Star.
London, England, 1821-04-12 00:00:00

IRISH BOROUGHS.

Mr. LAM BTON held in his hand the Petition of
an individual named Thomas Flanagan, residing in
the town of Sligo, in Ireland.- The Petition stated,
that Sligo ought to be a corporate town, to be go-
verned by a Provost, and a certain number of resi-
dent Burgesses. That by an Act of the Irish Par-
liament, however, enacted in the 21st of George If.
it was made lawful for non-resident Burgesses to form
, the Corporation, and manage the revenues of the
borough. It went on to say, that the causes assigned
for this law, namely, the inability of Roman Catho-
lics to be freemen of boroughs, and the smallness or
population, were now no lonn,er in existence, as the
former had been restored to their civil rights, and the
population of Sligo now numbered no less than
20,000 persons. The Petition prayed the repeal of
this Act of George 11. which gave non-resident bur.
cesses the right to vote.• The lion. Member* then
took occasion tc observe, that in most of the Irish
boroughs, not only- the power of returning Members
to the Legislature, but also that of managing the
revenues of these boroughs, was exercised by these
non resident Burgesses. This latter right, particu-
hit ly, the House could not be ignorant should, by the
original charter; 'belong to the inhabit:a:l:s of Sligo.
He moved the Petition -should lie on the table:
• Mr. Si AGE COOPER Jidnot rise to offer goy
opinion on the prayer of the Petition, or to deny any
of its allegations. He should, however, say, that in
his opinion the Petitioner was not a very respectable
person, for, at one time, lie had been sentenced for
sonic offence to transportation—(A laugh). • •
Mr. LAMBTON said, he had received the Petition
by post from the individual in question, and finding
that-it contained nothing improper or disrespectful
Ito the house, he thought it his duty, without making.
any inquiry into his private character, to present the
Petition to the House.
The Petition was then, after some words from Mr.
S. Rice and Sir J. NEwPoicr, ordered to lie upon the
ta6ie and be printed.
At ETRAPOLTS nOADS BILL.

Sir J. GRAHAM roc to make a motion, founded
ur.on the Petitions of several respectable individuals
.who Lad petitioned the House against the Metropolis
Roads Bill, that the sane sliouLl-t,e heard by their
Counsel against the principle of the Bill.
Mr. D. GiLBERT, Mr, GIPPS, and Air. GRExrsia,

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apposed the moticas,'wonn wa‘tss negatived without a
division. *%. "".. •
PETITIOt? hOII6ANINItHIH‘SUILTICCT AT LISBON.
LUSHIN9TON said, he held in his hand the
yetidoit,ef 4.onsas Merritt, a British subject, who
"ibinfilained"; tltai giving been resident at Lisbon, he
had been brought balm the Inquisition on a false
accusation of bigamy ; that his two children had
been taken from him, and placed with a Roman Ca-
tholic Priest, the Superiot of a Portuguese Monas-
tery ; that his property, in value about £3OOO, had
been seized ; and that the authors of these proceed-
ings had been assisted and countenanced therein by
J. Jeffery, Esq. the British Consul at the port of Lis-
bon. He concluded this statement by praying for
such relief as the House in its wisdom should consi-
der his case entitled to. The Learned Member (Dr.
• Luthington) observed, that he could not make him-
• self responsible for the truth or accuracy of these
••facts ; bat he hoped that his Majesty's Ministers
would consider k a part of their duty to institute
some inquiry upon the subject.—The Petition was
then brought up and read.
The Hon. Mr. F. ROBINSON said, that he was
as ignorant of the circumstances mentioned in this
Petition as the Honourable and Learned Member
could be. The only remark which occurred to him
at this moment was, that it did not appear whether
any representation had been made to the Secretary of
State.—The Petition was then ordered to lie upon the
table, and to be printed.
• CRIMINAL LAWS..
Sir J. MACKINTOSH brought in the three Bills
relating to the criminal Laws, for which 1)e had ob-
tained leave in the course of the evening. They were
read a first time, and ordered to be read a second
time on Friday, the 4th of May.
MESSAGE IFROM THE LORDS.
The Lords informed the House, that they had
agreed to the Beer Duties, and several Private Bills,
without any amendments. Their Lordships requested
the House to permit one of their Clerks 'to attend
them, with the evidence taken at its Bar of the num-
bers of the Electors who voted for J. Tidd, Esq. at
the last Election for Grampound. They also requested
the attendance of Gustavus Rochfort, Esq. a Mem-
ber of this House, on a Committee of Privileges now
sitting upon the claims of Alexander Home, Esq.
claiming to be Earl of Marchmont. The House an-
swered, that they acceded to their Lordships' Message.
COMMISSIONERS OF SEWERS.

The Order of the Day for the second reading cf,
this Bill being read,

Mr. DICKINSON' said he would withdraw his
Bill for the present Session, and in the course of the
next year he would move for a Select Committee to
inquire into the state of the low lands throughout the
kingdom—(Hear, hear!)—He stated, that great cla-
mour had been raised against this Bill, owing entirely
to a misconception of its object.
A conversation then ensued between Mr. JENHIN•
SON, Lord G. CAVENDISH, Mr. WROTTESLEY, Sir I.
COFFIN, Mr. W. WYNN, and Mr. D. GILBERT, after
which the Bill was withdrawn.