No. C. [V]

Or No. 16 of

[2d.

"All this passed much quicker than I can write it; we pushed off, and as we did so, the flames were issuing from our cabins, and the whole of the after part of the ship was in flames. The masts and sails now taking fire, we moved to a distance, sufficient to avoid the immediate explosion, but the flames were now coming out of the main hatchway; and seeing the rest of the crew, with the Captain, &c. still on board, we pulled back to her under the bows, so as to be most distant from the powder. As we approached, we perceived that the people from ou board were getting into another boat on the opposite side; shepushed off, we hailed her, "have you all on board?" "Yes, all save one." "Who is he?" "Johnson, sick in his cot." "Can we save him?" "No, impossible; the flames were then issuing from the hatchway" at this mouent the poor fellow, scorched, I imagined, by the flames, roared out most lustily, having run up on the deck. "I will go for him," says the Captain. The two boats then came together, and we took out some of the persons from the Captain's boat, which was overladen. He then pulled under the bowsprit of the ship, and picked the poor fellow up. "Are you all safe?" "Yes, we've got the man; all lives safe, thank God; pull off from the ship'; keep your eye on a star, Sir Stamford; there's one barely visible"

"We then hauled close to each other, and found the Captain fortunately had a compass, but we had no light but from the ship. Our distance from Bencoolen we estimated to be from twenty to thirty miles in a S.W. direction, there being no landing-place to the southward of Bencoolen, our only chance was to regain that port. The Captain then undertook to lead, and we to follow in a N.N.E. course as well as we could. No chance, no possibility being left that we could again approach the ship, for she was now one splendid flame fore and aft and aloft, her masts and sails in a blaze, and rocking to and fro, threatening to fall in instantly. There goes her mizenmast; pull away, my boys; there goes the gunpowder, thank God!

"You may judge of our situation without further particulars; the alarm was given at about twenty minutes past eight, and in less than ten minutes she was in flames; there was not a soul on board at half-past eight, and in less than ten minutes afterwards she was one grand mass of fire.

"My only apprehension was, the want of boats to hold the people, as there was not time to have got out the long boat, or make a raft-all we had to rely upon were two small boats, which fortunately were lowered without accident, and in these two small open boats, without a drop of water or grain of food, or a rag of covering, except what we happened at the moment to have on our backs, we embarked on the wide ocean, thankful to God for his mercies. Poor Sophia having been taken out of her bed, had nothing on but a wrapper, neither shoes nor stockings; the children were just as taken out of bed, whence one had been snatched after the flames had attacked it. In short there was not time for any one to think of more than two things"Can the ship be saved?" "No ;" "let us save ourselves then;" all else was swallowed up in one great ruin.

"To make the best of our misfortune, we availed ourselves of the light from the ship to steer a tolerably good course towards the shore; she continued to burn till about midnight, when the salt petre, of which she had 250 tons on board, took fire, and sent up one of the most splendid and brilliant flames that was ever seen, illumining the horizon in every direction, to an extent of not less than fifty miles, and casting that kind of blue light over us, which is, of all others, most luridly horrible. She burnt and continued to flame in this style for about an hour or two, when we lost sight of the object in a cloud of smoke.

"Neither Nelson, nor Mr. Bell, our medical friend, who accompanied us, had saved their coats: the shirt of mine, with a pocket handkerchief, served to keep Sophia's feet warm; and we made breeches for the children with our neckcloths. Rain now came on, but fortunately it was not of long continuance, and we got dry again, the night became serene and starlight. We were now certain of our course, and the men behaved manfully; they rowed incessantly, and with good heart and spirit, and never did poor mortals look out more for daylight and for land than we did. Not that our sufferings or grounds of complaint were any thing to what has often befallen others; but from Sophia's delicate health, as well as my own, and the

stormy nature of our coast, I felt perfectly convinced we were unable to undergo starvation, or exposure to currents. I feared we might fall to the southward of the port.

"At daylight we recognized the coast and Rat Island, which gave us great spirits, and though we found ourselves much to the southward of the port, we considered ourselves almost at home. Sophia had gone through the night better than could have been expected, and we continued to pull on with all our strength. About eight or nine o'clock we saw a ship standing to us from the roads; they had seen the flame on shore, and sent out vessels in all directions to our relief, and here certainly came a Minister of Providence, in the character of a Minister of the Gospel, for the first person 1 recognized was one of our Missionaries. They gave us a bucket of water, and we took the captain on board as a pilot. The wind, however, was adverse, and we could not reach the shore, and took to the ship, where we got some refreshment, and shelter from the sun. By this time, Sophia was quite exhausted, fainting continually. About two o'clock, we landed safe and sound, and no words of mine can do justice to the expression of feeling, sympathy, and kindness, with which we were hailed by every one. If any proof had been wanting that my administration had been satisfactory, here we had it unequivocally from all; there was not a dry eye, and as we drove back to our former home, loud was the cry of "God be praised.'

"But enough and I will only add, that we are now greatly recovered, in good spirits, and busy at work in getting ready-made clothes for present use. We went to bed at three in the afternoon, and I did not awake till six this morning. Sophia had nearly as sound a sleep, and with the exception of a bruise or two, and a little pain in the bones from fatigue, we have nothing to complain of.

"The property which I have lost, on the most moderate estimate, cannot be less than twenty thousand pounds, I might almost say thirty thousand. But the loss which I have to regret beyond all, is my papers and drawings; all my papers of every description, including my notes and observations, with memoirs and collections, sufficient for a full and ample history, not only of Sumatra, but of Borneo, and every other Island in these Seas; my intended account of the Establishment of Singapore; the history of my own administration; grammars, dictionaries, and vocabularies; and jast, not least, a grand map of Sumatra,

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WE can inform the Americans what are the inevitable cousequences of being too fond of glory:-Taxes upon every article which enters into the mouth, or covers the back, or is placed under the foot; taxes upon every thing which is pleasant to see, hear, feel, smell, and taste; taxes upon warmth, light, and locomotion; taxes on every thing on earth, and the water under the earth,-on every thing that comes from abroad, or is grown at home; taxes on the raw materials; taxes on every fresh value that is added to it by the industry of man; taxes on the sauce which pampers man's appetite, and the drug that restores him to health; on the ermine which decorates the judge, and the rope which hangs the criminal; on the poor man's salt, and the rich man's spice; on the brass nails of the coffin, and the ribands. of the bride; at bed or board, couchant or levant, we must pay the school boy whips his taxed top; the beardless youth manages his taxed horse, with a taxed bridle, on a taxed road: and the dying Englishman pouring his medicine, which has paid seven per cent., into a spoon which has paid fifteen per cent., Alings himself upon his chintz bed, which has paid twenty-two per cent., makes his will ou an eight pound stamp, and expires in the arms of an apothecary, who has paid a licence of £100 for the privilege of putting him to death. His whole property is then immediately taxed from two to ten per cent.; besides the probate, large fees are demanded for burying him in the chancel; his virtues are handed down to posterity on taxed marble; and he is then gathered to his fathers, to be taxed no more. HENRI.

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had waited on him merely as a testimony of respect, were seized by a military and civil force, and kept in close custody for several hours, subjected to gross and abusive insinuation from the commanding officer, relative to the character of

June 1, 1813.

LORD BYRON rose and said: MY LORDS, the Petition which I now hold for the purpose of presenting to the House, is one which I humbly conceive requires the particular attention of your Lordships, inasmuch as, though signed but by a single individual, it contains statements which (if not disproved) demand most serious investigation. The grievance of which the petitioner complains, is neither selfish nor imaginary. It is not his own only, for it has been and is still felt by numbers. No one without these walls, nor indeed within, but may to-morrow be made liable to the same insult and obstruction, in the discharge of an imperious duty for the restoration of the true constitution of these realms, by petitioning for reform in parliament. The petitioner, my Lords, is a man whose long life has been spent in one unceasing struggle for the liberty of the subject, against that undue influence which has increased, is increasing, and ought to be diminished; and whatever difference of opinion may exist as to his political tenets, few will be found to question the integrity of his intentions. Even now oppressed with years, and not exempt from the infirmities attendant on his age, but still unimpaired in talent, and unshaken in spirit "frangas non flectes"-he has received many a wound in the combat against corruption; and the new grievance, the fresh insult of which he complains, may inflict another scar, but no dishonour. The petition is signed by John Cartwright, and it was in behalf of the people and parliament, in the lawful pursuit of that reform in the representation, which is the best service to be rendered both to parliament and people, that he encountered the wanton outrage which forms the subject matter of his petition to your Lordships. It is couched in firm, yet respectful language-in the language of a man, not regardless of what is due to himself, but at the same time, I trust, equally mindful of the deference to be paid to this House. The petitioner states, amongst other matter of equal, if not greater importance, to all who are British in their feelings, as well as blood and birth, that on the 21st January, 1813, at Huddersfield, himself and six other persons, who, on hearing of his arrival,

was finally carried before a magistrate and not released till an examination of his papers proved that there was not only no just, but not even statutable charge against him; and that, notwithstanding the promise and order from the presiding magistrates of a copy of the warrant against your petitioner, it was afterwards withheld on divers pretexts, and has never until this hour been granted. The names and condition of the parties will be found in the petition. To the other topics touched upon in the petition, I shall not now advert, from a wish not to encroach upon the time of the House; but I do most sincerely call the attention of your Lordships to its general contents

it is in the cause of the parliament and people that the rights of this venerable freeman have been violated,and it is in my opinion, the highest mark of respect that could be paid to the House, that to your justice, rather than by appeal to any inferior court, he now commits himself, Whatever may be the fate of his remoustrance, it is some satisfaction to me, though mixed with regret for the occasion, that I have this opportunity of publicly stating the obstructions to which the subject is liable, in the prosecution of the most lawful and imperious of his duties, the obtaining by petition reform in parliament. I have shortly stated his complaint; the petitioner has more fully expressed it. Your Lordships will, I hope, adopt some measure fully to protect and redress him, and not him alone, but the whole body of the people insulted and aggrieved in his person, by the interposition of an abused civil, and unlawful military force between them and their right of petition to their own representatives.

His Lordship then presented the petition from Major Cartwright, which was read, complaining of the circumstances at Huddersfield, and of interruptions given to the right of petitioning, in several places in the northern parts of the kingdom, and which his Lordship moved should be laid on the table.

•

Several Lords having spoken on the question,

LORD BYRON replied, that he had, from motives of duty, presented this petition to their Lordships' consideration. The noble Earl had contended that it was not a petition, but a speech;