166 TUESDAY, MARCH 8. Lord Lake's Annuity Bill, and the Scotch Creditors Bill, Were received from the Commons, and read a first time. AMERICA. T no °any, Liar made a few observations on the importance of ascertaining how far the fact stood with regard to the period when the American Treaty. signed by the respective Ministers here, came into the hand 3 of the President. The Noble Secre t:ay of State had, on a former evening. inadvertently, he had no doubt, stated, that the Treaty had arrived prior to the rising of Congress. This was not correct; and he was confident the Noble Secretary bad, upon enquiry, detected the inaccuracy of his former statement. Lunn If 40, KEIBORr said, that the Treaty had certainly not reached toe seat of the American Government until after the prorogation of Congresc; hut an official copy of it had been received by Mr. Erskine, immediately previous to that event, and had by hint here communicated to the American Secretary of State, in order to its twin; laid before the President. The general es pectwion was, that the receipt of that Copy would !tad O.• effect of inducing Mr. Jefferson to exercise the au thority vested in him, of keeping the Senate sitting, or of fixing an early Jas for its re-assenth!ing. The Senate, under a similar impression, immediately previous to the tcrtnination of the Ses sion seto a Nlessage to the President to know whether he had any communication to inaLe to them, and his Answer was in the negative. In his conversation with individuals he stated as his rra,ons 1.,r not lay tog any information before the Senate at that time, t tat he disapproved of certain parts of the Treaty ; and that he intoaded to renew the negociation with respect to these points, but partict.iarl r with regard to the question of impress ment of seamen ft ton American merchant vessels. THE NATIONAL REGISTER. ORDERS IN COUNCIL. Lon:, ERSKINE condemned the °Met s in Council, as a vio lation of the Constitution, by the assumption of a dispensing Power in the Crown: as as infraction of our municipal code, by authorising the detention and capture of foreign vessels, con trar., to Ma4na Ch,i rta, and various statutes of Richard I I. and Edward 1 11. ; aad ;es a violation of public law, by depriving neutrals of the rights of innocent commerce, under the . fulse pretence of their ..cquiescence iu the French decree of the 21bt of November 1806. LORD ELDos contended, that the Orders in Council were strictly within the acknowledged Law of Nations. The statutes quot:.l by . Lord Erskine were solely enacted, as appeared from thc.r preom!:les, to prevent the Crown from establishing a mo nopoly ot foreign commodities, by as arbitrary regulation of the port; where they should be disposed of. His Lordship con doled with moving the previous question. Lord Grenville supported the orig inal motion, and Lord Ha wkesbury the previous question, w hich, after a short reply by Lord Erskine, was carried, on a division, by a majority of 121 to 61, proxies included.—Adjourned. REDNESDIY, FEB. 9. Heard Counsel in the Appeal Rickan v. the Trustees of Steward. Blau I'. Divorce Bill was read a first time. The Stiz.ar Bounty awl Drawback Bill were received from the ( 7 ommiiiis, lind read a first time. The Scotch Distillery Bill was read a second tiine.—Ad j TIIUnSDAV, MARCH 10. `'c:►tch Creditora 1111, and Lord Lake's Annuity Bill, went throirgh a Committee. Tar :►nn:tal acr•ouut of the lirtp3rti and F.xports w•is presented, and :Ago a return to ao Order of the House, for an account of Foreiv Ves.,eis arrived in the week ending the 27th of Fe bruary. Lotto SriN'tiorE gave notice of his intention to propose, in the course of the Session, some measure for ensuring to the plblic a correct report of the decision= in Courts of Justice. ORDERS IN COUNCIL. totto tdunran4t): moved fir a Copy of a Petition front 1110,,r4. Bainbridge ati:l C.). to the Privy Council, dated the lath pr da•otarv, relative to an American vessel which had ar rived froin Antwerp. This vessel had been denied admittance into the Frvaich poll, in consequence of haviug touched at a port iu titi; co.u.nry. The fact tvas of importance, as it proved thot t onsillerably stit),,equent to the issuioo of our Orders in C not °illy the British Decree, but that al'o published a , -,1,1 4 , 1 , pot Ilre:1 arty..? uplo r ith mord to Ameri..a. ; if to- y LtAl the •..pui„: b een to:ifil.",:t.d. i _ MARCH 13. Lona 11477117 Ru. related a subsequent case, which fully proved the severity with which the French Decree had been ptit into execution, and declined giving his assent to the motion. After some further conversations from Lord Lauderdale re specting a fresh Order in Council, issued Feb. 14, 180 S, and its inconsistence with the former Orders, the Noble Lord con cluded with moving for the production of it, which motion was, however, also negatived. Lord Hawkeshury delivered a Message from his Majesty, re lative to the Subsidiary Treaty with Sweden. Loan A ucsr.ANn said, from a paper, just presented, he re marked with pleasure, that our Exports of British commodities for the last year amounted to about 40 'nations. He was anxious to have a return, distinguishing the Exports of the three last months of that year, and similar returns for the same periods of three preceding years. He should also wish to have a retuin for the Port stf London, to as late a date as it could be made out.—Lord Auckland's various motions were put and agreed to. REVERSIONARY GRANTS BILL. LORD ARDZAI Opposed the Bill, on the ground of its tending to trench upon the prerogative, a{►d of its having come from the other House under circumstances which interfered with the fret. dom of debate in their Lord hips' House. LORD RRDESDALS argued against the Bill, conceiving it to be the commencement of a system of innovation, of which no man could se•e the consequences. lie illustrated the danger of submitting to the other House, by ;s reference to the time, of Charles I. and the commencement of the French Revolution. Loren 114 Iry LIR vRY briefly re-stated the considerations which he argued on a preceding evening for adopting the ince. sure with some modification. A division then took place, when the numbers, includim; proxies, were for Lord Arden's .motion ; against it 83. Thii parity of numbers had the effect, according to their Lord ships' rule of pcoccedin in such cases, of negativing• the 'no tion ; and on our re-admission their Lordships were in a Com mittee. Loren IhwKrsnrßr proposed to limit the duration of th. Bill to the Ist of June, 1810.—Adjourned. FRIDAY, MARCH 11. Lord Lake's Annuity Bill, and the Scotch Creditors Bill, were read a third time and passed. The American Commissioners' Bill, and the Marine Mutioy Bill, were received from the Commons, and read a first time. The Sugar Bounty and Drawback Bills went through a Com mittee. In the course of proceeding Lord SutiOlk took occasion 10 state his apprehensions of injurious consequences to our agri cultural interests, and should, pursuant to an idea which seemed to he generally entertained, permission be given for using sit,7ar in the distilleries. LORD I—itinEno4re, with the view of being duly prepared for discussing the Bill for enforcing the Orders in Connei!, vow Teethly expected to come up from the other House, was :vizi. ous to be informed, whether or not French Colonial produce which had been landed in America, and become neutral pro perty, could he freely cenve ed to a port in Sweden? LORD ItcrnostNr stated, that under the Orders in Council, the enemy's Colonial produce could not be conve3ed in neutral vessels to the ports Of 'nu allies. Lord Lauderdale read over the series of resolutions which he meant to move mt Monday, respecting the conatnereial policy of the Orders in Council ; but finding that the Nfes3a„e respecting the Swedish subsidy would take precedence of all other liusine:i on that day, he gave notice that he should not bring on his mo tion until Wednesday. _ Lona 11oi►t.t moved the second reading of the Debtor and Creditor Bill. )le entered into a detail of the grievances which the Debtor suffered at present when arre s ted in "Imes process; and when taken in execution ; and pointed out the advantage which would result both to Debtor and Creditor, from adopi ing the principle of a Cessio Thenorum, which had formed part of the Roman law from the time of Julius Cesar, and which was adopted into the legal code of mint of the modern European nations. tORD Pf.r.e.vnnnnrca opposed the Bill, alleging that the process of arre:t in five case, out of six produced payment of the debt, without even the step of putting in hail being resorted tn. He quoted various passages from Lurd Hale's Works on the dangers of innovation. LORD llors.AND supported the Bill. which, afters' few wora• from Lord '.Moira, in reply to Lord 1 Ileidoov.m7lo, errs reircto 4 di vi: ion, by Sinn to I'f