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matter could be viewed, his Lordship contended that the halfpay officers ought to be exempted from the tax, and the more particularly as the tax produce would not be increafed a fingle guinea, if half-pay officers were not exempted, although their feelings would be feverely mortified and deeply wounded. He concluded, with declaring, that if he fhould have the good fortune to be prefent in the House when the Noble Lord brought in his exemption clause in favour of half-pay officers, he certainly would give it every fupport in his power.

The Lord Chancellor informed Lord Mulgrave that he would have an opportunity to introduce the claufe in queftion, by way of rider to the Bill on the third reading, and it lay with his Lordship to move that the third reading be on fuch a day, as he thought he should be ready with his claufe.

Lord Mulgrave thanked the Noble and Learned Lord for his information, and faid, there were two reafons, which would certainly induce him to with for the earliest day poffible; the one was, the having the important advantage of the support of the Noble Earl, who had in fo powerful a manner pleaded the caufe of the half-pay officers that day; the other arose from the confideration, that if the claufe were adopted, and any danger fhould happen in refpect to the prefent Bill in another place, in confequence of their Lordships having made an alteration in it, an opportunity would be afforded for the immediately bringing in and paffing another Bill, fo that no injury might be fuftained in the expected produce of the tax itfelf, which he highly approved.

His Lordship named the next day, for bringing in his clause; the Bill was therefore ordered to be read the next day.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

THURSDAY, April 23.

A meffage from the Lords informed the Houfe that their Lordships had agreed to feveral Bills, and paffed others, to which they defired the concurrence of that Houfe.

INN-KEEPERS AND SOLDIERS.

The Secretary at War gave notice, that the next day he fhould move for leave to bring in a Bill to relieve inn-keepers of part of the burdens under which they at prefent laboured, and alfo that he should have a propofition to fubmit on the eftimates which were then before the House.

VOL, III.

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General

General Macleod faid, he underftood from public rumour,that on account of the prefent dearnefs of provifions, his Majefty had given directions for an allowance of nine-pence a week to all non-commiflioned officers and privates. The General withed to know of the Secretary at War if that rumour was right? If it was, he fhould have fomething to obferve to the Houfe upon the fubject.

The Secretary at War faid, he did not precifely know to what order or direction the Hon. Member alluded. It had been propofed that bread fhould be given to the foldiers in kind, inftead of money to purchase it, by way of avoiding the inconvenience arifing from the dearness of it; and that was the only thing he knew of, that feemed to apply to the fubject to which the Hon. Member alluded.

General Macleod faid, that the allowance he alluded to, was fuppofed to have been ordered within this week.

Sir John Frederick moved, that the Order of the Day, for the fecond reading of the Dead Body Bill, be postponed until the other Orders of the Day were gone through.-Or

dered.

DUTCH PROPERTY BILL.

This Bill went into a further Committee.

Mr. Ryder then opened the general nature of the Bill. It was an amendment of the Bill of this feflion for regulating the importation, &c. of Dutch property.

General Macleod did not oppofe the Bill, but he wished the Houfe to obferve that minifters had been molt culpably negligent in not bringing it forward fooner; if they had, great advantages would have arifen to this country out of it; for by the general derangement of the public affairs of almoft all the powers of Europe, England might have become the depot of the chief of the moveable property of Holland.

Mr. Ryder faid, that if the Hon. Gentleman had happened to attend his duty in Parliament, early in the present feffion, he would have known that Adminiftration had done the very thing which he now accufed them of neglecting. They had taken the earlieft polible opportunity for regulating the mode of legally importing property from Holland. They had gone further, they had advited the iffuing an order of Council for that purpofe, before an Act could be paffed, a thing in itself illegal, but which was juftified by neceflity, and therefore the parties concerned in advifiug it were indemnified.

General Macleod felt no difficulty in believing the account of the illegality of the conduct of his Majefty's prefent advifers; but he faid, he would ftill affert what he wished the Public,

through

through the medium of that Houfe, to know, that in confequence of the negligence of minifters, a great deal of Dutch property, which ought to have come to England, went to Hamburgh and Dantzic. He defied minifters to deny this affertion.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer moved the Order of the Day, which was to go into a Committee of the whole Houfe on the Bill for augmenting the Royal corps of Artillery, and for providing for the navy feafaring men out of the militia.

The Houfe being in a Committee, he propofed three clauses. The firft had for its object the regulating the power of officers, during the abfence of the commander: The fecond for regulating the law, with regard to those who were officers in the militia, and officers alfo in the fencibles: The third, reftoring to his Majesty the power of difmifling officers in certain cafes out of the militia, a power which the Crown had ever fince the establishment of that body, until the paffing of the Bill in the year 1786. That power of the Crown was then omitted, whether inadvertently, or by defign, he was unable to learn; but he faw no reafon for the omiflion; on the contrary, he thought it a neceffary power.

Upon each of thefe claufes there was fome converfation. On the laft, General Macleod faid it was a dangerous power to be trufted in the hands of the Crown. It was well known that one of the moft fplendid orations that was ever made by the late Earl of Chatham, was against the ufe of the prerogative of the Crown, in difmiffing an officer in the regulars. If it was a dangerous power over the regulars, what must it be over the militia?

Colonel Sloane, Mr. Baftard, Mr. Loveden, and other officers in the militia, approved of the claufe; Mr. Courtenay was against it; after a fhort converfation, the Committee divided, For the Claufe Against it

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The Bill then, with all the claufes, paffed the Committee. The Bill for preventing delay in the election of Members of Parliament for Scotland paffed the Committee.

The Report was received immediately, ordered to be taken into further confideration on Tuefday next, and to be printed.

DEAD BODY BILL.

The question was then put, that the Dead Body Bill be now read a fecond time.

Sir John Frederick obferved that the Houfe was too thin to proceed on this business. It had been delayed from time to time

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time; but

was determined to bring it forward as early as poffible; and for that purpose he moved that this Bill be read a fecond time on Tuesday next.

Mr. Taylor moved that the House be counted.

There being only 21 Members prefent, an adjournment neceffarily took place immediately.

HOUSE OF LORDS.
FRIDAY, April 24.

RECAL OF THE VICEROY OF IRELAND.

After feveral Bills had been received and read, and the bufinefs of the day difpatched, as far as regarded Bills, &c. Earl Fitzwilliam faid, it was impoffible for him to appear in that House, without taking the earlieft opportunity of endeavouring to procure an investigation into the caufe and circumstances of his fudden recal, in the midst of a most arduous and critical feffion of Parliament, from a neighbouring kingdom, where he had the honour to fill the high office of Lord Lieutenant, and reprefentative of his Majefty. So extraordinary a circumftance as his fudden recal, when matters of the highest importance were depending in the Irish Parliament, fo fingular an occurrence had not efcaped the notice of the Public of both kingdoms; and although it was not known whether he had done any thing inconfiftent with his truft, or against the interests of the kingdom, or whether his Majefty's minifters, who had recalled him, were to blame--it was obvious to every man that blame was imputable fomewhere. To fay nothing, therefore, how much a matter of moment and im portance it was to inflitute an investigation in juftice to the feelings and honour of an individual, infignificant like himfelf, it would furely be admitted, that it was of the utmost moment and importance to fet the public mind at reft on a matter that had much engaged their attention, and created a great deal of ill-humour in both countries. Minifters had in both Houfes of Parliament declared, that no imputation of blame, on account of his fudden recal, would on inquiry be found to attach to them. He rofe as proudly to affert on his part, that he defied his Majefty's minifters to proveth at imputation of blame in the fmalleft degree belonged to him. Minifters by their declarations had given their Lordships, the Houfe of Commons, and the Public, to imagine that he had been to blame. He peremptorily denied it. Minifters had thrown down the gauntlet-he accepted it.

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The Public had formed an opinion one way or the other; it remained with minifters to bring the queftion at iffue to the teft, by inftituting an investigation, and thereby enabling the Public to decide on juft grounds. He did not by any means wish to interfere with public bufinefs, and therefore he could only express his earnest wish that the most early open day might be appointed for the purpose of inquiry into a matter, that had been the fubject of fo much converfation, and excited fo much uneafinefs; but as minifters alone could know when it would be leaft inconvenient for them to attend, without injury to their other important duties, it rested with them to name the day.

Lord Grenville faid, he had fcarcely ever felt more real concern, more anxiety, or more uneafinefs, than at finding himself under the neceflity of rifing to fay any thing on a fubject, which he had hoped would not have been brought under public difcuflion. With regard to the declaration of minifters in both Houfes of Parliament alluded to by the Noble Earl, thofe declarations had been neceffarily and indeed unavoidably called forth in refutation of charges urged against them by others, and which it was incumbent on them either to repel, or, by tacitly fubmitting to them, to appear to admit their validity. In faying this he begged to be understood, as referring merely to what paffed in that Houfe, to which most of their Lordships were witneffes. He knew nothing, nor did he undertake to fay what had paffed elsewhere. He did not conceive, that the mere fact of minifters having advised his Majefty to recal a Viceroy of Ireland, warranted the inference that it implied blame on either party, afforded caufe of public complaint, or was of itfelf a fit ground for Parliamentary difcuffion and proceeding. Having therefore no charge to bring forward against the Noble Earl, of course he had no day to propofe for an inveftigation of which he faw no necellity. If therefore, unfortunately, the Noble Earl fhould perfift in calling for an inquiry, the naming of the day for it, and the propofing the mode of proceeding, muft reft with him.

Earl Fitzwilliam expreffed his furprife at the Noble Lord's conceiving that no inveftigation was neceflary into the cause of the fudden recal of a Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, in the midst of a most important and critical feffion of Parliament in that kingdom-when matters of the utmofl moment to its moft effential interefts, brought forward under his countenance, were in agitation. It was, he faid, notorious, that for a whole week together he had been held out to the Public as having been guilty of the grofleft mifconduct in his fituation of Viceroy, and that it had been even said, that he was

purfuing

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