his present Majesty's reign, accompanied as they are with necessary restrictions and securities for the safety of the established Church, but they look with the deepest anxiety to the claims now made for the abrogation of all restrictions by persons who acknowledge the spiritual superiority of the Pope in these realms, and who hold tenets in many respects as inimical to the principles of the English constitution in matters of state as they are subversive of all religious toleration, and utterly inconsistent with the doctrines of the established Church; and praying the House to adopt such measures as will best maintain the Protestant ascendancy in Church and State, and give stability and permanence to the civil and ecclesiastical constitution of the country."

A Petition of the freeholders of the county of Oxford was also presented and read; setting forth,

account of his religion, when it is a notorious fact that the right even to the crown, the highest civil right in these dominions, was conferred on, and is now enjoyed by, the present royal family, to the exclusion of others more nearly related to it, upon the mere ground of an objection to their religion, and, should it once be established by the legislature that religious opinions are not a sufficient ground of civil inca pacity, the petitioners apprehend there can be no pretence whatever afterwards for saying that the crown of these dominions shall not be worn by a Papist; and that the petitioners cannot but observe, that the most strenuous supporters of the claims of the Roman Catholics admit that every attention ought to be paid to the security of our civil and religious establishments, and that effectual measures ought to be adopted for the security of both, but the petitioners also observe, that none of those persons who make these admissions have ever pointed out or suggested the measures they should think effectual for that purpose, from which they cannot but infer the extreme doubtfulness and difficulty, even in the judgment of those persons themselves, or rather, as the petitioners firmly believe, the absolute impracticability of devising such measures; and that the petitioners apprehend, that, if the claims of the Roman Catholics should be acceded to, every other restriction and test must of course be abolished, and that the government of our establishments in Church and State must be thrown open to sects of every denomination, and of the most discordant opinions and principles; and that the petitioners most solemnly declare, that they are not influenced by any wish to restrain the free exercise of religious opinions, and, if pos

"That the petitioners have observed, with the deepest concern, the repeated attempts that have been made to break down, repeal, and destroy, all those secu. rities of our civil and religious establish ments which we owe to the wisdom and firmness of some of the best of our ancestors, securities not demanded by any occasional or temporary causes only, but founded in principles as immutable as they are wise; and that the petitioners cannot conceive a situation of things more repugnant to the principles of sound policy, than that Roman Catholics should possess the power of framing the laws and of administering the highest offices in the government of a Protestant establishment in Church and State, to the very character and principles of which their tenets are decidedly hostile, nor can they conceive it to be any hardship that Roman Catho-sible, still less by any kind or degree of lics, who exclude all persons except those of their own communion, from any authority or interference whatever in the government of their Church, should be excluded from any share in the government of a Church to which they are not only strangers but adversaries; and that, by the constitution of England, the go. vernment of the Church and the State are inseparable, and whoever is admitted into the share of the government of the one, must consequently be intrusted with a share of the government of the other; and that the petitioners have heard, with astonishment, persons contending that no one ought to be excluded from a civil right on

animosity towards their Roman Catholic fellow-subjects, but they are actuated by an honest and firm persuasion that the restrictions now attempted to be abolished have essentially contributed to the preservation of those establishments which have been the source of our prosperity and happiness, and that the abolition of them would inevitably tend to weaken and undermine those establishments, and ultimately lead to the overthrow of the constitution; and praying, that the restrictions by which Roman Catholics are excluded from the power of framing the laws and administering the highest offices in the government of our civil and reli

liam in 1688, the maintenance of the Protestant Church is secured by law as an essential part of the constitution; and it A Petition of the mayor, aldermen, ca. appears to the petitioners to be attended pital burgesses, clergy, and principal in- with the greatest danger to remove these habitants of the borough and town of Sud-safeguards, which our ancestors thus

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it is peculiarly incumbent on the petitioners to make this unreserved avowal, as the city over whose civil polity they preside is the general resort of strangers of every description, and in which almost all denominations of Christians have established places of devotion, where they may address themselves to their Creator agreeably to their own form and creed; and that the protection of all in the enjoyment of those valuable privileges which our admirable constitution has allowed them, the petitioners will ever esteem as one of the most sacred duties of their corporate functions, but while they make this just and candid acknowledgment of their tolerant spirit, they must as Protestants, anxious for the preservation of our invaluable constitution, object to the grant of unrestricted powers to persons whose religious tenets would, in their apprehension, endan

and receive the blessed holy Sacrament, according to the rites of the Church of England as now by law established; and that they may be dangerous, inasmuch as recent events and past experience have taught the petitioners, and the whole tenor of history furnisheth them with many proofs, that no indulgence granted can satisfy Catholic ambition, but that it only tends rather to provoke and strengthen their demands for fresh and future claims and encroachments upon, and thereby manifestly endangers, our invaluable Protestant constitution and government, under which the petitioners enjoy so many and great blessings; and that they do therefore humbly, though earnestly and heartily, pray the House not to grant the Roman Catholics any further indulgences, but to maintain, keep and preserve inviolate, from all further and future encroachments, those truly pure Protestant princi-ger those civil and ecclesiastical establishples and interests, which placed the august House of Brunswick in the throne of these kingdoms, and for the preservation of which our present most gracious sovereign hath always shewn himself particularly anxious, and upon a very recent occasion proved himself to be most tenderly and paternally solicitous; and that, as far as merely regards the free worship of God, the petitioners would that every obstacle be removed, and that the Roman Catholics should enjoy the most extensive toleration; but they again and again do most humbly beseech the House to guard and watch, with a jealous eye, their inroads and am-bitious incroachments made from time to time upon the Protestant establishment, but above all on no account to permit them, either directly or indirectly, to interfere with the legislation of these realms, nor suffer them to fill any judicial situation, nor to have, hold, or exercise any office or place of power, trust, or authority in the empire, nor at any time to have, hold, or exercise any command, either naval or military, in any of his Majesty's fleets or armies."

A Petition of the mayor, aldermen, and common council of the city of Bath, was also presented and read; setting forth,

"That the petitioners beg leave to premise, that they are sincere friends to religious toleration, and would have every sect and society of Christians possess the unrestrained use of divine worship, in such manner as their opinions may dictate, and their consciences approve; and that

ments, the maintenance of which our ancestors so wisely and providently endea voured to secure; and that, under the mild and equable reign of the present sovereign, many of the restrictions and disabilities which controuled our fellow subjects of the Romish communion have been either totally removed or liberally ameliorated; and the petitioners would humbly submit to the consideration of the House, that the admission of those claims, so long and now so strenuously urged, might be an unsafe, injudicious, and imprudent measure; and praying the House, weighing the danger of concession, maturely to de liberate before they admit persons who maintain principles inimical to the established religion of the realm, and who acknowledge the supremacy of a foreign power, to the unlimited right of enjoying offices of authority and high responsibility.'

Ordered to lie on the table.

PETITIONS RESPECTING THE RENEWAL OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY'S CHARTER -FROM THE MERCHANTS OF EDINBURGH -SHIPBUILDERS OF YARMOUTH-GLAS GOW CHAMBER OF COMMERCE · MERCHANTS HOUSE OF GLASGOW-MERCHANTS OF PORT GLASGOW AND NEWARKBAILIES OF PORT GLASGOW AND NEWARK -MANUFACTURERS OF TAVISTOCK-EAST INDIA COMPANY'S PACKERS-AND EAST INDIA COMPANY'S CLOTH DRAWERS.] Petition of the company of merchants of Edinburgh, was presented; setting forth, "That the petitioners being informed

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tish-built ships; they, however, presume it will be admitted, on an impartial consideration of the subject, that, to encourage the building and equipment of ships in Asia, for the purpose of being employed in the carrying trade of this empire, will be both impolitic and unjust; and that it will be impolitic, as the removal of a ma

that some arrangements will soon come under the consideration of parliament, with regard to the trade to India, they humbly hope that it will in its wisdom discover good grounds for extending the indulgence that was granted to private traders by the Act of 1793; indeed they would hope that parliament will judge it expedient to place all his Majesty's sub-nufacture of such importance as the build. jects in the same situation with regard to the trade to the East Indies, as they placed the subjects of all foreign powers who are in amity with Great Britain by the Act of the 37th of his Majesty, and whatever extension of the trade may appear to parliament to be proper to be granted, the petitioners humbly hope, that that extension will not be limited to the port of London, but embrace such other of the ports of the kingdom as to parliament shall seem just, and among others Leith, the port of the metropolis of Scotland; and the petitioners confidently trust, that if such an extension of the trade as has been stated shall be granted, this reasonable indulgence will have the most beneficial effects on the commerce and prosperity of the United Kingdom, without injuring the great and important concerns of the East India Company."

A Petition of several ship-builders of Great Yarmouth, was also presented; setting forth,

ing and equipment of ships from this country to India (a manufacture of more importance than any other) will render precarious the means of maintaining his Majesty's navy, and especially of fitting out with dispatch his Majesty's fleets on pressing emergencies, and will thereby undermine that great bulwark of our independence and greatness as a nation; and secondly, it will be unjust, as many of the stores and materials necessary to the building and equipment of ships in this country are charged with considerable duties, and as the mechanics and other persons employed therein, as well as the petitioners, contribute their proportions of the burthens imposed on the public from the exigencies of the state, to neither of which persons engaged as owners or builders of ships in Asia are subject or liable; and that the petitioners respect fully submit to the House, that, from the heavy taxation of the country, there never was a period when it was so necessary to confine the carrying trade of the country to British-built ships, from the utter inability of the owners of them to enter into a competition with the owners of East. India or other foreign ships upon terms at all like equality; and, for these and other reasons, which the petitioners flatter themselves must be obvious to the House, praying, that in future ships built in Asia, and the islands thereto adjacent, may be prohibited by statute from being admitted to registry, and to the privileges of British-built ships."

"That the petitioners have for some time past observed, with very great regret, that ships and vessels, built within the territories of the East India Company in Asia, have been admitted to registry in Great Britain, and, in consequence thereof, allowed to participate in the carrying trade of this country and its colonies; and that, if Indian-built ships continue to be admitted to British registry, and to participate in the carrying trade of the empire, the most injurious consequences will result to the maritime interests of the nation, and more especially so, when the trade to the East Indies is opened to all his Majesty's subjects; and that the petitioners forbear to press on the attention of "That the petitioners, in common with the House, by entering into any detail of the other commercial bodies of the emobservations on the impolicy of admitting pire, feel deeply interested in the question Indian-built ships to the privileges of Bri- now before the House respecting the retish-built ships, not only as affecting the in-newal of the E. I. Company's monopoly, terests of the petitioners, but also the landed commercial and manufacturing interests of the country as well as those of the various classes of persons who are dependent on the building, repairing and equipment of Bri(VOL. XXIV.)

A Petition of the chamber of commerce and manufactures of Glasgow, was also presented; setting forth,

and that in a Petition to the late parliament they stated their ideas upon this subject, showing that confining by a monopoly the trade with the extensive countries to the east of the Cape of Good Hope, had (2 C)

countries to the eastward of the Cape of Good Hope, in consequence of charters of monopoly granted to the E. I. Company; and they humbly beg leave to represent that they are by such charters not only individually excluded from a most beneficial commerce, but they are deprived of privileges which they are proud to prize as their birth-right, and which, as no temptation could induce them willingly to relinquish, no payment is sufficient to purchase; and that, besides the manifest injury which such charters have produced on the efforts of individuals, they have necessarily had a similar effect on the

been no less an 'infringement of general rights than it had been impolitic as a measure of commerce in having appropriated to the benefit of a few advantages which were the property of all, and impolitic as a measure of commerce, because trade conducted under a monopoly never can prove beneficial to a country in the degree that the same trade would, if left open to the exertion of individual enterprize; and that this principle, considered a fundamental one in political economy, had been strikingly exemplified in the circumstances of the case in question, the trade from the United States of America to the East Indies and China, carried on by individual citi-national resources, which under a free zens of those states, had been commenced and prosecuted with a success unexampled in its rapidity of progress during the period in which the trade of the British empire with those countries had been progressively on the decline; and that with regard to the trade to China, a trade carried on with an independent foreign nation, there existed, the petitioners humbly conceived, no plea for giving a monopoly of it to a particular company, or confining it to particular ports, more than might be offered for bringing, under similar restrictions, any other branch of foreign trade at present free, and that no danger, they believed, was to be apprehended to the revenue from opening to the outports the trade with those countries, it being an unquestioned fact that the duties leviable upon other foreign articles, now importable into the outports, have been collected with a fidelity not less successful in productive amount than will be found in the case of those leviable upon similar articles destined for the port of London; and that these principles and facts, with regard to this trade, being as the petitioners believe truly what they have stated them to be, they confidentially trust that the House will not again consent to confine this commerce, either in whole or in part, to a single company, but will open it intire to the nation at large, permitting it to be carried on from all the ports of the United Kingdom, subject to such regulations only as may be considered necessary for the protection of the revenue.'

A Petition of the merchants house of Glasgow was also presented; setting forth,

"That the petitioners have, in common with other classes of his Majesty's subjects, been prevented from trading to the

trade must have become greatly more considerable than while the commerce is restricted and confined; and that the petitioners being convinced that such important truths cannot fail to produce conviction of the impolicy of any monopoly of the trade to India and China, look to the expiration of the present East India charter with the confident hope of seeing a period put to any exclusive trade to these countries, and a wide field thus laid open to the capital skill, and industry, of British merchants and manufacturers; and that, in this confident hope and expectation, the petitioners humbly pray that no monopoly be granted of the commerce and navigation to the countries eastward of the Cape of Good Hope, but that the trade may be free and open, in the same manner as other branches of commerce, not only to the port of London, but to other ports of Great Britain and Ire. land."

A Petition of several merchants, traders, and manufacturers of Port Glasgow and Newark, was also presented; setting forth,

"That the petitioners with regret have observed, in the hon. E. I. Company, a continuance of the spirit of monopolizing the commerce of India, China, and the other countries to the eastward of the Cape of Good Hope, which it has too long held, as the petitioners conceive, to their prejudice, and that of the other ports and towns of the United Kingdom; and that the petitioners respectfully advance, along with their fellow subjects of the empire, their claim to a participation of a free trade with those countries, and right to oppose any farther exclusive monopoly, either to that Company, or any other company or body whatever; and that this