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services. He should mention the case of that distinguished and gallant officer, Crawford, who died upon the breach at the capture of Ciudad Rodrigo. That gallant officer had left a family, had never been in any lucrative situations, and had no means to save money for provision for them. The provision which Mr. Perceval himself thought proper to recommend in that case, was S001. per annum for the widow, and 1007. a year for each of the children. The provision that was first proposed for Mr. Perceval's family had his assent, but, however painful, he felt it an act of duty to oppose any thing farther being granted.

Sir J. Nichol said, that the House had been called upon to appeal to their judgments, and not their feelings; and the more they had appealed to their judgments, the more they appeared convinced the first proposition did not go far enough. When the House were unanimous in expressing their sense of Mr. Perceval's public as well as private virtues, they of course did not pledge themselves to approve of all his public measures, or public principles. His diligence in the public service, his temper, manliness, and sincerity, were public virtues which every body had allowed. In his opinion, so far from a liberal reward, the House had hardly come up to the measure of cold justice. He had quitted, for the public service, one of the most lucrative situations in a lucrative profession; he had given up the grant made to him of the Duchy of Lancaster; he had given up for many years the emoluments of the office of Chancellor of the Exchequer, and be had given to the public service places which he might have kept for the provision of his own family. When such a man had been assassinated within the walls of Parliament, he thought a full remuneration was due to him for all the sacrifices he had made. He did not know from what quarter those great expectations which had been stated by the hon. gent. were to proceed. Lord Arden had a large family of his own to educate and provide for.-Indeed it appeared to him that the country should adopt the family of Mr. Perceval, and not require any interference from any other quarter. It would hold out a lesson to such as might in future meditate the assassination of Ministers, that the nation would take care of the families and of the memories of such Ministers, and that their views to injure them would be thus in a great heasure disappointed. hon. gent. had compared this to the case of naval and military commanders. He saw no analogy. They knew at

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least, when they entered their professions, they were exposed to a death of that nature: but how could Mr. Perceval, in relinquishing the Bar for the public service as a Minister, conceive himself to be liable to being assassinated at the door of that House for the faithful discharge of his duty? In such a case he thought a full remuneration was due.

Sir John Newport said, that he felt ready to agree to what was first proposed, with the view of marking the abhorrence of the House at the atrocious action which had been committed, and of giving a suitable relief to his afflicted family. He thought, however, if more was to be done, that it must appear like a recognition of public services. The House had, at first, been unanimous in agreeing to what had been proposed to them. He did not see what new light had broken in upon them since, to make them extend the grant. All the circumstances of the case, and that of the family, had been taken into consideration at the first, and he did not see why that unanimity was now to be thrown away which then appeared so valuable.

Mr. Barham thought that the family of Mr. Perceval was entitled to a liberal provision, inasmuch as he lost his life in the discharge of his public duty.-(Hear!) He thought that on this account a liberal grant ought to be made, independent of the nature of the public measures which he recommended. If he had placed any man as steward over his estate, and that man was murdered in his house while faithfully discharging his duty, he would feel himself bound to give the family of that man a full remuneration for their loss, without considering his system of ma. naging the estate. The same course appeared to him to be the duty of the House to Mr. Perceval's family.

Sir F. Burdett felt great reluctance in being obliged to oppose the grant, as being a grant of public money not resting on the ground of public services. If he were bound to speak of Mr. Perceval as a Minister, he must say that he saw no claims to approbation or remuneration, but, on the contrary, strong grounds of reprobation. As to his private virtues, he had not an opportunity of knowing them as well as some other gentlemen; but he did not think that private virtues were sufficient to justify a large grant of public money, especially in times of such distress as the present. He would much rather that the compassion for Mr. Perceval's family should be testified by a private subscription to a larger amount even than what had been proposed to Par

liament; and if such a measure were set on foot, he should feel great pleasure in subscribing largely to it. As a guardian, however, of the public purse, and recollecting the numbers of families now in the most bitter distress, he could not feel justified in voting any more of their money on the present occasion. If they could lay their hands on a sum of money in the Exchequer belonging to nobody, he would be very happy that it was so applied; but when it was recollected that every shilling which is there had been wrung from the distresses of the country-and when it was recollected by what vexatious surcharges it was collected from people who could ill afford to pay those taxes, he could not feel justified in voting such large sums on other grounds than services performed to the public. It had been stated, as he thought somewhat unfairly, that Mr. Perceval's pub lic life had been devoted to the public service, for which he sacrificed other pursuits. Would it be forgotten, however, how much of the public money Mr. Perceval had received throughout the greatest part of his life? Could the public forget what very large sums had been received from sinecure places by other members of his family? In his political career he might have been actuated by a laudable ambition, but it was too much to say that he had entirely sacrificed himself to the public service. He saw strong reasons for doing what compassion to his own family required, and in that the House had been unanimous; but he was obliged to oppose any thing farther.

Mr. Huskisson, at considerable length, supported the motion that he had originally proposed, of an additional grant of 1000l. per annum to the eldest son of Mr. Perceval. He was now just of an age to enter into the University; and if he were reduced to a pittance of 4000l. which, after deducting the Property-tax, would give him but 180l. per annum, it would be most evident that neither at the University, the Bar, nor the Senate, could he support himself at all in the manner that he would have done if his father had not been cut off. Under those circumstances he thought it but justice to the eldest son of Mr. Perceval, to enable him to pursue that course of life that had been marked out for him by his father.

Mr. Home Sumner adverted to what his honourable friend on the floor (Mr. Whitbread) had spoken of collateral expectations on the part of the late Mr. Perceval's family. On this point, he believed he was justified in stating, that it VOL. III.-1812.

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was only from her mother's provision as a widow, that Mrs. Perceval's or her family's expectations could arise, and that therefore they could not be rated very high. He would say, that if the private accounts of Mr. Perceval were looked into, it would be seen that at his lamented death he was infinitely a poorer man than when he first entered the service of his country. He thought it also but fair to observe, that by the Bill of his honourable friend (Mr. Bankes), now in its progress, and by the Resolutions on which it was founded, and received the sanction of the House, Mr. Perceval, who had been five years in office, would have been entitled to a pension of 3000l. a year, in the event of his resignation, which would have been very nearly equal in amount to all that it was now proposed to bestow, though the death of that gentleman was attended with circumstances which had so greatly excited the feelings of the House and the country.

The question being then loudly called for, a division took place, when there appeared

For the Resolution
Against it

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HOUSE OF LORDS.

THURSDAY, MAY 21.

The House met about one o'clock, and resolved itself into a Committee on the Orders in Council.

The examination of Mr. Finlay was finished; Mr. Bailey, of Sheffield, Messrs. Nailor, Mullins, Rawson, Bennet, Holforth, and other witnesses, were examined.

Soon after nine the House resumed, and after appointing the Committee to sit again on Monday at two o'clock, adjourned.

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HOUSE OF COMMONS.

THURSDAY, MAY 21.

Lord Castlereagh brought up, by order of the House, a copy of the letter written by Lord Granville Leveson Gower to Lord Viscount Castlereagh, respecting the statement of the assassin Bellingham, the letter bearing date the 17th of May, 1812.-Ordered to lie on the table.

CHANGE OF MINISTERS.

Mr. Stewart Wortley rose, pursuant to his notice of yesterday, to submit to the House a motion for an Address to the Prince Regent, praying his Royal Highness to take such measures as may be best calculated to form an efficient Administration. He was anxious to state frankly to the House, his motive, object, and the general grounds upon which he had felt it to be his duty to submit to them the present motion. He was anxious, in the first place, to prevent, by the interposition of that House, the complete formation of a Ministry then forming, under circumstances that left no reason to doubt their incompetency to carry on the affairs of the country. It was notorious that an Adminis tration was now upon the eve of being formed, which no disinterested man thought adequate to meet the exigencies of the times-an Administration, so far from being able to conduct the Government of the country, in any way conducive to the safety and prosperity of the empire, and their own honour, that it was to be apprehended their continuance in power could only serve to plunge us deeper into those difficulties, from which they were utterly unable to rescue us―(hear, hear!) For himself he was free to say, that he thought it a more manly part to resist in limine the formation of such a Government, than to look idly on while it was forming, and afterwards commence a systematic opposition against it-(hear, hear!) He was sure that if the real sense of the people was conveyed to the Prince Regent through their constitutional organ, the House of Commons, praying for a Government better calculated to meet the claims of the present awful crisis; he felt satisfied that if such an Address was carried, it must lead directly to the formation of a wise and capable Ministry. He did not

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