a former occasion. He was always ready to retract anything spoken wrongfully or unadvisedly; but he congratulated himself that he preserved consistency in his declarations; he was not in the habit of retracting, like gentlemen opposite to him; nor did he find the necessity of so doing. Some gentlemen had, indeed, retracted their former principles and opinions. Whether it were from avarice or ambition, he could not tell; but these gentlemen were in the habit of striking a balance between their interest and their professions; they were accustomed, therefore, in accommodating as well as retracting. It was from a speech of his, the printed copy of which he saw in the hands of gentlemen at the other side, that all the clamour had arisen of aspersions cast on the purity and integrity of the minister. He had certainly intimated that some rouleaus of this immense profit had found their way into that house. The fact was certain. It had been admitted by the lord mayor, who had obligingly corrected him as to the amount of his share. He had erroneously stated it at two millions. It was, by the receiver's declaration, £2,800,000. There was no possibility of doubt but that some of this oil of influence had been sent to grease that squeaking wheel in the city, called the mercantile interest! Every method had been taken to draw the attention of the house, in this instance, from the main question. No corruption had been suggested by Mr. Smith. The right hon. chancellor of the exchequer had come with a boast of honourable acquittal by the committee, and had said that gentlemen at his side of the house attended it; it was true they had so. His hon. friend (Mr. Grey) and himself had gone there; for his part he never went after the first day, nor did the report contain his sentiments. The gentlemen at his side of the house wanted a committee of the whole house, in order that the witnesses might be examined before the world, or else a select committee, composed of equal numbers from each side of the house. Either of these would have been a fair mode of proceeding, and have shown a disposition to impartial investigation; but in the committee which pondered on that mighty loan, the opposition had not the honour of sitting as active citizens. A committee was appointed, in which the accused parties became the judges of their principal. The first lord of the treasury was tried by his secretary, and the chancellor of the exchequer by a half-pay master ! He was in a worse state even than an acquitted felon. He was

tried by a band of placemen, and had been acquitted only by his accomplices! The right hon. gentleman, in granting the committee, seemed to be wounded in pride and spirit. The attempt to institute an inquiry was a tax upon his purity; suspicion touched him in the pinching part, and he reluctantly complied. If the right hon. gentleman would recollect that, in the year 1783, he wanted an inquiry into the circumstances of the loan made by Lord John Cavendish, for winning the expenses of the American war, delicacy would not, perhaps, be so much offended at the inquiry now made; particularly, if he considered how much worse the present loan was for the public in its terms, and in the manner of its negotiation. The circumstance of the Hamburgh bills was degrading to the dignity of a great nation; it proved that the government was reduced to their last shift; it was a matter of despicable accommodation, which shrunk from the light. The bills were illegal-they were intrinsically worth nothing-for they were drawn by nobody, and constituted a bankruptcy against the government which issued them. How strange that the right hon. gentleman should support his domineering pretensions in the war against France, by arguments drawn from the ruin of the enemy's finances; they being, as he expressed it, in the gulf of national bankruptcy, when he himself was caught revelling in its vortex. Mr. Sheridan concluded by declaring, that he would vote for the resolutions of his hon. friend.

The house divided on the amendment-ayes 171; noes 23. All the other resolutions of Mr. Smith were negatived by the previous question, without a division.

MARCH 16.

LONDON WET DOCK BILL.

Mr. Manwaring moved," That the bill be now read a second time." Alderman Lushington moved an amendment, "That this day four months do stand in the place of the word now.'" The lord mayor seconded the amendment.

MR. SHERIDAN agreed with the worthy magistrates in almost everything they had said. It was incumbent upon the house to hear counsel for the parties who petitioned against the bill; and time at least should be granted for this purpose. He saw no reason to doubt the sincerity of the city in wishing to bring forward a plan. The example of the conduct of the city on a former occasion the hon. gentleman had brought forward, upon the prin

ciple laid down in a celebrated pamphlet of late, that of visiting the sins of the ancestors upon their posterity; and it was only on this view that the corporation of London could be implicated in the folly of their predecessors. It might be argued, that any plan of this nature would injure the city of London; as West India merchants might assert that the abolition of the slave trade would ruin the trade with the colonies; and as it had been argued some years ago, that the commerce of this country would suffer by giving a free trade to Ireland,-a prediction falsified by the event; but arguments of this kind went for little or nothing with him. If the object could be effected with the consent of the city, he was convinced that merchants would not refuse the accommodation on these terms. It was said that 10 per cent, was not too high! Indeed, the hon. gentleman might not consider it a very great profit when 10 per cent. was gained upon a loan. The losses through plundering surely must be very considerable, when a new word was made from the frequency of the fact; and surely this was not a loss that the wet-docks were calculated to remedy. But the great question, since it was agreed that some plan was necessary, was, whether the purpose might not be as well answered by the city plan? There was something at first view very unfavourable in this bill though professing to be a private bill, it permitted very considerable sums to be levied from all British ships, although the accommodation would be confined chiefly to the West India merchants. That 1700 houses should be pulled down, and 10,000 persons forced to seek new habitations, was such desolation at the commencement of a plan of improvement as did not bespeak much favour. The ultimate effect certainly would be to diminish the value of houses all over the city of London, and in time to attract the Exchange, the Custom-house, &c. to the place where the docks were to be made. He should have wished that a month or six weeks, or such a period, had been proposed for the delay of the bill, that time might be allowed, as well to hear counsel of parties interested, as to bring forward any other plans that might be in agitation.

Mr. Pitt moved, that instead of the words "this day four months," be inserted the words, Wednesday, the 11th of April next." This was agreed to.

MARCH 20.

MAROON WAR IN JAMAICA.

General Macleod moved, "That an humble address be presented to his Majesty, that he may be pleased to order, that there be laid before this house a copy of all the correspondence of which government is in possession, relative to the mode of carrying on war against the Maroons in Jamaica."

MR. SHERIDAN did not think it necessary to trouble the house long on the present question, after what had fallen from the hon. secretary (Mr. Dundas). It gave him the greatest satisfaction to hear that government had ordered an inquiry to be made into this transaction immediately after the report of it came to their knowledge. But he had heard with much concern what fell from an hon. gentleman near him (Mr. Barham), because it carried with it the idea of extirpating a whole race of people. This he could not sufficiently reprobate; and surely the savage means used to overcome those unfortunate men were not necessary, when their number was stated so low as four or five hundred. It was surprising, that without the abominable aid of bloodhounds, the whole force of Jamaica could not succeed in subduing those unfortunate Maroons, who, by oppression, the breach of treaty on the part of the English, and in vindication of their rights, had been driven to take up arms. So far, by the blessing of God, the resistance of a minority, acting on just principles, in one quarter of the globe, was at least formidable. The hon. gentleman who spoke last asserts, that they were not to be treated as Maroons but as rebels. Now it seems that the resistance of an independent nation, with whom this country signed a solemn treaty, which it afterwards violated, was to be considered as a state of rebellion. But there was no ground which could justify the use of blood-hounds; and it was unnecessary for him to state, what the house well knew, that it was not only just, but politic, to abate as much as possible the rigours and horrors of war. The present objects of the war in Jamaica, seemed to be the extirpation of this unhappy people, or to drive them by cruelty to nourish such a resentment of their wrongs, as to render them incapable in future of observing amity or good-will towards their enemy. The hon. gentleman opposite to him seemed to consider it as of little importance, whether the war was just on our part or not. He was of a contrary opinion. The idea of extermination, always horrid and unjust, was certainly much aggravated, if it

turned out that these people were at war with us merely because they had been injured. The Maroons were, in fact, an independent people. They were a useful race, and even, in a commercial view, were of considerable advantage to the country. The hon. gentleman had mentioned the origin of the war, but he had not stated all the circumstances. It originated in a Maroon stealing a pig; but his punishment was a violation of a treaty which subsisted between the British settlers and the people. He was whipped. The man returned with his stripes on his back to his nation. It was an article of the treaty that no Maroon should be punished by the government of Jamaica; but if he committed a crime that he should be given up to his own nation for punishment. In the present case, this article was evidently infringed. Redress was demanded by the Maroons, and as no redress was given, war followed. For the honour of the national character it was necessary that an inquiry should be instituted. If the Maroons were injured, a war of extermination could not be contemplated without the utmost horror. He hoped, however, that something would be done to bring back this people to that state of harmony and good-will which had been found so necessary for the peace, and, in some degree, to the prosperity of the island.

The motion was withdrawn.

APRIL 13.

PAPERS RELATIVE TO THE WEST-INDIA EXPEDITION.

MR. SHERIDAN said, that he had come down on purpose to move for certain papers relative to the West India expedition. He was encouraged to think that they would not be refused, when he recollected the desire which had been expressed, at a former period, for a full and impartial inquiry into the subject. If the prospect of peace had been nearer than at present it appeared to be, it might be said that such an inquiry would be instituted with greater propriety after the re-establishment of tranquillity; but in the prospect of continuing in the same calamitous course in which we had hitherto proceeded, and under the same weak and blundering councils by which we have been guided, an inquiry into past errors became more necessary than ever. was surprised to find, since he came to the house, that the king's ministers had any objection to the production of these papers. He should, however, now move that they be laid before the house;

He