The Sun. — London, England, 1806-02-28 00:00:00

APIs should'not beconudered by that House as an an swer that it was proper to admit. Had not the cod sideration of the Bill pressed upon the House in point -of time, he should have thought it his duty, under 'the circumstances of this case, to move for -a Corti mittee to, search .for precedents respe6tiegsquestiOns referred to ,the Judgeg, and the answers, in order that the pra&ice of Parliament in this respeat might be 'fully ascertained. EarI:STAIVH6PE said his koble Friend had mistaken 'the pratlice, of Parliament, with respea to - the questions referred to the Judges. If his noble Friend had, - .like himself, endured the misery of at teriding for 'six years, .gluring the trial of Warren Hastings, he wiiuld have known ftliat it had been constantly the' pra&ice to refer que'stions _to the Judges, upon specific points, and individual cases. He-could , npt, at the same time, agree with his No ble Friend,. as to the ~general propriety of requiring an answer frOar the Learned. Judges to a question respeaing an abstract - t point of law. Such a. question night involve both negative and. positive relations, and how was it pesSible for the Learned Judges :to Ova. a general answer of yes, or no, to a question which tiii.;:v - conld net, indeed, - ; answer, without mak " ing a thOusarid, - c,i perhaps ten thousand, exceptions, to the general rule laid,doWn. With respea to the till' itself, he was of opinion that there,shotild not be a different laW for A. to what there was for B. and he had an idea, if it was not carried into effeet by, any of her , person,'PE proposing a general law r,pon the subjed,,, contained in a . short Bill, accord ing to which, the evidence given by any person re= spewing any matter in issue, should net be-after wards made use of in•any way against him. - - The LORD CHANCELLOR, after briefly stating the circumstances which leave rise, on,a former occa-• sion,tO putting these qustions to the Judges,observed, that it was clear, from the statement of the Learned Chief Justice, that the Learned Judges had not redlly declined to answer the question; on account of its being of too general a nature, but that they had dif tem! in opinion with respe6.l to the subject matter wlriclr that question involved, and, therefore, they could not return a general answer, eitbei-, One Way or the other. He looked up with reverence and re spe& to the opinion of the Judges ; he wished to have their opinion upon such a question; the House had a right to call for their opinion. The'vmiance .h weep the verbal, stafement.of the ;,earned Chief Justice, and the answer_ delivered in at the Table, was cbvious . to the House; it - was also clear that the dif-, fei - ,!nce of npinion' among the Learned Judges was, not as to thesform of the question put to ,them, but Upon the merits of the question itself. Under these CirLurnstances, therefore, he thought that the House entitled to call for an opinion, froM the Judges, and,•as they could not agree; that they should de -1114 o• - )in;ons seriatim... He, at the same time,. -vished to pay the highest 'deference to the opinion upon this Sul - ,:jea,,of his Noble and Learned_ Friend ' . (Lord, Eldon). Lord . EATIL E perfedly concurred in what " had fallen from the Noble and Learned Lord on the Woelsacl:;. He wished to pay every resped to The • Learned Judges, but their'Lordships were entitled to an opinion upon the questions referred to that , ,r.th,ful or unpleasant task, they must do their duty.—He concurred in ;ropriCty of hearing the Judges seriatim. , Imrd HA WKESL'EIR YalSo agreed that the fudges Should be heard seriatim ; the only question appear- - ed to.hhn'to }e as to the mode of getting rid of the' answer to the twci questions which had been de livere.3 at tharP.lble. It occurred to him . that.thebest Mode of doing this ; would be to : consider that i:s not having been delivered,' and that it should he understood that the Learned Judges Were to'cle . livcr their opinion upon the question, as if no such answer had been given. With respea to'what had fallen from his' Noble Friend (Lord HOLLAND), as to the proceedings of the House 'being controuledb . r the opinion of the Jtviges upon speCific paints, that • , opinion ~k-a; not santionel by precedents, one of - which.dccUrred. to him a! the moment—the case of Dr: SicheVerell, in ,which the House 'A6,ted in. direr} opnosli ion to the unanimous opinion of the - Judges. A 3 TO the idea started by the Noble Earl (STANnoPk.),, of a general law . prevent.. lhe evidence of wit- - nesses frgm . being used againgt .themselyes, t..lcught it would not have the ea& which the ~; N Jhle Earl proposed, as if the witnesses were corn= . I:elle:1 to disclose fads, that disclosure might afford a clue for proving those fads against them. Lord AUCKLAND withdrew his motion.' The Earl of 11kn NOR thought the Judges ought to be called upon to deliver their opinions seriatim. Lord. ELDoIV said, he felt it incumbent upon him. to state, that he have too positive .an opinion upon the point inVolved in the Bill. He had said, tkit -there was no doubt that a witness had no right to demur to a question, the answer to which might involve him in a civil snit; that opinion he must now retract, as he found there' were .doubts upon the i:i.:bje4 amongst persons of high- legal authority. He coneorredM opinion that the Judges should b e h ear d I seriatim, and therefore moved that the Judges, hav ing given a decided opinion in the negative as to the third question referred to them, and it having been sate that they diff - cred'in opinion as to ,the other tw9 questions, that they should be heard seriatim upon those ,questiorp; and that they should attend' to-morrow for the purpose of delivering 'their cpi- pions. This- Motion was agreed to "; and on the Motion of Lord Holland the further consideration of the Bill Was peitponed till Tuesday, for which day the Lirds were or( -, :n•ed to be summoned. ,The Archbishop of CANTERBURY moved, that the :rilianks of the House-be given to the Bishop of firistol, for ,his Sermon preached yesterday, at the Collegiate Church of Westminster, and that he be required to print and publish the same.—Ordered, Earl SPENCER presented a Petition trotn Brigadier- Crtneral Kerr, claiming the ,title of Duke of Rox 'our rh ; which was .referred to the Cornt4ittee , of Pri vileo - cs.%—.4dj ou rn ed. . HO USE ,OF COMMONS. THURSDAY, FEB'. A 7\lessag - ,e was brought from the. Lords, stating, that their Lordships iiad agreed to.the Five ,Millions Exlehe l rluer Bills Bill Wi , thoilt any Amendinent. Bu:GENI,Nt brought in' the Irish Fit Fruits Bill ; was read a first time,.and ordered to E.:2 read a. second time on Monday. On the mption of Mr. FOSTER; the Thanks of the I -- Luse were voted.to the very Rev, the Dean of itA7 tHOP: A for - the Sermon preacbed. before the Haii yesterday, being the.day aßpoiatecj foT a general -Hu.- miliation and Fast, and he was requested to. print the same. 14. FRANCIS moved for Extras Of any Letters or Accounts. received from the Presidency of Born,. bay, relative to the sum. of 3,13,944 Bombay ru* pees, inserted iu the Account of their DiSbursements 7 , from the year ending 30th April, 4803, and said to be money lent to the Gwicawar. Lord MOR emit - stating that there was no objefiiion to the Motion, the same was agreed to. LOrd FOLKSTONE said, that though there had been 'some difference of opinion as to the propriety of in veatigations into the Expenditure of MonieS of the Company, he presumed to think there Could be no objeation.to the Motion he had now to make,.which was—. For a List of all Pensions, and a Return of all sums of money, granted by the East India Company s as gratuities to Persons who had done services to the Company, from the year 1792,' to this time, specifying the service for which they were granted respe&lvely. The SPEAKER begged to remind the Noble Lord of the prat-lice which had prevailed, of giving no tice of any Motion to which any opposition was to' be expeEted. • Lord POLKSTONE Was not aware that there was any person who would -require notice to be given of the Motion ; if, however, he' was made 'to under stand that: there was an absolute rule of the House' to give notice of such a Motion, he must beg it to be understood as a rule that applied generally to all, 'for he could not see where the line was to he drawn. • The SPEAKER hoped the House would do him the justice to think, that he could 'have no motive in calling the attention of the Noble Lord to what had of late years been so much the praCtice of the Flouse r -to give notice of any Motion not conneoted with the annual and expeEted business. Tire reason, he presumed, was obvious ; and it was OHO much calculated to preserve consistency in their proceed ings —lest what passed one day should be rescinded the next. •At the same tirne, whenever it was the pleasure of the House 'to - 'determine otherwise he could havo-no objeCtion. Lord 'Fou(sTeNt explained, that he had under stood it to be the practice to give notice only where the Motion was obje&ed to. Mr. FRANCIS, as an'old Member of - the House, said, 'that during die two first years he had' been in Parliament the .praotice here contended for had been by no means common. Since that time no Motion of general political importance, or likely to' be de bated', had been brought . forward but on notice.— The Motion proposed by the Noble Lord did not seem-to - Mtn to be either of a .political nature, or which could well be debated, but to be is question, on a matter of pecuniary trust, in whiCh the Public had a right to every necessary information, as the public purse wits concerned ; for, when the Indian resources should be exhausted, -there was no doubt. but•they would come here.for relief. After afew xOrdg front Mr. PERCIVAL, General TAR L ETON., and Lord MoEpETn, Mr. SECRETARY Fox said, his Hon. Friend near him (Mr. Francis) had unquestionably stated what had been the praaice, though that.&pended much on the state of Parliament at the time. It had .un doubtedly been the general practice . of late years, when any person interested in a Motion desired that it .Might' be put off, for the Member who' propoSed it to give notice for next' day ; and, he was',con vinced, no person would he more , ready to do s o thanthe Noble. Lord. • This, however, was one o f the great relaxations, in, the attendance of Gentle men to their duty in parliament which had crept in. Whenihe first catne. into Parliament Gentlemen did their duty: by regularly attending in the Committees of Ways and Means,' objeaing to, or acquiescing itr the' measures which were proposed, itii)r did they think, that there was a better time f or stating their own wishes than when the Crown was calling on them for supplies. That was . always his opinion,' and although it was not so very convenient - for the place Whih -he now held, he did not yet feel him self so much weaned.from those feelings and princi ples by NI"-hich he had for so many years been swayed, as to tave forgotten or abandoned it. After some farther observations the Motion of the Noble Lord'was agreed to. On the Motion of Lord HENRY PETTY, there was ordered to be laid before the House. an Account-of any Offices in Ireland which may have been granted to two or more persons for concurrent lives for the .benefit of the Survivors, • Mr. RosE observed, that the Hon. Gentleman near the,Right Hon. Rover (Mr. Vansittart), could give him the information-he required without trou bling the House. On the - Motion of LOTCI,HENRY PETTY, there was also ordered an Account of all the Duties and Draw backs On'GoOds imported . frona our Colonies ,'abroad to Greatßritaiu, and afterwards exported •to frela.nd in the years 1801-2-3'4 and and. vice-rem-. Mr. WHITBREAD said there was -no strbjea which had occasioned more diScussion than the Vo lunteer System of this Country at its first adoptioin; nor was them any, the state of which, at this mo ment, seemed more to deserve inquiry, or as to which it was essential that Government and the Country should be better inforined, either as to its efficiency or aiqual strength. It had been lifted up and extolled by some as the best hope and bulwark of the Country, should any pressing danger assail, us ; it was -necessary, therefore, to satisfy our selves whether its efficiency was aaually such as to warrant these sanguine eXpeetations ;. he was well convinced there Were some Corps in a high Mate of discipline, and eScative in point of number. It was of importance,- ; however, to, know, before the expense of. clothing fir this year was incurred, how many were in this. state; and what , was the • number likely to take the field, if necessity should offer : he was sure ,hiS "Right' Honourable Friends .would be ready to. give every facility to the investi gation.; ; anti having moved for the Papers necessary to come to a conclusion on the'subjett,. he should leave it to those whose more particular duty it was to bring forward the - subji-,.4,- expressing - his7hopes that 'the • rank which QtriCers of Volunteer:-Corps • 'oilght to have.. would be particularly inquired into. and settled. He, for one;.deClared, that Mandel' of a- Volunteer Corps, he 4114.4u1d feel kith self in air unpleasant 'Own - ion on this point, if lie were -ever called On: •He.then moved, that there be laid hefore the Hotise a Return of the Gavalry, I •,r • Infantry, and Artillery serving in the different Vo '. lunteet Corps in . !Great Britain , - stating theiz , nultaier and fitness to serve, with the names-of the aacers by whom. the Rettlrns were signed.-4dered. ,The SECRETARY at WAR moved tbr - leave to bringln a Bill for extending the Liberty bf Enlisting Foreign Soldiers into the Servioe. of this Country, and for indemnifying those by whom the Enlist ments were made. ' The Right Hon. Gentleman 'stated the fa& of'an excess to the extent of 3000 men ) beyond the pro-' vi6ions of the former A&, having lately taken place in the recruiting . the Gertnan Legion, .While in Hanover • and that it was deemed . e xp e di en t t h at no time Itould be lost in 'acquainting Parliament of this circumstanice, and asking indemnity. Leave was accordingly given to the Secretary at War, Mi. Secretary Fox, Mr. Secretary Windham, Lord H. Petty, &c. to prepare and bring in the 1. Bill.. Sir P. STEPHENS brought in the Marine Mutiny Bill ; which was read a first time, and ordered to be read a second time to-morrow. The Order of ,the Day for . the House , going into-a Committee to consider of His Majesty's Most gracious Message relative to Lord St. ;Vincent be ing read, Lord HENRY PETTY said, that the Message not being , explicit as to the o bject which .it had in view, he had it in charge from His l'dajesty to in-: form - the' HouSe, that by the original Grant, the Annuity after his Lordship's death ,was, made to descend to the two n e xt h e i rs ma l e a his body ; but His Majesty's wish was, that instead of going to' the two next heirs male of his body, the Annuity, should descend to the two .persons next : succeeding, to the Noble' Earl in the title of yiscolmt St. Vin-' cent. This, the Chancellor of, the EkeheqLier staled, he was authorised to say, had been in-the Contem- ' plation of those who had originally brought forward the subject, so that His Majesty was not recom mending any additional Grant to the Noble Earl or his'Fatnily, but merely to have the mistake in the original Grant rectified : he was convinced, con sidering the zeal w ith which the 'Noble Earl was, at his advanced period of life, again stepping forward in his Country'S cause, -no addition which might have been suggested would be thought too much, 'No additio n , - . however, , was in . fait proposed. , • After a few words from Mr. Rose, who strf - ed, that the Noble Earl had, with the most bec6ining mo desty, declined 'expressing any wish on the subjeet; but had declared that his services had been suffici ently .rewarded, • • . , It was ordered that what. Lord HENRY PETTY liad . acquainted the House as the wish of 'His Majesty should be referred to the Committee. The House went into the Cointnittee, a Clause' to the.etfeot proposed by Lord HENRY PETTY was troduced, and the Report ordered to be received to morrow. . On the Motion of Lord Moßrvin, the Annual Accounts of the Revenues. of. In did, preparatory to the Bridget, were ordered. Mr. Alderman PRINSEP gave notice of a,Motion for to=morrow, for an Account of Bullion sent to India. . TREASURER OF THE ORDNANCE. Lord HENRY, PETTY moved foe leave to bring in 'a BilLfer better regulating the Office of Treasurer of the Ordnance. - • The principal obje&, the Noble Lord stated, in 'j introducing the present Bill was, to afford the Public that security-which they had a. right to expeti in the administration of the public . monies —= riot that any thing' improper could- be attached to the late Board of Ordnance, under whose conduet every thing that could be desired had been .attended to, ,-but because Parliainentary responsibility was prefer able to private and individual security. Similar Bills were intended to be brought in for the Post-Office, Customs, and other 13,oards. ' 'Mr. LONG stated, that the only reason why Par liamentary interference for the regulation' of this Of. fice had liQt been applied for.by the late Board was, a wish on the part of Lord Chatham to wait till the Military Commission should have made their Report as .to his Office. Leave was given to the CIIANT4LLOR of .the.Ex cnEdtrEm, Mr.' Secretary FoN, Mr. SECRET/110Z at WAR, BCe. to,,prepare and bring in the Rll. The House went into a Committee, on the Bill for the better Partitidning'of Coinmonable Lands in. Ireland.—Ordered to be read a • third time to-mor tow. ' In a Committee on the *Greenland Fisheries, a ResolutiOn was passed authorizing those ernpiroyea in the trade to complete their number of men - for the present season at ce.4-t4in Pprts. And Lord TEMPLE afterwards obtained leave to bring in a Bill ' accordingly.: • - On tlie - Motion of Mr. VAICSITTATIT, a Commit•!. ~tee \vas appointed to prepare. Estimates for . the Pay, Clothing, &c. of the Militi a . On the Motion of the same Honourable'Gentle aft Account . vas ordered:of all •Dtitits of Cus oms and Excise outstanding and.impaid, from sth January, tgos, to sth January, 1800. The.lndemnity Bill was committed, and the Re 'port ordered to be received to-thorrotv. •• Adjourned. ' MAILS. Cottenburgh, 1 - Lisbon; I Dublin. liamburgh, 3 Gottetiburgh, i Dublin, 3 Waterford. PRICE Ol• STOCKS THIS DAY AT TWitLVL O ' CLOCK.' Consols -.- 40i I Red.,Ann. - -61 -; THE SUN. SOLEM QUIS pICEILE EALSUM AUDEAT ? LONDON, FRIDAY, ITERVARY -‘3B, 1806. WE yesterday stopped the Press to communicate to our Readers the important and gratifying intelli gence of the Capture of the Cape of Good Hope. 7 -7 About three o'clock to the afternoon Capt. DowN of Ells Majesty's Ship DiadeN, and Major - I..tuip, arrived in fownWith . bisiatclies from Sir flo* PopirAm and General _Liman, dated the 13th • • , • • January, which s t a t e the . siirreilder of the Cape Town • • i And its Dependelicies, C,ipltulason,' to iiis.Ma ,. , . . . .. , jestys Fo - rees ea the Coth January.: Tne - Sluadro i I'. arrived atthe.CaPe On the 4th o f January, and t h e , I necessary dispositioni were 'made for disembarking ' the Trobps as soon as possible : the disembarkation of .the Troops,. Artillery, and necessary stores was completed on the 6th, and on= the 6th an aCtion tOA., place between His Majesty's VorCes and the Dutch Troops, under the command of General JANSEN, which lasted for some time; at length the Enemy was, completely defeated, with the loss of about -7090 men. After' this, - defeat General JANSEN did not, as it was expected 'he would, throw himself with' the 'remainder of his 7 Foices into ' Cape Town, but retreated into the Interior, leav ing only a small . Garrison of about :200 - men i , the Town. On th e 10th Cape Towa and its D - .. pendencies surr en d ere d b y C ap i tulation. No doubt .was entertained :that Gentral JANSEN, with the Troops under his command, consisting of about 1800 • or 2000 men - 1 would be s oon - co mpelltd to sur render. The folloiving Note was sent by the First Lord 'of.the Admiralty- to LLo'ft D's immediately after tllc arrival of the Dispatches " , ittfairalo-officf, An b. z 7, xSoG. " Mr. GREY : his the honour to transmit to the LORS MAYOR the inclosed account of the success of His Majesty's Forces undor the command of General fir DA vI v BA tx n and Sir HOIII " Alotirthy-Office, Feb. 27. " Capt. Do wiqm AN, of His Majesty's Ship Diadem, ar. rived this afternoon with Dispatches from Sir HOME Yoe_ HAM, dated at the.Capeot Guticl Hope, 13th January. The account brought by this. Officer states, that the Squadron under Sir HowsPoPHlll:st'S command arrived off the Cape on the 4th ; that the landing Of the'Troops was effecied on the 6th, and that after an aEtiOn on the Sat,. in which the Enemy-lost about 700, and His Majesty's Troops about 240, in killed and wounded, a Capitulation was signed on thp loth, by which the Cape Town and its Dependencies were stiffen. tiered to His Majesty's Army. General J szt, whOcom manded the Enemy's Troops, has retired with the_ remaindez of his force, amounting to about iBop or :too° men, into tk: Interior-of the Country. .1.11 , 4 ES SHAW, Mayor. . " _LL:vthm-Buire,* Feb: 27, 18:76. 114 . 1:1 as% o'Clcck.!! Since writing the above, we have been favoured with the following additional particulars, and we are happy to find, that the only Otficers who have beef killed (or who have died of their wounds) in this •.are. Colonel GRANT and Captain FORESTER : the loss, upon the whole, is compara tively The Troops under General JANSEN have retreat ed to the well-known Pass in the Mountains, about ~ twelve iniles in the rear of ,Cape Town, called the Roticatot is'.:l4; which is 'certainly a post o f very great strength, and perfealy capable of defence by a small force against a much larger one.—But beside that the Dutch have formed no Magazines either of provisions or military stores in. that qUarter, the nature of the force which has thus taken a position must be taken into consideration. Two thirds of those Troops have been in English pay, in the liegirnent of Waldeck, &c. and at the Peac6 were sent over to Holland in three Frigates. Most of them then entered, destitute as they were, into the service of the Batavian Republic, dEd were sent to the Cape almost immediately. Such. Troops, composed for the most part of Germans and Swiss, cannot, we apprehend, be particularly attached to their new masters, ;and if we be rightly informed, are much inclined to return to their old ones. Hence no serious opposition can be expeaed from a force so constituted. But even were General JANSEN .to build upon the courage and fidelity of his Army, and were hd pro vided- with-magazines, still its speedy reduaion must be inf•titable, as a British force may be landed at any - of the numerous bays to the eastward of the Cape, which - must place. the Enemy between twQ fires,. as in that event his flank would .be turned, and, from - the nature of the Country, retreat woulg be impossible. The run home "from he .Cape" was' the shortest ever known, being only forty4ive days. WE this Morning received Anew-York Papers to the 6th inst. inclusive ; . but we were rnuch:disap. pointed to find that they' contained no information. respeeting . the important Bill before the Congress, which we laid before our Readers on 'Wednesday.— It is mentioned-in a Paper of this morning, that a Letter had been received 'from Americp 4 stating * that the Bill had been thrown out ; but we very much doubt whether any Letter has beeil received of a date Subsequent' to the 6th, and we May fairly infer from the silence of the' New-York Papers, .that_no such intelligence had 'reached that City previous to that day,- 'But whatever may .be 'the fate of the Bill, the violent Party. in the Congress seem determined to us, every effort to pro - yoke Hostilities bet Ween" the two Countries. On. the 29th 'ult. Mr. PREGG made, the Plowiqg Most extraordinary Motion in the House of Representati, which was referred to a Coma! rnittee : , Whereas Great: Britain impresses Citizens of the Enited.States,. and compels theiil‘ to sere board her Ships of War., and also seizes and . con.