they cannot limit, and the justice or necessity of which they cannot explain.

"For these reasons, and others, which the circumstances of the times may suggest, His Majesty's faithful commons humbly implore His Majesty not to prorogue the Parliament, till His Majesty shall have it in his power to communicate to them some distinct information relative to the cause of the present armament: in order, that if actual hostilities should take place, and it should be necessary for His Majesty to incur any farther expense, his faithful commons may have an opportunity of exercising their hitherto undisputed privilege, and discharging their most important duty, in considering the extent and propriety of the same, as well as of assisting His Majesty by their advice, to form a just judgment both as to the expediency of past measures, and the policy of future Councils; and they hum bly beg leave to assure His Majesty, that they will cheerfully forego the private benefits and comforts of an early recess, to fulfil a duty highly necessary to the public satisfaction, and of the utmost im portance to the policy, if not to the salvation of the state."

Mr. Fox and Mr. Sheridan both rose to second the motion.

Mr. Sheridan in support of the motion, said, that much as the right honorable gentleman was entitled generally to the praise of ability, he certainly had not on that occasion advanced any argument which could make it necessary for him, or any gentleman, to rise; especially after the clear and explicit answer of his right honorable friend. There was nothing to reply to; nothing to refute; a convincing proof that the motion which had been made so ably, and in the support of which his right honorable friend (Mr. Fox) had wielded his Herculean club, was unanswerable. All the All the puny efforts of the other side to resist the blows of that club, served only to expose them more to the eyes of the house in the unequal_conflict;-they were exhausted in argument. But his right honorable friend was not exhausted. His rich and fruitful mind had produced the new and irresistible arguments which they had given conviction to every thinking mind. But the opposite side of the house, Mr. Sheridan said, were not only tired but exhausted.-They were tired of being compelled to sit and hear accusations heard; and which, whatever might be the result, which they could not refute; tired of en

during the scourge, and of being obliged at the same time to kiss the rod; tired of their own supporters, whose clumsy defences served not only to aggravate their suffering, but to disgust their taste. And thus exhausted and spiritless they sat in dejected silence, and left the field to their conquering enemy. Ever till now, he said, the right honorable gentleman (Mr. Pitt) had at least made the shew of ingenuity; he had always said something in vindication of the measures he had taken, or in support of the confidence which he claimed. But now he looked round with a supplicating eye, and pressed allies into the service, from whose aid, however, he did not profit, and whose excuses even he was forced to deprecate. Such was the situation in which the opposite side stood, and with such complete triumph were the arguments of his honorable friends to go forth into the country.

He could not, however, say, that there had been nothing new advanced on the opposite side. The right honorable gentleman had imparted two pieces of important information; the one good, and the other bad. The bad point was, "that it was utterly impossible for him to say when the armed negotiation might be concluded, the answer might come in a week; but it might be a fortnight, a month, two months, or three months." Thus the house was told that there was no reason to believe, that though Britain had armed to give vigour, dignity, and effect, to the negociation of the cabinet, they had no knowledge, or even conjecture, of the time when it could be effectual. This was bad news, as it proved that firmness and decision, which ought to be the natural companions of an armament, were wanting; and that though they had put the nation to all the expense, and had committed its character to the eye of Europe, they had not sent a message which must draw from the court of Russia a speedy and unequivocal answer. The point of information which

he considered as good news, was a discovery which the right honorable gentleman had made, that in case of the apprehension of an invasion, His Majesty might convene the parliament in fourteen days. He had not been extremely accurate on the point; but it was his opinion, that if, when we had sent our fleet to the Baltic, it should be discovered that there was an intention in the Empress to invade this country, the king might exercise his undoubted prerogative, and convene the parliament in fourteen days. This opinion was important; for, as the right honorable gentleman was going into the cabinet, it was of consequence to the house to know, that they would have the recommendation of the right honorable gentleman for this exercise of the power which was vested in the crown.

No man, Mr. Sheridan said, was disposed to deny the two prerogatives, of making peace and war, and of proroguing parliament; but he would make this unqualified declaration, that the prerogative of making peace and war was not to be exercised without consulting the two houses of parliament, when they could be consulted. The prerogative certainly ought not to be exercised without such consultation; and he would add, that it could not, without material detriment to the crown, and without endangering the best interests of the country. The two houses were the best and soundest advisers of the king;-for though he possessed the advantage of a privy council (the selection of the privy council, called the cabinet, was unknown to the constitution) the true and legitimate advisers which the crown was bound to refer to, was the commons and lords houses of parliament. It might happen undoubtedly, that the crown might be obliged, from external circumstances, to declare war at the time he could not consult the two houses of parliament. It was true, and it was a defect in the constitution. It was a calamity, Mr. Sheridan said, to which therefore the nation might be occasionally

subject. But would they covet that situation by choice, which was a necessity and a fault? Would they voluntarily put themselves into a situation in which they could not derive the fair benefits of the constitution which was our boast? Mr. Sheridan desired, that they should not be called on to make this sacrifice of their duty; he desired, that that which was their right, as truly as the prerogative of declaring war was the right of the king, namely the right of advising the crown, might not be surrendered by their own supineness, nor suffered to be taken from them by the act of ministers. The address to the crown, which they had voted, saying generally that they would make good the expenses of the armament, was, in truth, an unlimited vote of credit; and this he averred was an act which the commons house of parliament had no right to do, consistently with the compact which subsisted between them and their constituents. The King, he said, must not dare to violate his compact with the people; and in like manner the compact between that house and the people of England was equally binding; and by granting an unlimited vote of credit, they had done that which they had no right to do. If they should be told that they ought not to require previous information, as the purse was still left to them, Mr. Sheridan said, he denied it. They had surrendered the purse-strings; they were to be separated and sent adrift; and the key of the strong box of England was left in the hands of the right honorable gentleman. He was to draw on the public for what sums he pleased; nay, and without ever pledging himself that at any future time he would explain to the country what was the true meaning of his pursuit. What he had said on a former day, in the way of promise, did not amount to what a learned gentleman (Sir Elijah Impey) had said; and it was more explicit than what the right honorable gentleman himself had recollected. Something between the two, Mr. She

ridan said, struck his memory, as being the assertion. It was evident that the promise which he had made on the affair of the Spanish armament, and which he had broken, had taught him prudence; and he was now cautious how he promised to give them any satisfaction at any time. On the Spanish armament, he had directly promised them to explain the whole of the negociation;-but on its close, not one explanation had been given if he had kept his word, he would have convinced every gentleman of the impolicy, injustice, and folly of the whole measure. Mr. Sheridan concluded, with observing, that the experience of that armament ought to make them cautious on this; and he thought that they ought to come to a resolution, declaring that the house should receive from ministers, at a future time, a full and explicit disclosure of all the circumstances of this armed negociation; that they might be able to judge of the policy and wisdom of the measure, on which, without explanation, ministers had demanded the confidence and the money of the people of England.

The house divided on the question; ayes, 75; noes 170.

REPORT

JUNE 3.

OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE APPOINTED TO EXAMINE THE SEVERAL PAPERS RELATING TO THE PUBLIC INCOME AND EXPENDITURE.

Mr. SHERIDAN rose, and said, he rejoiced that they were now in a form to examine with accuracy, whether his assertions and predictions on the state of the finances, or those of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, had been verified by facts and events. The committee need not be alarmed at the number of the resolutions which he meant to move (forty) although they were, he believed, one for every