ration as to the state of the country. If that agreement had been assented to, he had no doubt whatever that the gentlemen who signed the declaration would have faithfully adhered to their contract, and voted for that inquiry which they now so strenuously opposed. But it was said by an hon. member (Mr. Stuart Wortley), that by an inquiry he meant an investigation by the courts of law. That, however, would not be prevented by a parliamentary examination; for if the House saw grounds for it, they might, as they had done in other instances, direct the attorney-general to prosecute. It would, perhaps, be said, that the attorney-general could prosecute still. He denied that he could; for it should be recollected, that his masters were some of the parties accused; and if they turned earl Fitzwilliam out of office for only expressing an opinion in favour of inquiry, what might the law officers of the crown expect?-The right hon. gentleman next defended the conduct of the Yorkshire requisitionists against the charge of having joined with the radicals. There was nothing done there, no question agitated, but the one for which they had assembled, namely to demand an inquiry into a transaction in which it was admitted on all hands that British blood had been shed, and where no sufficient grounds had been made for the attack. Was it not, he asked, natural that such a demand should be made? When torrents of blood had flowed, when several had been maimed, and some killed, what could be more rational than that an inquiry should be instituted? But the fact was, that they who gave the thanks to the magistrates knew right well that they had not a case to make out. If they had any colourable one upon which they could rely, the House would never have heard of such a thing as this outcry against all investigation. The right hon. gentleman then contended, that if meetings were allowed to go on, there would be an inquiry, a parliamentary inquiry, sooner or later into the Manchester business. He main tained that, from the papers now upon the table, they were bound to be able to aver, that a case had been made out which affected not only the right of the three counties which were disturbed, but also the rights of the remainder of the fifty-two counties of England. Now, forty-seven of them, according to the noble lord himself, were untouched; and yet all of them were to be put out of the pale of the law, because

disturbances had arisen in others from the pressure of distress. He would not give the clerk the trouble of reading, he would merely allude to the words of the Prince Regent's speech at the commencement of the last session of parliament, in which the nation had been congratulated upon the commerce and revenue of the country being in the most flourishing condition. Now, the noble lord must have known that this assertion regarding the flourishing condition of the trade and revenue was any thing but true; and he (Mr. T.) had told him so at the time, and had advised him to try the effects of conciliation. The noble lord had, however, now turned round upon him, and had asked him, what he would do in the spirit of conciliation. One thing he would not do-he would not vote for the addition of three millions of new taxes. He was not bound to say what he would do; it would be sufficient for him to say what he would not do. He would not, among other things, have imposed a tax upon wool. That tax had done more to alienate the people of Yorkshire from the government, than all the other measures which they had proposed; for it was a tax that affected not only the lower orders, but also the master manufacturers, at a time, too, when there was a complete stagnation of their trade, and almost a total want of orders. What object, then, could be attained by such an impolitic measure, except the exasperation and irritation of the people? Was the noble lord still anxious to know what he would do in the way of conciliation? He would at least show a wish to relieve the distresses of the people; he would,-but he would not, even if he had any measures to propose for the present emergency, say what those measures were, because coming from him they would be certain not to meet with fair play among the gentlemen on the other side of the House. One thing, however, he would advise them to do: if severe laws were to be passed, and if a resolution was to be adopted to restrict still farther the liberty of the country, it was their bounden duty to take into consideration the distress, and the causes of the distress, which now prevailed. The noble lord, indeed, had asked them, whether they would wait and postpone the passing of his measures, until they had inquired into the necessity of enacting them. With as great reason might the poor man turn round and say to the noble lord, "Will you postpone to relieve me, when I am starving, until you

Benyon, Benjamin Bernal, Ralph Birch, Joseph

Brougham, Henry Browne, Dom.

Burrell, hon. P. D. Byng, G.

Beaumont, J. W.

Buxton, T. F.

Burdett, sir F.

Calcraft, John

Crespigny, sir W. De Mills, George

Denison, W. J. Duncannon, visct. Dundas, hon. L. Dundas, hon. G. Dundas, Thos. Ebrington, visct. Ellice, E.

Euston, earl of Fazakerly, N. Fellowes, hon. N.

Fitzroy, lord C.

Fergusson, sir R. C. Fitzgerald, lord F.

Folkestone, visct.

Merest, W.

Milton, visct.

Moore, Peter

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

Wednesday, December 1.

COMMITTEE OF SUPPLY.] The Chancellor of the Exchequer having moved the order of the day for going into a Committee of Supply,

Mr. Brougham said, he felt that he could not conscientiously discharge his duty without opposing the motion. The present was a parliamentary and constitutional occasion for the statement of As often as a supply was grievances. demanded by the crown, so often was any member of that House entitled to state the grievances of the people. In opposing the present motion, therefore, he was only exercising that constitutional right with which, in any case of emergency, every member was invested. The great objection and grievance which he had to state, was the extraordinary and unprecedented haste with which ministers seemed resolved to hurry the new measures through parliament. If they were temporary or local in their character it would be a different matter; but it was because they would effect a great and a permanent change in the constitution; it was, in short, for the reasons which he had mentioned yesterday, although they had had no effect on the noble lord, that he considered it highly indecorous to urge them with such unprecedented dispatch. The House was now at a notice of eight and forty hours-about twelve of which had been passed in debate on another part of those measures-it was at a notice of thirty-six hours to go into the consideration of the details of the new system. It was to be called upon to-morrow night, in discussing the first of the proposed bills,

ment. He could not, at that moment, make any observation on the proposed increase of the army; but when the noble lord brought forward the proposition, it would be for him to demonstrate the necessity of such a measure in time of peace.

Sir B. Martin said, the duty of the dock-yards was formerly executed by the marine corps, and it was always highly desirable that it should be performed by them. That which was now proposed was therefore nothing more than merely reverting to the ancient system.

Sir G. Warrender stated, that with respect to the guard-ships it was not intended to make any alteration in the system which had been approved of by the House last year, and which rendered that species of force more efficacious. The reasons, founded chiefly on a principle of economy, which he had detailed to the House in the last session, operated to reduce the number of guard-ships. But, if the hon. baronet supposed them to be in a state of inefficiency, he had formed an erroneous opinion. With respect to the armament destined for South America, to which the hon. baronet had alluded, it was not fitted out so tardily as he imagined. One of the vessels, the Superb, commanded by sir T. Hardy, was in the Sound, with all her stores on board, in four days after the orders were issued for her equipment, and her complement of men was speedily completed. With respect to the increased number of marines, it would be most advantageous. If an armament were ordered to be equipped, these men would be ready for service, and the military might undertake the dock-yard duty, as before.

Mr. Tierney said, if the marines were increased by 2,000 men, it was clear that 2,000 of the military would be applicable to some other service. If 2,000 additional marines were raised, who were to do a duty now performed by the military, ought not the army to be decreased to that amount? If it was not, then it came to this, that to this extent they increased the army. He had no objection to the marines having the care of the dockyards, for common sense pointed them out as the most proper force to undertake that duty; but he did not approve of this mode of strengthening the army. It was understood that 10,000 men were to be added to the military force of the country, and no person would contend

that that number was not quite enough; but, by the proposition now made, it appeared that there would be an increase of 2,000 more.

Sir G. Warrender said, that gentlemen were not correct in supposing that the dock-yard duty was entirely performed by the military of late years. The fact was, a part of that duty had always been intrusted to the corps of marines.

Mr. Tierney said, he had no objection to the increase of the marines, but he did not like that, to the same extent, the military force should also be increased, which would evidently be the effect of the present measure.

Mr. Croker said, it was impossible to deny that this arrangement would relieve that portion of the army which was now employed in the dock-yards, and pro tanto, would increase the disposable military force. The number of men that would be relieved by this additional vote of marines was about 1,200.

The motion was then agreed to. Sir G. Warrender then moved, “ That a sum not exceeding 650,3251. be granted to his majesty, for wages of the said 23,000 men, for 13 lunar months, at the rate of 21. 3s. 6d. per man per month," also, "that 612,9501. be granted, for victuals for the said 23,000 men, for 13 lunar months, at the rate of 21. 1s. per man per month."

Mr. Baring asked, what was the reason that the charge for victuals was 1s. per man per month greater than it was in the vote of last session?

Sir G. Warrender could not state the exact reason, but the officers who made the estimate found that the addition was necessary.

Sir B. Martin said, the sum voted last year was found to be inadequate, and it was necessary that the charge should be fully covered. Therefore the additional shilling was put on, and for no other reason.

Mr. Baring did not mean to oppose any part of the service, but when the hon. baronet came down to vote the navy estimates, and made any alteration in the items, he had a right to state to the House on what ground he made it. It was the paramount duty of that House to inquire into all appropriations of money, and therefore he called for information.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer said, that the vote of last sesion was insufficient, and therefore it was proposed on this oc

casion to vote 1s. more per man per month; because, on calculation, it was found that such an increase was necessary to meet the expenditure.

Sir G. Warrender said, in proposing this vote, he relied on the judgment and opinion of those gentlemen who belonged to the department and whose duty it was to look into and consider the subject. Better authority he thought he could not have. He could not presume to go into minor details of this kind; and when he received from official authority, a statement that such a charge was correct, and that it must be laid before parliament, he felt himself justified in coming down to the House and proposing the vote.

Mr. Baring considered it to be the duty of the hon. baronet, when he called for any augmented vote, to state the grounds on which he applied for such augmentation. The estimates should be moved by some person who could give to the House all necessary information on the subject.

The motion was then agreed to.

NEWSPAPER STAMP DUTIES BILL.] The House having resolved itself into a committee on the Stamp Duties act of the 56th of the King, c. 56,

The Chancellor of the Exchequer said, that he should decline discussing the principle on which the resolution which he had now to move was founded, as it would most probably come before the House immediately, on another occasion. He had thought it his duty to introduce it to the House, because a considerable fraud had been committed on the revenue, by means of the pamphlets against which his measure was intended, and because a considerable invasion had also been made by them upon the property of the regular newspapers. He then handed up his resolution to the chairman, which was as follows: "That all Pamphlets, or Papers commonly so called, and all other papers containing public news, or intelligence or occurrences, or any remarks or observations, address, or letter thereon, or upon any matter established in Church or State, printed in any part of the United King. dom, to be dispersed and made public, which shall not exceed two sheets, or which shall be sold or exposed to sale for a less sum than six-pence, exclusive of the Duty to be charged thereon, shall be deemed and taken to be Newspapers with in the meaning of the several Acts in

force relating to Newspapers in Great-Britain and Ireland respectively, and be subject to the like Duties of Stamps."

Mr. Brougham said, that as this was only a resolution preparatory to the bringing in of a bill upon the subject, he should not enter into the principle of it at any length, because, though the resolution entered into some details, it had not mentioned any of the exceptions which it was doubtless intended to allow. He should therefore only refer to one circumstance at present, which had been very incorrectly stated by the noble lord on a former night. He had not the slightest doubt of the misrepresentation which the noble lord had made being unintentional; he conceived it to have arisen from his not having seen, or from his not having considered the acts of parliament which already existed upon the subject. After the decided reprobation which he (Mr. Brougham) had passed upon the seditious and blasphemous libels which had emanated from the press in the course of the last three years, he did not expect that he should be suspected of too great a leaning towards them. He must, however, say, that nobody ought to be charged with more crimes than those of which they were actually guilty; and therefore he thought that it was not altogether right to charge men who were guilty of treason or blasphemy, with being also guilty of a fraud upon the revenue. He would show the House good reasons why the publishers of these pamphlets were not guilty of the charge which had that evening been brought against them. The words of the Stamp act, on which alone this charge had been substantiated, and upon which he had always given his opinion, when requested so to do, were " Any newspaper or papers containing any news, intelligence, or occurrence.' From those words it was impossible to argue that a person who did not publish any news, intelligence, or occurrence, but merely commented upon them, was guilty of a fraud upon the revenue, because the loophole through which he escaped was evidently a loophole contemplated by the legislature. That this was the case would appear more clearly by considering the intention of the legislature. The act allowed not only individuals to publish every week, or at any other perodical intervals, such comments, but also contained a clause stating the terms on which they were to publish them. From the word