Star.
London, England, 1813-05-12 00:00:00

in this instance ? 'The tubjeet was of that vital im-
portance, and at the same time attended with such
difficulty, that it ought to be sifted to the bottom be.
fore any Member was called on to give his vote either
on one side or the other. 'Such an inquiry took place
on the Slave Trade, - and had recently taken place
with respect to the renewal of the East India Com-
pany's Charter. This course of proceeding had
also been formerly pressed by the Right Honourable
Gentleman himself. (Hear, Bear, from the Opposition.)
—lt might be said, perhaps, that a Committee had
been already appointed. (Hear, hear.) This he
would admit, but that it was not a Committee for in-
formation, but merely to draw up the Bill. The
House had been deprived of every fair opportunity
of information, brute way in which the Bill bad
been brought forward. The Right Hon. Gentle-
-man had promised before the recess to have the Bill
printed, and read a second time, that it might be cir-
culated before the holidays, but instead of this it was
not brought in till within these few days, and the
House had no opportunity of perusing it. [Mr.
Grattan appeared to dissent across the table.] Whose
fault was it that the Bill was not sooner brought in ?
The Right Hon. Gentleman had taken two months
in preparing his Bill, and it had not been in their
possession more than a week. The House ought to
have had more time for the examination of so impor.

tint a subject. Had the Right Hon. Gentleman
meant to deprive the House of the exercise of their
understanding, he could not have taken a more effec-
tual way than the course he had pursued. He ap-
proved of the Committee proposed, because it would
promote delay, and that he considered, on such a sub-
ject, to be an object of great importance. The House
would afterwards come better prepared to the deci-
sion. No subject, he contended, required greater de-
liberation, involving as it did the prejudices, the pas.
sions, and fears of the various parties concerned.
Mr. GRATTAN, in explanation, said, that he
had expressed it to be his intention to bring in the
Bill, if possible, before the recess, and to have it
printed. This had been his wish, but at the same
time he had stated that he would not pledge himself
to do so, as he was aware of the difficulties that might
attend the preparation of the Bill. He acquitted
himself of all intentional or unnecessary delay.
Mr. CANNING requested that the Speaker would
read the original motion ; and that the Clerk would
read the journal of the proceedings of the House of
Commons on the 24th of April, 1812, when a mo-
tion for appointing a Committee, similar to that pro-
posed by Sir J. C. Hippisley, was negatived.
This having been done,
Mr. CANNING expressed his astonishment that,
after the Resolution which had been just read by the
Clerk had, been negatived last sear by a majority, of
which his Hon. Friend who had just spoken wasone,
that his Hon. Friend should come forward with an
accusation of inconsistency against the supporters of
a Resolution beginning in words identically the
same. He did not wonder at the versatility of the
conduct of his Hon. Friend, proceeding not from
any deficiency of character, but from the helplessness
of his cause ; but he did not much wonder that being
compelled by reasons of expedience, arising out of
that helplessness, to adopt a course which there could
be no doubt was abhorrent from his nature, his Hon.
Friend should be so imprudent as to couple with a
declaration of his intention to pursue that coarse, an
accusation of inconsistency against those who really
had pursued the most steady and unvarying line of
conduct. For his own part, he (Mr.'Canning) had
been troubled with a good many doubts that evening.
When the Hon. Baronet made his motion, he doubt-
ed his being able to find a seconder in the House.—
When, after a long pause, he saw that seconder in
the person of his Hon. Friend, he then doubted whe-
ther he had heard the terms of the motion correctly,
and it was on that account that he had troubled the
Speaker to read it again to the House. His Hon.
Friend attempted to impute to those, who under the
orders of the House, had prepared a measure then
fully under the consideration of the House, incon-
sistency, when the fact was, that they had followed
the plain course sanctioned by two discussions ter-
minated by no equivocal majorities, and had dis-
charged the very duty which the House had im-
posed on them. In making this accusation, there-
fore, his Honourable Friend arraigned not those to
whom the sacred and difficult trust of preparing
the Bill was confided, but he arraigned the House
itself ; he called on the House to retrace its steps ;
he called with an ambiguous voice, but with a pur-
pose that it was impossible not to understand.-
1.11 knew, that on many occasions there was one lan-
guage held on one side of those doors, and another
language on the other. But he appealed to every
man of good sense and experience who heard him, if
it was practicable so to impose on the credulity of the
most drivelling idiot that could be selected, as to in-
duce him to doubt that the motion (however simple
and innocent the mover) was for the express purpose
of obstructing the progress of the Bill that had been
brought in, and of detesting the recorded intentions
of Parliament ? He would do the Hon. Baronet the
justice to believe, that he did not see it in that light.
Were the abilities, information, and judgment of the
Hon. Baronet less upon record, he (Mr. Canning)
would be reluctant to pay him such a compliment ;
for to say any thing of the goodness of the Hon. Ba-
ronet's intentions, would be to say it at the expence
of the Hon. Baronet's character for understanding,
were it not that the Hon. Baronet had already vindi-
cated himself in that respect by his numerous and able
publications. But he would beg leave to hint to the
Hon. Baronet the probability that those who, at length
taking an active part in the proceeding, had cheered
him with their applause, would indemnify themselves
as soon as they got out of the House, for the breath
which they had spent in acclamations within it.—
The laughter which they had so long constrained
would then burst out. The supporters of the Bill were
the real friends of the Hon. Baronet, and not those
who flattered him while they triumphed in that which
to him must be a serious diminution of intellectual
character. The Hon. Baronet had gravely told the
House, that he thought the production of all the in-
formation which his motion was calculated to pro-
duce necessary before they could come to a decision,
not on the principle, for that had already been de-
cided, but before they could enter on that particular
stage of the Bill in which the principle could be dis-
cussed with advantage. For eight years, it seemed,
had the Honourable Baronet cherished this opinion.
At length it became matured. It was a tie fruit,