The Sun.
London, England, 1803-05-07 00:00:00

STATE CIF THE NEGOTIATION.

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER
said, that before he moved, that the' HOuse should
at its rising, adjourn'to Monday neit, he thought
it right to state, that he expeded on that day to be
authorised to make a Communication from tits MA.
j SST Y .to that House. Under the present circum-
stances, be felt it incumbent upon him to state,
that General ANDREOSSY, the French Ambassador,
had 'this Slay applied at the Foreign Office for Pass.
ports, with a view to return to France, with an in.
tent to avail himself of them as soon as he should
receive information that Lord WHlTwormi was
'on his return to this Country, whieli• lie seemed
evidently to exped. Lord Wurrw6a-nt had re.
ceived orders, in ease he' should nut be able to bring
the Discussion to a satisfadory arrangement, to
leave Paris on a certain day. 'No account had yet
been received of his Lordship's departure having
taken place, but- he thought it right not to disguise
from the House, that he believed that his Lordship
had quitted Paris. Alle House, he trusted, would
feel ttk: propriety of his Abstaining from saying any
inlre at present ; he should, therefOre, move,
That the. House should, at its rising 'this day,
adjourn to Monday next."
Mi. FOX said, he did not rise to speak on this
truly Avful subject—he would nor, at this moment,
say any thing on it in general, bur he could not
help thinking, if things were cdrite to that situation
in which the Right Hon. Gentleman who had just
spoken had stated them to be,-he thought it was
possible for him to make a Communication to the
House, to.morrow. He did not say he could, but
on that supposition, he was sure the House would
not think there was any reason. for losing a single
day, in a moment, (he hoped not a decisive one),
but in some degree of suspense, when the discussion
of that. House might not only be of great import-
ance, but combined with what might take place in
2+ hours, might have an indescribable cad..
Lard H K ICY *aid he did not con.
oeive that any Official Co4;aynicattan on the puiots
alluded to, could consistently with what bad bt.,!j,
the regular prattiCe in like cIISCS, be laid liew:re:the
finilsc tY-Murrows
..141!' 004 41 Co4l4l4lnic4tioa ,

regularly be made in this particular, without the
knowledge that Lord WHITWokTH had arrived in
this Country, which might, perhaps, not he known
in the course of tb-morrow. With respect to what
might he stated'Pf the inconvenience arising from
the adjournment, he could not conceive what incon-
venience could, arise from this• short delay. If,
unfortunately, this business should take• that course,
which, unhappily, there was too much reason to
apprehend, His Majesty .would be advised to in-
form the House of that fad, and His Majesty's
Communication would be accompanied with the
declaration, that he had ordered the'different Pa.
pers and Documents upon the subject to be laid be-
fore the :House, so as to enable the House, and the
Public, tofortn a judgment of the state of affairs
between .the two Countries, and of the propriety or
impropriety of the conduit, of His Majesty's Go-
vernment—until that Communication was made,
which would be made with alt reasonable, nay, he
would say, all possible dispatch, the House could
not have the question before, it, so•as to be able to
come to a just determination: he should say fur-
ther, that this proposed delay could not answer any
bad purpose whatever. He wished 'only to state,
that His Majesty's Ministers would not delay one
moment in advising His Majesty to make a Com-
munication as soon as thiogs were in a state to au.
thorise and warrant such Communication, and His
Majesty's Ministers would be'disposed to give to
the House every information to enable the House to
fOrm a judgment on the aaual, state of the diffe.
rence subsisting between the two Countries.
Mr. GkEY said, .he really thought this was an
occasion on which it was not becoming in the House
to trust to the King's Ministers, but that they
'hold continue toassemble without any delay, And
to decide for themselves, at least until they heard a
better reason than they had heard to-night from the
Noble Lord who spoke' last, and he hoped the
House
,would concur in the Motion which he
should undoubtedly make, that • the House should
meet to-morrow. The Noble Lord•professed that
it was improbable, he would not say impossible, but
• he thought it improbable that Lord WHITWORTH•
would arrive in time to make a Communication to
the House to.morrow, and the Right Hon. Gentleman
said, there was every reason ro apprehend that unfor-
tunate intelligence would soon arrive in this Coon.
try. —The House knew nothing as to the particular
day, nor had they any authentic information when
Lord Wit rrworm had orders, in case he did not
receive a .satisfaaory answer, to quit Paris ; but
there was no improbability whatever that Lord
Wit TWORi H may arrive in the course of this
slay or to.motrow, so as to enable His Majesty, in.
compliance with the wishes •of the House mid the
Public, to make a ComMunication on this most im-
portant public occasion---the most important and
tremendous that ever occurred, and in which there
was perhaps a more severe responsibility than ever
attached to any Ministers in this Country. in such
a state of things, the House should not suffer the
delay of a single hour in looking for information,
nor should the Right Hon. Gentleman delay for one
hour after he was able,, in making the Cointnisnica.
tion he had so often promised, and which he had
lately regretted he had been obliged to with.lcold
so long. The Noble Lnrd thought. there would he
no disadvantage from this short delay he, on the
contrary, said, that every hour of delay might he
attended with incalculable disadvantage, 'when the
House and the Public were waiting with suspense and
apprehension, and while the House was kept from gi v. .
ing advice to His Majesty, such as to them might •
seem prudent in this awful moment : under such ctr:
cuinstances the delay ()lone hour might be a great dis-
advantage to this Conntry, it was said,that when the
Communication Caine, a day must be appointed for
its consideration ; undoubtedly a day must be ap-
poioted for that most serious consideration; but Wit
Communication should come to.morrow, the House
would save two days by not adjourning until Mon-
day : in the mean time, Ministers might be enabled
to lay before the House the• documents to which
they' had alluded, for he hoped they had 'not
been so remise, as not to he prepared to lay on the
Table of the House, that information on which it
was necessary that the ropinion of the House' should
be taken.' Under these circumstances, be did not
think the House ought,to agree to the adjournment
now proposed, when information might possibly
be laid on the Table immediately, and no time •
should be allowed to elapse that could he avoided, .
without giving this communication; lie therefore
moved, That instead of " Monday next," the word
" co-morrow" be inserted. •

• The Question being put,
Mr. CANNING said,, he. wished to distinguish,
very shortly, the grounds on which, if this question
came to a division, he shoUld certainty vote.for the
earlier period. With some of the• arguments of the
"Hon. Gentleman, who moved the amendment he did
not agree ; he did not expect,. neither did he think it
reasonable to expett' that GovernMent should, by to.
morrow, be prepared with information to be laid be.
fore the House such as the Hon,Gentleman bad stated.
He had no such expeetation. He sbould vote That
the House should meet to-morrOW, even if it should
only Meet to adjourn again, and he should do it on
this plain ground---because at such a moment it did
not become the. House of Commons
,to be absent
from its post,' for it was by,no means certain, though.
Ministers might not have the information to give
which it was necessary for the House ultimately to re.
ceive, that they might not have some communication
to Make in addition to what the House had heard this
day. VlT_hai' was the statemck of the Right Hon.
Gentleman I He concluded, that-my Lord Warr-
WORTH had quitted Paris ; but the circumstances
of this conclusion (not inference) did prove there
was information wanting which might arrive be-
t ween t lus -and the meeting of the House tomorrow,
tvhich would enable the Right Hon. Gentleman to
come with a -certainty, on that of which at pre-
sent he had only a conjeCture. Now, would any
man say (witnessing what was passing) that certain
inforthation might not:arrive -to,morrow I He knew
there were other modes of 'conveying
*information
to the Public ; to that he would reply, that he
knew of no mode so correct and proper to convey
information to the Public on such a subject as
through the • medium of Parliament. Those who
thought there were better modes of conveying in-
t to-
lottoition to the 4 qua; nun such an invariant oc. j

casino,- than through the medium of mood:neat,
would tote for thiS delay ; but as it was posSible
that tomorrow might add certainty to the doubtlid
intelligence of this day—as so much information
might btgained in 24.1 tours, he did not see how any.
Gentlem\n could give away the chance of being the
channel d the first communication to this country,
upon so interesting a .subject. It was not with
desire Of living more haste to the discussion of the'
House
,etoa_sem,oorrros,siv well aoubledlielf,rtelciai
country, own the real subjed to be discussed here- ,
it,itthaetemeientfionrgintfiotlnte
after, that re. should vote for the House meeting to..
morrow, tut he did it because he thought the.
House of Ct'inmons ought to sympathize with the
country ; tint the House of Commons ought not. to
be giving itelf a holiday, when all the people is
the country, veie in a state of anxiety and agi-
dt
ration.
The SECR'::TARY at WAR observed, that the
Hon. Gentleman had stated the louse should meet
tomorrow,(tat they might have the chance of in.
formation, wliclt he did not himself think probable.
Now he desiod the House to consider its own
dignity, He lidnot
with the graviw of Parliament to sit 'on an
unusual day, v
ad-
mitted by the Honourable Gentleman" it
was t ithiut any think,irobabi it
probability, as
was
.consistent
Who spoke.
lair, of, having any thing laid before it on which
the House could ad, anti that merely because the
French Ambassador might have asked for a Pass-
port, for that was all the information before'the
House at present. He asked, if it was becoming'.
the dignity of the House of Commons to agree t'
an unusual Sitting, which would be the case it they,
sat on Saturday, merely because the 'Ambassador of
France had demanded a Passport P He was ready
to admit, that if there was'a probability of any prac-
tical good likely to be produced by the House
sitting tomorrow, the House ought not to agree
to the adjournment proposed by his Right Hon'
Friend, but should adopt the amendment of the
Honourable Gentleman ; but he saw tio chance Of
that.--Suppose Lord WH I TWO RTH had left Paris
on Tuesday, or, which he believed, on Wednesday,
it must he rementbered, that with so large a Suituite,
he could hardly reach London bytiLnorroW.
the British Parliament to sit on that account, when
no practical good purpose could be accomplished by
their so doing ? Nu Gentleman would now stand
up in the House, and say he could enter into the
discussion of this subject to.morrow P That WAS
impossible. When proper information was before
the House, let the question be discussed with that
coolness and dignity which became the House,
but to-morrow any discussion of the matter would
be obviously improper. It would be no service
the dignity of that House,, to the interests of 110
Country, or of Europe.
Mr. CANNING said, his Right Hon. Friend
misunderstood hitn. He distinctly said, he did not
expel papers to be laid before the Hciuse to. morrow'
to enable it to judge of the condo& of Government,
but he had observed that the Right Him. Gentleman,
having stated his information as far as it we 04
day, and on which he bad himself made a conclntusil
it was probable that twenty-hours might l'wducs
certainty.He thought that statement alone ‘cvo'
sufficient inducement, io she present circ"'''nect
of this Country, for the House of Commons: 0 n'

to-morrow,
Ur. WHITBREAD said, he rose for the Pg.'
I lie
pose of expressing his surprise at' the sree‘l'ii; 1 i
to ldopE ;at the
Right Hon. SECRETARY at WAR, Mid li': "•-i',rrt
entirely (torn him as to the mode the House ""1,,_
thought the House of Commons could not
`lct • ,
more dignified part than t 4 wait for any common!'
cation that might be. made by the. Rigi!t
it.
present period : he confessed I :
Gentleman on this subject. The Right Ho"1—A;
CRETARY at WAtt told the House, they wool".";.
ad consistently with its dignity it it sat to.m°,..
roW, merely
as he takes
have demanded a passport. " Lightly
pressed some
because the French Ambas3ador illig"!
it," said Mr. WHITBREAD, " it fills me wi'llaw‘
ful apprehension."
Mr. POLE CAKEW called to Order, and ex'.
this discussion. Upon which there 0/43 a. prodigi`nis
cry of CI:4;r! Chair !
apprehension of the comequences of
The SPEAKER desired that im rd
s caking tip o et, I
the Hon. Member
Strangers should withdraw.
would state the joint of Cider 1`)
which he ativettea.
Mr. POLlf; C /MEW said, he meant the
ing Order, that Stana-
Strangers were ordered to withdraw accordingly,

which they did imdiatel • rds °I
After which theme Debatey. proceeded upwa
three hours, and the I-Inuse divided,

IS;
95

For Adjourning to Monday,
OnAogaurinrest: it,
readmission to the Gallery,'
House
hoeriloucits
intipietoeg&etileaAdadi`p/i:bn:ge
eiS:nlotrectdtos ne
attendfit aonile't
ttl
tar
ysbn;toaltlelim,l
0.1 Outer
itiw'lol. awesi,,ll,r)ceer
erits
Dunfermlin Eledion, should be brought to the flat
•
of the House to receive a teprimand for his
per conduft, and then be discharged.
On the question being put by the Sr Ent ER,
Mr. MIRST said, it was never his wish (0
nish any offender placed as James Trotter was ble;
fore the House, with extreme severity, but td
thought that the offence which bad beeni commit°
by the p‘erson in question,- was of great naritude-,4
and deserved the utmost unishment the - P'4' e
t
coolditiflid on him : the offence he had eointniid
le
was worse than perjury, as his evidence might
been.essential to the eleEtion, which might aa'
been improperly obtained or lust, in consequencel.
`his wilful absence. There•could be no..picasuFe
punishing any offender, but it was politically ne;
ccssary for she benefit of example. thetf°rA
thought the House ought to confine the offeett‘,.' t
greater length of time, not' only to punish him, r.
to deiti others from committing a similar oire"c`.;
On these grounds he should vote against jaos
Trotter being discharged.
Mr. BIS. ES-FORD said a few worth.-
th
Sir ROBERT BUXIVN said, he _ 1!e.
House use all. the humanity possible to the 1:
soner, but he did not consider the punishment
ready inflifted on him, was equal to the offence 110
had committed.
The COANCELLOR. of, the, EXCIA.LI4I.

ti

. ,
said, that no lulu had a greater regard for the dig.
n.ity of the House than he had ; he should always
feel it his duty to vote for the innishment of persons
who may be brought before the House for crimes of
a similar nature, but yet he thought it right that
some liMit should be given to punishment ; James
Trotter had been some time under confinement, he
therefore thought he might claim some indulgence
of the House.
Mr. TIERNEY said it was not his intention to
objea to the Motion.
Mr. WM. DUNDAS said a few words in the Pri.
soner's favour.
The question was then put, and the House"agreed
to the Motion.
James-Trotter was then called to the Bar.
The SPEAKER-then addressed the Prisoner
James Trotter, a Select Committee appointed to
try and determine the merits of a contested Eledion
for the Borough of Dunfermlin, have reported that
you being summoned to.attend the said Committee,
have disobeyed the command of the summons, and
did not appear at the stated time. In adverting to
the different periods of time when you were brought
Up, your offence appeared, from the Report, to de-
serve a severe punishment, as you obstructed the
progress of the Committee, and thereby offended
the authority of the House, It is to be hoped that
your example will be felt at the furthest end of
the Kingdom, but as the House have taken your
tetitiou into consideration, and ordered that • you
eh°uld be discharged, you are therefore discharged,'
;• on paying your fees."
The CHANCELLOR,. of the EXCHEQUER moved,
that the .SPEAKER'.6 address to James Trotter be
entered on the Journals of the House; which was
put and carried nem. tote.
The House resolved itself into a Committee Of
the whole House, to consider of the compensation
to be granted to the Officers of the Court of Ex.
chequer in Ireland, for the losses they are about to
sustain by the Irish Courts of Law Bill. • -
On the Chairman reading the following Resob.
tion, " That the fees would be diminished by the
operation of the pending Bill,"
Me. LEE rose, and urged the necessity of mak_
ihg a proper compensation to Officers who suffered
by the Aitt now. pending in the House.
An Hon. Member, whose name we could not
learn, expressed his disapprobation that the question
Should be Aliscussed, whew there were but few Mem_
bers present.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said, it
was his wish, that 'the question had' been brought
before the House at a prior period, when there seas
a greater number of Members present to enter into
the merits of the question, bat important business
hail caused the delay.
Mr. LEE then moved, that a proper coMpensation
be given to Gentlemen of the Exchequer, for the
. loss of their Fees of Office.
On the above question being put,
Lord DoNr.ow said, he wished to know the de-
Seription of Officers who were to receive the com-
pensation.
Mr. Ler said, that he meant those Officers who
hold their situations during life.
Lord DUNLOW said, an Officer who holds a place
during pleasure, was as much intiticd to compensa-
tion, as the person who holds a place for life.
The Citcet.Lott of the EXCHEQUER said,
he thought the only question in the preSent stage of
the business was, whether a compensation was ne-
cessary to be granted to the Gentlemen in •ques-
.
tion ?
The Resolutions were then read and agreed to,
arid the Report ordered to be received on Monday.
The Lott ii A nvo cATR of ScoT LAND moved that there be
laid before the House, several accounts relative to the Royal
Bank of that Country.
Chi report of the Militia Families Bill was further con-
- &tiered; the Bill then went through a Committee of the
vilwle House, and the report was ordered to be taken into
further consideration on Thursday next.
The Scotch S;:huolinasters' Bill was read a first time, anti
ordered to be read a second time Orr Wednesday next.
A Person from the Reven'ue of Ireland brought up an ac-
count of the duties receive.l on Twist and Cotton, liolll the
Year 170, t:i eidered to lie on the Tal4e.
On the Motion of Mr. VA rs:s yr 1 AR I", the flouse reaolved
itself into a Committee or the whole House, to take iisto
consideration so much of the Ads of the 6th and 7th of King
ILL at t 11. relative to the exportation of Bullion.
A •
Ts Ait T Clltun:a into a long explanation of the Ads,
and then Moved the tollowini kesolnt lun-- That he should
wove the House for leave to, hring in a Bill to enable the
Lords 4 the Treasury to grant Lick:Jo:ea for the exportation
of Silver Bullion, wrihout the par::ea being required to take
the usual oath,
The Resolution was then read and aKreed to: a Report was
brought up awl ordered to lie on th;: Table.
Supply of %Ways and Means NV:ii iyiterl'it to he considered on
Moll ay.—Adjourned at half past Nine.

• t

1)1)E.

'Tolland
rei:lch
114mburgli r -

MAILS,

ARalva D.

I
i
I

PIOCE OF STOCKS,

TSTIS DAY Al TWELVE o'vLocK.
Conr.ol. - . 63 aOsa 63

THE SUN.

SULSI6I QUIS PALsUM AUDIAT ?