MAY 23.

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF FINANCE.

Mr. SHERIDAN rose to give notice, that he meant, to-morrow se'nnight, to bring forward some resolutions on the report of the committee of finance. He informed the house the manner in which he proposed to do this, would be by moving for the house to resolve itself into a committee of the whole house, to which he hoped the right honorable gentleman would have no objection; when he intended to move some resolutions of fact; the ground of which, he had no doubt, he should be able to make out to the satisfaction of the house. Mr. Sheridan lamented that he could not name an earlier day for the business, but it was on account of other gentlemen, who wished to be present, and could not be in town sooner, that he was obliged to take so distant a day.

Mr. Pitt said, he could have no objection to such a discussion being brought forward; but he hoped a day would be named in the present week.

Mr. Bastard rose, and moved, "That a committee be appointed to compare the report from the committees in 1786 and 1791, to enquire into the income and expenditure, and to report their observations upon the same to the house."

Mr. Sheridan said, he certainly should second the honorable gentleman's motion. He declared he thought it was extremely proper that both the reports of 1786 and 1791 should be referred to a third committee, because it was undoubtedly true that there were a great many contradictions in both reports, as stated by the honorable gentleman; and for that reason, they ought to be referred to a third committee, in order to ascertain which of them was true. He despaired, Mr. Sheridan said, of being able to effect this; and, therefore, should have satisfied himself with barely moving, that the house resolve itself on Tuesday next, into a committee of the whole house, to take into consideration the re

port of the finance committee of 1791; and after they should have resolved themselves into that committee, he should move certain resolutions of fact respecting the report. If the right honorable gentleman did not agree to the two reports being referred to another select committee, he hoped he would not object to the house going into a committee, to take the last report into consideration.

Mr. Bastard's motion was negatived without a division.

Mr. Sheridan, in reply to Mr. Pitt, said, he certainly should be extremely glad to accommodate the right honorable gentleman, but it depended not on himself. With regard to the right honorable gentleman's remark on his manner of speaking, he really had wished to convince the right honorable gentleman, without any effort to appear so, that he was serious in wishing the two last reports of the finance committees, to be referred to another committee. He was, he confessed, amazed to hear any complaint of delay from the other side of the house, and more especially to hear it come from the right honorable gentleman, as it must be recollected, he had repeatedly censured the right honorable gentleman, for his regular procrastination of important public business, till the end of every session. He declared he had expected, that the last report of the finance committee would have been brought forward long ago; since, before the Christmas holidays, the right honorable gentleman had taunted him on the ground of his supposing that he would not bring the motion for the appointment of a committee of finance forward immediately after the Christmas recess; but so far from doing this, the right honorable gentleman had not brought it forward for three months afterwards, and the report of that committee had only been on the table about a week or eight days; and it was not, surely, Mr. Sheridan said, very much his fault, that he had not read the report before it was received and printed.

With regard to the day of taking it into consideration, he was, on his part, extremely desirous to have it considered some day in the present week; but one gentleman, who was on the committee, was obliged to be out of town all this week; and he wished that gentleman to be present at the discussion, as he understood he was desirous of stating his opinion on the subject. Mr. Sheridan hoped, therefore, that there would be no objection to Monday next; and if that day was agreed to he would write to the honorable member in question, to request that he would attend. He concluded with observing, that Monday, for the reason he had stated, was the earliest day he could name.

Mr. Pitt regretted the absence of the gentleman alluded to by the honorable member; but when he was told that an honorable gentleman who had been on the committee, was out of town, and wished to be present at the discussion, he could not resist the proposed postponement; he could not, however, but lament the state of public business, as he was afraid all in which he took a part, would be ended before Monday.

The Speaker put the question on Mr. Sheridan's motion, "That the house resolve itself into a committee of the whole house on Monday next, to take into consideration the report of the finance › committee." Ordered.

?

MAY 27.

ROYAL BURGHS OF SCOTLAND.

Mr. SHERIDAN rose and said, that he would undoubtedly have been much obliged to the right honorable gentleman, for his intimation of the speedy prorogation of parliament, had it in the application he was about to make been necessary to enter into all the detail with which it was connected. But such detail would not only be unnecessary, but improper. Before he should proceed to state what he shortly had to say, Mr. Sheridan said, he should first endeavour to refute some insinuations that the business had not been taken up by those engaged in it with all the seriousness and

attention to which it was entitled. Every suspicion of this kind he thought it necessary to banish from the mind of the house, when he meant to call their most earnest attention to a business which he deemed of the utmost importance. In 1787, the first application on this subject had been made to parliament. It had been stated that the reform demanded was really no object to those who were chiefly interested. But how did this appear, when out of forty royal burghs, fifty-eight had petitioned for the reform; and he had been able to present to the house, a petition signed by ten thousand persons, almost all of whom were real burgesses. The first petition, however, sent to him in 1787, had arrived too late, as the period for presenting private petitions was then passed. In 1788, the application had been renewed. The honorable gentleman, who opposed him on the other side, (Mr. Dundas) had assented that a bill should be brought in, if it was printed, and had formed with him a sort of compromise; as an effect of which he expected, from his usual consistency of character, he would now second the motion. Another honorable gentleman behind him, (Mr. Anstruther) who had likewise opposed him in this business, whose opposition he could not but regret, and to whose influence, in every other respect, he wished well, except as an alderman of Pittenweem, had moved for all the charters and sets of the royal burghs, in order that they might be taken into consideration during the recess of parliament, with a view, no doubt, to the enquiry which should afterwards follow. Having moved for the materials which could only be useful, in order to institute an enquiry, it could not be expected that he should oppose its progress. It had then been stated too, as an argument for opposing it, that the reform was demanded, would completely overturn the constitution of the burghs. In this particular, they had obviated the objection, by joining issue, and in this state the business stood at the

end of the session 1788. In 1789, as all public and private business had been suspended, from an unfortunate circumstance which, at that time afforded regret to all good citizens, and which they must now wish might never return-not much progress could be expected to be made in discussing the reform of the royal burghs. The bill had been again printed, and read a second time. He moved for a committee, when the honorable gentleman had said, they took a wrong course, and instead of moving for a committee, in order to consider of a remedy, they ought first to move for a committee to examine into the facts, by which, the necessity of this remedy was to be proved. To this proposition they had assented. He moved for a variety of papers, which it was agreed to should be laid upon the table-and here again the matter rested. In the next session, Mr. Sheridan said, nothing had been done. The papers moved for, had not some of them arrived till the middle of May, and not till he had found himself obliged to renew the order. No part of the delay, he hoped, could be imputable to him-the delay, this session, he would take upon himself. He had, indeed, advised it not to be brought forward at all; this advice he had given, in compliance with the opinion of his friends; that in the present state of the public mind, as differently acted upon by the revolution of a neighbouring country, it would be prudent for a while to suppress all ideas of a reform at home. In this opinion, however, Mr. Sheridan owned, he could not agree. For if either a spirit of servility had got abroad among some, or wild enthusiastic notions of liberty were cherished among others, he deemed it equally incumbent upon parliament, uninfluenced by extrinsic circumstances, to shew their determined resolution to redress every grievance that demanded their interference, and attend alone to the calls of justice. He was likewise unwilling, he said, to bring forward a business of so much importance,