in which its temper and disposition might be adverse to their views. Mr. Curwen was followed, on the same side of the question, by lord H. Petty, lord Howick, sir John Newport, Mr. Bastard, and sir John Anstruther. They were replied to, on the other side, by the chancellor of the exchequer, and Mr. Rose. Mr. Shaw Le Fevre moved, that the debate be adjourned till the next day. This produced a short discussion, in which it was contended, on the one hand, that there were no grounds, and on the other, that there were ample grounds, for such a postponement. The house divided:

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For the amendment, Against it, The resolution was then put and carried. ---The following resolutions were then agreed to, on the motion of the chancellor of the exchequer. That no private bills be present. ed after Monday, the 13th of July. That no reports or private bills be received, after Monday the 27th of July.

The next business of importance in the house of commons was, the appointment of a new committee of finance. On Tuesday, June the Soth, the chancellor of the exchequer, pursuant to his notice, in consequence of the general sense of the house, and in obedience to the recommendation in the commissioners speech, for the renewal of those inquiries that had been interrupted by the late dissolution of parliament, rose to move for the renewal of the finance committee. The only question, he said, on which any difference could arise, was, as to the persons whom, in the appoint. ment of the committee, the house might think proper to select. On

this subject, he had reason to thi that a difference of opinion wo prevail, as from some expressio that had fallen from gentlemen the other side of the house, it peared that they would be dis pointed if all the members of former committee, who were me bers of the house, should not appointed. As he did not mean enlarge the number beyond the number of which the form committee had consisted, beca that was the greatest number t could conveniently assemble business, he meant to exclude so of the former members, in order introduce others, for the more i partial constitution of the co mittee. The five that had been moved by the event of the electio were not enough for that purpo and the house would in its discret decide upon that point. In the pointment of the committee a he meant to adopt the suggesti of the noble lord, by giving the p ference to the appointment of openly to a ballot. It was his e nion that the appointment by bal was in general to be preferr Nothing could be more invidie than the discussing, whether a particular individual was a prop person to be appointed, on the co mittee; and also the fitness of p sons to act together, upon such committee, could be better consu ed by individuals making out th lists for a ballot. He had acced however, to the suggestions of noble lord, because he would the by get rid of any suspicion t any thing was intended, which th were afraid to avow openly. fore he made any motion, he shou read over a list of the committee meant to propose, in order that

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bouse might see whether he had not retained the most efficient members of the late committee. He had already stated the necessity of making some alteration in the constitution of the committee, because there were many acts of the late administration which would be subjects of enquiry. He could state many facts which would induce the house not to trust with implicit confidence to those, who were disposed only to praise the late administration, and who, by their overbearing authority in the committee, might keep back the enquiries into their particular acts. The late ministers had expressed themselves, in the first appointment of the committee, very much averse to the grant of places in reversion; there was, however, one instance to which attention had been called, of their having, a short time before they went out of office, appointed to offices in reversion, of a most extraordinary nature: he alluded to the appointment of a collector and surveyor of customs, in the port of Buenos Ayres, a place not then in the possession of his majesty. These were reversionary grants, to take place upon an uncertain contingency, and made by those gentlemen who appeared to be so nice on this subject. He had on a former occasion stated, without giving any opinion upon the propriety of appointing such officers, the nomination of three-hundred surveyors of taxes. The nomina. tion was founded on a representation from the commissioners of taxes, made in March 1803, but the appointment could not take place, till the business was submitted to parliament. When the dissolution took place in October, without any sanction of parliament having been ob. VOL. XLIX.

tained for these appointments, the persons were designated to the oil. ces, in a way the noble lord had said on a former night; members of parliament waited on the minister, they were received civilly, and the promises made. But the parliament met in December, and sat some months; the measure for sanctioning the appointment was not brought forward, and the honoura ble gentlemen opposite, when they lost the power of performance, were compelled to revert to the condoling letters to which he had before alluded. This circumstance would induce the house not to place implicit or peculiar confidence in those gentlemen who viewed every thing in the same light with the late administration. Another appoint. ment, made by the late administra tion, was, that of gazette-writer, created by patent for Scotland, with a salary of £.300 per This office had been before divided between the editors of three newspapers: he wished the honourable gentleman to hear his statement, and to bear in mind, that the busi ness of the office was performed by these three persons, without any expence to the public, though they made a profit of .200 a year by the publications in their newspapers. These persons had been turned out of their employment, and an appointment by patent, given to the present possessor; and he should ask, whether any gentleman lieved that this had been done with any other view than to give a place to that person? He should not dwell in detail upon all the acts of the late administration, but he confessed himself at a loss to understand what they could mean by the appointment of a professor of medical jurisprudence.

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jurisprudence.-(A laugh, and hear, hear!) He acknowledged

that he was ignorant of the duty of that professor, and could not comprehend what was meant by the science he professed. There had also been three new sheriffs appointed in Scotland, with salaries of between £.250 and £.300 a year, on a division of counties, where the duties were before executed, as in one shrievalty. These were some of the many acts of the late administration, which would be likely to come under the considera. tion of the committee. Another appointment, which was equally censurable, was the grant of a pension during pleasure, of .400 a year, to a civil and criminal judge in Scotland: this grant had, no doubt, not been carried into effect, but it was owing to the doubts entertained by the person who was to carry it into effect in Scotland, as to its legality. He should not go through the other exceptionable appointments made by these gentle. men, as he had stated enough to shew, that those who thought exactly with them, were not to be exclusively confided in. He should next proceed to read the names of those whom he proposed to be appointed as the committee, intreating, at the same time, that the house would excuse him from being a member of it, according to the usage by which any member who proposes a committee, became a member of it.-The following were the gentlemen he proposed of the former committee:

Lord Henry Petty,
Lord Archibald Hamilton,

Mr. Grattan,
Mr. Addington,

Mr. Cavendish Bradshaw,
Mr. H. Thornton,
Mr. Ryder,

Mr. Calvert,

Mr. II. Coombe, and
Mr. Baring.

Not of the former committee:
Mr. Ilawkins Browne,

Mr. Jodderel,
Mr. Wharton,
Mr. Sumner,
Mr. Wigram,
Mr. L. Forster,
Mr. Pole Carew,
Mr. Mills,
Mr. Rutherford,
Mr. Ellison,

Mr. Brogden, and

Mr. Thomas Baring.

He concluded by moving, tha committee be appointed to exar the regulation made for contr ing the expenditure with respect offices, how far these had been fectual, and what was further cessary to secure the object in vi

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Lord Henry Petty rose and s that under many disadvantages, without any notice till now, any charges were to be brou against him, he would, as far as recollection enabled him, refute charges: one of these, was the pointment of a comptroller collector for Buenos Ayres. a gross want of candour in Mr. since he chose to bring forward affair at this time, not to have sta that the burthen would comme only in consequence of the poss sion of the place, and that the pointment was without salary. to the surveyors of taxes, the fa he believed, was that the appoi ments had not, and were i actually to take place until

With regard to the appointment of the gazette-writer in Scotland, it was one that ought to be excepted out of the general rule. It was a case that peculiarly depended on its own circumstances, and when these were examined, it must appear obvious to every candid and liberal mind, that no blame could attach to that instance. This appointment had been conferred on a person eminent for talents, literature, and science. He had, through a long course of life, devoted himself to the public service, and to the promotion of the interests of learning and knowledge. Mr. D. Stewart was one of the most distinguished cha. racts of the age, and had performed his important duties in the most zealous and honourable man. ner, yet his salary did not amount to much more than £100 a year. It was thought right, considering the high importance of his services in the department of science and literature, to grant him this appointmeat, which he might enjoy without any encroachment on his other avocations. It was not on such men the public money was in danger of being wasted. The appointment was certainly, as the right honour able gentleman had stated, taken out of the hands of the editors of the newspapers, where, no doubt, he would have continued it in prefer ence: that was the sort of literature which they cultivated; that was their science! The gentleman who received it from the late ministers,

except that of uncommon merit in a department of the last importance to the public and the human race. When the present government could find such another man, he certainly would not object to their being equally liberal. The right honour. able gentleman had talked of a pension to a civil and criminal judge in Scotland. With the circumstances of that case he was not acquainted, and therefore could say nothing respecting them, at present. He had replied to such of the charges as he was more immediately acquainted with. No government could perhaps, in the present state of the expenditure, guard against every possible abuse; and therefore he was a friend to all committees of inquiry; whether appointed like the commissioners of military enquiry, or composed of members of this house: both might be eminently useful, and recourse ought to be had to them from time to time, under every government; for in such a large expenditure, all governments must be liable to abuses.

In answer to lord Petty's sar casm, respecting the only species of literature patronized by the new ministry, Mr. Canning asked if there was not a newspaper that had received marks of favour during the late administration, and of which the proprietor had been appointed by them to one of the publis boards? *-With regard to the appointment of the new sheriffs, the propriety and expediency of that measure was clearly, and in a most

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satisfactory manner, evinced by Mr. Adam, who was not in the house on this day, but who brought on a conversation on the subject, two days thereafter, July 2. He also urged very strong arguments in defence of the patent, granting a pension of £100 a year to lord Cullen, with the reversion of £200 a year to Mrs. Cullen. Having given a statement of lord Cullen's circumstances, he contended that it would be cruel to deprive the crown of the power of giving a pension for life to a judge, who, by some accidents, arising from no fault of his, should be reduced to a situation in which his salary could not enable him to support his dignity and do justice to his creditors. Lord Cullen was a man of the most profound learning, particularly in his own profession, an agreeable companion, and most perfect gentleman. He was the son of Dr. Cullen, one of the greatest ornaments of the celebrated medical school at Edinburgh. His father had been too much engaged in scientific pursuits to be very careful about his circumstances. Lord Cullen, as the eldest son, was in some degree saddled with, and anxious to pay his father's debts; and two thirds of his salary as judge was devoted to that purpose. The honourable and learned gentleman then entered into particular statements of the case, and said, that it never was intended to grant a judge a pension during pleasure, nor could it be done by law. It was expected to be for life, and intended to be so given. The reversion suf. ficiently proved this, for a reversion of a pension during pleasure was an absurdity. If the warrant stated that it was during pleasure, it was a mistake, which would of

course have been rectified, when should be returned to the treas from the barons of the excheq in Scotland. The gentlemen on other side might be sufficien aware, that mistakes might be c mitted in the hurry of official siness. This was sufficient to pr the rectitude both of the judge i the late ministers. The intent of granting a pension to lord C len, did not originate with the ministers, but with their immed predecessors. Mr. Adam conclu with moving an address to his a jesty, for copies of the warrants appointing the new sheriffs, and the warrant for the pension to I Cullen. Though the appointmen the sheriffs was condemned by veral of the Scotch members, 1 Adam's motion was acceded. without opposition.-It appear in the discussion about the co mittee of finance, that Mr. C ning, though he objected to pension intended for lord Cull and the office of writer of Edinburgh Gazette, &c. &c. I received from Mr. Pitt, the gr of a pension, not indeed for hi self, but, by his own confessio "to a near and dear relation, w depended on him." Objections we made to the exclusion of any of t members of the last from the ne committee of finance, by Dr. La rence, sir Samuel Romilly, M Bankes, Mr. H. Addington, lo Cochrane, C. Shipley, and lo Howick. But a committee w appointed, consisting of the me bers proposed by the chancellor the exchequer. They were ordere to proceed on their inquiries in mediately, and to report from tim to time, as they deemed meet. Th minutes taken before the forms

committed