Mr. Wilberforce declared, that with one exception, there could not, in his opinion, be a more unobjectionable appointment than that which was the subject of the present discussion. By the general acknowledgment, there was a greater weight of business on the sovereign at the present day, owing in a great measure to the extended scale of our military operations, than at any former period. If any one voted against the motion, except on the conviction that there had been a great increase in public business, that person's view of the subject was very different from his. Under similar circumstances any man, even if he possessed the exertions and talents of the hon. gentleman who had just spoken, might want a secretary. The situation of private secretary was not one of responsibility, neither did it encroach on the province of any minister of the crown. The ministers of the crown would still be the legal and constitutional organs through which all the public business must be transacted; and they would be liable to the same responsibility after this appointment as before it. The necessity of a private secretary to the Prince was obvious. As a precedent it was not dangerous. It was indispensable. Even his present Majesty, the most laborious prince who had ever filled the British throne, had, towards the latter part of his reign, been almost overwhelmed with public business. At the same time he must frankly declare his wish, that colonel McMahon had been paid out of the privy purse. It would have been a more seemly and decorous proceeding; though certainly the publicity which the proceeding that had been adopted in preference gave to the appointment, was a kind of security against any secret influence. As he was on the subject of secret influence, he would mention to the House, that he once had a conversation with a noble lord, now no more (lord North), who, in a former part of his political life, had spoken of an influence behind the throne, greater than the throne itself; and that on his questioning that noble lord towards the close of his life, with respect to his then opinion on the existence of such influence, his lordship said that he did not believe that any such existed. He had often been joked about his doubts as to his vote; but on this occasion he should have no hesitation in voting against the motion, because to vote for it would be to vote for the reversal of the appointment in question. Mr. Whitbread explained; and said, that in the various trades he was engaged in, he employed many clerks: he had one private one, but he paid him out of his own pocket. Lord Folkestone wished to know what were the functions of the private secretary? Colonel Taylor's appointment formed no precedent. The present was like a question about a favourite or minion. He remembered when he was abroad in Russia, in the Emperor Paul's time, when prodigious activity seemed to prevail in the offices, and even the petty matters and details of the dress regiments were made concerns of the most serious importance, there was a person, sprung from low extraction, who rose in favour till he was actually made Privy Counsellor and Private Secretary to the emperor. This man was most about the imperial person, and every communication was made through him. Though he held only those two offices, all the parasites of the court fawned upon him. After some time, it appeared he was subservient to the views of France. He destroyed the influence of the ministers, who were there responsible to no parliament, overcame a proud nobility, turned them out of all places, and ultimately laid that country at the foot of French intrigue. He did not mean to say, that colonel M. was a man likely to do this: but it was right to look at the possibility of bad successors to such an office under some future weak prince. Seeing the possibility of such a danger, he should vote for the motion. Mr. Marryat would vote against the motion, because he conceived it a party question, and not involving any thing constitutional. Surely they would not refuse the Prince Regent a private secretary, when they allowed three to a military commander. Mr. Charles Adams said, that he voted against the last appointment of colonel M Mahon, because it was directly in the teeth of a resolution of the House. As to the present appointment, he had not heard any ground of opposition to it. The hon. gentleman on the other side had alluded to members who had lately changed their seats. If he had changed his seat, he certainly had not changed his mind; for he would give the same conscientious vote now that he gave then. In this new era he did not doubt but many members would have been glad to have changed sides; and he knew that even the hon. gentleman himself had before altered his seat, though not perhaps his principle. The hon. gentleman would give him as well as himself the advantage of the classic maxim: ་ Cælum, non animum mutant qui trans mare currunt.' could never furnish a precedent for the appointment of colonel McMahon. By the dexterity of their former patriotism, the House had brought an additional burden on the country of 300l. a year. It was to be considered too, that the salary Mr. Tierney regarded the present as a of this appointment was not the only one most important question. The hon. mem- enjoyed by colonel M.Mahon. He had ber for Yorkshire had approved of the undoubtedly been a faithful servant, but appointment on the ground that the Prince was he not rewarded at least in a fair Regent was too weak and infirm an old proportion to his services? At that mo. gentleman to act without it, and thus, for ment, as privy purse, he received 1,000%. once in his life, had made up his mind to a year. As auditor of the duchy of Corna decided vote. He understood the hon. wall, he received 1,000l. a year more, bemember also to bestow his approbation sides 500l. a year as secretary to the on the proceeding, because there had been Prince in his ducal capacity. With this a great addition to the business of the so- new office, therefore, he received 4,500l. vereign. Now where was the addition to a year; which was pretty well. The be discovered? Was it in the foreign of- hon. member for Yorkshire, notwithstandfice? Had the present foreign ministering the vote he was to give that night, more to communicate to his Royal High- had yet started one little difficulty, which ness than his predecessor had to the King? was, however, something for an economiWas it in the home department; Admit- cal gentleman like him-he was sorry ting this to have increased, was it not that any money at all was to be paid by known that all the details were managed the country for this appointment. For by the minister, leaving to the Prince no- his part, he had no hostile feeling to colothing but the task of affixing his signature nel M'Mahon, and wished to do nothing -a task from which no private secretary unpleasant to the Prince. He would alcould relieve him. He hoped the hon. low that it might be necessary for the member for Yorkshire, on informing him- Prince to have advisers on military and self a little better on this part of the ques- other subjects. This, however, was said tion, would see reason for changing his to be quite different; to be a private siopinion. The only duty that could be tuation. He denied that there could be named, certainly appeared to be that de- any thing private in such a situation. scribed by his hon. friend, of assorting and Colonel M'Mahon must either be secretying up papers in red tape, although the tary of state, or he could be nothing. hon. gentleman, for the first time he be- Another thing he wished to know, was, lieved in that House, had talked of the whether this was to be a place for life or necessity of attending to the Prince's not? How did he know but that immeprivate concerns. The private secretary diately after this appointment other pertruly was to assist the Regent in his pri- sons might be called in to discharge the vate correspondence. Now really, he pretended duties of it, and that this might was not aware of any increase in the pri- turn out a direct sinecure for colonel vate friends of that illustrious person which M'Mahon? He would own, for his own made such an appointment necessary. part, if he were to have any transactions And if there were, what necessity was with his Royal Highness, he would not there for making the private letter-writer apply to him through the medium of the a privy counsellor? Colonel Taylor might right hon. gentleman opposite. He would or might not be private secretary to his prefer the intervention of colonel M'MaMajesty, but he had no right to assume hon to going through all the tedious frithat he held such a situation. His ap- volities of Downing-street. Though some pointment was not gazetted. He under- men might be without prejudices and prestood that his Majesty objected to his be- dilections, there were others who might ing a privy counsellor, not being willing have them, and he, for one, certainly to recognize the necessity of assistance in would entertain a predilection for one of the discharge of his royal duties from any these modes of application in preference quarter whatever. Colonel Taylor, though to the other.-The hon. member for Yorknot paid out of the privy purse, was paid shire had said, he would have no objection out of the royal and special bounties; his to the production of the papers moved salary never met the public eye, and it for, if they were wanted for the purpose of information. That was exactly what he wished for. He asked for nothing but to know whether or not the country required this new office? He believed that it was no more than a pretence to obtain 2,000l. a year from the public for colonel McMahon. Mr. Fuller should vote with all his heart and soul against the motion. Did not they allow on the other side that his Royal Highness had an immense number of private letters to write? And was that no ground for the appointment? Gentlemen should recollect, that when his Majesty ascended the throne, he was young and hearty. That he used to get up and go to bed early.-And that he was quite able to go through all his papers without any help. Now did not they know that the Prince Regent was not so and young, that he would therefore want a secre Burrell, sir C. Dundas, hon. L. tary? The question was a Grenville ques-Dundas, hon. C. L. tion. It was worse than a party question. If the Grenvilles wanted to be so very patriotic, why did not some of the family throw up their sinecures? It would have been real patriotism to take no more of the public money from an overburthened people; not to be sucking their blood as those patriots seemed, out of affection, determined to do. Sinecures that, when they were conferred on that family, were worth but about 5 or 6,000l. a year, now had increased to 30,000l.; and yet it was this bloated family that complained of colonel M Mahon's appointment. In fact it was their vanity that was disappointed, and all those measures were the result of that disappointment. There was a rancorous hatred lately manifested against all the measures of the Prince Regent, and it betrayed itself on this as well as on other occasions. Let the country now see who were the real friends of the Prince Regent. He did not mean any disparagement to lord Grey and the duke of Bedford; but they chose to load themselves with the Grenvilles. If they would tie a mill-stone about their neck and sink, it was not the fault of the Prince, nor of the country, but their own. Mr. W. Wynn replied, when the House divided, For the motion 100: against it 176Majority 76. BARRACK ESTIMATES.] The Report of the Committee of Supply being brought up and read, Mr. Fremantle objected to the Barrack Estimates. He said, that the barrack to be erected in the Regent's Park was estimated to cost 133,500l. which was only to contain 416 men, which would be at the rate of 350l. per man. That at Liverpool, which was to contain 2 regiments of infantry, would cost 82,000l.; and that at Bristol, for only 800 men, was estimated at 60,000l. making a total of 275,000l. for three barracks. He then argued at length on the general extravagance of expenditure in the barrack system, which had 365] Petitions from Dunfermline and Stirling. since the commencement of the war, cost the country upwards of 15 millions. When this enormous sum was taken into consideration, he was convinced the House would pause before they voted such a large additional sum as that now required, till they saw the estimate and the plan, and could thereby form something like a correct idea of the real expence. pany, either in their corporate capacity or otherways, the petitioners, confiding in the liberal and enlightened views and wisdom of parliament, humbly hope and trust that the exclusive privileges of the company may not be renewed or continued, and that the East India trade may be made admissible to all the subjects of the empire, a measure that will certainly afford an exMr. Wharton contended, that the hon. tensive field for the employment of mergentleman had mixed the barrack expen-cantile talents and capital, now rendered diture with the building of barracks, and that the whole expence of barracks since the commencement of the war, did not amount to within two millions of the sum he had stated. Mr. Whitbread proposed instead of the word "now," "this day se'nnight." A conversation took place, in which Mr. Ponsonby, Mr. Wilberforce, Sir J. New. port, and Mr. Bankes, spoke in favour of the amendment; and it was at length agreed, on the suggestion of Mr. Bankes, that the report should be agreed to, with respect to all the articles, except those which related to the barracks, and that they should be deferred till this day se'nnight. HOUSE OF COMMONS. Wednesday, April 15. PETITIONS FROM Dunfermline AND STIRLING RESPECTING THE RENEWAL OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY'S CHARTER.] A Petition of the provost magistrates and common council of the royal burgh of Dunfermline, in council assembled, was presented and read; setting forth, "That, in the view of the approaching expiration of the Charter of the united company of merchants trading to the East Indies, by which a commercial monopoly is enjoyed by that company, in the humble opinion of the petitioners, highly prejudicial to the interests of the country at large, they beg leave respectfully to convey to the House their sentiments on a subject of such great and general importance, and especially at a crisis when, from the continental restrictions on the trade and manufactures of Great Britain and Ireland, the commercial interests of the empire have suffered incalculable injury; and that, far from presuming to obtrude any particular suggestions on a subject to which the united wisdom of the legislature is now called, the future government of British India, and disclaiming all interference with the East India trading com nearly dormant through the tyrannic policy A Petition of the guildry of Stirling, was also presented and read; setting forth, "That, in the prospect of the East India company's charter being soon expired, the petitioners beg leave respectfully to address the House on this very important subject, so highly interesting to the empire at large; and that they humbly plead the natural right that every British subject has to exercise a free trade with every country dependent upon or in amity with the British empire; that the experience of past ages sufficiently proves the general inexpediency of commercial monopolies ; that the monopoly hitherto enjoyed by the East India company, while it has excluded British subjects from any participation in the trade, so far from operating to the advantage of the company, has laid them under the necessity of frequently applying to government for enormous sums of the public money to support their establishment, so that even in this respect it is a national grievance; and that it is extremely discouraging, and in itself unnatural, that the merchants of foreign nations should be allowed the benefit of a free trade to British possessions of such magnitude, which is denied to British merchants; and the circumstance of Americans and other foreign nations carrying on trade with those countries comprehend- | ed in the East India company's charter, completely refutes the arguments urged by those interested in the monopoly, of a free trade being prejudicial to private merchants, and that the petitioners humbly beg leave farther to state, that the continuance of this monopoly bears peculiarly hard on British merchants at present, when our inveterate foe is exerting all his power to shut out this nation from commercial intercourse with the continent of Europe, which renders the continuation of that system peculiarly inexpedient; and that, on the other hand, the admission of a free and unfettered trade with such a large proportion of the population of the globe most fortunately presents a very seasonable substitute for the loss of European commerce, the vast extent of countries and variety of climates, situated between the Cape of Good Hope and the Straits of Magellan, affording an extensive field for mercantile talents and capital, beyond the tyrannical grasp of the enemy; and such an opening | cannot fail to prove highly gratifying and beneficial to the British empire at large, strengthen and secure its vital interests, by reviving languishing commerce and manufactures at home, and most effectuallydefeating the grand object of our inveterate foe on the continent; and praying the House neither to renew nor continue the exclusive privileges of the East India company, and in its wisdom to adopt such measures as may render it lawful for any of his Majesty's subjects, from and after the 1st day of March 1814, to carry on from all ports of the United Kingdom a free and unlimited trade with the British possessions in India, and with all other countries situated to the east of the Cape of Good Hope, and to the west of Cape Horn." -Ordered to lie upon the table. PETITION OF THE ROMAN CATHOLICS OF CORK.] Mr. Hutchinson said, that he held in his hand a Petition from the Catholic inbabitants of the county and city of Cork, praying, that all persons professing the Roman Catholic persuasion, might be relieved from the pressure of those disabilities and disqualifications under which they at present laboured: it was not his intention to go then at all into the discussion of a question, which was soon to be treated in a manner so much more suitable to its importance, but he begged the attention of the House, to the language and character of the Petition itself. It was every way worthy of the great cause in behalf of which it was preferred; in bold and constitutional language; it called upon that House to make the British constitution stronger than it then was, by extending it to every British subject. It spoke a language worthy of men, who knew how to value the rights they applied for, such as freemen should at all times use, and a British parliament should at no period be unwilling to hear. He had also to state, that every signature to the Petition was the hand-writing of the person whose name it specified, comprehending almost all the Catholic respectability, weight, influence, and property of the county. He could also assure the House, that there had been no sort of interference made use of to swell the number of, the signatures, every man was left to do as he pleased, a circumstance that must have created rather an awkward sort of contrast, to that feverish anxiety evinced in other quarters to procure signatures to a Petition of a very different tendency. He strongly deprecated every interposition of this sort as most unconstitutional, as an attempt to disguise from parliament the real sentiments of the Protestants of Ireland, upon the subject of the claims of their Catholic fellow-subjects. The Petition was then brought up and read; setting forth, That, contemplating the warning fate of surrounding nations, and the fearful disparity of our physical means in the vital conflict in which we are engaged, the Petitioners respectfully express, as they deeply feel, a serious and surely not irrational apprehension of the result, unless the legislature in its wisdom shall hasten to oppose an effectual counterpoise to the mighty power now wielded with such rancorous hostility for our destruction; and this great object, it appears to the Petitioners, can only be achieved, by calling into instantaneous action, and combining, in protection of these threatened realms, every vigorous and quickening impulse, all the elements of generous and moral feeling that can animate and exalt the human breast; and yet, amidst the crowding terrors of these days, in a war emphatically distinguished as a war of principle, when an enlightened policy would be anxious to communicate the equal benefits, in order to infuse the unconquered spirit of freedom, the Petitioners behold, with concern and dismay, a vast majority of the population of this land still degraded and discouraged; above four millions of a gallant and loyal people are summoned to |