CHAPTER XXX.

THE new Parliament was opened by commission on the 15th of December, 1806, and the object of the royal speech was to prepare the nation for the awful crisis then impending, and to animate them to adequate exertions against the formidable and increasing power of the enemy. The address called forth various observations from Lord Hawkesbury and Mr. Canning, but was passed in both Houses without a division. On the 2d of January, 1807, the subject of the late negociation with France for the restoration of a general peace was brought under the consideration of the House of Peers, by Lord Grenville, who, after an elaborate exposition of the course pursued by government, moved an address to his Majesty, lamenting that his pacific endeavours should have been frustrated, and assuring him of cordial support and assistance in any future measures, either to attain the restoration of peace, or to meet the exigencies of war. Lords Hawkesbury and Eldon concurred in the leading points of the address, but contended that there was no proof that the French government had agreed to proceed on the basis of the uti possidetis. They most heartily acquiesced in the result of the negociation, and, with this exception, joined in the address, which was carried nem.con. On the 5th of January the same subject was brought under discussion in the Commons, on the motion of Lord Howick, when Mr. Whitbread moved an amendment, assuring his Majesty of their firm co-operation in the vigorous prosecution of the war, and praying that he will afford every facility to any just arrangement by which the blessing of peace may be restored. This amendment was afterwards withdrawn, and the address

was carried without a division. On this occasion Mr. Canning condemned the policy of a rupture with Prussia for the sake of Hanover. Prussia had, in the first instance, accepted the transfer of that electorate from France, on the condition that the possession should not be considered as valid until a general peace should be concluded, or until the consent of the King of Great Britain should be obtained. Buonaparte acquiesced for a time; but no sooner was he relieved from anxiety respecting the Russian armies, than he insisted that the occupation should be no longer provisional, but absolute. Prussia had then no choice but war, or compliance at the risk of war with England: she saw this risk, but could not avoid it; and we fell into the snare. Buonaparte had apprehended the union of Prussia with the two great surviving powers of the confederacy, and wished to have her at his mercy. In the space of three months he beheld her at war with England, and England and Russia separately negociating for peace. He found means to continue this state of things until the arrangements for the overthrow of Prussia were matured, then the farce was ended, and he hastened to the field of battle.

After providing for an augmentation of the sea and land forces, the attention of Parliament was directed to the improvement of the revenue, and on the 29th of January Lord Henry Petty, having stated the total amount of the supplies for the year 1807 at 40,527,0651. 11s. 8d. and the ways and means at 41,100,000l. brought forward a permanent plan of finance, which professed to have for its object to provide the means of maintaining the honour and independence of the British empire during the necessary continuance of the war, without perceptibly increasing the burthens of the country, and with manifest benefit to the interest of

the public creditor. This plan was adapted to meet a scale of expenditure 'nearly equal to that of 1806; and assumed that, during the war, the annual produce of the permanent and temporary revenue would continue-equal to the produce of that year. Keeping these premises in view, it was proposed that the war loans for the years 1807, 1808, and 1809, should be 12,000,000l. annually; for 1810, 14,000,000l.; and for each of the ten following years, 16,000,000l. Those several loans, amounting in the fourteen years to 210,000,000l. were to be made a charge on the war taxes, which were estimated to produce 21,000,000l. annually: this charge to be at the rate of ten per cent. on each loan; five per cent. for interest, and the remainder as a sinking fund, which, at compound interest, would redeem any sum of capital debt in fourteen years. The portions of war taxes thus successively liberated, might, if the war should still be prolonged, become applicable in a revolving series, and be again pledged for new loans; it was, however, material, that the property tax should, in every case, cease on the 6th of April next after the ratification of a definitive treaty of peace. In the result therefore of the whole measure, there would not be imposed any new taxes for the first three years from this time. New taxes of less than 300,000l. on an average of seven years, from 1810 to 1816, both inclusive, were all that would be necessary, in order to procure for the country the full benefit and advantage of the plan here described, which would continue for twenty years; during the last ten of which again no new taxes whatever would be required. After repeated discussions the plan was agreed to, and its effect was immediately obvious upon the funds, which advanced considerably, and gave the minister

an opportunity of negociating a loan on terms highly advantageous to the public, and yet not unproductive to the contractors.

During this session of Parliament the total abolition of the African slave-trade was finally accomplished. On the 2d of January Lord Grenville introduced a bill for effecting this glorious object, which was read a first time, and printed. On the 4th of February, counsel were heard at the bar of the House in favour of the continuance of the trade, and on the following day Lord Grenville concluded an elaborate speech on the subject, by moving the second reading of the bill, which was principally opposed by the Duke of Clarence, Earls Westmorland and St. Vincent, and Lords Sidmouth, Eldon, and Hawkesbury. At four o'clock in the morning the House divided, when there appeared for the motion 100, and against it 36 voices. On the 10th the bill was read a third time, and ordered to the Commons for the concurrence of that assembly. On the 23d Lord Howick moved for its commitment, when the opponents of this humane law were so much diminished that there appeared, on a division, for the question 283, and against it only 16 voices. The bill, which was debated with great animation in all its stages, enacted, that no vessel should clear out for slaves from any port within the British dominions after the 1st of May, 1807, and that no slave should be landed in the colonies after the 1st of March, 1808. On the 16th of March, on the motion of Lord Henry Petty, the bill was read a third time, and passed without a division. On the 18th the bill was carried to the Lords for their concurrence in some amendments, when Lord Grenville instantly moved that it should be printed, and taken into consideration on the 23d, on which day the alterations were agreed to. The

reason of this haste was, that his Majesty, displeased with the introduction of a bill for granting some concessions to Roman Catholic officers, had resolved to displace the existing administration. Though the bill had passed both Houses, there was an awful fear, lest it should not receive the royal assent before the ministry was dissolved. On the 25th of March, at half-past eleven o'clock in the morning, his Majesty's message was delivered to the different members of administration, commanding them to wait upon him, to deliver up the seals of their respective offices. It then appeared, that a commission for the royal assent to this bill, among others, had been obtained. This commission was instantly opened by the lord-chancellor (Erskine), and as the clock struck twelve, this important bill became, after a struggle of twenty years, a part of the law of the land! Thus did Great Britain set an example to the world which neither the philanthropists of the French republic, nor those of the United States of America, had been sufficiently magnanimous to exhibit.

This victory of disinterested humanity over sordid cruelty, was followed by an attempt to procure the emancipation of the slaves already bought, the obvious injustice of which was admitted by Mr. Wilberforce, of whose unvaried exertions in this great cause, the cause of the weak against the strong, it is impossible to speak in terms of sufficient commendation, On the final debate he was complimented by various speakers, but more particularly by the solicitor-general, Sir Samuel Romilly, who observed that when he looked at the man now at the head of the French monarchy, surrounded as he was with all the pomp of power, and all the pride of victory, distributing kingdoms to his family and principalities to his followers,