—A petition of the inhabitants of the town and county of the town of Southampton was presented to the house and read; setting forth, "that the petitioners would feel themselves criminally indifferent were they not to express their gratitude for the votes of the house on the 8th and 10th days of April last, which declared lord viscount Melville guilty of a gross violation of the law and a high breach of duty, votes which have diffused joy and confidence throughout every part of the united kingdom; and that, among the various irregularities and abuses which have been detected and exposed by the commissioners of naval enquiry, none has created more jealousy and alarm in the breasts of the petitioners than the application of monies, appropriated by the legislature for the uses of the navy, to other purposes, a practice replete with danger to the constitution and to the liberty of this country; and that the detection of such malversations in one department of the state induces apprehensions that others may not be more faithfully and honestly administered; and the petitioners therefore think it their duty to implore the national representatives that their intention, already manifested, of instituting enquiries into every branch of the public expenditure, may be speedily carried into effect, a measure calculated to compose the public mind, to confirm the confidence, and to secure the unanimity and energy of the people."—Ordered to lie upon the table.