3. "That the extraordinary application made to the sheriff by persons who intruded on him their advice, to with hold his assent to the requisition for assembling the county, is an unwarrantable attempt to prevent the people of Essex from expressing their opinion on subjects most important to their best interests.

4. "That the thanks of this meeting be given to G. L. Wardle, Esq. for his having instituted the late enquiry in the house of Commons, relative to the conduct of the commander in chief, and for the firmness which he displayed in discharge of his duty, in defiance of the threats of ministers, and the artifices of the crown lawyers.

5. "That the thanks of this meeting be given to Sir F. Burdett, Bart. who seconded Mr. Wardle's motion for the enquiry; and to Lord Viscount Folkestone and S. Whitbread, Esq. for the able and zealous assistance which they afforded him during the investigation,

6. "That the thanks of this meeting be given to the 125 members who supported Mr. Wardle's motion of an address to his Majesty.

7. "That the thanks of this meeting be given to the minority of the house of Commons, who voted against the motion of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to negative the charges preferred against the commander in chief.

8. "That this meeting has witnessed, with the deepest regret, various decisions in the house of Commons, upon corrupt practices which have been exposed, or in proof of which evidence has been offered to be adduced at the bar, but refused to be heard, and do declare their decided conviction, if measures are not adopted in the next session effectually to prevent

their recurrence, the honour and cha racter of parliament will be extinct, and the safety of the country endangered.

9. That this meeting, whilst they are willing to make any sacrifice in defence of the safety and independence of the country, feel that it is highly necessary that a rigid system of economy should be established, and that the thanks of this meeting are due to those members of the house who have exerted themselves to obtain a retrenchment of the public expenditure, and such a diminution of the barthens of the people as are compatible with the meaus of national security.

10. "That the thanks of this meeting be given to Lord Cochrane, the Hon. T. Brand, Sir F. Burdett, Bart. S. Whitbread, W. A. Madocks, G. L. Wardle, T. Creevey, C. C. Western, and W. Smith, Esqrs. and to every other member of either house of parliament, who has," in the course of the last session, declared himself friendly to a reform in the representation of the people.

11. "That C. C. Western, Esq. one of the members in parliament for the borough of Maldon, and the only mem her returned from the county, of Essex, who supported Col. Wardle, or has declared in the house of Commons his conviction of the necessity of a speedy and effectual reform, by the uniform upright and independent conduct which he has invariably observed upon public questions, has highly merited the thanks and approbation of this meeting,

12. That the thanks of this meeting be given to Sir Henry St. John Mildmay, Bart, for his readiness in taking the chair, and for his impartial and judicious conduct this day."

The bill of indemnity to printers who had omitted putting their place of residence to several of their publications, was read a third time.

Wednesday, May 31.

In a committee on the bill to prevent cruelty to animals, Lord Erskine proposed a variety of amendments, chiefly for the purpose of more accurately defining the offence which the bill goes to punish. He had, he said, received an immense number of letters from persons of great respectability in various parts of the country, offering to give testimony at their lordships' bar. The writer of one of them, alluding to the abominable traffic of the Nuggers, who buy up old horses for dogs' meat, and keep them without food until there is a demand for their commodity, informed him, (his lordship) that he had frequently seen these wretched animals devouring the remains of their dead companions, and even eating their own dung, to allay the gnawing pains of hunger! Another letter from a clergyman in the country, complained of a practice prevalent among the butchers in his neighbourhood, who, for the sake of improving the appearance of their mutton, cut the tendon Achilles, and drove a whole flock of the animals thus mutilated, for many miles, leaning their track marked with their blood. The only punishment which he proposed, was imprisonment for a limited period; but in the other house, a clause might be added for inflicting a pecuniary penalty.

The Lord Chancellor thought that the bill, as proposed to be amended, should be printed, and afterwards recommitted. However, he was apprehensive, that on the whole, it would, perhaps, be better to limit the bill to animals of draught and burden. The houghing of sheep, with a view to improving the quality of the meat, was not a whit more cruel than the crimping of salmon

The Earl of Liverpool moved the order of the day for taking into consideration his Majesty's message, recommending an augmentation of Queen Anne's bounty in favour of the inferior clergy. His lordship entered into a statement of the returns that had already been made of the number of livings under 1501. per annum, and observed, that though the necessary information was not yet before the house, upon which to build a permanent system in aid of the present distressed state of the church, still sufficient was known to induce their lordships to adopt some measure to answer the exigencies of the moment; until time was allowed to prepare and digest a plan to be perma nently acted upon. His lordship concluded with moving an address expressive of the readiness of that house to concur in the accomplishment of his Majesty's wishes.

Lord Harrowby begun by making some general observations on the subject. He then proceeded to state the pleasure it gave him to find the house in clined to do tardy, but not reluctant, jus tice to a most useful and neglected class of men. He used the word tardy merely as stating matter of fact, not matter of reproach. The causes which had produ ced this delay were sufficient to account for it, if they did not excuse it. In the time of Queen Anne, the church recollecting the utter ruin which had so lately overwhelmed it, and the immi nent danger it had more recently escaped, received the boon then granted with a degree of gratitude and exulta tion, which gave a false impression that nothing more was wanting. Alarms were even then expressed at the pros pect of a large addition to the quantity

of land held in mortmain, and those alarms so far prevailed, that in the 9th -year of Geo. II. a part of the statute was repealed, and land was no longer allowed to be left to the church by will, but could only be left by deed, without power of revocation, twelve months before the death of the donor. Under these impressions, it was pot surprising that nothing more had been proposed. Successive administrations, and successive parliaments shut their eyes to the situation of the church. Every other branch of executive or legislative government was continually receiving improvement. With respect to the ehurch, little else was to be found upon the statute books, except an ineffectual provision for the erection of parsonage houses, some provisions not much more effectual for increasing the salaries of curates, and a bill to which even its learned and respectable author could hardly give any other title, than a bill for the protection of non-residence. The state, feeling its own unwillingness, and fancying its inability to give the church the means of being what it ought to be, was ashamed of demanding from it exertions which it would not enable it to make. It made a sort of amends to the church for neglecting its pecuniary interests, by not calling upon it for the strict discharge of all its duties; and it made the same sort of amends to the people for neglecting to provide them with the means of worship and the opportunities of instruction, by abstaining from calling upon them for any pecuniary sacrifice. But equal neglect was not impartial kindness, and both the people and church had been equal sufferers. Another reason, which had deferred the legisislature and the government from venturing to touch upon this subject, might naturally be, that the evil appeared so great as to preclude all hope of remedy. It appeared like the misfortune of being born in a barren land, and an inhospitable climate, which the wisdom of man could not ameliorate, and which it was useless to dwell upon for the mere purpose of unavailing lamentation. Looking at the state of the poor livings, even as it stood in the year 1803, when the account of the augmentations was laid before this house, after the operation of Queen Anne's bounty for a whole century, the prospect was indeed such as to defer the warmest friend of the church, and

the most sanguine calculator of the resources of the country. From the returns made in consequence of the act of Queen Anne it appeared that the number of livings in 1794, under 501. per annum, was 5597. The number of augmentations of two hundred pounds each, required to raise those livings to between fifty and sixty pounds per annum, was 17,583, even ucon a supposition that the money laid out produced 5 per cent. mentations per annum, this operation required about $20 years. Up to the year 1802, inclusive, the number of augmentations (even with the assistance of private benefactions to the amount of above 318,000l.) had been only 64071. Deducting those from the whole number, there remained 11,176 for the number of augmentations required to effect that object, and the prospect of effecting it by the country alone was at the same rate removed to the distance of 203 years. The amount therefore of the sum required was 2,226,2001. in order to raise all livings to between 501. and 601. per annum. But it was impossible to confine our views to so wretched a pittance. Even in the time of Queen Anne, when the value of money was higher, in a proportion which he would not attempt to calculate, the views of those who proposed the bounty extended to 801, per annum. We could not stop short of 1001. if we meant to do any thing, and we should certainly wish to go much farther.What was our prospect as the state of the church appeared from those returns? There can be no question, that if there were then 5597 livings under 501. a year, there must have been a very considerable number above 501. but under 1001. In order to simplify the calculation, and having no means to ascertain this number, let us consider only what appeared to be required in order to raise these 5597 livings from between 501, and 601, to between 1001. and 1101. per annum. We should find the number of augmentations to be 27,985, the sum of 5,597,0001. and the period of years five hundred and eight. This prospect, therefore, as it presented itself in the year 1803, was this:

At the rate of 55 aug

that by the expenditure of 7,822,2001. we might hope at the end of 711 years to leave none of those livings, which at the beginning of last century were below 501. per annum, below 100).