shall take my leave of this festival:

The present administration, and success to their "measures." This toast, the historian tells us, was drunk with enthusiasm, approaching to indications of madness, and the applause, the "tumult" of which it is quite impossible for him to describe, continued for near a quarter of an hour; upon which one may exclaim with honest CASCA, "what a deal of foul breath was there * uttered!" It must have been amusing to the ministers (who were almost all present, observe) to see this strife of sycophancy; to see the candidates for sharing in the taxes placing their reliance upon the strength of their lungs to observe all their various tricks to attract attention, and to catch a promising glance from the dispensers of favour. And, then, if one could have followed them to their several abodes; to have heard them, in their half-drunken moments of bliss; blab out their sanguine expectations; tell of the nod received from one great man, the smile from another, and the squeeze from a third; hold consultation upon the purport of half-uttered phrases; estimate the value of monosyllables and winks of the eye; and then, again, to have seen them, as the fumes of the liquor evaporated, relapse into the doubts and fears that accompanied them to the festival of venality; if one could have witnessed this, then might one have exclaimed, thus, Ó, Pitt! by such men, and in such a manner, ought the hour of thy birth ever to be cominemorated! Botley, 24 June, 1808.

REPORT MADE TO THE FLECTORS OF WESTMINSTER, ON THE 23D OF MAY, 1508, BY THE COMMITTEE APPOINTED TO CONDUCT THE ELECTION IN FAVOUR OF SIR FRANCIS BURDETT.

That when your Committee had the pleasure of meeting their constituents on the 29th of June, 1807, they were not prepared to make a regular Report of the principles and motives which governed their conduct during the late election; their time had been taken up in exciting the Electors to assert their independence, and in giving effect to the means by which their glorious triumph was to be celebrated.--Your Committee think it necessary to take a rapid survey of the foriner and present state of the Representation of Westminster; that you may distinctly see, what has been attained by the energy you displayed when acting for yourselves; that you may ascertain what yet remains to be done, and what are the means by which it may be effected.—It will not be necessary to remind this Meeting of the con

tests carried on in Westminster by the Whig and Tory factions, in the early part of the present reign, much less of those carried on by the Pitts and Dundasses on the one hand, and the Foxites on the other, in the years 1784 and 1788. These last must be in the memory of most of us, and the facts relating to them are, as they have been described by an eloquent and inflexible patriot," sufficiently notorious, and more than sufficiently infamous." But, it may not be unnecessary to observe, that the enormous expence at which these contests were carried on was too great even for the princes, lords, and place. men of the respective factions. This expence, together with the acknowledged utter impossibility of obtaining any legal decision. on the merits of the return, induced the leaders of both Factions, who never coalesce but to deprive the people of their rights, jointly to issue their decree to prevent any thing like a free choice at any future Election in Westminster. The name of one person in each faction was to be inserted in the return, and these men were unblushing. ly to be called Representatives of the People, -One public-spirited individual was found, however, to offer himself, as an instrument in the hands of the people in the year 1790, to destroy the effect of the mandates of their new tyrants. This attempt, though not successful, was not without beneficial consequences; and "more principle was infused into the public mind in seventeen days, than the Factions had been able to destroy in more than seventeen years." The attempt was renewed in 1796, and was countenanced by a far greater number of suffrages. The Factions were more fully exposed, and the people became less inattentive to the fate of their country.- -From that period to the death of Mr. Fox, the seats for Westminster continued at the disposal of the Factions; but, it is not to be doubted, that the seeds of public spirit, which were scattered with no sparing hand in 1790 and 1796, have contri buted to produce the glorious event which we are now met to celebrate -The death of Mr. Fox forms an era in the representation for Westminster. The people had seen with disgust another coalition of men, who "had been long contending for the plun der, the government, aud the patronage the country." They had seen these men unite and seize the reins of government; and they had seen, too, every profession in favour of Reform, or the Rights of the peo ple, sacrificed at the shrine of place, or surrendered to the arbitrary principles of Tory Grenvilles by apostate Whigs. The leaders of the Factions appeared far more solicitous

of

implied a consent to pay a proportion of the expense for erecting the hustings. The high bailiff did, indeed, observe, "that he knew Sir Francis Burdett to be a man of honour, and that he was sure he would pay him." To this it was replied, "that Sir F. B. was ignorant of his intended nomination : that he knew nothing of the Committee, that he had nothing to do with them, nor they with him, and that the high bailiff might depend upon it, Sir F. B. would not pay him one farthing." And this is the reply which it has been contended proves the speaker to be the agent of Sir F: B. And, if he was not the agent, then, it is said, this protest is nugatory and useless; and it is still more absurdly contended, that Sir F. B. became a candidate eight months after he had been elected and returned. And, by what act think you? Why, by taking his seat in that house to which you had sent him 'as your servant, against his own inclination repeatedly expressed, and to attend his duty in which he might have been forcibly carried by the serjeant at arms. For this act, a verdict has under the direction of the judge in an action brought by the high bailiff, been given against Sir F. B. for a proportion of the charge for erecting hustings, and of another charge imposed by law specifically on candidates only.-That Sir F. B. was not a candidate express or implied, has been abundantly shewn by what has been stated, by his own declarations, and by the Addresses and Resolutions of your committee, before and since, and during the election.——Your committee conceived, that they had taken every possible precaution to avoid implicating Sir F. B. in any of their acts, by not having the slightest communication with him directly or indirectly, and, it therefore, never occurred to them, that any action would be brought against him on that account. Sir F B. too, with that delicacy which belongs to his character, did not, as it was in a great measure a pecuniary subject, announce the commencement of the action to your committee; and your committee had not a proper opportunity of giving that assistance which otherwise might have been done, as to the facts of the case on the trial. You are acquainted with the result.-Though your committee had much reason to be satisfied, that the unfounded claims of the high bailiff, ---claims so injurious to the fair freedom of election,-had been very materially reduced; yet they were greatly disappointed that the important principle for which they had been contending had not been decided; and they, therefore, requested Sir F. B. to move for a now trial,--which has been refused by the

court.It has now become the imperious duty of your Committee, to carry into full and complete effect the Resolutions of the 4th of May, and their repeated declarations during the election, that it should be conducted free of every expense to Sir F. B — And, let the final issue be what it may, your committee will not suffer Sir F. B. to spend one shilling of his own money in the discharge of his duty to you and to our country.

Your committee now present you with an Account of the Expences they have incurred, and the Subscriptions intrusted to their hands: assuring you, that every thing has been conducted on their part with the most rigid economy.

Amount of expenses during

the election Amount of the chairing, procession, and presenting the car, &c. to Sir F. B .. Advertisements and printing to this day.... Incidental and law expenses in moving for a new trial....

By subscriptions. Pamphlets sold.

£780 14 4

515 8 2

83 5 0

30 3 6

Balance against the treasurer. 117 13 3

Not including the yet unascertained expense of the action with the high bailiffYour Committee have great satisfaction in observing, that the conduct adopted by the Electors of Westminster, has excited the attention of the country, and afford the best hopes, that, on a future occasion, it will be imitated by the electors in other parts of the kingdom.-You have attacked corruption in its strong hold; you have reduced and possessed yourselves of one of the principal fortresses of the enemy. Upon the first 'occasion you will again take the field :—if you again conquer-if the people of this country follow up the example you have set them, and they should fortunately succeed-they will confound the treasons of your domestic enemies, and England will bid defiance to any foreign foe; although he may have attained the dominion of all the earth besides. -(Signed) By order of the Committee.— SAMUEL BROOKS, Chairman.-London, May 23, 1808.

CURATES BILL.

SIR,The open attacks of the rectors

- against their curates, is manifested in Berkshire, and the sneaking attempts of those in Suffolk and Norfolk, without daring to give their signatures to advertisements, issued after many private calls and underhand maneuvres, demand from every man of honour and candour, a manly and decisive notice. Those who are not of the clergy at all, are now called upon to manifest their sentiments. Has the state no interest in the disposition of clerical property? Is the patronage of men who hold property in various counties to be bartered by connivance, and the state to be forbidden from every inquiry and every protection of the ministry? Then let the establishment fall, as fall it must if unaided by the wisdom of parliament. Clerical proprietors of tithes may wish to legislate for their curates; but, surely, a little modesty will induce them to submit to legis. lators in parliament, and not advertise for meetings and petitions against the Stipendiary Curates' Bill, lest the principal laymen should counteract their advertisements, by offering their disinterested greatness, to shelter the unprotected and unenvied curates, and by calling them together by advertisement, make inquiry into the decimal arithmetic whereby their salaries are adjusted. A conversation last week upon the increase of servants' wages, excited from a rector this odd reply, "Port wine is now an hundred pounds per pipe, and I have been forced to advance my first footman to thirty-five pounds per annum rather than part with him;" when this same rector told his curate a few days before, that he must agree at twenty-five pounds per annum, and no fees, (and preach every Sunday!! :)-The salary of the curates wants to be as unequivocally known to parliament, as the salary of its navy or army subalterns, and no objection arises to a clerical annual list, beyond what may be objected to a navy or army list.(The bookseller would be well paid, and their names and addresses may be easily obtained, as every archdeacon, as well as every bishop, has a copy of the return in his own department.) The seven ill-favoured and lean fleshed kine, as some rectors fear, would deyour the seven well-favoured and fat-fleshed; and themselves be obliged to diminish the wages of the pampered menial, at whose insulting hands the curate receives his £25, with a remark upon his own better pay!With an appearance of fairness, it is advanced, that a small living can only afford a small stipend to a curate. True! if the incumbent be not a pluralist, and depend upon his small preferment only, for his comforts. But in many cases the small living is (only)

held to pay the keep of an extra horse or servant, or for local convenience; and then, surely, all consideration is due to the officiating minister, and the size of the preferment is not then the only proper standard for the stipend of the curate. The question ought not to be between rectors and curates any longer. It is a question between the state and the clergy. There is an establishment of which kings and queens are the nursing fathers and the nursing mothers. Curates are the efficient troops. Parsonage houses are their proper barracks. Whatever the state judges to be serviceable to the cause must and ought to be adopted. Nothing can be more contemptible than the pitiful and avaricious attempt to cry down the proceedings of government, by an association of either rectors or curates against the wisdom of the legislature The curates of some parishes have not had a guinea from their rectors these many years, and have lived upon the scrapings of low fees, 'till they grind the poor to maintain themselves. These things ought not to be. The glorying of such rectors over their curates is not good, though they should be enabled to dun with their ap-" peal the ears of the upper house, who may not consider that every parishioner upon their estates is interested in the fate of the bill, inasmuch as the needy curate is an ob ject of compassion and benevolence to the congregation in which he preaches.-Yours, &c.-C. D.—May 27, 1808.

SECOND REPORT FROM THE COMMITTEE ON THE DISTILLATION OF SUGAR AND MO

LASSES.-Ordered to be printed 31st May,

1808.

The committee appointed to enquire, and report, how far, and under what circumstances, it may be practicable and expedient to confine the distilleries of the United Kingdom to the use of Sugar and Molasses only; and also what other provision can be made for the relief of the growers of sugar in the British West India Colonies; and to report the same, with their observations and opinion thereupon, from time to time, to the House :and who were empowered to report the minutes of the evidence taken before them;

---

Have, pursuant to the order of the house, further examined the matters to them referred; and have come to the following Report. Your committee after having presented their First Report, lost no time in prosecuting the enquiries pointed out to them, in the order by which they were constituted; conceiving that if by legislative

encouragement an increased consumption of Tum could be created, material relief would be afforded to the planter, enabling him to diminish the quantity of the inferior sugars now imported, by converting a portion of them into that spirit, their first attention was directed to the most eligible means of accomplishing this object.Understanding that an extensive trade in foreign spirits is carried on under the protection of licences from the privy council, and of neutral flags, and that thereby a great encouragement is given to a staple commodity of the enemy, while a proportionate discouragement is thrown in the way of the consumption of West India rum, your committee called before them several persons concerned in the continental trade, with a view to ascertain the fact, and to learn the manner in which the traffic is carried on; and also two gentlemen connected with the boards of customs and excise, fully capable of informing them, whether any loss would accrue to the revenue by prohibiting or discouraging the importation of foreign spirits in future; and how that loss might be compensated, should any such be expected to arise-It appears, that foreign brandy and Geneva are among the enumerated articles, the importation of which is permitted by the general war order of the king in council. The expenses of freight and insurance however are too heavy, and the risk of seizure by our cruizers, and condemnation in our prize courts, is too great to allow the trade to be carried on with any prospect of advantage under the authority of such a general order. The merchants of this country therefore apply to the privy council for particular licences; which being granted, neutral vessels are chartered, by which under these licences a trade is securely carried on, which otherwise would not exist. The ships proceed in ballast for the hostile port, taking with them neither British manufactures nor colonial produce, which would render them liable to confiscation. They bring back foreign spirits, wine, and fruit, but neither raw silk, nor any other article useful to the British manufacturer. Those cargoes are chiefly paid for by bills of exchange. As this trade affords great encouragement to one of the chief staples of the enemy, without promoting in the smallest degree the welfare of the shipping, manufacturing, or colonial inte rests of this country, it is evidently the po licy, as we are led to believe it is the practice of the French government, to connive at its continuance, and to protect it. The sound policy of this country would seem to require the prohibition or discouragement

of a trade, in which the advantage is reaped by the enemy; particularly as by so doing the produce of our own colonies, and spirits the manufacture of our own country, would replace those so withdrawn from the mar ket. It appears that the quantity of foreign spirits for which duty was paid in the last year, was 2,101,187 gallons, and that the gross amount of the duty was £1,336,973. The duty of customs and excise per gallon, on foreign spirits, is 16s. 1d.; on rum, 11s. 21. and the excise duty on British spi rits, exclusive of the malt duty, is 7s. 24d. It would seem that a bare substitution of a consumption of the same quantity of spirits at a lower duty, would occasion a certain loss to the revenue. .Mr. Jackson calculates that loss at £786,000 per annum; and presuming only on a bare substitution of quantity, thinks, that in order to prevent any deficit, and at the same time to preserve the present difference between the duties on rum and British spirits, an addition of 2s. Sd. per gallon on each of these articles would be required. But such additional duty, in the opinion of your committee, could not be imposed without considerable danger of perma nently diminishing the consumption of those articles.-As the flavour of foreign geneva is well imitated in this country, and as brandy can be made strongly resembling the foreign spirit, it is impossible to believe that rum alone would be substituted in the room of any quantity of those spirits, which the recommendation of this report might withdraw from the market. Should the consumption of rum however be increased by the amount of one-third of the foreign spirits which paid duty last year, that increase would rise to 700,000 gallons. The advantage gained by the West Indian interest would not stop here; as a demand for an additional quantity of British brandy would create a market for a proportionate quantity of sugar and molasses, those being the materials from which the best imitation of foreign brandy can be produced. It is proper to mention, that the present embargo in the ports of the United States will throw a large quantity of rum on the market of the mother coun try, which affords an additional inducement to your committee to recommend any mea sure likely to increase the home consumption of that spirit. The re-exportation from this country of the brandy brought in on licence, is not considerable; the North of Europe being chiefly supplied by the prize spirits, No duty is retained on the re-export to Eu rope except the war duty of 12 and per cent. on the customs, or about 1 per gal lon; to which the act enforcing the late