HISTORY OF EUROPE. [14T 



such petty concerns ; and that it 

 was in the present case absurd, as the 

 practice was already falling so much 

 into disuse ; and that it seemed as if 

 the bill had been brought in now, 

 lest it should be quite abolished be- 

 fore it could be passed. Mr. Wind- 

 ham concluded a very ingenious 

 and pretty long speech, by moving, 

 " That the consideration of the re- 

 port of the committee on the bill 

 should be delayed till that day 

 three months." 



. Sir William Pulteney spoke much 

 of the cruelty of bull-baiting ; a 

 cruelty much greater than that of 

 hunting or shooting : for, in bull- 

 baiting, a poor animal was tied to 

 a stake, with no means of defence 

 or escape, and tormented and tor- 

 tured for a whole day, or even for 

 several succeeding days. He also 

 spoke of the drunkenness, riot, and 

 dissipation, among the lower classes, 

 which bull-baiting occasioned — 

 The following was a pretty home- 

 stroke to Mr. Windham : " If bull- 

 baiting is declining and getting 

 so much into disuse, as the honour- 

 able gentleman would represent, I 

 wonder that he does not propose to 

 grant a bounty for its encourage- 

 ment. But it is rather against part 

 of the right honourable gentle- 

 man's arguments, that though it is 

 SO much neglected now, the warlike 

 spirit of the nation has not at all 

 declined. Has not as great courage 

 been displayed in the course of the 

 present war, by our soldiers and 



I sailors, as at any former period ?" 

 Mr. Canning did not understand 

 whether the honourable baronet 

 meant to say, that the shocking 

 cruelty of bull-baiting was cruel to 

 thedogs, orto thebull. The amuse- 

 ment, he said, was a most excellent 

 I j one ; it inspired courage, and pro- 



duced a nobleness of sentiment and 

 elevation of mind. He could see 

 no objection to this manly and ge- 

 nerous amusement, which might not 

 be urged against almost any other. 

 The dogs were indeed dangerous, 

 and accidents might happen from 

 the bulls getting loose ; but, if the 

 legislature were to interfere, for the 

 purpose of stopping every practice 

 which might possibly be productive 

 of mischief to any individual, the 

 house might sit, unremittingly, 

 making new laws; and many whim- 

 sical laws they would make. He 

 himself lately, when walking down 

 Ludgate-HUl, had seen an over- 

 grown ox overturn and gore a little 

 old woman with a red cloak. How 

 would the house have looked, had 

 he that night brought in a bill, with 

 this preamble: '^ Whereas an over- 

 grown ox did, on Ludgate-Hill, 

 overturn and gore a little old wo- 

 man in a red cloak, be it enacted, 

 &c." What would the house think 

 of a hill founded on an accident to 

 a little old woman in a red cloak f 



Mr. Sheridan said, that when he 

 came into the house, Mr. Wind- 

 ham was prefacing his speech with 

 some observations on the hypocrisy 

 of those who professed themselves 

 very solicitous with regard to the 

 comforts of the poor, and consider- 

 ing the best system of laws to pro- 

 mote their amusement and happi- 

 ness. He had asked what was be- 

 fore the house, and his astonishment 

 was great, when he was told that 

 it was bull-baiiing. — It had been 

 said, that this was a noble diversion, 

 and the source of the braveiy, gal- 

 lantry, and generosity of English- 

 men. What effects bull-baiting 

 might produce in Spain, he would 

 not determine ; but there the men 

 did not employ dogs to attack the 



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