but must trust to his own imperfect recoltion of them. The foreigner in question had certainly wished to lodge an appeal, not indeed before the privy council, but before a magistrate. To a magistrate he was therefore taken, who, upon hearing the facts detailed against him, did not think it consistent with his duty to interfere on his behalf. With regard to his papers, he should give a very short, and he trusted, a satisfactory answer. They were brought to the office for the home department, and forwarded from thence to the ultimate destination of the individual arrested by his orders, and according to his directions. When they were restored to him, the individual complained that they were restored with their seals broken. This complaint at tracted the notice of the British government, and in consequence letters were written to the agent of the packets at Harwich, (from which place the papers had been sent to Cuxhaven), to learn in what state these papers were when they arrived at, and when they were sent from, Harwich. The answer returned was, that the portfolio which contained them was in a sealed envelop, and had been sent from Harwich in the same state in which it ar rived there. From Cuxhaven they were sent to Hamburgh, and from Hamburgh to the individual in question. Similar inquiries were made of the agents of the post office at Cuxhaven and Hamburgh, as had been made of the agent of the packets at Harwich, and a similar answer was invariably returned. When the portfolio was delivered to the individual in question, he refused to break the envelop, except in the presence of a certain foreign general; he was introduced into his company in consequence of this refusal, and there he himself broke the very seals which he now insinuated were broken by others.

Mr. F. Douglas said, that as the answer returned by the different post-agents was merely confined to the fact of the papers being in the same state as they were when they left the office of the home department, he wished to ask the hon. gentleman, whether the portfolio was or was not unlocked, during the time it remained under the care of the home department.

Mr. H. Clive replied, that it went back to the owner in precisely the same state in which it was brought, except with the addition of a paper cover, fastened with the government seal.

The

OXFORD ELECTION PETITION.] adjourned debate on the motion made on the 28th of January, "That the Petition do lie on the table," being resumed,

Sir Arthur Piggott rose to say a few words on the petition from certain inhabitants of the city of Oxford, presented on a former evening, which complained of the interference of the duke of Marlborough in the election of representatives for that city in parliament. He observed, that as this petition had stated that 2,500/. had been expended by the noble duke to secure the election of general St. John; and as it also mentioned other specific acts of corruption, the House had only one course left them to pursue. The Grenville act expressly declares, that when any petition, complaining of an undue election and return, shall be presented to the House, it shall be referred to a committee gifted with sundry powers, which are afterwards described. Now the petition before the House complained both of an undue election and an undue return, and therefore the House had no discretionary power regarding the manner in which it was to be treated. He did not mean to deny to the House the power of punishing offenders and vindicating its privileges, either by its own acts, or by instituting suits at law; but the present petition fell under a particular act, according to the provisions of which its merits must be tried. It would therefore be impossible for the House to accede to the present motion, which was, that the petition do lie on the table: but should that motion be withdrawn, as he trusted it would, then the regular order would be made as usual in cases of petitions complaining of undue returns.

Mr. Denman said, that after the consideration he had given this subject since he had presented the petition, he was ready to view it in the same light as the hon. and learned gentleman. He therefore wished to withdraw the petition, for the purpose of enabling the petitioners to make their own election of the course they should take.

Mr. Bankes concurred with the hon. and learned gentlemen, that the House could not properly take cognizance of the petition in the manner it was presented, since it was, to all intents and purposes, an election petition.

The Speaker observed, that the act of parliament said, that when an election petition had been presented, an order

COMMITTEE OF SUPPLY-NAVY ESTIMATES, &c.] The House having resolved itself into a Committee of Supply, to which certain Army and Navy Estimates. were referred,

Sir G. Warrender said, he should only state, in moving the estimates for the navy, that the number of seamen would be the same as last year; yet a considerable saving had taken place in that branch of the public expenditure; and that saving had been effected by placing the whole of the naval force kept up in a state of activity, which supplied the deficiency of numbers and rendered their increase un

necessary. He then moved, 1. "That 20,000 men be employed for the sea service, for thirteen lunar months, from the 1st Jan. 1819, including 6,000 royal marines. 2. That 565,500l., be granted for wages of the said 20,000 men, at the rate of 21. 3s. 6d. per man per month. 3. That 520,000l., be granted for victuals for the said 20,000 men, at the rate of 21. per man per month. 4. That 533,000l. be granted for the wear and tear of the ships in which the said 20,000 men are to serve, at the rate of 21. 1s. per man per month. 5. That 91,000l., be granted for ordnance for sea service on board the ships in which the said 20,000 men are to serve, at the rate of 7s. per man per month."

Mr. Birch begged to take that opportunity of putting a question to ministers, whether it was in their contemplation to afford any relief to the navy, from the hardships of impressment? No season for such a proceeding could be more propitious than the present, when we were in a state of profound peace with all the world. The system of impressment was a stain upon the country.

Sir G. Warrender said, he was well aware of the importance of the subject in all its bearings, and hoped that the House would not expect him to give any positive and distinct answer on the sudden. It was certainly a question to which ministers had turned their most anxious attention; but they felt also the danger of holding out any thing that might lead to misapprehension. Impressment was a part of the ancient system of the country, and though it certainly was attended with disadvantages and inconveniences, it had produced, he believed, far greater benefits than any evils it had occasioned.

He

had it in his power, however, to state, that effective measures had been taken to

ameliorate the condition of seamen, and by means of a registry of those who were receiving a sort of half-pay, to secure on an emergency a supply of sailors well acquainted with, and well fitted for, their duties. He trusted that the hon. gentleman would not require him to commit himself and ministers further at the present moment.

The Resolutions were agreed to.

Lord Palmerston then moved, "That a sum, not exceeding one million, be granted to his majesty, towards defraying the charge of his majesty's Land Forces for service at home and abroad (excepting the regiments employed in the Territorial Possessions of the East India Company), for the year 1819."

Mr. Calcraft said, that he did not intend to oppose the motion, but he wished for a little explanation. The votes of the last year would have been exhausted on the 25th of December, and he begged to be informed how the operations of government had gone on from that date to the present without any new vote by parliament. At least a month's pay had become due to the army subsequent to the 25th of December last, and in what way had that been furnished?

The Chancellor of the Exchequer observed, that as the hon. member's observations applied to all parts of the public service, he should beg leave to answer them. It was obvious, that if government were limited in the application of any grant to the exact period for which it had been voted, parliament would be always obliged to meet previous to the last day to which the votes extended. But his majesty's ministers always conceived they had the power of applying any sums that might remain, after discharging the expenses of the year, to that branch of the public service for which they had been granted. In the estimates, the charges were not made prospectively, but retrospectively, and on that account, balances, in many instances, necessarily remained, and a running account was kept up from one year to another. He did not see any irregularity in thus applying the surpluses of public money, provided the sums granted were always expended on that particular part of the service for which they had been voted. The Resolution was agreed to.

EXCHEQUER BILLS.] The Chancellor of the Exchequer then moved, "That a

sum, not exceeding 24,954,300l., be granted to his majesty, to pay off and discharge exchequer bills made out by virtue of an act of the last session, for raising 11,600,000l. by exchequer bills, for the year 1818; and also by another act of the same session, for raising 30 millions by exchequer bills, for the year 1818, outstanding and unprovided for." Mr. Grenfell did not rise to make any opposition to the motion, but he availed himself of the opportunity to press upon the attention of the House the necessity of obtaining for the public a participation in the profits of the Bank-profits arising from the balances of the public money in their hands. The House were aware that two loans, as the Bank termed them, one of six millions, the other of three millions, had been made by the Bank to the public. The loan of three millions was negotiated in consequence of the investigations of the committee of that House in the year 1807, when it was concluded between Mr. Perceval and the Bank of England, that such a sum should be advanced, free of interest, to the public, on the admitted ground of the right of the public to participate in profits wholly arising from the large balances belonging to it, of which that body availed themselves to their own advantage in the same way as any other bankers did. The amount of these balances was between ten and eleven millions, and had continued undiminished until the year 1817. He regretted that the hon. member for Corfe Castle and also the right hon. gentleman at the head of the department of woods and forests were not in their places, as he could appeal to them whether he was not fully authorized in asserting that this loan of three millions was concluded on the express condition of being granted without interest, and as a compensation to the public for its share in the participation of the profits of the Bank. The period of that loan of three millions without interest expired in April last, and as it had not been paid off, the country was now giving the Bank interest upon it to the amount of 120,000l. per annum. At this very moment, too, the Bank were deriving enormous advantages from the balances of public money in their custody, which, if in the hands of private bankers, would produce not less than from 550,000l. to 600,000l. per annum, and without affording the nation the slightest participation therein. He asked the right hon. gentle

man how he could give his assent to such a contract? He could scarcely believe his eyes when he saw in the accounts of the last year 4 per cent charged on the sum of three millions from April, an item of 120,000l. against the public, merely because the Bank allowed it to draw out of their hands three millions out of nine, or ten of their own money. He merely threw out those few remarks then, intending to speak at large on the subject at another opportunity. He should be happy to hear of any arrangement by which those large balances could be rendered available to the public.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer observed, that as an occasion would so soon occur for fully discussing the concerns of the Bank, he did not mean at present to enter into that subject at any length; but upon some points to which the hon. gentleman had adverted, he had no hesitation in explaining the views of government. With respect to the loan from the Bank of three millions, in 1818, there was a new arrangement in contemplation upon that loan and the interest granted for it, which he would take an opportunity of stating to the House to-morrow. Then, as to the public balances in the hands of the Bank, there had been some communications respecting them between government and the directors, and the object was, to make such arrangements that the public balances should in future be applied to the public service. Here he thought it right to state, for the correction of some floating errors, that the amount of the public balances in the hands of the Bank were by no means equal to what many gentlemen appeared to think. A great reduction had taken place, in the amount of those balances, in consequence of the termination of the war and the reduction of the public expenditure, and partly also, in consequence of the economical arrangements of his majesty's government. Whether any retrospective measure should be adopted with respect to interest upon such public balances as had been heretofore in the hands of the Bank, he would not then say; but he could distinctly state, that it was in contemplation to make prospective arrangements for the application of all public balances to the public service. He thought it necessary to correct a mistake which had gone into circulation, with regard to the sum due from government to the Bank. That sum did, as was stated,

amount to eight millions; but of that sum, five millions were already paid, and provision would be made, out of the ways and means for the year, for the liquidation of the remainder. He was sorry for the misconception which had gone abroad, as to what he had said on a former evening upon this subject; but that misconception was, no doubt, owing to his not having been distinctly heard.

Mr. Grenfell expressed his satisfaction at hearing that it was at length determined by the right hon. gentleman to propose that arrangement upon the subject of public balances, which he himself had so long and so eagerly sought to establish.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer declared, that it had always been his object to propose such an arrangement, but that he felt the difficulty of carrying it into effect, without the approbation and cooperation of the Bank; and he was now happy to say, that the directors fully con curred in his views.

Mr. P. Moore observed, that the right hon. gentleman had not attempted to controvert any point advanced by his hon. friend. On the contrary, the right hon. gentleman had expressed his intention to adopt the suggestions of his hon. friend, and to act upon his views. This he had heard with peculiar satisfaction. But there was one point connected with this subject, to which he was surprised to find his hon. friend had omitted to make any allusion. His hon. friend had forcibly animadverted upon the extraordinary transaction of the Bank lending three millions to the public without interest, on the condition, forsooth, that the public balances amounting, on an average of several years, to ten millions, should be allowed to remain in its hands. But his hon. friend had omitted to ask, why those balances should be at all deposited in the Bank? Such a system of deposit appeared to him inconsistent with the provision of the several appropriation acts: upon what ground was it that the money appropriated by these acts, was not advanced according as it was required, for the use of the army, the navy, or any other department of the public service, for which it was voted, instead of being transferred to the Bank? Why should not such advances be made by the exchequer itself, to each of the public departments, instead of being sent to the Bank? Such a system appeared to him quite incomprehensible upon any fair public grounds. The chancellor of the

exchequer had now shown what use could be made of those balances. He had shown that what was deficient in one department was made up out of the surplus of another. But instead of issuing five millions for the service of the navy and army, why did he not take them from those balances?

The Chancellor of the Exchequer insisted, that he had never said that the surplus of one department had been applied to the service of another. However proper or economical such a plan might be, it would not be authorized, and he should therefore consider it a breach of his duty. All that the executive government had considered itself at liberty to do, was, to apply any part of the sums granted by parliament for any service, and which might remain unexhausted, to that particular service, beyond the time for which it had been voted.

The Resolution was agreed to.

Mr.

WILD ANIMALS RECLAIMED.] Lawson, pursuant to his notice, rose to call the attention of the House to the state of the law as it respected wild animals reclaimed from their original barbarism and natural ferocity. He was aware that he might be exposing himself to some degree of ridicule by leading the House into such a discussion. There were honourable gentlemen on the other side of the House, whom, however, he did not then see in their places, who, from their manner of treating his observations on a recent occasion, might perhaps allege that he had undertaken this subject from a fellow feeling, he being himself feræ naturæ. It was very far from his wish, he could assure them, to increase the number of penal enactments, or add to the severity of a code, against which the sentiments of the public were now so loudly proclaimed. He had not been hunting through the volumes of our criminal jurisprudence for the purpose either of filling up chasms, or lopping off exuberances. He had been induced to submit his present proposition, not by any impatience to become a legislator, but because he thought the law defective in this particular case. At a late trial during the last assizes at Hertford, a man was indicted for stealing a number of tame ferrets. The jury found him guilty; but the case being referred to the judges, who were just equal in number to the jury, but who had not the advantage of being starved into unanimity, they unani