The Sun. — London, England, 1806-12-16 00:00:00

Ut LI,fI.INT. HOUSE 0E 'Pi,: Ens. hIONDAY, .pEC„ • • . . • ..• This be i ing the day appOinteci for, the meeting of Parliament, the Lord - Chan"cellor tattle - to the House AbOut • two 'o'Clock, and':"acituallited tlr . HOuse, that His Majesty ir .not ttitinlslng',6oo2.be personally pre sent,•that clay, had beep pleased to cause -a Commis- Sion to he issned,',uncler the Great Seal, 'ln order tq the opening and holding of thetarliataent-' Then . foor of . the,Lords Commissioners, v 4. the, Archbishop of a,iitefburx; 't he :.LOra ChincellOr; the 4 itarl of 'Aylesford,' and Lord - Walsingharn, being Reatecl on a forth Placed between the I.llr9De and the Woolsack, the. I,brd; _Chancellor commanded the pentle.Man Usher of the plack. , Rod to let. the Cool mons lmo‘y thp Lords" Comm i ssioners desired their .immediate attendance's fit tat • Übuse to hearthe coininission read. A great numberof Members of the House of Com mons, preceded by Mess. Ley, Dyson, and Ley, jun'. the' Clerks of iheollouSe, shortly afterwards - carne to the Bar. ; • The Lqui CRANCEia4)R then said, f g , My Lords and Gentlemen of 114 House of Commons, f' His Majesty, not thinking fit to-be present here this„day in His Royal Person, has,been pleased, in order to the opening and holding of this Parliament, to'• cause Letters Patent to be passed under his Great ►seal,, constituting us; and: several other Lords there in named, hid Commissioners, to 'do all things in His Majeity's name, on his part necessary to be per formed in this Parliament. This will rfiore fully ap pear by the Letters Patent therpselve§, which must now be read :." The Letters Patent were react by the Clerk ; after which the Lerd. Chancellor ' 'ff ,My 14)7 . 4 and 'Gentlemen of the House of Commons, fr We have it in comtnanct r frorn his. Majesty to Jet you know, that, as soon as The Members of both Houses shall be sworn : , the . :•-calise ol'his - Majesty's callin . g this Parliament :will,- be declared to you :‘ and, it being nece ssar y that a Speaker of the House 'of COminons should be first chosen, it is-his Via pleasure' that yOrt, Gentletnen of 'the House •, , of Commons, do r e pa i r to the place where you are to sit, and there proceed toAhe choice .of some pro ,pet' person . to be your Speaker.;. and that ; you pre ent, here, suckperson whorn you shall so choose, to-niorrow, at twelve OClock, for hij Majesty's Royal *pprohatiOn." - ;The Conunons!then• withdrew. • • . .Prayers we r e. . read,-after Which-the Lord Chancel= kr took the oaths at. the table, and, then 'resumed 41s seat pp •the Wodlsdcir. . • The oaths were.adMinistered to the Lords present,. 274 1:!d 005(:' , who shbacquently came into the ; House, until four o'clock. • ''AOngst the Lords 'Who : tookthe Paths were, the •A'rchbishop Of Cant6rbUrr, the Dukes - of Kent,. Nor • • folk k- titt--Maittiaisses StaffOrd, Abercorn, •_the Eafis of Aylesford, Spencer, Carlisle, St.-_Yineent, - 13erkeley, tnniskillen, Scarlaoroggh, I::linden, Westmorland, Derby, Grosvenor, Stan borc•, Cowper, Ole Bishop of London,. Lords.-,Wal . -Carrington, Dyneyor,• St. He . jcn's, Rots, Redcsdale,..SoMerville, ,Stc: Lord Ailsi (Earl,,olCassilis) was introduced by ozd Walsinhahraii4'Lord St. Helen's. His Patent . of-Creation and . Writ Of Summons haying been read at the table, his • Lordship took the oaths and his AdjQurned till to-morrow (this (lay), HOUSE OF ATAIO.IO I .- . . MONdAY; • The Members, as soon as -they had been sworn b&fore the Lord 1- - ligli , Steward,•-topaiied.to the House of Comm Ons. There were- about-200 assembled by . P , vo . o ' cloct:. At .a qtiarter - after two . the Deputy Usher of the Black Rod entered the House, and, a:ldressing hirnsele , tO• the Members, -said, ." The • Lords auth or i ze d by -virtue. of His Nlijesty's Com mission desire the ihnnediate attendance of this Honourable House in - the House of -Peers to hear His Majesty's CoMmissjcin read.'! Mr., Ley, the Princip a l Clerk, : the two -.Junior Clerks, and the Members repaired to the House of Peers, where they; remained nearly a quarter of an hour, On their return they. proceededito the EIUICE OF A SPEAKER: • /3Rd GGE BA 71-IURST said; he rose to call . , Ivan the.Honse to eiterciseone of their most ancient, • must undoubted,and i in many respects, most import ant privileges, and without which-the fundiona . of the, House would be interrupted,. and their deliberations embarrassed. The nature of those -funaions and deli berations suggested the necessity, of sele6ling some perioq 'from among- themselves who waa properly qualified tO be the voice of the Representatives of•the pe.ople, both in their intercourse with the other. House pt Parliament, arid in •the exercise of their colleaive 4.uthOrity .over , individuals—a person, whose 'peculiar 'duty it would be to watch over their invaluable privi .. 1;? : g% to alarm the jealous' of the House against the heroachrhents of the.other 'orders of the State, and Fil9,lly his authority ; w i s d o M, a nd experience, would fqntribute maintlin ilonsisteney.,- order, and' regu- Jariiy ih their own proceedings. The great increase, of 1-! ! ,amemary Busin,'!sS, bdtli of ,a public and private oy.eupying, as it 'did; solarge, a portion of the ear---the constant and nurnerons attendance of. the-. 1-iFill'Persofthe House on alrimpatapt cincsOons, un .in•mOdern times at least 77 the habit of ani- . protracted, and frequent debate, had all tended to render the discharge of the greziter parrot . the duties fklip9sed ati the person selected to fal Chair as ardu ous to hiinself as they Were important to the public. 411 . 9 4pplie4ion of procaent was found in the writ- BecOrds• of Parliainent,.. from the must, ancient p9l'iOd to the 'e fisting moinent,---the . regulations, of thei i r deb a t es , to the tinWritien, but -not lesS' binding, 344nor . ity of Parliamentary usage. With respect to :) , 4.10rn - ier; the Hon. Gentleman, whose name he preSilltly inention;qad beep the 'fir 3t to virt them): H e . rn i gtit to one or ti,vo illustrious 'lll4zitteeS; when high a n d di s tin gu i s h e d characters,ito no more, 'had shew'n .that th6se wi#ten roCards gild- Puliamentary usageS, wcre.,the best buiwqrk Gt oar and constituted -tint. impartial Latv,, attach,' 'like' th!' (l 4 -n-is' Of Constitution itself; . .. Lib:erty aud, flora a discord:. ancy of parts, produced harmony of the whqe. The talents requisite'for a due discharge of the u ties a Speaker of the House.of Corn Mons; were not . of an ordinary description. It was necessary that lie who Was invested with that great office, should 'possess an inipartialirr that secured confi dence, a dignity that comnianded 'respect,and a temper and atfability that disarmed eon tention.'These qualities were, however,_ .only. the .concomitants of Others equally important—a sounctjudgment, a cul tivated uncierstandina, a knowledge' not merely of, Parliamentary forms, but of mankind and the world, were,indispensible to the constitution of the authoL. rity of the Speaker of this House. a person ,pus,.. sassed pf these qualifications the-House:could not but be disposed to entrust the full exercise of their power, because they must he. assured that they would be exerted for the general goOd. The °bled of their choice would derive from that power the means of .relaxing, where occasion demanded, the severity and stri&ness of their rules and orders. — Having thus imperfectly enumerated some of the qualifications of a, Speaker of the. House - of Corn ! . mons, he should scarcely.have.ventured to have de scribed any Gentleman as duly qnalified, ; upon any* impressiop of his own judgmentbutwas sure the -House had gone' before him; and:had acquitted him of so great a• presumption. T . lapy.isiould.be dis posed to look to I .ie Chair; they would refer rather ,to their experience of the' past, thali to the reCOM-' rnenclation of anv'indiVidual; The Chair *reminded him of the duties expecaed to..be. pp,rformed lip him who tilled it. He was perSiiaded it had called to the recolleaitarrOf thelfouse the manner iii which it had been filled. The difficulty under. which. he . laboured, consisted not in the apprehension of the colle6tive sense of the HOuse..,.'ln* detailing the duties 'of a Speaker, and in pitipoSitig Mr. Abbott. as a fit 'person to fulfil them, his .difficnlty, he re-, peated, consisted not in his apprehensions of an. uni formity of opinion, but in the recolle&ion of the very superior manner in which -he bad liden pro posed on a former occasion, by a:Gentleman-not now in the House. He had been supported by the testi mony and eloquent addresses of those who had origi nally nominated him. But it was his consolation, that the experience of Mr. 'Abbott's 'public chara&er, and general extension of that wisdom and knowledge he had evinced from his first taking s his seat, made it less difficult for the House to dispense with ability on the part of the person who again proposed him.. He was the Jess anxious concerning hisPivii defici ency, in the manner he had stated the duties of the, situation of Speaker, because he was convinced the House would refer to the high chargter of the Gen tleman he had proposed, and . give him *Credit for having passed by many topics of eulogiuna,to which he had'ajust claim. He • .was ,not only, conscious that* the 'condual of the Hon. had Gentleman he' ha named, justified much higher panegyric than he had passed upon him ;- but he •was'fiede to declare, that Mr. Abbott had exhibited a more perfea model - of the office itself than ever he bad formed an idea of in the abstra6.l. There were other topics of praise to which he 'was equally entitled. In speaking of the general duties of the office, he had passed over, with reference to Mr. Abbott, the facility - of private inter course with, and access to him on matters of business; he had omitted to - notice his' dignified hospitality, which conformed so much to the wise munificence of Parliament,. These, however, were obvious to all. If unweaned attention and indefatigable, industry would carry into effe6t the duties of an arduous situa- Lion, the House had ample reason for. expecting 'those exertions from the suggestion of the mind of a Gentleman• whose labours respeciting the Records of the Country assured to the Public. the advantage of a source of 'knowledge and information which had hitherto been confined to private and individual re search. The same comprehensive mind, and the same application of great talent,..were as peculiarly required for the higher duties ,he. had to,diseharge, and the success - and ability lie had displayed upon the subje& to which he had alluded, Was a pledge of what ought to be expeCted from' him on every oc casion which related, to proceedings of this House, and the general advantage of the Public. It was upon these considerations, as' well - as many others, that 'he felt it his duty to move, " That the:Right Honourable Charles Abbott, Esq. do take the Chair of this House as Speaker."—(Continued /Audits.). Mr. WILBERFORCE rose to second the motion. He observed, that the sense and feelin g of the House had already been sufficiently manifested to convince him that the proposition he supported would receive the sanaion of the House. It often happened thata .Member of Parliament had public obligationi to dis.: charge, which required painful sacrifices of his pri vale' duties ; but it was a sufficient compensation for those sacrifices, if, by making them, he could render himself eminently serviceable to his Country. In his estimation, there was no Office more calculated; by the advantage with which it was attended to the pub lic interest, to compensate a man fOr the arduous ex ertions necessary to execute it, than the' office of Speaker of the House of Commons. Hii Hon. Friend (Mr. Bragge) had pointed out the.gaperalcha 7 racier and requisites which ought to distinguiSh the person appointed to fill that high office. .To en ter minutely into a detail of its important duties, or the qualities of him who was called upon to fill it, would be a great task indeed. It was an office com mensurate with all the funaions of Parliament, and consequently identified with the existence Of Parlia ment, and the freedom and happiness of the People. The qualifications of a Speaker were great andritime rou,s, and perhapS it was difficult to form an accurate estimate of their real value,, on account of the quiet times in which We had lived. It was a 'common disposition of the public • mind to imcigine, when Matters, went on quietly,.. that they went on by themselves, and without any aaing impulse ; but •those to whom he Was addressing himself knew, that - although the principle of action was kept out 'or view, it was that principle which directed the whole machine, gave it motion, and preserved the order find harniotiy of. all its parts. Undoubtedly it.was not to be suppoled, that, because We had lived happily in times yl4(3b . the publiC liberty was secure, i•td•the privileges of this House unendangered, that it was thei-61ore imiMportant to chose a man as Speaker of the House of Commons, who was intimately acquainted' with/all tip parts of the Brittsb Con stitution. It should be remembered, that the •happiness of a great Country ought not to be left to iincert;Anties; or probable eventS. It was the Linty Of the - I:4gisl4tfire, to guard against whatever 'might happen. lt peputOrly necessary that he who was placed in' the Chair of the House or Commons should be intimately acquainted with the Constitu tion oldie Country, in order that be might be sen sible of those slight deviations which in the end in troduced great and material alterations. It was only by such an intimate acquaintance that any man could' estimate the importance of small chan g es, and know how in the first instance to check and repress. them.. Therefore, among the qualifications of a Speaker, a perfeCt acquaintance with the COnstitution of the -.Country was a first and indispensible, one. Who ever was intimately acquainted with the Constittr-. Lion, cotld not'but heroine mere and more attached to it, aid in proportion as, he developed its secret' springs, contemplate, it as the source of public, hap piness. Unvestionably too, an extensive acquaint ance with the History of the Country, and a perfe& knowledge of its. Constitutional 'and Parliamentary History,, was requisite.. It must also, be obvious to • everyone that ;the Speaker of the House of Com mons' should'be a man who had sagacity and pene tration to decide on the instant ;• that he should he possessed of an uncommon degree of recolleaion and memory, a SountinesS of judgment, a temper •• not to be ruffled, and a suavity of manners. it was unnecessary for , him to mention bow peculiarly the Hon. Gentleman who, had been proposed was gifted with all these qualities. The recolleaion of those who had known him during the late Sessions would supply abundant instances in which they had been - conspiclouhly everted. He might mention various other qualifications, but they had been alluded to. by his Right Hon. Friend. There was one, with respea to which he could not avoid saying . a word or two. He referred to those peculiar qualifications which characterized the proposed. Speaker for what (by rather a misapplication of the term) was celled pri vate biisiness. Ceranly, Compared with those great • 'questiOns vaLich constantly occupied the attention of the House, it might with propriety be 'denominated . private business. The House was always engaged . upon snbjeEts of national importance ; but • there were matters of private business, which, although .they did not attraa Observation, 'were no leis essen . tial to the interests of the Public.. It. was net merely the value of the property at stake, though it would: excite estonishment if he was to state the amount of the property decided upon by Committees of the House, but. there was something in such detioions even of More importance, than any. peciiniary sum could give an idea of. It was, that the character of Parliament itself was in a considerable degree con cerned in the variety of questions ibat arose concern- 7 ing the property of individuals. Of these questions, he was well persuaded no ' person was better 'qu/li fied to judge than the Hon. Gentleman %vim had been proposed as Speaker. If those questions were deiided in a summary way, without a' juSt sense of the im portance Oladhering - to principles of Law, he knew nothing that would be more likelito iniuie . into the Public an alienation of mind with regard to the House of Commons; therefore it was - desirable that the House of Commons should be' known and. ac knowledged as a place • where , the rights of the sub jeet were always safe. It was - equally important that the person in the Chair' should be considered' as the guardian of the weak and the proteaor 'of the poor. The opulent and powerful would attend to their own interests. but upon all questions where the pris'ate property of individuals was concerned, whatever their situation might be, it was , important and re 94site that there-should be a. man to inspect and watch over them, who would see that precedents. .were carefully adhered to, and the true principles of Legislation not departed from. He had bad too frequent occasions to address the House upon this point, not to know bow eminently qualified the Right Hon. Gentleman who had been named ,for the Chair was to sustain the character of Parlia ment. It was therefore with singular setisfaCtion he seconded the Motion made by his Right Hon. Friend.; and, as ,he had just observed, i,t was not from the ordinary habits of his life, and pursuits that 'the House was warranted in conceiving he woald fill the Chair with ability and dignity, bait from the experience that he had done so already, and consequently wotild- do 'it again. It was im possible not to know that even before he had.,been raised to thq Chair, he had-given a pleasing anti cipation of the patriotic feeling by which he in tended to be governed—that he had rendered set-, vices 'to the Country, which must have endeared him to the House—that. he had sat .at the head of a Committee which had inquired into all the public offices of this Country, with view to the adoption Of a system of economy. There was no, man who . , considered with more satisfaCtion than himself the' elevation of that Right. Hon. Gentleman to the, si tuation and rank of First Commoner of the Em pire—but he .should have 'contemplated it as a pub lic robbery, .if he had been placed there before he bad had an opportunity of rendering to his Country those services he had performed, and of pointing out to his successor the means by which similar honours were to be attained, and sheaving him, that .in order to merit such a distinguished pre erriinence, he must become, like himself, an.u-p- • right independent Member of Parliament, the true friend to the Constitution of the Country, and the faithful guardian of the Liberty of the People. ;It was for these qualities he had been raised to his si tuation, that his principles might acct with fuller etThet. He had the satisfaction of knowing that he spoke to those who approved of the proposition of his Right Hon. Friend. It was gratifying to him to feel that what was wanting in his expressions of ad miration and esteem, was more than made up by the universal approbation of the House: This, re minded him of another qualification, perhaps the most, essential of all, and certainly one-,that could not be possessed by any person who had not filled the situation, of . Speaker. It was not merely that the 'House had the experience of past..years, but they knew that the Right Honourable Person pro posed to honour their Chair would possess the confidenee and attachment of the House, and no thing was of greater importance than that he should possess it. It as an assurance that he would yin: dicate the rights of Parliament on the one. band, and prevent the disposition of Members to extend those rights tog far, to the prejudice of other branches of the Legislature,. He had but one word more. There Was - one quality he possessed in mest.emi nent degree—it 'was, that at the same time he had shetvn his loye of public liberty, true constitutional liberty, he had Manifested a due sense and proper regard of the privileges of Parliament. He had shiewn that ~i vatouss of wind which impelled him to consider it al equally dangerous to the Cot stitution,- that the Commons should attempt to strain their privileges beyoni their due bounds, that they should not assert them when 'they wersk, attempted to be violated. ft required a great mind to be invested with extensive powers, without-be ing, at the same time, disposed to overstrain them. The House were sensible -.that the Right Honour able Gentleman was possessed of that quality.—, He therefore concluded by saying, that to second the Motion *of his Right Honourable Friend gave. him the most perfet satisfaelion, and the greatest. possible pleasure. Mr. ABBOT.—" In rising to address the House this day, it is impossible for me not to feel, the highest sense of gratitude for the favour Itud kindness with which this proposition has been re ceived. Many, very many of the commendations which my Honourable Friends, by their partiality, have bestowed upon me, I dare not flatter myself with having merited ; and although they are pleased to suppose that my former experi ence 'in the Chair of ;this House may afford a% argument in favour of their choice, yet_that same experience has left on my mind a very different im pression '; for I am persuaded, that whoever aspires to understand and cremate that high and important, ofli,ce, will acknowledge its difficulties, as well as bis own deficiencies. • Nevertheless, custom long established, and respea towards the House, forbid any person from insisting much at large on his de, merits. I will therefore not oppose the pleasure of the House; in the earnest hope that it will not hi prejudicial to its interests." Mr. ABBOT was then conduEted to the Chair, and 'thus proceeded :—" Since it has been the plea sure of the House to place' the again in this Chair, I have to make my most grateful acknowledgments for such. a proof of its high and distinguished con fidence and . to assure the House, that while I have the happiness to possess it, every part. of my life, within . and . without these walls, shall be faithfully . devoted to its service." . ~ Mi. T. GRENVILLE observed, .that, upon an occasion so solemn and important as that of seleding a; Speaker, it . had been not unusual to allow sot of its Members to express those sentiments which he rejoiced to see were so unanimous. He freely stated, that, on the present occasion,_heclid not feo it necessary to offer any apology for intruding op toe attention-of the House. 'lf the business they had So happily concluded had been one .whichrequirept high talents in the person who Offered his congrat4- lations; he should have known himself .better than to have offered, 21 - single observation ; but, in pre-.. sentirig hiMself the first,to congratulate the HoUsp t he - was only expressing those sentiments whicil were-. common to' all who heard -hirn.: / TO have, a strong sense, and to express it, of 'the benefit the country' .had 'derNO fain - the Right Hon. Gentle - . man'S'`being placed in the Chair ;''to augur happily .of the futnre by the grateful recollealion of the past ; to anticipate the services the country would' re ceive; to indulge • in ' thc.l memory of those alieidy 'conferred ; to retied that by his being placed in the situation in which fortunately he waq 'Placed, t e House would assure to itself the exercise of a stea y and temporate authority, an impartiality and integrity not to be shaken, a rich fund of constitutional li - now- : ledge, and a just dispensatiOn of those wise and en lightened opinions which aduated him--,these, were topics so pleasing to dwell upon, lo natural toeiz .patiate upon, that he Was persuaded the . House would indulge him in pursuing such themes ; but yet, from those topics he felt himself reludanf)y ,compelled to abstain. wii6i, he recollePal; tll4 the person who was the objel of his eulogium was the person he was addressing, he was compelled ti'ir motives of delicaoy, not lo dwell upon the subje& grateful as it was to him. He should conclude b saying, that he did most heaitily congratulate' t tip House, the Ginmtry, and the gight Han. Geetlet 7 man himself, on the choice that • had been made. He 'then moved; That the House should adjourn, and the House adjourned accordingly. MAILS. rlx~ivpn—iD s GQVenburgti, ; Dublip b - 1 WAterturd. PaICE OF sTopfq THIS DtuY AT TWELVE o'c,octc. Consols - - - - 60 1 I Red. Ann. - 59# THE SU N. sot.z:vi guts D:CERS AUDEAT? L 0 N D 0 N, TUESDAY, DECEMBER IG, ,1806. ~.,LAST night French. and Dutch Papers reached town, but they do not contain any intelligence of importance. The reports of Battles, which • have been circulated with such confidence, turn out, ias we expeEted, tQ be wholly destitute of foundation : indeed, it appears highly improbable that any gene ral or decisive Aaiun could be. fought' before me middle of this month. The 'accounts given in the foreign Journals of the movements of the French Troops are very confused : according to some of them, AUGEREAU'S Division, which Was advancing 'to the Vistula, has fallen back, while others state that they have aEtually invested Dantzic- The utmost—exertions have- been-made to put that important City in a state of defence, but we do not apprehend that it ispOssible to put it in a condition to stand a regular siege, nor is it likely, 'at the pro sent season of the year, that the French would un dertake one. It is probable that some French Patroles may have pushed forward.toDantzic, and this, by ill° 'help Of a little French:exagzeration, haS been magnl" fled into a regular investment of the place. Our Readeri 'will find in a subsequent Column the speech of CA ., " BACERES, the Arch-Chancellor of / France, to the SO - is in 'many parts a mare echo of the lan guage lately held by BONAPARTE : The same threats are heltioaut against this Country, and the same 'le terrnittati2n is expressed not tQ make Peace until nate.