The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1805-02-16 00:00:00

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ticm against this Bill, signed by 10,000 traders of
Liverrn-d, in behalf of themselves. and toillions
who were .employ; 4.1 arid derived their livelihood
from the trade in que%ti:m. He would not detain
the House any longer at present, as he understood
thel..! was ;soother oue:,tion of great importance re-
maining for discussion. but he should take another
• opportunity of delivering his sentiments freely on
the !whir&
Mr. WILBEAFORCE then moved, that the
House do now resolve into a Committee.
Sir W. YOUNG said, that he should this night
decline takiag the sans.: of the /loose on this •point
of form, as he should have sufficient Aspottunities
of opposing it. He %v as by no me,rawsattsfied that
the present Motion etiald pass, merely as a matter
of, course, and should therefore, give his negative
to it.

. -
The House then resolved itself into a Committee,
Mr. Bankes in the Chair.
Mr. WILBERFORCE disclaimed any idea of.
forcing the mestere with rapidity, or taking the
House by surprise. He afted merely in the usual
manner, as srauld appear by a reference to the
inn:mils. The Bill he had to move for was :already
• prepared to avoid the complain of precipitancy.
He should not bring it in to be re-ad a first time till
Monday next, and should move the second reading
of it on this day fortnight. He then moved for
leave to bring in a Bill for the abolirion of the Slave
Trades for a time to be limited, which was agreed
to, and the Report received immediately. I.
IRISH HABEAS CORPUS SUSPENSION.
Sir EVAN KEPEAN, without any preface,
moved the order of the Day lot the House resolv-
ing its It into a Committee on the Bill for Suspend-
ing the Habeas
.Corpus Atit in Ireland, until six
weeks after the next Meeti,ng of Parliament, which
was accordingly done. • Mr. ALLXANDER in the
Chair. . .
Lord HVNRY I'ETTY, in pursuance of the
notice which ::c gavi yesterday, rose to mote all
Amendment in the Bill, to limit its operation to the
Is. of March next. He ;lid this upon the ground,
that the vlidsters, taking all the responsibility on
themselves, pressed forward this harsh measure
without airs pervious Parliamentary enquiry; and
the only arg invent they made use of to justity their
conduct was the pressure of time, fearing that the
. Bill now in face might expire before the enquiry
could be ended. The House, however, must be
aware, that, during the preceding part of the Ses-.
lion, there was little to prevent the eoquirly Isom
taking place, if they thought proper to ilstadMift
but as they alleged that argument, Imp
would only go to the continuation of the
lint ted tine, doting which, there could bie.Wees
ease for not enquiring into the necessity- .oCans—
The liberties of so large a portion of the sobs
jefts of the United Kingdom were not to be
sported with ; they were not to be sacrificed, I. vcn for
a moment, except upon the ground t!'ey alleged,
of want of time, and imperious necessity, in the
manlier of a S`nitiUlt cense um aliiia.t ncrers::ctiv.—
Something had been thrown out of danger to that
country, but he would appeal to the Right Hon.
Gentleman opposite to him (Mr. Foster), who was
intimately aequiated with the state of Ireland, and
sat upon its Committees of Enquiry. He would
appeal to his knowledge and experience, and request
of him, if he knew of any danger, except that from
an external enemy. which threatened alike all parts
of the dominions, to state what the danger was, and
what were the esrouods upon which he founded his ap-
prehensions ? He was far from wishing to press indi-
reCt disclosures, or to anticipate the discus .:on of
an important measure, which must come cn in the
present Session of Parliament, to which the present
Ministers stood Pledged, and the event of which
may eouiblf decide the very fate of Ireland; but,
• whatever may be the religious prejudices or °pi-
r.,ons of the majority of the Irish people, he could
• never think so meanly of that generous race of men,
as to degrade them with the suspicion that, whatever
griovancei they may complain of, they would seek
refuge under arbitrary power, or under so detectible
a government as that Which was thrown out as an
allurement to them. The House, by voting in fa
your of his motion, which would keep the Bill in
force, chile an inquiry took place, could apprehend no
danger, and they would have this, advantage, that the
question, if revived, would come before the House
upon a fair, equitable, and Parliamentary ground.
If it should appear that the seeds of rebellion were
sown in Ireland, on which at present he did not
wish to express any decided opinion, then this mea-
sure would be necessary, in order to secure them ;
but without previous and fall enquiry, that House
should not touch but with reverence the sacred al.
tar of British or Irish liberty. His Lordship then
moved his Amt.ndrrent, to leave out the words
!* six weeks after the next meeting of parliament,"
and insert the words " the lst of March nest." 4, _
The CHANCELLOR of the' EXCHEQUER
Mid, that though the noble Lord introduced the
amendment he proposed with great ability, and in
such a manner as could not fail of making a deep
impression, he felt himself under the necessity of
supporting the original motion. He readily ac-
knowledged, that the noble Lord did great justice to
the motion, but he was by no means satisfied that
he stated the grounds of this question truly. If pre.
• vious entriry was theAllit absolutely necessary, it
woold certainly be tight to introduce a short bill,
dining the csistence of which the enquiry might
take place; !nits proceeding upon precedent, he could
not but coo...der the measure pet feely justifiable,
and absolutely necessary, upon the ground of public
notoriety. In this ;.usition he had a right to expect
the coucturenee and support of a Right Hon. Gen-
tleman opposite to him (Mr. Windham), who was
the zealoos advocate of the bill on a former and si-
milar occasion, and whose opinion could net be
doubted, as he had strenuously ailed upon it. The
very s ime points upon which that Right Hon.
Gentlemen defended this measure before were still
as mush in existence as at any former period.—
That the camp was collating together bands of re-
bels and emigrants from Ireland ; that he had Irish
• regiments, Irish officers, Irish generals, Irish com-
mittees, as well as spies and correspondents in that
country, was a matter of public and evident noto-
riety. Under such circumstances, this measure had
necessity, as well as notoriety, for its basis. To
avoid enquiry was, at present, a measure of lenity
. in the Government, as it might possibly happen
-. that it would hazard the liv,s of some individuals
who now fund thaw. is ..s is perlea safety.

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