The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1803-03-22 00:00:00

reason and condone, to be ptcjideied; tI"P enquiry
ought to be made previou, to the declaration of
judgment, whatever that judgment might be. His
I.ordship concluded with dularing, ths he should
vote fi): the Motion to withiraw the original Mo.
tion, and that because no parliamentary grounds
had been st ited in support of that Motion.
The question WAS pat, and the miginal motion
was permitted to be withdrawn
The Committee on the Chalking-Bill was put off
till Friday

`lwo public and three private Bills were brought
up from the Com Mons, and presented by Mr. Alex-
ander, Mr. Dickensoaand others, and severally read
Y first time.
Judgment, it is expeaci, will be given by the
Lord Chancellor to-morrow, in the Appeal Lloyd
o. Gr.►,dy.--.\djourned.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.
MONPAY, MARCH t2l.
The SPEAKER took the Chair at half-past Two

o'clock.
Three new Member-3 were sworn.
Sir GiroaGE Situexaeaum, Bart. and a few other
Members obtained leave of absence fur short
periods.
The Rill for regulating the Office of Surveyor
General of his Majesty's -Woods and Forests, was
read a second time, and committed for to-morrow.
Lord GLENBERVIE moved for leave to bring
in a Bill for the purpose of enabling vessels employ-
ed in the Greenland Whale-Fishery, to counpkat
their number of men in certain• Ports, for the pre-
sent season. Leave was iiven.
Fr FRANCIS 131.1 RD 'TT rose to make a few
observations on the Bill for ereding a Workhouse
in the parish of St. Pancras. He stated, that the Bill
was brought in after the sub:Ted was discussed and
strongly objeded to in the Vestry. That the Peti-
ti,ni for leave to bring in the Bill was signed by
:2!.)0 persons only, and the Petition against the Bill
aas signed by taoo respectable parishioners. He
also stated, that the parish contained upwards of
7,000 inhabitants paving taxes, who were in gene-
ral adverse to the Bill ; and as it was to be taken
into consideration by a Committee to-morrow, he
should svish to hive that Committee postponed to
the .33th instant, that the Parish might have an op-
portunity of expressing their sentiments more fully,
for the purpose of opposing the Bill. The Hon.
Baronet then moved, that the Crsminittee on the
Pancras \V.-. khousc Bill shouldosot sit until Wed-
nesday the 30th instant.
Mr. COURTENAY obsett-ed, that the Bill went
to give fise diredors an absolute powtr, and
changes the whole laws and regulations of a Parish,
consisting of 7um inhabitants, in a must extraordi-
nary and objecticnable manner.
A desultory ecnversatinn then took place between
Mr. Baldwin, 3lr. Ale;:and,T, Mr. D.ut, Mr. Hurst,
and Sir Francis Burdett, when strangers were or-
dered to withdraw, and a division took place. On
returning to the gallery, we found the numbers
N 1 re,
Against the Motion
For it

Majority against the Motion
Mr. TILIRDON moved, that a Committee should
be appointed to take into consideration so much of
the Elation Aa as related to Short-hand Writers
on Committees appointed to enquire into the Merits
of Petitioo.s coroplainiag of undue Elations, and
how that part of the Expellee should be defrayed,
aad that the said Committee should report to the
I hiva: respecting the same.
Lerd Everov, Col. Bars' L, and Mr. Ler, se-
*erally spoke in NO terms of the very great aivan-
t.:ge the ditTerent t ommittees derived from the exer-
tions of the Short-hand Writers; in short, that they
could not have gone through the business double
the time, but for the aa,istance they received from
those Gentlemen. A Coramittee was then appointed
to consider of the same, and report accordingly.
On the Motion of Mr. DICKENSON, sen. the
Bill for suspending, for a time limited, the Al of
lenry VIII. re, rating the non-residence of the
Clergy, was read a second time, and ordered to be
taken into coosidcratic.n by a Committee of the
whole House to-morrow.
A Message faint the Lords, announced their
Lord'hips' assent to some private Bills.
A person from the laspeCtor General of Exports
and Imports, brought up certain accounts respea-
ing the exportation and importation of Wool, which
wet e ordered to lie on the table.
The MASTER of the ROLLS gave notice, that
he intended to move for leave to bring in a Bill for
extending to Roman Catholics the benefit of an ACI
of the ath of his present Majesty, by exempting
them front the necessity of taking any. oath, except-
ing the Oath of Allegiance
Lord CASTLEIIEAGIL moved the second read-
ing of the Resolutions of the Committee on the
India Budget.
Several t.t. the Resolutions were then read and
agreed to, when
Mr. FRANCIS requested a moment's attention.
Ile conceived that when accouuts were laid on this
tank, it wits the right and the duty of every Mem-
ber to invcs,,ate them, and where any part ap-
p ated oyaiainible, to state his objections on that
subject. nue word as applied by him on a
founts night, had been the subject of much animad-
version. Rut he should justify the word false, as ap-
plied to accounts, in so much as it had no relation
whatever to moral truth or falsehood. In objeaing
to an account, was it to be said that you impeached
the honour or charafter of any person ? If so under-
stood, no person could with safety or effea objet
to ally account his duty may prompt him to point
out as defative, without running the risk of incur-
ring a personal enmity. He was as far as any Mem-
ber of that I louse from ascribing an improper mo-
tive to those who produced the account, and would
wish to be understood as ohje'ling to the account as
a put)lic document, without any reference to the
authors of it. Ile should, however, observe, that
out of this had arisen an important subjea. It was
said, that the mention of the Company's capital
stock would be an improper charge on the debit
hi.!e of the account. But it was a matter of great
importance to the Proprietors of East India stock
t know die Dame of their security. It was said
t', tt Ciovernatent guaranteed the capital of the East.
ladia Compily at twelve millions. As to the mean-
ing, of the term guarantee, he conceived it to be
plain, and so have exaaly the same import as when
Government guaranteed the pa) menu of the interest
on the lmpertal*Loan. But will the Affable Lord
say, that Guvernuieui has gutaratiteed the East in;

40

r"' ..--

,„,

die Company's capital at twelve, ? Is it so,
or is it not ? fer it was a encortstance he tither
`heard Of hefote.
Sir THEOTHILUS ME TCALFE said, - he
eleseld call the arleation of the Howe for a few nua
meets to two points. And first, he would appeal to
the recolledinn of every Gentleman who was on the
Committee, if the Hon. Gentleman did not call the
account a gross fabrication of the Direetors of the
East India Company, tbr the purpose of deception?
It was certainly the privilege of any Member of this
House, to investigate the accounts that were laid
before it, and to objed to such parts as he conceived
to be defedive ; but to call any part which perhaps
he did not understand, a gross fabrication for the
purpose of imposition was in the highest degree un-
warrantable. He conceived that the Noble Lord
(Castlereagh) had on a former night explained the
cause of the omission of the capital stock in the most
satisfadory manner. Another Right Hon. Gentle-
man (Mr. Wm. Dundas) had also answered him in
a very clear and convincing manner, by explaining
that It was an account expressly stated to be exclu-
sive of the capital stock. And yet the Hon. Gentle-
man declared himself unsatisfied. Secondly, as to the
term Guarantee, on which the Hon. Gentleman so
panicularly dwells : he never said that Government
had guaranteed it, but it was guaranteed by an Ad
of the 31st of the King ; and if the Hon. Gentleman
would take the trouble to refer to that Ad, he would
find that as soon as the public had received the sum
of 500,0001. the surplus produce on certain branches
of trade were to go to form a fund for the liquida-
tion of so much stock. This was the nature of the
guarantee, which was a plain word well known, and
which did not require the explanition given by the
Hon. Gentleman ; and the only way to account for
his mistake was this, that the lion. Gentleman heard
the word guarantee when he was pen-ally awake,
from which he fell into a gentle slumber, and heard,or
seemed to hear, at some other stage of the debate, the
word Government, and thus by drawing them toge-
ther produced the combination of the words Govern-
ment-Guarantee. But this misconception was not
confined to this House, it had got abroad into the
public papers (Here the Hon. Baronet was called to
order). He by no means meant to say, that any
person had presumed to publish the Debates of this
House, he only alluded to a paragraph which was
evidently paid for. (The Hon. Baronet here read
a few lines from a newspaper, which misrepresented
the statement he made on a former night.) He
said, that the accounts were sb complicated, that it
was impossible to have them perfedly Cr: red ; and
that the Court of Diredors could only make them
out from the best documents they could procure.
He would say again, it was impossible for a monien_
to suppose, that the Court of Diredors could be ca-
pahle of fabricating accounts. And that the House
might know that those wicked men, the Dire tors,
did not fabricate those ace:ants,. he would move that
the Clerk should read from the Journals the order of
1; J 4, which expressly mentions that accounts should
be made out exclusive of stock. He also contended,
that whether the stock was included or not, the ba-
lance would be found in favour of the Company.
He apologized for trespass:ag so long on the atten-
tion of the House, but said, when so severe an at-
tack had been made on the charafters of the I)irec-
tors, he felt himself called upon to elecidate the
subjei as much as was in his power. (The t
then read the order of the 2WI of March, 17n t,
which stated, that accounts should be made out ex-
clusive of the capital stock of the Company). The
Hon. Baronet then said, the only conclusion he
wished to draw from it was this, that the accounts
objected to by the Hon. Gentleman, and in so un-
qualified a manner termed :t fabrication, were drawn
up in the usual manner, and in conformity to an or-
der of the House. He then contended, that, not-
withstanding the mauy difficulties the Company
had to encounter, in supporting a very expensive
war, the balance would he found considerably in
their favour. In the course of the last ten years, the
exportation of woollens, metals, &c. amounted to
seventeen millions; and in the last three years the
duties paid to Govenunent amounted to upwards of
five millions.

Lord CASTLEREAGH rose to express hisk con-
currence in the explanation given by the Hon. Gen-
tleman. As to the guarantee, the public had a
claim on the guarantee fund. After the payment of
five hundred thousand pounds, the nominal capital
of the Company was six millions ; and if the assets
were found to be equal to the debts, independent of
the capital stock, there could be no doubt as to the
nature of the security which it afforded. He was
certain the lion. Gentleman and the public need
have no apprehensions respecting the affairs of the
India Company.—They would have no claim on the
public lait would, he was confident, be able to con-
tribute, in a very considerable degree, to the .exigen-
cies of the State.
Mr. FRANCIS, in explanation said, he was
perleCtly satisfied with the answers given him by
the Noble Lord and the I ion. Gentleman ; but
wished to know if, since the year t 793, any pro-
gress had been made with r,zard to the objeas of
this guarantee fund?
Mr. WM. DUNDAS said, that he was now
satisfied with the explanation given by the I-ion.
Gentleman of the expressions he had used on a
former night, and though the Hon. Gentlerhan
does not now appear to have had an intention (dim-
puting dishonourable motives. yet to the car of a
plainman,c..pableoljudging ofthemeaningof words,
it did appear a very serious charge, and from which
he must have expeaed warm tangnage to arise. He
at that time did warmly call, in terms of defiance, on
the Hon. Gentleman, to prove his charge. And
the Hon. Gentleman, by now admitting himself
perfeCtly satisfied at the explanation given, justifies
the warmth of the language he then used, by ac
knowledging himself to have founded a serious and
unwarrantable charge, on grounds which it now
appears he was totally unacquainted with. As
to the ontis,ion of the capital Stock, he conceived it
had been fully answered ; and as to the term Gua-
rantee, that also had been sufficiently explained.—
There was but one point more he wished to allude
to, and that was what related to a Noble Relation
of his, who lately was at the head of the Board of
Column'. He then read a printed document,
which, he observed, was in the power of every
Member to set, and which would fully explain
every part of the conduct of his Noble Relation
( Lord Melville) while he held that situation. Lie
concluded by observing, that the arrangements
made in time of peace had been interrupted by the
war.
Mr. JOHNSTSNE repeated most of the obser-

.~'

4.

THE BRITISH PRESS.

LONDON,
Tlja-DAY, MARCH

Yesterday evening, at six o'clock, Mr. SPARROW,
the King's Messenger, arrived at Lord IlAwitts-
BUR Y'S office, with dispatches from Lord WlllnT-
wonT it, at Paris. It was expected since Saturday
morning, that the answer of the FIRST CONSU L to
the dispatches sent off by oar Government on
'Tuesday last, would be received in the course of
last night or this morning. It was also supposed,
that the dispatches contained the final determi-
nation of Ministers, and must, of course, bring
the dispute to a speedy issue. It was consequently
reported, upon the arrival of the messenger, yester-
day evening, that he was the bearer of the defini-
tive answer of the FIRST CONSU This is the only
way in which we can account for the report; for it
is impossible that the nature of the contents could
have transpired. It will be seen in our Stock List,
th it the Funds experienced a rise of per cent. in
the course of the day. No intelligence was received
in the morning ; and our warlike preparations appear
to proceed with unabated activity. The improve.
ment in our Funds was, therefore, probably owing
to the accounts received on Sunday, -through va-
rious channels, of the pacific disposition of the
French and the Dutch people. We have al-
ready inserted an account of the extraordinary
conversation between the FIRST CONSUL and Lord
Wu I T 0R T 11, and now present the French report
of it.—However the accounts may differ in derail,
there is no doubt but that the substance is true.—
Various letters received from persons of rank, who
were present, agree in representing the manner and
language of the FIRST CONSUL upon the occasion,
as violent and intemperate.—Even several of the
French, who were in the circle, sheaved by -their
looks and gestures, symptoms of contempt and
astonishment, at such unexampled behaviour,-

. '

Where, then, we are at issue wAsiich exit:tor-
didarr character, whose impulse and movements
are all new, and nut to be judged by ordinary sulcs,
it is impossible that Ministers should know whether
we shall have peace or war. In this state 91 uncer-
tainty, they have wisely resolved to provide against
the worst.

By the Dublin Mail, which arrived yesterday,
with papers and letters of the 17th, we learn, that
the Lord Lieutenant summoned the Captains of the
Yeomanry Corps of that city on Tuesday last, and
intimated to them, that as art occasion might
which might make it necessary for Sir WILLIAM
MEADO'VS to withdraw the garrison-troops, the mi-
litary duty of the place would devolve upon them.
He, therefore, requested that they should make re-
tuns of the eff:xTve strength of tlnir several corps,
in order that arms might be issued accordingly. The
report which we have inserted of his Excellency's
Address, is taken from. the Dublin Evening Post, and
diGrsmaterially from one inserted in aLcndon Even-
ing Print ofyesterday, in which he is made to state, that
" although he had reason to think that the country
was generally in a state of tranquillity, he was sorry
to have reason to say, that there were still existing.
proofs of continued treason ; for within the last
t hours, zi.t pike heads, recently forged, had been
e'scovered in the neighbourhood of the capital."—
The disturbances in the South of Ireland, we a:e
sorry to find, have Lot yet subsided ; and it is much
to be feared, that the prospeEt of a renewal of the
w;:r increase tlinn. In the county of Water-
ford, a body of 15(33 men lately assembled, and 1,!.-
veiled the fences which were ereEted around the im-
provemeats of Lord HENRY STLAkr.

...

Paris Journals up to the t ith inclusive, received
yesterday, take no notice of the misunderstanding
between the two countries, except what is contained.
in an article in the journal de Commerce, of which
we gave the substance yesterday. NVe insert it this
day at length.

Yesterday we received New York Papers, of the

10th of February. The clandestine importation of
the disorderly Negroes froth the French NVest-lndia

Islands, into the United States, has been warmly
resented.

Yesterday we received nine supplements to
the Aloniteur. They ate filled with financial re-
ports, to the exclusion of every other article. It is
impossible to attempt any detail of statements so
minute and so extended. _ . _

Citizen BARBE M allots, Minister of Finance,
concluded a long report of the financial operations
of the year 10, with a flattering view of the finan-
cial state of the Republic for the year 11.
The service of the year 11," says he, " opens
with untouched resources: they consist of a dispose_
able produce proportionate to the expences of the
Republic. There is nothing fiaitious, nothing un-
certain in the receipts on which these resources de-
pend ; they are real, :md, as it were, indigenoos,—
and have not been encreased by any loan. The
year 10 has left a sum of two millions for the service
of the year 11—A•convincing proof of the great ad-
vantages to be derived from order and ce con omy
" By their giving foreign nations a certain know-
le(ige of our revenue and expenditure, we manifest
to them the extent of the means proposed by France,
and prove beyond a doubt one of the princip2l
sources of her power. This picture of such various
resources will also hold out to them a certain
pledge of general tranquillity."
The French Government seems wonderfully de-
sirous to point out to particular attention the flou-
rishing state of the finances of the Republic. Without
questioning the accuracy of the statements, we may
be allowed to trust, that in any legitimate struggle
the finances of this country would be found amply
sufficient to enable us to make every exertion which
the situation of the country might require.

Gthteral WHITELOCKE, who returned to Ports-
mouth to resume the command of the garrison, in
consequence of the threatened rupture with France,
has inspeaFted the several forts, and ordered all Ilse
guns on the works to be mounted.
On Saterday two troops of artillery-horses passed
through Chichester from Portsmouth for Itingmer,
near Lewes, where we hear the same portion uf ar-
tillery will be kept, as dal ink; the war.
In the course of last week several parties of the.
marines passed through Winchester, on their way
into the interior, on the recruiting-service.
On St. Patrick's 1/ay, the Imperial fh-g was
hoisted in Dublin and in the evening their
-
lencies the Earl and Countess of HiuuwhctL gave
a splendid Ball and Supper on the occasion., to
the Nobility and Gentry.--' Ile preparations were of
the most elegant and costly descziption.
Colonel Briaa stoNT, of Yorkshire, will, we be-
lieve, be shertly created an English Peer. 'l.ll-
- handsome manner in which he gave up his re-
giment to the s: rviccs of Government, and the la ro
properties his Lady holds in Northumberland, au
1 her popularity there, well entitle him to such a .11i-
tinaitAr.

Yesterday we received the following accounts
from Gibraltar:

GIBR kI.T AB, FEB. 24.
" The two French line-of-battle ships that have
been so long behind the Rock, with troops on board
for St. Domingo, are nuw passing Europa Point
with an easterly wind.
The weather has been uncommonly told these
three weeks past: during several following morn-
ings, ice a quarter of an inch thick was found on
the higher parts of the rock : ,all the crops" in the
neighbourhood, that, two mouths ago, were at least
four inches high, are completely destroyed; and
the Spanish farmers are now plougiling their land,
to sow it afresh.
" The Grenada Mountains in sight of this place
have been covered with snow these six weeks.
" No accounts from Egypt or Malta latelyr.
The Garrisoz are 41 healthy as usual."

.

!