The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1805-03-19 00:00:00

IRISH IMPORT DUTY RILL...

On the Motion for the second reading of the
Irish Import Bill being moved by Mr. Foster;
Mr. DAWSON proposed a further delay, this
being the day appointed for the cdebration of the
Festival of St. Patrick, tutelary Saint of Ireland,
and sot many Irish Members being therefore pre-
sent.
Mr. FOSTER thought that as this second read-
stage of the Bill, when no debate upon it
-.Eked, the time for discussion would be
for he supposed that no Caen-
objcft to the principle of the Bill,
granting a supply to His Majesty.

THE BRITISH PICESS

LON DO N,
TUESDAY, MARCH 19.

The Claim Fle •t arrived safe at Canton in the
beginning of OZlnber.

It appears from our Falmouth Letter that Tea of
the Mediterranean Fleet have reached Gibraltar,
and it is nit now supposed that so much as one half
of it has been lost.

The Tenth Report of the Commissioners of Na-
val Enquiry, containing 352 folio pages, was yes-
terday laid before the House of Commons We have
seleaed from this voluminous mass as much as our
limits could possibly admit, and may be necessary,
to give a clear and satisfaaory view of the case to
which the public attention has been so long direaed.
Our extraas, of course, relate exclusively to the ofti,:es
of the Treasurer and Paymaster of the Navy. It ap-
peals the Commissioners issued their precepts to the
Treasurer of the Navy, for an account of the state
and disposition of the balance of public money with
which he stood charged upon the 31st of December
in each year, from 1786 to 1802, inclusively, that
they might judge of the propriety of the ba-
lances of p•iblic money left in his hands, and see
whether the balances unappropriated to the public
service, at those periods, were in the Bank of
England, as required by law. The several retur.is
mail to these precepts commenced with the ye.tr
1784, and the Commissioners discovered by them
that the sums standing in the name of the Treasurer
of the Navy, at the Bank, were, for the most part,
considerably less than his unappropriated balances.
The discovery of these deficiencies led the Com-
missioners to enquire more minutely into the subjel,
and they discovered, among other regulations for the
condua of the office of Treasurer of the Navy, a re-
solution of a Committee of the House of Commons
in 1782, that the Treasurer of the Navy shall not
Apply any sum of money imprested to him, to any
purpose of advantage or interest to himself, direly,
nr indirealy ; a warrant under His MAJESTY'S Sign
Manual of the With of the same month encreasing the
salary of Treasureiof the Navy from 2,0001. to 4,0001.
a-year, " in full satisfaaion of all wages and fees,
and other profits and emoluments theretofore enjoyed
by former Treasurers ;" and an MI passed in the
25th of the present Reign, direaing that " all monies
for the service of the Navy should be issued from
the Exchequer to the Bank of England ; and that
nc money for the service of the Navy should be
placed in the hands or possessidn of the Treasurer ;
aad that no monies should be paid out of the Bank,

.~~~..

but for Navy services, and in pursuance of drafts
drawn by him, or persons in his office duly author-
ised by him, specfying the heads of service to which
said sums were to be applied." Mr. BARRE held the
office of Treasurer of the Navy at the time of the
above resolution of the Committee of the House of
Commons, and the Report states, that he stridt-
ly complied with the above regulations. He was
succeeded by the Right Hon. Herrav DusoAs,
now Lord MaLv Icr. e, who held the office from the
19th August, 1782, to the 10th of April next year.
Lord BAYNINO held the office from the 11th of
April 1785, to the 4th Jan. 1784, and, during his
time, "no part of the money issued for the service
of the Navy was converted to his use or advantage."
From the sth Jan. 1784, to June I, 1800, Lord
MELVILLE was a second time Treasurer of the
Navy, and Mr. Toovrta Paymaster under him.
The Commissioners accordingly applied to the lat-
ter for information, and upon being called upon to
account for these deficiencies, lie acknowledged,
that he had been in the prallice of drawing money
from the Bank in large sums, and lodging it in
the hands of private Bankers, previous to its being
issued to the Sub-Accountants for the public service.
Being asked whether he derived any profit
from the money so withdrawn, he refused to
answer, upon the ground that he was not bound to
criminate himself. Lord Viscount MELVILLE was
next applied to, and he admitted that Mr. Taor Tea
had his permission to lodge the money in private
Banker's hands, but not, as it would seem, to the
extent understood by Mr. Foot-Tea; but being
asked whether, during either of the periods of his
being in office, he derived any emolument from said
praarce his Lordship refused to answer, upon
the ground assigned by Mr. TROTTER, and that he
would not disclose delicate and confidential trans-
thions of Government. The sums drawn from the
Bank by Mr. Taort ea appear, from the books of
Messrs. Courrs and Co in whose house they were
placed, to be so large as 100,0001. at a time.
Tkere is one instance of a sum of 1,000,0001.
drawn in on: day ; and, from their magnitude,
the Commissioners presume they must be public

money. The Clerk of Messrs. Coons deposed,
that they were appropriated to the purpose
of discounting private bills, and buying stock on
account of Mr. Tit oa ea. The latter also ad-
mitted in his examination, that " in following Lord
MCI. VIC Les instruftions, or in aging for his Lord-
ship, in his affairs, he seldom nr ever considered,
whether he was at the time in advance for his Lord-
ship, when he had occasion to advance a farther sum,
ant exceeding from 101. to 20,0001." Lord MEt.-
vttt.e says, he permitted Mr. 'rawer ail to pursue
the course of depositing the money in a private bank,
in order to facilitate the business of the office, and
Mr. sr ILOTTER has assigned various reasons in sup-
port of that pra&ice ; but the Commissioners have
over-ruled or refuted them all, and declared, " that
the withdrawing of the public money from the
Bank of England, in the manner, and for the pur-
poses before related, was, in their judgment, a dis-
obedience to the law, as established by the 25th of
this present reign, chap. 31."

We have received New-Y(.ik Papers to the 10th
last, but their contests we not important.

Private letters have beet seceived from Canton,
dated the latter end of July last, which state the
city to be, at one period, with not more than a
month's consumption of rice, owing entirely to the
ucc-s,ftil depredations of the Ladrone Pirates, who
have long infested that coast; but that, at the date of
these letters, all anxiety had ceased, by intelligence
having been received of their complete dispersion
by a gulp, which had been lent to the Chinese! Go-
vernment by the English supercargoes, and said to
be commanded by English Officers.

Some Paris Papers have been received, but their
contents Are of no importance. The Session of the
Legislative Body dosed upon the tith.

Mr. PITT last night gave notice of his intention
to make the duties on wine permanent, and to put
an additional tax upon pepper, in order to make
good the deficiency occasioned by the rejetlion of
the proposed tax !iron horses used in husbandry.
A report wa. yesterday prevalent in the City,
that the PIiIPCP Cr. Wales, Captain Pales, whidi
parted company from the Indiamen off the Cape
in a gale of wind some months ago, bad got into
St. Augustin's Bay, in the Island of Madagascar,
dismissed, and otherwise much damaged. This ac-
count is said to be received in a private letter from
Pondicherry via Madras ; there was likewise a ru-
mour, that her long boat had drifted into Pondi-
cherry Roads. _ _

Lord PERCY, report says, intends to offer himself
for Middlesex, in the probable event of the late elec-
tion being declared void.
It is now generally understood, that the Secret
Expedition, under General CR•io, will sail in the
course of the present week. When we first an-
nounced this measure, one of our contemporaries

alluding to it, pertly and flippantly observed, " we
notice this repot t merely to contradict the assertion,
that General Ca AIO is to be at the bead of the ex-
pedition. That General is going out to the West
Indies in the place of Geseral N G r."

`f'f.'
ti;

THE CHINESE bINNER.
♦ TACT WHICH OCCUARLD DUIIIHO LORD MAXIM'.
NAY'S I.6lllAssT TO CHINA.
BY OLD KICK.
The feast prepar'd, the spies**, mad
Atlow'd the eye no rest; 14‘ •
The wealth of " Orm us and the We"
Ap,)ear'd to greet the guest.

No idle tongue, no converse light,
The solemn silence broke,
Because, 'tis fain'd, our Englishman
No word of Chinese spoke
Now here, low there, he pick'd a bit
Of what he could not name,
And all he knew was that, in fact.
They made him sick the sane.

CYtNI•TAV. hie hre,t, pre on each dick
With pasted Ciiiricee grace,
And much CH 'NO thought he relith'd therm
At eery ugly face.

At last he swore, he'd eat r.' more,
(7was written in hie kick.; !)
" For sounds," said he, " tile Devil 1t.,.
Szilds both the meat and cooks!"
But, corers clu,g'd, he brighteied
And thought himself in luck,
When, close before hint, what hisser
Seemed something like a duck.
Still readies.; grown, and, to be OM,
His brain he set to rack ;
At length 117 i tuned to one behind,
Ara, pointing, cried, " ;hula, quick?"
The Chinese gravely shook head,
Next made a rey'rent bow,
And then express's( what dish it w..t,
By utering, " Bow, wow, wow!”
• Milton.

ing was a; stage of t
was to be candied,
in the Committee ;
denten meant to of
namely, lint of vs