hon. gentleman of all blame, and that he thought the negociation between him and the noble lord, which led to his subsequent appointment to the Lisbon mission, not very creditable to either. Mr. Warre supported the motion, and contended, that the mission was not at all necessary. Mr. Gordon was of opinion, that the right hon. gentleman had completely cleared himself from all the charges that had been brought against him in a pecuniary point of view; and if it was necessary to send an ambassador to Lisbon, he could see no reason why the right hon. gentleman should not have been sent. It would, however, in his opinion, have been more consistent if government had sent their ambassador to the Brazils. Mr. Abercrombie agreed that the right hon. gentleman could not be considered as a principal in the fault of this transac tion. His vote in support of the motion would be given upon the ground that the embassy itself was not a necessary measure. If the prince regent had arrived, the appointment might have been justified; but, under all the circumstances, he could not but think that the appointment was prema Mr. Sharp was satisfied that the charge had been fully substantiated against the government, who had, it appeared, not only deceived the country, but the right hon. gentleman.. believed that the appointment of an ambassador to Lisbon was necessary at the time the right hon. gentleman was sent thither. There would have been sufficient time for sending out the right hon. gentleman on his extraordinary mission, after it had been ascertained that the court of Portugal was to be re-established at Lisbon. But what reason had the noble lord to expect that such an event was to take place? He could state from his own personal knowledge a fact, which to his mind proved that the expectation was quite unfounded. It had been stated to him, by the Portuguese ambassador, the count de Funchal, that if his majesty's ministers had applied to him for information on the subject, he could have told them that the prince regent had no intention of returning to Europe. Thus it appeared, that if the noble lord had taken the trouble of making inquiries in the proper quarter, he would have been able to have saved the expense of the six months embassy with which the country had been so unfairly burthened. If there had been a necessity to send an ambassador at all, he should not have said a word on the subject. The right hon. gentleman, as he had already observed, was as well calculated for that office, generally speaking, as any other person who could be appointed to it. Something had, however, been said of the fancies of crowned heads, with respect to such missions, which did not tend so well to support this particular appointment. He believed, that if crowned heads were flattered by such attentions, they looked more to the rank than to the talents of the ambassador sent to them; and viewing the subject in that way, the right hon. gentleman certainly was not the fittest person that might have been chosen for this complimentary embassy to the court of Lisbon. In the com. Mr. Tierney disclaimed all personal hostility against the right hon. gentleman, but maintained that, notwithstanding all the glosses in the right hon. gentleman's speech; no doubt would exist out of doors, whatever there might be within, that if there had been a vacancy in the cabinet at the time he was sent as an ambassador to Lisbon, no ambassador would have been sent. And yet if ever there was a coali-parison made on the other side between tion that ought to be distrusted, it was the expenses incurred by Mr. Sydenham's that which had taken place between the residence, and the mission of the right noble lord and the right hon. gentleman, hon. gentleman, the whole expenses inthe former difference between whom had curred by Mr. Sydenham had been chargarisen, not on any ground which time and ed upon the half year. This was not fair; circumstances might change, but because but how would the case stand were the the right hon. gentleman thought the noble whole expense of the right hon. gentleman lord not wise enough for a cabinet minis-in salary, plate, outfit, and other expenses, ter, and the noble lord had other reasons for declining the right hon. gentleman as a coadjutor. He certainly regretted that the right hon. gentleman had so entangled himself in this affair. The public money had unquestionably been unnecessarily expended, for he was convinced no man to be put on the half year, with the additional consideration that it was an expense which ought not to have been incurred at all? in addition to the other expenses, a considerable loss was incurred by the rate of the exchange. He had that day sent to the city to inquire what the rate of ex change at Lisbon on London had been from July, 1814, to March, 1815; and he had learned that it was 684, instead of 67, as had been stated. The loss, therefore, in the negotiation of paper was 14 per cent., and adding that to all the other charges, the expense of the half-year would be 11,000l. This would be the amount of the charge if he were to follow the example which had been set up, and put all the expenses on the half-year, as had been done with Mr. Sydenham's mission. But he should do no such thing. He would not argue so unfairly. It was sufficient for him to state, that when the right hon. gentleman was appointed ambassador to the court of Lisbon, he came into the possession of a salary of 14,000l. a year; that that salary, the 3,000l. for his plate, and all the other expenses of his outfit, were totally unnecessary, and formed a burthen most improperly imposed upon the country. The right hon. gentleman had made some very extraordinary flourishes, for which the noble lord was certainly much obliged to him. The noble lord seemed somehow or other to think that he had been accused of taking other people's money unfairly. The right hon. gentleman seeing his embarrassment, had, however, got up, and, in wishing to clear his friend of the character of the thief, acknowledged himself to be the receiver. He must say, however, that he had no intention of bringing against the right hon. gentleman the charge of peculation. There never was a country in which public men were more free from such an accusation than this; and in that respect he was free to confess, that he regarded the right hon. gentleman as perfectly clean-handed. But it would be paying the right hon. gentleman a compliment on the score of his possessing a degree of virtue and self-denial which fell to the lot of few, were he to suppose that he ought to have refused the emoluments which were pressed upon him; that he should have refused to listen to a person who told him he was a better judge of what his services merited than he could possibly be himself; and that he ought not to have a farthing less than 14,000l. a year, with 3,000%. for his plate and all the other expenses of his outfit. With respect to the relation between the noble lord and the right hon. gentleman, he had no doubt that it would soon return to its ancient state; that the noble lord would find himself gradually sinking below the minister for Lisbon, and that the minister for Lisbon would find himself gradually rising above the noble lord [a laugh]. On the whole, he felt that he should not do his duty to the country, if he did not heartily and cordially vote for the resolutions of his hon. friend. Mr. Lyttelton did not think either the appointment by his majesty's ministers, or the acceptance of it by the right hon. gentleman, justifiable at the time it was made, and could not perceive any grounds on which it could be defended. He was farther of opinion, that considering the circumstances in which the right hon. gentleman stood towards the noble lord, the transaction was not one which was creditable to him. Sir James Mackintosh was desirous of stating the precise grounds of his vote. He did not entirely agree with his hon. friend who had last spoken. He considered the resolutions as resolutions of censure on the appointment of the embassy to Lisbon, and not on the acceptance of that appointment. On that ground alone he voted for them; for he thought that the right hon. gentleman was bound to believe the representations which had been made to him of the necessity of the embassy. He did not conceive, however, that ministers were justified in the appointment, and he considered it a waste of the public money. Mr. Canning said, that he would content himself by stating two facts on the present occasion: the one was, that he had not solicited a place in the cabinet at the time alluded to; and though he could not substantiate the fact by parliamentary evidence, he could yet satisfy any private gentleman, that so far from seeking a seat in the cabinet, no consideration would at the time have detained him in the country. As to the declaration of count Funchal, all he would say was, that that personage furnished sir J. Beresford with a list of the individuals who were likely to return to Europe with the prince regent of the Brazils. Mr. Cartwright observed, that an hon. baronet had stated, that whenever this subject should be brought forward, he would apply to it the term "peculation." After the defence which the House had heard; after the full and satisfactory explanation of all the circumstances which had been given; he should have expected that common candour would have induced the hon. baronet to get up and disavow that epithet as far as possible. He must say that, after what had passed, he should think it very extraordinary if the hon. | baronet persisted in that sentiment. Sir F. Burdett said, that he had not used the term peculation in its common and gross sense; but as the appointment was the result of a political negociation between the parties for their own interests, he still regarded it as what he had already stated it to be, namely, a pecuniary job. Sir T. Acland was confident that the candour of the hon. baronet would not permit him to hesitate in pronouncing the full acquittal of a person accused, whom he had discovered to be innocent. He did not know what the hon. baronet meant by his concluding words, in which he denominated the transaction under consideration a pecuniary job. He did not think that such terms could be fairly applied to it, after the defence which had been heard. After a speech so eloquent, which had thrilled through every heart in the House, he would have been proud to have been so accused, in order to have so defended himself. Mr. Lambton rose to reply.-He observed, that it would be useless in him to detain them for any length of time, after they had so plainly manifested their desire to proceed to a division-it would be presumptuous in him to expect to succeed in dispelling the noise and clamour which had been prevailing from the conclusion of the right hon. gentleman's (Mr. Canning's) speech. He should, therefore, merely notice some misrepresentations which af fected him personally. The right hon. gentleman had, for what purposes he knew not, grossly misrepresented him; when the right hon. gentleman stated that he had alluded to the personal differences which had existed between the right hon. gentleman and the noble lord (Castlereagh). He appealed to the House whether such was the fact. He had carefully avoided every thing which could convey the most remote allusion to that subject, in introducing his resolutions to the notice of the House. He also thought it incumbent on him to notice what had fallen from some gentleman on his own side of the House. He begged leave to inform the noble lord (Milton) and the hon. member (Mr. Gordon) that, with every sense of the obligation they had so kindly conferred on him in disclaiming his motion, he could not accede to their mode of reasoning-their arguments had nothing whatever to do with the question. The question was, not whether the right hon. gentleman had justified himself in a pecuniary point of view, but whether the ministers had justified themselves from the accusation of having, by that appointment, imposed an unnecessary expense on the country.That alone was the object of his motion, which his hon. friends seemed, whether purposely or not he could not tell, entirely to have forgot. In his opinion, nothing had passed during the debate-nothing had been urged against his motion either by the hon. gentleman opposite, or his hon. friends near him, which could induce him to change his opinion as to the propriety of the course he had pursued, and he should therefore call for a division. Abercrombie, hon. J. Markham, adm. Martin, Henry Martin, John Matthew, hon. M. Molyneux, H. Ponsonby, rt. hon. G. Ramsden, J. C. Rancliffe, lord Rowley, sir Wm. Russell, R. G. Scudamore, R. Sharp, Richard Webb, E. TELLERS. Burdett, Sir F. Sefton, earl of Smith, J. Smith, G. Smith, Wm. Stanley, lord Spiers, Arch. Spencer, lord R. Talbot, R. W. Tierney, rt. hon. G. Thompson, Thos. Walpole, hon. G. Waldegrave, hon. W. Warre, J. A. Moseley, sir O. PAIRED OFF. Cavendish, lord G. HOUSE OF COMMONS. Wednesday, May 7. EXPORTATION OF COTTON YARN.] Sir Oswald Mosely said, he held in his hand a Petition from the merchants, factors, warehousemen and others in the city of London, engaged in the trade of Cotton piece goods. The petitioners stated, that their trade was at present in a dreadful state of depression. This was, no doubt, owing to a combination of causes; but one of the most important was the unrestricted exportation of cotton yarn. This, in the opinion of the petitioners, was giving an encouragement to foreign manufacturers at the expense of our own. He should have moved for a select committee to examine into this subject, but he was deterred from so doing, not because the petitioners could not prove their case to the satisfaction of any committee, but because the period of the session was so much advanced, that no report on the subject could be received before the prorogation of parliament. The cotton yarn exported only amounted to 30,000,000 of pounds, leaving a difference of 60,000,000 of pounds weight, which must be absorbed in the cotton piece goods The observations in the petitions, and the remarks of his hon. friend, might lead the House to suppose that Great Britain had an exclusive possession of skill in the spinning of cotton yarn: but Great Britain possessed no such exclusive skill. Establishments for spinning cotton yarn existed in France, the Netherlands, Westphalia, Saxony, Silicia, Prussia, Austria, Bohemia and in other places. Had his hon. friend visited these countries, he would have found excellent yarn spun in their factories. The average nature of these factories was better than that of the factories of Great Britain. They were in possession of all our recent discoveries: the establishments were mostly directed by British spinners, and the machinery constructed by British mechanics. Great part of the nations of the continent had already either excluded cotton yarn, or loaded the importation of it with high duties. In Austria all yarns, but a small proportion of the very finest, were excluded. In Russia and Prussia the exportation was subject to a heavy duty. Under these circumstances, what other effect could be produced by the imposition of a duty on the exportation of yarn, but to shut it out altogether from the continent. A proposition more absurd than this never was uttered in any assembly. The great complaint on the continent was, that we were too much disposed to exercise an exclusive control The petition was brought up and read. over trade; and this led to jealousies on Mr. Philips said, it was necessary their part, attended with very serious de that a much more enlarged view should triment to our trade. He had little doubt be taken of the subject, and that more that if the proposition of his hon. friend liberal principles should be applied to its were adopted, it would lead to a bounty discussion, than had been laid down by his to cotton spinners, and an exclusion of hon. friend. His hon. friend had stated, British yarns. His hon. friend said it that in proportion as the exportation of cot- would lead to a temporary relief to the ton yarn had increased, the exportation cotton weavers, and dealers in piece goods; of cotton piece goods had decreased, and but this he very much doubted. The fact that the increase of the one was the cause was, that the sale of cotton yarn on the of the decrease of the other. It appeared continent was at present nearly imfrom official returns that the importation possible. His hon. friend had said that of cotton wool, on an average of ten years, the exporters of cotton yarn sold it on the previous to 1814, amounted to 72,000,000 continent cheaper than they did at home of pounds; whereas, on an average of the-how any person in his senses should inthree years, ending in 1815, 1816 and 1817, it amounted to 95,000,000 of pounds, making a difference of 23,000,000 of pounds weight increase in the three last years, compared with the ten preceding years. cur all the risk and trouble of conveying his goods to a foreign market, and subject himself to the risk of bad debts for the sake of selling his goods at a lower price than he could obtain at home, he was at a but he believed them to be true. He had received testimonials as to the character of the individual, signed by a great number of persons resident in Glasgow, and also a number of attestations of the truth of the statements. It was perfectly true that this petitioner, as well as every other person unjustly deprived of his liberty, was entitled to redress by the laws of his country. But notwithstanding the courts of law were open, still he thought the case of this petitioner was one which was peculiarly entitled to the attention of the House. The evidence of the charges against this man afforded no ground for detaining him, unless something could be extorted from him on his examination ; for the moment he and Weir denied the charges brought forward against them, they were immediately discharged. There was not, in fact, the slightest evidence against them. If this conduct of the sheriff depute was authorized by the law as it at present stood, he implored them to consider what would have been the situation of the subjects of Scotland if the bill for the suspension of the Habeas Corpus act had passed into a law, in the manner in which it was originally framed. loss to conceive. The average annual importation of cotton wool for 1792, 1793, and 1794, was not more than 26 millions of pounds weight; whereas, for 1814, 1815, and 1816, it was 95 millions. It might be said that this increase of trade was owing to the improvements made by the manufacturers of piece goods; but the fact was, that the whole increase was owing to the improvements made in the spinning machinery by Watts, Arkwright, and others. In this country the cotton spinners had great difficulties to contend with in the high taxes, and the high price of subsistence occasioned by high taxes. The rate of wages of cotton spinners on the continent was not half of what it was in this country. The hon. gentleman then went in to some details, to show that the opinion that the persons employed in the cotton factories in this country were in a miserable condition was totally unfounded, and that these persons were in general better off than persons engaged in other departments of our manufactures. Lord Stanley thought restrictions on the exportation of cotton yarn would only excite expectations which he was afraid might prove illusory. Ordered to lie on the table. The petition being read, accommodated with rooms as comfortable and convenient as could be procured; and as to the petitioner, the cell, as it was called, was better than the room from Mr. Finlay said, that, with respect to WRONGOUS IMPRISONMENT AT GLAS- the treatment of the persons who had been GOW-PETITION OF JOHN MONTGO-apprehended at Glasgow, they had been MERY, &c.] Sir S. Romilly said, he held in his hands a Petition, which he was desirous of bringing before the House when the hon. member for Glasgow was present. It was from a person of the name which he had been removed. Great huof John Montgomery, a weaver in Glas- manity and attention had been shown by gow, and one of those taken up on the the magistrates to all the unfortunate percharge of seditious and treasonable prac- sons, and he believed that they had even tices. On the 23d of February last he encouraged subscriptions for their families was taken up on a warrant of the sheriff, It was customary, however, in Scotland to his papers were seized, and he was conissue a warrant for the apprehension of veyed to prison, and confined there in a persons, without mentioning their christian small cell, six feet and a half by eleven, names, or specifying their situation in life. where he was left without food and subsist- If he were to go through all the stateence for 28 hours. He was kept three ments contained in the petition, he was days and two nights in confinement, and sure he could give a most satisfactory anthen brought before the sheriff depute, swer to every allegation. A more exagMr. Robert Hamilton, for examination.gerated account of privations had never He was a total stranger to all those matters, on account of which he had been arrested. He had attended no political meetings. On the conclusion of his examination, he was sent back again to his cell, and next day, without any further examination, dismissed. It was impossible for him, a total stranger, to answer to the truth of the facts conveyed in the petition; been made, and he was surprised that any one could venture to make so unfounded a statement. He was fully convinced of gentleman who presented the petition; the great humanity of the hon. and learned but in this case he had certainly been misled, respecting the facts of the case. Mr.J. P. Grant said, that having lately been at Glasgow, he felt it his duty to |