be referved in the exchequer, and not iffued or applied, but by authority of parliament. This duty having for many years produced a furplus, the act of the 19th of his prefent majefty, chap. 6. appropriates it towards augmenting the falaries of the judges. As the million raifed by exchequer bills, and the next year converted into annuities, was exprefsly charged upon the hereditary revenues of the crown, which by the act of the if of his prefent majefty, are carried to the aggregate fund; and the furplus of that fund is, by the act of the first of George I. chap. 12. which created it, difpofable for the public fervice; and as the furplus of the fix-penny duty, the whole of which was appropriated to pay the annuities, and cancel the exchequer bills, has been taken for, and is now appropriated to, a public fervice, the public have poffeffed themfelves of the revenues chargeable with this million, and with the fund created to reimburse those revenues; and, therefore, we think ourfelves well warranted to infert this million among the debts-due from the public. The fum of 1,164, 2621. 55. in the column of annual intereft, confills of a variety of annuities grant ed by different acts: fome for lives, and others for years for different periods, they are digefted in two fupplemental accounts we received from the exchequer. The fum for lives, granted in five different years, payable at the exchequer, and itanding out upon the 5th of July laft, is 71,055. 165. 7d. The annuities for long and fhort terms, granted in eight different years, amount to 1,098,5251. 75. In the column of principal debt, oppofite to these annuities, no fum is inferted, because no fums were paid fpecifically for them into the exchequer they were all premiums granted to the fubscribers, in addition to redeemable annuities. To compute the principal debt incurred on account of thete annuities for lives and years, at any given time, the value of each fpecies must be estimated by the age and circumflances of the nominees, or the time they have to run, and the market price at that time a calculation not very practicable, and, if it were, of no great utility. The fun of 52501, the first article in the column under the title of management, is paid, pursuant to various treasury warrants, to the auditor, the clerk of the pells, and tellers of the exchequer, in certain proportions, for their trouble in tranfacting the annuities payable in that office. All thefe debts may be claffed under two heads, the redeemable, and the irredeemable; the firft, are thofe which the legislature, purfuing the forms and terms fpecified in the acts that created them, may redeem, without the confent of the proprietors; the latter, are those which being granted for certain fpecified periods, cannot be redeemed without the confent of the proprietors in the creation of fome of the first, the right of redemption is restrained in favour of the fubfcribers, until after a limited period. Correfponding with thefe obfervations, and confequently deviating fomewhat from the form purfued in the exchequer, we have fet forth the prefent ftate, as it appears to us, of the national debt standing out at the exchequer; in which the redeemable debt amounts to 211,363,254, 155. 41d. and the annuity attending it to 6,642,3971. 12s. 9d.: which annuity will expire upon the redemption, annihilation, or purchafing in of the capital. The irredeemable annuity (K 4) amounts amounts to the annual fum of 1,309,5321. Ss. 3d.; which, unless purchafed in, muft continue for the periods for which the feveral parts of it were granted. The charges of managing this debt amount to 134,2911. 135. id. From the materials thus collected, we are enabled to state, at one view, with precifion, the total fum paid by the public in confequence of their debts in this, and to be paid in every fucceeding year, until a reduction fhall take place. The fum paid in annuities on the capital, and for lives and years, is 7,951,930l. 1s; the charges of management are 134,2911. 138. 1d.: the fees to the auditors of the impreft, on the bank and South Sea houfe accounts, 19,8741. 2s. 8d.: the fees at the other offices, taken at the fame rate as ftated in the bank and South Sea houfe memorials above alluded to, 6961. 128. 4d.; forming together, as flowing from and incidental to the debt they have contracted, the annual fum of 8,106,7921. 95. id. rears remains behind; debts for which no provifion has as yet been made by government. We required, from the lords commiffioners of his majesty's treafury, an account of the unfunded debt, as it stood upon the it of October laft; diftinguishing thofe debts, that carry intereft, from thofe which carry no intereft, with the intereft due on each fpecies, computed to the 1st of October last. Four accounts were tranfmitted to us, purfuant to this requifition; the first contains the debt due at the navy and victualling offices; the fecond, at the office of ordnance; the third, at the exchequer; the fourth, for the extraordinaries of the army. As fome of the bills in the navy account, and a fum in the exchequer account, have been paid fince the 1st of October laft, we have collected the fubfifting ar ticles, and difpofed them in fuch order as to fhew, at one view, the prefent flate of this unfunded debt; and from thence it appears, that the principal of this debt amounts to 18,856,5411. 118. 41d. of which the fum of 15,694,112l. 18. 11d. carries intereft; and the intereft due upon it the 1ft of October last, was 517,5791. 4s. 3d.: the amount of the annual intereft is 612,742. The remain. We have omitted to add to this account, as unneceffary, we hope, for the future, the expence incurred in the year of a loan by annuities and a lottery, and allowed to the bank for receiving, paying, and accounting for the contributions this article, in the year omitting fractions. : 1781, as ftated in the bank memorial, amounted to 10,6691. 10s.; and, in the year 1782, as ftated in account tranfmitted to us from the auditors of the impreft, to 12,7021. 11s. 3d. This is the ftate of the funded debt; that is, certain funds have been created, and appropriated by the legiflature, as a provifion for the payment of all the annuities therein enumerated: but this is not the whole debt; a heavy lift of ar der of this principal, being 3,162,4291. 95. 5id. carries no intereft. The principal of this debt, being added to 211,363,2541. 155. 4 d. the capital of the funded debt, makes the prefent capital debt of this nation 230,219,7961. 6s. 9id. and the annual intereft of this debt, being added to 7,951,930l. is, the fum of annuities ftated in the ac count of the funded debt, increases the fum to be paid every year, annuities and interest to for 8,564,6721. 1s; to which being added the fum of 154,8621. 8s. id. claimed for charges of management, and fees, the total fum paid every year by this nation, in confequence of its debt, will be 8,719,534l. 9s. id.: and fhould thefe arrears of the navy and ordnance, making together 12,742,4151. os. id. be converted into annuities of 31. per cent. taken at the rate of 60 per cent. which is more than the prefent price, above 8,000,00cl. more will be added to the capital, and increafe it to upwards of 238,000,000l, including more than 6,000,000l. in exchequer bills and extraordinaries of the army; and above 150,000l. a year will be added to the annuity, and above 13,000l. a year to the expences attending it; which, will, together, make the annual fum to be paid by this nation upwards of 8,882,5341. It is expedient that the true flate of the national debt fhould be difclofed to the public; every fubject ought to know it, for every fubject is interested in it. This debt is fwelled to a magnitude that requires the united efforts of the ableft heads and purest hearts, to fuggeft the proper and effectual means of reduction. The nation calls for the aid of all its members to co-operate with government, and to combine in carrying into execution fuch measures as fhall be adopted, for the attainment of fo indifpenfible an end this aid the fubject is bound to give to the state, by every other obligation, as well as by the duty he owes to his country; and, with fuch general aid, the difficultie-, great as they appear, will, we truft, be found not infurmountable. A plan must be formed for the reduction of this debt, and that without delay; now, in the fa vourable moments of peace. The evil does not admit of procrastination, palliatives, or expedients: it preffes on, and must be met with force and firmnefs. The right of the public creditor to his debt, must be preserved inviolate: his fecurity retts upon the folid foundation, never to be fhaken, of parliamentary national faith. The obvious means of reduction is the creation of a fund to be appropriated, and invariably applied, under proper direction, in the gra dual diminution of the debt: this fun.. must be the furplus of the annual income, above the annual expences of the ftate, to be obtained and increafed by the extenfion and improvement of the fources of revenue, and by a frugal adminiflration of the produce. To accomplith the first of these does not, in many inftances, depend folely upon the will and power of the flate. To open new or enlarge old channels of commerce, to fet up new or improve old branches of manufacture, often require the concurrence of other nations, and of other bodies of men: but frugality in the management of the revenue, the object to which the act by which we are conflituted, has pointed our attention, is within the reach of every government. It needs no concurrence or affistance from without it poffeffes in itfelf full, abfolute and uncontrouled powers, to regulate the management of every article of its revenue: it can quicken the paflage of a tax or duty into the public coffers: it can direct it from thence, without delay, to the purpofe for which it is intended: it can abolish ufelefs offices; cut off fuperfluous and unnecefiary expences; and reduce thole that are neceffary within certain and reason. able limits; it can call its officers to will enfue. Where the refources of a country are fo extenfive, fo various, and productive, a fpirit of frugality, univerfally diffufed and kept alive, cannot but be attended with the moft powerful effects. The fubjects of this kingdom are opulent, generous, and public-fpirited: let the diftreffes of their country be fairly laid before them; and let that intereft they and their pofteri ty have in this conftitution be appealed to, and they will contribute chearfully and liberally to her reiief. The fubject muft place contidence in the integrity and wifdom of the government: he fhould have no doubt but his contributions to the public fervice find their way, undiminished, without deviation or delay, to their proper object: and and let him no more seek for fhifts and fubtleties to evade the payment of thofe duties and taxes which the wisdom of the legifla ture have deemed the most eligible, and which the neceffities of the ftate fully juftify. Let public benevolence take the lead of private interef. Example may produce much; and must be gin fomewhere. An extraordinary and unprecedented conjuncture in the finances of a country may require extraordinary and unprecedented efforts. Every man may dedicate a portion of his income, or fome fare of his affluence, according to his faculties, to this great national object: let the produce of fuch a general exertion be wifely directed, and faithfully ap plied; and this debt, enormous as it is, vill begin to melt away: and every man who, contributes to fo great a work will feel the confolation refulting from the difcharge of the most important of his duties, by having affitted in relieving public diftrefs, reitoring public credit, and averting a national calamity. Office of Accounts, Surryfreet, Dec. 4. 1783. (L. S.) (L.S.) (L.S.) T. ANGUISH, (L. S.) The Twefth Report of the Commissi oners appointed to examine, take, and fate, the Public Accounts of the Kingdom. is THE treasurer of the ordnance amoug the public accountants upon the certificate of accounts depending in the office of the auditors of the impreft. We required from that office the last declared account of the treasurer of the ordnance, with the materials from which it was made out. Two accounts were tranfmitted to us in confequence of this requifition; the one, the final account of John Rofs Mackye, efq. treasurer and paymaster of the oflice of ordnance, from the ft of January to the 16th of December 1780; the other, the account of William Adam, efq. from the 16th to the 31st of De cember, being the remaining part of that year: the first was declared the 7th of September 1782; the the other, the 11th of January 1783. The account of a treasurer of the ordnance contains the receipts and payments of an entire year, unless there have been more treafurers within the year than one; and, in that cafe, each treasurer makes up an account for that part of the year during which he had been in the office. We confined our examination to the first of thefe accounts, as being for the longest period. The materials which were fent to us with this account, and had been received by the auditor from the treasurer, were a ledger-quarter books-and debentures: from the infpection of which, together with the examinations of Charles Harris, efq. one of the deputy auditors of the impreft, and Cuthbert Fisher, efq. chief clerk in the office of the treasurer of the ordnance, we are made acquainted with the forms of, and fubject matter contained in, these books and inftruments; and with the manner in which the auditor proceeds in examining and auditing thefe ac counts. The ledger contains a complete account of all the fums received and paid by the treasurer during the period of the account. The fums with which he charges himself are thefe-the balance remaining due on his last account-the money imprested to him from the exchequer-the voluntary charge-and, the imprefts vacated. The fum imprefted from the exchequer is verified by the impreft certificate. The voluntary charge includes all the fums (except the imprefts vacated) that have come to his hands by any other means than from the exchequer the entry of this charge in the ledger is figned at the end by three or more of the principal officers; and upon the authority of that fignature the auditor admits it. The imprefts vacated, are fums which the treasurer ftands charged with, in confequence of the ac counts of money iffued by way of impreft, either by him or his predeceffors, having been fettled during the time of the account. When a clearing debenture is made out, either for the whole amount, or for a part, of a debt due from the ordnance, the fums that have been advanced on account are entered by the clerk of the ordnance in the margin of the debenture; the treafurer pays the balance only; but he takes credit for the amount of the debenture, and charges himfelf with the imprefts. If a part only of the fums imprefted have been expended, the account is fettled by the clerk of the ordnance, and the balance is directed by the board to be paid to the treasurer; the imprefts in the one cafe, and the balances in the other, form the account of the impreft vacated. This account is figned in like manner with the voluntary charge, and admitted upon that authority; but the auditor, finding the perfons, who have been thus cleared, either returned infuper, upon fome former account, or inferted in the lift of imprefts in the account depending, writes them off, as far as they are cleared, oppofite their names in the margin of that account in which they are fo inferted,-the discharge contains all his payments: the vouchers for them are the quarter books and debentures. The quarter books are of two kinds; the one relates to the civil, the other to the military branch of the ord. nance. The civil quarter book contains the titles of all the offices in |