Wednesday, March 11.

A motion by Mr Abercromby, for a return of the convicts transported, pardoned, or received into the army and navy, was opposed by Messrs Ryder and Perceval, who observed, that it would tend to expose those men, who, on recommendation for their good conduct were permitted to enter into regular regiments in this country, instead of condemned ones,

Friday, March 13.

Mr PERCEVAL presented a message from the Prince Regent, stating, that "the assistance which we had been able to give to the Portuguese Government, his allies, had furnished the means of improving the military establishment of that country, and of rendering conspicuous the valour and discipline of its armies, in the successful deliverance from, and defence of, Portugal against the enemy; and trusting that he will be enabled to give the same assistance in the present war as in the last from which such important consequences to the cause of the allies have resulted." Referred to a Committee of Supply.

On the motion for the third reading of the mutiny bill, Sir F. BURDETT, in a speech distinguished for humanity and eloquence, animadverted on the military punishment of flogging, and urged, by many arguments, the policy of its abolition in the British Army. The Hon. Baronet said, that many persons died in consequence of its infliction, by sentence of a regimental Court Martial, whose sufferings never met the public eye. He instanced, on the authority of a missionary, the case of a soldier at the Cape of Good Hope, who being sentenced to receive one thousand lashes, had two hundred and fifty inflicted, when the surgeon interposed, and he was taken from the halberts, but died in a few days after. He did not by any means pretend to say that summary punishments ought not to be inflicted in the army, but what he objected to was the system of torture thus practised-a system

unknown, he was sorry to say, in any ar my but that of the British: and it was the more deplorable in a country like Great Britain, where the principles of liberty, of humanity, and of civilization, were better understood and practised than in any country on the face of the earth. The Hon. Baronet said, he understood that the Commander-in-Chief, Lord Moira, Lord Hutchinson, and the Earl of Wellington, were desirous of abolishing the practice.

Mr M. SUTTON urged the impossibility of supporting the discipline of the army, should the fear of this punishment be entirely removed.

Generals Tarleton, Phipps, and Porter, Sir G. Warrender, Mr Abercromby, Mr C. Adams, Lord Palmerston, Lord C. Somerset, Lord Cochrane, and Mr W. Smith, spoke against the abolition; Sir S. Romilly and Mr Whitbread in its favour.

The bill was then read a third time; but the clause proposed by Sir F. Burdett was negatived by 19 votes to 6.

Monday, March 16.

Lord CASTLEREAGH rose to propose the sum of L.2,000,000 as a subsidy to Portugal. The circumstances of Portugal, he contended, were so improved, and its troops had exhibited so much discipline and valour, that he did not conceive any opposition to the measure. His Lordship descanted, in the usual terms, of sympathy to a gallant and unfortunate people; that they shewed no inclination to desert the cause; that no instance of treachery had occurred among them, &c.-The Noble Lord was opposed by Mr Freemantle, Sir T. Turton, and Lord Cochrane; and supported by the Hon. Mr Ward and Colonel Dillon, on the usual grounds, on one side, of impoverishing ourselves by a system which in the end would conduce to our ruin,-and on the other, on the plea of public faith, &c.; when the question was put, and carried without a division.

On the third reading of the local militia bill, Sir F. Burdett proposed an amendging, which was negatived without a diviment, prohibiting the punishment by flog

sion.

general, and to extend its operation to Ireland; that the bill should be read a ser

cond time; and that the committal should be postponed till after the holidays, in order to the attendance of Irish members.

Lord FOLKESTONE and Mr TIERNEY opposed the motion. The House dividedFor the motion 73-Against it 36..

Wednesday, March 18.

Mr. WHITBREAD presented a petition with many thousands of signatures from certain manufacturers in Yorkshire, stating their distressed condition, praying that measures might be adopted for their relief, and also praying for a reform in Parliament.

Thursday, March 19.

Mr HOUSTON presented a petition from the Chamber of Commerce of the city of Glasgow, praying for a free trade with the East Indies.

General GASCOIGNE presented a petition from the West India planters, merchants, and others, in the port of Liverpool, coinplaining of the deplorable state of colonial trade, and praying that the duties on su gar, cotton, and coffee, might be lowered. Friday, March 20.

Mr PERCEVAL delivered the following message from the Prince Regent :—

"GEORGE, P. R. ́

"His Royal Highness the Prince Regent, in the name and on behalf of his Majesty, thinks it necessary to acquaint the House of Commons, that, in pursuance of the powers vested in his Majesty by two acts passed in the 18th and 39th years of his present Majesty's reign, his Majesty was graciously pleased, by letters patent, bearing date Feb. 2. 1802, to grant to their Royal Highnesses the Princesses Augusta, Elizabeth, Mary, Sophia, and Amelia, an annuity of L. 3000, agreeably to the provisions, and subject to the limitations of the said acts; which grant was to take effect from the demise of his Majesty; and his Royal Highness being desirous, in the present situation of the Royal Family, to be enabled to provide for the establishment of their Royal Highnesses the Princesses, by an immediate, grant, recommends to the House of Commons to take the subject into its consideration, and to enable his Royal Highness to make such provision for their Royal Hignesses the Princesses, as in the liberality of Parliament may be thought suitable to the actual situation of the Princesses, and to the circumstances of the pre sent time."

Monday, March 17.

from the merchants, ship owners, and General TARLETON presented a petition others, of the town of Liverpool, praying that the charter of the East India Company should not be renewed, and that their mo nopoly should be destroyed.

Mr CREEVEY took this opportunity of confirming his former statement, that there were 15,000 persons maintained by charity in Liverpool, exclusive of those supported by parochial relief. He had lately been in the town, and was perfectly convinced of the utter ruin of trade there. The commerce to America and the Mediterranean, and the manufacture of salt, had utterly failed.

THE PRINCESSES.

The order of the day being read,

Mr CREEVEY opposed the Speaker's leav ing the Chair, observing, that he thought an inquiry into the revenue of the country should precede any pecuniary grant to the Princesses, He likewise remarked, that out of the L. 130,000 granted to the Prince Regent, in addition to the civil list, some→ thing might be done by his Royal Highness for the purposes in question.

Mr PERCEVAL explained, that out of the revenue enjoyed by the Prince, an income of L. 17,000 besides L. 5000 pin-money, was allowed to the Princess of Wales, and that his Royal Highness had taken upon himself the discharge of her debts, amounting to L.49,000, in order that it should not fall upon the public. Another sum of L. 70,000 was handed over to the Commissioners of the Dutchy of Cornwall, for the purpose of discharging his own incumbrances; the Queen also received from the civil list the same sum as formerly, so that he did not see how the. Princesses were to be provided for, out of the funds of the Prince Regent.

Mr WHITBREAD observed, that the Prince, when he undertook the payment of debts to the amount of L. 49,000, was himself indebted in an enormous sum. He, indeed, who could not pay his own debts, engaged to pay those of another-this looked like a juggle. He thought delay necessary.

The House then went into a Committee of Supply, when, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, after making a statement on the propriety of increasing the allowances to the Princesses, moved that L. 36,000 instead of L. 30,000 already provided, should be granted to the Princesses, and to be charged on the consolidated fund,

Mr

Mr TIERNEY, argued that the Princesses, who had been bred up in the most affectionate manner, would not be desirous of forming separate establishments, and inquired why the Princess of Wales, who represented the Queen, as much as the Prince Regent did the King of these realms. had not a more suitable establishment. He was averse to these piece-meal applications, and observed, that the grants of this session to the civil list, already amounted to L. 1,532,000.

Messrs W. Smith, Freemantle, Bonnet, and Ponsonby, were against the grant.

Messrs Whitbread, Barham, and Tierney, pressed to know the reason why, at a time when grants were proposed to the minor branches of the Royal Family, no suitable provision was made for one so near to the throne as the Princess of Wales. Did the Right Hon. Gentleman (Mr Perceval) sanction the separation? (cry of no! no! from the Ministerial benches.) Did he, at the time he acted as her counsel, at the investigation of her conduct, see any thing which could lead him to infer guilt? Did he not know and proclaim her to have risen without the least imputation from that inquiry? Was he willing to state the nature of the evidence that was taken, and which he caused to be printed for circulating most extensively both here and on the Continent, for the purpose of annoying an illustrious personage. This book was afterwards suppressed, and the copies which had got abroad purchased, out of what fund was not known, at an immense expence; the holders of some copies having received from L. 500 to L. 2000 each.

Messrs C. Adams, Lockhart, Ellison, and Courtney, severally censured this interference in family matters, as highly indelicate and unparliamentary: it would tend to widen any existing breach, and was only introduced by a side-wind.

Mr PERCEVAL said, that neither from what had come to his knowledge, in his character as counsel to her Royal Highness, or in the situation he at present held, could he recollect any thing which it was possible to bring as a charge against the Princess of Wales. He did not feel himself bound to give any further explanation. If the House were desirous of increasing the annuity of her Royal Highness, he would communicate their opinion to the Prince Regent. The resolution was then agreed to without a division.

Wednesday, March 25.

Lord CASTLEREAGH moved the grant of L.400,000 to his Sicilian Majesty, which, after some observations from Sir J. Newport, and others, was agreed to.

Mr WHARTON moved various grants for the miscellaneous services of the year, which were agreed to, and among which were the following:

For the Caledonian Canal L. 50,000 0 0
For Roads and Bridges in
the Highlands of Scot-
land...

For military roads in
North Britain..................

20,000 0 0

5894 18 4

Contraband articles are the only property which a neutral flag does not cover; and arms and warlike stores alone are contraband.

All visiting of a neutral vessel by an armed ship can be made by a small number of men only, the armed ship keeping without cannon shot.

Every neutral ship may trade from an enemy's port to an enemy's port, and from an enemy's port to a neutral one.

The only ports excepted are those really blockaded; and ports really blockaded are those invested, besieged, likely to be taken, and into which a merchantman could not enter without danger.

Such are the obligations of belligerents towards neutral powers; such are the reciprocal rights of either party; such are the maxims consecrated by those treaties which form the public right of nations. Frequently has England dared to attempt substituting in their place arbitrary and tyrannical regulations. Her unjust pretensions were repelled by all governments sensible to the voice of honour, and the interests of their subjects. She constantly found herself forced to acknowledge in her treaties the principles she wished to destroy; and when the peace of Amiens was violated, the maritime legislation still remained upon its ancient basis.

By a series of events, the English marine became more numerous than all the

force of the other maritime powers. England then thought the moment was arrived when, having nothing to fear, she might dare to do every thing; she immediately resolved to subject the navigation of all seas to the same laws as those of the Thames.

It was in 1806 she began the execution of that system, which tended to bend the, common law of nations before the orders of Council, and the regulations of the London Admiralty.

The declaration of the 16th of May annihilated by one single word the rights of all maritime states-placed under an interdict vast coasts and whole empires.From this moment England no longer acknowledged any neutrals upon the seas.

The decrees of 1807 imposed upon eve ry vessel the obligation of touching at an English port, whatever her destination might be, to pay a tribute to England, and submit her cargo to the tarifs of the

customs.

By the declaration of 1806, all navigation had been interdicted to neutrals; by the decree of 1807, the power of navigat

ing was restored to them; but they could use it only for the common utility of English commerce, in the combination of its interests and its people.

The English Government thus tore off the mask with which it had covered its projects-proclaimed the universal dominion of the seas,-regarded all nations as tributaries, and imposed upon the Continent the expences of the war which it maintained against it.

'I hese unheard of measures excited a general indignation among the powers who preserved the sentiments of their indepen dence and their rights; but in London they raised the national pride to the highest pitch; they held out to the English people a future prospect, rich in the most brilliant hopes. Their commerce, their industry, were henceforth to be without opposition; the produce of the two worlds was to flow into their ports-pay homage to the maritime and commercial sovereign of England, by paying tribute-and afterwards to other nations, loaded with the enormous expences from which English merchandizes alone would be free.

Your Majesty, at a single glance, perceived the evils with which the Continent was threatened. You instantly applied the remedy. You annihilated by your decrees this pompous, unjust attack upon the independence of every state and the rights of all nations.

The Berlin decree answered the declaration of 1806. The blockade of the British islands was opposed to the imaginary blockade established by England. The Milan decree answered the orders of 1807: it declared denationalise every neutral vessel that submitted to English legislation, either by touching at a British port, or paying a tribute to England, and which thus renounced the independence and rights of its flag. All merchandise proceeding either from British commerce or industry, was blockaded in the Britannic islands; the continental system banished them from the Continent.

Never did any act of reprisals attain its object in a more prompt, certain, and victorious manner. The Berlin' and Milan decrees turned against England the arms she had directed against universal commerce. That source of commercial prosperity which she believed so abundant, became a source of calamities to British commerce in place of those tributes which were to have enriched the treasury, her credit was deteriorated, hurting the fortune of the State and that of individuals.

As

As soon as your Majesty's decrees appeared, all the Continent foresaw that such would be their result if they received full execution; but, however accustomed Europe was to see success crown your enterprizes, she could scarcely conceive by what new prodigies your Majesty would realize the great designs which have been so rapidly accomplished. Your Majesty armed yourself with all your power; nothing could divert you from your intention; Holland, the Hanseatic towns, the coasts that unite the Zuyderzee to the Baltic Sea, were united to France, and subjected to the same administration and same regula tions, the immediate and inevitable consequence of the legislation of the English Government. No kind of considerations could balance in the mind of your Majesty the first interest of your empire.

You did not wait long to reap the advan. tage of this important resolution. In fifteen months, that is to say, since the Senatus Consultum of reunion, your Majesty's decrees have weighed with all their force upon England. She flattered herself with invading the commerce of the entire world; and her commerce, become speculation, does nothing but by means of 200,000 licences, delivered each year.Forced to obey the law of necessity, she thus renounces her act of navigation, the principal foundation of her power. She pretended to the universal dominion of the seas; and navigation is interdicted,—her vessels shut out from all the continental ports. She wished to enrich her treasury by the tributes which Europe would pay; and Europe has not only freed itself from her unjust pretensions, but from the tributes it would have paid her industry.Her manufacturing towns are become deserts; distress has succeeded a prosperity hitherto increasing; an alarming disappear ance of money, and the absolute want of ́employment, daily disturb the public tranquillity. Such have been to England the consequences of her imprudent attempts.She already perceives, and will daily more and more discover, that there is no salvation for her but in a return to justice, and to the principle of the rights of nations; and that she can only participate in the benefit of the neutrality of ports, inasmuch as she allows neutrals to benefit by the neutrality of their flag: But till the British orders of Council are rescinded, and the principles of the treaty of Utrecht towards neutrals are again in full vigour, the Berlin and Milan decrees will remain against those Powers who allow their flag

to be denationalised. The ports of the Continent shall not be open either to denationalised flags or British merchandise.

It must not be dissembled, that to maintain in full vigour this grand system, it will be necessary that your Majesty employ all the powerful means which belong to your empire; and find in your subjects that assistance which you have never yet in vain demanded of them. It is necessary that all the disposable French forces should march to whatever places where the English or denationalised flag attempted to land. A special array charged exclusively of guarding our vast extent of coasts, our maritime arsenals, and the triple range of fortresses which cover our frontiers, will answer to your Majesty for the safety of the territory confided to their valour and fidelity. You will send to their fortunate destiny those brave men accustomed to fight and conquer under the eyes of your Majesty,to defend the political rights, and exterior safety of the empire. The depots even of the corps will not be turned from the useful destination of supporting your active armies. The forces of your Majesty will thus always be maintained upon the most formidable footing, and the French territory protected by an establishment which interest dictates; the policy and dignity of the empire will be placed in such a situation, as to entitle it more than ever to deserve the title of inviolable and sacred.

For a considerable time the English Government has proclaimed everlasting war; a frightful project, which the wildest ambition would never really have intended, and which a presumptuous boasting alone allowed to escape-a frightful project which will nevertheless be realized, if France is only to expect engagements without guarantee,-of uncertain duration, and more disastrous than war itself.

Peace, Sire, which in the midst of your immense power has been so often offered to your enemies, will crown your glorious works, if England, banished from the Continent, with perseverance, and separated from all the states whose independence she has violated, consent to return to those principles upon which European society is founded-acknowledges the laws of nations, and respects the sacred rights consecrated by the treaty of Utrecht.