The Sun. — London, England, 1806-03-13 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF PEERS. WEDNESDAY, M.:.RCH 12. Lord ELDON delivered his opinion at Some length relative to the, Appeal from Scotland, " Crawford v. Coutts."". After which, the further consideration cf it was, -on his Lordship's Motion, postponed till Fr:cl;T. The further consideration of the Appeal from * Scotland," Howie v. Merryi was postponed till to snofrow. IMPEACHMENT OF LORD MELVTLLD. 'Lord WALsitiGHAm - presented the Report of the Committe,appointed to search for Precedents of the Proceedings of the House in cases of Impeachment;. v..hich wag' ordered to be ,printed. ./\. Short conversation ensued between Lord Au CK LA ND and Lord ,ELDON rest et ting the Additional Article of Impeachment against Lord Melville, as to the manner in which that rNoble Lord should be Oitiled . upon,to answer'; which ended in an Order to sumnion the Lords for to-morrow, in order to take the same into consideration. LIABILITY OF WITNESSES. Lord WA L GtiAm reported the Declaratory Bill, the Amendments made in which were agreed to. • Lord ELDON, in order to save the exceptions which existed to the general rule laid down in 'the Bill, proposed a Proviso, the first part of .which enacts, that the Court .shall not repel an oblation made by A Witness to answer, where such objec tion is made specially and on specific grounds stated, but shall decicle•on such oblation according 'to the law as it appears to them. It is lastly enafted, that a 'Witness shall riot be compellable to answer any, question which he could not be compelled to answer as a Defendant, in a COurt bf Equity, on a Bill being tiled against him. Eitrl STANHOPE . objected to this PrOviso, which; he said, instead of declaring the law, left it to the Judges of each Court to decide what was law,. thereby,' instead of removing doubts, rendering those doubts more doubtful. He also considered the, Clause to . be unconstitutional, in as much as it , sent the :Judges of the Courts of Common Law to : the Courts of Equity to learn, by what law they were to decide, a system which met his marked condem nation. The LORD CH4NCELLO.4 defended the Clause, to which he could not see the slightest objedion. It was perfe&ly clear, from the opinions of the Judges, that there were exceptions to the general .rule which it was necessary to provide against.' With respe& to Courts of Equity the law of evidence was the same in those Courts as in the- Courts of Law, and therefore the obje&ion upon this head fell to the ground; as the Clause merely direaed in fa& that the Laws of . Evidenge should be resorted to. Al though somewhat irregular in referring to a Bill of the, Noble Ea7l's (STANHopE) now on the Table, On this suhjef, he was happy to concur with him in one part, where, notwithstanding his, obje&ton yes terday, .I.le had inserted the words -" Tile Lords Spiritual and Temporal." The Lords Spiritual were (tie . Mioisters of God and of Religion, and it-being thought tit that they should talic,..a part in our tem poral conLerns, it was also fit that they should have the prece,deno:l. Earl STANHOPE said, he had inserted the words " The Ltirl. Temporal...and Spiritual," but that the Printer had altered them. Lord HOLLAND, notwithstanding what had been said by his Noble and Learned Friend on the WOolsaak, could not agree in the propriety of re ferringthe Judges orthe Courts of Common Law to Courts of Equity to learn the Law of Evidence! He had too much veneration for the Common Law of the Country to saridion' such a proceeding. Lord ,ELDbN contended, that the seven Judges who had answered the questions in the affirmative having, all done so with a variety of exceptions, it would be, in fa&, ats ino . contrary to that opinion if a<. Law were passed, ena%lin? - _, a general rule on the subjea without any exception; and he had no he sitation in saying, that without some such Clause as that he had proposed, the Declaratory Bill would be the greatest nuisance that-.ever o:iste'd; no mans - property would then be. safe, as he might be com pelled to answer questions which might divest him of all title to his estates. As to the Courts of Equity,. their LOTdships would. recolle&; that the Judges who had answered the questions in, the affirmative had all drawn &Om thence the grinds of those opinions. ' Some farther conversation ensued between the Lorin CiANcia.Loß, 'Earl STAN-1004, the Earl of SUFFOLK, Lord 1:fol. / LAND, and Lord ELDON.—Lord ,ROLL AND 'objeCted that the Law-Was not definitive-, ly declared, the reference being generally to the proceedings in the Courts of Equity..-- 7 The LORD CHANCELLOR and Lord ELDON maintained, that Courts of Equity proceeded with respe6t, to. evidence ppon known and ascertained Rules of Law, which were equally well known in Courts of Common Law, and had been leferred to by Lord Mansfield and other Judges who had decided points respeeting the liability of Witnesses to answer. The Clause was received and'added to the Bill. Earl STANHOrE still considering his Bill for the tnoie.effedual discovery of truth from Witnesses to be necessary, moved its second reading ;" observing, however, that he should move iii the Committee to alter the preamble, and make it a Bill for the better protection of Witnesses_ The obje& of the Bill, tie stated, was to prevent -the evidence 'given by .Witnesses from being-afterwards made use of against , themselves, Thd Bill was read a second time, and 'committed l'or Friday ; for which day the Lords were ordered tR be:summoned. ' 'Mr. ALEXANDER, and several other Members of the /louse of Commons, brought up the-Corn Elc:- port.&o:1 Bill, the Irish Duties Bill, the , Foreign Troops Bill, the Royal - Marine Mutiny 'Bill; the Wha:e .Fishery Bill, and four :Private ; which were severally read a . tirst time. -Adjotuned till to-morrow, (this day). IJOT.r4 OF COMIVONS. "WEDNESDAY, MAtecii j 2 A new- Writ was ordered for the ele&ion of a Moin,ber of Parliament for the Borough of Lime -4143, in the room of Thomas Line, Esq. who has 2e, - ioot-ed the Stewardship of the (,_;hiltern Hun:itedS. n nw Writ was also clireaci tQ be issued for'''tfio election of a : i'leml?er for- Queehborough b in :the room of G. P. Moore, Esq. who has accepted. the Stewardship of . the Hundred of .East Hundred. Mr. Wti.t,tAm Du.snAS rose, pursuant to notice; to move for leave to bring in a Bill to continue for two years longer the Ad for the more expeditiOns and easy payment of -creditors in Scotland. He stated that he would have no obje&ions to any im provements that might be suggeste,d from the Courts below.—Leave given. On the Motion of Dr. DUIGENAN. the Irish Clergy Residence Bill was comrnitted.—Report to morrow. Mr: VANSITTART moved • that there be laid before the House, Ist, An Account of the amount of Ex chequd Bills outstanding and unprovided for, issued pursuant to an Acct of. the 45th of Abe King, for ,raising eight millions by loans on Excheque;Bills, for the service of the year 1805 ; • zoily, An Account of the Eichequer Bills outstanding and. unprovided for, issued in pursuance of an Att of the 47th of the King, for raising two millions and a half by loans on Exchequer Bills for the service of the year 1805 ; 'idly, An Account of the Exchequer Bills 'outstand ing- and unprovided for, issued in pursuance of an Ad of the 45th of the King, for raising one million and a half for the service of the same year. Ordered. Before the rising of the House. these Accounts were presented, and ordered to lie on the Table. Mr. VANSI rTART moved for leave to bring in a Bill for contaming:the A& relative 'to the terms - on which certain services of the Irish Militia were to be acceptecl,---Leave granted. The English and Irish Militia Clothing Bills, the Militia Adjutants' Bill, and the Militia Subaltern Officers' Bill were read a secopd time, and ordered to be committed to-morrow., WOOLLEN MANUFACTURERS' SUSPENSION' BILL. Lord TEMPLE moved the commitment of the Wollen Manufacturers' Suspension The'SPEAKER having left the Chair, Mr. MOPRE.observed," that he did not rise to oppose the Bill, but he wished that it should be more 'pedal than it was. The suspension had at first taken place only for _six months, before the end of which time it was expected that this business would have been :Settled ; but it was still in the same situation as at the beginning. He had no ob jea-tion to suspend the operations of the AC against such encroachments as • had already taken "place, but it was fair that while the suspension continued no farther encroachment- should be allowed till the House came to a detision. He hoped that the Members of Counties who supported . the FEW, would concede thus far to him who supported the MAISY. His:objed was to put the question to, rest for the present. Mr. LASCELLES thought himself called upon to say a few words, in consequence of the allusion of the HOn. Gentleman to the FEW and the MANI. He disclaimed all party views in this business. It was a subje,4t oftoo much importance to admit of them. There were thirteen orfourteen'Statutes re gulating that Trade, made at an early period, • most of which were not applicable to it in its preSent state, and doubts were entertained as to the proprie ty of :the rest. 'All he wished was to have , the af fair investigated by Government as a greatquestion of national policy. The Hon. Geptlettan's mode of putting the questiOn tOresi was somewhat curious, for his'clause would allow prosecutions to be carried on against those who should enter hereafter accord ing to the common course of the trade. A Com mittee would be appointed as early as possible to settle the whole business. Mr: WILBERFORCE also thought it necessary to enter his protest against any party views, such . as might be inferred from the Hon. Gentleman's al., lusion to the supporters or- the .few and the up porters of the many : 'he thought the interests of the few and the many in' this case perfedly con sistent. It was the obvious interest both of la bourers and masters that the trade shoUld The Hon Gentleman did not observe, perhaps, that -he was Counsel , for many Master ManufaCturers who carried on the trade on a small scale in their houses, and amidst thel own families, exhibiting a piCture of industry, comfort, morality, and inde pendence, of which they who had not seen them could hardly form an idea : he did not wish to im - pair these, but to advance them : not, however, by extending restridions, but in that manner in which the interests of Commerce could best be promoted : he wished the affair, to undergo the fullest elucida tion on all early day, and to this discussion none could come with a More. sincere desire of doing justice to all parties than himself: be knew them so well that he could venture to say, that what ever, after mature deliberation, might he the. de cision of Parliament, they would acquiesde in it. Mr. BROOK hoped that . no impedimentwould be throWn in the way of the Anal ,settlement of this business, which had been now two years before the. Holise ; his obje& was to promote the interests of 'all parties he hoped the Hon.. Gentleman would not insist on his Clause. Ldrd TEMP LE felt the sincerest regret that the business had been left golonc , undecided. The oti. je& of Ministers was to finish it as soon as possible!; and he before stated, that this Bill was brought in for the purpose of suspending the atiair till a Com, mittee could be appointed for its investigation : :he. meant to give notice, of a lvlption for such a Com mittee on Friday,next : he' obje&ed to the Clauseds' it. had a reference to a point on which the House had to-,decide. • Mr. MOORE thought that be might safely con sent to withdraw his Clause, after the candid state menr f the Noble Lord, 'whose objed,-was the same as his s own--,namely, to have the business brought to a speedy conclusion. The County Mem bers might perhaps relish. the distinCtion of em= ployers and employed better than the few and ,the many. The Omployed had constantly attended with a view to forward this affair ; but 'be - saw no such anxiety on thepart of the - employers. Mr. WIi.iiRFORCE said that his opinion was con firmed that the Hon. Gentlentan was not aware of, the exalt description tinder which many of his diFitts Came': he was, in fad, pleading for thie btilk of the :Master Manufaaurors. The .Clause was then withdrawn. Report to morrOw. Lord TEMPIE gave notice, that on Friday next he would ii - kove far a Committee/to examine into the Mate of the Woollen Alanufaaure.' L 0 N D 0 N, THURSDAY, MARCH 13, ISC,G. WE yesterday stopped the Press to announce the arrival of Dutch Papers to the 9th inst. which con tained an account of the opening. of the Session of the Legislative Body, and of the Speech made upon that occasion by BONAPARTE. It was natural to expe& that after such astonishing successes as Bo 'NAPARTE has obtained within the last few months, he should express himself in lofty and vaunting lan guage : in this expeEtation we are not disappointed ; but there is less of insult and menace towards Eng land in thiS Speech than we have observed upon former occasions, even during the continuance of the Peace of Amiens. The threat of Invasion is not repeated ; on the contrary, there is an.expression of a desire of Peace with England, upon the .basis of the Treaty of Amiens. It would be useless to comment at length 'upon an expression so general and so vague; it may not, however, be improper to obserVe, that there is a material difference between riegotiating - ' a Peace upon . ;he basis of the Treaty of Amiens, arid having " the Treaty of Amiens and nothing but the Treaty of ,Ami ens." Whetherlie considers th is public declaration up • on the subje& as a sufficient notification to this Country of his intention, or whether he will make a distin& Overture, we have no means of ascertaining ; but we are inclined to think that if he meant to make a Pacific Proposition, he would have done it imme-, diately after the deli77ery of the Speech alluded to. It has already been predi&ed by the opponents of the present . Admibistration, that the grounds upon which 'Bo NAPA RTE is likely to propose Peace with this Country, viz. the conditions of the Treaty of Amiens, will most probably interrupt that harmony which is essentially necessary for a due condua of the national affhirs at this aweful and interesting crisis. It is indeed certain that much difference of opinion has' hen manifested by some of the Members of the pr.2se.nt-Adminis.tratipn on that extraordinary Peace. So 1:e condemned it in the bitterest,terms, and other; seemel to consider it as a very acceptable nrastt e, inasmuch as it put an end to what they termed a ruinous War.. Hence, a difficulty might be_ expea ed to arise, if the Ruler of France : should make a pacific Overture on the basis of the Treaty of. Amiens, because some of the present Ministry, however desirous they may be of Peace; can never assent to Peace ulion that foundation, without a total derelic tion of their principles, and consequently without committing* their charaCters in point of re&itude and consistency. We are, however, inclined to believe that all matters of this kind were .fully discussed and adjusted before the present Members of Ad ministration agreed to come into office together. We are also inclined to believe, that whatever spe cious offer the ,drench. Ruler may make, our Mini sters will never agree to any terms of pacification_ but such as shall be in all respetas consistent with the honour, the interest, and the importance of the British Empire. BONAPARTE seems to betaeluated ty an iniplaca ble hatred towards the QUEEN of NAPLES, and he assures the Legislative Body, that the House of Naples has for ever lost its C rown . B u t, i n speak • ingi about Italy, he makes use_ of an expression, which strongly confirms an opinion which -we have ventured upon different occasions to ad vance : He says, e‘ the whole Peninsula. of Italy belongs to the Great Empire." Ate we to un derstand, from this expression, that the States- of the Church are.to be wrested from the POPE and to form a distinEt- Kingdom fiir one of the BONAPARTE Family; or that they are to form a part of what is called the Kingdom of Italy ? We certainly did , think, and we have frequently expressed that opi nion, that ,BONAPARTE would not long suffer the POPE 'to enjoy even the nominal sovereignty over the patrimony of St. Peter ; but we really did not -expea to see this new a& of violence and injustice announced , in such a general sweeping sentence ; for he 'does, not even condescend to mention th. State which he propose's to over-turn, or the Sove reign wham he intends to depose. But though his intentions are expressed in general language, it too intelligible to be,misunderstood. In speaking of Austria; he makes use of the most degrading language : he says, that he had the power of overturning the Imperial Throne, instead of which he has confirmed it. How he has confirmed it will ,be seen in the Articles of the Treaty of Presburgh, by which .Austria is stripped of some of her most valuable possessions ; but, with respeEt to Russia, hemakes an assertion which is direaly the reverse of the faLt: he says, " R\ussia has the Capitula tion, which I . granted, alone to thank for the return of the wreck of her Armies_" Now, it is notorious, that the Russian Army was not in cluded. in .the Convention which took place im baediately after the Battle of Austerlitz, that it• retreated in perfect order after that battle, and than BONAPARTE did not think it expedient to attack it, weakened as it was by the secession of the Austri ans. We beg to refer our Readers to an important article upon this subje& which we have this day extraeted from the Petersburgh Gazette. It is observable that there is no allusion whatever to Prussia in the whole of BONAPARTE'S Speech: It is stated that there are to be five Kings present at the Grand Military Fetes which aro to be given at Paris in May next. The Icings of Bavaria and Wir temburgh, and the new King of Naples, will, of course, be of that number.; the other two BONA PARTE Will prObably create before that time. According to a letter from Paris of the 23d ult. the pecuniary distresses of the French Government are as great as before BONAPARTE'S late brilliant campaign. in Austria. Several more banking and merchant houseS of Paris, Bourdeaux, Nantes, Ly ons, and Marseilles, have stopped payment, and the Public Treasury was entirely exhausted. The Army Of the Interior has not been paid for eleven 'months; and 'the Army on the Coast, 'not for seven months. --BO.NAPARTE'S Public FunEtioaaries have received no. salaries for eight months, and his Household Troops • ,are unpaid since last September.' The Armies of • Germany and Italy have also several months pay due to them. The manufaaturing towns are, 'however, v . in still greater distress than the sea-ports; because, while the foriner.have neither capitals, workmen, or _proteetion, the latter are regularly supplied with the produCtions . cif the French Colonies by the assistance of American traders. The provisions in France are exceedingly cheap ; not from abundance or plenty, but from the scar city 9f specie, which in every Department obliges the farmer to take in exchange for wheat, 'corn, butter, cheese, wine, &c. the goods of Mer chants and tradesmen, - instead of ready .money, as they otherwise could:not dispose of the produce of their estates and lands. Twelve sous, or sixpence, were only paid for a loaf of bread, of four pounds,. of 16 ounces, at Paris, at the date of our letter ; meat sold from six to-ninepence a pound ; a 'fowl fifteen pence, a turkey half-a-eh - own, a goose three shilling's, TREATING ACT. Mr. 'TIERNEY bi - eught up a Bill for. Preventing Unnecessary Expences in the Ele6tion of Members of Parliament. It ena&ed, that no Money shoutd, direCtly or indireCtlY, be given to Ele&ors, as tra velling expences, or as a compensation for loss of time, or for meat or drink, or under any other pre tence whatsoever.—lt was read a first time', and or dered-to be printed. N said, that.if _there 'WWI no objeaibn he would move that this Bill be read a second time on Friday se'nnight. Mr. BURST thought that as it in some . measure contained an, alteration of the law, the second read ing ought to be postpOned for a week longer. He had no objea - tion to the principle. _ _ . . Mr. ROSE thought it contained no alteration of the law, but was a mere explanatory Bill. _ _ Mr.l.llth' explained. And Mr. TIERNEY, •after stating that the matter had already been a fortnight before the House, moved that the,Bill be read a se cond time•on Friday se'nnight.—Ordered. The American Treaty Bill was-read a first, and or dered to be read a second time to-morrow. On the motion for the second reading of the American Wool Sill; Lord TEMPLE stated that he had some Clauses to propose in the Committee to remove certain objections which might be made to it. , Mr. HARRISON observed, that these would re move his doubts. Alter which the Bill was read a second time, and ordered to be committed on Friday. - Mr. W. POLE, gave notice, that on Tuesday he would move for certain Papers respeaing India and the Rajah of Bhurtpore,. in consequehce of the Pa pers moved for by the Hon. Gentleman on the other side (Mr. PAULL). ' Lord pollin g woood's Annuity BUT was reported, and 4 rdero to be read a third time to-morrow. • • The Corn Exportation Bill was read a third time and passed. The Mutiny Bill was read a second tithe and or dered tobe committed to-morrow. Mr. ALEXAN DER brought up the Report on Indian Judicature Lists. Among the names returned were those of Mr. Lascelles, Mr. Giles, Fellowes, Mr. Shaw Le Fevre, Mr. David Erskine, Mr. Adams, Mr. Morton Pitt, Mr. Hawkins Browne; Mr. Mor ris, .Mr. Perceval, Sir William Geary, Mr. Foster, Mr. Archdale, Lord Louvaine, Mr. Plomer, Erc., General TARLETON moved that the Ordnance Es timates for 1806, presented by Mr. Calcraft, should be printed. Mr. VA*SITTART bad no Objeaioll; but he hoped it would not be expel ed that they should be print ed immediately,' on account of other business. General TARLETON obsenied, that he. had no wish to impede public business.—OrAered to be printed. Mr. CORRY was sorry that he, had not been pre sent at the commitment of the* Irish ; Clergy Resi dence Bill; but gave notice, that on the Report he would move some Amendments to guard the rights of Patrons. Mr. PAULL moved for a Copy of the Protest in a 803, of the Chairman of the Court of Diredors of, the East India Company, against the measures pursued in Onde, whiCh led to the Treaty of 1801, which was approved of by the Secret Committee, as appeared from their Minutes.--Agreed to. The other Orders were then disposed of. Adjourned. PitICE OF STOCKS THIS OnY AT TWELVE O'CLOCK. Consols MAILS. DUE—I Hamburgb, i Gottenburgh, i Lisbon, x Dublin, Waterfotd. TH E S UN. SCLEM QUIS DICERZ IFALsum AUDEAT?