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jeant. His majesty's ministers had abstained from using the term, which was to him a proof that the strong feeling of the British public (which on this subject had always remained the same) had partly had its effect. He would not found any argument against the present bill upon the loose doctrines advocated-not by him or any of his honourable friends-advocated by no writer which he had read but one, a Swiss, who, from the circumstances of his country, became naturally prejudiced in favour of the right of subjects to enter into the service of belligerent powers in peace with their own. He would say that subjects as well as kings might, on this subject, go as far as the law allowed them. If the law made it a crime to enter in arms against any power in amity with the state

sort to the underhand mode which secmed to be proposed on the other side. The whole measure had originated in the act of the 9th Geo. 2nd, and as it was not denied by members opposite, that that act should be repealed so as to substitute a minor for a capital punishment, the principal question was, whether, if any alteration should be agreed on, it should not be carried on so as to make both the belligerent parties equal; but he contended that if these acts were repealed, the common law would be insufficient, as it did not make any provision for enforcing itself. Suppose the act to be repealed, then he maintained, that the common law would be quite inadequate to prevent the evil which this bill was intended to put an end to, and it would be absurd to suppose that any law should exist which could not be carried into effect. The offence would be committed before any means could be taken to prevent it. As to what Spain might demand of this country, he should say, that if she demanded any thing, it could only be the fulfilment of those treaties which we had contracted with her. She would ask no more; but was it neces-mitting that this was like all other crimes, sary that she should ask, or that we should wait for her to ask, for the fulfilment of those treaties which an accidental slip of our law prevented us from carrying into effect? He maintained, that the measure arose out of the relation of peace in which we stood towards Spain; and without any treaty those relations should teach us a strict neutrality. With respect to the commercial benefits which we might derive from our intercourse with the insurgents, he conceived that they only kept up the intercourse with us because they found it advantageous to themselves; and as long as they so found it, they would continue to hold it, whether the present measure was passed or not.

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Mr. Brougham said, that after the powerfully eloquent, the unanswered and unanswerable speech of his hon. and learned friend (sir J. Mackintosh), a speech which the eloquent declamation of the right hon. gentleman, and the legal arguments and acute logic of the learned serjeant had left altogether untouched, he felt it quite unnecessary to occupy the attention of the House at any length. He felt it the less necessary, as he perceived that even into that House, the force of public opinion had found its way, and the term "insurgents" had not been attempted by any member except the learned ser

and in this country it was a misdemeanor-that law might be put in operation against the individual so offending. But the learned serjeant had said, that this law was rendered inoperative to prevent the crime, for that it was committed before any step could be taken to counteract it. Why, what was this but ad

that it could not be punished until detected? If the individual committing it were caught, he would be punished, and his punishment would serve as a warning for others; but if he could not be caught personally within the jurisdiction of any of our courts, then he was outlawed for the misdemeanor in violating the king's proclamation. The effect of this would be, that he would be obliged to remain banished from his country all his life, or if he returned, be exposed to a forfeiture of all his goods and chattels-a punishment which, he should observe by the way, was more severe than that which the bill provided. The present bill was, he contended, not only not declaratory of the common law, but quite repugnant to its principle. If it could be proved to him, that the measure was founded upon any treaty which we had pledged ourselves to fulfil, he would be the first man in the country to support it, let its inconvenience be ever so great, let its injury to commerce be felt however, severely; but he denied that any treaty with Spain bound us to such a measure. A treaty had been made which had never received the sanction of the House, and from that it was contended that this measure ought to be brought in; but who had ever heard that a king could by any treaty pledge

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himself, or those whom he represented, to an alteration of the established law of the land; or that the nation should be bound by it? But he again denied that there was any such law as the proposed one implied by the treaty in question. It went, it was true, to prevent the supplying of arms, ammunition, &c.; but upon this the present bill was wholly silent, while it spoke against the raising of troops or furnishing of money in any manner, of which not one word was to be found in the treaty itself. The hon. and learned gentleman then commented upon several observations which had fallen from the supporters of the bill. He would now propose, if no gentleman on his side of the House should think a different course preferable, to take the sense of the House, not on the tion for going into the committee, but after the first clause had been agreed to. In going thus far, the House would show that they were willing to restore the common law to the state in which it stood before the act of the 9th Geo. 2nd was passed, and that they were determined to reject any measure which might tend to alter the law upon the invidious principle of the present bill.

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Lord Castlereagh did not object to the manner in which the learned gentleman proposed to take the sense of the House, which he thought would be a very convenient one. The repeal of the existing statutes which the gentleman opposite had in view, was not, however, a measure that carried along with it so much fairness as was attributed to it. There was no equity in reverting to the common law, after having acted, with respect to all other powers of Europe for the greater part of a century, on statute law. With regard to the treaty by which it had been asserted we were not bound, it ought to be recollected, that it was laid on the table, along with the other treaties of amity concluded on the restoration of peace; and that on the whole of the arrangements produced by these treaties, the most approving address ever voted by parliament had been presented to the Crown.

The Attorney General moved an instruction to the committee to insert, as an addition to the first clause, words repealing two acts passed by the Irish parliament against foreign enlistments in that country. The House then resolved into a committee, and the first clause was amended, according to the instruction moved by the attorney-general, and agreed

to.-On the second Clause, the House divided-For the clause, 248: Against it, 174: Majority, 74.

Allen, J. H.

List of the Minority.

Althorp, viscount
Anson, hon. G.
Archdall, gen.
Aubrey, sir J.
Barham, J. F.
Barnard, visct.
Barnett, J.
Becher, W. W.
Belgrave, visct.
Bennet, hon, G. H.
Benyon, Ben.
Bernal, R.
Birch, Jos.
Brand, hon. Thos.
Browne, Dom.
Brougham, H.
Burdett, sir F.
Byng, G.
Burrell, hon. P. D.
Bentinck, lord W.
Blandford, marq.
Burrell, Walter
Cotes, John
Calcraft, J.
Calvert, C.
Calvert, N.
Campbell, hon. J.
Cavendish, lord G.
Carter, John
Cavendish, Henry
Chamberlayne, W.
Clifford, Aug.
Clifton, visct.
Coffin, sir I.
Colborne, N. R.
Coke, T. W.
Concannon, Lucius
Coke, T. W. jun.

of

Dawson, G.
Davies, T. H.
De Crespigny, sir W.
Denman, Thos.
Denison, W.
Douglas, hon. F. S.
Duncannon, visc.
Dundas, hon, L.
Dundas, Thos.
Dundas, hon. G.
Dundas, C.
Ellis, hon. G. A.
Ebrington, visct.
Ellice, Ed.
Ellison, C.
Euston, earl of
Fazakerley, Nic.
Fergusson, sir R. C.
Finlay, K.
Fitzgibbon, hon. R.
Fitgerald, lord W.
Fitzgerald, rt. hon. M.
Fitzroy, lord C.

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Thorp, ald.
Vernon, G.
Westenra, H. R.

Wilson, Thos.
Webster, sir G,
Williams, sir R.
Walpole, hon. G.
Waithman, ald.
Webb, Ed.
Western, C. C.
Wharton, John
Wilkins, W.
Williams, O.
Williams, W.
Wilson, sir Rt.
Wood, Matthew

TELLER.

session might be allowed to pass away without any practical proof of gratitude being given to this deserving man; and therefore he should not cease to agitate the question till he knew what reward it was intended to give.

Sir Isaac Coffin said, that Mr. Seppings had received 1,000l. for his beautiful invention for suspending ships; and having been appointed to a situation in the naval service, his abilities, after that, were to be considered as engaged to the country.

Mr. Croker said, it was unnecessary for him to enter at present into the question of Mr. Seppings' merits, as he had, on a former occasion, stated his opinion of that gentleman's high abilities, and had Abercromby, hon. J. agreed to recommend him as a navy

Lambton, J. G.

PAIRED OFF.

Astell, W.

Ricardo, D.

Rancliffe, lord

Ridley, sir M. W.

Robarts, W. T,

Robarts, A.

Rowley, sir W.

Russell, lord G. W.

Russell, lord J.

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Baring, sir T.
Churchhill lord C.
Curwen, J. C.
Fleming, John
Grenfell, Pascoe
Hamilton, lord A.
Hochepied, G. De
Maxwell, John
Piggott, sir A.

Smith, John Stanley, lord Whitbread, W. H. The other clauses were debated, and The other clauses were debated, and several amendment smoved and agreed to; after which the House resumed.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

Friday, June 11.

MR. SEPPINGS.] Mr. Croker having presented some papers relating to the Navy,

Sir Joseph Yorke said, he should take the oppportunity now offered of mentioning the case of Mr. Seppings. The committee of finance, in giving their opinion of the improvements made in naval architecture by this gentleman, had said, that "these services, although they have nothing of that brilliancy which forcibly attracts public admiration, will continue to confer a lasting benefit to the British nation, long after that period when the beneficial effects of victories, however splendid, shall have passed away." If such were the advantages to be derived from this gentleman's discoveries, he surely was entitled to as great a reward as was usually conferred on those generals and admirals by whom victories were achieved. He was afraid that the

surveyor. He entirely agreed with the suggestion of the committee, as to the propriety of noticing the services of Mr. Seppings. The Admiralty accordingly had recommended to the Treasury to grant him a pension, which would be placed on the navy estimates and would be as honourable and useful to him as any grant that could now be made.

FOREIGN ENLISTMENT BILL.] Mr. Brogden brought up the report of this bill. Sir R. Wilson rose for the purpose of speaking to the subject, when lord Castlereagh suggested that it might be better to have the amendments made in the committee printed before any fresh discussion was had upon it.

Mr. Marryat said :-It is not my intention to go into any detail on the merits, or rather the demerits of the bill. I wish merely to clear up some facts which I stated on a former occasion, the correctness of which has either been doubted or denied. In speaking of the conduct of Ferdinand the 7th, I observed, that soon after the British army had quitted his dominions, he directed a public thanksgiving to be offered to Almighty God, that his land was no longer polluted by the presence of Heretics.-The noble lord did not indeed deny this circumstance, but declared that he had never heard of it.-It might be a sufficient answer to the noble lord, to say to him in the words of Hamlet,

"There are more things in Heaven and earth Horatio,

"Than are dreamt of in your philosophy."But I can confirm the assertion I made, by positive proof. I hold in my hand a letter from a friend of mine, Mr. J. B.

Sharpe, who was an eye witness of the fact. His letter to me runs in the following terms:-" With reference to the question of public thanksgiving having been offered up to Almighty God, for the purgation of the land from the presence of Heretics, in the churches of Spain, I was in Corunna at the time, and had in my possession one of the printed circulars issued by the heads of churches to that effect, which was left at my place of residence." This gentleman authorises me to say, that he is ready, not only to confirm the contents of this letter in any manner his lordship pleases by his own evidence, but also by that of twenty Englishmen, who like himself were in Spain at the time when this ceremony took place. In enumerating the disadvantages to which the independents were subjected under our existing laws, I stated, that whilst fugitive royalists from the Spanish main, were not only received in Trinidad, but promoted to situations of high honour and responsibility, an asylum had been denied to independents; and that a number of them, who, on the approach of the royalist army to Guiria, embarked on board such boats and canoes as they could procure, and sought refuge in Trinidad, had been refused permission to land, and were obliged to return to the place from whence they came, where they were immediately massacred. The noble lord in answer to these assertions, read an extract from a dispatch from the governor of Trinidad, which did not deny the fact, for it was wholly silent about the refugees from Guiria, but merely stated, that 3,800 persons had at different times been admitted into Trinidad. The under secretary of state for the colonial department went farther; for, referring to a memorial to which my name, in common with the names of other gentlemen connected with Trinidad, was subscribed, he declared, that our statement of an asylum having been refused to particular individuals was incorrect, and that the justification of the governor was perfectly satisfactory. At that time, I had not the documents on which the memorial was founded in my pocket; but on going home and examining my papers, I found that instead of having acted on "the exaggerated or unfounded representations of interested individuals," as we were charged with doing, we had made the statements in the me morial on the authority of governor Woodford himself. I have now in my

hand two petitions to him, with his answers to them. One is signed by several merchants in Trinidad, praying for an asylum for a merchant, a native of the United States, who had been some time settled at Guiria, but who wished to escape from the horrors of revolutionary war; whose peaceable character was vouched for, and for whose good conduct the petitioners offered to give good security. The answer of the governor is in these words, "It is inconsistent with the regulations by which I am directed to guide my conduct during the present disturbed stateofthe neighbouring Spanish provinces, to admit to an asylum here, any persons not being natural born subjects of his Catholic majesty."-Signed "R. Woodford," and dated "August 15th 1814." From this answer one might be led to conclude, that an asylum would be granted to persons who were natural born subjects of his Catholic majesty. But I have another petition in my hand from Don Josh. Ramires, of that island, praying that his mother Donna Antonia Guezza, a lady 80 years of age, and her two grand children, then living at Cumana, might be permitted to reside in Trinidad, and offering security for their good conduct to any amount. These persons were natural born subjects of his Catholic majesty; but nevertheless the answer to the petition in their favour is in these authoritative and laconic words:-" This petition cannot be complied with!" signed "R. Woodford," and dated "23rd September 1814." I hand up this bloody document to the noble lord; I call it so, because in signing it, sir Ralph did sign the death warrant of the parties on whose behalf the petition was presented; I hand it up to him, that no doubt may remain as to the hand-writing of sir Ralph. Having done this, I now call upon the noble lord to declare, whether, in giving an asylum to individuals of unexceptionable character and for whose good conduct security was offered, governor Woodford would have acted in a manner inconsistent with the instruction by which he was directed to guide his conduct. If so, the responsibility for the massacre of these unhappy wretches, rests not upon sir Ralph, but on his majesty's ministers; but if otherwise, I call upon the noble lord to bring to a severe account, the governor who has cast so foul a stain on the character of his majesty's government.-With respect to the massacre at Guiria, I have it on Spa

nish authority, on French authority, and en English authority; but I cannot produce the letters of the persons who have furnished me with this information, because I too well know the consequences. Some years ago, at the request of a friend of mine, I transmitted to the Treasury his complaints of the conduct of the governor of Trinidad. Orders to give him redress were sent out, through the medium of the colonial office, who, at the same time, sent the governor copies of the complaints which had been made against him; and the consequence was, instead of redress, a series of persecutions which only terminated with the death of the individual. The gout, acting on a debilitated and irritable frame, flew to his stomach and carried him off. The tales of the other sufferers may hereafter be told; but not till they are in that grave, where "the wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest;" lest they too share the fate of the unfortunate Mr. Philip Langton. But the fact at Guiria does not rest upon Trinidad authority alone. I know that an account of it was sent to the colonial office, by Don Polycarpe Ortiz of St. Thomas; for the duplicate of his letter was transmitted to me, and I delivered it in person. The fact is as notorious in that part of the world, as the fact of the battle of Waterloo is in this; and the respectability of the parties in whose letters it is communicated to me is so great, that I have no more doubt of it, than I have of my own existence. Indeed, inferential proof of it is given in the very petitions I have read; for if governor Woodford refused to grant an asylum in Trinidad to parties of unexceptionable characters, and for whose good conduct security was offered, can it be supposed that he would admit an indiscriminate horde, who could give no references for character, and no security for their good conduct? The idea is at once absurd and incredible? I cannot view without concern, the change of sentiment that has taken place in his majesty's ministers, respecting the government of Spain as exercised in her South American colonies. In 1797, when Mr. Pitt was at the head of our councils, a letter was written to general Picton, then governor of Trinidad, directing him to assist the inhabitants in their efforts to shake off the yoke of the mother country; and the reason assigned was, not that we were at war with Spain, but the oppressive and tyrannical na(VOL. XL.)

This letter,

ture of her government. written by the late lord Melville, then secretary of state for the colonial department, was translated into Spanish, and introduced into a proclamation by general Picton copies of which he distributed all over the Spanish main, and one of which I now hold in my hand. The same opinion of this government continued in 1804; for I have also in my hand, a letter from the late lord Hobart to governor Picton, dated 2nd February of that year, expres. sing" the anxiety of his majesty's ministers to introduce into the island of Trinidad, with the least possible delay, so much of the laws of Great Britain, as may be judged expedient for the security of the persons and properties of his majesty's subjects, and for the general advancement of the interest of the colony." Since then all that regard to the security of the liberty and property of his majesty's subjects has been forgotten; and the successors of Mr. Pitt, in opposition to his example, have declared their determination to continue that oppressive and tyrannical form of government over British subjects which he encouraged Spanish subjects to throw off. The Spanish nation are historically recorded, as the exterminators of the Aborigines of South America, as well as of the West Indies: and as having first established the slave trade, in order to fill up the frightful void occasioned in the population of those countries by their own cruelty. No political writer has mentioned their colonial government, but with disgust and execration; and it has been found so insupportable, that the inhabitants of South America, trained up as they have been for three centuries past in habits of passive obedience and non-resistance, are at length risking every thing that is dear to man, rather than submit to it any longer; and yet this is the government which his majesty's ministers have thought proper to consider as the best and fittest government, to be continued in a British colony, and to be exercised over British subjects!-When I reflect on these circumstances, and couple them with the fact of Great Britain having become a party to what is called the Holy Alliance, but which I consider as a confederacy of sovereigns against the rights and liberties of their subjects, I believe this country is at present in greater danger from a leaning to arbitrary government, than it has been at any period since the days of the Stuarts. I consider the bill

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