XXIV. 1790. king signified" his satisfaction that the differences BOOK with Spain were brought to an amicable termination. He observed, that since the last session of parliament a foundation had been laid for a pacification between Austria and the Porte-that a separate peace had actually taken place between Russia and Sweden; but that the war between Russia and the Porte still continued. The principles on which I have hitherto acted," said the monarch, "will make me always desirous of employing the weight and influence of this country in contributing to the restoration of general tranquillity." The terms of the convention with Spain were approved and ratified in both houses by great majorities-but not unanimously. For the papers and documents relative to the negotiation being partially withheld, Mr. Grey moved an adjournment, declaring "that without them it was impossible to know whether the late disputes were owing to the restless ambition and unjust claims of Spain, or to the rashness, presumption, and ignorance, of his majesty's ministers." In the upper house the marquis of Lansdown expressed his "determination not to join in a vote of approbation of the conduct of ministers who had permitted a set of unknown adventurers to fit out ships with fine names, and, under Portuguese colors and papers, to break through a system regarding XXIV. BOOK Spanish America which had been sanctioned by the policy of Europe for more than 200 years.” Attempt of To defray the expence of the armament Mr. 1790. the minister unclaimed the bank. to seize the Pitt, with the laudable resolution to suffer no dividends at permanent increase of debt, proposed various temporary taxes, which would discharge the incumbrance in four years-with the assistance of five hundred thousand pounds, which he had it in contemplation to take from the unclaimed dividends lying in the Bank of England, the amount of which he estimated at six hundred and sixty thousand pounds. This latter proposition excited a just alarm in all the great chartered companies, and in the commercial and mercantile world in general. It was strongly and ably opposed in the house by Mr. Fox, Mr. Thornton a bank director, and Mr. Samuel Whitbread, recently returned as member for the borough of Bedford-a young man of great personal and mental accomplishments, of a disposition open, noble and ingenuous; and whose ardor of mind, bordering on the enthusiasm of public virtue, was happily regulated by an excellent understanding and correct judgment. It was urged, "that, agreeably to the original contract between the government and the public creditors, the directors of the Bank are constituted trustees for the public creditor. When the money is once paid into the Bank it ceases to be public XXIV. 1790. money, and is instantly converted into private BOOK property; which must there remain a sacred deposit till it is claimed by the private individuals to whom it appertains. And even in case of the expiration of the charter of the Bank of England, the directors still remain a corporation by law, for the express purpose of executing their delegated trust. What mischief may not result from the admission of a power in government, arbitrarily to depart from the conditions of the contract ac tually made with the public? Under the very term unclaimed dividends is indeed veiled a gross fallacy. Exclusive of the dividends of the last three years, which are not properly unclaimed but merely unreceived dividends, the balance amounts scarcely to a fifth part of the sum which the minis ter proposes to seize. If the recent and fluctuating balances of the Bank are thus liable to seizure, the minister may one day order the money to be paid into the Bank, and the next he may without any violation of public faith command it to be paid into the Exchequer. But in fact this is no other than a measure of injustice and violence, calculated to compel the Bank to relinquish their trust when the original and express purposes of it are evidently unaccomplished." After much hesitation and contest, the minister consented, by way of compromise, to accept of a loan of five hun dred thousand pounds from the Bank, without BOOK interest, so long as a floating balance to that amount should remain in the hands of the cashier. XXIV. 1790. Debate on On the 17th of December, Mr. Burke moved, "that the house do resolve itself into a commit the pendency of Mr. Has tee, to take into consideration the state of the imtings's impeachment. peachment of Warren Hastings, esq.' This being done, he made a second motion, "That an impeachment by this house, in the name of the commons of Great Britain, against Warren Hastings, esq. for high crimes and misdemeanors, is still pending." From this proposition, the entire corps of lawyers in the house, with scarcely an exception, declared their total dissent: and Mr. Erskine, whose talents at the bar were of the highest rank, and who had in the general tenor of his practice distinguished himself by his zealous attachment to the principles of the constitution, in an elaborate speech endeavoured to shew that, in consequence of the dissolution of parliament, the impeachment had abated; and on this ground he was supported by Mr. Hardinge, Mr. Mitford, and sir John Scott. Upon this great question, in the decision of which the honor, the dignity, and the authority of the house were so deeply involved, the Speaker with great propriety rose to deliver his opinion. "If the maxim laid down by the lawyers were admitted as just, the consequence was obvious: the impeachment of a profligate or corrupt mi XXIV. 1790. nister might, by the insidious intervention of the BOOK prerogative, at any time be rendered nugatory and abortive. In the view of the constitution, and even by the forms of parliament, the impeachment is preferred, not by the house of commons merely, but by all the commons of England; and the house can be considered in relation to the prosecution as no more than the agents and attor, neys of the people at large. A second house of commons therefore, though certainly possessing a discretionary power of dropping the prosecution, if upon due consideration they are of opinion that it does not rest upon a just foundation, are as cer tainly at full liberty to proceed in it, if in their judgment conducive to the safety or the interests of the state. In an impeachment of the nature of the present, it would scarcely be imagined, that twenty complex articles could by any mode of investigation be decided upon in a single session. If then, agreeably to the genius of the antient constitution, parliaments themselves were to be made annual, the labor would be truly Sysiphean -as such a trial never could arrive at a legal termination. Such were the plain dictates of common sense; but in resorting to rules of law, and precedents of parliament, doubts and difficulties presented themselves. Upon those remote and obscure precedents which occurred previous to the civil wars of the last century little stress was |