The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1808-05-13 00:00:00

Wit'LirllTOCK'S PETITION.

The. Bill for granting a comprtisation to Mr.
M'Cliiitoek was brought up; upon the motion
fur it. being read a first time,
_

Sir .loss NEHrORT rapres sell his disapproba-
tion of lin* again ripening those claims fur com peu-
sotto!' fur the loss of certain fern, occasioned by
ll•ertain new regulations of a furtner Act of Par-
liament, a 4 he thought it would be a load prece-
dent. If they were to he ripened on the part of
individuals, they might as well b. upeued on the
part of the public.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said, that

it appeared from the face of the onginal docu-
ment., that great injustice had been done to the
individual, and that this Bill was the only mode of
his obtaining retires..
Mr. Itit.lE FustrEa entered into • long expla-
nation of the manner in which the injury com-
plained of had arisen, and sheeted the neeess4y oc
grown.. the redri%s required.
The bill %4 us then read it ti:lts arid ordered to
be read a 4e' and time.

suribi Y.
The Re achq of the Countailttz of Supply na,
ought uit talr. WuAirtoN, the peve.al
lilt agree,l LI, fund u Lill ordered upon that
relota‘t to the granting a novibana to G.:
Duthei* of 1114*arick.

MR PALMER'S PETIT:ON.
The Reptmt tue CuiumitteeOil tLia Prt,
tion war lobo cht up.
The (71111)44:1.LOR Of the EXCHEQUER FRid,
it *..t.:l's(l Lk! wt,r,t ii...siruble to have the
this Report au,i Petition diseussi:d lit a
of the whibie

Upon that !Immutable Centleuitut's
tiuo, thvrcfu e, the liuuse uLcordingly %eta into„
(:uuu.utteC.

Nagar P the Non of the Petitioner, rose,
and vt.ry ahly stated the real object of the Petitioi4
uud tile nature of his Miller's claim upon the ca._
vernment of the country. It was for eol.llpvioa-
Lion for the Nervier% he had rendered the puhlle in
the estalitishment of mad coaches, and the Au ...
inentatinit that thereby accrued to the revenues of
the poNtmiliee. lie stilted tile nature of the on.
;,haul agreement, between Government and )iir,
l.'alukesr,
of, to
thhieu
lieaaaper centage upon the 11...
venues Post-office, and although Covent.
ene
meat had, by a breach of agreement, substituted
an annuity of 30001. a year, yet he had never con.
'wilted to accept of that sum us en equivalent for
what had been originally stipulated. According to
that original stipulation, therefore, he begged leave
to move, "That the Committee should adopt the
following ltesolutiou :"
"That a is the opiates of this Committee, that Mr.
Palmer is retitlid to the sect of ,Soul. blear as a comae..
talkie of tlic per cottage upon the iscreasedrevenne fifer
Poat-Office, when nut exceeding 21:0,004.4, from the sth et
April, 1791, during his life; sad en annuity of per
cent. when these reertiues exceed the ma of nations& de.
ilactiag the seas of s,uoul. annually received by him suss
that period."

Mr. LONG opposed this motion, upon the ground
that the Committee already appointed to cousider
this Petition, bud decided against granting Mr.
Palmer any further compeasation. He read- se% e.
rul letters. and endeavoured to shew, that the
breach of ertgogionent was not occasioned by the
then Government, but by the misconduct of Mr.
Palmer himself. The violation of the opine:at
being on the part of Mr. Palmer. he had no right
to complain of having hecu awapeuded in his situ.
tiun of Comptroller of the Post-Office, ou certain
charges being made ; liar could he complain of the
insufficiency of the remuneration. when he himself
bad actually consented to receive it in lieu of all
other compensation. Mr. Pitt had been wilhng is
grant Mr. Palmer every support, being sensible of
Mr. Palmer's merits, tut had been under the ne-
cessity of consenting to his suspension from office,
upon the represeirtauous which had been snide.
Major again rose, and combated, with
great ability, the arguments of the Right Iton.
Gentlemau who had just spoken. He read various
letters written sly his father to different persons of
the then Adinieistration, remonstrating against the
provision that bad been substituted, without his
consent, in place of the original per tentage. It
was on account of the breach of the engagement
having been on the part of Mr. Pitt's Adminis-
tration, that lie had not presented a petition to the
! louse of Commons many years ago, as he was led
to think his application would, during such an Ad-
ministration, be, in vain. He had,-hou ever, re-
braced the earliest opportunity of presenting one
to the last Parliament, but which had net beet' die-
cussed prerious to the late change of Ministry.
This claim was now made upon the justice of
the country. He concluded with reading see.
rap letters to shew, that the c made
against the Petitioner, as to wanthao7eescononiy,
and the delay of delivery of letters, were totally
unfounded, and attributable to other canoes.
Me contended. that since his departure the ex-
pense of management in the Port-Office had
vastly exceeded that while he was in office. Mr.
Palmer was the fittest person to be placed in that
situation, since he was interested in the saving of
the public money. He proved the increase by ac-
curate statements of the expenses incurred pre-
vious and subsequent to his suspension. These
statements had beau proved to be authentic, by
the Report of a Committee of that House. They
could not then with consistency vote against those
chime which were founded on justice, and that
principle of public faith. ever respected by a Bri-
tish Parliament. The country would reap the be-
nefit of this measure for ever, whilst Mr. Palmer's
family could only derive the advantage of his ta-
lents and exertions during his life ; the whole ar-
rears were but about 70,0001. Suppose the Post-Of-
fice was in the state in which he found it, would not
the Hon. Member be glad to make the same agree-
ment for its reformation ? Hence he was induced
to hope the faith of the country would not h.
broken with an individual who had pledged Mrs
whole fortune on the success of his scheme.

Mr. Rose admitted the propriety of the eloquert
and aide appeal of the Hou. Member, both to the
principles and feelings of the Members of 014 .
llouse. Na defended Mr. Pitt's conduct, on t. 14
well known integrity of that celebrated statesman.
and contended, that Mr. Pitt would never have
consented to allow Mr. Palmer so large a sum es
1.50(11. per annum, for a plan with so small a chin
to on The agreement had, by hi., con.-
duct, been violated ; and had the cause been tord
in the Conrt of Kitties Bench, it would, uo doub,,
has: been overturned. This appeared from the
letters of Mr. Pitt. previous to Mr. Palmer's ri -
moral from office. This removal was justified he
the letter of Mr. Palmer, on the face of the eri.lem
stating, that he would rather let the system of
uption, formerly in practice, exist once more, than
lose his salary of duool. per annum, if there w:,s
no other mode of attaining it. Such an av0%;,,l
justified the removal of Mr. Palmer by Got;:i-
orient ; nor would they have done their clnty,
they neglected to remove him after such irupri,Er
conduct. Nu praise ass due for the st,,f,fli
iutruduol'cvd
inuilllcohaicru wheif,itsbiticreespthett to
e.y "Taid"9tsinlii4'g l
ce him 1
found wiling to run free of all expense to GO%Erf,
men+. From this view of the claim, he had no
sitation in calling the HOW! to vote against It.
Mr. Caoae* defended the claim of Mr. Paln,f
to the amount of two and half per cent. on the
gregate of the improvement made in the estahl.•::
recut ; though he did c0u,..! ,r the allow au,e