in cumstance of four or five out of 3900 chests the first relating to sir Home Popham, the of tea being delivered out of the ship at second to the treasury; casting blame Dungeness, whilst the captain had gone upon both, he did not see how these two on shore. He contended that by the loss points could be separated; he could not of 30,0001, sir Home Popham had suffer- see how the house could censure the aped sufficient punishment for the illegality plication of the money, without at the of the transaction. His whole property same time censuring the hon. captain : it the vessel amounted to 63,000 t. the go- might as well attempt to separate the hon. vernment would give him back but 25,0001. captain from himself, as from the misapapd had restored to him but 18 or 19,0001.; plication of which he was the cause. It so that he was a loser to the amount was contended, however, that this went to of 43,000.. Besides, it ought to be con- cast blame upon a great man now no more; sidered how far he had expiated, by no person could so think who had either subsequent services, this offence. The witnessed the progress of the transaction, India company, insensible of any injury, or heard the way in which it had been had not prosecuted him; and though the opened that evening. It had been distinctpublic might be interested in this question, ly stated, that on the motion of an hon. it appeared by the papers, that he had, on baronet concerning the Droits of Admithe relief of Tournay and Ghent, contri- ralty, an objection had been made to the buted to save much public property, as motion as not tending to instance any paralso to facilitate the retreat of the army. ticular abuse which had existed ; on which In consequence of these services he had the hon. member who opened this debate, been recommended by the commander in immediately instanced the case of sir H. chief for promotion, to lord Spencer, who Popham, and thus had the present motion had expressed his satisfaction at promot- originated. Now, surely, no person could ing an officer that had performed such ser- say that any disrespect was meant to the vice to this country. Looking to such late Mr. Pitt in this accidental occurrence. services, he was sure the house would not But even if it did cast any reflection on think of the voyage to the East Indies; that great man's memory, it was not on and therefore he had no hesitation to say, that account to be abstained from.- The that the grant was an act of justice on the question had been so ably and so fully part of his majesty. But it had been said, discussed by the hon. member who had that it was an act of injustice to capt. Ro- opened the debate, that there was little binson. That officer, however, had had left for him to remark upon: he wished the enemy's part of the property, con however to notice what had fallen from demned to the captors; but could have no the learned gent. who had last sat down, right whatever to that part of it, which, just to examine a few of his broad general from belonging to a British subject, was principles. He sat out by attempting to forfeited to the king. Besides, the seizure extenuate the abuse, which, however, he of this vessel was not what ought to be admitted was illegal. Indeed, it was no called a capture, and the act itself, in the very great concession, after it had been road of Ostend, had given rise to a ques- proved so by a decision of the court : the tion of territory which had not been de- question then was, what had ministers done cided for four years. The captors had with the public money? Had they distheir reward in the condemnation of M. posed of it venially? No ; they even adDe Piron's part of the legal property ; mitted it had been given to a culprit; but and it was the fault of capt. Robinson, if then, indeed, they wanted to diminish his he had not yet brought in a bill of costs offence, to bring him just a little below that could be allowed, if he had not re- the fact of smuggling, he had only innoceived them. On the whole, therefore, he cently landed five chests of tea-for chests thought the grant an act of justice to sir read boats—for boats to that number had' Home Popham, and that neither Mr. Pitt, been seen plying to and fro the whole nor his board of treasury, was deserving night. He did not, however, wish to deof censure for having advised his majesty scend to minutiæ; he would go at once to remit the forfeiture. on the broad principle of guilt, which was Mr. Windham said, before he went into the illegal traffic. Of this there was subthe general question, he would set aside stantial and tangible evidence--a deep, some of those abstract topics which had well-concerted, scheming, fraudulent sysbeen urged as a kind of stoppage to in- tem, such as never came more clearly bequiry: These topics were two in number; fore a court of justice ! It was not, how. ever, injurious to the country; at least the smuggling with 18,0001. and leave his hon. captain did not think it was. What! captor destitute, without even sufficient to was he, on his own self-sufficiency, to fly defray the sums which he expended in in the face of an existing charter, and bringing the culprit to conviction? The judge, forsooth, what was or was not ad- East India Company, it seems, though, did vantageous, contrary to the will and es. not prosecute, and for a very good reason; tablishment of the legislature ? Alas! we because they saw him supported by men know what his self-willed course can lead who had rendered them essential services, the nation to already ; we have fatally ex- not on account of sir Home's personal perienced a country plunged into unwished- merits—not because he chose to employ for war, by the whim and caprice of his his leisure hours in an illegal trade-not unrestrained and lawless direction. But on account of his ardent zeal, as it had one would think, on hearing the statement been called by his friends, in the pursuit which had been made to-night, that capt. of gain. And here, he must remark, that Robinson had been very well off to escape this was not a very noble alternative for a the sentence of a court-martial--for doing naval officer to turn to-this generous what?-merely his duty;—for catching the thirst of making money even in a mercansmuggler, as he had been ordered. Thus, tile, honourable way, was not looked on the man who did his duty was ruined, very kindly by the navy as a resource for while he who violated the law was enrich- its officers: much less, he was sure, would ed! But, says the advocate general, what it applaud downright and illicit smuggling. has poor sir Home done?-Oh dear, luck-1 -As to the reference which had been made less man, only a little innocent smuggling to Copenhagen, and the satisfaction his -only a little illicit traffic; that was all; appointment gave—to all which had been and indeed, well did it deserve remunera- said on that subject, the letters read by his tion, while the conduct of the man who hon. friend were as sufficient an overthrow acted conscientiously was stigmatized ! as the fire of a line of battle ship, would What, is that the way you deal with poor be to a cock boat. He deprecated the ofienders ? Is that the merciless rigour of dreadful effects which the naval character your tyrannical revenue laws ? Woe to must experience, from the impression the humble offender who comes under which must be made on it, by decking out their cognizance! Woe to the mercy which in laurels the degraded object of a court will betide defenceless poverty! What martial’s censure—by giving to sir Home was due to the hon. captain in this affair ? Popham a pension of 6001. per annum, Why, the most he could expect was mercy, while so many much more meritorous ofindulgence, forbearance. And were those ficers were left without distinction. He debts to be paid before the debt of justice denied that lord Spencer's letter expressed due to capt. Robinson? Are we to give any positive opinion of the hon. captain's the guilty indulgence, while we punish merit, but merely stated bis happiness the innocent. But it seems there is no that the duke of York had promoted so precedent. Is there therefore to be no able an officer as he (the duke of York), rule? The general plea of merit is then conceived sir Home to be. set up as a forlorn hope; and is this to be surely, no peremptory opinion of lord : set up against capt. Robinson? Because Spencer's, and it could not be expected there was no resistance made, is he to be that he was to fly in the duke of York's punished, when we certainly know that to face, and tell him he was wrong. The be the case as to him, which we as certainly right hon. gent concluded, by declaring know not to be the case as to sir Home that he should vote this grant to be a misapthat he was innocent ? It was, however, plication of the public money; because it unfair to take the subsequent exploits of was degrading to the navy, setting a bad sir Home, and place them as a set-off example to future treasuries, and giving against his antecedent guilt; and if we fraud the retribution due to merit. strip him of his subsequent honours, what The Chancellor of the Exchequer did not shall we leave him? Oh! his achievements feel it necessary to say much after the in Holland: these were of a mixed de- very able speeches of his right hon. and scription—naval, military, and commer- learned friends. He differed from the cial; and in the commercial he was quite right hon. gent. who had spoke last, as to at home, standing on his own ground, too, the propriety of separating the act of the near Ostend. Is it on account of these treasury from the consideration of the manquyres, we are to reward him for his merits of sir Home Popham, although he This was, would admit, that there was a connection between both so far as the board of treasury had cognizance of the circumstances. But, was it possible by any torture of ingenuity, to apply to the conduct of the treasury what the right hon. gent. had said respecting Buenos Ayres? The right hon. gent. might introduce such an extraneous topic, but was it not for the purpose of exciting a prejudice against an individual, whose credit, honour, and character, were at issue? Was this justice, or was it candour? Though the hon. gent. who had brought forward this question, had declared, that he was actuated by a sense of duty in promoting an inquiry into the expenditure of the public money, and was reluctantly constrained to advert to the conduct of an individual, yet ninetenths of his speech had been taken up with a personal attack upon that hon. officer. He would now suppose, for the sake of the argument, what he should afterwards deny in fact, that the hon. officer had been convicted of the illicit trade; and that the delivery of five or six chests of tea at Dungeness, 14 years ago, could be considered as an act of smuggling: was that a circumstance that could apply to a charge upon the government of Mr. Pitt? Or if a dilatory plea had been entered in the progress of an action upon the respondentia bond, was the house to feel so scrupulous, on the score of morality, as to take notice of it? Would it be considered criminal enough to attract the notice of that house, if a man were to turn round a corner of a street to avoid meeting a creditor? Were they to be called upon to expel from among them a person who might, so long as 14 years since, have been concerned in a smuggling transaction? However highly he valued the feelings which the right hon. gent. had alluded to, he could not agree that, in a time of peace, when the lieutenants of the navy had only a naked subsistence upon half-pay, any of them who might enter into the merchant service should be consigned to dishonour. It was injustice to sir Home to introduce these topics, when the charge was brought against the government: and they could not proceed to a censure upon an individual without following it up by some vindictive consequence. The substance of the charge was against the conduct of the late treasury, though there were many weighty phrases affecting the hon. officer, which the house could not agree to, unless coupled with some substantive charge i against him. In the year 1795 the right honourable gent. did not think so lightly as he appeared at present to do of the services of the gallant officer in securing the retreat of the army; neither had the noble lord whose letter had been alluded to, and who had not forgotten those services so soon as the right hon. gent. It was not his intention to speak of capt. Robinson but with respect, yet the right hon. gent. seemed to exaggerate his services. The right hon. gent. had said, that that captain had been sent out with orders to detain the Etrusco. Had the right hon. gent. really read the papers upon which he was to decide as a judge? Could he say that any statement of such orders was to be found in these papers? [It was here said across the table, that the fact might be true though not in the papers.] Had, then, the right hon. gent. not only decided himself, but endeavoured to make the house decide upon a statement, which he did not know to be correct? Had he proceeded upon these grounds against an individual whose honour and character were at issue, and upon which he was to pronounce as judge? What had been done in this case, was every day done ; and even, as his learned friend near him informed him, had taken place by a remission of forfeitures in nine different causes that day in the court of exchequer.-After stating the proportion condemned to capt. Robinson, and restored to sir Home Popham, the chancellor of the exchequer contended, that there never had been a case in which money was more properly assigned. If any gentleman could place his hand on his heart, and say, that he believed the government had acted from corrupt motives, he would vote for the censure. But he deprecated the general charge made by the right hon. gent. of the various instances of misapplication of these funds, as calculated to produce the most injurious consequences. After a few observations on the nature and circumstances of the traffic which had been charged as illicit, the right hon. gent. concluded by expressing his confidence, that the house would meet the Resolutions by a direct negative. Mr. Whitbread said, that the ground on which the misapplication of 18,000l. was defended was, that large sums of money had been voted for other purposes; but extravagance in one respect was no vindication of prodigality in another. It was complained that the affair at Copenhagen was introduced as a sort of episode to HOUSE OF COMMONS. these charges; and yet so fond was the Wednesday, June 1. gallant officer of taking a voyage thither, [BUDGET-Loan.] The house having that before he proceeded to the East Indies resolved itself into a committee of Ways in his narrative, he paid a visit to that and Means, capital. The plain truth of the case was, The Chancellor of the Erchequer said, that that the gallant officer was not a proper before he stated the terms upon which he object of the public generosity, and in had contracted for the Loan for the service the chastest sense of the term corrupt, this of the present year, he should shortly re. money distributed to him was imprudently, capitulate the different heads of Supply and improperly, and corruptly applied; and in of Ways and Means, viz. fact he was in the situation of a guilty SUPPLIES. £. person by his own confession. He said, Navy 17,496,047 that by distress he was driven into Bom- | Army · 19,439,189 bay; that there meeting with other traders Ordnance 4,534,571 engaging in illicit coinmerce under the Miscellaneous 1,750,000 same flag, he followed their example. East India Company 1,500,000 Supposing a man were forced into Houns- Swedish Subsidy 1,100,000 low by a storm, and he were there to meet Vote of Credit 2,500,000 with some highwaymen who had taken shelter, would it be any justification for Total joint Charge - £.48,319,807 him at his trial that he had followed their SEPARATE CHARGES OF GREAT BRITAIN. example? Yet, such was the vindication Deficiency of Malt, hazarded by the gallant other. This was 1806 • 275,845 not the only curious proposition with which Interest on Exchethe house was amused. The gallant gen- quer Bills, 1808 1,400,000 tleman said that while he was a British Exchequer Bills not officer he was all honour, when he was a funded 4,024,200 mercantile adventurer he was all interest. Five percents, 1797, Such was his ingenious distinction, and yet to be paid off- 153,696 while he was thus engaged in mercenary 5,853,741 pursuits, he asserted that he was a loser of 40,000l. It might be a question, if the hon. Total Supplies - 54,173,548 gent.were worth 40,0001. at the period to Deduct Irish proportion of Supwhich he adverted. What had been his ply and Civil List 5,868,515 situation in 1792? He had leave of ab- Total to be defrayed by Great sence for two years, but not returning, he Britain £.48,305,033 was struck off the list. Afterwards he WAYS AND MEANS. was restored to it, and introduced to a Duty on Malt and Pensions £. 3,000,000 command which he held, he believed, con- Bank Advances 3,500,000 trary to the sense and inclination of the Unappropriated Surplus of the navy. Then he was tried; after his trial, Consolid. Fund at 5th April 726,876 he enjoyed a new and lucrative appoint- Estimated Surplus of ditto, to ment, and now he had the honour of hay- 5th April, 1809 3,500,000 ing the King's Advocate for his own. Surplus, Ways & Means, 1807 2,253,111 Besides all this, he had been complimented War Taxes 20,000,000 in the East Indies, welcomed at Lloyd's, Lottery 300,000 distinguished by a foreign potentate, and Exchequer Bills to be issued had received a most flattering eulogy from to replace Bills not funded 4,500,000 his royal highness the duke of York. Not- Do. for the East India Company 1,500,000 withstanding all this weight and accumu- Exchequer Bills, lation of honours, he must persevere in 10,500,0001. charged on the opinion, that the public money had Aids 1809, to replace the been misapplied, and that these resolu- like Amount on Aids 1808, tions ought to receive the sanction of the which has been funded - 1,161,100 house. Loan 8,000,000 After a short reply from Mr. Lushington, the house divided, £. 48,441,081 For the Resolutions 57 Supplies - £. 43,305,033 Against them. 126 Majority -69 Surplus of Ways and Means £. 136,048 part of а After thus recapitulating the various his statement with moving a Resolution, heads of Supply and of the Ways and That it is the opinion of the committee, Means for the year, the Chancellor of the that towards providing the Ways and Exchequer proceeded to state to the com- Means for the year, it is expedient to enamittee the terms on which he had con- ble his majesty to raise eight millions by tracted for the Loan. The sum borrowed way of annuities for Great Britain, and for England and Ireland was ten millions two millions and a half for Ireland. and a half, of which eight were for the Mr. Tierney said, he observed, that service of this country. The whole sum there was one million of the loan for Irewas to be funded in the 4 per cents, and land still to be provided for : 1,500,0001. the contractors for every 100l. advanced was to be by loan from the Bank ; but, to the public were to receive 1181. 3$. 6d. he hoped the other million was not to be stock: so that the public paid for every raised by exchequer bills, in which case 1001. capital, 41. 148. 61d. interest. In there would be an issue, on that head, all consequence of the loan of ten million and together of six millions more than the ora halt, there was a capital of debt created | dinary grant. As to the loan, he congrato the amount of 12,408,375l. from which, tulated the right hon. gent. on the terms after deducting a proportion of 2-17ths on which it had been contracted ; he was for Ireland, making 2,954,375l. there far from having expected any such : cer. would remain, as a permanent burden tainly, the terms were as good for the upon Great Britain, 9,454,0001. and an country as the public could have exannual charge for interest of 475,5361. pected. He could by no means agree, In addition to this, in consequence of the however, that this advantageous bargain measure of funding four millions of exche was to be attributed to the circumstance quer bills, there was a capital debt created of its having been made in the four of 4,239,215l. and an annual charge for rather than the three per cents. Previous interest, including the sinking fund and to the bidding, the four per cents. management, of 253,2471. Šo that the had stood at 84, odd; and, in contemsum to be provided for by taxes was : plation of it, fell to 827. He was, thereFor the Interest of the Loan - £.475,536 fore, entitled to ask, would not the contracFor the Interest of Exchequer tors for the loan have been disposed to Bills funded 253,247 make an equally good bidding in the three per cents. ! Would they not be wilMaking a total of 728,783 ling to contract in a stock they wished, For this Annual Charge he meant to rather than in one they did not wish to provide in the following manner : bid for ? Nearly about the same sum Short Annuities fallen in '- £.375,000 would redeem the stock in the one fund as Annual Saving on the Manage in the other. The right hon. gent. howment of the Debt 65,000 ever, said there was a great saving, from Increase upon the Assessed Taxes 120,000 his mode of contracting for the loan. There Stamp Duties 170,000 was so, as the right hon. gent. conceived it, but not as he (Mr. T.) viewed the ques £.730,000 tion. There was, undoubtedly, a saving The Chancellor of the Exchequer next as to the one per cent. if the loan had proceeded to state the effect which had been been negotiated in the three per cents. ; produced by the financial measures adopted but, if this measure had been adopted, to in the course of the year, and contended, answer the one per cent. there would have that from funding four millions of exche- been a saving of 30,0001. per ann. As the quer bills, when stocks were at 63, and bargain was, however, he again congratuby borrowing ten million and a half in lated the right hon. gent. on the terms on the four instead of the three per cents, which it had been contracted ; and he there had resulted a saving to the public congratulated the country on the pleasing of four millions of capital debt; and that consideration that there were men in it by the single measure of contracting for disposed to shew such confidence in the the loan in the four per cents. there was country as to conclude a loan on such a saving of 3,100,0001. capital debt; and terms. also a saving in the annual charge, of Mr. Huskisson alluded to the terms on 20001. ; besides the advantage of being which the two funds might be redeemed; able to redeem the debt at comparatively and argued, that the bidding in the four à very inconsiderable loss, He concluded per cents. was, from that single circum |