induced him to withdraw it. There were none such at present. The returns would be useful, and he denied that there were any feuds at present in the country; but if the right hon. Secretary for Ireland was of opinion that the returns called for would keep up party spirit, he must beg his hon. colleague to withdraw his Motion.

Mr. Mullins could not comprehend how party feeling, or religious animosity, could be excited by such returns. Surely the right hon. Secretary must be convinced, that every disposition on the part of the Protestant to do justice to his Roman Catholic fellow-subjects would tend rather to cement a stronger and firmer union between them. As the right hon. Gentleman, however, held a different opinion on this subject, he would consent to withdraw his Motion for the present.

Motion withdrawn.

SUPPLY-PUBLIC WORKS IN IRELAND.] Mr. Stanley moved, "That his Majesty be empowered to issue Exchequer Bills to an amount not exceeding 500,000l., to be expended in the carrying on of Public Works in Ireland."

Mr. O'Connell feared these votes of Exchequer Bills would not have the desired effect, of relieving the distress in Ireland. At the conclusion of the last Session, the noble Lord, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, obtained a vote of 50,000l. for the same purposes; not one penny of which had been yet demanded by the Irish speculators. The only effect of it was, to materially check the subscription for the distress then going on. The loan of money at interest would never have the effect of giving permanent relief.

Mr. Stanley said, the hon. and learned Member was quite wrong in saying there had been no application for the former loan. The Government had had applications from Sligo, Galway, and several other counties; but, on inquiry, the security proposed was not found sufficiently good to enable the Board to comply with the request.

posed; for, it must be remembered, that persons obtaining this money would be obliged to give security for its repayment.

Mr. Wyse inquired how it was intended. to regulate the lending of the money; in whose hands was that power to be placed?

Mr. Stanley replied, it was intended that a Board of Control should sit in Dublin, which would have the entire management of the money, and to which all applications were to be referred. But to diminish the expense, it was intended to do away with the Board of Works, the Board of Inland Navigation, and that branch of the Post-office which had the making of Post-roads in Ireland. The diminution of expenditure gained by the abolishment of these Boards, would enable the Government to meet the expenses of the intended Board of Control.

Mr. Wyse suggested that a portion of the money should be granted for improving public roads, and similar works, in Ireland.

Vote agreed to.

Mr. Stanley said, the best answer he could give his hon. friend was, by moving, "That a sum not exceeding 50,0007. be granted to his Majesty for the purpose of being expended on the forwarding Public Roads, and other Works, in Ireland." The exigencies of the country required this vote, and he expected great advantages would be derived from it.

Mr. Robert Gordon was anxious to suggest the expediency of appointing Commissioners who would perform their duty gratuitously. He was adverse to paying Commissioners, as it always tended to jobbing, and he knew gratuitous Boards discharged their duty with greater satisfaction to the public. In England that was certainly the case, and a similar course might be adopted in Ireland.

Mr. Leader thought, the hon. member for Cricklade had made an unmerited and unkind insinuation against the Irish Public Boards by his eulogium on the English Boards. The Irish Boards of Public Works had existed several years, and ably discharged the duties imposed on them. The returns placed on the Table last year would shew that the Commissioners had never received a penny of compensation for their trouble. But it was not enough to say no public loss had been sustained Mr. Stanley was aware of the distress on the advances of money; it had been mentioned, but regretted that such relief on all sides admitted, that the public dewas incompatible with the vote now pro-rived a profit from these advances, though

Mr. Lefroy would suggest to the right hon. Secretary the expediency of taking the vote in such a manner as would enable the Board to assist the fishermen of the Western coasts, who were in a state of great distress.

The petition, which was from certain natives of India, was laid on the Table,

HOUSE OF COMMONS,

Friday, July 1, 1831.

MINUTES.] Bills. Read a second time; Roman Catholi

Charities; Master of the Mint's Salary; Growth of Tobacco
Prohibition (Ireland); Land Tax Double Assessments;
London Coal Trade.

Returns ordered. On the Motion of Mr. HUNT, the quan-
tity of Foreign Corn imported between April, 1830, and
April, 1851 :-On the Motion of Mr. Alderman WOOD,
the number of Persons discharged under the Insolvent
Acts; the number who have paid Dividends for Property
delivered previous to their discharge; the number who
have subsequently acquired Property, which had been
made available for their Creditors; and the number
detained for contravening the Acts.

Petitions presented. By Mr. HUNT, from Inhabitants of Abbylard, in Longford, for a Repeal of the Union. By Mr. DUNDAS, from the County of Berks, against the Reform Bill. By Mr. OWEN, from the Corporation of Morpeth, to continue to resident Burgesses the right of voting. From Mr. HODGSON, from the Free Brothers of the same place, that the Elective Franchise be extended to them. By Mr. C. DUNDAS, from Inhabitants of Newbury, Speenhamland, and Greenham, to be represented in Parliament. By Mr. Alderman WOOD, from Mr. Hutchinson, complaining of the East-India Company for non-payment of a Debt. By Mr. PEMBERTON, from the Merchants and Ship-owners of Rye, for the Repeal of Marine Insurance Duties:-And to the same effect, by Mr. O'CONNELL, from Tralee. By Mr. SCHONSWAR, from Hull, against the renewal of the East-India Company's Charter. By Mr. O'CONNELL, from Rev. T. Smith, for a Reform of the Church Establishment; from the Catholic Inhabitants of Galway, for the extension of the Elective Franchise to them; from the Catholic Inhabitants of Ballycoog, against any further Grants to the Kildare Street Society; and from Thomas Lawrence, of Lambeth, complaining of the Admiralty Court.

most inhuman practice, that of burning | practice of this description prevailed, and widows on the funeral pile of their deceasthat they were without the power of preed husbands, was forbidden. That en- venting such disgusting scenes. lightened individual took upon himself the responsibility of abolishing so barbarous a custom, and thus prevented widows from being so permitted and encouraged to destroy themselves. In consequence of this, some months after the order was carried into effect, a number of individuals, Hindoos by profession of faith, assembled together, and signed a petition, deprecating this intervention with their religious ceremonies, and condemning the interference of the Company and their agents, in thus forbidding the fulfilment of an ancient rite. The petitioners prayed that the subject might be investigated before the Privy Council. The petition was forwarded to the Privy Council, and if it were the wish of those persons to be heard before that body, it would be the duty of the Privy Council so to hear them. But since that petition was presented, an individual who, he believed, was known to some of their Lordships, and whose abilities were very generally acknowledged in the East —a Brahmin of India, Ram Mohun Roy-called upon him and stated, that, under the impression which existed in India, that such a petition as that which he bad described would be presented, not to the Privy Council, but to the House of Lords, a number of the most influential and intellectual natives of India had met together, and determined to send a counter-petition (that which he held in his hand) to the House of Lords. In that petition they expressed the great approbation with which they viewed this act of the government of India; and they stated their decided conviction, after looking into the Shasters and Vedas, that the inhuman custom which had been abolished was not authorised by the Hindoo religion. They observed, that it was first instituted by certain Hindoo princes, for private and personal reasons; and they further declared, that one of the most important injunctions of Menu was, that widows should live in the observance of purity and virtue after the death of their husbands-that they should lead a life of chastity and austerity, but that they should not destroy themselves. In his opinion, every humane mind must rejoice at the abolition of such a custom. Many of those who had governed India were, he believed, shocked at the reflection that a VOL. IV. {T}

Third

REFORM. INTEMPERATE PETITIONS.] Mr. Hunt presented a Petition from the Inhabitants of Stockport, objecting to the Reform Bill, as not going far enough. The hon. Member read the whole of the Petition, which was couched in violent and abusive language, directed principally against the Church.

During the reading of this Petition, the House exhibited marks of strong disgust and impatience, which, however, were repressed by the Speaker; but as soon as the hon. Member had concluded,

The Speaker said, "What does the hon. Member propose to do with that Petition?"

Mr. Hunt. To bring it up.

The Speaker.-The hon. Member has been a Member of this House long enough to have enabled him to learn that the first duty of a Member of the House of Commons, to whom petitions are intrusted, is, to make himself acquainted with the conU

tents of such petitions, and having seen that the petitions are respectfully and decently worded, then to exercise his discretion on the subject-matter of the petition. Now the wording of this petition is neither respectful nor even decent, and I cannot but feel persuaded, that if the hon. Member had ever read it before, he would not have presented it to the House. Mr. W. Peel did hope, that the House would not consent to receive a petition which contained such unfounded and unjust attacks, and which was couched in such gross language.

Mr. O'Connell submitted, that the petitioners might not have intended to insult the House.

The Speaker said, the hon. and learned Member must see, that when gross and offensive language is selected by petitioners, the fair presumption is, that they do not mean to treat the House with any very great respect.

Mr. Hunt said, that he would not press the bringing up of the petition against the sense of the House. The fact was, that he had read it all, with the exception of that single passage which was complained of. He owned that if he had read that part of it, he might not have presented it. Petition withdrawn.

Mr. Hunt said, that he had next to present a Petition from Leeds, but that perhaps there might be something wrong in this petition too.

The Speaker. The hon. Member does not seem to understand my observations, or the feeling of the House. I repeat to the hon. Member, that it is the first duty of every hon. Member to see, that the petitions he has to present are decently and respectfully worded-for that is absolutely necessary; and then to exercise his discretion as to the subject-matter of those petitions. If this petition is worded like the last, the hon. Member may be certain that there is something wrong in it. Mr. Hunt.-Well, then, Sir, I'll wait and read it over.

endeavour to make the hon. Member sensible of that fact, and to tell the hon. Member that he (Mr. Hunt), more than any other hon. Member, would be bound, in courtesy for that treatment, to be particularly careful in seeing that the petitions he presented were properly worded. He was one of those who wished to see the abuses of the Church reformed; but he would not speak of any body of men in the gross terms which the petitioners had thought proper to use-terms which ought not to be tolerated in this or in any other assembly.

Mr. Hunt said, that many other hon. Members had made mistakes in presenting petitions. The noble Lord (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) had made a mistake the other night, and he did not see why so much should be said about a mistake of his. The fact was, that many petitions were presented to that House which were never read, and which might be properly or improperly worded, for any thing the House knew about them.

The Speaker. Surely the hon. Member must see, that one reason of that is, the confidence which the House reposes in the Members who present those petitionsthe confidence that those Members would not neglect the duty of seeing that the petitions are properly worded.

OXFORD PETITION.] Lord Mahon presented a Petition from 770 of the resident Bachelors and Undergraduates of the University of Oxford, against the Reform Bill, which the petitioners prayed might not pass into a law. The total number of that body varied from 1,000 to 1,100, so that the majority were decidedly averse from the measure. The petitioners stated, "that the Bill of Reform lately submitted to Parliament seems to your petitioners far more than commensurate with any existing amount of grievances; that your petitioners, however alien to their condition the expression of an opinion on political questions might appear under ordiMr. Lawley must protest against the nary circumstances, and however reluctant course pursued by the hon. member for to intrude on the attention of the LegislaPreston. That hon. Member, like every ture, are, nevertheless, unwilling to conother hon. Member, was bound to know template such results in silence, and the contents of the petitions which he pre-humbly and earnestly pray, that the said sented to the House.

Mr. Long Wellesley said, that the hon. member for Preston did not seem to be aware that the House was treating him with great leniency. He must, however,

Bill may not pass into a law." A petition to the same effect had lately been presented by one of the hon. members of the University, from the Masters andGraduates, and the present petition was of great im

in life, and had opportunities of mixing with
larger masses of the community, he had
no doubt they would imbibe opinions more
in unison with those of the people, of whom
he trusted the petitioners would one day
be the support and the ornament.
The Petition to be printed.

portance, as showing, that the former did not proceed merely from timid old age or long-rooted prepossessions, but that the attachment to our present Constitution was as strong amidst the younger as amidst the elder members of the University. In the debates two years before, it had been thought a strong argument in favour of the Catholic question, that REPEAL OF THE UNION.] Mr. O'Conthe rising talent of the country was anxi- nell, in presenting a Petition from the ous that the claims of the Catholics should town of Drogheda, in favour of a Repeal of be granted; and in support of the fact, the Union, begged to ask the noble Lord that such were the sentiments of the rising (Althorp) if he was aware that five days talent of the country, it had been stated after the Newtownbarry affray, another to the House, that in a debating society corps of Yeomanry had been furnished at the University of Oxford, the Catholic with arms. He had received a letter from question had been carried by a majority a man of rank and talent in Ireland, which of two to one. As that circumstance had stated the fact in these terms-" My blood been much relied upon by some hon. Mem- boils with indignation at learning that they bers on the occasion to which he alluded, are arming another corps of Yeomanry to he begged now to state to the House, that, massacre the people." He begged to assure the same institution still existed, that it the noble Lord, that the greatest agitation comprised as formerly, the most able and prevailed in Ireland upon the subject. aspiring young men at Oxford, and that He understood, that a procession was inthe Ministerial measure for Reform, being tended to be got up for the 12th of July, there debated, was rejected by a majority and if that did take place, he could assure of not two to one, but three to one. He the noble Lord there would be some more would make no comment on these facts, blood spilt. He begged now to refer to leaving them to the consideration of the the petition which he had to present, and House, but he must express his great satis- which prayed for the re-establishment of faction, that a declaration of attachment the local legislature in Ireland. The to the ancient institutions of the country petitioners had intrusted him with a disshould have been the first step in the cretion whether or not he would present career of these youths, which he hoped it, and, after the discussion of last night, and trusted would be to them, each and he felt it his duty to present it. He apall, a career of private worth and public pealed to the many independent men who usefulness. had been sent into the House by the late Lord Morpeth said, that it was impos-election, whether Ireland could be so sible that he could speak of a body from which he had so lately emerged, and to which he had so many reasons to be attached, in other than terms of kindness and respect. He could not controvert the statement of the noble Lord respecting the feelings of the majority of this body with regard to Reform, but he could say, that it contained a minority respectable at once for talent and for numbers. Why the minority had not raised their voices against the majority, he could not tell; but perhaps it was because they considered it hardly consistent with their academical pursuits to approach this House as petitioners; or perhaps they might think, that their approbation would not add much weight to a measure which had already been approved of by the great body of the nation. With regard to the petitioners, he would only say, that as they advanced

treated by the Reform Bill? The counties of England had received additions to the elective franchise, they had got several very numerous classes, such as freeholders, copyholders, and leaseholders; the people of Scotland had had their franchise greatly extended, but the franchise of Ireland would be diminished by the effect of the Reform Bill as now proposed to be brought in, which would have the effect of turning the counties into boroughs. The county he had the honour to represent contained a population of 216,000 persons; the number of voters for the county would be 700, of which forty-one were beneficed clergymen of the Established Church, and 136 of them resided in the town of Tralee; and as Tralee was an open borough, the effect would be, to turn the county almost into a borough. The scurvy franchise proposed by this bill would not give an