the house ought not to make. Neither ought the house, after having agreed to plead, to commit the inconsistency of resolving to punish the persons concerned in prosecuting the actions. The present resolutions ought not, therefore, to be passed, because they tended to overturn all that had been done. Earl Temple and Mr Adam supported Mr Wynn's motion, which was, however, negatived by 74 members against 14. And here those proceedings of the session terminated to which Sir Francis Burdett had given rise. His conduct, from the commencement of the session, had been in the highest degree reprehensible; it had been a series of direct, pre meditated, and systematic insults to the House of Commons. If a regard for the liberty of the subject, and the law of the land, had been the real mo

tives of his conduct, he would have rested the question upon the case of Gale Jones, a case which all parties thought hard; for though, when it had been brought before the house, the house could not proceed otherwise than it did, most persons agreed in wishing that his conduct had never been made the subject of complaint. But it neither suited with the vanity nor the views of Sir Francis, that Jones should be the object of popular attention; he put himself forward, and thrust Jones out of sight, and throughout the whole of the subsequent pro. ceedings, acted not like a man who loved and respected the laws and institutions of his country, but like a demagogue performing an insurrec tion, as soldiers fight mock-battles in a review, for the purpose of trying his strength against the government.

THE supplies voted for the year were 52,185,000l., of which the Irish proportion was 6,106,000l., leaving for England 46,079,0001. The ways and means which were provided left a surplus of 141,2021. These included a loan of 8,000,000l., at 41. 4s. and 34d. per cent., terms even more favourable than those of the preceding year. The annual charge to be provided for was 970,8331. It was proposed to meet this from the surplus of the consolidated fund, which, owing to the additions and regulations made in the stamp duties in 1808, was unexpectedly great.

"There was no reaMay 16. son," Mr Perceval said, "to apprehend any thing like decay in our finances; the more we looked at them, the more reason we had to be satisfied with their grow ing prosperity. In that very year, when men of great authority antici pated a failure, there had actually been a very considerable increase. The official value of the imports was 36,255,2091., nearly five millions more than in the most prosperous year of peace. The exports of our manufactures amounted to 35,107,0001., between eight and nine millions more than they were in 1802. The ex

ports of foreign goods was nearly four millions less than at that time, but the average proved that the country was greatly progressive in prosperity; and this was seen in our external means and strength, as well as in our internal resources, as had happily been shewn to the conviction of the enemy. It was but a few years since that enemy declared that all he wanted was ships, colonies, and commerce; he had lost all his commerce, all his colonies, and his few remaining ships were pent up in their ports. This, too, was the enemy whose measures were represented as founded in wisdom, and executed with ability; while the government of this country had been uniformly charged with weakness, ignorance, folly and imbecillity. But the orders in council, the vilified measure of this vilified ministry, had reduced the receipts of the customs in France fro:n two millions and a half to half a million, a diminution of four-fifths of the whole amount."

Mr Huskisson was little satisfied with this statement. "Was it possible," he asked, "to go on adding from a million to 1,200,0001. every year to the public burthens, and could we hope to continue the war in this

way? Without a reduction in our annual expenditure, it would be impossible to carry it on long, and a reduction of some millions he thought might be effected without injury to the country. Mr Tierney, taking the same view of the subject, advised an inquiry into the cause of the present state of our resources, to ascertain whether that cause was merely temporary, or likely to be permanent. The Chancellor of the Exchequer," he said, "seemed to have had a great deal of good luck to help him out in his financial difficulties: in the first year, the loan had been provided by his predecessors; in the second, between 3 and 400,0001. of annuities fell in ; and now a surplus produce of taxes offered, which he was grossly misapplying, when setting them apart to pay the interest of his loan: thus breaking a wisely-established principle, merely by making a fetch at popularity by a shew of declining new taxes. Was he aware, while he thus declined to look to future difficulties, that he would, in the event of peace, be obliged the next day to find nine or ten millions a-year of new taxes?" Mr Perceval replied, that the right honourable gentleman seemed quite sore upon the point of his good luck, as he was pleased to call it,-and indeed the effects of that good luck furnished another obstacle to the wishes of that gentleman and his friends; for it appeared, that, not withstanding all the drivelling and blundering ascribed to him and his colleagues, the country was thriving under their government, and in a state of prosperity, which their opponents, with all their talents, could not deny." Replying then to Mr Huskisson's call for economy, he said, "there was a diminution this year in the ordnance of 1,500,0001., in the army of

800,0001.; these were considerable diminutions, though certainly the sa vings in the public expenditure were not such that any material effect could be expected from them."

May 24.

When the bill for appropriating the surplus of the consolidated fund was before the house, Mr Tierney returned to the subject, saying, "that such a measure was at war with the principle of raising as large a sum as possible within the present year. As a man, he would refer the subject to Mr Perceval himself, and should be as much mistaken as ever he was in his life, if he, as a member of parlia ment, did not say, that the Chancel lor of Exchequer ought rather to lay on taxes to the amount of 750,000 1. That minister had done nothing; he had completely lived on the last administration; and now, for the purpose of delusion, he was evading a tax, which must ultimately come upon the people with aggravated pressure." Upon this Mr Rose replied, "that having drawn up the act himself, un der which the consolidated fund was established, he could certainly speak to its spirit and its letter, and denied that Mr Perceval was evading either. In framing that act, the only object which he and Mr Pitt had in view, was to provide that that fund should be sufficient to answer the charges upon it: but those charges being provided for, there was no intention whatever to prevent parliament from applying the surplus in any manner that might be deemed expedient. Mr Pitt would have acted precisely as his successor was now doing, and this he knew from the last conversation which he had with him upon the subject. It had likewise been said, that the measure before the house was in contradiction to a resolution of Lord

Sidmouth's." But," said Mr Perceval, that resolution was, that there should be laid before the house the net amount of the taxes of the three preceding years, and then an average of the surplus of the consolidated fund for the three ensuing; and if an increase was found, that it should be applicable to the burthen of the new loan. Was it maintained, then, that Lord Sidmouth did not wish this sur plus to be touched, when in his resolutions he approved of doing so?" Then taking a rapid view of the fluctuation of the 3 per cents. from the commencement of the anti-jacobin war, before which time they were 96, and during which they sunk to 453, when, after the income-tax, they began to rise, he shewed that the present ministry had found them at 60 and a fraction, and had raised them to 72-yet was he supposed to act on a contrary principle to Mr Pitt! "He never," he affirmed, "justified any measure with more confidence than this; and sure he was, that if that illustrious and lamented man were now to stand in the place which he so unworthily filled, he would have availed himself of this very resource." The house divided upon the bill-Ayes 117, Noes 53.

The army estimates were 952,092 1. less than those of the preceding year. This diminution was effected by various retrenchments; twenty men were dismounted in every troop of cavalry, because it was not necessary that those men should have horses who were employed at home in recruiting, which was generally the case with two troops out of the eight composing a regiment. The household troops and dragoon guards were reduced in number. Some little saving was effected

by discontinuing quarter-masters in the several troops, and appointing troop-serjeants in their place. The barrack artificers, originally embodied to complete the works at Gibraltar, were now broken up, that purpose having been effected. A more considerable retrenchment had been made upon the royal waggon train, five troops out of twelve being disbanded. These, with a few other arrangements in the same spirit, made a saving upon the whole expence of 800,000 1., though upon some items there had been a considerable increase. There was about 20,000 1. for additional field-officers; an addition of 113,0217. under the head of miscellaneous services, arising principally from a very large sum being required to make up the losses of officers incurred on service in Spain and other quarters, particularly South America ;-a customary act of justice rather than liberality, which has not yet been extended to the navy, where it is even more required. An allowance was also introduced to the regiments at home, as an equivalent for the advantages enjoyed in the navy, by having their wine duty free. Some little increase arose from some improved regulations respecting chaplains. Mr Wilberforce's hint * upon this subject had been attended to. For the future, no person was to be appointed chaplain in the army, unless he could produce proper testimonials of his character and acquirements, and should be approved of by the two archbishops and the bishop of London; after he had been eight years in the service, he should be entitled to halfpay, at the rate of 5 s. per day, and an addition of 6d. per day should be made for every year of service above

eight, till they had arrived at 10s.,a regulation which would render the situation more comfortable. These statements did not pass without some comments from the other side of the house. General Gascoigne observed, "that he had calculated the proposed allowance for wine, which would be about five-and-twenty shillings to each officer per year. Was such a sum worth receiving? The army officers," he said, "laboured under oppressions which ought to be removed; their pay was less than it was in 1695,-not comparatively speaking, but actually shilling for shilling. He did not wish to see memorials from men in arms, but government ought to examine into the complaints of the army. The militia officers were paid in three or in six months, the regular officers were well off if they got their pay within 18. Another cause of complaint was the charge of 4 per cent. duty ad valorem, on all articles of clothing, stores, &c., shipped by them on foreign service. The bat and forage allowance was the same as in the 16th century, a grievance which Sir John Moore and Lord Wellington had represented, yet no relief had been afforded. Another grievance was the incometax, exacted from British officers, even though serving in the Portugueze army."-These were plain matters of fact, unconnected with party feelings, or political views. Lord Levison Gower examined the statement in a different light. "He had trusted," he said, "that the public burthens would in this department have been alleviated to a far greater degree. Why was not the waggon corps wholly abolished?-for so use less was that establishment, that in foreign service our commanders had been obliged to hire waggons. Why

were the Manx fencibles continued, inefficient and superfluous as they were? Why were the City and the Tower Hamlets militia kept up at heavy expence, when the whole extent of their service was limited to the villages of Hackney and Edmonton? Why was not the home staff curtailed? There appeared upon that establishment the names of the Duke of Cambridge and Lord Heathfield, who received from 4 to 5000 l. a-year for doing nothing. General Tarleton was upon the staff of a district, where his command was only four-and-twenty hundred men, and in Scotland there was for 11,000 men, no less than eleven staff generals. Lord G. L. Gower noticed also, as a practice which ought to be corrected, the custom of purchasing horses of two years old for the cavalry, which cost 30 or 401. a-year in training, and about 1001. when fit for service."

To this Mr Perceval made answer, "that if horses were to be purchased at an age fit for service, a sum must be given proportionably greater than what they originally cost, and perhaps they could not be obtained when wanted. The waggon train was considered by Lord Wellington as materially serviceable in Portugal, and the Manx fencibles had been continued at the express desire of the commander-in-chief, who stated, that if they were disbanded, regular troops must be found to do their duty. With regard to the arrears of military pay, arrangements were making to obviate that difficulty, and some provision would also be made to remedy the complaint, that British officers, when out of the country, were subject to the income-tax. As to the staff," he said, "in two or three instances the increase of staff to rank had increased the pay, and if General Tarleton had