knew, that the merchant was tena cious of a credit, about which the nobleman was indifferent. This was the character of England: this it was that had diftinguished it from all the other nations of the earth, and particularly from France; there, every thing had depended on the king's credit; here, all dependence was on the nation: there, a diforganized spirit of expence fheltered itself under the credit of the grand monarque; here, every thing contributed to, as every thing flowed again from, the fountain of public credit; and the administration of the country was, in reality, nothing more than a committee for the management of this credit. To afcribe the fhock that had been given to it, to the idle ftories of unfounded and exaggerated alarms, was ridiculous. It proceeded from deep, progreffive, accumulated caufes; caufes which all thinking men had long deplored, and which had been growing to a head under the unhappy and ill-requited confidence which their lordships had placed in the king's minifters. It was material to endeavour to afcertain the causes that had brought us to this dilemma. One caufe was manifeft: the inordinate increase of expence, of places, and establishments in every corner of the empire. This had been growing to a height beyond every thing that the mind could conceive; it was incredible and fcandalous; the increase of fees, of falaries, of places and penfions, of new boards of commiffion, and new appointments of all kinds, had not only ferved to open all the gates of waste and profufion, but to beat down and destroy all the check of control, and all the means of correction. Waste

and extravagance had been fyftematized; one fcene of abuse countenanced and protected another, and all the corners of the earth were witneffes to the ruinous waste of the treasures of England. Another, and a ftill more dangerous, fource of diforder, which had fprung up during the prefent adminiftration, was the want of unity and correfpondence among the different branches of office. This was the common obfervation; it was vifible in every department; every office feemed to be lord of its own will, and every office feemed to have unlimited power over the purfe of the nation; instead of their being, as the fpirit of the conftitution directed, under the conftant check of the treafury. If he could truft to wellfounded information, every branch of office projected its own schemes, had its own expeditions, and, of courfe, put its hand, at pleasure into the purfe of the nation; nay, this diftraction was not even confined to office at home; but, every man, in every one of our foreign fettlements, had, alfo, his own projects, his own adventures, his own schemes of fortification, and his own fources of expence; so that every man, upon every foreign ftation, thought himfelf at liberty, and found himfelf fo, to exercife unfeftrained authority over the treafury of England. That this want of concordance, and want of correfpondence, did actually fubfift, not one of their lordships, who were in the babit of converfing generally in the world, would difpute. They had a glaring proof of it in a paper upon the table. Let any noble lord look at the paper of the extraordinaries of the army, and he would fee the full confirmation of all that he had stated; and it

was fair to reafon, that, if this audacious abufe was fuffered in one department, it would be practifed in all. Another caufe of our prefent fhock was, undoubtedly, the war: it was contemptible to fay, that, fending money out of the kingdom did not make us poorer; it was contemptible to tell us, that, because it did not go forth in fpecie, it was therefore no diminution of our wealth; it was a great and fatal fource of decrease, it diminished the reproductive power of the country, and it was found in the annual deficiencies of our revenue; which again became another caufe of the prefent dilemma; for, the minifter had, year after year, to practice new expedients, for the concealment or the fupply of this deficiency; and thus it was, that, year after year, they had been kept in a state of delufion, which, more than any thing elle, was mortal to the delicate frame of public credit. It had been faid, that, in this continued delufion, the minifter had difplayed want of integrity, as well as want of ability; that the delufions were too grofs for mere folly to commit; and, that no rational explanation could be given, of the conduct in which he had perfevered fo long, except that he was both incapable and dishonest.

He confeffed, that, he did not incline to either of these fuppofitions: he could fee no reason to believe that the minifter could be indifferent to the fate of his country, nor did he imagine, that it could be mere want of ability, fuch intire ignorance of arithmetic as could make him calculate ten millions fhort of the fum that he wanted within two months. He believed, that it was not want of ability, but want of power; it was

that want of authority, over the other departments of expence, which ought to refide with the firft lord of the treafury, and which, by want of intimate correfpondence and connection with the other departments of office, he had fatally fuffered to flip through his hands. It ufed to be the diftinguifhing feature of the British adminiftration, that the treasury was its heart: it diftributed the neceffary nourishment to the other parts; and every thing flowed from it, as the commanding centre: the other departments were neceffarily fubordinate. The noble duke, in his eye, could, perhaps, be able to fay, how infignificant a part a mere fecretary of ftate had to play, when the first lord of the treafury exerted his powers, and thwarted the meafures in which he did not coincide. (We fuppofe the noble marquis alluded to the duke of Leeds). But this central point of controul had been unhappily conceded, and the first lord of the treasury, which used to confer the title of premier, had now funk into a resemblance of the treasurer of France, under the ancienne regime. In France, the treafury lay at the mercy of each department: the minifter of marine, the minifter of the exterior, the minifter of the interior, and fo forth, drew upon it at pleafure; and they all knew the confequences: inordinate expence, confufion, diftruft, violation of faith, bankruptcy, and revolution. Such was the ftate of France, unhappily for England, we had made three ftages in this fatal career. Good God! what a scene was opened to the eyes of Englishmen; he did not dare to approach the measure of Sunday laft; he had not yet ceased to fhudder at it; he

would

would not dare to fay one word as to its prudence; he only would admonish their lordships, that, upon the conduct of the legislature, in this momentous crifis, depended the fate of England. They were brought to a tremendous brink, where one fingle error, one fingle flip of the foot, would precipitate them to ruin. He had the utmost and most facred confidence in the bank of England; their probity and their ability were undoubted; it was totally indifferent to him whether there was a fecret committee or not; he was confident that they would fafely come to the bar of that houfe, and prove, in the face of the world, that they were equal to all their own engagements; that they dreaded nothing but the interference of the ftate; and this interference it would be well for their lordihips to guard againft. This was the rock upon which alone we could fplit. To the report of a committee of nine noble lords, who fhould confine themfelves to the fingle object of examining the ability of this company, he had no objection: in his mind, too, it ought to be a fecret committee, not because there ought not to be the utmoft publicity in every thing that regarded the pecuniary ftate and circumftances of the nation, but because the bank of England was a private company, and parliament had no right to inquire and pry into their affairs. Taking it for granted, however, that it was at their own invitation and exprefs defire, he had no objection to the appointment of a committee of nine lords, of high and known honour, who fhould strictly confine themfelves to the examination of their funds and their engagements: no

farther. He would not venture one step beyond this examination, and, therefore, all the latter part of the motion, and every thing which looked like, or bore the leaft affinity to, force, he must object to.

The only way in which the measure could be countenanced was, as a measure of perfuafion : he was forry to have feen, in the order of council, fo improper a term as the word " require;" it was a word unknown to the law, and which ought not to have been uled; it was an importation from France. Requifition, carried with it the idea of terror, which could only be carried on by force. He deprecated this dreadful feeling; it ought to have been a recom mendation, not a requifition, to the bank, and they must never lofe fight of the neceffary caution to be obferved in this refpect. The firft error must be repaired; if an attempt fhall be made to ufe force, we are gone as a people. "Mark my prophecy, my lords," exclaimed the noble marquis, " and do not difdain the countei, while yet in time. If you attempt to make bank-notes a legal tender, their credit will perifh. They may go on for a time; but the confequence is certain. No art, no skill, no power, can prevent their falling to a difcount. We do not fpeak upon conjecture; the thing is matter of experience. A fever is as much a fever in London as in Paris, or Amfterdam; and the confequences of a ftoppage of payment must be the fame in whatever country it fhall happen. The fall will be flow, perhaps, and gradual for a time; but it will be certain. A few months may bring to the recollection of your lordships, with contrition, the prophecy that I

was fair to reafon, that, if this audacious abufe was foffered in one department, it would be practifed in all. Another caufe of our prefent fhock was, undoubtedly, the war: it was contemptible to fay, that, fending money out of the kingdom did not make us poorer; it was contemptible to tell us, that, because it did not go forth in fpecie, it was therefore no diminution of our wealth; it was a great and fatal fource of decreafe, it diminished the reproductive power of the country, and it was found in the annual deficiencies of our revenue; which again became another caufe of the prefent dilemma; for, the minifter had, year after year, to practice new expedients, for the concealment or the fupply of this deficiency; and thus it was, that, year after year, they had been kept in a ftate of delufion, which, more than any thing else, was mortal to the delicate frame of public credit. It had been faid, that, in this continued delufion, the minifter had displayed want of integrity, as well as want of ability; that the delufions were too grofs for mere folly to commit; and, that no rational explanation could be given, of the conduct in which he had perfevered fo long, except that he was both incapable and difhoneft.

He confeffed, that, he did not incline to either of these fuppofitions: he could fee no reason to believe that the minister could be indifferent to the fate of his country, nor did he imagine, that it could be mere want of ability, fuch intire ignorance of arithmetic as could make him calculate ten millions fhort of the fum that he wanted within two months. He believed, that it was not want of ability, but want of power; it was

that want of authority, over the other departments of expence, which ought to refide with the firft lord of the treasury, and which, by want of intimate correfpondence and connection with the other departments of office, he had fatally fuffered to flip through his hands. It ufed to be the diftinguishing feature of the British adminiftration, that the treasury was its heart: it diftributed the neceffary nourishment to the other parts; and every thing flowed from it, as the commanding centre: the other departments were neceffarily fubordinate. The noble duke, in his eye, could, perhaps, be able to fay, how infignificant a part a mere fecretary of ftate had to play, when the first lord of the treafury exerted his powers, and thwarted the measures in which he did not coincide. (We fuppofe the noble marquis alluded to the duke of Leeds). But this central point of controul had been unhappily conceded, and the first lord of the treasury, which ufed to confer the title of premier, had now funk into a resemblance of the treasurer of France, under the ancienne regime. In France, the treasury lay at the mercy of each department: the minifter of marine, the minifter of the exterior, the minifter of the interior, and fo forth, drew upon it at pleasure; and they all knew the confequences: inordinate expence, confufion, diftrust, violation of faith, bankruptcy, and revolution. Such was the ftate of France, unhappily for England, we had made three ftages in this fatal career. Good God! what a scene was opened to the eyes of Englishmen; he did not dare to approach the measure of Sunday laft; he had not yet ceased to shudder at it; he

would

would not dare to fay one word as to its prudence; he only would admonish their lordships, that, upon the conduct of the legislature, in this momentous crifis, depended the fate of England. They were brought to a tremendous brink, where one fingle error, one fingle flip of the foot, would precipitate them to ruin. He had the utmost and moft facred confidence in the bank of England; their probity and their ability were undoubted; it was totally indifferent to him whether there was a fecret committee or not; he was confident that they would fafely come to the bar of that houfe, and prove, in the face of the world, that they were equal to all their own engagements; that they dreaded nothing but the interference of the ftate; and this interference it would be well for their lordhips to guard againft. This was the rock upon which alone we could split. To the report of a committee of nine noble lords, who fhould confine themfelves to the fingle object of examining the ability of this company, he had no objection: in his mind, too, it ought to be a secret committee, not because there ought not to be the utmost publicity in every thing that regarded the pecuniary ftate and circumftances of the nation, but because the bank of England was a private company, and parliament had no right to inquire and pry into their affairs. Taking it for granted, however, that it was at their own invitation and exprefs defire, he had no objection to the appointment of a committee of nine lords, of high and known honour, who fhould ftrictly confine themfelves to the examination of their funds and their engagements: no

farther. He would not venture one ftep beyond this examination, and, therefore, all the latter part of the motion, and every thing which looked like, or bore the leaft affinity to, force, he must ob-. ject to. The only way in which the measure could be countenanced was, as a measure of perfuafion : he was forry to have feen, in the order of council, fo improper a term as the word " require;" it was a word unknown to the law, and which ought not to have been uled; it was an importation from France. Requifition, carried with it the idea of terror, which could only be carried on by force. He deprecated this dreadful feeling; it ought to have been a recom mendation, not a requifition, to the bank, and they must never lofe fight of the neceflary caution to be obferved in this refpect. The firft error must be repaired; if an attempt shall be made to use force, we are gone as a people. my prophecy, my lords," exclaimed the noble marquis, " and do not difdain the countel, while yet in time, If you attempt to make bank-notes a legal tender, their credit will perifh. They may go on for a time; but the confequence is certain. No art, no fkill, no power, can prevent their falling to a difcount. We do not fpeak upon conjecture; the thing is matter of experience. A fever is as much a fever in London as in Paris, or Amfterdam; and the confequences of a stoppage of payment must be the fame in whatever country it fhall happen. The fall will be flow, perhaps, and gradual for a time; but it will be certain. A few months may bring to the recollection of your lordships, with contrition, the prophecy that I

Mark

have