MONUMENT TO THE MEMORY OF CAPTAIN FAULKNOR.

THIS

April 14.

HIS day General Smith moved, "That an humble address be presented to his majesty, That he will be graciously pleased to give directions, that a monument be erected in the collegiate church of Saint Peter, at Westminster, to the memory of Captain Faulknor, who commanded his majesty's frigate Blanche, and who fell gloriously on the 5th of January 1795, in an action with the French frigate La Pique, which was captured; and to assure his majesty, that this House will make good the expence attending the same." The motion was seconded by Mr. Grey, and opposed by Mr. Windham. No man, he said, was more ready than himself to allow, that no actions could have been more brilliant, and no life more illustrious, than those of Captain Faulknor. But the rule hitherto in usage was in opposition to the motion now proposed, and forbad them to give way to their feelings on the present occasion. What, he asked, had formerly been the case, with respect to Captain Gardener, and more recently with respect to Captain Courtenay, who had both fallen gloriously in the service of their country? Neither of these officers had any public monument erected to their memory. The rule had been only to erect monuments to those officers who fell in great and general actions, though the merit of those who perished in separate actions might be equally, and perhaps, even more distinguished. Honours must go either by rule or by discretion. They became less valuable by being lavishly bestowed. If the principle was to be extended, why should not lieutenants and midshipmen, who signalized themseves, come in for a share of the same distinctions? What he objected to in the present instance was, that the claims of individuals should be brought forward in that House for separate discussion. In order to get rid of the motion in the most respectful way, he should move that the other orders of the day be now read.

Mr. Fox said, that he should have thought it wise, reasonable, and just, to have at once assented to a motion founded on the ground of extraordinary merit. The right honourable gentleman had, however, thought proper to answer it by a long story of a rule which no where appeared. The right honourable gentleman had laid down a very true principle, that honours did not become more valuable in proportion as they were lavishly bestowed, and he wished it had been more attended to in the distribution of the votes of thanks last session. But, would the honour of any of the British heroes be tarnished by having the monument YOL. V.

FF

of Captain Faulknor placed next to theirs? Would not the catalogue rather receive fresh splendour from the addition of so illustrious a name? When the right honourable gentleman laid so much stress on precedents, was he afraid that the precedents for conferring honours on such singular and extraordinary merit might become too numerous? He was sure that there was no precedent in which such a motion as the present had been brought forward and refused; and he trusted that the House on the present occasion would attend to the dictates of their own feelings and the national honour, rather than the authority of the right honourable gentleman.

After a short conversation, Mr. Windham professed his readiness to withdraw his motion for the other orders of the day if some mode could be found of adjourning the original motion, in order to search for precedents. The question was accordingly put and negatived. He then moved, "That the debate on the original motion be adjourned till Monday next." As soon as the motion had been seconded,

Mr. Fox rose and declared, that after attending to all that had been said of rule and precedent, he must reprobate in the strongest terms the motion now made; a motion which he would venture to say, was one of the most indecent, irregular, and disgraceful, that could have been made in that House. He wished to ask, on the subject of rules and precedents, by what rule or by what precedent they were to estimate the merits of officers who had distinguished themselves in an extraordinary manner? How could similar services be compared? And how could rules be made to direct and regulate the feelings of men upon such a subject? In his opinion it was impossible, and he hoped he should hear no more of that sort of argumenta sort of argument which, he would venture to say, never had been used in that House before, and one that he never imagined could have been urged against the motion of his honourable friend. But when the conduct of Captain Faulknor was admitted and known to them all, to be as gallant, as heroic, and as meritorious, as any that the page of history could boast of, it must seem rather extraordinary, that upon so extraordinary an occasion, a motion should be made for a committtee to search for precedents, as if that committee could search into the minds of the House and the minds of the public, for the degree of honour the country had reaped from the conduct of a brave officer, the degree of gratitude which his country owed him for his services, or the degree of warmth with which that House ought to express their feelings on such His honourable friend (Mr. Grey) had very properly

a case.

brought forward the instance of the Earl of Chatham. Diditenter the head of any man at that time to talk of rules and precedents for granting rewards and honours so justly merited? Certainly not and the case was somewhat similar, even upon the arguments of the right honourable gentleman who wished to search for precedents; for though there had been many able and good ministers, whose services had passed unnoticed by monuments, yet that sort of negative rule was not even started, nor did he believe there was a man at the time that could have thought of it. As to getting rid of the original motion, he was extremely sorry that any such idea had ever been entertained; but of all modes that could have been adopted, that of appointing a committee to search for precedents was the most unworthy, and, he must add, disgraceful to the House, that could have been suggested. This committee were to tell them, he supposed, what their feelings ought to be with respect to the merits of brave men, and what feelings were necessary to constitute a wish to express a sense of gratitude, either by honours or rewards, for services performed to the public. To decide upon the original motion, was the only way to do justice to such a case. And if they did not, and went into this committee of inquiry, he wished to know how the result would affect the House. If upon this search no precedent was found, which might be very likely, what would they do then? Perhaps they thought they enhanced the value of this tribute of respect, by considering the case after inquiry, as one upon which only such a testimony of national gratitude ought to be bestowed. Again, upon the much-argued point of rule and precedent, he would say once for all, that he knew of no such rule as had been alluded to, and he even denied that any such existed. If it did, it never had been stated. In the case of the Earl of Chatham, the House had, much to their credit, in his opinion, gone greatly farther than voting a monument to his memory; they amply and liberally provided for his family, and, small as the share he had in that transaction, there was no vote he had ever given that afforded him more satisfaction. What was the conduct of the House upon that occasion? Did any body think of searching for precedents? No; the only precedent mentioned was that of the Duke of Marlborough; but in his case it was because he had been a successful general, and by his victories had essentially served his country; the House of Commons, however, did not look to this as a rule or precedent, but considering that the Earl of Chatham had likewise rendered essential services to the state, were unanimously of opinion, that all who equally promoted the interests of the nation were equally intitled to the honours and rewards which their services merited. Mr.

Fox concluded by warmly exhorting the House to support the original motion, and to resist the adjournment, for the purpose of appointing a committee of inquiry, as derogatory to the honour and character of a British House of Commons, and highly unpopular and disgraceful in the eyes of the nation.

The question being put, That the debate be adjourned till Monday, the House divided:

KING'S MESSAGE RESPECTING AN ESTABLISHMENT FOR THE PRINCE AND PRINCESS OF WALES.

May 14.

THE marriage of his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales to the Princess Caroline of Brunswick having taken place on the 8th of April, the following message from the king was delivered to the House of Commons on the 27th:

"GEORGE R.

"His majesty relies on the liberality and affection of his faithful Commons, and on the cordial interest which they have manifested in the bappy event of the nuptials of the Prince and Princess of Wales, that they will be ready to concur in such provision as they may judge necessary, to enable his majesty to settle an establishment for the Prince and Princess, suited to their rank and dignity. On an occasion, in all other respects so satisfactory, his majesty feels the deepest regret in being under the necessity of communicating to the House, that the benefit of any settlement to be now made, cannot beeffectually secured to the Prince of Wales, without providing the means of freeing him from incumbrances to a large amount, to which he is now subject. Anxious as his majesty must necessarily be, particularly under the present. circumstances, to relieve the Prince of Wales from these difficulties, his majesty entertains no idea of proposing to his parliament to make any provision for this object, otherwise than by the application of a part of the income which may be settled on the prince; but he earnestly recommends it to the House, to consider of the propriety of thus providing for the gradual discharge of these incumbrances, by appropriating and securing, for a given term, the revenues arising from the duchy of Cornwall, together with a proportion

of the prince's other annual income: and his majesty will be ready and desirous to concur in any provisions, which the wisdom of parliament may suggest, for the purpose of establishing a regular and punctual order of payment in the prince's future expenditure, and of guarding against the possibility of the prince being again involved in so painful and embarrassing a situation."-The said message was taken into consideration on the 14th of May, when Mr. Hussey proposed to have resource to the crown-lands, as a proper fund on this occurrence: their annual produce did not exceed 6oool.; but might with due management be carried to 400,000l. But his proposal was negatived; and Mr. Pitt proceeded to call the attention of the House to the propriety of making, without delay, a settlement of an adequate income for the prince, and of a jointure for the princess: 100,000l., eighty years ago, constituted, he said, the whole revenue of his great grandfather, George II. then Prince of Wales; and the income of his grandfather, thirty years after, amounted to the like sum, exclusive of the duchy of Cornwall, computed at 13,000l. annually. The diminished value of money required a larger allowance; and the least that the prince had a right to expect was 140,000l. including the duchy of Cornwall. The marriage expences, he stated at 28,000l., the completing of Carlton-house at 26,000l., and the jointure of the princess at 50,000l. a year. He would leave it to the House to decide on the best manner of liquidating the prince's debts, which he calculated at 630,000l., advising, at the same time, to consult on the business in a secret committee, as being the most expeditious method. His opinion was, that 25,000l. ought yearly to be appropriated to the extinguishing of the debts, and set apart from the prince's income for that sole purpose: by such a regulation, they would be paid off in the course of twenty-seven years. In case of his deinise before the expiration of that period, that sum would be annually charged on the succession; but were a demise of the crown and of the prince to happen within that period, the charge would be laid on the consolidated fund. In order to obviate the incurring of farther debts, no arrears should be suffered to go beyond the quarter, and no claims, after its expiration admitted. Mr. Pitt concluded with moving, "That his majesty be enabled to grant a yearly sum or sums of money, out of the consolidated fund, not exceeding in the whole the sum of 65,000l., to take place, and.be computed, from the 10th of October 1794, towards providing for the esta blishment of their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales."-Mr. Grey said that he would not oppose the granting of an establishment to the prince, equal to that of his ancestors; but neither would he consent to the payment of his debts by parliament. Other means ought to be resorted to than the liberality of the nation, which would be very ill-timed in a season of so much difficulty and pressure, and no less ill-applied, when the manner of contracting the debts was duly considered. A refusal to liberate the prince from his embarrassments would certainly prove a mortification; but it would, at the same time, awaken a just sense of his imprudence. He would, therefore, move as an amendment, "That in lieu of 65,000l., the sum of 40,000l. be inserted."