House Of Commons.

conveyed a direct censure upon the Chancellor of tlie Exchequer . The division upon this question was—Ayes , 60—Noes , 206—Majority in favour of the Minister , 146 . ' ' ' — Thursday 18 . Mr . St . John rose to make his promised motion . It was a subject of the highest importance , he said , to rescue from the grave the remains of our gallan * army in the pestilential island of St . Domingo ; and the concentration of our army at home was also indispensably necessary , since the Emperor had made

3 peace . It had , indeed , been a folly to attempt the conquest of an Island where they had to oppose 60 , 000 French national guards , 9000 men of colour in arms , and 10 , 000 disciplined negroes . The consequence was such as might have been expected . At the end of 1796 we found ourselves deprived of all the strong holds our troops had taken possession of within ten days from their first arrival . This negative success had been achieved at the expeuce of 5 , 479 , 000 k and up to the 30 th of November last , 7 , 500 men had lost their lives , of whom only 500 had perished by the sword . Two hundred and forty officers had died in the short period of two months . From all these circumstances , he contended , that the House ought to interfere , and desire Ministers to recall the troops . He therefore moved an Address to his Majesty , •praying him to withdraw his troops from St . Domingo . '

Mr . Dundas justified Ministers upon the general ground of its having alwaysbeen the policy of this Country , in time of war , to attend to its Colonial possessions . In the war which ended 1-6 3 , though a system of conquest had been unremittingly pursued , less advantages had been obtained than in the present . Of all the produce of that country , St . Domingo furnished a third , which , at the present rate of West Indian produce , amounted to seven millions annually ; and that produce it was , that was the foundation of the French commerce and marine . The possession of St . Domingo was also an object of importance in another point

of view ; for , if it had remained in the hands of the insurgents , Jamaica would not have been worth one year ' s purchase . Nobody could have foreseen that it would have proved so unhealthy a grave ; and , after all , a much greater mortality had prevailed at the Havannah in the last war . The situation we held was also an object of negociation . Pie should therefore oppose the motion . The House divided on the question . —Against the motion , 116 . —For it , 31 . Friday 19 . The Chancellor of the Exchequer moved' That humble Ad

, an - dress be presented to his Majesty , to . congratulate his Majesty on the happy Nuptial of the Princess Hoyal will ) his Serene Highness the Hereditary Prince of Wirtemberg . '—Carried nem . con . He moved another to the Queen ' ; , and also , ' That a congratulatory Message be sent to the Princess Royal and his Serene ' Highness the Hereditary Prince of 'Wirtemberg . ' —Carried nem , con .

DISMISSAL OV MINISTERS . Mr . Combe wished so momentous a business had fallen into abler hands ; but whatever fate awaited it , he must perform his duty to his Constituents , by whom he was directed to bring it forward . He then passed in review the whole conduct of Ministers since secret influence introduced them into office in 1784 . Their armaments against Spain and Russia , contrary to the cry of the nation ; their war With France ; the various reasons they had successively given for its continuance ; and their weak and equivocal attempt to treat for —from all this

peace he inferred , that their insincerity was evident ; and he contended that their abusive and irritating language against the French , and their frequent declarations that the war was against French principles , made it manifest that they could never conclude an honourable or advantageous peace wiih France . He therefore concluded , bv moving , ' That an humble Address be presented to his Majesty , praying that he will be pleased to dismiss from his Councils his present Ministers , as the . best means of obtaining a speedy and honourable peace . ' This motion was seconded by Sir Milner

W . . Mr . Alderman Curtis was against the motion ,, . and said , his colleague had not quite followed the instructions of his constituents , who directed him to call Ministers weak and wicked . Mr . Alderman Anderson did not think his Majesty's Ministers weak and wicls-?«; but he thought many of their opponents , out " of the House , were wicked indeed ! Mr . Hobhouse endeavoured to shew that the war had originated with this country , and not with France ; . and that the prohibition of the exportation of 'VOL . is ,. XX .