great importance. He judged, from the general conduct of the hon. member for Corfe-castle, that he was a friend to reform in little things, but an enemy to economy and reform in matters of importance; and he was of opinion, that nobody had done more to prevent any real reform from taking place. dinary precedent, by placing on the Jour- | placed such a man in an office of such nals the comments of the hon. member upon an act of parliament. The pensions which had been granted to lord Sidmouth, he considered no more than a fit remuneration for the arduous and meritorious services of that noble lord. It was the prerogative of the Crown to bestow pensions as rewards for eminent public services and if ever that prerogative should be taken from the Crown, and vested in that House, it would be a departure from the principles of the constitution, and the change would be forty times more expensive and onerous than the original state of things. He concluded with moving, "That the other orders of the day be read." Mr. H. G. Bennet said, he considered the bill a fraudulent measure. Under it, very few offices had been abolished, and not many regulated. He objected to the whole of the present system. He had satisfied himself by inquiry, that since the Revolution, all the great offices of state had been given as bribes to families, for the support of ministers when they had lost the confidence of the country. Those offices were not bestowed as rewards for public services, but as pay for political prostitution. He chiefly objected to the present bill, because it held out inducements to political adventurers to enter that House, who, by prostituting the talents with which Providence had gifted them, arrived at situations of rank, and, after two years' service, retired upon a pension for life. He must deny that the country would be a loser by the repeal of the bill. He did not believe that the House, even constituted as it was, would agree to a pension of 3,000l. to lord Sidmouth. It was painful to allude to particular individuals; but he felt it his duty to declare, that from the hapless day when lord Sidmouth quitted the chair of that House to become prime minister of this country-for which situation, in point of ability and talent, he was no more qualified than any of the door-keepers of the house-down to the present time, he had done nothing to deserve such a reward as that which had been bestowed upon him. [Cheers.] It would be very consistent in those who were the supporters of the Manchester massacre, and the eulogists of spies and informers, to praise the noble viscount; but he could not consider it any thing but an unfortunate selection which had Mr. Bankes said, that the attack made on him by the hon. member was most unfounded. He would appeal to the whole course of his parliamentary conduct against such an insinuation, which, in justice to himself, he must term false. Mr. H. G. Bennet said, that with every possible contumely, he returned the term "false," in every sense in which it was used by the hon. member. They The Marquis of Londonderry said, he could not, without the utmost indignation, listen to the attacks which had been so profusely and so unwarrantably made on the characters of individuals by the two hon. members. Those hon. members could not be ignorant of the inconsistency of their arguments on the question of rewards to public servants. ought to be aware, that the reform of Mr. Burke allowed of rewards to public servants who had filled high and important situations. The speeches, however, of the hon. members, however they might affect to approve the principle of that measure, presented the most disgusting system of inconsistency he had ever met with; for though they had been sticklers for the bill on a former occasion, which admitted the justice of such rewards, they now came forward to oppose them, with the evident view of attacking the character of a nobleman, in whose case the principle had been applied. The character of his noble friend (lord Sidmouth) was, however, too exalted to be affected by such insinuations; for he would assert, that a more able and efficient minister of the Crown had not existed than he had. proved himself. By his talents and exer-tions he had contributed mainly to the salvation of the country in an hour of danger and peril. Having those opinions with respect to the character and talents of his noble friend, it was not without feelings of disgust that he had heard the gross attack upon him, in which he had been compared to one of the door-keepers of that House. Such language never ought to have been used in the observations of one gentleman upon within the walls of a British parliament. [Immense cheering from the ministerial side]. Mr. Brougham said, he rose to protest against the tone and language which the noble lord had dared to use. The Marquis of Londonderry rose to order, and said-When any hon. member uses the word "dare," as applied to any remark made by any other member, I apprehend it is quite inconsistent with the order of parliamentary proceedings. If the term is applied to any observation used by me, it is irregular; for at the time of my making a remark which could call for such an expression, it was the learned member's duty to have interrupted me. The learned member has neglected to do so, and I now appeal to the chair whether he is regular in the expression he has used. The Speaker said, that, undoubtedly, if the use of the word "dare" were to be interpreted in the sense in which the noble lord took it, it would be quite disorderly; but the House would allow him to say, that the term was one which was frequently used in debate without any offensive intention on the part of the member using it. the political conduct of another. It was, however, reserved for the hon. member for Shrewsbury, and he did not envy him the proud distinction, to make the exception. The conduct of his noble friend, would, on every occasion of his life, bear the strictest scrutiny. At the time he left the chair of that House, which he had filled with so much credit and ability, he left it, not from any wish of his own, but in obedience to the commands of his sovereign; and though his political career might not be so brilliant as that of Mr. Pitt or Mr. Fox, on a comparison, his eminent services were not the less entitled to the gratitude of his country. But the attacks of the hon. members did not end here. An attempt was made to wound the personal feelings of his noble friend, by a charge of his having acted from interested motives. Such a charge was most unwarranted. When his noble friend left the chair of that House, he refused to accept of any provision; and the same disinterested feelings actuated him when he retired from the cabinet. In consideration of his eminent services, his late majesty had given his commands to Mr. Yorke to draw up a message to the Commons to make provision for him. His noble friend most peremptorily refused to Mr. Brougham maintained, that he had a accept of any. It was objected by the right to impugn any minister of the Crown hon. mover, that his noble friend had for presuming (if he must be driven from conferred offices upon members of his his former word) to accuse a represenown family. If he had done so, he had tative of the people, engaged in the hodone no more than had been done by nest discharge of his duty, in language other ministers. But what had that pro- such as no member of that House had vision to do with the present question? ever ventured to employ. Disgraceful! This, however, did not prevent the gen- disgusting! There might be some memtlemen opposite from alluding to circum-bers who deemed his hon. friend's speech stances, which were calculated to harrow up family feelings, and that, too, in a case where no other object could, by possibility, be attained. It must have been known to the hon. members, that of the profits of the situation which had been conferred on a part of the family of his noble friend, he could not, under the particular circumstances, touch a penny; and for that reason, as it could not support any one of their arguments, common feelings of humanity should have induced them to abstain from introducing it. Taking all the circumstances into consideration, it was not without feelings of great disgust that he had heard the remarks of the hon. gentlemen, and he could not sit there without expressing his reprobation of language the most disgusting and disgraceful he had ever heard VOL. VII. disgraceful, but he (Mr. B.) was not one of them: there might be some who considered them disgusting, but he belonged not to that class. It was one thing, however, to think, and another to utter such language; and never in his life had he heard such expressions uttered in that House as those which had been launched by a minister of the Crown at the head of a representative of the people. He should feel for any member who was treated in this most novel and unparliamentary fashion; but, in the present instance, he felt for a dear, long tried, and much valued friend, for whom he entertained all those sentiments to which the excellence of his heart, the manliness of his character, and the inflexible integrity of his public conduct justly entitled him. With respect to the general question, he would only 4 U Haldimand, W. say, that without entering into the personal | Guise, sir W. The Marquis of Londonderry said, he had used the words "disgraceful and disgusting" in no other than a parliamentary sense, and did not apply them to the general scope of the argument of the hon. member. When he heard the hon. member compare his noble friend to a doorkeeper, and undertake to prove that all the great families, from the period of the Revolution, had been corrupted by grants, similar to those conferred on lord Sidmouth, he considered those two declarations both disgraceful and disgusting; and though he wished it to be understood that he used these expressions in a parliamentary sense, he did not upon reflection consider that he had at all misapplied the terms. Mr. Creevey said, that as the hon. member for Corfe-Castle had moved as an amendment, that the House should proceed to the other orders of the day, and as his (Mr. C.'s) object was to put his resolutions upon the Journals, he should merely hand up to the Speaker his first resolution. If it was negatived, he should then move his other resolutions, as the other orders of the day were proposed to be read. He did not, however, intend to divide the House upon any of his resolutions, except the first. The question being put, "That the other orders of the day be now read, the House divided: Ayes, 143. Noes, 42. Majority against Mr. Creevey's first resolution, 101. HOUSE OF LORDS. Thursday, June 27. NAVAL AND MILITARY PENSIONS BILL.] The House having resolved itself into a committee on this bill, lord King moved the following preamble, which, he thought was more suitable than the one which now preceded it : "Whereas an impatience of taxation, no less ignorant than irresistible, pervades all ranks of his majesty's subjects, and it is highly expedient to afford some relief; and whereas the minimum of relief which will give satisfaction, and the least intelligible plan which can plausibly be stated, is that of extending the burthen of the military and naval pensions over a longer period of time than the natural lives of the present annuitants, and defraying the expense of the first 16 years by a series of annual loans; and whereas, by an act of the 57th Geo. 3rd, c. 65, a very large provision has been made for the maintenance and half-pay of the persons now holding high and efficient offices, and it is desirable to secure the continuance of the same high and efficient public men in the offices they now hold, in order to avoid increasing the amount of dead service or half-pay so profusely provided, in case his majesty's present confidential servants should resign their offices, contrary to all true economy, and the intent and meaning of themselves, and of this act, and of every act of the present parliament; and whereas there is or will be a sinking fund of 5,000,000l., applicable to the redemption of the national debt, to the relief of future generations at the expense of the present; and whereas it is also become expedient to relieve the present ignorant and impatient generation at the expense of posterity, clauses in the bill which he objected to. He therefore wished that the hon. member would consent to postpone it till next session. But as he did not expect the hon. member would consent to this, he should move, that the bill be read a third time this day three months. Alderman C. Smith thought the bill objectionable in many parts, and that it pressed too heavily on the publicans. Mr. Monck would support any measure calculated to check the monopoly of the brewers, the effects of which fell entirely upon the poor, who were often obliged to drink a deteriorated and unwholesome beverage, and that, too, at a dear rate, Mr. Calcraft objected to the clause which gave an appeal to the quarter sessions, in case of licences, from the decision of the petty sessions. Unless this clause was withdrawn, he would oppose the bill. which necessary relief could be effected most advantageously by a deduction fron: the said sinking fund, of a sum equal to the amount of revenue derived from those taxes which it is become so highly necessary to repeal; but whereas his majesty's confidential servants now holding high and efficient offices have solemnly declared that the said sinking fund, to the full amount of 5,000,000l. aforesaid, shall be maintained inviolate; and whereas it is highly necessary that the wisdom of the said high and efficient public men should be upheld by the lords spiritual, and also by the lords temporal, and commons in parliament assembled; therefore be it enacted, by and with the advice of the same, that a series of loans shall be raised in a circuitous manner, and that the lords commissioners of the Treasury shall have power to lend to themselves, and to borrow of themselves, and to conceal the whole transaction from themselves, and from all other ignorant and well-disposed persons: And be it further enacted, that the commissioners for the redemption of the national debt shall likewise be the trustees appointed by the act for raising Mr. Bernal said, it was using the hon. money on annuities to provide for the mover rather hardly to say that this bill payment of the military and naval pen- was not in favour of the publicans, seeing sions, and that they shall, in their capa- it was founded on the petitions of many cities of trustees, create stock, in their of that numerous body, and the commitother capacities of commissioners for the tee was attended by their solicitor. He redemption of the national debt, shall thought the clause restricting the dispurchase that same stock; or, if more ex-cretionary power of the magistrates most pedient and inexplicable, shall issue Ex- salutary. chequer bills, and invest and reinvest the proceeds thereof, through all the mazes of the transfer office, according to the will and pleasure of the chancellor of the exchequer; and make centuple entry thereof, provided always that the aggregate of confusion and perplexity shall agree with the same sum, as the deduction of the requisite amount from the sinking fund." Lord Harrowby observed, that the measures of ministers were often called absurd, but he should be glad to know whether this preamble was an example of the sense of the other side of the House. The motion was negatived. Mr. Peel said, there were several useful regulations in the bill, and therefore he hoped it would pass; but he wished the hon. mover would consent to withdraw or modify the clause which took the discretionary power from the magistrates. Mr. Alderman Wood complained of the wanton acts of authority, which, under the present licensing system, often deprived men who had committed no offence, of the means of livelihood; and said, that such an act as a man's not taking off his hat to the parson of the parish, might cause him to lose his licence. They could not, therefore, too soon put under proper control this arbitrary power of the magistrates. Mr. Bennet vindicated the principle of his bill, which, he said, went to destroy the monopoly of the brewers, to break down corrupt influence, to prevent the arbitrary destruction of property, and take away from magistrates the power of doing that in close chambers, which they dare not do in open court. These principles remained in the bill as at first, and were not affected by the alterations which he had been induced to adopt. It was, therefore, rather hard that members Lord Cranborne said, there were several who at first supported the bill, should HOUSE OF COMMONS. ALE HOUSES LICENSING BILL.] Mr. Bennet moved, "That the bill be now read a third time." The House divided: For the third reading, 38; For the Amendment, 21. The bill was then read a third time and passed. now oppose it; and even turn their backs | sions in return, to abolish the trade to on petitions which they had presented in the north, of the line only. Unhappily, its favour. He would not, however, on however, there was reason to believe, that that account withdraw the bill; for he the agreement had not been strictly carfelt too anxious that an immediate re- ried into effect, and that the governors of medy should be applied to the evils com- some of the Portuguese settlements not plained of. He wished particularly to only winked at the trade, but were themdestroy that frightful abuse of the selves partakers of it. He hoped that the licensing system, which made it an engine new government of Portugal would make a of electioneering influence. He spoke beneficial change on this subject. To the not of Whigs or Tories, but of the abuse, conduct of the government of the United as he knew it to be generally practised. States, he could advert with unfeigned He would adopt the suggestion of gentle- pleasure. The American government had men on the other side, and would leave abolished the trade on their own part, and out the words "counties and ridings," had co-operated with our government in enand insert in their place the words deavouring to render that abolition uni"cities and boroughs," because it was versal. Still, however, there was somethere that the evil was in most active thing for the government of the United operation; for the magistrates in those States to do. Last year a committee of places were mostly brewers and distillers, the House of Representatives recomand had a direct interest in the continu- mended the adoption of a mutual and ance of the abuses which he was anxious qualified right of search; without which, to rectify. indeed, all efforts wholly to put down the trade must be hopeless. It was to be lamented, that any ancient prejudice should be permitted to stand in the way of so desirable a measure; but the recommendation to which he had alluded was not very favourably received, by the senate, and by the American government. He could not close this portion of his remarks without paying a just tribute to the naval officers of America, who had cordially co-operated with our own in the abolition of the traffic. He had now to speak of a power, the conduct of whose subjects on this great question, no friend of humanity could contemplate without the deepest pain. He meant France. Along the whole coast of Africa, the subjects of France were carrying on the Slave Trade with an everyday increasing activity. Invitations were openly held out to persons possessing small capitals to embark in this infamous traffic, with assurances that enormous profits would result from the speculation. And yet the government of France had expressed the same reprobation of the trade as had been expressed by the government of England! It was lamentable to remark, that, although the executive government of France had been prompt and powerful to decide on this subject, they had proved tardy and weak when the time arrived at which their decision ought to have been carried into effect. The thing was so extraordinary, that he could scarcely help believing, either that the fact of what was taking place was little SLAVE TRADE.] Mr. Wilberforce began by observing, that as parliament had some years ago come to a determination to abolish the Slave Trade, it was incumbent upon it to endeavour to make the measures it had agreed to for its abolition as complete and effectual as possible. For that purpose, application had been made to several foreign powers for their assistance, and the object of his motion was, to obtain the production of the correspondence which had taken place between them and this government. The hon. gentleman proceeded to take a review of the policy which had been pursued by the various European states, and by America, with reference to this interesting subject. The Cortes of Spain had, in a manner highly creditable to themselves, passed a law, inflicting a severe penalty on any one who should be found dealing in slaves, and directing the instant manumission of the slaves themselves. He was unable to speak with equal praise of the conduct of the old government of Portugal. That government had long resisted the applications of the British government on the subject, until at length, wearied out with the intreaties of the latter, the Portuguese government had consented, en the understanding that they should receive some commercial conces |