presented a Petition from the Roman Catholics of England, praying to be admitted to a participation of the rights and privileges of their countrymen. It had been stated in that House, by one of the most respectable and eloquent asserters of the rights and privileges of the Catholics of Ireland, that not only was it his opinion that no benefit would accrue to the Catholic cause from the discussion of it during the present session, but that such was the opinion of most of the strenuous friends of that cause, both in and out of parliament. Entirely concurring as he did in the justice of that opinion, it was not his intention to do more on the present occasion than to move, that the Petition of the Irish Catholics might lie on the table. But he felt that he should not faithfully discharge his duty to those who had entrusted their cause to his hands, if he did not remind the House, that the Catholics of England were placed in a situation of greater hardship than the Catholics of any other part of the empire. They laboured under peculiar restrictions and disabilities; although among them were to be found many of the most illustrious and valuable members of the community.

The Petition was then brought up and read, setting forth,

"That the laws remaining in force against persons professing the Roman Catholic religion in Great Britain, subject them to many severe penalties and disabilities; and that these laws deprive the petitioners of many civil rights and privileges, of many means of providing for themselves and their families, and of every legitimate object of the ambition of British subjects, depress them in society, and (what at this important moment is particularly felt by the petitioners), shut against them every avenue to the stations in which they might otherwise hope to exert themselves honourably and usefully in the service of their king and country; and that their declining to take the oaths, on the refusal of which subjects them to penalties and disabilities of which they complain, proceeds from their conscientious adherence to tenets purely of a religious nature, which do not in any manner affect their political, civil, or moral integrity: and that every principle which has been imputed to the petitioners as inconsistent with that integrity, hath been explicitly disclaimed by the Roman Catholics in the oaths and declarations prescribed to them by the legislature; and that their allegiance to their King, and their attachment to the constitution, are pure, unreserved, and unqualified; and that, in the years 1810, 1811, 1812, and 1813, petitions were presented to the House by the English Roman Catholics, stating theft grievances, and praying relief; and that, in the last session of the last parliament, the House came to a resolution "of taking into its most serious consideration, early in the then next session of parliament, the laws affecting his Majesty's Roman Catholic subjects in Great Britain and Ireland, with a view to a final and conciliatory adjustment;" and that, in the last session of parliament, the House, in pursuance of that Resolution, resolved itself into a committee, for the purpose of taking the said laws into consideration, and did then, by a Resolution of the House, fully recognize the expediency of relieving the petitioners from all the civil and military disabilities under which they labour; and that, confiding in that Resolution, and in the wisdom and justice of the House, the petitioners humbly pray, that it will take into its consideration the many penalties and disabilities to which the Roman Catholics of Great Britain are subject, and adopt such measures for their repeal, as the House shall deem expedient."

Ordered, to lie upon the table.

acquainted the House, that the duke of Wellington, having desired that he may have the honour to wait upon this House, his grace is now in attendance.

Upon this, it was unanimously resolved, that the duke of Wellington be now admitted. And a chair being set for his grace on the left hand of the bar towards the middle of the House, he came in, making his obeisances, the whole House rising upon his entrance within the bar; and Mr. Speaker having informed him, that there was a chair in which he might repose himself, the duke sat down covered for some time, the serjeant standing on his right hand with the mace grounded; and the House resumed their seats: his grace then rose, and, uncovered, spoke to the effect following:

"Mr. Speaker;—I was anxious to be permitted to attend this House, in order to return my thanks in person for the honour they have done me, in deputing a committee of members of this House to congratulate me on my return to this country; and this, after the House had animated my exertions by their applause upon every occasion which appeared to merit their approbation, and after they had filled up the measure of their favours by conferring upon me, at the recommendation of the Prince Regent, the noblest gift that any subject had ever received.

"I hope it will not be deemed presumptuous in me to take this opportunity of expressing my admiration of the great efforts made by this House and the country, at a moment of unexampled pressure and difficulty, in order to support the great scale of operation by which the contest was brought to so fortunate a termination.

"By the wise policy of parliament, the government were enabled to give the necessary support to the operations which were carried on under my direction; and I was encouraged by the confidence reposed in me by his Majesty's ministers, and by the commander in chief, by the gracious favour of his royal highness the Prince Regent, and by the reliance which I had on the support of my gallant friends, the general officers of the army, and on the bravery of the officers and troops, to carry on the operations in such a manner as to acquire for me those marks of the approbation of this House, for which I have now the honour to make my humble acknowledgments.

"Sir, it is impossible for me to express the gratitude which I feel; I can only assure the House, that I shall always be ready to serve his Majesty in any capacity in which my services can be deemed useful, with the same zeal for my country, which has already acquired for me the approbation of this House."

Loud cheers followed this speech, at the conclusion of which,

who during the foregoing speech sat covered, stood up uncovered, and spoke to his grace, as follows:

"My lord;—Since last I had the honour of addressing you from this place, a series of eventful years has elapsed; but none without some mark and note of your rising glory.

"The military triumphs which your valour has achieved upon the banks of the Douro and the Tagus, of the Ebro and the Garonne, have called forth the spontaneous shout of admiring nations. Those triumphs it is needless on this day to recount. Their names have been written by your conquering sword in the annals of Europe, and we shall hand them down with exultation to our children's children.

"It is not, however, the grandeur of military success, which has alone fixed our admiration, or commanded our applause; it has been that generous and lofty spirit which inspired your troops with unbounded confidence, and taught them to know that the day of battle was always a day of victory; that moral courage and enduring fortitude which, in perilous times, when gloom and doubt had beset ordinary minds, stood nevertheless unshaken; and that ascendancy of character, which, uniting the energies of jealous and rival nations, enabled you to wield at will the fates and fortunes of mighty empires.

"For the repeated thanks and grants bestowed upon you by this House, in gratitude for your many and eminent services, you have thought fit this day to offer us your acknowledgments; but this nation well knows that it is still largely your debtor; it owes to you the proud satisfaction, that amidst the constellation of great and illustrious warriors who have recently visited our country, we could present to them a leader of our own, to whom all, by common acclamation, conceded the pre-eminence; and when the will of heaven, and the common destinies of our nature, shall have swept away the present generation, you will have left your great name and example as an imperishable monument, exciting others to like deeds of glory, and serving at once to adorn, defend, and perpetuate, the existence of this country among the ruling nations of the earth.

"It now remains only, that we congratulate your grace upon the high and important mission on which you are about to proceed: and we doubt not that the same splendid talents, so conspicuous in war, will maintain, with equal authority, firmness and temper, our national honour and interests in peace."

During the Speaker's Address, the cheers were loud and frequent. His Grace then withdrew; making his obeisances in like manner as upon entering the House; and the whole House rising again whilst his grace was re-conducted by the serjeant from his chair to the door of the House.

rose and said: Sir, in commemoration of so proud and so grateful a day—a day on which we have had the happiness to witness within these walls the presence of a hero, never excelled at any period of the world, in the service of this or of any other country—in commemoration of the eloquent manner in which that hero was addressed from the chair, on an occasion which must ever be dear to Englishmen, and which will ever shed lustre on the annals of this House, I move, Sir, "That what has been now said by the duke of Wellington, in returning Thanks to the House, together with Mr. Speaker's Answer thereto, and the proceeding upon the above occasion, be printed in the Votes of this day.

The Speaker having put the question, the same was agreed to nem. con.

Thus ended the most dignified, and at the same time the most affecting proceeding, that we ever witnessed in parliament.

alluding to the petition he had presented last night, stated, that he understood there had been no intention to visit Mrs. Clarke with a more severe punishment than the law had pronounced; that she was now removed to one of the state-apartments, and considering the nature of the prison (which might be matter for future consideration), was as well accommodated as could be expected. He had seen a person from the marshal of the King's-bench prison (that officer himself being occupied by the duties of his situation), who informed him that though formerly money had been taken for granting good accommodation, such a practice had now entirely ceased. That such a practice was in the highest degree unjust and criminal, no doubt could be entertained. Reserving to himself the power to bring forward, should he think it expedient, the subject on a future day, he should for the present decline any further proceeding.

said, that before Mrs. Clarke had been many days in confinement, she had complained to the chief justice of the treatment she experienced, and that his lordship had immediately deputed a most respectable character, Mr. Law, to make enquiry into the state of the case. Mrs. Clarke had conceived that she was entitled to certain apartments, and had fixed upon some that she thought would be most convenient for her. She was told that as soon as the apartments in question, which had been long occupied by a gentleman confined for debt, should be vacant, she should have her choice of them, or of any other that might be vacant at the same time. The marshal had no power to dispossess any prisoner of the apartments which he occupied; and Mrs. Clarke had now the best—(bad enough certainly to those who had been accustomed to live in luxury)—that the prison afforded. The House would, no doubt, never shut its doors to the petitions of the subject; but he thought they should be cautious how they interfered in these cases, where a constitutional remedy was already provided. The Chief Justice, as soon as a complaint had been preferred, immediately sent a proper person to enquire into the case; and if that had not been done, an application to any judge would have at once procured redress.

the chancellor of the Irish Exchequer, said, that many of difficulties and embarrassments in the finances of Ireland had been considerably diminished by the duties which, in the course of his duty, he had proposed to the House last year. There was one difficulty which resulted from a peculiarity in the situation of Ireland, a difficulty derived from the preceding practice of meeting the necessities of a year of peace by the imposition of taxes when parliament had relieved England from similar taxes. There had, however, been, in the practice alluded to, certain benefits and advantages to which Ireland was, perhaps; indebted for her ability to bear those burthens which were now laid on her. In the statement of the finances of Ireland, which he was about to submit to the House, he should endeavour to occupy as little of their time as possible. The following were the particulars of the Supply:—

The next thing he should advert to was the state of the consolidated fund of Ireland:—

From this there was to be deducted, as arrears—

The Total of the Supply, as he had already stated, amounted to 18,795,455l.

He would now proceed to state the Ways and Means:—

In adverting to the charge for the loan, he might be allowed to state, that the sum borrowed in Ireland this year, was the greatest ever yet raised in that country.

Before he went into a recapitulation of the items of the duties and taxes to meet the above charge, he hoped he might be permitted to restate an opinion, which he delivered last year on a subject, perhaps, of the greatest importance of all those which grew out the of Act of Union, and that was, that the Union could not be considered as completed till the consideration of the finances of Ireland was taken up in the way pointed out by the Act of Union. It was a satisfaction to him to find, that that opinion had not been disapproved of by those public men. who were looked upon as the best acquainted with the interests of Ireland. That country ought to be brought up to a rate of taxation similar to that of England, at least in those cases where she possessed corresponding resources. With this view, he should propose an equalization of duty on all foreign articles imported into Ireland. The expectations which he held out last year in proposing new duties, had been more than realized; for there was not one of those duties which had not in collection more than exceeded the estimate. He could see no grounds for Ireland being exempted front a particular species of taxation; but with respect to articles liable to Custom-house duty, he could also see no grounds why a difference of rate should have existed so long between the two countries. It was his intention, therefore, to include, in his arrangement of this year, some articles which had never yet been subject to taxation. He should propose a resolution, to impose a duty on several articles used in the manufactories of Ireland. He hoped that the grounds by which he was actuated would satisfy those interested in manufactures, that these duties were necessary to prevent gross abuses against the revenue system. Several articles, hitherto exempted from duty, such as ashes, barilla, and also a congregated set of articles, known under the name of dye-stuffs, he conceived to be proper objects of taxation. The truth was, that a great number of those articles imported into Ireland, were never used in the manufactures of that country, but were conveyed to England, to the great loss of the revenue. To do away this mischief, and at the same time raise a revenue in Ireland, he should propose that the duties on those articles should be the same in Ireland as in Great Britain. He conceived it proper, however, to allow a drawback for those articles used in the bleaching of linen; and every facility, therefore, would he given to the manufacturers to obtain the drawback. He should estimate the increase of Custom-house duties from the equalization of rates at only 200,000l.—The next means of providing for the deficiency was a duty on spirits. This duty, while it provided for the wants of the Irish revenue, would accomplish another object, that of facilitating the intercourse between the two countries. The duties which he had proposed the former year had, in a great measure, prevented smuggling in Ireland, and were not only beneficial to the revenue, but advantageous, when considered in a national point of view. In consequence of this duty, England ought to give, on every principle of sound policy and national faith, every facility to the intercourse in spirits. He estimated the produce of the new duties on spirits at 300,000l. The next means were the stamp duties. The duty on legacies had not been found so productive in Ireland as was expected, and, in fact, had yielded almost nothing.

One source of revenue that he should propose was, a duty upon letters of attorney, which, whether it was productive or unproductive, being equally beneficial to Ireland, he hoped would meet with full concurrence. The resolution he should move would augment the stamp duty to 1l. 10s. upon every letter of attorney for the receipt of 60l. and it would rise in proportion to the sum. The effect would be to decrease the number of factors or middlemen in Ireland, who went between the owner of the soil and the occupant to receive the rents; by these means, the landlord and the tenant would be approximated, and residence of wealthy proprietors in Ireland would be promoted. The amount that this increase of duty would produce, he calculated at 15,000l. A new excise upon glass, beyond the countervailing duty, would likewise produce 15,000l.—The next and only remaining item regarded the postage of letters: the committee was aware that last year an alteration had been made by augmenting the sum paid upon letters sent direct between the capital and the principal towns of Ireland, and his object now was, to adopt the same regulations with regard to the cross-post of the sister kingdom, and, as in England, the utmost extent charged would be three hundred miles. The produce of this new regulation would be about 5,000l. per annum.—The right hon. gentleman then proceeded to detail the increase of the various sources of revenue, excepting malt, which had fallen off at the time of the stoppage of the distillery. He also detailed the measures adopted last year, and the amount produced beyond what was calculated. The amount of customs for the whole year had been estimated at 250,000l. whereas, in the first seven months, the sum obtained was 190,000l. The duty of 3s. per barrel upon malt, estimated at 115,000l. per annum, in the first three months, had given 60,000l.

He congratulated the House upon the prospect afforded in another division of the subject—exports and imports. Comparing the produce of the twelve years preceding, with the twelve years succeeding 1802, there was an augmentation on the exports of 12 millions, on the imports 18 millions; on ships 19,000l. and on tonnage 187,000 tons, proving an increasing prosperity in the commerce of Ireland. He adverted to some of the objections made to assimilating the custom duties of England and Ireland, and to establish the benefit of the latter system, he referred to the gross amount of the customs of Ireland up to the last year. The sum at the close of the last quarter was 2790,4091. although it had laboured under great disadvantages. The average on the three preceding years was only 2,474,080l. giving an increase of 316,329l. The sum paid on the importation of French wines had been greatly increased, another proof of prosperity. The duty upon spirits and malt had also risen; in the three last years, as compared with the three years preceding 1793, the additional revenue gained upon the above articles was 3,335,000l. He went on to controvert the opinion that, since the Union, the same exertions had not been made to collect the revenues as previous to that event; he quoted the amount of the net revenue before the Union, 39 millions, and the amount for the thirteen years posterior to the Union, 116 millions, and argued that the difference was to be attributed to the greater activity in the collection of the revenue.

On the only former occasion, on which it had been his duty to bring under the consideration of parliament the general state of the resources of Ireland, he had expressed that opinion, to which he still adhered, namely, that it was mainly owing to the system on which we had acted with respect to Ireland, that she had increased as she had done in these resources, and had advanced so rapidly, in despite of the comparative augmentation of her burthens, to wealth and to prosperity. He had then cautioned the House not to press too strongly on these nascent sources of our strength.

I then laid before you, said the right hon. gentleman, what Ireland had done. I did not conceal from her the sacrifices which she would be called upon to make. I expressed that hope which parliament has fulfilled, a hope that would not anticipate the resources of Ireland, for if you anticipate, you crush them. I presume to say, that in the propositions which I lay this day before you, I give no indistinct evidence of a disposition to meet the difficulties of our situation, of a desire not to shrink, through any personal feelings, from the imposition of such burthens as I think the country is able to bear: and if, Sir, at the close of this long, eventful and triumphant war, in which Great Britain has made such sacrifices, and in which Ireland has contributed such as were corresponding to her means if England has set a splendid example to surrounding nations, her sister island has been far from backward in those exertions, by which our national character has been raised to its present proud preeminence. Let us not but told, then, that we have been but a burthen to the empire, to whose success we have contributed so essentially. We have given you him, whom you have this day, for the first time, seen within your walls, since he ran his race of glory, and whose presence shed a luster round the House. He could have told you, in the language of one of her most eloquent sons, that the heart sluices of Ireland had been opened in your cause. I will not speak of any one who may be present, for my noble friend is present, under whose councils that treaty has been accomplished, by which convulsed Europe has been restored to its ancient and. regulated form; and if Great Britain is justly proud of the battle she has fought, Ireland has a claim to participate in her triumph.

The right hon. gentleman then moved his first resolution.

agreed, that the progressive amelioration of the finances of Ireland had been considerable, but thought that the adoption of some new and striking financial regulation was absolutely necessary, According to the statement of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the net revenue of Ireland was 5,350,000l. The charge of the debt 5,540,000l. which then alone exceeded the net revenue, by nearly 200,000l. The lowest calculation of the peace establishment of the United Kingdom was 17,000,000l. of which the charge on Ireland was 2,000,000l. which together, with this excess of 200,000l. and other separate charges of Ireland, would amount next year to a charge exceeding by 2,400,000l. the net revenue. How was this deficiency to be met? A loan to this amount could not with good grace be proposed in a year of perfect peace, taxes to this amount must then be proposed according to the usual course of proceeding. But this deficiency, however, could be made up without either new taxes or loan. The existing taxes, if well levied, would amount to the sum required. It would be considered perhaps extraordinary, that an increase of 2,400,000l. could be effected by an improvement in the collection of the revenue; but if the able reports on the table of the House, on the subject of the Irish revenue, were read, it would be seen, that he was not extravagant in his expectations. The abuses in the collection of the revenue in Ireland were very great, but the reformation would be extremely easy, and he hoped some measure to that purpose would be proposed. The system of patronage applied to the collection of the revenue, was the cause of the evils in this department in Ireland. At the time of the Union, no regulation was made as to the executive power of Ireland. It was well known that, before that measure, the patronage of the revenue was applied to the purposes of parliamentary corruption; and since that event this practice had not been checked. The consolidation of the Treasuries of the two countries was a measure greatly to be desired, and without this no effectual controul could be exercised over the collection of the revenue. Because the Irish Treasury, though intended to serve as a controul, was a complete nullity, and was likely to continue so. The manner in which this consolidation of the Treasuries would be productive of so much good, would be by depriving the Irish executive government of the revenue patronage; the board of Treasury sitting in this country, under the immediate direction of the first lord of the Treasury, would exercise all those powers in regard to patronage and controul, as it exercises them here, and would allow the several boards of revenue in Ireland to appoint, promote or dismiss their officers, in the same way the boards here are allowed to do. It was absurd to consider the Irish boards responsible, or capable of collecting the revenue, so long as the interference of the Castle in all the patronage prevailed. If the taxes in Ireland were well managed, they would not only meet the joint charge on that kingdom, but leave a surplus to be applied to the assistance of the English revenue.—As to the tax on powers of attorney, as it was to amount to one per cent. on the sum to be received, when it exceeded a certain amount, and as the power was necessarily renewed yearly, it would, in effect, amount to a property tax of one per cent. on those Irish landlords who did not collect their own rents—a trouble which no landlord would give himself, as in that country it was not possible, as in England, to call the tenants together on a certain day, to receive the rents from all. Besides, it would be utterly impossible to collect this tax, unless regulations were enacted to ascertain every man's income, and unless the whole system of collecting the pro- perty tax in this country was introduced into Ireland.—With respect to the Post-office, it was satisfactory to find some improvement had taken place in the revenue of it, as, until a late period, it was by far the worst-conducted department in Ireland. This revenue was capable of still farther improvement, by such regulations as would expedite the conveyance of letters, and thus lead to an increased correspondence. A custom prevailed in Dublin, which could not be justified by any sound reason, of detaining all letters which came there for the purpose of going forward 12 or 14 hours, by having the hour of the arrival of the mails fixed at six o'clock in the morning, and the hour of departure to England or to the interior, late in the evening. By this regulation, an answer to a letter written from the country to England, or to any other part of the country, was on an average delayed unnecessarily twenty-eight hours. If no such regulation was necessary in Liverpool or Bristol, where the correspondence was greater than in Dublin, it could not be wanted there. If, again, the carrying of the mails between London and Holyhead was regulated properly, a saving of six hours might be made on each journey, without requiring the mail to travel faster than the usual rate of seven miles an hour. These regulations would be highly beneficial to the mercantile and other interests, and, at the same time, productive of a great increase of revenue.—On the subject of the Spirit duties, it was desirable the discretionary power which was vested in the commissioners of excise, to grant or refuse licences, should be taken away, and that, in regard to the establishing of small stills, the large ones might be protected, by providing, that no small still should be set up within a prescribed distance. No complaint was now intended to be brought against the commissioners for any particular act of theirs, though many had certainly been made; but such a discretionary power over the capital and industry of the country ought not to have existence any where, it being the unquestionable right of every man to employ his money and his labour in whatever way he thinks proper, subject to no other restraint but that of clear and unerring legislative regulations. The hon. baronet concluded by stating, that what he had said in regard to the necessity of a general and immediate reform in the financial system of Ireland, was of extreme consequence to the people of that country: for, if no such reform took place, then the necessity would exist in the next session of imposing new taxes adequate to produce a no less additional revenue than 2,400,000l. If a proper reform was effected, as it might very easily be, simply by assimilating the practice of Ireland to that of this country, then such a heavy burthen might be entirely avoided.

denied that ever, to his knowledge, an improper use had been made of the revenue patronage, and called on the hon. baronet to produce any instance of the kind. One instance had been formerly adduced in the case of Mr. Beauchamp Hill, but whether or no this was a case of an improper use of the revenue patronage, he did not know, as the facts alluded to took place long before he held any office under the Irish government. As to the tax on the powers of attorney, it would tend to produce the residence of the landlords, which was one of the things most desirable in Ireland.

observed, that the legacy tax would have produced at least double the amount stated by the right hon. gentleman, if that tax had been properly collected. But that it was not so collected was matter of notoriety; for the report of the officers employed to collect the tax, as to the penalties incurred respecting this tax, was laid before the proper board in Ireland, and never attended to. This fact was made known to a committee above stairs, and the late chancellor of the exchequer (Mr. Perceval) expressed his astonishment that any public board should so far have neglected its duty. But the neglect was to be accounted for; some Irish judges and counsellors of the public boards having been among the defaulters, and hence the penalties reported by the proper officer were never enforced. This circumstance, however, having occurred antecedent to the appointment of the right hon. gentleman (Mr. Fitzgerald) was not attributable to him. This was not the only instance in which the collection of the Irish revenue was neglected, for he could cite instances of similar neglect, and such neglect could not be wondered at. He had lately heard of an Irish board, meant to be efficient, at which only one commissioner attended for some time, and this commissioner actually declared his intention to resign, stating that he accepted the office only because his father told him it was a sinecure. After some animadversion upon particular taxes, the right hon. baronet observed, that no sufficient controul with respect to taxation, could ever exist in Ireland, until the financial was separated from the political department. What would be the case in this country, if the management of the finances was committed to the Secretary of State, instead of being vested in the Treasury? Yet, in Ireland, although by a special Act in 1795, the management of the finances was committed to the lords of the Treasury, the whole was undertaken by the secretary of the lord lieutenant, who was generally a person very little acquainted with the affairs of Ireland. The right hon. baronet, adverting to the fourteen Reports before the House, from the commissioners of enquiry, with respect to the collection of the revenue in Ireland, pronounced a high compliment upon the industry and integrity of those commissioners, and stated his intention, early in the next session, to bring forward certain propositions, founded upon the recommendation of this commission. He also stated his intention, unless the measure were taken up by government, to move for the appointment of a commission to enquire into the expenditure of the Irish revenue, which commission would, he hoped, be found to imitate the example of the commission to which he had alluded.

vindicated the conduct of the board of excise in Ireland, which was, he maintained, entitled to the highest praise for its zeal, energy, and attention to the public service.

recommended the peculiar attention of the excise board to the encouragement of small stills, as the best system for watching and guarding against illicit distillation.

deprecated the imposition of any absentee tax, with respect to Ireland, and quoted the authority of Mr. Burke in support of his opinion.

The several Resolutions were then agreed to.

rose to move for leave to bring in a Bill, to render more easy and effectual the redress of assaults in Ireland. He said, the object of his Bill would be to induce persons, who had suffered violent assaults, to appeal to the law for relief and protection, by enabling them to procure it more immediately, and without expence. The Bill would comprise two material altera- tions in the law: the first would enable the persons assaulted to bring their case before the assistant barrister, at the quarter sessions. The second would empower the judge or the court, at their discretion, to allow a compensation for expences to the prosecutors.

seconded the motion.

suggested, whether it would not be proper to pay the expences out of a county fine, instead of making the person convicted of the offence liable for them.

thanked the hon. gentleman for his suggestion. There was, he believed, no county fines in Ireland, but the sum might be levied upon some similar principle. Perhaps the offender having ultimately to pay the expences, would be an additional security against the commission of the offence.

Leave was given to bring in the Bill.