The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1805-07-09 00:00:00

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_ To t'he otlser House. it was is agitation, or discw-
s on, from March or April, and it was proposed
tit ~flow that House but a few days. Whet he
nner pressed for was but a short tyay, in order
enable their Lordships to avail themselves
of the information before it. Would Noble Loris
neposite :tree to grant such ? He paused a
mornents.—No reply being madee-the Noble
And learned Lord proceedcd. He saw it was deo r-
mined to push the measure, and he would, there-
fore. trouble their Lordships with observations upon
it s there were three prepositions in the outset of ;Al
Bill, all assuming, that tile ancestors of the Noble
dee were vestal with the rights of sovereienty as to
tiff Isle of Man ; but where was the prone of these
essertioos ? Three times was it asserted ; and thus,
" Like s oft bully, has the had and
I le wouldeto no further welt the line—but did they
ititow in what Sovereignty consisted? Let them
: der to Wane!, who laid it down that no Sovereign-
; v rented without the exclusive rights of Legislation;
iied, ou this ground, he contended, the asserted
i..eht of Sovereignty could not be borne out. Ad-
re,:ing to the other points and detailed consider:a •
tents ne the ease, he drew inferences from them
en), different from those of the Noble Earl; And,
contended, the grounds advanced by the sup-
:, eters of the Bill were not sufficient to entitle the
l'esele Duke to a further allowance, properly speak-
ing. Notning but the proof of fraud or force
c raid justify the breach of a contrail of the kind;
. certainly not, becanse one of the parties stool upon
what they conceived to be the rights of the Crown.
In such times as the present, circumstanced as this
country was, engaged in a perilous warfare,
and with exhausted finances, :he granting away
su:h a sum as was propesee by the Bill was
a very serious consideration indeed: nothing
was mere necessary or essential than an econo-
mical administration of that part of the affairs
of the country, in which the wise and upright Mi-
nister, who was engaged in the trensaetion of the
very business in tpsestion, knew and telt to be tee
most vulnerable part, namely, the revenue of the
country. 'fixer mount pause, and not proceed, ex-
cept upon adequate information, for to pass such a
Bill as the present. ignorant and uninformed upon
the subject, as they manilestly were, would be a
gross dereliction of their duty. The real state of
the case should he inquired ante; they should 'epe-
e ite the wheat from the chaff; if they meant to
give, let teem give like jest men, charged with
the interests of the country. The real ainottut of
the muchnelkcd of Revenue. should be ascertained,
let in ~•,1 l et amount be enquired into, and
what was eeentuelly. lost by smuggling. Upon
one calculation, to which he referred, the net pro-
ceeds ow len exceed eight handfed pounds per an-
num, and for this thirty years purchase would be
an adequate consideration; decheeing this from the
seventy thousand pounds paid, forty-six thousand
Toe nd s would be left as a boon for the relinquishment
of those rights and en ivileges, but not sovereignty,
with which the Noble Duke Was vested. As to the
measure proposed, never did, since the existence of
Parliament, a job present itself in so palpable a shape.
Referring to the accounts before mem. he contend.
ed, that if e:e interest for forty years of 70,0001.
paid to the Athol family ear cempensation, added
to the pension, were taken Into couternplatioa,
they had received 200,3.101. and upwards, and tak-
ing it at the smallest calculation, it would amount
to more considrrahly than 177.35ti1• " At any
other time," said c.is Lunlship, n this demand might
have beenMaee with less violation to the teeltiies of
the pablic, than the present Government of the
country had to it, less of good or salutary than at
most former periods Tee Administration has at
this time not to offer te tae nation any pools ot its
baying judiciously innieged its concerns, of any
foreign Alliances to sul,prt us in the important
struggle in which we are engaged, or to participate
in the imminent dangers with which we are daily
threatened, and shalt probably have shortly to en-
counter ; it has not to present any thing of gluty,
of success, of Achievement, at the time that Use
progress of the enemy is such as to afford
ground of snious suspicion and alerin ; and while
tee count' y is loaded in the present year, with
sit unparalleled accumulation of its • public debt,
we so little iespeel its feelings as not to have
even the g, ace ot• honesty and integrity in adding
to their btu-diens by sanctioning a claim founded,
at nest, upon 110 more than a dubious, and, as I
drink, delusive statement, the recognition of which
cannot tend to raise us to our former point credit
in the est iniAtism of foreign nations, or to conciliate
for us the confidence or goodwill of the people at
home." lie concluded, by apologising to their
Lordships for intruding so lung upon their time and
attention.
Lerd HARROWBY contended, that in acced-
ing tu tins measure, the House would go with the
t. eiings of the public, by admitting a claim both to
their Justice and their liberality. His Lordship
then went into a comparison between this compen-
sation and that made to the Duke of Argyle, of '
MOM, for the surrender of an annual revenue ot nu
mote than 601. and argued, that this demand of the
Duke of Athul's was much more moderate, for giv-
ing up tire proud dignities And distinctions which,
independently el' the revenues, belonged to his fa-
'wily in the Isle of Man. Without adverting, as
had been done in another place, so the lamentable
ant of the Noble 'fete who signed the agreement,
and who, in doing so. only bargained iur Ins
own lite annuity, without any tetereuce to the
rights of his posterity, as he was constrained
to accypt of the proposals, such as alone would
Lave been received. When this subject was at
first agitated in another House. he acknowledged
himself to hare been as :Wye' se to the claim as any
pn son who then heard him; but on further inquiry,
eiel more mature iiivestigetion, be had adopted a
ceattary opinion. His Lordship then else:lined the
',thous *fitments and docnments before them in
*uplink villas opinion, which we omit, as they con-
tithed nothing which bad not been already adverted
to in the House of Commons.
The :Aare* t I IStIe.KINGHAM objefled to a
measure of Nell importance bring brought forward
at so late a period of the Session, and when it WAS
impossible that thee Lordships 'should have been
able to peruse, much less to dirst the wet mass of
',epees upon their talk. 'I he House. he hoped,
would excuse burn if he was more warm than usual
toe this uccac.on, a; so many allusions hid been
made to a predecessor of he. (the sate Mr. Greavithe

\

his father) by whom this bargain was concluded.
The ag•e.ment was made upon the proposal. and by
the ma4a;;emtmt of the late Earl of Man,fietd,
who 445 nut only a friend, bnt a relative to Ow
Derby family, and therefore could not Is.! supposed
to have made a disadvantageous bargain for his own
relations; so far from Mr. Grenville's ever thinking
that thi. was an agreement, which tt would be ne-
e •ssary to revise in favour of the Athol family; that
he was ready to declare, on the honour of a Gentle-
m tn. that he had often heard his respeded ancestor
declare, that he took blame to himself fur having
agreed to a transadirm so disadvantageous nn the
part of the public. Hi; L ordship then entered into
a detail of the statements, for nearly an hour; and
in conclusion observed, that there was a Nobleman
(Lord Stamm 6), with whom h.t hal differed
through the %thole of his A.lministrationt and
whose integrity. he would do P. the justice to
say, never did, and neva would've countenance
to such a demand.

The Earl ofCA RLIS L Esupparted th- Bill,think •
ing that in a bargain cow:tried between a mighty
Empire and a simple individual, the latter must.
of course, submit to such terms as were offered ;
hut it belonged to the honour and liberality of the
former, not to suffer the individual to he a sufferer.
Lord Viscount SIDMOUTH thought he would
not be worthy of a seat in that House, or to be a
Member of the community, if he gave a silent vote
upon the present question. He was decidedly against
the principle of the Bill, and considered it would
be beneath the dignity of the House to acquiesce
in it. The Noble Deke had twice memorialed
the Privy Council, on which there was no dif-
ference of opinion—and they saw no reason for
supposing that the compensetion was not adequate
Atter all this, the Noble Duke presented a third
Petition, and the Priyy Council then came to a re-
rolution, that they would hear any fags lie could
lay before them. No grounds whatever had been
stated to his conscientious judgment, to convince him
that the compensation was inadequate. The Noble
Personage with whom that contra& was on
made, was not dissatisfied I and he contended there
was no pretence for saying it was not adequate.—
Fraud was not intended ; but violence was insinu-
ated. He did not conceive that any case whatever
of right had been made nut ; and the application of
the public money should only be made a claim of
pitblic justice, and not through motives of liberality
alone. It would be a just reproach to the House,
therefore, were they to entertain this claim. They
would be entitled to credit, by deciding every case
lemmata own individual merits ; but if—their Lord.
ships passed this Bill, they would lay a foundation
for claims in future, which' must inevitably lead
them into embarrassments, and which they would
find it difficult to resist.
The Ea I of SUFFOLK declared his sentiments
pertefHy to tea-ee with the Noble Viscount ; and
therefore gave his decided vote against the bill.
Lord MULGR AVE declared himself in favour
of the Bill ; and said, that it was due from the
justice, as well as the liberality of Parliament. Ile
then took a review of the arguments which had been
urged against the measure, and said, that it ill suited
the Noble and Learned Lord who spoke some time
before, to have delivered his sentiments is the rude
and boisterous manner he had done, and to change
His Majesty's Ministers with forwarding a job.
Lord ELLEN BOROUGH rose to order, denied
he had spoke., in the rude and boisterous manner
charged by the Noble Lord, and thought he should
be prote&ed from such an accusation.
Lord MULGR AV E said, he did not think he
bad transgressed any rule or order of the House ;
when the Noble Lord had conducted himself in
such a manner, he thought he had a right to
repel his statements with a degree of warmth. It
the Noble Lord had used arguments. :and trusted to
his abilities and has sense, it would, in his opinion,
have availed him more than so much ill temper.
Such conduct might do well kr Demagogues in
Palace Yard, when twanging the multitude, and
talking of the enormous weight of taxes, and want
of brilliancy in the viaories obtained, but it could
never be supposed to be in the least adapted for that
House. The Noble Lord then returned to the ar-
guments in favour of the Bill, and concluded by ex-
pressing his determination to support it.
Lord ELLENBOROUGH explained, and said,
he spoke of things, and riot of persons, and, in ex-
pressing his id:as of the impropriety of the mea-
sure, he did not intend it should be understood that
be referred to the pea sons bnnging it forward.
The LORD CHANCELLOR could not help
expressing his own honest judicial opinion on this
subjeft, which was, that there was no adequate
compensation given. He then made some observe-
dons on the original purchase tram the Duke of
Athol. and concluded by declaring his intention of
voting for the Bill.
Lord HAWK ESBURY argued in favour of the
Bill, and said he thought it a measure not of blind
partiality to the Duke, but of mere justice.
The Duke of NORFOLK thought, if the Duke
of Athol was entitled to any compensation, he could
have no right to ask it until the present Annuity tell
in, and then the House might cuusider the expe-
siiency of granting it.
A division then took place, and there appeared,
Fur the second Reading 3O—Against it 11—Ma-
' jority 24.
The Bill was then read a second time, and or.-
' dere,' to be commuted to-morrow.

The Evidence Indemnity Bill was then read a
1-cond time, and also ordered to be committed to-
morrow. Prior to the second reading, the LORD
CHA!lCat..,os begged it to be understood. that be
would deliver his sentiments on some future stage
of the Bill, the consideration of which, he thought
of the greatest importance.
Adjlurned at half-past Twelve o'Clock.