When they had abandoned their bill, and as they now expressed it, had determined to drop the prosecution, why not have had the generosity and feeling to apprize the Queen of that determination? But their conduct indicated any thing rather than an abandonment of the attack. If they were serious in their intention of abandoning it, why were they deprived of that which they never before stood so lamentably in want of-namely, the support of the right hon. member for Liverpool? Why had that right hon. gentlemen withdrawn himself from the cabinet, if all proceedings against the Queen were abandoned? Though the bill had been abandoned, yet parliament had scarcely met when the noble lord opposite had come down to that House, and had thrown out insinuations and invectives against her majesty, which-but he would not pursue the course which he was about to be betrayed into. It was impossible that any one in private life could have been doomed to undergo the unrelenting persecution which her majesty had undergone. He would put it to the House whether her majesty had heen fairly treated by ministers? He would suppose a case. He would suppose that a man, who had been, formerly, a minister in Ireland, had been accused of bribery, of gross corruption in that country, at the time of the Union. He would suppose that minister accused, not merely of corruption at the time of the Union, but of acts of a far more horrible description. He would suppose that, respecting the conduct of that man, rumours had gone abroad of an appalling kind; that a commission had been sent to Ireland to collect witnesses against him, supported by the strength and influence of the Crown; that a bill of Pains aud Penalties had been brought in against him, and a hostile minister was determined to ensure a conviction at all hazards; suppose that the proceedings terminated in the House of Lords-that the abashed prosecutors and abettors of the measure were obliged to give it up in despair. In that case what would they think of a minister who should come down to the House of Commons, and say, we could, if we wished, bring forward more evidence-we had the depositions of eighty persons, but as a matter of grace and favour, we have not examined them? Was it possible that such quibbles, such miserable insinuations should be attended to, after the ministers had done their worst? Was it to be endured that, after her majesty had triumphed over the witnesses that had been produced, her character should suffer from witnesses that her accusers dare not produce? He would appeal to the caudor of the House, whether her majesty, notwithstanding her acquittal, was not, night after night, exposed to the observations of the noble lord? In the subject of the restoration of her majesty's name to the Liturgy, he would merely say, that from the very moment that that exclusion had taken place, he never entertained the slightest doubt of the illegality of that act; he never lost an opportunity, of giving his opinion on the subject. The Queen was now accused of refusing the bounty of that House, unless her name was restored to the Liturgy. Now, all he would say upon that point was, that when the noble lord approached her with money in one hand, and gross, unfounded, and refuted imputations in the other, if her majesty had accepted that money, proffered under such circumstances, and by such a minister, she would, in his opinion, merit the indignation which her enemies in vain attempted to excite against her in the breasts of a generous and gallant people, who admire her virtues-who pity her sufferings and, who never will desert her so long as she remains true to herself. Lord Castlereagh said, it was not his intention to follow the learned gentleman into the wide field of discussion which he had broached; not that he was averse to meet him upon any or all the points he had dilated upon, but because he thought it would be more convenient for him to wait until the question of the Liturgy. It did not follow that, because the learned gentleman had thought proper, in the discharge of his professional duty, to utter this sort of declamation, that therefore, he (Lord C.) should be provoked to embark in a premature debate. The question respecting the omission of the Queen's name in the Liturgy stood for debate upon an early day, and it was whimsical enough, that the learned gentleman could not wait until that time, but should, on the present occasion, have blazed forth upon what was not to be found in the speech, upon which he professed to comment, but which he must have got from the brief, from which no doubt he spoke Mr. Denman rose to order. He had spoken as a member of parliament, and the noble lord was disorderly in alluding to him in any other character. The Speaker said, if the House thought that the noble lord had exceeded the freedom of debate, then he could have no hesitation in saying that the noble lord was disorderly; but he did not think that the passage of the speech alluded to, conveyed an attack of a personal kind. as Lord Castlereagh said, that nothing was further from his intention than to reflect personally upon the learned gentleman. Indeed he thought he had diminished rather than increased the effect of the learned gentleman's sentiments, and which, from the variance they presented at one moment from those uttered at another, and particularly in conjunction with his learned colleague (Mr. Brougham), certainly were calculated to lead to the notion, that at one moment the learned gentlemen were delivering their own opinions, while at another they were merely speaking from their briefs. But certainly, as the learned gentleman spoke now a member of parliament, and not as a counsel, he should have taken care to state accurately the contents of his (lord C's.) speech. Now, as to what had been said respecting the circulation of particular speeches, why should the gentlemen opposite complain that authentic copies of particular speeches had been circulated throughout the country? What else could they expect. If, indeed, the gentlemen opposite had been silent when the bill was withdrawn, then they might expect that others would have followed their example; but had the gentlemen opposite pursued that prudent course? Had they not, at the different meetings throughout the country, arraigned, in the most severe terms, the motives and conduct of ministers during the late transactions-had they not, in the most unsparing terms, attacked both their public and private motives, and charged them with eliciting nothing but "filthy lies." The hon. gentlemen opposite were to have free warren and free chace against ministers, -they were to have all the battle to themselves-they were to handle every topic of irritation, and ministers were not to be allowed to raise a hand in their own defence. They were to allow that part of the press which was in the pay of her majesty to cast forth sentiments and expressions so base as to find no parallel in the whole range of the public press; and yet it was to be held a high crime and misdemeanor against ministers, if authentic copies of certain speeches by some means or other found their way into the post-bags of the country. Now, with respect to the depositions of witnesses, he had never said, that any depositions or proofs that could impart information at the bar of the House of Lords had been withheld. His argument was, that it was not to be inferred that government ever considered the case as defective that a great number of witnesses had given in depositions, but it was found utterly impossible to prevail on those witnesses to come to this country. Did the learned gentleman recollect the brutal attack that had been made on the witnesses at Dover? When that circumstance was known in Italy, a number of persons, terrified at the intelligence, could not be prevailed on to come to England; and even a considerable number of important witnesses who had arrived at Paris, alarmed for their personal safety, refused to proceed further. The learned gentleman and his colleagues took a legal advantage of the absence of these persons, and insisted that the trial should proceed without delay. This was an unfair and unjust attack. And was the country to be told that the conduct of those who indulged in it was never to be questioned? He would now give the learned gentleman notice, that so long as he and others who called themselves the Queen's friends, but whom he regarded as her most injudicious advisers, continued to bring forward such injudicious charges; as long as they continued to make the name of her majesty the instrument of their own purposes, without regarding her interest or honour; as long as they continued to misrepresent ministers, and to impute to them intentions which they had never contemplated, he should never feel restrained from exposing the truth to the House and the country. Mr. Denman said, that with respect to the attack on the witnesses at Dover, that circumstance never came within his knowledge. With respect to certain witnesses having been on the road, he did not know that fact, and he did not believe it. Lord Castlereagh said, that the fact had been proved on oath. Mr. Hume called upon the noble lord distinctly to state what papers were in the pay of her majesty. Mr. Alderman Wood said, that the members for Somerset and Surrey had talked of large accounts, which they stated, on hearsay, to be unpaid by her majesty; but he understood that the member for Surrey had been unable to get from his constituents any information of such unpaid bills, or of any sums of money paid by her majesty for getting up processions. He was, indeed, ready to state to those hon. members, that if they could produce one instance of a bill being unpaid, or of a single shilling being laid out by her majesty to promote or defray the expense of processions, he would give them 1007. for each shilling so discovered. The noble lord, finding he could not substantiate the charges which he made against the Queen respecting her answers to the Dover and the Canterbury addresses, had made one more attempt of the same kind by fixing on the answer to the Wandsworth address; and the right hon. commissioner of woods and forests had handed a book to the noble lord, and had referred him to page 73, in which her majesty was represented to have used the words "my people." So indeed it was stated in this book; but would the noble lord inform the House by whom, and for what purpose, this book had been written? He had examined the manuscript of that answer, and the expression there was, "the people." Was it, then, to be tolerated that any other hon. member should make such unfounded statements to the prejudice of the Queen? With regard to the outrage committed at Dover on the persons of the Italian witnesses, he had reason to believe that the whole assault consisted in these wretches being scoffed at by a few old women. He would state the fact: twelve or fourteen of those miserable wretches landed at Dover; they had little wallets at their backs, which were to be filled, he supposed, by the liberal hands of ministers; those wallets were examined by the Custom-house officers; some old women scoffed at them; and one very old woman, laughing louder than the others, addressed one of the witnesses thus-" Get home again, you Italian wretch." This was the disgraceful outrage which in the opinion of government, rendered it necessary to send those witnesses to Holland!" Mr. Honeywood presented a similar petition from the county of Kent. The high sheriff, notwithstanding the requisition was signed by the most respectable inhabitants, had refused to convene a The meeting, meeting of the county. therefore, had been obliged to be held in the town-hall of Maidstone. He believed it was the first time in the memory of man that a meeting of that county had not been held in the open air. It was, therefore, not so numerous as it might have been. The meeting, however, such as it was, was most unanimous; one hand only being held up against the resolutions by a half-pay lieutenant of the waggon traiu. Sir E. Knatchbull said, that, generally speaking, he thought it was the duty of the sheriff to call a meeting, when he was satisfied with the respectability of the requisition. In this instance, the sheriff, after some deliberation, had felt it his duty to decline calling the meeting, because he thought the general feeling of the county was against the meeting; and it should be remarked, that when he had so refused, there could not be found five magistrates in the county to convene the meeting. Sir R. Wilson avowed himself one of the requisitionists alluded to. The high sheriff had only to look to the number and respectability of the signatures, without any reference to the sentiments of the county. This was one more instance of the impolicy of the noble lord's bill on this subject. Dr. Lushington thought, that a more complete exemplification of the impolicy of the noble lord's bill had never been presented. It was now come to that pass, that when a requisition, signed by four or five peers, and sundry other persons holding rank in the county, was presented to a high sheriff, it was refused to be complied with under the enactments of this act. This was not at all to be wondered at, when it was considered who the sheriffs were. They were nominated by the Crown, and the magistrates were under the same nomination. The lord lieutenant appointed them; and it frequently happened, that they elected those who agreed with them in political opinion. The system now acted upon came to this -that you cannot have a county meeting, unless you find five magistrates holding the same political opinions with yourself. The sheriff now, by his single fiat, took upon himself to determine whether or not a county meeting should be held. He would say, the sheriff had no right to take the object of the meeting into his consideration, before he complied with the call of any set of requisitionists. To what these measures might ultimately force the people of England, he would not say; but if any thing could force them to disorderly courses, it was likely to be the loss of those rights which had been unjustly and tyrannically taken from them. After some further conversation, the petitions were ordered to lie on the table and to be printed. fallacious criterion by which to judge of the state of commercial prosperity, for a decrease was often known to exist where the contrary appeared in those books. The petitioners here complained that the agriculture, the commerce, and manufactures of the country, upon which its property depended, were in a state of decay; and therefore they prayed, that a solemn inquiry might be instituted respecting them, and, that wherever a defect was found, it might, if possible, be TRADE OF BIRMINGHAM-PETITION remedied. He himself had made partiOF THE MERCHANTS.] Mr. Dugdale cular inquiries on the subject, to which rose to present a petition from the mer- the petitioners chiefly referred, and he chants, manufacturers, and traders, of the found, that though there was some imtown of Birmingham. To this important provement in some articles, yet that in document he begged to call the serious the main branches of the trade, there had attention of the House. It was proper been a diminution of 25 per cent. the to state that this petition was agreed consequence was, that the capitalists upon at a very numerous meeting, held were withdrawing their capital in the in the month of August last; but owing trade, and the workmen in most instances to the different adjournments of the got employment only for three or four House, there had not been any possibi- days in the week. The poor-rates were, lity of presenting it till the present time. it was ascertained, about the same in The petitioners stated, that on the 12th amount as last year; but, looking to the of May last they did present a petition to comparatively reduced prices of food, the hon. House, praying that a solemn they must in effect be considered higher. inquiry might be instituted by it into the The distress complained of was in a concauses of the national distress, and pray-siderable degree aggravated by the state ing that some measures might be adopted for relieving it. They set forth, that it appeared to them no legislative measure had yet been adopted for the purposes of such relief, excepting only the appointment by parliament of a committee for the extension of the foreign trade; but they humbly submitted that the home trade was at all times a matter of paramount interest. The petitioners further stated, that the present state of their trade, and consequently of those numerous classes who were dependent upon it, was deplorable. In order to get more accurate information as to the state of Birmingham in this respect, a committee was appointed by the petitioners some time back to inquire into the consumption of meat, beer, and other necessaries in the town, as compared with the year 1818; and the result was, that a most material diminution of the consumption of such articles was found to have taken place, and this, it was unnecessary to add, had existed principally among the lower classes. At the present moment it was not his intention to enlarge upon the subjects to which the petitioners had referred. He would, however, say, that the public books of the country were a of the iron-works in the neighbourhood, Mr. Lawley thought it his duty to recommend the prayer of the petitioners to the most serious attention of the House. It was entitled to serious consideration, not merely from the number and respectability of the petitioners, but from the importance of the statements it cou tained. The petitioners had divided themselves into small parties, in order to ascertain, in the different parts of the town, the state of the consumption of articles of necessary use, and they found that it had fallen off one-third in the last two years, and that in the article of bread there had been a very considerable diminution. It was far from his intention to give any contradiction to what had been stated by his ministers upon the improvements which had taken place in many parts of our trade. He had heard such statement with pleasure; but if he were to rest his opinion upon what he knew of the state of the trade of Birmingham, it was not such as would bear out those statements. was given by this country; when he considered the great bodies of militia which were kept up for so long a time, and when he reollected the increased demand which those circumstances must have created for articles in the Birmingham trade, he could not but conclude, that it would require many years to fill up the chasm caused by the cessation of such a demand. He happened, some time ago, to have been one of a deputation which waited on lord Mulgrave, then master of the ordnance; and he learned, on that occasion, that at one time the demand for arms was so great, that they had been in the habit of manufacturing a musket per minute. He mentioned this only to show the great demand which existed for an article in one branch of the trade. The petitioners admitted that the committee of foreign trade was a boon; but that that alone would not be effectual. Some improvement should be effected in their home trade. He believed that there was no article of domnestic manufacture of which there was so large a consumption as our hardware. The hon. member then observed upon the state of the iron trade, and that part of the hardware ma Mr. Littleton observed, that if similar inquiries to those made in Birmingham had been instituted in the south-west of the county of Stafford, the same results would have been found. He believed, though the petitioners only hinted at it, that if a committee should be appointed, a great part of the distress complained of would be found to have resulted from what had been, he would admit, very properly, done by government with respect to the metallic currency, and the limitation of issues from the banks. He had, however, every reason to hope that confidence would soon be restored in this respect. He had heard from several gentlemen connected with the manu-nufactures with which it was connected, facturers in Birmingham, that a great deal of business had been done on paper credit, which must necessarily have been since reduced in proportion to the great reduction of issues from the country banks. This was a great check, and though it could not be said to operate at present, yet it had operated to a very considerable extent at the period when those limitations took place. The petitioners, it appeared, did not attribute the distress of which they complained, to the cessation of the demand for the articles in their trade, at the termination of the war; but they had not carried their inquiries farther back than two years. If they had carried them back for the last five years, he was of opinion that they would have found, that that cause had operated very materially in producing the distress which was now felt. When he considered the very great extent to which the trade, in articles of military furniture, had been carried on in Birmingham, the great quantity of swords, guns, stirrups, and other such articles which were constantly in demand; when he considered the large armaments which were fitted out in almost every part of Europe, and the liberal assistance which He and said, that although the export had, in 1817, been very considerable, yet he believed it was forced, and was the result of speculation, arising out of the low state of prices. He considered the depression of agriculture one prominent cause of the falling off in the iron manufactures. Any relief that could be devised, and was likely to prove effectual, he would be willing to support. thought that some relief might be afforded by a revision of our system of taxation. The farmer did not now get more for two bushels of corn than he did some time back for one. He was aware that it would be unpopular to propose the imposition of any new tax: indeed, the proposition would be idle at present, for the country was not able to bear it; but it was his opinion, that if a tax (not an income), but bearing equally on funded and landed property, were levied, it would be a great relief to the farmer, as well as to the manufacturer. Mr. Curwen, having been requested to support the prayer of this petition, could not suffer it to pass without a few observations. The iron trade was a most important branch of our manufactures; and from the skill and capital engaged in |