The Sun. — London, England, 1806-03-12 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. .I.IOU . SE OF PEERS; . TUESDAY, MARQU 11. The Committee of Privileges sat for some time on the Claims of the Barony of Roos. Mr. Adam was-heard -on - behalf of th - e Claim of Lady Hemry Fitzgeirakt to that Peerage ; after wliiclh —thefurther 'consideration of it was postponed till Thursday. Lord A.Uc ::LAND ::novel, That the Report, of the. Committee apoinfed to search for Precedents of the Prcceedings of the House in caseS‘of Impeachment, - presented on'tbe fith of April, *t7 - 91, should be re printed.—Ordered, LIABILITY OF WITNESSES. . • The lio'nse resolved itself into a Committee. on the Bill' for declaring the Law with respect to Witnesses 11?ingl,i41)1.to-auswer. - The LORD CHANCELLOR, in \ order that there might be no doubt.. as, to the security of WitneiSes against being coppelled to answer. any question the answering of which might subjea them to. penalty or forfeiture, .p . roposecf. , to. insert . the words any penalty or forfeit ire of what nature soever,” instead of the mere words " penalty, or fp_tfeifure," Earl sTAAT7Iop4' delivered his . sentiments at some length, on the subject of Declaratory Bills in general; to the principle of which he was adverse, except in cases where any of :the principles of, the Constitution .had been violated, and where cOnse fluently it might be necessary to declare them anew. He thought that from Declaratory Bills, like the present, many evils .might arise, and that if thrprin- Ciple were admitted; Bills of, this description might hereafter be obtained to declare that to be law which was not previously known to be laW, by which great injustice might be done to parties. ge• objeaed to the present *Bill in particular, because it dedired that to .be law which he did not in his conscience believe to be law ; 'and though seven _ . Of the Judge 3, as well as the Noble Chief .jus tide of the King's..• Bench, had stated it to be the law, yet if the opinions of many eminent :Judges, 'pow no more, - on the contrary side, were taken into the account, and added to the opinion's of the four JudgeS who had in that House diftered from the majority, they would be found to Out-ndmber the opinions of the seven Judges, •together . with•the Noble Chief Justicd,- and to constitute a majority on the .contrary side of the 'question. Their Lordships /might perhaps think that he intruded his opinion on legal subjeas; lout he felt confident in-hiS own know ledge, 'having,• with an able;Attorney at his elbow, • read through the whole of the Statutes, from Magna Pharza to .the present time, a piece of drudgery to , which, he would venture to say, no one who heard him had ever Submitted: He had no objection to the enaElment of what the Bill stated to be law, if he thought the House would after Wards pass his Bill for the prote6tion of Witnesses. He concluded, by 'playing to' leave out ,the Declaratory words in the The LORD CHANCELLOR - strongly objeLted • to the, Mode proposed'by his Noble. Friend of polling: the opinions of dead as well as living Judges, tor the purpose of ascertaining on which side the majority was to be found,. as such.a,sp tem must put an end. to the jurisprudence of the Country, by rendering of no avail the decision of the Judges in any case, tin ,- less they were supported y a majority of •the Lions of-Judges who were no more. With respell to the declaratory part of the Bill, he'would gi - c, - 6 up thd Bill altogether rather than give up the declara tory part 'oeit, or appear to be merely enaaing a law upon a case that was to come before the House for judgnient. If his Noble Friend would look over the Statutes agaiu,,he would find several Ace of this 'description, , here the law, ,upon certain subjeas, having fallen into doubt, was declared ~in order to remove. those doubts.' The Motion made by Earl STANHOPE was nega- tined. ' ' The LORD CHAN'CELLOR'S Amendment, after in ' setting the word " disability" between " penalty" and.“ forfeiture," on- the suggestion of Earl Stan hope, was agreed , to. Earl STANHOPZ objeeled to the words " The ,Lords Spiritual and Temporal," contending. that as the Prince of Wales and the Royal Dukes tookine: redence of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the phrase ought to be " The Lords Temporal and Spiritual." The Lout) CHANCELLOR urged the impropriety of making so material an alteration in the thrm of, their bills, a form which had been san&ioned by long and ...pstablished usage, unless it was done upon due notice, and when, all the Lords had been 'summoned ; but certainly not upon the suggestion of the moment, when ,only three or four Peers' were present. Lord AUCKLAND obterved that the Earl Noble (Stanhope) - had offered no proof of the necessity of anrsuch alteration. Earl Si.ANnorE, withdrew his proposition. The Will then passed through the Committee, and was ordered to be reported to-morrow. Earl STANHOPE moved' that his Bill for the Disco very of Truth should be-read' a second time to7tnor rew, and that the Lords tie summoned.—Ordered. Adjourned till to-frtorro‘v (this day). HOUSE OF COMMONS. TUF.SDAY, M.I,RCH 11. The Bristol 'Harbour Bill, and Irish Clergy Resi- Oence Bill were read a second thnp, and committed ;Or to-morrow. Mr:lrw Me, from theOtEce of the Inspe&or of the Customs, presented' an Account of the. Duties out standing from the sth of January, 1805 , , to the sth of January, to6.—Ordered to lie on the Table. Mr. TIERNEY presented a Petition from the Debtors in the IVlarshalsea Prison, praying relief,— Ordered to lie on the Table. After the Report of the Committee on' the subje& lead been presented, Mr. ALEXANDER obtained leave to bring in a' Bill to continue and amend the PowerS pf the American Treaty Executibii - Alt. ' The House resolved into a Committee on the Re port of the Expiring Laws 'Commit tee ; some Resur lutions were agreed to.- 7 -Report to-morrow. The Report of the Corn Bill was agreed to, and the Bill was ordered to be read a third time to . ;norm The House, in a Committee, entered into a consi; 4eration of the Tortola Free Port Bill, upon which a, conversation took pl4ce between Lord Temple, Mr. Lawrence, and Mr. .Rose.—The House resumed ; the Report waslzeceiv&l, and ordered to be le-consider - cc' on Thursday. Sir C. BUNIIIiRY presented a -Petition from the -Maltstet*of the County of Suiliblk, - complaining of the injury they, suffer from the Aestriaions imposed by the Malt Ad. -A.similai-Petition was presented by M 4 --Morgan froM the Maltsters of Warwickshire and Coventry. —Both Petitions w l ereOrderc.:d to lie on the. Table. Mr. ROSE presented a Petition from the. Trustees of the British Museum,, praying Aid.---Ordered to lie on the Table. .1` THE ARMY, .• The SECRETARY AT WAR brought in the Mutiny Bill, which was read a first time ; and, upon'a Mo tion .for the second reading, ". General TAatteroN' asked, to' what time it was' • meant tc . extend the operation of this AS ? The SECRETARY AT ,WAR , replied, to the time for which the Estimates-on the Table were made up, namely, for m) months froM the 25th inst. Mr.:FiALEA said, that there was a class of, per sons in the Country who were particularly affeCted • by one Of- the provisions of this Act, in which some modification was exceedingly desirable. The' SPEAKER suggested to the Hon. Member, that the Committee' would be the proper place to propOse the inoditication he alluded,to. The Bill was ordered to be read ksecond time to moi-rowe Bills were brougnt in by Mr. VANSITTART for the parand-:clothing of the Militia of Great Britain and Ireland ; also to make provision for the disem . bodied Militia, and for the Subalterns, Sec. of the former. • These Bills were read a first, and ordered to be read a second time to-morrow. • 'Ordered; on the IVlotion of Lord HENRY PETTY, that the Hon. Henry Parnell should be added to the Committee appointed to examine the joint Accounts between Great Britain and Ireland: , . THE 'CATHOLICS. The Hon. Mr. DlLLON'rose to . put a question, ,which, he said, he felt to be necessary in the dis charge of his duty: In doing.so, therefore, it could not •be supp6Sed that he was actuated by any idle curiosity.. In consequence of rumours which had gone abroad that a change of opinion had taken place among those who had formerly suppoifedthe Claims of the Catholics, as fo the expediency, of urging these 'Claims at• present, and that the Catholics of ~ Ireland had acquiesced in the propriety of that change, he thought it_ highly proper to put this "question. It•was of' the utmost . importance to the tranquillity of Ireland that this subject should be set at rest , one way or the other, and he trusted the Right Hon. Gentleman ;would relieve him from , his sus, 'pence on the subjea. Mr. FOX spoke to the following effea :—Really • the question of the Hon. Gentleman is so extremely vague than I cannot pretend to answer it, for I. confess that Ido not distinffly understand it. The Hon. Gentleinan, has talked of some rumours afloat as to an alteration of opinion respe&ing the Catho lics among thoSe who formerly supported them — but as I do not-know to whom he alludes, I cannot give him a preeise answer. But 'with'regard to the rumour that the Catholic Body have acquiesced in the reported alteration i*peeting their Claims, should rather ask the Hon, Gentleman himself upon that point. So far as lam concerned in this ques t • tion, whenever it conies under discussion ? , I shall be perfectly ready to state mye opinion; and- all I think it necessary to say as to my future - concluet, - is to refer to a consideration of 'my past. I can not, however, hesitate to state2tbat if any Gentle , man were.to ask My advice as to the .propriety of bringing forward the Catholic Claims at . present, I should recommend him to take , into censideration the prospect of success, and the, greater probability of- succeeding this year or the .next ; at the same time to bear in mind/the issue of last year's discus sion. ; In the part which I took upon that 'occasion, I was aanated by else strongest Sense, of duty—but at present do not feel myself obliged to ,say any thing more upon thesubject_. Mr. DILLON was induCed to put the ,question he had submitted in consequence of rumours—and' he believed that •to put a question to' Ministers; upon such a ground, 'was Jsot' unprecedented: He, remembered, indeed, the Honourable Gentleman himself— The SPEAKER called the Hon. Momber to order,' as there was no eitiestion before the House. • Mr. PAULL postponed till Friday one of the no 7 tices respecting the conduct of Lord Wellesley, which stood for this day. Lord OSS UL STO IV rose;• pursuant to notice, to move for a Return of the Debts :of the India Company in India, specifying the titir and the terms upon which each D.obt : was contracted, and when and where the principia and interest of the seve ral Loans_ were Made payable, froni the sth of Jan. ' 1804, to the latest time at which the same could be made °ht. The Noble Lord disclaimed any want of confidence in the views of the present Ministers re-,, - spetaing; India, or 'in the disposition of: those .to whom the Government of, India was more pecu liarly comMitted : he • had not the least dOubt that the wish of both was to give every information that _could be 'fairly , desired, and that their distinguish ing eharaderistic, 'would ,be rather, to promote than to discourage inquiry -in every department of the Public Administration : objea in undertaking a subject of such size and magnitude, was in order to lay before the House and the-Country the true state of the Finances of, India ; with a view to urge the adoption of measures in due time to guard the Finances of -England from suffering from.the em barrassthents of the former. After some comments on the conduct of Indian affairs, and 'particularly for .the last thirteen years, during whichmn condition of the India Company'syecuniary,engacrements with the Ptfblic had been fulfilled, the Noble Lord's Mo tion was put. Lord MORPETH expressed a wish that his Noble Friend would withdraw his Motion, assuring him that it was. the intention of Ministers to lay before the House the fullest possible information with respell to the aftilirs of India. In conformity with this intention th,e Noble Viscount stated, that he would, in -a Very-few days, submit a Motion for a return of all the Debts of ,the India Company ; the Loans contraCled by the seyeral Presidencies, and the terms upon which they were made, distin gaishing such Loans as bore interest from those which slid not with the terms of interest, when acid where psyable, grc. up to the latest period.. Sec. Such an account, he believed, would; answer better than that moved - .for the object he professed to have in view. There was an additional reason for acceding to a short delay ; and it Was' this, that it would enable those concerned in. the immediate Superintendance of Indian 'affairs to colleet more ac curate information, which, they would be most pro bably enabled to do by farther arrivals. _ _ _ Lord OSSULSTON assented to the request .of his I 'Noble Friend., • • Mr. FIizINCIS rose, not' to take any part in the discussion of this subje&, but merely to say, that there Was one question conne&cd with the Finances of India, to which, notwithstanding his general re solution,' as the House had heard, he felt himself bound ; and that was, the Loan made by the Go vermnent of Bombay to G‘xicowar. Upon this Loan, hoWever, he should reserve his sentiments until' all the promised documents . should be laid be ! . fore the House, and until the India Budget should be brought forward 'for discussion: Lord FOLIKSTONE was glad that the•attention of the House had been called to the important iu= terests India, and thought many good effects Would be. likely to arise from this circumstance : he -hoped that the docinnents --promised by the Noble Member of the Board of Controul. would be speedily brought fbrwhrd, and fully satisfa&ory. ..Lord TEMPLE, referring to the notice which bad been postponed by Mr. Paull, took occasion to state," that the Hon. Member was now called upon, in can dour and fairness to Lord 'Wellesley, to state the nature of the, charge which it was his intention to . bring forwa - rd on Friday, pursuant to his notice. Mr. PAULL said he . should decline giving thb ble Lord any answer on the subject. Lord OSSULSTON'S Motion was, with leave of the House, withdrawn. Mr. PAULL rose, pursuant to notice, to move for - the production of the Coirespondence which had taken place between the Governor-General and Council of India and the COmmanaer in Chief, &c. relative to the commencement of ,War with the Ra jah of Bhurtpore. The Hon. Member defended himselffrom the charges which calumny had pro= pagated against him, in consequence of the conduct which he had been impelled by duty to.pursue upon the subject of India, and particularly with resped to Marquis Wellesiey. Towards the latter it had, he understood, • been insinuated, that -he was ated merely by personal animosity. That insinua tion, he was certain; could never proceed from the Noble Lord himself, for that Noble Lord knew him. too well to ascribe his conduCt to such a motive— for his Lordship must know that it was impossible 'for him to feel any animosity. No provocation had ever been given. On the contrary, he had expe rienced particular kindness from Lord . Wellesley, and therefore ,nothing but a strong sense, of duty could have urged him ,to follow' the course he had undertaken. After dwelling some time on this point, and citing testimonies as to his charaCter 'and conduct in India, the Hon. Member adverted to the declarations, which the House had heard from,an Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Johnstone) in the course of y,esterday's Debate. That Hon. Gentleman declared, 'that he had no intention whatever of becoming the. accuser. of LOrd Wellesley. This declaration he heard with surprize, particularly when be recollected that that Hon. Gentleman took the lead of him in thi line of accusation. But he was much more surpriZed,and concerned, - in common with all the friends of India and justice, at the declarations whiCh had been made in another quarter, or rather at the declining to make any explicit declaration or pledge as to the system to he followed ita the future Govern ment• of India. The SPEAKER called to the recolleClion of the' Hon. Member, that it was not regular to refer to expressions used in a former Debate: The Hon. Gentleman resuined, and animadverted, with much severity upon the condu& adopted by Lord Wellesley towards the Rajah of Bhurtpore, which, he contended', was even less excusable than: the recent condu& of Bonaparte towards the Royal Family of Naples. Upon the first Motion being put-- - Lod TEMPLE rose, and entered into a vindi cation of the conduel of his Noble Friend, Lord Wellesley, which, he was confident, would appear to the House, and to the Country, to be not merely • justifiable, but laudable, and particularly upon the case just referred to by the Hon. Mover. When the Documents moved for should 'be tin the Table, he had no doubt that they would be found to tell. quite a different story from that which the Hon. Mover had detailed. And if . that Hon. Gentleman had, in candour and fairness, thought proper to read those Documents attentively, he was certain that they would have served to convince him of thefallacy of hiO statements, and the erroneousness of the opi-. Diens, he= had propagated as to the charader of teat distinguished Statesman who had been so long 'the .subjed of his animadversion. Mr. PAULL, in explanation; stated, that upon the very Documents alluded to by the Noele.Lord he grounded aeodsatietio against Lord Wellesley. Mr. JOHNSTONE was very sorry that it had been thought worth while to advert to any thing that had tossed between himself acid the Hon. Mover; and he would have said nothing about' the matter, had it not been that his silence might lead the House to imagine that he really had encouraged the H6n.-Gentleman in his pro4eedings in this bu siness. In ilia - , he bad dissuaded hini from be coming a candidate for the Borough which he 110 W represented, and afterwards from following up these charges. He did not say,liowever, that these were fundamentally wrong; but 'he 'thought this pro ceeding, under all the circumstances, inexpedient, both as far ,as regarded the Hon. Gentleman and himself : his own reasons for not coming forward with any such charges were—first, the impossibility , which he experienced of procuring redress for the wrongs of a Prince of India (the. Nabob of Oude) 'to whom he was' much attached ; which attach ment, perhaps, rendered him incapable of condu&ing the atfair with impartiality-2dly, the suspicions that might arise that he could not judge fairly and candidly in the case of Lord Wellesley—and idly, the treachery of which the Rajah of Bhurtpore had been guilty al most to an unparalleledixtent. He did not deny this ; bat he asked where was the wisdom or po- Lcy of making. a Treaty with Allis ,yery person on whom 'no dependence Whatever could be placed ? How came the ceded Fortresses and the Money'to be returned It was becaus9 Lord Corawalli saw the futility of such Treaties, and 'was .resolved to - abandcin them, if possible : he gave up their lands, he gave up their money, he would give up Any thing to such persons, provided' they would agree not to burden us with their friendship, Mr. HILEY ADDLYGTON observed, that the Hon. Gentleman who called for these Papers had, in some measure, anticipated them ;. but as he bad made sturdy assertions on one band, he was glad that .the had been met as'sturdily by.the Noble Lord who followed him : he had 110 o . bie6lloll to the produc tion of the Papers, "and this he had ascertained by a previous. examination, which the Hon. Gentle- Man had given himan 'opportunfty to make.— These Papers would exhibit; on the part of Lord. Wellesley, instances of extraordinary forbearance, and almost unexampled moderation. He thought, however, that before such Papers were called for, some ,stronger presumption of misconduct in that Nobleman ought to have been laid before the House. After stating that the Honourable Gentle , man seemed to allude to some Papers which had, in faa, never existed', he said that there was one point which the Noble. Lord below him (Teniple) had not disCnssed as fully. as might be wished. This was the treachery of the Rajah of Bhurtpore. He thee proceeded to state the ineansiby which this had been ascertained. A clear 'deposition had been Made to that effe&, by a spy .who:had .been discovered with papers, shewing a correspondence between the Rae jah and Hylkar, for driving the . _British from India, This deposition had been confirmed by the stopping of a Messenger by Colonel Monson's detachment not above a week after. Yet hostilities were not , commenced immediately. They were begun by the Rajah. biMself, who. proceeded Holkar's Army from destru6fion. , If : the Honourable Gentleman, called for the Papers because he was under. obligations to Lord Wellesley - , he, who had received no favours from him, hau uo objeElion to their produCtion..--. He concluded by expressing his convi6fion that D 9 blame attached to any person who had .been con 'eernedin the Treaty. concluded' between. the Rajah and Lord Lake. Mr. Pio-Lt. stated, that he had received no parti &liar ,favorxs from Marquis Wellesley. Mr. WELLESLEY POLE did not wish . to en, ter upcn this question, he only stated what he had • said,last Session, that he was willing that every fa *ility should be afforded to the investigation of the Marquis Wellesley's condu&. He hoped, there fore, the Papers would- be granted.. The condua of the Marquis would soon find its proper level. ' But what he rose for was thisthe Hon. Gentleman had gi en notice of art' additional Charge against Lord Wellesley on Friday.' A Noble Lord had asked him, what the nature of that Charge was, but he had .received no answer. He again begged leave to ask him what the. nature of this charge was ? because it was necessary to know it, in order tcl be. prepared to meet it. He was not surprised. that he had refused . to answer, as he had this night re- ' ceived, a lesson . respeEting .the futility, of unfounded charges, but it was necessary, for the ends of justice, that a dis:iuct answer should be. given. . Mr. PAULL observed, that his, objection had not been to the questioU, but to . the mode in Which it had been put., would now answer, that the Charge was repeEting the seizure of the ter. ritory of Surat.). The Motion, was awn put a n d carr i e d . Thi s was followed by other Mbtions,' for the applications ' made from Bengal for explanations of the contiutt of the Rajah ofillnirrpore, for Copies of the Decla-, ration of War, and of Lord Lake's Letters to the Government, for Copies of the Terms offered in order to the . War, for the Overtures to ter minate it, and the Answers, &c. &c. All these were agreed to. Lord ColliUgwood's Annuity Bill was, on the Motion of Lord HENRY PETTY, committed.—Re-, port to-morrow. Lord HENRY 'PETTY moved .for leave to make an Amendment in his Motion respeCting Offices in Re- Version. A doubt had arisen how far they extended, and therefore he proposed. to insext after the wor d Offices " wheresoever holden."—Agreed to. The Commitment of the Woollen Manulaaurers% Suspension Bill was postponed till to-morraw. The English and Irish Sugar Drawback Bills were read a second time, and ordered to be committed to.. morrow. A Committee was appointed to ,exam a ine the Fag India Jtidicature-Lists.—Adjourned. Consols 01• STOCKS VDIS DAY AT TWELVE O'CLOCK. 59j a 64 • AititrvEn—l Minn, 2 Waterford, i Hamburgh. DUE--; Dublin, Ininburgh, z Gcttenburgh, ip,Lisbuu. T H E S U N. SALEM QUIS DICERE FALSUM . AUDEAT? L 0 IVID 0 7V", NVEDNESDAY, MARCH 12, fW: Tars morning the ,Ham4rgh _Mil due on Sundae arrived. ..The most important Arti l cle'whiyh it con tains is a Letter fromßerlin, which states,' that the KING of PRUSSIA has ceded Neufehatet to France, Anspach to Bavaria, and the llutchy of Cleves tq the Archduke' FERDINAND. It is again reported that the Eleaor' of HESSg is to be advaneed to the Royal Dignity. Our Readers will find in a subsequent Column a Letter from the Prussian Minister, Count HARDEN.. BERG, to Lord HAR' ROWBY. It is a most important and interesting document. - , IT is stated in private Letters which have been re ceived from the Continent, that n Conspiracy was formed against nONAPARTE during absence from Paris, which has been deteEted since his return,, and that several persons have been arrested. It is also said that he intends to abolish the Conservative Se pate, kid in a great degree to new-model the whole form of the Government. Our only reason for 494bcillg the JA4.Sr, 4ccoilP.o is, that it is abl s 4