Star.
London, England, 1802-05-25 00:00:00

I

oroutements, iu prtrertnee to tawfplper reading
zol &hating futietis:s. There latter, perhaps, it
• ai the it:tel.:ion of this Bill to promote, and to
▪ ith•lrao tar lower orders front the purfuits which
htcame tlim, and encourage C.ein to interfere
• tt:e 'oufincfs of legiilatiin, witich form the fu-
pet lot education and general habits of the higher
r.rars, and was properly their povince to attend
to. Ile i:npt opt iety of bringing forward Inch
falijeds as that More the Houle, was to him ob-
vioa; ; it rtecetto ily provoked touch difeuflion,
not whhlla:iditig tz• unimportance, for in order to
riecid e upon it, it muft he undertlood ; and it often
yolks as much pains to point out the feveral bear-
iog: of a little lobjea as of a gi eat one—there
nozla be as much work on a piece of Teniers as
na a Madona of Raphael. If this difeuillon, how-
ever, was to be long, the fault was with them
selio introduced the sill.—The Right Hon. Gen-
tleman read an est raa from a fernion fent to him
this morning, and which he laid he never thould
lave read if it had not been fo fent to him. This
eat rad Rated—. that percents who were not tender
or the brute creation wmild not hefitate‘o (heath
tinir daggers in the warm vitals of their fellow
creatures." If fileti was the fad, what was to be
thought of the rich ? they should aboldh the whole
of the Came Laws to poierve themselves from
the centlire of this learned Divine. Though he
(Mr. W.) did not mix in the fports of the
field himfell, he did not intend to decry them
att.:rely on account of the cruelty which in fome
ittaances might be ronneted with them—it
giould be tecolleded that fighting and war,
though infeparahle from ideas of death and other
calamities, had fired the imaginations of fume of
the &ft Poets the v.iorld had known—from the
Poet and Philofopher, Xenophon to Virgil and Mil-
tan. The itaferenez he meant to draw from this
Wets, that cruel fports did not make cruel people—
that fpor:, not cruelty, was the &skid of thofe who
• agaged iu them, and thatin fad the pleafure was
to-,ally independent of all idea of cruelty ;at all
events, that a as as likely to be the cafe in hull-bait-
ing as in hunting or thoating. It was fulEcient to
fly that people tlitlnti a pie-afore in them ; but they
t,,teloubtedly were not as ascufable, tor the one was
a cont-lt bztween animals—and he would afte, whe-
ther the contea of animals did not prevail in all ages
:lied coo:a:nes—and was not the courage of the
hail dogs as rational an objed of admiration as the
fa,oayity aidfeent of the fla.bound ?
rally cried-Lilt:red, it certain'y was, though he did
t., t profels to admire it. There was a time how-
ever io this country, hen it was the fafhion to
admire bull-baiting--it ufed to be exhibited before
the Court of Qi2ten I.!izabeth, and in that day
England was as much dirtinftuilhed by noblenelsol
mind and gentrofity of fentiment, as perhaps any
of the defenders of this Pill could boaft ; }et sow,
becaufe this amusement was by the accident of fa.
fhion moved front the higher orders, and had de-
(4:ended among the common people, Parliament
tbould, when it is on its lag legs in the country, in-
terfere to deprive thofe peeple of any pleafure it
might afford them, and that too at a very becoming
period, when it was in contemplation to extend the
game laws to Ireland. If it was re ally the deter-
mination of the Houle to take up this fuhjed, in his
opinion they ought to begin the meafure of reform
%soh ilienrfelves--then they mug confiftently go on
to prevent the butcher's profelllon, and feverely to'
punish all kinds of drunken and profligate habits.
For ail there, laws muft he provided; and the Le-
giflattire, of comic, will have full employment.—s-
As the bleneber for York:hit c (Mr. Wilberforce)
feemed fu eagerly to feek after objeds for reform,
why overlook the horfe-racing in his own county ?
Was there no ciuelty in that ? Was there nothing
hunting orthy to excite his tender feelings?
in that pursuit, of which Dr. Johnionfaid—when
one day at a hunt, that he eon:: not help being
fotnev.hat Imtiled at the paucity of human
atoufements, a. homing fotmed one of them,—
Tbea e was alfo the amufernent of boxing (a &est).
Ile atfured the Houle he would not difpaiage that
amnfement by comparing it with both racing.
athieh encouraged a fpirit of low gano.ling—he
did not mean to fay among the higher chafes, who
teemed fir unaccountably devoted to it, but among
the defcription of people generally conceited at a
lace centric. The yeafon for the original eucou-
eagerness( of 'pare racing, in order to improve the
treed of lintrea, might have been good ; perhaps
it Pr(llloted that objet dill, but that was a (mall
eonfideration compared with tie evil it had done
v. fociety at Newmarket add other places, where
fo often were allembled a crowd of fubtle (win-
dier> and blacklegs ; of Oaks, who inn away to
focir nrafters' money, and afterwards corn.
mit forgeries to make it up ; of billiard markers
and billiard players ; of gin and gingerbread ven-
ders. (4 /au h.) moent this antufement of boric-
racing, and the pertiors he defcribed as its, ylifciples,
be law IV) poQbilityi.f eliciting one generous ftel-
iog or manly fentimesit. Let not then the Hon.
Meniber for Yort,:liire leap over nine horfe-races
in his own county to alight upon boll-baiting. (el
laqh.) Ile decline% to kill an abufe at home, but
musk go poaching in foreign manors. The I loufe
conrotyr how the learn were really circuni•
(tanced as to *aline. Flom almoft the whole
ralige ,it intellettual entertainment they were ex-
cluded by their ignorance ; and front the variety
of plea;irres which the tic!' enjoyed, they were ex
(Meted be their `averts—from tome by the law.
Tither prefinieed to indulge thenifelvt. in a dance,
he was lorry to 'andel-Ilona it mull b: beyond the
reach, or without the knowledge of the Magif-
ti.tte ; for it appeared that the found of the
did not more agonize the fe.lings of a Puritan,
than that of 601, :ovule,' Magittrate, unlers
be birofelf fhould happen to be one of the con pa
nv.. The anal round of rural (Potts was not 5,11•
gilt; eful to the tor of any man of feeling. The
thought of diem was calculated to excite the moll
agreeable fentatoire—the reafant's dance upon the
green was loatte.intes witneired with pleafure by
the proudelt• ;Amite, hut if it Mould be called a
40. the Conflabie wein.l.l hr immediately fent for,
and too often fra4i ehaerful parties had been com-
mitted. It was ISA, few y ears fittedparty of
the Hilt ti; Cow& was iakken to the neighbourhood
of rat kelspittuate tiallattege a? book iu which

'large parry was ftEttially found dancing (a /met) I
to the mune of a black Sailor's fiddle. It was to
be regretted that many Gentlemen (hould be
anxious to deprive the lower orders of their amok-
meats, from a teeming apprehenfion, that if they
were fuffered to enjoy thofe recreations, they
would not labour fufficiently, and might become,
front their improvidence, a burthen to the Poor
Rates, to which the rich mull contribute ; this I
was a moll injudicious fyflem of thinking, and
he cautioned the rich ag:tinfl offing upon it. The I
efficient part of the community for labour ought
to be encouraged in their exertions rather by fur-
ni(hing them with occafional amufements, than
by dcptiving them of one, as this Bill propofed—
a Bill, the fupporters of which would take them
to the Tabernacle or to jacobinitin—for if to po.
vetty were to be added a privation of amufe-
ments, he knew noticing that could operate more
flumgly to goad the mind into defperation, and to i
pepare the poor for that dangerous enthufiafm
which is analagous to jacobinifm. He objeded
I to the way in which Gentlemen would have the
I Honk to look it-the coufequeuces of bull-baiting,
I by citing particular accidents, and from that con-1
chiding that the pradice was crud, and that the
bull in baiting was treated with cruelty ; but be
believed the bull felt a fatisfadion in the conceit,'
not lets fo than the hound did when he heard the
found of the horn which fummoned him to the
chace. True it was, that young bulls, or thofe
which were never baited before, creed reludance
to be tied to the flake, but chore bulls, which ac-
cording to the language of the
.fpurt were called
game bulls, who weze tiled to baiting, approach-
ed the flake and Rood there while preparing for
the conteß with the utmork conipofure. If the
I bull felt no pleafure' and that he was cruelly
dealt with, furely the dogs had alto fame claim to
compaffion; but the fad was, that both homed
equally arduous in the conflid, and the bull, like
every other animal, while it had the bett.r fide,
did not appear to feel unpleafantly—it would be
• I ridiculous to fay he felt no pain—yet, when on
fuch occafions he -exhibited no fign of terror, it
' I was a demonflrable Otoof that he felt fome plea-
fare. With regard to the petition from Stamford,
againft this Bill, it was entitled to the moil ref
peeful attention, for it came from a body of fo-
-1 b:r loyal men who attended to their feveral To.
cations and never meddled with politics, faithful
• to their landlord (the Marquis of Exeter), with
whom, however, they could not avoid being a
little difplcafed for his endeavours to deprive them
of their favourite (port, by fa/sporting this Bill.
Thofe petitioners Rate, that this amufement had
been enjoyed by their town, for a period of 5 or
Sao years, and the antiquity of the thing was de-
f:rving of refped—for refped for antiquity was
the bell prefervation of the Church and Gate—it
was by conneding the pall with the prefent, and
the prefent with the future, that genuine patrio.
tifm was produced and preferved. He repeated
that he was (hocked and fcandalized at the man-
ner in which the advocates of this Bill would per-
fuade the Houfe to ad; to prohibit an old amufe-
merit becaufe it was the amufement of the poor ;
ft,. the objedion was to the cruelty of the amufe-
meat, or the fikope of the Bill ought to be eidarg-
ed.—lndependent of the injuflice of encroaching
upon the few (mall amufements of the poor, he
would beg the Houle to confider the confequence of
rendering themdifeontented or difpiritedbyleaving
nothing for them but the wide wage of labours
The reafon why our labourers were capable of,
more work than flares, was obvious; becaufe they
felt that they worked for themfelves, and accord-
ing as their profit, or their profped of pleafure,
which was the fame thing, was increafed, jolt fo
did their labour generally increafe alfo. Such a
Bill as this to abridge men's pleafures, and to !Mid
out a kind of dire& hint to them, that they never
could labour enough, was fufficient to Jacobinize
a whole country. In proof of the ;dation that,
bull-beiting did not operate to brutalize men's
minds, be had only to turn the attention of the
Houk to Lancafhire and Staffordfbire, where that
pradiee principally prevailed. Thofe counties
were known to produce the belt fuldiers in the
army, and the militia of Staffordfhire were known
to have been ladled, from their good behaviour,
to do duty about the Royal Perfon, a pretty good
proof that bull-baiting did not produce fuch effects
onthe morals of the people as the Puritans affected
. to deplore, but rather fuch as the Jacobins in
' France and England very fincerely lamented. It
wasmockery in men to talk of the Coffering: of ani-
' mils from the (ports of the lower orders, while they
' themfelves were doing fomething worfe. To the
' difference between the jolly bull-baiting Peafant
• and his demure gloomy Ccnfors he would apply
• the words of the Poet—

M dioliVrous aad toast, his let ka is $ rispdre;
S. The neat $ Tradefinan.meek, and much s liars .
" Tom knits $ fcldier, open. bold and brave.
" Will bleak& a ferivenei, an =ending knave'

The Right Hon. Gentleman concluded with
Rating, that if the Bill before the Houfe Would be
adopted, he would, for the fake of confiftency and
the charaCter of Parliament, conceive it his duty
to move for leave to bring in a Bill to prohibit
hunting, (hooting, filing, and all the (ports of
the field prattifed by the higher orders.
Mr. Court-EN ay felt himfelf compelled to difa-
gree with his Hon. Friend, who (poke lall. in one
thing. He could not, like him, regard this as a fob.
jet too trifling lot difeufEon. Certainly if every
amiable virtue of the people, if all thole noble feel-
inAs which were the fupport of the church and the
I te had t he; r orig inin b ull.bai ting, the Houle cutild
ma be occupied -6y the confideratton of a mot e
portantqueition. The Hon. Gentleman hadclearly
(hewn, that Jacobinifm and Methodifm were both
le tgued to put down bull-baiting; that reform had
been prevented, and the Coullitution prelerved
by buil.baiting ; and that the beg fokliers were
found in thole quarters where this pratise molt
prevailed. With all tittle recommend:womb, the,
amufement, could the Hoak helium>. a moment in
throwing out the bill ? The Mkt. Gentleman Gas
alfotmode it perfeCtly plain that the ball is pleated in
beinp baited; hut it was to be r:gretted, that in that
notion lichad not his taloa] met it of originaii; y. He
ko,t I w argil:near:out Lutist's pr uf

aftociat;oa of ideas. Though the bull was at 6111 in
torture, he airociates pleafurable ideas with the re-
colleaion of the contell, and is quite happy nn the
fecond baiting. In the fame Manner bears are
taaght to dance by being placed on hot iron plates,
while their intim/tor beats a drum or plays upon a
fiddle. When they have been fufficiently prodifed
in this atimfernent, they always get up and dance
upon heating the found of a drum,without any ar-
fi fiance from the burning plates. Who will fay that
this is not jull fuck another Mance of atrociation?
As little was the Honourable Gentleman original
in his illudration drawn from the •beauty of the
human countenance viewed by a microlcopte eye.
Here he teemed to have borrowed from a well-
I known book, Gulliver's Travels. lie mull havehad
in his eye the dory of the Maid of Honour at
the Court of Brobdignag, whO ured to place Mr.
Gulliver adride on her nipple. There he law ca.
verns and hogs bridles on her face, and thought
her a moll dig-gulling picture of deformity, though
the lw.ts followed and adored by all the Beaux
of the Court. 'rhefe trifling flips would not, how-
ever, have the effete of making any reflefling man
fupport the bill. Good GOD, were this Prelimi-
nary Treaty of Peace figned between the Dogs
and the Bulls to be fanelioned by the Houfe,
the Conflitution would be totally ruined. Now
that there are no wars on the Continent, no
longer any bloody battlesby fee or lind,whatwould
Ex iMinifters do to amufe themrelves, were it not
for bull-baiting ? If this abominable Bill ihould,
in fpite of all oppotition, pars, he hoped, at lead,
a claufe would be introduced, kiting apart tome
facred (pot in Norfolk or Buckinghamfbire fur
perpetuating a praffice fo beneficial, and which
young (Indents might attend as a Lyceum. Bull.
baiting was anciently a Royal fport, and to was
lion-baiting. James I. baited a lion with three
bull-dogs in the Tower. This lion-baiting was fo
• much of a royal (port, that, perhaps, no King
ever difliked it, except Henry VII. He indeed
seemed to confider that there was fomething like
Jacobinifni in the amurement, and couldnot brook
that a dirty bull-dog fhould attack the king of
heads, and had aflually commanded a dog to be
hinged for attacking a lion; but this fentence
plainly arofe from prejudice. There was another
very important circumilance which ought not to
be overlooked. There bull-dogs were didinguilhed
by a gruff, furly arpea, expreffive of the very
charafter of John Bull himfelf. What would be-
come of us were the breed to be loft—

" Butchers would weep who never wesp'd before."
So great was the value put upon bull-Jogs by our
aneeitors, that Norwich was made a corporation
by Richard 111. on the condition of prefenting
three of thefe animals to the King. This was
probably nal in the charter. The qualities tithe
bull-dog were celebrated by Elian, Oppian, and
Claudian. Crotius makes an culogium on the
Englifh bull-logs : •
--- A t plc Ipf os ticest pettetrare *balms I
0 quanta eft maces et quantum impendie fora!
Si non ad fperlan menteturelque decocts,
Truelove: hse one dt mulls jafturaßritands, Ace.
Chits his Hpn. Friend had more than one claffical ;
authority for his admiration of the bull-dog. Now,
if the Lyceum he had fuggeßed thould be efta-
bliflred, might not, for the fake of improving the 1
fport, a Corfican bull be procured, which, no of-
fence
to the Full Confial, might be very properly
named Bonaparte ? The enemies of the peace
would then find fome very pretty amufement in
baiting this bull, and in imitation of the Spanilh
bull-fighter might affume titles for the occafion.
Fur intlance, one might call himfelf " Don Plum-
hula Lumbago, the Knight of the Leaden Spear."
Another might call himlelf " Knight of the Sor-
rowful Countenance ;" a third, the " Knight of
the Gilded Helmet," and fo on. He could not
with-hold his fupport from a prattice which was
the chief fupport of our glorious Conftitution ; be
mull therefore oppofe the Bill.
Colonel Goosvewort thought the lower orders of
the people entitled to their amufements as well as
the higher. The higher orders had their Biffragton,
and why not allow the lower orders their Bull l—
(4 lamgh.)
General Ga sc o to a a obferved, that itiLancallsire,
in which he refided, the prat:lice of Bull baiting
differed from that in Staffurdfhire, Shropibire, and
liampfhire. In Shropthire be underttood that the
bulls were ornamented with flowers previous to
their being baited, and their horns gilt, and 4c-
' corated.—He Rated that a friend of his had fre-
quently boalted to him of the number of men he
had railed by Bull-baiting ; and that it was a prac-
tice which encreafed the population of the country
ina ranch greater degree than the recruiting kr-
vice thinned it. He was of opinion that this was
not a fubjelt worthy the confideration of the Houle,
and he could fearce believe that either the Gentle.
men who tkad introduced, or thofe who bad fup-
ported him; were ferious. If there was any abate
of the prat ice, the Legiflature might with pro-
priety ens& a regulation particularly applying lo
at ; but the exittence of a partial abufe was no
ground for deftroying the prattice altogether. He
confidered it an amide:trent which the lower orders
were entitled to, and it was with regret he obferved
a difpofition in many of the Members to deprive
the Poor of their recreations, and force them to
pals their time in chaunting at cousenticles. He
concluded by laying the Houle had already been
occupied too much on fuch a fubjea. He hoped
the mcafurc would be again rejeeted.
Mr. Wrotraroaca Gard, if bull-baiting tended
fo much to humanise the people, and to preferve
the church and State, he wondered the Hon. Gen-
tleman ( Mr.% indham) had not claimed fume in-
dulgence fur the pratice, intleat of having argued
that the quettion was too minute to merit the at-
tention of the Houle. He was one of *bore who
thought it I mean, bale, and cruel practice, the
lowea gratification for human nature to enjoy.—
It had given him pain that fuch a pro/lice thould
have found au apologia in the Hon. Gentleman.
The only way in which he could account for it was,
bylluppoling he was ignorant of the cruelties which
were incidental to it. Had the Hon. Gentleman
poffeded the information with which it was in his
power to turuillt him, it would have been impol.
tible for him to have iandioned lb barbarous a
fstota. To Rate diainaly what it wib•••tii generous

and noble animal was pnrchafed by a tet tain nuns
ber of people for the purpofe of being naked to
the ground, fa as to prevent his employing his ra.
rural means of defence—fiequently his horns wrte
fawn off (stever , laid fevered lifts:kr:. I—The 1-I,a,
Gentleman read extra Els from letters detailing va•
rious afts of barbarity employed in the courfe
of the pratlice of bull-baiting. He had never
been an enemy to the manly and athletic ezer‘kr
of the field, but this cowardly and cruel diva.
Con, if a diverfion it could be called, was not
to be ranked among them. He did not wonder
the Hon. Gentleman (Mr.Wintlham) ihouid have
been defcribcd by Come perfons as the friend of Ja-
cobinifm, confidering the manner in which he had
fl dcfcrihed the fituauon of the lower orders—it was
an infult and a degradation to them to have it
Rated, that their fources of gratification were fo
limited that they were obliged to have recourfe to
I bull-baiting; that it was a pradice which accord-
' ed with their feelings; and that they were, in !hurt,
a (pecks of bull-dogs. He mould vote for the
Bill, e.-iule he. would not confent to have the
people degraded by the fuppofition that it was ne,
cefary to their happinefsfuch a ?make lhould be
continued.
Mr. Wst. SMITH (poke agaiaß the Bill: he
thought if the people of this country could find an
amufement in filch a (port as Bull-baiting, they
were debafed indeed. . _

____
Mr. Newsatv fa id, t was a tletefiable practice
and c uld only have the deft of brutalizing the
mind of
of the people.
Si Tituuss Fiisiti.AuD (poke at confider-
ably' length againft the Bill : he admitted that
the iaflidion of pain upon animals, from a prin-
ciple of wanton cruelty, was an Indication of the
bafeft of difpofitions, and this argument he illuf-
trated by reference to the celebrated paintings by
Hogarth, defcriptive of the progrcfs of cruelty.—
He obferved, however, that animals had &Call '
ages been the preceptors of man ; the qualities ex-
hibited in the conteft between the lull and the
D.ig, were Come of the molt %Ole in nature. He
had witneffed that contell,tuor and over and over
again,and he had ever fa ! there was a difpofition
or
on the part of thofe w romotted it to have what
was called fair play,* to give to the qualities of
the contending animals their full operation. How
was it poflible fur men to know what the qualities
of animals were, unlefs they were called into ac-
tion?. Animakirom the ant to the lion bad uni-
formly been the preceptors of mankind. With
regard to the cruelty of Bull.baiting he could not
confider it moic.fo than horfe racing and hunting.
In the former the animal was (trained beyond it.
firensth, add frequently died in confequence of the
exertions it was forced to ; the fame oblervation
applied with regard to 'hunting. What did tit,
Houle think of tbe chace of that molt magnificent
and beautiful animal, the flag, who was pampered
and fed for the purpofe of affording (port to his
purfuer f Was it to be fuppofed that fine animal
was nut, when he found his lirength-fail him, and
the dogs at his haunches, equally fufceptible of
pain with the bull who was baited? Was it no
mark of azonr, when the big round drops weer
running down nit' innocent note ? Was it not • -
nicely e' more cruel than bull-balting, to fee the
hunted to death, and torn piecemeal by the s
hdi
Why Qsonld there be fuch fympathy fur the bull
and the dog that baited, and none for other a*
malt'? &eau& the dug had teeth, and bit the bull,
it was—O poor bull! Becaufe the bull hid horns,
and gored the dog, it was-r 0 pour dog 1 Upon
the whole, he thought the predict of bull baiting
exhibited no greater degree of cruelty than the
fports of horfe. racing, hunting, and (hooting ; and
that the interference of the LegiQature in to par-
tial a way would be unjuft and impolitic.
Mr. Sasetoaa,
_after a few words in anfwer to
the Hon. Gentleman who had kilt fat down, oh-
ferved that he heard with the greateft admiration,
the fpeech of the Right Ron. Gentleman near the
Bar (Mr. Wiadham). It was # fpeech much more
calculated to mike the imagination at fiat than
to produce permanent convidion. Trifling as the
Right Hon. Gentleman had reprefented the fub-
jai, he Teemed to have bellowed confiderable pains
upon it. His fpeech, though ingenious, certainly
finelt of the lamp. It abounded in tropes and
figures: it contained many quotations from Xeno-
phon, Milton, and many other authors, both an-
cient and modern; it was laboured and methodical.
Had he taken as mach pains upon the Definitive
Treaty, probably he and his minority would not
have cut lb miserable a figure a few nights ago.
However, confiderable allowances were to be
made for the irritation of his mind upon the return
of Peace. Now that there was a ceffation of Ito&
lities among the nations of Europe, it was nut to
be wondered at if the Right Hon. Centleman ax.
crud himfelf to the utmoll, by way of ortapitfativo.
to kindle the flames of war between dogs and bulls.
His zeal might probably be accounted for by his
fuppofing that the reftoration of the.. Bourbons
might be effected by means of bull baiting, though
Mr. Sheridan declared be did not hiinfelf exadly
fee how the two fuhjeds were connected. But the
Right Hon. Gentleman had dikovered that this
attempt to abolilli bull-baiting was a combined Ja-
cobin and Methodift plot. He thought there was
now an end of plots; and that as the Treafon and
S:dition Bills hated expired, we would henceforth
h.: allowed to fleep fecurely in our beds. It turned
out, however, that we were as bad as ever, and if
Ministers did their duty they would immediately
come down to the Houle with a felled green b. g,
and call fur the Sufpenfion of the Habeas Corpus
Ad. The joyous, (tidal, elegant habits of bull-
baiting were about to be overturned, and Church
and State were in danger ! He reminded the
Right Hon. Gentleman that, at a time when he
had the honour to be in habits of intimacy with
him, they were both Membets of a Society inititut-
ed for the revival of old Englifh Sports, at the head
of which was General Burgoyne, and that it wall
, exp..cfsly (tipulated that all cruel unmanly fpom,
filch as bullbaiting, should be excluded. The re-
, creations of hunung, filhing, and (hooting could
; not be compared to this for a moment; and,
although they were equally bad, that was u,
reafon why one evil thould tang jc retneilied.-7-
; An HoraSitilahle Gentlemen bad laid t..a: "aa. tare