The Sun. — London, England, 1801-03-07 00:00:00

.1111PERIAL PI4I?I,IAM ENT. HOUSE OF PEERS. FRIDAY, MARCH 6. THE Marquis of - Dow Nsit s IRE took the oaths and his Sear. , The, Bills upon, the Table : were forwarded in their respeCtive stages': Lord AUCKLAND called the attention of • ' the }louse to the circumstance of a Petition having • been for some time before their Lordships, from a Mrs. Jane Addison, of Argyleshire, in Scot . land, praying, for Relief. - The *case, 'he said, was deserving of extraordinary attention, as containing some circumstances of a novel and aggravated nature, and the whole proeedure being rather new to that House, the. Petitioa was very properly, on ~the suggestion of a Noble and Learned Lord, ordered to lie on the Table for sotnetime. ...He then gave notice, that on this day se'nnight henhould move to have the Peti tion taken into consideration ; and concliided by moving, chat their LordshipS be summoned for that day; which was ordered accordingly. The Earl of/ MOIRA presented a Petition ' from JOHN STUART, and -others, which,. as we co4ld 'coiled, Was against the Bill now before the :House, intitled, " An Aa for the better Relief ' of Debtors, with respea to the Imprisonment of their Persons." His Lordship presented a se cond Petition, which was from certain Persons confined for Debt in the, Canongate -Prison of Edinburgh, playing Relief , Sce.' both of which were ordered to lie on the Table. It was ordered., on the Motiotiof Lord N.:- . PIER, that his Lordship dO hav - e leave to attend a Committee of the House of Commons. Mr. CRAIc, an Officer from the chancery of Ireland,- presented a variety of Papers from that ' Coort;',relatiVe, we believe, to home pending, Appeals. - The usual Question olAdjoornment till Mon.. day being put, "a conversation of some length arose upon the point, between several Peers. It . commenced, in an opposition being made to an Adjourn*); till Monday by the LEI:, who delivered - a few words against the proceeding,' but in so . low a tone of voice, that it was impossible to distinguish them. Lord WA esittclimq very shortly replied in the same way.'-,-As did Earl FITZWILLIAX, who spoke in support of what fell from -the Earl. of DARNLEY, and - seemed to throw out a hint of. the propriety, in the present . situation of,affairs, of sitting de X,. in • The Earl of 'DARNLEY' expressed his con_ viflion .:of the impropriety of adjourning over . till Monday', and Moved that ".to-morr o w," be'substituted for the day first proposed. The LORD CHANCELLOR o b serve d, t h at there existed no sort of •necessity in the case ; it was generally known, ,that the House•upon' every• occasion, except ~vhere, it very rnrrly occurred, that business had been pleviously fixed for. Saturday, .adjourned Over that. day ; even on the Noble ,Lor,l's view of 'the • r the Finnic. sitting, alafor. no specific pu,rpcise, on • - so, unfit a day, must tend to it; ; yeas the alarm, if anV.rxisied,. as ,the Public would be raw'. rally led to think,. that somethi'ng extraordinary or momentous must 'have occurred, or was ex- Flied, which - induced the House to sit. On those grounds he would recommend their Lord ships nor to deviate from the usual co urse. "Ite Earl of 'MOIRA raid, he..was aware Of its bei n g 'very orrusual to sit upon the thy in question-, except: where business had been.previ•- ously fixed for it, or on the notoriety of an itn. . portant Motion • being,. expeeted . : at the same rime, he must Pfc . r from the NOUle and Learn ed Lord respeCting the idea; that were the House t o ,it tp;eroreow it - might tenetb 'increase the alarirr: even.admitting it to haVe that .efred, a mecting'of the House could not create more alarm than 'sock a . proposal having been 'made and .• dismissed w ould do. 1-ie was decidedly of opi nion that House ought to sit, as.proposed by . the Noble Earl.. .The circumstances of'the try, ira 'every point of view, more -especially with resped to the, eXisOng situation of affairs, called fOr'allthe vigilance and attention of Parlia.:, 11l ent, and obviouSly the more, so, -as at the mo ment there were no responsible Ministers to look , to. • The - condo& and •Vigilande of Parliament: thercfcre, the best security of the Country, and it was its duty to. manifest its vigilance. With reseed to the idea that there was !to parti cular subject before the House, or Motion for its regular discussion, he observed, that , the eircum, btanees of the 'times were sticli, it waa impoSsible might• to foresee what arise—measures of great imptirtance may possibly be' in profess, Which might render the advice and interposition of Parliiitnent highly 'salutary ; upon these general grounds, he should support the Motion of the Noble Earl. I.9rdillCLE,GBArE.said, there was one point which fell fi'oin the Noble Earl, which he never could sngs'cribe to, and 'his repugnance. to icwas so, strong,' ,that 11Could not avoid immediately his disapprobation -of it. He alluded to the idea, tl,..ta propo':;ition brought forward 1.)3 , any PCO, and on which there should he a woutd create as great a degree of alarm, and have the :•;:ine effc6l, upon the puNic mind, as a &liberate ad of the House itSelf.: With re aped to tlie t 'resent proposal, he seemed - t o t hi n k tomorrow, 'did he not view it in the szteic objcelionable light with the Noble and Le::rn(-A toyd, mug he, at best, useless, - The long and well known custom of Parliament was, that no important Subjetci or Motion should be witiout previous notice of the same having been given„. Then, he would ask, if it was nor for a the agitation of .some important be,,incs they tre:c to,* to_morrow, what could the proceeding be fot,-, His Lordship concluded by .exprcsqing himself against a departure from the ordinary course of Adjournment. rive szcti The Earl of GARNARPON seemed to be of a cciirraTr opinion, and, as We understood him, .to observe that one of the most etreEtual modes , 6f quieting any alarm that Might. exit,_ would Be to meeras prciposed.—The vigilance of Par liatnnt would he thba manifest to the Public ; . this line of condud was more than ever required, at a . moment when there avowedly existed no efficient Administration, or, that which existed was not, niore than, half made up. The prac- ' rice, of adjourning over Saturday was merely for their own ease ; and surely if ever there was a time when' that should be sacrificed to public consideration, it was the present. , , Lord ROMNEY' expressed his sincere regret that any thing unlike unanimity should be appa rent at so momentdus a crisis as the , present, and the more so, as that want of unanimity ap peared to be on so comparatively trifling a point. Nothing but firmness and unanimity on the part of Parliament could extricate the country from her present difficulties. He hoped, that whoeVer should be Ministers, their measures would be good, as then they may be certain of the.unani mous support, not only of Parliament, but of the great body of the People. The circumstances of the country were Such as to require the constant and uniform attention of Parliament. Its situa.: tion was perilous—nothing 'but firmness, unani_ miry, and good measures could save it. Were a contrary line of condu& adopted, he feared ruin Must be the consequence. . -• Lord AUCKLAND said,. he cordially, agreed with the Noble Lord who spoke last, in his ideas that unanimity and concord were at the present moment essentially necessary. No, one could de precate a contrary line of proceeding more than himself. 'The House had hitherto, under the aw. ful and important circumstances of the day, con- . duffed itself with decency and dignity, and pro perly abstained from adverting to public affairs. 'At a period when unanimity was more than ever necessary,-: they were disputing whether they should sit on Saturday or Monday ?—.What could ' they sit for to-morrow ? Let any Peer lay his hand upon his • heart, and say, that he believed important business would be agitated.—They all knew that no Motion was intended fur to-mor _row,. '. The very circumstance of their sitting, if it coulti have any effel, would be to increase the .alarnt. It would be said, What do they meet for;--Something extraordinary must have occurred, tir is in expedation. . Public curiosity would -be thus on , the gape. There . was tio no-, cessity for interrupting the ordinary course of proceeding. He was sorry to see . Noble Lords divided in sentiment . u p on suc h p o i n t s . However , he hoped that the motion would not be urged. .. The 4ad of DARNLEY spoke, in explana tion—!and referring.to what the Noble Lord said, relative to no Motion being 'intended for to-' morrow, seemed to say, that fin: his part he in tended to propose none ; but, with respod to the proposition on which . he had more than once troubled their Lordships, he 'should, as he had al ready de'clared, bring it forward when. in his opi nion the circumstances and time should be suitable to its-discussion. His Lordship then' agreed to ;end the 1-16ilse. itrwoodi withar,,, hi s m ot i on , ately iidjourned to' the usual hour on Monday. LOUSE OF COMM9NS, FRIDAY, MARCH 6. Mr. RYDER stated, that a Noble Friend of his (Lord. HAwxEsaußy) had accepted of the. Unice of one of His Majesty's Principal Secreta ries of State, by which his seat became vacant ; since which.a new Writ had issued, and his Noble Friend had been returned again—but doubts had. been entertained on - the . construCtion of an Atl'of Parliament , which applied to this case, and, in .consequence of-that doubt, his Noble Friend had, 'from delicacy, abstained from taking his Sear, and he was determined not to take. it; until the sense of the House should be expressed .upon the subjea, but, at the same time, he (Mr: RYDER) was clearly,ofopinion, that neither.on the letter, nor the spirit- of that Ad, was any such doubt solid,or supportable ; he begged it, therefore, to be understood, that he should have a Propositicin to submit to the House'on this subjetl, on' Mon_ day next: Lord TEMPLE said, that preparatory to the discussion of whiCh he had given notice for Tues day next, it . was proper for him to move, that W. Boucher, Notary Public, and Deputy Re gistrar of Sarum, be direded to‘ attend this House:on Tuesday the loth of March next, with the Register Book of Orders, celebrated by the Lord Bishop of Sarum—And alio, that the ReVerend Cleric of the Parish Cluirch of Brent ford, in the County of Middlesex, do attend the House on the same day; with Certain Records; 4:c.—This the .Noble Lord said, was for the purpose of ascertaining the faet of the ker. Gen_ tleman opposite to him, having, .or nciss . having, taken upon him the Order of Priest. Th e . first Motion being put, , . Mr; LORNE TOOKE,—" I anra little MT kizbd at the Motion of . the. Noble Lord, who Ras just spoken'. He has-. not .been able, with the assistance of Wm I,awyerg;lbelieve, to de termine yet what. sort of Motion he should make on Tuesday, although . he has, along while, given notice of some Motion for that . day, and yet-13e exyats the House to assent to the Motion he makes now, although he' has given no notice of it, and although he only now hopes he will be able to make up his mind, by Tuesday, ,what Motion he shall then make. He said, - some time ago, very handsomely, and lxtged it to be un derstood, that this Motipn, for which he hopes to. be ready on Tuesday, is not intended to be Made from any personal di respeti or enmity to wards me ; but that, under the same circuit). stances, had they applied to the best friend, ?nit dearest acquaintance he had in the world, he should hive thought it his duty to make the same Motion, against such a person, as he hopes to be able to make against Me. Certainly I was corn pelled by'deceney, to' say I clid believe his Lord, ship felt what he had said. 'He Will say, for he alone can, whether I- report him correctly or not; it is nr:t waralon a , tw o I believe, regulari • for ailik one Member to say_that another feels one motive.anii ai% uf)on . another:' * Now, hiito,rd ship,* in my. mind, puts that matter out of al! doubt: He pays. me more attention . than I might • reasonably have expeded. He , is; very complai • sant also , .for he gives me i a title which Ido not desire. One part of the subjea to ' which the Noble Lord proposes ,to inquire,- is, whether I am Rever'end or not ? And ibis is the second time he hai•Shewn to uie a courtesy, which the House: . has long sliewn to 'Min, 'that of giving a titicto, a' man , which' does not belong to 'him. • Yet,' when he finds -me in my,place in this House, in stead of deferring Motion till Tuesday, or telling hs now.; ,what his M9tion . r will be. on 'Tuesday, a:Motion- this very day—a course of proceeding which- would seem fo me very strange in any other place, and which seem's to me not vay candid with resped to the House. I have *met, already in this House, a justice, a kindness, .and a feeling of honour; which, I own, I never met with out of this House.. I have felt that which appeared to me to be a misfortupe,' that of Imprisonment, 'and in that situation I • have met with some very handsome and honour able treatment, but nothing comparable to what I have met with in , this House. I have no favour to ask of the Noble Lord, hut I 'think I do not transgress the 'Rules of the House, by re commending it to him to stick to the Notice he has given, instead of moving things upon the ,sudderi." Lord TEMPLE said, that the Reverend and Honourable Gentleman would recollect, that he (Lord TE steLo could not have been entitled to trouble the House for one moment without making some Motion, and if he had but waited for five minutes, he would have heard. what he Was going to say, to explain to him and to the House, the mode he intended 'to adopt, and the line he was about to pursue on Tuesday next, and then he would have seen that the two M _ tions he had now to propose ; one of which was now before the House ) , were only preparatory to the discussion which he intended to bring for ; ward on Tuesday. It was his intention, sup posing the House should agree to the Motion now before it, and the other that was to follow, t 9 have these two persons examined at the Bar 'of the House;‘ as to the faft, Whether the Hon. Gentleman opposite to him, was 'or, was - not a Priest, or had taken Frieses.Orders ?---When that question should be' disposed of, he should take such further steps' as the . opinion of the House might direa, or what should appear to be' necessary, arid, whatever that Gentleman might think, , he trusted the House would think this mode of proceeding was fair and regalia . . • Mr. HORNE, TOOKE said, that the Noble - Lord had not explained a syllable of his intended Motion.—lt was not for him 'to explain the na ture of the Motion now before - the House, tut he thought he was warranted in saying that a more, naked,Motion, without notice, never was made in that House. It called for ,two persons with • certain documents to be brought'to the Bar of the House; without assigning why or wherefore. — Some reason should be assigned for putting these to the inconvenient - of coming to the Bar of that House- He had no personal Coln plaint, hut he thought the House had some reason to look upon this course as a surprize,. The SOLICITOR GENERAL said, that, whether the House would grant the Motion was for the House to consider, but his, Noble Friend Could not be charged with any unfairness in the course he took, for he had stated the ground on which he made the Motion now before the House.' It was, that he Conceived the - Hon. Gentleman was in Priest's Orders, and that he conceived that 'the rules of the House) and the principles of die Constitution, did riot permit a person in Priest's Orders, robe a, Representative of the People in Parliament. That was the point which was to be discussed.--.lt was necessary to ex amine evidence at the Bar to ascertain that fact; whether the evidence would prove that fail or not, Was not now to be discussed ; that could only appear when the evidence 'was examined. Supposing the faCt to be established, the question would then remain to be'discuSsed:—Whether a person who had taken the Order of Priest, could - constitutionally sit in that House as a Representa tive of the People in Parliament ? But this Mo tion was only preparatory to that discussion. Mr. TOOKE said, ihe considered the Noble Lord as having the Hon. Gentleman who spoke last, as his Legal Adviser in this business ; they seemed to have prepared for themselves some trouble ) which he would spare them if they pleased.—He would not only meet them half way, but he would go towards them three quar ters of the Way, ; he would acknowledge the fa& without evidence, that he had been ordained a 'Priest. , M r SPEAKER 4oubted , whether the House could, in strianess; be justified in proceeding on the admission of the Party, without evidence at ,the Ear ; at least that point , had becn questioned din the Case of the Son of Lord WEMYS which Case he quoted ; atter which the question was put' and Carried. The other. Motion for the -appearance of the 'Reverend Gentleman from Branford, was put . and carried also. MARTIAL LAW IN IRELAND. Lord CASTLER.AGII observed, that his notice of a Motio n on the subje4 of Martial Law in Ireland stood for Monday, but it had been expedient That it should' be postponed until .Thursday, and then he trusted it. would be dis_ cussed, and that the House would sit on the fol. ,lowing Saturday, and lie trusted Gentlemen would then be well prepared for the discussion of this 'important subjet. Mr. SHERIDAN expressed • great concern that this subjeft was tote put_ off until the last hour which it could be put off to, without - suf. fering that Law to expire, and which, in his opi nion, would be the better cour s e ; for the only evil that could follow, would be that of Ireland remaining a while',without the benefit of Martial Law.—But in the present conjunOure; he thought it would be highly disresrdful to His Majesty's ";' Government,. 'to agitate such a question as this, ufxin any authority short of a communication from the ThrOne. . - Ldrd CASTLEREAGH said, that observa. 's tions of this kind appeared to him to be ap: • plicable, to the Debate upon the question itself, the he did not think proper to anticipate ; - but -he suggested the. propriety- of makino. th e - ' - two Mb of Parliament which had pass ed ' in li ~, Ireland.for the Suppression of the Rebellion, as , - Well knownto thc Members of the present liament as- possible,. whether .by ordering they, , to be printed, or by some other mode. - 4 :. / ' The SPE4KER decided - there was no prete. dent for the Hous'e ordering any Mt of Parlia- Inent to bp printed, because being once matter `of Record, not only were all Majesty's . Sub. je4s. supposed to have recourse - to them, but in contemplation of Law, they were bound to know . 2. them all, and Therefore an order to print theca. was . an 'order for-publishing that which was sup, - posed to be already promulgated, and known, to 1 - • ' everyone of His. Majesty's SubjeEts. , ' ' 1 ' - A short conversation then took .place between Sir LAURENCE PARSONS, Sir JOHN SINCLAIR, and other Honourable -Members, and .which ended, on the suggestion 0t Mr. 'RYDER' ' , that -- although no Order of the Haw could . be made ' for the Printing. of an Mt of Parliament, yet, in point of fad - , an understanding might go forth, and- be aded upon, and Copies might:be printed' and distributed. to the Members of the House ; this had been often done for the sake of pradical convenience, although no Rule of Order could diced. it. . Mr. BRAGGE -brought. .up . the Report of- the Committee on the Horse Duty Bill. The Amendment being read, Mr. ROSE propcitied a Clause, the substance or which was, to exempt persons having a' Farm of no more rent than 261. a year, and gaining . a livelihood soiely — thereby, from this Duty. Mr. HARRISON approved of the Principle, but thought the Rent ought to be stated at - 501. instead of 701. there was hardly such a thing as a Farm, properly so called, at the Rent of twenty -• pounds. • Mr. IV. DUND-A$ assured the Hon. Gentle.. '. mail there were many under that sum, and that this_ exemption would be most gratefully receiv.. ea, as well as beneficially felt, in some parts of." Scotland. .ROSE said, there were many also in • Wales; but .if the sum to ?which, the Ei.; •emption was to extend, was to be Fifty Pound§, the . , alteration to be made in the scale would be such (for some Duties were taken . off in' order to put this on), that the Revenue- would then have less from the' Duty On Horses than it • had at present ; however, he would not press,the . Clause any farther pow, for it would come more 'regularly on the third reading. Sir F. BURDETT censured the , p,roccedings of Ministers As they applied.: to Agriculture,' which this was a part. At one time, they, laid ,a Tax, at another they off'ered Bobnties on su b_ je .pro tsol , A wt g .ty ric p u i l .k t i t e ir r e st t m i d n c t i r u t i i t th s , he ut ;ati t , they did not The 13i11 was then ordered to he ingrossid, and., ,toad a third time on Monday, if then ingrossed. Mr. BRAGGE brought up the Report of the CoMmittee on the Bill tOr imposing a Duty on • Bills of Exchange, Notes, - &c. 14hich after: some cinversation .between Mr. ROSE, - Mr. 11 o . a - Hot; sr, and. Sir WILLIAM D OLMEN, which we did not hear, was read, agreed to, and the Bill • • was ordered to be ingrossed and read a third time . on Monday, if then ingrossed. Mr. BRAGGE brought Up the Report of the Committee on the Bill for imposing an .Addi,f*;. tional Duty of Postage on Letters, &c. Mr. ROSE observed, that part of this Duty which applied to the Penny-Post, had been found, on examination, likely to press,very hard'On , some _individuals, and to be but slightly 'pro - dudive to the Revenue, and therefore it had been deemed expedient to forego it. On reading part of the Repott of the. Bill, Mr. JONES said, he had given notice of the 'subjed he was going to bring forward. He said, :than Paper was now made extremely• coarse, • thick, and heavy; the real cause of that was the scareity of fine rags - th e y were all used in drestiagr_the_wounds-olthose who were engaged' . up and down Europe in this horrid . . War. The weight, of Letters was. now increased, from the thickness and clumsiness of the Paper, and there_ fore he should more, "That with respeft to Franks of Members of Parliament, the -weight be ex.. .tended from one ounce to an ounce and a half." Mr. BUXTON objeaed to this, on the ground that it, was not creditable to the Members of that House 16 seek - diminution 'of any burthens which . were now thrown upon themselves, at a . time when.they were under the necessity of loading their consiitueuts so much. Mr. SHERIDAN said a few words which we did not hear. Mr. ROSE observed, that as the new Duty ; proposed to be laid on Paper was according to ;he' weight of it, there was every reason to appre. bend that Paper would be made as light .as pos sible. Mr. ROBSON thought the weight of one . QUIICC too little for a Letter for a Member, for if it was only two sheets, which it frequently was, and sealed with wax, it would weigh more than an ounce, of which he had known many instances. Mr. W. DUNDAS considered this as a miser.. able and wretched discussion, which could have' for its object only the saving now and then a few shillings to Members of Parliament. He trusted there were not five men in the House who woukt wish to hear any more•on the subjett. Mr.'JONES repeated what lie said before on the cause of the dearness and scarcity of Rags, and that was the cause of the great weight of, Paper. He expressed his determination of taking the sense of the House upon this Motion. Mr. PIER.REPOINT thought an ounce too light a weight:for A Frank, and, therefore, was determined to. suppOrt the Motion. He under- - stood, that at one time, in Ireland, the weight of a Frank was limited to two ounces, and at;