rose to make a motion, of which he had given notice, and which he felt it his duty to do, notwithstanding the accusations which had been alledged against him, that he was always bringing tales of woe before the House, and lending too credulous an ear to idle reports and unfounded charges. He would, however, say, that if the House knew half the complaints that were made to him, it would, in his opinion, declare him (instead of being too credulous) one who rather turned a deaf ear to them. The case which he then felt it his duty to lay before the House, he considered as one of the most cruel and unmerited he had ever heard; and however much had been said of the necessity of enforcing naval discipline, he was assured that the House would feel as be did, that It was a case of most unwar- ranted and unnecessary degradation and cruelty. At a time when the Diadem, captain Phillimore, was lying at Chatham, alongside a hulk, Mr. Hancock, the unfortunate gentleman, the subject of his complaint (for he was a gentleman by birth, as well as by the situation he held in his country's service) was ordered, by the master, to go from the hulk on board of the Diadem, in order to quell some disturbance which had taken place on board her. Mr. Hancock had lost one of his legs and part of the thigh at the battle of Trafalgar, and having at the time he received this order to go on board the Diadem, broken his wooden leg, he remonstrated with the master, stating his inability to go along the plank which communicated between the hulk and the vessel. Next day a formal complaint was made to captain Phillimore, who ordered him to go aloft and stand in the rigging with his uniform turned. On his stating: the impossibility of standing in the rigging with a wooden leg, captain Phillimore sent for the captain of the sweepers, and ordered him to take him into his gang, make him sweep the ship, and if he did not, to get him well started (beaten with a rope's end), Mr. Hancock again remonstrated against this treatment, and desired that his conduct might be investigated by a court martial. On this captain Phillimore had him tied up to the rigging, his small clothes let down, and in that situation he received three dozen and two lashes. He was convinced that the House would say with him, that this was not treatment which a master's mate (as Mr. Hancock was) ought to have received. It was true, that a court of inquiry had been instituted on the conduct of captain Phillimore, but the proceedings had never been made public, and indeed he did not think that it was the proper mode of investigating' conduct which ought to have been the subject of a court martial. The hon. baronet concluded by moving, that a copy of the minutes taken on a court of inquiry, held on captain Phillimore, of the Diadem, on the complaint of—Hancock, master's mate of that ship, be laid before the House.

expressed his regret that the hon. baronet should have lent a ready ear to representations like these, without making inquiry at the Admiralty whether the,. allegations were true or false. It was true that Mr. Hancock had written to the Admiralty, requesting that a court of in- quiry might be held on captain Phillimore's conduct; and as soon as they could both be brought face to face, (which could not be done until some months had elapsed,) the inquiry was held by captains Bolton, Ball, and sir A. Dixon, who reported that the punishment was deserved, and the representations of captain Phillimore undenied by Mr. Hancock himself. Mr. Hancock's uncle was boatswain of a guard-ship, and on his account, and because Mr. Hancock was an orphan, captain Phillimore had been induced to excuse his repeated errors until they, at last, arrived at a point to which indulgence could not follow them. Captain Phillimore had transmitted to the Admiralty copies of letters from the young man and his uncle, expressive of their obligations to him for his indulgence towards the complainant's errors. The hon. gentleman trusted the House would see no necessity for entertaining this motion.

said, that he had certainly not received this account from the unfortunate gentleman himself, but from some casual informant; and he hoped it would not operate to the disadvantage of Mr. Hancock. For his own part, he did not wish to press the motion on the House, reserving to himself the power of again bringing it forward if he saw a more urgent occasion.

The motion was withdrawn.