different fenfe of that matter. And as to the creditors, it is remarkable, that none of them appear to have called for their money, nor have any of them, by any petition to this houfe, or otherwife, made any complaint, or fignified any defire of fuch an interpofition in their favour. On the contrary, it appeared on evidence, from the crofsexamination of the principal witnefs for the bill, that fo far from doubting of the fufficiency of the fecurity, the greatest evil the company's bond creditors apprehend, is, the being paid off; and that their bonds, which fome time fince bore an high premium, though they carry only three per cent. bear at prefent a premium confiderably lower, merely from that apprehenfion. 9thly, Becaufe a legiflative in terpofition controlling the dividend of a trading company, legally voted and declared by thofe to whom the power of doing it is intrufted, and to whom there is no ground to impute an abufe of that power, and who lent their money to the public upon the exprefs ftipulation that they might exercife their difcretion with regard to the dividends, provided their effects, undivided, were fufficient to anfwer their debts; is altogether without example. And as it tends to leffen the idea of that fecurity and independence of the power of the ftate, which have induced all Europe to depofit their money in the funds of Great Britain, the precedent may be attended with the moft fatal confequences to public credit. 1othly, Because, if a bill reftraining the future dividend of the company were proper, as has been argued, upon any ideas of fixing and preventing a fluctuation in the price of its ftock, that end requires only, that the dividend fhould be fixed, without any regard to the quantum of it, and may be as well attained by a dividend of twelve one-half as of ten per cent. and confequently affords no argument for the retrofpective part of this bill, or for fixing the future dividend below the value of the flock. But this is in truth fo far from being the real object of any part of the prefent, bill, that the fhort period to which the reftric. tion is confined, cannot but increafe, inftead of preventing that fluctuation, and encourage, inftead of checking, the infamous practices of the alley. The paffions of men will be warmly agitated during the fummer, in fpeculating on the probability of this reftriction being fuffered to expire at the opening of the next feffions of parliament, or being continued further. The ignorant and unwary are fure to be the dupes of thofe who have the good luck to be in the fecret, and are wicked enough to employ it to their own advantage. But the propofal made by the company, of fubinitting to a restriction of dividend at the rate of twelve one-half per cent. and extending that refriction during the temporary agreement, would have obviated all thofe mifchiefs, and fecured every good end which may have been propofed, but cannot be attained by this bill; and as fuch reftriction, with their confent, would have been liable to no objections of injuftice or violence. 11th, Becaufe, if at the opening of the next feffion of parliament, the restriction is permitted to ex pire, the whole effect of the bill, except the mifchiefs it may produce, will be the keeping back for four or five months, from the pockets of those to whom it belongs, a fum of 40,000ol. the difference between the dividend the company wishes, and that which it is allow ed to make by the bill; this fum is ridiculously difproportioned to any real purpose of paying off and reducing the company's debts; but if, on the other hand, the reftriction is then to be continued, and the parliament henceforward to regulate the dividends of the company, and the whole of their affairs for that purpose is to be from time to time laid open to public examination, it is not difficult to foresee the ruinous confequences to the company; and as the precedent will go to the fubjecting every other company to the fame fort of control, the fpeedy diffolution of them all will be, perhaps, the happiest event the public can with, that they may not become fo many engines of power and influence, the confequences of which it is eafy to conceive, and unneceffary to defcribe. 12th, Because the arguments in favour of this limitation, drawn from a fuppofition, that the company had exceeded their legal power of borrowing on their bonds, appears to us to be neither well founded nor conclufive; it appears on the plain and exprefs words of the engrafting act, that they had a power thereby to borrow five millions; fo they have always underftood; and fo parliament underftood and declared in a fubfequent act; and we cannot comprehend the juftice, the policy, or the decorum, of cavilling at this parti cular time, at the exercise of a power publicly exerted, and which has come frequently within the cognizance, without incurring the cenfure of parliament; and as this doubt never was started before, the objection feems to arife not from the company's having exceeded their power of borrowing upon bond, but from the neceffity of fuch a fuppofition, in order to find a pretence, however infufficient, for this limitation. 13th, Because the inability of the company, to make the dividends refcinded by this bill, has been argued, on a fuppofition that the right to the territorial acquifitions of the company in the EaftIndies, is not in that company, but in the public; which method of arguing, if admitted as one of the grounds of the bill, we conceive to be inconclufive as to the fubje&t matter, and highly dangerous as to the precedent; for the company being in poffeffion, and no claim against them being fo much as made, much less established, we hold it highly dangerous to the property of the fubject, and extremely unbecoming the juftice. and dignity of this house, by extrajudicial opinions, to call into queftion the legality of fuch a poffeffion, and to act without hearing, as if the house had decided against it. 14th, Becaufe, the forms of proceeding upon this bill have been contrary to precedent, inafmuch as it appears, by our journals, that whenever a bill, judicial in its nature, as affecting legal rights and private property, has come up from the commons, ftating no facts, as a ground for that bill, or ftating facts, the evidence of which [M] 4 does does not appear in the preamble, the invariable practice of this houfe has been to defire a conference with the other, in order to be informed either of the facts, or the evidence to fupport fuch facts (if allegded) on which the bill was originally framed; and the commons have on like occafions done the fame by this house: inftances of this mutual application from one house to the other, appear in the following cafes, viz. Mr. Duncomb's cafe, March 1697. Directors of the South Sea com pany, Aislabie and Craggs, July 1721. Sir Thomas Cooke's cafe, 1695. Cafes of Kelly, Plunket, and bishop of Rochester, March 1722. Bambridge's cafe, April 1729. Robinfon and Thomfon's cafe, March 1731. Sale of Lord Derwentwater's eftates, &c. 1732. Cafe of Sir Robert Sutton, and others, March 1732. Cafe of Al. Wilfon and the city of Edinburgh, May 1737 15th, Because, in the proceed ings of this bill, no council was appointed in fupport of the bill, to ftate the grounds, to examine the witneffes, and methodize the evidence; for want of which the lords themfelves were obliged to call and examine witnefies, and appear more like parties than judges. 16th, Becaufe, alfo, in the proceedings on this bill, when lords, who declared themselves patrons and friends to the bill, had exa. mined two witnefies, and faid, they were fatisfied with their exa. mination, other lords were not permitted to call in any other witneffes, before the council for the Eaft India company, against this bill, were ordered to proceed. Dudley and Ward, Fred. Exon. Portland, Sondes. Dorfet, Rockingham, Albemarle, Eglintoune, Abergaveny, Ponsonby. Tranf garrifons, prifons, and other places; and to the prefident and others of my council, auditors of my feveral audiences, mayors and other officers of my houfhold, court and chanceries; and to all peace officers, fuperiors, affiftants, go vernors intendants major and ordinary, and to all other judges and magiftrates whatever of thefe my kingdoms, whether their jurif diction be royal, feodal, abbatial and holding of certain orders, and whatever be their ftate, condition, quality, or pre-eminence, as well thofe who now are, as those who fhall be hereafter, and to all and every one of you: KNOW YE, that, in conformity with the opinion of my royal council extraordinary, affembled in confequence of the former occur At the royal printing office of the rences of the 29th of last January, Gazette. ON CARLOS, by the grace of and of what has been expofed to me by perfons of the most eminent character, and known experience, Caftile, in fame ragon and the two Sicilies; of Je rufalem, Granado and Toledo; of Valencia, Galicia and Majorca; of Seville, Sardinia and Corfica; of Murcia, Jaen and the Algarves; of Algezira, Gibraltar, and the Canary islands; of the Eaft and West Indies, iflands and continent of the ocean; Archduke of Auftria, Duke of Burgundy, Brabant and Milan; Count of Apfburg, Flanders, Tirol, and Barcelona; Lord of Bifcay, and Mo. lina, &c. To the moft ferene prince Don Carlos, my dear and well-beloved fon; to the infantos, prelates, dukes, marquilles, counts, men of fubftance, priors of orders, commendatories and fub-commen datories, commanding officers of moved by confiderations of the most weighty kind, relative to the duty incumbent on me of keeping my people in due fubordination, tranquillity and juftice, and by other urgent, juft and neceffary caufe, which I referve within my own royal breaft: Making ufe of that fupreme, economic authority which the Almighty has lodged in my hands for the protection of my fubjects, and maintenance of the refpect due to my crown, I have come to the refolution of ordering to be banished out of all my do minions of Spain and the Indies, and of the Philippine and other adjacent islands, the regulars of the company, as well priefts as coadjutors or lay members, who I. And, in like manner, I have come to the refolution of ordering my counsel to make my aforefaid royaldetermination known through all thefe kingdoms; acquainting all the other religious orders with the fhare they defervedly poffefs in my confidence, fatisfaction and efteem, on account of their fidelity and doctrine, of their com. pliance with their monaftic inftitutes, of their exemplary fervices done to the church, of their commendable attention to ftudy, of their fufficiency in point of the numbers of their individuals, to wards affifting the bishops and parochial paftors in the fpiritual nutriment of fouls; as alfo of their forbearing to meddle with government affairs, as matters quite foreign to, and wide of, a retired and religious life. II. I have alfo fignified to the reverend diocefan prelates, ecclefiaftical communities and chapters, and other establishments, and bodies politic of the kingdom, that the weighty motives, which, to my great regret, have compelled me to take this neceffary measure, are referved within my royal mind; barely making ufe of my œcono, mic power, without proceeding to other fteps; following in this the bent of my royal clemency, as father and protector of my people. III. I declare, that, in the feizure of the company's tempo. ralities, are comprifed their goods and chattels, as well moveable as immoveable, or ecclefiaftic revenues, which they are legitimately poffeffed of in the kingdom, with out prejudice to the encumbrances thereon, to the will of founders, or to the alimentary life-annuities of its individuals, which fhall be of 100 perfons during life to the priests, and go to the lay members, to be paid out of the gene. ral ftock formed of the company's effects. IV. In thefe alimentary annui. ties are not to be comprised any foreign Jefuits who have no lawful existence in my dominions, either within their colleges, or without them, or in private houses, dressed in the tunic or garb of abbots, and whatever be the office they are employed in; all fuch being required to quit my dominions, without any diftinction. V. Neither are novices to be comprehended in the alimentary provifions, who, of their own accord, fhall chufe to follow the reft, as being under no ties of profeffion to follow them, but at perfect liberty to feparate from them. VÍ. I declare that if any Je. fuit quit the territory of the ecclefiaftical state whereunto they are all tranfported, or give the court any jut motive of refent. ment by his actions or writings, the penfion affigned him thall thence |