Star.
London, England, 1817-03-05 00:00:00

EXCIsE PROSLCUTIONS.

Mr. TEED moved for an Account of thenumber
of Excise rrdsecutions in the Justices of Peace Courts,
the Courts of Exchequer, and other Courts in Eitp-
land and Scotland, during the four years ending Fe•
bruary. 1817, distinguishing ti,e number in each
county and each year—the estimated amount•of pemdl
ties leviedofitd•the names of the persons by whom
the .prireeeds•Were received, with other particulars. •
The CHANCXLLOR of the EXCHEQUER
said, that Alteucount moved for could rot be made
oat witholeirt enottnous expense and wage of urn-,
and in part not at all. There was no public depa•t-
ment by means of which the prosecuti..ns beiol Ilb.
tices of Peace could ascertained I and as to the
part which could by great labour be made uot, the
expense which would be incurred by it would be im-
mense, if every individual prosecution was to be
stated. He doehted too, whether it could be made
up till the next Session.
Mr. PONSONBY agreed that the expense and
trouble necessary to make up such a Return would
be great, and suggested whether it would not be ad:-
visable to confine the motion to some year or half
year. if the end in view could then be answered It
probably would not then be objected to.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER
said, there was no wish in his Majesty's Mili,sters to
withhold information. lion a future day tie ft,..
pourable Member would put his motion in a Lase
practicable shape, or confine it to any individaal ease
respecting which he wished for information, he should
not object to its—The motion was then withdrawn
SHIP OWNERS.

Mr. THOMPSON said he had a petition to pre.
sent from certain Ship-owners, praying to be heard
by Counsel before the Select Committee appointed to
consider of the Contracts between the India Company
and other Ship.owners.
The SPEAKER said, that as the Committee was
for the purpose of preparing a Bill, it was impossible
for them to hear the clain.s of those who cnuceived
they would be affected by the proposed measure,
consistently with the forms of the House. When 64
Bill was biought in, any persons affected by it migl•;
petition to be heard by Counsel, and to tae ~Ilov:to to
produce evidence against it.
rt:ra lANS.

Sir FRANCIS BU It DE 1' 1. wished to know whe.
ther those Gentlemen whose notices stood for that
evening would waive their claims to priority ar favour
of the adjourned debate on the Petitions which it might
be convenient for the House to dispose of ?
Mr. PONSONBY said, he would willingly waive
the claim to ptiuurity with respect to his nooce.
Mr. BROUGHAM urged the necessity of a Teed?
decision on the question of the Petitions, whicti deer.
tion might affect the right attempted to be elerclied
by nearly a million of men.
Colonel WOOD Raid, he would put off his notice,
if such were the wish of the House—(Cris of
.Go on.)

The debate on the Petitions was Lb'► ta tuither ad-
,joersted till to morrow.

MOLT& •
Sir JAMES MACKINTOSH said, that on an
early day he should submit a Motion to the House
respecting.Druits of the Admiralty and Dro►ts of the
Crown, and all other monies received by the Crown,
in consequence of its exercise of the sight to make
war and to conclude treaties.

. GAME LAWS.
Colonel WOOD said, in moving for leave to bring
in the bill of which he had given notice, he should
confine his explanation to the objects of it. By the
Act of 28 Geo. 11. it was illegal to sell game. He
wished that Act to be repealed. It had peen wittily
observed last Session, that. this Bill should be enti-
tled- an Act to facilitate poaching. It he thought
that its operation would not be quite the reverse, he
should never have proposed it. The prevalence of
poaching was an evil of extreme magnitude—it was
destructive.oyahe morals of the peasantry, and lea
them to habits of general deptedatiou. Instead ui
preventing poaching, the' present restriction ou the
sale of :Game . tended to increase i'. By the Atli of
Queen Anne,- certain persons were prevented Item
setling•Game, vtx. Higlers, Chapineis, Inekeepos,
and Victuallers; but the power was reserved to Laiels
or Ladies of Manors to appoint Gamekeepers;
if these Gamekeepers s )1d the Game without the
consent of, their moles s, it was declined penal—
plainly pointing oft, that with their consent the s.i.e
fi game was permitted. The ACt of Y 8 Ii Geo. 11.
recited the Act of Anne, and stated that doubts had
existed as to the meaning of the word t ha/Imm
It then enacted that it was penal for any pers,ati
qualified or not, to sell Game. This waa a pretty
sweeping explanation of the word Chapnien.—
It was said, if the Act of Geo. 11. were ri pealed.
there would be no power to prevent poaching, a' rt:t
power to search dwellings for game would be takci
away, but this would not be the case, as by an Acz.
4 and 5 Wm. and Mary, cap. 9.3, now little knrwri
a power of search was given, and of convicting the
perion in whose house game was found, unsex
could give a satisfactory account of the manner in
which he obtained it, or from whom he bough, it.
The whole of the Act 28 Geo. 11. might thus be re•
tpealed, withcut taking away any power necessary icr
the prevention of poaching. All he wished at ?Tr-
icot was, fur leave to bring in the Bill, whish
read a first time, might then be printed, alter whit'
the House could go into the merits of the meaAire.
He was convinced nothing could be worse than the
present footing upon which the Game Laws stcol
The Honourable Member then coi.cludeo,
iriovingibil leave to bring in a Bill repealing certaiq
Acts, and snaking other provisions ropecting
th
sale of gone: •
Sit C.-BLIR REM, said, he differed e: tirely from
the Honourable Member who had just sat do an, and
he regretted 'that lie bad again brought forward
measure which so entirely failed last Session. It t
present system of the Game Laws were unseated •i
might be fol.nd difficult to settle them .te.Aio• Fit
thought the better way would be to appoint A Con.-
otittee,• consisting of a few sensible and leg el rn:q• In
lequire'into the soej.:et, and theirs, perhaps, solueti:,:'•::
might be done. He, however, considereii the wets .‘
system as bighlfbeneficial, because it inelus.fd Gro
tkmen of property to Lee oh tßeir estates i 414 4) Li: •

Pr"
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ten,
do

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preent measure seemed calculated to destroy that
-.11,1 of union which subsisted between them and theii
prams, and the farmers, he should feel it his duty to
divide npon the question of bringing in the Bill.
Mr, G. BANKES was surprised that the Hnn.
Gentleman, who NM SO partial to the preservation
of game—who knew so well that the sports of the fi-Pld
induced Gentlemen of fortune to visit their estates
irequently —should have introduced a measure which
would have the effect of increasing the practice of
poaching, in a tenfold degree, so long as any of those
,prises of animals, recognized by the Game Laws,
coninued to exist. The system which he spoke of as
PI derv, was three hundred y"ars old—and, therefore,
rippotted by the wi d on and e;perience of their
arcest.r;. In the teign ca Henry VIII, an .Act was
pissed prohibiting all persons, excepting Members nt
t.e Royal Household, from st Ring game. That Act
:fntinued in force till the time of James I. when the
,00hibition was emended to persons of every class
.7nt! degree. The Game Laws might, not unaptly,
be compared to an old park-fence ; which, though it
1.1 some :Oat irregular in its form, am:. ered All the
mows for which it was intended —although it
rfeht not please the eye so much as a neat hence,
%hick was often less useful than ornamental. -He
ijc,led that the Game laws were made tor. the benefit
~ rite rich, but for the oppression of dig pour—since,
i,y their enactments, they prevented that encroach-
ra-ct on property, which, if the peasant once indul-
w.l. ic, hii Tien was certain
Mr. CURWEN was astonished, considering the
retinae and spirit of the Gaspe' Laws, how the En-
no„,we Gentleman who had just spoken could in
terptet them favourably. From beginning to end
they were opposed to every thing like English liberty
...iney were lutist unjust, and most impolitic. He
vished they were done 'away altogether, and a diffe.
tent system introduced. It would tend to promote
the growth of game, and to extend the sports of Gen-
'Jensen. He should vote for the present measure,
Ea he would be better pleased, if a Bill were brought
in to punish the wealthy buyer of game, instead of
re miserable retailer—(Hear, hear).
Mr. LONG WELLESLEY opposed the motion.
Sir F. BURDETT agreed in the propriety of his
Honourable Friend's observation, that it any punish-
ment were to be inflicted, it .ought to fall on the
wealthy man, and nut on the poor stool 'Own his
riches had seduced into an illegal act.
Atter a few words from Sir E. &mom. Mr. W.
WI NN, and Colonel Wool), in reply, the House di-
,:ded, when there appeased—For the Motion, 46--
Against it, 34—Majority, 12.
tENLWAL of COMMISSIONS ON DEMISE OF TITS CROWN.
Mr. PONSONBY rose, pursuant to ;cis notice,, to
bring Os subject under the attention of the House.
The Hone:liftable Member began by observing upon
the ancient practice with respect to the continuance
of Parliaments, which, originating in the power of
the Crown, were held to become extinct npon its de-
mite; but the inconvenience of that practice was so
great, that a law was parsed in the 7th of King
Widiaro, enacting that Parliaments should continue
to sit six months after the demise of the Crown, and
when it happened that no Parliament was in being at
thr period of such demise, then the late Parliament

Iva( to be convened together again, and to cominae
its sittings for rx months, unless dissolved by the
successor to the throne. In the same manner it was
provided by an Act of Queen Anne, that certain of
the hthest Officers of State should not forfeit their
offices, or be deprived of the enjoyment, of them by
the demise of- the Crown. but contiotte to hold and
exercise them until removed by her Majesty's succes-
sor. The object of his Bill was to carry the princi-
ples of those two Acts into effect with regard to all
persons who held any civil or military offices under
tbeCiown, end during the pleasure' of the Crown.
There was one filial; in favour of the proposition,
rbat'it could not be contemplated as a party measure.
It was impossible-to say who might be chosen as the
confidential advisers of the Crown upon the accession
of any new Sovereign ; and it would therefore prove
equally beneficial to all persons who held offices, whe-
ther high or low, under the Crown. As the law stood
at present, every individual no holding. an office—
every Lord L;euteaaot of a County, flay Deputy.
Lord Lieutenant, every Justice of thaßeape, • every
individual holding a commission in the army-or navy,
was under the necessity of renewing theiriright upon
the demise of the Crown, by a very expensive pro-
ceeding. His object was to do away with that. ne,
(teeny ; and if the House granted him permission to
brine in his Bill, he should merely have it read a first
time, and defer the second reading to any day that
might be thought convenient. The Hon. Member
concluded by moving for leave to bring in a Bill for
continuing every person or persons in their office or
offices, whether civil or military, which they held at
tlie.demite of the Crown, until removed or discharged
by the successor to the Throne—the Bill to extend
not only to persons in Great Britain and Ireland, but
to all our foreign possessions and colonies.
Lord CASTLEREAGH expressed his willingness
to concur in the motion of the Honourable Gentleman,
reserving for the second reading any observations
which trie proposed measure might require.
Ur. THROUGH AM observed that the present gees-
.tion afforded him an opportunity of alluding to a
subject which he thought deserved the serious ct4rii-
der4tion of his Majesty's Knisters. Previously. to
the dissolution of the present Parliament he was of
opinion that some prospective measure ought to be
adopted with respect tothe continuance of the ensuing
°ner in the event of the early demise of the Crown.
Er ads aware, that for Parliament to prolong its
own existtnce was unconstitutional, but the peculia-
-I;ty of the case, he apprehended, would justify some
7;eP being taken to prevent the necessity of imme-
diately re-electing (he next Parliament upon the de-
mi, se of the Crown, which must otherwise he.dones-..
be motion was then put and carried minnimotfily.
Pit"VISION FOR TIM LUNATIC #OOll IN titicLANIX
tV. PEEL rose for the purpose of, Balling the at-
*lsloo of the House to the state of the. Livia.= Poor
" Ireland. At present there was no kind of asylum
for lunatics in any part of Ireland except in Dit'slina
1,1 Cork, and in the County of Tipperary. to Deb-
the only 'place for them was the House of In-
3urY, in which there were no wards peculiarly ap-
kropriated for the reception Of lunatics, consequently
t.e roost outrageous maniacs and the most disgusting
were turned loose amongst the other paupers
"0 were perfectly sane. H. was of opinion that
"'hint effectual could be dose trakess by local Ind.,.

'ttitiont. us tiansmitting them to Dublin would be at.
tended with so much danger and difficulty that
therefore he thought there should be an asylum in
Cork, in Belfast, and also in each Ccitinty. He there-
fore moved, that the matter be ieferred to the consi-
deration of a Committee, which should include all
the Members for Ireland who chose to attend.
Mr. WYNN supported the motion.
Mr. ROSE said, that he felt great satisfaction in
giving his support to the measure now proposed.—
Nothing, he observed, could be more lamentable than
the state of the Lunatic Poor in Ireland. lite idiots
were the sport of every mischievous boy, and the
outrageous maniacs were the terror of every neigh-
bourhood which they happened to frequent. When
they were taken up for the purpose of being sent to
Dublin, they were tied to the back of a car, and their
aims were often so much injured as to require imme-
diate amputation.
Mr. BARING said, that what was stated as to
Ireland was true as to some parts of England. In
Hampshire, for instance?, there was no provision
whatsoever of the description al:uded to. However,
with regard to what was now proposed for the Lu-
natic Poor in Ireland, he hoped that the Right Hon.
Gentleman (Mr. Peel) did not intend that the coun-
try at large should proviAe for the County Paupers.
Ireland was fottun,ite iit being free from the Poor
Laws, and that was an additional reason why she
should not cast the burden of the Lunatic Paupers
upon England.
Mr. PEEL, in explanation, said, that he thought
it quite incumbent upon each County to provide for
Its own Lunatics; that even now the Grand Juries
acre entitled to present sums for that purpose. lie
only wished to assist and stimulate their exertions by
a legislative enactmept.
Mr. CROKER said, that ever since he had the
honour of a seat in that House, he always declared
himself anxious to obtain for I relao4 an identity of
legislation with Great Britain ; but still that he en-
tirely coocurred with the tight Honourable Gentle.
man, and would support his motion.
Mr. PEEL's Motion was then carried.

Mr. PONSONBY brought up the Bill, which he
had obtained leave to bring in relAtive to the Renewal
of Commissions on the demise of the Crown. It was
10441 a first time, and ordered to be read a second
time on the 14th of April.
On the M•Aiun of Sir C. NfuNra. the Papers relating
to Greenwich Hospital were ordered to be printed.

PRZVENTON OF SEDITIOOS AnnulLiFs.

On .tl►g. Motion of the SOLICITOR-GENERAL, the
Order of the D.ty fir the c.-mmittal of the Bill for
the Prevention of Seditious Assemblies was read.
The SPEAKER hawing left the Chair,
The SOLICITOR-GENERAL moved some new
clauses, which were received Are firma, with an un-
dertarkling that the printed 8.11 mould be ready for
the perusal of Members rattly on Thursday, on which
day it was ordered to be re-committed.
The Report on the Peseeengers Bill was then read, and also
the Report on the Coffee Bill.
The Cunene Commissietwrs' Bill was read a third time and
passed.
Leave was then given to !Ribs in a Bin to regulate the impor.
tatlen of Coals, and It was read a first time.
A Bill was read a first inn., for Indemnifying those who ne-
glected to quality themselves for certain Offices.
Mr. W. bairrm expressed a wish to know when the Right Ho.
pourable Qeutlrmaa opposite intended to bring in his Bill for
Extents in Aid t

l'Is• Cuisines:Ana of the Excuaquitu patd that be would
have brought it forward bolero now, but for the ladisposilun of
unto of the &Ranted Judges; Sod he was awry to Say that now be
could no. do soy thing relative to it until the Circuits were over.
Sir C. Ma Not hoped thit on tinge would be lost.
The CUANcsiLoa of the iiitcmkgvut assured the House that
co palm shook' be wanting no his peet.....—Adjuutunl.

Tad AvzNiNtG STAR.

.ONDON.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5, 1817.
Tug FUNDS.

The realest confidence continues to be manifested h the sta-
bility of the British Funds. Purchases of Stock to an Immense
&ascent wets made-this morning, and bets to • great amount
kiveleino, given and taken that Consols wdt be door at 70 by the
close of the- present, week. This morning Console opened at
OCf for nutesey, and 691 for the account. One Broker Tester-
day purchased de500.000 Stock, and this day has added £3 0,000
lantsliteak.—Bacisequer Bills and Bonds are also in great request,
theionlier at 17e pron. the litter 3514 to 975.

Only a few months have passed since Government
(mind itself imperiously called on to vindicate the
_rights of British subjects, by inflicting an exemplary
punishment on the Algerine_thieves. If Justice be
equally alive to punish injuries in other quarters, an
exemplary chastisement should be inflicted on Kin:
Henry of Hyti. This black fellow hat had the inso-
lence, not merely to imprison, but to put to the tor-
ture of the thumb.screws„a British subject, on a charge
of writing upon political subjects, as our Readers
will see by a Petition presented last nigh; to the
House of Commons. We mean not to question his
right, on a judicial procedure to imprison a 'Ake.
man; for a black Government has just as good a
right as any other to adopt precautions for its own
safety, and to punish by 1.-Av those who violate its
laws: but we deny that any Government upon
earth, whether while or black, can have a rigl:t to
inflict torture upon a British subject. And we shall
be much di►appointed if measures have not already
been adopted by our Government to inform Mr.
Kin: Hairy, that be will not be permitted, with ins-.
punity, to mutilate by torture any man wbo has the
honour and happiness to be a subject of the Mao
itt91.404D.

11 Negro King, and his Ministers, most he re-
minded, that 01AVIAL CaOAIWfLE. once batteted ,the
legitimate PRPNCI of PAW Palace about his ears,
fir m 4 threateniv those who professed the Protestant
religion in his dominions . with the torture—and that
it is not quite a century singe the regular Government
.of Spain was nearly stripped of all her Colonies, and
her whole navy was burnt and destroyed, because a
ruffian) wbo sailed under the Spanish Bag, dared cc
cut the ear from Captain Jesornks, a British subject !
And lastly, If Columns* aad his Bestows, canny
read, a eireolaiteace highly probable, from them
streams' eltadoet, we would have tho ate dispatehe:

of lord tniooll interpret!'" to theth in all the lan.
guages which they Understand—we mean those dis
patches in which the sable DRY of ALGIERS is d-
scribed as begging pardon on his knees foi his cruelty
to the British Coasul.

The revival of a feW of thesd historical records,
accompanied by a salute from the guns of a British
seventy-four, will, we fear, be necessary, before the
magnanimous Sovereign el Hayti," is taught that
torture is not of British Institution—and that as not one
of the legitimate Sovereigns of Europe dares to in-
fret it on a British subject, far less will such a privi-
lege be granted to an Upstart, who, we are sorry to
find, has not been taught by the whip of the 'driver,
in his early life, to sp ire the bodily sufferings of his
fellow-creatures ; and who has so far forgotten .the
origin of his own greatness, as to visit with the tor-
ture a subject of Olt nation, which not only afro-
-I;shed Negro slavery, but was the first to bold out
the right hand of fellowship to the black population,
the world. This is a subject, however, upon
which there is little occasion to descant further :
those who so promptly read a lesson to the Dev of
ALcisita, will probably, in addition to the Professors
and Schoolmasters whom HENRY has been importing,
from this country, send him a Lord EXMOUTH, to
deliver to him a proper lecture on the respect due to
British subjects.
The following occurrence, though not of the dia.
holical quality of the. treatment experienced by Mr.
DAVISON, seems also to call fee some interference—
were it only to establish a proper understanding be-
tween our Government and that of Spain. The Bri-
tish sloop of war Tay, bound from Panama to Jamaica,
with a large quantity of specie on board, in return for
gpods sent to Panama, was, on her passage, stranded
on an uninhabited island in the Gulf of Mexico, but
the crew and money saved. A Spanish corvette hear-
ing of the event, went to the island, and demanded
the dollars, alleging they were smuggled, it being
unlawful for coin to be shipped in Spanish ports.—
The British Captain refused to give up the property
confided to his charge, but the haughty and cowardly.
Don, availing himself of the bereft and defenceless
state of a crew on a desert island, and just escaped
from a watery grave, wised the whole property and
carried it away to the Havannali, with the exceptiou
of a small sum claimed by a Spaniard who had come
passenger in the Tay. We hope some Member in
Parliament will inquire into the grounds on which
this hostile and dastardly act has been committed.

dlmia..•••••

We have this morning received the French Papers
of Saturday last ; but their contents are quite unim-
portant.—The Funds continue thing. On the 28th
they left off at 66 fr. SO c.

It was yesterday reported in the City. on the autho.
thy of letters from St, Diming°, that the Spanish
General Molina" had been con; ogled to evacuate
Santa Fe. and had actually arrived at Carthagena.
This circumstance may be considered as extremely
probable, since in tie dispatches written home. by
the above officer, and intercepted by the Buenos
Ayres privat ens, he represents his situation as most
dreadful—cut off from supplies and intercourse with
the sea—without money to pay his troops, and the
flame of Revolution daily spreading wider around him.
He also candidly acknowledges that the loss of Carac•
CAS must eventually bring about Ills own dOWilf4l.

A few days ago Colonel Sr. LIMPER received a let-
ter from her Royal Highness the Princess of %V ALEs.
that she intended to be in Kensington iu a short time,
and to order her apartments to be gut ready for her.
The marriage of the Earl of MARCH, eldest son of
the Duke of !bollworm, with Lady Cattottrag PACtT,
daughter of the Marquis of Awatesea, is expected t,)
take place in the course of this month.
General ARFACROMBY. who died lately at Mar-
seilles, was Member of Parliament for CIACMAIMMI-
Shire, and second son et Sir RALPH Asaticitosiay.
We are requested to state, that a French Edition!
of the Duchess d'ANCMLEMIt'S Jortimac, with Bin-,
graphical Notes by the French Editor, will be pub.
lashed by Mr. Coutuns, on Saturday next, hand-
somely printed in Sep. -uniform with the Work of
Hue and the Journal de CLRRY, price Bs. 6d.
A Ge.teral Court of Proprietors of East India
Stock wes yesterday held, for the purpose of taking
into • further consideration the motion relative to
Haley bury College. Previous to die regular business
being proceeded in, the Camas:AN suited. that be had
iraceivett a letter from Viscount Sidmouth, infbrming
him that a Levee would be held on Thursday nest,
at two o'clock. It was then agreed that the Court
should go up with an Address of Congratulation to
his anyel BAghness the PRiNCR Realm:4m that day.
The. Order of the Day being then read,
Mr. GRANT argued strenuously that the College
had ans.vered the end proposed. and complained that
much of whet was urged against it was ejther un.
founded or exaggerated. .
Mr. PATTIzON thought the College had, in a lite-
rary point of view, been eminently useful, though its
discipline Iliad not been sufficiently strict. He
pointedly opposed the motion of Mr. R. Jackson, and
said, if the Learned Gentleman succeeded in his
motion, he hoped he would place tha following motto '
toter the Military Institution to which he was so
much attached :
Dime, radical, mutat, vadrse rotundas;
whic'h might'. be thus translated :-?Dirster—he palls
down Hale/betty College ; eifOcat—he raises the Aik-
,itary lnstitntion; moot—be changes; feadroja—
,quare caps; renordu—into round hats.
, Mr. BOOQUICT was of opinion, .notwithstanding
.11 he had heard on this sithject, that a case had not
wen made oat against the. College.
The Hon. W. F. ELPIIIOTONE spoke to favour of
be Institution. . •
Mr. lt. JACRAOR addressed the Court in reply.
The Court' then divided-I or the previous quo
cion, $1 —:.Agaissst it, 9.9—Mr. Jaikson's minim lost
0.7 st—stojiarncli. ... • . - - . .