prepare the business for a final discussion. But we were now guilty of the groffeft folccifm imaginable. We were appoint ing two persons to the fame court, to tally distinct and independent of each other, either of whose acts would be binding on this country, however contradictory or irreconcilable. He was by no means furprised at the filence of ministers on our Eaft-India affairs. That was a topic that could afford them no popularity. They had boasted last year of the Bourishing state of the East India Company, and declared it to have a great furplus of revenue; but on a fair infpection of their accounts, the furplus appeared to be a deficiency of 1,300,000l. The indig. nation and disguft that his famous bill had occafioned through all ranks of prople in India, by robbing Englishmen of their right to trial by jury, was fuch as could not afford him much triumph. A Noble friend of his, who had lately returned from thence, had manifefted a fpirit fuperior to the abfurdities of this ridiculous fyftem. He then referred to the ftate of Ireland, with an irony and pleasantry that kept the Houfe in a vein of good humour. He then afked feri oufy, what was the fituation of thefe countries? One had been led to declare what the would grant, and the other, that the would not accept it. Exactly the situation of two countries going to war. But God grant that was not the inference to be drawn in this cafe. He hoped to find it would yet be effected in fome other way, to the fatisfaction and intereft of both. He hoped it would be on an entire new foundation, and that the infidious method of perfuading each Ede, that what was to the detriment of the one, must be to the advantage of the other, would be abolished. In short, let commiffioners be appointed on both hides to prepare the business, and, no doubt, but we should come to a fair and amicable conclufion. The funds, he obfer ved, afforded a pleasing profped to every man, for every man was interested in them; but he could not agree that this was a fubject of praife to the minifter; for, in his opinion, it was the effect of diligence only in the commercial part of the community, or, if at all atcribable to the minifter, it must be on account of the failure of his plans, which, had they fucceeded, would have placed this coun try in a much worse fituation than it is at prefent. Mr Pitt said, he should not trouble the Houfe any great length of time, nor en, deavour to follow the Rt Hon. Gentleman through that amazing field of foreign politics which he had chofen to expatiate upon; they certainly spoke the ability of the Hon. Member, but were totally unconnected with the bufinefs; therefore he prefumed they were mentioned mere. ly to indulge that melancholy and defponding ftate of mind, which the Rt Hon. Gentleman always manifested when fpeaking on the fituation of this country. As to the meaning of that part of the addrefs which mentioned tranquillity being established, he would candidly confefs that it meant nothing more nor less than the amicable adjustment between the Emperor and the States-General of the United Provinces. In the next place, the Hon, Gentleman had asked, whether any alliances had been made, or the friendfhip of foreign states commenced, during the recefs? To which he should answer, That there was the ftrongest affurances of friend@hip from the Emprefs of Ruffia, who by no means was either cold or ins different to this country, as had been ftated. With refpect to the charge of no notice having been taken of the league with the German princes, to that he should answer, that none was neceflary; and as his Majefty's minifters had not thought it advisable to mention the league in the fpeech from the throne; neither should they deem themselves bound to explain their reasons for holding a perfect filence on that head. However, thus much he would fay, that the miniftry of this country were not responsible for the politics which it might be deemed neceflary for the Elector of Hanover to adopt for his German dominions; nor had any league been made by the Elector of Hanover with any German princes, that could involve this country in the confederacy. As to the fituation of the finances of the India Company, so far from being in that melancholy and desponding ftate, as painted by the Hon. Gentleman with bis ufual force of colouring, faying, that “the surplus of their accounts would be found a deficiency of 1,300,000l." he was confident, when the accounts came fairly to be inspected, they would be found much in the Company's favour; fo much fo indeed, that it would be a happy thing for this country it its finances were in the fame flourishing ftate. He next proceeded to a defence of the In dia dia bill, which, he said, had been attacked on account of the mode adopted for the trial of fuch perfons as should hereafter return from that country suspected of peculation; and great pains had been taken to make the public believe the mode of trial was equal to an inquifition. The bill, he was pofitive, would be found perfectly confiftent with the conftitution of this country, as every man had his option whether he would continue in the fervice or not; of course, if he thought proper to remain, he was perfectly content with the trial by courts-martial, which was exactly fimilar. He begged to fay a few words, not fo much in answer to what had fallen from the Hon. Member relative to Lord Macartney, as it was to pay his fhare of praise to the Noble Lord, whose character undoubtedly was unfullied. That Noble Lord had fo far approved of the India bill, as, unasked, unsolicited, and uncompelled, to deliver in an account of his effects, conformable to the bill; which was a proof that his Lordship approved of the plan, and thought it a neceffary part of the regulation. After dwelling a fhort time on that fubject, he proceeded to give his reafons for the conduct which had been obferved with refpect to Ireland; and entered pretty fully into the origin of the propofitions, infifting, that if any mifchief had been produced, or any jealoufies fomented, between the manufacturers of either country, it was by the oppofition given to the mea. fures by a certain defcription of gentle men in that Houfe. But the Rt Hon. Gentleman bad faid, the manner in which the business was, was exactly like ftates going to war with each other; it was "one country afking what the other would not grant." Certainly, if that was to be conftrued into going to war, every party entering into a treaty, however a micable, might be said to be at war; but the present treaty with Ireland was exactly neither more or less than, like two parties fitting down to liquidate a balance, which at first it was impoffible to tell whether either would agree to the feveral items that compofed the account. If the Hon. Gentleman had the fagacity of difcerning what would fatisfy both countries, it was much to be lamented that he kept his knowledge to himself, and did not let the House partake of any of that light which enabled him to fee, where others were in the dark. With respect to the finances and revenue of this country, about which the Rt Hon. Gentleman had been almost totally silent, he could affure the House, that the furplus would be found more than the most fanguine perfon could have expected; it would be fuch as, he was certain, would lay the foundation for a finking fund, which, properly managed, would give a pleafing profpect of reducing the national debt; and he had not a doubt of being able, very speedily, to produce to the House papers which would clearly demonstrate the whole, and fhew that the hopes were not founded on the payment of arrears, but the flourishing state of our commerce, the increase of our revenue, and the reduction of our expences. Mr Fox infifted, that if the politics of the Elector of Hanover drove his German dominions into a war, this country was bound, whilst the Elector of Hanover and the King of Great Britain were one and the fame perfon, to affift him in that war; for it would be an abfurdity to fuppofe, that we could fee the King's dominions wrefted from him, or his patrimony injured, without taking a part. Surely, then, a subject so materially connected with this country ought not to have been paffed over in filence; but the fpeech fhould have informed the country what balance had been gained by the league entered into by the German princes. Mr Pitt did not mean, this country would be free from taking a part in any difpute which the Elector of Hanover might be concerned in; but that the mis nifter of Great Britain was not refponfible for the politics of the Elector of Hanover. Mr Francis combated Mr Pitt's ftatement of the finances of the Eaft-India Company, and infifted that they were far from being in a profperous state; for last year, though a year of peace, the finances, inftead of having a surplus, were really deficient in a capital fum. He gave notice, that fome early day he would move for a repeal, either of the whole India bill, or of fuch parts as deprived Englishmen of trial by jury, and inftituted in its place trial by torture, racks, and gibbets. Mr Dundas defended the India bill.The addrefs was carried without a divifion. Account Account of the Migration of the Herrings. [From Knox's view of the British Empire.] THERE are fome fishes, as the herring, cod-fish, haddock, whiting, mack arel, tunny, and pilchard, that may be called fish of paffage, and bear a ftrong analogy to birds of paffage, both from their focial difpofition, and the immenfity of their numbers. Other fish live in our vicinity, and reside on our coafts all the year round, or keep in the depths of the ocean, and are but feldom feen: but thefe at stated seasons vifit the more fouthern fhores with regular certainty, generally returning the fame week in the fucceeding year, and often the same day. The herrings are found in the greatest abundance in the highest northern latitudes within the arctic circle. In those inacceffible seas that are covered with ice during a great part of the year, the herring find a quiet and fure retreat from all their numerous enemies: there neither man, nor their still more deftuctive enemy the fin-fish, or the cachalot, the moft voracious of the whale kind, dares to purfoe them. The great colony of herring fets out from the icy fea about the middle of winter, compofed of fuch numbers as to exceed the powers of imagination; but they no fooner leave their retreats, than mil lions of enemies appear to thin their squadrons. The fun-fish and the cachalot devour hundreds at a time; the porpus, the grampus, the shark, cod fish, haddocks, pollacks, and the whole numerous tribe of dog-fifli, find them an easy prey, and defift from making war upon each other: but ftill more the unnumbered flocks of fea-fowl, that chiefly inhabit near the pole, watch the outset of their dangerous migration, and spread extensive ruin. In this exigence, the defenceless emigrants find no other safety but by crowding closer together, like fheep when frightened, and leaving to the outmoft bands the danger of being firft devoured. The main body begins at a certain latitude to feparate into two great divifions, one of which moves to the weft, and pours down along the coaft of America, as far fouth as Carolina, and are so numerous in the Chesapeak Bay, as to become a nuifance to the fhores. The other divifion takes a more eaftern direction towards Europe, and falls in with the great ifland of Iceland about the beginning of March. Upon their arrival on that coaft, their phalanx, which hath already fuffered con fiderable diminutions, is nevertheless found to be of amazing extent, depth, and closeness, occupying a furface equal to the dimensions of Great Britain and Ireland, but fub-divided into columns of five or fix miles in length, and three or four in breadth, each column being led, according to the idea of fishermen, by herrings of more than ordinary fize. The herrings fwim near the furface, finking now and then for ten or fifteen minutes. The forerunners of those who visit the Britifh kingdoms appear off Shetland in April or May, and the grand body begins to be perceived in June. Their approach is known to the fishers by a small rippling of the water, the reflection of their brilliancy, and the number of folan geefe, or gannets and other aerial perfecutors, who feaft richly upon this offered bounty; and who, with the marine attendants, may be a concurrent caule of driving the fhoals into bays and creeks. Here new enemies await these Heaven-directed ftrangers. Whole fleets of Dutch, French, Flemith, Pruffian, and Danish veffels, with all the apparatus of netting, are in readiness on a fixed day, to drag the ocean, thereby fnatching from the shoals, not hundreds, but hundreds of thousands, every night from June to September. The Shetland islands, where the herrings meet with the first interruption in their progrefs fouthwards, lie at the diftance of an hundred miles due north from the main land of Scotland, and extend almost a degree in length. Though thefe islands break and separate the grand body of the herrings into two parts, these wanderers ftill continue their course to the fouthward; one divifion proceeds along the eaft fide of Britain, pays its tribute to the Orkneys, the Murray Frith, the coaft of Aberdeen, Angus, and Fife; the great river Forth, the coaft of Scarborough, and particularly the far projecting land at Yarmouth, the ancient and only mart of herrings in England, where they appear in October, and are found in confiderable quantities till Christmas, During this feason they fend a confiderable supply to the London market; and paffing down the Channel, they pay a flight vifit to the north coaft of France; but fo exhaufted and impoverished, that they are very improper for commercial purposes, though fometimes cured for ex portation. The other brigade take their course from the Shetland islands, along the west fide of Britain, and are observed to be lar ger ger and fatter than thofe on the east fide. After paffing the Shetland and the Orkney ifles, they crowd in amazing quantities into the lakes, bays, and narrow channels, of the fhires of Sutherland, Rofs, and Inverness; which, with the Hebride ifles, efpecially the Long Island, compose the greatest stationary herringfithery in Britain, that upon the coaft of Shetland excepted. Sometimes, as in 1784, this fhoal in its fouthern progrefs edges close upon the extensive coast of Argylefhire; fills every bay and creek; vifits in fmall detachments the Frith of Clyde, Lochfine, and other lakes within the entrance of that river; the coast of Airshire and of Galloway, to the head of the Solway Frith. Having performed this friendly office to the western shores of Scotland, the fhoal proceeds towards the north of Ireland; where, meeting with a fecond interruption, they are again divided into two brigades; one fhoal paffes down the Irish Channel, vifits the 18le of Man, and affords an occafional supply to the eaft coaft of Ireland, and the west coast of England, as far as the Briftol Channel. The other fhoal skirts along the weft coaft of Ireland; where after vifiting the lakes of Donnegal, it gradually disappears, and is finally loft in the immenfity of the Atlantic. So bountiful is Providence to the inhabitants of the British ifles in one article of food only. Were we inclined,' fays a well-known writer, to confider this partial migration of the herring in a moral light, we might reflect with veneration and awe on the mighty power which originally impreffed on this moft ufeful body of his creatures the instinct that directs and points out the courfe that blesses and enriches these islands, which caufes them at certain and invariable times to quit the vaft polar deeps, and offer themselves to our expecting fleets. That benevolent Being has never, from the earlieft records, been once known to withdraw his blessing from the whole, though he often thinks proper to deny it to particulars; yet this partial failure (for which we fee no natural reafon) fhould fill us with the moft exalted and grateful fense of his Providence, for impreffing fo invariable and general an inftinct on these fish towards a fouthward migration, when the whole is to be benefited, and to withdraw it only when a minute part is to fuffer. This impreffion was given them, that they might remove for the fake of depofiting their spawn in warmer feas, that would mature and vivify it more assuredly than those of the frigid zone. It is not from defect of food that they fet themfelves in motion; for they come to us full of fat, and on their return are almoft univerfally obferved to be lean and miferable. What their food is near the pole we are not yet informed; but in our feas they feed much on the onifcus marinus, a cruftaceous infect, and fometimes on their own fry. They are in full roe to the end of June, and continue in perfection till the be ginning of winter, when they begin to depofit their spawn. Though we have no particular authority for it, yet, as very few young herrings are found in our feas during the winter, it seems most certain that they muft return to their paren⚫ tal haunts beneath the ice, to repair the vaft destruction of their race during fummer, by men, fowl, and fifh.' ANECDOTE. Uring the late fiege of Gibraltar, in the tack was daily expected, one dark night, à fentry, whofe poft was near the Devil's Tower, and facing the Spanish lines, was standing at the end of his walk, whifting, looking towards them, his head filled with nothing but fire and sword, miners, breaches, ftorming, and bloodthed! By the fide of his box ftood a deep narrow-necked earthen jog, in which was the remainder of his fupper, confifting of boiled peas: a large monkey, (of which there by the man's filence, and allured by the fmell are plenty at the top of the rock), encouraged deavouring to get at its contents, thrust his of the peas, ventured to the jug, and in enhead fo far into the neck as to be unable to withdraw it. At this inftant the foldier turned round and came whistling towards his box; the monkey, unable to get clear of it, ftarted up to run off, with the jug fticking on his head. This terrible apparition no fooner faluted the eyes of the fentry, than his frantic imagination converted poor pug into a fine, bloodthirty, Spanish grenadier, with a most tres mendous high cap on his head. Full of this dreadful idea, he inftantly fired his piece, roaring out, that the enemy had fealed the walls. The guard took the alarm, the drums were beat, fignal-guns fired, and in less than rifon were under arms, ten minutes the Governor and his whole gardier, being very much incommoded by his The fuppofed grenaovertaken and feized; and by his capture, the cap, and almost blinded by the peas, was foon tranquillity of the garrifon was restored, without that flaughter and bloodthed, which eve ry man had prognóflicated in the beginning of the direful alarm. Dr Dr ANDERSON's Report relating to the FISHERIES Concluded. [vol. 47. p.639.] CURING OF HERRINGS. AS, in confequence of the foregoing regulations, the quantity of fith caught in thofe feas would be very great, and could be afforded at a very low price, the only other circumftance neceffary to infure a ready fale would be, that they fhould be also of a superior quality to other fish that should meet them in foreign markets; and this could be effected in no other way but by adopting a better mode of curing them than others. At prefent the fishermen of Britain are defective in this refpect; their mode of curing fish is certainly not the beft, and might admit of great improvements, tho' the Reporter does not think himself fufficiently inftructed to be able to point out effectual rules for that purpose. And were he better informed than he is on this head, he would be cautious how he advised regulating ftatutes in that cafe; for, he believes, the fishermen themselves are better able to discover improvements in this refpect than any other perfon; and were the interefts of individuals to be im mediately promoted by fuch difcoveries as these individuals should make, he has no doubt but very great improvements would foon be made. By the prefent law and practice, an individual, were he at ever fo much pains, and as fuccefsful as he could wish in his fuperior mode of curing herrings, he would reap neither profit nor honour from his fuccefs; which is, no doubt, a great discouragement to induftry, and gives rife to a general careleffnefs in the mode of curing, that would not otherwise have been introduced into practice. From thefe confiderations, the Reporter is convinced, that were a mode devised, by which herrings and other fish could be traced on all occafions to the firft hand directly, it would be a ftrong inducement to carefulness; because in that cafe a merchant, from any quarter of the globe, could write to his correfpondent, that out of any number of barrels, thofe marked fo or fo had been found of a very fuperior quality, and that those with fuch another mark had been very bad; the laft, therefore, had been condemned as useless, whereas the first had fold at a very advanced price. This could not be easily done, if the herrings are obliged to be repacked as at prefent; for in that repacking they are so much bruifed VOL. XLVIII. as to counteract the attempts of the first Curer; nor is it poffible, in any cafe, to come at the firft curer, if they have ever been fent to any foreign market. But the Reporter is affured, that the beft Drontheim herrings never are repacked. though they bring the highest price at every foreign market. If fo, it would feem that repacking was not in all cafes neceffary. Should this be found to be fo, and should it be required by law, that all herrings and other fish, beef, pork, and butter, that received the drawback of the falt-duty, fhould have the name of the original curer marked at length upon the barrel, together with the name of his place of refidence, as is practited at prefent in Ireland with regard to beef, it might be attended with very good effects, as it would tend to raife or lower the price of that man's goods at market, fhould they be found to be uniformly good, or the reverse, in the fame way as happens with regard to manufacturers of other kinds of goods. BARREL STAVES. It was once enacted, that herring barrels should be made of ftaves at least half an inch in thickness; but that law was afterwards repealed. They are now made fo thin as to be often crushed in the hold of a veffel, fo as to allow the whole of the brine to be loft, which renders the herrings ufelefs, and unfit for any market. The law fhould therefore moft certainly be renewed, and strictly enforced. SIZE OF BARRELS. It deferves alfo to be remarked, that the Irish barrel of herrings contains only 28 gallons; whereas the Scotch barrel contains 32. And however ftrange it may appear, yet the Reporter is on all hands affured, that the Irish barrels, on account of their compactness, or other circumftances, in all cafes fell at an equal or fuperior price to the Scotch barrels, though the fish be the fame; by which means the Irish fell the fame quantity of fish, of the fame quality, fourteen and a half per cent. dearer than the Scotch. In confequence of this, it is not an uncommon practice for the Irish to buy Scotch fish, pack them into Irish barrels, and send them to the West Indies. In thefe circumftances, it would doubtless be neceffary to reduce the Scotch herring barrel by law to the fame fize with the Irish barrel, that they might come to market |