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fecond time, and committed, without his knowledge, and he therefore oppofed it in this ftage. His objections to the bill were, that it trenched upon the building fyftem fo long adopted by the company, that it was against the interefts of the company by preventing competition, and that it was unneceffary.

A long and defultory converfation took place, in the courfe of which Lord Caftlereagh, Mr. Wallace, and Mr. Charles Grant, the Eaft India Director, fupported the bill. Sir W. Pultency, Mr. Prinfep, and Mr. Johnstone oppofed it.

The report was then read and agreed to, and the bill ordered to be read a third time the next day.

Mr. Corry moved for leave to bring in a bill, in order to indemnify certain persons in Ireland, who have omitted to qualify themfelves for accepting of public offices in that country. Leave given.

The Houfe refolved into a Committee of Ways and Means for Ireland.

Mr. Corry moved, that the charge of paying and clothing the militia of Ireland, as allo the expence of paying certain fubaltern officers, thould be defrayed out of the confolidated fund of that country;, and that the charge of adjutants and ferjeant-majors to the 5th of March, 1803, and of certain officers in time of peace, fhould be fupplied from the money arising from the land-tax of Ireland. Agreed to. The report was ordered to be received the next day.

Mr. Corry faid, that it was his intention to have fubmitted the Irish budget to the confideration of the Houfe on Friday following, but as he now found it would be impoffible to do fo on that day, he begged leave to poftpone it till the Monday following.

Mr. Vanfittart brought up the twelve millions loan bill, and the import and export bills, which were feverally read a first time, and ordered to be read a fecond time the next day.

The Houfe in Committee went through the bill for con folidating the duties on cuftoms, and the report was ordered to be received the next day.

The malicious fhooting bill was read a fecond time, and ordered to be read a third time the next day.

Mr. Vanfittart moved, that certain accounts, refpecting the income duty, which were printed last year, fhould be VOL. IV. 1302-3. reprinted

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reprinted, for the ufe of the Members of the House.Ordered accordingly.

He also moved, that there be laid before the House an account of the imports and exports of Great Britain for three. years, ending the 5th of January, 1793; and for four years, ending the 5th of January, 1803.-Ordered.

Mr. Carry obferved, that he would at an early day take an opportunity of moving, that the like accounts fhould be laid before the Houfe relative to Ireland; and as he withed to affimilate the commercial laws of both countries as much and as foon as poffible, fuch accounts were already in a ftate of preparation.

The bill for fufpending the navigation act, fo far as regarded foreigners, was read a fecond time, and ordered to be committed the next day. Adjourned.

HOUSE OF LORDS.
THURSDAY, JUNE 16.

All the bills on the table were read a ftage each.、、

CHANDOS PEERAGE.

Lord Walfingham made the report of the proceedings on the Chandos claim of peerage; the fame was read. by the Lord Chancellor,

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Lord Grantley then rofe to enquire whether, by the House agreeing to that report, and to the refolution that muft immediately be made upon it, the petitioner was finally precluded from re-urging his claim, provided he fhould be able to bring forth fuch further evidence as fhould appear to him to be fufficiently strong to fatisfy their Lordships of the válidity of his claim.

Lord Alvanley faid, the door was not finally clofed on the petitioner, by the refolution come to by the Committee of Privileges; neither could the door be clofed by the refolution which was neceffarily to be moved immediately, provided the petitioner thould prefent a petition to his Majefty, ftating the nature of the further evidence he meant and wifhed fo bring forward; which petition his Majefty would of courfe refer to his law advifer (the Attorney General) to confider and report upon to him; and if the law advifer thought his ftatement fufficiently ftrong to warrant his Majefty in ordering the petition to be laid before the Houfe, then he might recommence the fupport of his claim, by adducing further evidence. His Lordship faid he would take the opportunity

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of ftating, that he had feen, in one of the public prints, a report, that a noble and learned Lord, who had argued at very great length, previous to the decifion by the Committee of Privileges, that his fpeech was ftrongly in favour of the petitioner's claim; whereas the noble and learned Lord had exprefsly faid, that he much doubted whether he fhould vote or not, and in truth had given no opinion at all, but had confined himself to a clear and comprehenfive detail of the whole of the evidence, and fhewed the bearings of each part on both fides of the cafe; fuch mifrepresentations were extremely unjuftifiable. His Lordship would fay no more upon that point; but he would just add, without going into any reafoning, on what grounds he refted his opinion: that he concurred entirely with thofe noble Lords who had contended, that the petitioner had not fufficiently proved his claim. The reafon why he had not spoke on Monday laft, in the Committee of Privileges, was, because he had delivered his fentiments on the fubject in a former stage of the proceeding.

The Lord Chancellor left the woolfack to confirm what his noble and learned friend had faid, refpecting his conduct on Monday laft in the Committee of Privileges. He had thought an examination of the whole of the evidence, pointing out its bearings on each fide of the cafe, both in favour of the petitioner and against him, might be highly useful to their Lord hips of the Committee, previous to their proceeding to a decifive vote upon the fubject. In endeavouring to affift the Committee with fuch an examination, he had moft cautiously abftained from letting fall one word that thould be construed into an opinion either one way or the other; and, therefore, he muft fay, that if the Houfe was pleafed to overlook the publication of what paffed daily in that House, in he newspapers, the writers of thofe reports ought to take efpecial pains that what they wrote was extremely accurate.

A refolution, in the ufual form, that the rev. Edward James Brydges, had not fufficiently made out his claim of peerage; was moved, put, and agreed to.

CLERGY FARMING AND RESIDENCE BILL.

The Committee of the whole Houfe on this Bill having been refumed, the Committee proceeded to the confideration. of the tenth claufe, that "for exempting certain fpiritual perfons from penalties for non-refidence."

The Bishop of St. Asaph repeated his objection to the enumerating of the various perfons who were to be exempted from the penalties for non-refidence; because it would raife

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the jealousy of the public, by holding up fuch a number of exemptions to their view, and create alarm and apprehenfion among the ferious friends of the church. He would, however, proceed to fpeak to the claufe as it ftood. To the extending the exemption to the chaplain of the Houfe of Commons, he had no objection; the bill was fent up by the Commons, and it was a mark of respect due to that branch of the Legislature, to exempt their chaplain from the penalties. With regard to the chaplain general of his Majefty's forces, the chaplains on board his Majelly's fhips, the chaplains in his Majefty's dock yards, of the corps of artillery, and fome others enumerated in the claufe, the naming them was altogether unneceflary, because they were exempted already by an act of Henry the Eighth, previous to the paffing the 21ft of that King.

The Lord Chancellor read the claufe of the act to which the Bishop referred, to fhew him, that it was by no means fit to cover any one of the defcription of the perfons enumerated in the claufe.

Lord Alvanley argued to the fame effect.

The Bishop of St. Asaph reasoned against licencing chapJains of factories abroad, and minor canons; the latter, generally speaking, had good livings, though it was not the cafe in the collegiate church of Weltminster, fince by the regulations of the chapter, the minor canons were wholly shut out from any thare of the patronage of that cathedral. With regard to chaplains in factories abroad, if that circumftance was to entitle men poffetfed of benefices in England 16 exemption from the generality of non-refidence, a clergyman with a living had nothing to do but to accept of a chaplainship of a factory abroad, and fecure his exemption.

The Lord Chancellor contended that it was of the utmost importance to the interefts and prefervation of the Chriftian religion, that in countries where a different religion prevailed, the British factories thould have a Proteftant clergyman among them, to do the duties of the Proteftant church; to celebrate divine fervice, and to adminifter all the offices of a religious nature to the British fubjects which conftituted the factory, as well as other Proteftants, who might be at he place when the factory was established. Inftead of vexing and baraffing clergyman of this defcription, they were entitled to every poffible confideration and encouragement, and therefore they ought to be favoured with the exemption the claufe extended to them. Befide, feveral of them had fall livings,

livings, but infufficient to enable their incumbents to maintain their families; they therefore accepted of chaplainthips to factories abroad, under the hope that they might in time acquire fufficient to enable them to return to England, and refide upon their livings.

Lord Alvanley faid, it was a moft extraordinary conje&ure of the rev. Prelate, to fuppofe that a man with a good living would accept of the chaplainfhip to a factory, merely to obtain an exemption from the pen d'ies for non-refidence.

The Bishop of London fait, he had hitherto taken but little fhare in the difcuffion of the claufes, but he was a friend to the enumeration of the fpiritual perfons to be exempted, and he meant to increase their number, by moving an amendment to induct others, viz. the masters of three eftablished corporate fchools, St. Paul's fchool, the Charter Houfe, and Merchant Taylors, which he moved to have inferted. Carried.

The Bishop of Winchefter also moved to infert, the chaplain of the military afylum at Chelfea, and of the military. college at High Wycombe, which was put and agreed to

Lord Auckland faid, it was whimsical enough to hear their Lordships, who came down to the Houfe to object to the enumeration of spiritual perfons to be exempted from the penalties, themselves adding to the numbers. His Lordship concurred with what had fallen from the rev. Prelate behind him, viz. that fome of the prebends of Oxford had better be away from the univerfity than in it, as they did no good there. He had himself been a member of Christ Church, and while there, fome of the fellows of different colleges did little more than read the newspapers at the coffee-houfes in the morning, and at and after dinner foak port, and perhaps play a game at chefs or drafts in the evening; others certainly were ftudious men. There was a chaplain, which it behoved him as one of the directors of that hofpital for upwards of 30 years, to move to have inferted, viz. the chaplain or chaplains of Greenwich hofpital. Thefe gentlemen had a very fevere duty to perform at the hospital, and having, he believed, finall livings, ought in fairness to be exempted from the penalties. for non-refidence. He therefore moved it. It was put and agreed to.

The Bishop of Oxford objected to the exemption of fellows of colleges, and detailed a hiftory of the practice of the fellows at Oxford; thefe men came to college livings at fome distance from the univerfity, but fome of them, preferring an indolent and easy life, chofe to refide at the univerfity, not to

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