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

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 1805.


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IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT:
lire SF. OF LORDS ..—rittoss, Fes. 13.
COMM! were hetatly heard retssertiasg the Web 4iweslC,,l'e'
railfleid t. Atosta,..: aster whir,, tne LOc:U CHANCELLOR

wok a i4t.rat ...ew of the meow' of ceds,d..i.o. s..s oi the ca.e,
and tone ed d by moving, that .e tam paints to-rein re•
f sued fir tan oput.on of the J ,tnel •hat the farther con-
sideration of the eu- he adjourned tall tn., day tortitight.
Th.. Fart of ROSSI.YN (I itt Sir J St C Erskine) wat in-
troduced with the accustom••.l formalities, ',worn, and took his
seat, on hot ascending to the Peerage, oat tie demise of his
hock, its late Earl.
The B It up°, the Table were rinri in their r .I:,ective .441.
Tic Excheqne, ll,lt rie Aiiseited C..mrros.
...toner., and the Annual Ind. trinity kW, were read a third time

a. 4 i.ai,ed
,S,r W ANDERSON brought up rmos the Criminnnv the
FaCt•or. titile.iinws Flll4 wh eh, together wVI a private
Stilt prizsentilt by Mr. W. Dititens.iii, way wart a fits', tiwe.

TtIE EMIL OF ST VINCENT.
The D .ke of CLARENCE ohaerve.l, that on a
fcem,-r evening, a sabjea was agitate i, which
of that nature, as that not only upon public grouncl.,
but from his, private feelings, he was induced ag in
to call the attention of their Lordshit to. lie al-
luded to the circumstance ht his Nobl- Friend in the
Red Ribbon (the Earl of tit. Vincent) then in his
place, having enquired, whether it was in the inten-
, tioa of His Majesty's present Ministers to investi-
.2ate any enquiry into his conduift, while he held the
high situation he had lately filled under His Majes-
ty? He had known the Noble Earl during sixteen
or eighteen years, and though, on some certain
points, he had occasion to duffer from him, yet it
was always with the deepest regret. However,
while at the head of the Board of Admiralty,
the condua of his Noble Friend was such, that he
should detend it, if necessary. Seeing a Noble
Viscount in his place (SAlmonth), who was lately at
the head of His Majesty's Councils, and at present
held a high situation therein, he would beg leave
to ask the Noble isconnt, plainly and decisively,
whether the Noble Viscount could say, or could not
say, that, so far front its being the intention of His
M ijesty's present Ministers t institute any enquiry-
into the condua of the late Nilinister for Marine af-
fairs, that there kaisted no ground for setting on
to. tan enquiry into the conduft of the most ho-
nnura'Nle, dignified, and illustrious Naval hero of
the country
Lord Viscount SIDMOUTH, after shortly ad
verb ng to the point, how far he might he warrante
in point of Parliamentary usage and otatllice to an-
swer in his place queries of such a nature as th it put
to him by the N ihle Duke—stated. that with respell
to the particular question which His Royal High-
ness did him the honour to ask, he had no hesi-
tation in saying, ant if he had any hesitation
in saying, he should b.ilie every feeling, both pri-
vate and public, which he possessed, with respeft
to the Noble Earl, and which u'l those who knew
his charafter and coodua must feel. He could
therefore have no hesitation to say, that in his con-
science he believed there existed no go and or rea-
son whatever for enquiring into the oificial condo&
of the Noble Earl ; but, on the contrary, he thought
him ere y way entitled to the. approbation and the
gratitude of his country.
The Duke i f CLARENCE replied, that he never
vet heard any a swer within the walls of that
Home, which had given him such complete satis-
-14a!011, as well in a pithlic as in a private point .of
view ; he should therefore, on that subjet, never
more troubli- their Lordships. Before hi/sat down,
however, His Royal Highness observed, there was
another question, touching a point of considerable
importance, and which might have some relation
to the subjeft which their Lordships would that
night Save to discuss. He then asked, whether the
report was well founded of the Brest fleet being out?
There was another question of importance, and
which referred, in some degree, to the same topic ;
and which lie would wish to have decisively answer-
ed, namely, whether it was intended by Ministers
to make any alteration in the system of the Volun-
teer Corr ? He rather put this question to His
Majesty's Secretary of State for the Home Depart-
ment ; because he conceived the description of force
In question was more particularly within the pro-
vince of that Minister. He should possibly have
occasion to move for the produflion of certain do-
cuments upon the subjee; hut, at present, he would
simply ask, whether or not it were intended to make
any alteration in the Volunteer establishment of the
United Kingdom?
Lord HAWKESBURY observed, he would not

then enquire how far it could be exile Red from him,
upon Parliamentary grounds, to answer to such
questions, as those put by the Royal Duke. He
should now only observe, that, if it should be the
opinion of His Majesty's Goverarnmt, that any
further alteration was necessary or expedient to be
made in the Volunteer, or any oth.lr service con.
neaed with the defence of the country, they wout3,
at a proper time, give every due explanation ran the
subjea. At present, he deemed it his duty to decline
giving any further answer.
The LORD CHANCELLOR then quitted the
Woolsack, for the purpose, as he o'sserved, of giv-
ing his protest against the species of proceeding
which lately seemed to prevail in that House, and
adverted generally to what he deemed the obvious
impropriety of praftice.
The Duke of CLARENCE, feeling himself per-
sonally alluded to, expressed his desire to say a few
words upon the idea adverted to by the Noble and
L-arned Lord. He would never admit it as a prin-
ciple, that things should not he said, or questions
put, because they might not happen to he agreeable
to I lis Majesty's Ministers. Fur his own part, not-
withstanding what had fallen from the Noble Lord
on the woolsack, he would offer such arguments,
in favour of any line of conduit he might deem the
best, and persist therein, until he should be per-
fealy convinced that it were wiong ; more particu-
larly with respeet to considerations, in which the.
honour, the safety, or the advantage of the country
should be involved.

.

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DEFENCE ACT.
The Order of the Day being read, for summen-
ing their Lordships relative to a Motion for the re-
pt-el of this Ad;
The Earl of DARNLEY said, that with 'resped
to the topic which their Lordships should more Par-
ticularly have to'discuss, it would not be necessary
to occupy much df their time.' He conceived, that
'on that head, In call their Lordships' attention to
certaia effects of the measure, %Would alone be requi-
site. In viewing the subject before them, it would
be necessary to advert to the siltation of the country
at the commencement of the war. A persod a'
which the necessity of arcane and energesic mea-
sures, was universally acknowledged, se,d the mea-
sures which were thee resorted ta, viere submitted
to withnnet murmuring. The Administration which
succeeded the lag, to a certain extent, thought a
change in the military system if the country ex-
pedient ; and their prominent measure. in codes-
,tersitring to effect this, was the Bill then under con-
) aid-tenon. These Ministers, in that respell ,' Iw-*
withstanding the magnificence and extent of their
pcsinnses ; the strong and eloquent language in
wn.ich (one of them in particular) 'else soared the
measures of their predecessors as weak, futile, and
inefficient, had in their remedial provisions entirely,
but above all, in the measure under inspection, disap-
pointed the expedations of an anxious and confident
public. Their professions and promises were magni-
ficent and gigantic, their performance diminutive.
The present Ad emphatically illustrated this position;
and when their Lordships considered what was said,
when first ushered into "strliamentary notice, and
compared its effeds, as appeared in the documents
before the House, the language of the Poet might
well he applied to it:
" Tartu imst Moltrs et nrriter ndiettl Mss '•
His Lordship proceeded to state, referring, as he
went on, to certain parts of the Military Accounts
upon the Table, and various instances in which
the measure under consideration had completely
failed. In one particis%tr souote, where the nnrn-
hers exmded and prescribed t be raised by the
Ad, were 1097, in fad, no more than fourteen
own were obtained. There were other ease; in
which the inefficacr of the Bill was manifested
rear'y as much. Whit was expected if the Parish
Office s, events had preyed. was beyond their power
to perform. He contended, that the sense of the
country was against the Bill, as a pradical mea4'
cure, and adverted to the great number of the re-
presentatives of this part of the United King
dom, who opposed it in the first instance. A
great stress was laid upon the support the
me:Rare Would receive fro-rat the influence and
personal exertions of individuals ins different tiar-
ters. This expel:lion haJ been miserably dn..-
appoint-A. In proof of which, his Lordship re-
ferred to the case of the-Ciniire-Porti, at which,
there was raised, by the parisni officers, hut a siegle
man Let their Lordships but cousider the cir-
cumstances of his race; %Ow the Lord Warden
of the Cinque Ports it the exertions which
shnnld be expeded frowhint, in support of the
measure, and his power and influence in that
particular quarter ; and, if, under such cir-
cumstances, in a place where so many m•-n were
espeded to be raised, only a man was to found, it
was a most imf ivourabie symptom as tithe general
of of the measure. In the course of eight
months, by certain parts of the accounts, it appeared
that no mote that 1295 men were raised, and of
these, the number applicable to general service
was only 343. In feet, not shove the twent4th
part of the expeded number had been procured. It
would be a misuse of their Lordships' rime to argue
fot the inefficiency of such a measure. Aod this
was the only pro-1 they had of the vigour and energe
of that Administrarien, so high in their vaunts, and
so gigantic in their promises. In saying this, he
meant nothing personal to His Majesty's present
Ministers, for many of whom he had the, highest re-
sped. Bur. he held it his duty, as a Peer of Parlia-
ment, and an Leredivary Councillor of his Sove-
reign, to speak the sincere coovidtion of his mind,
as to their public measures. These, however, were
such, as when he not only considered them in their
effects and consequences, but, when viewing whit had
passed, and what bad begin said upon the subject', he
considered of what materials the present Administre-
' tion was composed, he felt it his duty, upon public
grounds,
_generally anti systematically to oppose
them. He condemned many of their hostile and
offensive operations, particularly the Catamaran'
expedition ; he thought it wauld be sufficient to rest
the merits of what he should propose upon the de-
cuments shish were then before the Home ; the
consideration of these would he sufficient to con-
vince the House of the in ffieacy of the measure,
and induce them to repeal it. With resped to Ire-
land, its inefficacy and objectionable sende ney was
not less apparent. Upon tee wn de, from what he
saw of the effects of the Bill, and from his convic-
tion of what should be expelled from it, lop could
with confidence propose to the House togrzputige it
from the Statute Book ; and under such impression,
he would move for the proceeding on which could
be regularly grounded a Motion for its repeal ;
namely, that the At in questions be now read.
(The title of the At was accordingly read, viz.
An Ad for raising and maintaicing a permanert
Additional Force, tic. for the Defence of the Realm.)
The Earl of CAMDEN rose. He obses veal, be
had listened with attention to the speech of the
Noble Earl, and to him it appeared to he intend d
rather as an attack upon His Majesty's present Ge-
vernment, than as applicable to .the measure in
question; this 'he was the mere induced to think.
when he considered the allusions made to what h id
passed the last session of Parliament, and the nine
of observation in which his Noble Friend indulged
himself throughout. With reseed to the Bill itself,
he was rather obliged to his Noble Friend for bring-
ing it under cosumeration. In considering the Bill.
the peculiar and extraordinary circumstances that
preceded it, and %hub, to a eettaiu eaten:, Kill multi-
.