The Sun.
London, England, 1807-08-05 00:00:00

WRITS

. .
Mr. I 3 101.1114 rpge to make his promisectisno-
lion for a Bill to Amend the present mode of Deli-
vering Writs for the Eletaien of Members of the
House of CommonC - He ;stated the inconvenien-
eieslof the present. mode, and lamented, that by re-
fusing to hear the Messenger of the Great Seal, at the.
Bar of the HOuse, lie had,been prevented from prov-
jug his statements. He deelared, that at every Elee;.
Lion, the Messenger received from the Treasury it
list' of those to whom they recommended that the
Writs should he sent. 'He did not peculiarly charge
the prescut Administration with this praaice; it had.
h.ten the custom with antecedent Administrations.
He hoped, however, that now'the case' was brought
before Parliament, they would not obje& to the re-
medy being applied to it ; and he doubted not 'that
he should have the support of all those who were so
warm on the sending of a private letter from a Secre-'
tary of the Treasury to his friend, in favour of-a
:Candidate.: The plan he intended to introduce into
his Bill was its folloWs: that the Writs, as soon as
issued, should he delivered (sealed) by the Messenger
of the Great Seal to the Secretary of the Post (Me,:
who .should be enjoined to forward them by the
following mail to.the Postmaster of the county town
of each county, and who should deliver a receipt for
them' to the. Messenger, , The Postmaster of each
county town, on the receipt of the Writ, should be.
'enjoined to. inform , the Sheriff of its arrival, arid
should return.a receipt to the See retary Of the Post
Office. On obtaining information of the 'arrival of
the Writ, the Sheriffshould be enjoined instantly to.
repair to the'Post-Office, and demand it of the Post-
master, giving him a receipt. On its delivery. By
this plan three points would be gained ; in the.first
place, dispatch, for in ffie, days a Writ would reach
the inapt distant part of the. Island; in the second
place, security,. which would be provided for by the
receipts given by the various parties through who:,e
hands the Writ 'passed ; and in the last place, and,
above all, the utmost facility, would be afforded to
dete6tion and remedy, if, either :by
.accident or de-,
sign, Are Writ' should be diverted from its proper
course. With regard to the perquiSites which the-
Me4enger of the 'Great Seal had, hitherto received.
on the delivery of Writs, he .did not- wish that they;
should be touched during the life of the person who,
t at present held that office, for
,two reasons : first;
because tthose perquisiteli bed been regulated, 'at 7
'different periods, •by authority ;. and secondly, be..
cause the 'present Officer had rectified many abuses,
and. bad not put up the. Writs to a kind of .public
aglion, in imitation of his predecessors. Shotil4
the House give him' leaKe. to bring-in bis Bill,
,should move fbrthe'appointmentof a Committee to
examine Into the, fees. and 'perquisites ache Messen-,
ger of the Great Seal, thr the purpose of intro-
ducing -a Chaise into the Bill, in or'der •to save
is the present Officer from any loss. After his death,
he.was.of ..opinion that their fees and perquisites
,might be abolished : at present they amounted one
year with another to abont 5001. a.year. This might
be char2,-ed on the:Consolidated Fund, or put on the
Sheriff account. He euncluded/ by moving for
'leave to bring in a
_Bill to insure certainty and di4-•
patch in the dOli'e'ry, of Writs for the EleCtion of
Members of Parliament.:—Leare granted,
r • WP.ST INDIES.

LVSIIINGTON ,wiilted, to call ihe atten-
tion:of ltis islajesty's Miniiteni to a SUbjc!Ct of iotinite

- "
importance. The tteport cit the Committee, 01)-
spoulted to take into con;ideration the State of the
West India Islands, had been on the Tahio Or the
Hoare, for fourteen days, and although it had•been •
ordered to be, printed, yet owing, invite supposed, to
the pressure Of other business of oon:iegnenge, it had
not been primed or delivered to' the. Members._ He
felt the delicacy of asking his Majesty's Ministers a
gheAtioti ou thip' subject at the present. moment,
aware she was of thedittictOielt wider which they
must labour in,their answer; on' account of thespre;.
sent relative 'situations of thiS Country: and a Neu-
tral Power. But:the,etnergeucy We -s so great, tlyt it
some iernedy were hot speudity applied to prevent the
ruin of West Indian dottnercer---;
The $'l,.E AK ititet*sod. wa contrary to the
Rules of the House to enlarge on any subject with-
out a prtivious. notice ; and it W;l3 peculiarly neces-
sary to Attehd to this. regulation on. one of such jai...,
portance:
'Mr. Losititiormst apologised.'• He would c.tintent
simply by ticking, his Majesty's Ministers;
whether or not they hart it in contemplation; to
adopt any of the me,mireslitggtisted by'the
Cottfmtt-
"tee-in their Report, to' remedy the evils' whieh 'that
Report detailed? . .
: `Vhe C4l.,ttiCs.t.Loa of,theExcna(WEß's'reply was
so inaudible,: that, we, can only state \I:Q*I/meg
him to have said; that i,the subjea WA9 undergping.
the 'twit serious consideration of Majesty `s Mi-
.
nisteri.. . • . . • .
"On the motion of Mr. WINDHAM, a Return was
ordered to. Islaid before the cl 3 HOO,Ol. the number
at men raised by recruiting in Great nriLain, during
the first six months of the' years 1806, istiG; :and
1807, distipghishitig. each .yt.lar.. • • •
Mr. Witrraity.4l), understanding that Ministers
had some time back given instructions to' Volunteer.
Serjdanti to recruit for the Liht;, wished •to 'know
• if any returns had been received of the number of
men raised by-that means, and,gave •notice that' he
~.,.would to-morrow , make a:motion on the subject.'
• IRISH ARMS
The Order of the DayhaVing been. read for,the
House to .resolve, itself into a COmmittee on the Irish
Arms Bill,
Mr. LoNo.moved that the Speaker do leave the
Chair.

.I.lllr. 11111r1711i,EAD- would not oppOse the mo-
tion for going into. a Cominittee, althangh- the
appeared to -liiin-;to be so highly obje6tionable,,...so.
calculared to defeat the purcoses which it bad in,
view;and so alluring to,the enerny to invade Ireland,:
that he did not think it' possible to amend it .in‘such
a..way , ..tom render. hitn friendly to the measure.-
:- When in the,corrimittev, however,: he would pro-
, poie s9ch ariisß:dnAnts iis.;:seerned cidculat-•
ed to iimelioratc Ote Rill, although the principle. met
with his direct thsappNbation:
/11r. typrobatecl the title and spirit

of the 11:11, which, in his opinion, ought to havt,
been of ~a very diirerent nature. He entered into a,
description of the state of -Ireland, to show that the
Rill was unnecessary, and amon other things'ineli-
that- in a Militia' Regiment, Of which he
:bad the honour of being second in cotnmai4, font-
fifths of the private,- half the non7congnissionat
OfFteeri., and sit of the Comsnissioned. Officers; were

RomanSatholies ; but that no ample4sant,.cirOurn,
stances whatever had theSce ariien..:
Mr. LONG observed; that the clauses of this Bill
had made a Part of .the fernier InSurreOotT
and had only been:changed for the purpose of miti-
gation. The Bill had•been prepared by the late Ac,
torney General for Ireland, .and,. if it was ne7.

cessary six months ago, • nothing .liad since oc-
curred to make it less .neCessary..., Every attention
' would be paid to whatever suggeStions the: Hon.
Gentleman might. be disposed' to make with a view:
to its amendment. ,

Mr. E/4/071,71admitted that the Draft of the
Bill had been 'prepared by order of the late Govern,
trient,-but that the: Clauses had not been finally de-.
termined upon. Many of = the Clauses. requirecl',,.,
modification, and, if his Hen. Friend bad not in-
timated his intention to" propoie the Aineudments
be Was to .move, it would Have been his duty to do
So. At the same time, he' must say, that the late.
Government would not have taken, upon themselves
the responsibility for the state of Ireland :
the coutroul of this measure properly moditied.--.
For this reason, he should not oppose the Speaker's.' •
leaving the Chair.
Sir JOHN NEWPORT sal that unless. mans •
of the Clauses in the Jill should bd. mitigated, he •
could not vote for its passing. The, extreme, se-
verity of some of them would defeat the end for.
which they were designed. He had himself, never
seen either this or.the Insurrection Bill, till they had
•been before the House. If a Clause were not in"
troduced for limiting the duration of the 'Act, he
alsould be obliged to resist it in tote.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER .
declared, that though the Clause of Limitation had
been omitted in the Bill, it had never been the in. 4
tendon of his Right Hon. Friends to make it. per-
manent. As to the observation. of the. Hon. Gen-
tleman opposite (Mr. Herbert), that if the Bill
which had been, brought forward last Session bad •
passed, this measure would have been unnecessary,.
be had only to observe, that the Gentleman who
brought that measureforward, had thought this Bill
in some shape. necessary. The late Government
, Could not undertake the responsibility for the •state'
of:lreland' without it. When the situation of the
'Country was "considered, Gentlemen would
' aware of die necessity of making protisiOn. to pre-
vent
improper Persons from collecting a qviantity of •
Arms for illegal purposes. The severest ClauSes
were those against the clandestine manufacture .of
.Arms, partieularly Pikes • and when the House had
the authority of those Gentlemen who represented,
themselves as unfriendly to measures of pressure,
that this Bill was necessary, he was sure they would
have, no ditEctilty in passing it.
HERseter explained, that he had alluded 10
all the Measures for the Relief and the Emancip3-
• tion of the Catholics.
Mr. Wisotwis agreed with his Hon. Friend,
that if the suite of measures to which lie had at-
hitted bad been adopted, such a course would have
yendered any such Act as that before the. House HD."
necessary. .
Mr. ELLIOTT explained, and, said that he should
support the Bilt with proper medification, •
Mr. PONSONEY was not satisfied of the neces-
sity of 'the measure; and should therefore oppose ,
its.progtess in every stage. .
The House. then reaolved itself into a Committee, :
Mr. Hozdotise in the Chair.
In the Clause empowering the Magistrates• at the
Quarter Sessions to take away the Licences to keeP.
Arins, of Persons• whom they might. deem unfit to.,
he allowed the, possession of Arms, Sir JOHN
Peter proposed an Amendment, giving to Persenv
who might be qualified by their property to kcCP
Arms, .an Appeal from the decision of the AO-.
trates to the Lord Lieutenant and Privy Councib:.
or to the next going Judge of Assize. A disc?:
'aion took place on this Amendment between
JpitX, Newroter, the CHANCELLOR of the .
:CHEQUER, Mr-. FOSTER, Mr. DILLON, and: Mk*
HERBERT, which ended in the adoption of a sug-.
gestimi ,pt' the CHANCELLOR of the ExcitsaVsg.,
whereby_an Amendment Was Made, giving ae.,4P'. •
peal from the decision of the Sestions of Cities ()!,
Towni, to the Sessions of the;County at largeß'sr
from one Session .of.a2CoUnty. to the next, on'
ceeding Session. .• .
Anptlier diseussion took place upon the Clans,B,
for 'authorising Magiitrates from dine to time to dm',
for au Inventory of the Arms of Persons witon
they may suspect of having Atins illegally.
Mr. WHITBREAD: contended, . that 'this was
power that gave th,e Magistrates the means of ,gtic!l
vans oppression of the s‘ibjett, in' calling for an in^
ventOry of his arms from day to day. The Claus°
was amended on the motion of Mr. Whitbread, sn
as to require the Magistrate to cbsinand the hiventory
of arms by a requisitien, in writing under his nett
~•.
and to allow.the party called upon to make atiiilso`
of the truth of his inventory, before anyMattistiatt.'
of the County in Which the party may reside.--e
The speakers were Mr. Whitbread, Lonl B. Petty, •
Mr. Dilion, and Mr. Windham, On one side.; and
the chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Storg`l9
Bonnie. and Mr. Foster, on the other.
The Clause direelitig notices to- be affixed to tie'
dwelling-house entered in . the Registry of the bi;
cence, when an inventory was demanded,
amended, and the notice required to be served: prd
the a6tnal dwelling Of the party, he being NO.t
r`
•to notify to the Clerleof the Peace his change of in,
sidence, in case or his removal froM the hoes 4
Which he resided When his arms were registered.
The next Clause' Mr. WHITBREAD declared t,, b
tiv
so tytannica:, that he „doubted if any moditicatu!t,.
that could be made in it could reconcile 'him
. The clause was, the authorising Magistrates,
those authorised by the warrants of 'Magistrates,::
search for concealed arms. An amendment
ed- by Mr. Whitbread, was agreed .to, aulltno''
a Magistrate to make search in person, in ca that'
reasonable suspicion, but that no person other war,
Magistrates shall make such search, excePt byto be
rant from two Magistrates, such warrant-'w'yr
;ranted but upon information upon oath •of
more credible Witnesses.

Mr. Dit.t.Ctir Proposed a further anienamehi, 'that
no search should be made except between sun, ri-
sing and sun setting; and if this ernendMent were
to be resisted, he should propose that the Magistrate
'should be present at the search. A long discussion
took place upon this Amendment, and open another
Which was proposed to be substituted for it by Mr.
Dillon, namely, that the power of 'search should be
Confined to the proclaimed Districts. .
, The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUEIi, Colonel
BARRY,' Colonel VEREICER, the ATTORNEY-GENE'.
HAL, and IVIr. DUNDAS, argesed in opposing.the
Amendment, on the ground,. that in many cases it
Would be necessary to make the search by night, in
order to prevent the removal of concealed arms,
and that the time when the power of -searching
for arms would be most etreaual would be imme-
diately before a distria on the part of being disturb-
hd be proclaimed.
It was contended on the other hand by Dr. LAW-
IIENCE, Sir SA.MUF:/: RONILLY, Mr. WHITBREAD,
114 r. WINDHAM,' Sir- J. NEWPORT, Mr. WILLI'ANI
'SMITH, LORI MILTON, Mr. GRATTAN, and Mr.
SHERIDAN, that as the Bill was to extend to the
whole of Ireland, the House. ought 'to secure the
rights of the sullied in the undisturbed parts from
the violence that might be offered to ,them iu car'-
eying the provisions of this Bill into effect; that the
Magistrate ought in case of suspicion to be present
himself at the search ; and that they ought to be
more cautious in .enacting any restraints upon the,
rights of the Irish, because,,since the Union, any
attack upon the liberties of. Ireland would be an at-
tack upon the liberties of England. ,
SHERIO4 N declared, that he had taken
110 part in the discussioit upon the Bill, because he
-could not teel pleasure in amending so harsh and
tyrannical a measure. The first amendment that
ought to be introduced intothe Bill, was a Clatise
requiring a qualification from Magistrates.- .rt Ire-
land was in a state to reqtfire this Bill, the Insur-
rection Act ouilit to have been made general, if it
Was not, as lie 'contended it was not, then this
Bill might, with equal propriety be extended to great
Britain and Wales, because the undisturbed parts.of
Ireland were as loyal as any part of the Empire.
Cobini:l BARRY defended the Irish Magistracy
from the attack of his Right-Hon. Friend. If they •
were deserving of his represenattion, it must have
heen'the fault of the,late Chancellors; and he. ap7..
pealed to an Hon. Gentleman opposite (Mr. Pon-.
sonhy), whether the late .Chancellor had not re-
quired from the County Members, and
.the Gover-
nors' of Counties, 'characters of the persons in the
CPnimission of the Pace, with a view to purity the
Magistracy of the'County. ' ' '
SMERIDAX had not intended any libel on
the Magistrates of Ireland.—fie, on the contrary,
respected the Cbuntry Gentlemen of Ireland highly),
but in proportion as Acts c)fthi,, kind were
in tin. same proportion would those Gentlemen be
indisposed to execute them. He again .reverted to
hisreason foi not atteupting to amend the Bid, and
reprobated its provi,ions.
Mn PONSO.I4BY declared, that the late Chan-
cellor had act ;.1 froin a conscientious conviction that
the Magistracy wanted to'be.Purged, and was pre-
vented only by the late change.
A division took place on the Amendment, when
the nurneers were—Fer the Amendment, 23--•
Against it, ye.—Majority
On our re-admission, the remaining Clauses were
gone through, and some new Clauses added, the
latter of which littiitS the duration of the Bill' to
two years, and until the end or the. then next ses=
sion of Parliament, after an 'A,tnendment had been
moved by Sir Jcifiset'Newpont to 'Milt the Bill to.
one year, and until six weeks slier the commence-
neat of the then next Session Of Parliament, which
was negatived without a division ; the House then
resumed, and the fteport was ordered to be received
this day. K•
MILITIA TIIANSFER BILL. '

Lord CrISTLERE/IGHmovqd the Otder of, the
Day for the third reading of the Militia Transfer
Mr.' "WiNattim, Sir -ROBERT WILLIANS, and
Mr..CAICRAPT, put it to the Nrnble Lord, whether
be would press the third reading of such a Bill 'at
such an hour in the morning one o'clock), when.
many Oentletnen had left the House, under an im-
pression that as • the former ,bnokneas had extended
t° BO late an hour, *this question would not have,
been brought on.
Lord CASTLERSA.pti. could not consent to the de-
ay stilicited. •
Sir ROBERT WILLIhMS then moved, that, the
House do now adjourn.
A diviSion then took place :—For the Adjourn-
ment t3-Against it 7.l—Majority 55. • .
On admission of Strangera, we found. Mr. Wrtin-
StAm otr his legs, 'objecting; .it strong terms, to
the.presiing the third reading , of. the Bill at that
hour, and after so long and teazing a discussion as
bad taken place 'for the last' eight hours, and ap.
Pealed to the-House not to treat the Country and
'the crisis with aindiscreet a levity, as to hurrpfer-
'word at that late hour the third reading of a , Bill of
*ltch tt questionable nature, and fraught, with such
Inomentous consequences.'
Lord CASTL;IIREAGO replied. He defied even the
thatatteristic ingenuity of the Right Hop. Gentle-
man to start' a novel idea in any discussion on the
present Bill, however prolonged. All that Could be
said by the Right Hon. Gentleman had beetvalready
eitaustadand fully answered ; and as to the ,state of
the House, It,' Was, then much better attended than
it would be at .four or five tO.tnotriAv evening.
Mr. WINbIiAM explained.
Mr. CA.t.cit.vi. Vindicated' the motives of " his
night Hon.'Friend in wishing to defer the second
reading to a snore seasonable opportunity, and moved'
that the Flonse'do now adjourn.
The S.PaAnin obje6ted to putting the question of
adilUrninent arain without the intervention of a new,
subjeet." had groutidedbis opinions. on the pre-
cedents of: the 12tf1, of March, 1771, and .16th of
!March, 1772. It had-latterly been the usage of the
toUse, but an usage he' had no scruple in,'
wls•upfbunded. He did: not think the motionit-
the lion. Member regular, and he should not; there-,
fore, put it.' •
The question was then put,,that the Bill be now
'cad a third time : when, after a speech from'Lord
,11.,t1,1-01,1, 'against the• principle of the Bill, Sir Joni
Ai twPoßr moved that instead of the word " Now,".
to_
tre inserted the words 4` Tills Y;" upon which
4 -eriament -the House divided—For the Amend-
:thingainst it 76.—Majority 61.

kkr" excluded, eve bildirsi6Ol
that another division took place of 92 and 73, when
Lord CASTLEREAGH stated, that seeing-Gentlemen
were determihed io press Ainendrnent lit%&'llruend-
menr, and keep the House till to-morrow night, Di'
have their way, he should give them their sway;
The third reading was then postponed till this:day.
*4 Adjourned at flAt4e-PAsT TWo.

Tll E SU N.

SOLED QUIS DICERE FALSUM AUDEAT ,

L Q ND Q IV,
wEnbiEsimy, AUGUST 5 1807.

The Order issued by Admiral BERKELEY, under
which Capt. HUMPHREYS proceeded to search the
chesapt!i/h,Americao Frigate, for British desertcirsi,
will be found in a subsequent column. It confirms
in every particular the account of that transaction
which we laid before our readers. The .'deserters.
were openly paraded in the streets of Norfolk, in
defiance of their Odicers? under the .protettion of
the :Magistrates. The applications 'of the Captains
of the, British Ships fur the men who had deserted,
and the British*Coniul, were treated with contempt.
Under these circumstances Adm. BERKELEY issued
the Order for searching the Ctiesupeal Frigate. And
here it is proper to observe, that the Order is not ge-
neral,. to search all AMerican Ships of War, but the
particular Vessel is named on board of which it was
ascertained beyond all doubt that there were several
British deserters. The Order.of Adm. BERKELEY is
drawn up with temper and great caution, and at the
Saute time that it directs the Captains of
.our Vessels
to search the Cheiape ak, it admits a similar right on
thepart of toe Americans to search for deserters.
It claims no right fur Great Britain which it dues
not allow to America. Under ,these circumstances,
we can only attribute the unpleasant occurrence
. which took place to the rashness . and ,obstinacy of
BAKtiOti j and we cannot believe that, upon
a fair aid temperate • review of the whole: subjetit;
.the American Goiernment Will approve of the
conduct either. of the Captain of. tile ChesapNk,
or of the Magistrates of Norfolk. It has been
stated, and we believe accurately; that in order
to prevent similar accidents fur the future, tbe
light of searchiiid; Slops of War is to be givett-,up oxi
both sides; and peruaps it is better that ikshould.bo
given Ud, ibr itttijob a is founded in strict justice
and equity, it certainly is likely, even when most
cautiously :ata 'temperately exercised, to lead toir:
ritatioe and to serious disputes. . .

Wu undersond that Sir JAMES Ca&tu ,is going
out as Governor in Chiefolthe British P imsessiuns in
NUith America.

Sinee we *r4to the ,abOve; we have ;received
4mteriCiin Papers down to the 3d ult. which state,
that several afectings had taken place at New-York
and Norfolk; rope:Z:6l)g the late affair between His
Majesty's Ship Leopard .and the American Frigate
Cite'supeak—the result has -been,
.than no.l'ilot was
intiCeed to go on board the English Snips of \Vat'
211 communication was stopped,. and. no supplies
witatever .of ;water br-pioyistedzianted ;
, • •
quencebf the latter order, the Euglisli; it is said, h4cl
,carriedulf,so head of cattle, and bad also.Ore4eued
to lay their Ships alongside of Hainpton, and enforce
the tnecessary supplies, I,lte:Atnericaifs. were putting
Hampton in a state, of defence.—All Naval tinkers
were ordered by the Secretary Of Win' to repair itn-
modiately to Norfolk.-7,Several Vesscls had been
sent.into Halifax. One hundred , thousand dollars
had beetyoifered to bail Colonel.Bnaa, and refused.

'his. probable that in the CUUTAC of to-morrow UT
Friday some' farther accounts Will reach, us tivrn
Admiral. GAMBIER ; his last dispatches were dated
the 29th ult. and at that tithe he was turning into
the Cattegat with It favourable wind. The w hole.
of the Naval Force employed upon this Expedition
consists of 22 Sail of the Line, viz.,
The Van Division, Admiral STANnOprt-The
Centaur, the Afence, the Captain, the Pomp& the..
Brunswick, the. RuGy, ajtd. the Vaiwit, with. eigh-
'teen Frigates, Sloops, and Bomb-vessels. •

The Centre Division', -Minim! G4matEa--The
Goliath; the Maida, the 'Mars, the Prince of
the Spencer, L' Hercule, the DiElator, the iifred ;
with eighteen Frigates, Sloops, and Bomb Vessels.
he Dear- Division, Admiral Esstrarrow—The
Vanguard, the Orion, the Nassau,: the .illinotaur.,.
the iigiricourt, the iie'solution, the Ganges ; with
eighteen Frigates, Sloops, and Gun-Vessels.
The exertions 'of the Board of Admiralty' to equip
this immense Naval Force in.so short a time, have
been almost unprecedented; and entitles them to the
highest praise.
The military foice consists of a Brigade of Guards
of two thousand '.slx 'hundred men, the 3d, 4th, 7th,
23d, 2sth, '3td, '42(1, 43d, sQtli si?d,•fOih;
8,2(1, gist, and- Regiments, 95th Rifle Corps,
ci ht Companies. of ..Artiljtry, 1003 strong; together
with the German Legion, consisting in the whole of
about 0,p00..m6n. . •

It was ye reported that and tiivision'of the
Egpeditiotaad sOceeecteci io getting pogs-e4vion of
seven Sail of the Lint: at Flashipg, Out, ttil aeooodis
have yet been recuivtxl`kont.that divoion of the h:z,
pedition. z