The Sun.
London, England, 1808-03-30 00:00:00

DANISH FLEET.

Lord FO LKSTO NE nose,- pursuant to notice, to
submit a motion to the. House on the subject of the
Danish Fleet. He ditisnot feel it necessary to tres-
pass at any length on the time of the House. The
obje& of his motion was, that the Danish Fleet
captured last autumn should, be kept, in such a state
that it might be restored to that Power at the con-
clusion of Peace. He had. been one of those who
approved of the Expedition, to Copenhagen, but he
would confess that in the discussions which had
taken place in that Houie his opinion had been
shaken, less by the arguments of those who opposed
the measure, than by the frivolous defence set up by
Ministers, which differed from the statement Qt his
Majesty's Declaration. But, under the present cir-
cumstances, he was not diSposed to express his dis-
approbation of the measure.. It had been justified
by the emergency ; but when that emergency shall
have ceased, it would be injustice not to restore the
Fleet. When the Expedition sailed, a proposal had
been
.4nade to negociate for the possession of the
Fleet; and as the preposition was such as no inde-
pendent'Power would agree to, and as the refusal
led to the adoption of stronger measures for obtain-
ing the possession of the Fleet, he thought it
,would
be unjust tbatthe fans of such refusal,.whieh no in-
dependent Power could mold, should place Den-
Mark in a worse situation, with respea to its Fleet,
.than if the original proposal had been acceded to.
Another cause fur his motion was; that otherwise a
suspicion might be entertained in Europe, that the
proposal had been made only as a pretext for seiz-
ing the Dinish' Fleet, when the only crime imputed
to Denmark had been her • inability to resist the
power of France. He had first intended to move,
as more consonant to his own wishes, that an Ad-
dress should be presented to, his, Majesty, praying
that he might issue a Declaration stating his
.inten-
t ion to restore the Fleet on a Peace, buras that course
did not meet the approbation of ,other Gentlemen,
he was induced to adopt the present mode. He
therefore moved, that an humble Address be pre-
sented to his Majesty, &c. The Address concluded,
with a prayer that the Danish Fleet may be re-
tained in such a state, as that it might be restored
when the situation of allairs would atlbrd a hope
that this Meet would nut add to the naval force of
the Enemy.
On the question being pelt,
Mr. BRAND regretted that the attendance Was
so thin upon. so important a question. He took that
opportunity of repeating what be had stated on- a.
former occasion, that the Expedition was justifiable
upon every principle of the laws of nature and na,
tions.,. There were not 'any precedents to be found;
because the situation of this Country and of Europe
Was unparalleled in history. But as the necessity of
the case justified a belligerent in taking from a weaker
Power those means that might be employed by a
dangerous enemy.against it, tie thought that in jus-
tice the fieet-should be restored when that necessity
shbuld cease. It ever Buonaparte's ambition should
settle into moderation, benevolence, and justice—if
ever we, should have another Peace of Westphalia to
settle, and adjust the indepeudence.of the nations of
Europe, then this Country would be bound by what
it owed to justice; and those favourabte priuciples
which had raised it to its present greatness, to :thew
the world that she had not seized the Danish Navy
from any motives of violence, by restoring it to Den-
mark ; and
.he was sorry that some decloration to that
etfai had net'been introduced into his Al.:jesty'sifor-
tiler Declaration.
Mr. SdMUEL THORNTON was,'of opinion,
that.if Denmark had,agreed to the proposal made, at
first, this Country would have been bound to restore
the fleet. But as a state of war had succeeded, and
we-had obtained possession of the fleet by military
operations, Great Britain had the same right as any
other belligerent to retain what She had acquired by
force of arms. Besides it was perfectly unknown
what might be the relations of the two countries at
the end of the war; or' what might be the disposition
of his Majesty's Ministers upon this subjec Any
Declaration, therefere, would be imprudent, and for
these reason t he could not agree to the motion of the
Noble Lord: '

- Sir THOMAS TURTON.objeEted to the motion
of the Noble Lord, beeause the effea of it, if agreed
to, would be to pledge the country to the restoration
of the Danish Fleet. He contended that the Reef
had been ,taken in consequence of the weakness of
Dt;umark,
we
if that had been the case, he would
admit that would be bound to restore.it tna weak
and innocent neutral. But he referred to several
circtunstanccs in the eonduCt of Denmark from the
commencement of the French Revolution, to shew
that she bad been in a gate of covered hostility to
this country, and of abject subserviency to France,
and contended that she had been prepared to go to
war with this country, and .would have joined the
confederacy against, it in ,a • very shore time. The
advantages of the ,capture of the DaniSh Fleet were
not to be estimated by-the value of the sixteen hulks
as they had been called, in pounds. shillings and
pence, but as that operation broke one of the links
of the chain of the Northern Confederacy. He was
sure his Majesty's Administration would, at the
conclusion of peace, consider the circumstances at-
tending the capture of this Fleet and be disposed to
a& accordingly. He gave the Noble Lord every
credit for the patriotic views with whicli he had
brought forward his motion, ,but could not agree to
any Declaration upon this subject, which -would_
authorise the enemy to say, in the event of a nego-
tiation, that this was a question not to be discussed
in it.

-• Mr. DAMS GIDDY supported the Address,
not that he thought the restoration of the ships due
to Danmark as a matter of right : but that he
thought it an n& of. generosity becoming and incum-
bent on the charafter of the British nation.

Mr. 11(./L4ERFORCE professed himself one of
those who thought that Minismrs had conscientious-
ly ,find ably discharged their duty towards the couo-
trys, in taking possession of the Danish Fleet. He
Was satisfied they were aware of all the obje6tions
in point of morality; but that a paramount duty had
compelled their to over-rule those objections. He
would not allow that any consideration of time or
circumstances warranted a deviation from the great
principled o,f inorality. In the Expedition to Co.

penbagen there was no such deviation. A superiot
duty had out-weighed a lesser ; and that was itself
one of the fir* principles of moral duty and moral
reasoniry The transactions with respea to Portu-
gal ltur,:lved the same principles, and the result made
no difference. It might have been said that Portu-
gal Obeid be controuled by force, and. that Den-
mark might have accepted the proffered alternative
efarnity and proteaion. Denmark was unwilling
to take any 'measure. whatever of defence against
France • and if she bad been willing, all she could
have done would have been ;inadequate. It was
'therefore perfealy allowable in. us, to -secure'the
arms, which, if threat's' against us, may be danger-
ous. But he was unwilling to 'tarry violence .be-'
yond what the necessity of the case required. He
would not have the high charmer of the Nation
sunk, by shewing a disposition to retain a valuable
possession; whets the exigency that caused us to
seize that possession should have passed away. He
wished therefore, to take no step with respect to the
'application of the ships, which may make it matter
of difficulty for his Majesty to restore them, when
circumstances should render that proceeding 'petted-
ly consistent with the public safety. The naval and.
military officers may be compensated as they usu-
ally were, by a compensation from the public purse.
He wished to prove to Denmark, and to the world,
that we were aauated by no feeling of interest in'
taking the Danish Fleet ; and that the,Fleet would
be given back, if the independence of Denmark
should be again established.

Mr. HAWKINS BROWNE saw abundant evi,
depce of a hostile mind towards thii Country on the
part of Denmark, and thought the Ships were as
much lawful prizes as if they bad been taken in open
war on the high seas.

Mr. BeiBIAGTON did not understand any of
his Majesty's Ministers to assert, that Denmark wat,
hostile to Britain previous to the Expedition to Co-
penhagea. He 'thought this declaration a strong
pledge to deliver up the Danish Fleet in the event of ,
peace He wished some verbal: alterations .to be
made .in the Address; but if the Noble Lord who
moved the Address had any obje&ion, he should
not press them. kie wished to give the world a
proof that we were a&nated by no narrow consider-
ation of interest, but that we aged from the indis-
pensable obligation of what we owed to our own
security.

Mr. SlMEOilti thought it Would be. wrottg to
fetter the discretion of the Crown by a Resolution of
the House, which may have a premature and initl"
rious influence. He blamed the Danes that they
had made no release of ,British prisoners, in return
for the multitude of Danish prisoners sent from thi '
Country. •
Mr. BATHURST was astonished to hear it 0'
serted by an Hon. Gentleman on the other side (Mr.
HaWkins Browne), that there was as perfect a right
to retain and dispose of the Danish Fleest as if it bad
been taken in open hostility on the high seas. TO-
Skips were laid up, and the Danish Army was at that
opposite extremity of the Danish territories, when
the Expedition to Copenhagen took place. He was.
averse to any use of the Danish Ships which may ex' ;
pose them to haiard that may eventually prevent
our being- able to restore them. As to the coin•
plaint with respea to the inadequate exchange of
prisoners, it,arost. hom the same cause which occa'
sioiled so many of our countrymen to be kept in car
tivity in France. At Ihe commencement of the war
we detained a number of Ships with their crews, and
France retaliated as Britain did now, by making pri".,
soners, of all the British subje&s in her territory.--4 •
The difficulty of exchange was in our unwillingness'.
to allow the persons so detained to be fair prisoners
of war.. He thought it essential that we should
maintain our national charaCter for magnanimity
and generosity, and therefore he thought no step
ought to be taken with respea to these Ships which•
would prevent our restoring them in as good condi-
tion as we got them when a proper opportututY
should arise.

Mr. 'STEPHENS considered the House to have
pronounced so frequently, anti in a recent instance-
so decidedly in favour of the justice of
the Expedi
tion to Copenhagen, that it would be waste ut time
The propriety of retaining possession of
to offer any arguments co that point at present...*
the Ships
under existing circumstances was also
The fad, that Denmark was at war with us, was 3
sufficientjustification for that detention, without go-
ing into the question whether she was willingly at
war or not. He wished not to insist on any BO
vated construction of the rights of war against Den:
mark. But he contended, that if Denmark Deng
given up her Fleet on an obligation to restore if
the event of . peace between France and England'
and Denmark afterwards had declared war against
England, the obligation to restore the Fleet.would
have become void. Still he was not disposed to den)!
that Denmark had great claims on our generosity,
when the proper time for consideriog 31.301 claims
should arrive. But so had Holland, and so had,
Spain, at the peace Of Amiens, and yet we found it
proper to take Ceylon frOm
the one and Trinidad
horn' the other.i What' objectof negociation could
be attained with respea to Denmark, if at this mo•
ment we pledged ourselves to an unconditional res.,
titution of this Fleet. As to the argument of main-
taining an exalted character by this resolution, be
thoaght the contrary would be the result of it. We
had artful Enemy ready to put the worst con:.
strOtion upon our ads, and that enemy would ac.. 3
fail to say that our apparent study of rnagnannl
was intended merely to gloss over what was in la
grossly criminal. It was possible that when peace
should come to be treated that Denmark niight have
obtained advantages at the expeuce of Sweden,
even of this Country, for which the Danish Flee&
may be an equivalent. In these views, it would
.10
highly injurious to come to any resolinien as to t ,1
0
future disposal of that Fleet, and the eruploYnlen
the Ships for the public service, would by no mean'
embarrass the future discretion of the Crown' re'
speCting them.
of the
Sir JAMES HALL spoke shortly in favour -
Address,
On a A; t til3
The question was then ca' led fcr. m'v•-
there appeared--

For the Motion - - - zvt
Against it - - - - i 056 i
MA jOilly .
..._
half Fait
Strangers were not re-adtuithti i ate.,
At
Dille thc, House i!djourriod.

- .
11 AILS.
ililftl)2 Dublin. Duz— z Gottenburgh, i Dublin,
3 NAlterford.

PRICE OF STOCXS
THIS DAY AT TWECVS O'CLOCK.

Gonsols = - --- - - 641
0:

THE SUN.

.1";

SOLENT qt7l3 pictr.x FALSUIII AUDFAT

LONDON,

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 1808.

, formed that hereditary distinaions were essential to 1
, • ,
Mouarchical Government, the-food of honour, and
the 'basis. of that Government _which the power of
i'.national chara6ter, (not military coercion) had rt.-.
staid But the chief reason
,for this restoration of
; tltles n France is acknOwledged 'to be " by
tll6.ie thblishMent of lmperial titles to eradi- -
I
tObe." last roots of a tree _which the ,hand of time
(not the fury
,of a democratic' storm) had thrown
away." The Arch-Chancelloir pro.ceeded to inform
them, that the new Establishment will enable " the
servants of the Church to.confer upon their nephew;
that title Which others convey to their descendants."
ThiS privilege, of course, applies to
.those. Servants
of.the Church who are prohibited from marrying,
and hence we May judge of the,morals of those Ec-
clesiastics, and wlici-their nephews are likely
to be. He inipiously denominated this new
EstablishMent " the . heirarcliy of Fame ; and
.
after speaking of BiloNApAare,as " a Monarch
who has, eternized the veneration of the um-
verse," he concluded with ordering the Statutes
for this purpose, signed by NAPOLEON, to be read
to the 'Assembly. Such ii the fruit of that Revolu-
tion, the chief obje& of which was the extiaetion of
all hereditary,'titles ; and it, is not a little curious-that.
..among,.this. subservient Senate are,. doubtless, many
persons WhO were most aetive
nin the destrutaion of
that very order of things which they are now called
"upon to re-establish ! !

ALL the accounts which we have recently re-.
ceived from Sweden tend to prove that the. Emperor
ALEXANDER' has not only espoused the cause, but
adopted the principles, of BUONAPARTE. After
having declared War against Sweden upon the; most
frivolous pretexts, instead of carrying on that war in
an open and honourable manner, he has had re-.
-course to expedients which even BUONAPARTE would,
be ashamed to avow., • He not only endeavoured to
induce the People of Finland to betray their Coun-
try, but he offered rewards to such of them as
would rob. their Sovereign of arms,.horses,
&c.—
These dishonourable attempts are, we have no
doubt, the result of French councils. If' they suc-
ceed, the King of `SweDEN,must fall, but whether
they succeed or fail, the Emperor of IttigilA, by
adopting them, must- degrade himself in the eyes of
his own subjeas and of Europe, and consequently
render himself more dependent upon France. The last
accounts .from Sweden state, that the Swedish MI-
, ulster, Baron DA amt ELDT, bad received a letter from
Count 11.0MANZOFP, offering him a very consider;
4ble sum of rutiney, besides a Principality, on condi-
tion that he would betray his Sovereign, and endea'-
your to create an Insurredion' in Stockholin. It is
added, that the Baron, upon the receipt of this let-
ter, laid it before his Sovereign, who, of course,
amply rewarded him for his loyalty. It is probable

that this circumstance may have given ris, to the
report to which we adverted yesterday of .4.1.41 Insur-
rAlion having taken place in Stockholm.

His MAJESTY has not been out of the Palace since
Sunday, oit account of the bleak winds. He comes
to town this day:
The Princesses AUGUSTA and SOPHIA take their
'usual .daily rides on horseback in Windsor Park. The
Princess AMELIA has not resumed that wholesome
'exercise since her indisposition:. with ,the meazles.
On Monday the Duke of CUMBERLAND paid a vi-
sit to their MAJESTIES add the PRINCESSES. 'Yester-
day his Royal Highness, with the Duke of CANI-
BRIDGE, left Windsor for London.
Yesterday the Duke, of YORK held a public day at
his Office in the Horse Guards, and, gave audiences
to the Marquis of T\VEEDALE, the Earl of ROSSLYN,
arid an assemblage of Military Officers.
An Order in Council in last night's Gazette con-

.. - .
IT is. confidently stated in Private Letters from the
• tinues to allow,. for the space of sot montlks; from
,•ithe .28th day of this instant March, the importation
Continent, that BUONAPARTE has been *carrying on 1
.of hides,
.pieces of hides, tkessed or undressed,
a Negotiation with the Court of Denmark, for the horns, "or pieces of borne., tallow and *wool (except
purpose of haying 20 French Sail of the Litie math - ' cotton wool), and goat skins, 'dettiSd or undressed, in
any Foreign Ship or Vessel
ned by Danish Sailors, who were to be taken, into ! - •
We understand that 3leps.ox the Fleet pre-
the service of France. When the two Courts bow-f ' , paring for. the Baltic are to in divisions or singly,
ever had finally adjusted the terms, the Danish' Sai- , as soon as they can severally put, to sea, and nut wait
. .
fors positively declined entering into the Service till they ateready. '
any Foreign. Power, though they. professed 'them-
of i •all
,
• . The late King of Spain, CUARLES, the Third, whO
!
died at Madrid, in December 1•73 a, declared' durin4-
selves ready •to engage in defence of
,their Country.. i=
his illness, that he firmly believed, that in the course •
The matter it seems was not settled when this intelli- .* ,of twenty years, the Spanish dominions would be-
' . ,
gence was brought away. It is not likely that if this re- I come, ft not totally subjugated by, the
tributaries' fir!'
port is well 101.1111(leU .101
.nU6NAPAIITE winsemiquisb his -
-„ „ 1 Government of France ; the time of the, ProplieCy
; has .now nearly claimed. . i
• v
purpose; and it is conjeftured that the two Courts will i, Several Letters were received yesterday from Lis-
devise some" expedient, in order to induce the. Sailors I. ban, of dates.to the 3d inst.
„One of them, in parti-
to engage, either by a pretended loan of the Ships on i cular, is from high authority, and states, What has
been aad affirmed ef that king of Par-
the part of France, or a purghase by Denmark. i tugal ilrs e
nowy on the evbe of aore, famineth,e a calamity which
We should be happy to find that the Sailors main- i has long been foreseen and dreaded by theuntbrtunate
twin the same patriotic spirit, and have sense enough 1 natives. The town of Lisbon having been more thin
it should b 8
to see through such a deception, it'
any other plabe in Portugal over-run by French troops,
• •
i is . the first. to experience the effects of scarcity.—
attempted. I.,Fleur, ,Which is sold in America at two dollars per
barrel, in Lisbon will fetch 32. The lower classes
of people, who are destitute of money to purchase
at that extravagaht rate, are literally starving in the
streets, and the mosi distressing scenes are, daily wit-
nessed. General JUNOT dispatched parties of hprse
'daily to scour the country tin- corn ; • bat the fael is,
• that the nation' is completely drained, and that the
farmers never-ceased to furnish the markets 'as long
as they had more to spare than supplied their own
families. Bat now wherever the French come,
.tliey seize all, without considering the destitute state
of the owner.
.Advises from Seville have reached town to the
17th inst. ' That place is filled with. French, and the
people are astonished at the daily arrival al fresh
French • forces in Spain, now that Portugal is com-
pletely stibdued. The French force now in Spain
is not less than 100,000 men. • . '
Some more 'letters from Holland have reached
town. They are dated the 24th inst. but their con-
tents are altogether uninteresting.
A Court of Aldermen 'Was held yesterday at
Guildhall. The court, on examining the Meal-
weighers' Returns, ordered the price of Bread to be
continued at 1 id. the Quarteru Loaf.

THE skill and gallantry of Capt. PROWSR, of the
Sirius, in preserving the Convoy entrusted to his.
care, were eminently 'conspicuous : he first con-..
trived to lead the Enemy's
,Frigates away from tbe,
Fleet, and when they separated, and the sternmost
tacked and stood after the. Merehantmen, be imme-
diately bore down on the other,' as if determined to
engage, upod which the Enemy immediately re-.
galled her consort. This ManceuVre. he repeated
more than once; nor did he make sail until he pe.r7.
ceived the Convoy to be in security. At first the
Enemy's Trigates outsailed him ; hut,by throwing.
two of his anchors overboard, and carrying some of
his guns aft, he found he had the advantage. Such.
was the countenance he shewed, and such the in-
trepidity of his conduCt, that the Enemy never dared
to encounter him singly. will appear the more
extraordinary, when it is knowil that the'Sirius is
a Vessel of the smallest size, Mountingoniy twenty-
eight guns, and the Enemy's .heavy Frigates carry-
ing forty-eight and fifty guns. It is with sincere

The 53d Regiment, under the eariunand of Co-
lonel BINGHAM, marches from Wemouth to..mor
row and Friday next, for Blatchington Barracks.
Admi;al ROWLEY is expe6ted to leave town on
Sunday, to join the Melpomene Frigate, which is
to, take him to Jamaica, on which station it is said'
h6s-to have the"Chiuf Command.
The Juno, Captain RUTHERFORD, from Lisbon,
detained and sent into Plymouth, was boarded by
two 'French Corvettes, 'and informed by the Officer,
• rhat.twelve Corvettes had sailed from Bourdeaux ,in
company, and intended to cruize off the Western
Isles. _ -

pleasure we infOrth :our Readers, that the Lords of
the Admiralty have written, a let ter.to Capt. PROWSE,
expressing their high satisfiitaion at his, able and,
gallant proceedings, by. which a valuable Convoy
has been saved to his Country. It is by liberal'and
judicious encouragethent like this, that heroes 'al'e
raised up tor the BritiSh Navy I It should be added,
that the only Vessel taken was a 4111311 Brig, which
got entangled with the,land.

WE stated a tew days ago that IlumlArsuTa had
revived the titles of Nobility in France, not, how-
ever, for any of the former possessors,' of such
titles, but in order to. reward the instruments of his
elevation and the supporter))s of. his Throne. The
Prince Arch-Chancellor of the Empire, as he is,
called, repaired to the Senate, who assemb&l for
the purpose of receiving him, tin thel Ith inst•c;an4
he addressed a long speech to them declaratory of
the Emperor's gracious intentions. They were in

On Moridoy, about half-past two o'clock, the
Boinkoy, a find 74, was launched at the King's
Dock-yard., Peptfurd. She went off the slip in
grand style, amidst the plaudits of an immense
number of spthators.
The article which, has been circulated through the
Public Prints, importing that a separation was about
to take place between Lord C, and his Lady, is, we
are, hap yto say, without foundation.
,His Majesty's Ship Volohtaire is to sail from
Portsmouth to-morrow, as convoy to Maim The
Nemesis is to convoy the Vessels bound to New-
foundland and North America, early next month,
from Portsmouth,