304 National Tranſaëions;[April

reſidence of the Clergy. Tt is favourably entertained, and is in its progre through the forms of diſcuſſion.

. Lord Grenville has, already, in the Houſe of Lords intimated his inten< tion to cenſure“what he, then, underſtood to be the terms of. the Definitive Sr whenever theſe ſhall be communicated from His Majeſty, to that

ouſe.

__ On account of the ſtate of theexchange and of trade between Britain and foreign countries, a bill has‘been brought into Parliament, and is paſſing into a law, which reſtrains the Bank of England from making payments in ſpecie, for one year after the Ratification of the Definitive Treaty.

A motion in the Houſe of Commons, by Sir Francis Burdett, on the 22th of April, for an enquiry into’ the condu& of the lare miniſters, wgs vigorouſly oppoſed by Lord Temple and others; and was, by a majority of 246 to 39, reje&ted.

4A bill has been brought into Parliament, the obje& of which is to aug- Ment the Militia for England, Scotland, and Ireland, to a ſtanding body of 100,000 men z of whom a part are to be immediately embodied, while the reſt are to be held in a ſtate of readineſs in which they may be, at any time, Called out, within a fortnight,

A conſiderable proportion of judicial buſineſs has engaged the attention of the Houſe of Peers, during laſt month. It was brought chiefly-by ap= peals from the deciſions of the Court of Seſſion in Scotland.

Many bills for High Roads and Canals, continue to be brought into the Heoufe of Commons.

On the 1 th of April, the royal aſſent was given by commiſſion, to a bill for the loan of 25 millions, a bill for raiſing the propoſed additional aſſeſſed duties, a2 bill for regulating the corn trade between Great Britain and Ire- land, a bill for regulating the colle&ion of the Triſh revenue, and to twenty.- nine other bills, relating only to matters of private intereſt; all which thus finally acquired the force of Îaw.

St. DOMINGO is fill a theatre of war. On the 7th of January laſt Ge- neral Leclerc, having landed his troops, and poſſeſled himſelf of thoſe places on the coaſt which Touſſaint had abandoned, began to advance after that negro chief, into the interior country. The diviſions of Toufſlaint’s, troops only annoyed the French in their approach; here and there, made head for a ſhort time againſt them; then retreated among impenetrable woods and de- files, in which the Ftench could not injure them. Still, however, the French advanced, till, in the ſpace of fifteen days, they had gained poſſeſſion of a conſiderablé portion of the diſputed part of the iſle, and had in almoſt every rencounter, put to flight, the forces of Touſlaint,‘The Southern planta- tions are preſerved from the Rebels; and the whole Spaniſh part of the iſle is in the power of the troops of the French Republic.—Theſe are the accounts which have been made public, in conſequence of the laſt receipt of diſpatches from St. Domingo, by the French Government. It is, however, believed, that the difficulties oppoſing Leclerc's ultimate ſucceſs, are much greater than they have been repreſented; and that large reinforcements are, therefore, to be, with as little delay as pofſible, ſent out from France to his aid.

Since the preceding paragraph was written, we have ſca new diſpatch from St. Domingo to the French Government; which intimates, that an embaſly of peace has been, in vain, ſent to cónciliate a pacification with Touſſaint; that this chief diſtruſts every profeſſion that can be made to him z that he poſleſſes the means of laying waſte the country where the French army ſhould be ſubſiſted; and that he and the chiefs commanding under him, are not to be perſuaded to refrain from the uſe of this terrible mode of ſelf-defence. It is, indeed, evident from what is related of his rejeétion of the overtures which have been madeto him, that he muſt expe&, with the fulleſt

confidence, to triumph, over the invahon-by the climate, by devaſtation,