The Sun. — London, England, 1801-03-24 00:00:00

The Bill to amend an AO of the t3th of. the King, for the Cultivation of Potatoes in Waste Lands, and the Inclosure of Covmons, was read a second time, and committed tor to-morrow. Mr. MANNING presented a Petition against the above, which was referred to the Com mittee, to which the Bill was referred. The SECRETARY at WAR presented several Accounts of the Total Expences . of the Army, and of the Number of Troops employed in the different Years since 1793, which were ordered to be printed. Mr. M. A. TAYLOR said, he had given no tice for to-morrow, of a Motion for leave to bring in a Dill to exempt Curates, keeping one Horse, from Payment of the Taxes upon Horses: but, as he understood, the Right Hon. Gentle man, the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER, who had now 'taken his place, had not been aware of this notice, he would defer his Motion to a future day, and if there was no objeftion, he would fix for this day se'nnight. Mr, NlCHOLLQ,.according to the notice which he gave on Friday last, moved, that there be laid before the House a Copy of the Resolution of the Court of DireElors of the Bank of England to increase the Dividend on Bank Stock, and to grant a Bonus to the Proprietors of Bank Stock, payable on the first Day of May next. Mr. S. THORNTON said he had not been in his place when .the Honourable Gentleman at first made this Motion, and he did not conceive that it was at all regular or consistent with the forms of the House, that such a Motion should he made without previous notice being given. This ob jetion being, however, now obviated, he wish ed, before he should give any deeidedopinion on the Motion, to know. on what grounds, and for what purpose, it was made. Mr. NICHOLLS said, that the Resolution was in the hands of every person, and that his objeet could be no other, in moving for the Pa_ pox, than to have it formally before the House, in order,to be enabled to found a Motion upon it. The grounds for that Motion, he conceived, would be stated with greater, propriety when it should come, to be made. The Resolution he thought highly objellionable, and to be one that ought to afford ground for parliamentary inquiry and consideration. Mr. S. THORNTON -said,. that he had. no wish that any paper or document should be with held, which any Gentleman might think to be of importance to be laid before the House ; but he could not agree with the Honourable Gentleman's motion for laying this Paper before the _House, because he conceived it to relate to something with which the House' had no . right to interfere. By the Aft of the 7th of Queen Anne a Charter was granted to the Bank, which has been re-. newed by repeated Ads of Parliament; and by one passed no longer ago than last year, which empowered 'the Court of Direaors, and the Proprietors, to fix the Dividends to be paid to the Holders of Bank Stock, and to settle, in short, all matters of internal arrangement. For the renewal of this Charter a valuable conside 'ration was.paid by the Bank. On . what grounds, then, the House can interfere with the settle ment of the Dividend' to be made on Bank Stock, he was at a loss to conceive. He thought that their interference would be a violation of the Charter which they themselves had granted, and he hoped that they would not so soon consent to a Motion inconsistent with the A& passed' by themselves last year. Besides, the Paper moved for, is only a Resolution, or rather a Proposition, made by the Court of DireEtors, which is of no validity without being sandioned by the Court of Pro prietors, before which it has not yet been laid.— That Court is, indeed, summoned to meet to-mor row, to take the Resolution into consideration ; but till it is adopted by that Court, this Motion is, at any rate, premature. Mr. ALLARDYCE said a few words, which we did not hear. Mr. NICHOLLS said, 'the Bank of England Wait not now in the same situation it was before its Stoppage in 1797. Before that time, it was Commercial Bank, and a Bank , for paying the Dividends to the National Credithrs. At that time, Parliament proteaed it. But Parliament did not mean to put it in a better state than it was before. At that time, it found itself unable to p l y the demands upon it, as a Commercial Bank, and it forfeited its obligations to the Government. To save it from the ruin resulting from this mis • management alone, the protefflon ofParliament was extended to it, by allowing it to make its payments in Paper instead of Speck. Since that time, it has added to its delinquency, by increasing its issue of Paper Money. The average of Notes in culation before that time, was Ten Millions and A Half. At the time of the Stoppage, the amount was only Eight Millions and a Half. But now, from the Accounts laid before Parliament, it ap_ pears, that no lessa sum than Sixteen Millions and a Half of tank Notes are in circulation.— This will of course produce' great profit to the Proprietors,' but, surely, Parliament never meant to authorizes it. Besides this,. the Bank -has not done what it is its duty to do, taken care to buy up a sufficient quantity of Bullion to send to the Mint, to keep up the issue of Specie. This has made the Country Banks increase theit issue of Paper, which has been the means of substituting a Paper for a Gold circulating medium, increased the Price of all the Articles of Life, and thus added to the distresses of the present Famine. Parliament could never mean to allow the Bank Proprietors to increase their profits, at the expence of the Public. He, therefore, thought it the duty of Parliament to interfere, and at least to examine alien such a proposal as the present is made. He cm:kJ nor, moreover, but think it rather dis graceful, to those who have the direaion of the Bank, to bring forward such a measure in the present circumstances, and at the present time. . Mr. H. THORNTON said be would rest the question before the House on the impropriety of Yarliatpet.t interfering partially in the. affairs of the Bank. If it interferes. at - all, let the inquiry m - .1.- and their. anao-e- inent,..be .geperali let it extend to t 1 while, that any decisions to which .it May come may be founded on proper knowledge, and not on partial and deltraive views, The present Motion he 1 . could not therefore approve of. As to the asser tion, that the increased issue of Sank Paper is the cause of the dearness of provisions, he would not deny that it might have some foundation ; but he would contend, that its effea is far from being so great as alledged. And as to the depre ciarion of Bank Piper, arising from the exchange being against this country, it is at present only ' I z per cent. and is produced, not by any mis- • management of the tank, but by the difference between the exports and imports ; the latter of which have risen above the former, from the ex tra Ordinary importation of provisions. Mr. BOY D objefted to any interference in the affairs of the Company, and observed, that notwithstanding the sum which it was now pro posed to be divided among the Proprietors, there still remained a large surplus as a security to the Public. Mr. NICHOLLS thought that the Bank. ought to have made a purchase of Bullion previ_ ous to its having risen to the present advanced price. In his opinion, one cause of the increase of price was from the Bank having had legisla tive authority to issue so much paper. It was the duty of Parliament to restrain the Bank Com pany from receiving any undue profit. Mr, THORNTON said, that the increase al luded to, was the elle& of the increase of the Christmas Dividends. At present, the issue of 13ank-notes was nearly at its usual level. It was now one million and a'half less than before the month of January, and about the average before the War. The average amount then was be tween eleven. and twelve millions, and the ave rage now, including the small Notes, was not more than twelve' millions three hundred thousand pounds.: He trusted this Motion would not be received'as a matter of course, but that it would be well considered before it was agreed to. Mr. TIERNEY said, he understood that when the measure was resolved on of paying the Di% i (lends in Bank Notes, it Was stated that there was a Surplus of three and'a half millions of the general Fund. He Was now surprized to find, that out of that additionil,Surplus Capital, which was the security the Bank gave the Public, for allowing so large an issue of Paper Monfy, so large a sum as 600,0001. should now be proposed to be divided amongst the Proprietors. 'Mr. ALLARDYCE said, the Public could run no risk,- as, in his apprehension, the whole Capi: tal of the Bank of England was pledged for the security of i►s Debts. Mr,THORNTONsaid, that the Bank Direetors had not been in the habit for eight years past of augmenting the Dividend among the Proprietors ; and justified the grounds on which the Direetors had advertised an Increase of Dividend. The Question being put upon Mr. N 1 CHOL LS'S Motion, it was negatived without a division. The Bill to allow th , .! Clergy to grant Leases of their - Tythes, under certain restrittions, was 'read a first time.- A Message was received from the Lords, in forming that their Lordships had agreed to the Irish Duty Bill, and the.lrish Distillery Bill. The ATM R NEY &EATER AL moved for leave to bring in a Bill for the more effedually prevent ing the forgery of Bank of England Notes, Pro missory Notes, and Bills of Exchange. He scat ed, that in the Bill he wished to bring in, it was proposed to oblige the Printer to insert his name and place of abode.—Leave given. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL then said, he rose for the purpose of moving for leave to bring in a Bill for the better colleting of Poor-Rates, and for authorizing Magistrates to enforce the Rate, notwithstanding an appeal, and at the same time giving them a power to reimburse the per son who appealed, if, upon inquiry, it was proved that there were sufficient grounds for so doing.— Without some such measure, he stated, that the number of Appeals might be such as to disable the Oreikeers from levying the Poor-rates. Mr. LOIf"THER (as we understood) complained that this Petition contained an indecent attack on a Noble Lord who had been referred to in a Peti tion presented on Saturday last, from the Over seers of the Poor of Whitehaven ; and entered into a vindication of the character and conduEt of. that Noble Lord. Ll thought it would have been but fair ID have given that Noble Peer some previous intimation of the design of bringing up a Petition of the nature alluded to: TheSo LICITOR GENERAL said, it was new doetiine, that it was necessary to give any notice to the Noble Peer of an intention of presenting the Petition referred to. That Petition contained no statement of any fart but what the Noble Lord might have been very right in doing. Mr. JOLLOFE said a few words, as did Mr. AntioT and Mr. SHAW LE FEVRE. Mr. MAJYJYARING said, there was a gene ral jealousy of attempts to amend the Statute of ELIZABETH, respetting the Poor. In his opi nion, the Amendments which had been made 'sere no real impiovement of the Law. The pre sent measure appear;xl to him to come forward with a degree of precipitancy he hoped it would not be pressed forward without due time for con sideration. Mr. PANSI7TART said he approved of the proposed Bill. Sir R. BUXTON said, that such a Bill was wanted to remedy a great existing incenvenience. By means of notices of appeal, the Poor Rates might be evaded ; so that unless some remedy were applied, the Poor might starve. The ATTORNEY GENERAL, deprecated this measure's being unnecessarily delayed. He pro. tested that he had not alluded in his intended Motion, nor mentioned the name of the Noble Lord referred to. The Petition which he, had resented on Saturday only struck him as a parti cular case, - which went to exemplify a general inconvenience. He writ-Wed with moving' fnr ledre to bring in a Bill' for the better colic ion :of die Rates for. the Relief of the Poor.—Leave ii;rts aCcOraingly given. Arr. BRAGGE moved, That the Fourth ke pt-1 of the,Committee appointed to inquire into the present High Price of Provisions be ree:ived to-morrow. Sir W PULTENEY gave notice of his inten tion to move to-morrow for leave to bring in a Bill to lessen the Poor Rates, by encouraging the growth of Potatoes on f a ll ow an d com p on Mr. BRAGGE brought up the East India Goods Land Carriage Bill, which was read a first time. Mr. BRAGGE also brought up the Report of the Com►uittee on the Expiring Laws Bill. The other Orders of the Day were deferred. At six o'clock the House adjourned till to morrow. THE SUN. soLcm QUIS DICERL FAI.bUM AUDEAT ? LONDON, MARCH 2+, 1801. Two liambursi, Mails still remain due. We. yesterday received Letters from the Bay of Afacari, near the Isle of Rhodes dated on the., th of January, .which came by a Merch4nt Ship that arrived without Convoy ; and on Sunday, a Letter from Sir RALPH ABERCROMBY, dated the i sth January, reached Government by the same Channel. These communications agree in giving the most satisfalory account of the Health of our Troops, and of the spirit which animates them. Their number was, it seems, more than 16,000 effedive men. Sir RALPH'S Letter is ieported to state, that he had received advices from Admiral BLANErTT, at Suez, informing him that the Bombay Army would be ready to co operate with the Forces Under the command of Sir RALPH by the beginning of February. The Swedish Minister, „Baron EHRENSWARD, has applied to Lord HAWKESBURY for a Pais_ 'port to quit this Country, which has been grant. ed him ; and he was to leave London, we believe, this day, to pass by the way of Dover into France. PRINCE AUGUSTITS is coming home from Lis bon.; the -Et;,-/)/tr;ott Frigate, Capt. Sir THOMAS WILL TAMS, having sailed to bring him. It was yesterday' reported, that Five Sail of French Ships of the Line were cruizing otr Ro_ binhood's Bay, on the Coast of Yorkshire. Re port likewise made Sir HYDE PARK ER'S Fleet off the Coast of Northumberland on the 17th inst. which we know to be untrue. His Majesty's Ship Mercury, in the Mediter ranean, has fallen in with Twenty Sail of Met- , chantmen, laden with wine and brandy, from Cette bound to Toulon, of which Fifteen were made prizes. The same ship also fell in with and captured a French Corvette, laden with arms and ammunition, out one day from Toulon, del_ tined for the Army of Egypt. All the Prizes have been carried into Minorca. Having seen a libellous paragraph in a defa matory Daily Print, copied into other Papers, stating that Mr. ROSE retires with 28,c001. a year,. we have been led, in justice to this Gen tlCM3ll, to make some inquiries on the subjea ; the result of which is, and we believe it to be accurate, that when he came into the Tre'asury in 1782, he gave up a considerable official In come, and that when he left it in 1783, he had neither Pension nor Employment ;—that when the grant of the office of Clerk of the Parliament was made to, him (unconneacd with his services in the Treasury) there was a Life before his, very nearly as good as his own, the unexpe&ed falling in of which (froin an accident),opened the way for his succession ; and that he now retires again, without Pension or other Provision, as he ought to do. It is, indeed, but justice to the Gentle man we are speaking of, to add, that when an augmentation was made some time ago to the Sa laries of the Secretaries of the Tteasury, of loco!. a year, he declined to take it, on account of his holding another office. Lord AUCKLAND, in the very able Speech which he delivered in the House of Lords on Friday night last, among other calculations, on which, from his Lordship's known accaracy - , we can rely, atated, that the capital of the National Debt was in February 1793, when the War b e , ian, 230 Millions, and that in February 78 0 j, it was 356 Millions, The latter sum is excl.. sive of the Loan on account of Ireland (separately provided for) ; the capital charged on the Income Tax; the capital reduced by the Sinking Fund ; and the capital reduced by the sale of the L a nd Tax. These deduttions ought, it is obvious, to be made, as the quantity of capital redeemed is considerably increased by the low price of Stocks, occasioned by the creation of additional capital. The virtues of the Emperor PAUL are now the theme of praise in the Parisian Journals. He rises every morning at four, breakfasts at seven, dines at one, and goes to bed at nine. Such is the history of his day; and this early rising and early going to bed, farms no small subW.l of commendation, for want of higher matter to ap plaud. Mrs. SECOND'S Marvellous Work again received a unanimous eta-of. on Friday last ; and her Bright Seraphim, the night before, elettrified the audi ence. We never heard finer singing ;s and her great vocal powers, combined with INiLEDoN's, have brought much Fashion to the Covent-garden Oratorios ; amongst which, during the season, we have noticed His Royal Highness the PR INCE of WALES, DUKE ofKENT, PRINCE Of ORANGE, LOId UXBRIDGE, Lady MACCLESFIELD, and others of Rank, too numerous to insert. Lact week a meeting took place at \rough Ireland, between Mr. JOHNSON, of the Leitrim Militia, hnd Mr. BARRY, of Castle-Lyons, when the former received a ball which killed him on the c rtn t Q • NAVAL Oi; NEws, N ilf; imfe►iusit relagi, servumpte :;:detttetrt, Sed !nib; ir,rte datum. PLI - ATOUTIT, MARCH 22. Arta tviD the Swedish Barque Nepru.vus, J. KELLE RSTROM master, with wines, from Tene rife, with viaualling stores at this port. Capt. DF.NN ts, late of the Dr. , ke re Atte Packet, came passenger in the above vessel.—She was captured on her passage from the West Indies, with Dispatches, by a Spanish Privateer, of 14 guns, and Izo men, alter a chace of 70 hours; The day the Nepuinus sailed from Terieriffe a very heavy cannonading was heard, which conti nued without intermission for six hours, the cause of which, as also the result, are unknown. By the i'Veptrout, intelligence is received that the Ship Ner...o Lioness, of London, Capt. R ITCH I E , bound to Jamaica, was captured off Madeira by a French, Privateer, of 36. guns, and carried into Santa . The Portuguese Ships La Madre de Deos, of goo tons, and St. Unato, of 400 tons, both richly laden, bound to the Brazils, have also been cap tured by La Mouche Privateer, and carried in there. BRLYHAM, MAR.CH zr. YESTERDAY arrived the Venerable, of 74 gune, and Sea-Gull Brig ; and this day arrived the Su. perb, of 74 gups, and Ambuscade Frigate , which, with the File de Paris, Prince George, Windsor- Castle, Temeraire, San Josef, Atlas, Captain, Neptune, Glo'g, Prince, and Royal George, all remain here ; wind about W. b. N. blowing very heavy and squally. YARMOUTH MARCH 23. SAILED the Diligence Cutter, on a Crulie. A vessel laden with coals, without any person on board, was taken up at sea off Lowestoffy by the boats from that place. It is suppos'ed that she had been on a sand, and that the Crew had left her ;---from a paper Which Was..found :on board, it appears that she is called the Ret.iltetioff, of Nizttinin,i P tree. POT TSAIDUTII, MARcii ARRIVE 13 HiS Majesty's Ship — Neprulli., from the Channel Fleet, to rest the. Lap .wing Fri.. gate; froth - Portland Road, 'With the butNi , ard.. bousel Lishon - Fleet that she sailed with sornd . „ weeks since, but the , departure of which from ti Portland Road was forbid by Admiralty orders: Sailed the Endfmion, Capt. Sir The. Wft.., LIAMS, for' Lisbon ; the Anson ; Trent and For., wee Frigates on a Cruize. , Came into Harbour La Loire Friatc, Captain NEWMAN, to refit. The Castor Frigate is gone out of the Harbour, having been repaired. The Brig Loyal Foiumteer, of Portsmouth, from Lisbon, is arrived at Lymington, having been taken on her passage by L' Africair, French Privateer, and re-taken by the Naiad Frigate. SHEERNESS, MARep 23. SAILED this day, His Majesty's Ship Letora, of 33 guns, Captain So rift RP N, Queen.koro' hired Cutter, - Lieutenant FAB lAN, Nancy Fire-brig, Lieutenant OW EN ) and La l'iiloirt Fire-"schooner, Lieutenant TILLARD, for Yarmouth. DOVER, MAncit 23. A Flag of Truce sailed from hence this morn ing for Calais, with a German 'Messenger who had been waiting here some days, and Dispatches from NI. OTTO. The heavy gales of wind we' hay/ had for some days past, have prevented arrivals from France but the weather being now moderate, a Passage Vessel is expcsled from Calais the next tide. DEAL, MARCH 23. , His Majesty's Brig Anacreon sailed this morn ing on a Cruize to the Westward; and arrived from the Eastward His Majesty's hircd Armed Brig rideue, which remains. Sir CHARLES STUART iS so Seri ollSly ill at his house at Richmond, as to cause gret tinelsi ness to his friends. Under this circumstance, it is necessary to name another Commander in Ire land ; and Lord MULGRAVE is mentioned for that service. The late Overland Dispatch from India, brought accounts in decided contradklion t(4 the reports in the French Papers, of the renewal of hostilities between the Eng and the Mahrattas ; each Government appears sedulous to perpetuate the good understanding so happily subsisting, and the Court of Pgonah has recently &iven several