The Sun.
London, England, 1803-04-30 00:00:00

1-10U.S'E 'OF COMMONS,

4,1t1D,A.y, APRIL -29 t
".Tr. V. DI;utIAI brought up the report of the Edinburgh
loan Hui..

A Nle:isage from the Lords stated, that they hadagreed to
aeveral Private poi*, without any amendment. -
'Ili:, lirtatol Harbour Bill was read a tirst time.

The Sp tci roa GewERAI, moved the. Orderof the Day,
for ttiet Rouse to resolve itself into a COllllOltW, oaf the whole
House on the Lunatics'. Property Bill. •1,11&-soLigrroa
i; EU t $ A t. proposed that the report of tht: allienthneors should
re,printed:
The Bill then went through the Conunittee, and the Re-
port SVaS ordered to be immediately brought up, after which
was orcter.:ct to be taken into further consideration this Jay
aenhight, and the Bill with the report, to printed. .
was given to bring in a Bill to enahle, the .EaA. India
Company to defray the expence of raising. a Corps of
_ _ • •

Mr. l)tcscixx said he wisho to -khow when the.Edinburgl
Road Rill was to be read..

Mr. W. De NDA s replied, it was his Ivislito have the Bill
read on Monitily—:whieti the House agreed tn.
Mr. HA t‘t us J3Rowt;c brought up a. Petition froth the
Freeholders and Householders or the Town of Nottingham,
praying that the Nottingham Election Bill should pass. into,
l.aw. • . ,

The Petition. was read, and ordered to lie on the Table.
,anal •
Mr.
.Fox also presented a Petition from the Freeholders
and lieuschulders of thu Town of Nottingham, Praying that
the Nottingham Election. Bill may not pass into a Law :
.which. was read, and ordered to lie-ort the
General l,tscc►.t,t:s pre,sented. a Petition from. the
Clot!wiers. and .;%(.00lle.it.Ni.onifactii.rers Of York, prayin4 the
to froinl -several Ad relative tc the Woollen Mario.
lactory ; ordered to lie on the,Table.
Air. I I NS Bitowr.P moved the Order of The I).►y for
p se.2)n.t reading of the .Nottingliain EleEt►un Bill.. -
The Petitions
,presented on that subject were then read,
and Serjeant Lgus appeared at 'the liar, kind addressed the
&louse at sent: length against the Bill ;- after the . Learned
counsel withdrew ttu►n theliar,

Mr. HAWKINS BROWNE said, before he moved
tharthe Bitl.should go into-a Comm!! tee', he should
tr• iuhle the, House w h a few ober variektis on the sub-
jecl, aril on the remarks of the Learocd Counsel. It
tint( been said by the lifitarned Counsel, that, no par.
sicolor charge had been made out agabl-it the Mayor
and ivlagistr,,tesiof Nottingham by- the 'evidence
4dtlo;zed in the.,Corninittee, to prove that -they had
active part in the rioti, aid were guilty of
wilful negle6 ;,but in answer to that Learned Gen-
tleman's remark, he would say, if the evidence had
gone to prove that the Magistrates kid violated the
Law to thar extent, he should bave teken i, difierent
Measnre,:and have brought them before a Ciiorc of
Just iea ; put it was a different species of impropriety
that they:were accused: of, and that was, a shameful
ydri,taiiy to fa V.Olll of arid a neglea of
ijoiy it. io( endeavotning to subdue the riot which
took.'pl;rcedUring the Eledioo at Nottingham, and
.which he had no doubt they might have done if they
liailbeeri so inclined. The Evidence called before the
committee not only proved, that dreadful riots took
)I.tct, during; the Elect ion, but ()omit oceasiont in that
•
viwn it wa,i tht:refore necessary some measure
!should be adopted for the safety of the Public.—
The Bill. Now before the. House, gcici to destroy
those scenes of disorder and wickedness which-have
been the companions of the Town of Nottingham
too-long, and. he did not d but it would tend
to 'produce that comfort to the Inhabitants to which
they have been a considerable time strangers. He
could not suppose that any, Gentleman in that IfOUsei
.'would rake it upon, him to say, that dreadful 'iota
have opt existed in Nottingham; and therefore, that
tpe case, he thought every Member would allow
that sonic measure ought, to he adopted, to keep the
istatre of the Corporation and County, and therefore
those Geotbrinen who, objet to the present Bill,
-Should suggest some measure render the inhabi.
tants secure from riots and continual disturbance.
lie would assure the House, that if:the present Bill
into a Lavi, and:did not answer the purpose
he, would be one of the •first' either to
.amemi it, or give his vote, for tnakiig it void, for
illy Bill. that the ilouse should think better .calcu-
bi tell for thE ,suety of the public peace : but certainly
4
SUIiIC, measure is highly necessary to corre the
abuses coMplained- of. It must he "evident :to
the House, if we admit no, blante..cao posSiblY
:mach' to 'the. Magistrates, that. their;
,proeot
power- 13 not Sufficiently strong to secore;t.he pence
of the Town. The strong ground upon, vitlich
he has gone, and the evidence adduced before
the Cuttimitttee, go,to prove that the evil complain-
ed -of calls loudly for redress. -In his mind, the
scenes of vice which stave been witnessed in Not.
tingham, exceed all discription. If we were ro.go
beyotul the iitarement of the evidence before the
Qormoi:ttee and boiler persons to 'be called to the 1

Bar of the House, there would be no difficulty to
prove that tumultuous parties have deStroyed the
peace of the Town for these ten years past. There
were strong political. parties in Nottingham, and
he would state to the House one among many cir-
cumstances which gave rise to much confusiondur-
ing the late War. A number of persons would
-coiled at the entrance of the Town, to wait for the
arrival of the ,Mail Coach, to learn the success of
our Navy and Army, and whatever intelligence ar.
rived of any importance to these politicians, was
not argued on with temperance, but generally caused
great confusion between the parties, and frequently
ended in a dreadful riot : by this detail of fails he
did not mean to censure any man for taking an in.
tereSt in the welfare of, his Country, but when p 6..
litical differences engendered tumults dangerous to,
public safety, he thought it necessary that some'
steps should be' taken to secure the comforts of the.
'lnhabitants. Nothing as yet had been adduced to
satisfy him that the Freedom of Eleition had not been
violated, and that there was no occasion to give a
concurrent authority to the Magistrates of the Coun-
ty : on the contrary, he thought some remedy ought to
be taken to put art end to the confusion mentioned,
and did not see a single evil that could arise from
the Bill now •in the Hduse : he ' should therefore
move, that the Bill should go into a Committee of
the .whole House on Monday next.
• Mr. HENDERSON, said, he. concurred with the
last Hon. Gentletnan, that the evils complained of
required amendinent, by Law, and that the Peace of
the Town had been disturbed many years by tumul.'
tuous assemblies ; he therefore thought that the pre.
sent Bill was calculated to produce much good In the
town of Nottingham; but he had great doubts whe-
ther the Bill could pass into a law, consistent with
the ancient law of the nation.' • The object of the
Bill is to increase the number of Magistrates for
the County and Town of Nottingham ; but accord-
ing to an, Afft of the 27th of Henry Villth, chap.
2+, the appointment of Magistrates is vested in the
Crown, and the dice of Magistrate is procured by
Letters Patent, from the Great Seal. Ile observed,
however useful the Bill would be to the inhabitants
of Nottingham, he had not a doubt but it was not
only contrary to' •the ancient Charter of the Town,
but the established Law of the Land.

Me.'FOX said, before he came to state his ob."
jedions to the Bill now in the ,House, ,he could not
forbear reprObating the enhandsome..way the Hon.
Gentleman opposite to LIM had treated the Magi-
strates. If the Mayor iiiiil Magistrates have acted
contrary to Law, it would. be the duty of the
Honourable Gentleman and the House to bring
them 7into a Court of Justice ; but he thought
the method taken to degrade them in the public
opinion, .without making any thing like a charge,
was highly censurable, and ought to rued with the
disapprobation of every man who considers the me.
sits of the case. - He would ask, what was the charge
against the Magistrates ? Did the Resolutions con-
tain any thing like proof that 'they had sandioncid
a riot at Nottingham ? He would answer,, " NO."
Why were these Gentlemen not accused of an of
fence in a direct way, if they had committed any
thing criminal ? But he was sorry to say, the Hon.
Gentleman.had endeavoured to make out a charge in
a dark and unintelligible language, which goes 'to
rub them of their peace of mind and, cha ratter, wiih.
Out any thing like proof of guilt." The Resolution
cmtained a charge apparently lenient, but which
teased them by pains and penalties. He would ask
the lion. Gentleman, if the Magistrates were guilty
Of the offence talked so much ot, why not come fors
ward and exhibit their wickedness by something
like proof ? He was .satisfied the Resolution 'in
which the Magistrates were mentioned' as having
'done wrong during the Elation, atuoupted to no-
thing that would incur either punishment, or cen-
‘ sure of Parliament. Many Gentle:nee who ,have
'perused the Resolution, acknowledge that it only
expresses a doubt of their 'guilt. This was the only
meaning it conveyed, it was therefore very hard
that the 'Mayor and Magistrates shOuld sutf:r by
mere. assertion, It was true the evidence was very,
' voluminous,' yet there was na part of the evidence
that affeded the Magistrates for not baVing done '
their duty to the best of their ability
The Preamble of the Bill stated, that ruinultuous,
conduct has existed for many years', and therefore
it was common to the-town. The fails are, that,
there are two parties at Nottingham,one by the name
of Loyalists, the other by. the. name of Jacobins, who
were continually opposing each other. ' He would
Mention a circumstance which the lion. Gentleman
opposite to him had concealed, and which would
screw .the'diffleultythere was in,keeping an inflamed
populace from ads of violence. A Gentleman, of
the name of Davison, who is a Magistrate, had his •
~ house pulled doWn some few years ago by a Notting.:
ham Mob, notwithstanding every endeavour was
made to prevent the, riot ; this chews the difficulty
there-is, particularly at an Elation, to keep a Mob
from committing some ads of outrage, and there.
fore is it to be supposed that an Elation Mob are
'easily kept in order ? The Magistrates, he. could .
prove, bath done every thing in their power to pre,
vent the riots at Noitingbain, The freeddm of Elec_
Lion was one, of the blessings of the English Coma-
tution, and lie would advise the Hon. Gentleman
opposite to him not to carry the Law too far, as
it might produce many evils, -and' occasion much
confusion. The last War has caused many ,persons
to divide in opinion on the propriety of the Nation ,
entering into it, and
,as many persons had suffered
much by the War, as far as related to their trade
and manufaaories, they. Iherefore indulged a :wish to
suppOrt those• Members who opposed the War, He
• therefore thought any attempt to prevent the Inha-
bitants from chewing their zeal Tor a particular
Member, would he dangerous. Ile should repeat
an observation he made, on a
_former evening on the
subject, that this was, not,•;the only Town where
Riots accompanied Eleekions ;,•.yet „no notice' had
been taken of them. He (begged, leave to call the
attention of the House to theßiotsiin'the year 1780,
which were suffered to, get roan alarming -hvglit,
before the Magistrates exerted -themselves to pre.-
vent them. No one could doubt, who knew the
fails, but the City Magistrates were very inattentive .►
to their duty ; yet no attempt• Was made to get the .
concutrent Jurisdidion of the County of Middlesex,
over the. Corp Oration of the City 'of London, which ,
would have been contrary' to the ancient ',Ora-tic:A

of that City, and it evidently was contrary to the
charter of the Town- of Nottifigham. He would
he glad to know why the Magistrates of Birming-
ipm did not get the concurrent jurisdiction cif the
County of Warwick, when half the houses in Bir..
mifigham were destroyed ; yet the. Magistrates
were not called to an account for not having pre.
vented the destruction which took place on that oc-
casion. The Judges have paid the Corporation of
Nottingham, on many. occasions, great, praise for
maintaining good order in the Town : and, which
is also, known,, that the Judges have ,observed a
smaller number of offenders have been brought be.
f„re them, n -the Town of Nottingham, than in
any other of the same: 'magnitude in England.
During an Median ii has always been thought pru.
dent to give the mob" a certain indulgence. He was
sure had not Mr. Coke stood the contest, no con-
fusion would have taken place. He could prove
that the Magistrates had done all theycould for the
purpose of giving ' each Candidate satisfaction. If
these Gentlemen had aded contrary to Law, and
their offence was at, all brought home to them, he
for one would wish to see them -ptinished, as an
example to other Magistrates. It was by Charters
that we preserved the freedom of the Constitution,
and wherever we lost part of our freedom,'it was by
the destrudion of antient Charters and Privileges.
He therefore thought this Bill would go a great way
to rob the Town 'of part of its freedom ; he should
not object to this Bill, if it only gave a concurrent
jurisdiction to Magistrates Of the County during an
Election, or in case of a riot, except one Clause
which applied to the Magistrates, and which he so
much reprobajed., In order to slander the Mayor
. and Magistrates, it had been repotted, that they had
sanctioned the exhibition of a naked female, who was
called the Goddess of Reason—This, with se.
veral other stories, were circulated* to their preju-
dice, and an attempt was made to prove the truth
of these stories before the Committee;but it failed,
as the Chairman of the Committee would not admit
the hired' witnesses to give their evidence.
• Mr. BOND said, he had the honour to be one
of the Committee on whose report this Bill was
originally founded, and he' had given mud) of his
attention to the subjed ; he had formed an opinion
upon it, and that opinion was decidedly opposite to
that which had been expressed by the Hon. Gentle.
man who had just sat th,wn, and he felt it' his duty
to speak upon the.strbjed: he was anxious to do so,
particularly on accoanit of what Was stated by an
Hon. Gentleman opposite to him on the point of
Law, fur he had .argued it in some resped as con.
trary to our Constitution, because it tended to
create a Magistracy, which was the undoubted pre--
' rogative of the Crown; but that was a misappre-
hension of the operation of the 'Bill—it was.not to
create any Magistracy, but to extend the authority
of a Magistracy already created, and that an At
of 'Parliament may do this without any invasion of
the prerogative of the Crown, he had many ana-
lagous cases to shew ; and when he had done so, he •
should relieve the anxiety of the Hon. Member on
the point of Law. _As to the hearing of Counsel at
the-Bars he did not think, that in strictness, the
parties were entitled to be heard by Counsel on
this subject, but he assented to it,- because he did
not wish to shut the door against any information
which the House might receivt!, and therefore Coun.
set wag heard, ,1-le-lead•t;reat respedfor that Learned
Gentleman; both for' his abilities as a Lawyer, and
charader as a man, but he professed not to have
Changed his opinion, from his arguments. He then
proceeded to' take notice of the arguments of that
Learned. Serjeant, and said,-that he made no obser.
vations on the evidence on which this was
.founded because he had no"materials for that pur-
pose, nor upon the preamble of the Bill for the same
reason, neithetr.did he call any evidenCe on the part
Of his Clients, and. that for the same reason also.
The Preamble of the Bill was important, to he at.
'tended to in this Debate---that preamble did not
,merely state the late riots at Nottingham, but took'
notice of many former riots there, and the single .
question now propounded to the House, was, whes
Cher they should apply a remedy to that evil I As
to the punishineat, of which the Hon. Gentleman
who spoke last, had said so much, and had said it,
was without convidioo, he knew of no punishment
' or,convidion necessary to support this Bill, nor was
any thing necessary to be adverted to,for that pur-
pose, but the Evidence and the 'Resolutions now
upon the Table. He was surprised to hear the
Bill now before the House, called the insulting hos,
gtuige of Lenity—if there was in that Bill any lan-
guage of insult, he was glad to bear his share of that
insult. That any Gentleman froM reading detached
parts of the evidence should say that the, Mayor of
'Nottingham deserved praise, he shoUld oot"wonderq
•liut if any bOdy who had read it through, which was
necessary to the, proper understanding it; for it was
not like some briefs that art delivered to -Counsel,
where •he might jump over the parts which, were,
iminaterial, anti yet miss nothing which was im.
portant, but if, he said, any body who had read
the whole of the evidence,. question anii answer;
"should say that the Mayor of Nottingham deserved
praise, he should indeed wonder. He had no hesi-
tation in saying, that if silty Member of that House,
on reading the whole_of that evidence, would say
that the Mayor of Nottingham deserVed praise, why
then, said Mr. BAND, he has a temper- and a mode
of thinking, which I neither have nor envy. He
had- noscruple in saying, and he pledged whatever
charader he had as a Lawyer in that House, that
the Magistrates of Nottingham were criminally re.
sponsible N. their coraiud at., the late Election ;
but he did not advise them to be pursued, on that
account, for this reason, there were many very ma-
terial circumstance, , of extenuation in their case;
and therefore, alihough . they were criminal, yet,
with his imkr.ssion of t he. circumstances of extenua.
tion, it watolds, wish-onst his inclination, and if it
was the lanpage of filskt•tit,' he must hold- it still,
that lenientAneastsres liould he adopted ; but if it
became neees4sary to ad Opt other measures, and if he
was'driven to th'em by opposition to this Bill, and if •
he could have no: remedy such a.s this Bill proposed,'
and which itre congenial to his wishes and to his
d,spositicsn, he most pursue these Magistrates as
criminals, 1,,,r to sac!) a case, when' tilers was nt)
other rem,dy, he would pursue Tile CrliirSe of poi tic
without regard to private lenity ; shut if
this Bill past, •he shouhi not be driven to that mire.

' He had hitherto avoided these ennsitlerations, .by
proposing the present Bill, in which the House had,
not the trouble of trying the guilt, .or diScovering
the innocence of the Parties. Having said this,
he would now call the attention of the House to the
sort•of case which was now`before it :, with regard
first to the justice of the case, he would 'inquire,
whether this was an invasion of the rights of any
Parties ? and if it was an invasion ? then, whether
it was strictly necessary. He contended that this was
no invasion whatever--confining the right of
• Elelion to a few, t;;;ght render that right valuable -',L•
,to those who had it, but this was not applicable to
the
,case of Magistrates ; it'was not for the. Vii•
We of it to a Magistrate that the power • cuss .:'
given,to him, it -was for the better advantage of
the place where he was to aft, and if that advantage
was not:accomplished by the office not being properly
filled isp,• the public interference of that House seas
necessary ;
.this was particularly the case of. Cur.!
potations : from the nature of their constitutions,:
if their Magistrates did not properly fill up their
hafo rn.t,h feo
rl_na,
si
attbbhieetyapnretbsAeincamobfi
preamble
0 fcahtfabi
erl
to. t upon the cha raa er)
advantages
awgeerse notbut
iliiikeier,
none of the common. privileges of another place-ed..
• evil-of their Magistrates' inefficiency, thei-had,no,
hßearimeud,sioteriipo,rtaittaitolthouids
steam a did not do theircic
odrainurtratleo: int
hwsealyill iicceiolauislfit htneooi tr cureelVi n jog theti;
so that they might be said to be left out of the reach
of the Law, and might be said to be out.la wed. • This,
he maintained, was the case of the Town 'of Notting-
had often. happenag at Notting
all the informs'
don the House had upon its. Table proved this, nor
was there a single witness called by the . Learned ..
Counsel at the Bar to prove that the fads were rot ..
so. The truth was, that riots at Nottingham had
happened from time whereof die memory of rive
runneth not to ;he contrary; but it seems they 11;u1
been used to
,it so long, that it was proper they . .
should endure it longer. This was an argureeo ...-.
like that which the cook made use of when she Was ' . •
accused of cruelty in skinning live eels,—that the)'
were used to it. Such was the case at Nottingham,
they were used to riots there. This was not only
the case of an Eledion for a Member of Parliament,
but of every eledion whatever. At theeledion for
a Common Councilman there was a riot, and violent,
outrage, when the. pradice of what was called
spencering was introduced, that of cutting elf
the clothes of those whom the mob did not like, Witt
that praBice had continued.. The elation of a ,
Churchwarden, which was carried on in the church,
. was most impiously and scandalously outraged,
where such scenes were aded as we never before
heard.of in a church in any, Country, except ones
thank' God. It had been said that the Magistrates
of the town of Nottingham, had received the thanks
of the Judges once ; now he had information on
which he could venture to depend, from some
Learned. Friends of his; that riots often happened at .
the time of the Assizes at Nottingham. He knew ',
that 01)e Learned Judge had said that he would never
go, there again. That another Learned Judge hod
observed riots at the time of his sitting to adini.
nister Justice, that lie had called on the Sheriff to Jo
his duty, to put an end to the disturbance ; the she-
riff' riff in a soft tone of voice; said he could not---".'c
. Judge said, :hut a Noce was. Ire resti"'"l' I
five minutes, he should adjourn thc,Court anti g° it'
fi
London and report the matter, and then.silence was
obtained—this proved that when a proper exertion ,
of authority took place, tranquillity might he le-
stored. Jr was said there was nothing like thi'
Bill to be, found any where, whereas there were Ind 1
. cases analagous to this. The power of Magistrate,'
under Charter had been increased
where 'their
power had been found deficient, This was the
case of the Borough •of Leicester ; the Magistrate° . f.
there had a power of conctirrent jariSdidton Over , , 1
parts of the County. The same case applied to. ,
Ciitlierne, where the Magistrates of the Borough
interfere with those of the County, and this VW'
ciple• was recognized in a statute of Henry VII.
which he cited. There was also an Irish Mt of PO:
liament of the 38th of George 111. c. 73. by whic''
the Magistrates .of the Counties can go to all the i
Boroughs to convict those who are guilty of selling
. Spirituous Liquors contrary to law. The CoventrY. l
-
case was likewise • a case analegotts to the pteserlt
proceeding; it was an Mt for regulatieg the moue
of admitting Freemen, and making it different from
what it was before ; all these, in his apprehend's
were cases ;malagous to the present—they she'''. etc
that Parliathent had interfered, in the condue 1
t:"
Magistrates in Boroughs, as well as in plows wit!'"
out Charters, when the Public welfare could not ho, I
'supported by these chartered Customs. Here, in,
deed, the evil was of a larger size, and there‘,
fore, the remedy should be of a larger extent,:
Tut did he ask for a larger remedy than vil,
necessary ? He said, decidedly, no ; but it the Bllj
was to be put into the shape which wits recotornetie,
,by the Honourable Gentleman who spoke last, 't •
would deserve the name Which- the Honourable
Gentleman gave it-in its present shape, that of ! •
foolish Bill ; indeed, it should, never be called his
Bill, he should'heg leave to withdraw from it al''''"
ll
gether, and so he believed would all his Hon. Fried
who suonrted it at present. 'use Hon. Gentleman
e
said, that the jutisdiaion of the Magistrates Of. tn
County should he confined to times of tumult alone''
If he thought that would 'answer ;My good purix''4
he had a mode 'of estimating human stature wi11,e,,,h
he (Mr. Bows). did not possess. ' He knew ilothl
of Nottingham, excfpt from that which
upon the'‘l'able2'ol. that House at this moment. Ti _ tl
Hon. Gentleman had given'the 11,3 use an accurate
,_
account Of Parties, and that Honottrable Gentlent,..
had more reason to know Nottingham ,than ~lr',
himself had ; but he must express what he felL!.:_ .
which was, an anxious wish, that ledeeentleni" .
Gentleme.'n should, ad. for Nottingham; :toil if 111:,11
was not to be the consequence-Of oppeae.:c ..
• vouit
the Bill, it . ~.
be an useless Bill. But hi would ask, how, %v't",,
out insulting common sense, could it be require.ea_ 1
that a person who was to ad as a Magistrate undt
ar . ~
'the authority of this Bill, ..thar he should take ou c
1 y On..
dediMilt POilliaten for the purpose of mere
lis ,
ning his head into a riot, without 'teeing ratty-means
,
of preventing riot, which was the most intereastti #
IV gt-
anxious, and-solicitous part of the duty of 3 •
1,,...
..•
every gooi Mtgistratt exercised inuca t,,44?",
strate, of:I good MAgistrette---Evcry one kunfe i4i'l :11::
~:il;i4; ~_,

ti

'.~~

F

4.

F

I

thorl,te. before a tint began, hnd that it he Aid it
Kith judgment, it was the most valuable service he
could render to his Country, inasmuch as, the pre-
vention.of crimes was much more desirable than pu.
nishinent. How many riots, had happended et Not.
tiegham, and would continue to happen, if this Bill
leas thrown out ; Magistrates had touch to 'do in.a
quiet way, as well as acting on occasions of actual
riot. They had no small tliscretion to exercise' on
the subject •of licensing Ale-houses. Did We not
hear .almost from every Charge. delivered by
.a
I,earned Judge to the Grand Jury at an Assizes,
something on these topics ? To provide' against
these evilswas one of the ohjeas •of the Bill'; he
knew that these tumults could not grow up unless
there were nests where they were nurtured. He
knew there was no turbulence or confusion, of which
the plot was, not laid in some ale-house ; and as to
tvhat the Hon. Gentleman observed on the Posse
Comitatus, he felt no.difference, such as the Hon.
Gentleman hinted at, likely to happen : but ,he
knew that force'would never he drawn out unless
there was an:occasion for it, and then he should
re,luice to see the efforts of the honest Yeomanry
of the kingdom opposed to a Jacobin Moba, These
were the provisions which, in his opiniod; would
tender the Bill efficacious, and without which it
would he inadequate to the purpose • for which it
was intended... Considering this Bill on the point
of Law it was unobjeCtionable--considering it upon
policy it was expedient—considering it.in point of
probable effect, he had strong hopes it would be
efficacious. In a word, he believed that if the
House adopted this Bill, they would adopt the best
means that had yet been offered to remedy a' consi,
derable evil. • That if this Bill'was rejefted by the
House, new blood and ''a vital principle would be
transfused into the dead carcase of Anarchy in this
place, and it would again resuscitate ; but if the Bill
was agreed to, the Magistrates would become what
they ought to be, a potation to the good and a
terror to' the wicked.
Ws% MOORE (of Coventry),. said, that if he
had been on thet.Committee; hi should not have
confineditis labours to what the Committee had con-
fined their Report to, upon the Nottingham Eleaion.
He thotight the Magistrates had neglected their duty
in this fait... He'yead the Report of the Committee
, with accuracy anti attention, and he thought, that
from recent experience, he was competent to form
ti tolerable'. judgMent how far this . measure was
likely to answer the pUrpose for which it was in-
tended. • He had witnessed some riotous pro.:
feedings at Coventry, and other populous places, and
he examined the desctiption of the riot at Notting_
ham, in order to see whether it resembled what he
had witnessed at other places,. He saw, however,
that in the business of Nottingham, there was much -
to lament, and much to coma ; but he saw nothing ,
in the Repots upon this subjett, which the Magi-
strates,at present in the town of Nottingham, were
not competent to correct ; and this, he thought, was
fully made out by one Witness, who was three days
under examination; ,who had proved that tranquil-
lity might be restored at Nottingham, and who
had indeed restored it. He thought that every ne.
tessary provision should be m,de to prevent the re.
currence of the evil in this case, without over.
turning the Constitution of the Borough—and
that was by' rousing she Magistrates of the
Town from their 'dormancy. He had no doubt
that the Mayor and other Officers had negletted
their 'duty upon this
,occasion, and that• they were
highly criminal ; • there was an' evil existing, hut he
did not think this proposed At of Parliament was
calculated to remedy that evil, nor did he approve
of any of the remedies which had been proposed ;
there was nothing really wanting, but to awaken the
Magistrates out of their dormancy, and that was to.
be effetied by making theM feel the.severities of
the Law, for criminally neglecting their duty, In
support of this he referred to the instance given by
the lionontailile and learned Gentleinan, who had
ust preceded him, of: the threat 'of the Leareed
Judge having such tin effea." lie observed, that
what was done with Simpson at the Bar of the House
might be a lesson proper to-be' taught to some
others, and concluded with obierving, that he saw
nothing in the case of Nottingham any more than
any other plaCe where, there had been riots, which
Could not be 'properly remedied by a due admini-
strating of. the Law as it now stands, anti that
could be accomplished by rousing
_the Magistrates
to the performance. of their duty, the which if they
neglected, they might be reminded of by the whole.
some penalties of the Law.
Mr. FRANKLAND said, that to incumber the
present measure with a previous investigation of
guilt, would necessarily delay the issuing of the
'Writ, whilst on the contrary, the passing of the Bill
would enable the Town of Nottingham to return a
Representative lo Parliameut.. The concession
which had been made by the opposers of-the present
in Suggesting- an• amendment, necessarily de,
stroyed their arguments against its principle. With
respell to the amendment suggested, it was sums.;
ing a mode of controlling Riots, by first permitting
them to exist, and .that a Justice of the Peace •
should first see the.peace broken before he ads.
Mr. GREY said, he had not had titne,to read the
'whole of the Report, but he had a right to com-
plain that those who brought 'in the Bill, had not
brought forward in its support, any specific parts of
the evidence contained in that Report. The 'Hon.
and Learned Gentleman (Mr, Boma) had set out
with observing, that-he did not mean to impute guilt
10 the Magistrates, of Nottingham, and had coedit&
ell by tnaking a very heavy charge against them of
Criminal neglect of duty, and secretly encouraging a
Jacobin Meta. 'He could not'agree that extending
a Magistracy not, in many instances, destroy-
ing it. "The present Mil was a Bill,of Disfranchise-
ment, anti a severe 'Bill of paini and penalties_ He
did not think that aey of the cases adduced by the„
Honourable and Learned Gentleman, applied to that
now ueder, consideration.-: 'The Hon. and Learned
Gentleman had said, that the greater the evil the
• inure extensive ()tight tO be the measure which was
proposed to remedy that evil he asked the Hon.
Gentleman to state those points of evidencewhich'
made out his case. If the Magisti'ates were crimi-
punish them, Something had (ien said Omit
lenity : in this case,' the Magistrates of Nalting,
ham were not convicted Criminate praying for
tnercy, but persons calling out for dial. The for.

LONDON, APRIL 3c, ik.D3.

TH is morning a Messenger arrived at Lord
I-1.-kwx ES su kV% Office. He brought Dispatches from
rienna, and also from Paris, taut we' believe nothing
decisive has yet been received. The hopes of a con-
tinuance of Peace, however, seem to lessen every day,
but tiwse who venture to state positively their ex-
pettation either of Peace or War, rest their opiniqn
upon very slight grOunds. 'On the one band, Jo.
SIPH BONAPAktE, the Peace-maker-at AN-riths, is
supposed to be p,icifically inclined, and it is certain
that no person has more weight with the Film,
Coitsu L. He has always prided himself in having
negotiated the Peace of illaieas,.'and we are satis.
tied, as far as depelided' upon him, he would yield
even- considerable 'points, rather than the Treaty
shoeld be disturbed. CAMBAC E RES and LE BRUN are
.also both averse to War, and the former has cer-
tainty some influence on the opinions of the Ft ItVt
Corisut,.' These are the grounds on which some
people state ponfide.ritly an opinion that:the' Treaty
will end in Peace, or at least in the sliew of Peace
for the present. Ott the other hand perhaps more
rests an, the temper Of the Ft R.VT CONSUL'. than on
,any other point whatever. If he has said, that the
English shall evacuate Malta, he will not easily be
induced to• recall his words, or to a 1 upon any other
idea than that, of forcing them to relinquish that
Possession.

Whatever BONAPARTE may have said, hov,,ever,•
it cannot be wise or politic in him to engage Europe
in another twelve years War tor the possession of
Matta—that which makes it an objet for' him, viz.
his possessing every thing else of consequence to
him is the Mediterranean, makes the possession of
it also a great objet to us.

Nothing, can be more ridiculoui than the idea of
the Pyp E naming the Grand Master of-the Order of
St. John of jerusalem,:for , the purpose of fulfilling
the Treaty, and ?wit/ the 'shin
,in a state of b.'
tlektnelence. When BONA.PMUTE calls upon Mini.
stets to restore this Island according to Treaty, it
is surely fair in them to insist, in"return, that he
Shall manifest the same pacific .disposition to this
country, which-he showed on the Signature of that
..'Treaty—that he should obtain the guarantee of
thOsi Poweri who were to protefi Indepen,
,„tlence,that he• should restore the Longues which
have been suppressed---and that he should give back
`'the, Maid of Elba to its former Possessors. To
call upon Ministers. to fulfill' the Letter of the
Treaty of Amiens,. formed, wilh 'resped to Malta,
under Circtimstauces totally different from those
whiehnow exist, ',is. to call upon them to' adhere-to
the words of the 'Treaty, without any regard to
the fair construftion and meaning of the transaelion..
This is the principal matter in dispute between. this
Country 'and France, and though we do not affrd

to ithaq, ih *hat dil
•
0611)!; managed the Stigiitiationi in •l
s~3iice+
:i.e.! think evci Lithah will athnii theiri to be right
f,t) 1..: subject co which we ate speAing:.

repeat *hat We haVe 'before Saitftipon this
question : any thing is bitter than the state of sus-
pence in which We have lately been !eft; and War
is better than a paichett.up Accommod3tion. The
Peciple cannot submit any langei to be satisfied' vvitli
the mere semblance of tranquillity, and unless they
cah have substantial Peace, they wntild Orefer War)
with all its accompanying horiors..;a
stocksfellthis morning three quarters. per Cent.
At twelve the Consols were, for Money, at 63i.

Yesterday the public opinion was as much divided
as ever upon the question of Peace or War, though
the unavoidable. necessity of the latter alternative
seemed to gain gropnd in the general belief, the
Funds having experienced a depression Of consider-
ably more than one per cei►t.—This opihtoti seems
to us the best justified by farts, according to.all the
information which we received both froM‘France
and Holland. In the former Country, Troops are
marching, in all directions to •the S:il Coast, and
according to adviccs by the last Packers from the
French Ports, the utmost aaivity prevails all along
the Coast in mounting guns, and making every
warlike preparation. •

From Ho/laud the accounts are equally of a %Var.
like complexion. Private Letters from iirkeetrhas,
of the date of the z7th inst. state, that an Aid-de--
Camp of General VICTOR had arrived there with
authority to demand. that the Isle of Gorse, and the
Works of Helvoet should be delivered up to the
French Troops, and that forty pieces of Artillery
should be immediately mounted on. the walls and
works of these posts. The Municipality were re-
quested to co-operate with the French Adjutant in
expediting these objetls; but if they•did not chuse to
co-operate voluntarily, the French were to proceed
by force of arms. The Dutch made no resistance, bat
the Municipality remonstrated, stating,, that they
could not a4l without the authority of their Govern.
meat. The Mayor immediately repaired to the
Hague for orders. The condud of the Municipality
was apprdved of, but all idea of resistance to.the
imperious mandate of the 'French was abandoned,
and it was expected that an order would be received
on the zBth to withdraw the Dutch Trooo.Cotirely
from //e/vocrthijs and Goree ; which Island had
been already °milled by 350 French Soldiers.
They had likewise taken possession of the Bo

\V received this morning Paris Popo': to the
28th inst. but they bring no Intelligence that Call
throw any light on the Question of Peace or
War.

teueta from Naptes, of the; date of the 9tl)
April, state that an Englidi Vessel had • arrived
there, in consequence cf which a Council
_was
immediately held, and the French Minister dis.
patched a Courier to Paris. It als6 adds, that a
report was in circulation, of A Treaty having been
concluded, between France and Nap/es, by whic!.
the latter consents to admit 20,000 French Troops
into his runs in case of War ; And that another
Treaty is negotiating 'with England respeaing •
Sicily.

These Pdpers are wholly silent on the reported
rupture between Russia and Sweden, thotigh they
contain articles from•Petersburgh of the ,z9th ult,
and from Stockholm of the 4th. instant. Baron de la
ROCHeLICHTENSTEIN had been dispatched from
the latter,Capital on, a mission ro the EMPEROR
ALEXANDER, from which we are led to suppose
that the misunderstanding which:has arisen may liy
this time be adjusted.

.The Ftench Funds on the 26th wer: 53.

Yesterday THEIR MAJESTIES, the PRINCEsNES
AUGUTA, F.LIZABUTH, MARY, SOPHIA, AISIV
and the DUKE of CHMIIERLAND, attended by the
Earls of CHENTER I,IF L.I) Miti HARCOURT, arid Lady
HARRINCTON, honoured the Royal Academy with
their presence, and were graciously pleased to ex.
press the highest SatisfaCtion at the several perform.
ances in the Arts, exhibited this year.,
The .Royal' Party left Somerset House about a
quarter past twelve, and were saluted with huzzas
by the populaCc, assembled on the occasioo. In a
short time after their arrival at Buckingham
His MAJESTY set olf.in his travelling carriage for
Windsor. HER MAJESTY and, the *PRINCESSES
followed in about a quarter of an hour atter...
• Yesterday afternoon Mr. PITT passed through
Canterbury, on his way to Walmer Castle.
The Hon. JOHN ELLIOT, on Thursday Evening,
gave a grand Rout at his house in. Downing street,
Westminster, which was attended by a most splendid
and numerous circle of Nobility and Gentry, who
begin assembling at an .eaily hoUri and did not all
depart till very law. Considerable difficulties oc.
cured from the great number of oarriiges, 'and • the
confined nature oldie place.
The Knights of the Bath have subscribed 2501.
each, for the Grand BAH and Fiqd Which*they pfo_
pose giving at Ranelagh, on the zi of June. - There
are twenty.two to he Installed, so that the Sum
subscribed is upwardi of Five Thousand. Pounds-.
-Major MACMAHON arrived two or three ..days
ago from Paris, and had an audience on 'Thursday.
of His Royal Highncsi the Dlnta of Yotm.

Nif k'.. t L IV A.:07 1;

POR TS/11.0.Urif; Ai iii i; i 9:

riR even this day; His Majelqt'S ship !stir
from title Eastward; with pteAsed melt;

Antli. 24:

Tiffs Diann Packets Cain: Sitl:VAßio lfnil the
Diana, Capt.: OS/30RNi arrived last night trout
Cu shaven each with a Haniburgh. and Bri-men
MaiL Five Casks cif' foreign Silver-Coin was
•
potted in the former Packet: