Star.
London, England, 1820-05-26 00:00:00

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too much importince to be decided upon hastily,—
He should therefore. suggest an adjournment to next
day of the furthlr debate on the motion..
Mr. WILLIAMS considered that the motion in-
volved one of the greatest constitutional qnestions
that could come before the House. If the Elector%
of Boston chose to return an individual to Parliament
who could not attend, was the House not to interfere
to see that that Borough should be represented ? -
The absence of Gentlemen from the country, who
are elected to serve as Members in the House, was
no ground why the British Parliament should not be
filled up. He moved, " That the further debate be
adjourned till tu-morrow."
Sir ROBERT HERON said, that if the Hon.
Member who made the motion agreed to the post•
.
ponement, he (Sir Robert) should oppose it. There
were numbers of witnesses in town, who attended
with very great inconvenience.
The motion was postponed till to-morrow.
MISCELLANIES.

The SPEAKER informed the House, that the time for re-
ceiving Petitions respecting Private Bills was to have expired on
the 30th of May, but' as there verb three Election Petitions
fixed for that day, it might be expedient to extend the period to
Wednesday, the 31st, fur the convenience of the different parties
concerned.

The time was, therefore, farther enlarged to that day, and an
extension was allowed for receiving 'lrish Private Bills to Thurs-
day, the Mit of June, from the delay of communication betwcen
the two countries.

Mr. RICE presented a Petition from the principal inhabi-
tants of tha county of Carnal von, praying fur an alteration in the
mode cf administering justice in Wales.
Mr. CA MPBELL made some remarks, tending to enforce
the necessity of complying with the prayer of this Petition. Ile
said, evtry cause of importance in Wales was vied in an Eng-
lish Cc unty.
Mr. COKE presented a Petition from several Agriculturists
of Norfolk, praying for Relief..—Ordered to he on the Table.
Sir M. RIDI.F.Y presented a Paition frcm the Traders of
Newcastle, praying for the removal of all Restrictions on Foreign
Trade. He declared that, to his own knowledge, great incon-
venience arose from those restrictions, and he hoped there would
be no objection to let this Petition go before a Committee.
Mr. LINDSAY presented a Petition from Forfar, praying
for the continuance of the bounties on the linen Trade.

Mr. MAXWELL presented a l'etition from the Linen Ma-
nufacturers and Traders of Paisley, praying to remove the Re-
strictions on Trade.—Laid on the Table.

Sir G. CLERKIC brought up some Papers illative to Sierra
Leone and the Gold Coast.—Ordered to be printed.
The other Orders of the day were then disposed of, and the
House adjourned at Half-past Nine o'clock.

PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS.

SIR THOMAS HISLOP.

Our Readers probably remember, that when the
thanks of both Houses of Parliament were voted (in
March, 1819), to the British Army in India, for its
distinguished services during the late war, the parti-
cular vote which applied to Sir Tilos:as IJI-Lop,
was accompanied by a reservatisn of any opinion as
to the expulsion of the Killedar from the fort of Tal-
neir, and his subsequent execution. The ground of
this exception was, that Parliament was not then in
possession of sufficient information upon the subject
to form a collect judgment. The proceeding was
sanctioned by Ministers, who undertook to procure
from India such particulars as would explain the
whole of that transaction, and at the same time, they
had no doubt, entirely justify the conduct of Sir
THOMAS HISLOP. These documents have just been
laid upon the table of the House of Commons, and
we feel it to be an act of justice towards a gallant and
meritorious Officer not to suffer a moment's delay in
communicating such an abstract of them as will suf-
fice to shew that Sir THONIAS HISLOP, in ordering
the Killedar to be hung, acted not only in confor-
mit), to the established usages of war, but from the
dictates of wise and enlarged sentiments of humanity.
The first of these documents is the copy of a mi-
nute by the Marquis of. HASTINGS himself, dated
July 7, 1819, in which he announces- that he had
written to Sir THOMAS HISLOP for a minute state-
ment relative to the execution of the Killedar, but
till that explanation arrived, he wished to represent
what was his own impression from the particulars
that bad come before him. This impression is fully
expressed in the following sentences:
" It appeared to me that the Killedar was thoroughly ap-
prised of his situation ; first, by the promulgation of the Article
of Treaty assigning the territory to the Honourable Company ;
and, secondly, by the special order of Holkar for the surrender
of the fortress; notwithstanding which he forced S:r Thomas
Ili lop to the risk of carrying the place by storm. It was unde-
niable that the fortress was taken by assault, the defenders of
the outer-works having been driven from the rampart by our
fire, and entrance being gained through a breach made by our
cannonnade against the jambs of the gate. The Killedar then
advancing to supplicate mercy, after having resisted till the place
was actually carried, and opposition was no longer practicable,
could not take him out of tho fatal predicament in which he had
wilfully and knowingly placed himself."
The application of the penalty lay with Sir THOMAS
HISLOP; and the humanity of his Excelleney's cha-
racter claimed for him credit that nothing but what
he deemed a most serious exigency, could urge him
to the infliction. The forfeiture of pretension to
quarter when troops stand an assault, has been esta-
blished by the laws of war, to prevent garrisons from
wantonly subjecting besiegers to the heavy loss likely
to be suffered by troops exposed in advancing to the
breach : a garrison would, from false points of honour,
always be tempted to indulge in slaughter, if impu-
nity could be obtained by throwing down their arms
when defence proved ineffectual.
The next important document is a dispatch from
Sir Ttiosies HisLoP himself, addressed to the Go-
vernor-General, and dated September 10, 1819. In
this dispatch, his Excellency enters into a minute de-
tail of all the circumstances that preceded ancac-
companied the capture of the Fort of Talneir, and
most satisfactorily exculpates himself from the impu-
tation of cruelty, in ordering the execution of the Kil-
ledar. He does not, howevet, rest his case upon his
own statement. He incloses the Reports of four dis-
tinguished Officers, who were present on the occa-
sion, and who knew the whole of the transaction.
These are Lieutenant-Colonel BLACKER, Quarter-
Master-General of the Army ; Captain BRIGGS, the
Political Agent of the Governor-General, -at the
head-quartets of Sir THOMAS HISLOP, in Candeish ;
Lieutenant-Colonel CONWAY, the Adjutant-General
of the Army; and Lieutenant-Colonel M‘GnEcon
MCRRAY, the Deputy AdjUtant-General, who ac-
companied the storming party, and nearly lost his
life, from the infamous treachery of the garrison. -
These documents contain informati )n, whic,h. very
clearly shews that " the Killedar did not surrender him-
self to Lieut.-Colonel CONWAY, as was inadvertently
!stated, and that he never made• any condition of sur-
irende:ing the fort whatever; that a fair time was.
allowed him to discontinue his unlwful hostilities;