seamen and marines. Ordered to lie on the table. Ad journed. HOUSE OF LORDS. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29. The House met about half past three, and after going through some private business, adjourned till Friday. HOUSE OF COMMONS. WEDNESDAY, JAN. 29. A resolution was carried that no petitions for private bills should be received after the 7th of March next. The Speaker said, that he felt it his duty to call the attention of the House to the nature of this resolution. He thought it was extremely proper that such a resolution should pass. He hoped that the House would also consider that a very late period was allowed, and that therefore they would judge whether it would be prudent to extend it any further. The House resolved itself into a committee of ways and means. The speaker having left the chair, Mr. Huskisson delivered some propositions to the chairman, which were, That the malt duties which had been voted up to the 23d of June, 1806, should be continued to the 24th of June, 1807;-That the duties, not exceeding four shillings in the pound on lands, and the duties on pensions, places, and offices, should be continued for the space of one year, from the 25th of March, 1806, to the 25th of March, 1807; and, That the duties on sugar, tobacco, and snuff, should also be continued from March, 1806, to March, 1807. These propositious were carried, and ordered to be reported to the House. Report on Friday. Mr. Sturges Bourne presented an account of the bounties given for the supply of fish for the cities of London and Westminster, pursuant to act of parliament. Ordered to lie on the table. Mr. Young, from the office of the collector of the customs, presented to the House an account of the number of vessels, with their tonnage, registered in the ports of Great Britain, from January, 1804, to January, 1805. Ordered to lie on the table. N2 AFFAIRS AFFAIRS OF INDIA. Mr. Paull rose to make his promised motion respecting the production of Lord Melville's letter relative to the af fairs of India. Many persons might be perhaps disposed to ask upon what grounds such a young member as he w s could enter so particularly into the affairs of India. To such persons his answer was plain and simple. He was conscious of the imminent danger which threatened our India possessions, and therefore he was resolved to raise his voice, however feeble, with a view to rouse the attention of the House to this point. The House did not by any means seem to be aware of the alarming state of the affairs of India. When the debt of India amounted to fourteen millions, Lord Melville had written to the chairman of the company, recommending a plan, which in those circumstances appeared to him absolutely necessary to be pursued, and expressing his opinion, that if it was not pursued the consequences would be dangerous, not only to the concerns of the East India Company, but injurious to the prospe rity of the country at large. His object in moving for this letter of Lord Melville, written when the debt of the company was only fourteen millions, was this-he designed, on some future day, to move for a select committee of the House, to inquire into the causes of the alarming increase of the the debt of the company, and of their failure to comply with the conditions and stipulations agreed upon in their charter. There were, unfortunately, reports at present in circulation, which might render all such measures nugatory, respecting a person upon whom a great deal of dependence for setting the affairs of India on a proper footing was not improperly placed (alluding to the reports respecting the death of the Marquis Cornwallis.) Be that, however, as it might, he wished to keep this motion as separate as possible from those which he had made on a former occasion, with a view to the conduct of the Marquis Wellesley. The object which he had at present in view was one of the last importance; since the debt of the company had increased from fourteen to thirty millions in the thirteenth year from the renewal of their charter, without any of the conditions agreed upon having been performed on their parts, it was high time to inquire into the causes of these singular circumstances. It was with this view that he moved for the letter of Lord Melville. Having read read the motion, he begged leave to add one word more. Lord Melville had written to the court of directors upon this subject in the most earnest manner; and, indeed, his opinion had been given them, in some measure, with all the solemnity of a death-warning. He would say this of Lord Melville, that his plans for the regulation of India were well conceived, and proofs of no ordinary comprehension in him who proposed them. Upon the execution of these indeed, he was of opinion that the very existence of India, as connected with this country, depended, and therefore he hoped that the directors themselves would come forward and promote this inquiry; or, if not that the board of controul, or some individual of that board, would come forward and give every assistance to the measure. If the debt of fourteen millions appalled Lord Melville, what ought to be the vigour and attention employed now, when the debt amounted to thirty millions? The directors and the board of controul were in some degree bound by these circumstances to come forward and give their support to such an inquiry as he proposed. It would be said, for he wished to anticipate this objection, that the alarming increase of the debt arose from the wars that had taken place in India. He was firmly persuaded, however, that the debt had not increased from this cause particularly, and he engaged to shew, unless the directors came forward in this affair, that it was owing to a cause of a very different nature. He was resolved, at least as far as lay in his power, to fix responsibility where it ought to attach, and this was the great object which he had in view, in the efforts which he made, and was inclined to make, on this subject. He concluded by moving "That there be laid before the House a copy of the letter of the right hon. Henry Dundas, now Lord Viscount Melville, to the chairman of the East India Company, dated the 30th of June, 1801, respecting the debt of the company." Mr. Wallace had no objection to the production of the letter now called for, but at the same time he wished it to be understood, that in acceding to this he did not by any means accede to the propriety and truth of the observations of the hon. gentleman who had made the motion, or to any future motions or opinions that might, by him, be founded upon it. This also he must say, that the honourable genfleman had not acted altogether with strict fairness, when he began began with his motion so carly, and prefaced it with so many remarks, which would have been more properly introduced when those were present who might wish to hear them, and who might be better able, from the situations they held, to anect them in a clear and proper manner. The honourable gentleman had adverted to the cause of the increase of the debt, and touched upon one argument against him, which he wished to anticipate. He was correct in supposing that war would be alleged as the great cause of the increase of the India debt, and he had no doubt that when the subject came to be investigated this would be proved to be the real state of the case. Mr. Paull wished to say one word in reply. He had come early to the house, and had certainly waited a reasonable time for those who might be best informed upon, and most interested in, this business. It was not his wish to take the House, or any person in it, by surprize; but he had a most important object in view, and was convinced that delay would be highly prejudicial to the interests of the country. If there was a cause of the debt foreign to to the war in which India had been engaged, and if by this cause the public had been deprived of the benefits that might result from the performance of the conditions of the East India Company's charter, it was high time the business should be investigated, and that no delay should take place beyond what was absolutely necessary from the nature of the thing itself. The motion was then put and agreed to. Mr. Paull then gave notice, that on Tuesday se'nnight, he would move for a select Committee to inquire into the causes of the alarming increase of the debt of the East India Company, and of their failure to perform the conditions, terms, and stipulations, contained in their charter. Mr. James Fitzgerald gave notice that on Friday next he would move for leave to bring in a bill to ascertain the exact state of the population of Ireland. The Secretary at War brought up the estimates of the army for three months from the 25th of December, 1805," to the 24th of March, 1806. These contained the charges of the guards, garrisons, and infantry at home and on the Continent, of the troops in the platoons, and of the militia. The honourable gentleman wished that the House should observe, that he made up the estimates for three months, in order to subject those who were coming into office to as little embarrassment on this subject as possible. It might be proper also to remark, that he had made them up on the ground of the state of the forces during the last year. Ordered to lie on the table. Adjourned till Friday. HOUSE OF LORDS. FRIDAY, JAN. 31. The bishop of Clonfert took the oaths and his seat. FOREIGN TREATIES. Lord Mulgrave said, as the treaties which he had the honour to lay before their lordships on Tuesday were now printed, he took this opportunity of stating that he had it in command from his Majesty to lay certain other papers before the House, illustrative of the documents which were now upon the table. He thought he should be enabled to present the papers he had alluded to on Monday, or at farthest on Tuesday, and was induced to mention this circumstance in the hope that there would be a full attendance of peers on presenting the papers; it was his wish to enter into an explanation with respect to several points of importance involved in those documents. After a short interval Lord Mulgrave again rose, and observed that it would probably be more convenient to fix upon Tuesday for the purpose he had mentioned, as the papers he had alluded to would then certainly be ready. As he should then enter into an explanation upon a subject of delicacy and importance, connected with the papers upon the table, he thought the best mode of insuring a full attendance would be to summon their lordships for that day. He con cluded by moving, "That their lordships should be summoned for Tuesday, "which was ordered. Adjourned till Monday. HOUSE OF COMMONS. FRIDAY, JAN. 31. Mr. William Pole presented an account of the expenditure of the ordnance, which had not been provided for by Parliament, and an estimate of the probable events of that department for a certain period. The honourable member observed that his motive in bringing forward this account was, in order that the department to which it referred should experience |