1124] ANNUAL REGISTER, 1813. 



mation, in which we find nothing 

 particularly worthy of notice. 

 He concluded with moving, as an 

 amendment, " That the bill be 

 read a second time that day six 

 months.'' 



His opponents were Mr. Pro- 

 theroe, Mr. H. Clive, and Mr. C. 

 Grant ; his supporters Mr. Lyt- 

 tleton, Lord Folkestone, and Mr. 

 F. Douglas. The House at length 

 divided on the motion, " That the 

 bill be now read a second time," 

 when the votes were — Ayes, 97 ; 

 Noes, 35 : Majority, 62. 



The order of the day for going 

 into a committee on this bill being 

 read on May 19th, and a motion 

 being made that the Speaker do 

 leave the chair, Mr. Bcnnet rose 

 to express his objection to the 

 proposed measure, which he 

 deemed inconsistent with the ho- 

 nour, the dignity, and the free- 

 dom of the country. 



Sir Samuel liomUly, in his 

 speech on the occasion, made a 

 remark which seems worthy of 

 attention. There were, he said, 

 two classes of persons to be af- 

 fected by this bill ; one class was 

 the foreigners who might seek an 

 asylum in this country ; the other, 

 the foreigners who had settled 

 among us, and had become apart 

 of ourselves. As far as related 

 to foreigners who might come to 

 reside in this country, it was to 

 be considered on far different 

 grounds than as related to fo- 

 reigners who had been long do- 

 miciled here. In all that had 

 been said on this subject by the 

 other side, it was manifest that 

 the executive government could 

 act only on the suggestion of fo- 

 reign powers in preventing indi- 

 viduals from coming here ; for 



whether they came from t'rance, 

 from the Netherlands, or from 

 other places, how could they 

 guard themselves against such 

 persons but by listening to the 

 representations of foreign minis- 

 ters ? So that a person who was 

 endeavouring to shelter himself 

 here from religious or political 

 persecution must be deprived of 

 an asylum on the statements 

 made to this government by their 

 own persecutors and enemies. In 

 all these cases ministers would act 

 implicitly on those representa- 

 tions ; and under that influence, 

 the unhappy victims of despotism 

 and oppression would be driven 

 back from our shores. 



After a discussion of consider- 

 able length, but which presented 

 nothing of novelty, the question 

 was put " That the Speaker do 

 leave the chair." The House 

 thereupon divided, giving — Ayes, 

 99 ; Noes 32 : Majority, 67. 



The House then went into the 

 committee, when Mr, Barham 

 moved, that the blank determining 

 the duration of the bill be filled 

 up with one year, instead of two. 

 A division took place on the ori- 

 ginal question, which was carried 

 for two years by 90 against 24. 



The House was then resumed, 

 when Mr. J. P. Grant, though 

 with small hopes of success, pro- 

 posed an additional clause, by 

 which it should be enacted, that 

 after the passing of the act, a re- 

 cord should be kept in the office 

 of the secretary of state for the 

 home department, of the grounds 

 and reasons for every order made 

 for the removal of every alien or 

 aliens after the passing of the said 

 act, and that a true copy of the 

 said record or records be laid 



before 



