course; and although he was not called upon from his official situation to draw down on himself this mass of unpopularity, Mr. Huskisson nevertheless took a prominent part in these discussions. He seems, indeed, to have had extraordinary pleasure in grappling with subjects of this arduous and complicated kind, and to have found in them something congenial to his nature. Diffident of his own powers, and free from anything like a feeling of rivalry or jealousy, he should seem to have systematically relinquished all topics, whether foreign or domestic, which demanded or allowed the use or display of the more dazzling and imposing graces of public speaking, to the splendid eloquence of Mr. Canning. It is certain at least, that, during the life of that great man, he seldom, if ever, mixed in the discussions on Foreign Policy, however tempting the occasion; and that, although invariably favourable to the abolition of the Slave Trade, and to the Claims of the Roman Catholics, he generally limited his support of them-with the exception of a speech in favour of the latter in 1825-to a silent vote.

In thus devoting his mind to the study of Political Economy, he may have been impelled, not merely by a natural predilection, but also by a conviction that, in pursuing this thorny and unattractive path, he was likely to meet fewer competitors for the prize, and that the combina

tion of his own intimate acquaintance with this abstruse department of politics,—including Finance, Currency, and Commerce, with the unrivalled endowments and enlightened views of Mr. Canning in the wide range of foreign and domestic policy, would greatly strengthen their mutual influence, and extend their means of benefiting both their own country and the world, whenever they might be called upon to take part in the administration of public affairs. But, whatever may have been the motives which induced him, through so many years, to direct his exertions in Parliament to what are usually esteemed the least attractive branches of political knowledge, the public have no reason to regret the decision; for it was during these years of careful and anxious investigation and deep reflection, amid the chances and disappointments which, unfortunately for the country, retarded his rise to the higher offices of the Government, that his mind was unceasingly occupied in preparing the ground for, and sowing the seeds of, those Improvements, which he had afterwards the satisfaction of bringing to a prosperous maturity.

The Corn Laws were not the only difficult question of domestic policy which occupied the attention of Government in 1815 and 1816. The Bank restriction, which had been continued until July in the latter year, was brought under the consideration of Parliament in the month of May;

when Mr. Horner moved, that a Select Committee should be appointed for inquiring into the expediency of restoring the Cash Payments of the Bank of England, and the safest and most advantageous means of effecting such restoration. In the Debate which ensued, Mr. Huskisson declared, that he still retained the opinions which he had formerly expressed, when the Bullion Committee had terminated its labours. No inquiry, he said, was necessary on the first point embraced by the Motion. All agreed that there was no security for property, no stability in public credit, no confidence in trade, no mode of adjusting the rights and consulting the interests of all classes of society, without a circulation rendered steady by possessing a permanent and universal value: but he thought that the task of restoring the precious metals should be left to the discretion of the Bank, with a declaration, that the Parliament expected the resumption of Cash Payments should not be delayed beyond two years; and a clause declaratory of such an expectation was accordingly adopted. The truth appears to have been that, in the interval since the former discussions on this subject, the Bank had not only neglected preparations for resuming their pay. ments in cash, but had actually extended their issues; so that the Government found itself compelled to prolong the restriction till July 1818.

Mr. Huskisson took every opportunity of express

ing the satisfaction, with which he looked forward to the arrival of the period fixed for the resumption of cash payments, and his sanguine hope that it would not be delayed beyond the time contemplated by Parliament. His penetration, however, was at no loss to discover, and his candour did not allow him to disguise, that the interval which must elapse between the withdrawing, or absorbing, of a large portion of the excessive circulation of the country, and the return to another state of currency, must be a time of severe pressure, not only in this country but all over Europe. To this period, when the state of the Currency and of the Country Banks was to be placed on a more secure footing, he again alluded, when arguing in favour of the set of Finance Resolutions moved by Mr. Charles Grant, and carried in opposition to those of Mr. Tierney, at the close of the Session of 1817; and he expressed his earnest hope, that everything would be done to prepare the country for the reception of more liberal commercial arrangements, in order to afford some counterpoise to the pressure which he foresaw impending, and to disarm the jealousy of foreign countries.

In the debate which followed Lord Althorp's attempt, in 1818, for a repeal of the Leather Tax, which was defeated by a very small majority, we find Mr. Huskisson opposing the Bill, and enforcing his opposition, on the ground, that no tax could be repealed with full benefit to the

public, except direct taxes; and that if any reduction could possibly be made, these ought to be the first to attract consideration.

When, in this year, Mr. Tierney moved a Resolution, involving the much agitated question of an immediate resumption of Cash Payments, Mr. Huskisson successfully advocated a further delay. He shewed that such a measure was then incompatible with the existing state of affairs, and that the House could do nothing more than declare the time for resuming such payments, leaving the care of providing the necessary means to the Bank itself. But while he maintained that the present was not the season for removing the restriction, he avowed that a difference existed between him and the Chancellor of the Exchequer on certain points. This led him to defend and eulogize the Report made by the Bullion Committee; which he characterized as containing a perspicuous statement of facts and well connected inferences still unanswered, and he expressed his regret that the distinguished individual who had prepared it-Mr. Horner-was not living to assist the present deliberations with the force of his reasoning and the accuracy of his judgment.

In the autumn of this year Parliament was dissolved, and Mr. Huskisson re-elected for Chichester without any opposition.

On the appointment of the Finance Committee, at the commencement of the Session of 1819, Mr.