plies which had been voted for the service of the present year, and then in succession the correspondent ways and means which had been provided to defray those supplies. And having se done, he said there was one circumstance arising out of the present state of the continent, which he felt it his duty to communicate to the house. Under the existing circumstances of the continent, it was not at the present moment thought desirable, that any definite arrangement should be entered into, which should give rise to any expectation that his majesty would furnish his allies with any very considerable pecuniary assistance. However anxous his majesty's government may be to assist them in the struggle in which they were engaged, it was not their intention to hold out to those allies any expectation of pecuniary aid, during the present year, to a greater amount than would be covered by the vote of credit proposed. He had also to state, that, though no treaty had been entered into with the Austrian government previous to the war, nor any engagement made with that power, yet an expectation did exist on the part of that power, as to what this country would do in the event of a war taking place. In consequence of this impression, without having had any communication with his majesty's government, the Austrian government, on the commencement of the war, had drawn bills upon this country,

which bills it had not been deemed right to pay, until the circumstance should be mentioned to parliament. When the bills arrived, he would confess, that it was the intention of his majesty's ministers, to advise his majesty to recommend to par liament to enable him to pay them. If it should meet with the concurrence of the house, it was proposed to pay the bills out of the vote of credit. (What is the amount of these bills? was asked across the table by lord H. Petty). It was not easy to ascertain yet; they might perhaps amount to three hundred thousand pounds. But before any appropriation would be made for the payment of these bills, it was considered absolutely necessary to procure the consent and sanction of parliament. This subject was not at that moment open for any discussion nor could it properly until some specific vote should be proposed upon the subject. The occasion, however, of stating to the committee the ways and means of the year, appeared to him to afford the most appropriate opportunity of communicating this circumstance to the house, which upon every ground ought not to be kept back from parliament, without whose concurrence no money could be appropriated to the casc. Having gone through all he had to state, he concluded with moving a resolution for agreeing to the terms of the contract for the loan; which after some discussion was agreed to.

CHAPTER

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TOUSE of Lords, Monday, May 15.-Lord Erskine moved the order of the day for the second reading of the bill which he had before submitted to the house, to prevent wanton and malicious cruelty to animals. As the law at present stood, his lordship said that this species of cruelty was undoubtedly punishable; but the cases in which it chiefly camé under the cognizance of the courts were where the parties were considered rather as injuring the property of their masters, or other persons, than as being guilty of a violation of those duties which we owe to the lower creation. He wished to restrain a description of beings, who knew little more of the laws of their country than that they afforded them too much facility for ill-treating the animals under their care. His object was to prevent such men, when reprimanded for their conduct, from retorting with bitter curses, and asking whether the animal belonged to their reprover?

His lordship distinguished between the dominion which man might justly exercise over the lower orders of the creation, for 1809.

his sustenance and convenience, and the duty, though one of imperfect obligation, which he lay under, of not abusing that power so as to put the animals under his protection to unnecessary pain. The preamble of the bill asserted this principle to the furthest extent that morality and religion could carry it; because he looked to a degree of efficacy from the solemnity of that sanction, beyond what he could reasonably expect from the enactments of the bill.

The lord chancellor approved of the principle of the bill, but thought the application of it attended with some difficulty. That, however, was a matter of consideration for a committee, and in that stage of the proceeding he would give the measure every possible attention.

The bill, read a second time, afterwards passed the house of lords, but was thrown out in the commons.

May 18. Mr. Ward in the house of commons rose to move for a

monument to the memory of capt. Hardinge; and in recounting the actions of his short but brilliant career, he said the first signal ad

ac

tion

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tion which challenged for him the notice of his country was the siege of Acre, where he had the honour to commence his eminent services under the gallant sir Sidney Smith. The ship on board of which he acted as lieutenant was blown up; his captain and the greater part of the officers and crew killed. He next commanded a gun-boat on the coast of Egypt, and signalized himself so eminently as to obtain the praise and admiration of his commanding officer, and was honoured by a gold medal. He was afterwards promoted to the command of the Terror bomb, in which he eminently signalized himself by the bombardment of Granville, on the coast of France, in which service most of his crew were killed, and the vessel shattered, that she became unfit for service. Captain Hardinge's conduct on this occasion was such as to obtain the highest commendation in the official dispatches of sir James Saumarez. He was next transferred to the command of the Scorpion sloop, in which, amongst a variety of eminent services, he performed another achievement, which proved him, though a boy in years, a veteran ́in valour. It was the cutting out of the Atalanta brig, on the coast of Holland, where he had to sus tain the attack of that and another brig, each of much superior force to the vessel he commanded; notwithstanding which, after long maintaining an unequal conflict, he made one of them his prize. The gallantry of this conquest was greatly enhanced by the circumstance of the attack having been made in boats, a service of peculiar risk and danger, and for which none but British seamen were fit. Of these he had but 60, while the

enemy's ship he captured was manned with 260. In this enterprise he was accompanied by the gallant captain Parry, to whose valour captain Hardinge, in his dispatch, paid the highest encomium; though, in the spirit of true bravery, he was perfectly silent as to himself. He paid also the highest encomium to the valour and intrepidity of the Dutch captain, who was killed in the action; and never afterwards did he speak of this circumstance but with tears. The last service in which this gallant officer was engaged was with the St. Fiorenzo, under sir Edward Pellew, in the Indian seas, where the enemy had a number of peculiarly stout frigates more numerous in guns and heavier in metal than usual, in which they committed the greatest depreda tions on our trade, and awaited our homeward-bound ships. Here it was the fortune of the gallant captain Hardinge, in his frigate St. Fiorenzo, of only 38 guns and 150 men, to fall in with the French frigate la Piedmontese, of 50 guns, manned with 366 men, French and Lascars; and after three successive long and bloody engagements, fought on three successive days, he gloriously fell on the third day almost in the moment of victory; for the action was nobly maintained under lieutenant Dawson, his second in command, the enemy's frigate captured, and brought to a British port. The honourable member then read several extracts from the dispatches of sir Edward Pellew, lord St. Vincent, admiral Tyler, sir James Saumarez, and other admirals, and general Maitland at Ceylon, bearing the highest testimony to the character, and honour of captain Hardinge, and

stated

stated that at Bombaya subscription of 30007 was raised under the an-, spices of sir James Mackintosh, to erect to him a monument; which he trusted would operate as a stimulus to the generosity and gratitude of his country. The honourable member then observed, he was aware there might he some difference of opinion as to the propriety of voting a monument to captain Hardinge for a victory in itself not of that great national consequence for which monuments are usually voted. He trusted, however, that the victory was of such a nature-the instance of valour and intrepidity so extraordinary, as to draw a peculiar line of distinction on captain Hardinge's case. He concluded by moving an address to his majesty, praying that he would be graciously pleased to give directions that a monument be erected to the memory of aptain Nicholas Hardinge, for his eminent services to his country, during his short but gallant life, but particularly in the Indian seas, in March 1808, where he fell gloriously, after three successive actions with a French frigate of superior force, La Piedmontese, which was taken from the enerny; and that this house will make good

the same.

Mr. Windham felt himself under the necessity, however reluctantly, of opposing this motion; because, if once the principle were to grow into practice of voting a monument to every officer whose valour might lead to a loss of his life in actions with single ships or frigates, not only would the claims upon the country become innumerable (such was the prominent valour of our naval officers), but the thing from its frequency would cease to be, what it now is, an honourable di

stinction, the very rarity of which constituted its chief value. This was not the kind of case in which the country had been accustomed to vote monuments; it was not that great and signal victory of vast national importance, by which the gratitude and enthusiasm of the country were wound up to such a pitch, as in fact to run before the house in the wish of distinguishing the memory of the deceased.

Several other gentlemen spoke, and the vote for the monument was carried nem. con.

May 25. Mr. secretary Canning delivered to the house the following message from his majesty :—

"GEORGE R.-The king thinks it proper to acquaint the house of commons, that the ancient relations of good understanding and friendship between his majesty and the emperor of Austria have been happily restored, and have been confirmed by a treaty, of which, when the ratification shall have been exchanged, his majesty will direct a copy to be communicated to, the house of commons.

"Although the provisions of this treaty do not include any stipulation for pecuniary assistance, his majesty is, nevertheless, desirous of being able to afford to his imperial majesty such assistance of that description as may be called for by the circumstances of the contest in which his majesty is engaged against the common enemy, and as can be furnished by his majesty, consistently with the other extended demands upon the resources of his majesty's dominions.

"His majesty is equally desi rous of continuing to the Spanish cause such succours as may be requisite for sustaining and assisting the efforts of that nation, against the tyranny and usurpation of

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France,

France, as well as of giving consistency and effect to the exertions of the people of Portugal, for the defence of their lawful government and national independence.

"His majesty relies upon the zeal and public spirit of his faithful commons, to enable his majesty to provide for these great objects, and to take such other measures as the exigency of affairs may require.

"G. R." The chancellor of the exchequer moved, that his majesty's message be referred to the committee of supply to morrow; which it was, and a vote of credit granted.

May 26.-Sir Samuel Romilly rose to revive a motion he had nace in the last session, for a reen of the number of persons who 1. committed to the various hroughout the united kingr a certain number of years, er to be tried for capital and ortable offences, specifying as were convicted, such as unwent the sentence of the law, d such as were pardoned, or their unishments commuted for others or lesser severity; and his object in this motion was to submit for the consideration and adoption of the legislature, but not before the next session, a measure for miti gating the severity of the criminal laws, and better securing the certamty of punishment for actual guilt. As to the return necessary, he should go back to the year 1802. What he wished chiefly to know was, the number of persons who were convicted of capital and transportable offences, distinguishing those who had suffered the sentence of the law; but he found great difficulty in obtaining any correct information on the subject at the office of the secretary of state. It appeared there, that from 1802 to

1808 the number of males committed for stealing in dwelling-houses was 499, and the number of females 414; and out of the number of 913, it did not appear that more than one was executed; but there were no means of ascertaining how many of the remainder were convicted, or how they were disposed of. With a view, therefore, to distinguish what was the practice compared with the law, he should move for a return of the number of persons committed for trial in the several counties for the years 1805, 1806, 1807, and 1808, distinguishing the crimes for which committed, the number convicted, the cause of punishment, the number discharged by proclamation, and the number executed. The next return wanted was the whole number sentenced to transportation to New South Wales, with the several periods of their transportations from the time of its first establishment. There was another point on this head most material for consideration; namely, the time usually allowed to elapse after sentence, before those persons are sent out of the country, a time often exceeding the period limited by their sentence, and during which they were generally imprisoned on board the hulks. It would therefore be necessary to move for the dates of the several convictions, the numbers who died on board the hulks, and the dates of departure for New South Wales. He thought the long continuance on board the hulks a mischievous prac tice, and that this should not be any longer permitted. He concluded by moving for the returns already stated. The motions were generally agreed to.

June 1. The chancellor of the exchequer rose to move the order

of