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ces were to be distributed, and these inspectors of elections, for so they were in fact, were each to have pay and allowan ces, making the whole expence to the nation between 37 and 40,000l. a year for no advantage whatever! This was the "little beginning of these mighty enemies

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to patronage: more pure and unadultera"ted jobs never existed than these appoint"ments." Thank you, my lord Howick! Thank you for this valuable declaration. It will do us great good, if we have but patience. To threaten the whole of the electors of a borough was a bold thing to be sure; and, I dare say, no such threats were necessary at Appleby, that fine free borough, which you have the honour to represent Lord Howick was answered by Mr. Perceval, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Clerk of the Irons, and reversioner of patent places, held by his brother, worth about £12,000 a year. This gentleman is reported to have said, that," another charge "brought against ministers by the noble "lord was, that the influence of government "had been exercised beyond all former ex

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ample, at the late election. He was con"vinced, however, that no case could be

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produced parallel to what had been brought under the consideration of the last "parliament, with respect to the Hamp"shire Election. The noble lord had in"stanced one case respecting Mr. Grogan, "but this was the first he had heard of it; "the noble lord had then stated, that it was "notorious that 100 Inspecting Field Offi

cers had been appointed to the volunteer "force previous to the election, with a view "to influence the electors. There might

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or might not be merit in the appointment "of these officers, but his majesty's pre"sent ministers, when out of power, had re"commended the measure, and now they

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were in office, they had adopted it. But "the same officers that had been employed "before were appointed, and they had not "been appointed until after the election, "and this was the measure which the noble "lord had represented as an exercise of "corrupt influence at elections beyond all "former example. The noble lord appear"ed to him rather rash in his charge, and "not to be acquainted with some of the acts "of his colleagues: what would the house "think of the nomination of 300, not in"specting, but surveying officers of taxes, "who could not be appointed either in law, er in fact, till an act of parliament should

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"be passed to authorise the appointment ? "What would they think of the designation "of so many officers, previous to the elec"tion of that parliament which was to pass "the act, which was to authorise the op"pointment of these officers? The appoint"ment had not taken place, because the act "had not passed, and there remained for "the gentlemen opposite only to send la"mentable letters of apology, where they "had no longer the power to realise their engagements."——From a mild compassionate gentleman, such as Mr. Perceval is, one might have expected something more humane than ridicule of 300 hungry wretches, gaping for plunder, as unfledged buzzards gape for their prey, and, just as it was reach- / ing their mouths, seeing it snatched away for ever. According to his account, too, the prey had been paid for, or earned. The hard and dirty work was all performed. Had he no bowels, that he could ridicule wretches so treated? Did he, I wonder, reflect upon the number of " genteel families" that this non-fulfilment of articles would plunge into distress; upon the number of new shawls and dresses that it would leave unpaid for; upon the number of forte-pianos that it would reduce to silence; upon the number of routes that it would prevent; upon the number of lazy rascals that it would send to pauperize in some other way?, Did he reflect on none of this?-There seems, on the two sides, to have been a pretty equal balance of jobs. Mr. Grogan's is, I think, rather the strongest instance; but, then, the three hundred tax-gatherers surpass, without doubt, the one hundred inspecting field-offcers. Both, I dare say, ought to be considered as equally useful to the country; but, all that the people have to remember is this, that, if the assertions of both parties are not false, one of the parties, at least, has made the appointments in question for the purpose, not of doing good to the country, but of getting votes on their side in the House of Commons. This is what the people have to bear in mind.- -In the next grand debate upon the subject of Jobs, Mr. Perceval was the assailant. The subject of discussion was the re-appointment of the Finance Committee; and, Mr. Perceval, in order to show, that it was necessary to have a good number of his friends upon that committee, said, that the conduct of the late ministry would require to be examined into. This let him easily into the subject of jobs, whereon he proceeded thus: The late ministers had expressed "themselves on the first appointment of "the committee, very much averse to the

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"grant of places in reversion; there was, "" however, one instance to which attention "had been called, of their having, a short "time before they went out of office, appointed to offices in reversion of a most extraordinary nature he alluded to the "appointment of a Collector and Surveyor of Customs in the port of Buenos Ayres, a place not then in the possession of his Majesty. These were reversionary grants "to take place upon an uncertain contingency, and made by those gentlemen who appeared to be so nice on this subject. "He had on a former occasion stated, "without giving any opinion upon the pro

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priety of appointing such officers, the no"inination of 300 Surveyors of Taxes. The "nomination was founded on a representa"tion from the Commissioners of Taxes, "made in March, 1806, but the appoint"ment could not take place till the business " was submitted to parliament. When the "dissolution took place in October, without "any sanction of parliament having been "obtained for these appointments, the per

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"acts of the late ministers, but he confess"ed himself at a loss to understand what they could mean by the appointment of a "Professor of Medical Jurisprudence. He

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acknowledged that he was ignorant of the duty of that professor, and could not "comprehend what was meant by the science he professed. There had also "been three new Sheriff's appointed in Scot"land, with salaries of between £250 and "£300 a year, on a division of counties, "where the duties were before executed as "in one Shrievalty. These were some of "the many acts of the late administration, "which would be likely to come under the "consideration of the committee. Another

appointment, which was equally censura"ble, was the grant of a pension, during

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pleasure, of £400 a year, to a civil and "criminal Judge in Scotland.-This grant "bad, no doubt, not been carried into ef"fect, but it was owing to the doubts en"tertained by the person who was to carry "it into effect in Scotland, as to its legality. He should not go through the other exceptionable appointments made by these gentlemen, as he had stated enough to "shew, that those who thought exactly "with them, were not to be exclusively con"fided in."-Confided in ! no, indeed; but, they would have done very well to ferret out the jobs of their opponents, as an old poacher is said to make the best of gamekeepers; and, as to the finding out of their jobs, another committee might have been appointed for that purpose.- -The answer

"" sons were designated to the offices, in the way the noble lord had said on a former night: Members of Parliament waited on "the minister, they were received civilly, and the promises made But the parlia

ment met in December, and sat some "months; the measure for sanctioning the

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appointment was not brought forward, " and the hon. gentlemen opposite, when they lost the power of performance, were compelled to revert to the condoling letters which he had before alluded to. This "circumstance would induce the house not "to place implicit or peculiar confidence in "those gentlemen who viewed every thing "in the same light with the late adminis"tration. Another appointment made by "the late administration, was that of Ga

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zette Writer created by patent for Scot"land, with a salary of £300 per annum. "This office had been before divided be"tween the Editors of three Newspapers. "He wished the hon. gentlemen to hear "his statement, and to bear in mind that "the business of the office was performed "by these three persons, without any expence to the public, though they made a profit of £200 a year by the publications "in their newspapers. These persons had "been turned out of their employment, "and an appointment by patent given to "the present possessor; and he should ask "whether any gentleman believed that this "had been done with any other view than "to give the place to that person? He should not dwell in detail upon all the

to this cruel attack came from Lord Henry Petty, who confessed that he was quite unprepared for defence, not having had any warning of his antagonists' intention; and, indeed, this was rather unfair on the part of Mr. Perceval, it being the very, laudable practice of the Honourable House to give each of its members due notice of any thing that is about to be said against them, whether by petition or otherwise; for, unless he has such notice, how is a man to answer? His lordship, after having uttered his conplaint proceeded to say, that, "the conduct "of the right hon. gentleman was the more "extraordinary, as he had sheltered an hon. "baronet (Sir H. Mildmay) on the preced

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right hon. gent. he should, so far as his memory served him, endeavour to follow "the right hon. gent. through his state

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ment. One of the charges made by the " right hon. gent. was, the appointment of "a Collector for the Port of Buenos Ayres. "Would not every gentleman imagine, from "the manner in which this charge had "been urged, that a considerable expence was incurred, a heavy burthen accrued in consequence to the public? Was it not "common candour, or rather was it not a gross want of candour in the right hon. gent., not to have stated, that no expence was to be incurred on the part of the pub" lic, till the duties of the office were to be performed on the re-capture of Buenos Ayres? considerable inconvenience had "been felt from the want of an establish"ment for the collection of the Duties in "the first instance, and the appointment "had been made to guard against a similar "inconvenience in the re-capture of the Set"tlement. He did not exactly remember "the precise time at which that appoint"ment took place. The right hon. gent. "had renewed his statement with respect "to the appointment of the Surveyors of "Taxes, a measure which had originated "with the Commissioners of Taxes. As to "the nomination of the officers, some might "have been so nominated, but since the "matter had been mentioned, several per

sons had stated to him, that they had re"commended individuals to these offices, "but it had been uniformly answered, that "no appointment could take place without "the sanction of parliament. Another "charge was the creation of an office, to

which some might object, but which had "been given to an individual, who had de"voted a long life of disinterested service to "the public, and who had in the University "but an income of £135 per annum. It

had been thought a better mode to provide for this distinguished and meritorious gentleman, Mr. Dugald Stuart, by giving "him that place, which had before been enjoyed by three Newspaper Writers, "than by a pension. Were editors of

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Newspapers the only literary men the gentlemen opposite would protect? Was "theirs the only science, they encouraged? "As to the pension to a civil and criminal

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Judge, he had heard nothing of any such grant. He should not be bold enough to say, that any administration might not "fall into abuses, and he had always since "he had a seat in that house, -supported "motions for inquiries, whether in the shape of Naval or Military Commissions

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fore the dissolution? The members who "had proceeded with the business in the "former committee, would more readily "take it up in this, and he should there"fore object to any individual who should ." be proposed, to the exclusion of any of "the former members who were eligible." --This last is all very reasonable; but, only think of granting places for life to a collector and surveyor of the customs at Buenos Ayres, ready against it should be re-captured! This was selling the lion's skin with. a vengeance. What, to produce such an act, must have been the greediness and impatience of the Honourable Gentlemen, to whom such grants were made! What a life, too, must be that of a minister of state, plagued with the applications of such persons! The plagues of Egypt must have been a trifle to what a minister so situated has to endure. But, it is the natural consequence of the present state of the House of Commons, where, as a correspondent lately observed, the minister of the day must, some how or other, obtain a majority, or else the government cannot go on.--I am sorry for Mr. DUGALD STUART, whose great literary merits I am not unacquainted with. His former income would have kept body and soul together; and, if not, would it not have been better to have let them separate a few years sooner, than become, at last, the subject of a wrangle in the Honourable House; than see his name in the Red Book; than be enrolled in the Regiment; than be placed upon a footing with state paupers of the day?-When lord Henry Petty asserted, that he had always supported motions for inquiries," he forgot the opposition, which he gave to Mr. Robson's motion for an inquiry into the Barrack-Expenditure in the Isle of Wight; and, indeed; he must have forgotten the opposition which he gave to the motion, out of which this very Fi

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"looked to the bench opposite (the Treasury Bench), and saw on it men certainly "all remarkable for their talents, but of "whom not two were without pensions, “sinecures, and reversions, settled on them"selves, or on their families, inquiry was "loudly called for, to shew how they and "their infants had become possessed of those "drains from the public purse. He was "shocked at the mode of meeting one ac"cusation by retorting another. When "those most remarkable for ability in inves"tigation were excluded, when the names "of the new Commissioners were more numerous than those of the old, when the present Ministers, not satisfied with in"troducing eight names instead of those of "the old members not returned, he was sure the country would not think the pre"sent Committee auspicious to the cause "of retrenchment and reform. To baffle a people loaded with burthens by holding out a delusive investigation, could lead to "nothing but disappointment and discontent. He lamented the insinuation, that

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nance Committee grew. He opposed Mr. Biddulph's motion; and, though he himself moved for a committee, he took good care, that it should be so composed, and so pinned down as to its powers, that it should be little more than a thing of mere form; and, accordingly, nothing did it do, not a word did we hear of its discoveries, until lord Henry Petty and his colleagues were out of office, and had a deep interest in making exposures. For the very same reason, however, that the committee was not what I could have wished then, the same persons would have composed a committee that I should like now. What I want is, not the smothering, but the exposing of peculation and jobs; and, know no persons so likely to expose as those who wish to expose. The law invites people to inform against offenders. It does more, it commands them to do it. In some cases it offers rewards for such information, and in other cases it threatens with punishment for a neglect to give information. But, here, where the public is so deeply interested, much more than it is in the detection of smugglers or highwaymen, it seems that the quest is to be made by persons" impartially" chosen, just as if the offenders themselves were the choosers of their pursuers. There wants no impartiality. There wants, in such a committee, nothing but intelligence and activity; and - In this conclusion I think Mr Brand of these the old committee had given good was deceived; for, I see not the least reason proofs. The committee are not to be judges. to suppose, that any insinuation, however They are merely to examine and report. foul, can sink the character of the House in The House is to be the judge. What should the opinion of the country. No; the House any of us common mortals think of a man, is not to be affected by insinuations of any who, if called upon to render an account of sort; its character has long been such as to his conduct were to insist upon having his enable it to set all insinuations at defiance. friends to receive that account? And, if he Individual members, and even parties, may has a majority of his friends, is not that the now and then suffer by comparison, in point same thing? This Finance Committee is to of reputation; but, as to the Honourable act as detectors and accusers; and, what House, taking it as a whole, I venture to as would be said of that man, who should in- sert that its character is far beyond the reach eist that it was unfair for him to be detected of detraction." Sink the character of the and accused by any one who was not his House, the Honourable House, in the avowed friend?--After lord Henry Petty opinion of the country!" Oh, no! there followed a Scotch gentleman, who, word is, thanks to its members, no fear of that. for word, repeated what Mr. Perceval had The country know that House too well; they said. Next came Mr. Brand, who “wish-feel too sensibly the effects of its wise and "ed for a fair and honourable Inquiry, such as was due to the character of the House, "such as was expected by an anxious country and a suffering people. He was par"tial to the right hon. gentlemen on the

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bench below him (the late ministers), " from a high opinion of their talents and "integrity. But if any charge should be "made on them, he would be the first to

call for inquiry and investigation into the grounds of that charge. But when he

no set of men could be found in the house "free from party devotions, or from party "animosity, an insinuation that must sink "the character of the House in the opinion of the country, and must diminish the hopes entertained from the investigation.”

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just and impartial decisions to suffer themselves to listen to any thing calculated to sink it in their opinion. No; the country enter. tain a very just opinion of the Honourable House; and, as Mr. Brand-seemed to be uneasy upon this score, it must afford him great satisfaction to hear me say, that, from all parts of the country, my correspondents assure me, that apprehensions like his are perfectly groundless.Mr. Canning came on after Mr. Brand, for, as the reader will

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party prejudice and animosity, that if "those men had been for many years out of "office, and if on coming at length into of"fice, they exercised their power, neither "to stigmatize their opponents, nor imme"diately to reward their adherents, he "would allow that it would be very fit to

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encourage so brilliant an example of pu"rity, by appointing these men to be of the "committee. If not perfectly pure, they "would at least be perfectly unaccused, "while the conduct of the inquiry would be "in their own hands. If, however, he were "called upon to point out the description of

men most free trom political animosity, it "was not to the opposite bench that he "would look. If he was called upon to "point out those who had abstained most " from the use of power for the advantage "of their dependents, he would look there

as lite for the reality of the fanciful per"fection which was so much to be wished "for.

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"impossible to state grounds for inquiry, "otherwise than generally and in detail. "When his right hon. friend made general "charges, he was called as loudly to parti"cularise, and when he did particularise, "those who forced him to do so cried "shame. Well, indeed, might the specifi"cation be objected to by the noble lord op"posite, and his colleagues. If the plan of "the late ministers had been pursued; if "collectors, comptrollers, surveyors, search"ers, and waiters had been appointed not only to all the ports we should conquer, "but to all those that we should intend to conquer, what would have been the consequence? We should have had Collec"tors and Comptrollers of the Bosphorus, "and Searchers and Waiters of Rosetta(loud peals of laughter) There was here to be observed a great change in the tone "of the right hon. gentleman on the subject of Buenos Ayres. When the conquest of that place was effected, the hon. gentleman thought it not worthy of being "mentioned in the King's Speech. Now "it had acquired a vast importance in their eyes; and why? Not from its importance "to the commerce or navigation, or to the general resources of the country, but because it was a place that afforded room "for the appointment of Collectors, Comp"trollers, Searchers, and Waiters. This

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range might have extended in contempla❝tion, the actual list ended here, and it became necessary to return home to the "300 surveyors. The noble lord's defence "here, as in the former instance, was, that "the appointment was prospective. But was the influence prospective! Why did "the appointment take place on the eve of a General Election? If the coincidence was accidental, the hon. gentlemen were "the first favourites of fortune. He ac

68 If, on the contrary, he were to look "for those who made the best use of a very "short interval of power for the benefit of "themselves and their adherents, the hon.

gentlemen were those on whom he "should fix. He had heard of a certain "Roman moralist, who wished to live in a "house of glass, that every thing he did

might be seen (a laugh),If that moral"ist had lived in these times he would have "learned, that he who lived in a glass house, should not begin by throwing "stones (a loud laugh). Those by whom "this principle of parliamentary practice "had been not long since laid down, were now unwilling that the house of glass, which this inquiry was to constitute, should be enlarged by a bow window, so "as to include them. (4 laugh). It was

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knowledged the high literary merit of Mr. Dugald Stuart, who had besides the me"rit, and he thought it no light one, of "having educated the noble lord (H. Petty).' "He acknowledged and lamented the ge"neral insufficiency of the rewards bestow"ed on literary merit in this country; but "he highly condemned the mode of reward "here adopted, by constituting a new sine

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cure, and bestowing it on Mr. Stuart and "his assignees for 21 years. As to the "comparison instituted by the noble lords "between this grant and the rewards grant"ed to the writers of the Anti-Jacobin, he

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