originated in the Noble Lord's imagination, heated by the confideration of the brilliant victory to which their attention was directed. It was the object of his exertion, that the commanders and fleets fhould be fupplied with every thing neceffary; but it was impoffible to engage for events.

The Lord Chancellor faid, that he hoped the Houfe would do him the juftice to believe, that he objected to the infertion of the words propofed, folely on the ground that it would weaken, inftead of ftrengthen, the expreffion. Simplicity was confidered as the beft tafte of infcription. In the mere view of propriety, enumeration and fpecification tended to detract. The victory of Blenheim conveyed as diftinctly and more forcibly to an English ear the splendour of that exploit, than could be done by an enumeration of particulars. On this point a circumftance occurred to his mind which would fhow the opinion of those who were no bad judges in fuch matters. When Louis XIV. in the height of his power, was defirous to decorate his palaces with the exploits which had been performed during his reign, the different incidents were made out with an enumeration of fome of the particular circumftances in which they had taken place. Before they were expofed to the public they were fubmitted to Racine, no bad judge of the fublime, the fimple, and the beautiful, and to Defpereaux. Thefe confulted together, and rejected the detail, and substituted the fimple words, Battle of Cremona, &c. &c. Upon this ground, on the mere tafte of propriety, he confidered the Motion as it stood preferable. He was against the insertion of the words too, as the object of them feemed to be to impute blame to another quarter. The mention of one particular too would infer, that the merit confifted chiefly there, while in fact the merit was compofed of a great many other circumftances of which that was only one.

The Duke of Bedford faid, that he by no means intended the words as a charge against Adminiftration. He differed ftill from the Noble Lord on the Woolfack. He confeffed that he had a bad tafte; for, after the Noble Lord's difquifition upon tafte, he could not discover that it was a good taite to impute finifter motives to thofe whofe conduct gave no countenance to the charge.

Lord Sydney paid mary high compliments to Sir John Jervis, and admitted the eminence of the exploit he had performed, but he thought it rather invidious to feem to hold all other service as cheap.

Lord Borringdon difagreed with the Noble Lord on the Woolfack; for, upon this principle, they might expunge the epithets, able and gallant. He thought the words propofed aded ftrength to the expreffion. The force of the Enemy was

double

double that of Sir John Jervis, at least in guns, and he thought this, or the words propofed, fhould be inferted.

Earl Spencer at laft propofed the words "very fuperior force," which were agreed to, and the Motion paffed nem. diff.

Earl Spencer then propofed the Thanks of the House to the Officers, Admirals Thompfon, Waldegrave, Parker, Nelson, Sir Robert Calder, and the other Officers; he faid that diftinctions ought not to be made in the mention of the names of these Officers; they had all behaved with the utmoft gallantry. The conduct of Commodore Nelfon had been very confpicuous on a variety of occafions.

The Duke of Norfolk thought it unufual to specify the names, as it appeared invidious.

Earl Spencer faid, the Motion he believed was drawn up in the manner ufual on fuch occafions.

The Duke of Clarence faid, that the names of the different Officers had been enumerated on occafion of the victory of the 1st of June, and Rodney's victory in 1782. He wifhed the Noble Duke to wave his objections, which the Duke of Norfolk, in compliance with the difpofition of the Houfe, accordingly did, and the Motion paffed nem. diff.

Earl Spencer then moved the Thanks of the Houfe to the fea men, marines, &c. which was carried nem. diff.

The Duke of Bedford faid, it would come beft from Minifters to move an Addrels to his Majefty, that he would be pleased to confer fome mark of his Royal Approbation on Sir John Jervis ; he was defirous that such an Address should be moved; but he fhould forbear if he was to ftand fingle, that it might not ap pear on the Journals that fuch a Motion had been fo feebly upported.

Earl Spencer faid his Majefty fhould have an opportunity of exercifing his own difcretion in fuch a cafe, without feeming to act merely from the Addrefs of the Houfe. He thought the Noble Duke ought not to push fuch a Motion.

The Duke of Bedford faid, he did not wish to encroach on the prerogatives of the King, but he was defirous of bringing forward fuch an Addrefs from the experience of the conduct of Minifters on other occafions. The victory of the firft of June had been of the highest importance, and produced the greateft fenfation, though the perfon, whofe merits the country felt and wished to fee rewarded, had been overlooked by Minifters.

The Earl Suffolk faid that he should make a Motion on this fubject the first open day.

ORDER OF COUNCIL.

The Order of the Day for their Lordíhips being fummioned being read,

The

The Duke of Bedford faid, that the fubject of the Motion of which he had given notice was of fuch importance that he was afraid he could not exprefs his feelings upon it fo as to command the attention of their Lordships. Since the Order of Council of the 26th of February was iflued, he had endeavoured to confider it in the most favourable light poffible, but he confeffed, that in every point of view, he was alarmed at its tendency. They had appointed a Committee to inquire into the neceflity of continuing this Order; and he hoped that this would not be urged as an argument against the appointment of another Committee to inveftigate the caufes of its being iffued; for, in his opinion, the appointment of the former Committee proved to the House and to the world the expediency of farther inquiry. If in any thing he should miftake the Report, he hoped to be corrected. He understood, however, that an Order in Council had been iffued, prohibiting the Bank to pay their Notes in fpecie. A Committee had been appointed in confequence of the alarm created by this Order, to inquire into the circumftances of the Bank, and the neceflity of continuing this Order. From the Report it appeared that this Committee had ftrictly confined themfelves to the tafk affigned them; and that they had not entered into any inveftigation of the caufes in which the neceffity originated. Now their Lordships would perceive that there was a material difference between fanctioning the continuance of the Order and approving of its being iffued; for the Bank might have been brought into fuch a difreputable fituation, in confequence of the Order, that it might have become dangerous to repeal it, though there was no neceffity at first for iffuing it.--The Report of the Committee was favourable to the state of the general affairs of the Bank, which rendered it ftill more neceffary for their Lordships to inquire into the caufes why such a novel, unprecedented, and dangerous meafure was adopted by Government. It was highly important that the country fhould know whether the prefent embarraffinents had been occafioned by the misconduct of Adminiftration, or the inevitable misfortunes of the times. He fhould now abftain from quoting the ftrong declarations of Minifters refpecting the financial state of the country in the courfe of the war. It was unneceffary to have recourfe to fuch a mode of illustration to convince the Houfe of the critical nature of the prefent conjuncture of affairs, for every Noble Lord must be fenfible of it. It had been afcribed to exaggerated alarm of invafion, obtaining in the country, but he could not bring himself to believe that a few Frenchmen landing on the coast of Wales could give rife to fuch an alarming and eventful crifis. He was afraid that it had rather been produced

by

by the misconduct of the King's Ministers, and the fituation to which the country had been reduced by that mifconduct.

Without entering at all into the question of the justice and policy of the war, it would be allowed on all hands that it had been conducted with confiderable profufion. The refources of the country had been highly talked of, and they deferved to be fo, for they had lafted longer than even the moft fanguine could have hoped. But this was no reason why they fhould laft for ever, and far lefs ought it to fuperfede the neceffity of inquiring into the prefent ftate of our finances, especially fince they had exhibited fuch fatal fymptoms of rapid decay, if not of total failure. Some time ago the Minifter had raised a loan by fubfcription to a confiderable amount, and he had no doubt that at that time he might have raised a far greater fum. His not doing it, therefore, could only be accounted for from his not wanting more at the time, or from his being afraid to avow it on account of the additional taxes which it would have required to be impofed upon the people in order to defray the intereft, at a time when the nation was already groaning under a load of burdens which it required all its ftrength and all its patience to fupport. Or if neither of thefe conclufions were juft, the only other that could be drawn was, that Minifters, fince that time, had launched forth upon fuch a fcale of expence as had far exceeded the estimates that they had made. But the neceflity of inquiry was fo obvious to every one that it required no arguments to enforce it. Hoping, therefore, that there would be but one opinion upon the expediency of inftituting an inquiry, he fhould fay a few words on the mode of proceeding. A Committee of the whole House he was aware would be attended with confiderable inconvenience, as it might occafion delay in a proceeding which ought certainly to be carried on with the utmost poffible difpatch. That the inquiry therefore might be gone through with expedition, he fhould propose, that a Select Committee of their Lordships be appointed. He had fome objections to a Secret Committee, but they were not fo ftrong as they were on a former evening, for he then fuppofed, what he now understood was not the fact, that they were bound to fecrefy. He ftill, however, had confiderable objection to that fort of Committee, becaufe he was of opinion, that in order to reftore the confidence of the nation, if there was any ground still remaining for confidence, the greatest publicity ought to be given to its proceedings. Befides, the Houfe (it was very well known) delegated a confiderable portion of its power to a Secret Committee, whereas in the prefent circumftances he was of opinion, that it ought to watch the operations of its Committee, and to direct its proceedings as it might judge proper. But whether the Committee was Secret or only

Select,

Select, it ought certainly to be openly appointed, for every one was aware, that when a Committee was chofen by ballot, it was commonly compofed of the Minifter's friends, who certainly were not the most impartial judges of his conduct. Having made these few obfervations he had little more to add. He had purpofely abftained from entering into any invective against Minifters, because whatever he might feel refpecting their conduct, though perhaps it was not altogether irrelevant to the fubject, it certainly was not neceffary to his argument. If the finances of the country were in a state of embarraffinent, it certainly was their duty to inquire into the caufes of that embarraffment. If it proceeded from the mifconduct of Minifters, there fhould be a change of men. If it was occafioned by any error in the fyftem, that fyftem ought to be altered. But if their Lordships refufed to enter into the inquiry both of men and measures, they might be compelled by a power which they would not be able to refift, but to which they would not with to bow. His Grace moved, "That a Select Committee, of "fifteen Peers, be appointed to inquire into the caufes for iffuing the Order in Council of the the 26th of February laft.” Lord Grenville profefled to have no wish to alter the tone of the debate, and acknowledged the candour which the Noble Duke had hewn in his fpeech. If he agreed to the Motion of the Noble Duke, however, he begged it might not be inferred that he acquiefced in the conclufions he had drawn. He was confident that the refources of the country would be found upon. inquiry to be unimpaired, and all he was anxious about was, that that House and the Public fhould not give way to defpondency, nor diftruft the means of independence, of which they were ftill largely in poffeffion. Were their Lordships to withdraw from him any part of that confidence with which they had honoured him, he fhould, no doubt, feel it very feverely, but he fhould feel infinitely greater pain were they to lofe their confidence in British fpirit and British refource. He fhould venture to ftate it as his opinion, and he was fanguine in the hope of its being confirmed by the refult of an inquiry, that the prefent difficulties had arifen, not from any decay of actual Refource, but merely from a deficiency of Circulating Medium, which was often mistaken for a deficiency of property. A circulating medium he explained to be the means of bringing refource into action, for the purposes of fociety, and he denied that it was any teft of the wealth either of an individual or of a flate. No two queftions could be more different. Wealth did not confift in the quantity of the Circulating Medium only, and it was well known that there were many branches of commerce which required a much larger quantity of Circulating Medium to carry them on 5 H

No. 22.

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