Scotch Epifcopalians.—Petrified Animal Bones. — Marine Shells. 321 It is full time that Britain fhould be firmly united within itfelf. Its foreign dominions have lately been much contracted. Perhaps it would have been well for it, had they never been so far extended. But its fifter ifland, meant by nature to be under one law and government with it, is now, by the machinations of intriguing men, effectually detached from it, and, inftead of a ufeful member of one common ftate, is become a jealous rival. United in itself, I trust Britain is still able to be the bulwark of Liberty and the Reformation. And by facrificing (I will not fay your prejudices, for I trust there are no ferious withes for a revolution among you) your fufferings and your perfecutions on the Altar of Union, you may have the credit of completing the work. If you do this, all good men will applaud you, government muft attend to you, your own hearts will approve of your conduct. I know not whether there be any funds left in your country, at the difpofal of government, which could be allotted for your provifion. But certainly the good and political purposes to be ferved by your eftablishment well deferve this care. Ways and means may cafily be found, by difpofing of waste, or Crown, or forfeited lands, to fettle fome fmall maintenance on you, which, together with the voluntary contributions of your hearers, would place you in more eligible circumftances than you can be in at prefent. In every reafonable application to government, you may certainly expect the countenance and affiftance of the Church of England, which must fympathize with your fitua tion, and with for ability to change it. What then hinders but that you have folemn meetings, to afk counsel from on high, and deliberate on a subject of this confequence to your own reputations, and of this importance to your country. Let your fubmiflion to government be unconditional and free. Among all our public faults, we yet poffefs generofity, and can fee the merit of fuch a step, and, I hope, reward it in propor tion to its value. May a good God direct your refolutions, to the fulfilling of your own duty, the uniting and improving of your country, and the promoting of his glory, prays one who is fincerely the friend of your good name and true interefts. GENT. MAG. April, 1758. 6 Mr. URBAN, Feb. 15. So much has been faid lately in your entertaining Magazine relative to the petrifaction of human bones, that I am induced to fend you a fketch (fee plate II. fig. 2, 3) of two ftones brought me by a Somerfetfhire quarrier a few days fince. They weigh about twentyfive pounds each, are of extreme hardnefs, and richly charged with animal bones, but of what animal I am not anatomist enough to determine. I think the bones are not perfc&tly petrified; but they are much harder than in their boney ftate, and they are fo intimately united with the ftone, that there is no poffibility of feparating them. They were taken up at a confiderable depth from the furface, and have, I think, the appearance of the ribs of lambs; but that they are animal bones, is as certain as that the rock which holds them was once in a soft state to receive them. No 1. is a beautiful marine fhell. I intend fawing them down the middle; and if they difclofe any thing ftill more curious, I will communicate it to you. P.S. Upon a clofer examination, I think I may pronounce the bones to be a perfect petrifaction; but to the eye they feem to perfect a bone, that they deceived me. They are of a fine polifh, and of a dark brown colour. P.T. Feb. 19. Mr. URBAN, WISH, among your many ingenious correfpondents, the following phanomenon could be explained. Upon the coaft of Suffolk, from the high cliff (which we defcend to Landguard Fort) to Baudfey Ferry, the cliff is a compofition of marine shells, among which are found a great number of the fpiral wilkmated inhabitant, has given them a yelfhells. Time, and the want of an anilow coat; but they are exactly the fame, as to fize and form, with the life-fhell on the beach beneath, of which a cart might be filled in an hour, with this in the cliff has its fpiral turn contrary to very fingular difference, that every fhell that of the life-fhell. I have dug in could find a fingle thell in it that did that cliff, at times, for years, and never not twift as in plate II. fig. 4, while all the life-fhells are as in fig. 5. We call the yellow ones ante-diluvians; but did the deluge invert their nature, Mr. Urban? Yours, &c. are A. Fig. 6. and 7. in the fame plate, Kentifh fheils copied from Mr. Thorpe's "Cuftumale Roffenfe;" and, will be explained next month. SUM SUMMARY OF THE PROCEEDINGS IN PARLIAMENT, SESS. V. Debates in the Fifth Seffion of Parliament. (Continued from p. 232.) TH Thursday, January 31. HE Houfe having met this day, purfuant to adjournment; Charles Gould, efq. took his feat for the borough of Brecon. Sir Rob. Clayton, bart. took his feat for the borough of Blechingley. And Sir John Goodriche, bart. for the borough of Rippon, in the county of York. A new writ was moved for the borough of Totnefs, in the room of Sir Philip Jennings Clerke, deccafed. Alfo, a new writ for the borough of Wilton, in the room of R. Goldfwerthy, efq. who had accepted the stewardhip of the three Chiltern hundreds. The Right Hon. Frederic Menta zu, on the motion of Mr. Burke, was added to the committee appointed to manage the impeachment of Warren Haftings, efq. Mr. Alcock, from the commiffioners of excife in Scotland, attended, and prefented two accounts of the number of licences taken out by distillers in Scotland. Mr. Paton, from the cxcife-office, prefented two accounts of fpirits difiilled from corn imported into this kingdom from Scotland. Several private petitions were prefented, and the Houfe adjourned. Friday, February 1. Lord Galway presented a petition from York fhare againft the flave trade. Notice was givin, that the bill for Jegulating the trade between the United States of America and Newfoundland, &c, would be read a fecond time on Monday Sir Gilbert Elliott moved, that certain withefles, whom he named, thould atrend at the bar of the Houfe on Monday, in order to be examined refpecting the conduct of Sir Elijah Impey in the affair of Pa:na, &c. which was unanimoufly agreed to. Sir John Sinclair prefented a petition from the malt-diftillers of Scotland, which was ordered to be read. The preamble fated the charges, exhibited gainst them the last fellion by the London corn-diftillers, to be unfounded; and the petition prayed for permition To be heard by counted at the bar againit rhofe charg s; which was granted. Mr. Pitt, after declaring that it was his earnest wish to do justice to both parties, propofed, that on Tuesday next each might be heard by their counsel; and that the merits of the queftion fhould be then decided on in a committee of the whole House. Ald. Watfon did not by any means object to granting the prayer of the petition; but wifhed that the bufinefs might come on as foon as poffible, the smallest delay being extremely prejudicial, as well to the revenue as to the country in general. Sir Wm. Cunynghame thought Tuefday too fhort a day, confidering the importance of the question: but as the Rt. Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Pitt) had fixed on that day, he would make no farther objection to it. Adjourned. Monday, February 4. John Robinfon, efq. who had vacated his feat for Harwich, on account of his appointment to the office of furveyur. general of his Majefty's forefts, and who had been fince re-elected for that borough, this day took the oaths and his feat. The It is the rule of Parliament, that no petition can be received unless a motion is made by fome member for leave to bring it up, and leave is accordingly granted but this rule does not extend to the city of London, which enjoys the privilege of prefenting petitions through the hands of their fheriffs, without leave having been previously afked. form uted on the occafion is this-Notice is given to the ferjeant at arms, that the theriff's of London are attending the Houfe, and defire to be admitted. This notice is communicated to the Speaker, and by him to the Houfe. He then puts a queftion, that the theriff's be called in, which paffing in the afirmative, they are accordingly called in.-Thefe forms having been complied with this day, the two fheriffs, in their scarlet gowns, walked up to the bar, and, being asked what their business was, the fentor deli vered a petition from the corporation of London, praying for the abolition of the flave traded It was read, and, on mo tion, ordered to lie upon the table. The theriffs then retired; but were foon after introduced again with the fame formalities, and delivered another petition, praying the repeal of the shoptax. The ie ifs then withdrew; and the fecond petition was difpoled of in the fame manner as the firit. Mr. Beaufoy presented a petition from Mr. Wilkinson, a great iron manufacturer near Wolverhampton. It ftated, that the petitioner, after having, at in credible expence, eftablished an extenfive manufacture for extracting iron from ore, and manufacturing it on the fpot, had reafon to apprehend that, in confequence of the powers given by the poors' laws, his plans would be defeat ed, and his endeavours to ferve the publick and himself totally frustrated for while he was at the trouble of collecting good workmen from every quarter, the parish-officers, fanctioned by the laws, might difperfe them, under the idea of their becoming burdenfome to the parish. He prayed, therefore, that he might be permitted to propofe a plan, by which, without any incumbrance to, the parish, he fhould be enabled to keep his men together. His fcheme was, that all perfons employed in his manufacture might be incorporated, and bound to provide for their own poor by subfcriptions among themfelves; that, for this purpose, the diftrict in which they lived fhould be made extra-parochial, fo far only as related to the poors' rates, and that the parish might in no degree be liable to maintain any of them. He propofed to make the buildings he had erected at an expence of 52,000l. and the eftates on which they food, an. fwerable, which would render it fcarcely poffible that the parifh fhould incur any charges on account of his men; the property he was ready to flake being worth ten times more than the expence of maintaining them would amount to. Mr. Beaufoy moved for leave to bring up the petition; which being granted, it was read, and, on the motion of the fame gentleman, referred to a committee of the members for the Midland and Western counties. Mr. Kenrick prefented a petition from Sir Elijah Impey, ftating, that he was then attending the House; and praying, that he might be heard in reply to the charges which had been exhibited against him. The petition having been read, the Journals were confulted for a precedent, when that relative to Mr. Haftings was adopted; on which Sir E. Impey was called in, and informed that the Houfe had refolved to hear him. Sir Elijah appeared in black, fulldreffed, with a word and tie-wig. At half paft four he entered upon his defence; and though he did not ftop till a quarter after eight o'clock, he had not 1 got through his reply to the fingle charge relative to Nundcomar. He defended his conduct relative to that Rajah on many legal grounds: the authority of the fupreme court, he admitted,. did not extend over all the inhabitants of the English provinces in India, but over the inhabitants of Calcutta it did. The Rajah had not been tried as a native of Bengal; but as an inhabitant of Calcutta, where he refided, where he committed the crime, and where, of course, he was amenable to the laws of the place. The law too on which he had been tried, was not an ex poft facto law for, though the fupreme court of judicature in Bengal was not in exiftence when that law paffed, yet it extended to India in confequence of the charter of juftice of the late king, fent over in the 26th year of his reign. This he •. proved by a strong circumstance, viz. that in 1765 a native Indian had been tried and fentenced to be hanged at Calcutta for forgery, but was refpited, and afterwards pardoned by his Majetty. While Sir Elijah was proceeding in his defence, he was interrupted by Mr. Pitt, who wished that the further hearing might be adjourned, as the Gentleman at the bar must be nearly exhaufted by the exertion of speaking for fo many hours. He could have wifhed, he faid, that the Gentleman had made his defence in writing, that it might be delivered to the clerk, in order to fpare him the fatigue of speaking. A converfation here arofe concerning the manner of giving in the defence; and it was agreed, that Sir Elijah fhould be called in, and asked whether he intended to fubmit his defence in writing to the Houfe. Sir Elijah faid, he had minutes, but that in the progrefs of his defence lie found it impoffible to fpeak from them; it was not, therefore, in his power to give in minutes of his defence. Sir Elijah being again withdrawn, Mr. Burke laid, this was a great advantage to the accufed, and as great a difadvantage to the accufer; the latter had delivered in his charges, which could not be altered or amended; but the former, fot having committed his defence to writing, gentlemen must argue from memory, which he might charge with error, and fhift the ground as often as he pleated. Tais, however, he obferved merely as it might make it difficult for other gentlemen to compare the charges with replies imperfectly re collected: collected for his own part, he had made this business his ftudy fo many years, that he should be at no lofs; his mind had long fince been made up on the fubject. Mr. Pitt thought this declaration imprudent in the present stage of the bufinefs, as it would not fuffer gentlemen to form a very favourable opinion of the juftice of a perfon who, before he had heard the defence, could have finally and irrevocably made up his mind upon the merits of the cafe. Mr. Fox vindicated his right hon. friend, whofe words would not bear the conftruction which the laft fpeaker had put upon them. He had not faid, that he had made up his mind finally and irrevocably; much lefs had he faid, that he had made up his mind without hearing the defence: he had fimply faid, that, after having made this bufinefs his ftudy for many years, he had Jong fince made up his mind upon it. After fome little fparring, it was agreed, upon the motion of Mr. Pitt, that the further hearing of Sir Elijah fhould be adjourned to Thursday. Tuesday, February 5. A few private petitions and bills were prefented, and read. Mr. Pelham prefented a bill for licenfing a theatre at Brighthelmftone, in the county of Suffex, which was read the first time. Mr. Grenville's bill, for regulating the intercourfe between Newfoundland and the United States of America, was read a fecond time, and ordered to be committed. Mr. Baflard gave notice, that, on this day fortnight, he intended to make a motion refpecting the late promotion of flag-officers. He gave this early notice, that thofe who were interested in the bufinefs might be fufficiently aware of his intention. He did not know at prefent whether he fhould bring it forward in the fhape of a refolution, or a fpecific addrefs to the throne, that thofe officers who have been overlooked may be restored to their rank: but, whatever mode he should adopt, it would be his endeavour to demonftrate to thofe gentlemen, that, however individuals may act towards them, the nation at large preferved a grateful sense of their fervices. Ald. Watfon prefented a petition from fome British traders of South Carolina and Georgia, who had, previously to the lofs of the colonies, many confider able fums of money due to them from the Cherokee Indians, which not being able to recover, the petitioners prayed that fuch relief might be afforded them as to the wifdom of Parliament should feem meet. The petition stared, that thofe Indians, finding the ufual refources for bartering, and of course for difcharging their debts, beginning to fail by the decrease of thofe animals which were the objects of their chace, and whofe furs were the only acquired wealth the favages poffeffed, propofed to cede to their creditors a large tract of country in difcharge of thofe debts which they were unable by any other means to pay. The creditors readily accepted the offer, and would have taken poffeffion of the lands, if they had not been oppofed on the part of the Crown, his Majefty difapproving of any ceffion of lands by the Indians to Europeans. This bufinefs had been under difcuffion many years, and, owing to the interference of Government, their debts ftill remain unliquidated. Lord Maitland was of opinion, that their claim was well-founded; the publick had injured the petitioners, and ought therefore to repair the damage. Thofe people had for 18 years been endeavouring to obtain redrefs under various fucceffive adminiftrations, but in vain they had been frequently referred to America for juftice, and as often referred back to England; and at last they were come to Parliament, as their laft refort, for the recovery of their undoubted right. Mr. Put obferved, that it was rather premature to affert, before investigation, and without proof, that the right of the petitioners was clear and undoubted. No more could be faid after the most minute enquiry, and the establishment of that right on the moft unquestionable evidence. The petition laid upon the table. Ald. Watfon moved, that the order of the day be read, for the House refolv ing itself into a committee of the whole Houfe, to confider the petition of the corn-diftillers of England. The Houfe being accordingly refolved into a committee, Mr. Rofe in the chair, and countcl being called to the bar in fupport of the Scotch distillers against the petition; Mr. Ald. Wafon ftated to the Houfe, that the diftillers of Scotland had, by mifreprefentation, obtained an act for taking the duties on Scotch fpirits by a Licence licence of 11. 108. per gallon on their ftills, instead of charging fo much per gallon on the fpirits actually diftilled. This duty was intended to be equivalent to a charge of 10d. per gallon on the fpirit manufactured. But the London diftillers complained, that though the calculation had been made upon the fuppofition of a ftill being worked only once in 24 hours, the Scotch diftillers had worked theirs from four to fix times in the 24 hours; by which means the quantity of fpirits actually diftilled exceeded the fuppofed quantity in the proportion of from four and fix to one; and thus the duty, which was intended to have been lod. per gallon, did not amount to more than id. or, at moft, 2d. So that the Scotch could underfell the London diftillers even in the London market; into which, within the fpace of one year, they had actually imported above 900,000 gallons, a quantity exceeding by 90,000 gallons the fuppofed produce of the whole diftillery of Scotland; and thus thefe 90,000 gallons, together with the entire home confumption of the country, paid no duty. On the other hand, it was contended by Meffrs. Grant and Campbell, counfel for the Scotch diftillers, that, if their clients diftilled four times in 24 hours, their ftills were frequently burnt, and their fpirits damaged, which often occafioned a fufpenfion of work for four or five days, while the damaged ftills were repairing. Thefe were drawbacks upon their profits, which ought to be taken into account. It was faid that the London distillers paid a duty of 25. 9d. per gallon; but the Scotch infifted that the duty was only 2s. 6d. It was admitted that the Scotch paid 2d. per gallon at home, and 25. on the importation into the port of London; they, therefore, without any poffibility of a fraud, paid full 2s. 2d. upon every gallon of fpirits that was actually distilled by them. Whereas it was notorious that great frauds were committed in London upon the revenue; fo that if, out of the 2s. 6d. paid by the London difillers, was deducted the lofs fuftained by the revenue, in confequence of concealments from the Excife officers, it would be found that the Scotch pay infinitely more, instead of less, than the dillers of London. Witneffes were examined on both fides, to prove their feveral allegations; and the examinations having lafted till eleven o'clock at night, Mr. Pitt moved, that the chairman fhould leave the chair, report progress, and afk leave to fit again. The motion paffed without debate; the House was then refumed, and immediately ad journed. Wednesday, February 6. Mr. Frederick Montagu, chairman of the committee appointed to infpect the building erected for the trial of Mr. Haftings, and to fee what accommoda tions were prepared for the House of Commons, reported, that the committee had found in the building a place fet apart for the members, in which 400 could fit commodiously. He then moved feveral refolutions, copied from thofe which had been a dopted previously to the trial of Dr. Sacheverell, fuch as-that, when it should be time for the members to repair to the court of peers in Weftminster-hall, to attend the trial, the House should be called over by counties-that the members fhould not leave the Houfe before their names were called that they fhould repair to the Hall in the order in which they are calied, except the Speaker, who should stay laft in the Houfe, that he might fee all the others proceed regularly.-Thefe refolutions paffed without debate or divifion. Mr. W. Grenville gave notice, that in the courfe of a fortnight he would bring in a bill for fettling the commercial in tercourfe between this country and America. Mr. Baring wished that fo important a business might not be brought forward in the prefent Parliament, which probably would foon die an untimely death. Mr. Grenville did not know that the prefent Parliament was near its diflolution; but he knew the neceflity of bringing forward a bill for the purpofe he had mentioned, and should not, therefore, alter the determination he had come to refpecting it. A petition was prefented in behalf of the proprietors of Sadler's Wells, praying leave to bring in a bill to enable his Majefty to grant them a patent for continuing their prefent amufements. The petition was ordered to be referred to a committee. The Houfe having refolved itself into a committee of the whole Houfe on the corn-diftillery, and Mr. Rofe having taken the chair, The |