Houfe feemed to approve of the Order in Council being iffued, and that the Bank Directors themselves confidered the measure as falutary and neceffary, as a step which would not have been juftifiable fooner, and which it would not have been wife to have deferred later, he did not confider hinfelf called upon to combat an opinion which was entertained almoft fingly by the Honourable Gentleman, and as he did not find that in the ftring of Refolutions which had been propofed, any thing fpecific had been fubmitted upon that topic.

To come, then, to thofe parts of the Honourable Gentleman's speech, which ferved as the foundation for the accufation, the principal points which ferved as ground-work for the charge of criminality were divided into two points. The first ground was the increafed advances made by the Bunk on Treafury Bills; and fecondly by loans and remittances made to the Emperor. On the latter of thefe queftions, he fhould not at prefent fay any thing, but confine himself to the first part of the queftion, which related to the advances made on Treafury Bilis. The Honourable Gentleman, and those who thought with him, contended that thefe advances were good ground of crimination; and in his view of the fubject, that, coupled with the advances made to the Emperor, was the caufe of the fufpenfion of the payment of cafh by the Bank. But before the Houfe would decide in favour of that propofition, they would do well to examine what proofs were adduced to fupport it. The Houfe would look at all the relative circumftances, blended and connected with the meature; how much was to be attributed to that caufe, or how much might be derived from other fources; whether much or not, the greater part did not originate from other caufes. He thought the Houfe would paufe before they decided, and pronounced upon a propofition, which affixed criminality without the leaft proof of fuch intention.

That the Bank had made advances to a confiderable amount, much greater than had been usual on former occafions, was a fact' that he did not mean to deny. That the Bank alfo made many and frequent remonftrances upon the fubject, was alfo what he readily admitted; and that there were affurances in anfwer to thofe remonstrances, that the fum fhould be reduced to 500,000l. The reason that this was not effectuated, arofe from the preffure of a variety of unforeseen circumfta aces, which neither could be foreseen or pre-eftimated. The Houfe would take thefe circumftances into their confideration, and then he would throw' himself upon their candour to fay, whether thofe affurances, though defeated, were made with fincerity or not. Before they would decide to join in a propofition for cenfure, he begged their attention to the confideration of the fteps which were taken to

No. 37.

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carry thofe affurances into effect; which, although they were defeated, yet compared with the probable effects to be expected from them, he would leave the Houfe to determine, whether they did not evince a fincerity for the performance of those affurances.

But before he would defcend to particulars, he would allude to the Bill which had been before alluded by the Honourable Gentleman. That Bill was not fuch as was stated by the Honourable Gentleman, altering the law of William and Mary; but whoever read that Bill, would perceive that it was for preventing the anticipating of Parliamentary Grants, in which there was not a Claufe of Credit: for it could never be confidered that it was brohibitory upon the Bank to advance to Government: for in all former wars, though they had not advanced fo much as in this war, in the American war there were advances of 100,000l. or 150,000l. This was, therefore, clearly evinced, that the Directors did not conceive themselves reftricted from fuch advances by that law; and the advances had lately exceeded what had formerly been the cafe; yet he had not propofed any thing new in principle. The laft Bill upon this fubject was to explain the law; but the Houfe would recollect, that the Bank apparently now made much greater advances; yet the advances were not fo much in favour of Government as they appeared. For formerly that flowed through various channels, which now were concentrated in the Bank: formerly much came through the hands of private Merchants, who had commiffions, which by the modern practice were not heard of. The Bill was not paffed in a clandeftine manner, as had been infinuated by the Honourable Gentleman: for, if he recollected right, the title of it was amended; and, in another Houfe, it had undergone a confiderable fhare of difcuffion. The Honourable Gentleman, therefore, could not be ignorant of the Bill, any more than he could of the advances which were then made for, by a Paper at that time on the Table of the Houfe, the whole amount was included, and made part of the financial difcuffions at the close of the last feffion.

By one refolution of the Honourable Gentleman, Treasury Bills were ftated to amount to 15 millions. But this was not the true point in queftion. It was not the fum, but the distance between the advances and the repayments, and what at any one time in the interval was due. He would next advert to the question of foreign expenditure, and what checks had been applied to prevent the excess of that claim; and there he would fairly own that he had been greatly disappointed by the excess of the expences of the war beyond the effimates which he had formed, notwithstanding all the means which he had employed

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to control that expenditure. The Bills drawn upon him from abroad far exceeded any calculations which he had made; and for the amount of the expences of the war in the West Indies, he was unable even yet to account. When he was accufed, therefore, after the recal of the British troops from Germany, of advifing his Majefty, in his speech from the Throne, to exprefs a hope that the future expences of the war would be diminifhed in confequence of that event, he had advifed him to exprefs a hope, in which he was fanguine at the time, but in which he had been difappointed by events which he did not then forefee, but which he lamented as much as any man in the House. These unforeseen events, which gave rife to expences for which he had not conceived it neceflary to provide, had occafioned expences, which, notwithstanding his aflurances, and the exertions which he had made to give them effect, had rendered it impracticable for him to difcharge the arrears of the public to the Bank.

At the end of the year 1795, the advances, ftood at the fum of 2,100,000l. and by February 1796, they amounted to the farther fum of 1,796,000l. by the 29th February, it was reduced to 616,000l. and by the 31ft of March, it was reduced to the propofed fum of 500,000l. He lamented that unavoidable expences prevented their being kept at that fum; but it certainly was a fair anfwer, to fhew that there were real exertions made to reduce the amount of that debt. In the first two years of the war, ending the 5th of January, 1796, a fum fo large as eight millions was paid, which reduced the amount of advances to the fum of one million, and that was 500,000l. more than was propofed it fhould ever amount to. That was the general fubftance of the answer which he thought it neceflary to give: for he did not think it neceffary to go more into detail, and the answer to the facts of the fucceeding years would be of the fame nature. The Honourable Gentleman himself had admitted that fomething was done, but nothing efficacious; for, in fact, the fums advanced had always nearly amounted to what was applied for by the Directors.

He then went through the feveral items of the Report.-Every exertion that could be made had been done, and he was much difappointed that from unforeseen exigencies, from the 5th to the 20th of June, one million of fresh Bills had iffued, and this led to difcuffions between him and the Bank. But where the performances of the refults of thofe difcuffions were not performed in their firft fhape, it did not follow that there was a breach of contract: for it happened that two millions were t be paid in Auguft, but in confequence of new arrangements, he waved the payment until the latter end of November, and at

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that time the two millions were paid. The remonstrances after Auguft, related to the Auftrian Loan, which he should not enter into at prefent. By the 12th December, 1795, payments were made to the amount of 2,670,000l. and farther payments in March 1796, to the amount of 4,300,000l. and by the month of March, 1796, the advances were reduced to the fum of 500,000l. but from the rapid increafe of this, arifing from the increafed, unforefeen, and incalculated expence of the war, the advances again rofe, and could not be kept down to the fum propofed. He adduced thefe circumftances to prove the fincerity of thofe promifes which related to the diminution of the advances. Though the advances were reduced by March to 500,000l. yet by the iflure of five millions, it was again advanced; by the July following, it was again reduced to 521,000l. In the courfe of that year, there was alfo another arrangement, by paying the 4 millions held by the Bank, and thus to endeavour to leffen the evil, by the reduction of the advances.

The Honourable Gentleman had commented on the answer of the 20th of May. How, faid he, could it be unexpected, when large expences were known to be expected? True, it was, but the amount and extent of thofe expences were not foreseen, and had exceeded all that he had calculated upon. In the month of July, when the Bank made other advances, they had stated, that they fhould not be able to make the ufual advances on the Land and Malt. This they stated, not as a point refolved on as a certainty, but as a thing likely to happen; in fact, it turned out otherwife: for whatever their fituation might then be, or whatever were their apprehenfions, in the month of November things had changed fo favourably in their behalf, that they made the ufual advances for the Land and Malt for the year 1797, although in the month of July they had conceived it impoffible that they would be able to do it. Unquestionably they had a view to fome future Parliamentary arrangement refpecting their pecuniary fituation, and that was fully intended; but the delay which had taken place was caufed by fuch obvious neceffity in the mul tiplicity of public bufinefs of importance, that he was fure he need not point it out to any one. With refpect to the Loan to the Emperor, the Honourable Gentleman contends, that the Executive Government was bound not to make any remittances to Foreign Powers. Let the Houfe confider, when the amount of fuch an agreement was to give out of the hands of the Executive Government the means of affifting an Ally, as the exigency of the moment may require, and to any act of that fort to attri bute a breach of confidence and contract, the House at least would require, that it fhould be founded upon unquestionable testimony and evidence---by proof clear, plain and unambiguous.

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fhould be proved, that fuch was the understanding of both. parties.

The prefent cafe ftood almoft upon the worft poffible evidence --the report of verbal converfations; thofe converfations not immediately reduced to writing, and not even feen by one of the parties. The anfwers as quoted by the Honourable Gentleman ought not to be taken in the fenfe as conftructed by the Honourable Gentleman: for when it was faid that no farther advances were intended to be made to the Emperor, it of course related to the Loan of Three Millions which was at that time the fubject in difcuffion, and that fubfequent anfwer, of courfe, had reference to the former ftatements. It could never be underftood, that by fuch fort of converfation, one of the parties could be bound, upon a fubject which could not be in the contemplation of either of the parties.

Mr. Giles declared, that he thought the Minutes of the converfation were correct, and he understood that the advances were included as well as Loans; yet it was very fingular that the Bank books did not include that word, and Mr. Raikes, another of the Directors, did not conceive it fuch. Mr. Giles had alfo declared, "that although he knew not of farther advances having been made, yet from circumftances he fufpected it; and in a converfation upon that fubject with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, though they had no direct anfwer, yet he was confirmed in that opinion." If, therefore, the Bank Directors knew at that time of the advances, as from circumftances they did, and did not complain of the breach of faith, it was a strong proof that they did not think any breach of good faith had taken place. He therefore was convinced the Houfe would paufe before they attached criminality upon any one, upon evidence fo unfounded, and likely to be mistaken, as was a verbal converíation, written afterwards from memory, and where every thing turned upon a fingle expreffion.

The advances which were made, were different in point of fpirit and effect from a Loan; they were made fecretly and gradually; whereas a Loan muft, from its nature, be public: but there was a material difference in its amount, for the whole of the advances amounted only to about 900,000l. It appeared that the Bank apprehended the moft deftructive confequences from a Loan of Three Millions to the Emperor; and yet what was the effect of thofe remittances? why, that the exchange which was against us at the commencement of them, during their continuance turned completely in our favour. From this statement, the argument might be puthed to the extent of itating, that the Bank were in an error with refpect to the coniequences