provifions, though he was no friend to technical diftinctions. The difcuffing the conduct of public men and public meafures was the foundation of British Freedom; and this the Bill entirely fapped. No one would deay but much corrupt influence exifted in the Lords and Commons; and the liberty of difcuffing and complaining of this was the foul of Liberty, which was loft by the Bill, Mr Pitt rofe and faid, he certainly was not difpofed to detain the House unneceffarily, especially as he had before fpoke pretty largely upon the fubject.If we were ready to imitate the glorious conduct of our ancestors, in the expofure of our lives and fortunes for the defence of our country, furely we must be equally ready to follow their wifdom in legiflative precautions; let the fame principle be applied to pass fome falutary law, which fhould have a preventative effect. They, under the preffure of like circumftances, framed new laws to the exigencies of the times. Gentlemen muft remember, while even that Bill of Rights, which now was faid to be violated, was fresh in their memories, they paffed laws against thofe who fhould, by advised fpeaking, or writing, difpute the title of the then poffeffor of the Throne, under no lefs penalty than that of being guilty of High Treafon. He admitted and recognized the principle, that even the loweft and poorest had a right to affem ble to difcufs their grievances, and to petition either the Throne, or either of the two Houses of Parliament, and this right remains, provided public notice of fuch Meeting be given. "Here arose the queftion of the prefence of the Magiftrate. His prefence was required to prevent its becoming a Seditious Meeting, under the pretence of confidering grievances. It had been objected to fubmitting this to the difcretion of à Magiftrate more than the other; but in point of fact, the other was called by a Magiftrate, and under his direction. The fubjecting the latter to the difcretion of a Magiftrate, was aflimilating it in its conftitution to the other Meeting called by the Sheriff. The other point related to the difperfing fuch Meeting at the difcretion of the Magif trate. He addreffed bimfelf to the House upon a fubject which they had often decided-Did they feel the danger of certain Meetings? If they did, they muft agree to the neceffity of fome fuch regulation, and it was exercifed as all other duties, fubject to a responsibility in the execution of it. Nov. 18. The House refolved itself into a Committee of the whole House, on the high price of corn, Mr Ryder in the Chair. Mr Pitt faid, that in confideration of the Report of the Select Committee, it became the principal object to encourage the importation of corn, by feveral bounties, from different parts of the world. The Refolutions of the Select Committee were read by the Chairman. Progrefs reported, and leave given to fit further. 19. The order of the day being read for the fecond reading of the Bill for the better fecurity of his Majefty's Perfon and Government, Mr Fox rofe. He faid that he hoped it would not be understood, from his declining to enter into a debate on the fecond reading of the Bill, that he did not mean to persevere in his oppofition, to it in every ftage; he perceived alfo that a confiderable number of Members were abfent, who would have an opportunity of debating it more fully when the Motion fhould be made for the Speaker to leave the chair: he should thefore defer faying more on it at prefent. The House then divided on the fecond reading: For it Against it Majority 64 22 42 The Bill was then read a second time. 20. General M'Leod moved for a return of all the General or Staff Officers that ferved under the Earl of Moira, whether natives or foreigners, up to the first of Auguft laft;-and for the fame under the Count D'Artois and Prince of Condé, employed in the fervice and pay of his Britannic Majefty:-which were agreed to. The Houfe refolved itself into a Committee of Supply of the whole House on the Army Eftimates; Mr Stanley in the Chair. Mr Windham (Secretary at War) faid, that the amount of all the forces was 207,000 207,000 men, of all defcriptions. The general refult of the whole was, that the number was lefs by 25,000 men than laft year, which was a faving of 800,0171. odd. This was what appeared to him; but if any thing else occurred to any Hon. Gentleman, he was ready to give every information in his power. A long and defultory debate now took place between the Oppofition Members and the other fide of the Houfe. A ftrong oppofition was made to the Fencible Cavalry, which being put to the vote, there appeared, For continuing them Against it Majority 62 14 The different Refolutions, with the number of men annexed, and the fums to be applied, were then put and agreed 20. 23. Several Petitions were prefented for and against the two Bills now pending in Parliament, viz. Bills for the better Security of his Majefty's Perfon, &c. and the Seditious Meeting Bill. On the return of the Speaker, Mr Sturt presented a Petition from the London Correfponding Society, figned by upwards of 10,000 names; among thefe, he said, were the names of many citizens of refpectability. Mr Sturt introduced the Petition with obferving, He would read to the Houfe what was truly a bit of Treafon, viz. an Extract from a pamphlet entitled "Thoughts on the English Government," and faid to be written by a Mr Reeves, in which he faid, "that the Monarchy of England was like a goodly tree, of which the Lords and Commons were merely branches; that they might be lopped off, and that the Conftitution of England would still go on without their aid."-This, he faid, was a moft infamous libel on the Conftitution of this country, and every man who did his duty in that Houfe, ought to refent fo grofs a violation of the Privileges of that Houfe, and profecute fo daring an offender. A long and defultory debate enfued, in which Mr Whitbread, Mr Lambton, Mr Sturt, Mr Martin, Mr Grey, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr Fox, Mr M. Robinfon, Mr Powis, General Tarleton, General M'Leod, Mr Jekyll, &c. took a part; after which a Motion was made, whether the order of the day, or the reading in toto the Pamphlet, Thould take place; to the latter of which the Houfe agreed unanimously, and the Clerk proceeded to read it. After the reading of the Pamphlet was concluded, it was moved, that it fhould be taken into farther confideration on Thursday next.-Agreed. 24 This day came on the call of the Houfe, which was of courfe moft numeroufly attended. On re-admiffion into the galleries, the Houfe was occupied in receiving Petitions for and against the Bills for preferving his Majefty's perfon, and for fuppreffing Seditious Meetings, and in difcuffing their admiffibility. Adjourned at half past two o'clock. 25. Several Petitions were prefented for the Bills now pending in Parliament, and a confiderable number against them. The Chancellor of the Exchequer moved the Order of the Day for the Houfe to refolve itself into a Committee on the Seditious Meeting Bill. Mr Curwen rofe. He admired the candour of the Secretary of State in admitting fo readily the Call of the House: it was now clear, that in confequence, more Addreffes had found their way to that House against these Bills. He therefore called on the Houfe to grant farther time to collect the fentiments of the people on these Bills, and concluded by moving, "That this Houfe will, on this day fe'nnight, refolve itfelf into the faid Committee," which being put, there appeared, to Againft it For it Majority. 269 78 193 Againft it Majority 273 72 201 26. The order of the day being moved for refuming the debate on the Pamphlet atributed to Mr Reeves, Mr Sheridan rofe, and moved, That this Pamphlet was a "falfe, fcandalous, wicked, feditious, and malicious libel, tending to fubvert the Conftitution, and highly derogatory to the Privileges of Parliament;" and as the charge againft Dr Sacheverel was not firong enough, he would move, as an Amendment to the original Motion, to add the words "highly reflecting on the Revolution." The Motion paffed without a divifion. He The Solicitor General rofe to propose the following Amendment: That the Magiftrates fhould in the first inftance be empowered to feize the perfon making a propofition which he conceived as tending to endanger the Conftitution, &c. and that it fhould only be upon refiftance being made, that he fhould make the Proclamation, and in order to protect the Magiftrate in the difcharge of this duty, that any perfon refifting him by force fhould be guilty of Felony. The Solicitor General moved, that the blank in the laft claufe, relative to the duration of the Act, be filled up with the words" three years." Mr Stanley moved, to fubftitute "two years." The Committee divided: 48 2 The Bill is made to commence in the metropolis, and within 20 miles of it, the day after it fhall have received the Royal Affent, and within feven days all over the kingdom. The Bill, as amended, was ordered to be printed. Dec. 1. Mr Sheridan brought up the Report of the Select Committee appointed to inquire who was the Author of the pamphlet intituled "Thoughts on the English Government."-The refult of the whole inveftigation was, that John Reeves, Efq. of Cecil Street, in the Strand, either was the Author, or acted as the Author of this Pamphlet, The order of the day for confidering the Report of the Treafon Bill being read, the Oppofition Members all left the Houfe after which the Refolutions of the Committee were read and agreed to with Amendments, and the Report brought up, and the third reading fixed for Thursday next. 7. A Meffage was brought from his Majefty, expreffing his intention of applying to the public fervices the money arifing from the fale of the prizes belonging to the United Provinces, after an adequate reward had been allowed to the captors for their fervices. that he was perfectly aware, at fo early a period of the Seffion, of the difficulty of forming an accurate account of the expences of the year, fo as to enable Members to give a fatisfactory account to their Conftituents of the burthens to be laid on them, and of the general articles on which thofe burthens were to be laid; he had, however, powerful motives not to delay laying this before them. He then recurred to the opening of the prefent Seffion of Parliament, and to the approaching profpect of Peace, and said nothing was more defirable than the means to fulfil and obtain these ends; he was happy, however, that that House was prepared for all extremities, and to act vigorously until peace could be obtained on grounds that were good and acceptable. He adverted next to the difficulties of the enemy to continue their prefent enormous expence. He infifted on the neceffity there was, that while we were anxious for peace, we fhould continue our exertions for the next year to carry on a war for the fupport of our li berties, until that period might arrive, when it would be neceffary for the enemy to terminate the war on juft and equitable grounds, and on terms acceptable to us. We ought, faid Mr Pitt, to convince our enemies that we could, with vigour and promptitude, profecute the war if neceffary, and that our wonderful refours ces were as inexhauftible as our activity was unimpaired. Relying on the patient indulgence of the Houfe, he would ftate with as much brevity as poffible the whole Supplies, together with the Ways and Means neceffary to answer the exigencies of the Nation. He obferved, that in the vote of laft year there had been provided taxes for one million more than there had been any occafion far. This might fuggeft the propriety of borrowing for the fervice of the enfuing year, no more than 17,000,000l. But he fubmitted, whether it would not be the fafer way to borrow 18,000,000l. in order that the additional million might meet any contingent deficiencies. The permanent taxes, independent of any new taxes impofed on account of the war, at an average of three years, ending 1795, amounted to 13,933,000l. For the year ending in 1795, to 13, 827,000l. and the taxes of the prefent year, ends ing in 1796, would probably amount to 13,598,000l. only about 200,000l. lefs than in the preceding year. He made this eftimate on a fuppofition, that the taxes of the remaining weeks of the current year would be as productive as they were were in the correfponding weeks of the laft year a fuppofition not probably exceeding the truth, as the taxes in these laft-mentioned periods were lefs productive than in any part of the year. During the next year he hoped there would be several important. additions to the growing produce of the confolidated fund. One of the principal would be the produce of feveral Dutch prizes, which he estimated, from the best information, at one million. He had already ftated to the Committee, that the Loan which it was neceffary to make for the fervice of the enfuing year, was eighteen millions; "the terms upon which he had agreed for that Loan were, that the intereft to be paid was 41. 138. 6d. for every hundred pounds. Parliament had rendered it neceffary, that, at the very moment when the debt was contracted, a fund should be established for the payment: this, added to the 41. 1gs. 6d. would render the intereft for every hundred pounds exactly 61. 38. 6d. The whole of the intereft of the Loan, or, in other words, the fum to the extent of which taxes were to be provided was 1,111,5ool. a fum undoubtedly very large, but he trufted, that the means by which the fum was to be raised were as light in their nature as could possibly be devifed. The Taxes. The two firft and material Taxes which he meant to produce to the confideration of the Committee, were upon Property, and fuch as from their nature could only fall upon the higher and richer ranks of the Community. They had been frequently under confideration before, and had been, to a certain degree, adopted; he meant a Tax upon Collateral Succeffion by Legacy, or by relations of inteftates, to property, both real and perfonal. The next was an increase of 10 per cent. upon all affeffed taxes. The next, an increase of the duty upon Horfes, under certain regulations. The next article was Tobacco, which by long perfeverance had been freed from the frauds to which it used to be liable. The other articles were, a reduction of the Drawback on the Exportation of Sugar; a reduction of the Discount on the Payment of Salt Duties; and an Additional Tax on Printed Cottons, Linens, &c. Mr Pitt then went into a calculation, to fhow the probable amount of thefe taxes. As to that on Legacies, he proposed that the prefent duties, producing only 40,000l. per annum, fhould be repealed, and the new duty on Legacies of perfonal eftate to collaterals of the first degree, as far as first coufins, fhould be two per cent.-to fecond coufins, and beyond, four per cent.-to_abfolute ftrangers, fix per cent.-On real property, two per cent. on devifes to thofe in the first degree of confanguity-to firft coufins, three per cent.-to remote relations and ftrangers, fix per cent. To calculate the probable produce of this tax, Mr Pitt affumed that the landed rental of the whole kingdom was twenty-five millions per annum. Taking this at 28 years purchase, the whole landed property was 700 millions, or, at 30 years, 750 millions. The whole personal property of the kingdom, he estimated at 600 millions-total, 1,300 or 1,350 millions. One third of this he calculated might be the subject of collateral fucceffions; and allowing that three perfons in oo died every year, and that the average of the tax would be three per cent. it would produce 194,000l. from which deducting 40,000l. the prefent amount of the legacy tax, he stated the produce in round numbers at 250,000l. The tax is to attach on refduary legatees in cafes of inteftacy. With respect to Horfes, he stated that the present tax was ros. upon every horfe, and 20s. on all horfes beyond fix. He proposed that the tax fhould be doubled in every progreffive ftage. The amount would be 116,000!. He alfo meant, that it should extend to a defcription of horfes not coming within the above tax-he meant thofe employed for the purposes of Agriculture; on which he would propofe à tax of only 29. a horfe. He calculated the number of horfes employed in this way at one million. The tax on Tobacco was to be 4d. per lb. additional-on printed Cottons 24d. per yard, making in the whole 6d. The reduction of the Drawback upon the Exportation of Sugar, appeared tohim to have this fingular advantage; that while it produced revenue to the Public, it would, at the fame time, lower the price of the article. Without, therefore, injuring our foreign trade, he thought if onefourth of the Drawback was taken away, there would be a faving to the Public of 180,000l. He |