House of Commons Journal Volume 85: 4 May 1830

Martis, 4 die Maii; Anno 11 Georgii IV ti Regis, 1830.

PRAYERS.

Returns, &c. presented: Sugar. No. 354.

MR. Twiss presented to the House, pursuant to their Addresses to His Majesty,-Return to an Address to His Majesty, dated the 16th day of February last, for a Return of the quantity of Sugar exported from the Mauritius in each year since 1825.

Jamaica. No. 349.

Return to an Address to His Majesty, dated the 15th day of March last, for an Account of all Sums of Money voted by the House of Assembly in the Island of Jamaica, and applied in pursuance thereof, in the several years 1825, 1826, 1827 and 1828 inclusive, distinguishing each year, for or towards the use or purpose of the King's Troops, as well Officers as Men, in every branch of service stationed in that Island during the said years; and also specifying the particular heads of Expenses, whether for Pay, Rations, Subsistence, Barracks, Lodging-money, Hospital-money, Boat-hire, transport of Men and Baggage, Fuel, and every other Allowance whatever.

Newfoundland. No. 350.

Return to an Address to His Majesty, dated the 29th day of March last, for Copies or Extracts of any Instructions sent to the Governor or Legal Authorities at Newfoundland, relative to the operation of the Acts of 5 Geo. 4, c. 51, and 5 Geo. 4, c. 67; and the Answers received, if any.

Colonial Grants. No. 351.

Return to an Address to His Majesty, dated the 6th day of April last, for a Copy of the Conditions under which Lands are granted in the British North American Colonies, and in the Colonies of New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land.

Colonial Income and Expenditure. No. 352.

Return to an Address to His Majesty, dated the 8th day of April last, for a Copy of a Letter from R. W. Hay, Esq. dated Colonial Office, 10th April 1827, in reply to a Letter from J. C. Herries, Esq. dated Treasury, 24th March 1827, relative to the Revenues and Expenditure of Ceylon, the Mauritius, the Cape of Good Hope, Trinidad, and Malta; together with a Copy of the Financial Statement in explanation thereof.

New South Wales.

Copies of the Laws and Ordinances passed by the Governor and Council of the Colony of New South Wales, 1828.

Metropolis Water. No. 360.

A Supplement to the Correspondence relating to the Supply of Water to the Metropolis, presented 15th March 1830.

Offices in the Colonies. No. 353.

Mr. Twiss also presented to the House, pursuant to the directions of an Act of Parliament,-Return of all Persons holding Offices in the Colonies, who have been appointed thereto subsequent to the passing of an Act of Parliament of the 54th year of his late Majesty King George the Third, c. 61, and who are not at present in the execution of the duties of their respective Offices, as far as regards the department of the Secretary of State for the Colonies.

Ordered, That the said Papers do lie upon the Table; and, except the Copies of the Laws and Ordinances of the Governor and Council of New South Wales, be printed.

Petitions against Glasgow and Killmarnock Road Bill.

A Petition of Owners and Occupiers of lands near to or adjoining the present line of Road from Glasgow to Kilmarnock;-and, of Owners and Occupiers of lands or houses in the parishes, towns or villages adjoining to, or deriving benefit from, the present line of Road from the city of Glasgow to Kilmarnock,-were presented, and read; taking notice of the Bill for amending and continuing an Act for repairing Roads in the County of Renfrew, and for altering the Line of Road between Glasgow and Kilmarnock, in the said County; and praying, That they may be heard by themselves, their counsel or agents against certain parts thereof.

And the said Petitions were ordered to be referred to the Committee on the Bill; and that the Petitioners be heard by themselves, their counsel or agents upon their Petitions, if they think fit.

Ordered, That counsel be admitted to be heard in favour of the Bill, against the said Petitions.

Petition against Garnkirk Railway Bill.

A Petition of Archibald Wallace and Thomas Grahame, of Glasgow, proprietors of shares in the Glasgow and Garnkirk Railway, was presented, and read; taking notice of the Bill for amending certain Acts for making the Glasgow and Garnkirk Railway, and for improving, maintaining and rendering Turnpike the Road leading from the said Railway near Broomhill, by Keppoch Bridge, to the Town Head of Glasgow; and praying, That they may be heard by themselves, their counsel or agents against certain parts thereof.

Ordered, That the said Petition be referred to the Committee on the Bill; and that the Petitioners be heard by themselves, their counsel or agents upon their Petition, if they think fit.

Ordered, That counsel be admitted to be heard in favour of the Bill, against the said Petition.

Petitions against Trent and Mersey Navigation Bill.

A Petition of the Trustees of the River Weaver Navigation, in the county palatine of Chester;-of Alexander Reid, John Arthur Borron and Hillebrant Meredith Parratt, of Anderton, in the city of Chester, Salt Proprietors and Carriers;-of William Blount, of Cumberland-street, Portman-square, in the county of Middlesex;-of Robert Williamson, of Longport, in the county of Stafford, Gentleman;-and, of Proprietors of Iron-works in Staffordshire, -were presented, and read; taking notice of the Bill to consolidate and extend the Powers and Provisions of the several Acts relating to the Navigation from the Trent to the Mersey; and praying, That they may be heard by themselves, their counsel or agents against certain parts thereof.

And the said Petitions were ordered to be referred to the Committee on the Bill; and that the Petitioners be heard by themselves, their counsel or agents upon their Petitions, if they think fit.

Ordered, That counsel be admitted to be heard in favour of the Bill, against the said Petitions.

Ross (Hereford) Improvement Bill, passed.

An ingrossed Bill for paving, cleansing, draining, lighting, watching, regulating and improving the town of Ross, and for disposing of certain Common and Waste Lands, and Rights of Common within the Parish of Ross, in the County of Hereford, was read the third time; and an Amendment was made to the Bill.

Resolved, That the Bill do pass.

Ordered, That Mr. Bolton Clive do carry the Bill to the Lords, and desire their concurrence.

Carlisle and Penrith Road Bill, reported.

Sir James Graham reported from the Committee on the Bill for more effectually repairing the Road from Carlisle to Penrith, and from Penrith to Eamont Bridge, in the County of Cumberland; That the Standing Orders relative to Turnpike Bills, had been complied with; and that they had examined the allegations of the Bill, and found the same to be true; and had gone through the Bill, and made several Amendments thereunto; and the Amendments were read, and agreed to by the House.

Ordered, That the Bill, with the Amendments, be ingrossed.

Peebles Statute Labour Bill, passed.

An ingrossed Bill for regulating the Statute Labour and repairing the Highways and Bridges, in the County of Peebles, was read the third time; and several Amendments were made to the Bill.

Resolved, That the Bill do pass: And that the Title be, An Act for further regulating the Statute Labour and repairing the Highways and Bridges in the County of Peebles.

Ordered, That Mr. Hay do carry the Bill to the Lords, and desire their concurrence.

Petition in favour of Garscube and Possil Road Bill.

A Petition of Creditors under the Act for maintaining and repairing the Road leading from the City of Glasgow, through Cowcaddens, to the North end of the Bridge over that part of the River of Kelvin called the Milnford of Garscube, was presented, and read; taking notice of the Bill for maintaining and repairing the Road leading from the City of Glasgow, through Cowcaddens, to the North end of the Bridge over that part of the River of Kelvin called the Milnford of Garscube, and for making, repairing and maintaining certain other Roads in the Counties of Lanark, Stirling and Dumbarton; and praying, That the same may pass into a law.

Ordered, That the said Petition do lie upon the Table.

Edinburgh Advocates Widows Fund Bill, passed.

An ingrossed Bill to raise a Fund for Provisions to Widows of the Members of the Faculty of Advocates in Edinburgh, was read the third time.

Resolved, That the Bill do pass: And that the Title be, An Act to raise a Fund for Provisions to Widows of the Members of the Faculty of Advocates of Scotland.

Ordered, That Mr. John Campbell do carry the Bill to the Lords, and desire their concurrence.

Chard Roads Bill, passed.

An ingrossed Bill for amending an Act of the last Session, intituled, "An Act for more effectually repairing and improving several Roads which lead to and through the Town and Borough of Chard, in the County of Somerset, and for making and maintaining a new Road from Chard to Drempton, in the County of Dorset;" and for making and maintaining other Roads communicating with the said Roads, in the Counties of Somerset, Devon and Dorset, was read the third time.

Resolved, That the Bill do pass.

Ordered, That Mr. Dickinson do carry the Bill to the Lords, and desire their concurrence.

Little Bolton Improvement Bill, reported.

Lord Stanley reported from the Committee on the Bill for more effectually cleansing, lighting, watching, regulating and improving the Town of Little Bolton, in the County Palatine of Lancaster; and to whom the Petitions of Landowners and Ley-payers of the town of Little Bolton; and, of Proprietors of gas-works, and Owners and Occupiers of meadow and arable lands, within the township of Little Bolton, in the county palatine of Lancaster, were referred; That no person appeared on behalf of the said Petitions; and that they had examined the allegations of the Bill, and found the same to be true; and had gone through the Bill, and made several Amendments thereunto; and the Amendments were read, and agreed to by the House.

Ordered, That the Bill, with the Amendments, be ingrossed.

Report from Committee on Standing Orders.

Lord Viscount Althorp reported from the Select Committee to whom shall be referred all Reports from Committees on Petitions for Private Bills, in which it shall be stated that any of the Standing Orders of this House have not been complied with, and that such Committee do report their opinion thereupon from time to time to the House; and to whom several Reports, stating that the Standing Orders have not been complied with, were referred; That they had made a further progress in the matters to them referred, and had come to a Resolution, which they had directed him to report to the House; and the same was read, and agreed to by the House; and is as followeth;

Petition for Provision in Walsall Road Bill.

Resolved, That in the case of the Petition of the Earl of Bradford, for additional Provision in the Walsall Road Bill, Provision be permitted to be made in the said Bill, pursuant to the prayer of the said Petition.

Wallis's Divorce Bill, read.

An ingrossed Bill from the Lords, intituled, An Act to dissolve the Marriage of Thomas Wallis, Esquire, with Charlotte Augusta Amelia, his now Wife, and to enable him to marry again, and for other purposes, was read the first time; and ordered to be read a second time.

Blacktoft Inclosure Bill, passed.

A Motion being made, That the ingrossed Bill for inclosing Lands in the Townships of Blacktoft, Gilberdike and Faxfleet, in the Parish or Parochial Chapelry of Blacktoft, and in the Parishes of Eastrington and South Cave, in the East Riding of the County of York, be now read the third time;

Lord Viscount Lowther, by His Majesty's command, acquainted the House, That his Majesty having been informed of the purport of the Bill, gives His consent as far as His Majesty's interest is concerned, that the House may do therein as they shall think fit.

Then the Bill was read the third time; and several Amendments were made to the Bill.

Resolved, That the Bill do pass.

Ordered, That Mr. William Duncombe do carry the Bill to the Lords, and desire their concurrence.

D'Oyly's Divorce Bill, committed.

An ingrossed Bill from the Lords, intituled, An Act to dissolve the Marriage of John Hadley D'Oyly, Esquire, with Charlotte, his now Wife, and to enable him to marry again, and for other purposes, was read a second time; and committed to a Committee of the whole House, for Thursday the 13th day of this instant May.

Instruction.

Ordered, That it be an Instruction to the Committee, that they do hear counsel and examine witnesses for the Bill; and also, that they do hear counsel and examine witnesses against the Bill, if the parties concerned think fit to be heard by counsel, or produce witnesses.

Petition for further time for Report of Perth Navigation Bill.

A Petition of Patrick Gilbert Stewart, Lord Provost and Chief Magistrate of the city of Perth, was presented, and read; setting forth, That a Bill is depending in the House, intituled, A Bill for enlarging, improving and maintaining the Port and Harbour of Perth; for improving the Navigation of the River Tay to the said City; and for other purposes therewith connected; which Bill has been referred to the Committee on Private Bills for the western division of Scotland; and that, owing to the number of such Bills, which have been remitted to the same division, and in particular several Bills from Glasgow and its vicinity, which have occupied, and still continue to occupy, a very considerable portion of the time of the Members of the said Committee, the promoters of the present Bill, after several attempts, have found it impossible to get a sufficient number of the Members of the said Committee to meet for the purpose of taking the said Bill into consideration, and have little prospect of being able to procure an attendance of Members for this purpose until Monday next the 10th instant, on which day the time allowed for reporting on Private Bills in the present Session expires; that under these circumstances the Petitioner is under the necessity of applying to the House to enlarge the time for the Committee to report upon the said Bill until Monday the 17th instant, or for such reasonable time beyond the 10th instant as will enable the said Committee to take the said Bill into their due consideration, and to report thereon to the House; and praying, That the period for reporting upon the said Bill may be enlarged till Monday the 17th instant, or till such other reasonable time as the House, under the circumstances above stated, shall see fit.

Ordered, That the said Petition do lie upon the Table.

Limerick County Return, amended.

The Deputy Clerk of the Crown attending, according to Order, amended the Return for the County of Limerick.

Petitions against Sale of Beer Bill.

A Petition of Owners, Lessees and Occupiers of publichouses in Merthyr Tydvil;-of Innkeepers and Licensed Victuallers of Bradford, in the county of York;-of Proprietors and Occupiers of public-houses, and other Inhabitants, of Ashby-de-la-Zouch;-of Proprietors and Occupiers of public-houses in Fareham, in the county of Southampton;-of Proprietors and Occupiers of public-houses in London and its vicinity;-of Licensed Victuallers of Huddersfield and its vicinity;-of Inhabitants of Ellandwith-Greetland, in the parish of Halifax;-of Inhabitants of Halifax;-of Licensed Victuallers of Kidderminster and its vicinity;-of Proprietors and Occupiers of public-houses in Bath and its vicinity, not being common brewers;-of Innkeepers and Licensed Victuallers of Leeds;-of Inhabitants and Licensed Victuallers of the city of Lichfield;-of Victuallers residing in the town and neighbourhood of Wednesbury;-of Licensed Victuallers of the parish of Saint Mary Paddington;-and, of Licensed Victuallers and Maltsters of Tiverton,-were presented, and read; taking notice of the Bill to permit the general Sale of Beer by Retail in England; and praying, That the same may not pass into a law.

And the said Petitions were ordered to lie upon the Table.

A Petition of Brewers, Publicans, Licensed Victuallers and Tradesmen of Beccles and its vicinity, in the county of Suffolk;-of Licensed Victuallers and Owners of licensed victualling-houses in Nottingham and its vicinity;-of Proprietors and Occupiers of public-houses in Aylesbury and its vicinity;-of Proprietors and Occupiers of public-houses in Leicester;-of Samuel Mason, of the parish of All Saints, in the borough of Leicester, victualler;-of Maltsters, Innkeepers and Licensed Victuallers of Loughborough;-of William Watson and Abraham Usill, in Wisbech, in the Isle of Ely, common brewers;-of Licensed Publicans and Victuallers of Wisbech;-of Licensed Victuallers and others residing at Bishop Stortford and its vicinity;-of Licensed Victuallers and Publicans of Hitchin and its vicinity;-of Common Brewers and Proprietors and Occupiers of public-houses in the parishes of Bradford and Trowbridge;-of Proprietors and Occupiers of public-houses in Great Yarmouth and its vicinity; -of Licensed Victuallers of Amersham and its vicinity; -of Publicans and other persons interested in publichouse property in Whitchurch;-of Owners and Occupiers of public-houses in Eye;-of Proprietors and Occupiers of free public-houses in the borough of Clifton Dartmouth Hardness and its vicinity;-of Licensed Victuallers residing in the King's-town and parish of Maidstone;-of Proprietors of public-houses and Licensed Victuallers residing in the upper southern division of the lath of Aylesford and parishes adjacent, in the county of Kent;-of Proprietors and Occupiers of public-houses in Horncastle and that town and neighbourhood;-of Innkeepers and Publicans of Louth;-of Common Brewers and Proprietors of public-houses in the counties of Huntingdon, Bedford and Cambridge;-of Common Brewers and Licensed Victuallers in Thetford;-of Proprietors and Occupiers of public-houses in Reading and its vicinity;-of Proprietors and Occupiers of public-houses in the Isle of Wight;-and, of Stanley Garner, of Seacombe, Cheshire, Innkeeper,-were also presented, and read; taking notice of the said Bill; and praying, That the same may not pass into a law.

And the said Petitions were ordered to lie upon the Table; and to be printed.

Petitions in favour of Sale of Beer Bill.

A Petition of the Mayor, Bailiffs and Burgesses of the town of Liverpool;-of Inhabitants of the parish of Saint Luke, Middlesex;-of Leeds;-of Magistrates, Clergy, Merchants and others, Inhabitants of Huddersfield;-of the Mayor, Magistrates and Inhabitants of the city of Winchester;-of Inhabitants of Kingswinford;- of Minister, Chapel-wardens and other Inhabitants of the united townships of Hanley and Shelton;-of Inhabitants residing in the town and neighbourhood of Wednesbury; -of Clergy, Bankers, Merchants and Inhabitants of Walsall;-of the Chief Constable, Churchwardens and other Inhabitants of the parish of Burslem;-of Clergy, Churchwardens, Overseers of the Poor, and Principal Inhabitants, and also of the Proprietors and Occupiers of public-houses in Darlaston, in the county of Stafford; -and, of the Mayor, Justice, Capital Burgesses and Assistants of Tiverton,-were also presented, and read; taking notice of the said Bill; and praying, That the same may pass into a law, but that Beer may not be consumed in the houses or premises where sold by retail.

And the said Petitioners were ordered to lie upon the Table.

A Petition of Inhabitants of Saint Botolph Aldersgate; -of Derby;-of Magistrates, Clergy, Freeholders and other Inhabitants of the hundred of Blackburn;-of Gentry, Clergy, Freeholders and other Inhabitants of the Isle of Wight;-of Gentry, Clergy, Freeholders and other Inhabitants of the county of Hertford, residing in the neighbourhood of Hatfield;-of the Mayor and resident Magistrates of Great Yarmouth, and of the Minister of the parish of Great Yarmouth;-of Clergy, Parish Officers and Inhabitants of Isleworth, in the county of Middlesex;-of Freeholders and others, Inhabitants of Paddington;-of Inhabitants of Saint Botolph Aldgatewithout;-of Rector, Churchwardens, Overseers, and other Inhabitants of Little Stukeley, in the county of Huntingdon;-and, of G. Mitford, Chairman, on behalf of the Magistrates acting in and for the division of Reading, in the county of Berks,-were also presented, and read; taking notice of the said Bill; and praying, That the same may pass into a law, but that Beer be not consumed in the houses or premises where sold by retail.

And the said Petitions were ordered to lie upon the Table; and to be printed.

Petitions in favour of Labourers Wages Bill.

A Petition of the Clergy, Manufacturers, Landholders, Freeholders and others, the Inhabitants of Bisley, Brimscom-Port, Eastcombs, Bussage, Oakridge, and their respective vicinities, in the county of Gloucester;- of Inhabitants of Painswick;-of Clergy, Manufacturers, Landholders, Freeholders, Shopkeepers and others, Inhabitants of Cainscross and Ebley;-of Inhabitants of Nailsworth and Woodchester;-of Clotheirs of Lyme Regis;-of Landowners, Farmers, Workmen and other Inhabitants of the colliery district, in the county of Monmouth;-and, of the Magistrates, Manufacturers, Tradesmen and other Inhabitants of Trowbridge,-were presented, and read; taking notice of the Bill to amend and render more effectual the Provisions of divers Acts for securing to certain Artificers, Workmen and Labourers, in such Acts mentioned, the due Payment of their Wages in Money; and praying, That the same may pass into a law.

And the said Petitions were ordered to lie upon the Table; and that the two last be printed.

Petition respecting Hawkers.

A Petition of Tea-dealers and Grocers resident in the city of Bristol, and county of Gloucester, was presented, and read; setting forth, That the object of the Petitioners presenting themselves before the House on the present occasion, is to entreat the protection of the House against the illegal traffic of a very numerous and increasing body of men, who are engrossing the sale of Tea, and who contribute no proportionate share towards those burthens and other rates to which the Petitioners have just alluded; they beg to represent to the House the necessity of an equalization of taxation on all those who deal in the same commodity, and that the Scotch or other Hawker, who supplies with Tea, in the course of one week, the residents of six or eight market towns and of as may villages, should be subjected to the same taxation, at least, as the settled dealer in the country town, whose custom is necessarily limited to his shop sale; and that this, or some such enactment, which the House will be better able to devise, against vending or delivering Tea but in a shop, under a heavy penalty against the vender as well as the receiver, would amount to that protection which they so earnestly entreat; at all events, it would compel a competition, from which the Petitioners would not shrink, instead of being subjected, as they are, to an understand and illegal traffic, by which they are deprived of that profit they humbly conceive to be their right, as they are heavily rated to support the burthens of their respective neighbourhoods and parishes, and which are unhappily yearly increasing, while the means of meeting them, from the above cause, are daily on the decrease.

Ordered, That the said Petition do lie upon the Table.

Petitions in favour of Jews Relief Bill.

A Petition of British born Jews resident in Bristol;- of Inhabitants of Bristol;-of Bankers, Merchants and other Inhabitants of Liverpool;-and, of Inhabitants of Totness,-were presented, and read; taking notice of the Bill for the Relief of His Majesty's Subjects professing the Jewish Religion; and praying, That the same may pass into a law.

And the said Petitions were ordered to lie upon the Table; and to be printed.

Committee on Holyhead Roads, appointed.

Ordered, That a Select Committee be appointed to inquire into the amount of all Sums of Money received, expended, and repaid by the Commissioners for the Improvement of the Holyhead and Liverpool Roads, distinguishing the sums applied to the several Districts of these Roads; into the amount of each Contract, the amount paid and to whom paid; into all Salaries, Travelling Charges, and other Allowances paid under the direction of the Commissioners; and, into the additional Tolls levied for the repayment of Loans:-also, to inquire into the progress made in carrying into execution the recommendations of former Committees appointed for the purpose of inquiring into the means of improving the Communication between London and Dublin, and between the northern parts of England and Dublin; and to report their observations thereupon, and upon what further Improvements may be made; together with the Minutes of the Evidence taken before them:-And a Committee was appointed of Sir Henry Parnell, Mr. Huskisson, Mr. Arbuthnot, Mr. Hume, Lord Viscount Lowther, Sir Matthew Ridley, Mr. George Dawson, Mr. Nicolson Calvert, Sir John Wrottesley, Sir Thomas Mostyn, Mr. Brownlow, Sir Thomas Fremantle, Mr. Stanley, Mr. Owen Williams, Mr. Sturges Bourne, Mr. William Peel, Lord William Powlett, Sir Watkins Williams Wynn, Mr. Spring Rice, the Earl of Uxbridge, Mr. Pennant, Mr. James Grattan, Mr. Loch, Sir Robert Vaughan, Mr. Kennedy; and they are to meet To-morrow, in the Speaker's Chamber.

Ordered, That Five be the Quorum of the Committee.

Petitions for repeal of Parish Vestries Act (Ireland.)

A Petitions of Justices of the Peace for the Queen's county;-of Roman Catholic Inhabitants of Saint Peter Dublin;-and, Tax-payers of Saint Andrew, in the city of Dublin,-were presented, and read; reciting the Act 7 Geo. 4, c. 72, for the regulation of Parish Vestries in Ireland; and praying, That the same may be repealed.

And the said Petitions were ordered to lie upon the Table; and, except the first, to be printed.

Petitions against Duty on Corn Spirits.

A Petition of the Clergymen, Magistrates, Landholders and Farmers of the barony of Upper Ossory, in the Queen's county;-of the Landed Proprietors and Landholders of the barony of Shelburne;-of the barony of Bargy;-of the barony of Gorey;-of the barony of Scarawalsh;-of the barony of Forth;-of the barony of Shilmalier;-of the barony of Bantry, in the county of Wexford;-of William Hay, of the burgh of Inverkeithing;-of Inhabitants of Tullamore, in the King's county;-of Land-owners, Agriculturists, Freeholders and Inhabitants of the county of the town of Galway;-and, of Owners and Occupiers of land frequenting Colchester market,-were presented, and read; praying the House not to lay any further tax on Spirits, or that, if it is necessary to levy additional duty on the Spirits consumed in England, the same scale of protecting duties that has been hitherto observed between colonial and home-made Spirits shall be continued.

And the said Petitions were ordered to lie upon the Table; and that the two last be printed.

Accounts, ordered: Hides.

Ordered, That there be laid before this House, an Account of the number and weight of the Hides imported in each of the five years ending with 1815; the rates of Duty payable on such Hides, and the Revenue annually derived from the same; specifying the Countries whence the Hides were imported, with the quantities brought from each.

Ordered, That there be laid before this House, a similar Account for the five years ending with 1829.

Cinnamon.

Ordered, That there be laid before this House, an Account of the quantities of Cinnamon, Mace, Nutmegs, and Cloves, Cayenne and other Pepper, respectively, entered for home consumption; the rates of Duty on such articles; and the Total Revenue derived from each in each year since 1810.

Hemp.

Ordered, That there be laid before this House, an Account of the total quantities of Hemp imported during each of the last five years; the rates of Duty on such Hemp, and the total annual produce of the Duties; specifying the Countries whence the Hemp was imported, and the quantities brought from each.

Cheese, Butter, &c.

Ordered, That there be laid before this House, an Account of the quantity of Cheese, Butter, and Eggs imported during each of the last seven years, the rates of Duty on each, the total annual produce of such Duties, the Countries whence the Butter, Cheese and Eggs were imported, specifying the quantities brought from each.

Watches.

Ordered, That there be laid before this House, an Account of the number of Watches annually stamped at Goldsmiths Hall, in each year since 1814.

Candles.

Ordered, That there be laid before this House, an Account of the rates of Duty separately charged on Tallow, Wax, and Spermaceti Candles, the number of pounds weight of each sort produced, and the total annual net Revenue derived from Candles, in each year since 1800.

Petition for abolishing Slavery.

A Petition of the Minister and Members of the Congregation of Protestant Dissenters of the Independent denomination at Thirsk, was presented, and read; praying for the abolition of Slavery in all parts of His Majesty's dominions.

Ordered, That the said Petition do lie upon the Table.

Petitions complaining of Distress.

A Petition of Inhabitants of Eling, in the county of Southampton;-of Froxfield;-of Westmeon;-of East and West Tisted;-of Colemore and Priorsdean;-of Droxford;-of Privett;-of Eastmeon;-of Bramdean; -of Petersfield;-of Anstey;-and, of Thomas Warsop, of Nottingham,-were presented, and read; complaining of their distress; and praying the House to take the same into consideration, and afford them such relief as the House may think meet.

And the said Petitions were ordered to lie upon the Table; and that the last be printed.

Petitions for repeal of Malt and Beer Duties.

A Petition of Inhabitants of Charlton and Buckland, in the county of Kent;-of Wateringbury;-of Sutton, Northbourne, Little Mongeham, Betshanger, and Ham;- of Long Itchington, Offchurch, Ufton and Stockton, in the county of Warwick;-of Andrew Fountaine, Esquire, High Sheriff of the county of Norfolk;-and, of the Committee of the Norfolk Agricultural Society,-were presented, and read; praying, That the Duties upon Malt and Beer may be forthwith repealed.

And the said Petitions were ordered to lie upon the Table; and that the two last be printed.

Petition of Parish Clerk of Killeedy.

A Petition of James Stanley, of Glanquin, in the parish of Killeedy, and county of Limerick, was presented, and read; setting forth, That the Petitioner has been upwards of fifty years Parish Clerk of Killeedy, in the diocese and county of Limerick, and discharged without reproach the duties of that office at a salary of 9l. per annum, until the year 1821, when the parish church was maliciously burnt by the insurgents, who at that period laid waste a large portion of said county, since which time the church has not been rebuilt, and the incumbent, the Rev. Edward Geratty has ceased to perform any duty in the parish, in consequence of which the Petitioner has been deprived of his only means of support, and is now, at the advanced age of seventy years, reduced to beggary; stating the particulars of his case; and praying, That the House will take his case into its favourable consideration, and devise some means for rescuing persons of his advanced age, long servitude, and good character from beggary and want.

Ordered, That the said Petition do lie upon the Table.

Petition respecting Admission of Surgeons to County Infirmaries (Ireland.)

A Petition of Surgeons of the city of Waterford, was presented, and read; setting forth, That the Petitioners submit to the House the propriety of changing the present system of appointing medical and surgical attendants to County Infirmaries in Ireland; and praying, That the House will be pleased to enact, that in future all properly-qualified physicians and surgeons of any of the colleges of Great Britain and Ireland be in an equal degree eligible.

Ordered, That the said Petition do lie upon the Table; and be printed.

Petitions against Duty on Tobacco grown in Ireland.

A Petition of the Cultivators of Tobacco in the city and neighbourhood of Waterford;-and, of Farmers and Tobacco-growers in the parish of Grange Silvo, in the county of Kilkenny,-were presented, and read; setting forth, That the Petitioners learn with considerable alarm, that a Bill is about to be introduced into the House, imposing a Duty of 1s. 8d. per pound on the cultivation of the home growth of Tobacco; that they humbly submit, that the imposition of such a Duty would altogether prohibit the growing of Tobacco in Ireland, and consequently put a sudden stop to a species of husbandry which has been hitherto found productive of many national advantages, and, amongst others, has furnished employment to men, women and children of the labouring classes, particularly the latter, and at seasons of the year when all other agricultural pursuits are at a stand; that they submit, that the imposition of such an enormous Duty as 1s. 8d. per pound, amounting to a prohibitory tax, is contrary to the true spirit and meaning of the sixth clause of the Act of Union, wherein it is specifically stated, that Parliament may legislate and amend the internal Duty arising from any article the growth, produce or manufacture of Ireland, provided that such Duty be just and reasonable; that, amongst other advantages derived from the cultivation of Tobacco at home, it has been the means of checking smuggling to a considerable extent; and the Petitioners feel confident, that if Government lend their fostering protection to a home growth, it will be the means of entirely stopping illicit importations; that 6d. per, pound for the present year, would, the Petitioners submit, be a sufficient Duty, which might hereafter be increased, if the article is found to bear it; and praying, That the House will not legislate upon a point of such national importance, not only to the neighbourhood of the city of Waterford, but to the county at large, amounting to a prohibition of the growth of Tobacco, without summoning and examining individuals, whose experience in the growth may enable them to give satisfactory information, so as to show the advantages derivable from its cultivation at home, as well as that a Duty to the extent proposed would act as a prohibition.

And the said Petitions were ordered to lie upon the Table.

Petitions against Reduction of Duty on Tobacco.

A Petition of Manufacturers of Tobacco in the cities of London and Westminster, and borough of Southwark, was presented, and read; setting forth, That the Petitioners have observed with surprise and alarm the Resolutions of the House of 8th April, to encourage the growth of Tobacco in every part of Great Britain and Ireland, at a Duty of 1s. 8d. per pound; that the policy of this country, from the period of Tobacco being generally used therein, has been, to make it a matter of revenue; and shortly after its general use, by the Statute of Charles the Second, its home growth was prohibited, in order to the more effectual collection of such revenue; that during the first American war, the high price of Tobacco enabled the British farmer to pay or evade the penalties enacted by the Statute of Charles the Second; but immediately after the termination of that war, the Government, being convinced that the revenue would never be collected on the home growth, by the 22d of George the Third, re-enacted the Statute of Charles the Second, with greatly increased penalties; that at the period of such re-enactment, the whole amount of revenue received into the Exchequer on Tobacco was little more than 400,000.l. per annum; that from that period, and always keeping in mind the policy of considering Tobacco as a fair article of taxation, the revenue derived from it has gone on to increase; and that in the year 1823 (the Duty being 4s. per pound) it attained the extraordinary amount of 3,425,517l. 7s. 8d. being more than eight times the amount collected when the necessity of prohibiting its internal growth was so fully appreciated by the Legislature; that from the 5th July 1825, the Duty being 3s. per pound, the revenue may be taken at about 2,800,000l., with the sure power of increasing it, on any emergency, to upwards of 3,400,000l. as it stood in the year 1823, certainly and cheaply collected; that so long as Tobacco shall be considered an article of taxation, the interests of the Petitioners and the revenue must necessarily be one and the same; the fair collection of the one is inseparable from the due protection of the other, and every fraud upon the revenue is attended with corresponding injury to the fair manufacturer; that it is in the strong conviction of this great truth they now present themselves most respectfully to the House, and, considering themselves qualified to speak confidently on a subject to which the attention of their lives has been directed, to say, that no legislative measure, no pains, penalties or confiscation, no cost of supervision, will be able to collect the Duty, or afford them adequate protection; the law must remain as it is, or the revenue be abandoned; the Petitioners, therefore, pray of the House a deliberate attention to their case, and that they will not, without due consideration, forego a policy so long and so beneficially acted upon, or destroy interests so important to the revenue, the public and themselves.

Ordered, That the said Petition do lie upon the Table; and be printed.

Petitions in favour of Poor Law Amendment Bill.

A Petition of the Guardians of the Poor of Bury Saint Edmund's;-and, of the Churchwardens, Overseers and Trustees of the township of Leeds,-were presented, and read; taking notice of the Bill to prevent Abuses of the Poor Laws, by declaring and amending the Law relating to the employment and payment of Able-bodied Labourers from the Poor Rates, and for the better rating Tenements under a certain Annual Value; and praying, That the same may pass into a law.

And the said Petitions were ordered to lie upon the Table; and to be printed.

Petitions for mitigating Punishment for Forgery

A Petition of Inhabitants of Liverpool;-of Great Bardfield;-of Kelvedon;-of Bankers, Merchants and others of the town and neighbourhood of Darlington;-of Bankers, Merchants, Tradesmen and other Inhabitants of Kirkby Kendal;-and, of Inhabitants of Kingsbridge,- were presented, and read; praying the House to substitute a penalty for the crime of Forgery more in unison with what the Petitioners conceive to be the principles of justice, humanity and our holy religion.

And the said Petitions were ordered to lie upon the Table; and, except the first, to be printed.

Petition for protection of Colonial Property.

A Petition of Proprietors or Mortgagees of plantations and slaves to a great extent in the Colonies of Demerara, Berbice and Saint Lucia, was presented, and read; setting forth, That the Petitioners have embarked their capital in full reliance upon Acts and Declarations of the British Legislature, in which the title of the master to his slaves and their issue has been as completely and as solemnly recognised as the title of any class of British subjects to any other species of property; that in a judgment delivered by Lord Stowell, Judge of the High Court of Admiralty, in Michaelmas Term 1827, on a case which involved the rights of property in slaves, the Statutes to which the Petitioners refer, were pointed out, and that learned and eminent person declared it as his judicial opinion, that the law of England does not only support, but in a high degree favour, the law of slavery in its West India Colonies; that it is most certain, that this trade of the Colonies has been the favourite trade of this country, and so continues, so far as can be judged from encouragement given in various forms, by the making of treaties, the institution of trading companies; the devolution of property from one company to another, the compulsion of the Colonies to accept this traffic, and the recognition of it in a great variety of its laws; and he moreover expressed his opinion; that if it be a sin, it is a sin in which this country has had its full share of the guilt, and ought to bear its proportion of the redemption; that many of the Statutes, recognising the right of property in slaves, including the Registry Act and the Consolidated Act, were enacted long after the Colonies of Demerara, Berbice and Saint Lucia were ceded to His Majesty; that the several provisions of these Acts apply indiscriminately to all the West India Colonies which belonged to His Majesty at the time of their enactment, and that they therefore, independently of all local forms of executive government in the colonies, place the property of the Petitioners upon the same footing as any description of property in this Kingdom, the right of which is secured by the laws of the realm, and which cannot be interfered with for public objects without a specific Act of Parliament being previously passed for that purpose; that the Courts of Law in this Kingdom have repeatedly decided upon property in slaves and their issue, according to the laws which have been enacted subsequent to the cession of the Colonies of Demerara, Berbice, and Saint Lucia to His Majesty, and according to the laws and customs of this Kingdom and of the Colonies of Demerara, Berbice and Saint Lucia, which relate to inheritance, devise, settlement, conveyance, and securities for money, thus recognising in the proprietors a legal interest in the slaves; that at the time the measures were proposed for ameliorating the condition of the slaves in the British Colonies, the House solemnly declared in its Resolutions, bearing date the 16th May 1823, that the furtherance of such measures should be compatible with a fair and equitable consideration of the rights of private property; that in the subsequent year, 1824, an Order of His Majesty in Council was sent out to the Colony of Trinidad, in which, among the provisions for improving the condition of the slaves, certain clauses were introduced, authorizing the slaves to claim their freedom, invito domino, on paying an appraised price to their masters; copies of this Order were sent to the Colonies of Demerara, Berbice and Saint Lucia, with instructions to the local authorities of those Colonies to carry the enactments of the Trinidad Order in Council into effect; the Court of Policy in Demerara, which from long usage had performed the legislative functions of that Colony, acceded with zeal and alacrity to all measures designed to ameliorate the condition of the slaves, but resisted those of compulsory manu, mission (as is set forth in the papers presented by the King's command to the House in 1826), upon the ground that they "felt it to be beyond their power, without the breach of a sacred trust which binds them to protect the rights and interests of their fellow colonists, by whom they are nominated for that purpose, to give their sanction to any measure which could even by construction imply an acknowledged right on the part of the slave to demand his freedom invito domino," and that they "felt called upon openly to avow the principle, that they have not the right to invade the property of their fellow colonists, by admitting that they can, in any manner, be deprived of it contrary to the law by which it is secured to them, and which His Majesty has graciously been pleased to guarantee by the Articles of Capitulation on which that Colony surrendered to His Majesty's arms;" that in the Colony of Berbice a Council to the Governor was appointed by the Crown after the Order had been transmitted to that Colony, composed of persons who had no stake in the cultivation of the Colony, and by that Council the right of manumission by compulsion was enacted; that on the 5th day of February 1827, an appeal was made, by Petition, to His Majesty in Council, praying that no Order might issue, allowing the slaves in Demerara to purchase their freedom without the concurrence of their masters, and that so much of the ordinance enacted in Berbice as allows the slaves so to do in that Colony, might be rescinded, the Appellants humbly submitting, that the enactments thus alluded to, infringed the rights of private property, and were contrary both to the letter and spirit of the Resolutions unanimously agreed to by the House on the 16th day of May 1823, which have been declared to constitute the rule for directing the executive Government in carrying measures affecting the slave population in the British Colonies into effect; that in support of this appeal counsel were heard on the 7th day of July 1827, and such was the impression which the Petitioners believe was made upon His Majesty's Government by these proceedings before the Privy Council, that instructions were sent on the 14th day of the same month, by Viscount Goderich, Principal Secretary of State for the Colonies to the Governor of Berbice, to suspend the said enactments; that in the month of November 1827 witnesses were examined before His Majesty's Privy Council, by whom, as the Petitioners humbly conceive, it was clearly proved, that compulsory manumission cannot be carried into effect in the manner propossed, without a direct violation of the rights of private property; that it appears from these proceedings that the Secretary of State informed Mr. Thomas Fowell Buxton, the mover of certain Resolutions in the House in favour of emancipation, that every facility would be afforded to him and his friends for the production of documents and the examination of witnesses before the Privy Council, in support of the measure, of giving the slave power to purchase his freedom by appraisement, and that the solicitor for the Crown, and counsel appointed by the Privy Council, were directed to afford them every possible assistance in giving effect to their suggestions, and placing the evidence on record in the most satisfactory manner; that, notwithstanding this formal intimation, no evidence was thereby produced to controvert the testimony given by witnesses on behalf of the Petitioners; and though His Majesty's Privy Council separated without coming to a decision on compulsory manumission, yet, as the suspension of that measure continued in the Colony of Berbice for upwards of two years, and no Order in Council was issued as to Demerara, the Petitioners were led to conclude that His Majesty's Government would not have adhered to such measures without coming to the House for instructions and advice on a question of such magnitude, and which was proved not only materially to involve the rights of private property, but to militate against the civilization and wellbeing of the slaves and the safety of the Colonies; that the Petitioners have lately observed, with the utmost consternation and alarm, that an Order in Council, intituled, "An Order of the King in Council for consolidating the several Laws recently made for improving the condition of the Slaves in His Majesty's Colonies of Trinidad, Berbice, Demerara, Saint Lucia, the Cape of Good Hope and the Mauritius," has been presented to the House, in which the right of the slave to purchase his freedom by appraisement invito domino, is peremptorily enacted; that the Petitioners humbly submit, that this enactment is in opposition to the whole tenor of evidence produced before His Majesty's Privy Council; that the mode and principle of appraisement contained in it will not provide full and equitable compensation to the Petitioners for the loss of their slaves services; that it consequently infringes the laws of the realm, as set forth in the premises, making the title of a British subject holding property according to law in the Colonies different from that of a British subject holding property in Great Britain, and that it is contrary to the pledge contained in the Resolutions unanimously agreed to by the House on the 16th day of May 1823; that the Petitioners have further observed in the aforesaid Order several most objectionable clauses, giving power to the Governors and Presidents of Courts of Justice to interfere with the property of the Petitioners, in a manner quite subversive of the tenure in which that property is held; the Petitioners therefore humbly but solemnly protest against this infringement of their rights of property, and humbly but firmly put forth their plea, that this their solemn declaration of dissent shall entitle them to claim full indemnification for every loss which may at any time arise in consequence of the enactments in the aforesaid order, which authorise the slaves to claim their. freedom without their master's consent, or which alter the title, or in any respect affect the security of the Petitioners in their property; that the Petitioners submit, that this course of proceeding is not less founded in justice than in ordinary practice of Parliament, for when the Legislature in this country sanctions interference with private property for public purposes, two great principles are uniformly observed, first, that adequate compensation is paid beforehand, and, secondly, where an integral part of the property is required, compensation must be made for the whole, if the use or value of the remainder would be materially affected by the abstraction of a part, and in either case the individual is placed by the verdict of a jury in as beneficial a situation as if no such interference had taken place; that in the case of the Petitioners, even if the alleged compensation for the injury their property must sustain by the manumission of the individual slaves were sufficient, no fund is provided for the losses which they must incur by the gradual deterioration and ultimate destruction of the remainder of their property, although it appears to be acknowledged in a despatch of the Secretary of State for the Colonies, bearing date the 25th February 1826, that compensation will have to be provided by Parliament; that the Petitioners humbly submit, that it is unjust to call upon them to part with any portion of their property, without a fund for making good the ulterior losses which they may sustain being previously and specifically provided by Parliament, and that a postponed and precarious chance of compensation is not in conformity with justice, nor with that explicit and ample declaration of the House, pledging itself to protect the rights of property of the Petitioners contained in its Resolutions of the 16th May 1823; the Petitioners therefore humbly pray, That the House will extend the same protection to the property of the Petitioners as is given to property situated in Great Britain, and that the House will cause a specific fund to be provided, to compensate the Petitioners for the losses which they may sustain in consequence of the enactment of the aforesaid Order, intituled, "An Order of the King in Council, for consolidating the several Laws recently made for improving the condition of the Slaves in His Majesty's Colonies of Trinidad, Berbice, Demerara, Saint Lucia, the Cape of Good Hope, and the Mauritius," or that the House will address His Majesty to cause the said Order to be rescinded, and will adopt such other means for rendering justice to the Petitioners as to their wisdom may seem meet.

Ordered, That the said Petition do lie upon the Table; and be printed.

Petitions for holding Assizes at Wakefield.

A Petition of the Clergy, Gentry, Freeholders and others, Inhabitants of Mirfield;-of Honley;-of Scammonden;-of Cumberworth and Cumberworth-half;- and, of Freeholders, Merchants, Tradesmen and others serving on the grand jury at the general quarter sessions of the peace held at Pontefract,-were presented, and read; setting forth, That it would be of great advantage to the Petitioners and to the other inhabitants of the west riding of the county of York, and would greatly promote the ends of justice, if the Assizes and General Gaol Delivery for the same were in future to be held at Wakefield, an ancient and considerable market town, nearly in the centre of the west riding, where the Register Office and the Clerk of the Peace's Office for the same are situate; where also a spacious court-house and an extensive prison have been provided, and where the public meetings of magistrates of the said riding, and other public meetings for transacting business, are usually held; and praying, That the Assizes and General Gaol Delivery for the business of the said west riding may in future be held at Wakefield.

And the said Petitions were ordered to lie upon the Table.

Petitions against Renewal of East India Charter.

A Petition of Manufacturers, Tradesmen and other Inhabitants of Hinckley;-of the Mayor, Bailiffs and Commonalty of Lancaster;-and, of Landholders and others having property in or near the town of Dungarvan, -were presented, and read; praying, That the House will, on the expiration of the East India Company's Charter, provide for the freedom of commercial intercourse and the unrestricted settlement of His Majesty's subjects in India; and that they may no longer be excluded from trading with China, and from freely importing tea, which has become a necessary of life, and also the other productions of that empire.

And the said Petitions were ordered to lie upon the Table; and to be printed.

A Petition of Inhabitants of the clothing district of Horsforth, in the county of York, was also presented, and read; praying, That a free trade with China, particularly in tea and woollens, as well as the right of trading and settling in India, may be granted to all His Majesty's subjects.

Ordered, That the said Petition be referred to the Select Committee on East India Company's Affairs.

Petition respecting Contribution to Greenwich Hospital.

A Petition of the Trustees of the Merchant-seamen of the port of Scarborough and its dependencies, was presented, and read; reciting an Act passed in the year 1741, subjecting the Petitioners to a contribution of 6d. per month out of their earnings for the support of Greenwich Hospital, which Act at the same time entitled them to the like privileges and advantages as the seamen in the naval service; but by a subsequent Act they are wholly excluded from ever receiving any benefit or emolument from that establishment; the Petitioners feel confident the House will see the injustice of their continuing to contribute more than 250l. per annum to the support of a great national establishment, which all other classes of His Majesty's subjects are wholly exempted from, and from which they themselves are not entitled to receive any benefit or relief whatever; and praying, That the House will relieve them from the contribution of 6d. per month to Greenwich Hospital; and also to alter and amend the Merchants Seamen's Act, so as to apply the same to their own fund, from which they would receive the full advantage of their industry.

Ordered, That the said Petition do lie upon the Table; and be printed.

Petition for uniformity in Parish Accounts.

A Petition of George Gunning, of Frindsbury, Kent, a Lieutenant on the half-pay of His Majesty's First Regiment of Dragoon Guards, was presented, and read; praying, That the House will be graciously pleased to pass a law to oblige all overseers of the poor to keep their accounts in one fixed form, which would soon enable the magistrates to make better arrangements for the care and maintenance of the infant poor, and also enable them to form establishments for the aged and permanent poor on the system of the workhouse at Coxheath, in Kent, which plan would soon prove a salutary check on pauperism.

Ordered, That the said Petition do lie upon the Table; and be printed.

Petitions respecting Administration of Justice Bill.

A Petition of Magistrates of the county of Anglesey, Easter quarter sessions 1830, was presented, and read; praying, That the imperfections of the Welsh Judicature may be remedied, and that its general frame may not be abolished.

A Petition of Henry Adolphus Proctor, Esquire, High Sheriff for the county of Montgomery, was also presented, and read; praying, That the plan of dividing the county of Montgomery, as proposed by the Law Commissioners, may not be adopted, but that the said county may remain a county of itself, and have its own Court of Justice alike with English counties; and that in the event of the Welsh Judicature being abolished, the same advantages may be preserved to them which they now have in the commencement and trial of suits, and recovering debts, so far at least as regards debts by simple contract.

And the said Petitions were ordered to lie upon the Table; and to be printed.

Petition for repeal of Stamp Duty on Receipts.

A Petition of Merchants, Tradesmen, Citizens and Inhabitants of the city of Worcester, was presented, and read; setting forth, That the Receipt Stamp Tax appears to the Petitioners opposed to the first principle of just and equal taxation, because in its full operation it would bear almost exclusively on the tradesman, who, with a capital of 20,000l. would have to pay from 40l. to 130l. per annum, varying according to the number of times he turns his capital, whereas the landlord, possessed of property to an equal amount, pays for Stamps from 15s. to 25s. to the State, and the fundholder, whatever wealth he possesses, pays nothing on his receipts; and praying the House to repeal the Tax on Receipts, or apply such a remedy to the grievances complained of as the House, on consideration, shall think proper.

Ordered, That the said Petition do lie upon the Table; and be printed.

Petition of Indo-Britons.

A Petition of Christian Inhabitants of Calcutta, and the provinces comprised within the Presidency of Fort William, complaining of certain exclusions; and praying to be treated as subjects of the British Crown, was presented.

And a Motion being made, and the Question being proposed, that the said Petition be now read:-And a Debate arising in the House thereupon-

The Lords have agreed to

A Message from the Lords, by Mr. Wingfield and Mr. Farrer:

Mr. Speaker,

The Lords have agreed to the several Bills following, without any Amendment; viz.

Fever Hospitals (Ireland) Bill.

A Bill, intituled, An Act to extend the Powers of Grand Juries in the Execution of an Act of the fifty-eighth year of his late Majesty's reign, for establishing Fever Hospitals in Ireland:

Caxton Inclosure Bill.

A Bill, intituled, An Act for inclosing and exonerating from Tithes Lands in the Parish of Caxton, in the County of Cambridge: And also,

The Lords have passed Chapeaurouge's Nat. Bill.

The Lords have passed a Bill, intituled, An Act for naturalizing Philip Augustus De Chapeaurouge; to which the Lords desire the concurrence of this House:-And then the Messengers withdrew.

Debate on Petition of Indo-Britons, resumed.

Then the House resumed the said Debate;

And the Question being put;

Ordered, That the said Petition be now read:-The said Petition was accordingly read; setting forth, That the Petitioners are members of a numerous, increasing, and widely-dispersed class of subjects of the Crown of Great Britain, living within the territories at present governed by the United Company of Merchants trading to the East Indies, in the province of Bengal, and in the town of Calcutta; 2. that the body of which they compose a part forms a distinct class of society in British India, which dates its existence more remotely from the time when the East India Company first formed permanent establishments on the continent of India, but chiefly from the more recent period when the acquisition of immense territories required the presence of an increased number of Europeans to maintain and govern them; 3. that they are descended in most instances on the father's side from the European subjects of the Crown of Great Britain, and on the mother's side from natives of India, and that in other instances they are the children of inter-marriages between the offspring of such connections; but that although thus closely allied to the European and native races, they are excluded from almost all those advantages which each respectively enjoys, and are subject to peculiar grievances from which both are exempt; 4. that the first grievance of which the Petitioners beg leave to bring to the notice of the House is, that a very large majority of the class to which they belong are entirely destitute of any rule of civil law to which they can refer as a standard that is to regulate their conduct in the various relations of society; those of the Petitioners who live in Calcutta, within the limited jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, are guided in their civil relations by the laws of England, but the moment they pass beyond that jurisdiction, to reside either temporarily or permanently in the interior, they are thereby placed beyond the pale of all civil law, whether British, Hindoo or Mahomedan; by the rigid interpretation which successive Judges of the Supreme Court of Judicature at Fort William have given to the phrase "British subjects," in the various Acts of Parliament relating to India, the Petitioners are excluded from coming under that denomination, and are consequently prevented from enjoying the benefits of the law of England, and by their profession of the Christian religion they are equally debarred from the adoption of the Hindoo or Mahomedan civil law, while there is no other civil code to which they can have recourse as their guide in the various transactions and relations of life; however extraordinary the fact may appear, the Petitioners affirm, without fear of contradiction, that there is no law which regulates their marriages, and makes them lawful; there is now law which shows the rule that is to define the legitimacy or illegitimacy of their issue; there is no law which prescribes the succession to their property; there is no law which points out whether they possess the right of bequeathing by will, and, if so, to what extent; there is no law that declares which of their children, or whether one or all, shall succeed in case of intestacy; in these, and in other equally important particulars, they have no law to direct or control them, and they are thus treated as utterly unworthy of any one of those rights which it is the express object of a code of civil law to define, and the primary design of society and government to protect; the Petitioners thus literally compose a great body of out-laws, not made so by any crimes of their own, and on that very account feeling the more deeply the legalized wrongs that have been inflicted on them, and the contemptuous indifference and neglect with which their anomalous civil condition has been regarded; it is not, however, the invidious judicial construction of the doubtful language of Acts of Parliament that has alone tended to degrade their civil condition, nor have they even been permitted to enjoy the full advantage that would have arisen to them from the absolute and total neglect of that condition by their immediate rulers; a rule and regulation (Regulation VIII. of 1813) of the Government of the East India Company has, by clear and express definition, included the Petitioners in the class of "native subjects of the British Government," and has thereby subjected them to the numerous disabilities of their Hindoo and Mahomedan fellow-subjects, while by another enactment (Regulation III. of 1828) of the local Government they have, as belonging to the above-mentioned class, been deprived in a body of the protection of the Act of Habeas Corpus, having been made liable to be taken up on suspicion by any of the local authorities, and confined as state prisoners, without the legal possibility of ever obtaining their release, since the only appeal they could have would be to the local government; thus they are not virtually and by implication, but directly and immediately denuded of the first and most important of all civil rights, personal security, and they may therefore be considered as holding their property, their liberty, and even their lives at the discretion of every powerful public functionary; 5. the second grievance under which the Petitioners labour is, that they are amenable in the interior to Mahomedan criminal law, a law in itself barbarous and imperfect, founded on the most intolerant principles, and intimately interwoven with a system of religion, and a state of society wholly opposed to their opinion and habits; the law of Mahomed was promulgated only for believers in the Koran, and towards all who are considered infidels it bears a most oppressive aspect; many of the punishments, when specific, are of a sanguinary description, and in others an almost unlimited discretion is given to the Judge; it is arbitrarily administered, and though a right of appeal is in many cases allowed to the Superior Court of Criminal Jurisdiction of the East India Company, called the Nizamut Adawlut, yet that tribunal possesses the extraordinary power on such appeal of increasing the punishment which is awarded at their discretion, and without hearing fresh evidence; the only modifications which the Mahomedan criminal code has received in its application to the Petitioners, have been produced by the supplementary Regulations of the East India Company, which, instead of softening and mitigating its inflictions, have in some instances even increased the harshness of its character; in proof of this statement the Petitioners beg to cite the third Regulation of the year 1821, by the express provisions of which they are made liable in all cases to be dealt with as Hindoo and Mahomedan natives of the lowest rank, and to be fined, imprisoned and corporally punished, not merely at the discretion of the European Judges or Magistrates of the East India Company, but even of the Hindoo and Mahomedan officers of justice, while from the operation of this Regulation, not only British subjects in the restricted application which has been given to that appellation, but also European and American foreigners resident in the interior are exempted; thus the law recognises the existence of the Petitioners only for the purpose of punishment, and never for that of protection, while the criminal code to which they have been made amenable is distinguished by the intolerance of its spirit, by the aggravated severity of its provisions, by its total incongruity with their religious belief and social condition, and by the deep-felt degradation to which, in its actual administration, the Petitioners are subjected; 6. the third grievance to which the Petitioners are subjected is, that they are excluded from all superior and covenanted offices in the civil and military services, and from all sworn offices in the marine service of the East India Company; the invariable preamble to the appointment of an individual to any of these services runs thus, "Provided A. B. (the person receiving the appointment) be not the son of a native Indian," a restriction which was first adopted by the Directors of the East India Company on the 9th November 1791, and which is always republished in the Gazette of Government on the notification of the appointment of any one who may be then residing in India; the Petitioners do not dispute the right of the Court of Directors to give the appointments in their service to those whom they may deem most worthy, but they humbly submit that no wise, just or beneficent government will ever impose any other general condition on candidates for employment than fitness for the offices which they may seek, still less will it exclude any class of men on the ground of birth or colour, when it does not possess the power of limiting their increase or diminishing their number, and least of all will it wantonly add insult to injury, and to proscription a load of public and gratuitous contumely; 7. the fourth grievance of the Petitioners is, that they are not only expressly excluded from all those offices of trust and emolument in the civil, military and marine services of the East India Company's Government which are open to "British subjects," but that they are also treated as ineligible to most of those subordinate employments in the judicial, revenue and police departments, and even in the military service, which are open without reserve to the Hindoo and Mahomedan natives of the country; the Petitioners are prohibited from being appointed to the situations of Moonsif, Sheristadar, and almost all other inferior judicial offices; they are prevented from practising as vakeels or pleaders in every one of the Courts of Justice of the East India Company, from the highest to the lowest; they are shut out from all the subordinate offices in the departments of general revenue and police, and in the army they are not permitted to fill the posts of native commissioned or non-commissioned officers, nor even that of a naick or corporal in a native regiment, although leave is given to them to shed their blood in the ranks as privates, and to officiate in the regimental band as drummers and musicians; thus of the many thousand subordinate employments under the local Government, there are few from which they are not excluded, except on condition of abjuring the Christian faith, in which case their eligibility, as natives of India, would be at once restored; 8. the fifth grievance of which the Petitioners complain is, that they are expressly declared to be disqualified from holding His Majesty's commission in the British Indian army; the Commander-inChief for the time being of His Majesty's Forces in India, on the 27th February 1808, issued a general order, still in force, by which no person can be recommended in India for any vacant commission in His Majesty's service who belongs to the class of which the Petitioners compose a part; the Petitioners humbly trust, that His Majesty, in the exercise of His Royal prerogative, will see fit to rescind this invidious order, and although they are aware that it does not belong to the House to free them from the galling disability to which it has subjected them, yet they have deemed it important to be mentioned in this place as an additional proof of that system of cruel proscription of which they have been made the unoffending victims; 9. the sixth grievance imposed upon the Petitioners is, that by stipulations in treaties with all the powers in India, which still preserve a shadow of independence, they are debarred from employing the Petitioners in any capacity without the permission of the Supreme Court of India; it is true, that in those treaties only "Europeans and Americans" are expressly prohibited from being so employed; yet, although there are denominations under which the Petitioners cannot be classed, the restriction is practically applied to them also, thus, by the limited signification which has been given to the phrase "British subjects," so as to exclude the Petitioners who are subjects of the British Crown, they are exposed to intolerable grievances, and, by the extended meaning which has been given to the terms "Europeans and Americans," so as to include the Petitioners, who are natives of Asia, they are prevented, except under special license, seldom given, and always liable to be recalled, from employing their talents and industry in the service of any of the native princes; in both cases, but by contrary means, alike cruel and unjust to the Petitioners, the one great object of exclusion is effected, and thus, whatever step they take in life, and to whatever quarter they look, exclusion, disability and proscription meet them at every turn; 10. the last grievance to which the Petitioners will advert is, that every plan proposed by others or adopted by themselves for the improvement of the class to which they belong, instead of receiving the fostering countenance of a paternal Government, has met with positive disapproval or cold neglect, strongly contrasted with the active and liberal encouragement that has been laudably given by the local authorities to various institutions, formed for the benefit of other classes of the population; in support of this statement, the Petitioners beg to refer to the benevolent plan proposed by the late Colonel Kirkpatrick, in 1782, having for its object to secure a provision for the sons of European officers by native mothers, by educating them in England, and obtaining cadetships for them in the Indian army; this scheme, which received the approbation of the whole military service, and was not opposed by the local government, was rejected in the most unqualified manner by the Court of Directors, the residence of such children in Europe for education, being that part of it which specially called forth their reprobation; in the same manner, at a more recent period, two institutions, commenced by the exertions of the Petitioners, and devoted to the education of their children, called the Parental Academic Institution and the Calcutta Grammar School, amid severe pecuniary difficulties, and with the certain prospect of great advantage, resulting from even a slight measure of assistance from Government, have been refused a participation with other similar institutions in those funds which the East India Company is required by Act of Parliament to apply to the moral and intellectual improvement of the natives of India; thus, their European parents are frowned upon for endeavouring to send them to England for education; the Petitioners themselves are discouraged in their humble attempts to extend the blessings of education among their own class in India; every avenue of honourable ambition and of social improvement is shut against them, and it is with a keen and long-cherished conviction of the wrongs they have suffered from the race of their fathers, that they now bring themselves to the notice of the House, and respectfully ask for that equality of rights and privileges, to which, in common with every other class of His Majesty's subjects, they are unquestionably entitled; 11. the Petitioners have now briefly enumerated the principal grievances for which they seek redress from the House, but the statements they have made are very far from expressing the depth and the extent of the degradation which has been entailed upon them, and the numerous ramifications of the evils which they suffer; what they have styled their grievances, are not individual cases of grievance peculiar to one person, one time, and one occasion, but they are classes of grievances, each class extending to the whole body to which the Petitioners belong, and all of them spread over the entire period of existence, pervading every transaction and relation of life, and doubly felt, first in their own person and fortunes, and secondly, in the condition and prospects of their rising offspring; 12. however diversified and pervading the particular effects of the grievances the Petitioners suffer, there is one unvarying general result which they produce, there is one point to which they are all made to tend, and that is, to place the Petitioners in the situation of a proscribed class, to prevent their amalgamation with the European population, and to create and perpetuate against them the most mortifying and injurious prejudices; the Petitioners are aware, that the abolition of those social prejudices, of which they are made the object, cannot be brought within the immediate scope of legislative enactment, and it is with no such view that they seek for the interposition of the House; they trust to the loyalty and rectitude of their own conduct for that place and consideration in society which belong to them, but they think they have a right to complain, when the Acts of the legislative and governing powers, instead of having a tendency to neutralize and destroy the prejudices that exist against the Petitioners, have had the direct and certain effect of calling them into existence; the Petitioners neither ask nor expect any special interference in their behalf, but they warmly protest against those invidious distinctions which mark them in the land of their birth as outcasts and aliens, bereft of all privileges, and strangers alike to the rights of society, and to the feelings of humanity; it is surely not the characteristic of a paternal and an enlightened Government, which should be the common and equal protector of all its subjects, to scatter with its own hands the seeds of discord, and to array the different classes of society against each other in bitter contempt and implacable hatred, yet such is the undeniable tendency of the exclusive and contumelious system of misgovernment, under which the Petitioners have long suffered, and which, if continued, must produce in the class to which they belong, hitherto free from the slightest reproach of disloyalty or disaffection, permanent dissatisfaction, and even entire alienation of mind from the British authority in India; 13. the Petitioners disclaim every invidious or unfriendly feeling in the contrast which they have had occasion to present of their own depressed condition, with the superior advantages and privileges enjoyed by other parts of the population, there are numerous and weighty grievances which they suffer in common with the British born subjects on the one hand, and with Hindoos and Mahomedans on the other, but which, as the organs of a distinct class, the Petitioners have not considered it proper on the present occasion to detail; these common grounds of complaint have produced in their minds a sympathy with those classes, and in those instances in which the Petitioners labour under peculiar disadvantages they are far from wishing to bring their fellow-subjects to the same level with themselves, or to claim any exclusive countervailing privilege; although professing the Christian religion, speaking the English language, and assimilated in dress, manners and education to their paternal ancestors, they do not on these or on other grounds ask for any favours or immunities which they would not equally solicit for their fellow-subjects of the Hindoo and Mahomedan religions, but, being Christians and descendants of Englishmen, the Petitioners humbly submit, that it is cruel and unjust to make their belief and descent the grounds of civil outlawry, of degrading disqualification, and of a uniform and persevering course of contumelious and insulting treatment, and that it is especially inconsistent and impolitic in a Christian and British Government to adopt and reduce to practice such an odious system of exclusion, and thus to fix marks of deep contempt and degradation on the partakers of their own blood, and the professors of a common faith; 14. the Petitioners may be permitted to observe, that however strong the language they have deemed it requisite to employ in the exposition of their grievances, and however acute the feelings of which that language is the feeble and imperfect expression, they have never lost sight of the obedience and respect which have been claimed by their immediate rulers; from them indeed the condition of the Petitioners has not received the consideration which they had a right to expect, and which they earnestly hope the House will bestow; their complaints, when presented in the most respectful terms through the proper channels, have been treated as futile and unfounded, nor has any disposition been shown to alleviate the acknowledged extreme hardships under which they suffer; to the East India Company, therefore, in its own character, or to its local government, the Petitioners, as a body, feel that they owe nothing; they have received from it no sympathy or redress, nothing but studied insult, contemptuous indifference, or at best empty profession; but in that Company and its servants, the Petitioners see the legally constituted representatives of British power and authority in India, and they have therefore conscientiously discharged the duties of peaceable and obedient subjects, in the fond, although hitherto vain, expectation that their peculiar grievances would attract the attention of those who have the ability, and they trust the will to remedy them; 15. the Petitioners hope that it is only necessary to bring to the notice of the House the evils which have been entailed upon their body, to produce at once the disposition to remove them, with regard to such matters as may appear fit for the direct interference of Parliament, the Petitioners cannot doubt that an immediate inquiry will be applied, and with regard to such as seem to reside, during the existence of the present Charter of the East India Company, within the province of that body and their local government, the Petitioners pray that to them their rights and interests may no longer be committed without appeal, and that in any new charter which the Legislature may grant, a clause may be inserted expressly prohibiting in all its parts that system of exclusion directed against the Petitioners, which has hitherto formed a distinguishing feature in the policy of the Company's government; they pray to be delivered from that state of neglect and abandonment in which they have hitherto been allowed to remain beyond the pale of civil law, ignominiously driven from all community of rights and privileges, with any of the denominations of the society in which they reside; they pray the House to admit them to the fellowship of their fathers, to rescue them from subjection to institutions the most degrading and despotic, and to treat them as subjects of the British Crown, to which alone they recognise their allegiance to be due, and to which they desire to bind themselves and their posterity by the indissoluble ties of justice and of gratitude.

Ordered, That the said Petition do lie upon the Table; and be printed.

Minute by Sir Thos. Munro, respecting Fort St. George, ordered.

Ordered, That there be laid before this House, a Copy of a Minute by the late Sir Thomas Munro, on the State of the Country, and Condition of the People under the Presidency of Fort Saint George, dated 31st December 1824.

Petitions in favour of Watching, &c. Parishes Bill.

A Petition of Inhabitants of the parishes of Saint Sampson;-of Saint Helen Stonegate;-of Saint Dennis and Saint George;-of Saint Margaret and Saint Peter-leWillows;-of Saint Michael Spurriergate;-of Saint Martin-cum-Gregory;-of the Holy Trinity Micklegate, in the city of York;-of Saint Giles;-and, of the parish of Saint Lawrence, in the suburbs of the city of York,-were presented, and read; taking notice of the Bill to make provision for the lighting, watching, cleansing and paving of Parishes in England and Wales; and praying, That the same may pass into a law.

And the said Petitions were ordered to lie upon the Table.

Petition in favour of Court of Session (Scotland) Bill.

A Petition of the Faculty of Procurators of Glasgow, was presented, and read; setting forth, That the Petitioners have seen with satisfaction that the great imperfection of the system of administering the law in Scotland is now acknowledged, and that numerous useless and expensive offices which have been long continued in connection with, the Scots Judicature, and impeded the course of justice, have attracted the attention of His Majesty's Ministers, and led to the introduction of a Bill into Parliament by the Law Officers of the Crown, "for uniting the Benefits of Jury Trial in Civil Causes with the ordinary Jurisdiction of the Court of Session, and for making certain other alterations and reductions in the Judicial Establishments of Scotland," the general spirit of which is highly satisfactory, and many of the provisions of which that Faculty highly approve, although they regret to observe, it does not propose to remedy many great defects which will continue in the administration of justice; and praying the House, in passing the said Bill into a law, to make such additions thereto, and such alterations therein, as shall carry into effect the objects recited in their Petition.

Ordered, That the said Petition do lie upon the Table; and be printed.

Address for number of Executions for Forgery.

Resolved, That an humble Address be presented to His Majesty, that He will be graciously pleased to give directions, that there be laid before this House, a Return of the number of Persons who have been executed for Forgery, or uttering Forged Instruments, during each of the last ten years; specifying the nature of the Forgery of which such persons were convicted.

Ordered, That the said Address be presented to His Majesty, by such Members of this House as are of His Majesty's most honourable Privy Council.

Petition against Assimilation of Stamp Duties.

A Petition of Reporters of Newspapers in the city of Dublin, was presented, and read; setting forth, That the Petitioners have seen with the most serious alarm the scale of new Duties proposed to be levied off Newspaper property in Ireland, being convinced that such a heavy additional impost will not only prove destructive to the interest of the Petitioners, but cause a diminution instead of increase in the revenue of the country; an opinion not founded on vague conjecture, but having unequivocal experience for its basis, the Petitioners well knowing that the heavy Duties at present imposed upon paper, and the high stamps payable upon newspapers, and advertisements published in them, have been the means of considerably diminishing their extent and circulation, thereby demonstrating that extravagant taxation in Ireland tends to operate as an almost prohibition; that the Petitioners therefore humbly, but confidently, call upon the House not to pass a measure which will have the effect of depriving Ireland of a free press, and thus leave her people in the situation of the most abject slaves in the most despotic states, at one moment the passive and unpitied objects of domestic tyranny, and at another the wretched and willing instruments of sedition and civil war.

Ordered, That the said Petition do lie upon the Table; and be printed.

Petition for abolition of Tolls and Customs at Fairs (Ireland.)

A Petition of Inhabitants of the town of Naas, in the county of Kildare, was presented, and read; setting forth, That a few persons being, or claiming to be, the Corporation of Naas, have for a long time caused, and still continue to cause, grievous injury, oppression and vexation to the great majority of the inhabitants of that town and neighbourhood; that the Petitioners show, that on fairs held in Naas, certain Customs and Duties have been exacted by persons calling themselves the Corporation; to wit, for each lamb, 1d.; for each calf, 1d.; for each sheep, 1d.; while the Charter mentions neither lambs nor calves, and gives only one farthing Custom or Duty for sheep, and for stalls or stands 6d. of which the Charter mentions nothing, and which stand or stall is nothing more than a car or table, or the like, being the property of the person charged; that, in order to enforce the payment of these Tolls and Customs, oaths have been till lately administered by hirelings and others employed as collectors, and that when an intelligent and respectable inhabitant applied to the Bench at Petit Sessions to lodge informations against a collector for this offence, a Magistrate resident in the neighbourhood and connected with the Corporation, and who was at that time sitting to administer justice, refused to take his information or to notice this offence, though, if said complainant had similarly offended, said Magistrate would most probably have had him punished with the utmost rigour of the law; that not only at fairs, but at markets also, illegal and exorbitant Tolls and Customs have been exacted; that while the public are thus grievously oppressed and outraged, the persons claiming to be the Corporation, have not performed the duties required by the Charter, which originally conferred corporate rights on Naas; stating further particulars of their case; and praying, That the House will be pleased to enact some law to abolish the Tolls and Customs, which cannot at the present day be supported by any principle of natural justice or private right or public utility, which the receivers thereof have proved themselves unworthy to enjoy, and which press grievously on the people, otherwise overwhelmed with taxation.

Ordered, That the said Petition do lie upon the Table; and be printed.

Petition for repeal of Coal Duties (Ireland.)

A Petition of Manufacturers, Householders and other Inhabitants of the town of Balbriggan, was presented, and read; praying, That the Duties on Coals imported into Ireland, may be repealed, together with such other taxes as press most severely on the industrious part of the community, who are already taxed beyond their fair proportion.

Ordered, That the said Petition do lie upon the Table; and be printed.

Petition respecting employment of Persons in Cotton Factories.

A Petition of Operative Spinners, and others employed in the Spinning of Cotton Wool into Yarn, in Manchester and its neighbourhood, was presented and read; setting forth, That the Petitioners have seen with regret the very injurious effects of protracted labour in Cotton Factories in a heated and contaminated atmosphere, where the pure air can seldom be permitted to enter; but pernicious to health as is confinement in Cotton Factories even in the day time, and under the most favourable circumstances, employment in such places in the night is infinitely more injurious to both the health and morals of the persons so employed; and praying the House to pass a law entirely prohibiting the employment of persons under twenty-one years of age in the night in Cotton and other Mills.

Ordered, That the said Petition do lie upon the Table.

Accounts respecting Police (Dublin), ordered.

Ordered, That there be laid before this House, an Account of all Fines, Fees, Forfeitures, Duties, and Taxes, and other Monies, if any, received by the Divisional Justices of the Police district of Dublin Metropolis for the last twenty years; distinguishing each head of receipts by dates and items; and also, an Account of the Application and Expenditure of such Sums respectively.

Ordered, That there be laid before this House, an Account of the several Sums of Money paid into the Bank of Ireland by the Receiver of the Police district of the Dublin Metropolis, for the last twenty years; and Copies of all Drafts drawn by such Receiver on the said Bank on account of the Sums so lodged.

Ordered, That there be laid before this House, Copies of the Accounts laid before the Justices of the Castle Division of the Police district of the Dublin Metropolis, by the Receiver of that district, pursuant to the Statute of 48 Geo. 3, c. 140; specifying the exact day on which each such Account was received.

Ordered, That there be laid before this House, Copies of the Accounts audited by the Commissioners of Imprest Accounts in Ireland, of the Monies received by the Receiver of the Police district of the Dublin Metropolis, pursuant to 48 Geo. 3, c. 140; specifying the days respectively on which each such Account was received, and was audited.

Motion respecting Constabulary Acts (Ireland.)

A Motion was made, and the Question was proposed, That an humble Address be presented to His Majesty, that He will be graciously pleased to give directions that there be laid before this House, an Account of the Number of Persons who have been put to death by Constables appointed by virtue of the Statute of 3 Geo. 4, c. 103; and which Act was amended by 5 Geo. 4, c. 28; distinguishing the number put to death in each year:- And the said Motion was, by leave of the House, withdrawn.

Petition for removal of restrictions upon Sale of Sweets.

A Petition of Joseph Dyke, of Mile-End-road, in the parish of Saint Dunstan's Stepney, dealer in Sweets or home-made Wines, was presented and read; complaining of restrictions on the sale of Sweets or home-made Wines; stating the particulars of his case; and praying the House to introduce into the Bill now before the House for opening the Beer Trade, a clause excepting the sale of Sweets or home-made Wines from any other restrictions than those about to be imposed on the Sale of Beer; the insertion of such a clause would cause a greater if not double consumption in those articles, without being an evil to any existing establishment, consequently the Revenue would be greatly benefited.

Ordered, That the said Petition do lie upon the Table; and be printed.

Petition respecting Arrest for Debt.

A Petition of George Barclay Mansel, of the Middle Temple, Gentleman, was presented, and read; setting forth, That there are many persons now in execution at the suit of their respective creditors, and who would be able to procure their discharge from custody, provided that their creditors were allowed by law afterwards to sue out execution against the lands and tenements, goods and chattels, of their debtors; that it is now held in law that the discharge of the debtor when in execution, if voluntarily made by the creditor, will in all cases operate as a complete satisfaction of the judgment; that, by an Act of Parliament passed in the 41st year of the reign of his late Majesty King George the Third, any creditor at whose suit a debtor was charged in execution, might have consented to his discharge without losing the benefit of the judgment upon which the execution issued, except that the person of the debtor was not again to be liable to an arrest for the same debt, nor the bail to be proceeded against; that this highly beneficial Act being made to continue only for three years, and from thence to the end of the then next Session of Parliament, is now long since expired; the Petitioner therefore most humbly prays, That the House will be pleased to grant some effectual relief in the premises, either by renewing the said Act, or by passing a new Act, calculated to effect the same object, or by such other means as to the wisdom of the House shall seem fit and expedient.

Ordered, That the said Petition do lie upon the Table; and be printed.

Petition for Duty on Importation of Lead.

A Petition of Inhabitants of the parish of Middleton in Teesdale, in the county of Durham, was presented, and read; setting forth, That by a Statute passed in 1825, the protecting Duties payable on the importation of foreign Lead and Lead Ore were reduced to a much lower scale than those on other metals, and the warehousing of foreign Lead and Lead Ore for home consumption or exportation was much facilitated; that since the passing of this Statute the price of Lead has gradually declined from an average of 24l. to 12l. the ton, and in consequence of the accumulation of large stocks produced by a want of demand in the Lead-market, there is great cause to fear a still further reduction in price; and praying, That the House will be pleased to adopt some measures for giving to the British Lead Miners an effectual preference to Foreigners, both in our home-market and that of our colonies.

Ordered, That the said Petition do lie upon the Table.

Petition for repeal of Auction Duty on Sale of Farming Stock.

A Petition of John Webb, of Barton-under-Needwood, in the county of Stafford, was presented, and read; setting forth, That in consequence of the construction put upon the words "unmanufactured articles," in the legislative enactments exempting from Duty the sale by auction of farming produce, the following articles of farming produce, viz. cheese, butter, bacon and lard, have been held liable to the payment of such Duty; that the Petitioner humbly conceives this construction is contrary to the spirit and intention of the said enactments; and praying, That the House will relieve the aforesaid articles of farming produce from the payment of Auction Duty when sold upon the farm producing the same.

Ordered, That the said Petition do lie upon the Table.

Petition for Bounty on Exportation of Linen (Ireland.)

A Petition of Gentlemen, Traders and Linen Manufacturers of the town of Tuam, in the county of Galway, was presented, and read; setting forth, That the Petitioners humbly represent that the distress of the Linen Trade affects the interests of all ranks of society in Ireland, the land proprietors, the merchants, the agriculturists and tradesmen, as can be proved before the House, and the ruinous effects arising from the decay, affect the commercial interests of Great Britain; and praying, That the House will take the deplorable state of the manufacturers of Linen Cloth and Yarn in Ireland into their serious consideration, and adopt such measures as will afford them relief, which can only be effectually done by again granting an Export Bounty upon such description of Linens as have heretofore been subject thereto.

Ordered, That the said Petition do lie upon the Table; and be printed.

Leave of Absence.

Ordered, That Mr. Browne have leave of absence for a month, on urgent private business.

Petition for establishing Poor Laws in Ireland.

A Petition of Inhabitants of Tullamore, in the King's County;-and, of Kilcleigh, in the barony of Clonlonon, and county of Westmeath,-were presented, and read; praying the House to extend to Ireland the laws which provide for the maintenance and support of the Poor, and particularly the Statute 43 Elizabeth.

And the said Petitions were ordered to lie upon the Table.

Petition of Aaron Atkinson.

A Petition of Aaron Atkinson, of the city of Dublin, Gentleman, was presented, and read; setting forth, That a property of considerable value, purchased by one of the Petitioner's ancestors, under the denomination of Lot 46, on the northern bank of the River Liffey, in the aforesaid city, has been unjustly alienated from the Petitioner and his family; that His Majesty's Custom House of Dublin, or part thereof, stands erected upon this property, as the Petitioner has been informed and believes; that the Petitioner has it not in his power to recover the property of his family by an appeal to the ordinary tribunals, as the enormous price at which justice is sold in our courts of law renders it totally inaccessible to the Petitioner; and therefore he looks to the guardians of public justice for redress; stating the particulars of his case; and praying, That the House will institute an immediate inquiry into the ground of his complaint, and that they will deal with the whole of that complaint as to justice shall appertain.

Ordered, That the said Petition do lie upon the Table.

Roman Catholic Charities Bill, ordered.

Ordered, That leave be given to bring in a Bill for the better securing the Charitable Donations and Bequests of His Majesty's Subjects in Great Britain, professing the Roman Catholic Religion: And that Mr. O'Connell and Mr. Jephson do prepare, and bring it in.

Roman Catholic Marriages Bill, ordered.

Ordered, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to amend the Laws respecting Marriages celebrated by Roman Catholic Priests: And that Mr. O'Connell and Mr. Jephson do prepare, and bring it in.

Poor Rate Annuities Bill, ordered.

Ordered, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to direct certain Returns to be made to Parliament from Parishes in England and Wales, and to enable Parishes to raise Money for certain purposes therein set forth, upon terminable Annuities charged on their Poor Rates: And that Mr. Wilmot Horton and Mr. Portman do prepare, and bring it in.

Lower Canada Legislature Bill, ordered.

The House was moved, That the Act 31 Geo. 3, c. 31, to repeal certain parts of an Act passed in the fourteenth year of his Majesty's reign, intituled, "An Act for making more effectual Provision for the Government of Quebec, in North America, and to make further Provision for the government of the said Province," might be read; and the same being read;

Ordered, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to amend so much of the said Act as relates to the Election of Members to serve in the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Lower Canada: And that Sir George Murray and Mr. Twiss do prepare, and bring it in.

Sale of Beer Bill, committed.

Ordered, That the Order of the day, for the second reading of the Bill to permit the General Sale of Beer by Retail in England, be now read; and the same being read;

And a Motion being made, and the Question being proposed, That the Bill be now read a second time;

The Amendments following were proposed to be made to the Question; viz. to leave out the word "now" and at the end of the Question to add the words "upon this day six months."

And the Question being put, That the word "now" stand part of the Question;

And the House having continued to sit till after twelve of the clock on Wednesday morning;

Mercurii, 5 die Maii, 1830:

So it was resolved in the Affirmative.

Then the main Question being put;

Ordered, That the Bill be now read a second time:- The Bill was accordingly read a second time; and committed to a Committee of the whole House, for Monday next.

Constabulary (Ireland) Bill, deferred.

The Order of the day being read, for the second reading of the Bill to amend certain Acts relating to Constables in Ireland;

Ordered, That the Bill be read a second time upon Monday next.

Report of Bogs Drainage (Ireland) Bill, considered.

The House, according to Order, proceeded to take into further consideration, the Report from the Committee of the whole House on the Bill for draining and allotting the Bogs of Ireland; and the Amendments made by the Committee to the Bill, being read a second time, were agreed to by the House.

Ordered, That the Bill, with the Amendments, be ingrossed; and read the third time upon Monday next.

Committee on Poor Law Amendment Bill.

No. 355.

The Order of the day being read, for the House to resolve itself into a Committee of the whole House, upon the Bill to prevent Abuses of the Poor Laws, by declaring and amending the Law relating to the employment and payment of Able-bodied Labourers from the Poor Rates, and for the better rating Tenements under a certain Annual Value;

Instruction.

Ordered, That it be an Instruction to the Committee, that they have power to divide the said Bill into two Bills.

Then the House resolved itself into the Committee; and, after some time spent therein, Mr. Speaker resumed the Chair; and Mr. Ridley Colborne reported from the Committee, That they had, pursuant to the power given them by the House, divided the Bill into two Bills; and had gone through one of the said Bills, to prevent Abuses of the Poor Laws, by declaring and amending the Law relating to the employment and payment of Able-bodied Labourers from the Poor Rates; and had made several Amendments thereunto.

Ordered, That the Report be now received.

Mr. Ridley Colborne accordingly reported from the Committee the Amendments which they had made to the Bill; and the Report was brought up, and read.

Ordered, That the Report be taken into further consideration To-morrow.

Ordered, That the Bill, as amended, be printed.

Liability of Landlords Bill, reported.

No. 356.

Mr. Ridley Colborne also reported from the Committee, That they had gone through the other of the said Bills, for the better rating Tenements under a certain Annual Value; and had made several Amendments thereunto.

Ordered, That the Report be now received.

Mr. Ridley Colborne accordingly reported from the Committee the Amendments which they had made to the Bill; and the Report was brought up, and read.

Ordered, That the Report be taken into further consideration To-morrow.

Ordered, That the Bill, as amended, be printed.

Usury Laws Bill, deferred.

The Order of the day being read, for the House to resolve itself into a Committee of the whole House, upon the Bill to alter several Acts relating to Contracts for the Loan of Money at Interest;

Resolved, That this House will, To-morrow, resolve itself into the said Committee.

Navy Pay Bill, reported.

Mr. Frankland Lewis reported from the Committee of the whole House, on the Bill to amend and consolidate the Laws relating to the Pay of the Royal Navy, the Amendments which they had made to the Bill; and the Amendments were read, and agreed to by the House.

Ordered, That the Bill, with the Amendments, be ingrossed; and read the third time upon Monday next.

Report Supply, deferred.

The Order of the day being read, for receiving the Report from the Committee of the whole House, to whom it was referred to consider further of the Supply granted to His Majesty;

Ordered, That the Report be received To-morrow.

Ecclesiastical Leases (Ireland) Bill, deferred.

The Order of the day being read, for taking into further consideration the Report from the Committee of the whole House, on the Bill to amend the Laws respecting the Leasing Powers of Bishops and Ecclesiastical Corporations in Ireland;

Ordered, That the Report be taken into further consideration upon Monday next.

Committee on Richmond Lunatic Asylum Bill.

The House, according to Order, resolved itself into a Committee of the whole House, upon the Bill for appropriating the Richmond Lunatic Asylum in Dublin to the purposes of a District Lunatic Asylum; and, after some time spent therein, Mr. Speaker resumed the Chair; and Sir Alexander Grant reported from the Committee, That they had gone through the Bill, and made several Amendments thereunto.

Ordered, That the Report be received To-morrow.

Committee on Reports on the Conduct of Sir Jonah Barrington, deferred.

The Order of the day being read, for the House to resolve itself into a Committee of the whole House, to consider of the Eighteenth Report of the Commissioners of Judicial Inquiry in Ireland, which was presented to the House upon the 9th day of February, in the last Session of Parliament; of the Deposition forwarded to the Commission of Judicial Inquiry by Sir Jonah Barrington, Judge of the Court of Admiralty in Ireland, which was presented to the House upon the 16th day of March, in the last Session of Parliament; and, of the Report which upon the 1st day of June, in the last Session of Parliament, was made from the Committee appointed to take into consideration the Eighteenth Report of the Commissioners of Judicial Inquiry in Ireland, together with the Deposition forwarded to those Commissioners by Sir Jonah Barrington, Judge of the High Court of Admiralty in Ireland, and other Papers connected with the conduct of Sir Jonah Barrington, in the discharge of his judicial functions;

Resolved, That this House will, To-morrow, resolve itself into the said Committee.

Sheriffs (Ireland) Bill, deferred.

The Order of the day being read, for the House to resolve itself into a Committee of the whole House, upon the Bill for the better Regulation of the Office of Sheriffs of Counties in Ireland;

Resolved, That this House will, To-morrow, resolve itself into the said Committee.

Leases of Lands (Ireland) Bill, reported.

Lord Francis Leveson Gower reported from the Committee of the whole House, on the Bill to confirm certain Leases of Lands for the purposes of carrying on the Linen Manufacture of Ireland, the Amendments which they had made to the Bill; and the Amendments were read, and agreed to by the House.

Ordered, That the Bill, with the Amendments, be ingrossed; and read the third time To-morrow.

Return of Pamphlet Prosecutions, ordered.

Ordered, That there be laid before this House, a Return of all Prosecutions which have been brought forward, and of all commutations of Fines that have taken place in the years 1828, 1829, and 1830, against Printers, Publishers, and Booksellers, under that Clause of the present Stamp Act which relates to entering books, pamphlets, &c. &c. at the Pamphlet Duty department of the Stamp Office.

Treasurer of the Navy Bill, ordered.

Ordered, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to consolidate and amend the Laws relative to the Treasurer of the Navy: And that Mr. Frankland Lewis and Sir George Clerk do prepare, and bring it in.

Law Officers (Scotland)-Compensations for loss of Fees, to be considered.

The House was moved, That the Act 7 Anne, c. 11, "for ascertaining and directing the Payment of the Allowances to be made for or upon the Exportation from Scotland of Fish, Beef and Pork cured with Foreign Salt, imported before the first day of May one thousand seven hundred and seven; and for disposing such Salt still remaining in the hands of her Majesty's Subjects there, and for ascertaining and securing the Allowances for Fish and Flesh exported and to be exported from Scotland for the future, might be read; and the same was read.

The House was also moved, That the Act 10 Anne, c. 26, "for laying additional Duties on Hides and Skins, Vellum and Parchment, and new Duties on Starch, Coffee, Tea, Drugs, Gilt and Silver Wire, and Policies of Insurance; to secure a yearly Fund for satisfaction of Orders to the Contributors of a further sum of one million eight hundred thousand pounds towards her Majesty's Supply; and for the better securing the Duties on Candles; and for obviating doubts concerning certain Payments in Scotland; and for suppressing unlawful Lotteries and other Devices of the same kind; and concerning Cake Soap; and for Relief of Mary Ravenall, in relation to an Annuity of Eighteen pounds per Annum; and concerning Prize Cocoa Nuts brought from America; and certain Tickets, which were intended to be subscribed into the Stock of the South Sea Company; and for appropriating the Monies granted in this Session of Parliament," might be read; and the same being read;

And a Motion being made, That this House will, Tomorrow, resolve itself into a Committee of the whole House, to consider of granting Compensation to any Judges and Officers of the Courts of Law in Scotland, whose Salaries or lawful Fees and Emoluments may be terminated or reduced by the effect of any Act of this Session, for making alterations in the Judicial Establishments of Scotland;

Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, by His Majesty's command, acquainted the House, That His Majesty, having been informed of the subject matter of this Motion, recommends it to the consideration of the House.

Resolved, That this House will, To-morrow, resolve itself into the said Committee.

Labouring Poor Bill, deferred.

The House was moved, That the Order made upon Monday last, for reading a second time, upon Friday next, the Bill to promote the Employment of the labouring Poor by free hiring at fair and adequate Wages, might be read; and the same being read;

Ordered, That the said Order be discharged.

Ordered, That the Bill be read a second time upon Monday next.

Embankments (Ireland) Bill, presented.

No. 357.

Mr. Spring Rice presented a Bill for making and preserving Embankments on the sides of Rivers in Ireland: And the same was read the first time; and ordered to be read a second time upon Monday next.

Ordered, That the Bill be printed.

Limerick and Charleville Road Bill, passed.

An ingrossed Bill for improving and repairing the Road leading from Newcastle, in the County of Limerick, to the City of Limerick, and from thence to Charleville, in the County of Cork, was read the third time.

Resolved, That the Bill do pass.

Ordered, That Mr. Spring Rice do carry the Bill to the Lords, and desire their concurrence.

Limerick Hospital Bill, passed.

An ingrossed Bill for the Management and Direction of the Hospital founded by Joseph Barrington and his Sons, in the City of Limerick, was read the third time.

Resolved, That the Bill do pass.

Ordered, That Mr. Spring Rice do carry the Bill to the Lords, and desire their concurrence.

Chapeaurouge's Nat. Bill, read.

An ingrossed Bill from the Lords, intituled, An Act for naturalizing Philip Augustus De Chapeaurouge, was read the first time; and ordered to be read a second time.

Lower Canada Legislature Bill, presented.

No. 358.

Sir George Murray presented a Bill to amend so much of an Act of the thirty-first year of his late Majesty, for making more effectual Provision for the Government of the Province of Quebec: And the same was read the first time; and ordered to be read a second time upon Monday next.

Ordered, That the Bill be printed.

Members added to a Committee.

Ordered, That Sir Henry Parnell and Mr. Croker be added to the Select Committee on Superannuations.

Common Law Fees Bill, presented.

No. 359.

Mr. Planta presented a Bill for regulating the Receipt and future Appropriation of Fees and Emoluments receivable by Officers of the Superior Courts of Common Law: And the same was read the first time; and ordered to be read a second time upon Friday the 14th day of this instant May.

Ordered, That the Bill be printed.

Communications respecting Shubenacadie Canal, ordered.

Ordered, That there be laid before this House, Copies of Communications between the Lords of the Treasury, the Lords of the Admiralty, and the Secretary of State for the Colonies, on the subject of the Shubenacadie Canal in Nova Scotia.

And then the House, having continued to sit till half an hour after one of the clock on Wednesday morning, adjourned till this day.