§ Mr. Sinclairsaid, that he held in his hand a petition very numerously and respectably signed, from the town of Thurso, in Caithness, against the imposition of any fresh duty upon coals. The anxiety and alarm, which even the unauthenticated rumour that such a measure was in contemplation, had excited in every part of the kingdom, and which particularly prevailed in the manufacturing districts of Scotland, had extended to the distant county, which he had the honour to represent.—He was happy to find that his own sentiments were confirmed by those pf the petitioners—and should, if necessary, give every opposition in his power to a tax so cruel and impolitic; a tax which would press so severely upon all classes of the community, but especially upon the indigent and industrious—a tax which, by increasing the price, would necessarily diminish the consumption of many important articles of manufacture and would thus prove very injurious to the commerce and revenue of the country.
§ Ordered to lie on the table.