The Sun.
London, England, 1809-03-02 00:00:00

HOUSE OF COMMOAS.

WEDNESDAY,
On the motion of Mr. Alclernirm Co snit, the
Committee of last Session, to consider of the pro
priety of contioning. the. Stino4y, toll' at 131seki....itfa
Bridge, revived..
Greg on's Divoice Bill went through a Cont..
mittee, in which-Counsel and evidence were heard;
The Report to be received to-rnorrow.' •
The Irish flank Note Bill. was read' e third time;
and passed.
. .
Mr. GIIATTAN obtained leave to .orttig in a. zit
fur the relief of the Insolvent Debtors in`lreland.

Mr. FosTun brought in a Bill to tillow'a.bounty
on the importation of flax seed into Ireland, 01151 to
make certain regulations, in the linen manufatturr,
Read a first time, and ordered to be read a sectmul
time to-morrow.

On the motion of Mr. 'Foi-rntt, au Account was".
ordered to be laid bekte the House of.ills! quantity
of Corn exported and imported. betwoeu Great
Britain and Ireland, in the year ending the btil o -
January, 1809.
Mr. AstmeY COOPER brought in a .13111 to con-
firm articles, of agreement for exchanging,land
tween hi 4 Majesty and S. Whitbread, Esq. in the
Parish of Purlleet, in the county of Eisex.--Atead,
a tirst time, and ordered to be read a second
to-morrow.

SPAIN.
'Lord CASTLEMAGH presented the Correspond..
ence between himself and Sir T. Dyer.—Ordered to
be printed.
COMMITTEE OF STIFFLY,
The several Accounts presented Co the House re.
speaing Exchequer Bills, outstanding and unpro, ,
vided for, and respeeting.the. LOyalty. Loan; having
been referred to the Committee of Supply,. the House
resolved itself into the Committee, in which it was
resolved, on the motion of Mr. Huskisson, that a
sum not exceeding Five Mttiions be granted to his
Majesty, for the payment of Exehever Bills out-
standing and unprovided for; and WM a'sum not
exceeding 47,501.74. 9d: be granted to hit Majesty
for the payment Of the Annuities due on the 5111 of
April, 1809, on the Loyalty Loan,
The House having been resumed, the Report was
ordered to be received to-morrow.
COMMITTEE OF WAYS AND MEANS.
The Account of the sum remaining to he received,
out of the io millions of
.War Taxes ter the last
year,, having been referred to the Cotnmittee yof
Ways and Mean 3, the House resolved itself into a
Committee, in which it was resolved, on the mo-
tion of ' Mr. Hoskivson,
that towards raising the
Supply granted to his Majesty, an issue of fiyer niil-
lions in Exchequer' Bills, should be made, ,in order
to make good-the like auin yokto be paid 04t ,of the
20 millions of War Taxes, for the last Aar.-
The House having been resumed, the Report was
ordered to be received to-morrow,
BANKRUPT LAWS.

Sir SAMUEL ROAILLY rose in pursnance of his no.
tice, to move for leave to bring in a Bill to amend
the Bankrupt Laws., Three year's agO, when be
had the honour of being in office; he had submitted.
to the House, a' bill on the same subjea, and on
that occasion he had stated that there were many
points which required correction, but which he was
under the necessity of passing. over; and that all lto
could then do' was, to endeavour to render the sys-
tem less 'deice-live, without the expe..dasion.ofmAk-
ing it complete. He was under the necessi t y of now
stating to-the House, that the Bill for which he shonitt
have the honourof movingwasofa slender complexion;
that it referred to many of the evils existing in the
system itf Bankrupt Laws, but that it necessarily let
a'great Many others untouched. He allowed that it
Was desirable altogether to abolish the present system
'and to substitute another; but he confessed that he
had not the courage, and he did • not conceiver that
,be was qualified to Make this attempt, All that he
could do, therefore, was to' point out to the Howie
those defeaa .which it .was most imperative, upon
them to remove:. The first &lea in the Ibtikrupt
Laws to which he shoitld,call the :mention of the
HOW, was, that although those laws prmireded on
the principle that when a debtor had sttt.rendeed
the whole at his property to his creditors; he should
thenceforward be tree train any 'action on their
part yet that -there' :tawny Pere` inittyletvae.
ments to which a bankrupt .Was liable, 'after rho
commission had. ended. The most mirneroas of
those engagements :nose from the circumsfanceof
persons who had preview:4 become sntety fel* the
bankrupt. The debts of the bankrupt to such .per•
sons not taking place- until after the commission,
they could, consequently. net be proySW. The obvi.
ous remedy for this evil .was, to enable the sureties
to prove their debts under the comitilion, ptovideti
they paid the sums for which they were engaged
before the fin,ll dividend, ii)ct detect 'Which' it
appeored expedient to remeve4riginated- in the
circumstance that the assignees of a bankrupt very
frequently 'availed thetnselves J.vf .the 6311kniptv$

peped that in such cases the assignees Weenie bank-
rupts themselves, and their' the creditors of the first
banl;rePtcy would of course come int but for a very
stiiitil .proportion. of the sums due to them. To re-
medy•this evil.various plans had been proposed,
among them was one by a highly respectable autho-
rity, which had been introduced during thelast Ses-
sion in the House of Lords in the shape of. a
TheattWitte of that plan -was, to infild penalties
on .aslgnees who. kept the . money of bankrupts. in
theikhands, and tea appoint a great, many officers for
the pUrpoSe of seeing those penalties strictly en-
ierced. ,Ta hini it appeared that a melioration ~ef
the law, in this respect, was more easy. As the
law at present stood, creditors were enjoined, at
their second meeting, to appoint a bank for the de-
posit of the bankrupt's property ; but ifg no penal-
ties were inflided an assignees for not making those
deposits, the consequence Vt'l9; that they ;frequemly
neg!tded too so. The remedy which he meant to
suoggeit was thisi that if the creditors at ibeir second
meeting did not appoint a bank; in which the bank,
rupt'S property should be deposited, it should be' itri7
perat ive on t he Oommissioners to appoint such a bank;
and that, if after that appointment the assignees re-
tamed the bankrupt's money in their iiands, it
should be imperative on the commissioners to charge
the assignees.2o per, cent. for the money so kept by
them. The:next defect to which he wished to ad-
yeti, was the great expence attending proceedings
under a commission of. bankruptcy. In all actions
brought by assignees;: the proving of the debts, and'
many other preliminaries were frequently contested
without any ground fur objection, and those contests
,were produ6tive o(considerable expenees. Fie should
propose, :to avoid-the necessity of this expence in
most cases, by providing,' that in all actions brought
by assignees, 'notice should be given by the defend-
woether or not he meant to conteSt any one of
those points to which he had alluded ; and that if he
(141, and should fail in establishing his case, the as-
signees should be entitled to recover costs. Instead
of adiOns'against -assignees for not paying dividendi,
he meant to pupae the substitution of petitions to
the Lortl ChancellOr. The alteration to which he
should next call the attention of the House, was
o,ne of greater importance than any he had hitherte
mentioned'; it was. to remedy a deled, attended
with the most serious and general evils. In a feW
words, it was to take from the creditor the power
which, by the present system,' betptYsSessed, of re-
fusing to sign the certificate of the bankrupt. The* si-
tom iota of 4n iincertificated bankrupt was utast deplor,
able. He was unable to exercise his industry in the
acquirement of property. His labour And his taletits
cou'd be exerted for the benefit of his creditor alone.

But whet was a. still greater hardship, he was liable
to be imprisoned for debts due before the period of his
bankruptcy. Prier to the Statute of the sth Geo.
111, the power of refusing ton bankrupt his certifi-
cate was not entrusted. to,a creditor, but was vested
in the Lord Chancellor alone, who was to decide
from a view of all. the circUinstances of tie Case.!--
tut by the Statute'd .the &tb of GeO. 111. it was
cleactLd, unless a:, bankrupt coold:'Obtain. the
01)sent of four-films of his creditors in nut ber and
iii value, lie abould not be entitled to his 'certificate,

however just his condo& mightbave been, and
ever his b4pkrnptcy might have been occasioned by
inevitable Misfortune. 1,-lcn many, cases had of.:-
Glared in Which:the ‘‘.ill ofa sing,ie creditor had pre-
Nented a bankrupt :from obtaining his.certificate, if
his debt was so large as to amount to four-fifths of
the whole stpn rate. But 'this was not the only
hardship attending a bank; upt.under such circum
Stances. Since the Statute of the sth 91 Gco. !IL
it
.bad been 'understood under some law, the origin
of which-lie knew not, that any creditor, by pur-
posely keeping away from, the conunissions alttige=,
tiicr, might withhold his ‘sent from the certificate,'
and might subsequently imprison the bankrupt, and
keep him in confinement the whole of his life. He
was not aware that this part of the subjc& involved the
tonsidctittion of the policy of imprisonment for debt.
at all; he was also aware, afterthe occurrences of
list Session, that it would be wasting his own- time,
4nd that of the Ho e, to press the expediency of
Uthiii oning that policy at the present moment but
cuuiu not reliant Iron) declaring it as his opinion,
that a greater Service,could never be rendered to the
community than would be rendered by that man
who shook' find means to abolish the sy,tetu of itu.
pr;somnent Icrr debt altogether, a system most .fatal
to tile interests and to`the happiness of society. In
the7'ease which he had iti6t, submitted to the cons'.
deratiou of. the Hotise, it wits peculiarly obnoxious.
The Creditor watorade a judge.inflis own cause, pa.
nislimont otrun fell when guilt never existed. A.
,bankrqt-was.frerinently imprisoned, not Air with-
butdiog..his properly, but because he bad no property
to snriender., . Sometimes stick .a proceeding was.
just, tnit most frequently highly.unjust. In roost.
eitfAl it was tropvihible 'dr the::Uankrupt to pay
ilitisc after dens Inds. Jr) - Most cases it Was ot-
. ..wily.. impossible for pay them, klUless he
104 done' mat, for which, .if he did .dco
1014 wai forfeited by the laws-111)1cm he, had-, se.-
creted his properiy.:--arid . yet he was imprisoned
for not paying thern ! •Wh:tt were the consegnencei
of this systetn—frequently.. the gratification of the
most base and rnalil;nant passions ; and the revenge
ot an envious competitor. had often been satiated .by,
the how konment for:life of this unfortuOate
The ihjtutice this practice would be more apps.
rent, if it were. comidcred, that paradoxical as it
tnigin-setrm, it' was not the less true, that in general
vv.; titicates were withheld from the honest bankrupt,
a4l granted to the fraudulent one. They were fre-
quently withheld for the purpose of extorting from
bans rapt and from his friends, that property
-o..tnen the sanction of the law forbade the bankrupt
himself' to poises's, and which a son—a brother—or
.a. fat her could_ probably not:advance wit boitt n vol v-
ing: himself in. det I•trUction., ►1 here was another cis -
,cornstance which held ;out a strong temptation, to
the bankrupt not to make 3 fUll disclosure of his
fleas : it was thisthat until a bankrupt obtained
in.7icertificato his evidence eoj.dd not be received . its
any in which his own estate, was concerned,
al,d he was thereby Prevented, its, many instances;
from deelaringtO the Commissioners that a Cri4itc.)
wan, about to` prove a larger debt than that to,whfch
he was' nth..tally entitled. In order to skew .the
hoW large' a proportion of bankrupts failed nt
to;Aaining certitiiptes, he would read to them a Cal-
cotation that ,hu Made. on the subject. In the •
y 4.," t dQ55,:940 counissionsof bankruptcy bud been

remain-

obtained their certificates ; in 489 they had
ed uncertificated. In the year 1806, 1084 commis-
siOns of bankrupts had been taken out ; In 483 of
these cases the bankrupts had obtained their certifi-
cates ; in Got they had remained uncertificted,e--•
During the.. last 'twenty years, 1G,202 commissions
of bankrupts•had been taken out; iu 6.597 'of these
cases, the bankrupts never; obtained their epriih-
• cates. This an enormous evil. It mightper,--
haps be asked; had no remedy beenrapplied
Temporary remedies, and therefere• inefficient re 7
medieshad been applied. In. Great Britain twice;
once in the year 1772, when a Clatise was introduc-•
ed into the Insolvent Aft, by which it was provided,
that: ail uncertificated bankrupts Should be dischorg:
ed from any further:claims upon them, unless their
creditors could prove that their bankruptcies were
fraudulent. In 1778, a similar Legislative enacfl7
• mitt took pine. These were the only two instances
• that had occurred in this country, and they proceed-
ed en a princip'e to him incomprehensible. If it
were unjust in 1772 or in 1778, that an "uncertifi-
cated bankrupt should remain at the mercy of his
. creditors,' surely it was unjust at any other time,;
unleis it was supposed that some change in the at-
tuosphere took place, by which the creditor was
better entitled to be judge in his own cause at one
period than at another.. Inalreland these temporary
expedients had been most frequently resorted to.,
Measures similaeto those adopted in Great Britain
bad, received the sand on of the Irish Patliament iii
the years 1786, 1797, 1719; and 1800. Towards,
the conclusion of that period, however,,it appeared
that the evil was so great as. to compel the Irish
Legislature to apply .biennial, and ultimately annual
remedies. The proposition which he wished to
submit to the House, was, not fo take from the,
"creditor the power of withholding his signature
on the bankfupt's certificate, but to declare, 'that
if, two years atter his examination, the bankrupt's.
certificate should,not be signed by tour-fifths of his
creditors, the bankrupt should then petition the
Lord Chancellor to have his certificate signed, giving
to his creditors an opportunity of submitting to his'
Lordship the grounds on which he thought that his
consant should be withheld. He was avvire that
one objection might arise to this proceeding, viz.
that it would•be•attended with considerable expellee.
•But it was -his • intention to suggest that•stich a pro-
ceexiing should be exempt from the .payment of the
stamp duties. •In fati, he entertained great doups
on the expediency of imposing any tax whatever on
law•proceedings. He was pretty well convinced,.
:that, with the exception of Lotteries, there was no
mode of increasing the revenue so injurious to the
interests of the people. He knew that this was not
a 'popularsentiment, but that was' only, beCaose'• the
subjed had not been duly considered. But if there
were any case in which the obtaining of justice
Should. be rendered as easy.: as .pbsSible, surely it
ought to be the case to which he hadalluded; and
• in which the obje& of the individual concerned, was
a struggle 'to get. Imo 'a sitiiatiOn it which his in-.
dustry might be available to-lihnself and all aroutd
hint. This was the only park of the Bia•which
should have the honour tosubmit to the House, that he
intended to bear a retropeaiVectkrraaer. He meant.
• to prOpoie',"'illat 'all those unCe'rfificated bankrupts, •
-whoi at the esetit moment, tilid peaked their eia-
minationabove two. years. sigAld'be entitled'.fd.too
Of the nacasnre. He might, perhaps, is
asked if he had nothing to propos& against distion4-
ty, anti to avert the 'increasing evilot fraudulent
'bankruptcies. His Parliamentary experience ren-
'dered hint apprehdosive that he had not ally thing to
propose on this suhjeCt to, which., the House would
accede, for, in his owll,opinion, The, Oily Mode ,Of
rendering the I.lw more e___;:acctis would be to .rert=
den it less severe. He fit mly.believed that the ount-ber 'of fraudulent bankruptcies that had occurred
wasrattribtitable to the forfeiture at lite, which the
law declared shnuid be the punishment of the con-
cealment of a bankritpt's property. Within the last
twelve years' there had been upwards of sixteen
thousand bankruptcies.• 'there could be no doubt
that of these 'there were many cases the
bankrupts concealed their property; and. Yet
.from •
the year 1732, .when the statute by which the pun..
islunent of death •wa; decreed for haroffence, a pe-
riod ref above.•.-i'ghty yenrs,' only three prosecutiOini
had been instituted. In one of these, -which took
pine in 1769, and in only one, a man had been con-
Nieted,and executed.; In another, which occurred a ,
'few yelp ago, the sane of Bullock, the bankrupt had i
been cotivicted, but on grounds certainly improper;'
,those grounds having been represented to his Ma-
jesty; his Majesty had *en graciously pleased to ex-
tend his Baiyal mercy to the culprit. No stronger.
instance of the, hietticacy of such a severe punish-
Meat could' be adduced. . And really, 'when the
• amount 01 moral guilt in. such a proceeding was con-
sidered, it was not wondeiliti that frequent evasions
of 'the law took place.
,A bankrupt did not volun-
wi!y.gift up his property to his creditors, and de-
Clare to sponlaneotisly, that if they would ex-
amp( him from claim, they should .have all lie had
•in title world. It was taken 'from him by toree.--.-
:4lthough he, didoot deny the criminality which at=
tathed to n bankrupt who, withheld, his property:
'.fro'in his creditors, he did not perceive in what such,
anaa diflered from that of the person in high rank, ,
who availed himself of that-rank to avoid the just
claims' of his cre:ditors, and to expend the property
with which his debts ought to be liquidated itt lux-: •
•ury and dissipation. And 'yet such a man was
termed a Mary .of honour L.,.,-.Having. thus briefly
'stated the objeds whinh he was desirous of effeel-
ing, and feeling that the measure which he had the
honour to propc?se was of a,very important nature, ,
he did not by any means Wish to hurry the House •
in the consideration of" it. If he might be permitted
to bring the Bill in, anti to haVe it elite read, he
should then wove (after its having been printed) to -
defer the second reading- to a distant day. Rut still
he should be unwilling to- make that a very distant
day; not above z month hence, for instance. He
should be very sorry, indeed, if the Bill were not
passed earlyenorigh to enable persons to avail them- •
st,ives of its provi;.iiol)B before the ensiling long vaCil.
11011. Willi a viuw.to urge the -House.to.avoid un- •
necessary di..1.1y, be: urged ' the great importance of
U. • irtnd; .such a till been passed at' the I,
connoCncentent of .the, present reign, • how 'Much'
misery ,L'otilft have been averted ! What number
.Of individuals WOuld
.60 have obtained wealila and
protrably have devoted' that wealth to purposes of
national' advantage, who had been compelled to re-

hearts were now broken with aflliEtion, which
would have beat high with exultaticßat hikjog47,,
joined the Station in society which they formbrlt
poscleised,.,at having been enabled—tqJepay to their
juit creditor's those sums of whigh their misfortunes
had deprived them"' The Hdli7BaKill'et condo:red
a most feeling and'impresiive speech by moviog for
leave to bring in a Bill to alter and amend the 13;:ok-
rupt'Laws..--• - •
Mr. II: MARTIN seconded the motion.
Leave was granted.
The Cord Distillation Prohibition Bill, and the
Irish Spirit Suspension'Exportation.Bill, were read a
third time, and passed.
On the.motion of Mr. HUSAISSONi it wai ordered
'that the Honk should to-morrow.resolve itself into
a Committee, to consider the APRs relating to the
Drawbacks' on Sngat.—Adjourned.

Duz—x7Gottenburgh,. * Matra, i Dublin, 3 Wat=nd,

, PRICE OF STocKs
THIS. DAY AT. TtVaLvg o'cLocx.
Consols .. - 67141 Red. Ann. -

EI E,

S U N.

SOLIIM QUIS DICIRS VALSUM i.cazAT

. L 0 N 1) 0 N,
THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 1809,

THE BREST FLEET.

WE,are happy to have it in our power this day
to communicate to our Readers some furper parti-
culars., of a most satisfat9ory nature respeaing the
French Fleet. When Cdpt: DUNDAS of the Naiad,
was- leaving Basque Roads, with the account of the
arrival of the French Fleet there, he observed Ad-

miral StopPottp, wi,hl the line-of-battle Ships,
chase the three French Frigatei belonging to the
Fleet, close under the batteries of Sables D'ollonne,

It heavy tire was *immediately . opined upon the
Enemy, which was kept up without intermission
during the whote time that the Naiad
was in sight

of theta: •We are happy to add that very san-

guine hopes are entertained, that. when' Sir JOHN
DUtfi.-VVOltTleti Squadron joins that dot Admiral

SrorteoßD, the French Fleet may be either captured
or:destroyed,' as they cannot get into Rochefort
cvithoLit taking out all Their guns, and indeed it will
bp necessary that the larger Ships should also' be
lightened of their Stores, ' .

Sir JOIIN DUCKWORTH was.'delached by Lord
GANILLEIt, with the greater part .of the Channel
Fleet, ,to reinforce Admiral STOPFORD, and we

have no doubt that a junaion has already taken
place.--Aduliral Lord GAMBWt, in the Calvdonia,
basarrived its Cawsand. Bay.,

. Sir SIDNEY SMITH is corning home from the Bra-
zils, and Admiral .Da,CObUCY is to succeed him in
'the command op that station.

Last night Dutch and' French Papers, the former
to the t gth and the latter to the 17th, reached town.
They contain the. thirty-second. BUlletin of the
French Army, and an account of the entry of JQSEPH
BUON APARtE. into Madrid. • The. Bulletin gives the
detail of the surrender of Ferrol to the French. that
event took place on the 537th of January,. It, appears
that,at Fermi a 5 well as at Madrid, the people were
disposed to resist the French to the utmost, but that
they 'Were betrayed by their , Military and Naval
Commanders.: :Great exertions; it is said, • are mak-
ing to equip the Naval force id that Port, .s.tiich

, consists ofeight Sail of the Line and three Frigates,
and Admiral OnREGEN, who had been put under
arrest some time before the arrival of , the 'Trench,
. has been placed at the head of the Naval*Depart-
went. A considerable share of abuse is .of course
lavished upon. the English, and our Troops, Who'
were a short time since represented by BuobrApAR.TE
al being superb and well disciplined, 'are' now iie
, .
Scribed as being brutalOntemperate, Sic. The entry.
of Jos. BUONAP A ItTE into Madrid, which took plavq
on the eed inSt. is described in the French Papers
with great pomp. .His Majesty, however, with
proper and commendable caution; took care to have
his.. Boo, Person guarded by a. very
_considerable
military force. The streets through which he passed
to the Church of St. Isidore were lined with Troops,
and large detachruents were placed in.ditreient parts
of the City. At the Church of'St. Isidore a scene
impioni mockery took place. JOiENII, in an
'Address to the PersOns who were ,preSent, used the
following expressions I prot'est, then, BEFORE
GOD,' who knows the hearts of all, that it is my
duty and conscience which induce inc to mount the
Throne, and not my own private incliniltioti.l.; I am
willing to sacrifices my own happiness, because I
tAink you have need of me for the re-establishment of

your 4 ! ! !"

Neither the Bulletin nor the Freticit Papers.con-
,
:ain one tiptd rit3peang the prrygelis a' the Fiench

Saragossa; we way therefore safely infer that 800-
4APARTE had nothing satisfasaory to cornmanicate on
either of these points.

Yesterday, about two o'Clock, His MAJE :TY hula
a private Levee, at the Queen's PJlace, w.,ich ‘‘ as
attended by
--The-ArehNshv of Canterburki- the Lotd Chancellor; 4687
Lord President of the Council, the,-Lord Privy Seal, the
Pint Lord of the Treasury, the Master-General df the Ord-
mince, the First Lord of the Admiralty, the President of the
Board of Teade, the three Secretaries of State, the Chancel-
lor of the Exchequer, the Lord Chamberlain, the Lord
Steward of the.Huusehold, the Bishop of Oxford, the Spa-
nish Ambassadors, the Duke of Montrose, Marquis of Sligo;
Earls Percy. Whichelica, Dartmouth, Aylesford, Bathurst; r
K.eturiarc, Morton, and Londonderry.; Viscounts A/ ant wurtil
(in waiting), and Castleross ; Lords Brownlow and Heath-
neld (gold stick);' Sir T. Gage and j Heard; Generals
Wards, Desney, Harcourt, and Manningharn ;
.Colonels 6i= '
ley and Walktr ; Captains Walmer, Dillon, and Elliot; ,
and Mr. Fawkener.