Catholics of this United Kingdom to ob PETITIONS RESPECTING THE ROMAN CATHOLICS FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF OX-tain the full enjoyment of political power, FORD THE CITY OF OXFORD AND SION COLLEGE.] Sir William Scott presented a Petition from the chancellor, masters, and scholars, of the University of Oxford, setting forth, ! and to remove all the restraints and incapacities to which they are subject by the laws now in force against them; and praying, that the statutes constituting and establishing those restraints and incapacities may still be preserved inviolate, in as much as those statutes appear to have been devised by the wisdom of our ancestors as the best and surest means of giving permanency and security to the Protestant government of this country in Church and State, and as, in the firm belief of the petitioners, the same, or equally as strong reasons, now exist for the continuance of those statutes as when they were enacted." Sir William Curtis presented a Petition from the London clergy, incorporated by the title of "The president and fellows of Sion College within the city of London," setting forth, "That the petitioners can never cease to be, in every just and proper sense of the expression, the firm advocates of religious toleration, but that they have always contemplated, and still continue to contemplate, with extreme anxiety, the efforts incessantly made to overturn the defences of our civil and religious establishments, by the admission of persons professing the Roman Catholic religion, not only to offices of the highest trust and authority, but even to the power Mr. Lockhart intimated that, when the of framing laws for the government of this Petition should come to be taken into conProtestant Church and State; and that sideration, he would support the prayer of the Petitioners do verily believe that the the Petitioners. restrictions and disabilities to which the Roman Catholics in Ireland are subject, are still indispensably requisite for the maintenance and security of the Protestant go vernment, and especially of the Protestant Church, as it is now by law established in that part of the United Kingdom; and that the petitioners see also much reason to apprehend that the removal of these restrictions and disabilities would lead, and they fear, by direct and necessary consequence, to a removal of all restrictions and disabilities whatever on account of religion, and to an entire abrogation of the oaths, declarations, and tests, by law required of every person admitted to sit or vote in either House of Parliament, or to fill of fices of trust and power, which the petitioners still humbly conceive to be es⚫sentially necessary to the safety both of our civil and religious establishments; and praying, that the House, in its wisdom, will be pleased to maintain those Jaws, and preserve inviolate those securities which long experience has proved to be most congenial with the character, and under Divine Providence, most conducive to the stability of our happy constitution in Church and State." "That the petitioners, having witnessed the efforts repeatedly made of late years to procure further indulgences for persons professing the Roman Catholic Religion, cannot but contemplate with great solicitude the probability of those efforts being speedily renewed; and that the peti tioners, therefore, regard it as their bounden duty humbly to express their most serious apprehension of the dangers likely to arise from the removal of those restrictions and disabilities to which the Roman Catholics are now subject, and from enabling them to hold offices of the highest trust and authority, and even to sit in the imperial parliament, to legislate for a Protestant Church and State; and that the petitioners, while they are the firm advocates of religious toleration as recognized by the laws of this country, and desirous that its blessings may continue, cannot but feel alarmed at the evils to be apprehended from depriving the established Church of that mild ascendancy which it now enjoys, and they cannot but deprecate the adoption of measures which would, as they conceive, be a departure, in a leading and important instance, from the acknowledged principles of our constitution; and that the petitioners are humbly of opinion, that the restrictions and disabilities now subsisting with respect to the Roman Catholics, are not in themselves either oppressive or unjust; and that they continue to be no less indispensably requisite than heretofore, for the maintenance and security of the Church establishment, against those whose principles, when carried into effect, have ever been found incompatible with true Christian toleration, and subversive of civil and religious liberty; and that, in stating this their humble opinion, the petitioners cannot but recollect, that the safeguards of which they deprecate the removal have been proved by long experience to be necessary, that they were established by our ancestors at a period when our laws and liberties were fixed on a solid basis, and the crown of these dominions was limited, by the Act of Settlement, to the Protestant succession; and praying, that the House will, in its wisdom, continue to preserve those safeguards which, under Divine Providence, have been the firm support of our national constitution in Church and State, and of the title of our revered monarch, and his august family, to the throne of this United Kingdom." And the said Petitions were ordered to lie upon the table. RESOLUTIONS RELATING TO PRIVATE BILLS.] Lord Castlereagh moved, That the Standing Order of this House, of the 18th day of June 1811, "That all Petitions for Private Bills be presented within fourteen days after the first Friday in the next and every future session of parliament," might be read; and the same being read; Resolved-1. That this House will not receive any Petition for Private 'Bills after the 18th instant. 2. That no Private Bill be read the first time after the 8th of March. 3. That this House will not receive any Report of such Private Bill after the 10th of May. RESOLUTION RESPECTING CLASSING AND READING ELECTION PETITIONS.] A Petition, complaining of an undue election and return, being offered to be presented; Resolved, "That whenever several Petitions, complaining of undue elections or returns of members to serve in parliament, shall at the same time be offered to be presented, Mr. Speaker shall direct such Petitions to be all of them delivered at the table, where they shall be classed, and read in the following order, viz. Such Petitions as complain that no return has been made of a member or members to serve in parliament, in the first class. Such as complain of double returns, in the second. Such as complain of the election or return of members returned to serve for two or more places, in the third. Such as complain of returns only, in the fourth; and the residue of the said Petitions, in the fifth class. And the names of the places to which such Petitions (contained in the first class, if more than one) shall relate, shall, in the first place, be written on several pieces of paper of an equal size; and the same pieces of paper shall be then rolled up, and put by the clerk into a box or glass, and then publicly drawn by the clerk; and the said Petitions shall be read in the order in which the said names shall be drawn, and then the like method shall be observed with respect to the several Petitions contained in the second, third, fourth, and fifth classes, respectively." And it appearing, by the return book, that there were no cases falling within the first and second classes; Resolved, "That this House will not, before the adjournment of the House for the recess at Christmas, take into consideration any of the Petitions presented, complaining of undue elections or returns of members to serve in parliament." SHAFTESBURY ELECTION-PEtition of MR. WETHERELL, &c.] A Petition of Charles Wetherell, of Lincoln's Inn, esq. and Edward Kerrison, esq. and also of John Cooper, of the borough of Shaftesbury, ironmonger, and William Swyer, of the same place, banker, was delivered in, and read; setting forth, "That, at the last election of burgesses to serve for the said borough in parliament, held on the 7th of October last, the petitioners Charles Wetherell and Edward Kerrison, together with Richard Bateman Robson, esq. and Hudson Gurney, esq. were candidates to be elected; and the petitioners John Cooper and William Swyer had a right to vote at such election; and that the petitioners Charles Wetherell and Edward Kerrison had the majority of legal votes at such election, and ought to have been returned duly elected to serve in parliament for the said borough; and that many legal votes tendered for the said petitioners were rejected; and a great number of persons, not legally entitled to vote, were admitted to vote at the said election for the said R. B. Robson and H. Gurney; and sundry Votes unduly entered for them; by which | means they obtained a colourable majority over the petitioners C. Wetherell and E. Kerrison, and have been unduly returned to serve for the said borough; and that, at the election aforesaid, certain voters were bribed to give their voices in favour of the said R. B. Robson and H. Gurney; and the said R. B. Robson and H. Gurney were guilty of divers acts of bribery and treating, by themselves and agents, at such election, and gave, and promised to give, by themselves, and agents on their behalf, rewards, provision, meat, drink and entertainment, to persons having voice at such election, in order to be elected to serve for the said borough in parliament; and by such, and other undue and unlawful practices, procured themselves to be returned as aforesaid; and praying, that the House will be pleased to take the premises into consideration, and to declare the petitioners C. Wetherell and E. Kerrison duly elected, and that they ought to have been returned for the said borough, or to give the petitioners such other relief as shall seem fit." Ordered to be taken into consideration upon the 9th of February next. whoever they might be, a great influence over the debates of the House. He hoped, however, that members would still insist on the right they enjoyed in good old times, namely, that of making motions whenever they thought proper, and without notice too. He, for one, would always claim that undoubted right, and always exercise it according to his discretion. Lord Millon also protested against it as contrary to the usage of parliament, and as tending to cramp the proceedings of the House. The motion was then carried. PRINCE REGENT'S SPEECH ON OPENING THE SESSION.] On the question that the Report of the Address, in answer to the Prince Regent's Speech on opening the session, be brought up, Mr. Creevey rose and observed, that more time ought to be allowed for the consideration of the many important topics touched on in the Prince Regent's Speech, and especially the three wars in which we were engaged, the policy of which he was not yet prepared to approve. The Speech contained an omission, which was also, in his view of the subject, very important. RESOLUTION RESPECTING ORDERS AND The Prince Regent had expressed his reliNOTICES.] Lord Castlereagh, pursuant to ance, that the House of Commons would notice, moved to revive the regulations furnish the supplies, but without at all adwhich had been adopted last session, re- verting to the perilous state of our finances specting the Orders of the Day entered in and commerce. That this was an unusual the book, and the Notices for Motions. and ill-advised proceeding, he referred to His lordship observed, that the business of some former Addresses to prove. Did the House had been much facilitated by set-the ministers know nothing of the state of ting apart two days in the week, in which the finances, had they withheld all knowthe Orders of the Day should have the pre-ledge of our commercial distresses from cedency of motions, without, however, depriving any hon. member of the right of calling the attention of the House to any subject he might think proper. The noble lord moved in consequence, "That in this present session of parliament all Orders of the Day, set down in the Order Book for Mondays and Fridays, shall be disposed of before the House will proceed upon any motions of which Notices shall be entered in the Order Book." Mr. Whitbread observed, that this motion was couched in the same terms as that against which he had contended last session. He did not mean, in consequence, to renew in the present instance the arguments he had used on that occasion; but he would renew his protest against a novel measure, which, while it produced no manner of advantage, gave the ministers, the Prince Regent, or did they deny the existence of such distresses? The House, he thought, would be better employed in inquiring into the financial state of the country than in voting the proposed Address; for it had been acknowledged by the right hon. the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and by a right hon. gentleman of great financial knowledge, who unfortunately was not now a member of the House, (Mr. Tierney), that the present system could not be persevered in, and as a remedy the Chancellor of the Exchequer's nostrum was, a tax on capital!— How, in the present state of things, could they think of pledging themselves to the support of the war in the peninsula, on its present scale? What he knew was, that our expences last year were 121 millions; that notwithstanding the resolutions of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, which declared the paper money to be equal in value to gold, the public annuitants had been robbed of one third of their incomes, and that, not for the benefit of the public, but for the benefit of the Bank Company; and then the effect of this system must be, the annihilation of all stock-holders. These were his reasons for opposing the present Address.-The hon. member, after having adverted to the parliamentary farce attending the opening of parliament -two well-dressed gentlemen coming down to the House with speeches in their pockets; well-written essays or themes proposed by ministers-concluded by moving as an amendment, that the Report be brought up this day s'ennight. Mr. Fremantle further impressed upon the House the necessity of inquiring into the present state of the public expenditure, before the Report at the bar was agreed to. As to the general subject of the royal Speech, he was decidedly of opinion, that our prospects at the present moment were not nearly so bright as at the commencement of the last session of parliament. The war in which we had injudiciously plunged ourselves with America, was in no degree counterbalanced by the peace that had been concluded with Russia. With regard to the peninsula, he was persuaded that, by the battle of Salamanca we had gained nothing but glory, and that the freedom of Spain was no nearer in its accomplishment than when the marquis of Wellington was posted at Torres Vedras. At the same time that he disapproved of the Address, he acknowledged that he could not vote for the Amendment that had been last night offered to supersede it, and which recommended propositions for peace to the Prince Regent. He thought such a proposition coming from the House, would inevitably defeat its own object, and lower the country in the eyes of the enemy. Mr. Robinson was surprised that the hon. gentleman who had just sat down, could have advanced that the late campaign in the peninsula had left our affairs in that quarter in a worse situation. This gross error, into which many other honourable gentlemen had fallen, arose from their considering the campaign as beginning at the battle of Salamanca, whereas, in fact, it had begun at the taking of Ciudad Rodrigo; and this was the only fair point of view in which it could be considered. The hon. gentleman then followed the operations of lord Wellington, from the taking of that town. It was true, he had been compelled to retire from before Burgos, and to evacuate Madrid, but it was absurd to expect constant success in war; and he was sorry to observe, that on all occasions, we were too prone to be exalted or depressed beyond measure, by success, or partial failures. The fact was, that the campaign so much blamed, had driven the French from a great part of the western provinces of Spain, had forced them to evacuate the south, and to raise the siege of Cadiz, the capture of which they considered as of such importance in a military point of view, that they sat two years and a half before that place, regardless of every other advantage they might have obtained by concentrating their troops.-As to America, he would venture to assert, that, as in the first instance no means were neglected of preserving peace, so it would appear that no exertions had been wanting to prosecute the war when it was found inevitable. Mr. Rose said, he wished to correct a mistake of the hon. gentleman who had moved the amendment-a mistake which had occasioned much misconception out of doors. His right hon. friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, had never proposed a tax on capital, and from all the attention which he himself had given to the subject, he was convinced, that such a tax was altogether impracticable. A right reverend prelate (the bishop of Llandaff) had indeed written a pamphlet on the subject some years ago, but still, after the most mature consideration, he remained satisfied of the impossibility and impracti cability of such a tax. Mr. Stuart Wortley deprecated the idea of making the miseries of the people the grounds of suing for peace, as it would debase the nation, raise the demands of the enemy, and abandon all the fruits of the struggle in which so much money and so much treasure had been lavished. Having said thus much, he trusted, on the other hand, that ministers would pay due regard to the real sufferings of the people, and not let any opportunity escape by which they might procure a peace consistent with the honour, safety, and interests of the country. Lord Milton earnestly called upon the House to reflect upon the ruinous tendency of prosecuting the war with America. He believed that the two governments were decidedly hostile, while the Mr. Stephen warmly resisted the statement of the noble lord, that there was any irritation in the illustrious person at the head of the government towards the Amecan people. The Speech delivered only yesterday contradicted the assertion, for it breathed only a spirit of amity and con two nations were as decidedly pacific. | ately demand an abandonment of our He lamented to see the person at the head system of blockade, and a renunciation of the government guided so implicitly of the right of search. Could the noble by his enmity to the United States. This lord find any way to negociate with Amemight be a bold assertion, but he was rica without abandoning our rights; or not afraid to declare what he sincerely was he prepared to say that we ought to thought. abandon them? With regard to the concessions made to America by ministers, it was a point on which he differed from them.-The hon. and learned gentleman then entered into a detailed discussion of the Orders in Council and our blockade system, and observed, that to exaggerated statements of civil war and revolution among our manufacturers, might be attributed the concessions to America-and, to those concessions, the present war. A heavy responsibility attached to the real authors of this unnatural war between two countries united in origin, in language, and in manners, and who were, besides, the only countries in the world where civil liberty existed: but he saw no prospect of any peace consistent even with our existence, since the measure of Ame rican demands was determined by the unjust and unlimited aggressions of France. ciliation. Lord Milton explained, that he had been misunderstood; he had no such allusion as the hon. and learned gentleman had imputed to him. Mr. Stephen resumed; he was satisfied that he had been mistaken, and that the noble lord did not mean what he had erroneously attributed to him. He would -not enter into minate points, but he would assert in opposition to the noble lord, that an equal spirit of irritation did not prevail in the two governments; on the contrary, a friendly disposition had ever been displayed by the government of Great Bri- Mr. Wilberforce deprecated any intentain. The statement of our wrongs was tion on the part of the House to call on not intended to_irritate, but to conciliate the ministers to pledge themselves to seek by conviction. For his own part, however peace, as such conduct would defeat the much he might be interested in the dis-object it professed to have in view. It cussion of the question of America, he entertained no personal feeling of irritation, but the Orders in Council he had defended with his tongue and his pen and he could appeal to authorities across the Atlantic, for testimonies of his moderate and respectful language towards the government of America. Had the noble lord forgotten the language used to Mr. Erskine, when he, bearing conces- sions to them, was received with taunts, instead of the terms of amity and conciliation? Had he forgotten the treatment of Mr. Jackson, who was driven from the country without being permitted to wait for the instructions of his government? The noble lord must have a short memory, if he did not recollect that the govern- Mr. Ponsonby, although he generally ment of America had declared, that they coincided with his hon. friend who was expected the treaty of Utrecht should be the mover of the present amendment, yet considered the maritime law of nations differed from him on this occasion. By a law that would render the navy of Eng-receiving the report, the House by no Jand useless, except to guard her own coast. When, by a fatal event, it became - probable that the Orders in Council would be rescinded, did not America abandon that ground of complaint, and immedi would perhaps create a popular cry in the country for peace, and raise the demand of those with whom we should have to negociate. He did not doubt that the ministers participated in the wishes of the people, as they regarded peace; there appeared no disinclination on the part of government to negociate, and as our pros pects on the continent were now somewhat better than heretofore, he hoped those prospects would not be blasted by any premature solicitations on the part of the House. He knew of but one instance of a petition to the king to make peace, being carried in that House, and in that instance it had been productive of more evil than good. means adopted the opinions contained in the Address; it was, therefore, unnecessary to postpone its consideration: the Address was a natural consequence of the Speech, and resembled a mere common |