referred to a notice which he had given for this day of a motion respecting the state of the circulation in Ireland. That motion was connected with the nature of the dispatches which were expected from Ireland at the time he gave the notice. These dispatches had since arrived, and they were such as to render the measure he had in contemplation wholly unnecessary for the present; for the govt. or privy council had adopted the most effectual means for relieving the distress now felt in Ireland respecting the state of the circulation, and were preparing to provide such a remedy, and that with all possible expedition, as the exigency of the case seemed to require.

renewed his objections to this measure, on the ground that no case was made out to excuse, much less to justify, so gross a violation of the rights of an ancient corporation. He therefore moved that, instead of the word "now," the words "this day three months" should be inserted.

opposed the motion, and supported the bill, which he thought would have the most beneficial tendency to establish a precedent which he hoped and trusted would be acted upon in every case where similar instances of bribery, should be found to prevail, in order thus to purity the system of our representation, and to disarm those who complain of its present state.

considered the bill to be quite unnecessary, the laws in existence being perfectly sufficient to punish those who appeared by the report of the committee which led to this measure to be guilty. The house should therefore pause before they consented, and particularly upon such grounds as those which were laid by the advocates of the bill, to alter the constitution of this borough. If such grounds, he observed, were admitted to justifiy the disfranchisement of any borough, there would be scarcely a borough in the empire secure from violation.

said, that he was a member of the committee on the Aylesbury election, and could not feel that the malpractices which were exposed in the course of that investigation could sustain such a porceeding as that before the house. An hon. bart. had said, that such a measure as that under consideration would tend to bring about the consequences of a parliamentary reform. To that measure itself he had no objection, but he would never consent to have a question of so much importance determined upon in the way proposed by this bill.

disapproved of this measure, as calculated to punish the virtuous for the acts of the guilty, who formed the minority of the electors of this borough, and whom, strange to tell, this bill did not propose to disqualify.

stated, that it appeared in evidence that above 200 of the voters accepted bribes at the last election, and that the system of corruption which prevailed at this borough was flagrant, extensive and uniform.

said, he had opposed a bill last session, for preventing certain abuses at the election for Nottingham, on the ground, that the laws already in existence were sufficient to punish all offences that might be committed at elections. On the same ground, he would oppose the present bill. He could not consent to any new measure that went to alter the constitution of a borough. Persons charged with offences at the Aylesbury election were punished already; and actions were brought to the amount of near one million sterling, against various persons for being transgressors in this case. The house should take care that it was not about to convert Aylesbury into a close borough, which might be the case, if the right of voting was transferred to a class of men who did not wish for it, and who did not possess properly which consituted the foundation of all right to vote.

observed, that the preamble of the bill barely stated the existence of bribery and corruption at the late election for Aylesbury; but the house was entirely ignorant as to the extent of that corruption; and he would ask, whether it was meant to be contended, that if any bribery or corruption had at all been practised there, the constitution of the borough should on that account fall? Suppose the minority of the elections only had been guilty, was it fit that those who were innocent, should suffer by having their franchises taken from them, after having struggled to resist that corrupt minority? Even if a great majority had been guilty, it would be unjust to take their franchises from the remainder. Punish the individuals who were guilty; but do not deprive of their rights those electors who have not offended, and those who were yet unborn. The bill went to leave the guilty voters in the same way in which they had stood before; but the innocent voters were to have their rights infringed on by the introduction of a new mass of voters among them, and the guilty were to be thrown into the same scale with all these. This should rather be called a bill for the encouragement of bribery and corruption. Contrary to every principle of law, it separated a man's interest from his duty, because there was no distinction made between those who committed and those who resisted acts of corruption.

said, that particular acts had been passed in cases of corruption practised at New Shoreham and Cricklade, and they were attended with very beneficial effects. He would therefore support the present bill.

said, the cases quoted by the hon. gent. who spoke last, were different from the present. In the case of Shoreham, it had appeared, that a certain set of wicked persons calling themselves the Christian Society, had been in the habit of selling seats in parliament for that borough. But here there was nothing but a common case of bribery, the same which had been practised at various other places. The house did not know to what extent it had been carried on. But when bribery had been practised at Durham, Ilchester, Windsor, and other places, no such act as this had been thought necessary. The present, act was bad in its principle; and was brought forward at a most improper season, as actions in the courts of law were now pending against many of the parties to be affected by this bill.

said, that most of what he should have offered on this question had been anticipated by what fell from two learned gentlemen. And he should now content himself with stating, that he did not think the case with regard to Aylesbury so strong a one as to except it from the general rule, as applied to common cases of bribery and corruption. The Shoreham case was very different. He should therefore oppose the bill.—A division then took place on the second reading,

desired to be informed, why the account of the net produce of the permanent taxes, imposed since the year 1793, usually laid before the house on the 25th of March, had not yet been presented. On inquiry, he found that the delay had originated in some difficulties arising out of the consolidation act of last session. As the day had been fixed for bringing forward the budget, it would be material to have that account, and an account of the produce of all the permanent taxes, on the table, as well as the account of the amount of the war taxes, up to the 5th of April.

assured the noble lord, that the first account should be laid on the table in the couse of the week, that some of the others were already before the house, and that the rest should be produced with the greatest expedition.

rose to say a few words on a subject deeply interesting to the feelings and honour of this country. It was with pain he was compelled to advert to so disagreeable a subject; but the transactions that had lately taken place in France relative to it, rendered it necessary to rescue the character of the govt. and of the country from the infamous charges made by the French govt. against one of our ministers at a Foreign court. To justify the act of violence which had been committed by the French govt., it had been urged, that instructions had been given by our govt. to that minister, to encourage and excite the subjects of France to the commission of the most abominable crimes. As long as the charge against this country had been confined to the vehicles of the rancour and malevolence of the French govt., the noble lord would have thought it wise to treat them with the scorn and silence such unfounded calumnies merited; but, in his opinion, the case was now altered. A publication had been circulated at Paris, purporting to be the correspondence between our minister resident at Munich, and a Frenchman resident in Paris. By this if appeared, that the Frenchman had betrayed his trust, and put the French govt. in possession of the correspondence. This publication had been communicated to all the Foreign ministers at Paris; and, from their replies, it would appear, that they had all, with the single exception of the Russian minister, prejudged the matter, on allegations unproved, and be trusted unproveable. He should not dwell upon the servility with which Europe bowed to the power of France, but he should wish to see that servility confined to the continent, and to have it proved to the world, that there was one country at least, which was neither to be awed by its menaces, nor aspersed by its calumnies. As to the charges which had in this instance been made, he thought he had a right to call on his Majesty's ministers to clear them up. He thought he had a right to call upon them in justice to themselves, in justice to the individual concerned (Mr. Drake), and above all, in justice to the character of the country, to refute the atrocious calumnies, to repel the iniquitous charges so unjustly made upon the honour of the country. He trusted he should be justified in calling on his Majesty's ministers to prove to the world that they had not armed the band of the assassin, that they had not aimed the dagger in the dark, but on the contrary, that they had conducted their system of hostilities in that fair, open, and manly manner which belongs to legitimate warfare.

said, he felt obliged to the noble lord for having afforded him an opportunity of repelling one of the most false and unfounded charges that had ever been brought against the govt. of any civilised nation. He trusted the house would not expect from him, on this occasion, more than an expression of that indignation, in which, he was sure, every individual in the country participated, at the atrocious calumnies propagated by a tyrannical govt., for the purpose of covering acts of the most outrageous and despotic nature. The noble lord had expressed a hope, that no instructions had been given, or authority committed to any minister, inconsistent with the established practice of civilised nations, inconsistent with the established system of jurisprudence, by which the conduct of civilised nations is regulated. He could aver with the greatest truth, that no instructions or authority inconsistent with the rights of independent nations, or with the established laws by which civilised nations are bound, had been given to any minister, or to any individual, by his Majesty's govt. As to the construction that had been put upon the publication, he trusted the house would not expect him to enter into it; and, with respect to the correspondence so published, it was impossible to be particular, in as much as no communications had yet been received on the subject from the individual concerned. He should be as anxious as the noble lord, he should even be more anxious, on the part of his Majesty's govt., to take the most efficacious measures to vindicate the offended honour of his Majesty; for he could not but consider the honour of his Majesty, and of the country affected by so infamous a calumny on his govt. The right hon. gent. repeated his gratitude for the opportunity afforded him by the noble lord, and concluded by declaring himself ready to give the house every information and explanation on this most interesting subject.

rose to oppose the Speaker's leaving the chair. He defended the resolutions of the colonels of militia who had assembled at the Thatched-house, against the censure that he understood they had been exposed to. He thought they were drawn up so clearly and explicitly, that it was not possible to misunderstand them. It was stated in those resolutions, that deliberation by armed bodies was dangerous and unconstitutional; that was neither more nor less than the law of the land. He condemned the plan of the Secretary at War for the augmentation of the public force as impolitic and impracticable; and he principally objected to it as tending to raise that species of competition in the different branches of the recruiting service as would render it impossible for us ever to acquire a considerably disposable force

opposed the bill, and principally that part of it which went to provide for the creation of this force, by a bounty to be paid out of the exchequers of the United Kingdom. He thought a fencible force much preferable to it, in as much as it was equally efficient, and was not liable to the constitutional objections that the bill before the house was subject to.

declared, that he was not one of those who objected, under all the circumstances of the country, to making an addition to the established force; on the contrary, he thought it one of the objects to which the govt. should have directed its attention at the commencement of the war; but he had entertained hopes, that ministers would have found means of promoting, at the same time, two measures, which, in his opinion, were not incompatible; first, the increase of the defensive force, and next, the augmentation of the efficient and disposable force. He did not see the advantages likely to result from the present measure, and he could not approve of seeing the militia carried beyond its due proportion, and thereby losing its characteristic benefits. That species of force, when properly managed, contained in itself the seeds of augmentation for the line, and this measure had no one advantage in point of promptitude or facility in effecting that augmentation He condemned the instability of the different plans for augmenting the military force of the country. Ministers seemed to have abandoned the idea of the army of reserve, for no other reason that he could understand, but that they were disappointed in their expectations, because it did not fill as fast as their former calculations encouraged them to hope. He would take an opportunity on Wednesday when the suspension of the army of reserve act should be brought forward, to enter more fully upon the subject of our national defence. Against the present measure, as being a bad exchange for the country, and one of the most objectionable measures that could be, he should be under the necessity of voting, not upon the principle of opposing an augmentation of our military force, but that he was of opinion it would have been better to have promoted and adhered to the operation of the army of reserve.

observed, that his right hon. friend (Mr. Pitt) attached more consequence to the suspension of the army of reserve act than it was entitled to. With respect to the recruiting in Ireland, he could assert, from experience and local knowledge, that the Irish people could not be induced to enter into regular regiments, at the same time that they would very readily agree to serve in militia regiments commanded by gentlemen belonging to the county in which they lived, and to whom they were frequently attached in the strongest manner; and when they were a little time in the militia service, and became used to a soldier's life, they would have no objection to extend their services.

argued against the bill. It was admitted on all hands, that what was now wanted was an augmentation of our disposable force, and he could not help considering it as a most extraordinary measure to propose the augmentation of that description of our force which was not even pretended to be disposable according to the terms of their original agreement. He saw nothing in the measure which could have the effect of facilitating the object in view; and looking at it in a military light, he could not give it his approbation.

said, he did not think that the noble lord had been successful in combating his arguments. He would venture to object to the former bill, although it had had the ratification of that house; and he objected to the present one on account of its relation there to. It had been said by those on the opposite bench, that he, and others in that house, were always complaining of the conduct of ministers, and, in short, that "though they piped to us, we would, not dance; and though they mourned, we would not lament." He, however, would still observe, that he never went so far as to say, "disband the militia," he only wished that no augmentation of that system should take place. Ministers did not call this a disposable force, but they said that it gave them a greater command of their disposable force. That he denied; because the one was quite inconsistent with the other. The recruiting for the one would undoubtedly interfere with the other. Every one of the ministers on the opposite bench, seemed to be, as it were, his own antagonist. Every measure they adopted, they counteracted by the adoption of some other measure. In short, they were in the situation of a man who was haunted by his own spectre; the right hand was fighting with the left. Although they had already procured no less than 400,000 volunteers, 70,000 militia, and 36,000 men for the army of reserve, they seemed still to be wishing to increase that description of force destined for a limited service. Such measures were totally at variance with one another. He disapproved entirely of such a circuitous mode of attaining the object in view, as that of raising men for the militia, as a step towards increasing the regular army. The militia were now raised by bounty, and not by ballot; and why not give the force to be raised the appellation of fencibles? An ancient Grecian could never produce any thing from his harp but the strain of love, not withstanding the great number of strings on his instrument; so, in his opinion, were the ministers always harping on the same string; they seemed to him to end always where they began. In the case of rebellion, it might be said, that it was proper to bring away the Irish militia from their own country to prevent a degree of party spirit, to prevent a regiment of orange-men fighting against catholics, No man would wish to augment the ferocity of such civil commotions as had occurred in that country. Were any troops to be substituted for the militia, he should think that foreigners were as fit for the purpose as any other to prevent Englishmen or Irishmen fighting against their own relations. Although, however, he might be induced to agree to the propriety of bunging Irishmen out of their own country on that account, yet by the measures adopted by the ministers, he found that other Irishmen were to be raised in their place. He doubted not that some gentlemen had been induced to vote for the bill which had lately passed, upon the principle of the Irish militia being thus always kept up at the same height. This put him in mind of a certain gent. who always loved to intoxicate his guests, and the method he adopted was, by keeping his punch-bowl constantly supplied by an apparatus under his table, so that those whom he entertained were induced to drink too much, by their perceiving that the quantity of liquor never decreased. Unless the deficiency was to be supplied by foreign or regular troops, he thought Ireland would be left in a defenceless state. He saw no prospect of that reciprocity which had been so often alluded to.

, was surprised how the hon. gent. could find such a deficiency in the regular army, when we had at present, after a war of ten months, a greater regular army than we had at the end of the last war, which had lasted ten years. He agreed that, in the present state of Europe, it was necessary for us to keep up a large regular army. A great impediment to this arose till within this few years, from reducing the army at the end of every war. It was the opinion of the ablest and wisest men, that by volunteers alone it was impossible to fill the regular army to any large amount. This ought to acquit the present and former govt. for not having done more on this head. It was necessary at this time to augment every description of force. The present measure, beside augmenting our defensive force, set a large portion of our disposable force at liberty. Ireland had not contributed its due proportion of men in the present war, having raised only 18,600 militia, whereas it had raised 28,000 in the last war. It had raised only 7,000 out of 10,000, which was its quota for the army of reserve. The militia system in Ireland rested on the basis of attachment to the gentlemen who commanded the different regiments; many followed these gentlemen from this motive, who would not enter into any other service.

said, he had formerly given his opinion of the general plan of defence which had been adopted, and he had listened with attention to all that had been said by others upon that subject. If 10,000 men were actually proposed to be raised for a limited service he would ask, why should it be for the utmost possible limited service? We were placing ourselves in a very whimsical situation. Of 20,000 militia in Ireland, we were to bring 10,000 to this country, while, as to the other 10,000, we were making no provision or engagement at all. He wanted to know on what principle it was not also proposed to enter into a similar engagement with the new levies? It had been answered that they could not be raised so cheaply; then why not raise them as fencibles? The mode of raising this proposed augmentation was by making an addition of 30 men to each company. What was to become of the regiments which might chance to be in this country? Were their companies of 70 men to be increased to 100. and were the 30 additional men to be left in Ireland, or to join the others in England? They must, undoubtedly, be raised on some specific agreement, in order to procure their voluntary acquiescence. While it was said, that fencibles could not be procured to come to this country at a bounty of 4 guineas, how were we to get the militia to extend their services at that rate? Notwithstanding all the boast of voluntary services, ministers seemed afraid to broach the subject to the new levies, and appeared inclined to trust, that when men had been induced to enlist into a regiment which had extended its service, they also would not refuse an equal extension. The foundation of the plan seemed to be the proposed suspension of the army of reserve act; and while ministers thus took one system out of the market, so as not to interfere with the regular army, they immediately add 10,000 men by a mode which will interfere, more or less, with that very service, by preventing its rapid increase.

, observed, that the privates would most probably be disposed to join their comrades, and then the force would be so far augmented. It had been asked why fencibles were not raised instead of militia; but it should be recollected, that during the last war the fencibles were not raised for general service to all parts of the kingdom. The mode of raising the militia had a peculiar facility growing out of the natural influence possessed by gentlemen in their own vicinity, which was far greater than any other mode that could be adopted, and it had been particularly found so in Ireland. There was likewise a very considerable difficulty in procuring officers for fencible corps, which was by no means the case with the militia. The object of the bill was to provide a Militia equal to that provided during the last war; it created a force of 10,000 men, to be raised with far greater dispatch, and to be disciplined in a much quicker way than any other description of force. The hon. gent. had stated, that this measure would interfere with the recruiting of the regulars; so it might be thought upon general reasoning, but those gentlemen who were most conversant with Ireland were of opinion, that it would operate upon different dispositions and classes from those upon whom the recruiting system operated; and, by a comparison of the levies of different years, it would appear that no material variation was likely to take place.

could not but admire the uniform inconsistency which appeared in every measure brought forward by the presenr ministers on the subject of the defence of the country. In the present case, he said, they must assume beforehand, that the 30 new men to be added to the militia companies would volunteer. If that is the case, he wished to know on what principle, or from what motive, it could fairly be supposed they would do so? If they should not volunteer their services, he wished to know how they were to be disciplined? If they were not to be attached to the companies of 70, were they to be trained as a distinct body? If it were so, it was impossible they could make that rapid progress in discipline that was so necessary, and so much the boast of the present measure.

observed, that in Ireland there were no poor laws; that the lower classes of people were dependent in a very great degree on their landlords for leases of small portions of land from 40s. to £5. a year; that they were also very much attached to their landlords, which gave the landed gentlemen in Ireland a power of raising rapidly a force of militia which they could not do in any other way; that the temptations to the lower classes operate more forcibly than they do here, from the far superior attachment of the people to their landlords; and, as he knew this to be the case, that he should give his cordial support to the present bill, as calculated to raise a very considerable force for the defence of the country in a more speedy manner, than any other.

said, that the tenants in the north might, doubtless, be as much attached to their landlords as the hon. gent. had described; but the north was but a part of the country, though a very respectable one; and, in the other parts, the south and south-west of Ireland, he believed, that so far from its being the case, there were scarcely any regiments raised in the counties to which they belonged, but the men were enlisted from every quarter of the country.

said, he opposed the present bill on the same principles he had done the last, and which he could not but couple with it. It had, he said, fallen to his lot, in his capacity of governor of Limerick, to raise a great part of the army of reserve, in the doing which he met with infinite difficulties. At that time it so happened that his regiment was ordered to march from Limerick, which it did, when it was followed by upwards of 100 men, for several miles, who earnestly entreated him to attach them to his regiment.

said, he knew from his own experience, that in many parts of Ireland, the militia regiments were raised without any difficulty in their own counties; and that in the city of Limerick and the county of Limerick, as well as several others, they had actually raised regiments of militia in their own counties in the short space of six weeks.

said, he should vote against the bill, because he had not heard any reasons whatever, which he could call reasons, advanced in support of it.

paid a very high eulogium to the popularity and gallantry of the hon. officer who spoke near the chair (Col. Vereker), but thought his host of men who had wished to be attached to the regiment he commanded, with so much honour to himself and glory to his country, ought not to be quoted as an instance of the general bent and inclination of the country. He by no means approved of the present measure, and if he ever gave an honest vote in his life, he was sure it would be the one he was about to give against this bill. The question being loudly called for, a division took place, when there appeared