Mr

257.

Third Report of the Committee on ILLICIT TRADE 233.

On CRIMINAL GALLANTRY, Letter II. 237

On the effects of CLOSE HOT ROOMS, LATE HOURS, &c. 238.

Account of feveral LUNAR IRIS 239. Qualities of COAL-TAR and COAL-VARNESH 240.

ANTIQUE URN dug up near Dorking in Surry 242.

NEW BOOKS. Thoughts on the manufacture and trade of Salt 242. Runnamede a tragedy 245. Poetical remains of James I. 248. Introduction to Logography 250. Hiftory of Henry III. of France 253. Scottifh Publications 256.

DA, from 1772 to 1783 261. Lift of the HOUSE of COMMONS 262. A Singular IMPOSTURE 265.

POETRY.

To the memory of Capt. Cook 266. Epigrammatical epitaph ib." On the rage for Air Balloons ib. May 267. Epistle from Mifs B-gle to Mifs L-tch ib. HISTORICAL AFFAIRS. Eaft Indies : Difpatches received by the Crocodile 268. England: Clofe of the poll for two members for Weftminfler 268. Definitive treaty with the Dutch 269. Handel's jubilee ib. Scotland: Circuit-trials 271. Election of fixteen Scots Peers, &c. 274. Proceedings of the General Affembly 275.-279. Poftage of letters to New York or Halifax to be paid at giving them in to the post-office 279.

LISTS. Marriages, Births, and Deaths, Prices of Grain and Meal, Mortality-bill and Prices of Stocks 280.

I

PARLIAMENT.

N purfuance of a royal proclamation, dated March 25. the new parliament (which is the fifth of the prefent King, and the fixteenth of G. Britain) met, at Weftminster, on Tuesday, May 18.-The King went to the Houfe of Peers; and being in his royal robes feated on the throne with the ufual folemnity, Sir Francis Molyneux, Kt, Gentleman Ufher of the Black Rod, was fent with a meffage to the Houfe of Commons, commanding their attendance in the House of Peers. The Commons being come thither, his Majefty fignified his pleasure to them by the Lord High Chancellor, that they fhould return to their House and chufe their VOL. XLVI.

Speaker, and prefent him to his Majefty for his royal approbation next day.

The Commons being returned to their own House, the Marquis of Graham rofe, and addreffing himself to the clerk, obferved, that the Houfe was then, in obedience to his Majefty's commands, about to elect a Speaker. To the old Members he had no occafion to urge the im portance of that great officer of the Houfe; they must have learnt that from experience: to the new members only did he therefore think it his duty to recommend this confideration, that it was in the House of Commons the voice of the people was conftitutionally to be heard, (and from the late elections he had reafon to fay that the people had taken uncommon pains in the choice of their F f

reprefen

representatives), and therefore they muft be aware of the great importance of the office which was to be filled by a perfon who was to be the voice of a Houfe that ought to be the voice of the people. They would therefore agree with him, that no one was fit for that fituation, who did not poffefs great knowledge of the conftitution, and who was not very well verfed in the history and forms of parlia ment. To the knowledge of thofe effential requifites ought to be added fufficient ftrength of body to enable the person to discharge the duties of a very laborious and fatiguing office. The gentleman whom he intended to propose for the choice of the House, poffeffed in a very eminent degree thofe qualifications which were neceffary for a Speaker of the House of Commons; the conftitution which he had once already carried into that office was ftill unbroken; and having already served the Public with honour to himself, fatisfaction to the Houfe, and advantage to the nation, he still poffeffed his ftrength unimpaired, and was able to go through the fatigue of the office: he concluded therefore with a motion, "That the Rt Hon. Charles Wolfran Cornwall be called to the chair of this House."

Sir George Howard warmly feconded the motion.

Mr Cornwall returned his thanks to the Noble Lord who made the motion, and to the Hon. General who feconded it: their partiality to him was highly flattering; and he affured them that to the end of his life he would remember it with the most lively gratitude. His abilities, fuch as they were, but which had been greatly over rated, were at the fervice of the Houfe. But though he was willing to undergo the fatigue of the ho nourable office to which the two refpect able members wifhed to call him, ftill it would be very improper in him to take upon himself an employment for which he knew fo many other members to be infinitely better qualified; and therefore (in the true fpirit of Nolo Episcopari) he intreated the Houfe to think of fome more proper perfon for their Speaker.

Mr Fox (who took his feat for Kirkwall, pending the fcrutiny for Weftminfter) rofe next: he faid, he did not mean to oppofe a motion, which he trufted would meet the approbation of the Houfe; and ftill lefs to comply with the request of the Rt Hon. Gentleman, who, though fo well qualified for the Chair,

wanted to excufe himself from filling it. On the contrary, he rose to hail the happy omen, with which the new parliament had juft opened: for furely it was a happy omen that the Speaker of the laft parliament, which pofterity would pronounce the most glorious that had ever met in this country, was, by the friends of the prefent adminiftration, called to the chair in the new parliament, The motion did honour to the quarter of the House from which it came; and it would do honour to any quarter of it. There was a circumftance which he felt it to be his duty not to pass over unnoticed, as it ought to be brought under the confideration of the Houfe, with all convenient speed, after the election of a Speaker.-The Houfe, he observed, in its prefent ftate, was incomplete; for the very city in which he was then speaking, had no representative in it; the high bailiff having, without even a fhadow of pretence to juftify his conduct, refused to return the members who had been duly elected. By the audacity of his be haviour he had ftruck at the most effen tial and fundamental privileges of the Houfe, which he had treated in the most contemptuous manner; for he would not hesitate to say, that the most audacious returning officer that had ever been punished by a Houfe of Commons, had never made fo daring an attack upon their privileges, as that which had been made yefterday by the high bailiff of Weftminfter. Indeed the bare reading of the fpecial return that he had made, would prove at once what little ground there was for his refusing to return the members; and how cheap he held the privi leges of that Houfe. He obferved, that the reprefentation not being complete in the Houfe, might be urged even as a rea fon for not proceeding to the election of a Speaker; for though by law there ought to be 558 members, out of whom a Speak er might be chofen, that number had not been returned to the Houfe, as Weltminster was at this moment without reprefentatives. He would not then state to gentlemen the dangers that might be fal the conftitution, if returning officers were permitted with impunity to fufpend returns without even a fhadow of ground for fuch contempt of their duty: he would barely fuggeft to the House, that if the returning officer of Rye (the place for which Mr Cornwall fits) had acted in as unbecoming a manner as the high bai

liff of Westminster, the Houfe could not at this moment have it in their power to call to the chair that gentleman, who, on all fides, was with one voice acknowledged to be the best qualified to fill it. This, he faid, was not the moment for difcuffing this point; but he gave notice that he would take the earliest opportunity to bring it under their confideration: and as it was a bufinefs which involved the deareft privileges, nay, the very exiflence of parliament, he would certainly move, unless some other member should do it, that the conduct of the high bailiff of Westminster should be ta ken into confideration before the Houfe fhould proceed to vote an address in anfwer to the speech that his Majesty would make from the throne to-morrow.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer faid, that he concurred most cordially in the praife which had been so very justly given to the Rt Hon Gentleman who was the fubject of the motion then before the Houfe: and from the general concurrence with which he perceived it would be carried, he drew this happy omen, that in this parliament there would be fo much candour, that gentlemen would debate every motion on its own merits, without confidering by whom it was made, or from what quarter of the Houfe it came; and that they would not withhold confidence from minifters without affigning any reafon for fo doing. He was willing to admit, that if the Houfe was incomplete through the misconduct of any returning officer, fuch a circumftance was fo intimately connected with the very existence of the Houfe, that it ought to take the lead of every other business, and be made a fubject of inquiry, without a moment's delay; but ftill he fubmitted to the Rt Hon. Gentleman, whether any proceeding at this moment was not premature: the Rt Hon. Gentleman had faid, that the bare reading of the fpecial return made by the high bailiff of Westminster would convince any man that there was not a fhadow of ground to justify the conduct of the high bailiff, in refufing to return the two candidates who ftood higheft on the poll; but gentlemen would recollect, that till the houfe had elected a Speaker, the return could not be read; and therefore they must wait fome time for that conviction, which, it was faid, would attend the bare reading of the return. On the other hand, he begged gentlemen

would fufpend their judgement on the fubject, until they should have heard the return read, and not fuffer themselves to be hurried away inconfiderately to adopt the opinions and affertions of the Rt Hon. Gentleman, as convincing arguments on this point.

Mr Pitt having fat down, Ld Graham and Sir George Howard went over to Mr Cornwall, who was fitting by the fide of Mr Fox; and each taking him by an arm, led him to the chair. Mr Cornwall, standing on the steps of the chair, thanked the House for the high honour they had conferred upon him. But tho' they had refused to comply with the requeft he had made to them, to elect fome other perfon more qualified than he was to fill their chair, ftill he could not acquiefce in their determination to fix him in the chair; and therefore he would put up his prayer to his Majefty, to relieve him from the burden, fo far above his ftrength, which the House had refolved to impofe upon him. The House endeavoured to be grave, while the Speakerelect was thus, in the language of parliament, difabling himself.

Next day, May 19. the King having come to the Houfe of Peers about two o'clock, and being feated on the throne, Sir Francis Molyneux was fent to order the attendance of the House of Commons; who being, with their Speaker, come to the bar, Mr Cornwall addressed the Throne to the following purport:

"In confequence of a command from his Majefty, which the Commons have received to elect a speaker, I am to inform his Majesty, that they have proceeded to the exercife of that ancient and undoubted right. I have the honour to be the object of their choice. On this occafion, however, I cannot refrain from expreffing my apprehenfions, that my abilities are by no means adequate to the difcharge of that weighty and important truft which they have repofed in me, Under thefe circumstances, I muft entreat his Majefty, that he would give his command to his Commons to proceed to another election."

The Lord Chancellor then addreffed the Speaker as follows: "I have received the commands of his Majefty to exprefs the confidence which he has in your experience, abilities, and integrity, and to notify his Majefty's approbation and command, that you should take upon you the high and important truft which Ff2

his

His faithful Commons have placed in you." The Speaker then replied, "The beft way I can take to return his Majefty my acknowledgements for the high honour he has done me, by his approbation and confidence, is by the moft ferious and ftrenuous exertions of fuch abilities as I poffefs, and the trueft integrity of heart, in the discharge of the high employment with which I am invefted. I muft entreat for myself every indulgence for my failings; and that the most favourable conftruction may be put upon all my proceedings. I muft likewife claim for the Houfe of Commons, over which I am to prefide, the affurance of the continuance of an exemption from arrest of its members, of a free access to his Majefty's perfon, and of all other their ancient and undoubted rights."

The Ld Chancellor then faid, "How ever small the need may be of his Majefty's favourable indulgence on account of your abilities, I am ordered to give you his Majesty's affurance of every favourable interpretation of your conduct. I am also authorifed to affure you of his Majefty's refolution to preferve all the ancient rights of the House of Commons inviolate, and, among others, thofe of freedom from arreft, of free access to his perfon, and of a favourable conftruction on the proceedings of the House."

This ceremony being over, his Majefty made the following fpeech from the throne.

"My Lords and Gentlemen,

I have the greateft fatisfaction in meet ing you in parliament at this time, after recurring, in fo important a moment, to the fenfe of my people. I have a juft and confident reliance, that you are animated with the fame fentiments of loyalty, and the fame attachment to our excellent conftitution, which I have had the happiness to see so fully manifested in every part of the kingdom. The happy effects of fuch a difpofition will, I doubt not, appear in the temper and wisdom of your deliberations, and in the dispatch of the important objects of public bufinefs which demand your attention. It will afford me peculiar pleasure to find, that the exercife of the power intrusted to me by the conftitution has been productive of confequences fo beneficial to my fubjects, whofe intereft and welfare are always neareft my heart.

Gentlemen of the House of Commons,

I have ordered the estimates for the

current year to be laid before you; and I trust to your zeal and affection to make fuch provifions for their farther fupply, and for the application of the fums granted in the last parliament, as may appear to be neceffary.

I fincerely lament every addition to the burdens of my people; but they will, I am perfuaded, feel the neceffity, after a long and expenfive war, of effectually providing for the maintenance of the national faith, and our public credit, fo effential to the power and prosperity of the ftate.

My Lords and Gentlemen,

The alarming progress of frauds in the revenue, accompanied in fo many inftances with violence, will not fail, on every account, to excite your attention. I muft, at the fame time, recommend to your most serious confideration, to frame fuch commercial regulations, as may appear immediately neceffary in the present moment. The affairs of the Eaft-India Company form an object of deliberation deeply connected with the general interefts of the country. While you feel a juf anxiety to provide for the good government of our poffeffions in that part of the world, you will, I trust, never lofe fight of the effect which any measure to be adopted for that purpose may have on our own conftitution, and our dearest interefts at home. You will find me always defirous to concur with you in fuch measures as may be of lafting benefit to my people. I have no with but to confult their profperity, by a conftant attention to every object of national concern, by an uniform adherence to the true principles of our free conftitution, and by fupporting and maintaining, in their juft balance, the rights and privileges of every branch of the legislature.'

His Majefty having retired, the Earl of Macclesfield rofe to move an addrefs of thanks. He said, he was independent of any fet of men; and although he had a good opinion of the present ministers, he was by no means a blind partizan. It was a principle which in this inftance induced him to ftand forward; and he would ftate his reafons in a very few words. A difference had taken place in the late House of Commons, by which the neceffary bufinefs of the kingdom was totally interrupted; the parties were fo nearly equal, that it was difficult to determine between them-the conteft continued, till at length the nation took the

alarm,

alarm, and addresses poured in from every quarrter to the Throne, praying redrefs, condemning the proceedings of numbers of their reprefentatives, denying their speaking the fentiments of their conftituents, and almost demanding a diffolution of parliament. To this his Majefty was moft graciously pleased to acquiefce; and, in the fulness of his affection, had appealed to the voice of his people. His Lordship then entered pretty largely into the merits of the speech, and declared the royal attention was fo confpicuous in every part of it, that he trufted their Lordships would feel it as a duty incumbent on them to pafs an addrefs of thanks unanimously. After dwelling fome time on the different parts of the fpeech, particularly the entering immediately on the difpatch of public bufinefs, the preventing frauds in the revenue, the neceffity of immediate regulations in the Eaft-India Company, and the promise of fupporting the just balance of every branch of the conftitution, his Lordship moved an address.

Lord Falmouth, in a fhort fpeech, expreffive of his approbation of adminiftration, feconded the motion.

Earl Fitzwilliam got up and agreed with the Noble Lords, that there was an abfolute neceffity to proceed on the bufinefs of the nation with the utmost difpatch; for it had been moft ftrangely delayed. He likewife approved that part of the addrefs which alluded to checking the frauds in the revenue, and the promife of immediately framing fome regulations to prevent the entire ruin of the Eaft-India Company; the profperity of which was fo intimately connected with that of the kingdom at large; but he could by no means applaud that amazing fretch of the royal prerogative which had lately been advifed and adopted. He could with this part had been omitted. However, as he had no defire to difturb the unanimity of the House, he fhould not propofe any amendment; but, being on his legs, he begged to be understood that he entered his proteft againft it. The addrefs was then put, and carried.

The Commons having returned to their own Houfe, Mr Cornwall feated himself in the Speaker's chair; and having firft taken the ufual oaths himself, proceeded to adminifler the fame to the other members. This bufinefs was continued from

day to day, till Friday, when the House adjourned till Monday.

The Commons having accordingly met on the 24th, the Speaker rofe, and gave notice, that there were sor members fworn, who had taken their feats.

Mr Lee (late Solicitor-General) then rofe, and informed the House, that he had a matter to fubmit to their confideration which refpected the privileges of parliament. He then entered at large into the conduct of the High Bailiff of Weftminster, in not returning two citi zens into parliament on the writ directed to him for that purpose. The fpecial return which the bailiff had made, [fee p. 268.], Mr Lee contended, was a violation of the rights of parliament, contrary to his known duty, and in exprefs contradiction to the pofitive law of the land. He concluded a long speech with maving, "That Thomas Corbet, high bailiff of Westminster, ought to have returned two perfons to ferve in parliament, according to the writ directed to him for that purpose, before the 18th of May.

Mr Sheridan feconded the motion.

Mr Kenyon, Mafter of the Rolls, faid, he was furprised to hear fuch a doctrine fall from his learned brother, as that of condemning a man unheard. It was always a maxim in equity, audi alteram partem; but in the prefent inftance, the man was to be condemned and punished unheard. He admitted, that at prefent there could not be any excufe made for the conduct of the officer in not making the return; but he thought, while the matter was in doubt, it would be proper to defer all cenfure until what the bailiff could alledge in his behalf was heard. In order, therefore, to get rid of the motion, he moved the previous queftion.

Lord Mahon feconded the motion, and argued in defence of the officer.

Lord North averred, that the question before the Houfe went not to cenfure the bailiff for more than what the bailiff himself had offered as his defence. The matter to be confidered was fimply this, Whether the high bailiff, from his own statement of the cafe, was culpable or not in making the return he did. The maxim, as founded by the ftatutes, in refpect to elections, is, that both the poll and the fcrutiny ought to be finished before the return of the writ; and that,

after