, seeing the chancellor of the exchequer in his place, would put a few questions to him upon a subject highly interesting to the public in general, as very mischievous reports were in daily circulation with the avowed object of depressing the public credit. The first question he would put, was, simply whether he intended to raise any money by loan or otherwise in the course of the coming year? The second question was, whether it was intended to pay off the three millions of exchequer-bills which was borrowed, free of interest, from the Bank? The other point upon which he wished to have some information was respecting the payment of the six millions to the Bank? It was of great consequence that the public should have the best information on this subject, because many people strangely supposed that if the Bank received six millions from the government, the amount of the circulation of Bank-notes would be diminished in that ratio.

stated his astonishment at the first question which had been put to him by the hon. member for Nottingham; for so large a sum in exchequer-bills had been funded this year, as to render it very improbable indeed that either a loan or funding would be resorted to this year. In answer to the second question, he was in treaty with the Bank, and he had no doubt but that the sum of three millions would remain in the Bank as a loan to government at a low interest. In answer to the third question, the six millions would be paid to the Bank at the periods most convenient to the government. It was absurd to suppose that the amount of notes in circulation would depend upon payments by government to the Bank. The Bank had the control over its own issues, and it would, no doubt, supply the public, as usual, liberally, and he had reason to know that this was their intention.

observed, with regard to the three millions of exchequer-bills, that as notice had been given for payment, an interest of 4 per cent would become payable, unless an arrangement was intermediately made by the government and the Bank; and unless the government paid the six millions before the end of the year, it was idle to talk of the issues of the Bank being lessened, or the restriction upon cash-payments being ever taken off.

explained, that with regard to the three millions an arrangement was actually in progress; and that, upon the other part of the subject, he had already stated that government had made its arrangements with a view to a gradual payment of the six millions.

wished to learn from the right hon. gentleman opposite, whether any orders had been issued from the Treasury, to the district surveyors, respecting the Assessment of the Land-tax? He particularly wished to know what authority had been given for a certain Circular Letter which had been sent from a surveyor to an assessor in a distant district (he alluded to the county of Westmorland), and which had been published in the newspapers? It was a direction from this officer not to proceed in the land tax assessments till farther orders. As the law stood, the bill on this subject having been lately thrown out, these officers take on themselves, in contempt of the privileges of the House, and the rights of electors, to adopt a measure for disfranchising voters at the eve of a general election. If the matter were not satisfactorily accounted for, he should call for the attendance of those officers at the bar. But he should take a shorter mode than moving for the production of that letter by the persons who received it; for if he were driven to this necessity, it was clear, that before his object could be attained, the parliament would be prorogued, and perhaps dissolved.

said, if any such order had been given, there could be no doubt it must have been a general one.

was surprised that the right hon. gentleman should Stand up in his place and express any doubt whether he had issued such an order or not. It was an order that was probably signed by three lords of the Treasury.

replied, that he did not believe the lords of the Treasury had signed any such order.

added, that he did not believe any such order had been issued from the Treasury.

then moved, "That there be laid before this House an Account of any Orders which have been issued by the lords commissioners of his majesty's Treasury, regarding the Land, Tax Assessment, within the last three months."

seconded the motion, which, he conceived to be absolutely necessary. At the present period, when a dissolution of parliament was expected, it was proper that candidates should know who the voters were. He had paid dearly for the want of proper information. The land-tax book contained the vital principle on which votes were founded.

suggested, that the order in question might have proceeded from the Tax office, and that the motion would be more complete by the addition of the words, "or the Commissioners of Taxes."

said, he should avail himself of the suggestion of his hon. friend. The production of the paper would point out the persons on whom the blame of this proceeding ought to rest. It would enable the House to discover, whether the order was given with or without the authority of the board of Treasury. The persons issuing the letter were certainly guilty of a breach of the privileges of parliament, and therefore ought to be called to the bar of the House. But, if he moved for the appearance of the officers, they might say, that they acted under the sanction of the board of taxes, and then the case would be remediless, since a fortnight at least must elapse before any thing could be done. He should therefore consult with gentlemen better informed on the subject than he could pretend to be, in order to secure to the voters throughout the country their elective rights, should it appear that measures had been taken to contract them. The Crown had a right to dissolve parliament when it pleased; but if, when a dissolution was about to take place, measures of this nature were resorted to, the House must look for a remedy within itself.

The motion was agreed to.

rose, in pursuance of notice, to move certain resolutions with a view to the preservation of the privileges of that House. The inquisitorial powers of the House of Commons were essential to it, as the great council of the nation, and all persons, either examined in committee, or at their bar, were bound to answer every question put to them. It was not right, without the leave of the House, that the information thus obtained should be divulged elsewhere. A case had lately occurred, where a short-hand writer, employed by the House, had been called on, in a court of justice, to give evidence of matters which had been stated in a committee. Without any notice being given to the House, he had produced documents, which he had himself taken, and on his evidence the result of the trial in a great measure depended. He denied the power, however, of any court to come at facts so disclosed, without the consent of that House. If such a proceeding were allowed, their investigations must hereafter be very much contracted—or else very great danger must be apprehended from the disclosures made before committees. It was necessary that persons, either clerks or others, employed by that House, should be apprized of their duty; and with that view he should move,

1. "That all witnesses examined before this House, or any committee thereof, are entitled to the protection of this House, in respect of any thing that may be said by them in their evidence.

2. "That no clerk or officer of this House, or short-hand writer employed to take minutes of evidence before this House, or any committee thereof, do give evidence elsewhere in respect of any proceedings or examination had at the bar or before any committee of this House without the special leave of the House."

said, that the circumstance which called for these resolutions presented one of the most dangerous infractions of the privileges of the House that could possibly be conceived. If it were established that a short-hand writer, or clerk in a committee, could be compelled to give evidence of what had passed there, he might equally be called on to depose to what had taken place in that House, and the whole inquisitorial power of parliament would fall to the ground. The consequence would be, that they would find it impossible to go to the bottom of many transactions nearly connected with the public interest. The business could not have been noticed in a milder manner than the one adopted by the right hon. gentleman. There might be cases, as in the event of an impeachment, or when a charge materially depended on words spoken in that House, where it might be necessary to support, by evidence, the allegations made. In all these cases, witnesses might be examined at the bar; but he never could assent to the general proposition, that evidence taken before a committee, or at the bar, should be disclosed, without the permission of the House.

The Resolutions were then agreed to, nem. con.

observed, that it was rather an advanced period of the session for the motion of which he had given notice; but he could not anticipate any grounds of opposition to it from the other side of the House. The justice of the country could not be said to be administered, either in the four northern, or the two adjoining counties of York and Lancaster, because the business on the northern circuit, which comprehended the six, was more than any two judges could execute. He would now state the object of his motion, in order that its nature might be fully understood; and he really believed it to be one against which no rational objection could be urged. He should first desire, that the Report of the Select committee, appointed to inquire into this subject, be read.^* In founding upon this report an address to the Prince Regent for taking such measures as may secure to the northern counties the benefits of an equal administration of justice, he apprehended that he was leaving to the discretion of those who had the best opportunities of forming a correct judgment, the entire arrangement of those measures. The evil was of an extent which called loudly for redress. The grievances arising from it were not peculiar to the northern counties: he had learned, from communication with other parts of the kingdom, that the necessary business could not, in many places, be discharged, from the want of a greater number of judges. It was, however, his intention for the present, to confine himself to the question in respect of those counties where the assizes were held but once a year. It was a most remarkable fact, that the business of the northern circuit exceeded three-fold that of any other. He held in his hand a return of the average number of civil causes on the western circuit as compared with those on the northern, for the same period of time. On the western, the number was between 180 and 200, whilst, on the northern, at York alone it was 141, at Lancaster 143, in Westmorland 11, in Cumberland 80, in Durham 27, and at Newcastle 25; making altogether 427. Could it be supposed that any two judges could try all these causes within the time allotted, so as to render justice to the different suitors? It should be recollected also, that there was often a very heavy criminal calendar at Lancaster, amounting on a late occasion to a hundred indictments, many of which were for very serious offences. It appeared that at Lancaster and York, therefore, the business exceeded the whole number of causes on the western circuit. Did the House consider it fit and proper that this state of things should continue; that in four counties there should be but one assize in the year; and that prisoners should, notwithstanding all the exertions of the magistrates in disposing of minor offences, lie for so many months in confinement before they were brought to trial? A man taken up on suspicion, and sent to the county gaol, must in such a case be ruined, however innocent of the crime imputed to him. We might boast as much as we pleased of our superior laws, and practice of administering them, but there was no country in Europe, where so monstrous a defect prevailed in the judiciary system—a defect equally injurious to individuals, and disgraceful to the character of justice. A case of manslaughter had recently occurred, in which the prisoner was acquitted, after lying eleven months in confinement; the whole punishment annexed by the law to a conviction of that offence being but twelve months imprisonment. No man was more thoroughly convinced of the excellence of our laws than himself, when they were administered; but that administration, however pure, could not be effectual, unless the judges received some assistance in the execution of their arduous duties. He had had communication with several of the judges upon this subject; and Mr. Baron Wood, who had authorized him to use his name, declared, that he had been obliged to leave the circuit before the business was half performed. There were at that assizes no less than 147 causes set down for trial, and after getting through a certain number of those, care was thus taken to select such of the remainder as could be more easily tried. But the most important special jury causes were among the remanets which the judge was obliged to leave undecided. When the expense of collecting evidence, and of preparing for trial by a special jury were considered, the grievance to the suitors in the cases to which he had alluded must be sensibly felt. Yet six of those special jury causes were among the remanets at the last assizes for Yorkshire. But he had re- ceived much information from other judges as well as baron Wood, illustrative of the injustice resulting from the system which it was his wish to remedy. He had also received similar intelligence from barristers and suitors. On lately passing through Yorkshire, he was told by a gentleman that he had had a special jury cause left among the remanets at York assizes, after he had incurred costs to the amount of some hundred pounds in the collection of witnesses, from various parts of the country, and in other expenses connected with his preparation for trial. But many of those remanets were left to a reference, the parties rather wishing to have the case so decided, than to incur the expense of proceeding a second time to the assizes. Was not this, he would ask, equal to an absolute denial of justice? But the fact was, that in many instances suitors were obliged to go a second time to the assizes for the trial of their cause. He knew a respectable solicitor of Durham, who with a view to the more expeditious decision of his client's cause, had the venue changed to Yorkshire. The cause of action was for 24l. He carried his witnesses to York, but was not able to have the cause tried at the first assizes. At the second assizes it was decided in favour of his client, after incurring costs to the amount of 200l.; but of those costs the master only allowed 140l.: so that the client was 60l. out of pocket, for the recovery of 24l. It was said by some, that there was no peculiar injustice to be apprehended from transitory causes, as they could be transferred from any of the four counties alluded to. But it was to be recollected, that there were many civil causes which could not be consistently transferred, namely, actions of ejectment, or actions between landlord and tenant; and was it fair that such causes should stand over undecided, for one, perhaps for two years, in the four counties under consideration? But even were the change of venue quite consistent in all cases, it must be considered that if a cause were taken for trial to York, from any of the four counties alluded to, it would necessarily occupy the parties perhaps for fourteen days, in a case which might be decided in each of those counties within seven days. The additional loss of time, then, together with the additional expense of a transfer of the trial, formed a serious consideration to suitors, and it must always be borne in mind, that according to one of the radical maxims of our law, justice ought to be administered with the least possible expense. But the truth was, that two judges could not contrive to get through the business of the Northern circuit, at the Summer assizes, and thus an increased expense was incurred through the remanets. There were no doubt some witnesses examined before the committee, who differed from his views of the subject. Two gentlemen of the highest respectability particularly dissented from him; but while he acknowledged their respectability, he certainly could not subscribe to their reasoning, especially when they maintained the opinion, that if two assizes within the year were appointed to take place in the four counties referred to, they would serve to produce more litigation. If indeed this reasoning were valid, and the opinion sound, an end should be put to the second assizes in the other circuits.—But as an apology for declining to consider and remedy the evil to which he had called the attention of the House, he understood it was said, that it would be imprudent to meddle with the system which had existed for centuries. What, was it to be apprehended that there was something like a spell belonging to this system of evil, which if touched the bubble would burst? But the apprehension was chimerical, and a mere pretence for those who did not wish to look at the evil in the face—who were not anxious to secure the proper administration of justice. Upon the authorities and cases he had cited, he was bold to say, that justice was not properly administered in the Northern circuit, but especially in the four counties to which he more particularly referred. Why, then, should ministers shrink from the consideration of an adequate remedy for the system complained of? The apprehension of any danger from the change so much desired, was perfectly idle. No danger or inconvenience had resulted to Scotland from the change which had taken place in the constitution of its courts for the administration of justice. First, the court of sessions was divided into two chambers, and next a new court was created for the trial of civil causes by jury. Yet the law of Scotland was never found to suffer any injury from the change, while the system of administering justice was materially improved. Upon what ground, then, could any fear be entertained, that the law of England would be injured, or its constitution endangered, by the adoption of a de- sirable change in the organization of our courts of justice? The Report on the table showed the necessity of some change; and was it too much to require of ministers not to make any immediate arrangement, but to take the subject into consideration in the course of the recess? The correct and conscientious manner in which the judges attended to their duties was universally admitted and applauded. The more, indeed, the conduct of these meritorious individuals was inquired into, the more they must be secure of the approbation and respect of the country. Yet, with all their diligence, they found it impossible to get through all the business assigned to them. And, first, with regard to the court of King's-bench, it was a fact, that that court had not yet been able to decide upon the motions for new trials from the last summer assizes of the northern circuit. He was, indeed, acquainted with an instance, in which such motions were not determined upon until the last day of the Trinity term; the judges sitting to hear motions until 12 o'clock at night upon that day. Thus parties could not possibly receive notice in due time to be prepared for a new trial at the succeeding assizes. Here the hon. member animadverted upon the course of proceeding at Serjeants'-inn, where the judges sat upon a fiction, for they could hear, but could not determine certain points at that court. He disliked this mode of proceeding altogether; for he wished the courts to be always public, and that the judges should act before a numerous and enlightened bar, which was not so practicable at Serjeants'-inn. But the judges were too much occupied, and therefore, among the remedies, he would propose an addition to their strength. Such an addition he had, indeed, long thought necessary, and such also he found to be the opinion of many intelligent gentlemen whom he had consulted upon the subject. He suggested, therefore, that two commissioners should be appointed to assist the judges, those commissioners to be clothed with all the authority of the judicial function, and to be invested with that authority for life, with a view to render them, as well as the judges, independent of government, if it were said that serjeants might be employed, as they occasionally were, in officiating for the judges, and that his suggestion was superfluous, he should answer, that to satisfy the public mind, persons actually invested with the judicial authority were necessary in the administration of justice. He had heard of a plan to send some Serjeants at the Lent assizes to deliver the gaols of the four counties to which he alluded; but this would not be sufficient to answer the ends of justice, or to satisfy the minds of the people of those counties. It was known, that at the Old Bailey the judges of the land uniformly attended to try the capital felonies, although the recorder and the common serjeant were always in the commission. If from the number of the judges they were deemed incompetent to perform the duties assigned to them, that number then should be increased; in each of the existing courts a new court should be appointed, and any expense that might arise out of such an arrangement should not be allowed to interfere with the due administration of public justice. There were many parts of the business connected with the court of King's-bench which might be done out of court; for instance, the taking of bail, with all cases connected with smugglers, insolvent debtors, and judgments under certiorari. The judges of all the courts were called upon to do a great deal of chamber business, especially in cases from the Tax office. Now, suppose the judges were relieved from all this business through the commissioners whom he had before mentioned, they would naturally become more qualified for the due performance of other parts of their judicial duty, and such qualification was essentially necessary. For the wealth of the country had so much increased with its commercial advancement and colonial connexion, that the same number of judges which existed in the reign of Elizabeth could not be deemed competent to discharge the increased law business of the present. They were not, in fact, able to do it, and hence the administration of justice was impeded. If it should be said, that the executive government was not prepared to pronounce any opinion upon this subject at present, he should express his astonishment, for ministers had had quite time enough for preparation, his original motion having been made at an early period of the session, and the report of the committee to which the subject was referred having been three months upon the table. Still he would not call upon ministers to express any decided opinion, but merely to promise the consideration of the subject in the course of the recess, when they might consult the judges and the Crown lawyers as to the measures most expedient to be adopted. He had the authority of Mr. Scarlett, who was the leader of the bar upon the northern circuit (which authority, by-the-by, was in opposition to the interest of his own practice), that without some change in the system to which his motion referred, justice could not be duly administered. He had also the authority of baron Wood, with that of other judges, and several eminent counsel. The opinion of the people of the Several counties which he had mentioned was decidedly with him. He did not know whether the opinion of the minister was with him; but he trusted that that House would support a motion called for by the pressure of such injustice as he had described, and approved of by such authorities as he had cited. The hon. member concluded with moving, "That an humble address be presented to his royal highness the Prince Regent, representing to his royal highness, that this House having taken into their consideration the report of the Select committee on the administration of justice upon the northern circuit, humbly request that his royal highness will be graciously pleased to adopt such measures as shall give to the counties of Westmorland, Cumberland, Durham, and Northumberland, and the town and county of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, the benefit of a general Gaol Delivery, and a Commission of Assize and Nisi Prius twice in each year; and to assure his Royal Highness that this House will make good any expense attending the same."

^* For a copy of the said Report, see p. 374, of the present Volume.

said, that he did not mean to oppose the general principle of the hon. member's motion, but to observe, that as the House was not prepared to come to any decision upon the ease, it would, in his view, be better to withdraw the motion for the present. For himself he must say, that he was not yet prepared to pronounce any opinion upon the merits of the case; for although he had availed himself of the opportunity which the report on the table afforded, to consult those who were most competent to form a judgment, yet, from the variety of engagements to which those eminent individuals had to attend, he found that they had not sufficient leisure to consider the subject, so as to devise an adequate remedy for the evil complained of. This evil he admitted to exist, but like many other evils it must be endured until a proper remedy was discovered. Before the proposed address was voted, he recommended the House to see its way through the difficulty and embarrassment which belonged to the case. The proposition of the hon. mover did not, it appeared, refer alone to the counties which he had mentioned; for in that hon. gentleman's own view the remedy be sought could be attained without effectuating a very considerable change in the organization of our established courts of justice. He agreed with the hon. member, that expense should not be allowed to stand in the way of the due administration of justice. But it was obvious, that it would become the House to see its way clearly before it made any pledge, or took any proceeding upon a subject of this nature. The Report recommended the administration of justice only by the judges, while the hon. mover suggested the appointment of commissioners. But whether that suggestion should be acted upon—whether more judges should be appointed, or a new court created, according to the hon. member's proposition, the case was such as to require more consideration before the House took any step towards new-modelling our courts of justice. The confinement of prisoners so long before they were brought to trial was undoubtedly a great evil, to remedy which he trusted some measures would be adopted. But happily, from the little progress of crime, and the state of morality in the counties alluded to, it appeared from the returns before the House, that comparatively very few had suffered from the existence of this evil. The delay of civil causes was also an evil; but still, as to the appointment of two assizes in those counties, the evidence of the four or five professional gentlemen adduced before the committee was entitled to some attention. He did not mean to say that he concurred in the opinion of those gentlemen. Neither did he deny the evil which the hon. mover alleged to exist; nor did he intend to discourage the hon. member's wish for remedying that evil. He only asked the hon. gentleman to withdraw his motion for the present, in order to afford time for due consideration.

concurred in the noble lord's recommendation to his hon. friend to withdraw his motion. Without differing from the principles laid down by his hon. friend, he still thought it improper to come to any decision upon the case at present. If the motion applied only to the four northern counties, it was now too late in the session to adopt any measure of legislation upon the subject, and to vote the address would be tantamount to a measure of legislation. Now as the proposed change referred to judicial proceedings, he apprehended it would be much more regular to have it settled by the consent of the three branches of the legislature, than to emanate solely from that House. In such a case indeed it was peculiarly proper that the other House of parliament should be consulted, forming, as it did, our supreme court of judicature. But it was evidently necessary to afford time for consideration before the House took any step, in order that the judges should consult together as to the nature of the change which it might be expedient to adopt.

replied. He observed that he had been formely told that the House should wait till the facts had been stated; the facts had now come, and he was again desired to wait till some other opportunity should occur. Did the noble lord and the hon. gentleman opposite re-collect, that if they adjourned this question, the next circuit would beleft exposed to the same evils and inconveniencies, the same denial of justice? If the noble lord would give a plain assent to the principles that had been laid down, he was willing to withdraw his motion; but if no such assent was given, he should in the next session, if he had then the honour of a seat in that House, be left just where he was. He never would assent to any proposition that did not give to the four northern counties the same benefit of nisi prius as the other counties enjoyed.

said, that ministers would feel it to be their duty to inquire fully into the subject, but it was impossible that they could then pledge themselves to any particular measure.

observed that in the county of Warwick much inconvenience and hardship were suffered from the delay that took place in consequence of the great number of trials.

said, that the executive government was bound to enter most actively into the subject, and to provide a remedy. He had been informed by the town clerk of Norwich, that instances had occurred of persons being confined nine or ten months previously to their trial; and a navy surgeon had been confined for the space of twelve months, and had been subsequently acquitted. By so long an imprisonment, individuals sometimes suffered more than they would have done, if convicted from the sentence of the law.

corroborated the statement of the preceding speaker as to the great detriment sustained by his majesty's subjects, from the want of a general gaol delivery twice in the year at the assizes for the city of Norwich.

The motion was then withdrawn.

said, that undeterred by the result of former discussions, he should not allow that last opportunity to pass without renewing his opposition to a bill that went to continue this great national nuisance. The bill had only been printed that day, and though some improvement was made in its provisions, his opinion as to its being immoral in its tendency, and impolitic in its principle, remained unchanged. It was a most shabby and dishonourable plan for cheating the people out of their money. The more he considered the subject, the more difficult he felt it to account for the determination of the right hon. the chancellor of the exchequer, to persevere in a system so prolific in crime. When he considered the acts in which the right hon. gentleman was often engaged, he was surprised that he should not only give his support to, but insist on the adoption of a system so base and disgraceful. What! could the right hon. gentleman, who on one day was the builder of churches, on another, was a friend to the education of the poor; on a third, recommended the distribution of bibles; and, on a fourth, supported the plan of Saving banks—could he be the patron of a system which went to undermine the morals of the people? He lamented to say that this was the fact. But if the right hon. gentleman was disposed to sacrifice public morals for the paltry gain of 250,000l., he was not inclined to agree with him. He abhorred and detested such dishonourable and fraudulent practices, and he would continue to oppose them as long as he had a seat in that House. With that view he should now move, that the bill be read a third time on this day three months.

said, that nothing had given him greater pain, since the short time he had sat in that House, than the seeing how frequently great questions of justice and morality were sacrificed to expediency. But the present sacrifice was of a more degraded character, as it surrendered those great principles to a paltry financial profit of 250,000l. He felt himself totally at a loss to understand the motives of the right hon. the chancellor of the exchequer, in persevering in a measure on which many of those gentlemen who supported administration deserted him. He could not help thinking—though he hoped there was little probability of the country being deprived by death of his services—that the following would be an appropriate epitaph to inscribe on the tomb of the right hon. gentleman: "Here lies the right hon. Nicholas Vansittart, once chancellor of the exchequer: the patron of bible societies; the builder of churches; a friend to the education of the poor, an encourager of Saving banks, and—a supporter of lotteries!" [A laugh].

expressed a strong disapprobation of the measure. If his majesty's ministers said that we should be slow in tampering with the revenue of the country, his answer was, that ministers should not themselves tamper with the morals of the people.

wished to know on what grounds that House could enact capital punishments, when they were passing laws which invited the people to perpetrate crimes? He could not consent to this measure on any grounds of revenue whatever. Considering the abominable effects which this system was calculated to produce, he was satisfied that there was no impost that could be imposed which the people of England would not prefer to it.

was of opinion, that no fault could be found with the keepers of regular offices. Many frauds and impositions, however, were practised, and great and extensive evils arose from the system of insurances. Some offices belonging to the latter description of persons had been entered, and the books taken away, by which it appeared, on inspection, that clerks in banking-houses, clerks in the customs, and in other public departments, had entered their names as insurers, from 11 to 10l. In exposing such evils to the House, he would not hesitate to mention names. One of the offices to which he alluded was discovered in Newgate-street, and another in Covent-garden, where he entered and found all that he had stated. In one of those places, a gentleman who held a high office in the long-room in the Custom-house was the person who took the insurances. The hon. member concluded with saying, that he hoped the right hon. the chancellor of the exchequer would at last find that such an immoral system as this would not be tolerated by the people.

, after what had fallen from the worthy alderman, begged to trouble the House with a very few words. As the worthy alderman had spoken in praise of the licensed lottery-office-keepers, he must now say a word in their dispraise. In doing so, he acted from the very best information on the subject, and the unbiassed conviction of his mind. He would say, then, that they were the last people in the country, next to hangmen and informers, on whom he would bestow any panegyric. He considered them to be fraudulent and criminal men, and he would add, that no persons could earn their money in a more dirty manner [Hear, hear!]. They practised the most shameful and disgraceful frauds on the public by their schemes and puffs, by which they hoped to entrap the ignorant; and, he regretted to say, they too often succeeded. It would be well, however, for all persons to know, that in small prizes, the chances were four and a half to one against the miserable adventurer, and in the higher prizes they were 2,000 to one against him. And yet people suffered themselves to be taken in by these "respectable persons," the lottery-office keepers, as the worthy alderman had called them. He trusted that the eyes of the public would be opened at last to such fraudulent and disgraceful practices.

, in explanation, said, that he had only spoken in praise of licensed lottery-office keepers, because he did not believe that they were engaged in any illegal insurances. He by no means meant to support the system of lotteries.

The question being put, "That the bill be now read a third time," the House divided:

The Bill was then read a third time, and passed.