Spain was so imbecile as not to have power to prevent it? Ought not the House, therefore, to pause, as well for the interests of the country, of which they formed so effective a part, as for the interests of humanity, in which all were so deeply concerned, before they passed into a law a bill like the present, espe cially as their lordships could not help seeing that Spain was not even able to defend those of her colonies which had not revolted? Was it sufficient to say,

to the argument in support of which he had used them. Vattel said, speaking of neutrality, that the permission of a state to levy troops in its own territories, given to one belligerent power and withheld from another, would not be a just ground for war; but that war would be only justifiable, if the state which gave the permission had also furnished the levy so made. Applying this, then, to the particular case before their lordships, there could be no ground for the present bill. The argument of the noble earl, of qui" We will force our subjects to retire facit per alium facit per se, was an assumption of that which he (lord C.) denied. The noble earl assumed, that the acts of the individuals who engaged in the cause of the Independents were the acts of the government; but it should be remembered that they were not the agents of government who engaged in this cause. Government did not sanction them, and could not be bound for any thing which it did not authorize. The case of America had been cited, but, he conceived, with very little application to the question. Could America be mentioned as an instance favourable to the present measure, when she, who was said to be so strict, had not only not condemned, but absolutely approved, of the making war by an individual of her subjects upon a state with which she was in amity? He need not call to their lordships' recollection the recent case of general Jackson. It had been said, that if this bill were not passed, there would be no fair play on our part towards the contending powers, because that though there might be exertions made to recruit for Spain, no persons would be found to join her cause in this country; but the act which would prevent assistance to either, would, in fact, be as little of fair play towards the other party. It would be giving the preponderance to one side. But was not the situation of Spain and of this country much changed since the year 1814, when the treaty, on which so much stress was laid, was first contracted? Had no events recently taken place, which were calculated to affect the interests of Great Britain? Had not Spain ceded to America that very colony, which of all her other colonies was most important to the welfare of our trans-Atlantic possessions? Had not this very cession, which Spain had pledged herself never to make, except with the consent of this country, been defended in their lordships' House, on the ground that

from this contest," without even considering whether the withdrawal of them would benefit the cause either of Spain or of this country? If every British subject who was inclined to hazard his fortune and his life in this struggle, were to be prevented from passing from this country to South America, was there any probability that Spain would ever recover the power which she once wielded over it? Would not each of her colonies, one after another, fall a victim to the avarice and ambition of another great power? Would not the fate of Florida soon become the fate of Mexico? When we looked at the weakness, the imbecility, and the absurd policy of Spain, it was proper that we should also consider what the fate of South America would be, were the House to withdraw the British troops from it. If he had heard the noble earl aright who had brought in this bill, he had said that British troops, with all the discipline and valour which distinguish them, had been sent out in such numbers as could not fail to decide the conflict in favour of the side to which they attached themselves; and yet, to his great surprise, the same noble earl had afterwards made many touching appeals to the feelings of the House, regarding the necessity of preventing our countrymen from embarking in a cause to which it was certain that they must eventually fall a sacrifice. He could not help saying that he was much astonished at this inconsistency in the noble earl's arguments, as also at the very extraordinary mode in which he had made an appeal to their lordships feelings: having marshalled all the Dutch and German jurists in his ranks, having turned all the scraps and quotations which could be taken from them to the very best use to which ingenuity could turn them, the noble earl had made an address to the feelings of their lordships, in order to attract them to that side against which all

state's office and at the treasury, that the subject should be brought before parliament, and submitted to the investigation of a committee. That was done, and the committee sat last session. In the committee there were several points of difference, but by far the larger portion of the members acquiesced in the justice of general Boyd's claim, although they did not agree as to the extent to which it ought to be allowed. Eventually, they came to a resolution, recommending the case of general Boyd to the consideration of parliament. He would therefore move, "That the sum of 6,000l. be granted to his majesty, to enable his majesty to issue and cause to be paid to general Boyd, a citizen and officer of the United States of America, in consideration of the saltpetre, exported under the king's licence, as a remuneration for a service formerly rendered to this country in the East Indies, and for the expenses and trouble incurred in the prosecution of his claim; and that the said sum be issued and paid without any fee or other deduction whatsoever."

Boyd, by a short statement of the circum-recommended both at the secretary of stances on which the claim was founded. That officer, who was a native of the United States, had in early life rendered a great service to the cause of this country in the East Indies, at a very critical period of our affairs there. He was at that time the commander of a corps in the service of the Nizam. A large French force and a small English force being not far distant from each other, the commander of the latter apprehending a sudden attack from the former, applied to general Boyd at midnight for assistance, a request with which he did not for a moment hesitate to comply. The alarm was unfounded, but general Boyd's friendly zeal was handsomely acknowledged by the British government at Calcutta. To himself, however, it proved highly injurious; for the French party at the court of the Nizam were so successful, that he was deprived of a situation from which he was then in the receipt of 9,000l. a year. Having been unable to obtain any compensation in India, he came to this country, and gained permission to take a cargo of saltpetre from Calcutta to the United States; by which adventure it was calculated that he might make 50 or 60,000l. He was also furnished with a special licence to protect him even should a war break out. The committee would, however, hear with surprise, that notwithstanding those precautions, the vessel in which general Boyd shipped the saltpetre touching at the Cape of Good Hope to land some passengers, was there detained, and condemned by the vice-admiralty court. Although thus deprived of the advantages to which he was so justly entitled, general Boyd maintained his original good will towards England; in proof of which, he would read a letter from a general officer in the British service, who during the late war in America commanded on the fron tier of Canada, near the spot in which general Boyd had a command on the part of the United States [The hon. gentleman here read the letter in question, which was from general de Rottenburg to W. Mellish, esq. and spoke in high terms of the liberal conduct of general Boyd]. After the conclusion of the war with America, an application had been made on the part of general Boyd to the British government for some remuneration for the loss which he had sustained in consequence of his conduct in India. It was

Mr. Marryat contended, that general Boyd had no claim whatever on this country. In the first place, on the occasion alluded to in India, general Boyd had not moved from his position in aid of the British; and in the second place, he had endeavoured to magnify his losses with a view to obtain a larger sum than that to which, even were the justice of his claim allowed, he was fairly entitled. If general Boyd had insured his cargo of saltpetre for the sum which he expected to obtain by it, he would have sustained no loss. He was surprised at the interest taken by the hon. member, in an individual, who, at the head of 2,000 mercenaries, had been ready to fight for any power which might think fit to employ him. He could not consent that the taxes wrung from the people should be improvidently lavished; and was satisfied that the claim set up on the present occasion was totally unfounded.

Mr. Wilberforce said, that if it had appeared to the committee, that any fraudulent attempt had been made to impose on them, they would have flung back the application with disdain and indignation. There was nothing in the evidence to warrant such an imputation.

Mr. Gurney observed, that the House ought to consider that this was a service

laws connected with the collection of the excise, &c. as to the present. As, however, this bill was partly local in its operation, he had thought it just that half the weight should fall upon the district where the police was rendered necessary. He had turned his best attention to the sub

half the expense of which must be paid by the inhabitants of England and Scotland, and the rest by the district where the police was necessary. Surely this was most effectually making the innocent suffer for the guilty; for what pretence was there to call upon the empire at large to pay heavy sums, because mi-ject of small stills: it was enveloped in nisters did not think it politic to continue difficulties, in consequence of the clashing a measure which had, in a great degree, of interests and the system of drawbacks put an end to illicit distillation? In truth, and countervailing duties in Great Brithe present object of government was, to tain; and upon the whole he felt that it benefit the members for the north of Ire- was a matter that ought to be deferred land, at the expense of the inhabitants of until another session. It might, however, the whole kingdom. The hon. member be well to introduce a measure relating then went on to explain more fully the to small stills in the present, that it might evils that would arise from the encourage- stand over until the next session, and the ment of small stills: he contended, that opinions of all classes be ascertained. small stills could only be productive when they were greatly multiplied, and that their multiplication would be the destruction of the rest of the trade. He concluded by further pressing the exaggerations in Mr. Chichester's pamphlet, and by repelling the attacks it contained upon the various excise boards.

Mr. Chichester rose to vindicate his relation, the author of the pamphlet referred to by the last speaker, from the charges brought againt him. That rev. gentleman was anxious to be allowed an opportunity of proving what he had advanced, and he certainly felt that he laboured under the disadvantage of making assertions, as to severity and tyranny, that appeared on the first blush incredible.

General Hart said, that having been on the staff in Ireland, he had had an opportunity of knowing the truth of many facts similar to those detailed in the pamphlet alluded to. He pledged his own personal knowledge for the truth of four out of five of the cases of cruelty and severity stated against the excise officers by Mr. Chichester. The still fines law had introduced poverty, demoralization, and misery, Into a part of the country where they were previously comparatively unknown. He understood that since the crown land fining system had recommenced, 25,000 persons had embarked at Derry for America; and that preparations were now going on there which induced people to think the number would this year be greatly increased. The effect of the existing law was, to produce a total change in the character of many of the inhabitants of the north of Ireland. He complained that there was nothing in Ireland but a system of punishment; misery had been ameliorated in other countries punishment had been nearly abolished even in the army-why should it be reserved for the people of Ireland alone? In Ireland the people knew nothing of the law but its severity. In Ireland there were good materials; it was to be lamented that these materials were not properly used. The people of that country were not treated with lenity. If they were encouraged; if their energies were called forth; the empire would reap the full fruits of a wise and liberal system of government, in the increasing strength and prosperity of the empire.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer denied that he had made the statements of the pamphlet in question the grounds on which he had acted. It was obvious from the proceedings of the House for the last three or four years, that a deep feeling prevailed against the extreme severity of the law relating to still fines in Ireland. He allowed that that law had been in a considerable degree effectual in protecting the revenue, but the increasing indig. nation against it had induced him to look out for a substitute: he had endeavoured to find a middle course, and that middle course he flattered himself was the bill now before the House. He could not agree that it was established upon the principle of making the innocent suffer for the guilty, nearly so much as the law which it superseded. The country at large was chargeable with Lord Mount-Charles said, that unless the burthen of the whole revenue system, the collateral measure for the encourageand the objection applied as much to allment of small stills should be passed,