fpoke and reafoned was the paper delivered into the Houfe of Commons, in purfuance of the directions of the act of Parliament, he fhould have known where to have looked for it, and their Lordships would have clearly understood the matter in controverfy between them. The paper upon which he (the Marquis) had reafoned, was an authentic Treasury minute, and Treafury plan, drawn up by his own directions, when he was at the head of that office; and, confequently, a plan upon the correctnefs and authenticity of which he could depend. It remained for him to explain to the Houfe what the paper was, to which the noble Viscount had referred, a matter that could easily be done. When the House of Commons came to a vote upon the peace, and decided against it by a majority, he determined, on the very next day, to refign, but concealed his purpofe from every one, as he knew not how far the majority against the peace might go, and did not chufe to withhold himself, or be out of the way of any criminal accufation which might be brought against him. On the Monday when the Houfe came to fome ultimate refo lutions on the subject, and as it was then obvious that they meant not to go any farther, he refigned his office, by firit going to acquaint the perfonage to whom it was his chief duty to give notice of fuch an intention, and by acquainting those with whom he acted, with it. But, every perfon acquainted with the office of the first Lord of the Treasury, well knew, that it could not be gotten quit of by fending a name to St. James's; for, the name would remain in the Treafury till a commiffion, appointing a new first Lord, came down to fuperfede the old one. At the time he mentioned, their Lordships might recollect that fix weeks paffed away before the new Administration was fixed, and all that time his name remained at the Treafury although he was in fact out of office. In the course of the time, it was difcovered by the clerks, that according to an act of Parliament a paper refpecting the civil lift was to be laid on the table of the Houfe of Commons, by the 4th of April. They were a good deal alarmed, and came to him upon the occafion. He had then fome doubts whether he should fign the paper or not. However, whatever anger he might feel at the moment, he did not think it was a time to fhew it, and therefore he ordered them to make out the paper, and he figned it. But it was plain that it was no foleinn proceeding, no parliamentary record, nor was it any plan of Mr. Gilbert's. Mr. Gilbert had never been directed to make out a plan. The paper in fact was nothing more than a loose paper haftily made out by the clerks of the Treafury, without any fort of fuperintendance, without the fig nature or fanction of any Board, without appearing on the minutes, or being in any way a matter of official record.

By

By way of proof of its inaccuracy, he inftanced the tallycourt fees, which in the paper on the table were stated at 2000l. which was upon a war calculation, when a large loan was made. In peace their amount funk almoft to nothing. He fhould now beg leave to oppofe the want of authority of the paper on the table to the authority of the Treasury minute upon which he had argued. His was a regular and authentic plan, and had he continued in office he was prepared to have come to Parliament with an account of favings occafioned by the reduction of all the offices ordered to be reduced under Mr. Burke's bill in the one hand, and an account of favings occafioned by the reduction of other offices not ordered to be reduced by the bill, in the other. Thefe, befides the ten thoufand a year, penfions which had fallen in, would give a clear excefs of a confiderable amount of income over the expenditure. He, perhaps, fhould have come to Parliament to defire an alte tion of Mr. Burke's bill, but it would have been merely fome explanations and amendments of it. He was a warm friend to the bill as to its principle, and fo he had proved himself; but, as foon as he refigned, all his plans and intended proceedings ftopped of courfe, and he did nothing more than endeavour to clear up matters as they stood, and leave every thing free and as unembarraffed for his fucceffors as poffible. In conclufion, the Marquis mentioned the intrigues going on during the fix weeks when there was no administration, and faid that it was well known that he kept himself out of their way as much as poffible. In the course of his fpeech alfo, he glanced at the coalition, and said that they had not proved him to be a bad Minifter, because of the clerical errors in the account upon the table, neither had they proved themselves good minifters by discovering those errors. The minute for which he now called, with the accompanying eftinates, contained a comparison of what was ufual in the civil lift, as detailed by Mr. Speers, with what was judged proper to be changed in the civil lift, and proved the fact, whether profufenefs or deception was to be charged to thofe concerned at the time.

of Port

land.

The Duke of Portland went into a detail of the proceed- The Duke ings refpecting the civil lift while he prefided at the Treasury. He declared that he had met with no other paper respecting it, nor feen any other minute at the Treasury but that on the table. They had confidered that as accurate, without going into an investigation of the data on which it was fuppofed to be founded, but that it was afterwards difcovered that it was erroneous in a particular refpect. That difcovery had been made by two of the Treafury clerks, and he had fent down to the clerk of the Houfe of Commons to rectify it. He conceived that the account must have been made out in Novem

The Marquis of

Lansdown.

ber, because it was natural to fuppofe that the noble Marquis was affured of the fact before he put it into His Majesty's mouth on the opening of the feffion.

The Marquis of Lan/down having remarked that he felt it neceffary to return his thanks to the noble Duke for his extreme candor, added that he hoped it was now univerfally underflood that the errors in the paper were mere clerical errors, and not fubftantial mistakes purpofely connived at with a view to deceive Parliament.

The queftion was put and carried, and ordered to be prefented to His Majefty by the Lords with white staves. The Houfe adjourned.

Thursday, 4th May.

Upon the fecond reading of the bill, for establishing The Arch- playhoufe, at Margate, in Kent, the Archbishop of Canbishop of terbury remarked, that he trufted it was scarcely neceffary to Canterbury affure the Houfe, that he had ever been an enemy to the in

troduction of fuch bills, being perfuaded that the establishment of playhoufes tended to increafe licentioufnefs, and that they were equally injurious to the morals and property of the people. For thofe weighty reafons, he had almost made up his mind to oppofe the bill, and get rid of it altogether. But a difficulty arose in the prefent inftance, which prevented him from taking that ftep, however defirable he might deem it. Margate was not a chartered town, confequently it had not the benefit of a regular police, and there were, at prefent, two playhoufes in competition with each other. There was no magiftrate nearer than Dover, and it did not appear that they had given themselves the least trouble about the police of Margate for a very confiderable period of time, if ever they did. Thus it was obvious, that if the prefent bill did not pafs, the two unlicenfed playhouses would fill continue; for the petitioners against the bill, many of whom were very reputable perfons, and oppofed it from the very beft of motives, had not, at any time, ventured to apply to the Dover magiftrates to fupprefs what they confidered to be a growing mifchief. It might be better to prefer the leffer evil, and fuffer the prefent act to pafs with fuch reftraints as might very much leffen the petitioners' well-grounded apprehenfions. Suppofe that the time of public exhibition was limited to four or five months. [Here the Speaker informed his Grace, that the proper time to introduce fuch limitation, would be in the Committee.] The Archbishop answered, that he would not oppofe the fecond reading, but he could wish it to be committed for fome day in next week, that he might have time to receive any information upon the fubject.

Earl

Earl Bathurst named Monday.

Hawke.

Lord Hawke begged leave to prefs upon the humane and Lord liberal confideration of their Lordships, that the perfons who made application for the bill, were by no means in affluent circumftances; they had ftaid in town a long time at a very confiderable expence, and as there was a limitation in the bill, in point of time, fimilar to the idea of the Right Rev. Prelate, he hoped that the Houfe would commit the bill for the morrow. He had feveral precedents which he could adduce in point, [At this time feveral noble Lords faid, No, no, commit it for Monday.] The bill was accordingly committed for Monday.

Francis Quarme, fq. Deputy Black Rod, appeared at the bar, and addreffed their Lordships as follows:

My Lords, I defire to engage your Lordships' most "ferious attention upon a matter that refpects the privileges and the dignity of this Houfe. My Lords, ac"cording to the ftanding orders of this Houfe, in order that

the noble Members may have no interruption in attending "the high concerns of Parliament, carts, hackney-coaches, "or other carriages, are not permitted to pass through Pa"lace-yard during the hours of fitting. The High Confta"ble is thereby directed to enforce this ftanding order; yet "although repeatedly applied to for that purpose, he has "neglected his duty in this refpect, in breach of the orders of this Houfe. I therefore complain against the faid High "Constable."

Earl Bathurst directed the ftanding order to be read, by which it appeared that the High Conftable and the High Bailiff were commanded to see the orders enforced.

Ordered, that the High Conftable do attend the bar on the morrow, to anfwer the faid complaint.

The Houfe adjourned.

Friday, 5th May.

Mr. Loton, the High Conftable, attended the House according to order, and the complaint being repeated to him, he was defired to inform their Lordships what he had to fay in his defence.

Mr. Loton's exculpation was, that the attendance on his duty at the Courts prevented his prefence at the time of the meeting of Parliament, to fce his orders enforced; but he affured their Lordships that he had repeatedly given directions to have the way to the Houfe kept clear, and that finding his conftables at times difobedient to thefe orders, he had them fummoned before the Court, and fined for their neglect. He trusted that their Lordships would give him cre

dit for this fact, and rest affured that he fhould, in future, pay the most particular attention to his duty in obeying the orders of the Houfe.

Earl Bathurst difiiffed him, with recommending it to him to take care in future, that no caufe of complaint fhould again occafion him to be brought to the bar of the Houfe. The Houfe adjourned.

Monday, 8th May.

The Lords affembled on the Worcester Canal bill, which (as the reader will perceive hereafter) gave rife to not an uninterefting debate. The arguments in favour of the bill

were,

That part of the river Severn is rendered impaffable nearly half the year, for vetiels of more than from fix to fixteen tons burden, by reafon of the fhoals, which are very nu

merous.

That the canal, which joins the Severn at Stourport, thir teen miles above Worcester, is inadequate to its object, the trade paffing through it being dependent not only on a precarious river navigation, but likewife retarded by the fre quent want of water experienced in that canal.

That merchandife to and from Birmingham, to and from Hull and Liverpool, to and from Manchester, with all the extenfive connections northwards, are at prefent fubjected to this uncertain navigation.

And that for thefe reafons, together with the very great length of the way to Birmingham by way of Autherley and Stourport, commodities of finer and more perishable natures are fent by land-carriage to Worcester and Bewdley, to be forwarded to Briftol; whereas the intended canal will render carriage by land unneceffary, and will produce a faving of almoft fifty per cent. on all goods fo conveyed. Still farther; goods are weekly conveyed by land between Birmingham and Bristol, at an expence of five pounds per ton. Should the intended canal be executed, and certain obftructions in the river, below Worcester, be remedied, the fame commodities may be carried for lefs than one pound per ton; a faving of four hundred per cent.

That from the caufes abovementioned, coals often vary ten in twenty thillings in every market down Severn; and at times are even not to be had at any price: witness the late diftreffes at Worcester, Gloucefter, and all the towns bordering on the Severn below Worcester, and in the course of the river Avon.

The coals will be rendered, at Bromsgrove and its vicinity, four fhillings per ton cheaper than by the prefent

land