of the debt, amounted on an average to 83,000,000l. a year (during those three years,) and the average revenue during the same period was 84,000,000l. a year, being one million over and above the ordinary expenditure. So provident was the system, so prosperous the affairs of the country, so natural the situation of the empire, in a financial point of view, that ministers were content to expend 83,000,000l., leaving only 1,000,000l. to provide for 60,000,000l. more, which they were obliged to borrow; the average revenue being only 1,000,000l. more than the sum laid out. If a man in private life, having an income of 10,000l. a year, went on increasing his expenditure till the interest of the debt which he incurred amounted to 5,000l. per annum; and if he still continued to spend the sum which should be employed in liquidating that interest, so that he was compelled in every quarter to borrow money to meet his creditor, that individual would be precisely in the same situation in which the country was placed at the period he mentioned. The epithet which would be applied to a person who so managed his affairs he would not repeat, because he did not wish to utter any expression that might be offensive to the house; but, as the more delicate and decorous mode of proceeding, he would call on gentlemen to consider what they would think of a man who went on in the manner he had stated. Let them figure to themselves an individual giving such a statement of his affairs, as he had pointed out, whether he was a trader, a manufacturer, or a farmer; let them reflect on the terms they would use in speaking of such a person, and he was convinced they would see

the propriety of applying terms of a similar nature to the management of the resources of this country at the period he had specified. He was unwilling to speak of the care and attention with which those enormous sums were spent. Having seen upwards of 400,000,000. expended in three years-having seen, during those three years, 250,000,000l. of revenue laid out, independent of loans-having witnessed the expenditure by the government of immense sums extracted from the pockets of the people-sums of such magnitude as staggered one's credulity, and almost turned one's head to contemplate-he felt most unwilling, in his own person, to declare, whether it was a wasteful expenditure, or one of a wise and prudent character.

He would much rather state, from higher and graver authority, in what point of view that enormous expenditure had been considered; and, with that object, he would call the attention of the house to the report of the Finance Committee of 1817. He would not trouble the house with many extracts from the report of that committee, but he entreated their attention to the character which was given of the manner in which the finances of the country were applied at the period to which he had alluded. Under the head of "Extraordinaries," the following passages would be found: "Your committee learn, that works, buildings, extensions, and repairs, have been undertaken and executed, both at home and abroad, in a manner little checked or protected against profusion and waste; in many cases, without any estimate or general plan, and sometimes extended, according to the statement of an officer of the ordnance who

attended

attended the committee, as views opened during the progress of the work.'" This was indeed a faithful and accurate representation of a wise, economical, and careful expenditure. No check-no protection against profusion and waste-no estimate or general plan but the expense left to adjust itself to "the opening views" of those who conducted the works. Parliament, which should be accountable for the disbursement of the public money, was not consulted on the matter. No, the expense was left to adjust itself to "the opening views" which might, from time to time, dawn on the minds of those whose emoluments became greater in proportion to the magnitude of the sums expended. The report went on to state" The lines at Chatham commenced under an expectation of their requiring no more than 50,000. Plymouth lines, Spike island, and the depot at WeedonBeck, may be taken as examples, with the addition of Gibraltar, in the foreign department." There was, in the passage which he was now about to read, more sound and valuable wisdom, more accurate knowledge, the fruit of experience, a more awful warning to that house, than a man would be able to impart, if he spoke for half a century, although he were armed with the powers of an angel! "If (continued the report) the whole sum required for these great works, or even for any one of them, had been at once submitted to the house, by regular estimate, there would have been an opportunity of considering the propriety of undertaking them, and of making previous inquiries with regard to three essential points:-1st, As to the security or means of de

fence intended to be obtained.” That was (observed Mr. Brougham) to inquire whether the least benefit was likely to result from the erection of such works."2dly, As to the probability of the works in question effecting such security or means of defence." The third point which the report stated would be gained by the production of regular estimates, was an opportunity of instituting an inquiry

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as to the value of the objects to be accomplished by those works, compared with the amount of the sums required for their completion; taking into consideration the probability of their being brought into use in consequence of any operation of an enemy." ." The report next stated, that" the irregular mode of proceeding, which unfortunately prevailed during the time when all of these great works were begun, has had the effect of keeping the house in total ignorance as to the ultimate charge for any one of them; and in the ordnance office itself there appears to have been no sufficient documents for taking a comprehensive view of the whole plan, with a detailed estimate annexed." The report, in the next place, set forth, that 9,029,333l. had been expended in this irregular and unsatisfactory manner; "while the utility of these vast works was never put to the proof in the various chances of the late war." And it farther stated," that the committee should look at an enquiry of this nature with much greater anxiety, if they could conceive that the defence of the united kingdom either ought to rest, or was ever likely to depend, materially upon fortresses and garrisons. A powerful fleet, and an unconquerable spirit pervading a numerous population,

with the means of arming and training whatever proportion of that number may be required for any emergency, afford better security against foreign invasion, than can be derived from the most perfect system of lines and towers, which could be applied to every part of our extensive coast." Now, the plain English of this was, that the works in question had proceeded on a totally wrong principle-that no such works ought, in fact, to have been attempted and that, if security were at all to be obtained from defences of this kind, the works which cost the public such an immense sum were not sufficient for that purpose. The plan was bad, but the execution so much worse, that if any good could possibly be derived from the former, the latter effectually prevented it. Such was the opinion of the finance committee; and the evident meaning of the passages he had read was this-"That if you, the house of commons, had refused supplies, until the estimates were laid before you-if you had considered the necessity of erecting such works before you voted your money-not your money, but the money of your impoverished constituents-if you had done this-if you had taken those fair precautions which men of common honesty would have adoptedthose works would never have been attempted-this monstrous evil would not have existedthose millions, wrung from the industry of the people, would not have been uselessly squandered!" for he would now use that expres sion, on the authority of the finance committee. In the three years, then, 1813, 1814, and 1815, the average amount of revenue was 84,250,000 yearly, and the

county and parish taxes being taken into the account, the sum annually raised was 92,000,000Z.; forming a total, in those three years, exclusive of county and parish taxes, and of loans, of 252,000,000l. and, including these, of 276,000,000l. a year, which were extracted from the pockets of the people. These sums almost defied imagination; but a comparison with the expenditure of former periods would teach the house to estimate their excessive magnitude. When Mr. Pitt brought forward the sinking fund, the debt was under 240,000,000l.; it was, if he recollected rightly, 238,000,000l. Now here they had an expenditure, in two of the three years he had mentioned so extensive, so vast, that it would have been sufficient to pay off the whole of the national debt, as it stood at the commencement of the French war, and to defray all the expenses incidental to the government of the country as well. Peace had now arrived, but unhappily, as he had to contend, without bringing in its train the blessings which were usually its attendants.

He now came to the most important part of the question. Here it was necessary that he should go back to the year 1797, in order to trace the evil which afflicted the country to its very source-in order to combat that gross absurdity in argument, and that gross injustice in fact, which was pertinaciously adhered to by some individuals, who contended that the returning to a metallic standard of currency created the existing distress; whereas, the truth was, that the great origin of the evil must be sought for in the departure from that standard. He would in due

time state his opinion on the subject of restoring the metallic standard; but here he must decidedly state, that whatever the effect of that restoration might have been, the grand mischief was effected by first departing from the acknowledged standard of their currency. At first, the effect of the new system was not distinctly perceived; but in the course of two or three years it was sufficiently manifest. In 1800 the evil had amounted to such a height, that its operation on the foreign exchanges became most evident. He then elucidated the subject by the calculations of two committees, which were appointed in the years 1810 and 1819 he was sanctioned by the authority of both these committees. In 1810, the mint price of gold was 31. 18s. all but a fraction, (31. 17s. 101d. he believed); and the market or bullion price of gold was 41. 5s., being a depreciation of 1-10th per cent. It afterwards fell still more, and fluctuated very much; those fluctuations were not the least evil of which he complained, since they had a ruinous effect with respect to the landowners; and, indeed, with reference to every class of the community, except those who dealt in gold, and might be denominated the managers of the monied interest-of which a word hereafter. He could point out one year in which there was a fluctuation of 30 per cent., a fact which was directly in the teeth of the statement made by the chancellor of the exchequer, who proposed a resolution in 1811, which, acting under his sanction and authority, the house agreed to; declaring that the bank note had never been depreciated that gold was never cheaper, and the bank note never dearer. Thus

a state of things grew up, which no well regulated government would have suffered to exist for one month, but which many gentlemen in that house prided themselves on having supported for 10 or 12 years. The price of bullion, as estimated by the currency circulated in 1811 and 1812, showed a farther depreciation. In those years the market price of gold was 41. 19s. 2 d. on an average, being a depreciation of 27 in the hundred. The revenue in those years was 73,500,000l. If he wished to find out how much that nominal sum amounted to in real sterling gold, for the purpose of stating what the people absolutely paid in 1811 and 1812, and also to show what they contributed in 1822, it would be necessary that he should diminish the sum in the ratio of 27 per cent. which, together with 3,500,0007. of new taxes, formed an aggregate of 19,800,000l. This sum being deducted from the gross amount of revenue collected in 1811 and 1812, left a total of 53,700,0007.; so that in those years of war the people actually paid 8,000,000l. less in gold than they paid in the present year, and 7,000,000l. less than they paid in the year preceding. Taking the average of the two years, they paid, in 1820 and 1821, between 7,000,000l. and 8,000,000l. more than they did in two years of determined warfare. He might, if he pleased, take the depreciation at a considerably lower rate than he had done. He might indeed take it at 4l. 11s. 4d. which, if applied to the diminution of 73,500,000l. of nominal revenue, would show that the people were now paying in solid guineas or sovereigns a much larger sum than they contributed in 1811 and 1812. At that period a war was

raging all over Europe-a war of such immense magnitude as was previously unknown to this country. Every sea was covered with our fleets-every part of the world was filled with our armies, or the armies of our allies; and every court was enriched by our subsidies. We were then surrounded by vast perils-great battles were fought abroad-and at home, we were not free from danger and apprehension. Opus aggredior opimum casibus, atrox præliis, discors seditionibus. Such a period, one would suppose, must be very unfit to stand in comparison with a period of repose-to be placed in competition with a time of profound peace. Still, when they did compare the two periods, they would find that the burdens which weighed down the people-that the sums which were taken from their pockets were actually greater in the time of peace than in the time of war. He would go still farther, and say, that he had no objection to institute a comparison between the amount of money now levied on the people, and the sum that was exacted from them during the most expensive period of that most expensive war. What would the house think when he asserted, that though in the years 1813, 1814, and 1815, three years of an inordinate expenditure-years that had been alluded to particularly in the financial report, when ministers were squandering away 140 or 150 millions annually, and levying on the people a money sum of 80 millions-what, he asked, would the house think, when it was rendered as clear as that two and two made four, that the country was, at the present moment, paying as much in taxes as it paid

during that most extravagant period?

What he wished to be now understood were these two points : 1st, that by the operations of the currency up to 1819, the taxes were increased 4,000,000l.: 2dly, that from 1814 to 1819 prices were nominally falling. There prevailed a very great difference of opinion with respect to the effect of taxation. Some opinions upon the subject refuted themselves; others, every day's experience was sufficient to refute. But there were some points in which all must agree that great expenditure has the effect of raising prices, and that not merely while the great expenditure is going on, but after it has ceased: because, when the expenditure is great, the spending is either from the income or from the accumulated capital. If it be from the income, the profits of the accumulation of capital are taken away. If from the capital, it destroys to that amount, not physically and absolutely, but on the whole, it destroys a sum falling considerably short of the apparent amount, but it makes a great destruction. The consequence is, that the capital is diminished and the profits increased, by a rule as old as political speculation in modern Europe, a rule of which no man was ignorant for the last 20 or 30 years-namely, that profits are in the inverse proportion of the amount of expenditure; or, what is equally clear, that there must be an increase of profits with a diminution of capital stock. This, then, was one obvious effect of taxation-it raised prices by diminishing either the accumulation of profits, or the amount of stock. In the next place, taxes affected

the