The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1804-05-01 00:00:00

Noble relaticm to postpone his motion, except one,
which was—that in the intermediate time Minister:,
had determined they would resign, and retire from
those situations which it was the primary intention
of the motion of his Noble relation to evince to the
House and the country, they were so totally inicle-
quAte to till. If any such acknowledgment as that
ere made, he, for his own part, should have no
obje.ftion to the postponement of the motion. If it
were not, he thought it would be very wrong to
agree to it, unless some further pledge aas given
by the Noble Secretary of State, that no measure
of a similar tendency, or any other that could tend
to create any material difference of opinion among
th.ir Lordships, should be brought forward in the
mean time.

Lord HAWKESBURY said, he had already
given all the reasons which it was in his power to
adduce, consistently with his duty ; and as those had
bean sufficient to induce the Noble Marquis to con-
sent to postpone his motion to a future day, he
could not conceive on what grounds other Noble
Lords could objea to what the -Marquis had with so
much liberality agreed.
Lord GRENVILLE said, the Noble Marquis
had most unquestionably a right to the disposal of
his own motion; but, as the Noble Secretary of
State had not previously given any notice of his in-
tention or wish to have this motion postponed, but
suddenly proposed it at the very moment it vras
about to be made, he thought the Noble Marquis
was entitled to Tetrad an assent, into which he had
in a manner been surprised, and especially as the
motion might be said to be in the hands of the
House. It was by no means his wish to put a stop
to, or to create, any degree of inconvenience to pub-
lic or private business; but he thought some pledge
should be given, or engagement entered into, that
in the intermediate time o tpostponement of the
motion, no question of a similar tendency, nor any
measure that was likely to cause any considerable
difference of opinion, ought to be brought forward.
- Lord HAWKESBURY said, he differed very
widely from the Noble Lord who had just sat
down, as to the present motion being in the hands
of the House. The motion had not been V.ltially
made, though notice had been given of it, and as
such he was clear it was still in the hands of the
Noble Marquis, to be disposed of as he should think
proper ; and as the Noble Marquis had already,
with the greatest candour, agreed to postpone it,
nothing more was in his mind necessary than for
the Noble Marquis to fix the day when he would
wish to bring it forward.
Lord HARROWBY expressed himself by no
means unfriendly .o the motion being postponed,
after what had been said by the Noble Secretary of
State; but still he thought it was necessary some
further engagement should be entered into, that no
question of a similar nature should be intr..thiced
in the mean time, between that and the day on
which it may be fixed to be brought forward.
The Marquis of ABERCORN said, he tho'ight
the question had already been very fairly deter-
mined. The Noble Secretary of State had come
forward with an assurance to the House, that rea-
sons of the highest importance induced him to come
forward, as one of His Majesty's Ministers, and re-
quested the Noble Marquis to postpone the motion
of which ha had given notice to be brought forward
on the present evening, to some future day, which
should be most convenient and agreeable to himself.
The Noble Marquis, with that degree of candour
and liberality which so happily chantilerised all his
aSions, had almost instantaneously consented to the
postponement of his motion, which had been since
objeaed ta by the Noble Baron (Lord Grenville),
on the or side of the House, with a degree of
inflexibility to which be was but too prone. For his
own part, be was no way personally interested in the
question, farther tb.sn having been induced to come
out of the country in order to attend the discussion
of it. The frowns or smiles of the Noble Baron
were alike equal to him; but he thought the inde-
pendence of the Noble Marquis was such, that he
might certainly, if he chose it, postpone his motion,
without the leave or consent of the Noble Baron,
who appeared so strenuously to oppose it.
Lord MELVILLE said, that he was perfectly
aware of the usage of Parliament as to the post-
poning of any motion, when the same was request-
ed by His Majesty's Ministers, either on reasons ad-
duced, which shewed that it would be dangerous or
inconvenient to the public interests to bring it for-
ward at that particuiar moment, or that it was per-
orally inconverdent to His Majesty's Ministers, or
to any other Noble Lord who wished to take a part
in the discussion,to attend on that particular day. In
either or any of these case% his Lordship said no man
would be more ready than himself to accede to a
proposition so generally confirmed by the usage of
Parliament. In the present instance, h iwever. his
Noble Friend had not mentioned any instance of
personal inconvenience to himself, or any other of
His Majesty's servants. He had only said he had
reasons for his request, wh:cb he pledged his charac-
ter were of the highest importance. To such a
pledge he was as wiWmg as any one to pay the most
tosplicit deference, from 'he respea which he had
always entertained for his Noble Friend, but he
begged the House to recollea, that there were other
measures then before the House relative to this very
subjea, the defence of the country ; and he begged
leave to submit it to their Lordships, whether it
would not be necessary and adviseable that these
should not be brought into discussion such time
as the present motion was disposed of. fie thought,
therefore, with his Noble Friend near him (Lord
Grenville), that if their Lordships did not think it
necessary to adjourn for the few days the question
might be postponed,some engagement should at least
be entered into that no question of the same nature
should be brought forward, nor any other that
might in its nature and consequences produce the
same difference of opinion that . present motion
was likely to do.
Far' FITZWILLIAM said, he thought, if the
motion was postponed, some such engagement as
that mentioned by his Noble Friends near him,
should be entered into by His Majesty's Ministers.
Lord HAWKESBURY said, he had already
more than once assured the House. that the reasons
which induced him to apply to the Noble Marquis
to postpone his motion to any future day to be fixed
by himself, were of the highest importance ; and
that his duty would not permit him to say more, as
to the nature of those reasons. He had, in addition