The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1803-04-29 00:00:00

The balloting being over at about half!.
o'clock, the House pruceedcd to the business
day.

CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

Loud FOLKSTONE—" I rise, Sir, in
of the notice I had the honour to give yesterthrj,
order" to move for copies of all correspondences
which his Majesty's Ministers may be in
respecting the Cape of Good Hope, and .
ations which have taken place on that subjec.
with the French Government. In doing this,
to be understood as by no means desirous
tering. in the least with any subsisting discussions
tween the negociating powers ; though, consic'
t:.e length of time during which the House
coultry have been kept in so disagreeal
convenient a state of suspense, there are
doubt, who would think no motion imi
object of which would be to take the di,
together out ct. the weak and feeble hand
has so long been committed. But however
self may be disposed to incline to that
shall not now offer any tending to involve
nil question, particularly as notice has
of another motion in a very few days, if
tens do not render it unnecessary by apt
satisfitelory communication. I shall therefr
out by declaring, that it the Ministers expl'
that the motion I meant to have the honor
mining would be likely to interfere prejudiciall'
any existing negociation, or discussions w
powers, I shall abstain from making it,
gise to the House for whatever trouble I _
already given theme—(This did not prods
observation from the ministerial side of -*
and the noble Lord proceeded...l—l shall
a very few observations to enforce the
of the motion I am about to offer,
not enter into all the details in which
portant subjeCt is involved: but in the few
have to say, shall have occasion to refer .
documents which cannot of course be considered
authentic by this House ; I mean the di:O-
n:lade on the part of the French Government.
driven to have recourse to these, because
Government has been so tenacious of witiihi
information, that the only authentic duct
received, have been made public by the
ment of France. This is the more unfortui
from the communications made throug)-
channels, the House and the country has
the unsatisfitelory information, that sometimes
ders have been given to give up the Cape,
at others, counter-orders have given to
The last accounts tell us that the Cape
finally given up, but the indecisive manner
the business has been condueled, affords
very material and important considerei
know, however, to a certainty; that after
tune of the Definitive Treaty of Amiens,
sent out for the cession of the Cap; in
with the stipulations of the treaty. It is ai
that in the month of Oelober, at the time ,
vasion of Switzerland by the French arms,
derable stir was made in this country, ar
preparations were going forward in our •
official iefortnation has been laid before
by the Ministers of the Crown, to enable
of what sort of interference, if any, was made
British Government on that occasion ;
pretty generally understood that orders
then sent out to retain or retake the possession
of that important station ; and the French
documents inform us, tlrat the possession was re-
tained by tie extraordinary mode of re-capture and
capitulation. As information has been so long
withholden, it is time for the I louse to exercise
its right of demanding from ills Majesty's Ministers
a full :uti explinatien, without being confined,
as at present, to the statements contained in the
French documents, which we are net allowed to
consider as official. By adopting the motion I
have now to submit, this result at least will follow,
that on comparing the dates of the several orders
seer wit, with that of the Message, which has kept
the country in such uncertainty and alarm for these
two months pest, we mate lie enabled to sec I:ow far
they were both ceneeeted. Ido not conceive how
the disclosure of this can much interfere with any
other discussions between the two Governments.
The Message stated, that there were important ne-
goeiations pending, and that preparations, were in
the limn time, going on in the ports of France and
Holland. The french, however, deny the truth of
this, and deny that any discussions were pending or
any armaments makinloirnirtports alluded to, but
*lie bad been .' in the same way for
a considerable time before, and ever since the con.
elusion of the peace, and during the time of the*
eiareion ef Parliament. It is, therefore, impossible
to conjeaure what these discussions could be, to
'which the Message relieved, eixert they re.beted to

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