Mr. Chancellor PITT then moved, that the Houfe do refolve itself into a Committee on the Report of the Refolutions for granting a renewal of the Charter of the Bank of Englandupon which Mr. HOBHOUSE faid, that he had just received a letter from an honourable friend of his (Mr. Tierney), who withed to deliver his opinion upon this fubject, but who was precluded from attend ing in his place this day by unforeseen and indifpenfable business. His honourable friend would, however, not fail to attend on the fecond reading, or any other regular ftage of the business. Mr. Chancellor PITT obferved, that there was no regular ftage of this business; but that he was willing to difcufs it whenever it was convenient to the honourable gentleman alluded to. Mr. Chancellor Pitt then moved, that the refolution refpecting the renewal of the Bank Charter, and the propofition annexed to it, be referred to the Committee of Ways and Means. -Agreed to. Wednesday, February 26. (Ash-Wednesday.) No bufinefs done in either House. HOUSE OF LORDS. Thursday, February 27. The Duke of PORTLAND laid before the House, a lift of the perfons confined on treasonable charges, or fufpicion thereof, under the bill for Suspending the Habeas Corpus Act. Lord CLIFTON (Earl of Darnley) then rofe, and faid: "My Lords, in offering myfelf again to your attention on the very important fubject of the alarm occafioned by the Report of the House of Commons on the laft crop of wheat, and the fpeeches of noble Lords in this House which have been founded on that Report, I am principally impelled, by a fenfe of public duty, paramount to every other confideration, and which leads me to attempt, if poffible, to do away the mischievous and dangerous impreffion which they have neceffarily produced on the public mind; but I am also influenced, in fome degree, by a far lefs important confideration, inafmuch as it is one of a private and perfonal nature, which makes me very anxious to prove, to the fatisfaction of this House and of the Public, that the opinions advanced by me when this fubject was before brought forward under your confideration, were neither light nor groundless, but refted upon much better and more fubftantial foundation than any opinion or affertion of mine. Would to God, my Lords, that this fubject had never been matter of public difcuffion at all, in either Houfe of Parliament ! for it cannot be too often repeated, that on fuch a fubject the interference of Parliament can do but little good, and is fure to produce mifchief. Since, however, it is become matter of public difcuffion, and in confequence an alarm has been raised, in my opinion, equally mifchievous and unfounded, it is with much fatisfaction, on every account, that I am now enabled to lay before the House such au thentic documents, and such refpectable authorities in confirmation of my opinion, as muft, I am fure, be heard by all your Lordships. with that attention which is due to them, and tend very materially to convince this House and the Public that we are by no means in fuch a fituation as has been reprefented by exaggerated statements in both Houses of Parliament on the fubject of the last crop of wheat, and the probable supply now in the country. I therefore must beg leave to premife, that although one noble Lord may, by fhewing that his learning extends beyond the fubject before the House, and quoting a ftory from the Spectator or any other book as little to the purpofe as he pleases, or another noble Lord, or learned Prelate, by roundly afferting, that I have been confuted, because no arguments have been advanced against me, take for granted that he has fufficiently established his statement in oppofition to mine, I trust that neither this Houfe nor the Public will think fo, unless they have more authentic documents and more substantial proof of the oppofite opinion that I am now enabled to offer in fupport of mine. "I fhall begin with the part of England, with which I am most acquainted, and which has been treated by a noble Lord near me (Lord Auckland) with fo much contempt, I mean the county of Kent; for which, whatever my partiality may be, I am ready to admit, that, with refpect to mere extent, it is trifling when compared with the reft of the kingdom; but as far as it goes, as a county producing wheat for the fupply of the metropolis, is by no means inconfiderable; and thus much I will venture to affert, without fear of contradiction, even from Mr. Arthur Young hinfelf, that no county in the kingdom produces fo much wheat per acre in proportion to the natural quality of the foil. "I have a letter in my hand from a moft refpectable authority in that county, a gentleman who farms a confiderable eftate of his own, who has extenfive means of information, and who, I know, is incapable of writing or faying any thing that he does not believe to be the fact, although, as he is a confiderable grower of wheat himself, it would be his intereft to prove, if poffible, the deficiency of the crop greater than it is. He writes: "Your Lordship knows, that in one part of this neighbourhood wheat is a good crop; moft of the Hundred is almoft, if not quite, as productive as ufual: but this is certainly very far from being the cafe in general: one circumftance muft alfo be recollected, that wheat weighs lefs than ufual by eight or ten pounds a fack, of course will produce much lefs flour; this being taken into the amount, I fhould imagine the crop (the quantity of flour) would be one-fourth lefs than ufual. "The quantity unfold at this time of the year is fupposed to be ufually one-third of the whole. I apprehend the proportion now remaining is not more than a fourth. "Mr. Edmeades (a moft refpectable and opulent gentleman farmer) tells me, that he met a very intelligent hoyman at Mark Lane on Friday from Eaft Kent, from whofe information he fuppofed the failure of the laft year's crop was about one-fourth in that part of the country, and that a large proportion was remaining unthreshed. Camen, February 24, 1800." *The peninfula formed by the Thames and Medway. This letter agrees perfectly with what I before afferted on the fubject of the county of Kent. With regard to Effex, another great fource of supply to the London market, I have not the fame means of information; but a great farmer in that county being afked the other day, in my prefence, whether he thought the last year's crop in Effex juftified Members of Parliament in stating that wheat was not more than half an average crop, replied, he feared it was too true. But would you take three quarters an acre for your over crop? "No (was the reply); I myself have been very fortunate, and fuppofe I fhall average four quarters and an half an acre." "With respect to another confiderable corn county (Suffex), I was this day informed by a moft refpectable Member of the other Houfe, who has a confiderable property in that county, that he believed the crop there fell very little fhort of an average. Another Member of Parliament, who himself occupies a large farm in Hertfordshire, and whofe knowledge on the fubje& is undoubted, gives the fame account of his neighbourhood, where fo much corn is produced. I will now read a letter which is addreffed to a friend of mine from Newmarket, and is written by a competent judge on the subject: "DEAR SIR, Newmarket, February 26, 190c. "I was this moment favoured with yours, and am very forry I did not receive it yesterday, which was our market day, when I could hva gained every information I could have wifhed on the fubject; but you VOL. X. 4 Y may reft affured I am perfectly of the fame opinion I gave you when I faw you, which is, that a very confiderable number of opulent farmers have barely began to thresh out their wheat crop, and I am certain that many of them have a great deal of old wheat by them. I am far from being alone in the above opinion; it is anticipated by numbers who have as good an opportunity of knowing as myfelf, and fome much better: however, if I can gain any authentic intelligence, I will send you a line immediately." By this letter it evidently appears, that in that neighbourhood there is no great deficiency of wheat. "I shall now produce to your Lordships, an authority which is probably known to fome of you. These letters are from Mr. Webb, a gentleman most respectable in his profession as a furveyor and valuer of estates, who is agent to fome Members of this House, and much employed by them and others in different parts of England, but chiefly in the western counties, with which he is intimately acquainted. I know him myself personally, and firmly believe him to be a competent judge of the subject, on which he writes as follows: Salisbury, February 21, 1800. "" MY LORD, "Am forry it has been out of my power fooner to thank you for the honour of writing to me as to the state of the laft wheat crop. My obfervations led me to form the following opinion of it; and if you wish it by a line to-morrow, I will draw it up as an affidavit, and fend you my affidavit to that effect by Sunday's post; but you will obferve it is a matter of opinion, as I have not tried the matter of fact: That from my journies through parts of the counties of Devon, Dorset, Somerfet, Wilts, Hants, Berks, Oxford, and Gloucefter, in the Summer of 1799, and from furveying feveral eftates within fome of thofe counties, it appeared to me that the crops of wheat had failed very much in light expofed fituations towards a North afpect, and in wet and cold lands; but in good, dry, healthy foils, it had a fine appearance in many places which I obferved a little before, and in the time of harveft: That from my obfervations I firmly believe, and am of opinion, that the crops were upon two tenths, about one fourth of an average crop; upon three tenths, about two thirds; and on five tenths, about four fifths; making together about two thirds of an average crop. In my rides before harvest, I observed feveral wheat ricks ftanding out, and lately have feen many; but I am of opinion the prefent ftock of wheat is lefs by about one fourth, or one third, than is ufual at this feafon. "I have the honour to be, with the greatest respect, 65 MY LORD, (Signed) "FRANCIS WEBB." Newport, February 25, 1800. "In my way here yesterday I counted forty wheat ricks as I came from Devizes Green to Tetbury, eighteen from thence to within fix miles of Gloucefter, the Rodborough road, when it became dark, between Gloucester and Chepstow feven, and from Chepstow to this place ten-in 715 all feventy-five, within a quarter of a mile from the road-I obferved but very few rick ftaddles empty; fo that but little of the last year's wheat fet up in ricks has yet been threshed out in the above fpace; and I think there feems to be as many wheat ricks to be feen on the road from Devizes to Gloucester (which I have for five or fix years often travelled) as were ufually feen on that road at this feafon of the year. One or two were old ricks. I wrote in hafte to fave the poft on Friday; and on more deliberate confideration, I think I over-rated the tionate quantity of land that failed in its crop, and omitted a proportion. propor which had a good average crop; fo that on the whole I have no doubt but the wheat crop of laft year was full three fourths of an average crop. The failing profpect began to be talked of at leaft by this time. laft year, and has ever fince, among the farmers, too frequently been mentioned, and, I am forry to fay, not always with fair reprefentation; and thofe accounts having been the fubject of gentlemen's converfations, I have no doubt but the general opinion of the failure is formed upon exaggerated reprefentations, for want of candour in thofe interested in. propagating fuch reports, and for want of being duly contrafted or counteracted by ftatements of the good crops that happened. Much has been faid, that one fide of the ears were injured by the froft; but I think that has been mifreprefented alfo; I have examined several ears, and only found two or three defective grains in any ear, near the point or top of it. "I am, with the greatest respect, "FRANCIS WEBB." "Nothing can be stronger or more fatisfactory than the testimony of Mr. Webb with refpect to the supply of wheat in that very extensive district with which he is acquainted. "I come now to an authority, which those who are well acquainted with agriculture must know and refpect; I mean Mr. Davis, who is fteward to a noble Marquis, a Member of this House. Mr. Davis is practically and intimately acquainted with the whole of this subject, and of his knowledge and abilities the papers which I am about to read will be the best poffible proof: "MY LORD, Horningham, February 20, 1800. "As the ftock of wheat in hand is a fubject on which I think the alarm has been much greater than is really neceffary, and will, I fear,. increase instead of remedying the evil, I fhall be happy to give your Lordfhip every information that may enable authorities have been quoted in fupport of the idea that the scarcity is you to oppofe it. But as fo many greater than was ever known, I think the contradiction (if it can be contradicted) fhould rest on some better authority than my bare affertion. I fhall therefore write letters immediately to men of the beft information in every part of the kingdom, and fend your Lordship the refult of their anfwers. I am very fenfible that the ftock in hand is small, and the |