The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1805-07-02 00:00:00

THE DUKE OF ATHOL'S CLAIMS IN THE ISLE OF

MAN.

Mr. WILBERFORCE,in conformity with his
notice, moved for an Address to His Majesty for the
appointment of Commissioners to inquire into those
claims. He went over a great part of the &mood
of argument taken upon former debates, and asked
what were the reasons for thinking that the Duke
was not fairly dealt with in the bargain concluded
ia the year 1765 Had that great family not then,
as well as now, a sufficient number of friends in
Parliament to obtain justice for it ? The sum cd.
70,0001. granted by Parliament was the whole of
the compensation which he asked, and if it was not
sufficiant, why did he not demand mc.: e It was
evident that the transaction was set:led between
friends, who did justice to the claims ; and now,
after the expiration of forty years, the I louse was
called upon to open the transaction again. The
present Duke came into possession in the year 1774,
aild it was not till fifteen years afterwards, and 2.5
years after the compaa, that he made application
to Parliament again. Commissioners of Incloiry
were then appointed, and on their Report they did
not recommend any compensation. Had things re.
m tined in their former state, and the rights of the
Duke remained untouched, there would not have
beers since that increase of revenue, which seemed
to lay the foundation of the present claim. He
could foresee no solid objection to his motion, for
the inquiries of the Commissioners would, in all pro-
bability, be concluded in six months, and there
would be no arguarvnt of delay on that account in
regard to a measure which had been lying dormaot
for the last 40 years. He conchs led with moving
" An Address to%His Majesty for the appointment of
Commissioners to enquire what, or whether any
r.niv.ticeinn sholild be made to the Duke of Athol
for his family claims upon the revenue. of the Isle
of Man."

•llte CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER
said, that he should have but a very few observa-
tions to make, upon a subject wheels had already been
so fully and frequently d;scassed, and on which
his Hon. Frieud had produced nothing but a recapi-
tulation of former arguments. He men proceeded
to maintain that the bargain was quite comnuisory
on the part of the former Duke of Athol, who had
at the time no other remedy against the mischief; a
Bill, as it was called, which was to have born intro-
duced, in case he did not accept the componsation.
When fan inquiry was afterwards instituted, the re.
suit of it was, that the revenues of the island m:ght
have continued to increase in the same proportion
they had done since, even if the rights of the Athol
family were to remain untouched• When the Duke
consented to accept the sum of 70,0001. in cunpea-
cation, he was in the situation of a governor of a be-
sieged place, who, when he was exhausted, found
himself reduced to accept of terms, which be would
have previously scorned. This was upon the whole
a question of liberality, and not of abfitrail right, ne-
cessary for Commissioners to investigate, for if the
business was to be put in the shape of a law-suit,
the consequence would be, that the Duke of Athol
might not be intitled to any thing. Upon these, and
several other grounds, he should give his negative to
the motion.

Mr. WINDHAM spoke at elnsiderable length in
support of the motion ; and oh,erved, that the sub-
jea did not appear to have been sufficiently under-
stood out of doors. The proceedings of that House
generally found their way to the public ; hot it
szeined that the gentlemen concerned in these publi-
cations, had ears so fastidious, that they did not
condescend to notice this question, in the same
manner as they did others, or he was convinced that
would have excited a very strong sensation upon the
public mind. He knee not to what influence this
suppression was to be attributed ; but it was plain,
that if the Minister found means to go on wi,h his
business, without letting the by-standers know what
he WAS atsout, there could be no controul upon him,
and he might aEI just as ho pleased, provided he
could secure the•silence of the journals, It could
hot be alleged, that any part of the lawful property
of the Duke of Athol was takes away from him in

~~

that transeeinn i and is foe the ciippressitin of smog-
gling, he did not see why the Parliament had not a's
good, if not a much better right to legislate in that
case for the isle of Man, as it lately asserted in the
case of the islands of Jersey and tioernsey. I'lle
Duke had set his own price upon the value of his
rights, which he received ; and to say, that the Bri-
tish Parliament imposed ujitst or oppressive terms
on him, was too gross to be believed. It the pre-
sent claim was acceded to, where was the security
that the Dtike world not in the same w.ty come an-
nitally to Parliament, and that his claims may not
continue as a perpetual rent-charge upon the coun-
try? It might, perhaps, be thought hard in him,
to use a vulgar expression, which might be said not
to have classical authority in its favour, though it
had been used by P•tpe, Swift, Steele, and the other
authors of their day ; but he must hope to be ex-
cused, if lie cou:,l call it nit better than a mere job
of the Minister. He was not one of those who
would represent such a vote as likely to tend to
dearness in the price of provisions, or the imposi-
tion of additional taxes ; but he thought it infinitely
too mach for the public to grant as a matter of pri-
vate or personal favour from the Ministers.
Mr. SHERIDAN said, he never rose with more
relneance to add to the fatigue which the House had
already undergone upon this subject. As to the
iinclassical word jo‘), for which his Right Hon.
Friend (Mr. Windham) had, however, thotaght pro.
per to quote very respeCtahle authorities, he had only
to say, that the insinuati.,n had already been refuted
at least five times over, in the discussion en this
suhjeil. This must appear to the House to be
merely a debate o repetition, and the notes lions
which his Right I ion. Fiend sp 'ke, must, of
course, be notes of his former speeches. When the
Right Hon. Getoleman spoke of jobs, he, at least,
thought himself entitled to be exempted from the
suspicion of being an advocate for them, or in any
sense a mercenary politician ; and he supported the
claims of the Noble Duke, not from any personal
favour whatever, for he declared, that he was not
at all acquainted with him, and had never spoken to
him in th course of his life Allusions had been
made to a canvass by the friends of the Duke,
but the thin attendance of the day sheaved, that
the treasury or the ministers were not concern-
ed in it ; and in a thin house, at the end of the
session, he always thought, that any man who op-
posed a measure ha f an advantageous pull upon
the Minister, who was principally solicitous to bring
the business to a conclusion. Very few Dukes ever
stood before Parliament in the situation of the Duke
of Athol, whose influence did not command a sin-
gle seat in that House either fur England or Scot-
land, and who was confined to his own solitary vote
in the House of Peers. Its Parliamentary in-
fluence may therefore be considered as nothing;
he stood merely on the merits of his claim and
he was the more entitled to cornpensation, as being
Governor cf the Isle of M.tn, it would still be
very much in his power to add to the revenues
and population (o /aiisbf, no ti lubt also, of this
interesting island. tie confessed himself to have
been a great d .s set prised at what his Right Hon.
Friend had insinarted, of the Ministers Influence
over the newspapers on this subject. It was sin-
gular enough to hear such an obervation from a
person who professed himself the determined enemy
of such publications, and Wio declared, that n
thing could be a greater bless :rig to the constitution
of this country, than if the reports of parliamentary
transactions were suppressed, and that its constituents
should k:.ovi nothing of the proceedings of that
116116.-. It may not be regular in him to suppose that
ther: were any stranurs within hearing,or that there
w us any such thing as reporters in the I louse ; but as
It was ieretty well known that ther • were some means
of conveying the discussions of Parliament to the I
public ; and as he observed that it was done with
great accuracy, and, in general, with impartiality, '
he must conclude that the gentlemen employed in
that department had nice and fastidious eats, and
were able to discriminate that which was most
worthy of attention. When these discussions com-
menced, some sketches of them had been givtn
to the public ; but when there were debates
of repetition, and the same arguments used over
and over again, Gentlemen of taste, is the re-
port of them, must have some consideration for
their readers. lie had always considered publica-
tions of that nature as matters of the first import-
ance to the constitution and the country ; and, in re-
gard to their influence upon the public mind, in the
ease of the Duke of Athol, he had no great te-
sped for the authority or opinion of a gentleman,
who always professed himself a determined enemy
•to them. /le then read several extracts from letters
and other papers, to shew that the bargain was ab-
solutely forced upon the Duke of Athol. (At this
time, Mr. Wilberforce came over, and took his
seat en the Opposition Bench). He was extremely
happy, he said, to hive already experienced his
observations to he so forcible as to induce the Hon.
Mover of the Question to come over to his side; but
as he did not understand the half signs he was
making to him /Mr. Wilberforce immediately retired to
the oppoeile aide), he supposed he now quitted him
from the fear of being touched by the vital truth of
the question. He said that a sense of delicacy
would prevent him from alluding to the let mina-
tion of the life of the former Duke of Athol,
after having been compelled to accept of this
bargain, but there were abundance of proofs to
shew that he had not retired as a grateful and con.
tented man. lie then adverted to various papers
and documents in proof of this assertion, and menti-
oned that Lord Frederick Campbell. and some other
friends, had remonstrated in that House against the
injustice and oppression of the contra& ; after which
he concluded with giving his negative to the motion.
After a long conversation between Mr. Colman,
Earl MAPLE, Mr. BARiiar, Mr. BAMICCS, Mr.
WILLIAM SMITH, who spoke for the Motion, Sir
WILLIAM E 1.701111, Colonel GRAHAM, and Sir
WILLIAM BURROUGHS, who spoke against it, Mr.
Wi LLLLL once replied. The House then divided,
and there appeared—For the Motion 23—Against
it 61.—Majority 38.
Mr. HUSKISSON brought up the Sugar Draw.
back Regulation Bill, the Foreign Plate Glass Duty
Bill, the Linen Drawback Bill, and the Irish Mili-
tary Survey Bill, which were severally read a first
time, and ordered to be read a second to-morrow.

The other Orders of the D 47 were postponed.—
Adj,,at ned at Twelve o'clock.