ambition of some of the inhabitants, and should have made use of the language the blind credulity of the rest, in suffering contained in this letter in addressing himthemselves to be hurried away by the in- self to a Queen, whose principles are enflamed passions of their fellow-country-tirely opposed to his, and whose hatred to men. His Majesty has taken the proper his person could not have been manifested means for the complete extirpation of these in a stronger manner, since he usurped evils, and chastising the authors thereof the French throne, a throne stained with with all the rigour which the rights of so- the blood of so many illustrious victims, vereignty authorise him to exercise, if among whom was her Majesty's own they do not previously make a voluntary sister?-The Council of Regency have submission; in which case his Majesty looked upon this letter as spurious from grants them a general pardon.-His Ma- the very first moment it came to their jesty orders that these dispositions be cir knowledge through the Badajoz Diary, culated in his dominions for the purpose and the circumstance of its not having of being carried into effect, and also in been permitted to appear in the Gazette foreign parts, that they may conform of Government proves the truth of this.themselves to the measures adopted for Could his Majesty (the Council of Rethe blockade of the above mentioned gency) have imagined that such a procoasts; and by order of his Majesty Iduction could have been productive of the transmit the same to your Honour for your information," &c. SICILY.-Official Note of the Council of Re- that least alteration towards the Court-of the Two Sicilies in the British Parliament, or in the minds of the British Ministry, he would have ordered the publication of foundation of the letter in question, and some Paper demonstrating the slender would moreover have adopted other mea sures, which he might have thought proper, to discredit it. His Majesty is, however, fully convinced, that the English The Council of Regency of the king- Cabinet is too well informed, and possesses doms of Spain and the Indies, to whom I too much sagacity, to be misled by so im have communicated the Note which I had probable a letter, or that it could occasion the honour of receiving from you, under the least alteration in the opinion hitherto date of the 6th inst. feels the greatest entertained of the inviolable principles of -concern, that an affair, (the nature of which the Court of the Two Sicilies. Your mind never should have produced any effect con-ought, therefore, to be perfectly at ease as trary to the good opinion and unalterable to this point.-Those who, under the sup attachment which the august Queen of the posed restriction of the press, argue Two Sicilies most justly possesses to the from the very circumstance of this letter good cause, to the great sacrifices she being printed in Spain, it must be genu made in its support, and to the known ine, are but ill-informed of the actual firmness of her character and principles) state of the Peninsula in this respect. could ever give rise to the slightest motive True it is, that the liberty of the press in some members of the British Parlia-not authorised by law, nor expressly per ment, for entertaining any doubts of the mitted by Government; but, notwith continuation of the system, to which the standing this, there exists an equivalent Court of the Two Sicilies has invariably toleration; particularly the Diary of Ba adhered. A small degree of reflection, as dajoz, which, being printed under no autho to the authenticity of the supposed letter rity, uses much liberty in every thing it written by Napoleon to the Queen of the writes.-On the other hand, no original can Two Sicilies, will necessarily shew, that be traced to which recourse might be had; even in case of its being authentic, it is and whatever the letter of Madame Beuret very improbable that he ever should have Cellerier may be, such as it is, it cannot entrusted any one with a copy for the sake be noticed, and still less the copy in of having it published, and still less that it cluded of the supposed letter to Napoleon, should fall into the hands of a woman this lady not being known. writing to her husband or lover in Spain. Besides, how is it possible that Napoleon (To be continued.) Published by R. BAGSHAW, Brydges-Street, Covent Garden:-Sold also by J. BUDD, Pall-Mall, LONDON :-Printed by T. C. Hansard, Peterborough-Court, Fleet-Street, VOL. XVIII. No. 11.] LONDON, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1810. [Price 18. "But, Gentlemen, there are men, who entertain very different opinions of the Liberty of the Press; "that this Liberty is to be all on one side. In Russia, Gentlemen, there is great Liberty of the Press, provided you publish nothing but praise on the good Empress.". ERSKINE's Defence of PAINE, 1792. 縣 PAPER AGAINST GOLD: BEING AN EXAMINATION OF THE Report of the Bullion Committee: IN A SERIES OF LETTERS TO THE TRADESMEN AND FARMERS LETTER IV. The -[354 ed, and what is likely to be done, in the way of causing such diminution. that they have found, in an Act of Parliament which they propose to be passed for causing the Bank Company to pay their promissory notes in gold and silver in two years' time. One of our principal objects, in this discussion, is, to enable ourselves to form a correct opinion as to the practicability of this remedy, even at the end of two years; and, as we have, from what bas already been shown, good reason to believe, that the quantity of bank notes, the excess of which has driven the gold out of circulation, cannot be lessened unless the Debt be also diminished, it is necessary for us to Schemes for paying off the National Deht-ascertain what has been done or attemptFormer Sinking Funds Origin of Pitt's Grand Sinking Fund Changes made by Pitt's sway in the state of this country-Grand Sinking Fund Act-Purposes of it Commissioners and their manner of proceeding indeed, almost from the very beginning of From very early stages of the Debt; -How they would buy up Grizzle Green- it, there were measures proposed for payhorn's share of the Debt-What redemptioning it off, the idea of an everlasting Debt, means- ·Commissioners step into Grizzle's shoes-We still are taxed for the interest-nation's means, being at first, something and an everlasting mortgage upon the Evils of the Grand Sinking Fund-What too frightful for our upright and sensible would be really redeeming-American mode of ancestors to bear. Propositions, and even Redeeming Statement of the increase of the interest on the Debt-Clause in Pitt's Grand provisions, were at different times accordingly made for paying off parts of the Saking Fund Act for ceasing to pay interest, Debt, and some comparatively small sums in 1808, upon Stock bought up. were, in the early stages of the progress, actually paid off; the Debt became less, and less interest was, of course, paid upon it. Still, however, as new wars came on, new sums were borrowed; and, as lending money to the government was found to be a profitable trade; as so many persons of influence found their advantage in the loaning transactions, the money was We have seen how the Debt has gone always easily enough raised. But, yet on increasing from its first existence to the there continued to be a talk of paying of present day; we have seen how the Ex-the Debt; and, in time, a part of the pences of the nation and the Taxes of the nation have gone on increasing with the debt; we have also seen that the increase of the Bank-Notes has kept pace with the rest, till those notes have, at last, driven the gold coin out of circulation. This last is the evil, for which the Bullion Committee have endeavoured to find out a remedy, and such a remedy they appear to think Gentlemen, Our next business is to inform ourselves correctly with respect to the Schemes, which, at different times, have been on foot for PAYING OFF THE NATIONAL DEBT, and about which paying off we have, all our lives long, heard so much. yearly taxes were set aside for that purpose, which part of the taxes so set aside was called a SINKING FUND. These being words, which, as belonging to our present subject, are of vast importance, it is necessary for us to have a clear notion of their meaning. The word fund, as was before observed in Letter II, page M 291, means a quantity of money put together | for any purpose; and, in the instance before us, the word Sinking appears to have been prefixed to the word Fund in order to characterize, or describe, the particular purpose, or use, of the taxes so set apart; namely, to the purpose of sinking, or reducing, or diminishing, or lessening, the Debt. So that the Sinking Fund, of which we have all heard so much, and of which most of us have known so little, means, in other words, in words better to be understood, a Lessening Fund, and whether the thing has, in its operation, hitherto, answered to its name, we shall by-and-by see, if, indeed, we have not seen enough to satisfy us upon this point in the increase of the Debt, as exhibited in the foregoing Letter. looked upon PITT as the greatest minister that England ever saw, to reproach others, who may still be as ignorant of the truth as I was then, for their attachment to his me mory, for their high opinion of the schemes of his inventing, and for their blind adoration of those schemes; but when they have, as I have, taken a fair and full view of all his measures; when they have compared his deeds with his professions, his performances with his promises; when they have seen, that he added threefold to our Taxes and our Expenditure, and that, notwithstanding this, the power and the territory of France were extended in proportion to the sacrifices he called upon us to make for what he called resisting her; when they see, that that standard of national misery, the poor-rates, rose, during his sway, in almost a triple degree; when they see, that the war at the outset of which he relied, in no small degree, for success upon the destruction of French cause the stoppage of gold and silver payments at the Bank of England, and that its prolongation has led to a state of things, in which a public print, devoted to the government, has described the largest class of English bank-notes as "de"structive assignats," when they see this, and when they see, that, the National Debt, which he himself called "the best The amount of taxes thus set apart, or, to use the words with which we must now grow familiar, the Sinking Funds, which were, time after time, established, were in many cases, applied to other pur-assignats, did, at the end of four years, poses than that for which they were destined, or intended. Indeed, they seem, for many years, to have been very little better than purses made up at one time and spent again at another, without answering any rational purpose at all; and, accordingly, the nation does not appear to have paid any great attention to them, or to have considered them as of any consequence, until the year 1786, when the present GRAND SINKING FUND was established by PITT, who, but a little while before, had been made Prime Minister, and whose system has continued to this day. Gentlemen, we are now entering upon a part of our subject, which not only demands an uncommon portion of your attention, but, into the discussion of which you will, I hope, carry such a spirit of impartiality as shall subdue all the prejudices of party and dissipate all the mists of ignorance which have therefrom arisen. It is, even yet, impossible to mention the name of PITT, without exciting feelings that struggle hard against reason, and that, in some minds, overcome it. During his administration, the nation was divided into two parties, so hostile to each other, that both were easily made subservient to his views; and, it is, with every man who really loves his country, matter of deep regret, that the same, or nearly the same, divisions continue to the present day. It is not for me, who at one time, really t ally of France" when they see, that that Debt, which he found at 200 mil lions and odd, he left at 600 millions and odd, while France, during his wars against, her, had exchanged her assignats for gold, and had extended her territory and her. sway to a degree which made that nation, whose power our forefathers despised, an object of continual dread to England; when the former partizans of PITT see this, as they must, aye, and feel it too, will they still persist in asserting the wisdom of his plans; and, above all, will they, when they see the Debt tripling in amount under his hands, still persist in asserting the efficacy of his Sinking Fund, and, upon that bare assertion, reject all inquiry into either the nature or the effect of that celebrated scheme? Let us hope, that, in a country boasting of the thoughtfulness of its people, there can be but very few persons so besotted as this; and, indeed, it is due to the country to say, that there do not appear to be any such left, excepting amongst those who live upon the taxes, and whose perverse tion. But, be this as it may, I am satisfied that you, my Friends and Neighbours, who like me, have no interests separate from those of our country, will not, whatever may have been your prejudices heretofore, wilfully shut your eyes against the truth; and that you will accompany me in this inquiry with that great attention, which, as I before observed, the subject demands. ness arises not from their want of informa- | viduals, which stock would then become the property of the nation. But, stay. We must go gently on here, or we lose our selves in a moment. We must, indeed, not proceed a step further, till we have gone back to Letter II, at pages 293, 294, 295, and have taken another look, and refreshened our memories as to what STOCK means. Having done so, and read on to the end of the first paragraph in page 296, we may proceed by repeating, that the Commissioners were to go Pitt's Sinking Fund was begun. in the to work with the money lodged in their year 1786, by an Act of Parliament (being hands, out of the taxes, and purchase up Chapter XXXI of the 20th year of the Stock. We have seen, in the pages just reign of George III) entitled "An Act referred to, how Stock is made; we have “for vesting certain sums in Commissioners, seen how MUCKWORM lent his money to " at the end of every Quarter of a Year, to the government; .we have seen how he be by them applied to the Reduction of the got his name written in a book in return for "National Debt." In virtue of this Act, his money; we have seen that Stock is a certain part of the taxes was, in each nothing that can be seen, heard, smelled, year, to be paid to certain persons, named or touched; we have seen that it signifies in the Act, as Commissioners for manag- the right of receiving interest upon money ing the concern; and, these taxes toge-lent to the government, which money has ther with the accumulations upon them, have been, as formerly, called a Sinking " Fund. been long ago expended; we have seen the operation by which Muckworm became possessed of stock; and, lastly, we have seen our neighbour, FARMER GreenHORN, purchase two thousand pounds worth of MUCKWORM's stock, which the former bequeathed to his poor daughter GRIZZLE. It is no matter what was the amount of the sum, or sums, of money, thus to be set apart out of the taxes, and to introduce particulars of that sort would only embarrass our view. Suffice it to know, that certain sums of money, being a part Now, then, observe, the whole of the of the taxes, were set apart, and that, Stock, of which the National Debt is made with this money, together with its grow-up, is exactly the same sort of thing as ing interest, the Commissioners, appoint- this two thousand pounds worth of Stock, by the Sinking-Fund-Act, were, at stated belonging to Grizzle Greenhorn. There periods, and with certain limitations in is a book, in which a list of the names their powers, to redeem the Debt as fast as of all those persons is written, who have, they could, the word redeem having now Like Grizzle, a right to draw interest from come into fashion instead of the word pay the government out of the taxes; against of. It is of no consequence what were each name in this list is placed the the periods, what were the days of the amount of the sum for which the person week or the times of the moon, when this has a right to draw interest. Some have work of redemption was to be performed. a right to draw interest for more and some The effect is what we have to look after; for less. And these sums make up what but, in order to have a clear view of even is called the National Debt. Of course, that, we must see the manner of doing the the Sinking Fund Commissioners, in order thing, the manner of redeeming or paying to pay-off the National Debt, or any part off the Debt; for, without that, we shall of it, must purchase up Stock from indivibe continually exposed to be bewildered duals; or, in other words, pay them off and deceived; and, indeed, we shall be their share of the Debt. If, for instance, quite unable to form any thing like a Grizzle Greenhorn has a mind to have clear notion of what the Sinking Fund her two thousand pounds to lay out upon really is. land, or to do any thing else with, she sells her stock, and, if it so happen, she may sell it to the Commissioners; and thus, as they pay her for it with the na tion's money, it is said, that, by this The Commissioners, with the money thas put under their care and management, were to purchase up stock from indi transaction, they have redeemed (by which | described, of redeeming the Debt by pur I should mean paid off) two thousand pounds of the National Debt. Grizzle, who was the creditor, has got her money again; she has no longer any right to draw interest for it; and, of course, you would think, that these two thousand pounds worth of debt were paid off, and that the nation, that we the people, had no longer any interest to pay upon it; you would naturally think, that we were no longer taxed to pay the interest upon this part of the Debt. Greatly, however, would you be deceived; cruelly deceived, if you did think so; for, notwithstanding the Commissioners have redeemed these two thousand pounds, we have still to pay the interest of them every year; we are still taxed for the money wherewith to pay this interest, just in the same way as if the two thousand pounds worth of Debt had not been redeemed at all, but still belonged to Grizzle Greenhorn! This is an odd way of redeeming; an odd way of paying off: do you not think it is, Neighbours? We have before seen, that the National Debt is a mortgage upon the taxes. It is constantly called so in conversation, and in writings upon the subject. But, should not either of you, who happened to have a mortgage upon your land or house, think it strange if, after you had redeemed a part of the mortgage, you had still to pay interest upon the part redeemed as well as upon the part unredeemed? TO REDEEM, as applied to money engagements, means to discharge, to set free by payment. This is the meaning of the word redeem, as applied to such matters. It sometimes means to rescue or to ransom, from captivity, from forfeiture, or from peril of any sort, by paying a price. But, in every sense, in which this word is used, it always implies the setting free of the object on which it operates; and, when applied to a mortgage, a bond, a note of hand, or a Debt of any sort, it implies the paying of it off. How, then, can the two thousand pounds worth of Debt, purchased from Grizzle Greenhorn, by our Sinking-Fund Commissioners, be said to be redeemed by us, if we are still taxed to pay the interest upon it, and, of course, if it be not discharged, and not set free? Nothing, at first sight, appears more plausible, nothing more reasonable, nothing more clear, than the mode above chasing from the several individuals, who, like Grizzle Greenhorn, own the Stock or the Debt, their respective shares thereof. And, the operation is as simple as any thing can be. For, the Sinking-Fund Commissioners, having, for instance, received two thousand pounds from the Taxgatherers, in virtue of the Sinking-Fund Act, go and purchase Grizzle's stock; they give her the two thousand pounds; her right to draw interest from us ceases; her share of the Stock or Debt is redeemed or paid off; and her name is crossed out of the Book. Ah; but, alas! the names of our SinkingFund Commissioners are written in the Book instead of hers! Aye; we have to pay the interest of the two thousand pounds to them instead of to her; and, our taxes on account of this which is called the redeemed part of the Debt, are just as great as they were before this curious work of redemp. tion began. "Well, then," you will say, "what "does this thing mean; and what can it "have been intended for ?" Why, to speak candidly of the matter, though the thing was an invention of PITT, under whose sway so much mischief came upon this nation, I believe, that the thing was well meant. I believe that it was intended to free the nation from its Debt. But, I am satisfied, that it has been productive of no small part of the evils, which England and which Europe have experienced since its invention; for, by giving people renewed confidence in the solidity of the Funds or Stocks, it rendered government borrowing more easy; and, of course, it took from the Minister that check to the making of wars and the paying of foreign armies, for the want of which check the Expences and Taxes and Debt of the country have been so fearfully augmented, to say nothing, at, present, about the dreadful changes which those wars have made in our affairs both at home and abroad. To produce such effects was, however, certainly not the intention of the scheme. The intention was, that the Sinking-Fund Commissioners should, with the money put into their hands out of the taxes, purchase up Stock, or parts of the Debt, belonging to individuals; that the parts, so purchased up, should not cease to exist; that they should be written in the Great Book under the name of the Commissioners; that the Commissioners al buld receive the |