was limited to "eighty acres." The Chairman then left the chair, and got leave to sit again on Monday. Mr GILBERT brought up the Third Report of the Select Committee upon the Public Expenditure and Income of Great Britain. Ordered to lie on the table. The second reading of the Bankruptcy Bill was postponed to the 8th of June. Monday, May 19.-Sir S. SHEPHERD and Mr GIFFORD took the oaths as members for Dorchester and Eye. LORD SIDMOUTH'S CIRCULAR LETTER. Sir SAMUEL ROMILLY moved that an address be presented to the Prince Regent, we praying, that the circular letter addressed on the 17th of March last, by the Secretary of State for the Home Department, to the Lord Lieutenants of counties in England and Wales, together with the opinion of the Crown Lawyers referred to in it, be laid before the House; and gave notice that he would submit a motion on the subject on Tuesday, June 3. Ordered. OFFICES' COMPENSATION BILL. Mr D. GILBERT moved the second reading of the Offices' Compensation Bill, which was opposed by Sir Robert Heron, Mr Brougham, Lord A. Hamilton, and Mr Douglas. Upon the division there appeared-ayes 105; noes 45; majority 60. The bill was then read a third time. The House resolved itself into a Committee of Supply, when the following sums were voted : £17,000 for the employment of convicts at home, and £18,000 for bills drawn from New South Wales. The other orders of the day were then disposed of. PARLIAMENTARY REFORM. May 20.-Sir FRANCIS BURDETT, made his motion for Reform in Parliament, which stood for this day. It was seconded by the Hon. Mr Brand. Lord Cochrane, Mr Curwen, Mr Tierney, and Sir Samuel Romilly, spoke in favour of the motion; and Sir J. Nicholl, the Hon. Mr Ward, Mr Lamb, and Lord Milton, against it. The debate was cut short by cries of question, and the house divided. For the motion 77; against it 265; majority 188. The other orders of the day were then disposed of, and the House adjourned at two o'clock. DURATION OF PARLIAMENT. May 21. Mr BROUGHAM gave notice of a motion for the 5th of June, for the repeal of the Septennial Act. After some private conversation, he fixed the 10th of June as the day for his motion. Mr PEEL obtained leave to bring in a Bill to continue the insurrection act in Ireland for one year. CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE HOME DEPARTMENT. Sir J. MACKINTOSH moved, that there be laid before the House, copies of all communications between the Home office, or persons connected with it, and a person of VOL. I. the name of Poole, regarding the conduct of the latter in his informations against three individuals, called Parkinson, Fletcher, and Deacon, before a Magistrate of Staffordshire. [This is the case in which the Rev. Mr Powis is concerned, against whom an action is now pending.] Mr H. ADDINGTON opposed the motion; and on a division there were, for the motion 13; against it 47; majority 34. EXCHEQUER BILLS. On the motion of the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER, the House went into a Committee on the Bill for providing employment for the poor, by the issue of Exchequer Bills on adequate security, when clauses, and proposed an amendment,—that Lord MILTON objected to one of the the word "parishes" should be omitted. He thought it would place the country gentlemen in an awkward situation, as they must either become responsible for the money borrowed, or incur the odium of not assisting the poor of their neighbourhoods. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER defended the clause; observing, that the Commissioners would not feel themselves particular cases of extreme pressure. called upon to advance any sum, except in The House divided on the question for retaining the clause as it originally stood. Ayes 23, noes 15. Mr LYTTLETON objected to the clause and moved an amendment, omitting that which respected the securities to be given, part of it which allowed extents in aid. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER agreed to modify the clause, and the amendment was accordingly withdrawn. The remaining sections were then gonè through, and the House being resumed, it was ordered that the report should be received on Monday. In a Committee on the Woollen Act, a resolution was agreed to, to allow the exportation of bale-yarn from Ireland. May 22.-The Metropolis Paving Bill, third time and passed. and the Edinburgh Police Bill, were read a Sir JOHN NEWPORT gave notice, that he would, on the 5th of June, bring in a Bill to abolish the cottage tax in Ireland, and a Bill to regulate fees in civil courts in England. EXTENTS IN AID. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER, on rising to give notice of his intention that the House, at its rising to-morrow, do adjourn to that day se'nnight, was desirous of stating at the same time, that it was in the contemplation of his Majesty's Government to propose, immediately after the holidays, some new measure to the House, for the purpose of regulating the application of extents in aid after that time. They were perfectly aware, that the uses to which this remedy had been applied were foreign to their original intention, and were such as could 3 Z no longer meet the countenance either of Parliament or the Courts of Justice. Mr THOMSON hoped that the extents in aid would be confined to debtors in chief. Something ought also to be done to prevent the enormous amount of costs. He knew a county in which the Sheriffs had in one year received £10,000 as costs. In conclusion, leave was given to bring in the Bill. The Justices in Eyre Bill, the Irish Offices Bill, the Exchequer Offices Bill, the Board of Trade Bill, and the Irish Exchequer Bill, were read a third time, and passed. The House went into a Committee on the Clergy Residence Bill: several clauses were agreed to, and the blanks filled up. On the motion of Mr SUTTON, an exemption was introduced in favour of the Principal and Professors of the East India College. Mr GORDON took occasion to mention, that he knew a clergyman who was a dignitary in no less than six cathedrals: he was prebendary in one, chancellor in another, dean in a third, and other offices, in addition to which he held two livings. He wished to know if such an individual ought to be exempted? Mr M. SUTTON professed himself unable to give a precise answer; the case was assuredly singular. After a few words from Mr GORDON and Sir J. NICHOLL, the chairman left the chair, and the House being resumed, he reported progress; and it was ordered that the Committee should sit again on Monday se'nnight. A Bill for the abolition of certain offices in the Mint of England and Scotland was read a first time. May 23.-On the third reading of the Saving Banks Bill, Mr WESTERN moved that the clause allowing relief from the Poor-rates be left out. The House, in consequence, divided on the passing of the Bill: Ayes 60; Nocs 27; Majority 33. The order for a call of the House on the 2d was discharged, and fixed for the 9th of June. The Bill for rendering the proprietors of lead-mines liable to the payment of Poorrates for the profits derived from that source was opposed by Sir CHARLES MONCK, and after some debate a division took place; for the second reading 29; against it 22; majority 7. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER moved, that the House at its rising should adjourn till this day se'nnight. Ordered. The Irish Insurrection Bill was read a second time. The Poor Employment Bill was, after a few words from Mr WESTERN, read a third time and passed. The Report dry amendments agreed to. RESIGNATION OF THE SPEAKER. Friday, May 30.-Mr DYSON, the clerk, said he had to inform the House, that he had received a letter from the Speaker, which, with the leave of the House, he would read: "Palace-Yard, May 30. "SIR,-It is with the sincerest concern and regret, that I feel myself obliged to request, that you will inform the House of Commons, at their meeting this day, of my inability, from continued illness, to attend any longer upon their service. After holding the high office to which I have been raised, by their favour, in five successive Parliaments, it is impossible that I should resign so honourable and distinguished a situation, without feeling the deepest gratitude for the constant kindness with which they have been pleased to accept and assist my humble endeavours to discharge its various and arduous duties. "It was my earnest wish and hope to have continued longer in the service of the House, if such were their pleasure; but the interruption of public business which has been already occasioned by my state of health, and the apprehension of the same cause recurring which might again expose the House to the like inconvenience, have made me deem it necessary that I should retire at this time, and have left me now no farther duty to perform, than to return my heart-felt acknowledgments to the House for all the favours they have bestowed upon me, and to express my fervent wishes for the perpetual maintenance and preservation of its rights, its privileges, and its independence. I am, Sir, always most truly yours, "CHARLES ABBOT." "To Jeremiah Dyson, Esq. Deputy Clerk of the House of Commons." Lord CASTLEREAGH made a few observations in a tone of voice scarcely audible. The noble Lord was understood to say, that from the communication now read, the House, as well as he, must have felt the great loss (Hear, hear!) which they sustained by the resignation of their Speaker. On this subject he was sure there could be no difference of opinion (Hear, hear, hear! from the opposition); and he felt it to be quite unnecessary to dwell on the merits of the Speaker, which were so long and so well known. (Hear, hear, hear!) He would merely propose that the House adjourn till Monday next, when it was probable he should have a communication from the Prince Regent, marking the estimation in which the Speaker was held by that illustrious person; and when the House could proceed to the election of a new Speaker. The Salt Bill was re-committed, and sun. Adjourned till Monday. JUNE. BRITISH CHRONICLE Waterloo Subscription.-General account Amount received by the Committee, and in- 1 0 £71,126 0 0 0 28,577 0 62,500 0 0 £162,203 0 0 2.-Furious Driving.-A dreadful accident lately happened at Prescot, in consequence of a coach upsetting, by which one person was killed, and several others dreadfully wounded. Mr John Ritchie of Liverpool was one of the unfortunate sufferers. He referred the damages in his case to arbitration, which was finally settled on Thursday, when the proprietors of the coach were awarded to pay him seven hundred and fifty pounds. From the evidence of some of the witnesses that were examined, the conduct of the driver appears to have been most brutal. One of the witnesses, a female, who has resided on the spot where the accident happened many years, said, that she had never before seen a coach go at so furious a rate, except one some years back, and it was upset in exactly the same place. 4.-Emigration to Poland.-The Helen, Charteris, sailed this day from Leith for Koningsberg, with fifty-one passengers on board, who intend to settle as farmers on the estate of Lieutenant-General Count Pac, a Polish nobleman of immense landed property in Poland and Lithuania. Count himself, two years ago, resided some time in Scotland, and carefully inspected the best cultivated districts, and obtained The a knowledge of the most approved im plements. It has since been his object to introduce the modern husbandry of this country into his extensive domains; and with this view he has held out great encouragement to these emigrants, who are to have farms on leases of twenty-five years, at a very low rent, upon one of his estates, to which, from respect to this country, he has given the name of Scotia. It is his further intention, we understand, to procure a Presbyterian clergyman and schoolmaster for the colony. With those farmers of capital who may wish to engage in larger concerns on his estates, Count Paç has declared himself ready to treat upon very liberal terms; his object, it appears, being rather to lay the foundation of a better system of agriculture, by means of the superior knowledge and industry of Scotsmen, than any immediate increase of his income. [The colony reached Koningsberg in good health and spirits, after a short passage of eight days, and soon after proceeded to the Count's residence of Dowspuda, about a hundred miles distant.] 6.-Trial for Libel.-Mr T. J. Wooler, a printer, and author of a periodical work called The Black Dwarf, was brought to trial yesterday in the Court of King's Bench, which was excessively crowded, the case having excited a very great degree of interest. The defendant was tried on two ex officio informations. The first charged him with having libelled the King's administration of public affairs, for the purpose of exciting discontent and disaffection, and also with having libelled Lord Castlereagh and Mr Canning, two of his Majesty's ministers. The second charged the defendant with having libelled the Constitution, the Houses of Lords and Commons, and the right of petitioning the said Houses, for the purpose of inflaming the minds of his Majesty's subjects. The defendant pleaded his own cause with considerable force and eloquence. Many parts of his speeches excited the applause of the crowd who were assembled, and who, on the other hand, were not slow in expressing their disapprobation of the addresses of the Attorney-General. These interruptions, so highly improper in a court of justice, were commented on with becoming severity by Mr Justice Abbot, who presided on the occasion. A verdict of Guilty was recorded against Mr Wooler on the first information; but Mr Chitty intimated to his Lordship, in the course of the day, that three of the jury protested against the verdict as illegal, it being contrary to their sentiments. He stated, that they had agreed on a verdict of Guilty, qualified as follows:-"As truth is declared by the law of the land to be a libel, we three are compelled to find the defendant guilty :"--but the Court refusing to receive any but a sim ple verdict, the foreman, without their knowledge, had given a general one of Guilty. A motion was this day made in arrest of judgment; and, after some pleading, a new trial was ordered. On the second information, a verdict of Not Guilty was returned, which was loudly cheered by the spectators. 9. National Monuments.-The committee appointed for receiving and deciding upon the merits of the several designs offered for the Waterloo and Trafalgar monuments, on Wednesday held their final meeting at Argyll-house, London, when Messrs Wilkins, Gandy, and Smirke, attended with their designs, exhibiting the various alterations suggested by the committee. The report to the Treasury was agreed upon, and the buildings will be immediately carried into execution. The monuments are each to be about 280 feet high; the additional cost of the Waterloo is occasioned principally by embellishments and sculptures, The design for Trafalgar is a plain octangular structure, 45 feet in diameter at the base, raised upon a magnificent flight of steps, and surmounted with a naval coronet. The Waterloo is an ornamental tower of three orders of columns, around the base of which is a circular colonnade. 12.-Thunder Storm.-On Tuesday forenoon, Edinburgh was visited by a most tremendous storm of thunder, hail, and rain. The lightning was remarkably vivid; and the peals of thunder, which succeeded each other in rapid succession, were awfully loud; while hail in large pieces, and rain, descended in torrents. Several chimney tops were thrown down, and houses unroofed; and two persons were struck by the lightning, one of whom was deprived for a time of every faculty, but happily no lives were lost. Immediately after the storm had subsided, the surrounding heights exhibited for a short time all the appearance of winter, being capped with snow or hailstones. About four o'clock another storm passed in the same direction, but it was neither so violent nor so long in duration. The storm was felt at Perth, Dundee, and Cupar, northward, and at Kelso, Newcastle, Hull, and York, southward, with various degrees of violence, but happily did no serious damage, except at Dundee and Cupar, where the hail destroyed a number of fruit trees and bushes; at the former place the stones were two inches in circumference. 14.-Burgh of Montrose. On Saturday last, a question highly interesting to the burghs of Scotland was decided in the Court of Session. By this decision the burgh of Montrose has for the present lost its political rights and privileges. For some years past, the mode of electing the Magistrates and Council, as it had obtained by marking the votes by scores, was thought to be attended with many inconveniences and disadvantages; and at the annual election at Michaelmas 1815, it was resolved, that in place of the former practice, the election of The the Provost and new Councillors should be by ballot, each member being voted for seriatim: the same method was adopted at the election at Michaelmas last. Soon after the election, several constituent members of the Council of the preceding year presented a petition and complaint to the Court, founding on the different acts of Parliament respecting elections, and praying their Lordships to find the late election of Magistrates and Council of Montrose null and void, and contrary to law. Magistrates in office defended their election on various grounds; in particular, that the complainers had no right or title to complain; that they had acquiesced in the mode of election at the time; that they were themselves elected the preceding year by the same mode they now challenged; and at all events, the election could not be set aside, even supposing the use of the ballot to be found an illegal mode of election, there being a legal majority of Magistrates and Council continued ex officiis, independent of the numbers elected by ballot. Very able and ingenious arguments were used on both sides; but the Judges were of opinion that the use of the ballot was illegal, and therefore their Lordships unanimously reduced and set aside the election. The Magistrates have acquiesced in the interlocutor of the Court, and their functions are therefore at an end. Very little inconvenience, however, is likely to arise to the inhabitants from this decision, as an application was immediately made to the Court, to appoint proper persons to give infeftment within burgh, and to take charge of the revenue and patrimonial interests of the town; and a petition being presented to the Sheriff-depute, to grant a substitution of power to a fit person, in the mean time he has appointed Charles Barclay, Esq. his substitute within the burgh and its liberties; and prompt measures have also been taken to prepare a petition to the Prince Regent, to issue a warrant for a new election of Magistrates and Council. 18.-Trial for High Treason.-On Monday, in Westminster Hall, the trial of James Watson, senior, which had occupied the whole of last week, concluded by a verdict from the Jury of Not Guilty. Three others, namely Thistlewood, Hooper, and Preston, were indicted for high treason along with Watson, but the Court proceeded only with the trial of the latter; and in consequence of the verdict in his case, the Attorney-General declined calling evidence against his companions, who were therefore set at liberty on Tuesday. Watson's counsel (Mr Wetherall and Mr Sergeant Copley) grounded their successful defence on the want of proof of a treasonable conspiracy, excepting in the testimony of Castles, an accomplice, whom they stigmatised as too infamous to be believed; and whose cross examination disclosed such a course of villany as seldom meets the ears of a jury. He had been ap prehended for forgery, and turned king's evidence against his companion, who was hanged; he had been committed to jail for aiding the escape of a French prisoner of rank, whom he meant only to betray; he had deserted his wife, and lived in a brothel as a bully. After the first Spafield's meeting, at a dinner with the promoters of the meeting, he gave as a toast, "May the last of kings be strangled in the guts of the last of priests." He had also endeavoured to entrap Mr Hunt, by meeting him before he went to Spafields on the 2d of December, and telling him that the meeting was over, and the Tower already taken, urging him to drive thither in his tandem. The counsel for Watson argued that the indictment. should at most have been laid for a rebellious riot; the participation of the prisoners in the outrages of the 2d December they did not attempt to disprove, and scarcely denied it; but the Jury, discrediting altogether the evidence of Castles, gave the verdict already stated. On its being pronounced, Watson bowed and said, "Gentlemen, I thank you much.” No breach of the peace occurred; but the populace evinced the greatest solicitude throughout the proceedings for the fate of the prisoners, whom they cheered as they were conveyed to and from the Court; and on Watson's acquittal, the mob took the horses from a hackney coach in which they recognised him, and dragged him in triumph to Wych Street, Drury-Lane. The others received the same marks of congratulation on their liberation on Tuesday. Several other individuals, who had been apprehended on account of their connexion with the prisoners, were set at liberty this afternoon, after an examination before the Secretary of State. 19.-Distresses and Disturbances in Ireland. A topic of very general commiseration, are the sufferings of the poor in Ire. land, and the disturbances which are inseparable from want, although they tend to increase the affliction. In Limerick, in the counties of Kerry, Clare, and Kildare, in Londonderry, Mayo, and Westmeath, there have been affrays, seizures, depredations, and various acts of violence. tion has been issued by the Lord-Lieutenant, exhorting those in the higher classes to abstain from the use of potatoes in their families, and to diminish, as much as possible, the consumption of oats. A proclama The deficiency will therefore be £12,600,000 28.-Explosion of a Steam-Boat.-This evening, about six o'clock, the boiler of the Richmond Steam-Packet burst at the top, and injured three persons in a dangerous manner. The yacht was injured on Saturday week in a slight degree, and had been repaired to render it fit to perform its passage this day. It fortunately had no persons on board at the time the event occurred, except the persons who navigate and conduct it. The shock was very great; but the injury done to the vessel is very slight. The yacht had been prepared to sail this day. The conductors had been rowing it up the river, and when it had got about 100 yards above Westminster Bridge, the dreadful accident unfortunately took place. Arnold, the conductor of the yacht, was near the boiler when it burst, and was injured in a shocking manner, and very little hope can be entertained of his recovery. Two labourers belonging to the yacht were injured in a less degree.. They were all conveyed on shore by Heath, a waterman, who was near when the accident happened, and taken to St Thomas's Hospital, in the borough. Disturbances in England.-About the Carry forward, £6,165,559 beginning of this month, the disaffection in 20.-Finances of the Country.-This evening, in the House of Commons, Mr Vansittart made the following statement of the finances of the country. WAYS AND MEANS. Annual duties Disposeable, 1815 1817. £15,749 Ways and means, 1816 1,849,800 Excise duties continued. After satisfying the grant thereon for 1816 -1,865,559 1,300,000 Mr |