The National Register.
London, England, 1812-12-27 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL REGISTER.

i:1 11l i be of rise House, in (artier to secure a full attendance.
He theretore 'tweed that the House be celled over oe Tuesday the 9th
or Fellreary.
The SrEAßEK•suggested; that it Would be prefet able, pereaps, to
let the C'el be on the day preceding, or the day tollowitig ehe 9th, as
ma-y it the agents for the petitioners who wete to tic fiend on that
day, eittuld be kept waiting during the calling otrzr eit the Members'
Lord CASTWEREAGTS .eceded to this, and the Call was accordinely
fitted ter Wediesdav the 10th.
. i
Si, Fees:cis Bea mere presented the Petition of Captain nges.
The Speaeer'inquiicd it it was free from the retnrr t 'ejection to it ?
Sir F. 13;trekte said it was. The Petition was teen 'cast, and otelered
to lie on the. raffle. -
Sir F BURDETT then rose to present another Petition, which he
stated to be time' the friends and relations of ce rain ;arsons now eel•
flied in !!,;teeter gaol. The parties were resident at Bath, and rhe
inlivitleals in 4:entitlement had been committed in conseepietice of
-semeling riotously before the Town Hall, dairing the 1-st election
in that city, and demanding in a tumultuous meaner, that the doers of
the Hall should be opened This was refused, and some windows
wet- br .ke.). The next day these persons were seized, and had been.
tua cd • with a severity which nothing could justify. Tile offence
was cemitilly bailable, and bad to any atneunt had bean offered, but
was efesed. They ayere then cent to Ilchester gaol, and being all of
th.m people who in entained th it families h their own labour, the
grea.est distress ensued to them. One was a j ,urnes man printer, ano-
ther a jeurneyntan carpenter, and another was a poor wornnt who
ea-ned • er subsistence by carrying goods home from the markets.
Tlit-ar were, of course, meal)! • to obtain justice by any legal process.
Time Petitioners set forth that they were confined in solitary cells and
heavily iron:d. All access to them hy their friends or relations who
might be disposcal to .41eviate the hardships of their lot, was denied.
During this severe weather they had nothing to sleep on but a little
srtaw in a stone dungeon, and covered eith a scanty rug ; ante theergit
some humane persons in the town had provided them well great coat:,
yet they were strip: ed of these every night before they were lecke.'
up in their cells. The ordinary hour of lockine them up was about
four o'clock. Their food was nothing but bread and water ; and to
convince the House that he was not dwelling upon feigned or imagi.
nary distresses, he would shew them one of the loaves which lice
been sent up to him front Ilehester. and which was the whole all ,w-
-since for one man for a day. [Here the Honourable Baronet drew
feral a little loaf from his pocket, and after holding it up for the in-
spection of the House, threw it o. the fl'oor.] Mr. Bunke, continued
the Honoura!)le Baronet, once drew a dagger in that House to pro.luce
effect, t,tte he leell drawn forth something that was real, and not frcm
the n:ere impulse of momentary feeling; He would ask whether such
a pittance was enough to sustain life? Before he concluded, also, he
wishel to adve,e to the present state of the gaols throughout England.
He feared t:iere was a degree of oppression exerett:ed in them by
inferior officers of what was called justice, countenanced, seine
instance=, by the Magistrates themselves, (though he was far from
intending to cast any imputation upon that body in general,) whico
were shocking in 3 civilized courttry. With regard to the Petition he
held i his hand, he knew not emtly what mode of redress to sug ‘est
to ti, H.•ese, but he thought some relief ought surely to be afforded
Tn. Pet tieners wire too poor to remeve their complaints to either
of the Courts at Westminster by writs of Habeas Corpus. He ton.
elided by moving, that the Petition do lie on the table.
After some further conversation, the Petition was read ated orderer
to. he on the table.—Adjourned.

TUESDAY, DEC. 22.
The SPEAKER was summoned to the House of Peers. On his re-
turn, he into.nud the House that the Royal Assent had been given
to several Rills (For which, se. Lords.y
The SPEAKER informed the House, than the three Burgesses who
had presented a Petition, cemplaining cf the return fur Great Gr'ni-
stead, had ft” (-mitered into th necessary recognizances, and conse-
quently the Petition was I.,st. He also acquainted be House tliv he
Tiad received a liter from the Deputy Clerk of 0.• Crown in Ire-
land, enclosine a Petition from F. W. Pousonby, complaining of the
return for Yougliall.
The P •tition was ordered to be taken into consideration on the same
day apvcuitted for taking into co..sidcration the other Petiticns on the
same subject.
_

CAsTr.EitZAC.H having been returned for the County of Down
an'i the Borough Clithero , stated it to tic his intention to stand t(,r
the Cifurity of Thvyn. A uew Writ was ordered for the Borough c,r
C lirheroe.

•Arr If)nourable ;Weather, whose name we could net learnt wished
to a k what for'ec was stationed off America, to prote.,:t our trade,
against the Americans ? He also wished to observe that apprehen-
sions were eiktertained% for..the Packets from Jamaica and other
islands. It had been customary for them to be convoyed as far as the
Wind yard I t.lai:dz,. At present, it was thought, it would be de-
sirable to convoy them farther on their voy4e, if nut all Ow way to
Fngland. If the attention of Government were not turned to these
subjects, he had it iyl t.ttetitplation to mike a suotiou on the aabject,
shortly alter the teeth. " *

DF,C. 27:

Lord CpsTexREACH was not able to give the Honourcb'e I%lernh r
information on the subject, to which he had last alluded, as 111:i
came within the :irovince of the Colonial Department. With respect
to the former, as to the distribution of our naval force on the Ante.
ricau station, he was not prepared particularly to speak, but no
pt.riod had we sufrered less front a war. Our fleets had all arritcii
sale. end the losses sustained by private individuals were compdra.
tirrAy cmall. The force stationed at America had front the first been
large, and it had ben teinforced as soon as Government had any
reason to apprehend a war would br:sak out.
Mr MANNING Obtaill:d leave Le bring in a Bill, to amend the Re.
gent's Ca. al Bill, of last Session.
Sir F. By RDETT wished to know if any attention had been pail to
•;u• ease of the Cl. rks of the Navy Office. He thought thv'ri a
case, to be dismissed from their situation after payint, large suais
or money for them.
Lord C• ASTLEREACH replied, in a tone scarcely awlible in the gal.
lerv. We tiodcrstond him to say, the case alluded to was lon, of
remote date, anti therefore coul + throw no imputation on the ceiduct
or the Noble Lord ot present at the heat' of the Admiralty.
Sir F. Boat:lE7r did not mean to prefer a charge the pri-..sent First
of the Admiralty, but he thought it a serious charge apt. tit
Barka n. Tile individuals greeted nad a strong claim upon Gc.
vernment,
Mr GRANT inquired if it was the intention of the Chancellor of
the Exchequer to press the pr-ivisions of the Local Tokens Bill ?
T.;e CHANCELLOR Of the EXCHEQUER theught he ha.! )..tvca an
a. swer to this question on a former occasion, when he had state'' that
iv- telt the necessity of carrying the Local Tnkens Bili into ettset ;
but, nevertheless, as -some mconveniencies might he felt 1-,,;n the
want'of a sufficient number of Bank Tokens, he had fort el ;11:• de.
sio of deferring its operation for some months, till a more 1:!-.eu:i
supply of Bank Tokens could be furnished. Th . period to which lie
had tivught of deferring its Operation would extend to next suntincrs
or thereasotits.

inc House Adjourned to Tuecdav, February 2, next.

TUES.DAY's LONDON GAZETTE.

1111M111 iTY-OFFICF, DE('. 22, 1812.

Admiral Lord Kvi:li has :ransmitted to John \Vilsou Croker, F.,q. a
letter from Ci pi A., 'collo, of his ILf.j.lily's shin Andromache, seni .r
ca. ofF the Cii• wide, staling, that the Briton bad, on the two.; II!,
p•tired Sans Souci French privateer, of 14 guns and 1:20 wen, be-
longing to St. Attlnes.