The Cambric Importation Prohibition Bill was read a fecond time.

VOLUNTEER CORPS.

Mr. Secretary Dundas rofe to move, that the order of the day might be difcharged for the Houfe to refolve itself into a Committee on the Act of exempting certain Volunteer Corps from ferving in the Militia. Since the introduction of that Bill, he had received various letters from different quarters, ftating objections to its partial extenfion; and upon examination into the ftate of the Volunteer Corps throughout the kingdom, he was himfelf convinced of the propriety of making the exemption general. It appeared to him that the number of thofe Volunteer Corps, who, though raised for local purposes, were willing to extend their services, if required, bore fo great a proportion to those who had not made fuch offers, but who might hereafter be influenced by the example, that he hardly thought it neceffary to make any diftinction between them, Of the Volunteer Corps, who were now, in confequence of their unbiaffed offers, bound to extend their military services beyond the local limits for which they had affociated, there were betweed fifteen and fixteen thoufand cavalry, and fixtyone thousand infantry, and thefe, by the Bill now before the Houfe, were intended to be exempted; there remained only fix thousand cavalry, and thirty-five thousand infantry, who, in confequence of not having made fuch offers of general fervice, were liable to be ballotted for the Supplementary Militia. Now the effect of extending its exemption to them all would be to fuperfede the neceflity of proceeding in the Bill for reducing the Militia Eftablishment to eighty-two thoufand; for by this new arrangement, only about that number would be balloted for. It muft undoubtedly be acknowledged, that for the purposes of local defence, the Volunteer Corps were perfectly adequate, and looking to their fituation, and the nature of the expence they had already incurred in attending duty at the places they affociated to ferve in ;-that in fact they were chiefly confined to the towns, and in a diftinguished manner to this metropolis, he must fay, he thought it would not be right to extend their fervices beyond their particular districts. He would not fay that there might not occur extreme cafes when it would be neceffary to make new diftributions of the national force, but fhort of an extreme cafe, which, thank God, the force of the country, its intrepidity, and generous spirit had taught us not to look to-excepting in fuch a cafe it would be better to confine the fervices of the Volunteer Corps to

mere

mere local fituations. The expence these corps had fo nobly and patriotically incurred to make part of the general ftrength and means of fecurity of the Empire was prodigious-not lefs, he believed, than one million fterling.He meant not individuoufly to draw comparisons between the branches and kind of public force. Every diftinct branch had its diftinct merit, and in declaring his fentiments of admiration of the zeal and patriotifm of any one of them, he knew he should not be understood as meaning to throw any flur on the remainder. Under thefe circumstances, he wifhed to fuggeft the propriety of extending the exemption to all the Volunteer Corps throughout the Kingdom. He therefore moved, that the order for the Committee on the Bill should be discharged, and that the Bill paffed last Seffion, fhould be read. This was done; and he then moved for leave to bring in a Bill for exempting fuch Volunteer Corps as were not included in the said act, from serving in the Supplementary Militia.-Ordered.

CIVIL LIST.

Mr. Rofe brought up feveral Accounts moved for the other day by Mr. Pitt, preparatory to his motion relative to the Civil Lift.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer stated, that as Gentlemen muft with to be allowed time to peruse these Papers, he fhould beg leave to put off the motion for a Committee of Supply which stood for this day, to Friday the 13th instant. -Agreed to.

COLD BATH FIELDS PRISON.

Mr. William Dundas moved, that a Select Committee fhould be appointed to enquire into the ftate of his Majesty's gaol in Cold Bath Fields, and report their opinion of the fame to the House as it fhould appear to them; and that the Committe fhould consist of the following Gentlemen:

Mr. William Dundas

Mr. Buxton

Sir John Anderfon
Sir John Mordaunt

Mr. Wilberforce
Mr. Hobhouse
Mr. Grant

Mr. Elliott

Mr. Serjeant

Sir William Young
Mr. John Payne
Mr. Wilberforce Bird
Lord Belgrave.

He alfo moved that the Papers which were yesterday ordered to be printed, namely, the report of the Magif trates to the Seffions, the affidavit of the Governor of the Prison, the letter of the Duke of Portland, and the petition

of

of Colonel Defpard, fhould be referred to the faid Committees and that the Committee should have power to adjourn when and to fuch places as they pleased.

Sir Francis Burdett expreffed himself extremely happy, that the matter was likely to become the subject of Parliamentary investigation. It not only made the motion of which he had given notice for to-morrow unneceffary for the present, but rendered it improper that the notice should remain on the Journals, till after the Committee fhould' have made their report. He therefore begged leave to

withdraw it.

PRINCES EDWARD AND AUGUSTUS.

Mr. Tierney obferved that the accounts on the table, as applicable to the disbursements of the Civil Lift, went no further back than the year 1796, whereas he wished to fee them down to 1791, when the allowance to his Royal Highness the Duke of Clarence was agreed on. This was an important queftion, and he thought Friday was much too early a day for the difcuffion of it. There was, properly speaking, only one day to make up the minds of thofe who fhould be called upon to express their fentiments by voting upon the fubject. He faid this from a feeling that the time allowed to confider the matter was too short, not from any defire to cavil at an allowance to the Princes, for there was no one more ready than himself to fhew affection to the Sovereign, attention to his Meffage, or refpect for their Royal Highneffes. He had nothing to fay against the sum which he understood was to be propofed, twenty-four thoufand pounds, the fame as had been voted to his Royal Highnefs the Duke of Clarence. There was no good reafon to be afligned why the prefent allowance fhould be less than the former; and therefore, upon that account, he had not the leaf objection. But he certainly did think the time was much too short to confider the subject as it referred to the ftate of the Civil Lift. For thefe reafons, he could with the time to be enlarged, and the papers upon the table, referring to the cafe, to be printed. He was really afking only for what he very much wanted, for his time was very much taken up with other public bufinefs, particularly that of the Committee upon the Wet Docks Bill; fo that he had hitherto been unable to poffefs himself of the information which was neceffary to the right understanding of this important fubject.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer faid, it did not appear that any accounts of his Majefty's Civil Lift, laid before

that

The

that Houfe, had been printed, and therefore he did not think he should perform his duty faithfully by agreeing to that for which there was no precedent in fuch a cafe. The Honourable Gentleman faid, he could not read them in two days. In giving this opinion he must have judged rather from their titles than the number of items they contained, for he would venture to fay, that if the Honourable Gentleman would employ only one quarter of an hour in reading them, he would fully understand them, and after reading the whole of the accounts and papers with due care, he was fure that neither the Honourable Gentleman nor any Member of that House would fail inftantly to fee that the Civil Lift could not bear the expence which the Honourable Gentleman expreffed himself fo ready to agree to. queftion was extremely fimple. It would appear from the investigation of the documents upon the table, that the increase of expence, defrayed by the Civil Lift was fmall in comparison with the increase in the expence of every private family in the kingdom: and that in the articles, which the Houfe would be moft inclinable to look upon with jealousy, there was actually a diminution; and he was confident that thefe were points of which the Honourable Gentleman would not difpute the truth.-Under fuch impreffions he did not think it confiftent with his duty to the Crown, nor confiftent with that refpect which that Houfe was on all occafions ready to fhew to the Sovereign, unneceffarily to delay going into the Committee. If, however, it should appear in the Committee of Supply that further information, or further time was neceffary, it would be competent to the Honourable Gentleman to make any motion to that effect, and he would then affign his grounds for fo doing, and the House would judge of his statement.

As to what the Honourable Gentleman had faid of the propriety of laying before the House the statement of the Civil Lift from 1791, he had only to obferve, that if it fhould appear that from the disbursements from 1796 to the prefent, there had been no real mifapplication, and that the Civil Lift was inadequate to the expenditure, that would be fufficient. But the real truth of the matter was, that the person in whose department these accounts were depofited, had, from his advanced age, been under the neceflity of retiring from the fatigue of bufinefs, and another was appointed in his ftead, who, from not having immediate poffeffion of all the neceffary documents, had a difficulty in carrying the accounts to an earlier period than that which

was

was now before the Houfe. But he was confident there was, at prefent, as much before the House as was neceflary to the full understanding of the fubject-and he was confi dent also that the Honourable Gentleman would understand it in as little time as had been taken up in this short converfation about it.

Mr. Tierney still objected, that the time was not fufficient. The Right Honourable Gentleman, indeed, paid a high compliment to his understanding, by fuppofing he could collect fufficient information of the accounts in a quarter of an hour; for his part, he did not think a quarter of a year fufhcient. Certainly, a quarter of an hour was fufficient to enable him to find fault with the accounts; but it was not his wish to do fo, unless upon enquiry he thought it absolutely neceffary. It was his duty, as he conceived it, to compare the charges on the Civil Lift fince the year 1796, with former periods, and to fee what increase had taken place. There might, poffibly; be ground for examination into fome items. There was an item of 36,000l. for law charges in one year; that might be very right, but perhaps it ought to be examined. He was anxious once more to have it understood, that he was not endeavouring to convey any cenfure on ony part of the Royal Family; all he wanted was, time and means to understand the subject, which would be answered by the delay of a few days, and printing the papers. He wished to compare the statement before the Houfe with others. He could not do fo by coming down to the Houfe to-morrow morning, and looking at the papers for only a quarter of an hour. The Right Honourable Gentleman might have that fort of penetration; he had not, nor should he be able to do fo, without having the papers printed, and having time to confider them.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer faid, he was forry for it. Mr. Martyn faid, he had great refpect for every branch of the Royal Family, and willed to thew every mark of it in the House, but the Chancellor of the Exchequer had faid there was no precedent for printing papers relative to the Civil Lift-and upon that ground had refifted the printing of the papers on the table. Now he conceived that precedents were founded upon reafon, and if they were not fo, they were of no value, and the Right Honourable Gentleman had affigned no reafon for the precedent of refufal to print thefe papers. He fhould like to hear that reason.

The other Orders of the Day were then called over and deferred, and the Houfe adjourned.

HOUSE