110 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1804. 



moved for its commUtal, Mr. Sheri- 

 dan strongly objected to that part of 

 it, which must sensibly affect the 

 administration of j usticc — namely — 

 Ijy enhancing the expence at which 

 it was to be procured. On this 

 subject, it had been said, by one of 

 the most acute men in the country, 

 Mr. Home Tookc, " The courts of 

 justice arc open to every man, and 

 so is the ' London tavern ;' but, un- 

 less one has plenty of money, it is 

 in vain to look for justice in the 

 one, or to expect a dinner in the 

 other." He considered, that it was 

 contrary to Magna Ch.\rta, which 

 stated uuUi rendemus jusiiliam, to 

 lay such enormous taxes upon law 

 proceedings: he moved, that the 

 committee might have power to di- 

 vide this bill into two. 



The Chancellor of the Exchequer 

 stated, that the gentlemen of the 

 profession generally acquiesced in 

 the regulations of this bill. So far 

 from the stamp duties being a tax 

 upon obtaining justice, it was a pe- 

 nalty on injustice, as the costs fi- 

 nally fell upon the person bringing 

 an unjust suit. 



Mr. Serjeant Best opposed the 

 tax, on nearly the same principles 

 as Mr. Sheridan, and was replied to 

 by the attorney-general. 



Mr. Windham said, that, at pre- 

 sent, law proceedings were so ex- 

 pensive, that no liberal or conscien- 

 tious lawyer w ould advise a client 

 to come into court for any thing 

 less than 40 or 501. which bore a 

 great proportion to the whole for- 

 tunes of many persons in society. — 

 This afforded an extensive range, 

 ■within which injustice might act 

 ■with impunity. He must, therefore, 

 object to extending that circle, 

 ■which was already too wide. 



TAe bill thea went through a 



committee, in which many objec- 

 tions, ^ and some alterations, were 

 proposed ; it was then read a third 

 time, iind passed. 



On the 10th of July, lord Cas- 

 tlereagh presented the India budget 

 to the house of commons. He called 

 it to the attention of the house, that 

 the affairs of the company had been 

 affected both by the European war, 

 and by the war against the Mah- 

 rattas. He then stated the detail of 

 the accounts of the year, by which 

 it appeared, that the debts of the 

 company had increased, in the last 

 year, by 1,229,8211. that their as- 

 sets had increased 1,959,3961. leav- 

 ing the nett improvement for the 

 year 729,6751. When he had be. 

 fore stated the prospect of the com- 

 pany being able to pay the annual 

 500,0001. to government, it was on 

 the presumption of the continuance 

 of peace, and of the general situa- 

 tion of affairs being very different 

 from what they are at present. 



Lord Archibald Hamilton ob- 

 served, that the house was annually 

 amused with splendid promises of 

 the extinction of the Indian debt, 

 and of India contributing to the ex- 

 pences of the empire. On the con- 

 trary, the debt was last year 18 

 millions, it is this year 19 millions, 

 and there was every prospect of a 

 still farther accumulation. 



Mr. Johnstone also insisted, that 

 the affairs, of the company were 

 growing every year more and more 

 embarrassed, and considered the ac- 

 counts fallacious. 



Mr. Francis said, that his opinion 

 of the situation of ouraffairs in India, 

 remained the same as he had ex- 

 pressed last session. He thought 

 the mischief was in a state of pro- 

 gression, and that every year would 

 find our affairs still a^ orsc. It was 



expressly 



