GENERAL HISTORY. 



[55 



May 20th. The debate having- 

 been resumed, the question was 

 called for with some impatience, 

 • when, upon a division, it was 

 determined for admitting the re- 

 port by a majority of 148 to 48. 



Sir S. Romilhj then moved that 

 the bill should be renewed for one 

 yeai' only, instead of two years as 

 proposed. This amendment was 

 rejected by 124 votes to 44. 



Sir James Mackintosh then pro- 

 posed a new clause for the pur- 

 pose of giving effect to that right 

 of appeal to the privy-council, 

 which the bill held out to aliens 

 as a security, but which a certain 

 decision had rendered perfectly 

 nugatory. The resolution on the 

 clause being moved and seconded, 

 an adjournment was mo\ed by 

 the opposition to give an oppor- 

 tunity for its full discvission. 

 Lord Castlereagh, on the other 

 hand, mo\ed that the bill should 

 be engrossed, which would be pre- 

 cluding all farther amendments in 

 this stage ; but at length he yield- 

 ed to the adjournment. 



When tlie motion was read on 

 May 28th for the third reading 

 of the bill. Lord Althorp said, 

 that seeing no prospect of its re- 

 jection, he wished to do all the 

 practical good in his power by 

 guarding against its abusive exer- 

 cise ; he therefore proposed a 

 clause to exempt from the opera- 

 tion of the bill any aliens who 

 were resident in this country be- 

 fore January 1st, 1816, intima- 

 ting that he would be willing to 

 adopt any other date the House 

 shouli think proper, his object 

 being only to protect those aliens 

 who had been long resident in 

 this ountiy. 



Thj question having been put. 



Lord Castlereagh objected to it 

 as too much narrowing the ope- 

 ration of the bill. After a debate 

 on the subject, Lord Althorp 

 having amended his clause by 

 substituting the 1st of January, 

 1813, it was put to the vote, 

 when the numbers for the clause 

 were 33 ; against it 76. 



The debate on the third read- 

 ing being resumed on the 31st, 

 Lord Milton observed, that by 

 its provisions as they now stood, 

 an alien woman married to a 

 natural-born subject, might be 

 sent out of the kingdom. He 

 wished to guard against such an 

 abuse by a clause for the purpase. 



Lord Castlereagh thought that a 

 discretion upon that point might 

 safely be left in the hands of go- 

 vernment, and that the insertion 

 of the clause would only be em- 

 barrassing the operations of the 

 bill. This being his loi'dship's 

 only argument against it, he was 

 charged with opposing it solely 

 because he wished to have the 

 entire direction and control over 

 the bill. The clause was rejected 

 by 91 votes to 31. 



It would be useless to men- 

 tion other amendments which 

 were proposed for the mitigation 

 of the rigour of the bill: all 

 which were negatived. The bill 

 then passed. 



The alien bill being introduced 

 into the House of Lords, the de- 

 bates upon it took the same turn as 

 those in the other House, and the 

 fate of proposed clauses of amend- 

 ment was exactly similar. The 

 readingof the bill a third time was 

 carried on June 18th, after a di- 

 vision of Contents, 108 J Non-con- 

 tents, 48 : Majority 60. 



CHAPTER 



