questing that accommodation] might be provided for the Commons accordingly. Mr. Whitbread was ordered to carry this message. ELECTION TREATING BILL. Mr. Tierney mentioned that he wished to propose an alteration in the treating bill, and would move that it should be committed just now, printed as amended, and afterwards re-committed. The bill was accordingly committed, passed the committee, reported, ordered to be printed as amended, and, after a few words from Mr. Yorke, Mr. Fuller, Sir Robert Buxton, and Mr. Shaw Le Fevre, to be re-committed on Monday the 21st April next. The customs expiring laws bill was reported, and ordered to be read a third time the next day. Adjourned. HOUSE OF LORD S. THURSDAY, MARCH 27. In the appeal" Johnstone and others v. Scott and another," Mr. Adam was heard on the behalf of the respondents.. The further hearing was deferred till the next day. The 10,500,000l. and 1,500,000l. exchequer bills bills, the spirit-excise duties bill, and the felons' transportation bill, passed through committees, and were reported. INSOLVENT DEBTORS. Lord Holland, adverting to the petitions on the table from debtors confined in different prisons, observed, that he had hitherto declined to bring forward any measure upon this subject, from a consciousness that he was unequal to the task. The unfortunate situation, however, in which many of his Majesty's subjects were placed by being confined for debt, would not allow him to delay bringing for ward a bill for their relief. He therefore gave notice that he should, next week, bring in a bill of that description in the form which had several times been sanctioned by their lordships for the relief of insolvent debtors. After the bill had been read a first time, he intended to give a very short notice of the second reading. IMPEACHMENT OF LORD MELVILLE. Mr. Whitbread, and several other members of the House of Commons, brought up a message, purporting that that the House should attend the trial of Lord Viscount Melville, in a committee of the whole House, and requir ing accommodations to be provided for them. Lord Grenville said, it was perfectly clear that accom modation for the whole House of Commons could not be provided in that House; the only mode therefore to be adopted in consequence of the message from the Commons was to address his Majesty, praying him to provide a place for the trial of Lord Melville. There were other points also relative to the trial, to which he wished to call their lordships' attention. It was of the utmost importance that, in the progress of the trial, all unnecessary delay should be sedulously avoided. It was due to the prosecutors as well as to the noble lord impeached, that justice should be attained as speedily as possible. It was due to the prosecu tors that justice should be done without delay ifthe defend ant were guilty; it was equally due to the defendant that the expences of his defence should not, in case of an ac quittal, amount to or exceed any fine which could be imposed upon him if he were guilty. Those complaints, so justly founded, which were made against the delay attendant upon the trial of Mr. Hastings, ought in this case to be carefully avoided. Impressed with these considerations, he intended to move, when his Majesty's answer to the address should be received, to refer to the committee already appointed to search for precedents, to consider of the best mcans of proceeding in the trial without delay. There were, however, two or three suggestions which he would just mention to their lordships: the first was, that the trial, when commenced, ought to be proceeded in from day to day until it was finished. If this mode of conduct were adopted, he was convinced it would go a great way towards attaining the ends of justice as speedily as possible, whilst, at the same time, the trial would, in that case, be in a greater degree assimilated to a trial in a court of law. Another circumstance to be attended to was, the hour of assembling, which, he thought, when fixed, ought each day to be rigidly adhered to, and no other business whatever to be previously entered upon. It would also be a great saving of time if some mode were adopted, or if some understanding took place, with respect to collecting the opinions of their lordships upon any disputed point of evidence, without their being under the necessity of retiring upon every such occasion to their chamber. These suggestions ha threw threw out for their lordships' consideration; but whatever might be the mode adopted, he trusted the great object would be to proceed through the trial without any other de day than was absolutely necessary. He concluded by moving for an address to his Majesty, praying that his Majesty would be graciously pleased to give directions to prepare a place in Westminster-hall for the trial of Lord Viscount Melville. Earl Stanhope stated, that he was one of those noble Jords who attended during the long trial of Mr. Hastings, during which he could not avoid perceiving that there was a lamentable waste of their lordships' time. He trusted that the delays which had then occurred would serve as warnings to their lordships on the present occasion. He would venture to suggest one regulation, from which he thought much benefit would be derived: upon the trial of Mr. Hastings, it was customary for the House, whenever any objections upon points of evidence arose, to immediately adjourn for the day to the Parliament chamber. Now he thought it very practicable and reconcileable to the strictest forms of proceeding, that their lordships should receive the objection, and proceed (if the progress of the cause did not essentially depend upon it) to determine the point next day, or at some convenient opportunity, without impeding the course of the proceedings. The frequent adjournments at that time were felt to be a very great inconvenience. It was remarked, by a witty member of that House, during the impeachment, that "while the judges walked, the trial stood still." The motion of Lord Grenville was agreed to. The different bills on the table were forwarded, and the House adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS. THURSDAY, MARCH 27. A person from the office of imports and exports presented an account of the goods exported to, and imported from, the island of Tortola, for the last two years. A person from the office of the chief secretary for Ireland presented an account of the quantity of wool and woollenyarn imported into that country for the last two years. Mr. Hayes, from the bank, presented an account of the exchequer+ exchequer-bills issued in the 39th and 40th of the King, in lieu of the loan of three millions, advanced by the bank to government, for the service of the year 1800. An officer from the treasury presented an account of the monies in the exchequer on the 1st of January, 1806; also an account of the balance remaining in the hands of the paymaster of the forces on the 5th of January last; which were ordered to lie on the table. The fishery bill was presented, read a first time, and ordered to be read a second time the next day. Mr. Vansittart presented a bill to enable the government of Ireland to raise money by loan upon the treasury bills to. be issued, payable from the aids of the current year, which was read a first time, and ordered for the second reading the next day. The report of the committee of supply for the miscellaneous services of the year, was brought up and agreed to. Mr. Huskisson moved for an account, so far as the same could be made up, of the arrears of the property tax, for. the years ending the 5th April, 1804, and the 5th April, 1805, respectively; and also an account of the arrears now outstanding. Ordered. Mr. Fellowes moved, that a committee be appointed to take into consideration the return made to this House,,pursuant to order on the 17th instant, of the non-resident clergy in Great Britain, and report their opinion thereon to this House. Ordered; and that the said committee (who were accordingly named) dosit the next day in the Speaker's chamber. Mr. Yorke, pursuant to notice, rose for the purpose of moving for certain documents relative to the operation of the act called the levy en masse act, to which he understood none of his Majesty's ministers intended to object; and when he stated his purpose, he trusted that the House would be of opinion it would be both desirable and necessary, that those documents should be before them preparatory to bringing forward the plan of national defence understood to be now in the contemplation of his Majesty's ministers, and which it was to be hoped would be brought forward at some period or other, in the fulness of time. By this bill, which had passed in the year 1803, it was intended, as one of the modes of defence against the menaced invasion, to call out so much of the population of the country as were capable of bearing arms; who were to be VOL. I. 1805-6. 3 R divided divided into three classes, and, first, to be enrolled; secondly, trained to arms; and, thirdly, rendered useful for any military purpose to which they might be respectively judged fitting. With respect to the dangers of invasion, he was persuaded that, if our navy continued those gallant and victorious exertions, the many eminent instances of which had been displayed of late, there was not much chance of an attack of that nature. Upon the former occasion, though the government had made some progress in availing itself of the powers by this bill vested, yet as it was disposed to prefer a voluntary to a compulsory service on the part of the people, and as so great a number of men pressed voluntarily forward, beyond all calculation of expectancy, the government preferred the services of the volunteers to a forcible levy en masse: not, however, totally abandoning the alternative of the bill, should it be necessary to carry its operation into effect. He had in his hand a copy of the returns made from every quarter of the country, in the first year, of the number of men in each district, properly classed; and what he now wished to move for was, the returns of the years 1804 and 1805. He hoped his Majesty's ministers had those documents before them, as they certainly would be important for the consideration of the House in discussing the plan of defence, whatever it was, now in contemplation, and for the explanation of which the public were extremely anxious, and particularly the volunteers, who were very desirous to be informed as to what was intended towards them. For it was extremely important, if the services of the volunteers were to be relinquished under the new arrangement, that not a single firelock or sabre should be taken from their hands until the country was assured of a more adequate establishment. He concluded by moving the returns of men enrolled under the leoy en masse act, in every district and place throughout Great Britain, in the last and preceding year. Mr. Secretary Fox was so far from being averse to the production of the documents moved for by the hon. gentleman, that he should support his motion. The subject was so new to his own experience, that he knew very little indeed of the present state of the matter. However, as the bill had been passed now three years, and his Majesty's present ministers had been so short a time in office, if any remissness or delay was chargeable in procuring those returns for the last two years, their share of the blame certainly was not the |