Lord Kingpresented a Petition from Taunton, Somersetshire, praying that the trade to China might be thrown open, and the East India Company's Monopoly abolished. The petition, his Lordship said, was signed by a great number of most respectable persons, and they thought that it was high time for them and others, who wished the opening the trade, to bestir themselves, as they began to suspect that there was a leaning on the part of Ministers towards the renewal of the Charter. It was like the case of an expiration of a beneficial lease, where the stewards suffered themselves to be cajoled by the lessees. The petitioners thought it was high time to press on Government the necessity of attending 1266 to their interests, and in this he agreed with them.