Star.
London, England, 1818-05-06 00:00:00

AMERICAPJ PAPERS.

CONGRESS.-IN SE.NATE, MARCH 25.
SEMINOLE WAR.

The following message was received from the PnE-
OIDIWT of the United States:
"Aro Me Senate and Howse Representatives
of Me United &ea.
'1 I now lay before Congress all the information in the Pos-
session of the Executive, respecting the war with the Seminoles,
and the measures which it has been thought proper to adopt, for
the safety of our fellow-chi Lens on the frontier exposed to their
ravages. The encleltd documents thew that the hostilities of this
tribe were unprovoked, the offsprinf of a spirit long cherished
and often manifested towards the United States, and that, in the
present instance, it was extending its.lf to other tribes, and daily
assuming a more serious aspect. As soon as the nature and
object of *his combination were perceived, the Major- leneral
commanding the southern division of the troops of the United
States was ordered to the theatre of action, charged with the
management of the war, and vested with the powers necessary
to give it effect. The season of the year being unfavourable to
active operations, and the recesses of the county/ affording shelter
to these savages, in case of retreat, may prevent a prompt ter-
mination of the war; but it may be fairly presumed, that It will
not be long before this tribe and its associates receive the pu-
nishment which they have provoked and justly merited.
" Ai almost the whole of this tribe inhabits the country within
the limits of Florida, Spain was bound, by the treaty of 1795,
to restrain them from committing hostilities against the United
States. We have seen, with regret, that her Government has
altogether failed to fulfil this obligation, nor are we aware that
it made any effort to that effect. When we consider her utter
inability to check, even in the slightest degree, the movements
of this tribe, by her very shull and lazompetent force in Florida,
we are not disposed to ascribe the failure to any m..er cause.—
The inability, however, of Spain, to maietaiu her authority
over the territory and Indians within her limits, and In conse-
quence to fulfil the treaty, ought not to expose the United States
to other and greater injuries. Where the authority of Spain
ceases to exist, there the United States have a right -to pursue
their enemy, on a principle of self-defence. In this instance
the right is more cnniplcteaud obvious, because we shall perform
only what Spain was bound to perform herself.
" To the high obligations and privileges of this great and sa-
cred right of self-defence, wiU the movemeat of our troops be
strictly confined. Orders have been given to the General com-
manding not to enter Florida, unless it be in pursuit of the
enemy, and in that case to r..--ipect the Spanish authority where-
ever it is maintained ; and he w ill be instructed to withdraw
his forces from the province, as soon as he shall have reduced
that tribe to order, and secured our fellow-citizens in that quarter
' by satilactory arrangements, against its unprovoked and savage
hostilities in furore. . " JAY= munsoa."
Washington, March X. 5."
"'The PnesinesT heist a Message to Congress on the
19th of March, relative to the obstacles which arose
in the negotiations with Holland. The following is
• the principal passage:
" Congress may think it advisable to leave the subsistinTreaty
in its present state, and to meet the liberal exemption from dis-
criminating tonnage duties which has been conceded in the Ne-
therlands to vessels of the United States, by a similar exemp-
tion to the vessels of the Netherlands, whirl have arrived or
may hereafter arrive in our ports, commencing from the time
when the exemption was granted to the vessels of the United
States. I would further recommend to the consideration of
Congress the expediency of extending the benefit of the same re-
gulation to commence from the passage of the law to the vessels
of Prussia, liamburgh, and Bremen ; and of making it prosve-
tively general in favour of evel-y nation in whose ports the ve.-
sale of the United States are admitted on the same footing as
their own."

These several messages, with the accompanying do-
cuments, were ordered to be laid on the table, and
the House adjourned at a late hour.
On the 24th of March, Mr..BARBOVR, from the
Committee of Foreign Relations, to whom had been
referred the representations in behief of Mr. Meade,
m:tde a report, in Senate, of considerable length,
taking a full view of the subject, recognizing the
wrongs of Mr. Meade, and declaring substantially,
th-tt if the demand of the Executive for his release be
not complied with, the ofience ought to be visited
with severe retribution.

The proposition of Mr. CLAY, in the House of Re.
preseiltatives, for acknowlzdgiag the independence
of the provinces of La Plata, was lost by a majority
of seven.y. Ile moved that a certain sum should be
voted for the outfit and year's salary of a Minister to
the Government of La Plata, whenever the President
should think fit to send one there. Notwithstanding
the rejection of this proposal, an exactly similar one
was again brought forward by a Mr. ANDERSON,
which, was negatived by just the same majority.

curring an expense to the country. This, too, front
the Bank Directors, who had no objection—who,
The American Government oppose the repeal of while in the spirit of their economy they deprecated
the Salt Duty, the produce of which the state of their the expense of a few hundreds incurred in the pre-
finances will not permit them to dispense with. sentation of Accounts, had no objection to apply to
SPAIN.—The following arc the Articles of the De- their own profits hundreds of thousands of the public
tree for Regulating the System of Deposit established money—(/scar, Lear.) •
for the ports of Santander, Curunna, Cadiz, and Ali- Mr. MAN::ING sail, that tie production of such
cant :—Articles of legal commerce proceeding from Accounts was very injurious.to the interests of the
foreign ports, whether belonging to Spanish or fo- Bank, not only as it related to their domestic concerns,
rein merchants, shall be allowed to be deposited free but their transactions with foreign countries. The
of import duties. The products and merchandise of profits of the Bank derived from the public were not
America, accompanied by certificates, shall enjoy the so great as were supposed—(A laugh.)
same advantage. Foreign property than be placed The motion was agreed to.
under the guarantee of the laws, and will never be Sir F. BUBDETZIose to ask the Right. Honour-
liable to any reprisal on account of war between Go- ,able Gentleman opposite (the Chancellor of the Ex-
vernments, except that of reciprocity in the case of chequer) whether -he expected that the Noble Lord,
articles the property of Spanish merchants not being the Secretary' for Foreign Affairs, would soon appear
respected. The deposits shall continue one year, if . .
in his place ?
The CLIANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said,
the accommodation of the owner require that time,
and the pet iod may he prolonged, for extraordinary that he could not undertake to answer.,at what pre-
causes, by the authority of the Minister of Firtance. cise time'his Noble Friend would appear in his places
To defray the expense of the warehouses and clerks, but be had seen him that mura.iag, and it was pro-
-2 per cent. shall be levied on the merchandise, one- bible that he would soon be there. .
half on the entry, and the other half on the removal. STILAII-BOATII. • •
The subsequent articles (the Decree consists in all of On the Order of ure Day for the committal of the
31) contain only minute regulations re,pecting the Steam-Boats Bill, •
management of the uarehouses, the mode of adnitd Mr. K. FINLAY st.r..ed the great convenience that
tang and removing the deposits, loving the duties, ace. had arisen flour all: use of t::ese boats at (ilasgow,

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on the Clyde, and the probability of their extended
benaikt...the ten-cburke with the Western Islands.
•11. 141.4/ to interfere with the pro-
gress of these advantages. No accident whatever
ad occurred through mismanagement of the Steam-
vessels on the Clyde : though it was certain that a
fatal accident had happened near Norwich; through
some deficiency of skill- perhaps. The probability of
mischief depended considerably on the choice of pro-
• per Engines. He did not see the necessity of making
any•law on the subject, and he wished the Hohour-
able Member to desit from legislating upon it.—
He moved that the Bill be committed on that day
three months.
Mr. HARVEY (who brought in the Bill) said,
that notwithstanding what had been stated of the
superior skill shewn in the Steam-sesseis on the
Clyde, there had been evidence sufficient produced
before the Committee, to chew the propriety of a
measure to prevent the repetition of such accidents
as had occurred. On a similar principle, Parliament
had regulated the arrangements-of Stage-coaches, &c.
Under all the considerations, he trusted the Ilouse
would allow the Bill to proceed.
Mr. K. FINLAY said, that under the circum-
stances he should take the sense of the House on a
future proper occasion. The Amendment was-nega-
tived. The Bill went through, a Committee, and the
Report was ordered to be received to-morrow.
Theßeport of the Committee of Supply was brought
up, and -he sums of 13,5001. for Dr. Burney's Li-,
brary, of 1,500,00D1. for Extraordinary Expellees of
the Army, and of 50,0001. for the same service in
Ireland, were agreed to. The remainder of the Re-
solutions were then agreed to.
SCOTCH BURGHS.
Sir RONALD FERGUSSON seeing a Learned
Lord at the head of the law department in Scotland,
in his place, took this opportunity of moving for
leave to present a Petition from the Burgh of Dun-
fermline. relative to the regulation of the Funds in
• Royal Burghs. The Petitioners, he observed, had
expresse.l their sentiments in such mo lerate terms,
that the/most timid Gentleman in the House would
not be alarmed at the language of their Petition.—
He should now merely move that it be brought up
and read. The Petitioners expressed their hostility
to the doctrine of Universal Suffrage, but enlarged
on the necessity of a Reform in the Royal Burghs,
.ind prayed that the Bill introduced by the Lord-Ad-
vocate might not pass into a law. The Honourable
baronet then moved, that the Petition do lie on ,the
' table, and that it be printed, both which motions
Vote agreed to,

BANK RESTRICTIONS.
Mr. FRANKLAND LEWIS rose to give notice,
that it was his intention to propose that to a n woicls
should be introduced into the preamble of the Bill
for continuing the Bank Restrictions, instead of the
words which now stood there ; butt as he wished to
consult the convenience of the House, he begged to
a'sk what stage of the Bill would be most proper for
his motion ?

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER
hoped that the Ilouse would allow the Bill to pass
through a Committee pro forma. He would then
propose such a preamble as he conceived to be proper,
and when the Report was brought up, if any Ho-
nourable Gentleman thought a different preamble
ht to be adopted, he might then move it.
Mr. J. P. GRANT observed, that the general ac-
count of income and. expenditure which had been,
laid before the House had been lately withdrawn,
and, therefore, he now wished to know when they
might receive it again.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said,
it was perfectly true that the account had been with-
drawn, as certain estimates from Iceland had not ar-
rived; but it would he completed in a very short
time, and laid before the House.

MOTION TO DISCHARGE THOMAS TERGUSSON
PROM NEWDATE.
Sir FRANCIS BURDETT said, he rose to move
for the discharge of Thomas Fergusson, seho had
been commuted to prison by the House, for an at-
tempt to influence the vote of a Freeholder, on the
approach of an election. It was impossible not to
criesider the treatrmat of that man, on't of gross in-
justice, when 0r..: called to mind the course and result
of the proceedings on an occasion something similar,
in which a Noble Lord opposite (Lord Castlereagh)
hid beea concerned. At the time when the motion
he alluded to against that Noble Lord had been
brought forward, it would have become the character
of the House to skew a resolution to maintain their
own privileges against whoever might transgress
them—to treat high and low with the same impar-
tiality. If such had been the conduct of the House,
little room for complaint would exist now. But
when they recollected what happened when the
Noble Lord was chlnged with having endeavoured
to procure a seat for a Gentleman in the most odious
vay—by the exercise of India patronage—being,
moreover, a Member of the India Board, constituted
teprevent the abuse of patronage—the other person,
for whom the influence was exercised, being also a
Member of the same Board—when there were so
many circumstances rendering that transaction so
aggravated in its character, and pernicious in ite
effects (for he both then and now thought that the
Noble Lord's being a Minister was a heinous aggra-
vation of the offence)—when they bore these facts in
mind. and the issue of them, they could scarcely say
that the measure of justice dealt out to the two offen-
ders was equal. However, he was rot then anxious
to Finish the Noble Lords because he looked upon
his offence to be not a very great one in a Nerd point
eiview, though a more unconstitutional one could not
exist. But it was the judgment of the House on that
occasion that was' to be considered—and they came

to a resolution, that as the proceeding by the Noble
Lord had been only begun, and not completed, they
did not think proper to adopt any definitive measure.
Let them now torn to Fergusson's case—a case that
did not contain the one-hundredth part of fhe guilt
of the• Noble Lord's. The Noble Lord attempted to
influence election by wholextile—to bargain for a seat.
Fergusson only aimed at influencing a single vote—
he had incuned qnly the minimum of guilt. Here was
so scandalous abuse of patronage; besides, it was a
case only just is embryo. Every reason for lenity
that could apply to the case of the Noble Lord,
would apply with tenfold force to that of Fergusson;
yet the latter had beca brought from Scotland, and

already subjected to a he.avipurdiunent. He would!
be glad to know the datinction in the two cases ;
why this ponr individnal had been sentenced to im-
prisonment, while the Noble Lord was suffered to
go free without any censure Bat subsequently to
the transaction he had alluded to, the Noble Lord,
with his colleague, Mr. Percevak was accused in the
House of haviig connived at the absolute sale of a
seat under the disposal of Government ; and Sir
Henry Wellesley was proved to have actually receiv-
ed the price of it. That was noy all—for when the
Member who had paid his money for the seat wished
to vote in the-House according to the dictates of his
conscience, he was told that he must, in honour,
either vote for those by Means of whom he had got
into Parliament, or resign—and the Member, in
consequence, did resign. -Here was every aggravu-
tion—a corrupt purchase by money of a seat, with
an implied obligation of voting agreeably to the
wishes of Ministers. It appeared that in the opinion
of certain persons, there was not only a Parliamen-
tary language, but a Parliamentary conscience—,the
former allowing to say, the latter to do any thing.—
The purchasing Member, however, did not recognise
this species of conscience, and resigned his seat.—
Here was a case of corruption complete, and carried
through all its parts. What was said then upon that
affair being brought before the House ? Why, Ho-
nourable Members got up in theirjgaces, and de-
clared the practice was as notorious as the sun at noon
day, as common as the streets of the metropolis. With
such practical illustrations of the way in which that
House was composed—after the various descriptions
of the undue means generally used for admission
into that House,. and with particular force in that
Petition which has been lying on thejable for five-
and-twenty years, stating, and offering to prove, that
the Crown, either directly or indirectly, returned a
large proportion of the Members of that House, and
that no inconsiderable part of it consisted of men ne-
cessarily and naturally attached to the interests of
the Peers—it was too hard that art unfriended indi-
vidual should undergo •severity of punishment, on
pretence of sullying theprity that did not belong to
the House, while Ministers practised much more
aggravated offences with perfect impunity—(hear.
hear). But it seemed that robe of purity could be
thrown off, and put on again, according to conveni-
ence. Did they think the people were so blind that
they would look at this case with any other feelings
than those of indignation, as-he did? The transac-
tion reminded him of the fable, in which the beasts
of the forests were made to assemble, in order to
discover the cause that excited the vengeance of,
HEAVEN hi inflicting a contagious malady which'
had committed temble ravages among them. The
lion came forward and sai&--" It is true, I have put
a few animals to death to satisfy my hunger, but
surely that cannot be the cause." The bear, the
wolf, &c. made similar declarations, and were all
acquitted by acclamation. At length the ass came
into the assembly, and, with fear and trembling,
confessed that he had stolen some cabbages, upon
which all the beasts together cried out, that, un-
doubtedly, he was the criminal—(hear, hear, and
laughter). It was in vain for that House to talk of
preserving its character—that was gone long since,',
and it was impossible to have been otherwise—
" Thieves for stealing have authority,

• When Judges steal tiienuelve3!"
Ministers themselves carried on the transactions for
which Fergusson was imprisoned, and, when disco-
vered, were defended. If the Noble Lord were suf-
fered to go free, why was Fergusson to be punished?
The latter might state that he knew there were laws
against what he had attempted to do, but that now
the House of Commons had put a very different
construction on those laws. He might say, the
House of Commons have declared that these laws
are obsolete—they are not to be put in force :
how, then, can they take offence at my conduct ?
For his own part, he could not understand how Fer-
gusson, who had followed the eiample of the Noble
Lord, but followed him " hoard pass us acwis," should
be punished, while the Noble Lord himself had been
so fully protected. He should not then detain the
House any longer. This case lay in a very narrow
compass indeed, and therefore he should conclude by
moving—" That Thomas Fergusson be discharged
forthwith."—The question haying been put,
Lord CASTLEREAGH said he should not have
risen on this occasion, were it not that the speech of
the Honourable Baronet was so much addressed to
him. As he did not know all the circumstances of
the case of the individual to whom the motion allu-
ded, not having been present at the Committee of
Privileges which had inquired into it, he should not
enter into the discussion on that case. But it was
very plain that the Honourable Baronet did not bring
forward this motion eut of any tenderness to Mr.
Fergusson, but with a view to serve that purpose, so
common with the Honourable Baronet, who never
omitted any occasion of bringing forward any tl:ir.g
in past transactions which he thought could turn
against the dignity of Parliament, and to degrade it
in the eyes of the nation—(Hear, hear, bier!) He
had uniformly- observed, that whenever there hap-
pened to be any Meeting out of doors in which the
Honourable Baronet did not fill that space in the
public eye which he was wont to do on such occa-
sions, he endeavoured to restore himself in the good
opinion of those tuorthy characters, in whose estima-
tion he had fallen, by some corresponding effort
against tl:e Constitution within the doors of Parlia-
ment—(hear,hear!) For his own part, no feeling of
soreness at the attack of the Honourable Baronet
should induce him to enter into the consideration o:
a question on which the House hail already decided.'
And as to the present question, he would leave it to
the decision of the House, and of those who v•ere pre
sent on. the Committee to whom tl-e examira:ion of
that case was entrusted. Bait he apprehended that'
the Honourable Baronet would not he more success-
ful on the present occasion that on the tr.any ()tilers
in which he had endeavoured to destroy the Consti-
I tution, and to lower the dignity of Parliament.—
(Hear, Hear, Hear!)
Mr. C. W. WYNNE.—The House was, by the
present motion, called upon to rescind what it had
already done ; not because what it had done was
wrong—not becgusk the individual in question did
not deserve punishment—but because in a certain
case, trine years ago, the House of Commons had re-
• glected to do its duty—(hear, hear)--not because the
present Parliament had neglected its duty, but be-
cause of what had been done by a former Parliament

(hear, hear !) With respect to theVa.:e alluded to by.
the Honourable Baronet, which had occurred in the
year 1809, he (Mr. Wynne) hid not agreed to what
was then decided on—he had voted with the minority,
who wished for further proceedings in that case; but
the House decided not to proceed farther. Whether
that decision was a precedent to be followed or to be
avoided, was a very fit subject for consideration; but
was it to be said, because one Parliament had ne-
glected its duty, that future Parliaments should nut
return to theirs ?—(hear, hear) Of the present case
the Honourable Baronet had said nothing. When
that case was under discussion, he did not think it of
sufficient consequence to take part in the debate, or
even to come down to the House; but a week after
the decision of the House, the Honourable Baronet
came down, and, without any notice, brought for-
ward the present motion. What had been the pro.
ceedings in 1809? Was the Noble Lord's offence
passed over without censure? No; the Noble Lord
had been censured: and such an effect had the case
produced upon the House, that in the very next Ses-
sion an Act was passed for the specific purpose of
preventing cases of such interference in elections.—
Until that Act was passed, there was some doubt in
point of law as to the criminality of such proceed-
ings. As to the other case in 1810, it occurred while
the Act he had mentioned was passing through the
House. To the decision of the House on that case
he was not a party ; but the House decided, that as
they were then passing a declaratory Act, they should
not act retrospectively, for the purpose of including
that case, but would provide stronger securities for
the future. It was therefore impossible that the house
could have passed over the case of Fergusson, which
had occurred so long after the Act was passed. He
was persuaded the House would era listen to the
motion of the Honourable Baronet on such grounds
as had been brought forward. If Mr. heignsson ex-
pected any remission of his tinishment, the proper
coarse for him to pursue was, to petition the I louse
that he might be discharged.
Colonel WOOD was surprised tint the Honour-
able Baronet, of all men in the House, should venture
to make attacks upon any other Member on the sub-
ject of improper conduct at elections. Had the Ho-
nourable Baronet forgot his contest for the County of
? Had he forgot that he brought forward
three hundred millers_to vote as -freeholders lila mill
which was not even built ? Had he forgot that the
Sheriffs had censured him for this conduct, and that
the House decided that the election was void? Af-'
tenvards• the Honourable Baronet had another elec-
tion, where he say there was more universal
suffrage practised than had ever-been known on any
former occasion—where the cases were so gross that
the Attorney-General was obliged to prosecute for
perjuries, and that the second election was in conse-
quence declared void? A third election followed, at
which all the artifices of the Honourable Baronet
were exposed and exploded, and the result was, that
the Honourable Baronet lost his election, having only
eight hundred fair votes, while his opponent had
three thousand.

Mr. BRAND regretted that any personalities had
been introduced into this debate. He regretted that
his honourable Friend who brought forward the mo-
tion had made any personal allusions, though they
were very slight—(Laughter.) He found it impos-
sible to vote for the present motion. In consistency
with his coaduct in the cases of 1809 and 1810, when
he had voted for farther proceedings, he felt it his
duty to oppose this motion. How those who had re-
jected those motions on the former case: could reject
the present motion, it was not for him to say..
Mr. CCRWEN wished that the law was more ex-
press in providing a punishment for the very offetice
of which Fergusson had been guilty.
Sir tR.‘NCIS BURDETI replied. He <hould
confine himself to a very few observations. Insinua-
tions had been made to what had never once entered
his mind. He should not occupy the House with re-
marking on the speech of the Noble Lord, for he had
said very little on the subject. With regard to the
Middlesex Elections, no man, he believed, had less
reason than himself to forget ;hem. He had twice
undergone the remedy which the House employed in
such cases,..and, for a third time, he might say, it was
quite out óf his power for him to undergo that re-
medy again---(hear,hgar.)—As tothe mill votes which
had been mentioned, it had - been contended with
much ingenuity in the Committee at the time that
they were good votes a and how had the Committee
go: rid of the difficulty ? not by deciding the ques-
tion, but by objecting that the voters had not been
assessed to the Laud Tar, the year previous to the
election—(hear.)--It had also been said that the
Sheriff had been sent to Newgate for having made a
partial return. That could net be the case, for he.

had returned according to the majority on the poll,
and it was net his duty to inquire into the validity of
votes. The fact was, that he had returned a candi-
date that was not agreeable to Government—(hear,
hesr).—The next time he had returned a ministerial
candidate against the majority on the poll, and of
course had not been sent to Newgate—(Hear' hear.)
He admired the consistency of the Noble Lord and
his Colleague in punishing the present case. It would
be futile to suffer his motion to go to a division ; for
one set of men would have to vote against him from
consistency ; and the other, in despite of the incon-
sistency, would vote against him • so that, between
consistency and inconsistency, he should not press the
motion. to the vote--(hear, hear, hear.—The motion
\VJ. thou negatived without a division.

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