The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1803-02-18 00:00:00

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RCM

cowslip/a was. vet die ipowat sutinitetotaing
d4ntercit dm, country, ?t. was fek_mateasary to
ravanapass aritkoo.l.4 reffooldhsi!tYs as
*the pa** dumber/1W waidis► 4pg par
meat in cash by. the Nara. Zneend emnN ne-
cessarily throw on theirs. Without somevery
ladory ezplarintion for bringing forward well a Bill,
at such a monsunt—whetherle was to consider it as
a Bill introduced at the desire of the Bank, or as a.
measure of State, adopted and brought forward by
Government for expedient purposes to them best
known, or as a Bill in. which Government and the
Bank were jointly interested, he must (according to
hist state of knowledge re:pet:HlT it, and he
decde had sat himself-most anxiously to spe-
culate upon what grounds it could be thought a
matter of policy or wisdom) decidedly ()bled tO
it; =din order to fortify his argument respelling
it, he should move for several papers which
appeared to him absolutely necessary to explain
the circumstances of the Bank. First, he should
move for an account of the amount of Notes of
the Bank of England in circulation from the
25th of the months of June, August, October,
and December 1802, up to the 25th of February
1803 next ; for an account of the nature and
causes of the great and extraordinary surplus of the
Consolidated Fund ; for the comparative amount of
iy:ue of Bullion and Bills by the Bank ; for the
' amount- of the course of Exchange at stated pelt-
sids ; and for the ratio of the price of standard gold
from time to time, specified in the Motion. Upon
each of these five Motions, his Lordship dilated
at considerable length: he said, he desired that
the account of the amour.• of the notes of. the Bank
in circulation from the 25th of the month,•instea.d
of the Ist of the month onwaftl, because the
Report of the Committee, which sat to enquire 'Man
the circumstances of the Bank in ;797, ,was re-
ported and agreed to on the 25th of June, and con-
sequently the Bank made up their accounts from
that day. With regard to the Consolidated Fund,
he explained the nature of it, and stated that the
very great cues.; of surplus arose from a jumble
being made of Exchequer Bills formerly issued,
four millions odd hundred thousands of which were
funded and paid off, and the annexing the remain-
der to a new issue of Exchequer Bills, and carrying
the joint amount to the credit of the Consolidated
Fund. He reprehended this mode of forestalling,
in time of peace, the great, sole, and prompt re-
source of Ministers, on an invasion, or sudden ir-
ruption of war, in the strongest and most pointed
terms. He gave his reasons for calling for a com-
parative amount of the issue of Bullion, and of
Bills by the Bank, by remarking, that although in
1797 it was not thought prudent to have such a
paper produced, as it might be deemed highly
improper to expose the interior circumstances
of the Bank of England during a raging .war to all,
Europe, yet that in a state of increasing wealth-and
prosperity, and in a time of peace, no danger was to
ise drec.d:a from producing such Paper, and .that it
vrou!..l ratlivr :)e a triumphant display of our full
possession of the -sinews of war, than an instance of
our want of means of preserving national credit, and,
if necessary, of preparing for national defence. In
calling for a statement of the Course of Exchange,
for a given period, his Lordship said, he was prompt-
ed by having heard the piescn: measure of continu-
in:l the Bill justilied by the very singular and extraor•
dinary argument,that it was necessary to continue the
Bill, because the Course of Exchange was against us.
Did not every man, at all conversant with Exchanges,
their springs, sources, and operations, LeifeEtly
know, that the existence of a Rill of Restrictionunn
the Bank of England, necessarily occasioned the
course of Excharge to be against us, and that
while it was continued it could not in the nature of
things be otherwise ? He would illustrate this by a
single hypothetical case. Suppose that he -was in
Hamburgh, and went to a banker, merchant, or
broker, and said, " I want a hundred guineas, for
wlich I will give yon a bill in London for that
sum, which will be immediately paid.".—Would at
the per., ; applied to, immediately say, " ': rue,
your Lill Is a good Bill upon the face of it, for a
hundred guineas, but I must he paid the difference
of exchange, the expence of sending into En g.
land, the interest of the time it wiil have to
run, Ste. Sec. I give you a lat.dred guineas in
ready-cash, but 'your bill, even when it arrives in
England, may come into the hands of a man who
wants ready-cash, and he cannot receive it with-
out paying discount." It was evident, therefore,
the course of Exchange must be against us, while
the Bill of Itestrklion was continued in force. His
Lordship made a variety of other obser.-ations and
remarks, which will of course come under discus-
sion when the Bill shall be read a second time.

Lord '.'ELHAIII rose, and said, it certainly was
not his intention at that time to attempt to tollow
the noble Lord through all the various points in
which he had touched in the course of his speech ;
when the Bill came fully under discussion, upon
:he second reading, he would take care to cc.-.r.e
prepared to meet every one of the noble Lord's ar-
guments, and to enter with him at large upon the
various calculations and statements into which
the noble Lord so fully entered. He conceiv-
ed that the part of his speech which more
immediately called for reply, was that in which the.
Noble Lord had said the Bill appeared to him as fit
to be considered in one r r other of two different
points of view—either as a Bill introduced at the re-
quest or desire of the Bank, or as a measure cf Go-
vernment. lacked, his Lordship had -afteru ards
added, that the Bill might possibly be of a complex
nature, hi which the Government of the country and
the Bank might have concurred, and were conjointly '
interested. Upon these different views the Noble
Lord had undoubtedly argued with great eloquence
and ability ; he would therefore take that early op-
portunity of assnriug him, and the House, that the Bill
had not been introduced at the desire of the Bank, and
that they had expressed no concurrence in it, aid
were not at all interested respecting it. It was to be
considered purely as a measure of Government,
adopted en motives of obvious policy and expe-
diency, and he should be ready to support. it en
those grounds, when he should move that the Bill
be read a second time, which he did not mean to
do before Monday. ie would just for the present
merely hint, that if Noble Lords would seriously
give themseves a moment's refieetion on the rela-
tive situation of the country with foreign powers,
and would consider that we had just got out ut a
most expensive and burthensoine war ; that the im-
mense expences we had been put to in vnairu.aining
a single family, which hau recently been got rid at,
and had alone cost tire pearly twenty-three

.

•

Napo .1 Mean
abut die .hersT cisort
the dot voidattestotS: 4
of Wor;they
0,1211 ?Ojai
and War mire ;el
Weald study have 'the c our to admit, that die
present was not the most fit and prudent moment
piwhaps se rat• an -end.to die operation of *
which had proved,so salutary in 'its effeets..-so use-
ful and so advaatageous to individualain the first
instance, and so lsisltly conducive to the inpliurt of
public credit; during_ its several periods of renewed
continuance. His I..ordship said, he did sot feet it
necessary to go further at present in noticing more
ofihe rations matters to which the Noble Lord had
alluded; and the more especially as the Noble
Lord had himself declared, that he had not the
smallest idea of the inability of the Bank to answer
any possible run upon them, and still zetein many
niillions of surplus in thcir hands. With regard to
the several motions read by the Noble Lord, his
Lordship said, upon a subject so important as the
present, he was extremely desirous that the fullest
information that could be desired should be
laid before Parliament, provided it yeas not of a
nature so delicate, that it could not, without danger
to the public interest, be stated openly, and go
forth to the world.. Chte or two of the Noble
Lords he thought to be cf this description, and to
those he must feel it his duty to objeca With re-
sped to that for the account of the amount of the
Bank Notes issued and in circuietiuni being made
up from the 25th of each month, instead of the
first, he saw no objection, as he believed it would
occasion no great trauble to office, but he really
the motion of his noble fi iend (Lord Auck-
land) V.%)1:1.1. answer every necessary purpose. He
would lett, however, objet: to it.
Lord AUCKLAND said, that from the first me-
mare he had a seat in Parliament, he had been
an dvocate for the production of all papers neces.
sary to give information of the various important
subjeds that came under discussion, whenever such
papers could be given with safety. That as his
noble friend did not objet to the Noble Lord's Mo-
tion, for an account of the issue of Bank Notes in
circulation, made up to the Ssth instead of the Ist
of the month, he would not oppose it ; but he had
moved fur the account of the amount up to the Ist
of the month, merely because it had appeared in
the Votes of the House of Commons, that they had
done so, and had proceeded with the Bill with that
statement only before them. .As every thing which
fell from the Noble Lord had great weight with the
public, he would just say, .that he believed the No-
ble Lord would find himself under a great mistake,
in respeet to his remarks on eharges on the Consoli-
dated Fund, and else respeding the comparative
amount of the Cash and bullion in the Bank, as to
the use made of that account by the Committee
in 1797.
Lord At:clues:set motionavas agreed to ; as were
likewise those two of Lord Rewnee's ; that for.
" An account of the amount of Lase Lank Notes in
circulation, from the 25th day of each month, for
the tweh•e months ending Jan. 25, 18b3;" and that
for "An account of the sums paid into, and the
charges upon sue. Consolidated Fund, between Jan.
5,18t;2, and Jan. 5,1 0;:."
" The account of the proportion of the total
ailment of cats and Lallion inahe Bank of England
on the Ist of February 13'Ja, to the total cash and
bullion on the 25th .of Feb. 1797, and the 11th of
Nov. 1797."
The motion for an acceunt of demands outstand-
ing on the Bank, and also the total amount of funds
for dischaeging the same (exclusive cf the perma-
nent debt dee from dove rnn-ent) as the same stood
on the first of February 1303, Nvtr,r negatived.
When the Loan C H ANCI I. LoR came to put the
question, " that the orer er.ollicer do lay before the
House an account of the c;t,at,e cf exchange between
London and Harnburgla en the first of each mole])
fur twelve months, ending January 1 iso3,"—his
Lordship said, he thongle, that bethre the House
made such an order, it ;night be right to ascertain
who the proper officer was.
I.erd PELHANI said, if the Noble Lord would
have the goodness to &ler that Motion for the pre-
sent, he would engage to make himself master of
the taut against the nest day, when he should lay
some papers on the table relative to the Consolidated
Fund, that would, he believed, clear up several of
the Noble Lord's doubts on that subjet.
• Adjourned at Six o'clock.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.
raußsDAv, •FER. 17.

Two ballots .for chtsing G;ommittees to try the
merits of petitions from Coventry and Bridgwater,
complaining of undue elections, stood for this day.
The presence of 100 members being necessary for
proceeding on a ballot, the Speaker, on counting
the House, found that 91 only had attended. The
House, of course, adjourned till to-morrow.

THEATRE-ROrAL, DRURr-LANE.
Tills EVENING wi:l 1W 1.r.-,..ited the Comedy of
THE COUNTRY GIRL.
which ill tie added,
LOVE AND MAGIC.
.Being the lag time it can be performed, on account of the pn.'-
par.itimis fir the new Play.
To-morrow will be prulueal a new Musical Drama, eaUctl
The Ilero of the North.

THEATRE-ROT COVENT-b,eIRDEN.
Tills F.V h.NING —ill he performed tits Corned" of
THE MAN OF THE WORLI).
To u h ich 'will he adtktl,
PAUL AND VIRGINIA.
Tomorrow, The Cabinet, with Modem. Atiticuee.
On Monday next, the Churart-q of lit.rdet wilt 'be per-
formed by a Young Gentleman, fourth appearance in that
Chan: ter.
A .Ni•ie Comedy is in rehearsal, called . John Bull; or, An
Ftiglibliinare: Fire-Side.

THE BRITISH PRESS.

;~'_:~

LONDON,
FRIDAY, FEE. 18.

Various reports were circulated yesterday respect-
ing the Conspirators now under senttx►ce of death in
the county prison, in Horsemonger-lane. A Morn-
ing Paper stated, llat Colonel bEePARID, and six of
his associates, were ordered for execution on Monday
next, and that the remaining three had received the
Royal mercy, to which they were recommended by
the July. A confident rumcur was also prp-

pagated last lighti•that the doom of Colonel
DLIPARD rivlllll fixed; and that four, not six of
his companions, would suffer slang with him
on Monday. It it cruel to indulge in conjec-
tures uporr such a subject, and to agitate the
minds of men in their melancholy situation, with
hopes or fear's that may have no real foundation.
In cases of final decision, it is usual to transmit the
result immediately to the HighSheriffof the countya
but no communication of the kind respecting these

men had taken place at a late hour last night.
As, then, we are not aware of any solid ground
of departure from the usual practice in the. pre.
sent instance, we are at liberty to presume that
Goya:intent have not yet come to an ultimate de-
termination.—Meanwhile, the usual precepts have

been prepared, with blanks for the names of the
probable sufferers, and the time and place of exe-
cution. This, however, is only a proof of official
diligenc.:, from which nothing can be inferred with
regard to the fate of the prisoner;.

No Privy Council will sit on the case of Colonel
DESPARD ; nor is it necessary that the Kum should
sign the death-warrant. These ceremonies are
only observed in cases of capital convitlion in Lon-
don or Middlesex. Colonel PESPARD and his as-
.

sociates will be left to the disposal of the Judges
who tried them under the Special Com;nis,ion,' ex-
adly as if they had been concided at an assizes iA a
distant county. We may presume, however, that
the Judges will not fix the day, in the present ill.
stance, without consulting Government.

Letters received from Barbadoes, (rata 29th
.De-
cember last, state the agreeable news of the safe
arrival there of his MAJESTY'S ship Cemtaur, of 74
guns, Captain LITT tio4 Ai Es, which sailed from
Plymouth, three months since, with sealed orders,
all well, and the officers and crew healthy. The
island of liarbadoes is also healthy. She was, after
taking in water and wood, to run down to Jamaica,
-to V ice Admiral INCICWORTH, for orders, and to

relieve a ship of the line on that station.
A Court of .Direetors will be held this day at the
' India House.
A law very favourable to our Ceylon Trade, has
been Passed by the Dutch Legislative Assembly.
Cinnamon is allowed to be imported into Holland,
upon the payir.cat of an ad valorem duty of only one
oer cent. The importation of woollen cloths has
been strialy prohibited.
Viscount LLUERICK is raised to the dignity -of
Earl of I.riezaces; Viscount.Dusmo, Earl CL•24-
CARTY; Baroness NzacostEs, to the dignity of
Viscc,untess Ncwcossrs, and the heir male of her
body by her husband, Sir W. GLEADOWE Newco-
at LK, Bart.
A most animated _marble bust of FRANCIS, the
late Duke of BEDFORD, by Noccsitess, has been
presented to the,Board of Agriculture by the pre-
sent .Duke, accompanied by an elegant letter front
His Grace to the P,resident, =questing their accept-
ance of it, as a memorial of the high regard enter-
tained for that Board by his deceased brother.
His Grace the Duke of Northumberland has,
with most becoming zeal, sent to Portsmouth.from
his estate at .Alnwick Castle, to be etnbarked on
board the Calcutta, bound to New South Wales, a
number of sheep, with two rams of a very particu-
lar breed, and which will eventually prove of the
greatest advantage to the colony. This description
of sheep invariably lamb from two to three, and
sometimes :our at a birth They arrived yesterday
at Portstrinth, Ind were immediately to be ship-
ped.
Wednesday a dispensation passed the Great Seal,
to eilable.the Rev. ALLEN FIELDING, M. A. Chap-
lain to the light Hon. Lord Viscount NELSON* to
hold the Vicarage of St. Cosmus and Damien in
the Bl:san, together with the Vicarage of St. Ste-
phen, both in the Diocese of Canterbury.
Letters have been received at the Admiralty,
from Capt. Hoop, stating his arrival, in the Meta-
being, at Baz'oadoes, from whence he was about to
proceed, with the other Commissioners, to survey
1 the island of Trinidad.

The accounts of several Gentlemen who have just
treturncd • from Paris, relative to the effects of the
disease now prevalent in that city, are widely at va-
riance with the report of the School of Medicine.
According to these statements, no fewer than 9000
persons ha..-c been carried off by it, within the last
month. It is ctrtainly difficult to account for this
extraordinary degree of mortality, on the supposi-
tion that the fever by which it has been occasibn-
ed is perfectly free from contagion. On the other
hand, it would be equally difficult to divine the ob-
jed which the Prefea of Paris could have, in re-
questing the School of Medicine to draw up any re-
port upon the subjed, but that of precisely ascer-
taining whether the disorder is of a mild or malig-
nant type, and of prescribing the curative or pre-
servative means indicated by the respe&ive symp-
toms.
The CHANDOS Portrait Of SitAISESPEARE, which
has generally been considered as an origal picture
of our great Dramatic Bard, is, we are sorry to
hear, so much injured by time, that it is now hardly
distinguishable. Luckily there is an admirablircopy
of it, by Sir JOSHUA RgyrroLos, and another by
BEECHSY. The late Mr. SYJILYENS, however,
doubted the authenticity of this piaure, and the
doubts of such an acute and intelligent critic are
weighty objeaions.
An account of the Amount of the Notes of the
Bank of England in circulation on the Ist of Jane,
the Ist of August, the Ist of Odober, and the Ist of
December IEO2, and the Ist of February 180 S, dis-
tinguishing the amount of those that are below the
value of Five Pounds p
An. *Ant af Bank of England Notes of Five Pounds each and
upwatds, including Bank Post Bills, payablelieeen Days if
• Sight :—•

On the lit June, 1802 13,257,600
let Aug. 1802 14,336,640
Ist Oft. 1802 13,111,519
lit Dec. 1802 12,075,020
lst Feb. .1803 12,674,030
Amount of Bank of England Notes of 21. and 11. each;
Oa the let June, 1802 3,013,610
lit Aug. 1802 3,292,320
lit Oct. 1802 3,435,180
lit Dec. 18C2 3,236,5C0
1t Feb. 1803
Bank of England, W. Weteow,
F.A. 7, 1690. ,I►ct. Gan,

1