Star.
London, England, 1801-05-09 00:00:00

CLERGY EXCLUSION ■ILL.

The Cnancsccoa of the EICHICIIIIR moved the
fecond reading of the Bill for removing doubts re-
fpeiting the Eligibility of perfons in Holy Orders
to fit in that Houfe.
Sit FRANCIS BURDETT Paid, he rofe to exprela
his 'decided difapprobation of the whole principle
of the Bill. It was not his intention to take the
fenfe of the Houle upon it, in its prefent Rate, nor
to oppofe its going into a Committee ; but when
in a 'Committee, he declared his determination to
go more at large into the fubjeft.—For his own
part, he did not believe that any modification
which it could then undergo, could reconcile him
to the principle of it, which he confidcred to be
unjult, for he could fee no ground for going the

length of ftigmatizing any fit of men by iSsri an-
chnement. The Clergy were not more likely
be influenced by the Crown than men of any othc
prc feaion, nor could he lee any reafon why a ma.•
wear;ng a black coat was Acre dependent or. fl
Crean than one wearing a red coat. The Bill
we. it upon two grounds, each of which appeared to
him to he exceptionable. The Aril ;mond wa.,
that which went upon a fuperftiticrns kind of notion
of fome indelible &alit,' attached to the Clericai
charaaer ; a notion which he eould-aot but thin:
' favoured of Popery, and ought not to be held by
any member the Protefiant Church. In the
Preamble of the Bill, alto, no reafon was afllped,
only it was limply Itated to be an AR in coofe-
quence of doubts having beet entertained, but
without fpecifying any inconveniences which had
arifen from the entertainment of fuel' doubts. This
Bill went the length of taking away the rights (.1
a great body of men ; he hoped therek'ore that it
would not be precipitated, but that time would be
afforded for the fuller confideration of the ns:uftirc.
As an individual, he fhould content himfelf with
limply oppoling the fecond reading, referving
htm-
felfe a fuller declaration of his fentiments in a
future Rage of proceeding.
Mr. HORNE T00ne..." Sir, I rife for the firli,
and, moil devoutly do I hope, for the only time
in nay life, in oppofition to my Hon. Friend. I
with the Bill to proceed to a fecond reading. When
I review the cafe in all its relative bearings, and
conned the MI with the circumflances, I am con,
vinced, that the Right Hononourable Gentleman
who brings forward-this Bill had no alternative.
Situated as he was, he could not aft otherwife.
In the predicament in which he !lands, one ounce
of caution and difcrction is worth a ton of rheto.
tic. In laying this, I with to guard againft mif-
conflrnaion. I am not the advocate of fubterfuge
and evafion. When the point at ;true involves the
cattle of jullice, it would be unfair to take advan-
' tage of cafual error—but when injuftice is the ob-
jea of purfuit, then it becomes laudable to take
advantage of every opportunit y to defeat that end.
I do not now fee a learned Gentleman (Sir Wil-
liam Scott) in his place, who, on a former night,
when the butinefs which gave birth to the prefent
Bill was under dircuflion, flatted certain propofi.
tions refpeaing the priellhood, which, I cannot
refrain from (hying, were wholly unfounded, and
unwarranted by truth. I with that learned Gen.,/
tleman was now here ; but as he is not, I hope
that time of his friends will take care to inform
him of the affertion I now make, in order that he
may come down to the Committee ready and fat
ly prepared to make good his ftatements. I knout
him to be a man of great acutenefs, and truly, hi
the prefent inftance, he will have occafion for the
full exercife of all his ingenuity ; for I feel no he•
fitation in telling him, that I am flrongly perl ,
fuaded he will not be able to fuftain his pofiticias
from any arguments drawn from the reafon of the
thing, from law, proteflanifm, the bible, or the mate
ter of faa. I wave entering into an eqmination
the manner in which this Bill has been introduced
to the Houfe. It meets us as a folitary ineafure,
unconneaed with any fefficient caufe, or ground
of operation. It merely tells us, that doubts ha ye
been entertained, but does not fay that any incoa4
venienc, has arifen front thole doubts. Whether
it was right and fitting that the Bill thould come
into the Houfe in his thape, in the prefent female
flfriox of tusieditefi,Tflop not now to enquire. Had
I either felt convinced in my own mind that my
fitting in this Houfe was produftive of incon-
venience, or had this been proved to be the
cafe by others, I fhould have anticipated every 'at-
tempt to expel me, and have been the fink to quit
the fituation I hold, voluntarily, and, frost the
impulfe of my own feelings. But no inconveni-
ences have or can refult 'from my fitting ia this
Houfe. The queflion is altogether perfonal. (Nor
no! was exclaimed by fcveral Members).
Mr. Tooke continued—" In laying that the
queftion is to me perfonal, which I au maiatain.
I do npt mean to fay, that it proceeds froze any
fentiments of ahimofity towards myfelf, at the
part of the Right Hon. Gentleman who brings it
forward. I have never deferved enmity, anal am
ready to believe the folemn difavowal of all per-
fonal refentment made by the Right Hon. Gentle-
man. But, in the eyes of the Public, it muff an.
pear Perfonal. It mull, for reafons which offer
themfelves inflantly to notice. For a century and
a half there has not been a fmgle Parliament in
which fume perfons in holy orders did not fit. It
may be Paid they fat here/alkalies, and that a blot
is no blot until it is noticed. About fifteen years
ago a Mr. Rulbworth was petitioned againk, as a
Pruett; a Committee was appointed to examine the
Petition, and they decided in his favour. During
the whole of that period, no inconvenience has
been felt, no alarm excited. No fears or appre-
herillons were exprelled of there being any danger
of the Clergy riling ea ies#, and milting into this
Houfe, to come in for a thane of the good things
which are fuppofed to attach to a feat in Parlia-
ment. But, the moment I make my appearance,
the moment I thew my face in the Houfe, the
lignal of alarm is given, and my prefence is (up.
pored to endanger the Conftitution. Under fuch
circumftances can the Public do other than con-
fider the mea:fure as a perfonal queftion. It has
been Paid, that if the Clergy are fuffered to fit, the
Houfe would be converted into a Convocation of
Divines. It mutt convert Will, in fame meafure,
into fuch a meeting, when it proceeds, in the Cost•
mince, to canals and analyfc what is and what is
not a Nett. I hope a decent time will be allow-
ed between the fecond reading and the formation
of that Committee, as the queflion involves die
rights and privileges of a numerous order of men.
In that Committee, I (hall not be found to pto-
pok any alteration which has a tendency to op-
pofe the reafonable detire of the Houle to prevest
the Clergy from occupying a feat."
Mr.Fieacouar defended the principle ef the Bill,
contending that it had no reference whatever to
any particular individual.
The motion for the fecond reading was then pot
and carried.
The CHANCELLOR Of the EICHMFER Paid if
WAS his intention to move that the Biel Ihould be
committed on Monday, log as foals Gentlanes

• . •
irilhed for a little time to confider it, he would
znove for a Committee on Wednefday next.
COUNTRY BANK NOTE BILL.

Sir Wu. ELFORD prefented a Bill to prevent the
Forgery of Country Bank Notes.
Mr. Dewy oppofed the Bill as calculated to put
Country Bank Notes, the extenfive circulation of
which was much to be regretted, on a footing with
thofe of the Bank of England.
Sir WM. ELFORD raid, the Bill was intended to
prevent the crime of forgery, and to protect pri-
vate property. It had no tendency whatever to
give crcdit to the notes of any bank : that was left
to the public opinion.
Mr. ELLISTON fupported the Bill.
Mr. Colin' faid, he would not fupport any mea-
cure which might have a tendency to increafe the
circulation of Country Bank Notes, which he
much deplored, as he had it in contemplation to
introduce a Bill before the expiration of the pre-
fent Sefton, to refirid the Mlle of private Bank
Notes. The Bill before the Houfe, however, he

confidered as a laudable meafure, defigned and
calculated to proteet the public from frauds.
Mr. jowls applauded the purpofc of the Right
Hon. Gentleman to limit the quantity of private
Bank Notes. . _

Mr. DENT explained.—His intcntion refpetling
the Bill was, to propofe a Claufe obliging Coun-
try Bankers to lodge a certain fum in the National
Bank, as a fecurity to the Public for the notes they
'trued.

The Bill was read a firft time, ordered -to be
read a fecond time on Wednefday, and printed.—
Adjourned to Monday.

LONDON.

SATURDAY, MAY 9.
PRICE OF STOCKS THIS DAY AT ONE O'CLOCK:
Confols 6oti—Confols for Ma 6t i.--Omnium 9
Red. SO f—New 5 per Cent. 94+-01415 per Cast. 961-f.

PRICE Or STOCKS Y 1 STEP.DAY.

3 per Cent. Red. 391
3 per C. Conf.
4 per cent 780
5 per C. Navy If

5 per C. Loy. 54 ittit
Long Ann. 18/ 3-1
Omnium pi
Con(. (or May 6of 6zf bz

Yefterday Captain HEARNE, of the Dot.rlitm
packet, from Cuxhaven, arrived in town with dif.
patches for Government. Their contents have
not tranfpired.
Yellerday alto Government received difpatches
from Minorca, brought over in the Jossvm cutter,
of 14 guns, Lieut. LAPENOTIERE, which arrived at
Plymouth on Thurfday. She failed from Minorca
on the 16th ult. on the morning of which day the
MCITINE, of 14 guns, Capt. HOPTE, arrived there
from a cruize, and took on board difpatch•s for
Egypt, which otherwife would have been conveyed
by the Jos EPH cutter ; the latter was then charged
with difpatches for England, and failed imme-
diately.

On the 4th of April, the Myrna, cruising be-
tween Sardinia and Malta, fell in with a French
fquadron, confiding of feven fail of the line, then
Reering for Toulon, two of the (hips having loft
their foremafts, had their topmafts rigged as lower
males : the fquadron under the command of Ad-
miral Sir J. B. WARREN, confiding of feven fail
of the line, it is Paid, were then in fight, and in
Chace of the French fquadron, and from their dif-
-1;:led date gained on them very fad; and as they
Mere at fome diftance from Toulon, it may be es-
z2cd that the two difabled (hips mud have been
;,13andoned to their fate, or that a general anion
was the confequence, in which cafe we may hope
tor a glorious iffue.
The JOSEPH arrived at Gibraltar on the 16th of
April, and found there the Sr. FloaaNzo, of 38
guns, Captain PATERSON ; and the Louis*, 0114
guns, Lieutenant Tao scopr ; the former from Eng-
land with a fleet of tranfports and viauallers, and
the latter from Egypt, charged with difpatches for
England, the fuhltance of which were laid to be
favourable.

The LOUISA captured, on the 15th of April, a
French privateer, of eight 24-pounders, and 6o
men, which the carried into Gibraltar with her.
Four fail of the Rore (hips that were under convoy
of the Sr. FloasMZo, were captured as they paired
the Gut, by the Spanith gun-boats, which carried
them clear off.

On the 22d of April the Jossrm was chaced by
four fail of Spanith line of battle (hips, from Breit,
and the next day the fell in with five more, from
tgittme port: the Jour,' was obliged to crowd
all fail to efcape being captured, but was fufficient-
ly near them to difcover their fiat, and of what
nation : two days after fist dercried two Englitb
men of war, and made fignal to them of what (he
Peen, but they teemed to take no notice of bet.
The LOUISA, left by the Jossrm at Gibraltar,
ht alto reached England, and brings
DISPATCHES FROM EGYPT.

The Commander. Lieutenant Ts IJSCOTT, ar•
rued with then) at the Admiralty this morning.

r.ey are from Lord KEITH and Sir RAL►H

Atilt:101411i, and bring the returns of thz
tilled and wounded in the aatous which took
place un the Sth and t 3th March, and of which
tome account has already been laid before the
public in the London Gazette. There returns
will appear in the Gazeue'of this evening.
The difpatches are dated the 18th of March.

Eetween the 13th and tiltb nothing new had oc.
carrel.—The LoviS• was km wccks on her paL
4.:ge from AlcundriA.