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719] POLITICAL REGISTER-Lord Melville's Places-Dundas, Pitt, and Benfield. (720 same terms, I believe; the custody of the Seal, called the Signet, belonged, as you have stated, er officio to the Secretary of State-In 1756, when the office of Scretary for Scotland was abolished, or lid aside, the custody of this Seal (under which various grants, and all the King's judicial

ed, in behalf of the House, and for having unade which complaint, the upstart writer in that paper has accused him of having aimed a destructive blow at the liberty of the press, while, in the same breath, he extols Sir Henry Mildmay as the zealous champion of that liberty!

In my next, Sir, I propose to enter upon writs must pass) was given to Andrew Fletthe topics hinted at in the former part of my first letter.I am, Sir, your, &c. &c. May 16th, 1805. WM. COBBETT.

LORD MELVILLE'S PLACES. SIR,-Your hints relating to Lord Melville's places will, I trust, prove useful to the public; but, in mentioning the precedent of the grant of the Privy Seal to his lordship's immediate predecessor you might have observed, that the predecessor was the brother of the Earl of Bute.-Probably you thought it superfluous; but the statement of the fact might have brought to the recollection of persons, who were in Parliament, or attended to the politics, in the earlier years of His present Majesty's reign, certain circumstances shewing what were the ideas, at that period, of the question now in hand.-----Which John, Earl of Eute was allpowerful in this country, his brother, Mr. Stewart Mackenzie, was the minister for Scotland; that is the channel through which all preferment in that country went. In the year 1763, it was intended to make him Keeper of the Great Seal, that afer the appointment had actually passed the King's hand, it was discovered that it would render Mr. Mackenzie ineligible to Parliament. The Duke of Athol, who then held the Privy Seal, was induced to resign it, and take the Great Seal, and Mr. Mackenzie was appointed Keeper of the Privy Seal, to which office the same objection, for reasons I need not state, was held not to apply. But, Mr. Mackenzie, was not then appointed for life, as nobody supposed the office could be so given. Accordingly, on the change of the ministry in 1765, he was dismissed- -On the coalition between the Lords Chathain and Bute in 1766, Mr. Mackenzie was re-instated, and to prevent, as far as possible, his losing the office, in case of a future change, it was granted to him for his life.--Much doubt was entertained, at the tine, whethen it could be effectual, but the chance was worth taking.I believe, no doubt was, entertained, that, in case of the Royal demise, the grant must all; but His Majesty's life Was better than Mr. Mackenzie's.

As to the office of Keeper of the Signet, of which Lord Melville had a grant for his life, which is now held by his son, upon the

cher, Esq. with the title of Keeper; and,
on his death, to the late Sir Gilbert Elliot.
Whether either of these gentlemen, had the
office granted to him for life, I cannot say
positively; but I believe not; for the grant
to Lord Melville, in that way, occasioned
some surprise, at the time, and was attributed
to the Earl of Shelburne's desire to attach
Mr. Dundas to his interest by the handsome
mode of making him independant.That
the Keeper is, in fact, the Secretary is strictly
correct, and is demonstrated by Mr. Dundas
the present Keeper, holding his seat in Par-
liament; for if it were a new office he would
be ineligible.Here is another anecdote
shewing that formerly it was understood that
the custody of the seals could not be granted
for life. Archibald, Duke of Argyle, was
long the Minister for Scotland, holding the
two offices of Keeper of the Great Seal and
Lord Justice General, and First Criminal
Judge in Scotland, the last being new almost
á sinecure. It was intended to make an ad-
dition to the duke's sinecure by increasing
the salary of the Keeper of the Great Seal,
just as Lord Melville Intely obtained the ad
dition to that of the Privy Seal. But the
duke, whose sagacity was proverbial, ob-
served, that, as he might be turned out
of the office of Keeper, it was better to
make an addition to that of Justice General,
which he could legally hold for life, as e
of the Judges; the matter was managed c-
cordingly. His grace never dreamed that
the office of the Keeper of the King's Seal
would be granted either for the life of the
Sovereign or for that of his grantee.—Cos-
stantly when the Justice General was absen,
the Clerk of the Justiciary Court suppled
his place. Hence the Second Criminal Judge
in Seeland (in truth the first effeicat one)
bears the very awkward title of Lord Jastict
Clerk.I am, Sir, your humble servant,
A. B. May 13th, 1805.

MESSES. DUNDAS, PITT, AND BENFIELD. SIR,I do not know what the precis amount of the debt due from the East India Company, to the creditors of the Nabb of Arcot may be; but, I fancy it exceeds three millions sterling, and is a part of the present Irdia debt. You have often alluded to the Nabob's debts, and the sanction which Lord

The

Nabob from this time became a marketable commodity, after having been for many years little better than waste paper.In 1790, Lord Cornwallis was compelled to apply the whole revenues of the Carpat to the support of the war with Tippoo Sultaun; and the payment both of interest and principal on the Nabob's debts to individuals was suspended, amounting during the suspension of interest, nearly a million steffing. After the peace with ppoo, the creditors' applied for the interest which was due to them during the period that the revenues of the Carnatie were under sequestration. This claim the Directors rejected, understanding that the payment of interest was to discontinue during war. Mr. Dundas' was of a different opinion, and though he admitted that the payment of interest must discontinue, yet the claim was only suspended for a time. In vain did the Directors argue that this was not the true construction of an agreement forced upon them. Mr. Dundas a second time compelled them to transmit orders to India, of which they did not approve.

-In

1801, Lord Wellesley assumed the sovereignty of the Carnatic, and made the Nabob a pensioner, From that morient, the creditors became creditors of the Company, and there is no distinction between the debt due to them, and to individuals, who have bona fide lent their money to the East India Company. You will find the original his

Melville gave to the claims of his creditors. It is certainly the most questionable part of his conduct, as the minister of India. I will endeavour shortly to state the case. It was an old standing order of the Company, that none of their servants should lend' money to the Zemindars or native Princes. But, notwithstanding this order, many persons tempted by the high interest, of thirty, forty, and even fifty per cent., did make loans to the native Princes and Zemindars, in every part of India. I suppose, there may be at this moment, two millions sterling due to the principal and legal interest of money, lent at various times, by British subjects, to natives under the Bengal government. But, as these loans were in disobedience of positive orders, no man in Bengal was hardy enough to apply to the government abroad or at home, for assistance in recovering their debts, until the debts of the Nabob of Arcot had been legalized, and then, I believe, some applications were made' though unsuccessful. I do not hazard too much, when I say, that the Bengal debts, were at least as fairly contracted, as those of the Nabob of Arcot.-In 1784, Mr. Dundas, contrary to the strong remonstrances of the Court of Directors, gave a legal sanction to all those debts. transaction is fully stated by Mr. Burke, in a speech from which you have made some quotations, but, I think, he has not been correct in all his conclusions. A small part of the debt was contracted with the know-tory of this transaction, very fully detailed in ledge of the Madras government, and at a time, when the loan to the Nabob was of essential advantage to the Company. But the great mass of the debt was contracted in defiance of their positive orders, and therefore, as the Directors argued, they ought not to interfere in it. But Mr. Dundas was of a different opinion. His argument was this. If the Nabob will contintie to assert, as he does, that this whole debt, was for money bona fide lent to him in the course of the last thirty years, and for the interest of which he has not paid, there is no possibility of disCovering whether the bonds were given for money lent or not. He directed, therefore, that the whole of the debt, to which the Nabob might not object, should be paid by instalments. You will observe, that at this time, 1734, the Nabob was deeply indebted to the East India Company, and by the arrangements, the Nabob was to pay a certain sum annually, for the gradual liquidation of his public and private debt. The Directors were compelled by law to transmit this orderto Madras, though against their own opinion, and after they had remonstrated against it in the strongest terms. The bonds of the

the Parliamentary Debates of February,
1805, when Mr. Fox brought forward a mo-
tion on the subject. If I am not mistaken,
Mr. Paul Benfield had at that time bonds of
the Nabob, to the amount of half a million
sterling; which, I believe, was about one
sixth of the whole debt, and no man in his
senses would have given Mr. Benfield fifty
thousand pounds for his bonds, prior to Mr.
Dundas's arrangement.It may be said,
that as the Company are now the Sovereigns
of the Carnatic, it would be highly unjust in
thein not to pay the debts of the late Sove-
reign, even if the arrangements of 1784, had
not taken place. But this would be false
reasoning.
reasoning. The objection of the Directors
was, that five-sixths of the debt, had been
contracted against their most positive orders,
which applied not only to their servants, but
every individual residing under their sanc-
tion in India; consequently, the man who
engages in an illegal peculation has no claim
for redress.I have said, that of the debt
now existing in India, three millions sterling
is due to the creditors of the Nabob of Ar
cot. But, I rather think, if I add what
the Company has already paid, I may say,

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that a third of the whole debt of the Company in India, is. owing to the legal sanction which the Company gave to these debts. Those who knew the late Nabob of the Carnatic, Mahommed Ally Cawn, must be convinced, that when he wanted money, he was indifferent as to the price he paid for it, or the interest that he allowed. It was precisely the same with the late Nabob of Oude, whose creditors are to this day unpaid, and must ever remain unpaid, because the Bengal government would not interfere, in behalf of his creditors.I am, Sir, your humble servant, ASIATICUS. May 14, 1805,

COLLECTORS OF TAXES. SIR,On reading VERAX's second letter in your paper of the 27th ultimo, after having read your arguments to prove that the country has sustained a loss, by the malversations of Lord Melville, a man's mind is imperceptibly forced to other matters of finance. Isay forced, because all circumstances relating to public money are immediately about us, and press directly on our senses they are not regarded with the, too often, cold indifference with which the nass of the people of all descriptions, view the alarming increase both of power and territory, of Napoleon. The heart-burnings in the West-Indies, the calamities in India, and such like events, which though tremendous in themselves, lose great part of their consequence, because they do not immediately affect us. Not so as to the present value of money! Not so as to the sums they pay the collectors of taxes. Every man sees and FEELS that the state of things is altered. Every man perceives that by these overwhelming causes, the comfort and respectability of the clergy, and other parts of the minor aristocracy, have merged into the vortex of merchants, contract jobbers, and men directly under government. The country swarms with them, they absorb every thing, and every consideration. They are the locusts which cover the face of the "earth;"" and the clouds which hide the light of Heaven from our view." But great as are the deprivations, by the majority of the people they were cheerfully submitted to, so long as they conceived the public expenditure was guarded with honour and integrity, so long as they supposed, the imposed burthens were necessary, to ward off the attack of the modern Charlemagne. But, Sir, the people have been grossly deceived; they find "the Pilot who wea

thered the Storm," "who clear'd the Breakers," is steering a direct course for

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some sunken sands, on which, without some change, we must inevitably stick. They find the money, taken from the hard earn ings of the people, from the labour of the country, from the, too often, scanty pittances, and insufficient tythes of the clergy, from the already too small pay of the officers, lavished with profusion; the law for directing its appropriation, broken, and immense sums of it put unnecessarily to hazard. Surely under such circumstances, orderly and respectable meetings, at which the aggrieved people may remonstrate, cau be considered in no other light than as honourable to the feelings of human beings, endowed with reason. They find also, that in the midst of all our perplexities for forming, reforming, and counter-forming volunteers, for adjusting places, pensions, and peerages, for propping administrations, and screening delinquents; for dividing and sub-dividing county meetings, for raising armies by the local influence, of parish officers. They find, I say, that little or nothing is done to check the career of Buonaparté. They find the aggrandizement of the tyrant, increase, equal to his thirst, under the politics of Mr. Pitt; and they find that after he has had the sole control of us, for twenty years, of our purses, manners, habits, and senses, he has left the whole, particularly the last, comparatively in a most shameful state of degradation.But, Sir, on these subjects one might descant for ever; who that has a spark of that feeling which has ever characterised the people of this island, but will exclaim with Macbeth,

Can such things be

And overcome us like a summer's cloud,
Without our special wonder?
You make me strange

Evin to the disposition that I owe,

When now I think, you can behold such things; And keep the natural ruby in your cheeks, While mine are blanch'd with fear.

Verax

But, Sir, to return as briefly as possible to the point from which I started points out, and with great truth, that much mischief must accrue to the public, from the circumstance, of persons acting in the dou ble capacity of collectors and paymasters; to which end it is obvious they must be suf fered to hold in their hands large balances, in a twofold proportion larger than otherwise there would be any occasion for.--Now, Sir, for the sake of exemplification, only take the office of Receivers General for counties: they are distributors as well as collectors, and must have, as has been al ready observed, a considerable balance for the former purpose. Now each county has one gentleman filling this office, some have tu✨.

I am not prepared to say what is generally the average balance in each receiver's hand: but there can be no doubt but that it is considerable, very considerable, and that if the average sum was multiplied by the number of receivers in the kingdom, it would make a balance, for that head of service alone, incredible. Exactly the same may be said of colectors of customs; with this only diffence, that they are not so many in number; and, indeed, the same may be said, of every similar office under government.The cause of this obvious loss is too well known. The effect is, I think, equally clear; to wit, that the interest of such money is properly the public's, for they have advanced it before it is wanted, and certainly to no purpose. I leave out of the question the temptation held out, to follow the example of Mr. Trotter, of gambling with this money, and thereby risking the whole; (as in the case of Mr. Jellicoe)-I leave out of the question the illegality, for illegal I am convinced it is, of increasing the salary, or in other words, value of such offices beyond what was intended by the legislature.— These, and a thousand such transactions, call, loudly, and, I trust, not in vain, for reform, redress, and change of system.—I am, Sir, with great respect, your obedient humble servant,-R. B.- -Portsmouth, May 1st, 1805.

OXFORD PETITION.-On the 8th of May, 1905, a petition of the Chancellor, Masters, and Scholars of the University of Oxford, was presented to the House of Commons, setting forth, That the petitioners have seen, by the votes of the House, that a petition from certain noblemen, gentlemen, and others, Roman Catholics of Ireland, whose pames are thereunto subscribed, on behalf of themselves and others His Majesty's subjects professing the Roman Catholic Religion, bath some time since been presented to the House, complaining of divers restraints and incapacities to which, notwithstanding the various indulgences heretofore granted them from time to time, they are still subject bỷ the several statutes now in force against them; and praying that they may be effectually relieved from the operation of the said statutes, as being now no longer necessary to be retained; and that the petitioners contemplate, with much concern and anxiety, the alarming extent of the prayer of the said petition, and the consequences which, in their apprehensions, must inevitably follow, if the same should be complied with; and that the petitioners, notwithstanding the allegations contained in the above-mentioned

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petition, do verily believe, that, by the wisdom and liberality of the legislature, every safe and practical indulgence hath already been extended to their Roman Catholic fellow subjects in Ireland, and that the restraints and incapacities to which, by the statutes now in force, they are still subject, and of which they now complain, are no other nor greater than are indispensibly re quisite to the maintenance and security of the Protestant Government and Protestant Church, as they are happily by law established in that part of the United Kingdom; and that the petitioners see also much reason to apprehend, that a compliance with the prayer of the above-mentioned petition would lead, and, they fear, by direct and necessary consequence, to the removal of every similar restraint now subsisting within this realm of England, and to the abrogation of those oaths, declarations, and tests, which are by law required of every person admitted, to sit or vote in either House of Parliament, or to exercise offices of trust and power; all which, they are thoroughly persuaded, are still essentially necessary to the permanence and security both of our civil and religious establishments; and therefore praying, that the House, in its wisdom, would be pleased still to maintain and preserve inviolate those laws which they sincerely believe to be the best safeguards, under divine providence, of our present happy constitution both in church and state.-Ordered, That the said petition do lie upon the table.

On

SUMMARY OF POLITICS. ROMAN CATHOLIC PETITION. Friday, the 18th instant, a very long debate took place, in the House of Lords, upon a motion of Lord Grenville for the House to go into a committee to inquire into the prayer of the Roman Catholics of Ireland. The debate was adjourned, and resumed on Monday, the 13th; on which day the same subject was discussed in the House of Commons upon a motion of Mr. Fox, similar to that of Lord Grenville. There also the debate was adjourned, and was resumed and closed the next day. The numbers were, in the Lords, 49 for the motion, and 178 against it; in the Commons, 124 for the motion, and 336 against it.The petition of the Roman Catholics will be found in p. 522; and the opposing petition of the University of Oxford will be found in the present sheet. --This is so large a question, that it would be presumptuous to attempt to write upon it in a compass like that which I now have before me. The debates upon the subject are very important, and will be given nearly at full.

7271
length, and with great care, in the fourth vo- |
lume of the Parliamentary Debates.----The
conduct of Mr. Pitt (the PILOT, as Mr. Can-
ning calls him in his song) is, at present, the
principal object of attention; and, in order
to enable the readers of this work to form a
correct and impartial judgment with regard
to that conduct, I will here quote, at length,
his declaration upon the subject of the Ca-
tholic clairs, at the time when he resigned in
1801.During a debate in the House of
Commons, on the 16th of February, 1801,
as reported in Debrett's Parliamentary Re-
'gister, Mr. Pitt said: "The rumours, in-

deed, which have been spread abroad, were "so far founded, that it was upon account "of the turn which the Catholic question

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took, the success of which he had con"ceived to be essentially necessary to the strength, prosperity, and unanimity of the "United Kingdoms, that he felt himself bound, in conscience and in honour, to give in his resignation. This much he "would not hesitate to explain as to the motive of his resignation; but he trusted "it must be looked upon as a new doctrine

to assert that a minister was obliged to assign every motive which might influence "his resignation. He must venture to be"lieve that it never before was imputed as "a crime to relinquish a high and honour

able situation, which it was the ambition "of his life and the passion of his heart to "continue to fill, as long as his exertions "could contribute to the welfare of his

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country, because he felt that a further "continuance in that situation had become incompatible with that conduct which the dictates of his honour and of his conscience prescribed. He would only add,, that as "to the merits of the Catholic question, and "the propriety of the sentiments which he "entertained respecting it, he would now

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say nothing more; he would rather leave "the part he embraced in it to the more enlightened judgment of the country, and "to the impartial decision of posterity. The early discussion and decision of that ques"tion he thought were incumbent upon "those who, under the circunstances of the union, which they were so auspicions "to effectuate, considered it as a measure of the utmost importance to the strength " and tranquillity of the empire. So strong ¿ was his conviction of the propriety and

46

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necessity of that measure, that he could not continue to remain a member of that government which deemed it inexpedient to "entertain it. Whatever his future opinion " and conduct should be respecting that "question, when he no longer acted as part

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of administration, that opinion and con"duct, should be regulated by what had

uniformily guided the tenour of his public "life; first to take a coel, deliberate, and "conscientious view of the subject, and then

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adopt that decision which to him should

appear best calculated to promote the "strength, the unanimity, and the genera "welfare and prosperity of the empire."

-Here is a little salvo at the close; Eut, observe, it was only in the case when he should "no longer act as part of adminis "tration," that he reserved to himself a right of future deliberation upon the subject.

-Connected with the foregoing declaration are two papers, which were distributed in Ireland, at the time of the resignation in 1801. Upon reading these papers, which, it is very well known, and never has been denied, issued from sources more than haifofficial, one does, as the author of the Flain Reply observes, clearly perceive an evident desire to engage the Roman Catholics in the support of that minister, who had “esponsed "their interests;" who had " sacrificed his One cant"own situation in their cause."

not help thinking, adds he, that the man who
was so earnest in courting and securing the
good will of so formidable a body, must have
had an eye to coming in again, even at the
moment when he went out. The papers
here alluded to are inserted both in Sir Ri-
chard Musgrave's and Mr. Plowden's bis-
tories. One of them was in the following
words: "The leading port of his Majesty's
"ministers finding unsurmountable obsta
"cles to the bringing forward measures of
"concession to the Catholic body whilst in
"office, have felt it impossible to continue
«in administration under the inability to
propose it with the circumstances neces-
sary to carrying the measure with all its
advantages, and they have retired from
"bis Majesty's service, considering this line

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of conduct as most likely to contribute to "its ultimate success. "The Catholic body "will therefore see how much their future

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hopes must depend upon strengthening "their cause by good conduct; in the mean "time they will prudently consider their "prospects as arising from the persons who

now espouse their interests, and compare "them with those, which they could look "to from any other quarter; they may "with confidence rely on the support of c "those who retire, and of many who re "main in office, when it can be given with

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a prospect of success, They may be as "sured, that MR. PITT will do his utmost "to establish their cause in the public fc"vour, and prepare the way for their finally

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