The Sun. — London, England, 1804-06-28 00:00:00

etegree. his Lordship trusted that the Learned Judge would not be compelled to linger under this torture of his reputation, but that the Noble Mar quis would, in the course of this Session, bring for. ward the subjeti in such a way as to afford him an opportunity of repelling the charges. The Marquis of ABE zecoßN repeated his former observations, that the delay did not 'proceed from him, hut from the causes he had stated, namely, that the Pctiri •os transmitted to • him were not couch ed in pi;iiainctitary language, and that he Lin da rsrond it was the wish of the Learned Judge that the busioess should not be further proceeded in at present,. as he was not fully prepared to meet the Charge. The LORD CHANCELLOR approved of the g - - irsticns thrown out by n Noble and Learned Vis_ c unt, r,f re , 'ucing- the charges to a specific form. Muth deliberation s! cold precede so serious an aEt as that of h-ingieg forward charge's of accusation ag a in st any Ore; and when rI y were brought for ward, they should he restriet,ql and confined as much as passible to that vrecise and intelligible shepe, that the person accused should, it the first blush, clearly comnreite!rd tie nature of the charge, and know to a certainty what that particular offence was against which he had to defend himself. It wnu.d be incumbent on their Lordships, if this ac cusation was to be bend by them, to determine, as soon as possible, the mode in which it should be heard. Wien that great improvement in the Con. stitution, the independence of the Judges, took plaice, it was enattd, that they should he remove_ able only on an Address to Hts MAJESTY from either House of Parliament, There was also another mode in which a Judge, who had miscondufted him. self ill the exercise of his office, may be proceeded against, anti that was, by an Impeachment brought by the Commons before that House. As this was the only instance since the Revolution in which • charges had been brought forward against a person filling so sacred, important, and dignified a situation as that of one of the Judges of the land, sworn to . administer the Laws with truth and impartiality, he thought their Lordships could not be too cautious or circumsped in the observation of those forms, for • which the example of this case would operate here after as precedents, , The Marquii of ABE RCORN considered it not very candid to impute any designed or even unin tentional irregularity to him, when the greatest Law Officer of the Crown allowed that there had been no precedent of any charges being brought for- Waid against a person presidi ng i n a C ourt o f J ust i ce since the Revolution.. For himself, he was very ready to adopt that form of proceeding that those more conversant with our judicial process should recommend. The DUKE of CLARENCE coincided with the Noble and Learned Lord on the Woolsack, in the observations he had made. He thought it a very great grievance for any man, much less one of His Majesty's- Judges, to continue for a considerable time under the odium of accusations of which he may possibly be acquitted. He had known accu aations of a most serious nature impending over a man for many years, and terminate at last in no thing. Lard HAWKESECTRY declared that he had the i nost perfect cuitnticnec it, ti...H g bin e s s of the' mu. rives by which the condo& of the Noble Marquis Baas goveroed. He was persuaded that his Noble Friend had not brought forward a single charge, which he was not convinced, in his own opinion, he had the means of substantiating. It would • he for their Lordships, when they shouldbe called on judicially to decide on these faets, to take the evidence into their consideration but until they should be so called upon, it would be indecorous, or at least premature, to enter into any discussion of it. In the present stage of their proceedings they should confine themselves merely to an arrange ment of the mode in %%lila they should proceed in the next Session, before which time this subjeft most probably would not come before them. There were, in his opinion, but two modes ; one was for the Noble Lord to rise in his place, and to state that he had charges of great moment to bring for ward against one of the Judges, which charges should be afterwards written sow n ; and the second was, to have them presented to their Lordships in the•fornr of 7etitions. In both cases it would be prover, that the yersons complained against should be furnished with Copies of those Cliaiges. The !Marquis of ABERCURN professed himself ready to pursue the plan pointed out by the Noble Secretary of State, and would be glad cf the assisr_ once cf the Noble and Learned Viscount (Lord CAR T,F roN ) in pt.( paring the Charges, the subjeCt pt be would i e ,11,1; T v t s o I AL i t to hi m . Ihe 134,12ap of Si . allied for the Order of the Day, ol!servir, that the whole of the cutiVeTSAti(Nli lwir g .;:4efS • of the House, was.in fad ;.! vet ~a tion nothing. The LORD C.H.INCA“jR thanked the Noble and Learned PRI lie f9r putting him in Mind of his duty. TI. al% ers3tion wds, througlout the whole of it, irregt!f r, And-c ,nrrary to order ; for there was no Motion before tilt FLuse, and the sooner they got rid of d re•utned to that point from whence they see ~tr, the hea ter. PERMANLNT ADDITIONAL FORCE BILL. Earl N moved the Order of the Day, for the third r'eadiny • t the Bill so entitled. Tile Earl of SUFFoLX and Lord. De DUNSTAN.. ytt.t.t shortly ()posed it, and were answered by the Loßp CHAN9EPLOR and Lord HARRowBY, when the 13th was read a third time, passed, and a Bsdp 14,1ered to be scut to the Commons to sig. sity the saint~.—Adjourned. . _ HOUSE OF COMMONS. iguazaspAy, JUNE 27. Tlfs Irish Additional Force Bill was brought up, read a first time, and ordered to be *Tad a stcond time on Frit'4y next, and in the mean time to be printed. The Huse went into a Committee on the Insol vent Ddiors pill, which was Ordered to be report. ed to.morrow. The Liverpool East India Prize Goods Fill wa s ordered to be read a third time to-tnotrow. The Committee on the . cotton Manufaaorers' eras ordered for Fridarnixt. • • .;. ~.... A Person from the Office of the Datchy or Lan,. caster presented an Official Copy f the Appoint ment of the fIon„CHAR LES VILL tO the 'Ol - of Prothonitary to the Cain of Comnr , n for that Dutcliy, %%Lich was ordied to he on, th e Table. Mr. Ross gave notice, that he meant to-morrow to move, that the House shou4l t;.ke into consider ation the subjea connected with the Do.cument now laid before the House. The Woollen. IVI-Anufaaurers Penalty- Sbspension Bill was read a third time and hawed. - • • Mr. WESTERN brought up the mill for Regulating the Exportation and Importation of Corn, founded on the Report of the Corn Committee ; read a first time,• • On the Question that the Bill be read a second time, a short conversation took place bet ween Mr. PATTERsON and Mr. WESTERN, as to the most con venient mode of proceeding, when, at the sugges . tion of the SPEAKER, the Bill was ordered ito be read a second time to-morrow, after which it is to be committed, pro forma, to have rite blanks filled up, and then ordered to be printed. The Scotch Additional Force Bill was read a thin. time and passed. The SECRETARY AT WAR brOUght up the Foreign Troops Bill, which was read a first time, and to be read a second time to-morrow, Mr. OWEN, from the East India House, present ed an Account of the Particulars of the Account made up to the /sr of March gthe claim of the East India Compony on Goveinmelit for the. sum of 4.,0r8,c001. Ordered to lie on' the Table, and to be printed. The Bill for authorizing the issue of Exchequer Bills on the credit of the aids of i 504., was read a second time, and to be committed to-morrow,,. CALICO PRINTERS. Mr. SHERIDAN rose, and called the attention of the House to a matter, in his mind, of conside rable importance. A Bill was pending before the House, respeding the Settlement of some Disputes between the Master Calico Printers and theirjour neymen ; and a Petition on behalf of the Journey men was presented to the House, in which they complained of many severe and oppressive griev ances, of which they prayed redress. This Peti tion was referred to a Committee, and the Peti tioners, all of whom were industrious and labori ous men, were at a very considerable expence in bringing evidence from the most distant corners of the kingdom, to support their allegations, many of whom were examined before the Committee.— Now the hardship of which he had to complain in this case, was a circumstance which he would allow was frequent in usage ; but, in the opinion of many Members of that House, best versed in parliament. ary order, it was extremely irregular and improper, namely, that the Committee to whom this Petition was referred for special inquiry into its merits, after having sat some days, Eliot examined several witnesses, suddenly adjourned, sine eue, and broke up without coming to asiy resolution whatever; and have since made no Report whatever to the House.. He hoped, however, the House would no longer sandiun a proceeding so derogatory from its own dignity and authority, as to sutler a Committee to pass over with such slight indifference, and without deigning to report to the House, any opinion on a subject which the House thought of sufficient importance to refer to them for special inquiry, and to order them to report their opinion thereon. The - Petitioners, in thiS case, had incurred expences to the amount of above r,oool. (which they. could by no means afford) in match of redress, through an humble appeal to the liberality and justice of Par liatnent ; above fourteen - of the Petitioners st ere attending in town this Session, and the last, to give evidence, when - required, in support of their Peti tion, which tie House had been graciously pleased to entertain, and which, without meaning any disrespea to the persons who composed the Committee, he trusted the House would not allow to be frustrated in such a way, without any cause assigned. He begged leave to add, that it was his own wish that all grievances might be redressed, arid all disputes be. tween the parties amicably settled, without leaving' any necessity for recourse to .Parliamentary aid ; but if this was not done in a satisitiory way`, - bet ween this time and the next Session of Parlia. ment, he pledged himself to bring forward a' very set ious measure on the sul:jsd. Mr. H. LASC.,LLES said, that he was a !Vieth_ her of the Committee alloied to by the lion, G e „. denial ; that they had. heard th e evidence in sup_ part the Petition, and were urowim its! ) , o f opi. oion, that the allegiations of the Petition , were wholly unsupported. The Committee had adjourned.- ior three weeks, .smd did not feel it necessary to mike any report ; but the minutes of the evidence taken before them were forthcoming, and might easily he produced, if the Hon. Member wished t o b e sati s f i ed of the fi,ct. Mr. DENT said, he also was a Member of the Committee, and he fully agreed to wi►*t had tallen from Mr. LAscELLEs. Mr. SiIe.RIDAN answered, that if that tvaS the unanimous opinion of the Committee, why ..W:tS it not reported? or why treat the 1-1 , use in such a man nel without giving any answer to an injunftion, which so specifically called u p on the Committee- to report their opinion upon the matter reterred to them ? Mr. DENT moved, that a Copy of the Minutes of Evidence bef , re the said Committee he laid before the House, which was ordered, and the conversation ended. Sir CHARLES POLE expressed extreme regret - that, the Hon. AiLmber should withdraw tile even late as it was in the Session, when he reflected haw Very enormous and oppressive the grievaoces w t re. which :hat Bill was calculated to remedy, and how loudly anti urgently they called for Parliamen tary interference ; and he thought, that, whatever were the defeas of the present Bill, they might be easily remedied in a Committee, rather than post_ pone till next Session, a measure so indispensably necessary to check a series of. the most flagitious fraud and oppression, upon a gallant and meritorious set of men, the Officers and Seamen of our Navy. He had in his hand documents to shew some of the most flagitious instances of such fraud and oppres. sion practised by the Prize CoUrts, and Prize Agents in the West ladies, as was scarcely credible without the clearest restimooy. The Document was sent to him hoe] the West I; dies by a gallant voting Friend, now no more, the son of a worthy Wither of this House, Admiral DA YERS ; and this account states, that upon the proceedings for the condem nation 0131 Prizes, the produce of which was but 163,0001. the charges in the Prize Court amounted to 51,0001. and besides this, the charges for Agency amounted to so,oool. more ! His gallant young Friend, Captain DAV E RS, who wrote this account hut a few hours before he expired, stared fUrther, that he was for a series of e;eueeirt endeavouring to obtain justice, and the payment ofilse Prize—money due to himself and his gallant Ships' Companies, but in vain. Was this, he would ask, to be tolerated to_ wards that loyal and gallant Class of Men who corn. posed the British Navy ; and whose bravery and en durance of every danger and hardship were so cheer fully and indefatigably exerted in the cause of the Country ? Or was it a case that should admit of de lay, or be preceded by any other objet for Parlia mentaryconsideration ? It was a . questi on o f pu bli c justice, and no t of Party, and therefore he saw the less pretence for postponing the adoption of the - mea. sure, and must sincerely regret it. He understood now, that His Majesty's Chancellor of th,e Exche quer had a measure in contemplation, for similar ob jeds, to be introduced early in the next Session.-- He hoped its objeas would he really similar, and not calculated to shelter peculation, in which case he would warmly oppose l it. It might he said, with a - view to palliate'these griev ances , t h at t h ey had existed heretofore, -but should not do so again ; but this he considered no redress•to those who had been steflagrantly injured, and to whom justice and • retribution were certainly due. The pradices of which he now complained, were not confined to •I the West Indies ; he had many instances to com- - plain of in the Prize Courts at. home ; and, amongst others, one case of a capture of twelve Fishing Boats, by the Isis, on the breaking out of the pre sent War, of which the net proceeds of sale st4re z 0001. the charges of Court Fees and Agency upon' which was 5791. Mr. DlCKENSONsupported the Motion for post poning, the Bill, on the ground stated by 'Mr. JERV Is. Besides, the Bill had defeds that were ma. rerially and radically objeaionable; and it was sel dom practicable to amend, satisfadorily, in a Com mittee, tickets, which were radical in the principles of a Bill, and which would be more easily obvietcd by bringing in a new Bill. ir WILLIAM ELFORD disliked the present Bill, because it was formed upon the illiberal and unjust principle of supposing all mankind thieves and robbers, and guarding againt them as such. He would ,not deny, that in almost every class of Socie ty, individuals might be found, whose cantina and ptintiples were disgraceful to the rankthey filled; this might be'the case with respect to the Prize Agents, and even with respect to Commissioners of the Admiralty; but was it therefore to be contended, that all were equally had, and equally obnoxious to suspicion and severity ? Another principle for which he disliked the Bill was, that it went diredly to take away from four-fifths of =the classes of men on board Ships of War, the right ofappointitz their own Agents, and this for a reason that was pretty obvious. Mr. FRANCIS wholly disapproved of withdraw.. ing the present Bill, and had heard no reason assigned for so doing, that appeared to him satisfaaory, after the detail of frauds and grievances, stated by the Hon. Gentleman who brought in, the Bill, on its first intrududion, and which called loudly for the speediest possible interferenc e of Parliament. Mr. JF RV is explained, by repeating the motives he le:d already assigned. Me AD I'OC GENERAL said, there was no doubt whatever on the part of His Majesty's Govern ment, that very flagitious frauds and grievances had existed in the West Indies, as -stated by the -Hon. Admiral ; but it was not to be cnncluded that, be cause the present Bill was withdrawn, for the mo tives assigned by the Hon. Gentleman, in order to the iutroduaion of another B' far similar pur p ises, early in the next Session, that .Gavernment had taken no steps to check the ,mischiefs corn, plained of; the truth was, that Government had taken the most effectual means in its power, by lessening the number of Prize-Ports, limiting' the Fees payable in Prize. Courts, obliging the Agents to pay into the Offices of Government, the net pro., cecds of the Prizes sold by them; and thus taking out of their hands the temptation to protradt pro. ceedings which a possession of the money was apt to .create. Of the result of those measures he hoped there would be speedy and satisfattory ac. counts; and with respett to the circumstance of the twelve Fishingeboats, stated by the Hon. Admi ral, it did happen, that a copy of that very docu. ment was some days since laid before the principal Judge of the Admiralty Court, for his considera. tion ; and that Learned Judge, and not Parliament in the first instance, was the proper source whither to resort for redress, which, he was-confident, that Learned Judge would be ready to grant, if just; but which, it he refused, there would then be time enough to appeal to Parliamentary authority. He himself could, however, tell the. Hon. Admiral, that the only fee charged in that Court on condem. nation of those boats, was six guineas each, and that the remainder of the expellees were incurred at out. expence of prize-keepers, as we ll as I) i y or Im ings by diff erent OW (ICI'S, which s ts e , and ca t by e p4oceed Could c .:lo o c e e r ur . f those -vessels had . been one ca p tine, and . not diffe r ent ones, at different times and which circtvpstancea the cxyencesk incurred were as great as if they had been tNelv c lodia-men. Mr. Lg kROUGTIS stated, that similar corn" plaints existed, - with respett to prizes captured the East Indies; remontitrances up ,n which sub' jet he knew had been long since submitted to Gl vernment ; he wished therefote to ask, tvhetl'er an)" instrudions kid been sent out on the subjed ? LortIC4STLEREAGH said, that from the com plete annihilation of the enemy's commerce in the. Indian Seas, there could be little apprehension of i"" convenience arising to cur Ships from any captures to be made there. This answer, however, lie ad mitted, was nothing to the purpose ; hut h e conic , assure the lion. Member, that the India Conapf had the matter in contemplation ; and though no inm - rudions were yet sent.out, they would speedily be forwarded. Mr. JERVIS'S motion was then put and agreed to. LORD KILWARDEN. The House resolved into a Committee on His Majesty's Message relative to a provision for th e family" o f t h e late Lord iILWARDEN, in which, 011 the motion of Mr. PITT, is was resolved, that a sum not exceedirg 'zoo!. •Bri t i s h currency, be annuai l Y paid our of the Irish Consolidated Funds to LadY Kilwarden during her life, and after her LadY' bi l ) ; ) demise, that the same annuity be condoned 800 7, atttotl.te;jrctil.itici:L.ocifoercKleauKisweilwarden during his natural lifer an d 'artdoettlhdeopreinrgsonhivvshloifesh;all next beat - mainipg, sum of +co!. a year to the two datigi" ers l Lord Kiiw ar d en , d ur i ng their lives, 2001. t0 e3 " ,1 9 or the whole to the survivor.. SLAVE TRADE ABOLITION BILL. Mr. WILE ERFOKC E moved the third reading.° the Slave Trade Abolition Biil. 00 the goe b l i°ll being put, YOUNG could not give a silent vote ° , ll this subjed" , as this wo u ld in all probability he '- „, last opportunity he should ever have of delivering his sentiments on the subjed. If this Bi I were t° pass; the trade would be carried on by other n ations,' and the Sla ves wou ld , t h ere f or e , b e aga in ex posed to all the miseries from which the wise and humane regulati •ns under which the trade had been condua, ed by British Merchants had relieved_ them.. He thought; at least, that a Clause ought to be intro, duced lift° it, allowin g , t hat in case of the depopu lation of an y i s l an d o r distritt, in consequence of pestilence, rebellion, or other cause, His MajestY should be authorized to grant a license to such Pia... °`11" ters as might suffer, to import Negroes. The 1-o",c Baronet conclud e d by stat i ng , t h at t h e o p era tion the Bill would cause a depreciation of West Ind ia property to the amount of millions beyond an 061/1.. pensation. Mr. FRANCIS noticed the correspondence b e i tween the Doke of P O R TLAND an d t h e G rujrfoiei Barbadoes, in which t h e D u k e h a d in s tructs'd l t ,i i latter to propose certain measures to the As!.ern , V • in that I s la n d ; an d among others', itat he guirrof a • thatcSolamvme ushnoicuallt,lioln)ewdaesemdaetdedferolonl.h-Tsite answe r d a n 802 , expressed that a con -, iderable trejority of the p. ," olLAssemhly had taken great offence at suc ",,,ity' commendation, while there was'at present a P e- , n cl otifl'ittt it!:le4:iis.osutseer,lkinng,:wfoiriotwhelmotiarsdseerrtoifoaoSvl4verterast; rile;amnceenteioluniedd htehipsuctirticpuomn ante of the Colonial LegislattathuPere:csi°.ntco,uisnrirlcecer:cet"l:2l::St was Mr, TV. DICKXNSO,Nr was con: totally a visionary scheme On pa rt ro alike the Abolitio n . I t was unnecessary ' fr l3 , of distindi;:o between the total ernariciplii°l: the; Slaves and the Abolition of the Trad:, , ac t already experienced the danger, _Negroes themselves knew' Pra nce ` ' i n g o e d r i , ff a e n re d nc E e n . ghol3 Wha ; soon feel it wi t h equa l f orce , w h en i t was , Pe r too late. In J ama i ca t h ere was a l rea dy 0,; Jr 1 0 , } cro , sition in th e governe d to re b e l aga i nst t he 1 - 1 nor:. The Honourable Gentleman then ai u led to the condo& of some of the Missionaries se ,, u rt ing some of the I s l an d s f or t h e purpose o f e.'llv ed II • the Negroes, an d sa id, t h at t h ey ha d ins t i l l , the them such ideas of liberty, that, accordi n f ,t text given to them, they were convinced b e lasts men should be equal ; that the first shouw and the last first." o f the Mr. BtMIIAM spoke in v i n dication ei h a d fewer island Missionaries. Not tha o r f i z A o, n o t o u o ,o - I \l a, e g arl r d ' tc h r e e o iar been convertedthe tempers and di spos i t i ons had been there by n a 0-- so much better, that they were entitled to a n creased valu e of zol. It was not a tad , that o f Planters in Jamaica wished to supply the P ' cat ion Negroes wh o di e d i n t h e i r serv i ce . by jaw' father than by encourag i ng the porul' i°ll. , 0 1 ( 1 stated the claim for compensation ch 4 be made by those who m i g h t become, oicahatsee'd by the Abolitio n . WI. Where persons "a . P induce d lands- from the Crown, and had b een atrial in pay 'a high p r i ce f or t hem, l d. Hp icasonable th at t h eir s h ou ld - be c o ot ',vas ensare but he had vot e d f ur - t h e Bi ll itr i ts former stages, • moat thought, th at u nl ess som e clause was introduced into it relative - to inde mn ifi c ation; it would he eat he rus dent in him to retra d. H e wo uldi there , nestly request, that a c l ause s hould be o oltroducca°c recognizing the pri n cipl es o f compensation s o d to some other Bill might be afterwards propose settle all existing claims. Mr. DtcxErtsort and Mr. BARHAM severally ex' plained, The CHANCELLOR of the EXCIiE,QUERs Acif he had unifertnly adnaitttd that tf ,lie Hotise come to the o resolution of abolishing the triLle, would be extremely anxious to 'aif)rd every gree of Compensation, in all cases where a l air alio proper claim could be 'made our. If it had, been practicable for him to h ye laid His Makst , , 9 re' commendation on that subject before the nothing would have prevented him from s ` l. He, however; thought it at present must expetileP t to discourage the introduttion of a general, vagu i e c i and. unlimited clause of compensation.. lie has resist the Proposition, that all persoT a who o, ever been engaged in `the Slave Trade, were to indemnified according to their own vAgue calculJ -60" of how .much their wealth may b;.. supposed to be injured. He was happy to hear it said by an Hon. Gentleman opposite, that the A )(Aldo" "old effeded without the danger of ruining PRIZE AGENCY BILL. Mr. jER vls moved, that the Order of the Day be now read for the second reading of the Prize Agency Bill. The Order being read, Mr. IBRI/IS, rose, and expressed his regret, that from the proceedir , gs upon this BM having been postponed so frequently from day to day, and from : the many imporiant objetls for consideration whHi it involved, and the very advanced period of the Session, rendered it almost itnpradicable now to carry it into adoption. He had, however, the strong assurance that it was in the contemplation of His Majesty's present Ministers to bring f;• ward, early in the next Session, another Bill, havi..g similar 1 ohlco 3 in view ; art for the present, tht:tefore,.he I should 4 , i . move, that this ,Dill be read thq second time 1 this day three months. , A' i