House Of Commons, Tuesday...
The Times, 1824-03-31T00:00:00

Str T. bETtH BRIDGE moved thesecond reading of this bill. .\r. WARRE opposed it; and moved, asaan amendimienit, that it be read a second tinc that day six mnonths. AIr. C. If IERVEY supported the amendiment. Mr. BRIG IIT and Sir T. ACLAND supported the bill. The house then divided- For the second reading, 1021 Againstit, 34 l Majority, f,8. The hill was read a second time, and ordered to be committed. Mr. Aldennan THOM PSON Dresented a petition, signed by 200 merchants, ship-owners, and others, connected with the trade of London, in favour of tie St. Catherine's docks. Mr. Alderman BRIDGES presented a similar petition from se- veral persons in the wine and spirit trade. Mr. MANNING presented a petition against the St. Catherine's dock, from the London Dock Company. MIr. GRENFELI, said, that the commercial interest severely felt the want ot a new dock company. THE AIANCHE:nTER GAS-LIGHT BILL. Sir J. M1lACINTOSH presented a petition from illr. W1 alker, a solicitor at Manchester, complaining thatsome evidence had been re- ceived beforc the Manchester gea-light bill committec, which was cal- cullated to blast hischaraeter,and deprive him in future of the means ofgaining alivelihood ;and thathe hal been prevented from refuting that evidence,in consequence of the committee having adjourned sille die. The petition stated, that Mr. 'alker was willing to submit his conduct to the severest senitiny, and prayed that the house would interfere in his belialf. Ailr. BRIGHIT rose to order. It was irregular for any member of that lhouise to allude to the proceedings of a committee, unleRs the minutes of those oroccedings were before the house. lWhat vas irregular when done by a member,tnust certiinly be as irregular when done by a person who had not a seat in the house. ile there- fore olbjected to the bringing up of the petition. The SPEAKER sai(d, it was clear that the petition referred to a matter of which the house had no cognizance whatever. This was the state of the case-the house hud entertained a bill, and sent it to acormiittee up stairs. It having been so sent, the committee was bound, according to the strict forms of the house, to niake a report. Until the time had expired withini which the conm- mittee had received directions to make their report, the hoase had no means of knowing that a report vould not be made- At present, as there had been no order directing the minutes of the proceedings to be laidl upon the table, the house could liave no cognizance of what had passed in tlte committee, but must presume that every thing had been done correctly. In these days, it was verv difficult tu sav what petitions should not be received if they were properly worded, but it wo ul(d be rather extraordinary to receive a petition which had been framed under such circnmnstances as that presented bv the hon. and learned member for Knaresborougl. Mr. IIUAIE tboughlt it extremely hard that the petitioier should receive no redress for the injustice which he alleged to have been done to him bv the committee. The SP-EAKER was not quite sure that he had made himself perfect1y understood. It was quite clear to hiin, that the case stated in the petition was nlot one for which there were no means of redress. All that he said was, that the house could have no know- ledge of the circtlmstances mentioned in the petition. It vas, low- ever, competent to any niember who knew that the committee was not sitting, to move that the minutes of their proceedings, up to the tinme when they ceased to sit, should be laid before the houlse. If such a motion were made and agreed to, the house would be cogni- zant of all the proceedings, and might then act upon any representa- tion which should be made. Mir. BRIGH1T said he was borne out by the orders of thc house in declaring, that it was incompetent to any member of that house to speak of whiat hiad passed in a comnmictee, before the minutes of the proceedings had been laid upon the table; a forliori, it was in- competent to any individual, not a member of that liouse, to do so. The SPEAKER did not know that he had even now made him- self understood. it would not, he thougght, be safe for a person in his situation to go the length of saying that under no circum- stances cotuld any representation be nmade to that louse by pe- tition of whlat had pa*sed in committee. The course of proceeding which he (the Spe,ker) had pointed out would be more efficacious, and tnore likely to afford a remedy for any grievance,than any other wliich, undler present circumstances, the fiouse could adopt. Alr. P. MOORE obscrved, thiat the committee were bound by the rules of the house to make a report. illr. B. trILIBRAHAM thougist that the petitioner liad no fair ground of complaint. The circumstances which that individual conceived to affect his character were elicited incidentally, in the exatnination of a witness towvards the close of the sittings of a committee. If a committee of that house were to hear evidence pro andi con resperting the character of individuals, it would be produc- tive of great inconvenience. (Hear.) Sir J. MACINTOSH said, that he would withdraw the eti- tion, because lie understood that a motion was about to be made on the subject to which it referred by the hon. member for Sussex (Mr. Curteis). Mr. IURTETS, after a few prefatory observations which were inaudiblc in consequence of the. confusion at thlat moment prevail- ing in the house, proceeded to read some of the evidence which had been taken before the Manchester gas light bill committee, which stated that an individual, named Corbett, had written 500 fictitious signatures to a petition in farour of the bill. laord STANLEY spoke to a point of order. He, as chairman of the committee on the tanchester gasliTght bill, had given no direc- tions tbr placing the minutes in the tands of the hon. member, and he therefore objected to their being read. Sir J. M1ACINTOSH thought that the hon. metinber for Sussex had a right to refer to the minutes of the proceedings of the com- mlitee. The SPEAKER decided that the hon. member for Sussex vas not in order. Mr. CUtRTEIS said that he would desist from reading the evi- dence, but lie thought that the subject to whicl he had alluded ought to become a matter of inquiry. The individual in question, it appeared; had tried his hand at manufacturing petitions on behalf of the silk weavers, and in fa^vour of the abolitions of slavery. (A laugh, and Hlear.") The hon. inember coclluded by moving, " that the committee on the Manchester gas-lIght bill do mect again to-mnor. row, anti proceed according to the orders of the house." Air. STANLEY entered into a statement respecting the system of lighting Mlanchester with tas, which, being of merely local in- terest, we otnit to report. The hon. member aifterwards procceded to say, that when the committee happened to look at the petition which had been presented to the house in favour of the bill, it was discovered, that out of 700 or 800 names which were attached to the petition, 108 were duplicates. Witen the matter was talked of, tllc supporters of the bill said, that it arose out of a mistake-a skin of parchment having been slipped into the petition by accident, which had nothing at all to do with it. (A laugh). Subsequently, how- ever, the committee received information that a person ntamed Cor- bett, reaidint in iancheater, had stated to a friend that he had him- self signed 49ft of the names whichl were attached to the petition. Corbett made a. deposition on the subject at MIanchester, anti was afterwaeds examined before the conaiattee. The substance of his evidence before the committee, which tallied exactly with the con- tents of his deposition,was. that as he (Corbett) was one day walking in lllaiichester, he met a lerson named Ryan, wlio asked him to sign sonse names to a petition to the House of Conmmons, adding that he would oblige hirn verv much, as he was to have six shillings for every skin of parchment which he filled. (A laugh.) Corbett wcnt with Ryan, antl at once wrote 300 names. He afterwards saw another skin lying in the window of a public-house which he entered, and, for mere amusenient, signed 196 fresh names. Some of the Persons of whose names lir. Corbett made so liberal a use lad been dead six years, others 12 years. He would now state to the house how Mr. iVal-ef vas affected by this tr.nsaetion. The place v here Corbett signed the 300 names to the petition was Mr. WaLlkee'g office, iad whilst he was esgeg in the busineas a YOung man whom he supposed to be Mr 'akrscekw 'standingb Thisrellyswas allthat hadbeensWalkedregarclerk W Walker; ana apon this it wag that hie had conceived himself 3usti fled in stating to the house that his citaracter wo%ld be blasted ant his Propects "umnede unless the house should institute some inquiry (rfear.) lie beiggecto add aL few words respecting the adjourssmen Of the cOmmjittm The only motive ror adjurning was, that tli Committee felt that if they had proc-eeded fartler, they could not, it justice to theniqelves and in honour to, the bouse, have abstaine4 fromI Causin. the individuals who, were implicated in the frauri whc a%een practised upoil the house to be brought rip ti the bar, and commiitted to Newgate. (Hear, hear The adjourn ment was en act of mercy to those individuals. Thie bon. membe whio had been the chief supporter of the bill had express6d himsel shocked and ashamed of the conduct of those who had induced hin to support the measure, and declared himself readv to consent tu the rij.ournment of the commiittee sine die, providd no proceed. tog-s were instituted against the-wiffending parties. (Cheers.) Sir J. MACINTOSH said he had listened with great pleasurn to the speech just delivered by his young friend, who had afi'brdec so convincing a proof-of the ability with which he could advocau not only the loca but thegeneral interests ofhis con.-tituents. (Hear.: Tlle present question was a very short one. They had ordered commnittee to inquiire into aLnd make a report uipon a bin: instead oi reporting, they had adjdurned sine die. He imputed nothing te thlem for that adjournment, but he hiumbly conceived it to be thal sort of disobedience of a standing order, which at least called fore revival of the committee, to procieed further with the business in. trusted to themn. This was due to the hiouse, as weU as to the indivi. dual who comnplained in the present instance. Mr. PI]ILIPS read an order of the lhouse, made in the case ol an private bill on the 17th of Mlay, 181G, for the purpose of show. in,tat after the adjournmenit of a comimittee in this manner, thi regular course of proceeding op en to the lhouse wvas to propose the revival of the committee. He hoped, hiowever, that if revived, it wouldI not be to proceed upen this bill, but to explaini to the house the, goss iraud and imposture whichi had been practised upon them by a set of aIchouse..keepcrs, quack doctors, and othiers, who lied scandalouisly presuined, for the purpose of' the proposed bill, to re. present the ~pinion ot the respectable inhabitants of Manchester. Mir. T HOMAS WI1LSON said, he hiad stated in the committee. that if a fraud had not been practised respecting the signiatures in the original petition presented to the house, he thought they ought to go on with hie bill; but ivh rn he was informed by a nmem;ber of thit comnmittee, thiat signatuires, had in thie first instance been im-i prpry applied, he thcn left the ulterior proceedings to thle com- mitc-.l g hen lie WSv at first informed that the present plan of lihting the town of Mlancliester had been in five years so im perfectly excc ted, he had certainly informed those who had stated to hiin tite fact, that he saw no objection to the introduction of another bill, to comn lete what liad been so long left uindone. Mlr. RIGH-T said, that the committee would not have adjourn- ed s'ine die, if they had not dletected a stronig case of imnposition : tie hoped, thereibre, that if their procceedings were r evived, it would be for the purpose of reporting to the house, hnw the petition hiad been got up, arid whiat was the nature of thep evidlence offered in support of it. TIhere was an order of the house, that all petitions1 should be signed by, the hands or' the petitioners themselves, anti that. it was4 highly unwarranitable, andla breach of the privileges of the house, for any person to set the name of another toea petitions. It was high time to put a atop to a breach of this order, which was, hie feared, 'but toe comnmon throughiout the couintry, and snake an example of those who practised a fratud in getting up petitions to Parliamient. (Hear.) Mr. PELUAAI said a few words, which were not lieard in the gallery. SirISAAC COFFIN woul(I vote for the revival of the com- mittee, that justice rssiglit be done to the views of all parties. Mr. HOLIME SUMNER thouglht it was irregular, on thec part of tue committee, not to have reported to the hiouse the cause of their adjournment, and more particularly as the conduct of an indi. vidutal was said to be implicated. M)r. Alderman 11EV GAlTE expressed hiis disseint from the prin- ciple of a general rateage at Manchester for lighting the towni, with. out thec consent of individuals. Mr. CURTEIS moved rthe revival of the committee; and that they be orciered to sit anti proceedt to business to-miorrow. Strangers were ordered to withidraw, btit tlse motion for reviving thie comminittee was eventually negatived ivitliout a division. LordI IAAVTHER presented petitions fromi WVhitehaven, in fa. vourof the bill fortlierecoveryofsmalldebts; and fromi Milborn Port against slavery. P'ARTY PROCESSIONS IN IRELAND. Mr. DAWISON rose to present a petition fromi certain Free. maiisons of I relaiid, praying that they should be exemipted froin the operation of the law against secret societies. While upon this sub- ject, lie couldl not iielp miost strongly dleprt eating the party proces. sions, which in Ireland lhad led to so miuch mischiief, and to nunier- Otis inrurders ini several counties in that country. lie cared not under wvhat pretext those tunfortunrate processions arose, whethier Orange or ltibandmien, they were equally illegal, equally mischiievous, and equally deplorable in tbeirshock-ing effects. (LoudI cries of"1 hear" fruiti both sides of the house.) ft a repeated, that he could not toe stronigly reprobate the Orange processions; thiey led to others on the part of personas professing the Catholic religion, and between one and the other thenmostbarbarous contentio!-nsar'ose.in the north oflIreland, which was rematrkalble for a spirit of peace and indlustry, this con- flict of religious discordi hadl in some places gone forth), and the usual shock-ing result f1ollowed-wherever these processionis were en- couraged, the Ist of' July, the l2tls of July, and the 4th of No. v-ember, the neighibourh~iod was itivariaLbly thirown into riot and confuision. (rhear, hear.) Hle rejoiced in having this opportunity of expressing hiis diecided conviction, that sticli processions were fraught withi infinite miischief, and that every goodi mran, of whiat- ever religious persuasion, oughit to use his best endeavours to hlut thain down, arid restore internal tranquillity to hiis country. (Loud cries or liear. Mlr. SPRIG RICE saidI that he never hieard any thing whiichi gave him more real satisfaction thian the speech of the lion. gentle. miani. It would, if the excellentreconimiendation wliich it contained were adopted by hiis Majesty's Goverinment, (lo mere to tranquillize Ireland than any- thing which had been dlone by tIse present C'arlia. inient. The frank and candid declaration of the existiingevils whichi afflicted I relanid, showed hlow ineffic-acious wva- Cthe measure adopted by Parliamient last year. Nothing was more banefutl than the intro. d'uction withini the last two years of Orange Ledges where none had leiraviislY exi-ted. Mr. HUME consitiered that the best method of putting down these mnischiievous processions would hbe for the Lord Chancellor ot IrelandI to remnove froni ithe commission of the peace all magistrates wvho patronized themi. He was convinced, that if so strong, and, if lie mnighit use the expression, so athtloritative a measure were adlopt- ed, this evil issight not only be greatly abated., but might even be permanently putc down.-The petition was then laid uon the table. Mr. BROWVNLOWI said, that lie had a similar petition to pre- sent fromn another society of Freemoasons. He conceived that this pa. tition, as well as that pr~esented by his honourable friend, deserved ithe serious attention of the hiouse. That secret associations had not been effectually put down in Ireland by the bill of last session, roust be evident to every man wvho hadl paid the least attention to what hail occurredi at the present sprinig a-ssizes in Ireland. Mlr. Bharon M'Clelland hadt declared,in a charge to thegrand jury, of the countyof Atitrirn,thrat hiis learned brother and ltiimselflsaml in tht course of ttieair present circuit trieth a variety of cases of murder, aill of thein arising out of thnese ittiscisievous processionis. Thiought he was an Orange- nian, and contiected witls the most Orange county in Ireland, lie rotilud nor help say-ing that it was imperative tipon the Government to ptit tChant down fort,hwith; for he ag-reed with Mlr. Baronrtll'Clel- land in thtin king, that so long as thiey- were suffered to exist, the life of no mnan in Ireland wouild be worth a pin's point, or his property, worthi a year's purchase. Indeed, every man, who had a farthiitg to spare, would do well to take htiriself fronti a country' where he was constantly, exposed to suich ipiniminent risks. Wlithi regard to the Freemasons in Ireland, he was of opinion that they ought either to be exenspted from the operation of the Secret SocietY Act, or tirat the case of the Freeniasons in Ireland shiould be the case Lf all other so- cicties in the kinigdom. Mr. ABERCROMBY felt great satisfaction aCtltse sentiments whichi lied been expressed by tire two litotourable members on thie other side of the house, anti congratullated the country on the change w'hich their opinions haa unclergotte since the last session of PArlia- ment. Wlhets lie was formerly thinking of bringing the condition of the Orange Societies undler the notice of Parliantent, he received many, warningss bothi directlv and indirectly, to reflect uipon the in- creased strength wliich hi-s motion mighit unintentionally give to those societies. Ha had, niotwithstanding, brouglst forward his mo- tion, and he had now the satisfaction of hearing the honourable gentletman opposite condemning the evil arising front such institutions,i, in uch stronger language than he had ever been able to use upon the subject. He had always bean, and he still was, of opinion, that it was by the exertion of itnfluence rathler than by posi. tiye legislation, that these societies must be put down. He was the last man in the world for putting dlown opinions by violence; and swoultl never consent, much as lie hated the Orange institutions, to make themn the objects of vindictive persecution. He saw, how. ever, with great concern, that notwithstanding the anxiety witit which the Government professed Co put down these associations, persons of rank, holding oifices of favour under it., still lent their names and countenance to thiem. He didinot mean to say that those persons were privy to the setret oaths by whichi such associations were held together ;-no such thing. He thought, however, that they did!nearly as miuch harm by holding nominal offices in them, as they would have done had they actually taken their oaths of secrecy. it would not be an act of persecution to those officers-on the contrary, it would ha an act of' humnanity to ithose igzioraiit persons whom their name and autthority misled, to make Cha'nt feel that the Govern. ment would withdraw its favour fromi themn, unless they withdrew their countenance from societies whiich produiced little else than toniult, insurrection, and violence to the country. After a few wortis from Alr. M ioseci, in favoar of exempting the Alasonic Societies froni the Secret SocietyAct, the petition was laid on the table, and ordered to be printed. SLAVERY. Petitions prayinig for the grailual abolition of slavery in the \V'est Indian colonies, were presented by Sir W.Ixosi.i3y from tite towns of Ainton and Pickeriitg, its tite county of Lincoln; by Sir T. LETHBaRDGE from the town of MS`ell;; by Mr. CURwEN- front WVorkington,inthecountyofCiimberland; by Mr. Al'. Ssit1TH from the towns of Dereliam, Stokeferry, Downham, Barton, and Ilarhain, in the county of Norfolkl; by Mr. AimArtttosuY froiii Dowvnton, in the county of Wilts; by Dlr. BUTTERItWORTI trOnM Peitzance, in Cornwall; and by Lord MILTON from the town of Plalitax, in the county of York. Sir J. Vl'ROTTESLEsi presented a petition against Cthe com- bination laws front the working imechanics of Wolverhampton.- Referred to the committee on artisans. Sir F. BLAKE piesented a petition from the town of Berwick- upon-Tweed, and Mlr. Aldennan 1VOOD a petition front the ward of Farringdon without, praying for the repeal of the wiiidew tax. Mlr. Alderim-tani WOOD presented a petition from the licensed victuallers of Mlile-end, and another .ME OBEu a petition from those of Dartfordl, praying for somne alteration in the licensing duties. ALlEI ACT. Mlr. BIRCH said, that lie had a petition to present from the Mayor and Corporation of Nottirghanm, against the alicit act. He was happy to say that there was one corporation at least in the coun- try whicl had the courage to oppose this unjust, arbitrary, and un- constitutional measure. Tue petitioners condemned this act, because it enabled the Allied Sovereigns, flushed as they were by tseir recent successes, to pursue their victuins svith vindictive malice even into this country, the last asvluin for persecuted freeriten. Mr. Aldensan %VOOD assured the hontourable nterAber that the Corporation of Nottinghams was not the only corporation that had coturage enough to oppese this act. In a few days he expected that the Corporation of London would present at the bar of the house, a petitiou as iosttle to the principles of this act, as that which had just been presented by the hon. meniber himself.-The petition was ordered to be printed. Dlr. ABERCROMBY presented a petition from Calne, in favour of the councy court bill. MSr. SYKES asked the Chancellor of the Exehequer, whether he Icould inforii him of the expessee to ,t'hich the machinery of this bil twould put the countrr. The CHANCE1ItOR of the EXCHEQUER repliedI in the ne- gative, COURTS OF JUSTICE IN SCOTLAND. Lard A. HAMIILTON rose, in pursuance of his notice, to move tto refer the reports of the commissioners of inquiry on the fees of the courtt ofjusticein Scotland to a committee ofthe wholebouse.As soon as we could make outthetenourof his observations,which wewereur.. Iable to do for some tine, owing to the indistinct manner in whiich he Ispoke, wefound hintobserving thatsolong asl10years agoi,hishon. friend, the member for Water2ord, had succeeded in gettinig conm- missions appointed to examine into the Courts of Justice in Eng.. land, Scotland,and Irehind. Though the omnmission,which had been Fappointed to exanuine into the Scotch Courts, hadl prest nted several tvoluiminous reports to the house, littleor nothing hadbeen done tore- move the evils of which they complained, is object in bringing forwardl his present maotion,Iwas, first of all to discover whether Go- vernment haid any proposition to bring forward in furthierace of those reports, and then, if they had not, to zugg~t himself such pro- positions as, he thought were required by the circurnstances of the co)usrtry. Wihen he formerly attended in his place in Parliament to, the first three or four reports, which were presented by the commis- atoners, he was told by the then Lord Advocate, and als-o by the Government, to wait till the whole subaJect had been under their con.. sideration,aznd not to attemipt prematurely todiscovertheintentions of' sGovernment.1He hadl now waited to the WUl extent of time which had been required of bim,and sure he was that the country wouldbe dis- appointed on finding thait one large portion of this important subject hadi received no adequate notice anEd that another large portion of it had received no notice at all. iie sho'uld state to the house, first, what the reports declared oughtto be'done; end then, what had been actuall" done; and he trusted that by that statemeint he should con- vnete house thtat a great deal was'still left for it to do. lie would likewise show that the proceedinigs of Government were so slow in executing, the recommendations of its owni commissioners, that it asasolutely necessary for the house to apply a stimiulus to the memibers of it. Though the bill for the abolition of the inferiorcoum- minbsary courts was a mneasure recommended to the adoption of Go- vernment so far back as 1808, and though the Scotch judges had repeatedly expressed their concurrence in its provislons, it was not carriedl into efrect till the year 1823. If th'is were the way in which the recommendation of comm-issioners was- to be received, it was no'hing else but a tuock-er::, to appoint toeem. Thiose Icommiissioners had sat for seven or eighit Years, at an expcnue of' ,00.aya,and had so cost the country about 40,0001. ; andI yet their recomm-rendlation wvas not attended to, when they proposed to, make certain alterations in the Scotch courts, which would have saved 6Z,000. a year to the public, and 12,0001. a year to the suitors in them. Wias such conduct fair, eithier to the countryor the indi- vidual commissioners ? The Government had, indee,rmande some saving, but he thought that it did not amnount altogether to 5,000i]. The commissionersbhad likewise recommended the abolition of 80 offices ; but if the offices in the inferior commissary courtsa were ex.. ceptedI it would be found that not more than 15 hrad been abol.ished. lHe diti not think it necessary to proceed into the details of thediffer.. ent courts, and should thierefore confine himiself to mentioning the number of offices to be abolished, without enumerating them meore particularly, unless he was forced to such enumieration by any denial on the partouthon.genitlemenopposite. In the Court of Session it wa proposed to abolish 10 ni-ces. Now thiree onlv had beeni abolished& When he fouind that the recommendations ofthie cominissioners had not been carriedi into effect, he thouight it was fitting that heC should appeal fromi the judgment of hiis Slajesty's mninisters to that of the legislatuire, It was -calculated that a saving of 6,0001. a year would have been effected in this Court, if the proposed alterations had beetx made. The ostenisible saving by reductions wvas, however, only 1,6001. ; and if froir, that sumn they deducted the addition made to the salaries of tite jud ges' clerks (contrary to the recommendation of the commissioners), itlwouldlbe found that the entire saving made by his Majesty's Government amounted to no more than 3801. a year. (Hear, hear.) One half of' the propositions made bv the com.. mnissioners appearedl never to have been considered and thie result derived from those recommetidations whlich had been attended to were not so benehictal as they ought to have been ; since. though expense had been retluced in one quarter, it was increasedl in a-no- ther. The next courts were the Comimissaries' Court of Edin- burgh, anid the inferior Commissaries' Courts. In, these courts it was recommended to reduce five officersi, but one onlybhad been re- moved. The total aLmount of retrenchment in thiose courts, if the recommendationi had been obeyed, would have beets 1,8001. a year- but a saving of only 4001. a year hiad been effected. The next couirt noticed by the comimissioners was the Scottish Chancery. In thiat court very great nbuser existed With respecCt to time collection of fees, especially in the director's departmeut,~wlich wasexecuted wlholl~' by deputy. He was niot aware that any al teration ,conformably withi th~ re.. commendationof the 6th Report of'tlie Commiiissioners, hadi been mnade in that Court; but hie wished to get some insighit into the subject from the learned Lord Advocate. The coimmissioners, in the re- port he hiad just mentioned, refecrred to a very extraotdlinary charge whichi was miade by the Clerk of Chancery, under the denomiina.. tion of " treatment money." That charFe amounted, in 1816, to 6771. ; in 1817, to 8001. ; and in 1818, to b801. Thie commissioners did not appear to undlerstamid on what gTound the demiand was made. He wouild aext call the attention of the house to the Exchequer Court. It was recommended, that five offices be reduced iii this court; but, in point of fact, nonebhad been abolishied. It was verytrue, tha.t the situations ot one Baron of thte Exchequer, and of one Deputy Remermbrancer, had notbeen filled upwhen thevacancies occurred; but thiey ought to be abolished regularly by legislative enactment. He wvas convinced that the recommendation of the comimissioners ought to be fully carried into efiect with reference to this court, for no doubt could be entertained that four Barons were amply sufficient to perforni all the duties connected with it. In this court the saving ought to have been 5,0001., but he believed thiat, in reality, not a single shilling of the existingex\pense hadlbeen reduced. Accord.. itig to the sixtli report, it appeared that enormous abuises were foutid alsio in this court. The King's Deputy Remembrancer hatl got his office secured to him by patent, tor life, while the principEal only held situation during liis pleasure. (Hear.) So tat the deputy existed wiolly independent of the principal ; inde- pendent of any responsibility to which, under othier circumstances, he wouldl be liable. (Hlear.) Ilere he could not avoid making a re- mark on the subj ect,whtich was very ofteii broug'ht before the house- he mneant the do'ctrine of" vested interest." He would read to time house four or five lines, whbich would show what the commissioners thought of that doctrine: In the 6th Report, they said, " It is thus, we may remark, that abuse in those matters; originates, and is too apt to be perpetuated. An itidividual succeedIs m, exacting an ille- gal sum for a considlerable length of time-lia successor pursues the practice which he finds_and thtms it goes on, till it is iuipos- sible to stop it, andt that which spa~s originally wrong is finally claimied as a vested right."Unde circumstances such as these, compensations had been'demand(edI from, and( awarded by, this house, for " vested interests," whichi, lad the allegations beenl properly examined, would never have beeni admitted, It was re- conimended to reduce the expense of' my Lord Lyon's Court to the extent of 1,0001. a year ;, but nsotlming had been. done in consequence of that recoiussnentlation. The Justice of Peace Court was the next which the Commissioners noticed--and they recoimmended an abmidged form of proceeding in actions before th~at C-ourt. That re- commiiendation had not, however, been adopted. In his opinlion, the small debt jurisdiction of that C-ourt ou,,ht to be extended to a higher sum. At present thie suii was confinea to 51. It ought, he conceived, to be enlarged to 101.; andI he had miade uphiis miind to bring in a bill for that purpose. He now catine to the borough courts ; and he believed there nevet was a suibject investigated by that hiouse wvhich required so much revision and reform as the ititenial state of the Scotch borough courts. (HeaT.) lie had not been fortunate enouigh to persuade the houise to sanction a measure which he lhad broughitin on the subject; and that which the noble lord liatdbrought in and carried was wholly inadequate for the intended purpose. The reports of the commissioners f'ully, confirmed his assertion, that the internal stats of those borough court required revision and reforin. Of 60 of these borough courts, at least one half were liable to the strongest objection. Nothing had been done with respect to them ; and he thouight ministers were ceazsurable, when twelve reports liad been laid before Parliamtent, in abstaining fromi taking tie subjectjinto serious consideration. There was no unsiformity-he might say there was no honesty...of charge in those courts. Many of the charges were stigmatized by the commishioners as illegal. It ap-. pearedti tat, with respect to the Court of Session, little had bieen done. No bill had been krought in relative to the Chancery Court. In the Court of Exchequer, the vacancy of one baron and a deputy reniembrancer had not been filled up. As to any intended altEra.. tiozn in the Sheriff's Court, the Lord Lyonl's Court, the Justice of Peace Court, or the Boroughs C-ourts, he knew nothing. C-ertainly thete was no bill or measvure ofany dtscription relative to anyof them inow pendling in Parliament. He wished, therefore, that time reports of the Comiatn-issioners should be referred to a coummittee: thiey would then hear from the learned lord what could be said in defenee of the total neglect of the reforms recommended by the commissioners. The noble lord thien movd- That the 12 reports of the Commnis.. sioners of Isquiry on the fees of courts of jusitice in Scotland be re- ferred to a comimittee of the whole house." The LORD ADVOCATE of SCOTLAND said, as this sub- ject could not be interesting to the majority of gentlemen present, he would make his statemernt as short as be possibly couild, If the noble lord had moved that the 12 reports of the Commissioners relative to the fees and emoluments connected with courts of justice in Scotland should be referred to a select comimit- tee, to declare what had been and what ought to be dlone, he Icould haye understood that proceeding;, but he was somewhiat at a loss to know what the noble lord meant by submittinig those docu- incuts to a committee of the whole house, although he could perhaps guess at the noble lord's object. The noble lord, it appeared, was anxious that he (thie Lord Advocate) should defetid himself fronm the charge of having neglected his duty, by not giving effect to time recommendation of the comimissioners. lie must say thiat the nioble lord hiad been for some y-ears4 most attentive to individuals holding the situiation which he had the honour to fill at present (a luh):and i a a miatter of'great satisfaction to himi, coin- sieig thei varos duties he had to perform, .to find that did onymtte o blm affecting him, whilch the ~ noble lordl could brngbeforehe house, was his supposed nieglect of' tIme reports of clinthiog n . to rynginto He owever, denied harbouring any disin. clndrit aryR it ull effect the recommendationis af the I commissioners. lie was not in Parliament when the right hon. bart. (Sir J. Newport) made the motion, in consequence ot which commissioniers of inquiry were appointed. He was, however, glad that thieproposition was carried; because miuch valuable infbrmation, excellent historical accounts of the different courts, and various important recommendations resultedi from the inquiry. Still, however, looking to the whole systeni of the Courts in Scotland, it could not be asserted that any thing radicaLy wrong was pointedl out in their constitution. lie would now run over the prac- tice of those courts, shortly and gencrally, but he hoped correcdy. Two of the courts which the noble lord had mentioned did notpro- perly comue witbin the instructions of thecommissioncrs-he alluded to the Lvon Court and the Chancery Court. The situation of Lord Lyon Wa's exactlv the samne in Scotland, as that of Garter King at Arms in England. It was the duty of that officer to find arms for those who had not previously borne themn, or in whose artnorial bearings an alteration was directed. For this service the individual holding the office received certain fees. It was evident that this was an office under the Crown-an office, the functions of which were exercised under the King's prerogative; and he felt that it was not competent for him or others to interfere with it, When .he learned that an interference was meditated, he sent down an injunc- tion, as he was bound to do, to prevent it from being carried into effect, as the office was one emanating from the King, and not from the Leqisature. As to the Scotch Court of Chancery, it was a mrxe office. Fhve had, in fact, no such thing as a Court of Chancery. (A laugh.)) I- was a rnere office, from which certain writs were is- sued, and in which all charters were recorded. As to the fces of that office, the commissioners reported that they were not excessive, and that they ought tA be continued. The noble lord had stated, that the commissioners found fault that the Director of the Chancery, w.ith his clerks, might levy fees to any extent he thought proper: but the noble lord did not tell the house what the commissioners recommsended in consequence. They recommended, that at the ter- mination of the existing interests in that office, the officets 1. 3ild receive a ?eusar salary, sld the sudrplus should * pad 0Ove'r too the public revenue. It wais not, hiow- n1lecessaryt follow up that regulation ; because, by the act I. the 27th of Geo. 11., cap). 64, it was directed, thlat on thie ter- P~nationi of the existing jisterests, a variety of' offices shouild bc e ,daited-salaries shlonuld be River. to those performing the duties, ltlthe surplus should go to the revenue. Amongst those oflices sre, that of Director af the Chiancery, and the Clerk of the iancerv in Scotland Thiat which the comiiuissiotsers had s'ecomn- eided was actua.liy'done by, act of Parliamenat. When he camc toParliament, he found those reports before the house, anti he ~smeiasey tort easlares to CArrY the recommendation of the rti5i,sOle- boeffect. W1ith respect to the Courttof Session, an WaS I ~by himn, which' was deemed sufficient to the intentions of the coumiss;oners. If some ~s w (t bolshedit nlyshowed that on maLture considera. ltilIt was rnot tbought righlt to do them away under existing dir. ImsStances. The noble lord, in mentionsing the Court of Ex- equer, had admiittedI thatt certain offices in that court had not been lied U~SO far, Certainly, the -remmnendatio-n of the commis. Me ad o been complied with. As to the fees taken in -tIhot ddutt, c 0 fAnne expressly declared that "4 no officer shall tlemandI gher fees thani 'are autisorie7ed by the barons; and if a~ny person al exceeLd the fees fixed by the barons, right shall be donle to tht rrY Complaining, and the offender shall he punished by fine or 5penxiOo from office.,, Nlow, in consequence of the recommends. Otio'the commissioners, thie court hiad gonie orer all those fees, and gMeate everv one of them. W'ith respect to the Cotirt of ju4ticiary. had, b'y the'aet of lfi7, a righit to regulate its own fees. 'i ke thi' curt Of Exchequer, the judiges of the court were auithorized to de. are hat eesshould be taken. BNe would next come te .o'Iht ntotheCourts, withi respect to- which a bill had beet ble bed lhouse la-st session, and the OpPosition Of thi ppst,and his friends, to that bil], wouild not forgtte. Rellythe intlividual who filled his (the Lord ilVOtte~s)situaion tood sn an enviable p-edicameist Il i apropose Reiw Measures, he was resisted at every stelp ; anti ii abstained fromn propos,ing, he was Charged wtit n' Ject (if duty. er, and lauighter.) The bill which he had inturouced last yeai Ponthe subject of thie Commissary Courts, had gonie to aha. sh, at onc-, 2:3 patent- places, alt 'of tlie,n in the gifl of thi rown anti yet this bill-brought its by, an officer of Go' nrnent.-.had been divitded against even on the third readling et was happy, however, to find, that wvhatever treatmlent the mnen. Cehad experieneed in thie houise, ini Scoitl-nid it liad been received th LeTatitude, and welcomled as a bilon. WVith respect to the Stie. fl'sCout, t wuld be recollectedl, thait hie brad deferred brineting shil, n cnseuence of a r-c~o,imenidationi fromi the upjter litose. favou ofacommssion generally vupon the courts of justice it, cerlnd.Tha comission had reported, but the report wat not et n te hndsof embers. AS regarded thestate of'thie Sheri'ff's~ ourt hoeve, te fct would be found to be thiis-in the Sheriff',z ourt,durin the last year. fifty-two thousand c-anses htae esn rie, whch,as conipareel withi thes business of thit urteDdof Ssin, was 117 to I ; anid the Commiissioners re. muteded inther report uipon thte subject, that th practice the Court of Sssin shoultd he assimilated to that of tite Sheriff', rtsmuch as Possible. The lionourable and learnedl gentlemar enDroceeded to notice the recoimuendaion of the commnissioner, to an alteration sn the JUrisdiction of justices of 1seace in Scotland prsn he juistices had jurisdiction in eases of debts tunder 51.. d h ol lord opposite (Lorsi A. Hamniltotn) had( given niotice 0! motion to extend that jurisdliction to debts otf larger aniount. Piniotns wrere solmeliting divideul as to whiat shiould be tdone it is master. Somne per,o ns thought that the power shiouild extent debts of lal. ; others thouithi:.that it shioulti go onlyv to 101.: od others Were for letting it remiain as it wts, at dl. Tisers ere circumistances to be considered both ways. No doubt the hepand speedy recoverv of small claims was an advantage ; but. at-ie too ;at-, 'it led to indiscrinsinate credhit, and to the istiptison. set of men for debt who oughit to have p-aid readv mioney. Out o,! 12 persons Confined for dehir. in Edlinburgh-this tjotal nunuber cots. ned withlin tlile last vear.-132 liatd been conifined for claitims unido, e suit, of .51. The' j'ustices, to,', wer,e emnpoweredl at pr'~SeDt tr eie these claimis withouit a julry, and( not accottdiig t') latw ut according (in thie wo-rds o'f the authioriy) to equtityv ans olconsciencc."' 'This might do vecry well its dei5posing oi mnall s!takes, buit iswul carcely, serve in the settlemenst o. rge ones and tfOr this, and a Variety Of. other reasons, he thought e uristdiction in deists above .51. wouldb be niost convenieitsth' ded in tse court Of thie sheriff; the justices ha.ving. its the la,sl eair, dilirposed of1' 1.710 causes, hadi already, as it would seem,o aIs uich work on riseir hands as thiey couild dispense witts ; and (los inself) he shouldl resist thte noble lord's motion, theref'ore. welien it mne betore thie ho,use, an!l move for the appoitmnint of a cons.- tistee uspoti she qutestion. But if he wa,s unw,illing to add any thtine the way of civil, dust', to the business already pertiorissed'by tl,t stice;. tilere was a right of which lite wasmbost anxious to see' then, th~e exercise, WhVlerever any step was to lbe taken scith respect te trnVtny the aehtninis,rrntioi; os critiinal justice its Scotland, itoughtc toier to beremtsiibered,thouithl the fact geniseally perhaps wasltardIv non hi h ju-stices of peace it, that' country ,liid not, in fact. a' astral.The appointment of the slierifi; aintI thec nature of thec uty intuselto bitt-i, took away all necessity for tdie intcrterence, c.riminal niatters. of thejrttsic5 of prcace ; buit ftc (tuse Lord Adlvo- atevsas tuost anxious to take the country gentlemnen fromi that un. roiable state of quiescence. It wvouldl he incomparably better, in isview, to give the Justice of' peaice in Scotland, the samne poseie s.icli was exercised Isv tite justice of' leace in Etngland ; sudsi a ourse would raise tha_cons,eqsuetce of the intliv'icduals acting. turbo ere well entitled to so miuchi attenitioni), anti wouli, farthsrr,veryima. eri.ally-expedlite tl(e despatch ofbusines,s. HeIsrereated, thatthe givir.g f tt adtonlp erttsenitay wosill prevent delays wtsiicl owarose coastantly fions all the press of dIutv lying in one quarter_ risoners detaineel over fromn otie session to anotliter, anti exotenses curt-ed, whiicls a tmre o,pen couTse wouald avoid aTnd besidles. it outhil awakens the country gentlemen ft-out an apathy whiich 'lies sere inclineil to feel uipon asiscs mnatters.. At list tinie o'f due riots i't- lasigow, none of' tile Country azentletnen had consie iti to otffer assist. tee to the constitureti aittioriries-nute froin any indlispositioni, oh ut-se. to preserve thie peace or to expose themiselv-es its such dliscus. on;btitt because they tliouight the bissinles- seas (tie seitli witich hyhail, by right, nothitig to do. But tilis was not a feel. ug calculated to aiti the safecty or promiote tise adtvantage of ountrs'. (Governm-ent was entitled, in titie of trotuble, to loob o the zottutry genstlemen for their assistancee-for their assistance ersonally, and by mecans of thecir authority and their influence. l'it~h this, svmew, it was most desirable thiat they should he accus. timed to take their shiare in thec isiprtt dtitry of admittisterinp heciminal justice of tise state; anti certainly )leeire, ihis (tihE ,ndAdrocate'-s feeling wouild tie to refer to a com,inittee that parl tise report of the c'sminisahos which referee tots oer fjs icsFf peace in Scotland, (f-lear, licar.) Thec honourable 'and t~ed gentleman thien briefly recapitulated the effect of thec arrange. enswhicls hiad been mlade in tile several MoTTrS Of SCOtlandi. those arrangemensts here, in his opinion, uponi tlse observations 01 he nobsle lord, the uiseosber fist Lanark ; atnd, after trusting thlat ht tood clear, at least of having negrlected Iisis tlutvc in the miatter, sal lown amidi lotid anti i-ecr general 'Cheering frornt'the house. SIr, ABERCRlOM11Y rose, hardly f'or any othlet purpose thlat hat of expressing his satis~faction at tdie declara~tiots witli which tls on. anti learnied gentleman htad concluided Ilis sitescrh. The lion. nil ~at-nedl gentleman's proposed reflornit of the nianner of admtinis. stng criminal justice in Scodal,nti w55 a fitar grealter cons)idleratio tiitan hrnotion huitiediatelv befiorethe isouse; and lie tniost sincerely re. urned isis thanks to 'the lion, anti learnedl gentlemsatn for tlire in. ention. For himsself. he hail lonsg considerccd the largre ju. %idiction held. by the sh)esiff in Scotland to be a part 'of ilut cttish law nmost especially requiritsg revisions becausRe it gate monopoIv to tite prof'e'siorn of tile law, in thte adustin i trasion 1c'sinal Jusitice, to rthe entire, anid roost imlpolitic, excltusion ot hecutry gentlematn ;and, whlat was worse, these, highl piusrer, oring two weighitv to be bor;te by, she sheriti' ~sinseif. thie cout-tr,' 'ntlei,ian, who Was deptived of'stiem, hail thu miortification to see hemn in fact exsercised bsv tlit sheriff depeure. He di(i assure the honi. Ilesa-neil zentlenian ilhat lite liad lisiend with t'ise higliest Possiblec leasure to his Stiuggestion, for increasing the qualifications (ct-i. dal)of the Msagistrates of Scotland ; 'anti whitl no less.., to his bjcinthat those t55itgistrates should liolil thie power, in cases of etaoe 'u.., of deciding witliontt the intervention of a jutry. Hear. n =sc oiins expressed frotll sucds a quarter, he costld hardly en3. ercisa elutthat a farther nieasure of beneftt to Scotlatnd-.he e;;nt the initroductioun of the svsteist of (;t-and Jturies-.would meet with) that reception, and at Once, to !vhich it swas entitledb by its im- ortance ; aniti he wished thiat an i:istrtsction to cottisther tise fir. ess of introshuicingc thant rtteaure should he given to the coininittee or which the hnotieirable and learned gentleman was to mnove. Slr. bercromobs then proceedled to rotice idie answer wvimich the honour- ale and IeaTne(i Lord Aldvocate hadi given to his noble friend the eniber for lbanoark. and professed himself not so well,satisfied with, hat answer as with the rest of tIse honourable and learned gentle. sa' speech. WVith respect to the Court of Session, the cotnutis. soeshad suggestedi a saving of 0,00011. a-year;- tle ~saying effl.tted zs lte moroehnan 1.0001. ; and so great a discrepancy ought to be counteth for. Again, wvith respect to the Court 6f Exchequer, the onouiable and learnetl gentleman said4, that the Batons hadl made te'ations-thsey hadl made such alterations as to ttitem seetned fit nd ecesary. But ilid it atppear that the Barons of the Exchequer [ad ruade rhefalteraticns suggested by the commiss,.ioner,s Iit was 'ere wast," ofune for 'kit hous4e to appoint a commis,sion, if the officrs o Ili Cton comild say "W11e have done what we think. right, and se wv iill tlo no more.." '"he question was, not-had the Blatons don that which the c=nidered necessatry ; butt had the Baonss done that which 'the huewould consideer iieceseary ?For these resons, he should su.pport the motio)n of tlse noble lord (Lord A. Lo-e BINNING declined followving the noble lord (LordA. Ha- milton) trouighl his speech, because he thought it had been suffi- cinl ..svre bY his, right fton. fiend the'ILord Advocate, fie ttase fo shest"Pose of th-anking that hon. and Ie..riedl geist. for Isis rssr-ntion wit respo""ect to the magistracy of Scotland ; and hopedl the. Ison,ourabl,e eolb,r for CaIne would nor press thie gratid jury ques- dion into th sa_ e in~quiry. M1r. U U.ll E admitted that the Lordi Advocate ,)ail done tYtore ih:,ts Ilis prdcsors for the S,cottish courts; but thought that that ad- ~ssssin trewa veryt heavy1 blame olsoni thopse oredecessors indeed. 11 av rat c_e ditote noble sneniher for l,ansark forhliaperse- etoe.md hopedi he wouldl press his motion sona tivylsirn. .11r. KE N D ets highlyv plea,,ed with thile intention of tile right hdonOurase or atnoocate with respect to the wScottish rsagis tracy. that hle ished to know whether it was meant to be proceeded wish in the present sesslon ? The jORD ADVOCATf; rose to explain. Ile had not made ip his mind whether he could pursue the suggestion vwtich hc liad thrown out in this session or tile next, He nmust first kltow a little ofthefcchnglin Scotland upon the subject. 3r. AIIE CROM1. ' protested that, from the manner of the Vight honourable gentienan, he had doubted wliether he would rut move for the comniittee before the house adjourned. The case was very tnuch changed indeed, if the matter, which he (SIt-. bercrombyj) 1iad been looking upon as certain. was only something hich had passed tlirouzh the hon. and leaTned gentleman's mind. On his (Mr. Abcrcromibi's) side of the hiouse, the iimipression had en that the hon. and learned gentlelian'e itltentioii was absolute ut the vallie of hi, speech was at least diminished one half by his xplanation. (Hear, hear.) .Ir. Wr. COURTENAY had felt umuh satisfaction at heating he delaration of the right hoisourable Lord Advocate: and con- ured hins not to allow any thing to dirert him front prosecuting his iew. There oight be, atsd would be, a division of opinion in cotland upon the subject; but the view of the honourable and earned gentleman himself was decidedly the enlarged and the libe- Sir RONALD FERGUSSONs said, that the right honourable rd Advocate s speech had deceived the greater part of the house. rtainly it had been understood that he meant to move for an im- ediateinvestigatin. 13ut a.s she hortourable and learned gentle- an said, that he wished to consult the feelings of his countrymen pcn the question, he (Sir R- Fergusson) begged to kno'e rsat 'ere she parties whom he wi:shed to consult, and how and when helt opinions were to he ascertained ? IUr. KEi'fl DOUGLwAS urged the learned lord to declare whe- I 41 i t I I i? t t i e I tbee he would go into tbe inquiry to whici hie had givein his eo1neent, in this or the next pession. The LORD ADVOCATE repeated bis uromise of inquiry, but wouild iotbindlhims,elf to aiy particulartimre.-- Lord A. HA.111LTCtN, fuireply, expressed bis surprise at the re- luctaince of the learnedi lord, after ten years of inidecis iOfl to flat the time. le took this Opportunity or justifyi)g his ovn pariliamientary- conduct from the aspersions of thellearneu. lord. He begged pardon for detaiining the house wvhile he repelledi onie assertion of thie learned lord, which was most unjustifiable, and altogether unfousndedl. The learned lord hiad charged hiim with running awvay fromhis owrn coun- tTY at attrnein whichthiere,was da,nger expeteEtefiroim ageneral rising. T'lhis had beeni put forwa-rd in a newspaper under the irrmediate sanction, if' not the directioni, of the learned lord, in whirh there was no abuse, ne slander, hiowever false andI absuird, that did not find a ready access to the puiblic. The real facts were these-he hadl dlelav&d his departure for England from Iiis own country, which was also'the country- of the learnedI lord, i1st consrquence Of notices wlichl were received fromn thu! Government of an initended general rising. No suich event occurredl tben, thouigh it didl atterward&; adhehad thierefore! made his way to Edinburghi, where he iniquired for the learned lord, in orderio a,scertatin the real state of affairs. He found that the learned lord was busily engag94ed in the pursulit Of hiS own political gaine.2ie was canvassing for votes, for the general election was at hand. He then called at the office of the Solicitor-General, and founzd that gentleman as buisilY occupied as the learneti lord, anid in the selfsame pursuit of votes for the ap- proaching election ; so that here was an actual ruinning away of thlese two learned Persons. He then called at the office of the Com- mander.in-Chief, and there hie was told that they had received infor mation of a general rising, hut thait it hadl been repeated so oftenl in vain, that they begani to lauigh at it. And these were the grounds upon whlich hie hand bren accused of running away by per- sons in the department of the learnedI lord, wvlto haid hieaped upon himn the grossest slanders, and thie most abomninable falsehootls, alleging in one instance that thie Only person executedl in the subse- qtlent riots was a particular friend of his, and that on searching hie, Papers tw'o letters in hiis (Lord A. Hamilton's) hand-writing l.ad been aiscovered, thie wliole of whiceh was to be founde in a news- paper whlich wvas supported a!sdc owned bv the learned lord and ten othier Official gentlemen. He believed thiat there Was not oile inat in the country-, andI he was certain that no Tmem-ber of that house, wvould continute to puit faithi in such calurmnies on seeing hosw enitirely they were rerfute:d by the most simple reference to the fatcts- The house dlivid'ed- For. the mnotion, 76 Acainst it, 124 Majority, 46. POO'R SETTLEME13N'TS. On returniing totthe gallery, LordI AIuTHORP was addressing thec houme; but the nois'e occaett'iOed by thle strangers resumning t heir sieats prevented him from- heing clearly hecardl. Iic was uinderstood to refer to the grrat evtll whiich pr~vailed at present fromn the facilities given for procuring settlemnent by hiring and service. And titoughi thie weight of this grievance was'somnetimres averted by hiring for 5Il weeks and! other devices, yet these cases wvere met by the judgmnent itt courts, which frequentIy made tile contrtact voidI- aitd altogethier it mtiaht safely, he asserted that a chiange in tile law was necessary, vere it only to cut off the enormotis, andI expensive litigation whichi spruioe ouat of thlis particular clainm of settlement. lie therefore moved for leave to bring in a bill to abolith settlemient by hiring and Rerri'c. Colonel WOOD approved of this bill in the main, buAt thiat it would needI modific'ationi. li-e had aittemiptedI himself to effect snOme chlange in the claim, but was not succes,sful. He wouldl tak-e the opportunity,when, this bill shiouldi he in a committee,to propose a clause solnetlt"Ine diffcrent froml thle tenour of the noble loyd's. hill for whereas thle b;il went to take awvay somne facilities for acquiring settlement, hiis clause would goitotesto're s.ome whichi had been taken awaty by a previous statute. IHe woulti give a readyv settlemienit to tal pavers of pour rates antI for that purpose he would propose a claus~ in the committee for repealtng, so mnuch of the 35 Geo. IlI. As went to deprive the payers of rates for aniy houise or truculent of less vatlue than 1Ol. a year. lie wouldI give settlement to anny p;ayer Iof parocrlial rates, hlowever small the rate. Tile great gr ievance wltich the agricultural parishies hadl to coniten(i with was, that their ipeoplle were enticedI away to thie large utanuifactLuring towns-tiue VYiung wollac wvere sedtlcedi anti iniptegoatcd, anid then were sent bark, anti became incuntbrances upon thecir formner ptari-shes. I dir. CIRlPp3, approved of the bill; but sat this dlifficulty in the way of it-tha ltet)ienr!cipleof the law~ ought itt jisstness autifairness, to be. that thte pari0h whiichi hadl the labour of the pauper ourlit to entdiire thle oann. Thiis bill wotiltd reiduce settlentent generally to ionlty )eitt it i li -t ose,f birth atidI renlilit he qites- tinn.ed tttuclt if tlies coulti suicceedI in so great an allteration itt the 0lti law. wh'irls hadat all periodis of,ts existence given claititi of set- tlrn rnt ilii-n a itiid(eratLe terM Of service. Mr. l1OCI0fA RT' apptroved of tile hill, hecause it veztit to en. couraire residence, anid to cuit off oune great htead ot' litigaition, wlticit now thrived ilion tue iuncertainties of' settlemient by service. I,eas'ce i veil to bring in the bfll. zlr. lI obtained leave to hring in a bill. to explain anti amendE the 311th of Georire III., for btetter ascertaininig the amounit anlsecuring Intviteit of hills of costs 1prcosithPeogiv and Admirailty CouArts. Mlr. GIPP,; obtaitiedi leave to bring in a bill for the better em- ploying the agricultural labitutrers in tite winter season. On the moation of .1r.TI. COURTENAY, a select commiittee was appointed to exitmine the several retuirns, niadle Iursuant to tin ortder of tlte boiuise, of the suttls assesseet, levied, attd expended, on account of thle poor in Entriard anti \Vales. ~SALXON FiSHERY. AcIrSE'X'\DY ruse to move for acolttlinittee to inquire into the existing laws relating to tile salmni tr ishieries. Thie imlportance of tlte interests itviictt were coitnected witti it, and tite nuilber of' ite- titions whlich liad been Presented to tile itouse, sufficiently. Proved the necessit,y r,ft'Xsuch an inquiry ; arti lite had no dloubt, thlat con- ducted, as it wculd be. it would' etablish every private righst, witile it woul(i protect the public interests. TIte reason for preserving thtese fisheries was, to serute a supply of' the valuablse alitr peculiar foodi they prqditiced. Thclty had been an early object of' mite care of the Sciktttislt Partiantent. by an eniacttment of which, so long ago as lite year 1424, lthe viola.~on of their privileges was putnishted wvithi no less a Penalty titani liss of lif'e. It was obvi-otts titat a low of s,uchi a date must partake of tke hturbarismn of' the age; but it contittued writi, little chanite uip to ttit reign of Queen Annec, when. tite existing laws, vee ratifiedl an tnte. That thiese lairs neetled revision, it was onily nt'cessa,.ry to refer to tlse state of decay in wvhichi inuny fishleries, once valuable. terre at present; asitu to the fact titat mniay of titer we-re comtpletely destroyed. If the committee shiould b;e tcranted. there were thiree roiniii polilts to which their inquiry sliotild be directed. First, an ittvestigationt, wltich seas no less curious thtan imp"ortan t,into the natural btistory atutl itibits of the sabtlnon. Upon tlti- pon. tbotnuei little hiad hiithierto been understood, a very consi. de'r,ibleiquantity of informlationin ight itow be ptrocitredl. The second object of finquir'y shiould be, into thie different modles of fishing whicit haud be-en introduce a t various times, all of whiceh were undler the s'anction of the law; bUt some of wltich.i he was atithorizetl in saying, were hiehll injuirious to the puiblic inte'rests. It would 'also he for the CRoIssli'ttee, to say, whethier some of tlhe oldl modles at present pros5cribed em igrht not be ridvaittageouslIy revived. The third tolpic should emibrace an inquiry irto the, policy, of the ailcient aitui exi-ting lawsq, as titey affetctd the preservatiolt of private and public rhirilts. lie was of Opilnion that it wouldl be itmpossible for ithe coimmittee to come to a i:tal dlecisioni in tIle collrse of thie present session, li-e tlsouelit, thieref'ore, titat itf thley slioulkd report to the house uiponi the tvidence they would be ena~bled to collect dritnig thec session. tilte Parlianment would be in Possessionl of the sti bject ; and then, if the comuit(tec were to be revived ini the followeiig session, it wvould be in their plower to re- colutmettd some wvise auch salutary measure far the preservation of tite fishieries, Ile concluded by movinz, " That a commrrittee bte ap- pointed tn inqulire into the s9almoit fisheries of S~cotland and tile Unitedi Kingdom, anti the laws affKCting the sante, antI that thev report thle r7imiutes of the evitdence given before them fromi time to tithie to the htiuse." dir. C. GRANT amtreetd that this subject was a more important onec tliait it mtight at first sighit apipear to be. Wiithi it, itowever,wtere connecteti mane plriv'ate rights of'a very, ancient date, which ouglitto lie kept sacredi. Tuie persons lmoldling these private rights-, whilclt in Scotlatid terre all deri~'ed f'romr royal grants, entertutined somneappre- hen.sions lest the pro'posed coimmiittee shiouldl recomnmen(i an infiinge- I'ncnt of thecir Privileges, lie was satislied that cite lion, mover Ila,t1 no sucht inltention, aticd lie! thoighit there was no groundI for such ap- prehiensions9 It teas a notoriotIs fact, that the supply of fishi -in the rieso -n'ln and( Scotland liata consitlerably duustinishied, aiti( thswso't-elf,stfl'tciettt to revomnnend a parliatiientarv inquitry, nor for the purpose of violating any existing riglht, but to exclude certatn Iulukiriotis modes of Fishing. Hie perfectly coneurtedl witi, the ho n, mover as to ethe expediency ofsuctci a corninitree.-The coin- snittee was thien appointeil. I dr. AR BUTHINOT obtained leave to bring in a bill for etlclos- ing Huzleborough-walk. inl Northamptonshire. ICH4URCH IN LANGHAM-P'LACE. On the lion. miember's miotion for leave to bring in a bill for the sale of stock, and other Purposes, Ir 1-GBENN E C' rose, not for the purpose of opposing the motion , bitt to take itis opportunlity of as3king ttile itaem of tlte archi- tect who hail built the new ChIUTCh in Lengham.place. it was tIle wondler Of all this town wilo this person could be, and his (Mlr. Bennet's) objectirt asking the qluzstioi teas, that the sadldle mnightE be puit on thle rigltt liorse, and thlit the public might knote what it cost, anid chit was to pat' for it. F?or his own part, he svould not wil- liitglY Pay onefarthing for its erection - bill altltouigh lie was not rich, he wVouldt give s~omething to ltave it pulled down, I t was a dePlorable an orribjle obJect ; anfl itever had lieseen so siamneful a disgrace to the metropols It teas like a, flat candIlestick withi an ex'ttuihe on it. Le saw a reat nuinber of churches building, of all of sehich it mighit be saidI thaYt one was vvorse than tile Othier. It seemned as if an, adventurous spirit of atcliitecture prevailed, and that its p rofessors hadi resolved to f-ollow nothing itQ lied ever appcare(t before;, arid to invent nothti:tg litet' twhich wCas miot purely absurd. NIo man wvho knew whiat architecture was would have put up tIle ediflces lie alluded to ; a.ed w!dch diisgusted everybody, while It'itt iiiade everybodly wotidelr wvho could b'e the asses tilat planned. land the fools that buiilt tliem. Mr. ARBUTI HNOT, not liaving been cotinected with thec depart. nent to whicil hie seas nowi attachted wehen these chiurches were de- cidled "Pon, couild say no'thing to the lionourable member's observa.. toS. He only wished to observe, that if lie whole Of thencew street were eoeked at. he thoueht itwould be found to deserve the public I approbation. fle did not th.ink the church allutleth to was an ornament to the street - he woultd rather not name the architect (cries of " Name, name"); but if hoe must, it was the twork ot Mlr. NVash. Hle miight be alluwed to add, that if this building was nut verY cre- ditabletto his taste,there were many others in itd neighbourhood that were elminently so. Air. ll USK ISSON had not yet seen the chturch, nor liad he seen the plan for it; but lie believed it had been submitted to the com- missiotlers.-Leave was tihen given to bring in the bill. ALlEN BILL. Mir. IEELI moved the ortder of the clay ott the second reacling of the aticn bill, for the purpose of postponing it until Friday next. It was proposed on that day to contitue the cotamittee of sunply till nine o'clock, and then to bring ott thie second readinig of this bill. CUSTO M.' ACTS. The report on these acts was broughit up. Mr. GREY BENNET put a questiot, to the ChanceUor of the Exchequer which Wvas inaudible in the gallery, but which, we be- lieve, Tel..ted to fixing a day for tic announcenment of the right hon. gentleman's intentions respecting the beer-trade. Thie CHANCELLOR of the EXCIEQUER was quite aware of and regretted the inconvenience which hadi resulted front the postponemenlt of this matter, and proposed to bring it forward on this day se'nnight. Mlr. H UdI E wished to know whethter any titing had been done with respect to the application of an individum.d tiho had efFered to defend the rights of the Crown in certain slate quarries ? If nothing had been done, and if it was intended to dto nothing, he should feel it his dItty tobring the matter betbre the house. Mr. ARBUTHINOT said the opinions of the law officers of the Crown had been taken and acted upon; and he was quite ready to defend his conduct whenever the hon. gent. should think fit to bring the sttbject befese the house. LAW STAMP DUTIES, On the Intion of the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER, the house regolved itself into a committee on these dptles. The right hon. gentlemanl said, that after the former discussion on thi, subject,it would be unncessary for him to pay any thing in favour of the proposition for repealing ttle %tarinp duties on law proceedings lIC held a schedule of tbetn, which was extracted frorn the stamp acts, and which he should now hand to the chairmn2m, and move that they bc repealed, not doubting that the jooise would accede to the motion. It coml:ised aU that could properly be called l%w-p o- ceedsngs. Mlr. HUME said, he bad presented a petition from certain attor. nics, prsying that the duties on their licenices should be remitted; and anotler, complaining that the tax on apprentices in Scotland where they wvere bound only for 3 years, was the same as in England where they were bound for 7 years. He wished tolknow whether it, was intended to do any thing on these subjects ? The CHANCFLLOR of the FXCHEQUE:R replied, that the' duty on attornies' liceuces could not be said to helong to law proceed- ngs; anid that apprenticeship indentures had no reference to them wh atever. He was not prepared to give any pledege with re5pect to either of them in the measure before the house, he had gene as far as was consistent with the fair interests of the revenue, and he could go no further. The house then resumed, and the report was ordered to be receiv- edl to-mortorw. GAMlE LAWS. Mr. STUART VWORTLEV' moved the ordler of the day on the game laws' amendment bill committee for the Purpose of postpon ing it. He would propose to fix it for to-morrow. (Loud cries of " No, no.") le had really no other view in proposing to-morrow but the importance of proceeding with this measure without loss of time: and, excepting to-morrow, it was difficiult to name a day on which the disrussion could come on at a sufficiently earlv hour. Mr. CALCRAFT suzzestod that Wednes9.ay was usually con- sidered an open day. (Hear.) Mlr. S. IVORTLE could not see iwhy such a 6iscussion should not come on to.morrow as wvell as any other day, If the house, however, thought differently, he must, of course, bow to its (de- cision ; anI would therefore name Thursday for the commitment of the bill. VSURY LAW'S. Alr. Sergeant ONSLOW moved the order of the day on the usury law-s' repeal bill. Mr. CALCRAFT hoped the learned sergeant nmeantonly to post- pone it. Mr. Sergeant ONSLOW really thought lte had deferred this measure quite often enoiugh to wieet the convenience of honourable gentlemen. The discussion, moreover, might be taken at a future stage, and the coiinittee could now proceed pro forma. After a few woreis fronm llr. CALCRAFT, 51r. Sergeant OITSLOV, Mfr. Alderman HEYOGAE, illr. JoHXe !rvTFr, Mr. Syt;Es, and iMlr. (0our,Bautx, relative to tie most eligible day for taking the committee, Thu:rsday se'nnight was appointed. The other orders oe the day were then disposed of, and the house a(djourned at a OL'ARTEIR PAST TWELVE. I IHOUSE OF COMIMONS, TuESDAY. MARcHr 30. BRISTOL, ANI) TAUNrNON CANAI, BILL.