and the last was the principal one on which he dwelt. Now, upon each of these I shall make some general observations; but as I did on the first day of the session, so I shall at the present moment, avoid detail upon these topics, partly because a minuteness in general is dry and tedious, and partly because I speak in the hearing of many who have better judgments than I have, especially on the subject of paper-money. The preliminary observations are, that there is waste in the consumption of the army and navy; there is great expense in importation from abroad; and there is a depreciation in the relative value of the circulating medium by the increase of the paper. First, I will observe, that all these causes are not peculiar to the present year; for many of them have been stated to exist in as great, and some of them in a greater degree than they do at present. In the years 1798 and 1799, we had a greater number of military forces than we have at present; and as to the stoppage of the payment of the bank, that stoppage has taken place for some time, and the difference between the paper circulating medium of that time and the present is very inconsiderable. As to the taxes, which are supposed most to operate to raise the price of articles, there are none of them that bear hard upon the farmer, and can therefore have no immediate effect on the price of corn. None of these can have been the great cause of the high price of provisions, because when these were at their height, provisions were infinitely cheaper than they are at present; nor can the war be the cause of the price, because the taxes have been felt as severely as they are now, (within about 400,000. which was added last year,) and yet the high price of provisions was not known when all these causes operated.

Here Mr. Pitt took a view of the beneficial effects of the land-tax redemption bill, the operation of the sinking fund, and the policy of raising supplies within the year, as had been done by the assessed taxes and the income bill, which he considered indeed as a solid system of finance, but which he did not apprehend would become perpetual in time of peace, as the honourable gentleman had stated, for it was capable of modification as it now stood; and it would

present exaction; it would otherwise in some respects change its character, being only a war-tax; however opportunities would occur hereafter to consider these topics. As to exchequer bills, he had to observe, that they ought not to be considered as currency, except such of them as were of short dates. It was much talked of, that the exchequer bills were a mass of paper which was injurious to the public; but this year they had been circulated at a premium instead of a discount, which they usually were at; this, he contended, proved beyond dispute that the market was not, as the honourable gentleman contended, overstocked with a circulating medium, for if that were so, these bills could not possibly be at a premium, they must of necessity be at a discount: from these points the honourable gentleman had given a general state of the finance of the country. He did not conceive that this was a time for going into a minute detail upon this subject; and he thought the House would feel no difficulty in deciding that it was not necessary to go into a committee on the state of the nation, in order to enquire into these things; for many of them had already not only been discussed generally, but particularly, and very much in detail, in a committee of the whole House; various resolutions had been founded on them, and there had not been offered in this discussion any thing that ought to change the sentiments of the House upon the subject.

But the honourable gentleman had made one observation which merited particular attention; he had stated, by way of alternative, that either the present system must continue, and the bank-payment in specie remain suspended, (which he said would by-and-by ruin the country altogether,) or else the bank should resume its payments in cash, and then it would be impossible to continue the contest. Now, this was a dilemma in which he hoped the House would never find this country. He hoped and trusted that we were neither reduced to the one nor the other of these two points, but that we should be able to continue that system by which we had hitherto avoided danger, and that we were far from being under any necessity of changing it; nor did he believe the House would adopt any such doctrine

as this; they would, on the contrary, explode it, for the tendency of it was to proclaim to the enemy our inability to continue the contest, in which our existence as a free nation was at stake. A feeling was always ready to manifest itself on the consideration of this subject, which required no aid from the eloquence of any man; the bare statement of it was sufficient. In one word, the motion of the honourable gentleman contained a naked proposition, which was this" Whether the House would now, without reason, abandon a proposition which they had so often, and with the best reason, adopted, and uniformly acted upon ?" As to the calculation of the probable expense of continuing the war, he should not now go into it; he was of opinion that it could not be materially different from that which attended it the last year; nor was this any thing of a reason for going into a committee on the state of the nation.

I therefore submit, Mr. Pitt continued, that, upon the whole of what has been laid before the House to-night, I have said enough to satisfy it, that upon none of the grounds stated by the honourable gentleman is he justified in calling upon this House to institute an enquiry into the state of the nation; that much of what the honourable gentleman has stated to-night arises out of matter which has been discussed over and over again, and well decided; that his facts are misplaced; and that, as far as he proceeds on reasoning, his reasoning is fallacious s; and therefore do I conclude, that there is no just ground laid before you for a committee to enquire into the state of the nation. That is the general ground of opposition which I state on the one hand :— on the other, I say that the internal state of the country requires your attention in a special manner to other topics, and that your time ought not to be consumed in unnecessary discussions upon points which lead to no practical conclusion; that you will have a committee up stairs, which will take due care of the most immediate interests of the country at this important crisis; that this motion leads to no immediate or remote advantage; that it may do mischief, by holding out encouragement to the enemy, and by causing a diffidence, if not

despondency, in the people of this country, by teaching them to suspect, that there is something in the state of the nation which is alarming for which there is no foundation. For all these reasons I do give my decided opposition to this motion. The motion was negatived;

1

Ayes... 37

Noes......... 157

February 2. 1801.

DEBATE on the address of thanks to His Majesty for his most gracious Speech on opening the session..

The address being moved by Sir Watkin Williams Wynne, and seconded by Mr. Cornwallis,

Mr. Grey proposed the following amendment :

"And that this House will proceed with all possible dispatch to make such enquiries into the general state of the nation, but more especially into the conduct of the war, and into our relations with foreign powers, as may enable us to offer to His Majesty such advice as we may think most conducive to the honour of his crown, and the general interests of his people.

"And further, to assure His Majesty, that if, owing to any unjust and unreasonable pretensions on the part of the enemy, peace cannot be obtained on such terms as are consistent with security; if the representations which His Majesty has directed to be made to the court of Petersburgh, in consequence of the outrages committed against the ships, property, and persons of his subjects, have not received that reparation which the nature of the case requires; and if the differences which appear unhappily to have arisen between His Majesty and the other Northern Powers, are of a nature which presses for immediate decision; and the impossibility of any equitable adjustment renders new and more extended wars inevitable, we will give His Majesty every support which the means of the country can afford; in the just hope and confidence that His Majesty's paternal care for the welfare of his people will induce him to take such measures as shall prevent henceforward a calamitous waste of their remaining strength and resources, either by improvident and ineffectual projects, or by general negligence and profusion; and shall ensure a wise and vigorous administration of their affairs, under the unexampled difficulties in which they are now involved."

*See next page.

Mr. PITT then rose :

Sir, in rising to make some observations upon what has fallen from the honourable gentleman+, I cannot avoid noticing a curious proposition which he advanced in the early part of his speech,

*"My Lords and Gentlemen,

"At a crisis so important to the interests of my people, I derive great satisfaction from being enabled, for the first time, to avail myself of the advice and assistance of the parliament of my United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

"This memorable æra, distinguished by the accomplishment of a measure calculated to augment and consolidate the strength and resources of the empire, and to cement more closely the interests and affections of my subjects, will, I trust, be equally marked by that vigour, energy, and firmness, which the circumstances of our present situation peculiarly require.

"The unfortunate course of events on the continent, and the consequences which must be expected to result from it, cannot fail to be matter of anxiety and concern to all who have a just feeling for the security and independence of Europe.

"Your astonishment, as well as your regret, must be excited by the conduct of those powers, whose attention, at such a period, appears to be more engaged in endeavours to weaken the naval force of the British empire, which has hitherto opposed so powerful an obstacle to the inordinate ambition of France, than in concerting the means of mutual defence against their common and increasing danger.

"The representations which I directed to be made to the court of Petersburgh, in consequence of the outrages committed against the ships, property, and persons of my subjects, have been treated with the utmost disrespect; and the proceedings of which I complained have been aggravated by subsequent acts of injustice and violence.

"Under these circumstances, a convention has been concluded by that court with those of Copenhagen and Stockholm, the object of which, as avowed by one of the contracting parties, is to renew their former engagements for establishing, by force, a new code of maritime law, inconsistent with the rights and hostile to the interests of this country.

"In this situation, I could not hesitate as to the conduct which it became me to pursue. I have taken the earliest measures to repel the aggression of this hostile confederacy, and to support those principles which are essential to the maintenance of our naval strength, and which are grounded on the system of public laws, so long established and recognised in Europe.