dence so great in its amount, so excellent in its matter, and so conclusive in its facts, as, whilst it dees the highest honour to the servants of the Company, and to the intelligence of other Gentlemen who have lived under their Government abroad, or are employed in public situations at home, triumphantly, and without any counterpoising evidence, establishes the case of the Company as maintained in their correspondence with His Majesty's Ministers.

With regard to the fourth head of objection above mentioned, which is of more recent occurrence, the elucidation of it depends upon estimates and calculations of the receipts and payments of the Company at home; and these have been formed by experienced officers on such data, as give the best result which can be expected in a case where something contingent is to be stated as of a determinate amount.

The expectation of a vast accession of new sources of commerce for this country having been the original cause of attack upon the Company's privileges, it seemed an aggravation of their case that the reduction of those privileges should still be insisted, on after it had been shewn that there was no rational prospect of any such commercial advantages.

But, in order to afford the fullest opening for a new and still larger experiment on this head, if all the past should not be deemed sufficient, it was proposed, on the part of the Company, that the trade to and from India should, for a time sufficient, be open to all the ships and subjects of the Kingdom, to and from the port of London, only passing through the warehouses of the Company; an enlargement, which, though far greater than has ever yet been made, might be tried without breaking down the commercial system of the Company.

All the arguments and evidence, however, produced by the Company, and remaining, as they still do, unanswerable, have not sufficed to uphold their cause; nor has this reasonable proposal, just mentioned, been at all regarded. Popular prejudices, and popular interests, ill understood, have prevailed, to introduce, into the proposition for the new Charter, con ditions which essentially alter the system under which the Company has subsisted more than two centuries,-conditions which will very materially abridge the commercial privileges of the Company, and may be expected also proportionably to impair the efficiency of their administration.

It is proper, therefore, to view more distinctly the situation in which the Resolutions passed by the House of Commons propose to place the Company, omitting the notice of minor points, as not necessary to the present purpose, and attending only to articles of chief importance.

The political administration of British India to be continued to the Company for the farther term of 20 years, with no material alteration of the conditions on which it was given by the Charter of 1793, together with the government of the Indian army:

The monopoly of the trade to and from China to be also continued to the Company for the same farther term of 20 years: but it appears that China commodities, tea excepted, may be introduced into this country circuitously:

The surplus revenue of India to be, among other purposes, applicable to the provision of the Company's investments; but this to be subject to the discretion of the Board of Control:

From the sales of goods, and the profits arising from private and privileged trade, or froin any other source, after payment of bilis

already accepted, and provision for current payments (the Bond Debt in England excepted), and after payment of interest, and commercial charges and expenses, a dividend of 10 per cent. shall be paid on the present or any future capital stock of the Company: After the reduction of the Ter ritorial Debt to 10 millions sterling, and the Home Bond Debt to 8 millions sterling, all surplusges of revenue and trade, after sa tisfying the appropriations recited in the Resolutions, to be set apart, and accumulate, as a security for the capital stock of the Company, until the same shall amount to 12 millions sterling: of any farther accumulation, the Public to have 5-6ths, and the Company 1-6th:

The number of His Majesty's troops in India, to be in future maintained by the Company, shall be limited:

The Company no longer to possess any exclusive privilege in the trade to and from India, though they have still the right of continuing their investments to and from that country. But all private ships, of not less than 350 tons burthen, may be permitted to proceed from any port in the United Kingdom, to any place within the limits of the Company's charter, and to return to the outports as well as London; such ships to go first to one of the Company's principal settlements in India, being furnished de jure with a li cense from the Court of Directors; ships which are to proceed thence to other parts, being also furnished with licenses by the Court, and with the approbation of the Board; and if not given of their own choice, to be given by direction of the Board of Control; and ships may be licensed to proceed to any place within the limits of the Company's Charter by the

special authority of the said Board, it being understood, that licenses to places not lying between the longitude of the Indies and of Prince of Wales Island are to be granted by the Board without the intervention of the Company.

That the Court of Directors shall, also, on application of any person to proceed to India, either license such person, or the Board of Control may do so if it think fit; and that the Court shall grant a certificate, in a form prescribed by the said Board, signifying that such person has proceeded under the sanction of the Court; and that all such certificates shall protect the persons to whom they are given in their several pursuits in India, whilst they conduct themselves properly:

The Company to separate entirely the accounts relating to their territorial and political affairs from those of a commercial nature; and the arrangement, of accounts, to be thus made, shall be submitted to the approbation of the Board of Control.

From this short, but it is believed correct, recapitulation, it is evident, that all the enlargements at first required by the Out-ports, in the trade to aud from India, are granted under certain modifications; and that private ships and individuals may proceed thither, without any power of limitation on the part of the Company, the discretion of such limitation being exclusively vested in the Board of Control: That the Company's Indian Trade, and, indeed, their China Trade also, subject to be limited entirely by their commercial capital and means; and any aid to be derived from the surplus revenues, is left to depend on the discretion of the Board of Control, on which head, it is to be observed, that, although, during the period of the last Charter, the ter

ritory, instead of furnishing any capital for the commerce, has, on the whole, been considerably indebted to it, yet the interchanges and mutual aids afforded by the one to the other, from time to time, have proved very advantageous to both.

And it appears farther the intention of His Majesty's Government, not to permit an extension of the Indian Investment beyond the present scale, even by the commercial means of the Company, although the increased demands on their home treasury for the discharge of territorial debt will require large and increased supplies from India to England; the reason assigned for this intention being, that they would not have the experiment of a free trade interrupted, or, as it was expressed, overlayed by the weight of the capital of a great Company; although it is not for any such purpose, but for the supply of their own necessary occasions, that an increase in the Indian trade is contemplated by the Company: and it seems hard, that instead of being permitted to use their own funds for this end, the idea should be entertained, as it appears to be, of making the funds available to aid the capital of new adventurers in this trade.

These great changes will lay the Company open to the dangers they first apprehended, namely, an invasion of their China trade by smuggling of tea; embarrassment and difficulty in making provision at home for the punctual discharge of the increased demands payable there on account of the Indian territory; breaking down or destroy ing the benefit of the Company's system of public periodical sales at home; and, as a consequence of this, superseding the use, and greatly reducing the value, of several parts of the Company's present establishment of shipping, of ware

houses, and other dependencies of their commercial system; exposing the Company to continual misrepresentations from the new adventurers, and continual assaults on their remaining privileges; proceedings which may be expected to involve their Executive Body, and their servants, in frequent disputes and conflicts injurious to the con duct of the Company's affairs, and to their reputation in this country, where popular prejudice has already done so much injustice to their

cause.

On the other hand, in so momentous a crisis, the Court of Directors ought to conceal nothing which may be properly urged on the other side; and it seems fair to admit, that, in consequence of the irresistible weight of reason. ing and of evidence which have been adduced since the delusive hopes of unbounded fields of commerce in the East first burst forth, the general opinion of commercial men appears at length to be so much sobered and lowered on that head as to reader it probable that there will be no great spirit of adventure, no rushing of numerous ships to the Eastern Seas, on the opening of the trade. And if the Company's China profits should be so much deteriorated, in consequence of smuggling, as to affect the fund for their dividend, the Public will be equitably bound to make reparation to the Company for the injury they may thus sustain.

With respect to the financial danger to which the Company may be subjected at home, it will be seen that His Majesty's Ministers in the late conference with them have gone so far as to declare, that if embarrassment in this way should arise without the fault of the Company, they will use their influence with Parliament to afford the necessary relief as far as the Company possesses equivalent means in India.

There is a kindred feeling in the soul, which time nor circumstance can e'er destroy. The spirit, whose chiefest glory was its Coun try's honour, must still be anxious for that Country's safety; not such anxiety as leads to envy, or seeks the boon of favour or protection, but that which has its source in pure sincerity, in virtuous zeal, and unalloyed affection. Yes, it is this which stimulates my soul: my Country's interest was my pride, my hope; I toiled to raise it and ensure its safety; my Country's glory was my arduous care, for which I struggled, and for which I died!

There is a certain task, a certain duty, apportioned to the lot of all, a duty to society and justice, from which no individual arm should shrink; where that shall lead, there should he take his stand, and, rather than forsake it, perish.-To you, my late Companions, there is assigned a part of greatest trust, of highest honour; on you depend at once the glory and the safety of your Country; let it inspire you with that virtuous pride which estiinates its power only as it may conduce to the general be nefit. It may be, that an ill-direction, from improvident Councils, may be given to your exertious;-it may be, that an incapable and misguided power shall counteract or misapply your efforts, and even tarnish your high fame by an imprudent culpable perversity; but such must not disspirit or unnerve your zeal; you have a nobler purpose in pursuit, that must not be obstructed by the faults of others. Though there be men who would disgrace the Councils of their Country, it cannot sanction a conduct to disgrace

VOL III.

yourselves. The flag you serve must not be dishonoured on the, waves, it is only for the cabals of faction, and the petty votaries of ambition, to slur its character by their folly and contrivance. It may be, that by such misconduct your Country may be endangered, and the confidence of her enemies increased;-let not this, however, dispossess you of that spirit of superiority which animates the British Seaman in the day of Battle; the more pressing the danger, the more glorious will be the victory: it is sufficient for you the call is made, and that your Country sends you forth in her defence, when, "it is expected every man will do, his duty!"

The crisis is hastening on, and may not be far distant, when a world will combine to dispute that supremacy, which our ancestors have toiled through ages of hardship to acquire and maintain,-An infant Navy, animated with a spirit and feeling like your own, has, sprung up to cross and thwart you.

I may not unveil the secrets of futurity; but this I may confess, it is the contemplation of the fu ture which has urged my interfe rence, it is that knowledge which has called me from the grave !— I know full well the generous ar dour of a British Seaman, that can prize valour even in an enemy; but though we prize, it need not be, encouraged;--we may admire but not fan the flame that would destroy us.-Repeated successes encourage hope; there is more danger in a blind security than in an ardent apprehension: while suspi-. cion is alive, the mischief is half subdued; the pride of power is too often its own destruction.-You have long held an exalted K k

name, and you are bound to bequeath it untarnished to posterity. You have not yet forgotten the voice of him who so often cheered you to the battle, of him who fought and bled beside you, and only left you in the arms of victory-you well remember the confidence I inspired, the example I displayed, and both will tend to give this warning its due importance. A darkening cloud hangs lowering over your Country, reduced and weakened by her foreign wars; her strength is lavished on impolitic and protracted expeditions; her military power is wasting in a destructive visionary contest, the result whereof is too fear ful to contemplate; while her internal state is hastening to decay from the effect of al! these mischiefs, joined to that system of corruption which is framed to waste an Empire though gifted with the power of a world!

In such a case where shall her hope of safety rest,-on what shall she repose, but on that only bulwark of her independence, her mighty Navy?-But it is not in the number of vessels at her command that England can place her utmost reliance, but on the faithfal zeal, the persevering valour, of Irer seamen. It cannot be, that a few solitary instances of advantage, more attributable to the folly of your Rulers than the merit of your enemies, can have the effect to damp that ardor recorded in the annals of your Country's triumphs! The spirits that hailed the sun of victory at Egypt and Trafalgar

can never droop their laurels to a pigmy adversary. Though rendered subject to an incompetent direction, a requisite confidence will be preserved, both for the Navy's pride and the Country's protection. But should the honest spirit of the seaman be depressed, his wonted ardour stinted or subdued, and his fair pride affected and borne down, then would I have a bold remonstrance framed, and, with humble duty presented to the Throne, praying to have those living mischiefs stript of that power they know not how to use; whose mismanagement has robbed the Navy of its spirit, the Country of its safeguard; and let them make way for better and abler hands, who might redeem the honour of the British Flag, and regain its proud ascendancy above the efforts of the world.

It is a fact which cannot be too often pledged, that England's Navy is her only shield :-slight not the endearing charge, nor let any ill designs warp you from the steady line of duty.-A steady and confiding valour gains the prize of victory, while few are the triumphs destined for the efforts of despair.

Look well to your duty, and pursue it, and regard with a becoming temper the advances of your Enemy.-Above all, remember the fame you have acquired, and dread to lose it, lest you forge the chain of slavery for your children and your country, and shake the Shade of Nelson in the peaceful Tomb!

ving violated the Law and the Pri vileges of the House, as reported in The Public Guardian Sunday Newspaper :

Mr. Swan rose to make his motion o