ADVERTISEMENT. THE Papers contained in the ensuing volume, although sold separately, for the accommodation of persons who may not desire to purchase the whole work to which they belong, form part of a publication, entitled the "PARLIAMENTARY HISTORY AND REVIEW," the design of which is to afford an annual record of the proceedings of the British Parliament, together with an examination of the principal topics discussed in that assembly, and of the manner in which its functions are performed. The wealth and power of Great Britain-the rank which she holds in the scale of national intelligence-and the freedom of speech for which her legislative assemblies have been so long celebrated,―render British history a matter of no ordinary interest and importance; and for this history the two Houses of Parliament must supply the most authentic as well as the most instructive materials. It is surprising, therefore, that the debates of the British Parliament have never yet been arranged for the purpose of examination or reference;-that they are only to be found in the chaotic miscellany of daily reports;-and that they have been subjected to no periodical comment more systematic or accurate than the brief and hurried remarks of a newspaper editor.. The conductors of the present work have endeavoured to supply this remarkable deficiency in our periodical literature; and if they have only in a moderate degree succeeded in carrying their design into execution, they will have produced a work as novel as it is important. Some now living remember the sensation produced by the first appearance of the ANNUAL REGISTER; and if that work was deemed to have formed an epoch in the annals of literature, it is hoped that the present will be esteemed at least as striking an accession to the means of diffusing political knowledge. In the first volume, all the debates on a given subject, after having been carefully revised and collated, have been collected under the general head to which they respectively belong; nothing being omitted but mere conversations, of no interest except at the moment of utterance; such as discussions regarding the day or hour at which a given debate should be entered on, questions of order, and the like. At the end of the debates, is a careful examination, as well of the measures discussed as of the arguments adduced on both sides of the question, and of the conduct of Parliament with reference to the matter in hand. Of these critical essays it is not for the conductors of the work to say much; but they can safely affirm, that they are and will be exempt from vehemence or invective, and impartially directed to what ought to be the only end of legislationnot the predominance of a particular party, sect, or portion of the community-but, the greatest happiness of the greatest number. Next to the Debates of the Parliament itself, the most interesting and instructive documents, as well for the man of business of the present day as for the historian of future times, are the papers annually presented to both Houses in the shape of Reports of Committees, Minutes of Evidence received by them, and Returns made on official authority. These form annually nearly fifty folio volumes, which are printed solely for the use of members; and whether we consider the expense, the labour, or the space required to render them available to public use, they may be said to have been hitherto almost inaccessible. The substance of all of these which possess any general interest, as well as the whole of the more important Reports of Committees, have been condensed and arranged in the ensuing volume, which is now presented to the public, printed uniformly with the Debates and Review contained in the first. To the merchant, the manufacturer, the lawyer, the statesman, and the man of letters, these documents are now rendered accessible at a small expense, and are so arranged that they may be referred to almost without the aid of an index. To foreign nations, particularly France and the United States of America, the whole will afford a view of British affairs, more clear, comprehensive, and authentic, than any which can be obtained elsewhere. Such is the present work, and such its claims to public. favour. Even if feebly executed, it cannot be of mean assistance to the progress of knowledge and improvement ;--but as neither expense nor labour has been spared to its completion, the conductors are not without hopes that the execution may in some degree correspond with the design. The difficulty and extent of the undertaking have doubtless rendered unavoidable, at the outset, many defects, but for these it is hoped some allowance will be made, when it is |