HISTORY OF EUROPE. 
Was it unreasonable, therefore, to 
bestow a competent reward on 
those who were employed in so la- 
borious a business ? 
Neither was the power lodged 
in a constable, to apprehend people 
notoriously of ill characters, any 
way improper. This was a prac- 
tice of long standing, and fully au- 
thorised by the law: it was un- 
doubtedly for the benefit of society 
not only to keep a strict eye on all 
its members, but to compel them, 
when justly suspected, to clear 
their characters, or to give secu- 
rity for their honest demeanor. 
Nor was a constable authorised 
to act solely at his own private dis- 
cretion: unless proper witnesses 
deposed against an individual cha- 
racter, no constable could lay hands 
upon him; and if, upon due exa- 
mination, the charges against him 
appeared to be unfounded, he was 
instantly to be set at liberty; and if 
eitherthe constable or the justice had 
treated him improperly, he was en- 
titled torecover damages from them. 
But the particular circumstance 
which proved the laudable intent of 
the bill, was the limited space of its 
duration ; it was meant as an expe- 
riment, necessary in the present 
umstances of the metropolis: if 
it was found beneficial, it ought, 
doubtless, to remain; if otherwise, 
parliament would either amend its 
deficiencies, or annul it. The ma- 
jority insisting on the propriety of 
these reasonings, the bill was passed 
gly. 
rincipal speakers on this, 
, in its fayour, were Mr. 
a Mr. Wilberforce, and Mr. 
Burton, in the lower House: and 
in the upper, the Lord Chancellor, 
and Lords Grenville, Kenyon, and 
Sydney. Its chief opposers were 
J 
[159 
Mr. Fox, Mr. Wyndham, and Mr, 
Sheridan, and the Lords Loughbo- 
rough and Rawdon. 
But the dissatisfaction it gaveito 
the nation at large was remarkable: 
the influence of ministry was, in the 
general opinion, the main object 
sought for in the framing of this 
bill. Abuses had been undoubtedly 
committed by the many justices 
who had made their duty a mere 
trade; and it was the business of 
parliament to put a stop to their 
scandalous practices: but this, it 
was said, should have been done 
without strengthening the influence 
of ministry, by enabling them to 
add salaries to appuintments, placed 
already too much in their depend- 
ence. Whoever filled them would 
have a double motive for being de- 
voted to his patrons, the office be- 
stowed upon him, and the certain 
income attending it. 
The next object that took up the 
consideration of parliament was, a 
bill for inclosing several parts of 
that extensive track of land in 
Hampshire, known by the name of 
the New Forest, in order to pro- 
mote the growth of timber. The 
reasons alleged for this measure 
were, that the commissioners of the 
revenue arising from crown lands, 
‘had recommended a serious atten- 
tion to the necessity of promoting 
a sufficient quantity of timber for 
the use of the navy. 
But this idea was not reputed 
the real motive for the bill by those 
who opposed it. They condemned 
it with most pointed severity, as 
merely calculated for the private 
benefit of Mr, Rose, Secretary to 
the Treasury. The profits he had 
derived from the many sinecureg 
he had already obtained, and the 
lucrative places, of which the long 
possession 
