presented a petition from Claremont Chapel, Pentonville, against the Church-rates Bill; also a petition to the same effect from the parishes of St. Andrew, Holborn, and St. George the Martyr. The latter petitioners stated, that they would not object to the principle of the Bill, provided an equalization of the land-tax was first made throughout the country, but without such equalization the Bill would operate most oppressively on the parishes whose affairs were intrusted entirely to their own hands, because the assessments under which the land-tax is collected have been in force ever since the reign of William and Mary, and as they were confirmed by the statute of 38 Geo. 3rd, c. 5, passed in the year 1798, which made the land-tax perpetually subject to redemption, no alteration could be made in them except by Parlia- ment. The consequence was, that districts and towns scarcely known in the reign of William and Mary, but by various alterations and improvements since become extremely populous and wealthy, contributed the same towards this tax which they did 150 years ago, and much less than places at present of comparative insignificance. Thus, the sum levied annually on account of land-tax upon the city of Westminster was 63,092l.; upon the county of Lancaster (including Liverpool, Manchester, Preston, and several other large towns), 20,989l. 14s. 6d.; upon the city of London, 123,399l,; upon the county of Sussex (excepting a few of the Cinque Port towns, but including Brighton, Lewes, Chichester, and several other large towns), 57,560l.; upon the town and port of Rye, in Sussex, 473l. 18s.; upon the town and port of Hastings (now six times as large as Rye) 378l. 6s.; upon the city of Bath, 433l. 6s.; upon the town of Winchilsea (in which there are now not more than forty or fifty houses inhabited), 405l.; upon the parishes of St. Andrew, Holborn, above the bar, and St. George the Martyr, whose rental is about 116,000l., 9,018l.; upon the parish of St. Marylebone, whose rental exceeds 720,000l., 492l. They further stated, that the necessary result of this anomalous mode of collecting a tax was, that while some places were paying more than 3s. in the pound towards land-tax, others contributed scarcely anything. That the parishes in which the petitioners reside pay 1s. 10d. in the pound; the parish of St. Paul, Covent-garden, 2s. 4d. in the pound; several parishes in the city of London more than 3s. in the pound; the parish of St. Marylebone a farthing in the pound once in three years. That, contrary to every just principle of taxation, in proportion as places became decayed and less able to bear the necessary burthens of the State, the land-tax became heavier and more oppressive, and in proportion as places became rich and populous, their assessment became lighter and less burthensome. That, at present, the parish of St. Marylebone raised from its inhabitants such a church-rate as might be necessary for the purposes of its several churches; whereas, if the proposed Bill should pass into a law, the petitioners, with the rest of the community, would in effect be required to pay the church-rates of that parish, from the burthen of which its inhabitants would be almost wholly relieved, and the decayed parishes of the city of London would, in like manner, be required to exonerate the rich and populous towns of Liverpool, Manchester, and Brighton.

Irise, Sir, to move, that the House at its rising shall adjourn to Thursday next. I have to state to the House, that my noble friend, Lord Melbourne, has received the commands of his Majesty to lay before him a plan for forming an Administration. That being the case, I hope the House will feel that the same reasons, which on a former occasion, induced them to make a temporary adjournment, ought also to induce them to consent to my Motion for adjournment to Thursday next, by which time the state of the Administration will be laid before the King.