had been made out.-It had not been alleged that there was any officer of incompetent merit amongst those who were promoted, on whom a charge of partiality or corruption could be founded. It had not been asserted that the first lord was actuated by either malice, or any sinister motive, towards those who had been passed over, upon which he could be charged with injustice or oppression. The point to be decided by the house was, whether they could infer from the statement they had heard, that the judgment of the first lord upon professional merit was not to be trusted; but ought to be corrected by theirs. Such a case might undoubtedly occur; but he warned the house of the mischiefs that would inevitably arise from opening their doors, without the most palpable and urgent necessity, to the discussion of professional qualifications, and the accomplishment of military promotion.

Mr. Dundas contended against the motion, as it would, if carried, produce these two bad consequences:-First, that all future promotions must be by rotation and seniority; and next, that no first lord of the Admiralty would, in future, subject himself to such an inquiry as that now proposed; which, of necessity, would make him prefer a promotion by seniority to responsibility, and the certainty of disobliging. Mr. Dundas justified Lord Howe's conduct, by saying that no person had imputed a corrupt or sinister motive to the noble viscount; and it was natural for him, who was responsible for the officers he employed, to make those captains admirals, in whose hands he could trust his character with the greatest confidence.

Mr. SHERIDAN said, he should have declined rising, had he not heard from the argument of the right honorable and learned gentleman opposite to him, that no one captain had been promoted but such as the noble viscount could have a confidence in. That was (Mr. Sheridan said) the only consistent reason which had been given for the promotion. Mr. Sheridan went into a statement of the number of admirals on the list; and, after having mentioned the various different descriptions, declared, that when the promotion took place, there were twenty-four admirals, at least, as able in body and spirit as those last made. To what, then, was the last promotion to be ascribed? Was it done in a time of war? No; it was not; but on the mere rumour of a war. The right honorable gentleman had asked, "Would that house pretend to judge of the qualifications for admirals?" Thus the right ho

norable gentleman always led them from the ques tion. They would not pretend to judge of the qua lifications for admirals; but one thing they surely judged of, and that was, whether the Admiralty acted, in their promotions to the flag, consistently with their own rules. The fact was, they had not done this. In the case of Captain Laforey, the right honorable the Chancellor of the Exchequer said, that the First Lord of the Admiralty had laid it down as a rule, that officers, taking a civil employment during hostilities, abandoned their pretensions to military preferment. He admitted it was a good rule. Another rule was, that no person of bodily infirmity was entitled to promotion ;that was a good rule likewise. Again, any officer, who had not been at sea in the course of the preceding war, was not to be promoted to a flag; and this was a third good rule. But their rules and their conduct did not agree. Captain Laforey was set aside, and Sir Charles Middleton promoted, though both holding civil employments, taken by each flagrante bello. Sir John Lindsay-for it was necessary to speak out-though a most respectable officer, laboured under such bodily infirmity, that it was not likely he should go to sea again; whilst Captain Robinson, one of Lord Rodney's captains, who lost a leg in the action of the 12th of April, was suffered to limp away from the Admiralty without employ, though otherwise hearty, and as fit for service as ever. As there were twenty-four admirals on the old list fit for service, and no service very likely to be wanted soon, the late promotion could not be justified on the principle of statenecessity; and the moment this principle was abandoned, in came the principle of honorary rewards and emoluments; under which construction the late promotion fully merited the charge of being partial, capricious, and oppressive. Mr. Sheridan said, he liked the minister's argument of responsibility; but he feared it would not much

hurt them, as he observed it always came from themselves. Their responsibility was, to confess that they were responsible, but to stop all enquiry, and prevent the house from deriving any benefit from their responsibility. He differed a little from his right honorable friend, as to that house only having a power to interfere with the executive department, for the purpose of censure or punishment. He agreed with Lord Kaims, who had well observed, that there was nothing like abuse, or even suspicion of abuse, in the executive departments of government, of which that house could not take cognizance. That house had a right to interfere, whenever it thought necessary; and to go to the crown with wholesome admonition. The promotion, if not enquired into, would break the heart of the navy, and perhaps ruin the service.

The question being put, the house divided; ayes 134; noes

154.*

MAY 5.

WAYS AND MEANS.

The order of the day for going into a committee to consider of

the ways and means, being read, the house went into a committee, and various papers were referred to the same. Mr. Pitt opened the business, and in a long speech, argued "that we had the fairest ground for confidence; that we should not only enjoy ample funds for the liquidation of every expense, but also for carrying on the great purpose of the late arrangement-the extinction of the capital of our debt," &c.

Mr, SHERIDAN remarked, that, however invidi

*The very inconsiderable majority by which the minister defeated the enquiry, encouraged Mr. Bastard to make another attempt. On the 29th of April he moved " That it is highly injurious to the service, and unjust, to set aside from promotion to flags, meritorious officers of approved service, who are not precluded by the orders of His Majesty in council." After a debate of several hours, the house divided on the previous motion; noes 220; ayes 169.

ous it might seem to start objections to so flattering a statement of the revenue, and increasing resources of the country, as had been just given by the right honorable gentleman; it was necessary to dispel the delusion under which this country had been acting for some time, and to detect the fallacies which were still attempted to be imposed on the public, and continue that delusion. The right honorable gentleman had entertained the house with an account of the sad state of the French finances; and he, for one, wished so well to that part of the right honorable gentleman's argument, that he hoped the French finances would always be found in as bad, or even a worse situation, whenever the right honorable gentleman should have occasion to draw such a comparison as he had now done. But how had they been reduced to that miserable state, in which they were represented to be? By doing that which we had done, and were continuing to do. The French had not faced their situation; and by endeavouring to impose on themselves, and to make it appear better than it really was, they had rendered it infinitely worse than it might have been.

Not, however, to dwell upon the situation of our rival, or to triumph, because it was worse than our own, the real question before the committee was, to consider, whether our receipt was equal to our expenditure. The annual expenditure for the peace establishment, as now stated by the right honorable gentleman, was to be in future 15,624,0 07. This might, therefore, be considered as ground to argue from; since, however much it might exceed that sum, it could not reasonably be expected to fall short of it. In order to make up an income equal to this expenditure, by taking the receipts, not on an average of several years, but one year only, and making up the accounts from April, 1787, to April, 1788-instead of from January to January-a revenue was produced on paper of 15,792,000l. Mr.

Sheridan contended against the accuracy of this statement; and said, the report of the committee appointed to enquire into the state of the finances in 1786, would put the matter in a clearer light. The annual expenditure was there stated to be 15,390,000l.; and the annual revenue as there stated, with 100,0007. additional taxes, fell very far short of that sum, if fairly calculated. If the right honorable gentleman, instead of the receipt of the last year-which was acknowledged to have been more productive than any former year had been, from accidental causes that could not be expected to operate for another year-had taken, as he ought to have done, the average of 1786 and 1787; the produce of all the taxes would have appeared to be no more than 2,389,000l.; making, with the addition of the land and malt taxes, 15,250,0001. ;which would have fallen short of the expenditure, as now stated, 374,000l. This was as near the truth as could reasonably be presumed, from the circumstances of the country and the revenue, since the peace; and this was the situation which the committee was bound in duty to meet and to provide for; instead of endeavoring to impose on themselves and the public, and delaying to apply the remedy till it might be too late.

Another circumstance he felt himself obliged to controvert, was, the means by which the right honorable gentleman made up his estimates of the expenditure. Whilst he added to the estimates of the army, he allowed no addition to the estimate of the navy. Was it really his opinion, that the expense of the navy in 1790, would not exceed 1,800,000l.? For the ordnance, indeed, he allowed 10,000/.; but tock no notice of the expense of fortifications; which, in the West Indies alone, he had formerly stated would amount to between 2,000,0007. and 3,000,000; and taking fortifications, as it was most reasonable to do, at the largest estimate, (for they seldom fell short in point of expense, whatever