sions in his motion which had a tendency to degrade the court; and he had further to state, on the authority of a right hon. friend of his, the under secretary of state for the home department, that by some accident or other, the second address of that House missed its way, and never reached the proper office.

Mr. Horner, while he expressed his sur prise at the last circumstance mentioned by the right hon. gentleman, allowed that it tended to remove a great part of the odium from the court of session. He however denied the accuracy of the right hon. gentleman's statement, that there had not been any act of sederunt on the part of the court; maintaining that there had been an act of the court, augmenting the fees of the clerks, and that a statement to that effect ought to have been made to the House by the court.

Mr. Wynn thought the dignity of the House implicated in this subject. He was at a loss to conceive how the second address of the House could have missed its way to the proper office, when, on referring to the journals, he found in them the answer of his royal highness the Prince Regent.

Mr. Brougham observed, that this was not a matter of ordinary importance, but one involving those inquisitorial functions of parliament which ought to be scrupulously guarded. He hoped it would be found, as the right hon. gentleman opposite expressed his conviction it would be found, that this apparent neglect of the court of session had arisen in misapprehension on the part of the learned judges of that court, and not in carelessness-not in a distaste of the inquisitorial character of the House of Commons-not in that insolence of office, which induced them to consider themselves almost free from parliamentary control, at the distance at which they sat from the seat of legislation. It sometimes happened in courts of justice, that the severest sarcasms were uttered against the most sacred functions of the legislature. By some good fortune, however, those expressions had invariably been allowed to pass without notice. When a poor man, such as Mr. Gale Jones, ventured to utter any thing against the character of parliament, he was visited by an imprisonment; but when persons high in office, filling the most important stations of the law, whose duty it was to maintain the rights of every branch of the constitution, spoke with freedom of the privileges

of that House they did so with perfect im punity.

Lord Castlereagh condemned the precipitation with which the hon. and learned gentleman had taken an opportunity to intimate charges against eminent individuals, by no means convicted of having treated the orders of that House with disrespect. It appeared that they might have entertained a misconception with respect to the first order, and that the second, in all pro→ bability, never reached them. It was for the House, under these circumstances, to consider whether they would merely enforce an immediate compliance with the order, or go beyond the necessity of the case, and assume that disrespect had been shown, where, from the respectable character of the learned body in question, it could not be supposed to be entertained, and where no motives could exist for withholding the required information. In his view of the subject, the hon. and learned gentleman's address to the House did not seem to be in the true spirit of benevo❤ lence; and he trusted that the House would not prefer a course calculated to reflect on a distinguished body of individuals, and thereby to diminish the authority which it was the duty of parliament to maintain. He saw no objection to framing the motion in such a way as to fix a particular time when the papers should be laid before the House, or to make it pray that orders might be given to present them forthwith. The objection which he had to the motion in its present shape was to the latter part of it, which contained expressions not at all necessary. If used now they would only show that the orders of the House had been disobeyed, which from what had been stated in the course of the debate, was not the case. The latter words of the address could not be used without imputing intentional disrespect on the part of the lords of the session.

Sir John Newport observed, that the noble lord seemed to think that it would be quite sufficient if the House got the papers. He, however, was by no means of that opinion. He thought that the House were bound to inquire, why the papers were not produced last year. Something was due to the authority of parliament. His purpose, therefore, would not be answered by getting the papers. purpose was to get the papers, and to know why they had not sooner been produced and where the blame lay. It had been said, that the second address

missed its way to the proper office. How was this statement to be reconciled with the fact, that an answer from his royal highness to the address appeared in the journals? It had also been said, that the court of session imagined that they were to communicate the information required to the commission previously appointed. No court, of whatever rank had a right to a discretion on such a subject, but were bound to obey the orders of parliament. He would not, therefore forego any part of his motion.

Lord Castlereagh said, that he had no objection whatever to the clause in the right hon. baronet's motion, requiring the reasons which had occasioned the delay in complying with the orders of the House. The expressions he objected to were those which, without any knowledge on the part of the House of those reasons, described the delay as an offence.

Mr. W. Dundas moved, as an amendment, to leave out all the words of the motion after the words " together with," for the purpose of substituting the following:"the reasons that delayed the return of the aforesaid papers."

Mr. Ponsonby observed, that no man could deny the propriety of his right hon. friend's insisting on a prompt obedience to the orders of parliament. At the same time, he thought it might be as well to omit any expressions implying censure, until the cause of the delay should be ascertained.

Sir J. Newport then said, that he had no objection to the alteration, pledging himself to found a motion on the return made by the court of session, should it prove unsatisfactory.

The motion, as amended, was then agreed to.

PROPERTY TAX.] Mr. Brougham rose with a petition of an enormous size in his arms, and addressed the Speaker to the following effect:-Sir, I am sure that the noble lord and the right hon. gentleman opposite, must be aware of the subject of the petition which I am about to have the honour to present. It is unnecessary for me to state that subject-they have the evidence of one sense, and that of another would be superfluous. The noble lord and the right hon. gentleman must also be convinced, from the bulk of the petition, that it is against and not in favour of the legislative measure to which it relates. Sir, it is in fact a petition from a large and

respectable body of the inhabitants of Clerkenwell, who are filled with a wellfounded alarm at the threat of the right hon. gentleman, to break the pledge given to the people that the burthens of war should cease with the war, and to propose that the worst and most odious of all taxes that tax which even necessity could scarcely justify that most inquisitorial and most oppressive, and most intolerable tax, the property tax, as it is falsely called, being in fact a tax upon income, should be continued after the conclusion of a peace, or someting like a peace-at least after the close of a negociation, probably the most voluminous in which this country has ever been engaged. It is against this proposition, Sir, that the petitioners warmly but respectfully remonstrate. In fourteen hours, and no more, 3278 individuals flocked to sign this petition. The petitioners not only represent, that to continue the tax would be to violate the faith of parliament, solemnly pledged to the peo ple; they also state, that having for so many years borne this intolerable burthen, not merely with patience but with cheerfulness, in consideration of the necessities of the country, they were gratified beyond expression to see the war terminated, by that glorious victory which filled every heart with just pride and exultation; but that if they should find that the only result of that splendid event, and of the long-delayed peace by which it was followed, should be a continuation of the burthens which they had scarcely been able to bear during the war, they should begin to call in question-a doubt which will be echoed and re-echoed throughout the nation-the utility, to them at least, of that glorious achievement by which they had expected to be relieved from the oppressive weight under which they had so long laboured. I thought it my duty, Sir, thus shortly to describe the nature of the petition; and I now ask leave to present it to the House.

Mr. Baring expressed his hope, that while petitions were preparing on this interesting on this interesting subject in all parts of the island his majesty's ministers would not hurry on the vote of a large peace establishment. There was no reason whatever for haste, as the question might as well be discussud ten days or a fortnight hence as on monday next; and by that time the general sense of the country on the measure, from which alone the support of such an establishment could be expected, would be ascertained. It was very un