The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1803-07-07 00:00:00

for tr;-morrow.
'fl ATToRNEY GENERAL moved, pursuant
to notice, fbr leave to bring in a Bill for thc Protec-
tion of Mack Game in tile New Forest, in the
Co.inty of ,Southampton, by postponing the Corn-
m:ncetnelkt-of Shooting from the Ist of August to
the Ist of September, and other regulations.
Mr. SHAW LEFEVRE wished it should stand
over until next SessiLie, in order that the Gentlemen
in the neighbourhood shirild have an opportunity of
considering how it might 'effeA their interests.—
Leave given.
Mr. TIERNEY presented a Petition from the
Debtors confined in the Fleet Prison, praying Relief.
.—Ordurcd to he laid upon the Table.
The ATTORNEY GENERAL brought up the
New Forest Game Bill—read a first time ; ordered
to be read a second time to-morrow.

Mr. ALEXANDER. reported the Resolutions
agreed to in the Committee of Supply, empowering
the Lord Lieutenant to increase the bounty for rais-
ing the Additional Military Force in Ireland ; and
also the Resolution, that it be an instruction to the
Committee nn the Irish Army Defence Bill, to
make provision for said Resolutions in said Rill.
Sir WILLIAM PULTENEY obtained leave to
bring in a Bill for erecting a Beacon upon the Bell
Rock, upon the North-East coast of Scotland.
A Motion relative to the Duties upon Sugar, of
which an Honourable Member gave notice yester-
day for to-morrow, was deferred by Sir W. Pulte-
ney, the Honourable Member not being able to at-
tend to-morrow
Col. HUTCI I I SONsaid, he had lately made some
objections to the Malt Duties, with respe& to their
operation upon the Irish Manufacture. The answer
which he had received, that though the advantage
Was now in favour of the English distiller. the !fish
distiller Nvould have a correspnudin advantage at
the end of the war. There were two Gentlemen in
town who represent the Irish distilleries, and they
were of opinion that the answer wai not satisfac-
tory, as the advantage was contingint, whereas the
loss was present and certain. It was therefore his
intention to move for a return of the stock here on
hand, with a view to make it the foundation of some
measure for the compensation of the Irish distiller
at a fume day. In taking this course, his conduCt
was direned by hi. judgment. He neither can.
vassed the approbation, nor deprecated the censure
of any man. The Hon Member concluded with
moving, " That there be laid before the House an
account of the quantity of the stock in hand of
hum..-made spirits of Flngiish gross distillers upon
the I 111 of dime."
Mr. VA t S. I. F said, the motion, if carried,
would not answer the object, as there was a large
qua:ltity in the hands of dealers as well as of dis-
tale! s.

Sir LAWRENCE PARSONS was convinced
that the present mode did not interfere with articles
of the Union. The Irish distiller was only placed in
the situation of an English di:aiiler, who happens to
have no stock on hand. The only mode of carry-
ing the Act into effed would be letting the counter-
vatting duty take eel upon the same day as the in-
ternal duty. He did not think there was any foun-
dation for the opinion entertained by the Honoura-
ble Member (Colonel Hutchinson.)
Colonel HUTCI lINSON then withdrew his mo-
tion and proposed another to the sante Kat, only
substituting 5-h July for sth June.
Mr. VANSIT I'AR 1. said, the same objections
applied to this as to the former motion.
Col. ti tiro tINSON withdrew it, and moved.
That an account be laid before the House of
the probable amount of home-made spirits permitted
for home distillers, from the 14th June to the 3th
July." Agreed to.
A Message from the House of Lords announced
their having agreed to the Clergy Farming and
Resit .nce Bills, the Scotch Militia Families, and one
private Bill.
Mr. WICKHAM obtained leave to bring in a
Bill, for extending to Ireland the Provisions of a
Bill, passed this Session in England, for relieving
Magistrates from the Keels of vexatious Suits and
Aatons, in con,equence of erroneous Cony k'tions.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER
observed, that he understood the necessary papers
could not be prepared before Saturday ; he found
himself under the necessity of moving, that the fur-
ther consideration of the Report of the Real and
Personal Consolidated Duties Rill, which stood for
Monday next, should be deferred to Friday.—Or-
det ed.

. numerous
refletions hat
which were supposed calculated to excite desponden-
cy; but the language °lbis Right Hon. Friend (Mr.
Windham) instead of creating despondency, had
united the spirit of the nation, and perhaps, in a
great measure, gave life to the present system. Ile
did Hot conceive bow it could be deemed liable to
any degree of censure. The enemy, as usual, held
out the old threat of invasion, which had never been
put in practice, and of which he, for one, without
absolutely despising them, could not view with any
serious apprehensions. But the House would do
well to consider whether there were not other
points on which the enemy might deem us more
really vulnerable than the threatened one of inva-
sift. He meant the finances of the country ; and
whether the threats of invasion were not made in
reality as an attack npon our funds, or at least ma-
terially to effect them. The opinions delivered
by au officer of great reputation and experience,
(we believe him to have alluded to Col. Cratifurd,)
were such as might perhaps have the effeft of de.
ten ing some of those powers on the Continent, to
which neither that gallant officer himself, nor his
military reputation were unknown, from joining us
in the contest, or at all events, at least retard the
assistance and co-operation which they might other-
wise be disposed to afford us. In the year 1 ;98.
the French had recourse to the hacknied menace of
our invasion, and formed, what they called, the
Army of England, stationed on the opposite coast,
and under the direction of .leave Bonaparte. But
what was the result, and what the real destination of
these troops ? This country soon afterwards heard
of the operations of that formidable army, as it was
called, upon the shores of Africa ; and were after-
wards pursued, battled, and captured by the real
Army of togland, whose name they had the vanity
and presumption to usurp. They never, however,
dared to make any attempt upon this country, and
what reason had we to conclude, that while those
threats were held out to NI us, to intimidate us,
that the << al views of Bonaparte were not d:reaed
actainst our settlements in the East Indies, against
the island of Jamaica, or for the put pose of renew-
ing his attacks upon the shores of Africa ? We
are, therefore, while possessed, as at present, of
sieoeo regular troops, and 50,004 militia, besides
volunteers and ye( imanry corps, to think only of con-
fining ourselves to measures of home defence, when
we should have a disposable fierce to meet the ene-
my at all points. Was that the mode of conduit
suited to the charac=ter of Englishmen at the time
of hostile menace ? Certainly not. The people of
this country required no great preparations to fit
them for adion. As a proof of this, he mentioned
that four battalions, consisting of only 1400, scarce-
ly accustomed even to their uniforms, did not hesi-
tate to attack the troops of General Pichegru, with
so much sitecess, that they defeated their adversa-
ries, and left 280 of them dead on the fiele. Our
military force, however, was not confined to the
numbet of regdlars and militia in this country. We
at this moment retain double the number of troops
in Malta Which was necessary for its defence, and
the same ni;ght fairly be .said of the quantity of
troops stationed at Gibraltar. With resped to the
mighty threat of invasion, that was very far from
being new in this country. The only novelty, in
rt&, was, on the mode of putting it in praelice.
When Louis XIV. really meant an invasion under
the pretence of restoring the Stuart family to the
throne, he was possessed of a fine army, generals
of the first reputation, and, what was more, of a
fleet which gave him the command of the seas.
That monarch tried the experiment in reality, but
his scheme was rendered abhortive, and totally frus-
trated, by the memorable defeat of his fleet, by the
brave squadron under the command of the gallant
Admiral Russel, at the battle of La Hogue. Such was
the fate of the boasted superior navy of France, and
now they idly talked of coming over to attack us in
a parcel of open boats. What the etrea of any such en-
terprise could be easily anticipated. • A prudent
General would hesitate even to pass a broad river
in the front of an enemy, and should he be hardy
enough to do so, it must be with the disadvantage
of leaving his artillery, ammunition, and cavalry
behind him. But supposing even that the French
should conquer the difficulties of passing the seas
and landing, they must be instantly dismayed at the
reception they would infallibly meet with. Even
every tree would be an enemy, as they must be sure
there were some Englishmen behind it. Yet what
preparations could they make with which we must
not be acquainted, when our frigates and cotters
were bold and courageous enough to go into and ex-
plore the roads and harbours of the enemy ? Ad-
mittinx, even for argument sake, that they could
land, let it be considered in what manner they could
get back again, or whether they would not find
themselves even in a worse situation than even that
of their troops in Egypt, who were compelled to
surrender to the viCtorious arms of England ? To
this must also be added the consideration, that if
the seas should be so boisterous, and that our staunch
ships could not keep out, bat be obliged to quit
these coasts, it Islamd be still more impossible for
their open or flat-bottomed boats to pass over. It
was said by an officer of reputation that many parts
of our coasts were accessible, and that the French
Might be enabled to land on severe' different
points: but admitting this to be their design, the
chances would be still mote adverse to them. Ac-
cording to Bonaparte's own calculation the chances
were a hundred to ene that the army he meant to
lead would be sent to the bottom of the sea. That
calculation was certainly not exaggerated, and if the
chances were a hundred to one against a single
army, they must be three hundred to three against
three armies, and so on in the same progressive
proportion as their numbers may be multiplied.—
The plan on the whole appeared to him to be in a
great degree chimerical, and he would put it to any
Naval Officer at present in the House to say, whether
there would be any immediate danger, or whether
it was pradicable for the enemy to venture to come
out, and put to sea in flat-bottomed boats, at the ap-
proach, or during the time of the equinox, which
would soon be coming un. One thing, at least, he
believed, would not be contended with him, namely,
that in the event even of a successful landing, they
oust be destitute of artillery and cavalry, without
the last of which they could not proceed with any
degree of effed. After all, however, he was very
far from attempting to induce Government to retard


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measures of precaution, but would be glad, on
other hand, to see it increased, so that we
might have a powerful and vigorous force, both for
defensive and offensive service. That was the way,
instead of letting them dream of an invasion, we
might make a formidable impression on the .French,
and induce them to tremble for their own safety.
The effect of such conduct on the rest of Europe,
mid the powers of the Continent, could not well be
mistaken. No person could be so little conversant
with the feelings of mankind as not to know that the
unfortunate and oppressed people of Switzerland,
would be ready to throw offtheir present galling yoke,
whenever a favourable occasion should present it-
self. Even Spain, however it may be now obliged
to act in concert with its master, must feel happy
in the opportunity of again asserting its former in-
dependence. Germany, also, dismembered, parti-
tioned, and plundered, would be anxious to seize an
opportunity of turning upon its oppressors, and the
same might with justice be said of many other coun-
tries, which waited only for the means of carrying
the war with effect into the French frontiers. Even
in Ireland, which was deemed the most vulnerable
point around us, those hopes must now be vanished,
which the enemy might formerlyhaveentertained from
that quarter. The time for France to makeany impres-
sion there was, during the late unfortunate rebellion,
to which it promised and endeavoured to afford all
the assi,tance in its power. The mass of the Irish
people, however, though mislead at that time, was
now enabled to judge of the value of French pro-
mises, and that sort of aid and comfort given by
France to all those countries which suffered them-
selves to be deluded by it. In Ireland now, as well
as here, the arbitrary arid tyrannical government of
France would meet with nothing bat enemies in
every hush, ditch, and avenue, besides the military
force prepared to meet its forces in do! field. As
the spirit of the nation was now evidently raised, he
wished for the colleaion of a strong effective force
• for vigorous foreign service as well as for home
defence. The present arbitrary government of
France could not now find the 'ame pretences for
support which covered the designs of its former
sovereigns. He could not call to mind any in-
stance furnished by history, of a formidable inva-
sion, which was not marked under the pretext of
redressing some wrong, or restoring some monarch
or family, which might be said to have a title to the
throne. There were no pretensions of that kind to
be set up now, and the enemy would now find in
ail directions, only swarms of people ready and
willing to meet them in the field. It had been said,
that to objea of the enemy, after landing, would
be to push for the capital ; but the example of his-
tory would spew, that it was always the policy of
invaders to avoid the capital of a country. That
was the policy of William the Conqueror, and the
brave host under his command, though he set up
some pretensions to the crown, which was recog-
nized by many. After the leo tle of Hastings, instead
of proceeding immediately to London, he took up his
post and ere fed his citadel within nine miles of the
coast of Essex, in a position which enabled him to
awe the metropolis. But supposing it Fran c ible for an
enemy even to gain possession of the metropolis of
England, he would not still despair, as there would
still remain a great deal more to fight. He then
apologized to the House for detaining it at such
length, and declared his main objet to he, that of
doing away erroneous impressions, and to express
his opinion, that the attempts at invasion would
prove to be impracticable.
General LOFTUS followed, and was displaying
his views of the great advantages of our situation,
when
. Sir ROBERT BUXTON seeing the same dis-
cussions co, military subjeas, which were before
thought improper for the public ear, likely to be re-
newed, moved the enforcement of their Standing
Order.

After this strangers were of course ordered to
withdraw, and the gallery was cleared; nor were any
persons but Members admitted during the remain-
der of the night.
Our respea for the rules and orders of the House
will not allow us to give any account of the infor-
mation we might have received through private
channels, of the nature of the discussion, during our
exclusion, which was conduaed by Colonel Cran-
ford, Mr. Windham, Lord Hawkesbury, and seve-
ral other Gentlemen; after which the House resolved
itself into a Committee (Mr. Alexander in the chair)
filled up the clauses, ordered the Report to be re-
ceived, and, after disposing of the remaining. Orders
of the Day, between ten and eleven o'clock, adjourn-
ed till to morrow.

Bill was Yea! a second time, mid referred to a Pri- Central CASCOIGNE said, that he nevi.r in dick n
< 'ate Costimittee. his life ruse in that House with more reludance than the of
Foote's Divorce Bill was passed, and ordered to he did on the present occasion, to observe upona~n :t might
the Lords. measure, a collateral part of which had already claims]
The liill for carrying into- elle& the purposes of been the subjea of numerous animadversions in insteac
Queen Anne's Bounty Ad, was read a second time, Parliament. Many reflelions had passed in speeches might
Ind committed for to-morrow. which were supposed calculated to excite despouden- and in