were in Gibraltar two synagogues, two Roman Catholic chapels, and one Methodist chapel; but there was not one church of the established religion of this country, nor was there one school conducted upon the principles of that persuasion. He would go farther-there was not on the rock any establishment from which any Protestant could receive that religious consolation which he required.-He would now again advert to the revenues of that place, as well as to the manner of their collection. These revenues were collected at a grievous expense. The recent appointments, too, to public offices, were against a positive act of parliament. The act to which he alluded was one which provided against the discharge of the duties of any office by deputy. Mr. Wickham of Lincoln's Inn, had been appointed a receiver of certain branches of revenue, and this office he discharged by deputy. He only mentioned the name of this gentleman as an instance of the many which he could produce, and whether his case came within, or was previous to the act to which he alluded, would be shown upon the inquiry which he proposed.-The hon. member went on to state, that not long ago there was but one commissary of stores in Gibraltar; at present they had three. Not long since they had not a commissioner of accounts; now they had three. During the war a military secretary was employed; since the peace he had been struck off; but he was retained as translator of languages, with the continuance of his previous salary and emoluments. He would not farther detain the House at present. He had three motions to make:

(he would not say improper in its object) imposed in 1816, of 917. a year on every retail wine and spirit shop. He knew he should be told by the right hon. gentle man, that this was confirmed two years afterwards by an order in council.-There were other taxes imposed by general Don on eating-houses, billiard tables, fishing boats, &c., and he was almost ashamed to say that the general had sanctioned the sale of lottery tickets, without the authority of government, by making the venders of Spanish lottery tickets pay a considerable sum for a licence. Whether or not those sums had been brought to the public account he could not say, but he knew they were levied; and he had in his possession five or six of general Don's proclamations on the subject. This practice of levying taxes ad libitum, and remitting the produce home for the privy purse of his majesty, without the authority of parliament, was, in his opinion, most unconstitutional. The establishment of the place had also been most unnecessarily increased. He really believed it was increased just in proportion as ministers found it convenient to extend their patronage. He would give the House some idea of the amount of the increase, in order to show the kind of economy observed. During the war there was one town major in Gibraltar; since the peace there had been two. During the war there were two barrack masters; since the peace there had been three. During the war there was one pratique master; since the peace there had been two. Instead of paving and keeping the garrison in repair, out of the duties levied in it, large sums had been at various times voted in the different estimates for those purposes, The first was, "for a Return of all the while the money was all remitted to the Taxes and Duties levied in Gibraltar in privy purse. Now really this appeared to the years 1800 and 1818." These two him to be a question demanding serious periods would be sufficient to show to the consideration. If any part of the heredi- House the nature and increase of the retary revenue was given up by the act of the venue of that country. His next motion first of his late majesty, that at Gibraltar was, " for the Production of an Account must have been given up too. It was not, of the number and nature of the various however, simply the 124,000l. that had Offices and Establishments at Gibraltar, been applied to the privy purse, but the with the Amount of the Salaries and Emoextravagant establishment-contrary to luments received by the different Funcevery principle of economy-which had tionaries in 1800 and in 1818." This been kept up, to which the attention of would show to the House, how far the parliament ought to be directed. To him system of economy, which was now conthe system appeared to be most illegal sidered the order of the day, was attended and unconstitutional, and one which ought to. His third motion was "for a Return to be abolished. Not any part of the of the Amount of the Revenues of Gib duties raised were applied to purposes ad-raltar from 1760 up to 1820, distinguishvantageous to the establishment. There ing each year; and also an Account of the

Garrison and other Expenses, together with the revenues transmitted to this country."

son of such high authority, was likely to mislead those who had not considered the subject. He could not conceive any principle of the law of nations which bore out the assertion, that the power vested in an absolute prince became, in case of conquest, equally vested in a king whose power was not absolute. The law of nations only related to the regulation of certain connexions between different nations, and could not decide what power should be exercised by a state over any territory it conquered. That depended on the law and constitution of the country. With respect to the law and constitution of this country, he would state, that if the right hon. gentleman, who was so conversant with questions of this kind, recollected the case of Campbell and Hall, he would find that it was a very disputed point indeed, with whom the right of legislation over a conquered territory rested. That, in one point of view, it rested with the king was certain; but

The Chancellor of the Exchequer said, that he did not rise to oppose the motion; indeed, he had not, with the exception of a slight alteration, any objection to produce the whole of the accounts moved for. He could not, however, help complaining of the uncandid manner in which the hon. member had charged both the governor of Gibraltar and his majesty's council, in the course of his speech, with extravagance and extortion. He did not wish, at present, to go at length into this ques. tion, as a proper period would arrive for its discussion. But he hoped members would reserve their opinions until that discussion came fairly before them. With respect to what the hon. member had said relative to the right of the Crown over conquered colonies, he conceived that there was no principle of the law of nations more generally admitted than that which transferred to the conquering sove-whether the king in council, or the king reign the rights exercised over such colony by that power to which it previously belonged. He did not mean to object to the first or second resolutions; but to the third, he would, if it were not altered, propose an amendment, which was, that the whole account for the time mentioned should be produced, without specifying the items from year to year. He wished at the same time to observe, that there was not any foreign port in which similar duties to those complained of were not exacted. The right hon. member made some observations relative to certain sums remitted from Gibraltar, and received by his late majesty.

in parliament, had not, as he took it, been yet decided by those grave authorities whose opinions on matters of such importance were looked up to as conclusive. If his hon. friend, whose laborious attention to this and other subjects which lay out of the way of the general pursuits and studies of the members of that House, and for which he deserved the public thanks; if he would take a suggestion from him, he would rather advise him to accept the proposal of the chancellor of the exchequer, reserving to himself the right of making a more extensive motion at a future period. He thought the accounts offered to be furnished would be, in a general point of view, imperfect; although, perhaps, for the purposes of the approaching discussion, they might be sufficient.

Mr. Goulburn complained of the uncandid course that had been taken by the hon. gentleman in bringing forward this question. He protested against the statement which he had made, and which tended to impeach the character of indi

Sir J. Mackintosh, having had occasion to know something of the administration of affairs in Gibraltar, and being acquainted with certain circumstances relating to the mode of making impositions on the inhabitants, could not but say that their rights had not been treated with that regard and respect which in justice should have been extended to them. At the same time, he meant to admit, that his majesty's govern-viduals, when merely moving for a return ment, in the revision of the order in council, to which allusion had been made, had manifested a very commendable anxiety to do all they could to rectify a measure which he looked upon as improvident and bad. He could not, however, agree in the interpretation of the law of nations which had been given by the right hon. gentleman, and which, falling from a per

of the amount of revenue raised at Gibraltar. He protested against such a course, because those charges could not be contradicted at the moment. He had no difficulty in saying, that, throughout the long reign of his late majesty, every disposition had been shown to attend to the interests of the inhabitants on the one hand, and to support the just rights of

this country on the other. The hon. gentleman had stated that he was ready to prove his charge-he (Mr. G.) was no less ready to show that they were not well founded. The hon. gentleman observed, that he had resided at Gibraltar. It had also been his fortune to have lived there, and he could therefore speak particularly to some circumstances. The hon. gentleman asserted that, though Jews, Methodists, and Roman Catholics had places of worship there, the members of the Church of England were not furnished with a building for the performance of their religious duties. This was not the case. Whether from his being more in the habit of going to church than the hon. member, or from what other cause, he knew not; but certain it was that he found a Protestant place of worship at Gibraltar, and went regularly to church every Sunday. The building was not a very extensive one, but it was commensurate with the size of the place, and the number of Protestant inhabitants. He had seen the troops mustered in it attending divine service; and perhaps he might recal it to the hon. gentleman's mind, by mentioning the monuments that were raised in it to the memory of several officers who had fallen in the naval service. There were other parts of the hon. gentleman's speech which he could meet and refute on grounds equally satisfactory.

Colonel Dalrymple said, the inhabitants of Gibraltar were, for the most part, Roman Catholics, Genoese, or foreigners of that description, and Jews; an extensive church was not, therefore, necessary. But there was a Protestant place of worship, and he had attended church for two years. In that edifice there was no want of room for those who pleased to attend divine service. He did not think that the garrison of Gibraltar would thank the hon. gentleman, if they were burthened with a tax for the erection of a church. There were other inaccuracies in the ment of the hon. gentleman, which, at a proper period, he would point out.

certain number of years, in order to show
the House where taxation had begun ;
which would not be affected by the ac-
count that would be laid before it. It
was said that his statements were erro-
neous; but at the proper time he would
prove the truth of every charge he had
made. The charge of having acted un-
candidly would apply much better to the
chancellor of the exchequer, who had im-
puted words to him which he had never
used. With respect to the quibble about
Protestant chapels, the admission of the
hon. gentlemen themselves was, that no
regular place of Protestant worship ex-
isted. He knew there was a garrison
chapel. He had himself attended divine
worship, when, he believed, it was per-
formed at governor Campbell's house;
but there was no regular Protestant cha-
pel for the inhabitants of the town.
The third motion, as amended, was then
agreed to.

HOUSE OF LORDS.

Friday, May 5.

INSOLVENT DEBTORS.] Lord Auckland rose to move for a committee to take into consideration the state of the Insolvent Debtors laws in England. It being understood to be the wish of their lordships, that such a committee should be appointed, he thought it unnecessary to trouble the House with any observations upon the subject. In consequence of an unfortunate omission in the act of last session for continuing the expiring laws, the operations of the Insolvent act had been suspended, and the effect had been the filling of the prisons of the metropolis to an extent frightful to contemplate, and producing an imminent danger of infectious diseases. If to avoid this evil it should be thought expedient that the debtor, state-through misfortune and not fraud, should not be liable to the imprisonment to which he was now subjected; it would of course be considered just, that the creditor should have additional means afforded him of making the property of the debtor available, as a security, instead of that which he now had upon his person. It was chiefly to this point that he intended to call the attention of the committee. His lordship moved for the appointment of a committee, which was ordered.

The first and second motions were agreed to.

Mr. Hume said, he had, in order to meet the objection of the chancellor of the exchequer, made the alteration which he had suggested in the third motion. That alteration had, however, defeated a very considerable part of the object he had in view, which was, to ascertain the annual amount of revenue collected in a

any didactic explanation of the origin, na- viewed precisely in this light. He alluded ture, history, or enormous amount of the to the opinions given by the chief justices funds embraced by the papers upon the of the court of King's-bench and Commontable. He should conclude that all who pleas, and the chief baron of the Excheheard him were possessed of sufficient in- quer, in the dispute between James 1st formation on these topics, and he would and the earl of Devonshire, as to some therefore proceed to establish, as he property claimed by the latter in old pledged himself to be able to do, that stores-that antiquated multum vexata some such arrangement as he should questio of old stores. This formed one of suggest was called for by the situation in the latest and best precedents he should which the country now found itself. It have to submit to induce the House to was an old and confirmed maxim of our adopt his proposition. Under his signconstitution, sanctioned by the opinions of manual, the king had granted certain the greatest lawyers, both on the bench quantities of old gun barrels, rusty-blades, and at the bar, supported by the whole old powder, and rotten cartridge-paper, current of the most venerable authorities, on the preservation of which, it was now that the Crown, as such, was incapable of argued by the other side, the dignity of possessing separate property-in other the sovereign so essentially depended. words that the king was anciently held to The earl of Devonshire accordingly put possess all the lands he held, jure corona in his claim for a fulfilment of the grant -they were called sacra patrimonia against the king's executors, and lord corona: even lands which he possessed Coke, who reported the case, used the in his private character, before the demise following words upon the subject:-"that of the crown, were forthwith deemed to the treasure of the Crown" (such as old be holden jure coronæ. Suppose, for in-stores, treasure trove, and the like,) stance, the case of the duke of Lancaster;" being the ligament of peace, the prebefore the crown devolved to him, he was server of the honour and safety of the seized of certain lands in his own right as realm, and the sinews of war (esteant le a private baron, but the law of England ligament de peace, le preserver del honor held that the moment he became king his et safetie del realme, et les sinewes de private rights merged in his public capa- guerre,) are in such high estimation in the city-he was no longer a terre tenant, but eye of the law, and, with other valuable he retained his possessions as holden by chattels, are so necessary and incident to right of the crown of England. Moreover, the Crown, that they shall go with it to even if a statute gave lands or any other the king's successor, and not to his execuspecies of property to the king without tors;" and, further on, he added, that the naming that it was given to him as king, only warrant sufficient to pass such treait had been held that he could only retain sure must be under the great seal, or them by right of the Crown. The law upon privy seal of the realm. This great authis subject was quite clear, it was indis- thority, reported by such a man as lord putable; and he would defy the other side Coke, was of itself worth a hundred lesser of the House to produce a single dictum cases to the same effect. But he could of a single lawyer, ancient or modern, to not help adverting to one other, quite as the contrary in fact, no man acquainted remarkable, in the time of lord Clarendon, even with the mere elements of the con- when the old constitutional principles stitution would dispute for a moment the were somewhat relaxed. The reign of solidity of what he had just advanced. James 1st, formed one of the best periods He only wished to mention one remarkable of our history, as far as regarded the instance, to show how far this principle struggle between the House of Commons had been carried; and it was the more in and the executive government, on the inpoint, as it related immediately to the valuable principle of a constitutional jeavery property now in question. All trea- lousy of the Crown. But in lord Clarensure had been held to be by so high a don's time some relaxation of ancient title merely the property of the Crown, strictness had taken place; yet even then that it had been deemed impossible for the the same law had been uniformly mainking to make any grant of it, excepting tained. The case brought forward at this under the privy seal, or great seal of the period referred to certain prizes taken realm; and the opinion of the highest law from the Dutch, which the king, under his authorities proved, that one branch of the sign-manual, had granted to lord Ashley, very revenue now under consideration was afterwards lord Shaftesbury. On this