would make our haughty foe feverely repent the temerity and infolence of his attempt. He therefore hoped that all descriptions of perfons would cheerfully give up their time to fo important a purpose, and that even our harvest should be in fome measure delayed, rather than this measure should not be forwarded. The landholder, the great farmer, and the little farmer, (hould all now confider that the first of our care should be to fecure the grain that is now in the ground for its true and real owners, and prevent it from becoming poffeffed by fpoilers and invaders.. He would, therefore, take the liberty to propole fome amendments, and that inftead of one day in a week (Sunday), thould be substituted one or more days; and that fuch a number of days thould be allotted for that purpofe, as in the opinions of military men would be fufficient to attain that degree of training as would enable them to act immediately with effect; for instance, two or three days in a week, or fo many days fucceffively, at periods of fmall distance, as fhould make up twenty days at the leaft, and not more than thirty. He thought no perfons who confidered the danger of our prefent fituation would object to this, which could not fail to be attended with the moft beneficial effects, and which, in its refult, may turn for ever, in a great degrée, the future deftinies of England and the world.

After a very long converfation, it was agreed that the days for drilling fhould be Sunday, or any other convenient day in the week.

A converfation of confiderable length took place on that clause by which the men were to be exercised on Sunday. It was ftrongly objected to by Mr. R. Thornton, Mr. Wilberforce, and Mr. William Smith, General Maitland, Sir William Erskine, and Mr. Grant, that fuch a thing would be totally incompatible with the religious fcruples of the people of Scotland, who would refufe to comply with any act of parliament that enjoined them to commit fuch a breach of the Sabbath.

Mr. Pitt faid, he had as tender a regard for the religious. fcruples of individuals as any man; and in a country where the whole of the people were nearly of one opinion, as in Scotland, he would never recommend the adoption of any fuch violent and outrageous proceeding as that of forcing them to do a thing repugnant to their confciences; therefore, although the word Sunday might be omitted in the bill when applied to Scotland, he faw no reason why that should

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be done with regard to England, where a very fmall portion of the people comparatively diffented from the established Church; and notwithstanding the reputation many of these had for exemplary piety, the truth of which he very much doubted, he wished that number was ftill lefs. For the fake of those few, he would not leave out of the bill a most useful provifion; which, fo far from being inconfiftent with the tenets of the Church of England, was perfectly conformable to them. This was a fubject of very great importance, and it was necessary to imprefs on men's minds, that next to the performance of their religious duties, the defence of their country was a duty of the moft facred and indifpenfable nature; and he did not fee how it could be contrary to our eftablished religion, for men to devote that short interval of the Sunday, which, after the performance of divine fervice, was usually spent in recreation, to the object of preparing for their defence against an enemy, who would destroy the whole of their religion and liberties. He was fure no doctrine in the Church of England forbad fuch a practice; and he saw no reafon why the word Sunday fhould be omitted from the bill, because a small number of perfons might object to exercife on that day.

Sir Wm. Curtis wished to know what thofe Gentlemen, who wanted to prevent all training on a Sunday, would recommend to be done, if the enemy was to land on Sunday? Would the omnipotent Creator of the world be offended at our troops being fent out to protect us from deftruction?

The Secretary at War faid, that, in confequence of what had been flated relative to the opinions of the people of cotland, he would omit Sunday in the bill with regard to them: but with refpect to England it must be retained: a provifion being made, at the fame time, to enable the Lord Lieutenant to appoint any other convenient day befide Sunday, for the purpofe of exercising the men. This provifion would fatisfy the religious fcruples of perfons in England who might object to going out on Sunday. He then introduced a claufe to this effect, which was agreed to.

The Houfe then continued debating on feveral other claufes of the bill; and feveral other amendments were adopted. The bill being gone through, it was ordered to be reported that day. -Adjourned.

HOUSE

HOUSE OF LORDS.

THURSDAY, JULY 21.

A bill to correct a clerical error in the former bill, which had paffed, relative to allowing fpiritual perfons to hold farms, and to enforce the tefidence of the clergy, was brought up by Sir William Scott and others, prefented, and read a first time.

The Earl of Westmorland brought down a Meffage from his Majesty, reminding the Houfe of Lords of the intimate connection this country had long held with our old and faithful allies, the illuftrious Princes of the Houfe of Orange, and after defiring the attention of their Lordships to the great loffes fuftained by thofe Princes during the late war, calling upon their liberality and benevolence to affift in enabling his Majefty to furnish the late Stadtholder and his family with fome pecuniary affiftance.

The Meffage was ordered to be taken into confideration on Monday next.

WOOLLEN MANUFACTURE.

The order of the day for going into a Committee of the whole House upon a bill intituled "An act to fufpend, until the first day of July, 1804, proceedings in actions, profecutions, and proceedings under certain acts, relating to the woollen manufacture, and alfo under an act of the reign of Elizabeth, fo far as the fame relates to certain perfons employed or concerned in the fame manufacture," having been read, Lord Walfingham in the chair,

Mr. Fielding came to the bar as counfel for the journeymen weavers, and in a neat and nervous speech faid, that if that gigantic measure of the bill, to fweep away all the exifting ftatutes, had been perfifted in, his clients would have been in a deplorable fituation indeed, as they would have been deprived of all the protection those statutes extended to them; but their Lordships having their attention called at present to a fhort bill of fufpenfion, he would not add to their fatigue, by a long occupation of their time. He then confined himfelf to two fingle points, imploring their Lordthtips to fo fraine the bill in the Committee, as to take care that a provifion should be inferted to prevent the introduction of any new machinery during the period of the fufpenfion, and the other to fecure the petitioners all the benefits of the act of Elizabeth, respecting apprentices. -VOL. IV. 1802-3.

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The Lord Chancellor faid, the title of this bill ftated that it was an act to fufpend for a given time, proceedings in actions, profecutions, &c. &c. and that in fact ought to be the fole principle of the bill; but the first claufe went far beyond the reach of the title, and actually proceeded to fufpend the operation of the various acts themfelves, upon which fuch actions and profecutions had been founded. The Legiflature could never, he conceived, mean to go that length, and 'therefore he fhould move in the Committee, fuch amendments as fhould confine the bill to what ought to be purely its principle, viz. a bill of fufpenfion of the actions and profecutions already commenced. His Lordfhip faid, that the neceffity of paffing fome bill arofe from the Commons having fent up to that Houfe another bill, which was a bill of great magnitude and importance, and which it was im'poffible for that Houfe, at fo advanced a period of the feffion, to give that due confideration and attention to which fo large and comprehenfive a matter as that bill went to, abfolutely required. That a number of provifions in the old statutes ftood in need of revifion, no man could dehy; many of the regulations contained in thofe laws were actually impracticable, and inflicted penalties on the woollen manufacturers for not doing what, from the change of circumftances, it was at this time of day impoffible for them to perform. From fuch provifions, accompanied with penalties, they ought to be relieved; but it was one thing to grant neceffary relief, and another to go the length of fweeping away at once all the ftatutes, and all the various regulations they contained. Many of thofe regulations were ftill ufeful and fit to be referved. At any rate it was incumbent upon their Lordships to be enabled to judge for themfelves, upon the policy of fo important a change in the law, before they decided upon it. The Commons had fent them a copy of the evidence that had been adduced before their Committee upon the bill, but their Lordships could not admit that as evidence, they must go into the examination of witneffes themselves, and a great deal of examination would be abfolutely neceffary. It being, therefore, impoffible to proceed with the other bill, they were neceffarily driven to the present bill of fufpenfion; but although they agreed to fufpend existing actions and profecutions, till Parliament could have duly confidered the fubject, they ought to leave the old ftatute entire and untouched; indeed, that was the only regular and parliamentary courfe of proceeding. With regard to what

had

had been faid of the introduction of machinery in the interim, and during the fufpenfion, great doubts had been entertained whether gig-mills were further affected by the ancient ftatute, than the recital of the claufes in that bill ftated; and it had been replied by fome of the learned lawyers heard at the bar, that they were not. But if any claufe was meant to be moved for infertion in the prefent bill, it ought to be drawn with great caution, and fo framed, that it thould not go one atom beyond its real object, because if it did, it might raife additional doubts and difficulties, and interfere with the ufe of gig-mills in the manufactory of woollen cloth, for fuch purpofes as were not only not injurious to the manufacture, but highly ufeful, and had been habitually in practice for many years. With refpect to the taking apprentices, under the act of Elizabeth, his own idea was, that that ftatute, like all the others, fhould be left as it was during the continuance of the fufpenfion. The practice ought for the prefent to go on as ufual, where the manufacturer either took apprentices, or what was as good as apprentices, bred up boys for seven years to the bufinefs, in the nature of apprentices. His Lordship made fome other obfervations, and then moved firft, that the confideration of the preamble, and next, that the whole of the first claufe be omitted. His Lordship afterwards moved a great variety of amendments in the bill; among others, that the words "one thoufand eight hundred and three" be omitted in the title, and the words, "one thoufand eight hundred and four" be inferted. At length having gone through the bill, the Houfe was refumed.

GLASGOW THEATRE.

The Earl of Rofslyn moved the fecond reading of this bill, and made a fhort fpeech, but few words of it could be heard below the bar.

The Lord Chancellor remarked upon the general wording of one of the claufes in the bill, which, in a huddled manner, gave to the proprietors all the rights, benefits, advantages, and interefts, that ever had been enjoyed by proprietors of theatres from the beginning of them. He faid, he did not mean to oppose the second reading, but he hoped care would be taken in the Committee to limit and fix the number of proprietors, fo as to afcertain who the real proprietors were, because the new theatres, the proprietorship of which had been fo divided and fubdivided into minute portions, that it was difficult to define who the proprietors actually were. The Earl of Rofslyn made a fhort reply.-Adjourned.

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