deration the Petition of the right hon. Richard Brinsley Sheridan, complaining of an undue Election and return for the city and liberty of Westminster, being come; and no counsel, agent, or party, appearing on the part of the said petitioner, the house was moved, That an Act, made in the 28th year of his present majesty, for the further regulation of the trials of Controverted Elections or returns of members to serve in Parliament, might be read :-and the same being read; the Order for taking the said Petition into consideration was discharged.

PETITIONS AGAINST the Orders IN COUNCIL.] On the motion of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the house went into a committee, in which the adjourned consideration of the Petitions against the Orders in Council was resumed. The following witnesses were then called in and examined, Mr. Wm. Bell, Mr. Thomas Martin, Mr. Alex. Forrester, and Mr. Abraham Mann. On account of the lateness of the hour, and there being then five other witnesses to examine, the further consideration of the question was postponed till to

morrow.

HOUSE OF LORDS.

Wednesday, March 23.

[ORDERS IN COUNCIL.] Lord Auckland rose to offer a motion to the house, which, in his opinion, might afford an opportunity of bringing the house to a decision on the long contested point, whether the Petitions against the operation of the Orders in Council, which had been presented to the house, were to be attended to or not. After insisting on the right which the sub

[GREENWICH HOSPITAL,] Sir C. Pole, pursuant to notice, called the attention of the house to some appointments on the establishment of this hospital, in which due regard was not had to the preference which ought to be shewn to persons who had served in the navy. He cited all the commissions relative to Greenwich Hospital, from the first under William and Mary, to shew, that such a preference ought always to be given; and concluded with moving an Address to his majesty, praying, that he would be graciously pleased to give directions, that all the ap-ject undoubtedly had of being heard pointments belonging to the said hospital should henceforth be filled with persons who had served in the navy.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer said it must be the object of every one to promote as much as possible what the hon. baronet was desirous to accomplish. But there were offices for which persons properly qualified could not be found in the navy, such as clerk of the works, who should be an architect; auditor, who should be a lawyer; organist, brewer, clerk of the cheque, surveyor, and others. With these exceptions, he thought no other office should be filled otherwise than from the navy, except when, after a month's notice in the newspapers, no naval person should present himself with proper qualifications to fill the office vacant. He should propose an amendment, adopting the hon. baronet's idea, with this limitation, and he should, in the event of the amendment being adopted, propose an Address to his majesty, praying that he would cause a corresponding alteration to be made in the Charter of Greenwich Hospital.

against measures which aggrieved him, and after enumerating a number of precedents, to shew that the object of his motion was strictly conformable to the standing orders of the house, and the best practice of parliament in the best times, his lordship concluded with moving, “That the Orders in Council be referred to a committee of the whole house, and that the petitioners against them be heard by themselves and counsel, as to such points in which the petitioners could shew they had a distinct and direct interest."

A long conversation ensued, in which the lord chancellor, lords Hawkesbury and Mulgrave acceded to the motion, on the understanding that it was not proposed to hear counsel against the Orders in Council bill, and that no delay should take place in the progress of that bill. Lord Grenville, the earl of Lauderdale, and earl Spencer disclaimed any understanding upon the subject, which should fetter their judgments in the application of the information which might be communicated at the bar. Lord Sidmouth had some doubts as to the form of

After some observations from Mr. Whit-proceeding, but was friendly to the object bread, Mr. Rose, Mr. N. Calvert. and Mr. of the motion. The question was at length R. Ward, sir C. Pole agreed to the excep- put, and the motion agreed to. tions proposed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the motions were passed accordingly.

Lord Auckland, after complimenting their lordships on at length adopting some mode of hearing the petitioners, then

morrow.

Another conversation arose upon this motion, and lord Hawkesbury moved as an amendment, Monday next, instead of tomorrow. This amendment was strenuously supported by the lord chancellor, lord Mulgrave, and lord Redesdale; and opposed by lords Grenville, Holland, Darnley, Grey, and Spencer; after which a division took place on the amendment. Contents, 43: Non-contents 18.-Majority 25.

moved, that the Petitions be referred | His lordship here adverted to the Bark to a committee of the whole house to-bill. He said, that Mr. Burke in one of his immortal orations, had also given immortality to the benevolent Howard;speaking of that great man in his career of humanity, he had said, "He has visited all Europe; not to collate manuscripts or to collect medals, but to dive into the depth of dungeons; to plunge into the infection of hospitals; to survey the mansions of grief, misery and despair; to pity the forsaken, to remember the forgotten, and to collect and collate the distresses of all men in all countries. It was a circumnavigation of charity." It was fit, said lord Erskine that this circumnavigator of charity should have received his being in that country which had been the instrument of providence in her circumnavigation of the earth; not like the first discoverer, carrying cruelty and death in her train; but collecting mankind together under the dominion of laws and liberty. But what was the proposed circumnavigation of ministers? They at this moment, like Howard, were to visit all Europe; like him they were to plunge into the infection of hospitals; but not like him, to remember the forsaken and forgotten, but to pluck the balm of health, or rather of life, out of the mouths of the miserable. They were to rob them-not of one medicine, which, as he had said formerly, might be substituted for another; but which he would repeat again, even as often as they repeated the Order of the 7th of Jan. that would subject Great Britain to the final everlasting curse—" Iwas sick and ye visited me not."

The order of the day was next read för the house to resolve itself into a committee on the bill, when earl Spencer moved, that the house do hear the Petitioners on Tuesday next; on this question, the house divided. Contents, 18; Non-contents, 47. -Lord Grenville then moved, that it be an instruction to the committee to divide the bill into two parts, that part which regarded the bill as of Aid and Supply, and that which regarded the commercial regulations, on which latter part he wished Counsel to be heard. On this question, nearly the same noble lords again were heard, when the house again divided. Contents, 48; Non-contents, 109.

The house then resolved itself into a committee on the bill. A long and desultory conversation ensued, in the course of which,

The Lord Chancellor attacked the late administration for their Order in Council of the 7th of Jan. and asserted that it was the foundation of the late Orders.

Lord Erskine said, that this charge repeatedly made reminded him of Swift's Tale of a Tub. We produce, said lord Erskine, a piece of bread, we eat it in their presence, we bring the baker who baked it; every body round agree it to be bread, but the noble lords answer that it is not bread, but the fattest mutton that ever came out of Leadenhall Market, and the only proof they give of the proposition is, that if any man ventured to assert the contrary, they hoped that God might eternally damn him. Lord Erskine said, that these were the words of the rev. Dean Swift, and not his, and therefore the bishops must pardon the profaneness. He said, he had no doubt, that if it were convenient to establish that his lordship's black coat was any green colour, it might easily be accomplished. As many as are of that opinion, say Aye'-would give it in a moment any colour in the rainbow.

Lord Grenville moved that the chairman should report progress, but this was resisted. The preamble after a good deal of controversy was agreed to. It was ordered that the house should resume, and the chairman ask leave to sit again. The house accordingly resumed, and after receiving the report of the chairman of the committee, adjourned at four o'clock on Thursday morning.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

Wednesday, March 23.

[PETITIONS AGAINST THE ORDERS IN COUNCIL.] After the other orders of the day were disposed of, the house went into a committee on the Petitions against the Orders in Council. Mr. Brougham, the counsel for the Petitioners, was called in, and the examination of Mr. Mann, which

cided in every praise that could be bestowed on Mr. Garlike, of whose merits he had long been so convinced, that he had omitted no opportunity of recommending him for promotion to his majesty. As to the Copenhagen Expedition, every thing that had since happened, only confirmed him in the opinion of the expediency, indeed the absolute necessity of that expedition.

Lord Mulgrave disclaimed the slightest intention of wounding the feelings of the noble lord.-The question was then put, and negatived.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

Thursday, March 24.

[WESTMINSTER ELECTION PETITION.] Lord Grenville supported the motion, The Speaker informed the house, that the contending that the house were still very Petition, complaining of an undue election imperfectly informed upon this subject. and return for the city and liberty of WestHe did not approve of making public a minster, having been appointed to be taken whole series of diplomatic correspondence, into consideration upon Tuesday last, at of that they had in one instance experien-half an hour after three in the afternoon, ced the ill effects, but in this case he thought it important that the information asked for should be granted, in order that the house might be better enabled to discuss these points immediately connected with it.

exchequer the Recognizance entered into in respect of the said petition, and had also certified the default which had been made in the performance of the condition of the said recognizance.

the right hon. Richard Brinsley Sheridan, the petitioner, did not appear before the house, by himself, his counsel, or agents, within one hour after the time so appointed; and that, in pursuance of an act, made in the 28th year of his present maLord Mulgrave, conceiving that the no-jesty, he had certified into the court of ble lord had alluded to the correspondence laid before parliament when he (lord Mulgrave) quitted the foreign office, entered into a justification of his conduct upon that occasion, and said, that if there was any thing to blame in that transaction, noble lords ought to have made it the subject of inquiry. In the course of his speech he alluded to the appointment of Mr. Adair to Vienna, and to the rumours specting the supposed secret mission of that gentleman upon a former occasion to St. Petersburgh, which probably a noble lord on the other side (the relation of the person who sent him) could explain.

re

[IRISH GRAND JURY PRESENTMENTS.] Mr. M. Fitzgerald rose, pursuant to notice, to move for certain papers relative to the mode of raising money by the Grand Jury Presentments in Ireland. He wished to avoid any discussion on the subject till the papers were laid on the table; but he would state the course he meant to pursue, and the object he had in view, in order to prevent misconception. He moved for Lord Holland rose considerably agitated these papers on two grounds: first, with by the allusion reflecting on the conduct reference to the amount of the sums raised, of Mr. Fox, in a transaction which hap- and secondly, with respect to the mode of pened nearly 20 years ago, and of which raising them. He did not mean to question he was certainly too young at the time to the powers of the Grand Juries, or to transknow the circumstances. The insinuations fer these powers to any other quarter. But upon it, however, had been so repeatedly he wished to have some more equal mode proved to be absurd, that nothing but the of collecting the tax, and a better mode of perverse spirit which had been manifested accounting for the money. He intended that night, could have again brought it up. once to include all this in a bill relative to The noble lord had said, that if the conduct the Irish roads; but the subject was so exof the ministers who had made the coali- tensive and important that it would be tion that ended so fatally for Austria was better to refer it to a committee of the criminal, it ought to have been questioned. house, by which means it might come To this lord Holland replied, that proba- more particularly under the review of such bly his friends ought to have instituted an as were acquainted with the mode of raisinquiry into it. Their motives of forbear-ing, applying and accounting for county ance, he thought, would have been obvious to every noble lord, viz. that as the administration who had made that coalition, had lost the person who was most distinguished for talents, they thought it illiberal to pursue the rest of the body. VOL. X.

money in England. An account of the amount had been already laid on the table. What he wanted now was an account of the mode of application, of the way in which the money was accounted for, and of the time the grand juries had for the 4 L

evidence they produced in support of them, that they should not be permitted to cross-examine the witnesses by their counsel, or call other witnesses in support of their case. The house was placed in a novel situation by the course pursued by the right hon. gent. though all these difficulties might be avoided, if the proceeding had originated in a committee of trade.

performance of this duty. He therefore | tions of their petition, and contravert the moved first, for an account of the presentments for raising money during the spring and summer assizes in 1807, specifying the mode of application. 2d. For copies of the Quere Books in the hands of the Irish treasurer, as far as related to the above period, with a view to shew the method of accounting. And 3dly, For the number of informations and bills of indictment before the grand juries, during the same period, and the time the assizes continued.-After some observations from Mr. Foster and sir J. Newport, the motions were agreed to.

[PETITIONS AGAINST THE ORDERS IN COUNCIL.] The Chancellor of the Exchequer, after moving the order of the day for going into a committee on the Petitions against the Orders in Council, thought it right, before he should move that the Speaker do leave the chair, to state the course which he proposed to recommend to the house to adopt, on the subject of the examination of other witnesses, and which, upon inquiry, he found to be conformable to the precedents of the practice of the house on similar occasions. It was therefore not his intention to move this day for the production of other evidence, but according to the practice of the house to allow the present petitioners to close their case, and afterwards to hear the observations of their counsel, upon the evidence produced by them. It would then be competent to the house, if the evidence should not appear sufficient, to call upon the other petitioners, or upon other witnesses, and to examine them, touching the subject. But as it might not be fair, to call upon the learned counsel, suddenly, to submit his observations to the house, upon the evidence, he proposed, that, however short the time might be, which would be occupied this night in the examination of the remaining witnesses, the business should stand over till Tuesday, when the learned counsel should be heard upon the evidence.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer insisted that the proceeding was perfectly regular, and adverted to the precedent of the course adopted upon a Petition against the Tobacco bill in the year 1790, as fully in point; on which occasion the petitioners evidence and counsel had been heard at the bar; and the house had afterwards thought fit to call for other witnesses, and to examine with respect to the matter of the petition and the evidence brought forward in support of it.

Mr. Tierney acquiesced for the present, but reserved to himself the right to oppose the course proposed by the right hon. gent. if it should appear to him not to be regular.

The Speaker then laid down the practice of the house in a clear and satisfactory manner. Whatever course it should ultimately please the house to adopt, the proceeding, he observed, had been hitherto perfectly regular. In the opposition which had been given to the Boston port bill, and the bill to restrain the Trade of New England, petitioners had been heard by their counsel at the bar of this house, and evidence examined in support of their petitions, but that had not precluded the house from taking such other steps as were deemed expedient to investigate the allegations of the petitioners. There were many instances of the examination of witnesses upon petitions, at the bar of the house, but the later practice had been to examine witnesses at the bar in a committee of the whole house. As to the proMr. Tierney thought, that even the ceeding in a Committee of Trade, when course proposed on the preceding even- petitioners presented themselves to that ing, by the right hon. gent. that of hear- house, and prayed to be heard by their ing the contrary evidence, and of being counsel, the practice was, if their petition present by their counsel to cross-examine was received, to accede to the prayer of the witnesses that should be brought for- it, and by the habit of the house, after ward, before he was finally to sum up, hearing evidence, to permit the counsel to would have been much more desirable sum up the whole at the conclusion of the for the petitioners than that now suggest-case. The house had then many courses, ed. It would be peculiarly hard upon the petitioners, if evidences should be brought forward to disprove the allegn

any one of which it might adopt, but it was quite impossible that a committee of the whole house should be tied up by the