teen to twenty thousand seamen.This, he maintained, would occasion the loss of nearly one-third of the amount of British imports and exports. He had a stronger objection yet to make against the adoption of this measure, namely, that if such a system were acted upon, no property could be reckon ed safe which could fall within the power of the legislature; upon such a principle as this the tithes of the clergy, and the very freehold estates of the land-holders, might be sacrificed to field-preaching and popular declamation. His conduct, however, should never receive the smallest degree of influence from such powers as those; and, though he should see the presbyterian and the prelate, the methodist and field-preacher, the jacobin and the murderer unite in support of it, in that house he would raise his voice against it. The earl of Selkirk could not reconcile to his mind the distinctions made by the noble earl who had just sat down. In countries where the means of human subsistence were proportionate to the number of inhabitants, the increase of population had always been found progressive. This principle had been acknowledged by all writers on the subject, and had been unanswerably explained in the able work of Mr. Malthus upon population. The noble lord proceeded to discuss the causes which were likely to increase or lessen the black population in the West Indies, and concluded with the inference, that after the proposed abolition, the West India planters woud naturally look to moderate profits, and a progressive increase of the negroes on their estates; whereas, the thirst of immediate gain, and the opportunity of speedily supplying a deficiency of labourers, was, under the present circumstances, a strong incentive to over-work the negroes, and, consequently, to curtail the population. Lord Sidmouth felt it a painful duty to be obliged to differ from some of his noble friends, particularly on a subject which involved questions of justice and humanity. To the measure itself he had no objection, if it could be accomplished without detriment to the West India islands; but this he did not think possible, under existing circumstances. Instead, therefore, of abolition at present, he begged leave to suggest, that the best plan would be to throw certain difficulties in the way of the trade, which may finally, and perhaps at no distant period, operate as a bar to it altogether. he would suggest that a tax be laid on every slave imported into any of the islands, gradually raising this impost, till the merchants should of themselves give up the traffic. With respect to the West Indies themselves, he would recommend the advice of that great man (Mr. Burke,) viz. that churches should be built for the negroes in the islands, and that they should be instructed in the morality and doctrine of the Christian religion; he would also have them united by the ties of matrimony, as the first step towards civilization, and the future improvement of their condition. With these advantages, and the blessing of being protected by our laws, he thought that the time would arrive for emancipating them. For this purpose, The earl of Rosslyn said, he was convinced that the immediate abolition of this odious traffic would be attended with no injurious effects to the colonies, to the culture of which the negroes already im ported ported were fully competent, if properly treated. Such treatment, it might be said, it was the cbvious interest of the planter to give the negroes, and therefore it might be inferred that they experienced it already, and yet that importation became necessary to keep up the supply. This, however, he was prepared to contradict. It was only from the strongest impulse of self-interest, from the most cogent persuasion of necessity, that men of such habits were likely to adopt the practice of humanity. When unable to procureany more negroes, they would feel the urgency of taking care of those they already had. With regard to the statement of the noble earl (Westmoreland,) as to the various description of persons who concurred in a wish to produce the abolition of this trade, he thought that formed a forcible argument in favour of the measure before the house. For the concurrence of men of all religions, of all political parties, and even of those who professed no religion, in support of this measure, served to show, that to all who were susceptible of a sentiment of humanity, who were capable of discriminating between the beauty of virtue and the deformity of vice, this traffic was abhorrent. With such an unanimity of sentiment, with such a combination of powers, could that house, without fixing a stain upon its character, without incurring universal odium, hesitate to accede to the motion of his noble friend ? Earl St. Vincent deprecated the measure, which, if passed, would, he was satisfied, have the effect of transferring British capital to other countries, that could not be disposed to abandon such a productive branch of trade. As to the hu manity so much contended for, it would be well if noble lords reflected upon this question, whether humanity was consulted by the abolition. If it were, their argu ments would be well founded. But, from his own experience, he was enabled to state, that the West India islands formed Paradise itself, to the negroes, in comparison with their native country. Knowing this, which, upon due inquiry, it was in the power of any noble lord to ascertain, he was surprised at the proposition before the house; and, considering the high character and intelligence of the noble proposer, he declared that he could account in no other way for his having brought it forward, but by supposing that some Obi-man had cast his spell upon him. Lord King and lord Northesk spoke in behalf of the abolition, and lord Eldon against it. The bishop of Durham supported the abolition, and considered the slave-trade as wholly inconsistent with the spirit of the Christian religion. He reminded the house of the story of Themistocles, who proposed a measure by which the enemies of the Athenians might be destroyed without hazard to themselves; which was referred to Aristides the Just: it was to destroy their fleet, while they thought they were in safety. Aristides said to the Athenians, it could be done; but that it was unjust: upon which the people, with one voice, said it should not be done, for that the Athenians would not owe their safety to injustice. The British people should not be surpassed by the Athenians in a love of justice; and therefore, if there were any profits to us in the continuation of the African slave-trade, we should forgo them. We were a people more favoured by Heaven than any other nation had been from the commencement of time to the present hour; but we should beware how we forfeited the protection of Providence, by continual injustice; for, if we did, we should lock in vain hereafter for the glories of the Nile or of Trafalgar. The earl of Moira was for the abolition, and lord Hawkesbury was decidedly against it. Lord Holland said, that the arguments of the learned lord (Eldon) respecting the opinions of former statesmen and legislators, lord Somers, Mr. Locke, &c., would, in their application, put a stop to all improvement. But could it be supposed that so great and wise a man as Mr. Locke, after reading the evidence which lay on the table respecting the slavetrade, would give it his sanction? The evil was now exposed, and could not be defended. As well might we be told that the reformation was unnecessary, as it might be said, Could a reverend prelate be more wise than sir Thomas More, or more learned than Erasmus? It was in vain, therefore, to say that the slave-trade was justified by the authority of those whose attention had never been called to its enormity. The Christian religion had tended to abolish slavery in Europe, and its principle equally led us to abolish the detestable traffic in human beings on the coast of Africa. The noble lord contended, on the authority of Mr. Park, that the demand for slaves tended to perpetuate wars in the interior of Africa, and maintained that if the market were taken away, the horrors which led to its supply would He insisted that, if the cease. trade were abolished, the stock of negroes in the West Indies would be kept up by the ordinary means of increase, which could not be the case while the trade continued, and the interest of the planters found its account in a different system. He maintained that it was inipossi ble to believe that the state of a negro in the West Indies was such as to lead him to prefer it even to slavery in Africa, and it was absurd to think so, considering the new kind of labour to which he was condemned, when he had never been accustomed to such habits, and when he must be torn from his country and connections, He was convinced, too, that, far from weakening, the measure would tend to the security of our islands; and he showed from the instance of Barbadoes, and that in the cases where the importation of negroes was the least, the proportion of whites to blacks was greatest. The noble lord concluded with a pathetic allusion to the sentiments of Mr. Fox on this subject. Mr. Fox had often told him that, the two objects nearest his heart were, the restoration of peace, and the abolition of the slave-trade; and when, by the shuffling of the French government, he anticipated disappointment in the former, he consoled himself with the hope that the latter might be obtained. The noble lord mentioned with approbation the exertions of others in this cause, and particularly of Mr. Wilberforce, whom, though he was hardly ac quainted with him, he should always consider, notwithstanding any past or any future differences of opinion on other points, as an honour to his country and to human nature, on account of the zealous, able,, and persevering efforts of this odious traffic. The earl of Suffolk said a few words in support of the bill; after which their lordships divided, Contents 72; Proxies 28....100 Majority.................64 On the sixth, the subject was again debated, as it was on the ninth and tenth; when it was finally pass ed in the house of peers, and sent down to the commons of the ceedings there we shall give an account in our next chapter. pro efforts he had made for the abolition to be abolished; but that none of them had been cancelled from that hour to the present time. It was justly and wisely observed by the great sir Matthew Hale, " If offices be useless, why are they continued? If they can be done by deputy, why not at the expense paid to the deputy?" And as he could not give greater effect to the sentiments of that distinguished lawyer by any thing he could say, he submitted them to that house, to show how much it was the duty of statesmen, as it was the opinion of all good men, that such offices and places should be extinguished. If this committee be appointed, it may enter into every mode of expenditure, provided it should be endowed with the like authority as the committee of 1797, and its services would have all the beneficial effects which that committee afforded to society. He then moved "That a committee be appointed to sce whether any, and what saving might be made in the reduction of sinecure places, the abolition of fees, offices, and pensions, and in the detection of all abuses in the expenditure of the public money." On the question being put In the house of commons, on the 10th, Mr. Biddulph, in pursuance of his promise, called the attention of the house to the subject of sinecure places, useless offices, and extravagant salaries of some, and the exorbitant amount of fees of others, who held situations in the law and the state. He was induced to bring this matter into consideration, no less from the propriety and utility of it, as far as regards the revenue of the country, but because in this season of war and calamity the reduction of any one sinecure place must be beneficial to the community. He was inclined to think, that if his motion should be agreed to, the number and amount of those places would be found of much greater magnitude than the house was apprised of. The motion which he should submit, would embrace every office, place, pension, and sinecure, of what kind soever the same might be. When he adverted to the 27th report of the committee of finance, and to that part of it which relates to courts of law, he there found that places of an useless description, the salaries whereof amounted to twenty-six thousand pounds, ought Lord Henry Petty observed, that although in some particular and political points he differed with the honourable gentleman, yet, on this occasion, he had the utmost satisfaction in saying, that he agreed with the honourable gentleman to the fullest extent of the principle that actuated him; and he could take upon him further to say, that every member of the treasury coincided with him therein; and he was free to say, that if at any period the investigation suggested by the honourable gentleman appeared necessary, there was no period wherein an administration F4 more more readily concurred in the object, because there never was a crisis, certainly, when that economy recommended by his majesty from the throne at the commencement of the present sessions of parliament was more required: but any measure comes well that has this desirable point in view, and especially from that honourable gentleman, whom he certainly believed to be actuated by the purest principles and motives. But if he had the satisfaction of agreeing with him on the great principle that actuated him, it was another thing to go all the lengths suggested by him in the course of his speech; for it must be admitted, that in every country of such extended in terests and power, arising as well from arts as from arms, as this, there must be reserved some resources to reward valour and distinguish merit. In the public offices of the state there should exist a certain number of situations to reward its faithful servants. How, otherwise, could any government give due regard to long services, when age, merit, talent, and infirmity, seek their. aid, and in a manner call upon them, as in justice, for consideration? The only point they have to attend to is, how far they ought to proceed on such occasions, with an equal eye to private emolument and public good. His lordship, after referring to what had been done by former administrations on this subject, observed, that he had the satisfaction to announce, that in the customs and excise all sinecure offices are abolished; in the exchequer all but those the fees and emoluments of which have either been regulated by act of parliament or by the committee of finance: the auditors and tellers of the exchequer are limited in 2 their incomes to a fixed sum, except those he already mentioned, and that of the collector, outwards, of the port of London, a place held by a noble duke, (Manchester,) and for very good reasons continued to him with all its ancient privileges, fees, &c.: so that, all things considered, the amount and number of those offices are not of that magnitude which might be supposed, allowing for the wealth and resources of a country like this. The only offices granted in reversion were those of the register of the high court of chancery, and the clerk of parliament, which it was the determination of ministers, when that reversion ceased, to end altogether. In Ireland, the same plan of economy that prevailed here is pursued; thirty-eight sinecure and useless offices are abolishing; and from the known discernment of the noble duke who presides there, as well as from the acute and wise discernment of the right honourable gentleman who is chancellor of the exchequer there (sir J. Newport), the happiest conclusions may be expected in that part of the empire, from their joint zeal and endeavours. He availed himself of this opportunity to state, that the administration with which he had the honour to act, had come to a resolution never to grant a place in reversion; they never did, they never would. Already ministers had issued orders to the auditors of public accounts (which orders the noble lord read) to inquire into all abuses, and to report them to the treasury board, and he had no doubt but that these orders would be punctually obeyed. The noble lord then proposed the following amendment to the motion, viz. "That all the words after appointed' be left out, and the following inserted |