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with the bafeft ingratitude. He had converfed with the high, the rich, and the poor; and he only fpoke the fenfe of the country, when he stated, that the continuance of these men was inimical to its interefts, and dangerous at the prefent crifis. With this conviction on his mind, he fhould confider himself a traitor to his country if he fuppreffed thofe fentiments, thus fanctioned by the public voice; and, therefore, he wished to know if it was the intention of his Majefty's Ministers to difmifs them all indifcriminately from the kingdom, or if, in cafe any diftinction fhould be made, they would be answerable for the conduct of fuch as they might think proper to retain.

Mr. Dundas faid, an idea had gone abroad that danger might be juftly apprehended from the French emigrants refident in the kingdom, that their number was formidable, and their fentiments hoftile to its welfare. In confequence of fuch a fenfation, which he had admitted was generally felt, an in. quiry was inftituted, the refult of which fhewed that the num bers were by no means fo great as was imagined. That the. fentiment expreffed by the Honourable Gentleman was prevalent in the public mind, he was ready to concede; but it was a fubject on which his Majesty's Minifters could not come to fuch a general refolution as that fuggefted. They had watched over the conduct of thefe men with care and circumfpection, and fuch as were found unworthy of the treatment they had received were fent out of the ki. gdom; fo far then as fufpicion attached to any of them, the moft vigorous measures had been taken. Many unworthy individuals might, no doubt, elude the moft rigorous inveftigation; and if any fuch remained, if only the fhadow of fufpicion refted upon them, the Honourable Gentleman might inftitute an inquiry, and if the event juftified the fentiments entertained refpecting their conduct, they too fhould be no longer harboured. But to come to fuch a general refolution as that fuggefted, would be to facrifice the lives, perhaps, of many worthy men; it would be to confound the innocent with the guilty in one general mafs, and to violate every principle of humanity. As to the latter part of the Hon. Gentleman's fuggeftion, that his Majefty's Minifters fhould be refponfible for the conduct of thefe men, he conceived it would be hard to impofe fuch a burden upon them; as one he would wish to exonerate his shoulders from it; at the fame time, he did not mean to be understood as declining any measure to prevent our humanity from being turned to our difadvantage. He, therefore, repeated it, diftinctly and pofitively, that whenever any fuggeftion fhali be made againft them, either indivi dually or collectively; whether true or falfe, the strictest in

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quiry fhall take place, and the most vigorous meafures fhall be adopted.

Mr. Johns explained. He admitted many of them were men of ftrict honour and integrity; prudence, however, required that they fhould be narrowly watched, as from their numbers they might be able to make a diverfion in favour of the enemy.

FRENCH PRISONERS.

Mr. Baker faid, he rofe to ftate to the Houfe a circumftance of the greatest importance; a circumftance which not only affected us as men, but materially concerned the honour and character of the nation. The Houfe would probably anticipate him, when he faid, he alluded to the grofs and fcandalous mifreprefentations made regarding the treatment of French prifoners in this country; mifreprefentations, in which we were ftated as men loft to every fenfe of humanity, and capable of cruelties that would difgrace the most barbarous ages. For refutation of thefe charges, however, we ought not merely to rest upon our general character. In one particular cafe, he knew a very active part had been taken to refcue the country from fo bafe a calumny. The Mayor of Liverpool had instituted an inquiry; and, upon the cleareft evidence, and the strictest inveftigation, it appeared, that thofe foul mifreprefentations, countenanced by the Directory of France, and those who wished to inflame and exafperate the enemy againft this country, were without the flightest foundation. That fuch would be the refult of inquiry in every other part of the kingdom where French prifoners were detained, he had not the smallest doubt. It was therefore his intention to move, that fuch papers as might be neceflary to afcertain the treatment of French prifoners in this country, fhould be laid before the Houfe, that we might not only ftand juftified in our confcience, that fuch treatment was humane and liberal; but, that all Europe might fee how we had conducted ourselves towards a nation, that had loaded us with fuch foul abuse and calumny; and concluded with moving," that there be laid before the House, an account of the proceedings of the Transport-Office, and of the Board of Admiralty, relative to the treatment of the French prifoners in the different parts of the kingdom."

Mr. Rofe feconded the motion, as being the most effectual means of filencing thofe injurious afperfions that had been fo induftriously diffufed; but to render it ftit more efficacious, he thought it might be expedient to move, "that an account of the expence incurred by Government, in maintaining the prifoners of war, diftinguishing the daily and weekly allowance for each prifoner, be alfo laid before the Houfe."

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Mr. Dundas faid, that, in his official fituation, many things had fallen into his hands which excited the ftrongest indignaThat the most calumnious mifreprefentations had been. fpread abroad, tending not only to cherish and inflame the hoftile fpirit of the enemy, but to degrade us in our own eyes, and in the estimation of all Europe. That the French Directory fhould do fo did not surprise him; but that they should be copied into the public prints; that the public prints fhould adopt and repeat the flander, he confeffed had filled him with aftonishment. Want of humanity, in general, never was a feature in the character of Englishmen; but want of humanity to the unfortunate, whom the fate of war had thrown into their hands, was a crime which he thought the greatest enemy would not attempt to lay to their charge; it was strange, that it fhould not have been repelled with indignation, and that the liberty of the prefs fhould be made the vehicle by which fuch flanderous calumny was communicated through every part of the kingdom. To prevent its further diffufion, and to vindicate the character of the country, he had it, for fome time, in contemplation, to bring forward the meafure which he had now the pleasure to hear propofed, but coming as it did, he owned it was more fatisfactory to him, than if it had originated with his Majefty's Minifters, and he anticipated the result with the fulleft confidence; for when all the proceedings fhould be laid on the table, every man would be able to appreciate our conduct towards our prifoners; he would fee, that if we had departed in any inftance from eftablished ufage, the deviation had been involuntarily caused by the conduct of the enemy, who had violated and broken down all the rules and principles which hitherto governed nations in the treatment and exchange of prifoners, and that any act of feverity on our part was only in retaliation, and with a view to extort from them that juftice which they refufed to our officers, and to which our prifoners in their hands were entitled by the law of nations. On this point alfo, as well as what concerned the prifoners at large, the fulleft information fhould be laid before the Houfe, and he was ready to stand or fall with the verdict they should pronounce, upon a full and deliberate inveftigation. The motion, therefore, met his entire approbation, particularly the latter part, which related to the heavy expences incurred by this country in difplaying that humanity which had been fo grofsly calumniated and abused.

Lord Maldon fpoke a few words in fupport of the motion: he ftated that the French prifoners at Briftol were fo abundantly fupplied, that the foldiers of his regiment almoft lived upon the fuperfluities which they purchased from them.

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The two motions were then feverally put and carried.

Mr. Hobhoufe moved, that an account be laid before the Houfe of the money advanced by the Bank to Government, and outstanding the 1ft of January, 1797.-Agreed to.

Mr. Hufkinfon moved, that an account of the rations iffued daily by the French agent to their prifoners in this country fince the first of February, be laid before the House. He alfo moved for a copy of the inftructions given to Captain Coats, fhewing the weekly rations iffued to the English prifoners in France. In fupport of thefe motions, he ftated, that it would appear, that the allowance formerly granted to French prifoners is the fame granted to our own.

Both motions were feverally put and carried.

Mr. Dundas brought up a petition from the merchants of Edinburgh. It was ordered to lie on the Table.

The correfpondence between Sir John Wentworth, and the Duke of Portland, refpecting the Maroons, was laid before the House.

The Bills for granting an annuity of 2000l. a year each, to Earl St. Vincent and Lord Viscount Duncan, were read a third time, paffed nem. con. and ordered to the Lords.

The Bill for allowing further time to carry into execution the Supplementary Militia Act, paffed this Seffion, was read a third time, paffed, and ordered to the Lords.

Adjourned.

HOUSE OF LORDS.
Friday, Feb. 23.

The Royal affent was given by commiffion to the Bill to allow further time for carrying into execution the Supplementary Militia Act, and to Macklin's Lottery Bill.

Adjourned.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

Friday, Feb. 23.

The Bill to allow further time for carrying into execution the Supplementary Militia Act, was received from the Lords, without any amendments.

Three petitions were prefented by the Sheriffs from the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Common Council of the City of London. The first petition ftated, that the price of bread was dearer than the price of grain would warrant; this dearnefs, it is fuppofed, arofe from the want of mills, and the ftoppage of the ufual fupply of flour to the metropolis. The petitioners therefore prayed for leave to bring in a Bill to remedy this inconvenience by the erection of mills along the river Thames, near the metropolis. The fecond petition rerelated

lated to the collection of fmall debts in the city of London; and the third, to the inconveniences arifing to fhips from the circuitous course round the Isle of Dogs. The petitioners therefore requested leave to bring in a Bill to cut a canal through the Ifle.

All the three petitions were referred to Committees to examine and report thereon.

The Speaker went up to the Houfe of Peers to hear the Royal Affent given by commiffion to one public and two private

Bills.

FRENCH PRISONERS AND SIR SIDNEY SMITH.

Mr. Hufkifon, alluding to the motion that had been made yesterday by Mr. Baker, faid, that the papers moved for had been conceived to be infufficient to bring the whole matter before the Houfe. As far, indeed, as it was neceffary to overthrow the calumnies that had been circulated against the national character, they would be found to be perfectly adequate and fatisfactory. But a more enlarged view of the fubject was deemed to be neceffary. Gentlemen knew that very extraor dinary tranfactions had paffed in France refpecting English prifoners. Mr. Hufkifon here alluded to the active anxiety refpecting the fate of M. de la Fayette. He then proceeded to the fituation of Sir Sidney Smith, who was now doomed to folitary confinement in a dungeon of one of the common prifons of Paris, debarred from every comfort and convenience. Thinking it right, therefore, from all thefe circumftances, to inftitute a general inquiry into the treatment of the French prifoners here; feeling that the conduct of the British Government to thofe prifoners had been diftinguifhed by the utmost humanity, while the treatment of the English prifoners in France had been marked by cruelty and feverity; fenfible too that every thing had been done by the French Government to aggravate the calamities of war; he should move," that there be laid before the Houfe fuch extracts from the letters and correfpondence as related to the detention and confinement of Sir Sidney Smith, and the negotiation entered into between the two Governments, refpecting the exchange of prifoners of

war."

Captain Berkley feconded the motion. Some Gentlemen, he faid, had indulged themselves in lamentations upon the fate of La Fayette, and this it was that induced him to join in deploring the abfence of certain Members of this House. Be. caufe, if they had been prefent, the Houfe would have feen their abilities difplayed in fupport of the prefent motion, if, indeed, their humanity would have carried them as far in behalf of their own countrymen as it had done in behalf of an

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