- to bring such an unprecedented charge, as that now proposed, upon the Country, witl.out due deliberation'. , Ile was: far from en tertaining a wish to impede the necessary Supplie s , however hard they might ,bear on the middle. classes of life, deprived of - their comforts, and . almost of their very means . of:subsistence ;. but under such eircomF-tances the House was,boundtd ' l take care that there•should be no wanton Expen diture, and to put a stop to tharscandalous practice of granting Pensions to those who had performed but little service towards their Cauntry,(By this remark he begged to be understood as not making the most distant reference to the Motion of Re ward proposed that evening to a g'allant Officer). Conceiving as he did, that it was his duty to oppose the E it's leaving the Chair, he apprehended that bat little public ,inconvenience would arise, for he supposed the - nevi Ministers would be re turned in about ten days _lndeed there appeared • to him to be no reason why the new Writs should not have been already moved for ; had this been done it would have saved disgrace to the House, whereas nearly :Thirty Millions were about to be moved for,.withont there appearing an ostensible Minister. He wished therefore that the whole of this business - might be postponed till the House saw an ostensible 'Minister in his station. For his own parb, hecould not but be of opinion that both the entre, and the exit of the Ministry about to be dismissed, were marked by the wound they had given to the, Constitution. Pirr.--" With • respect to the consist ency which the Hon. Gentleman marks between the entrance and the exit of. the present Admi nistration, I would remind that Hon. Gentle man; that its entrance was marked by an at- Aempt to persuade the House to refuse Sup. plies to His MAJESTY—an attempt which •proved to be unsuccessful—and now, at a time when a majority' of seven-eighths of the House, and nine-tenths of the' People had manifested themselves in favour of th e Administration on the eve of its departure, and in the arrangement of which I formed a part, it would indeed be sur prising if new, under circumstances so pressing, a minority of tlth House, and of the Country, should suppose - it became them to persuade the House to depi'ive the Government, and the Coun try of the usual and necessary upplies, upon no other ground than because those against whom they have levelled their attacks, are about to withdraw. 1 trust, tlierefare,_ that the defeat of This attempt will be attended with, consequences as salutary as 1 trust the attempt will appear to have been salutary at the period . to which. I have already alluded. The Hon. Gentleman complains of some things which he thinks disrespeaful to the House, because new . Writs have not been is sued at an earlier period ; but he ought to consi der, that whenever an alteration takes place in His Majesty's Cduncils, it must be referred to Hts• MA J ESTY himself to consider the proper time to fill,up the' chasm. But strange it is, that the Honourable Gentleman ,should argue, that because he ,considers • the present Ad _ ministration to be temporary .and irresponsible, that therefore they may provide the Public Sup plies for the. present exigency without submitting w tt • ut,. of Ntlivinont of all modes that could have been .proposed, this is the' last that I should think could ha ve been recommended,. and one of the last by which . I shoPld think the lion. Gentleman would will 'to abide: I feel it; Sir, to be may duty to slate, thiriliegreatest public inconvenience, woUld-izi4 from the delaying the necessary Supplies. Considering the period when. Parliament has met, and ,the circumstances which fbr some days have- prOtraled of the House, it would be ,impossible for any, Ministry to sanetioli tor any considerable time longer, the application of the Public Money without the ex ,press approbation' of thisllouSe„ Having, Sir, tound, on grounds on which it is not now ne, cessary for ine to.enlarge, 'thatit ryas my duty to entreat His MA J EST Y accept my: resignation, I also consider it my diitynot 'to l relinquish the office I have the honour of holding, I sub. mite to the House - the Ways, 'and. Means for the year,' v I am. aisxioui,' Sir, not to quit my office till I execute this debt to the Pub tic, I cannot do.this till the items about to' be moved for have been realized; I therefore wish that the votes for these items' niay pas 4 as soon as possible. But the Hon. Gentleman tells us, that the Public do not yet . know who • are seleded to be the responsible Ministers ;, yet he insinuates as-if Ministers afttially kept out of the way. But I hope he will find that the person to whoin . he most probably alludes, will not be opt of the way when his conduct comes to bc.inquired into,.or still more, when he can have an opinion which he may think calculated to promote the welfare of his Country. But to. whom, let me ask, can responsibility at present. be attached, but to those persons under whose Administration the charges of Government have been incurred ? On this ground, then,, there can be no foundation for the Hon. Gentloman's objedion. But the Hon. 'Gentleman says, if he had reason to think the new Administration were to be formed upon different principles from the old, he should feel no difficulty in voting for the Supplies.—Let the candour of the Hun. Gentleman reflect how this argument will be receivecl.by the House. . The House knows that' the appointment of Ministers rests with the Crown, and those who have been appointed, have had the sanction of its approb-a rion. ..And yet his argument is, that were the ilouse to know, that such a Government was likely to be appointed, as would ,be the reverse of that which had obtained 'its,•approbation, it ought to place, in it,an almost unlimited con fidence! What ,would this be doing,. but to re linquish every thing which the House had thought necessary to do for the public safety, and what se ven.eighths of the House, and nine. tenths of the Community at large, had thought essential to the welfare of the Country ? • But then, the Hon. Gentleman says, " from me, an indepen. dent Member of Parliament, you. shall not find an objedion 'to the Supplies, but unlas A. can find that your seven-eighths of .the House arc about-to be frustrated in your expedations, would propose to.you to stop the Supplie3 neccs. sary for the safety of thi. country !" .Now, when such is the sort of appeal made, there can be but little doubt what`will be the result.— The emstitotion of the Country'Tequires that the House would wait to see on whom His MA ESTY fixe's his choice, and that (he House should judge frotwevenfo as they arise, whether or not to give Ministry its support. I know; Sir,: hut of one instance to the contrary; and that was when I was brought, unworthily, into Admi nistration ; but even then, the Constitutional Question was not disputed ; it was only attempt. ed to be veiled, by saying that the appointment was conflated with Constitutional points. But now, when it is not even suggested that the new Government likely to be formed; will frustrate the measures • which a .great majoritrof ment has already sanatoned, •it is little , to be _expeaed that .any argutnent can avail upon this ground for stopping, the. Supplies.—But from measures, .if we proceed' to consider men —the House knows that one respectable in. dividual is about to take a distinguished share in the Adminiitration of affairs ; I mean, Sir, your Predecessorin that Chair. When a Vote of . Thanks was proposed to that person, I deprecated drawingany inference frotn'the gratification which the House had received from the manner in which he had filled up one charaler, as to an expeda don of his success in sustaining another. . But .it would be singular if, whilst the only fart we know is, that the person whornlizs JESTY'hiIS fixed on, is one who from three - successive Parliaments has. .received testimonies of public approbation, ana who has this very day receivcd.the Warmest thanks of the House, we were to call in question the undoubted exercise of the Prerogative of the Crown, :because the Manner in which he has hitherto. exercised his important funaions, has received'the' repeated 'approbation of the House of Commons. I think, Sir, it is not possible that there can be a division of sentiment in the House as to the propriety of. going into a Cointhittee of Supply." . Mt. HARR I SON explained. a He said the Right Hon. Gentleman had totally misunderstood him, as if he had opposed the House going into a Com mittee of Supply because the new - Ministers were not present. Mr. IVESTERN said,. that.alt that was asked was delaying the Snpplies till it was known in whose hands the Government of the : Country was vested. Was it nor a constitutional jealousy to be cautious in graming Supplies ? It appeared to him that the first step: the House ought to take should be, to address His Kist Es-ry to announce whom he 'had chosen for his Ministers. As far as the Public spoke out, it appeared.to him that the change of Administration was.4issatisfattory to every description of persons, .w)to knew that the new Administration was to be composed of persons ,who most -of them already held in ferior and subordinate offices, and were in close connection with the present Administration ; who knew that. they were creatures - moulded and formed by) he-Right- Hon: G.entlernan ; men who would be led., to :pursue the same system of mea sures which !ladled the Country into . its present situation, and who were ready to do an as from whichtheir Predecessors had shrieked; men who came into oflice to disappoint the well grounded expeaationsOt - the People, who were well at tach 'ed to the Sovereign and the Constitution. He would askwhether, under thesg circumstances, the House could repose its confidence in an Admi nistration formed of such materials I He hoped, therefore, that -the House would. pause on the question of granting Supplies, till such time as it had had .an opportuniq of examining into the situation of the Country., 01117'...'IREAD .Compl4it;ed, that the Right Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Pm) had totally misrepresented . the Speech of his Hon. Friend (Mr. flitaxisost). HiS Hon. : Friend had express ed , no wish to oppose granting the Supplies, but, mcrely'for 'the' House deferring for a few -days going in a qsmtnittee of Supply ; no ieriOns'in conVenience co - Lila arise from_ this. delay,. .The §upplies had been voted to the ist of April, and after having had inch large . Supplies, could the Exchequer be now -so;exhausted,„and the service of the' Country' so urgent, that 'the Supplies could not be deferred' for two or three days ? But if the Supplies were so pressing, he thought this circumstance refietted great blame on the CI4ANC E.LLOR of the EX,cneior His Hon. Fiend did not mean to interfere with His Ma jesty's Prerogative in the choice of hiss Minis ters ; but at the same time, if the House should be disappointed in His Majesty's choice, it rested with it to refuse the Supplies, He Called etp the House to see first whom His MAjESTY • would appoint—who was' to be the Constitutional-- Mi nister, that the, House might then judge as..to the .propriety of trusting the public pUrse into the hands of this Minister. He could not indeed suppose that the dismissal of the present Mi nisters could be 4t subjea of regret, if it was considered either as,to their talent for eco nomy, or their regard, to, the Rights and Liber ties of the People; nor could he.suppose that they could be succeeded by Ministers - .worse - than themselves. So far from regretting the step which His Ma tisTY had taken, hc thought that the dissolution of the power of the present Miniitel ,held out,sorne taint ray of hope to the Country: Mr. BUXTON. thought it strange that any Gentleman should refuse voting for the House going into a Committee of Supply, merely be muse a - new Ministry was about to be appointed by His MAJESTY. For his part, he loOked.not to men but to measures.. To him it was indiffer ent who was in power, provided the measures which were pursued were salutary. Mr. J.ll. ADDINGTON said i he was sure that nothing but a sense of propriety could have pre vented his Hon. Relation from attending at that time in the House. He, could take upon him to say, that his Hon. Relation would never be found backward in attending upon the House, to which he owed so much, and nevermore - so - than' at the present moment. With respea to hisßelation'sprin-, civics, he trusted that it would not 6e.presumption in him to refer the House to past condua on that sobjea ; and he trusted also that his Hon. Relation would never forfeit the good opinionOf that House, by courting the 'favour, or stooping to be de-, pendant upon any man, however respedable i • in that important station which he would soon have the Honour to fill. He was also sure that his Hon. Relation would nee' claim the confidence of the House till he had an opportunity of deserving : it. All hehad now to request on his behalf was, that he might not, be prejudged with respett to those measures which in the situation he would stand in, he might find it his duty to pursue. Mr. DENT'said, • -he -was--sat-isited that -the - independent part of •that House .had a right to' call for for an explanation, of the -reason of Minister's Resignation. He could lip • excuse for leaving the Country in its pre_ sett • Situation, when no explanation had taktfif place. He _trusted that the worse die , si tuation which tile Country might be in, the more serious all parties would be to assist for the general good. He knew not why an opinion should be taken up that this Country was not in a good situation as to its internal defence. •He trusted that such a report Was fale, and flat would appear there was a force sufficient, but he" believed that ,at present the public Mind was not satisfied upon this point. - --ile should oppose going .into a Committee of siii,ork till he had heard more satisiidory reasons assigned the Cifitirc E 1.1.0 R . of the ExcusQiitii for his quitting the helm of Government. Mr. .HOBIJOUSE complained of the mis statements in the Speech Of the - Right Hon. Geri :tleman. He charged. him With haling plunged the Country into a • burthensome and calamitous 'War. He had shown a• want'of Visdom 'in his • manner of conduffing it. He had negleaed op r porttinities of - negotiating; and - when 'he did cie. gotiate,-there were the' - •most• evident marks of insincerity. Under his :Administration .the Liberties of the Country had been almost an nihilatetr-- The Constitution had been defac ed—He had taken away the means of the Peeples' assembling together to deliberate ; whilst - this hollow quiet had been adduced as a proof of general satisfaaion.. Persons had been imprisoned for these three years. past, under the Suspension of the Habeas Corpus Mt. When he heard the Right Hon. Geßt le n speak of the salutary' consequences of hii Administration, he must enter his solemn protest ; and when tht day of 'investigation arrived, he trusted , . 7 . Right Hon. Gentleman would experience a sFvere scrutiny into his conduct. . ,Mr. DUNDAS said,- there was something ther singular, • and not very reipettful to the 1-fouse, in the , mode of argument v inch the Gen;:, denier; on the othe - t side had adopted ; t - or their censure was not ;on - ned .to HIS. Majesty's Minis '- ters, but they `had, - without hesitation, -reprol bated' almost . oery One of thhse • measures to which'Parliameni for many years.baqk had given its decided ,sandion. 'For the • HOn. Gentlemen should tees:ilket; that 01 those - measures againit which they Are 60 indignant, as tending to demtror the liberties of the People, were fully investigated in, and received the iin&ion of that nouse. With respett to. the. investigatioti about - which Gentlemen spoke, 'he conk! assure them, that for one, be never would shrink froM investigation, nor, he was sure, would any of them with -whop, he had the honour to ad. • The Motion before the House was to resolve itself •into,a.COmmittee of Supply, in order to prOvide those means which s would enable ,t hisCountly. ,to contend against • the hostile League tbat, was formed against it : the point therefore was, whether all means of dc_ fence should he aPandOned, and all.exertioci should cease ; it was-uptin that alone the -- Hou.se had to.decide, If Gentlemen wished to enter into a reirdifiea of the pa s t conduit of-Ministers,, they would have opportunities enough. for . that puiposE, but upon the question before the House, there was no ground for .retrospedion. The Hon. Gentleman had-stated, that no Administra- - tion syhith succeeded to the present one; could be worse than it had been : if the. Hon. Gentleman was serious irithat opinion, and would not have opposed granting Supplies to the pi•esentAdinini s•tration if they remained in office, there certainly . could he no reason for nor granting them to art Administration who, according to his own ac. count, might..be 'better, but could not be worse than the, present one. 'There had been many sub-, jeiti.alluded to, upon which he wished, to trouble the House, :btit there would be full opportunity for discussing those points' at a fitter period. Aft, NICK OLLS said, he wished . for some • 7. delay upon the subjed ; but as he had_ formed his opinion upon different grounds, perhaps, to thc4.e which influeneeld . other Gentlemen, ' would trouble the House , with 'a . few words upon the subjeii.. With respeit.to the New Administra tion„ he , should give no bpitiion at present ; cer.. tainly he was not disposed, to exptess . him s elf 9f them in terms at all disrespectful. He bad heird , • that a Noble Lord, in. another place,. called the • New *Administration a weak and rickety Ada& nistration :he was not . disposed think them 1 weak or rickety, - beeltuse they had not the couo_ tenance of that. Noble Lord. ,For his own part, he wished to givo them-lii; confidence, and he had great hopes heshould. be able to do so : if they set themselve,s seriously.. to work to obtain Peace for the Country, they-should Lace his support.: He was aware, that under the present circum stances they must make an inglorious - Peace, bat ~ if they .obtained. the beit they could, he would thank them for it. His reason Jot opposing the. present Motion. Was this--4te thOoght that. the ' House had a right to know what the. Ministers' objects and views were before they granted ebe ' Supply ;. -and' as 'no injury Could happen to the . Country from a short atilsY,' he Aeuld - toni:utiii the Motion. He could not help , observing, that the Right Hon. Octitleman. opposite was retiring from Administration- under circumstances by tin means creditable to himself:- he had not stated fairly the,groands upon which he withdrew; bur was __l NG, was circulating =polls tending m a ke the tä h K odious to [here 'was 'a general cry of " Order!' Order !"] • . . • Mr. PITT rose to call the Hon. Gentleman to Order, as what he was stating had-puriiing. to d? with the Question before the Houses .That . Genticanan had no right `to introduce the name of the Sovereign, particularly * in an t usertiort . th it was totally destitute of foundation, 4