GENERAL HISTORY. 



[47 



motion for recommitting this bill, 

 various objections were made to 

 its principle, which were replied 

 to by its friends. The House then 

 went into a committee, and a 

 desultory conversation took place 

 on its several clauses. The bill 

 afterwards passed. 



In the House of Lords it was 

 introduced by the Earl of Liver- 

 pool, who briefly stated its objects, 

 on June 10th. The Earl of Lau- 

 derdale spoke against it, but no 

 division being proposed, the bill 

 was read a third time, and passed. 



It is observable, that when the 

 first mention was made of an in- 

 tention of introducing such a bill, 

 by the Chancellor of the Exche- 

 quer, the sum of money which he 

 spoke of proposing was between 

 one and two millions. But the 

 actual sum contained in his two 

 resolutions amounts only to 

 750,0001. and it does not appear 

 that any thing farther was re- 

 quired. 



THIRD SECKET.\RY OF STATE FOR 

 COLONIES. 



On April '29th, Mr. Tierne-y rose 

 to renew, in point of substance, 

 though not of form, a motion re- 

 lative to the abolition of the office 

 of third secretai-y of state for the 

 colonies, in which he liad been de- 

 feated during the sessions of the 

 last year. He now intended to 

 move for a committee to inquire 

 into that subject ; not, he said, 

 that there were any doubts in his 

 own mind as to the propriety of 

 abolishing the office ; but because 

 he saw that in questions of this 

 kind, he had not the smallest 

 chance of success in any other 

 way. One great inducement for 

 him to undertake this subject was. 



that he had the previous sanction 

 of his Majesty's ministers ; for 

 a committee of their own appoint- 

 ment had been named in the last year 

 by the lords of the treasuiy for pur- 

 poses under which this subject par« 

 ticiilarly fell. They were confined 

 in their operations to all offices 

 created since the commencement 

 of the war in 1793. The office of 

 third secretary of state had been 

 created in 1794 ; and how it could 

 escape the notice of the committee 

 was to him quite unintelligible. 



All (the right hon. gentleman 

 said) that he hud now to do, was 

 to make out a case strong enough 

 to refer the subject to the exami- 

 nation of a committee. The in- 

 crease of colonies since 179'2, was 

 all that he had to meet. Tliese 

 were, in fact, nine in number, for 

 he would not include Heligoland, 

 nor yet St. Helena. Four of these 

 were in the West Indies, three in 

 the East Indies, and two in the 

 Mediterranean. Those in tlie 

 West Indies were nowise con- 

 nected with those in the East 

 Indies, and neither of them with 

 those in the Mediterranean. His 

 proposal was therefore to make 

 over the four first to the home 

 department ; the three next to the 

 board of control, and (said he) 

 they might add St. Helena, though 

 it would not give much additional 

 tiouble; as it might rather be 

 considered as a gaol under the 

 care of the police of Europe. 

 Malta should belong to the foreign 

 secretary. As to the Ionian 

 islands, he scarcely knew how to 

 speak, whether they were our own 

 or not ; but lie apprehended that 

 the nature of Sir Thomas Mait- 

 land's connexion with them was 

 not colonial, but purely political. 



After various other observations 



on 



