who composed the Council who sat to deliberate on the occasion seemed to him to be sadly deficient in prudence or common sense, and indeed far below the Council of the City of London. For his own part, he preferred the temperance, the judgment, and the discretion evinced by the Common Council of the City to that of the whole of the ten or twelve Ministers who at present formed the Council of his Majesty.

The Marquis of Clanricarde thought the House should not take the bare assertion of the noble Duke, that he possessed further and better information with respect to intentions to disturb the public peace, as being sufficient to justify the Government in giving advice to his Majesty to send a letter which was very little else than an insult to the inhabitants of the City of London. He said, at once, that it was not the King, but the Duke of Wellington, that was likely to receive insult; and what necessity was there that his Grace should accompany his Majesty on such an occasion? Where, too, was the necessity of calling in the new police, which was said to be so much disliked? When the Lord High Admiral visited the City there was no disturbance. There would have been none if the King had visited the City, and if any was apprehended, why could not the King be accompanied by the household troops? For what other purpose was that force kept up? He had visited the City during Tuesday night, and walked through the crowd, and he confessed he saw no disturbance or tendency towards disturbance, except where the new police were stationed. Of disloyalty to the Sovereign, at all events, no trace was to be found at any period of the tumults which he had seen or heard of in any part of the metropolis.

Lord Wharncliffe said, he for one must tell the noble Marquis that he gave all approbation and applause to what the Government had done, with reference to the night alluded to. The noble Marquis and others had spoken of the popularity of the King. No man doubted that the King was popular, and that he deserved to be so; but the proceeding which the noble Marquis found fault with had no reference to his Majesty's popularity. The real question was this. Tumult and confusion were expected, and the Government was driven to the necessity of em

bracing an alternative. They were compelled either to postpone the visit of the Royal Family to the City, or allow it to take place, and adopt measures for the suppression of disorder; but at the same time they would be under the necessity of subjecting the Sovereign and his Consort to the pain of witnessing a conflict between their guards and their subjects. That alternative his Majesty's advisers would not risk, and he approved of their determination. He had witnessed some of these conflicts at other times, and he dreaded the necessity at any time of having recourse to the military power. He was satisfied that it ought never to be employed until the last extremity. Every means should be taken to avoid it; and when it was resorted to, every friend of his country and humanity must regret the necessity.

COAL TRADE.] The Duke of Rutland presented a Petition from Scarborough against the Duty on Sea-borne Coals.

The Marquis of Londonderry presented a similar Petition from the lessees, owners, and others connected with the Coal Mines in the vicinity of the Tyne. The petitioners prayed inquiry, and suggested the great benefits which might now be secured to this country if the duties were removed. It was numerously signed, and ought to have weight with the Government. Independent of the injustice of allowing coals to be transmitted by rail-roads free of duty, while the shipping interests were oppressed with a heavy impost, and the commerce of the country materially injured, the noble Marquis pressed on the attention of the House the propriety of endeavouring to secure the custom of those countries which had hitherto been supplied with coals from Belgium, and were now deprived, by the state of that part of the dominions of the king of the Netherlands, of their usual supply. He also alluded to the possibility of increasing the demand from Ireland; and although it was to be lamented that any diminution of the Revenue should take place at a time when the state of Europe rendered it probable that England would require an increase of her expenditure, still he thought the national benefits would be

more than commensurate to the loss.

The noble Marquis presented a Petition from the Coal-owners of the county of Durham, to the same effect.

Lord Teynham was in favour of the re

raise the wages of their labourers, but he, denied that they had done so from the motive of intimidation. The farmers of Kent and Sussex were not accessible to such motives, and he hoped the noble Lord would give them credit for nobler motives. He rose chiefly for the purpose of contradicting that assertion, and he would not discuss the Bill of his noble friend. He differed entirely from the noble Lord in thinking that the Government should have anything to do with the administration of the Poor-laws, for they were the last things he wished the Government to take the management of into its own hands. In his opinion, an inquiry into the Poor-laws, and their administration, would be much better conducted by a Committee of the Lords and Commons than by a Government Commission. The noble Marquis (Salisbury) had said, that he intended, after the recess, to introduce a motion for an inquiry into the subject, but he hoped the noble Marquis would find it convenient and proper to bring it forward sooner. A noble friend of his (Lord Suffield) had remarked, that the main cause of the distresses of the poor, and the low rate of wages, was plain enough; that it was the superabundance of labour, compared with the demand for it. But then there were many who differed about the causes, and it was necessary that others besides the Ministers, and persons whose residence was chiefly in town, should be examined. What did the Ministers and those who resided chiefly in London, Brighton, Cheltenham, and such other places, know about the operation of the Poor-laws? It was necessary to have inquiry made in order to call the attention of Government to the subject, and to enlighten those who did not understand it. He did not agree with those who might think that the repeal of taxes would have little effect in relieving the distress of the people. He did not think, however, that it was particularly requisite to reduce materially the tax on hops, because that was an article in which there was no reason to dread a competition; but he should be very glad of a reduction or repeal of the tax on malt, and on other articles, and he was satisfied that a reduction might be made without loss to the revenue, as the consumption would be increased. He hoped the Government would consider whether something might not be done in the way of repealing, reducing, or equaliz

ing taxes. He thought it right to throw out these few words, but he should hardly have risen, had it not been to repel the attack on the yeomanry of the counties of Kent and Sussex.

Lord Teynham took all that the noble Duke had said in good part, as he was sure that the noble Duke could never mean to say anything that was not parliamentary. But still he must persist in the opinion which he had given-which was, that the yeomanry of those counties had raised their wages, not out of choice, but compulsion. He had received a letter to that effect from a most respectable individual, well acquainted with the circumstances, in which it was stated, that the farmers had been forced to promise fifteen shillings a week, although they could not pay it, and he was ready to produce that individual at the Bar if required to do so.

Lord Stourton thought the question one of deep concern to the country, and any suggestion, coming from any quarter, to ameliorate the condition of the labouring classes, would not fail to interest the feelings, and excite the sympathy of their Lordships. He agreed with those who thought that distress was not universally prevalent. He could say, at least, that the people who lived in the quarter where he resided were in as good circumstances as they had been for the last thirty years. Having himself a good deal of land in his own hands, he had laid his books before him, and compared the remuneration which the labourers received, and the prices which they paid for provisions; and he could take upon himself to say, that at no time for these last thirty years were they in better circumstances. this in order to shew that the Poor-laws themselves were not the cause of the evils: even the abuse of the Poor-laws in the administration of them was rather symptomatic of the evil, than its cause. The real cause of the evil lay deeper; and he agreed with the noble Lord near him (Suffield) who found it in the superabundance of labour above the demand-in other words, the surplus of unemployed labourers. That prevailed to a most lamentable extent in Ireland, and from Ireland it spread into this country. If, then, they intended to apply an effectual remedy, they must go to the root of the evil. Unless they did this, they did nothing; for the noxious weed of poverty would burst through every regulation of a different description. The

He mentioned