said, it was his intention to have moved that the House should on this day take into consideration the report of the committee appointed to enquire into the merits of captain Manby's invention for preserving the lives of seamen in cases of shipwreck. The right hon. gentleman then went into a detail of the merits of the invention. Captain Man by had been instructed to examine, for the purpose of discovering those tracts of the coast where his apparatus could be used. After a particular survey, it appeared that it could be used on every part of the coast of the kingdom. It had also been computed that the expence of providing the apparatus at stations all round the island of Great Britain, would not exceed 75,000l. He concluded by moving, that the report be referred to the committee of supply, which was ordered accordingly.

rose, and said that, seeing a right hon. gentleman in his place, he was anxious to ask him a question relative to a circumstance of the utmost importance to the interests of this country. He alluded to the intended marriage of her royal highness the Princess Charlotte of Wales with the hereditary Prince of Orange, a record of which intended marriage was already on the Journals of that House. Whenever that question should be brought before parliament, it would, from its extreme importance, necessarily occupy their attention very largely; and he was therefore the more anxious to know, at this advanced period of the session, whether it was the intention of ministers to make any speedy communication to the House upon the subject? (Hear! hear!)

he could give no other answer to the question of the hon. baronet than to say, that the ministers of his Royal Highness had received no authority to make any communication to parliament.

rose and said, it was impossible the answer they had just heard from the right hon gentleman could satisfy either that House or the country at large. It had been solemnly announced by the Sovereign Prince of the United Netherlands to his own people, that an alliance was about to take place between his son and her royal highness the Princess Charlotte of Wales; and it had been proclaimed by her royal highness the Princess of Wales, in her communication to that House, now entered upon their Journals, that the illustrious heir of the House of Orange had announced himself to her as her future son-in-law. Questions upon this most important subject had been asked from time to time, but they had never been answered: they were uniformly evaded by ministers. But he thought the time was now come when that House should no longer suffer itself to be treated with that disrespect. (Hear, hear!)

rose to order. He did not think it exactly right, when ministers had declared they had no commission to make any communication to the House, that a discussion should be prematurely forced on. Such a practice was both inconvenient and irregular.

said, that he would put the matter in a shape which would render it regular, by concluding with a motion. He repeated, that the House of Commons had been treated disrespectfully. If ministers, in so important a case, and after such a lapse of time, had no authority to communicate to the House the state of the proceeding, it became the House to interfere, and to address his royal highness the Prince Regent to give authority for such a communication. The right hon. gentleman opposite had not denied that the assertion in her royal highness the Princess of Wales's Letter, of the intended marriage of her royal daughter with the hereditary Prince of Orange, was true. It had, however, been publicly reported, and was as publicly believed, that the intended marriage, which, with the concurrence of his royal highness the Prince Regent, had been so long proceeding, was suddenly at an end. The grounds had even been stated, on which it had terminated; and those grounds were so intimately connected with the question which was to be brought forward by an hon. gentleman to-morrow, that it was of material importance to the House to know the fact; and to be informed, if the intention was put aside, on what grounds that had occurred. It had been generally stated, and it had been generally believed, that circumstances closely connected with the object of the hon. gentleman's motion, were the cause of that which had taken place. It had been stated that day, in the very streets, that her royal highness the Princess Charlotte of Wales had declined any further proceeding in the intended marriage, on account of the situation of her royal mother. (Hear! hear!) If that was the case, it undoubtedly must endear her Royal Highness to every generous and feeling heart. It would prove that the subject on which the House were not to touch, as too delicate for their investigation, had risen to such great political importance, that it might, very possibly, operate to prevent this most beneficial and desirable union. In order to ascertain the fact, the hon. baronet had proposed a question to the right hon. gentleman, which had been very unsatisfactorily evaded. He was sure that the right hon. gentleman and his colleagues could not be disposed to push the discussion of a subject so interesting and important to the close of the session; and nothing was more certain, than that after the business of next week, no great attendance could be expected in parliament. In the hope, therefore, of obtaining satisfactory information; or at least, with the determination that his wish to do so should be recorded in the Journals, he would move, "That an humble Address be presented to his royal highness the Prince Regent, praying, that he would be graciously pleased to acquaint the House, if there was any treaty of marriage on foot between her royal highness the Princess Charlotte of Wales, and the Hereditary Prince of Orange."

seconded the motion; He had flattered himself, that the answer to the question which he had put to the right hon. gentleman, would have proved satisfactory. As that, unfortunately, had not been the case, he was gratified to find the subject taken up by one who was so much more able to do justice to it than himself. His hon. friend had stated many reasons for expecting that the House would be put in possession of some infor- mation on the subject; another, which he (sir M. W. Ridley,) had heard, and which still more convinced him of the expediency of bringing the subject under the consideration of parliament, was the report, that in the event of the marriage taking place, her Royal Highness might be induced to quit the country. This supposition rendered him more than ordinarily anxious that the real state and nature of the whole proceeding should be laid before the House.

said, that the hon. gentleman (Mr. Whitbread) had redeemed himself from the charge of disorder, by reducing his observations to a formal motion. If every thing that was within the rules of order, was also within the rules of propriety—within the rules of delicacy—within the rules of public decency—then the hon. gentleman's conduct might have been not only orderly, but it might have been delicate, it might have been decent, and for ought he knew, it might have been discreet. But if, in defending himself from the charge of disorder, the hon. gentleman had exposed himself to other imputations—if it should be the opinion of a great majority of the House that he had not exculpated himself from all impropriety, by the mere reduction of his observations into a formal motion, then he (Mr. S.) must regard that motion as the most indiscreet, as the most indelicate, as the most indecent—(Order, order!)

spoke to order. There were certain words which he took to be parliamentarily disorderly. He assured the House and the hon. and learned gentleman, that if the words which he had used were such as it was orderly to use in debate, they would not offend him. "Improper," he conceived to be a parliamentary term; but the use of the word "indecent" was, in his opinion, a transgression of the ordinary language of that House. It was a word which, under any circumstances, he would not have applied to the hon. and learned gentleman, and he hoped the House would not allow any hon. gentleman to apply it to him.

expressed his surprise at the interruption which he had experienced, because he was sure it must be in the memory of every one who heard him, that "indecency" was a charge as often adduced by the other side of the House, against a motion made by their political opponents, as any other. The hon. gentleman had said, that he would not impute indecency to him, and that he trusted, in return, not to be so charged himself. But the fact was, that he had not applied the word "indecency" to the hon. gentleman, but only to his proposition. He certainly was not aware that it was unparliamentary to state that any proposition was improper, was indiscreet, and was indecent; and unless he heard otherwise from the chair, whose instruction he requested on the subject, he should continue to use such terms, as justly applicable to the hon. gentleman's motion.

observed, that if he had understood the phrase used by the hon. and learned gentleman to be applied personally, he should have thought it highly disorderly: but as simply descriptive of any proposition that might be submitted to the House, it did not appear to him to offend against the laws of parliamentary debate.

on the understanding that the word was not intended to be personal, expressed himself quite satisfied with the Speaker's decision.

repeated, that his observations were not intended to apply to the hon. gentleman, but to his proposition; which he would again say, was most indiscreet, most indelicate, and most indecent. And this he would assert, not only with regard to the proposition itself, but with regard to some of the circumstances stated by the hon. gentleman in support of it. What the fact was the House knew not. The hon. gentleman assumed it; but was parliament, upon the strength of that assumption, not only to break in upon the sanctity and delicacy of conjugal relation, but also upon all those of a parental nature? As well as being most indelicate, the proposition made by the hon. gentleman, was most wanton; for he himself stated that the intended engagement, which was the object of it, had been relinquished. Would it be to treat rank and sex with respect to drag into public view all the delicate circumstances of a proceeding, which, according to the hon. gentleman's own declaration, was not likely to be completed? What would the hon. gentleman think of such a proposition if it regarded his sister or his daughter? Was it compatible with the attention due to the delicacy of the female character, to expose all the circumstances of an abortive negociation, such as that which the hon. gentleman had described? And this, after it had been distinctly stated by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, that his Majesty's ministers were authorised not to make any communication to parliament on the subject (hear, hear!). He understood the cause of the cheer from the hon. gentleman opposite. He had inadvertently misplaced a word—he had said, that his Majesty's ministers were authorised not to make any communication, instead of having said that they were not authorised to make any communication. He was not afraid of any such wretched hostility, however clamorous. It would only recoil on those from whom it proceeded. If ever there was a motion which required a regular notice; if ever there was a case in which the House ought to have time for consideration; if ever there was a subject on which ministers should have an opportunity afforded them for digesting their answer, it was the present. It was under the impression of this conviction, that although he saw his right hon. friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, preparing to rise, he had ventured to claim the attention of the House. It was most unfair to take his Majesty's ministers in this manner by surprise, and suddenly to place them in a situation of difficulty; for no other purpose than to afford the hon. gentleman a vehicle for observations which it would have been much better he had never uttered,

was of opinion, that much unnecessary warmth had been exhibited in this discussion—a discussion which took place solely because one hon. gentleman having asked a question, and having been told that his Majesty's ministers were not authorised to make any communication to parliament on the subject, another hon. gentleman thought proper to make a motion relative to a proceeding, of which the House, as a House of Parliament, had no knowledge whatever. If his royal highness the Prince Regent had made any communication to the House on the subject, and if a considerable period had elapsed since that communication, there might be some ground to call on parliament to acquiesce in the hon. gentleman's motion. But as far as he knew, the House, as a House, were not aware even of the existence of such a negociation as that which had been alluded to. No worse reason could possibly be brought forward to induce the House to interfere in such a delicate subject than the stories, which, according to the hon. gentleman, were hawked about the streets with respect to it; except, indeed, it were that singular one described by the hon. baronet as particularly operative upon his mind—namely, the report, that if the marriage were concluded, her Royal Highness would be induced to leave the country. Surely, when it was asserted that the negociation for the marriage was broken off, this last reason for enquiring into the subject became extremely futile and absurd. There could be no necessity for any precipitation or warmth in the business. If the hon. gentleman thought in the present stage of the proceeding (whatever it might be) that it was expedient for parliament to interfere, at least let him give the House time to cool, and ministers, who were responsible for the advice which they might give on the subject, opportunity to afford it all the consideration which its importance demanded.

explained. What he had stated was, that he understood, in the event of the marriage having taken place, her Royal Highness would have quitted the country—a circumstance of such importance, that the sooner it was brought forward in parliament the better.

agreed entirely with his hon. friend (Mr. Whitbread) as to the extreme importance of the subject, both as affecting the illustrious character more immediately concerned, and as involving in it some of the greatest interests of the state. But while he agreed with his hon. friend as to the importance of the question, it was impossible for him to deny the truth of what had been said by others as to the propriety of greater deliberation, and an extended notice of the discussion. He was not presumptuous enough to suppose that his hon. friend stood in need of its advice to shape his parliamentary conduct, but he earnestly recommended to him to postpone his motion until the House should be better prepared, and in better temper to discuss it; letting that which had passed stand for a notice, not doubting, that whenever it might be brought forward, he, viewing the subject in the same light as that in which it was seen by his hon. friend, should concur most cordially in his proposition.

declared, that there was no one to whose advice he would sooner listen than his hon and learned friend who had just spoken, and no one to whose advice he was less disposed to attend than the hon. and learned gentleman opposite. As to the qualities of moderation, pro- priety and discretion, he would go to the hon. gentleman opposite (Mr. Robinson) for them; he would go for them to his hon. and learned friend behind him (Mr. Horner); but in his search he would avoid and run out of the way of the hon. and learned gentleman opposite (Mr. Stephen). He would abstain from noticing a word of what had fallen from that hon. and learned gentleman. He wished to forget it; but he could assure him that he did not care a straw about it. With respect to the suddenness of his motion, it should be recollected that the occasion was as sudden. His hon. friend, without the slightest concert with him, had put a question to the right hon. gentleman opposite, on which that right hon. gentleman had thought proper to remain mute. Upon this he (Mr. W.) had availed himself of one of the most useful and important privileges of a member of that House—that of raising an immediate question—in order to enable him to make the observations which appeared to him to be necessary on the subject. Having done this, he was perfectly ready to wave any further proceeding, never having seriously meant to take the question out of his hon. friend's hands. With the leave of the House, therefore, he would withdraw his motion.

The motion was accordingly withdrawn.

said, it was intended to propose only a temporary measure for the intercourse of Irish spirits with this country. The intercourse was to be allowed without any drawback, and the form of the Act would be very nearly the same as that of 1811. He would therefore move, that the Chairman be directed to move for leave to bring in a Bill to regulate the trade in spirits between Great Britain and Ireland reciprocally, for a time to be limited.

was anxious to know, from his right hon. friend, whether he intended, by the measure he was about to submit to the House, to permit Irish spirits, already manufactured, to be imported into this country, while none could be exported from this country to Ireland? If this was to be the effect of the Bill, which, as the law at present stood, it did appear to him would be the case, it would produce a very extraordinary sort of reciprocity; for it could not be concealed, that all the benefit would be derived by the Irish distiller, while the English distiller would be subjected to the most serious disadvantages.

did not know of any law, by which the English distiller could be prevented from exporting his spirits to Ireland. The fact was, that the English manufacturer, who, for several years, had a monopoly of the spirit market, in consequence of the continuance of the act of suspension, in direct violation of the articles of Union, had no spirits to send to Ireland. The observations of his hon. friend appeared to him to be premature. He ought not to have offered them until the measure of the right hon. gentleman was fairly before the House. The right hon. gentleman had merely proposed, that the House should be requested to grant leave to bring in a Bill on the subject of the spirit intercourse; and he expressed himself willing to give up the measure of suspension, which his hon. friend was anxious to continue for a short time. Now, the effect of such a proceeding would be, that if a committee were now appointed to enquire into the expediency of continuing the Suspension Act, the report could not be made until a period so late in the session, as to render it very unlikely that an attendance of members, particularly of those who represented the sister country, could be procured, sufficiently numerous to discuss a matter of so much importance. Under one pretence or another, the Suspension Act had been kept in force, from the year 1806 to the present moment; and it would be monstrous if it were permitted to exist any longer. He called upon the House to act with justice towards that country, which had no separate legislature of its own; and which, at the period of the Union, threw itself on the good faith of Great Britain.

said, that for years they had laboured under very great difficulties, with respect to the spirits intercourse between the two countries, and but little progress had been made in removing them. Committees had been, from time to time, appointed, to investigate the true principles of reciprocity. Now, the difficulty was, not to point out the irregularities that existed, but to find proper remedies for them. He was convinced, that until some regulation was adopted to tax Irish spirits as it was taxed in this country, not according to the quantity, but the strength of the liquor, the Irish manufacturer would have so great an advantage over the English, as to destroy any thing like a reciprocity of benefit, in this branch of trade.

deprecated any discussion on this subject until the measure of his right hon. friend was before the House; he would, however, make one or two observations on what had fallen from the hon. gentleman who had spoke last, lest, if they passed without comment, they might create unpleasant feelings abroad. The hon. gentleman said, that there could be no reciprocity between the two countries, with respect to the intercourse of spirits, unless the system on which distillation was pursued in Ireland was assimilated to that adopted in England. Now, he never would depart from this principle, either with reference to the present, or any other measure affecting the sister country, that England had no right to demand of the Irish manufacturer, that the system on which a manufacture was carried on, which was not interfered with at the time of the Union, should be assimilated to that adopted in the same manufacture here. The hon. gentleman had stated, that the English distiller had made a great quantity of spirits, under the impression that the Suspension Act would be continued. Now, he did not think this could be the case, for when the Bill now about to expire, was brought in by himself, it was known to be only a temporary measure, arising from peculiar circumstances. In conclusion, the right hon. gentleman observed, that he was about to propose such an increase to the duty on distillation in Ireland, as would bring the situation of the English and Irish distiller more upon an equality.

said, the English distillers had no right to act upon any such presumption; they might have supposed, because the Bill now about to expire, had been continued from session to session, that therefore it would be again introduced. But surely this circumstance ought not to influence the conduct of the House. It was at the request of the English distilleries that the Spirits' Warehousing Act was passed. They found that it was not sufficient to prevent the Irish distiller from entering into competition with them, and then they called for another measure. In short, it appeared as if nothing less would satisfy them, but the total abrogation of the intercourse in spirits between the two countries. He would have been extremely glad if the noble lord (Castlereagh) were in his place, to state to the House what he had, a few days ago, communicated to him (sir John Newport) as the sentiments of Mr. Pitt, on this subject. Mr. Pitt, in conversation with his lordship, said, "I am aware, that, in the article of spirits intercourse, the act of Union is so framed, as to give a very great advantage to Ireland. She must look to that article for a compensation, for what she will lose in other manufactures." This statement the noble lord would make to the House if he were in his place; and it showed beyond a doubt, that the advantage which was likely to accrue to Ireland on this point, was not unforeseen by those who drew up the Act of Union. Now, if this was the feeling of those who recommended the measure, he would ask of the House, was it right to call upon Ireland to give up the benefit which was proposed by the Act of Union, and to remain contented with the inconveniencies and disadvantages it created? He believed, many gentlemen were of opinion, that such should be the policy adopted towards that country; for he had heard an hon. member, in a committee, declare, that, though he believed Ireland had a right, under the Act of Union, to these advantages, yet, as it would operate against the English and Scotch distilleries, she ought to surrender them. The same doctrine was acted upon by many other gentlemen, though not so openly avowed. But, when such a position was unblushingly laid down by art hon. member for North Britain, he need not wonder at the manner in which subjects, connected with the interests of Ireland, were often treated in that House. The right hon. baronet concluded by conjuring the House to act with strict justice and integrity towards the sister country.

said, that having been, in a considerable degree, a party to the transactions connected with the question of the Union, and having heard Mr. Pitt's opinion, over and over again, he had every reason to believe, that the right hon. baronet was totally mistaken, from beginning to end, with respect to the statement which he alleged Mr. Pitt to have made on the subject of the spirits' intercourse. Not a single word so attributed by him to Mr. Pitt, did he think ever fell from that right hon. gentleman's lips. The conclusion of the right hon. baronet's speech was entirely ad misericor- diam. For his own part, he would adhere to the argumentum ad justitiam; and, when the measure came to be debated, he would fully express his opinion on the subject of the spirits' intercourse.

begged it to be understood, that he would never plead the cause of Ireland, ad misericordiam, to Great Britain, or to any other country on the face of the globe.

contended, that the statement made by the right hon. baronet could not be considered as merely founded on hearsay, after a lapse of fourteen years. It was not of that vague and indistinct nature which the hon. gentleman seemed to suppose—that statement came from the noble lord who recommended the measure of Union in Ireland, and, therefore, carried considerable authority with it. In the present stage of the business, he thought it would be most convenient for all parties if the discussion were deferred.

was friendly to the principle of reciprocity, and therefore he could not agree, that, for the purpose of securing the Irish distiller, millions of money, expended in the English distilleries, should be, in a manner, lost to the proprietors,

said, from what they had heard that evening, it was manifest that a good deal of irritation subsisted between the different parties interested in this measure; and the longer it was delayed, the greater would that irritation become. Indeed, this business ought not to have been postponed so long; it should have been completed before this time. Now, with respect to what Mr. Pitt or other persons might have said, although from the situation in which that right hon. gentleman and the noble lord stood, the testimony borne by him must be allowed to have some weight, yet the question to which it referred was not to be decided on that testimony. It was to be decided by law—it was to be decided by the Act of Union. The Act of Union was not an ordinary law; it was a law containing the compact between two nations, each of them having a parliament by which it was governed; and the question was not, whether the articles of that compact were for the advantage of England or of Ireland. No matter on which side the advantage preponderated, the Act ought to be strictly fulfilled; and England would receive very little compensation, if she violated this law, for the purpose of imparting a benefit to any branch of her own manufactures. Such a proceeding would be a breach of public faith, and must destroy all confidence between the two countries. He, therefore, besought the House to weigh well every measure connected with the Act of Union; for the character of the House and the faith of the country were at stake wherever it was concerned. Whatever the House conceived to be the true meaning of that Act, ought to be rigidly observed; and England, he was convinced, never could be recompensed for committing a violation of it.

said, no gentleman had a greater respect or veneration for the Act of Union than he had, and no person was more sincerely determined to support it; but on account of certain ambiguities in that act, they were obliged, at times, to have recourse to temporary measures, for the purpose of carrying its provisions fairly into effect. The measure he was about to introduce was founded on principles of reciprocity and justice; and if it could not be supported on those principles he would be ready to abandon it.

After a few words from Mr. Finlay, who spoke in favour of the Scotch distillers, the motion was agreed to.