sor of the laws and regulations of British In dia. The Governor General in Council has ratified the treaty for establishing the Nabob Azem Ul Dowlah Bahador in the dignity of Nabob of the Carnatic, and for vesting the exclusive administration of the government of the Carnatic in the Honourable East India Company. The East India ships, Tay, Porcher, and Highland Chief, have all been captured by the Bellona French privateer, which sailed from Bourdeaux, after the preliminaries were sign ed, trusting to the chance of reaching India before the period admitting captures had expired. STATES OF BARBARY. The Emperor of Morocco has declared war against the United States. A notice to this effect has been officially given by Mr. Erving, the American Consul, resident in London, to the commanders of American vessels. The Algerine pirates have of late committed such depredations upon the commerce of different countries in the Mediterranean, that France threatens to chastise them. It is confidently stated that an expedition is now actually fitting out in the French ports in the Mediterranean, in order to be employed against the Barbary States, where France is said to be meditating schemes of conquest and dominion. AMERICA. An extensive conspiracy of the Blacks is said to have been discovered in the Southern Provinces, and a number of them to have been seized, and several of them hanged in consequence. It would appear, however, from other accounts, that a very groundless fear of insurrection had been, in the first instance, excited among the Whites, and that the violent and illegal steps taken by them in conse quence, and the measures of injustice and oppression which were pursued, tended to make the Blacks desperate, and to drive them into rebellion, as the least evil. General Bowles, the famous Creek Chief, who after having been unjustly detained prisoner by the Spaniards for some years, in 1798 effected his escape and returned to his own country, is said to have commenced hos. tilities against the Spaniards, and to have taken two of their vessels richly laden. WEST INDIES. ST. DOMINGO. Nothing has as yet transpired with respect to the fate of Toussaint; and it is probable that, marked as the conduct of the French towards him has been with breach of faith, no unnecessary publicity will be given to the measures which it may be thought proper to pursue. An attempt has been made, in the despatch of the commander in chief, to fasten on Toussaint the guilt of insurrection, of which an annexed letter, addressed by the ex-chief to one of his adherents, is confidently given as a proof. In this document, however, allowing it to be genuine, we can discover no proofs of the alleged conspiracy. On the contrary, the general complexion of Leclerc's procedure leaves little room to doubt that his great object has been to rid himself of Toussaint, per fas atque per nefas. A constitution, it seems, has been given by General Leclerc to St. Domingo; a fundamental article of which is said to be the political equality of whites, blacks, and people of colour. If this account be accurate, it must necessarily create great consternation among the planters, whose violent remonstrances are not unlikely to lead to some sudden alterations, which, agitating, as on former occa sions, the hopes and fears of the Blacks, may again lead the way to general insurrection. In the mean time the island is far from being tranquil. It is infested by numerous small parties of insurgent Blacks, who plunder the plantations, and on the appearance of a force superior to their own, retreat into the mountains. The fever still continues its ravages, and great numbers of the French soldiers are said to have fallen victims to it. The concordat has been published at St. Domingo. GUADALOUPE. The affairs of this island, as well as those of St. Domingo, are involved in considerable obscurity, nor is it easy to ascertain what degree of credit is due to the representations which are given of them by Richepanse. The plan of policy pursued in Guadaloupe, as in St. Domingo, seems to be to secure the French power, by removing all who, by their influence or abilities, might be dangerous, in case the negroes should resist the imposition of the ancient yoke. A great part of the officers of colour have accordingly been sent to France, without even the pretence of a crime, while all of those engaged in the revolt who did not escape, have been put to death. The Blacks have not, as in St. Domingo, been received into the ranks on their submission, and allowed to form part of the colonial army, but have been excluded from the military profession. The individuals who composed the government of the island, at Richepanse's arrival, have been ordered to repair to France, in order to be at the disposal of the First Consul. It would appear from the letters of Richepanse, that tranquillity had by no means been restored to the island. A great part of the plantations seem to have been laid completely waste by the Blacks, whom the French troops were employed in "pursuing and exterminating." Fifteen thousand are said to have returned to the plantations, where, the commander in chief adds, "they shall be compelled to remain by a just and severe discipline." In contemplating the fate of these poor wretches, it ought to be remembered, that the greatest share of blame for these atrocities attaches to the mother country, and not to the negroes. Liberty was first granted to them by the revolutionary government of France, without any previous assumption of it on their parts. This boon they received with grati tude, and exercised with moderation. They continued faithfully to fight the battles of France, under all the changes of government, defying every hostile attempt of Great Britain against their island: and thankful for their emancipation from the compelling power of cart-whip, they cheerfully submitted to those regulations, whereby industry was enforced; and steady and regular, yet reasonable labour was exacted in return for a moderate daily hire. No sooner, however, had peace been concluded with Great Britain, than measures were taken for revoking the liberty which had been granted to the Blacks, and reducing them to their former state of bondage. The event might have been foreseen. Lacrosse, the governor, was speedily driven from the island, and the Blacks took possession of the government, but without bloodshed. Their attachment to France, notwithstanding this circumstance, did not appear to have diminished; nor was there any indication of resistance to the army of Richepanse, until the ambiguous nature of his first proclamation had justly excited a suspicion of the fairness of his intentions He no sooner perceived the effect which had been produced, than he issued a second proclamation, wherein he endeavoured to calm the minds of the negroes, and to remove their jealousy of his designs, by promising them the unmolested enjoyment of their rights and liberties. This well timed but in sidious measure, caused a considerable defec. tion from the force of the insurgents, and facilitated the subjugation of the Colony; and having answered this valuable purpose, it will probably be no longer remembered than may prove convenient to the purposes of Richepanse. Considering, therefore, that the French have themselves been the instigators of the late disturbances, by wantonly sporting with the hopes and fears of the negroes, one cannot help shuddering at the bloody scenes which are now exhibiting at Guadaloupe, and at the unfeeling and barbarous exultation with which Richepanse records his relentless and exterminating progress. GREAT BRITAIN. Lord Leicester has resigned the office of Steward of his Majesty's Household, and Lord Dartmouth is appointed to that situation. Robert Liston, Esq. is appointed his Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Batavian Republic; and John Hunter, Esq. his Majesty's Consul General at Madrid Dr. Vincent is made Dean of Westminster, and Dr. Dupre Dean of the Island of Jersey. Dr. Wingfield is appointed Head Master of Westminster School. The Rev. Gerard Andrews is appointed to the Rectory of St. James. The election of sixteen peers for Scotland took place at Holyrood House, Edinburgh. The peers elected are-Marquis of Tweedale; Earls of Eglingtown, Cassilis, Strathmore, Dumfries, Elgin, Dalhousie, Northesk, Balcarras, Aboyne, Breadalbane, Stair, and Glasgow; Lords Cathcart, Somerville, and Napier. A Deputation of the Turkey Company of Merchants lately waited on Lord Hawkesbury, to obtain information respecting the state of Turkey, and to request one or two ships of war, in case it should be expedient to order off their property from that quarter. The answer of Lord Hawkesbury was satisfactory. He said there existed no ground of apprehension; but that two frigates should remain there for the accommodation of the trade. With regard to the state of Turkey, he had no reason to think that any attempt to violate its integrity would be made; and as to the concession made to France, of the free navigation of the Black Sea, government had no knowledge of it. Certainly no privilege would be granted to France, which would not be equally enjoyed by the subjects of his Britannic Majesty. The Funds have experienced an unusual depression during the course of the month, Omnium having been as low as 12 discount. No satisfactory account has been given of the causes of this unexpected fall in the price of Stocks. Considerable alarm has been created in the county of Wilts, by the spirit of lawless violence which has manifested itself among the workmen in the woollen manufactories, in consequence of the introduction of a new machine for finishing the cloth, which supersedes, in a great measure, the necessity of manual labour. No fewer than eleven manufactories are said to have been destroyed by fire, and various other excesses have been committed. The appearance of the military, however, and the apprehension of some of the incendiaries, have put a stop for the present to these daring and dangerous proceedings. A spirit of turbulence and insubordination has also manifested itself among the Shipwrights and Caulkers, at Deptford and Blackwall, who discontinued working, and were in other respects very riotous, on account of their masters having expressed an intention of reducing their wages, and having employed some workmen from the King's yards. The dispute has been adjusted, as far as the Shipwrights are concerned, partly by means of intimidation, some of the ringleaders having been seized, and partly by means of mutual concession; but the Caulkers are still refractory. The public attention has been considerably engaged by the discovery of a nefarious attempt to defraud the Underwriters, which has recently been made. The Brig Adventure, William Codling, master, of seventy-seven tons, with a cargo, con sisting of various articles of merchandize, from London to Gibraltar, foundered at sea, about six miles from the shore, off Brighton, the master and crew having previously quitted her in their boat. By the assistance of a sloop and several fishing boats, she was, however, weighed, and brought on shore at Brighton, where the whole of her cargo has been land. ed. The vessel does not appear to have sustained any damage, except one hole in the after part of her bottom, which appears to have been bored on purpose. The captain has been apprehended, as he was endeavouring to effect his escape to the Continent. owners, the mate, and almost all the crew, are also in custody; and the whole affair will speedily undergo a judicial investigation. The On the 22d of July, a dreadful accident happened at the West India Docks. While some men were employed in clearing away the earth, in order to make a passage for the water, the piles of the upper gate gave way. The alarm was given in time to enable some of the men who were at work to effect their escape, but the rest, about seven in number, were overwhelmed with the water and falling breast work. A very general sensation was excited in the neighbourhood by this unhappy affair, some time having elapsed before the friends of the workmen, who to the number of many hundreds are employed on the docks, could be assured that those for whom they were interested were safe. The accident, it is said, has produced no material injury to the work. Among the many acts of human degeneracy, of which we daily hear, we know of few so aggravating in their circumstances as the following, which is the substance of the evidence of a Captain Walker, of the Royal George, merchantman, taken on Wednesday last before the Mayor of Portsmouth, on the examination of Archibald McMullen, late Boatswain of this vessel, for the murder of a negro-slave, in August, 1799, in a voyage from Africa to Grenada. M'Mullen had been serving the slaves with their provisions, when in a state of intoxication, and observing one not to eat his allowance he beat him violently on the head with the handle of his cat, a stick an inch in diameter, and also with his fist, when the slave fell down against one of the guns. He then ran his stick against the poor creature's stomach, and also thrust the victuals down his throat with the end of the stick, afterwards, gagged him, put a collar on his neck, another on his thigh, and irons on his legs. In this situation the Slave remained till next day, in the forenoon of which he fell down and expired. M'Mullen is committed to take his trial at the next Admiralty Sessions, and Captain Walker is bound over to prosecute. Treating Bill, the Lord Chancellor and Lord Rosslin objected to the bill, on the ground, that it gave to a Committee of the House of Commons a summary jurisdiction over an act which was not satisfactorily defined. Lord Alvanley admitted there were objections to the bill, but thought they might be remedied in a committee. Lord Pelham opposed the bill; and Lord Ellenborough strongly supported it. Lord Romney contended that the bill would be productive of great public benefit, by preventing disgraceful scenes of riot and drunken. The Bill was rejected. ness. ment in the house. Mr. Windham, in a speech of great length, and which seemed to have been prepared with care, entered on the defence of Bullbaiting. should be occupied with such a subject at the He said, it was a serious thing that the House present moment, when they were settling the great work of Peace-at this period, under the pressure of all these immense concerns, they were found occupied with the subject of the subject of such vast magnitude as to reBullbaiting. Europe might naturally ask, was quire this immediate attention? No; the practice so far from growing, was lessening. He was sorry to see a practice growing up, of legislating upon every trifling occasion; but he thought the House should abstain from legislating where there was no genial soil for them to work in. By detailing the transactions of Bullbaiting, the eye of the House was put, as it were, into a microscope, through which they viewed the bull and dog, and were then ready to vote by acclamation the Abolition of in one instance, let them do it in others; the Bullbaiting. If they were to do this, however, same arguments might be applied to hunting, coursing, and shooting; and if they were to view the one with the naked eye, do not let them view the other with a magnifying glass. The House should see things on a large scale, and use a glass that would take in a good deal manners of the common people; men who early in life wished to reform the constitution, and if they had succeeded, we should have had at the present moment no constitution left, now engaged in a design to reform the manners of the people. Some of the parties to this design he must consider as equally descended from the Puritans of old, and he must divide them into Methodists and Jacobins. There were many marks that indicated their common ancestry. None were more inimical than the Puritans to the sports of the common people. The Methodists wished to give to the people of this country a more grave and sober character. Against this design he formally protested. They would destroy the social character of the people, and transform them into sour morose beings; in short, into Puritans, to whom nothing was so abominable as these sports. The Jacobins and the Methodists both wished to wean the people from these kind of sports. The Methodists say, read. Agreed, say the Jacobins: when they have read, we can get them to read the rights of Man. Both wished to destroy the old English character. These political fanatics were equally inimical to the sports of the people; and he did not believe that a single Bullbaiter or Boxer, was to be found in the whole Corresponding Society. The Methodists, though not Jacobins, were most likely to become so. Let a Jacobin Missionary go into a town, he would pass by the Bullbait at the corner, and proceed to the house of some gloomy Methodist. It might be urged that those who attended Bullbaits, were prepared for other cruelties. The contrary, however, was the case. Those who thought it would benefit the common people to turn them into politicians, would favour the Bill. He could not favour the change; let the lower orders of people keep their sports, and the higher classes conduct the business of the state. There was an argumentum ad hominem, which he must apply to the House; there was an old saying, that a man whose house was made of glass, ought not to begin to throw stones, and he thought they ought to be as careful as if the House was filled with melon glasses. Were they prepared to declare hostility against Hunting and Shooting? Would they infer that cruel sports made a cruel pcople? He could not infer it: cruelty was not the object of hunting or shooting, neither was it of Bullbaiting. They found a pleasure in hunting and shooting, and why should they not allow the people to find a pleasure in Bullbaiting? Bullbaiting, it was said, threw a place into confusion; but here was a Horserace that threw a whole county into confusion-He could not consent to take from the lower class of people every amusement they enjoyed; they were cut off from all intellectual pleasure, they could not hunt or shoot, give balls or dinners. He trusted the House would not consent to plunge the people in a wide waste of gloom, by taking away their amusements; to cut off their amusements was enough to Jacobinize a whole neighbourhood. He repeated, that these sports did not make cruel men; it was not country gentlemen partaking of the sports of the field, who were eager to embark in the cruelties of the French Revolution, but plausible specious men, who had no concern in those sports; razors set in oil. He thought there was less cruelty in Bullbaiting than in any other amusement, for both the bull and the dog experienced a pleasure in the contest. That Bullbaiting tended to inspire cruelty or ferocious manners, he denied. If they meant humanity, let them begin with themselves; he thought it was impossible they could abolish Bullbaiting, and leave hunting, shooting, and other amusements untouched.* * We have seldom read a more mischievous speech than that of which we have now given an abstract. Its tendency is to bring back barbarism, and to stifle true religion, among the lower orders. It should seem that Mr. Windham wishes to find in the labouring classes, not rational and moral agents, but animals, under the sole guidance of prejudice and instinct, and scarcely raised above the brutes. To keep them in this state, or reduce them to it, he would indulge all their grosser passions, and smother every nobler faculty. He knows that those alone can be expected to give up the appropriate pleasures and the high hopes of men, who are void of knowledge and reflection, and therefore he is decidedly adverse to whatever may lead the poor to read or to think; and to bribe them to come into his views he offers them the maddening cup of ferocity and debauch. Had not the fear of Jacobinism been deservedly urgent, and the cry of Methodism been popular, he could not for a moment have concealed the deformity of his object, and the baseness of the means by which he proposed to attain it, from the audience he addressed. He would probably be offended were he refused the title of a Christain Statesman, but what claim can that man have to it who would render the great mass of the community incapable of searching the Scriptures, and of valuing or understanding either their threatenings or their promises who would use all means to strengthen those savage instincts and passions which man is commanded to bring into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and which incapacitate him from performing those duties, and relishing those enjoyments which Religion unfolds to his view! Does Mr. Windham believe that the common people have souls which it ought to be their main business to save? If he does, can he suppose that that object will be promoted by his plan? The evils of Jacobinism we most seriously deplore and deprecate, but they certainly lose a part of their shade if placed in contrast with that species of Anti-jacobinism which the Right Hon. Gentleman so strenuously contends for. May Heaven preserve us from both extremes! Mr. Courtenay entered into an ironical defence of Bullbaiting. He began with conjuring the House not to deprive the people of an amusement which not only yielded them infinite pleasure, but also contributed so essentially to the welfare of the State. The Right Hon. Gentleman who spoke before him, had proved that Bullbaiting had not only been the great means of keeping down Jacobinism, Methodism, and dangerous plans of Reformation, but had even been the bulwark of our Constitution. Who then would dare to say, that Bullbaiting ought to be abolished? But Bullbaiting was not only productive of infinite use and amusement to the spectators; his Right Hon. Friend had proved, from Locke, that the Bull, though smarting under it at first, in time also came to be extremely delighted with the practice. He said, that after these considerations, he could by no means consent to pass the present Bill, which had been proved to be lit tle better than the Death-warrant of our Constitution. He trusted, therefore, that as Bullbaiting had been proved so conducive to the happiness of both the buman and brute creation, and so essential to the preservation of our constitution, our national character and morality, the House would never consent to abolish so invaluable a practice. General Gascoyne thought, that too much attention had been bestowed on a subject of this nature. It had been found impossible even for its defenders to treat it in such a manner as not to excite laughter.* Mr. Wilberforce allowed that the subject had been treated with too much levity. If good effects were really produced by Bullbaiting, why not have it rendered more general? But in truth, every argument employed to defend the practice had been merely palliative. Mere opinions had been stated to prove that it was nowise hurtful to morality; but for his own part, he thought it fostered every bad and barbarious principle of our nature, and he was sorry that any one so respectable as his Right Hon. Friend, had been found to defend it. He was certain if that Hon. Gentleman or any other Member of the House had inquired into the subject as minutely as himself, he would no longer defend a practice which could be proved to degrade human nature to a level with the most ferocious brutes. He then relat-, ed several facts to shew the horrid nature of this practice. It had been said, that it would be wrong to deprive the lower orders of their amusements, of the only cordial drop of life which supports them under their complicated burdens. Wretched indeed, said Mr. Wilberforce, must be the condition of the common people of England, if we suppose that their whole happiness consists in the practice of such barbarity. Such a supposition is a satire, not only on the name of Englishman, but on the Creator who formed reasonable creatures with such barbarous propensities. Of all the arguments ever invented by Jacobinism to prove the wretched state of the lower orders, this surely is the strongest, if the only enjoyment of the common people of England is derived from the practice of Bullbaiting. It has been said that this practice contributes to keep alive the martial ardour of the nation. But has it not been proved, by experience, that the greatest, the noblest, the most renowned characters have always been the most humane? When we consider that the victim of this inhuman amusement is not left to the free exertion of his natural powers, but bound to a stake, and baited with animals instinctively his foes, and urged by acclamation to attack him; are we not forced to conclude that the practice is inconsistent with every manly principle, cruel in its designs, and cowardly in its execution? No man is more unwilling than I am to encroach upon the amusements of the lower orders; on the contrary, I wish to rescue them from the ignominious reproach cast upon them, that they are so ignorant and so debased as to be fit only to enjoy the base and cowardly amusement of tormenting an harmless and fettered animal to death. It would rather be my object to call my countrymen to amusements more worthy of their nature, more worthy of the generous character of Englishmen. But it has been stated that the present Bill ought not to be passed without also preventing Shooting, Hunting, and every other attack on the inferior animals. Suppose these diversions to be equally inhuman, would not the admission of this argument infer, that no vice is to be abolished because all of the same species cannot at once be done away? But it is by no means proper to place the diversions of Shooting and Horse-racing on a footing with Bulibaiting.Bullbaiting not only excites the natural passions of the animal for the amusement of the spectators, but also subjects it to the most inhuman cruelties, till it sinks under the pressure of its complicated miseries, Mr. Wil berforce then proceeded to consider the arguments of Mr. Windham. He said it was easy to dress up a metaphysical picture in one's closet, till the author was led to admire the image of his own creation. But if instead of such refinements, we attend to the voice of common sense, we should be convinced that no happiness could result from a practice so cruel, base, and unjust; that no pleasure could be derived from wantonly torturing the brutes which were given us, not for such barbarous purposes, but for our use and pleasure. Without such an amusement, the common people of England had surely a sufficient num * One argument used by the Hon. General was so singularly licentious, that we dare not stain our pages with it. We were extremely shocked that it should have escaped the pointed disapprobation of the House. When a legislator in a grave assembly of legislators, is allowed to produce arguments founded on the most undisguised profligacy, without incurring marks of general dissatisfaction, it is impossible not to be deeply affected by the circumstance. |