presented a Petition from the merchants, tradesmen, and principal inhabitants of the town of Kingston-upon-Hull and the neighbourhood, convened by public advertisement, setting forth, "That the petitioners, deeply sensible of the critical state of public affairs, and feeling that their last hopes are extinct if the confidence between the people and their representatives be done away, beg leave to assure the House, that they will support as far as lies in their power every just right and privilege of the Commons House of parliament; they conceive that rights and privileges are not merely conducive to the dignity of parliament, but to, the liberties of the people, and are inseparable from the blessings of the English constitution; whether the power which the House has exercised of sending Mr. John Gale Jones to New gate, and sir Francis Burdett to the Tower, be or be not legal, the petitioners do not venture to question; but they lament that the House has proceeded to this extremity of punishment, which, connected as it has been with the gift of a valuable sinecure, and another lucrative appointment to the right hon. Mr. Yorke, has greatly tended to alienate the respect due to the House; they therefore entreat the House to re-consider their resolutions on this subject, and to liberate, if to their wisdom it shall seem proper, the said sir Francis Burdett and the said John Gale Jones from their respective prisons; and the petitioners beg leave further to represent to the House, that if, by the law and custom of Parliament, the House has the right to imprison, for an indefinite time, any one who shall call in question the conduct of the House, or any member thereof, it is absolutely necessary that the constitution of the House should be as pure as possible, lest this privilege should become the instrument of oppression in the hands of ministers, who, as in the case of lord Castlereagh and Mr. Perceval, may make a traffic of that most important trust, a seat in the House; impressed with these considerations and various others, arising out of the heavy pressure of the taxes, the impunity to public peculators, the lavish gifts of sinecure places in possession and reversion, and the wanton waste of blood and treasure in fruitless expeditions; the petitioners humbly request that the House would proceed to the abolition of sinecure places, to controul the expenditure of the public money, and to adopt such wise and temperate measures of reform in the constitution of parliament as in their judgment are best adapted to give stability to the throne, dignity to parliament, and safety to the people."—Ordered to lie upon the table.

, pursuant to notice, moved for a return of the number of news-papers, sent under the privilege of members of parliament, charged with postage to the Dublin Post Office:—"I now address you," said Mr. Shaw, "and in doing so, it is my wish, in as few words as possible, to state the grounds on which I have brought my motion.—For some time past there has been a difference between the clerks of the roads in the Post Office and the proprietors of news-papers, as to the hour of putting them into the Post Office, and certainly a conduct has been adopted towards them very different from what is practised by the Post Office in this country, but this I shall not now enter upon, as I understand the right hon. the Irish secretary in this House has pledged himself, to bring forward a bill immediately, to put them upon the same footing with this country. I shall therefore confine myself to the case as it affects my privilege, and that of other members. The law requiring a list to be signed and lodged in the Post Office, of the persons to whom we may have given permission, on our privilege, that law was fully complied with by me, and that list lodged in the Dublin Post Office accordingly, and the papers in consequence were forwarded; and I have repeated complaints from the proprietors, of mine being charged, by which I feel myself called upon to protect my privilege; and within this last month, in particular, the abuse has been carried to such an excess of oppression, that I have thought it my duty to bring the business before the House in this manner; and with the leave of the House I shall now read several letters of complaint which will fully prove my statement.—I understand the proprietors have made repeated applications for redress, without any effect. It is not my wish to impute blame to any one, but I will now read an advertisement which has appeared in the newspapers, signed "W. Johnston," which will shew the feelings of the officers to the newspaper proprietors.—Mr. Shaw then read the circular notice, signed Wm. Johnston, clerk Ulster Road, and made the following motion: "That there be laid before this House, a return of the newspapers put into the Dublin Post Office since the 1st of May inst. which have been charged with postage, distinguishing those taxed for being put into the Post Office after 5 o'clock—those taxed for not having the stamp visible outside the covers—and those taxed for the alleged cause of want of privilege, together with the name of the member upon the papers so taxed."

rose to second, and to thank his hon. friend for bringing forward the motion; and he conceived him entitled to the thanks of every man in Ireland bringing the subject before the House. Sir, we are as fond of news in Ireland as the people of this country, and have as good a right to be informed of what is going on in the world, and particularly of the proceedings in this House, as any of his Majesty's subjects. He thought it extraordinary, that the situation of the office of postmaster general in Ireland had not been taken notice of by the hon. gent. opposite—(Mr. Bankes)—and the Committee of Public Expenditure. It was worse than a sinecure office, for duty was expected of it; but the post masters general resided in the city of London for more than half of the year, and the remainder of it at their country seats in Ireland, leaving the duty to be performed by the clerks, whose chief object it was to secure the entire transit of newspapers to themselves, and whose interest it was to throw every obstacle in the way of the proprietors and agents of newspapers, to prevent them supplying the public. He had every expectation that good would result from the zeal, energy, and talents of his right hon. friend the present secretary for Ireland—and from the reforms he has already made, every thing was to be expected in future.—His right hon. friend on a former debate acknowledged that the bonds of authority had been hitherto very lax over the board of excise in Ireland, and expressed his determination of pulling the string tighter. He hoped the right hon. friend would likewise take a more controuling power over another beard under the same roof, which his right hon. friend knew required it full as much.—In respect to the post office department, sir Henry had to complain that his newspapers from England were purloined and opened, and his letters continually charged postage; he might be told that the money was always returned upon giving up the cover to the post office, but this was often impossible, as the envelope might contain the substance of the letter and also the signature. He mentioned this as an instance of inattention which never occurs in England.—I have also to complain that a memorial which I transmitted from a most respectable body of my constituents, respecting a cross post which had been withdrawn, and which they were desirous should be re-established, as yet remains unanswered, although it is seven months since it was received by the post-master general. Upon the whole I foresee great good will result from the present motion. My right hon. friend will examine into the details of the post office, and regulate them for the future; and on the papers called for by my hon. friend, he will, I hope, found a motion which will punish those who have been guilty of this breach of privilege, and prevent the same obstruction to the free circulation of newspapers in future.

justified the commissioners of the post office, and the postmasters general, and paid a high compliment to earl O'Neil.

thought it would be better to apply to the two noble lords in Ireland.

concurred in the propriety of bringing this matter forward, but, generally speaking, the better way was, to apply to the post-master. He had often experienced the same inconvenience, by having his franks charged, but when he applied, he was always treated with the greatest attention and every wish to remedy the evil expressed (Hear, hear!)—Last year, he had had six franks charged, and it was absolutely necessary to put a stop to the practice. The editors had received many letters in consequence, making complaints of discontinuing the paper, in consequence of no remedy being afforded. As the object of the motion was to obtain that remedy, he would give it his hearty support.

said, the complaint against the post-office was for the general system on which the clerks of the roads had acted, as well as for a breach of privilege. They Had been for some time endeavouring to secure to themselves the monopoly of transmitting newspapers to the country parts of Ireland. For a long period they were suffered to enjoy this monopoly, but their negligence in conducting the business was so great, that the editors found themselves called upon to take advantage of the law to protect the purchasers of their papers from their misconduct. This has given rise to a system of measures of the most illegal and arbitrary nature on the part of the clerks of the roads. They first of all, in violation of the law, limited the time for receiving newspapers into the office. They then imposed numerous regulations upon the editors, relative to the mode in which the privilege of Parliament was to be made use of. Even after these regulations were faithfully complied with, they have charged the newspapers as if sent without privilege. This has not been done accidentally, but generally. Almost every member who had permitted his name to be made use of, has reason to complain of a breach of his privilege. The hon. member concluded by saying, that it would not be sufficient to put a stop to these proceedings; those who have been guilty of them should be dismissed from their offices, as unfit any longer to discharge the duties of any public situation.

had no objection to the motion, and observed, that he had had an interview with the noble lord at the head of the post office, and from the communication made to him, he had every reason to believe there would be no further grounds of complaint. It was the intention of his right hon. friend (Mr. Foster) to bring in a bill to assimilate the practice and regulations in the Irish post office to that of England. He rather believed that the complaints against the clerks of the post office were not without foundation, and they should be taught they were not to trifle with the feelings of the public; and as the matter was now in a train of regulation, under these circumstances he suggested to his hon. friend the propriety of withdrawing his motion for the present.

thanked Mr. Pole for his explanation, and would not under these circumstances persist in his motion. The editors of the papers had been changed with deceit, in taking what did not belong to them, on the ground of the privilege, from their subscribers.

The motion was then withdrawn.