may be established under the authority of government, because the ideal difficulty of the collection of taxes, in the event of the trade being divided, is fully obviated by the known safety with which the duties are levied on articles of West Indian and American produce, and because the imagined hardship of depriving the Company of the only lucrative branch of their monopoly will be alleviated by the wealth, influence, knowledge, and experience, which in their united capacity, they will still be enabled to oppose to the unassisted efforts of private merchants; and that the natural effect of throwing open the charter will be to excite a fair emulation to bring all the produce of the East to its proper level in this country, to enable our manufacturers, with more advantage, to exert their skill and industry to produce new sources of trade, and thus to give full employment to the operative classes of the community; and that the system of confining the East India trade to the port of London the petitioners would beg leave humbly to represent as unnecessary, unjust, and impolitic; unnecessary, because the duties may be collected with equal ease and less loss, by pilferage in the out ports; unjust, because every mercantile place in the united kingdom is entitled to the same privileges; and impolitic, because the superior economy and dispatch which prevail in the out ports, are requisite to secure an equality in the competition with foreign nations; and that the very existence of a beneficial prosecution of the East India trade, by this country, seems now to depend on the restoration of its freedom, as it is proved, by undeniable documents, that if it be allowed to continue, under its present restrictions, it will languish, decay, and pass into the hands of other states; and that the danger supposed to arise from excess of speculation at the commencement of an open commerce with India, the Petitioners would humbly represent to be imaginary, because the enterprize of individuals is uniformly circumscribed by their means and success; because any evil of this nature is temporary, and checks itself; and because the very worst that can occur, in the event of the abandonment of the trade by the public, would be, that matters again would return to their present state; and that, at a time when the anti-commercial system of France has been successfully exerted to exclude us from the continental markets; when the prosecution of an ex

tensive war renders it necessary to adopt every means for augmenting the revenue; and when our existence as a nation depends, in a great degree, on the maintenance of our naval superiority, the Petitioners apprehend it to be not only highly expedient, but indispensibly requisite, to open up every legitimate channel of trade for the preservation of our commercial, maritime, and financial interests; and that the Petitioners, satisfied that the injury arising from every monopoly must be proportionate to the extent of the trade thus confined; convinced of the importance, and even the necessity, of a free intercourse with the rich, populous, and extensive countries in the East, as well those formerly acquired by the company, as those lately subdued by his Majesty's arms; and, disclaiming all interference with territorial rights and political privileges of the company, humbly pray, that the House would take this most important matter into their consideration, and, by allowing the monopoly to fall on the 1st of March 1814, open the commerce of the countries lying between the Cape of Good Hope and the Straits of Magellan on equal terms to the merchants trading from every port of the united kingdom.'

Ordered to lie upon the table.

PETITION FROM LIVERPOOL RESPECTING WEST INDIA PRODUCE.] A Petition of the West India planters, merchants and others at the port of Liverpool, interested in the trade to the British West India colonies, was presented and read; setting forth,

"That, notwithstanding the temporary relief afforded to the growers and importers of sugar, by the Act of the present session of parliament prohibiting the distillation of spirits from grain, and the admission of sugar as a substitute, the Petitioners cannot but recollect their past distresses, nor contemplate without alarm, the period when this prohibition may cease, and the ruinous depression of the price of sugar that must, in all probability, ensue and be consequent thereupon; and that, in anticipation of this possible, and, in the minds of the Petitioners, not improbable event, they humbly beg leave to refer the House to the suggestion contained in the report of the committee who were appointed to take into consideration the commercial state of the West India colonies, and to report their proceedings from time to time, which report was ordered to be printed on the 24th of July 1807, videlicet, To extend

the principle which has been adopted on the contingent increase of duty from 278. to 30s. per hundred weight, so that, from the maximum of duty then fixed on a gross price of 80s. per hundred weight affording 30s. duty, and 50s. to the planter and importer, the duty should be thrown back on a similar scale, in proportion to the depression of the market, till the price arrives at 60s. gross, leaving 20s. (the original duty) to government, and 40s. to the planter and merchant, or, in other words, a reduction of one shilling duty on a reduction of two shillings gross price from the average then fixed for the imposition of the new duty, as far as 20s. per hundred weight,' such regulation to continue until the conclusion of a general peace; and that the Petitioners also beg leave to call the attention of the House to the distresses under which the coffee planters have laboured for some time past, from the want of a market for that article, in consequence of which they have no other prospect before them than that of ruin to themselves and their families; and that, from these distresses, during the continuance of the war, the Petitioners see but one mode of relief, which is, to encourage, by every possible means, the consumption of coffee in this country; and, in looking to this object, the Petitioners have found considerable obstacles, not only in the still too high rate of duty charged on coffee taken for home consumption, but in the regulations which are adopted for the due collection of that portion of the duty which is placed under the superintendance of the board of excise, by obliging all retailers of coffee to take out licences for their stocks, and all purchasers to take permits for its removal from place to place; and praying the House to take the case of the Petitioners into consideration, and to pass a Bill for levying the duties on sugar according to the scale suggested by the Committee in the report referred to, for repealing the Excise duty now payable on British plantation coffee taken for home consumption, and for removing the Excise regulations on the sale and removal of coffee, or to adopt such other measures, adequate to the permanent relief of the Petitioners in the premises, as to the House may seem meet."

Ordered to lie upon the table.

HOUSE OF COMMONS. Friday, March 20.

PETITION FROM BLACKBURN RESPECT ING THE STATE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS.] Mr. Blackburn presented a Petition from se veral inhabitants of the town and neighbourhood of Blackburn, in the county of Lancaster, setting forth, "That, in the ex• ercise of those inestimable rights with which the constitution of the country has invested them, the Petitioners venture to lay before the House their sentiments and feelings on subjects of the highest importance to their national and individual welfare; and that in the institution of the authorities of the House, the Petitioners behold that link which unites them to the throne, and to the House, as the Representatives of the people, they direct their confidence and expectations; the immediate connection of the House with those whose suffrages have entrusted to them the preservation of the interests of the Petitioners, naturally emboldens them to look to their sympathy for commiseration, to their wisdom for direction, and to their measures for redress; they will therefore state, with respectful submission, the circumstances on which their claims to the attention of the House are founded, and, in making this appeal to them, they are persuaded, that not only are their own convictions expressed, but the known undisguised and avowed convictions of thousands in every part of the united empire; and that the Petitioners reside in the most populous of the manufacturing counties, and unhappily possess the means of accurately observing the effects of protracted war and restricted commerce; in ascertaining those effects, it will be sufficient for them to state the high price of all the necessaries of life, the unparalleled and long-continued reduction of wages, the frequent interruptions of labour, the consequent difficulty of obtaining a bare subsistence, the rapid advancement of parochial rates, the increasing deficiencies in the collection of assessed taxes, the exhaustion of the little stores by which the more laborious and provident formerly hoped to obtain a trifling elevation above absolute poverty, the gradual disappearance of the middling classes, which are fast melting down into the lower orders of the community, and the certain prospect of evil still more injurious to the individual sufferers, and to the interests of the country at large; these are some of the consequences of that state of things which is so poignantly to be deplored, and the causes and removal of which, the Peti

tioners pray that the House will take into immediate and dispassionate consideration; in thus adverting to the afflictive privations of the poor, the Petitioners by no means wish it to be inferred that they are the only sufferers; it must be obvious to the House, that the unprecedented number of failures and bankruptcies in the higher departments of commercial society, and in all its descending gradations, are immediately owing to those causes, which, in their ultimate but severest operation, affect the labouring and mechanical classes; they could easily amplify this general statement by a minute detail of painful events; but the members of the House are sufficiently acquainted with the numerous and increasing accumulation of facts in support of the account which has been presented; what those causes are to which evils of such enormity and magnitude may be traced, it is not difficult to ascertain; the Petitioners submit that they may be discovered in the impolicy which suggested, adopted, and still continues unrevoked, the Orders in Council, in the absence of conciliatory measures towards the United States, and in the want of clear, prompt, and satisfactory explanations in diplomatic negociations with that country; but they are imperiously compelled to specify what, in their apprehensions, is the primary cause of their sufferings; as natives of a country professing the Christian religion, they deplore the moral effects of war; as men, they lament the miseries of their fellow-creatures; as Britons, they feel convinced that war is inimical to their interests; that its continuance is more injurious to a commercial country, like our own, than to one which possesses, within itself, greater physical resources; that the subjugation of the enemy is more impracticable than ever; and that his power is more firmly compacted by the opposition he has encountered; supported by these facts, in the opinions they form of the consequences of the present war, the Petitioners feel the most urgent solicitude, arising from convictions which are every day confirmed and increased, that the House should direct its attention to the revocation of those decrees, which, in imitation of an enemy's policy, have accomplished the object of that policy instead of their own, and which, by their continuance, present the main obstacle to the amicable adjustment of differences with America; they also submit, that the restrictions by which

the East India trade has been limited to an individual incorporation, in the metropolis of the kingdom, should be annihilated when the present period of its monopoly shall expire, and that, on the principles of liberal economy, the advantages of that trade should be enjoyed without exclusion or limitation; but they especially entreat that measures towards the pacification of Europe may become the subjects of the immediate deliberation of the House, who will thus obtain a truly dignified elevation in being the first to sheathe the sword when no object of utility can be effected, when war can be no longer subservient to that which is its only legitimate object, the security of peace; the House will thus obtain at least a temporary cessation to the miseries and distractions of a bleeding world, they will excite afresh the powerful energies of a commercial people, they will furnish employment and subsistence to an immense population at home, they will give stability and consolidation to our colonial dependencies abroad, they will raise the tone of national character in the estimation of surrounding countries, and connect the remembrance of our pacific achievements with the gratitude and attachment of millions for whose weal they legislate, and whose prosperity is inseparably combined with our own; the Petitioners are aware that an appeal to the feelings of sensibility, or the power of imagination, would be incongruous, but they humbly solicit the attention of the House to higher and more definite principles; and that before the evils which now press so severely on the various classes of society are extended and multiplied beyond the possibility of endurance, the Petitioners beseech the House to investigate their causes, to ascertain the effectual means of counteraction, and, from motives of policy, patriotism, and justice, to administer the appropriate remedies.'

Ordered to lie upon the table.

LONDON THEATRE BILL.] On the order of the day for the second reading of the Bill for erecting and maintaining a new Theatre for Dramatic Entertainments, within the Cities of London and Westminster, or liberties thereof,

Mr. Whitbread requested that the noble lord who had the conduct of the measure, would put off the second reading until Monday, in order to give an opportunity for a right hon, friend of his (Mr. Sheri

dan) who was indisposed, to be present at the discussion.

Lord Ossulston replied, that he did not feel authorised to postpone the second reading of the Bill, and must therefore move that the Bill be now read a second time.

Mr. Peter Moore rose to give his decided negative to the motion. He was fully prepared to say, that no adequate ground whatever had been laid for the proposition now submitted. It had been said, that the population was greatly increased, but it could be proved that the enlargement of the theatres had more than corresponded with the real increase in the number of play-going people. An account of the receipts and disbursements would even shew that this number of late had diminished, while on the contrary the expences of representation had greatly augmented. But there were other objections to the Bill, inasmuch as it went to supersede the royal prerogative of granting licences for dramatic exnibition. The patents now existing had been granted for national purposes, and ought to be defended against the encroachments of those who, on the plea of an increased population, were only seeking their own private advantage. He concluded by moving, That the Bill be read a second time that day six months.

Lord Ossulston supported the Bill in a speech of considerable length, but in a tone of voice altogether inaudible.

Sir T. Turton opposed the Bill, as illtimed, when Drury-lane was rising like a phoenix from its ashes. The delay mentioned in the amendment, could not go the length of rejecting totally the principle of the Bill, but would give the House time to see, whether or no the public would be well accommodated at Drury-lane; and in case that establishment did not answer

the expectations which had been formed, then he firmly believed, that the Bill would not want support. He had no objection to new speculations in theatres, or any thing else; but, it should be recollected, that the framers of the Bill had grounded their first application on the improbability of Drury-lane being ever rebuilt, but now the progress in the reconstruction had surpassed the most sanguine expectations. He should, in consequence, vote for the amendment.

Mr. Holme Sumner maintained that the inhabitants of this vast metropolis had a right to be amply provided with rational (VOL. XXII.)

amusements, which was not, nor could not be the case under the present system of monopoly. Indeed, the present monopolists had completely over-shot their mark in their anxiety to accommodate the greatest possible number of spectators. They had built play-houses, in which a great many could see, but no one could hear. The consequence was, that we could no longer enjoy those admirable performances which had been the delight of our ancestors, and were favourable to morals. Instead of them we had dogs, elephants and horses introduced on the stage, to the disgust of every rational man. Another objection to theatrical monopoly was, want of encouragement for meritorious performers. Now for instance, that Coventgarden was the only national theatre, no man, whatever might be his merit, could expect to be admitted into the company, if the line of his profession interfered with the parts allotted to Mr. Kemble, and in that case country theatres were his only resources: on these grounds he would give his hearty assent to the Bill, or to any Bill for increasing the number of places of rational amusements, which he considered as conducive to good morals.

Mr. Whitbread was sorry that the noble lord could not consent to put off his motion, during the indisposition of his right hon. friend, who was so much interested in the question. He owned that he was, as he had been represented by the noble lord, a most zealous promoter of the re-building of Drury-lane, solely through motives of friendship, and of course he might be naturally expected to oppose the present Bill. In the arduous task he had thus undertaken, he had, however, received some encouragement from the speech of the hon. gentleman who spoke last, and provided Drury-lane could be built in the commodious way recommended by the hon, gentleman, and which he hoped should be the case, he trusted that the hon. gentleman would recommend him some of those excellent tragedians, which, according to him, were so easy to be found, and which he probably kept behind the curtain until proper encouragement should be offered. The hon. gentleman had complained, that in many parts of the town, people were too far from the theatre. This objection might be pushed a great way indeed, perhaps as far as to furnish a theatre to each particular individual. Three years ago the House was petitioned for a third theatre, the petitions were then (H)