Star.
London, England, 1819-06-04 00:00:00

CAPTAIN lIANCHETT.

Mr. LUSIIINGTON had a Petition to
,present, to
which he particularly wished to call the attention of
the Honourable Member for ghtetvsbnry, W 1.6 had
laid on the table a' Petition from Captain Hanchett
cmie time ago. The pre,.cnt Petition was from three
gallant Officers in the Navy, Who described 'them-
selves to have been aspersed on that occasion. They
.cemplaiaed that, without any previous intirnatioh
being given to them, calumnies, as they asserted
them to be, had gone torth to the world, to tvhich
they had no-opportunity of replying. It was not of
.the Ilene that they had to tomplarn ; foe the Pea.
tioir in avhich the calninnies were contained bad not
twensent forth by them, as . the Petition had never
been printed ;but the Eouse knew tbst a COMA%
Of what wok place there apreated every morning-in
theNetespapets, and these had pstblithed .that of
,which-the present Petitioners cOmpWrwd,....th hire_
Agit (Mr.-Liohington) might also with some reason
camplAin, icr what had taken place had been most

.4•11 I

A !►

•
• -%

ADJOURNMENT TILL MONDAY.

•
misrepresented. Many things were stated
w is hajnot been said, while much of what had
beegyas not reported. In one Paper, the Tinto,
he ha seen a most unfair statement, which he had
reason to suppose had been obtained from a• polluted
source. He shouldsay no more on the utilise now°
as he trusted those who heard him would be more
cautious in future, when giving •to the Publit „that
which so nearly affected the character of individuals
in or out of the House.—The Petition was from Cap-
tain Knight,' and Lieutenants Neale and Doublain,
of the Royal Navy. In this they described their
character to have been much injured, and declared
themselves perfectly ready to meet any charge that
could be brought against them, and trusted it would'
not bepermitted that they should fall the victims of
est slander, originating with a private
who had traduced and vilified them, and
whose, calumnies had'been circulated through the
medium of the Public Prints. The Hon. Member, in
conpection, wished to ask the Honourable Member
for Shrewsbury, what course he meant to pursue
with respect to the fotmer Petition?
"Mr. BENNET said, he could notbe answerable
for any statement that might have appeared of what
had taken place on a former evening. Whether the
report which appeared was correct or not, he was
not the author of it, nor did he know who was. The
Paper which had been mentioned had surprised him.
The account which it contained was certainly most
unfair, and more favourable to Captain lltuachett
than. it ought to have been. •HI wished for the pro-
duction of certain documents which the Honourable
Gentleman had promised, which, would determine
him what course to pursue. At present he wished
to decline stating what was the impression on his
mind. He considered that he had only done his duty
in presenting the Petition. He had not pressed for
its being printed, as be contended he had a right to
do had be been so inclined.
Mr. LUSHINGTON appealed to the-House whe-
ther a Petition containing assertions like those which
appeared in the Petition of Captain Hanchett, ought
to be printed. . Had such a motion been made, he
should certainly have opposed it, and endeavoured
to prevail on the House to reject it. The Papers
which the Honosrable Gentleman wished for should
be granted. He would now call the attention of the
House particularly to a Paper which put the ques-
tion on a true footing, and :hewed that there never
had been an act of greater falsehood and profligacy
than that of which the Honourable Member had
been made the instrument. The Honourable Gen-
tleman would recollect that he had stated himself to
have warned Captain Hanchett against deviating
from the truth, and had been assured by him, on his
word of honour as a Gentleman, that the Petition
contained not one syllable but what was true. Now
after this, and after whathe had stated with respect
to the 46,000 which he had required as a considera-
tion for-the office he proposed to relinquish, what
would be thought of this person when he (Mr. Lush-
ington) stated that he could shew a letter in his (Cap-
tarn Hanchett s) own hand-writing, which he (Mr.
Lushington) knew to be such, in direct contradiction
to this assertion ? He then read some letters from
the person in whose favour it was proposed that he
should relinquish his situation, and from that per-
son's father, which proved that Captain Hanchett
had been clandestinely endeavouring to dispote of it
for his own benefit ; and it was the knowledge of
this that had led him (Mr. Lushington) to take the
too lenient course of requiring Captain Hanchett to
resign. The letters which he read proved that the
young Officer to whom he had offered his situation
had no corrupt motive, and redounded to his credit.
Upon the whole, he showed from a view of the con-
duct of the former Petitioner, that a more impudent
claim than this had never been set up—that a more
shameful case had never come before that House ;
and he should be much surprised if the Honourable
Gentleman did not manfully deny it all further

Mr. BENNETT, believing the statement made by
the Honourable Gentleman, concurred with him in
the view which he took of the case, and thought that
Ministers were bound to take the step they did.—
They would not have done their duty had they not
removed Captain Hanchett. He was satisfied with
respect to the present Petitioner, Knight. There
were two points alone on which he wished for infor-
mition. These regarded the conduct of the Admi-
nistration with respect to the patronage of the de-
partment to which attention bad been directed.
Mr. LUSHINGTON was ready to take his share
of blame for any thing to be complained of in this
respect. He would tell how matters stood with re-
ford to himself. Looking at the numbers admitted
into the service from the first establishment of that
department, down to the dismissal of Captain Han-
chett, he found that where be had recommended one
Canterbury man, he had recommended two of Cap-
tain Hanchett's friends.

The Petition was then ordered to lie on the table,
and to be printed.

On the motion of the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHE-
QUER. it was ordered that the House, at its rising,
do adjourn until Monday next.
DISSENTERS' MARRIAGES.

l".3}''
The motions were agreed to. the Ileetti sad 119.,
solved itself into the Committee..
The CHANCELLOR of the EXdriEQVER that,
read. the Resolutions which he had anncced it to
be his intention: to bring forward. They were as
follows :
F .Ist. Tim sin& the zerminatiost at the War, in I 9) S, the Pro-
perty Tax in Great Britain, and other Taxes in Great Britain
6hd Ireland, which yieldecta revenue of upwards-of £18,000,900
per-annum, have expired of been repealed, orreditcod.
ad. That by an Act paned ih the Sith Geo, Hie c. 98.- the
flakettues of Great &keit) and Ireland were consolidated from
the 6th of January, 11117, and
That in the year preeeding the said consolidation, the net
separate revenue of Ireland was £4,361,353, and the charges of
the fended and unfunded debt of Ireland was £6,446,825, in-
cluding therein the sum of £2,438,124, as the Sinking Pond, ap-
plicable to the seduction of the debt, and which charge ex-
ceeded the whole net revenue of Ireland, by the sum of
£1,685,472, without affording any provision for the Civil List,
and other permanent charge% or for the proportion of supplies
to be defrayed by that pars of the United Kingdom, and
That no provision has been Made by Parliament to supply this
deficiency.
3d. That the supplies to be voted by Parliarbent for the pre-
sent year, may be stated at £20,500,000,
4th. That the existing revenue, applicable to thew supplies,
cannot be estimated at more than £7,000,000, leaving the sum
of £13,500,000, to be tithed by lean or other extraordinary

resources.
Sth.. That the Sinking Fund, applicable to the reduction of
the National Debt in the present year, may be estimated at
about £15,500,000 exceeding the above sum, necessary to be,
raised for the service of the year, by about .£2,000,000 only.
6th. That to provide for the exigencies of the public service;
to make such progressive reduction of the National Debt, as
may adequately support public credit, and to afford to the
country, a prospect of future relief frbm a part of its present
bunko', it is absolutely necessary that there should be a clear
surplus of the Income of the Country, beyond the expenditure,
of not less than .C 5,000400 arse
That with a view to the attainment of tkia important object,.
it is expedient now to increase the In of the Country, by
the imposition of Taxes, to the amount of Three Millions per
annum.
Mr. GRENFELL understood that to-morrow the
Chancellor of the Exchequer was to meet the Gentle-
men with whom he proposed to contract for the Loan.,
Now as the Resolutions before the House must be
connected with the consideration of the Loan, he
would take it for granted that the Chancellor of the
'Exchequer, at his interview with the contractors,
would not commit himself in any way with respect
to the Sinking Fund, so as to anticipate the decision
of that House on Monday. He hoped the Right Ho-
nourable Gentleman would be careful to leave it
open to the House to provide that the Loan to be
raised in this or any other rear, should be raised in
tkat way which to them might appear most for the
benefit of the country. He was anvious that before
Monday nothing should pass between the Chancellor
of the Exchequer and the Loan Contractors that
should fetter that House in any respect, but elVecially
with respect to the application of the Sinking Fund
in diminution of the Loan.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said,
it could not be his object to fetter the judgment of the
House. The Contractors of the Loan, in making
their bargain, well knew that all must depend on the
decision the House might think it right to come to on
the Resolutions which he had brought forward.
The Resolutions were laid on the table. The House
then resumed, and the Chairman reported progress.
The Report of the Committee of Supply was
brought up, and agreed to.

-a& had
ood offices of England were
of Pearle,-.Loirtr Oat the g
France
and Austria, but
requital; ttpt only between
Ftin' to ve.laitiog_. signed prelim'
mary artichti
These
seemed to render such %law desirable,
situation that
that there was any thing in our present
when
between all the belligerents.
the other
but
the circumstances:
ddenied
could make this necessary. In 1756, .
the King of England
that it was the intention of
had positive information
seAicztepdathsseed3b? subject, the French
. King had
;Is ofthi
thess uEbijiegclti
attached to his for-
witlr many thousands of persons B.l_
the Bing of France to invade Great. Britain
. or Ire--
tunes. It was under such circumstances
land, and the Pretender was then restdingt.h
of 1756 passed, and this, as well as the former Act.
nae2t theParts
l
had been resorted to under particular difficulties, in
order to meet a special and extraordinary necessity.
It would be found that all the Acts that had passed
of such a nature had been passed, under similar cir-
cumstances. Such were the circumstances under
which the Acts of James the First and Second had
passed. It would be seen that such measures had
never been resorted to but when England was a prin-
cipal in the contest, or when she had undertaken to
act as a mediator between the Belligerent Powers.
These laws had never been acted on. Those who had
offended them had either been tried on the Articles
of War, or for High Treason. He proceeded to il-
lustrate this by a. variety of instances. He noticed
the treatment which the body of English subjects
taken at the battle of Dettingen, in the French ser-
vice, had received, and proceeded to state, that in
1794, when General, O'Hara was taken prisoner by
the French, and sentenced to death by the French
Convention for acting with the Emigrants, who had
seen landed on the French coast, she Duke of York
Immediately sent Lord Hutchinson to the advanced
posts of the French army to remonstrate against the
'sentence, and to remind the enemy that the corps
token in 1744 in the French service had been treated
bat as prisoners of war. The treatment which the
Irish Brigade in the French service, who, on the death
of the French King refused to serve the Republic,
met with on their coming to this country, when,
without any Bill of Indemnity passing, they were
employed in our service, served still further to prove
the correctness of what he had advanced. He was
farther borne out in what he had said by the course
timed by the Irish regiments in Spain. The indi-
**dual instances of persons acting with foreign Powers
ere numerous. When General Money came here
it was not viewed by Austria as a just ground of war.
When the French General La Fayette went to Amer.
rica it was not regarded as a cause of war by England.
In the same way Sir Sidney Smith had commanded
the Swedish fleet ; and the Russian fleet, in the watt's
between Russia and the Porte, had been full of Scotch
Officers, without giving offence to the Powers who it
might be supposed would have felt aggrieved. 'All
writers on the law of nations were agreed that it was
not incumbent on one Government to prevent its sub-
jects from enlisting into the service of foreign Powers,
but merely to avoid giving a preference to either
party. In 1756, we had subsidized Corps of Rus-
sians and Hessians, without engaging their Govern-
ment in our war, and it had been the-practice of the
Swiss to let out their men thus at all times. We
were taunted with America, and told that she had
passed an Act of this nature. He was one of those
who had admired America, for having established
within her own bosom an impregnable citadel of
freedom;, but in the case referred to, he thought she
had only studied her own aggrandizement. At the
commencement of the contest, the United States of
America had given the Spanish Colonies all the assis-
tance in their power. The Government of Spain,
alarmed at this, bad said, " Forbear ! assist our Colo-
nies no more, and we will give you Florida." The
boon was accepted by America, and she became pos-
sessed of Florida. Hereafter, he could venture to
prophecy, America, acting in the same spirit, would
demand and obtain the island of Cuba, and having
got. it, she would make a dash at the Main, plant her
standard on Mexico, and having obtained the cow.
mend of all the commerce of its gulph, laugh ai
England for being the dupe of her professions. He
censured the hardships to which this Bill would doom
those who went to fight under the banner of liberty,
bowever well they might serve their country while
abroad, when they returned, crowned with laurels,
and loaded with the benedictions of millions. Such
men, at the will of any informer, might be sent to
jail, to be dealt with like malefactors. Such a Bill he
must describe as one not called for by the rights of
neutrality—as one which humanity must reject, and
policy condemn—and, in short, as one in favour of
Ferdinand, and in opposition to liberty. He con-
cluded by moving, as an amendment, that the Bill
should be read a second time on that day six ninths.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said it appeared to
him the course pursued by the Gallant General was
a little extraordinary ; for according to his argument,
.if he had understood him, the subjects of one State
had a right to enlist in the service of foreign Powers,
even though those Powers were at war with their own
Country—(Cries of " No, no.") The Honourable
and Gallant General had talked of the treatment
which the Irish Brigade and other Corps had expe-
rienced, afterbearing arms against their own Govern-
ment ; and he (the Attorney-General), though he
quarrelled not with the mercy which had been Strewn
in the cases referred to, maintained, that supporting
his argument thus, the doctrine of the Honourable
and Gallant General did in fact amount to this—that
subjects had a right to enlist against their own coun-
try. This, though he did not state it, was the effect
of what he had said. He would contend that the sub-
jects of one country had no right to enlist in theser-
vice of a Power at war with one that was at peace
with their Own country. The principle on which this
measure was founded was the same by which the
King had the power to command his subjects out of
the kingdom to return to it. Both were founded on
the main principle of considering each individual sub-
ject as composing a part of the State. The State
carrying o n
(aomgweaei:nsso?ttwa
t. another
em
couldandt
another,th Set
transactions a State
Be
would be a mere cipher, if any subject of it might
refuse to obey it, and to act as not belonging to it:
Let the Ilouse recollect what this Bill professed. It
was to prevent persons from going to any too: n in the
kingdom to beat up for recruits toserve in a war
w
e
were in amity.ii
ill Ict v
ivi er carriedeiclliacthhi
lwss
was,
wonerebettowbeeenall
that there should be the King's license to authorize
such an act ; and that without such Itceme, whoever

did it should be punishable as guilty of a mid„
nour. The Bill itself was founded on the C(Jtri..."Tnn.
Law. When he said this, he was aware that u
mid
be said, if the act, which the Bill weqt to
relit;
was against the Common Law, the Bill •.•;as uEmeet,
sary—(Hear, front the Opposition)--and if it ~a
admitted that the crime was one against the C0r,,,..,„1
Law, then all the argument of the Galiam Gereral.
who spoke last was in support of an act agair,t
Common Law—(Hear, hear). If the House er•l of
opinion that the act in question was against the lz.e
why ought there not to be an Act of Parliament
put all men guilty of it under an equality of pun:,.,
ment whether they served the ore state or the other'
But were that class of the combatants (whom Nxit.ho,,..
disrespect he would call insurgents) to have a pv4,
'to call our fellow-subjects to fight hi their ra!`,,
while the other class who were the recognized G,
vernment were not to be allowed ? It would
gross injustice if the act were lawful. But the tre
was, it was against neutrality. The principle aI,
Bill was one of strict neutrality and impartialite

neither favoured nor injured one party more that u
other. He could not help alluding to a Peti:;c,
which had this day been presented on the subiecr
this Bill. He could not but think that the Petitiotos
wholly mistook its object. They said that it wt:',d
inpre the commercial interests of the country. t,
less by commercial transactions were meant dealing;
in the munitions of war—(No, no,, from rariou pc;
of the Howe}—the fair commercial interests of th
country would not in any deg,ree he affected by e
measure. But if it was objected that this Bi:lpn
vented the fitting out ships of war in oar pc;:s to
serve on behalf of either of the contending
could hardly be contended that it Ivas not a thiLg
which ought to be prevented. The Bill had adypted
a policy which was always held consistent with Li
principles of the Common Law. He would ask, 'al
ther revolted provinces, not being in the r:
King, State; Prince or nation, could be consider,
absolved and exempt from ail regulations, and
principles of international law, which governed
intercourse of other States? There was a provi
in the Bill to prevent it from affecting persons,
had already entered into the service of either of

contending parties ; and this was introduced, not
cause those persons could be considered as vibol.
free from offence, but that this Act might rather
made to serve as a notice. On the whole, there

the House would agree with him in thinking that
Bill was a wise measure, and that no solid °Nut,
had yet been made to it.
Mr. DENMAN thought the House must be
much surprized to hear the principles of law wile.
had been laid down by his Honourable and Learned
Friend who had just sat down, and the more so. x.
asmuch as they were wholly uncalled for by what
had been said by his Honourable and gallant Friend,
and inapplicable to its arguments. The arguer
of his Horasurabls Friend was, that a neutral State
ought to give its subjects the power of entering into
the service of any foreign State. Interference to re.
vent this was against the principle of neatralon.
But this measure was an interfe:enze of a partiil
kind, and tending to favour one party more than the
other. It was well known that it would have the et-
fect of deterring many from joining
.the Colo
while it would prevent none from entering the
of Spain, because there were none likely to enter
because no Englishman, with the heart of an Eoj
lishman, would enter into the service of Spain;
her Colonies. But it was said that the House ougi
not to allow a system of recruiting in London, -
the various towns throughout the kingdom, by
of drum, to levy forces to serve against Spain; ,
his Honourable Friend talked as if this system was
carried on to such an extent that these recruits wee
paraded through the streets of Westminster,
the Haymarket, and St. James's-street. The Hour
did not know that such things were done; and.
were actually true, perhaps it ought. to be
But why shisuN Parliainent now depart from
and sound prihciple of law which prevailed _
the year 1736 ? In former cases it never had
resorted to. In the war of the Hugonots, in
British subjects had never been prevented from
ing either of the contending parties; because
principle had always been recognized, that the
ject of a neutral Power had a right to apply hil
nius, and his strength, and his courage, to the
sisting of either of the contending parties. It
true that there was a common law-right in the
to prevent any of his subjects from departing
the realm. There was the old common law writ
se meat repo for this purpose, and there was:
writ for recalling the King's subjects from a.
These might, no doubt, be legally employed,
the first was often resorted to in private cases.
as a measure of State policy, the moment a
was made necessary to authorize a British subject-
enter into the service of either party, an act -of
tility was committed against that party, and
principle of neutrality was departed from.
power which the Bill gave of detaining ships in
gave such an inducement to informers, that
could be no doubt the Act would be rigorously
forced. The time when this Bill was introduced w
most Ungracious. By the long war, a great pa
Lion of the people was become so wholly military
to be incapable of exercising any other profession
and no* this Bill went to prevent them from alai
ing themselves of the only opportunity of justly.
safely exercising the profession of arms. The oirt
of the Bill was obviously favourable us Spain. 21'
threw a great weight into her scale, by prevensinE
an accession of strength to her Colonies..
• Mr. C. W. WYNNE said, whether he considered
this measure with a view to the reference it had 10
this country, or to Spain and her Colonies, he ca'
the more convinced of its propriety. The Homo
able and Gallant General referred to the reign 0:
Elizabeth, when British subjects were allowed r
serve against Spain in the contest between that king•
dom and her Cblonies in the Low Countries: bat I.
was forgotten that it was the policy of this countr
to weaken Spain at that.time, and that English mil'
jects were allowed to serve in the Low Countries for
the pdrpose of effecting a diversion. The same re•
mark was applicable to the other cases-of such pee
mission mentioned by the Honourable and Galls!:
General. It was quite monstrous to suppose that th,
subjects of any State had it in their power to la:
down their allegiance whenever they chose to licccc.
a commission in the service of a Foreign rov.v.:c4'
,
(ficar,hcar,iicar!) The case a the Seas was tali

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