Star.
London, England, 1819-01-27 00:00:00

redeemed, by the operation of the Sinking Fund. It'
too often happened that those who drew melancholy
and desponding pictures of the state of the country-,
expected Ministers to do impossibilities. The prin,
ciples of government, which were so strenuously en-
forced by the Honourable Knight, were so diame-
trically opposite to those supported by the Friends of
Administittion, that they must remain hopeless of
ever having him as a Parliamentary auxiliary. It
was very evident that the Honourable Baronet him-
self had at once placed an insurmountable barrier to
all their expectations, by attempting to impose such
difficult tasks upon those in power. But how could
the Honourable Baronet expect that Government,
merely to keep him in good humour, could do all
that he desired? The Honourable Member concluded
by saying, " I merely rose, Mr. Speaker, to correct the
errors of the Honourable Baronet!"—( Hear, hear).
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER wish,
ing not to engross the attention of the House, moved
that the House do now resolve itself into a Com-1
mittee of Supply.
The Motion being carried, the SPEAKER left the
Chair ; when
Mr. BROGDEN, as Chairman of the Committee,
put the question as received from the Chancellor of
the Exchequer—" That a Supply be granted to his
Majesty."—Ordered.
The House then resumed. _ _

Mr. BROGDEN moved, that the Report of the
Committee be received to-morrow.—Ordered.

DR HALLORAN AND T.HE CONVICT SNIPS.
Sir BYAM MARTIN wished to correct an erro-
neons impression which had been produced by a state-
ment from an Honourable Gentleman opposite (Mr.
Bennett) on presenting a Petition from Dr. Halloran.
i lad he been in the House last night, from his situa-
tion in the Transport Board, he could at once have
set the Honourable Gentleman right. The blame, if
there was any, rested with the Transport Board, and
not with the Secretary of State for the. Home De-
partment. On the 9th of this r:onth he had made a
calculation of the number of convicts trnsported,l
and the proportion that died on the voyage, and it
was so satisfactory, that lie could not help commu-
nicating it to Lord Melville. Of 6,409 men sent out
to Botany Bay, since the Ist of January, 1816, only'.
53 had died on the passage—( Hear, hear)—the deaths
amounting only to one in 112. He thought from
this it might safely be concluded that sufficient care
was taken of the convicts when they were embarked.
With respect to the crowded and unwholesome state
which the vessels were said to be, he denied that
this was the case. It had been said, that six people
were crammed into a space of GI feet by 5f.. If
that assertion had beech made, he denied the truth of,
it. The number of persons was only four to this
space. Thi space allowed to a convict was as great
as that allowed to a British soldier, and greater than
that allowed to a British sailor—(Hear, 404—The
space allowed to a sailor was 14 inches. He had sons
at sea, who received only this allowance of space,
as he 'himself had been satisfied with it forty-five
years ago--(llear, hear).—He now held in his hand
Returns from the ships in which convicts had been
embarked, with the number of deaths. In one, the
number embarked were 200, deaths two.; in the
Bariag, 200, no deaths ; Lord Melville, 109., three
deaths; Shipley, 123, no deaths; Akeste, 180, no
deaths, Lark, 250, two deaths; Lady Castlereiih.
1401, no deaths; Neptune,. 280„ no deaths; Basing,
f 30:), one death. The vessel. the Baring, was com-
manded by the same Officer who now commanded
'her, aid had the same surgeon, and he did not be-
: lieve it was poss'ble to 'treat men with greater h-u
-j
manity and kindness than they had shewn. A morel
able and humane man did not exist, he believed, than
the surgeon ; he was recommended by a most lau-'
mane Officer; Sir Richard Keates—( Name kir,' )...
The Gentleman's name was Reid—( Loud cheering-in
the Horisejor some time.) •
Mr. BENNET said, that as to the number of per-
sons, he had visited two ships, in one were 300 con-
victs, in another 447. In the Baring he found twenty,
he might say twenty-one persons, crowded into the
same room. He went'thenee below, and sat upon a
box—he was much shucked with the scene—each
crib was six feet by five and a half; be saw three
laying in one of them, and asked how many lay there,
he was told that six did. He called the other three,
and they immediately presented themselves. He re-
presented to the master, with horror, the state of the
convicts. His reply seas, " For Gop's s tke, Sit, don't
go away with the impression that the convicts alone
are crowded. Look into my cabin, look into the sol-
diers apartment, we are all equally crowded." (hear,
hear, hear.) So far was he from denying it, that he
only aggravated the representation made to him.—
The Honourable Gentleman had compared the situa-
tion of convicts with that of soldiers. If soldiers were
cruelly treated, that was no justification for cruel
treatment to convicts—but of the soldiers one-third
' were on deck during the night,. This he knew from
his own experience. But all the convicts were shut
up during the night—(hear, hear.) But he pledged
himself that any one of the Gentlemen opposite would
be satisfied if he went down to see these convicts.—
The Right Hon. Gentleman had said, that he bad as-
certained that Dr. Halloran had not been ill ; not ill!
' He bore on his countenance the proofs of his illness,
too strong to be mistaken. He had, never seen a man
so changed.. Such testimony was more likely to be
true than the testimony relied on by the Right Hon.
Gentleman. It should be recollected too, thut the
Surrey, which carried 200 convicts, of whom 50
died, had sailed at this very season ; and that the rea-
son stated by the Board for this mortality was, the
season of the year. .He cared not whether seamen
or soldiers had as small a space assigned to them.
Those disused to a sea life must find such confinement
horrible beyond conception. The small, too, which
he had not mentioned, was surely a terrible aggra-
vation. He could then re-assert, that it was a great
act of cruelty to confine men. in. such a situation for
a number of hours, at •night, and under the line.—
( Hear, hear, hear.),—Even in the abhorred Slave
Trade each slave 'had one foot and a half. Consi-
dering these facts, he was not surprised to find, by
the trials he had seen reported in the 'Newspapers,
ing,that cthhoossee
rather wretches,
t oier
nfgehilitooguwths
-creatures
nateoffimi
ocptthti otenorseuoffbnecide.ctertthttheh
purescueeti o nlol
If
histhebr bringing
ngel4dshedinbyb aetvdeer e
thankiad
netof stuoffae rt
-.
from suffering au unnecessary and cruel aggravation ,
of their,puhisbmezt.--(lfear, hear.)—GOD knew that I