Star.
London, England, 1801-03-19 00:00:00

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

Mr. Ji rrrrr s obtained lea♦e to bring in a Bill for the re-
lief and the better employment of the pi or of Coventry.

lad Pots, Lord TilIrLE, Mr. jouas, and a great many
other Members, were excufed front attending on the i4th of
ApriL
The &LAKER laid, that as Friday was the lan
day for receiving private petitions, there would
probably be a great deal of private bufinefs for that
chty and to-morrow. He fhould therefore on both
days be ready to take the Chair exaftly at two
o'clock, and he hoped there would then be a fuffi-
cient number of Merabers prefent to enable hint to
take it. GA loud cry of bear ! hear!)
Mr. PiERREPO mr then role, in purfuance of the
notice he had given on a former evening, to fub-
mit a motion to the Houfe with regard to the
number necetrary to conflitute a quorum. He
would not have prefumed, he laid, to have in-
truded upon the attention of the Houk, had it not
been from a conviftion of the importance of the
cubic& to which he now requelled them to attend.
Since he had had the honour to fit in the Houfc of
Commons, though he had fometimes feen the
Houk-tolerably well filled, he had often fecn it al.
mon completely deferted. The benches often re-
mained empty when queflions the mon interefting
and important were under difcuffion. It had fre-
quently happened to him to come down to the
llonfe, and to find to his extreme mortification
that an adjournment had taken place from there
not having been a fufficient number of members
prefent to enable the Speaker to take the Chair.
From the premature departure of members, it ftiii
more frequently happened that the Houfe was ad-
journed while bnfinefs of the greaten importance
remained unfini(hed. The molt confcientious
members feemed to think that their duty to tlieir
contlituents was difcharged, if they (hewed them-
feives for a few minutes at four o'clock. Hcmorc
particularly adverted to the difgraceful cireum-
fiance of the Houfe having been counted out four
fucceffive days, while, confidering of meafures tee
alleviate the diftreifes of the poor, and notwith-
ftanding an order that no member thould leave
London. The Honourable Gentleman cenlitred
this cards:net% in terms which it would not perhaps
be fafe to repeat without the walls of the Houle.
How the Reprefentatives of the People could re-
concile to their confriences this, ihameful deieliaion
of duty he profeffed himfrlf unable to conceive.
He had not been able to find in any record a nand-
log order upon the fubjeft before the time of
Charles 1. yet from the hinory of the preceding
reign there was every teafi:n to believe that an or-
der exifled timilar to the one he now meant to pro.
pore. On the xoth of April 1607 it appeared from
the Journals that no bufinefs kad been done, there
not being more than o:reel-coil members prefent.
On the 6th of January 5640, it was ordered that
Mr. Speaker fhould not take the Chair unlefs there
were forty members prefent ; but the Houle then
only confined of 429 members. Since that
period one hundred and Sixty-nine members had
deco added to it, 24 from England, 45 from Scot-
land, and too from lreland.—Therefore, admit-
ting the wifdora of that Order at the time it was
framed, it ought now to he altered :—its principle
lhould he adhered to, and the fame numerical pro-
portion of the Members now obliged to be prefent.
It eras, however, his intention to go a little far-
ther, and to propofe that, unlefs fixty were pre-
fent, the Speaker thould not take the Chair.—
He could not conceive that there would he any
one fo unreafonable as to objeel to the propofal.
This was not one-elexenth of the whole body, and
net a fixth of the members who, during the Sef-
fion of Parliament, retitle constantly in London.
It was very much hi; with to avoid the mention
of any thing extraneous; he therefore fhould not
(peak of the war and of the taro.... But he could
not help laying that, if the fitu::tion of the Coun-
try was filch as to render it necelfary for every
man to contribute a tenth of his income, the pen.
pie had a right to require th,t a tesit'a of their Re-
prefentatives fhould he prefent before their
hui-
tens can be increased. He could not fuppole that
Gentlemen would tail: of their perfonal conecni-
ence.—They had come under the moll folemn en-
gagements to their Cr.nflituents, and theft they
ere bound in the moll sacred manner to fulfilk
quenit n involved the 'dignity of the Houle of
Commons and the general intereftc of the Country
--Mr.Pi-rrepoint concluded by moving,that
I.,rtli Mr. Speaker thaa not take the Cl; ur.til
there are 60 Meniher, lircf nt.
Mr. JAlklf• MiRTI% Paid, it gave him gr: at
Tie:duet- to feconti this motion. and he was f..re
it would Le car:itd if the Houlz Lad any regard tu
•
prepr::ty and dc‘urcun.

Mr. MUG GE laid, the motion of the Honoutableo
Gentleman had nut the leaft conneftion with the
complaint he had made. The evil was, that Mem-
bers did not continue till the riling of the Houfe ;
but this could not be remedied by rendering the
attendance of all the 658 Members to the Speaker's
taking the Chair. The diligence and perfeverance
of the Honourable Gentleman were well known,
and deferved the greateft praife ; but his example
was calculated to be of greater efreft than his mo-
tion. He certainly had a right to appeal to the
feelings of the Houle; but if that was not fucceff-
ful, he muff not hope to fucceed by Inch a propo-
fal as this. He repelled the imputation of negli-
gence and indifference thrown upon the Houfe by
the Honourable Gentleman. The non-attendance
of Members was merely a proof that they difap-
proved of the meafures then under dittuflion.
They often found it better fluently to ccnfure them
than openly to oppofe. No Bill was ever palled
on which the Houle had been often counted out.
In fome Ilage or other every public meafure was
fully diftuffed. Forty was fixed upon, not as a
numerical proportion, but as a luflicient number to
prevent furprife, and this it was whether the Houfe
conlitted of 200 or of 2oco, A (landing Order, fuch
as that propofed by the Honourable Gentleman,
would only harafs individuals, without being of
any advantage to the public.
Mr. Joxt s laid, he was in hopes that this Mo-
tion would have been agreed to unanimonfly.
After a few general oblcrvatiuns on the import-
ance and expedient/ of it, he laid he held in his
hand a lift of divifions which proved the difgrace-
ful marmer, in which the bufinefs of the pub-
lic was neglected. For the repeal of the Habeas
Corpus At there were 113, againft it 14. In
dividing on the Income Tax Bill the ayes were 45.
the noes 9. Gentlemen might laugh, but it was
a pretty ferious thing for the fubflance of the na-
tion to he voted away by 54 ipdiViduals. For the
Forfeiture and Trcafun Bill there appeared only
57, againft it 8. On the Motion for a Negotia-
tion with France there were 59 noes, and 8 ayes ;
and on a Motion for a Call of the Houfe, 27 to
124. On the gth of June laft ten Members had
palled ten Bills. Though nine taylors were laid
to make a man, nine Members were certainly not
fufficient to make a Houfe.—Againft a motion for
Peace-there were 38, and his Honourable Friend,
and he who were for it, had nobody to count but
thernielves; and what was worfe, on the laft day
of the Seflion his Honourable Friend had renewed
this motion for Peace, and then had nobody to
be joined to him as a Teller. Mr. Jones dwelt
with great warmth upon the impropriety of the
Ex-chancellor of the Exchequer adjourning the
Houfe for three months, when there were five mil-
lions of um!,:propriated money, ,and called upon
Gentlemen to agree to the Motion as they regard-
ed their intereft. Even the country, he laid, be-
gan to look upon their condlift with great jealoufy
and uneafinefs. If it was now rejefted, he fhould
reckon himfelf bound to bring it forward again
fpecdily himfclf.
Mr. DENT was in favour of the motion.

The Houfe then divided ; ayes 19—noes 751.
Mr. CHARLES DUNDAS obtained leave to bring
in a Bill to extend and enlarge the powers of the
Aft of the r3th of the King ; and for encouraging
the cultivation of potatoes in open and common
fields.
Lord WM. RUSSELL and Lord CASTLSREAGH
role at the fame time ; and for Come moments each
endeavoured to obtain a hearing. Lord William
Ruirell at lall laid, that the order of the day for
reconfidering the report of the Poor Relief Bill
hood firh, and on that account he claimed a
priority for it.
Lord CASTLEREAGH obferved, that no Bill be-
fore that Houfe could be of fo much importance
as thofe relating to Ireland ; there were two
Money Bills, and the Martial Law Bill, which
were to continue fimilar Alts paired in Ireland, that
would expire on the 25th of this month.
This gave rill to a long and animated alterca-
tion, in the courfe of which Mr. HORNE TOOKE
&id, that for the honour and the charaaer of the
Houk, he would recommend to proceed firh with
the Bill that flood next in order. There was one
Bill before the Houle winch was a Bill for taking
away men's lives, another Bill was for faving
lives—[a cry of order! order!]—" I am not out of
order (fitid he) ; I contrive the ellahlifhntent of
Martial Law to be giving a power to difpoie of
people's lives ; and the other to be a measure to
prevent the poor from Itarving.”
Mr. NIARTIN (cf Galway) laid, that the lofs
.•f a day could be of no confequence to the Noble
Lard's Bill ; but he would fubmit it to the Houle
whether the Martial Law Bill was not a meafure
of paramount neceffity, that the lots of a !Ingle
day in forwarding it might occalion the lbfs of the
country it was intended to protest. He believed
that every Gentleman who Ihould then vote for
the pnhponement of the Noble Lord's Bill, would
be ready to make a Houfe for him on any other
occafton. He could speak for himfell, and afire
the Noble Lord, that he would attend with plea
lure.

Mr. CUMIN was for giving priority to the Poor

Mr. Pa !flu fall, that if any Gentleman
could cnfurc the attendance of 40 Members, it was
f.ric of the Minifters on the Treafury Bench ; and
therefore they could bring any of their meafures
forward at any time without the danger of loling
it ; but as that was not the cafe with the Noble
Lord (W. Ruffell) would vote for giving pri-
ority to his
The Houle then divided—For the pollpone-
. ment of the tirfl ord.r fc.Kl—againfl it 47.
The Ronfc in a Committee then went through
the two Intl Money Bills.
Mr. Wm. DUMDAS %Wilted, that an Hon. Gentle-
' man would put off his motion ,vhich flood forto-
morrow, relative to Egypt, on account of the
on-
nvoidable abfence of a Right Hon. Friend of his
(Mr. Dundas.)
Mr. JON Fll wifhed the Min7fters to fume a s!:,y.
Mr. Vs's,. I)usnAs obi-erred, that the lion.
Member might give his )ticc to-morrow.
The lima's: went into a Conattittee on the Pill
ft,r the further cwair.uistion of certain trifh

which were to expire on the 25th of March; after
which the Chait man reported progrcfs, and obtain-
ed leave to fit again to-morrow.
The Houfe went through a Committee on the
Bill for the further Sulpenfion of the Habeas Cor-
pus An in Ireland, and the report was ordered to
be recci'•cd to-morrow.