that the premium paid by the trade on that sum amounts to 445,000_l._; that the losses by captures amount to 61,000_l._; that the losses by sea risks extended to 69,000_l._; and that the profits to the underwriters amount to the sum of 314,000_l._; the losses by captures being under one per cent, on the principal insured, and exceeded by those arising from sea-risks; while the former have occurred beyond the influence, or have been a consequence of a departure from that regular system of convoy, by which the commerce of the western division of the peninsula of India has been so extensively benefited.

“—­That the advantage resulting from protection by convoys, which the trade of this port has thus experienced, has originated in that system which was established, and has prevailed, since the succession to the command of H.M.’s ships in India by Sir Edward Pellew; a system proposed at his express invitation, in the letter addressed to his Excellency by the three leading firms in behalf of the merchants of Bombay, on the 12th of February, 1806, and adopted in the reply of his Excellency’s secretary of the following day.

“—­That at a time when the enemy has sacrificed his maritime reputation, and every feeling of naval ambition, to a degrading system of privateering, in the prosecution of which national ships of superior force and construction are employed, for the purpose of committing depredations on our trade, it is indispensable to the successful prosecution of our commercial interests, essential to our national credit, and justly due to the character of those to whom the protection of these valuable and important trusts is committed, that a steady adherence to that system should be observed, of the solid advantages of which, the experience of three years has afforded so decided a proof.

“—­That independently of the ample protection afforded to the commerce of the port, his Excellency Sir Edward Pellew has manifested a degree of personal anxiety for the security of its trade, characteristic of that zeal and vigilance which have ever distinguished his professional career; that the interference of his Excellency led to the advertisements issued at his suggestion by the insurance society of Bombay in the year 1806, promotive of encouragement to sail and continue under convoy; and subsequently, to the salutary provisions contained in the proclamations published by the governments of Bengal and Bombay in the year 1807, restrictive of the practice of ships separating from convoy; and, moreover, that his Excellency’s solicitude in this respect has succeeded in establishing a degree of control over our shipping, hitherto unknown in the Indian seas.

“—­That these important facts, as established by the most minute investigation, do eminently entitle his Excellency Sir Edward Pellew, to a more formal declaration of those grateful acknowledgments which he has already received from a great and decided