Tuesday, April 27, 1813.

A Petition of the friends to religious liberty residing at and near Whitchurch, in the county of Southampton, was presented and read; setting forth, "That the petitioners feel it their incumbent duty to state to the House, at the important period when the renewal of the East India Company's charter is under the consideration of the House, their firm persuasion that the exclusive power the said Company has hitherto possessed and exercised respecting the residence of persons in India not servants of the Company, has been, as directed against peaceable Christian missionaries, a great hindrance to the moral and religious improvement of our fellow subjects in India, and to their participation of those blessings which, as Britons and Christians, the petitioners enjoy; and they therefore hope, and earnestly intreat the House, that, in the charter intended to be granted to the East India Company, such provisions may be made as will secure the admission of Christian ministers and missionaries into India, and their protection there, so long as they act agreeable to the laws and the duties of good and peaceable subjects."

A Petition of the synod of Fife, was also presented and read; setting forth, "That the petitioners, the ministers and elders of the provincial synod of Fife, regard with deep interest the religious and moral condition of their brethren and fellow subjects, the inhabitants of British India, now sitting in darkness, practising horrid cruelties under the name of religious rites, and addicted to the most detestable usages; and that, in the opinion of the petitioners, the free diffusion of the gospel of Christ through that vast region can alone afford an effectual remedy for those evils; and that the obstructions which the policy of the East India Company has hitherto presented to the admission of Christian ministers into the Indian territories are, as the petitioners apprehend, not less repugnant to the true interests of the British empire than adverse to the gracious designs of heaven for the happiness of the human race; and that the petitioners feel it to be their imperious duty to do every thing in their power to promote the best interests of so great a multitude of their fellow subjects, by procuring for them, if possible, the invaluable blessing of the knowledge of the gospel; and that the petitioners feel much encouraged by the sentiments which were expressed by the House on the 14th May 1793, in their resolution of that date, 'That it is the peculiar and bounden duty of the legislature to promote, by all just and prudent means, the interest and happiness of the inhabitants of the British dominions in India; and that, for these ends, such measures ought to be adopted as may gradually tend to their advancement in useful knowledge, and to their religious and moral improvement;' and that the petitioners, as constituting a part of the ecclesiastical establishment of Scotland, feel it in particular to be their duty to request the House to take such steps as may be necessary to secure to the numerous members of the church of Scotland resident in British India the celebration of religious ordinances, agreeably to the forms and standards which from education and principle their judgments and consciences prefer; and that, as the renewal of the East India Company's charter has become the subject of parliamentary discussion, the petitioners are of opinion that a favourable opportunity presents itself to the friends of religion and humanity of expressing their sentiments to the House on this important subject; and praying the House to provide, in any Bill which may be passed for renewing the charter of the East India Company, that it shall be lawful for his Majesty's Protestant subjects of all denominations to send ministers and teachers to the British dominions in India, for the purpose of instructing the natives in the knowledge of Christianity, and of dispensing the ordinances of religion to our own countrymen residing there, agreeably to the modes of worship to which they may be respectively attached; that the said ministers and teachers, while in India, shall enjoy the full protection of the British government so long as they conduct themselves as peaceable subjects, and with that prudence and wisdom which become them as servants of Jesus Christ, and in particular that provision be made for affording religious ordinances to the members of the church of Scotland resident in India, according to the forms and standards of their native church."

Ordered to lie upon the table.

A Petition of several woollen and linen drapers and other shop- keepers residing in Tewkesbury, was presented and read; setting forth,

"That, for several years past, material injury has been sustained by the petitioners and other fair tradesmen and shopkeepers in most parts of the kingdom, by the great and increasing number of sales by itinerant auctioneers, who dispose of large quantities of woollen and linen drapery, hosiery, books, jewellery, hardware, and almost every species of goods, and also by manufacturers and other persons going through the country and disposing of their goods by retail, without being burthened with parochial rates, which from the pressure of the times, have very much increased, and many other very heavy expences to which the resident shopkeeper is subject, who, in consequence of his trade, is under the necessity of occupying a large house and premises, with an expensive establishment, and, for the maintenance of his credit, must pay his manufacturer with regularity, also his rent and taxes, and support perhaps a numerous and necessarily expensive family, and who confines himself to his own town, without interfering with or intruding his goods upon any other; and that, by the frequency of hawking and sales by auction, facilities are given to many in embarrassed circumstances to dispose of their effects, to the injury of their creditors; and that, unless a check be given thereto by some legislative provision, great embarrassment and inconvenience must be sustained by the petitioners and the country at large, and impending ruin threatens to be the consequence; and praying for relief."

A Petition of several traders and shopkeepers of the city of Bath, was also presented and read; setting forth,

"That sales of a novel and injurious description have, within these few years, been introduced into that city, and are now increased to an alarming extent; and that the sales to which the petitioners allude are conducted, under an auctioneer's licence, by certain adventurers and speculators, who, from various sources, collect almost every description of goods, which by means of delusive advertisements and other artifices, they are enabled to dispose of to a very great extent, and thereby engross a considerable part of that ready money which, in the ordinary mode of business, would have been laid out with the resident shopkeeper, and afforded him the means of supporting his family, defraying his numerous expences, and con- tributing his share of those taxes which the exigencies of the state require; and that the petitioners humbly represent to the House that a considerable proportion of the trade of the city of Bath is derived from the influx of visitors for the season only, which seldoms exceeds six or seven months, and for whose accommodation the petitioners necessarily maintain expensive establishments, and provide such assortments of goods as are adapted to their comfort and convenience, under the expectation of receiving the same fair and liberal remuneration which they formerly experienced; but they have to complain that, owing to the immense quantity of inferior articles daily disposed of by auction, particularly during the season, the regular trade of that city has been diverted from its usual channel, and the resident shopkeeper has been in a measure supplanted by the speculative auctioneer; and that the petitioners have further humbly to submit, that, in consequence of each sales, many honest and industrious men have been ruined, and their families plunged into the greatest difficulties; that houses and shops, in the most eligible situations, have become untenanted; that the general value of such property has been greatly diminished; that parochial rates have proportionably increased, and the public revenue consequently materially affected; and that the petitioners are fully sensible, that well-regulated auctions, as originally intended, are beneficial and conducive to the general good, and as such have been protected by the legislature, but, like other matters connected with trade and commerce, are subject to innovation and abuse, and, in the case complained of, have become a source of extreme distress; and that, by the frequency of these sales, facilities are given to dishonest debtors, in embarrassed circumstances, to dispose of their effects, to the injury of their creditors; and, unless a check be given by some legislative provision to this growing evil, the consequences to the community will be dangerous in the extreme: and praying for relief."

Ordered to lie upon the table.