difficulties, and inspired despair where courage only should have been excited. He could not help feeling some degree of pain at the manner in which Lord Wellington's conduct had been examined and condemned at home; and was apprehensive that his ardour might be abated on hearing of the insidious means employed to tarnish the lustre of his reputation. He believed that the time would yet come, when the proud circle of Lord Wellington's laurels would receive another wreath of glory, when a yet more signal achievement would raise him to a still higher pinnacle of fame. (Hear! hear!) He cherished the sanguine expectation that the day would soon arrive, when another and transcending victory should silence the tongue of envy, and the cavils of party animosity; when the British Commander would be hailed by the unanimous voice of his country, with the sentiment addressed on a memorable. occasion to an illustrious character, "Invidiam gloriâ superâsti." (Hear! hear! hear!)

General Tarleton declared that he meant no attack on Lord Wellington in what he had said on a former night. He had grounded what fell from him merely on the information contained in the papers on the table relative to Ciudad Rodrigo.

Mr. Peele explained.

General Tarleton said, he only wished to vindicate himself against the assertion made by the honourable member, of his having attributed gross neglect to Lord Wellington. He had done no such thing. He had then adverted to the sacrifices we had made in the Peninsula. 'We had sent thither 50,000 men, and we had lost the whole of the Peninsula, except that spot which lay between Cartaxo and Lisbon; in addition to which, we had also sent to Portugal 2,000,000%. sterling in bullion. We had, during the whole period we were engaged in the contest, been making retrograde movements, and ruin alone could be the result. He (Gen. Tarleton) had never heard any charge whispered against General Moore. He had been sent to a campaign in which no man could be successful. He had acted like a brave, determined, and high-minded officer; and he bad sealed his character with his blood. Every thing that surrounded him was covered by distress, and there was nothing at any time to be expected from the enterprize in which he was engaged. As to the question before the House, he was decidedly of opinion that the House should not, in the pre

sent state of commercial distress, send two millions more to Portugal. He could demonstrate that the Portuguese soldiers could have been had for one-third less than that which was now paid them. He proceeded to shew that the Portuguese troops had never been of any actual service. They had never been what they ought to have been-a manœuvering army such as our local militia would have been with the same training. The present war, if to be carried on in the Peninsula, must be a warfare of finance; could never be attended with any advantage; and the fatal truth must at length be told, that we could not maintain ourselves in that country. The question was not now, how our army was to get away out of Portugal; but, when that should come to be done, he was afraid it would be found to be a difficult matter. Gentlemen opposite agreed that this country must go through the purgatory of invasion; but he was afraid if affairs went on in their present state, they must also encounter the purgatory of a revolution. He (General Tarleton) looked to the matter in a more manly way than those on the other side did. They viewed it in a dastardly point of view. He was for fighting with full numbers; gentlemen opposite seemed to wish to wait till the country had encountered every disaster, and till their means were diminished, and the spirits of their troops broken by defeats in other quarters. On these grounds he was against the grant.

The Resolution was then put, and agreed to without a division. The Report was ordered to be received to-morrow, and the Committee to sit again on Friday.

A message was received from the Lords, stating that they had agreed to the Mutiny Bill without any Amend

ment.

Also requesting a copy of the Second Report of the Committee on East-India Affairs. To this latter message an answer was returned, stating that the House would return an answer by a messenger of their own.

SUPPLY.

Mr. Lushington brought up the Report of the Committre of Supply of Friday. The Resolutions relative to the Navy Estimates were agreed to.

On the question of the grant of 1500l. to the Poor of the Parish of St. Martin's in the Fields,

Mr. Whitbread begged some explanation on the nature of this grant.

Mr. Wharton repeated what he had stated on a former night, that this sum was made up of a variety of grants, not to the Parish of St. Martin's alone, but also to the Parish of Ely, of St. James's, of St. Martin's in the West, and to several Schools and Hospitals. The grants were ancient. Some of them he had traced to Charles II. some to Henry VIII, and others he had been unable to trace. These did not strictly form part of the Poor's rate, but went in exoneration of it.

Mr. Perceval said, the grant in question had been transferred from the Civil List to Parliament, and as such had been ratified by them.

The other Resolutions were agreed to.

COMMERCIAL CREDIT.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer then moved the Order of the Day for the House going into a Committee on the Bill relating to Commercial Credit.

On the question being put for the Speaker's leaving the Chair,

Lord Folkestone rose, and stated several objections to the measure now proposed. The Committee on Commercial Credit was very different at present from those proposed in 1793. Then only four out of fifteen were commercial men ; but now, independent of the greater number of commercial men on the Committee, almost all the others were more or less connected with or dependent on the Minister. The evidence on which the Report was founded was also contradictory. The framers of the Report gave no opinion themselves; they merely adduced the opinion of commercial men; and it was no wonder that smarting under the present distresses, they should conceive relief necessary. He deprecated the idea of disposing of the public money on principles of humanity, however much they might influence private individuals. He confessed that all his knowledge of the subject was derived from the Report; but from that Report he could not help concluding, that the project of granting relief would be ultimately of greater detriment than if it had never been granted. One of the witnesses says, that there is a glut in South America, and that he had always seen a glut succeeded by a brisk market; but did he ever see a former period resembling the present, when all the

ports of Europe were, as it were, hermetically closed against this country? If a chance of their opening was relied on, that was so very small, that it was a bad ground. Another great market was closed against us, the market of North America, which there was no probability would be soon opened. The market of South America is not altoge ther new to us, for smuggling was formerly carried on to a great extent. But the evidence states, that the goods imported from South America remained in the market, and was one of the causes of the present distress; how then can trade be carried on with South America without importation?

Mr. Marryatt said, that he had formerly been of opinion that all relief by issue of Exchequer-bills was impracticable, and he had expressed that opinion at meetings of the Merchants of this City; but on a farther consideration of the subject, he had found reason to alter his opinion; and to conceive that the good resulting from the relief would far outweigh all the disadvantages to which it might give occasion. The noble Lord has over-stated the distress of the country; for all the markets are not at present locked up, and the home market is not diminished; but on account of the quantity of goods on hand, it becomes necessary to give the manufacturer some assistance to enable him to carry on the manufacture of goods for the British market. The market of Martinique and of Guadaloupe, for instance, was not overstocked; but merchants could not export goods there to any advantage, on account of the unproductive nature of the returns. But if North America adopts her NonIntercourse system, it will be necessary for us to adopt a different system also; for we receive at present from that country cotton, indigo, and tobacco, &c. which we should then draw from our own islands, instead of the unproduc tive returns which they at present afford. The relief, he said, would prevent the manufacturer from being obliged to make a vital sacrifice of forty or fifty per cent. on the goods in his possession, and thus enable him to produce for the home market. He agreed with the noble Lord in his observation about the Commissioners, that none of them should participate in the issue of Exchequer-bills, and that all the weight possible should be given to the commission from its being totally disinterested.

Sir John Newport said, that the market of South Ame rica, instead of increasing must diminish, from the convul

sions and agitations now prevailing in that country. The present Bill, instead of diminishing the evil, would ultimately augment it; for it would give rise to still greater speculations than the past. What was the House about to do? It was about to involve the country in deeper distress, and to visit the faults of those who have indulged in extravagant speculation on those who have not. It was better at once that the manufacturer should return to tilling the ground, than continue in so hopeless a pursuit.

The House then divided.

For going into the Committee
Against it

Majority

103

16

87

On the Gallery being opened, we found the Chancellor of the Exchequer explaining in the Committee the system of warehouses to be adopted. They were to be opened in both parts of the United Kingdom, both Great Britain and Ireland. He then proceeded to explain the nature of the terms of payment, which were to be 15 days later than the time at which the dividends should come in. He then proceeded to read over the names of the Commissioners, among whom we collected the following: the Lord Mayor, the Hon. W. Lambe, Sir James Shaw, Samson Perry, Esq. Mr. Thornton, Sir Charles Pole, Mr. Pole, Mr. Harris, Mr. Lygon, Mr. Bosanquet, Mr. I. M. Raikes, Mr. Halford, Mr. Smith, Mr. Harrison, Mr. Grant, and Mr. Curwen.

A long conversation then took place between the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Messrs. Tierney, Huskisson, W. Smith, Whitbread, and General Tarleton.

Mr. Tierney moved for the minutes of the evidence before the Committee, omitting the names of individuals. The Chancellor of the Exchequer objected to their prothiction, as likely to hurt individual feelings.

Motion negatived without a division.

The Report of the Committee was carried, brought up, and ordered for further consideration to-morrow, and to be printed.

The second reading of the Militia Inlistment Bill, after some opposition from Lords Milton and Folkestone, was carried.

The further consideration was then postponed to Thursday.