Royal Highness's declining the grant. He had seen but one course in this business, and that was to abstain from particular points, whereon they could come to no decision. If her Royal Highness was advised to object to the grant, it would seem as if she looked to some future dissensions; he hoped, therefore, on all accounts, that the grant, such as the wisdom of the House voted it, would be accepted by the Princess in all its extent. It was for her interest and her honour to avoid any other construction, than that she rested implicitly on what had passed. Mr. Ponsonby supported the motion; but refrained from giving any opinion of the cause of it. The Resolution was agreed to unanimously. LONDON PRISONS BILL.] Mr. Holford moved the second reading of the Bill. An hon alderman, he said, had, on a former evening, represented this Bill as a subversion of the whole constitution of the city of London. He could not conceive how the constitution would be subverted by calling in other members of its corporation to assist in superintending those gaols. Notwithstanding all that had been said about the rules of the gaols where criminals were confined, he found no other rules but what were drawn up by the gaolors. As to the regulations, the state of most of those prisons, and the Borough compter in particular, called most strongly for redress. He did not mean to cast censure on the aldermen, but he supposed that, from their many other avocations, they had not time to visit, with sufficient attention, those prisons. Sir W. Curtis contended, that the present Bill was not justified by any thing which appeared on the face of the Report. In a short time the magistrates of London would have it in their power to liberate 3 or 400 prisoners from Newgate, and then to provide for the better accom. modation of prisoners in their other gaols. If the present Bill passed, the aldermen must feel degraded and disgraced. They must feel that a higher authority had been placed over them. To such a degradation they had no right to submit. If they had done amiss, or had forfeited the confidence of the House and of the public, let them be brought before a competent tribunal, and there exposed: but let them not be stigmatized without proof or cause of any kind. He concluded by moving, (VOL. XXVIII.) as an amendment, that the Bill be read a second time this day six months. Sir James Shaw, in seconding this motion, entered into an enumeration of the comforts and improvements in the situation of the prisoners, lately introduced by the magistrates of London, by which he contended, they were in point of diet, rendered infinitely more comfortable than the generality of the poor inhabitants of Yorkshire, of Ireland, or of Scotland. The prisoners were visited daily by the sheriffs; weekly, by the alderman sitting in rotation at Guildhall; and eight times a year by three aldermen, one of whom had passed, and two of whom had not passed the chair. He asked, could any thing be more complete than this? If the hon. gentleman, however, wished to point out any thing amiss in the direction, let it be shewn, and the only desire of the magistrates was that it should be remedied. Mr. M. A. Taylor declared, he had never in his life seen a worse-managed gaol than that of Newgate. When he, on a late melancholy occasion, attended to that prison an unfortunate being, who had deprived the House of the services of one of the best of men, there literally could not be found a room in which to place him. Let the House compare the state of Newgate with the state of the gaol of Gloucester, or of that of York. Ifthe ma gistracy of London spent on the prisons of the metropolis only a fiftieth part of the money they expended in magnificent entertainments, the unhappy prisoners would soon be in a very different plight. That something ought to be done was evident. Mr. Bathurst allowed that something ought to be done. But the question before the House was, whether the particular Bill that was proposed was the best measure that could be adopted. In his opinion, a great part of the existing evil arose from the crowded state of Newgate, and would be remedied when the prisons now in progress should be completed. He could see no good that would be gained by taking the management of the prison out of the present hands. It would be a great reflection on the magistracy of London thus to supersede them in the exercise of their functions. He admitted that many county gaols were in much better condition, but this was solely attributable to the subdivision of the pri soners which took place in them, a practice which in the existing state of Newgate could not be resorted to. (2 M) Mr. Bennet contended, that want of room, was not the only evil experienced in Newgate. To this were to be added want of food, and want of clothing. The evidence before the committee fully established the fact, that the prisoners laboured under these privations. Mr. W. Smith, while he professed himself unable to see why the aldermen and the common councilmen should be considered as antagonists under the Bill, and while he contended, that, on the contrary, they would soon act in perfect concert, admitted that it would be adviseable for the hon. gentleman to withdraw his Bill for a year, in order that it might be better digested, that the individuals to be selected for the management should be better considered, and that the effect of the gaols now building should be fully ascer tained. He hoped also, that as the attention of the magistracy had been so pointedly called to the subject, many important reforms would be adopted. If, however, contrary to his expectation, the evil should still exist next year, neither the antiquity of the present constitution of the city, nor any other consideration, should induce him to withhold his assent from some legislative measure of correction. not be associated with the aldermen in this, as well as other matters, such as the building of prisons, &c. The House then divided, for the second reading, 23: against it, 18-Majority, 5. The Bill was read a second time accordingly. IRISH SUPERINTENDING MAGISTRATES BILL.] On the motion of Mr. Peel, the House resolved itself into a committee upon the Bill for preserving the peace in Ireland; and the right hon. gentleman moved a clause, stating the allowances which he proposed to be granted to the superintendant magistrate, special constables, and clerks to be appointed to act under the Bill. Sir F. Flood spoke against the provisions of the Bill, while he bore testimony to the zeal and activity of the author of it, and that of the government with which he was connected. His right hon. friend and the Irish government were, in his judgment, entitled to the highest praise for their endeavours to preserve the peace of Ireland, and especially in suppressing that obnoxious institution the Catholic Board. But while he acknowledged this merit, he deprecated any attempt to cast an imputation upon the general tranquillity and loyalty of the Irish nation, to which he was sorry to understand that Great Britain was not generally partial. That four-fifths of Ireland was as loyal and tranquil as any part of England, he was fully prepared to assert, and therefore he disapproved of any intimation to the contrary, which this Bill appeared to convey. The hon. baronet animadverted upon the several clauses of the Bill, especially the provisions autho Sir Thomas Acland said, it was evident from what had been already stated, that many most glaring defects did not originate in the want of room, but in the want of attention in the magistrates. In the Borough compter, that wretched prison, so late as Saturday last, a man was obliged to lie the night through on boards for want of blankets. It had been objected by a right hon. gentleman, that there were no regulations in this Bill for the administration of the prison; but the Bill empow-rising the lord lieutenant, of his own will ered a committee to make such regulations as should be deemed necessary. The many improvements of late made in county gaols had not been made by Acts of parliament, but by country gentlemen meeting together, and putting their shoulders fairly to the work. With respect to the Borough compter, on the 18th of September, application had been made to the court of aldermen on behalf of the prisoners, as there were only 12 rugs for 22 persons. The number of persons was afterwards 35; and yet, during the whole of the last long and severe winter, not the smallest attention was paid to this application. Mr. Holford, in reply, said he saw no reason why the common council should (without any representation from the magistrates) to declare any district in a disturbed state, to subject that district to a superintendant magistrate, with a salary of 7001. a year; such other officers to be paid at the expence of the county in which such district might be placed. Of these provisions the hon. baronet expressed his decided disapprobation. Sir H. Parnell suggested the propriety of provisions authorizing magistrates in Ireland to appoint petty constables as they were appointed in this country, and also for the constitution of proper places for holding quarter sessions in the several counties. Mr. Bankes submitted to the consideration of government, whether it might not be necessary to adopt a stronger measure than this Bill imported, for the preserva tion of the peace of Ireland. If there should be occasion for such a measure, he trusted that it would be brought forward in due time before the conclusion of the session. Mr. Peel said, that it might be necessary to submit some such proposition to the committee, as his hon. friend had alluded to, but he was unwilling to mix any temporary measure with the consideration of the present Bill, which was brought forward with a view to the permanent preservation of the peace in Ireland, adding that Ireland was certainly not in such a state as could be wished. The present measure, however, had no reference to such a consideration. The clauses were agreed to; the House resumed, and the Report was ordered to be brought up to-morrow. ORDNANCE ESTIMATES.] The House having resolved itself into a Committee of Supply, for taking into consideration the Ordnance Estimates, suffered to fall into neglect, could not easily be replaced. It was not possible to speak in too high terms of the skill, the industry, and gallantry of the officers in this corps. He would next advert to what might be considered as an infant service, which had, however, arrived at a state of manhood; he meant the rocket corps. For this service, and for the wonders it had achieved in raising the military character of the country, we were indebted to an hon. friend of his, whom, as he did not see in his place, he would name, colonel Congreve. The hon. member then read several extracts from officers in the army, to shew the importance of the services which this corps had performed in Spain, and particularly at the passage of the Adour, where 40 men armed with rockets had put to flight 3,000 of the enemy. The whole of the officers in this corps would be retained, but there would be a reduction in the number of men. In the works at Woolwich there had been a con siderable reduction, and there would have been a greater, but from the necessity of giving the usual orders, and buying up materials as early in the year as possible. The whole amount was 64,000l. every shilling of which he thought himself prepared to justify. One article under this head, which it was proper to account for, was 6,000l. for barracks. The fact was, that these were intended for a new corps of Sappers and Miners, for whom the barracks at Woolwich were not found sufficient. For the royal powder mills there was a sum of 12,000l. which arose chiefly from the improvements which had been adopted in the different mills to prevent explosions. There had been also great im Mr. R. Ward stated, that considerable reductions would probably he expected in the estimates which he had to bring forward. In fact, a reduction would be found in the present year of 1,500,000l. This sum amounted to one quarter of the whole expence. It would be recollected that half of the year had passed in war, and there had not been an opportunity to reduce the different expences immediately. It was the beginning of April before it was known that Paris had been entered by the allies; soon after Buonaparté abdicated, and on the 19th of that month, orders were issued by the Master-General of the Ord-provements, and consequently some exnance to reduce the establishments in every possible way. The military department had been reduced one-fourth; the number of horse one third; and in the course of the year they would be reduced another third-that was from 7,000 to a third of that number. He would not pledge himself to an exact estimate of the future reduction of expence, but he would offer a rough calculation of the probable reduction under the peace establishment. This he conceived would be one half, exclusive of the total reduction of all the foreign corps. In the engineer corps all the officers would be retained. This arose from the peculiar nature of that service, which required a long and laborious course of education, and which, if once pence in the machinery at Woolwich. Of the magnitude and importance of these works, we might judge from the quantity" of arms and ammunition which had been sent abroad from the Laboratary at Woolwich, since the year 1808, among which were 834 pieces of cannon, 30,000 muskets, 77,000 barrels of gunpowder, and in the last year alone 320 cannon, 20,000 barrels of gunpowder, 48 millions of musket cartridges, 6 millions of flints, &c. Among the improvements in the machinery were two saws, which had cost from 16 to 20thousand pounds, and which had already created a saving of near $,000l. After various statements and details, the hon. gentleman concluded with observing, that he should not have detained the House se long, but that he was urged by a sense of duty to give every information and explanation in his power. The Chairman then proposed the vote of 1,746,000 on account, for discharging the Ordnance Estimates. accompanied it, had so destroyed the naval power of the enemy, that they never afterwards had been able to oppose themselves in any force against us. It was followed also by this most solid advantage, that, relieving us from the necessity of great naval effort, it enabled us to make those unexampled military exertions which had mainly contributed to bring the contest in which we were engaged to its late happy conclusion. On the glorious achieve Mr. W. Smith and Mr. Bankes testified their approbation of the general view that had been exhibited by the hon. gentle. man, though the last-named gentleman thought the peace establishment was larger than either the reason of the thing,ments of our army, it could not be necesor the state of the country, could allow. Mr. Wynn deprecated the idea of keeping up a very large military establish ment in this country in time of peace. Mr. Calcraft, without giving any decisive opinion on the subject, thought it not unlikely that a force of from 99 to 100,000 men, including all arms, would be found necessary even in time of peace. Mr. W. Smith, though he was satisfied that the hon. gentleman himself expected to be able to be much better than his word in the way of reduction, yet did not think it desirable that the idea of the expediency of keeping up a large force in the time of peace should be encouraged, as these were prophecies very apt to produce their own accomplishment. Mr. Bankes also deprecated the keeping up a very large force in time of peace. Mr. Wynn again said, that it would not be consistent with the interest, hardly with the safety, of the country, to keep up such a force as 100,000 men. The resolutions were then put, and carried. HOUSE OF LORDS. VOTE OF THANKS TO THE ARMY AND NAVY.] Earl Bathurst rose, in pursuance of his notice, to move the Thanks of the House to the army, navy, militia, local militia and volunteers of the united empire. The noble earl stated, that at the close of the last war, in 1802, a similar motion was unanimously agreed to. had no reason to believe that there would be any disinclination to repeat that vote on the present occasion. Nothing had since occurred to lead to any opinion, that the House were not disposed as much as ever to mark with their warmest approbation the conduct of our brave fleets and armies. The battle of Trafalgar, not less remarkable for the splendour of its success, than for the misfortune of the loss which sary to dwell, in order to induce their lordships to mark those achievements with their admiration. There never was a period in the history of any country, in which greater military valour and enterprise had been exhibited. And while on this subject, he could not refrain from observing, that the state of that army did immortal credit to the illustrious personage who was at its head. Without wishing to disparage any one, he must say, that the army was brought to such a low ebb at the time that the noble lord, who preceded his Royal Highness, held the chief command, that it required the utmost exertions of his Royal Highness's zeal, ability, and perseverance to introduce such measures as were calculated to rescue it from that state of destitution. Those exertions his Royal Highness had however made, and the result of a most upright and conscientious discharge of his duty had justified the sanguine expectations that had been formed of it. Of the services of the militia, the officers of whom had for so many years sacrificed the comforts of domestic life to the general good, no praise could be too great. Nor was it possible to speak in terms of too high approbation of the signal services rendered by the various corps of volunteers, all of whom emulated each other in their laudable and patriotic self-devotion. The noble earl concluded by moving, That the House did highly approve and acknowledge the gallantry, zeal, and ability, manifested by the officers and men of the army, &c. Earl Stanhope rose, not to disturb the unanimity of the vote, but to ask the noble lord at the head of the admiralty, how it was intended to employ our brave tars when they should be discharged? Something peculiarly right might be done with respect to them, and in relation to our fisheries. The fish on our coast might be made a source of such riches as no country ever possessed. So productive was this article of food, that in the instance of cod The Resolutions were received pro HOUSE OF COMMONS. fish, one individual was capable of producing one million. The greatest benefits formâ, and ordered to be printed, would, in his opinion, result from the employment of the sailors in these fisheries; and he had no doubt, that by their exertions the poor would be able to get that for a penny, for which they now paid a shilling. Lord Melville, with all deference to the noble earl, could not see the propriety of discussing such a subject as that which he had introduced on the present question. The motion was then agreed to, nem. dis. as were also similar motions with respect to the navy, the militia, and the volunteers. CORN LAWS.] Earl Stanhope congratulated the country, that the differences of opinion which existed on the subject of corn seemed to be diminishing. He was desirous to take the same course on this question that he had done with the bullion, namely, to move a resolution, with a view to its being printed, and subsequently considered. The Resolution which he now intended to move, might be considered after the report from the corn committee, if that report should be made during the present session; or if not, on due notice. It was as follows: "That to provide for the public an ample supply of provisions at all times, is a national object of the very first importance; but that such ample supply cannot at all times be provided, unless due and steady encouragement be given to the growers of corn and grain in Great Britain and Ireland, so as to enable them to carry on the improved systems of agriculture with advantage, at the same time that it enables them to sell the produce of their farms at moderate prices to the consumers. And that, in order to obtain the said essential united objects, it is highly expedient that those taxes which bear the most heavily, either upon the growers of corn and grain on the one hand, or upon the labouring part of the country on the other, be repealed, as far as the return of peace shall enable us to diminish our taxes, keeping inviolable faith with the public creditors, and providing for a sufficient peace establishment." The Earl of Hardwicke said, he had no objection to the printing and laying such resolutions on the table, but thought no discussion of the subject to which they referred should take place, until the report of the Committee should be before their lordships. Tuesday, July 5. PETITION OF ALEXANDER M'RAE.] Mr. Peter Moore said, he held in his hands a Petition from Alexander M'Rae, one of the persons lately convicted of a conspiracy against the Stock Exchange. He begged leave shortly to state to the House, the way in which the Petition came into his hands, and the reasons which induced him to undertake to present it to the House. He considered it to be the duty of all representatives in parliament to be open at all times to communication with their constituents. On this occasion, the petitioner had sought out him in this great metropolis, as his representative in parliament, and found access to him. The petitioner was supposed by the public in general, and by many members of the House, to have gone abroad. The petitioner stated to him, that he was ready to bring forward evidence in support of all the allegations contained in his Petition. He (Mr. Moore) told him, that he conceived it to be his duty to present all petions from every description of individuals, drawn up in proper and respectful language, and that, as he saw nothing exceptionable in his Petition, he would have no hesitation in presenting it. The Petition stated, that a great public grievance and injustice had taken place; that one set of men had been punished for the crimes of another, and the petitioner preferred to come to the bar and prove the allegations contained in his Petition. He prayed to be heard at the bar of the House. He begged leave to assure the House, that the Petition itself and the object of it were totally unknown to the noble lord whose expulsion was that day to be moved, who had no conception either that such a Petition had found its way to him, or that it was his intention to present it to the House. Mr. Bathurst said, as the hon. member had stated the general purport of the Petition, it appeared to him of a nature to call for instantaneous observation without waiting to hear it read. This Alexander M'Rae was one of the persons lately convicted of a conspiracy; and his proposal was no less than to be heard at the bar of the House, against a sentence of a court of justice. The hon. member had stated, that the grievance complained of in the |