enormous weight of public burthens, and sustain the awful contest in which we are engaged: and the petitioners implore the House to punish guilt, however protected or exalted, and to rescue from peculation and plunder a loyal people, who have ever willingly contributed to the real exigencies of the state, and who never complain but when their generous temper is imposed upon, and thus will the Commons of the United Kingdom confirm the confidence of the people, and instil into the hearts of all good inen a warm and steady attachment to the British constitution.

CORNWALL; 5th June.

A petition of the gentlemen, clergy, freeholders, and inhabitants, of the County of Cornwall, was presented to the House, and read; setting forth, that the abuses in the expenditure of the public money, which have been lately brought to light by the Commissioners of Naval Enquiry, have filled the minds of the petitioners with alarm and indignation, and they call upon the House for the speedy remedy of such abuses, and for the exemplary punishment of the offenders; and that abuses in the expenditure of the public money) at all times matter of grievance) are peculiarly felt at this time, when so great a weight of taxation falls upon all ranks of people; and that a defence has been attempted of the guilt of the offenders, by the assertion that no actual mischief has been sustained by these gross breaches of trust and offences against law, as if the direct violation of a statute were not a high crime and misdemeanor without the aggravation, that the violation of which the petitioners complain was systematic, and committed by a confidential servant of the Crown, himself the framer of the act which he has broken, and enjoying an increased salary under that very act, in full satisfaction of all wages and fees, and other profits and emoluments theretofore enjoyed by former treasurers; and that such a defence naturally increases the fear that peculation in the expenditure of the public money is not confined to the naval department; and that the petitioners have long submitted to severe privations, in the persuasion that they were necessary to the welfare and safety of the country, and they claim, as their right, that the money which is liberally granted shall be legally applied; and that the petitioners look with a confident hope to the House, after their votes of the 8th and 10th days of April last, that, as constitutional guardians of their liberty and property, they will neither be deterred nor diverted from a full and impartial inquiry into all abuses, in whatever department they may exist; and that the inquiry now begun will

not cease, until all abuses in every public board be remedied, since so only will the minds of the petitioners be satisfied, the credit of the government be upheld, and that free constitution be preserved inviolate, which is the sacred birthright of Englishmen; and that Lord Viscount Melville, having been declared guilty of a high misdemeanour, by the vote of the House of the Sth of April, a civil action is inadequate to the end proposed, and in itself incapable of satisfying the demands of public justice.

COVENTRY; 11th June A petition of the principal inhabitants of the city and county of the city of Coventry, was presented to the House, and read; setting forth, that it appears to the petitioners, from the Tenth Report of the Commissioners of Naval Enquiry, and by the votes of the House of the 8th and 10th days of April last, decisions which have excited the highest veneration and gratitude in their breasts, that there has been the most gross and scandalous misapplication of the public money in the office of Lord Viscount Melville, with his privity and connivance; and the petitioners deeming it highly essential to the detection of further mal-practices, that every department of government should undergo a strict and impartial scrutiny, and that every delinquent may be brought to exemplary punishment, humbly intreat that the powers so wisely and judiciously by the House intrusted to the said Commissioners, and by them so ably, uprightly, and indefatigably employed, may be continued, or, if thought necessary, further extended.

ESSEX; June 17th.A petition of the noblemen, and the humble petition of the gentlemen, clergy, and freeholders, of the County of Essex, convened by the high sheriff, at Chelmsford, the 28th day of May, 1805, was presented to the House, and read; setting forth, that the petitioners humbly feel, that it is no less their duty than their earnest wish and desire, to offer their warmest thanks to the House for their decisions on the 8th and 10th of April last, whereby they so clearly demonstrated, and justly censured, the gross violation of law, and breach of public duty, committed by Lord Viscount Melville whilst he held the office of Treasurer of his Majesty's Navy; and the peti-. tioners further beg leave to express the sa, tisfaction they feel in witnessing, by subse◄ quent votes of the House, their determination of prosecuting inquiries into all other violations of law and abuses of public trust, which may have existed in any other de

partment of the public expenditure; and that, in the present situation of the empire, engaged in a war of unparalleled expense and difficulty, the petitioners feel, that it is essentially necessary to insure the strictest application of the national resources to the great and important objects for which they are called forth; that they entertain the fullest persuasion, and it is their earnest wish and, prayer, that the House will exercise that control over the management of the public money which in their wisdom may appear necessary; that they will persevere in those measures which they have already begun; and that they will establish a system of just and prudent economy in every branch of the public receipt and expenditure.

SUMMARY OF POLITICS. KING'S MESSAGE. It will be remembered, that Mr. Grey had given notice of a motion relative to the state of our foreign affairs, which motion was to be made on Thursday, the 20th instant. On Wednesday, for reasons that the reader will find no difficulty in discovering, a message, upon the same subject, was delivered from his Majesty to both Houses of Parliament. It was as follows: "His Majesty thinks pro

per to acquaint the House, that the "communications which have taken place, "and are still depending, between his Majesty and some of the Powers on the Continent, have not yet been brought to such a point as to enable his Majesty to lay the result of them before the House, or to enter into any further explanation "with the French government, consistent"ly with the sentiments expressed by his Majesty at the opening of the present "session: but his Majesty conceives that it may be of essential importance, that he should have it in his power to avail himself of any favourable conjuncture "for giving effect to such a concert with "other powers, as may afford the best

66

means of resisting the inordinate ambi"tion of France or may be most likely to "lead to a termination of the present con

test, on grounds consistent with the per"manent safety and interests of his Majesty's dominions, and the security and independence of Europe. His Majesty, therefore, recommends it to the House "to consider of making provision for en

abling his Majesty to take such measures, "and enter into such engagements as the "exigencies of affairs may require." This is very little more than word for word of what we were told last year at this time. Who ever heard before of "communications "still depending ?" Were there ever two

He

sentences, in which so little was said as in the two of which this message consists ? The message does, indeed, say nothing. But, who can blame the minister? can say nothing. He has done nothing upon the Continent; all the predictions of himself and his partisans have proved false, and all those of his opponents have proved true. These latter always said, that, in such a ministry, our friends on the Continent would see nothing to confide in, and our enemies would see nothing to fear. The people were warned not to put their trust in a ministry composed of the Pitts and Dundases, whom, they were distinctly told, would waste the means of the nation without effecting any great national purpose. Have they not done so? Has not all that was foretold of them come to pass? "What,

66

then," say their partisans, "would you "have the ministry changed. Would you "have the Pitts and Dundases and Cannings "and Longs and Roses and the swarm of young friends" and underlings; would you have them turned out?" These are the questions that are asked; and the persons who ask them really seem to regard the places as freeholds appertaining to the occupiers, to eject whom from which they appear to look upon as a revolutionary act. Nor, when we come to reflect, shall we at all wonder that a notion like this is entertained; for, the Pitt and Dundas clan have held possession so long, and have so closely adhered to the maxims of the clan, that the offices have descended from father to son. In several of the offices, there is the grandfather, the father, and the son. We have kept them in till they have bred! No wonder that they cry out robbery and murder against every one who talks of a change. The Addingtons made very little alteration. Not that they and their underlings (good God' what must those have been !) had any aversion to share in the fruits of a freebold office; but, wherever they attempted to take possession they met with a resolute résistance from the clan; and the Addingtons were not in a situation to bring the thunder of the state to bear upon them So that the clan has at this moment, a title founded on a quiet possession of more that twenty years; and, while the present sys tem lasts, while their chief can, with in punity, lend the public money to member of parliament without interest, and with out making any record of the transaction the only danger that I can perceive then to be exposed to, is, that by some untowar accident the offices themselves may cease t exist."Ah! you are a party man!' s the exclamation of those who are too indo

lent, too timid, or too base, to stir hand or tongue for the purpose of doing that which they cannot deny ought to be done. A party man! How can one avoid it, if all public men are classed in one party or another? And, seeing that all public measures are produced by public men, how can we avoid preferring one set of men to the other? That it is merely owing to the men that we have obtained, and are like to obtain, no aid upon the continent, there is no positive proof; but, at the time when the Pitts and Dundases returned to power, it was predicted (and the reasons on which the prediction was founded were stated), that we should obtain no such aid. The contrary was asserted by their partisans. The event has now decided the point. But, indeed, is it likely, that any power upon the continent should have confidence in men, whom they see constantly employed in expedients to preserve, not their own power, but their characters as honest men? Is it at all likely, that the Emperor of Russia, for instance, can receive from his minister here such an account of the state of affairs, such a description of the means and stability of the minister as to induce him to enter into any engagements with us, in the consequences of which engagements the reputation of himself and his empire might be involved? And, is there any one who can fail to have perceived the effect, which the recent exposures must have, and must already have had, in the opinion of foreigners, as to our national resources? The pompous descriptions given of these resources, are now proved to have been false; and that, too, by the declarations of the parties themselves, sometimes upon oath. MR. GENTZ, for instance, is, by this time, fully convinced, that it was a collection of falsehoods, upon which he founded his eulogium on the Pitt system of finance, and his opinion of the extent of our resources. How How must Mr. Gentz have started, when he saw the first financier in the world" in close council with the Contractor and the Jew determining upon the emission of wind bills! Mr. Gentz, take my word for it, will write no more books in praise of a system that requires to be propped by a "gross violation

of the law;" by lending the public money to members of parliament without interest. Mr. Gentz will not be deceived by any thing that can now be said upon that subject; and, it will be something wonderful if any statesman upon the continent should again be open to such deception.The French, in the mean time, are taking every opportunity of showing us, that they thoroughly un derstand the nature of our situation, and that they entertain for us a degree of contempt,

which they really appear to want words to express. They laugh at the negotiations of Mr. Pitt and Lord Mulgrave, and even at the warlike enterprises of those great captains, Lord Barham and his worthy compeer Lord Camden. They never spoke with so much contempt of the late cabinet; and, in truth, Mr. Addington did show himself to be an abler minister than Mr. Pitt. We have now seen them in circumstances exactly similar; and, in whatever department we look for a test of their abilities, we shall find the result greatly in favour of the former. In the 387 days that Mr. Pitt has been minister we have had the Parish Army Bill enacted; we have seen a Carr Project and a Catamaran Project; we have been plunged into a Spanish war, which has let loose against us a fleet of twelve sail of the line; we have seen four of our West India Islands invaded and plundered; and we now know that the fleets. of France and Spain are at sea, without. knowing where they are or whither they are destined. This is pretty well for 387 days, with nothing to balance against it, unless, indeed, we were, which would be scarcely just, to ascribe the Tenth Report to the Pitts and Dundases. That must be acknowledged to be a great national blessing. It has given us. hope of finally triumphing over corruption; an enemy that has done us ten thousand times more mischief than we ever received from the French and the Spaniards. There are, I imagine, but few persons who will insist upon ascribing the merit of the Tenth Report to Mr. Pitt, merely because the examinations were taken and the report drawn up since he returned to office; but, be that as it may I will not budge from my opinion; and, if it be just to impute the merit of the Tenth Report to him, then am I ready to confess, that, notwithstanding all the calamities and disgrace of his 387 days ministry, it is a ministry the most auspicious that the country ever knew.

THE FINANCES.There is not room here to notice what occurred as to the several topics of the discussion on Thursday night, upon the motion of Mr. Grey; but, I cannot pass in entire silence over the statement of Mr. Pitt relative to the finances of the country.Mr. Grey had described the annual expenditure as far surpassing the income, and had reminded the ministers of the promise made at the commencement of the war, that the annual supplies would not exceed 26,000,0001. In answer to which Mr. Pitt said: "Of the state of our finances, I can by no means entertain those gloomy "ideas which the honourable gentleman en"tertains. I think, on the contrary, the prospect they afford is highly consolatory.

66

રં

σε

As to the promise on which the honour"able gentleman has insisted, I have to say, " that I was not in office at the time it was "made, but I am satisfied that if great and unexampled burdens had not been rendered necessary, the pledge would have been amply fulfilled. Even if a sum of seven or eight millions had been sufficient, the ct sinking fund would have covered it with"out accumulating more debt. It is consoling and encouraging, that instead of adding to our loans, we can raise by the sinking fund, and the taxes raised within "the year, no less a sum than twenty mil"lions this year. This is a most flattering picture of the state of our resources, and the regular payment of near eight millions σε a year by the sinking fund, in spite of our "accumulated difficulties, is the best testi-. σε mony in favour of public credit. The be"neficial effects of this system is needless "for me to insist upon, for they are felt in

the general prosperity, industry and comfort of the people."" Surely," saidDr. Primrose, upon hearing a bombastical rhapsody about the cosmogony, or creation of the world," Surely," said he, "I have "heard those very words before, and just in "the order which they have been now delivered!" Whereupon, looking round in the face of the speaker, who should it be but Ephraim Jenkinson, who had formerly cheated him out of his horse Blackberry, at the fair, and who repeated, upon all such occasions, a set speech about cosmogony, which latter habit one cannot help calling to mind upon reading the above extract from the report of Mr. Pitt's speech on Thursday last; for, the very words contained in that extract, and in very nearly the same order, I will pledge myself to find, inserted in the parliamentary debates, as delivered by the same person, twice, at least, in every year for twenty years past, excepting only the years 1803 and 1801. To set about seriously answering such a statement would be to admit, that there is some one who may have been deceived by it. And, indeed, there may; but, who ever that deceived person be, he is hardly worth undeceiving. There is, however, one assertion that I cannot help noticing, as it appears to have been considered as a stroke of humour. Mr. Grey had, as was before observed, referred to the promise, made at the beginning of the war, that the annual supplies would not exceed 26,000,0000l. to which Mr. Pitt answered: "I was not in of

"fice, and did not attend in parliament, at the time that promise was made; but, I am satisfied, that if great and unexampled burdens hed not been rendered necessary, the pledge would have been amply fulfilled." That is to say, if the money bad not been wanted, it would not have been called for; which, as the promise was, that the money would not be wanted, was the same thing as to say, that if the promise had not been broken, it would have been kept! This, if not quite nonsense is certainly very near it; for, I can hardly suppose, that, notwithstanding what has recently come to light, he thought it necessary to declare, that the money had not been applied to other purposes than those for which it was raised.- Of the Sinking Fund, unless I had been in a mood more than commonly jocular, I should have taken no notice; but, I should hardly have refrained from making some remark on the reference made to the "comfort of the people," as a proof of the flourishing state of our resources. Upon this subject, I think I must have asked him, whether there being more than a million of paupers in England and Wales alone were a symptom of comfort amongst the people; and whether the number of paupers having been nearly doubled during his administration, were a mark of the salutary effects of his system!-There is something in the close of this part of his speech which rather alarmed me. He talked about Te"solutions soon to be brought forward by "an honourable gentleman of ability and

68

accuracy well fitted for the task;" and then, said he, "I shall be able to shew the "house, that the view I have taken of the "financial state of the country is by no " means delusive." This alarmed me; because, if there be any that can continue to puzzle the minds of men, and, of course, to prolong the delusion, and thereby to render it more fatal in its consequences, it is this annual batch of financial resolutions tendered by some one of the Opposition; in which resolutions all the principles of the minister are solemnly recognised, the point in dispute being confined to some trifling more or less in the detail, which, if the principles be admitted, is entirely beneath the notice of any one whose mind is not nearly upon a level with that of a Jew broker.

JAMAICA. Thus pressed for room, I can only request the reader to turn to page 947, where he will find a very important official paper relative to the affairs of this Island.

VOL. VII. No. 26.]

961]

As when great Cox, at his mechanic call,
Bids orient pearls from golden dragons fall,
Each little dragonet, with brazen grin,
Gapes for the precious prize, and gulps it in.
Yet when we peep behind the magic scene,
Que MASTER-WHEEL directs the whole machine:

MR. PITT'S CASE.

(Continued from p.939.)

[PRICE 10D.

The THIRD and last proposed head of discussions was, Mr. Pitt's conniving at the withdrawing of naval money from the Bank of England, to be lodged at the banking shop of Coutts and Company, and, of course, to be made use of for purposes of private emolument.- -By the partizans of Mr. Pitt, it has, all along, been asserted, that he knew nothing of the illegal proceedings of Lord Melville and Mr. Trotter. Mr. Pitt himself, however, appears to have been conscious of this mistake; and, to this consciousness we may, probably, attribute some part at least of that anxiety, which, on the 8th of April, he discovered with respect to the modification of the resolution of censure. That resolution states, "that Lord Mel"ville, having been privy to, and connived

at, the withdrawing from the Bank of England for purposes (as acknowledged " by Lord Melville) of private interest or "emolument, to Mr. Trotter, sums issued "to him as Treasurer of the navy, and placed to his account at the Bank, accord

ing to the provisions of the 25 Geo. III. Ch. 31. has been guilty of a gross viola"tion of the law and a high breach of duty."

Here it is evident, that the having been privy to, and connived at, the withdrawing of naval money from the bank, contrary to the act, and for purposes of private emolument, constituted, in the opinion of the mover of the resolution, the guilt of Lord Melville, which opinion finally appeared to be that of the house. When, therefore, we find, that Mr. Pitt was informed, duly informed, informed by the governor of the bank of England, so long ago as the year 1797; of the withdrawing of the naval money from the bank to be lodged at a private shop; when we find that Mr. Pitt, did, in consequence of this information, neither take any steps to put a stop to the illegal practice, nor inform his colleagues of the cabinet, or any of them, of the information he had received; when we find, that the practices still continued in their full degree of flagrancy;

when, in short, we find, that there was a complete connivance on the part of Mr. Pitt also, we cannot be much at a loss with regard to the motives, by which that gentleman was actuated, when he so anxiously besought the house not to characterize such a connivance as 66 a gross violation of the law "and a high breach of duty."--By adverting to the amendments, which Mr. Pitt proposed to introduce into the resolution of censure on Lord Melville, we find that he was very strenuous in his endeavours to have the words " has been GUILTY of a gross violation of the law and a high breach of duty" left out, and to cause to be inserted in their stead, "has acted contrary to the

INTENTION of the law;" by which he obviously wished to convey, as the opinion of the house, that the connivance, in which it now appears he was a participator, arose from a want of knowing, or, at least, recollecting, what was the real intention of the law. This the reader should keep in mind; because, the proposition having been reject ed by the house of commons, they, in effect, decided for Mr. Pitt as well as for Lord Melville, that the connivance did not proceed from any want of information as to the intention of the law. But, of this we shall have occasion to say more, after having stated the substance of the evidence of Mr. Raikes. That gentleman informed the committee (see the whole of his evidence in p. 869 to 872, present volume), that, in the year 1797, being then governor of the bank of England, he "told Mr. Pitt, then First "Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of "the Exchequer, that he had heard, at the "bank, that same morning, that the Trea

surer of the Navy now kept his cash at "Messrs. Coutts and Company's instead of "the bank, where he (Mr. Raikes) under"stood it should be lodged by act of parlia"ment; and that he had also heard, that