The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1808-03-05 00:00:00

transmit it to Liverpool. New I would wish
to know if it be a Petition against this gill
why there was not time to trunumit it?' If it be
against a proceeding now pending in this House,
then the question came to be, whether that pros
ceeding be of such a nature as to admit the Yeti-
• tiosrs to be heard. It was decided lust night, that
its being .a Bill for the collection of certaiu duties,
the Petitioners could nut be heard against it in any
stage, according to former images. It dos not,
however, follow, that they are taut to be heard it
all. Although they cannot be heard by the House,
they may be heard by the Crown; the measure
complained of being an act of the Crown. To put
an analogous case, let me suppose that Its Ma-
jesty, in his Speech from the Throue, expresses his
contidence that the House will enable him
vigorously to prosecute the war, and that the
House had passed Bills for that purpose, 1 should
like to know how Petitioners could be heard against
the Property Tux, maroly upon the grounds that
His-Majesty had recommended a vigorous prosecu-
tion of the war ? . The cute is the slime which
applied to the. Orders in Council."
Mr. WillTallEAD--" It is itnpossible to delay
this petition a moment longer ; for if the Petitioners
be foiled in this attempt, as they were in the foimer
one, there would not be time for putting a petition
into any form that could be admitted. The Right
I lououralile Gentlemen are too sanguine of their
Orders. ia Council, and it is unjust not to hear
men, who thus oliCred to be heauslut the bar, as
to the rnin that would inevitably follow them.
Mr. WILLIAM SMITH thought that it was a good
and substantial reason for pressing forward this
Petition, as the Bill was to pawl that House upon
Monday. He was informed by persons who had
conversed with the Right Honourable the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer, that he did not intend ori-
ginally to denominate the Bill a Revenue Bill.
This was misleading the merelvauts. and prevelit-
' ing them from their right of petitioniug.
The CjaA lICELLOR of the Exc•coura observed,
that iu all conferences he had bad with the mei-
chants, he told them, when they objected to the
duties being too high, that that was not the chief
object of the Bill, it being to carry the tinter; into
execution.

Dr. LiWRENCK said, he hoped the House would
not be involved in such absurdity as to come to a
decision, and afterwards tied theui,elves ler the
.necessity of hearing evidence. It was their duty
to give that degree of redress to the grievances that
they could, and reject that part that was objection-
able on account of form.

nr. ti DAM b ttppetrtrd very ably the pretensions of
the petitioners, as he saw nu tios9hle objection to
hearing them state their grievances at the Bar. It
was bighly improper to think of tying them up
from the right of petitioning against the etreits of
a Bill merely bemuse there ware some revenue re-
gulations in it.
Mr. Fot• als9 supported the Petition. Ile
wished to knew whether this was to be the only
Bill that was to he proposed upon these Orders, for
if not there could be no objection to ratite this
Petition.

The SaLICITOIt.CIEWrIttf. argued against the
receiving the Petition, as it was equally objuctiou-
able in point of form as the former one.
Sir ASTlttlit P►urorr thought, that on this qner-
tion evidence was moat particularly necemerv, it
was therefore unfair to the house even to refuse
the prayer of the petitioners to he heard at the liar
of the house. lle denied there was any thing
equivocal in the Petition, and contended that
nothing lint what was fair, correct, and orderly, had
been stated in the detail. It aas in rain to say
the complaint should be made to the King, since
the Orders proceeded from his authority, since the
House, by enacting a law on them, were now re-
sponsible to the country, in a measure, fur the Or-
ders themselves.

Mr: Ilusanisox maintained, that it was now an
improper time to admit the Petition as it was at
present framed, and recommended the Petitioners
to upplv to the House in the 11,1041.3 which had been
propixii.ii to them by his 'tight lion. Friend.
Mr. BAN MCI thought there could he no reason-
able objection to withdrawing the Petition at pre
sent, end presenting it on Monday.
Mr. Ttrent.Y said, no eloquence whatever mould
persuade hill. to relinquish the pressing and imme.•
&ate right of the Petition ; its merits ?toad on a
broad basis. The objection now to the Bill existed
as to a regulation of trade. The misfortune of the
fonuer Petition's refusal was the fault of the !TOWN:.
not that of the Petitioners, since the House had
negketed to forward it in the usual course. The
hope of the present Petitioners was, that the forms
of that House might he an object of attention, )et
justice a mild be paramount to all fonn, even ad-
mitting the forms of the House to be against it.
General TARLCTON opposed the admission of the
Petition, us informal rualimtgalar.
Mr. S mto x coincided with the arguments of Ow
Ministers, and considered it improper to admit the
present Petition. -

Lord SISNLEY mut several extracts from the
Petition, to 'their thnt it merely complained of
the ineastire as one of trade, and expressed appre.
henbions of its pernicious effects ou the commercial
interest.

After an esphination on the part of General
TAR' P. run, tliP linUie divided, when there ap-
peared, for receiving the l'etition,

A4ce• •
NIA'S III

Majority fur Ministers 54

Mr. Avast then rose, pursuant to notice. He
hoped that the comlnet pursued on the adz at last
February. would wirer be repeated in that Home.
On the :td of Febrnary, an application to Parlia-
ment had beenstsde4r information relative to the
intention* of Demriark towards this country : that
application had bee. refused. Shortly after an-
other application had been male for a particular
paper on the same subject, which was also refused ;
thottEh the Secretary for Foreign Affairs hail, oo
the Nth of the same month, when pressed by his
antagoni-ts an time justilialbletiees of his rotalnel,
produced a few garbled sentences from that
paper, for the parpsise of cleurnmy cha-
racter from time ac emi.atimet allepiell against him.—
Oa time Itith the Secretary of State came doom to
the liouse, and of himself and for his own par-
poses, proposed au Address to His 3lnje.ty to grant