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brought up, Mr. Whitbread thought he might as well take this opportunity of offering the few observations he had to submit to the house now, intending, when the resolutions were agreed to, to move the amend ment of which he had given notice. The right honourable gentleman (the chancellor of the exchequer) now came to them to call for a sum, as a vote of credit, large beyond all example, amounting as it did to no less than 5,000,000l. In the last session a vote of credit for 3,000,000l. was called for. This was thought an excessively large sum, but it was not then calculated that the army extraordinaries would fall short as they had done. This year the right honourable gentleman, to guard against the recurrence of such a circumstance, had taken a frightfully large sum for the army extraordinaries; and now, to close this scene of unparalleled expense in a suitable manner, they were called upon to give 5,000,000l. as a vote of credit. It would be a vain compliment, were he to say he was content to trust them with so large a sum; but as he could not hope to induce the house to withhold any part of it from them, or to withdraw their confidence from them altogether, he should not divide the house on the amendment which he proposed to offer. On the first day of the session, he had proposed an address to the prince regent on the subject of peace, and had given notice of a motion, the object of which was to bring it under the consideration of the house. Events afterwards occurred, which had not entered into his contemplation, and which no human being could have looked for: -the overthrow of Bonaparte and the destruction of his army, which was so complete, that no human being

could have calculated on it, that no human means could have effected it, caused such a change in Europe, that, unwilling to fetter ministers in discussions in which they might engage, he had abstained from carrying his intentions into effect. Instead of pursuing that plan which he had hoped to see adopted, the belligerents had advanced, seemingly resolved still further to reduce the power of France by force. This course they had adopted, instead of seeking to effect a peace. They advanced in the vain hope, that as Bonaparte had experienced an overthrow he had lost his dominions, and would not be able to make another great effort to restore himself to his former greatness. When he saw this, and when Bonaparte and his armies were still pursued by the Russians, he had again contemplated the necessity of calling the attention of parliament to the subject of peace, in order to see if some advantage might not be taken of the state of things at that eventful crisis. Again it was found that Bonaparte, instead of having lost his power, was still as potent as ever; that his people, instead of being unwilling to obey his orders, made a more gigantic effort in his cause than any they had made since the period of the revolution. The Russian armies, after pursuing the enemy to the Rhine, had there been encountered by fresh levies from France, and forced by them to fall back; for no one should persuade him that they had not been obliged to retire, as he could not believe they would have advanced before only to retreat. When after two bloody battles they were forced to give way, to retire behind the Elbe, and fall back as far as the Oder, he had then again thought of calling the attention of the house to that so

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much wished for-peace, when news arrived of the armistice which had been concluded in Germany, and he again abandoned the design he had formed. It had appeared, almost impossible to doubt of this country gaining some advantage from what had taken place, when it was found how inextricably she had been involved by the treaty with Sweden. He had abstained from interfering as he had intended to do; but now, as soon as the resolutions were passed, he should submit an addition to the report, in order to record on their journals the sense he had of the course which this country ought to pursue. He hoped the armistice would-lead to a peace on the continent, and he hoped (but he was not confident) that the cabinet of St. James's would become a party to it. Want ing confidence, however, as he did in them when the vote was agreed to, he should move-" that an humble address be presented to his royal highness, the prince regent, assuring his royal highness, that in granting the unexampled sum now voted, they did it in the full expectation, and the confident hope, that his royal highness would seize on the first opportunity to make a peace with his majesty's enemies, on such terms as may be consistent with the honour and interests of the nation, and without endangering our allies, in order to manifest to all Europe the views by which he was actuated, and to prove his unwillingness to protract the war, or to throw any obstacles in the way of the return of peace."

Lord Castlereagh was ready to admit that which the honourable gentleman had set out by stating, namely, that the vote of credit now called for was unexampled in its amount, and that the army ex

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traordinaries were greatly increased, to meet the peculiar circumstances of the times; and admitting these facts, he was prepared to contend that they were as honourable and as splendid exertions for the public good, as had ever been made by parliament. He thought the honourable gentleman, feeling as he did on the subject of peace, had displayed as much forbearance throughout the subject as could be expected from any one. With respect to the charge preferred by the honourable gentleman against ministers, for not attempting to negotiate immediately after the destruction of Bonaparte's army in Russia, he must know, unless he was deaf to all that was hostile to his opinions, that a fortnight had hardly elapsed after the return of Bonaparte from Russia, when he caused it to be stated in a formal instrument then made public, that France would make no peace but on the principles avowed before, and communicated to this country, which could not be listened to consistently with its honour and engagements, one of which, it would be remembered, was, that his dynasty should reign in Spain. He hoped, in stating this, it would be clear that the honourable gentleman had made out no prima facie case, on which he had a right to accuse ministers of an unfair indisposition towards peace, when it could be obtained without sacrificing the honour and interests of the country. He concluded by putting a negative on the address; which was carried.

July 1.-Mr. Whitbread in the house of commons rose to state to the house, that the committee appointed by them had met, and examined witnesses respecting the nature and value of the books and manuscripts of Mr. Hargrave.

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Many of his books were enriched with notes, which were extremely valuable, in the opinion of those who were the most competent judges; and it was conceived that the books and manuscripts would be a great acquisition to the public, if deposited in the library of Lincoln's Inn. It was unnecessary for him to say any thing respecting Mr. Hargrave's learning and character. There was not a lawyer in England who would not be ready to bear testimony to his great erudition, abilities, and industry. Mr. Whitbread concluded his speech by quoting, from a recent learned publication, Maddock's Life of Lord Somers, p. 142], a passage concerning Mr. Hargrave, which, Mr. Whitbread said, was quite congenial with his own sentiments, See what Mr. Hargrave says in his interesting and learned preface to Sir Matthew Hale's work on Judicature in Parliament, p. 14. I quote that preface with additional pleasure, since it affords me an opportunity of expressing my admiration of Mr. Hargrave. When I reflect upon his profound, his useful, his infinite labours, his gentle manners, his pure, disinterested, and patriotic mind, he seems to me to rank amongst the greatest benefactors of his country." He should content himself with moving an address to his royal highness the prince regent, that he would be graciously pleased to appropriate 80001, out of the civil list revenue, for the purchase of the books and manuscripts of Francis Hargrave, one of his majesty's counsel; which was agreed

to.

July 5.-Lord Cochrane, in pursuance of a notice he had given, begged to call the attention of the house to a variety of evils and hardships which existed in the naval ser

vice. He did not wish to detain the house by any lengthened remarks on the nature of the griev ances of which he had to complain; but preferred bringing them for ward in the shape of clear and specific resolutions, setting forth, under distinct views, the various grounds against which he had to remonstrate, and for the redress of which he trusted a full and efficient remedy would be adopted. That remedy would, he apprehended, be principally found in the limitation of the duration of service, which was at present extended to a painful and afflicting period. His lordship then proceeded to read a long series of resolutions, reciting the instances of complaint and hardships which called loudly for the interposition of parliament. The resolutions began with stating, that the honour of his majesty's crown, the glory of the country, and the safety of the state, were connected with and dependent upon the navy of Great Britain; that although the valour, skill, and spirit of that navy had, in all former times, been raised to the highest pitch by the splendour of its achievements, yet it had of late, in the actual war with the United States of America, suffered defeat, disaster, and disgrace; that notwithstanding these failures and misfortunes, they were not caused by any superiority of skill or weight of metal on the part of the enemy, but were in reality to be ascribed to the mode in which the duty of the naval service was conducted, and to the want of care which prevailed in providing for the health of the petty officers and men; that they were to be attri buted to the decayed and heartless state of the crews, compared with their former state of energy, and compared with the vigour and

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freshness of the enemy's men. The principal remedy he had to propose was the limitation of the duration of service, with suitable rewards out of the droits of admiralty, which might be applied to that purpose with peculiar propriety, inasmuch as they resulted from, and were the fruits of, the bravery of the men. He assured the house, that he had not introduced into the resolutions any single statement the truth of which he was not ready to establish by evidence at their bar; and he solemnly pledged himself, were the inquiry entered into, to prove the existence of the evils complained of. His lordship concluded by moving that the resolutions be read.

The resolutions were accordingly read from the chair.

Mr. Croker observed, that under all the extraordinary features which characterized the resolutions now submitted to the house, it would have been but fair in the noble lord to have communicated the substance of them to the persons intrusted with the care of the navy. The noble lord would then have had every opportunity of examining the accuracy of the grounds upon which he had ventured to address the house, and of ascertaining facts, of which it appeared, to say no worse of his information, he knew little or nothing. If he was not very much mistaken in his apprehension of the substance of the resolutions, he felt himself justified in saying, that the only one which could meet with his assent, or the assent of any other man in the house, was the first, stating the honour of his majesty's crown, the glory of the country, and the safety of the state, to depend upon the skill, the valour, and the intrepidity of our navy. There was not

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another resolution of the noble lord, which was not obviously grounded on absolute misrepresentation, or most grossly exaggerated. could, he believed, assert without the fear of contradiction, that no person in that house or in the country, except the noble lord himself, ever thought of attributing the captures made from us by the Americans to the despondent spirits and heartless state of our crews, and not to the superior dimensions and weight of metal of the enemy's ships. What would be the conse quence, were the noble lord's assertions to be admitted by the house? What was the fact with respect to the Java and the Macedonian? Were the brave and gallant men who fought the Macedonian against an overbearing superiority of size and numbers, and an overwhelming superiority of metal, despondent, faint, and heartless? The Macedonian had been fought with such determined gallantry, and such persevering intrepidity, as to give to the officers and men an honour that was as justly merited as it was pure and untainted, and it was only now attempted to be blown upon by the noble lord. He would state one fact respecting the courageous and dauntless character maintained by the crew of that ves sel in the very extremity and crisis of danger: immediately before the surrender of the Macedonian, loud, cordial, and repeated cheering was given. He could not better describe the nature of these cheers, nor more adequately praise the noble spirit displayed by the crew on the occa sion, than by assuring the honse, that the cheering arose from the cockpit; and the wounded and the dying were those who first raised the patriotic shouts. Would the noble lord call those men depressed

and heartless, who were not only susceptible of such manly and generous feelings, but who were capable of giving to them, even in the bitter moments of bodily an guish and inevitable death, the energetic tone and expression so truly characteristic of British seamen? A right honourable friend near him had suggested another memorable proof of what the noble lord might, if he pleased, call the wretched and heartless state of our crews, and he thanked his right honourable friend for the suggestion. He alluded to the gallant fight maintained by the Java. John Humble, the boatswain of that ship, was perhaps one of those seamen who, according to the noble lord's statements, were disheartened, and lost their spirit and energies, in consequence of the oppressions and privations they had suffered. What was the conduct of this disheartened seaman? Having been severely wounded, he went below; shortly afterwards returned upon deck, and with the tourniquet on his arm, which he said he had put to rights, he was seen cheering of the boarders with his pipe. Was this a proof with the noble lord of the decayed and heartless state of our petty officers and seamen? If it was, the noble lord might be well grounded in his resolutions; for he could assure him that there were not only numerous testimonies of a similar kind, but that many more of our disheartened seamen were ready to emulate them. But he probably appealed in vain to the feelings of the noble lord. It was for the house and for the country to feel, to admire, and appreciate those instances of devotion and magnanimity which so frequently exalted the British seaman to the rank of a hero, and placed him on

the pinnacle of immortal honour and glory. The noble lord, among his other misrepresentations, had said, that there was no promotion to be obtained in the navy but by the wages of corruption. If such were the real opinion of the noble lord, was he not fairly borne out. in putting a few questions to the candour of the noble lord? Was the noble lord's appointment to the command of a ship obtained by the wages of corruption? Was the red ribbon worn by him, and given certainly to a young man as a rare mark of distinction, obtained by the wages of corruption? Had his near relation-for the noble lord's supposition would warrant him in going that length-been raised to the naval rank he now enjoyed, and appointed governor of Guada loupe, by the wages of corruption? Did the gallant officer, the noble lord's successor in the command of the fine frigate he once had, obtain that command by the wages of corruption? The fact was, that the noble lord's recommendation had great weight in the appointment of his successor, and surely that recommendation was not caused by any feeling of corruption. He regretted, he sincerely deplored that the noble lord had resigned the command of that fine vessel; for he was convinced, that in that command he would have acted with as much consistency-with as much spirit-and with as much honour for the service of the navy, as he appeared, in his resolutions of that night, to act against its acknowledged glory, energy, and courage. He had noticed the noble lord's resolutions with some warmth, but his warmth was instantaneous, and arose naturally out of the subject; but his lordship had not the same apology to offer, for he had em

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