\ 
LON 
©f the convivial meeting, by frequent appropriate ad- 
dreffes to the company ; and the utmoft harmony prevailed 
during the whole entertainment. Among the decorations 
were an illumination, with the words Soli Deo gloria ; and 
on the right of the chairman were difplayed the Eritiflh, 
and on the left the Dutch, colours. 
In the early part of the fame day, the hereditary prince 
of Orange paid a vifit to the princefs Charlotte at War- 
vvick-houfe, to which he was introduced by the prince- 
regent in perfon. On the preceding Sunday, the heredi¬ 
tary prince had dined with the regent ; and the princefs 
Charlotte was of the party. On YVednefday, the 15th, at 
two o’clock, the hereditary prince left his father’s houfe 
in Harley-ftreet, to proceed on his way to Holland : he 
arrived at Colchefter the fame evening about ten o’clock, 
.and immediately proceeded to Harwich, where he em¬ 
barked on-board the Meteor bomb, for Holland. It is un- 
derftood that this illuftrious perfon is to be the confort of 
our charming princefs, and that the union will take place, 
in July next, in London, where the prince has juft arrived, 
and where we hope the parties will continue to relide. 
A difafter almoft equally calamitous with that which 
happened about eighteen months before, again occurred 
at Felling colliery, (fee p. 316.) About two o’clock on 
Dec. 24, the foul air took fire; and nine men, thirteen 
boys, and twelve horfes, fell victims, and eight men were 
feverely fcorched. The deceafed have left eight widows 
and eighteen fatherlefs children.—At Jarrow colliery, a 
large ftone fell on two pit-men, and cruflied them to death : 
both left families.—Dec. 28, in a pit belonging to Mr. 
Burdon, of Hartford, a man named Nicholfon, upon whom 
a large fione fell while afeending the pit, had his head 
cleft in two, and died inftantly; while another, in the 
fame loop, had his thigh dreadfully lacerated, but kept 
bis hold both of the rope and the dead man till they reached 
the top. Two men at the bottom of the pit were alfo in¬ 
jured. 
The parliament met on the 4th of November. The ad- 
drefs in anfwer to the fpeech from the throne was moved 
in the upper houfe by the earl of Digby, and feconded by 
the earl of Clare. Much was faid by marquis Wellefley in 
favour of the addrefs, which he approved without reftric- 
tion. The duke of Sufl'ex extolled the fpirit (hown by 
our army. Lord Grenville expreffed his entire concur¬ 
rence in both the fpeech and the addrefs; he thanked 
God he had been permitted to live to fee this period of 
fuccefs, and hoped it would be followed by unceafing ex¬ 
ertions to cement the grand confederacy againft France. 
Lord Liverpool obferved, that the Portuguefe were the 
firfi: who refitted French tyranny ; the period had now ar¬ 
rived when large and liberal efforts (hould be made, in 
order to fecure a permanent and general peace; and lie 
ufed thefe remarkable words; that “ he would nlk nocon- 
eeliion of the enemy to obtain peace, which, were he in 
his fituation, he would not be willing to make.” The 
addrefs was agreed to nem. con. 
The debate upon the addrefs was as favourably treated 
in the lower houfe. 
On the 8th of November, another vote of thanks was 
moved by earl Bathurft to the marquis (now duke) of 
Wellington, which was unanimoufly agreed to; and fepa- 
rate thanks were voted to fir Thomas Graham (now lord 
Lyndoch) and fir Rowland (now lord) Hill, as well as to 
the officers and foidiers of the army. 
On the nth of the fame month, lord Caftlereagh brought 
forward his plan for augmenting the difpoiable force of 
the country. It is a lingular fadt, that, juft as if the na¬ 
tion and its government were as yet in their infancy, 
every feffion during the war has introduced a new fyftem 
of military defence; till at length our truly-conftitutional 
guard of citizen-foldiers, or militia, feems entirely loft, 
together with the only new fyftem that ever deferved ap- 
plaufe, namely, the enlifting of foidiers for a limited time 
only.—Lord Cafllereagh’s plan, this year, was two-fold ; 
firft, to induce militia-men to transfer their fervices from 
DON. 37 1 
England to any part of Europe ; and fecondly, to give ad¬ 
ditional encouragement for volunteering into the line. 
Thofe who make a transfer of their fervices as militia¬ 
men, to receive a bounty of eight guineas, and retain their 
privileges as in the militia ; their officers to receive half¬ 
pay when the regiment is difembodied. The militia-man 
volunteering into the line, if his fervices are limited to 
five years, to receive twelve guineas; if he volunteers his 
fervices for life, fixteen : officers as high as captains (in- 
clufive) may volunteer with the privates, in the propor¬ 
tion of one captain, one lieutenant, and one enlign, to 
every hundred men. On entering the army, the officers 
will at firft receive half-pay, and, after one campaign on 
foreign fervice, rank as officers of the army with perma¬ 
nent rank, or, if they choofe, (till continue in the militia. 
His lordfhip concluded by ttating, that the recruiting by 
beat of drum gave annually 10,000 men; that his plan 
would give 20,000 the prefent year, to which adding 7000, 
the arrears of former years, there would be an additional 
difpofable force of 27,000 men ; and, in the next year, the 
operation of this plan would give 40,000 men, including 
25,000 the average watte; or from 10,000 to 15,000 troops 
annually. He faid he ihould never lofe fight of continu¬ 
ing the militia on its prefent iyftem, though he enter¬ 
tained fanguine hopes that the men might be replaced 
without having recourfe to the ballot, which was deemed 
a hardfhip. His lordfhip concluded by obtaining leave to 
bring in “a bill, to enable his majefty to accept of the fer¬ 
vices of a portion of the militia for the more vigorous 
profecution of the war.” 
On the third reading of this bill, on the 18th, fir Wil¬ 
liam Curtis moved a claufe by way of rider, “ to fave the 
rights and privileges of the city of London which was 
agreed to. The bill received the royal affent on the 23d 
of November. 
On the fame day, lord Caftlereagh introduced bills ena¬ 
bling the crown to accept the fervices of the local militia 
out of their counties, (in place of the regular militia,) for 
fix weeks at one time; to allow the militias of England 
and Ireland to interchange with lefs limitation ; to grant 
penfions to furgeons and non-commiffioned officers; See. 
See. Thele bills palfed through both houfes, and received 
the royal affent on the 10th of December. 
On the 17th of November, Mr. B. Bathurft obtained 
leave to bring in a bill to fufpend for a limited time the 
proceedings on adfions for recovery of penalties under the 
aft of the 43d of the king, commonly called the non-rcfi- 
dence a£l. The grounds of this meafure were the follow¬ 
ing: Mr. Wright, who had been the regiftrar (or fecre- 
tary) in the bifhoprics of London, Norwich, and Ely, had 
inftituted prolecutions againft the clergy in the above dio- 
cefes, for penalties, for non-refidence, to the amount, if 
recovered, of 8o,oool. In the fituarions which that indi¬ 
vidual held, he had not only acquired the means of know¬ 
ing what had been done, and wliat had been omitted to be 
done, by the clergy of thofe diocefes, but he had poffeffed 
the power of preventing, if he chofe it, the appearance of 
thofe documents which might be a defence againft the 
profecutions that he had fince inftituted : for, in the ordi¬ 
nary eourfe of epifcopal bufinefs, the particular notifica¬ 
tions of the clergy were entrufted to this very individual 
himfelf!—The tranfadlions of every diocefe were fo exten- 
five, that it was impoffible for the bifliop perfonally to go 
through them ; and it was not at all improbable that many 
of the letters of notification, for the non-delivery of 
which the actions had been brought, had been put into 
the hands of this identical regiftrar, or fecretary, and might 
by him be fupprefled or not, at pleafure. In faff, he had 
received many letters from highly-refpedlable individuals, 
in which they affured him that they had applied, firft by 
letter, and then by word of mouth, to this Mr. Wright, 
and that they had been affured their licenfes would be made 
out in confequence. In fome cafes, he had been out of the 
way, and no fatisfactory anfwer could be obtained ; until 
at length, for fome reafon into which he would not then 
. enter,. 
