Local Tokens Bill. 509] might be taken by surprise. For himself, he hoped and trusted that necessity would not call for any difference between the two countries, however differently circumstanced upon this subject. At all events, nothing practicable should be left un. done to avoid such a necessity. Indeed, as far as he had the power of influencing the circulating medium, he had always been most studious to provide for the accommodation of Ireland, and he should In pursuance of ever continue to be so. this solicitude, which he felt in common with his colleagues, it was intended to send a large proportion of bullion to Ireland, sufficient, he hoped, for its wants; yet, if the supply should prove inadequate, his right hon. friend reserved the right of providing for the evil. Sir John Newport observed, that ministers seemed to think it necessary to hold an undefined proposition over Ireland, while there could be no doubt of its wants as to circulating medium, and while no assurance was given that a sufficient quantity of bullion would be provided by government for the supply of those wants. It was in consequence of these wants, that the Commercial Company of Waterford applied some time since to the Irish government, soliciting either an adequate supply of silver, or liberty to issue tokens themselves for the accommodation of business; but the application was unsuccessful, although he could assure the House that the distress occasioned, and especially among the poor peasantry, by the scarcity Indeed, the of silver, was most severe. peasant who brought his bacon or other articles to Waterford, was obliged to return home with a check as payment, and which he was but too likely to lose, or obliged perhaps to go to market again to get his check changed. Thus were these poor people, to whom any government should look with peculiar solicitude, exposed to serious inconvenience. But he hoped that his Majesty's government would take their case into consideration, and contrive to relieve their distress. The Chancellor of the Exchequer repeated the intention of government to send to Ireland as large a supply of bullion as possible; sufficient he hoped to remedy the grievance complained of. But if that supply should be insufficient, it would be open to his right hon. friend the Chancellor of the Irish Exchequer, to bring forward the measure he had mentioned upon the subject of Local Tokens. Lord A. Hamilton asked upon what ground the Chancellor of the Exchequer calculated upon such an increased supply of bullion by the period he had proposed to insert in the Bill, and whether he had any plan for keeping his new tokens, Was the when issued, in circulation? right hon. gentleman aware how much of 1,700,000l. in tokens already issued by the Bank, remained in circulation, or had been withdrawn and melted down? He understood that a considerable quantity of tokens had been melted, and if such had been the fate of the Bank tokens already issued, what security could the right hon. gentleman present that the new issue would not meet the same fate if they were equal in intrinsic value? Then if the Bank tokens were likely to be thus with. drawn from circulation, the local tokens would still be necessary, and must be tolerated, if public accommodation were sulted. The House having resolved itself into the Committee, The Chancellor of the Exchequer, in reply to the observations of the noble lord, stated, that there was one simple fact upon which he grounded the calculations adverted to by the noble lord, namely, that the exchange had advanced 15 per cent. in our favour; and it was unnecessary to describe the consequence of such advance upon our supply, and the price of bullion. Care would, of course, be taken that the value of any tokens issued Lord A. Hamilton thought, that if the right hon. gentleman had no other reason to hope for an issue of silver, than the improvement of the exchange, the hope was a frail one. Sir Robert Peel said, he did not see any great inconvenience result from the Local Tokens, they were so inferior to the coin of the realm, that they were limited in circulation, and as soon as the Bank should issue silver to any great amount they would fall of themselves. Mr. Whitbread thought the 5th of July an inconvenient time, as in all probability the House would not then be sitting, and great inconvenience would ensue from withdrawing the Local Tokens, in case the Bank should not be prepared to make the expected issue. If, however, the Chancellor of the Exchequer would agree to bring the matter under consideration before parliament should be prorogued, he would refrain from moving an amend ment. The Chancellor of the Exchequer bowed assent, and the blanks were filled up with the 5th of July. HOUSE OF LORDS. continuance of the monopoly of the East India Company. His lordship also brought forward Petitions to the like effect from Montrose and Stirling.-The Duke of Norfolk presented a Petition of a similar tendency from Birmingham, signed by the high bailiff and principal magistrates in behalf of themselves and others the inhabitants of Birmingham.-Viscount Melville then presented a Petition signed by various members of the Church of Scotland, and seemed to set forth as the substance of the Report of a Committee specially appointed by the general assembly of the National Church of Scotland, on the 15th of March 1812, that a Petition should be laid before parliament, praying, that in whatever new arrangement might Monday, February 15. be made for the regulation and governPETITIONS RESPECTING THE CLAIMS OF ment of the British dominions in India, THE CATHOLICS.] The Bishop of Glou- provisions should be made that the memcester presented Petitions against the Ca- bers of the said church, resident in those tholic Claims, from the clergy of Glou- dominions, may be afforded an opportucester, the precentors and canons of St. nity of having their national religion reDavid's, the clergy of St. David's, Bre- gularly dispensed to them, under such recon, Carmarthen, and Cardigan.-The gulations as to the wisdom of the legislaDuke of Norfolk observed upon some of ture should seem meet. The Duke of the Petitions, and took notice of the word Norfolk observed, he was never before Romanists in one of them, as a new de- aware of any thing existing in India to signation given to the Catholics in public prevent the religious worship of any de documents. If, however, it was meant to nomination. From the Petition now presubstitute it as a milder term for that of sented, it would appear to him that the Papists, he had no objection to the change. Church of Scotland was not tolerated in -Lord De Dunstan ville presented a Pe- that quarter.-Viscount Melville said, the tition to the same effect, from the corpo- fact was, that although the most perfect ration and inhabitants of Penryn, stating toleration prevailed in these parts of the that it was carried unanimously, at a nu- British dominions, the individual members merous meeting.-The Lord Chancellor of the Church of Scotland, who found objected to receiving it as the Petition of their way to India, found it, under the exthe inhabitants, as the common seal of the isting system, almost impossible to exercorporation could not represent the inha- cise their functions. Their lordships were bitants who were not corporators. The aware that by law, no individual could Petition was, therefore, received as the proceed to India without licences from the Petition of the corporation only.-The Company; who, he observed, were not in Duke of Norfolk wished to know the the habit of granting them to such indivinumber of the inhabitants of Penryn?-duals, except they were of the established Lord De Dunstanville said, about 2,800. He had not, however, referred to the number of inhabitants, but to the Petition being unanimously agreed to, at a numerous meeting.-Viscount Sidmouth presented a Petition to the same effect, from the corporation and inhabitants of Colchester.-Ordered to lie on the table. PETITIONS RESPECTING THE RENEWAL OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY'S CHARTER.] Viscount Melville presented a Petition from the lord provost, magistrates, and town council of Edinburgh, against the Church.-The Duke of Norfolk said, it was the first time of his learning that the Directors of the East India Company were so zealously attached to the established Church as not to grant licences to any clergymen but of that persuasion.-The Petition was then ordered to lie on the table. HOUSE OF COMMONS. Monday, February 15. PETITIONS AGAINST THE CLAIMS OF THE ROMAN Catholics-from the CLERGY OF 513] Claims of the Roman Catholics. "That the petitioners, ministers of the established Church of England and Ireland united, whose principles have been ever favourable to the toleration of all persons who conscientiously dissent from them, can no longer with-hold from the House their expression of concern, that claims should have been repeatedly made on the liberality of parliament for an unqualified repeal of statutes, which prevent the admission of Roman Catholics to an equal, but, in the humble apprehension of the petitioners, a dangerous participation with their Protestant fellow-subjects in situations of legislative power and offices of high constitutional trust; and that the petitioners most respectfully suggest to the consideration of the House, that the antient and regular practice of all states has been, to entrust the important offices of government to those only who are sincerely attached to its fundamental laws, in full persuasion, no doubt, that those subjects who, from a conscientious principle, decline to unite in communion with the members of the established religion, will act inconsistently with that principle if they do not, when invested with power, attempt to substitute in its stead what appears to them to be the true religion, and the most acceptable mode of worship; and that the exclusive religious principle of those who profess the faith of the Church of Rome, together with that unchanged controul which a foreign power is known to maintain over their consciences, are so much at variance with the true principles of our established government, as to render Roman Catholies unfit to be entrusted with the admini stration of power, either legislative or executive; and that, impressed with a high veneration for those tried and approved securities of the religious and political interests of our country, the Bill of Rights and the Act of Settlement, the petitioners place the firmest reliance on the wisdom of parliament, that in its solemn deliberations on the very important question of Catholic Claims, it will not separate those interests from each other, or finally resolve to repeal those statutes which our ancestors, after a long and arduous struggle with the dangers of Popery, thought fit to enact, which have been repeatedly sanctioned by the highest authority in these (VOL. XXIV.) kingdoms, and which, by confining the crown itself to the communion of the Church of England, hath for more than a century, under the favour of Divine Providence, secured to every Briton the peaceable enjoyment of his civil and religious privileges; but should the legislature, urged by considerations which are not obvious to the petitioners, think it expedient to make any alteration in those statutes, which have been most justly stiled the great barriers of our constitution in Church and State, the petitioners then humbly but earnestly entreat, that such alterations may most sacredly be guarded by every provision which to the united wisdom of parliament may appear to be best adapted for securing to us, and to our latest posterity, the blessings of a Protestant establishment, and of a Protestant succession to the crown of these kingdoms." A Petition of the Protestant inhabitants of the city of Bristol, whose names are thereunto subscribed, was also presented; setting forth, "That the petitioners are firm friends to religious toleration, being fully per suaded that no power on earth has any right to interfere with the dictates of conscience with respect either to doctrine or worship, except only in cases which affect the plain obligations of morality, or the peace and safety of society; and that the petitioners however cannot but consider the concessions already made to the Roman Catholics as entirely exempting them from all restriction whatever in the profession of their religious tenets, and the performance of their religious rites; that they already enjoy therefore the most perfect toleration, and that what they demand further is access to higher degrees of civil power and authority, their possession of which could scarcely fail to endanger the civil and religious rights of their fellowsubjects in this Protestant realm; that the petitioners, with humble deference to the wisdom of parliament, consider the high privileges of the British constitution as held conditionally by those who enjoy them (the right of their enjoyment depending on conditions to be by them performed); and that, as their Roman Catholic fellow-subjects refuse, from religious scruples, to comply with those conditions, their claim to be admitted to offices of trust and influence is on the basis of equity inadmissible; and that the petitioners likewise recollect that a large (2 L) and will not consent to an unconditional repeal of those statutes, which at present tend only to limit the political power of their Roman Catholic fellow subjects; and that the petitioners, with a wish to see Christians of every denomination enjoy the free and unlimited exercise of their peculiar modes of worship, cannot but perceive, in the admission of Papists to the highest offices of the State, an abrogation of the fundamental laws of the empire and the destruction of the British constitution." majority of their own number have lately taken, previously to the exercise of their elective franchise, the Oath of Supremacy, by which they solemnly declared, in the presence of the Almighty, "that no foreign prince, person, prelate, state, or potentate, hath or ought to have any power, jurisdiction, superiority, pre-eminence, or authority, ecclesiastical or spiritual, within this realm;" and that this oath was introduced after the Reformation with a special reference to the Papal authority; and the petitioners therefore feel it to be their duty to advert to so solemn a declaration thus recently made on a subject most intimately connected with the Roman Catholic Claims, not by themselves only, but by a very large portion of the population of the country; and that they cannot on the present occasion avoid looking back with horror to the effects which the intolerant spirit of the Roman Catholic religion produced in their native land during the æra of its dominancy therein; and, though the petitioners are fully aware of an assertion which has often been hazarded, that this religion has now totally changed its nature, yet they have not seen any solid and satisfactory ground for such an assertion, but, on the contrary, they fear its intolerant and persecuting character to be still unchanged, and in this they are confirmed by repeated declarations of the highest Roman Catholic authority in England, and that on these grounds, with which it would be tedious and unbecoming to trouble the House, the petitioners humbly pray, that the bulwarks of our Protestant constitution may still be preserved inviolate, and that, firmly adhering to those securities which our Protestant forefathers deemed necessary (in lieu of which no other adequate securities have yet been proposed, nor, as the petitioners do verily believe, can be proposed), the House will effectually guard against even a remote danger of infringement on our civil and religious liberties." A Petition of the mayor, aldermen, and other inhabitants, of the borough of Penryn, in the county of Cornwall, was also presented and read; setting forth, "That the petitioners, impressed with a deep sense of the blessings they have so long experienced under a Protestant establishment, and firmly believing such to be necessary to the enjoyment of their civil and religious liberties, earnestly hope, that the parliament of the United Kingdom A Petition of the noblemen, and the humble Petition of the gentlemen freeholders and Protestant inhabitants of the county of Antrim, was also read; setting forth, "That the petitioners have learned that numerous Petitions have been presented to the legislature from the Roman Catholics of Ireland, praying, as a matter of right, for an unconditional repeal of all those statutes which impose on them disabilities of any kind; and they have also learned that similar Petitions have been presented by certain Protestants of Ireland, and it has even been alleged that such is the universal sentiment of the Protestant body; and that the petitioners therefore feel it their duty to come forward lest their silence should be misconstrued, and to state respectfully to the House their deliberate opinion on this important subject, and to deny that any classes of his Majesty's subjects are entitled to demand, as a matter of right, an alteration in this vital part of the constitution; and that they entertain the strongest sentiments of personal kindness and regard for their Roman Catholic brethren, as subjects of the same government, as inhabitants of the same country, and as connected with many of them by the intimate ties of friendship and blood; but they can never lose sight of those higher considerations by which they are bound, as the Protestant subjects of a Protestant state, to preserve, unimpaired, their civil and religious institutions, and they regard with equal reverence and approbation, that caution with which the wisdom of their ancestors thought it necessary to guard the government and constitution against any foreign interference or influence whatsoever; and that the peti tioners do not presume to point out the modes by which, at the present day, under new circumstances, an adequate security con [518 FEB. 15, 1813. And the said Petitions were ordered to 517] Complaint against the British Press Newspaper. COMPLAINT Against the BRITISH PRESS to the public, nor false insinuations allow- A Petition of the mayor recorder alder-mation. He had ocasion to notice an atWhemen and citizens of his Majesty's ancient tack which was made upon him in the city of Chichester, was also presented and same paper about two years ago. ther this originated in any ill will enterread; setting forth, "That the petitioners, impelled by a tained against him by the Editor of the due sense of the sacred obligations they paper or not, he could not say. This was owe to their country, beg leave, with the not his case alone, but that of every other utmost deference, to make a public decla- member of the House. The press was now ration of their sentiments on a truly im- teeming with these sort of attacks, and portant subject, which will probably every individual ought to resent them. come under the discussion of parliament, Within these walls he had a right to look namely, the expediency of adopting the for protection. He appealed to the House Catholic Claims; and that incapable as if there was a syllable of truth in what the The Globe, the petitioners are of rancorous bigotry, Editor had asserted. He alluded to the and disdaining to be influenced by a nar- British Press newspaper. row spirit of unjust exclusion, they ne- which contained the same account, was, vertheless submit to the judgment of the he believed, edited by the same person. House, that laws, which were enacted for In the account of the debate on the Vice-the national peace and security, and inter- Chancellor's Bill on Thursday night, he was described as having been assailed woven as it were with the welfare of a Protestant state, ought to remain undis- with loud noise in the course of his speech. He appealed to the House if this was the turbed, or at least to be touched with a In the paper in question he was gentle hand, and so as to offer no injurious case. encroachment on that venerable monu-described also as having, with a degree ment of British wisdom and patriotism, of arrogance, said he would not waste his Such was the vicious and our unrivalled constitution; but after all, valuable time in answering lord Kedesso wide is the difference between religious dale's book. and civil privileges that the petitioners unfounded mode of attack resorted to by cannot help expressing their concern that the Editor of this paper. (A general call their fellow subjects should complain of of "Read, read!")-It was not his intenrestrictions in the latter, while they enjoy tion to read the account, as he did not all the benefits of toleration in the former; wish that the individual in question should this it is apprehended is to urge that they be visited with punishment. are hardly treated, in being denied a transient good, while they possess, under legal sanctions, the supreme blessing of man; and that these few observations the petitioners entreat the liberty of suggesting, but with perfect liberality towards their The Speaker said, if a complaint was made by the hon. member, he ought to deliver in the paper. The House was not to notice a practice which it did not mean also to punish. Mr. Taylor said, he did not wish the |