'-1 BRITISH HOUSE OF COMMONS. Tburfday, December B.' REPORT OF THE BUDGET. Mr. Hobart brought up the report of the com mittee of ways and means. The report was read a firft time. When the resolutions were about to be read a second time. Mr. Fox rose. He said, that be should not now enter into the detail of tliofe resolutions, hut (hould reserve his remarks for a future opportunity. In the mean time he would fay, that they were well worth the attention of every member of the house and of the community who had ever studied the bu siness of finance. It would appear to every impar tial mind that these statements were delusive, and that and far greater efforts must be made to put us in a situation to meet our difficulties. What "he more particularly alluded to at present was, the degiaded situation in which the house now stood with refpeft to the Executive Power. They were yesterday informed, for the firft time, that a sum of 1,20e,0001. had been sent into Germany by the fervam of the Crown, against a positive law, and not only without the aflent, but without the know ledge of Parliament. That this was dene in con tempt of law, and for the nfbre convenience of his majesty's ministers, was of itfelf fuffieiently alarm ing ; but it became infinitely more so, on regard ing the mifchievotts principle which it furnifhed. This (truck him at firft, but so powerfully on re consideration, that lie regretted deeply his not dif fering fiom the resolutions of yesterday. He now haftenee-to -repair his fault, and he should deem him felf ;a traitor to the constitution, if he agreed to vote either a man or a (hilling, before that house had solemnly pronounced on the condu& of mini sters. They had frequently heard panegyrics on the constitution from those who were employed in de stroying its vital parts. But there was one point of its excellence on which he thought that all par ties must be agreed, and that if the question were a/ked, whether the priviledge of granting pecunia ry aids was vested in the Crown or in the people, the answer must uniformly be, that it was veiled in the latter, and exercised through their representa tives. If unforefeen exigencies had required a larger supply than had been voted, and if ministers had fairly come forward and stated the ciicumftance, it was experimentally clear that they might hare reli ed on the full confidence of Parliament. But in this cafe they had been guilty of a direst breach of the aonftitution. Enquiries had been made in the last Parliament, whether any money had been sent into Germany. The answer was in the negative ; and it was coupled with an intimation, that if such a fuceour was deemed necessary, they would imme diately aflemble the Parliament. But what was now the fa& ? They had disposed of the m»nev not only without convening the Parliament, but they had exported it without confultihg the Parli ament, whilfi it <was aSually !—Why had not the Mtnilter come to Parliament, and a(ked their concurrence ? He would argue with him on this head. He spoke the language of the constitu tion. The .question between them was, whether that constitution should be altered in its most mate rial part ? whether the power of the purse (hould reft with the executive power, or with the commons of England ? and whether the Minister should be allowed to eilablifh a precedent against the constitu tion. ? The manner in which this business had been condufted was fufficient to add much to the suspi cion. Large sums were advanced, it appeared be fore the meeting of Parliament ; but these were fludioufly concealed. Other payments had been made so lately as the month of November 1796 All this was done as if with an intent to (hew thit the power resided in the fervaats of the crown. When the minister at length came forward, there was certainly nothing apologetic in his manner: he appeared to set his own judgment above that of Parliament, and talked of the danger of publicity in matters of this nature. To atgue the firft at these points would be to rec»r to the old question; whether an abfoluie was preferable to a free go- ] vernment ? With refpeft to the danger of publici ty, if that were admitted, it would open a door to every species of fraud, which may be committed •n the most falfe and (lighted pretences. The Parlisment was not to judge either of the propriety of granting a pecuniary foccour, or of to be iflued ; it was held fufficient for th m to be informed of the tranfaitipß at the instant when the money was to be paid 1 This was the firft time, he proceeded to ebferve, • that the budget had been opened before the aimy cxtraordinaries had been voted. This could not be attributed to any particularity as to the time ; for it was observable, that last year the budget had been open precisely on the fame day, and yet the army cxtraordinaries had been previously voted. These extraordinaries, which covered a part of this tranf aflion, had been brought in but yesterday. The affair was put in a peculiar train, in order to eftab -li(h the precedent, left it should be thought that Parliament by any conftruflion or convenience, had contributed to fanSien the measure. There were other circumstances in the proceed ings of yesterday not less Angular in their nature. The house was then, for the firft time, informed that there was a war with Spain, tho' the intima tion had been publicly given by the lord lieutenant of Ireland, notice for granting letters of marque and reprisal had appeared in the Gazette, and though every newspaper was full of the lioftili ties.—lt was undoubtedly the prerogative of the crown to make war ; but without studying to a(k how far this tardy csmmunieation was to be con lidered as gracious, he must return, and re-demand why the king's fervantshad usurped the fun&ions of parliament > The extraordinaries were granted ®nly upon estimated Jevices ; the mo.iey was divert ed from those services, and how was it to be got back? Theferviceshad been voted, and the house were now compulforily called upon not to leave them unprovided. The vote of credit was limited, ic order to (hew that parliament conGdered thenj N felves as the only judges, not only whether the mo. nev Oiculd Le advanced, but to what intent i' should be applied. Then what power had the minister for these ifPif.i ?To A- last parliame«t, obfeq>ito«» as it had been, and whatever evil it had committe , he had not dared to apply. The obvious mifchiets to be feared from fending such a quantity of specie abroad would have probably prevented them from granting the necessary powers. What figure, then, would the present parliament cut in hiitory, if it had began its career by overlooking fu fatal a prece dent ? It was probable that the minister may at length tardily'come forward to ask their fanftion. But would they, « the mean time, fit quietly un der such an insult to them and to the constitution ? For his own part, he felt the latter so ttrongly, that he should eppole the second reading of the , rcfolu tions, for the purpose of postponing the supply. If He waifupported in this measure, he should pledge himfelf immediately to bring forward s motion, charging the minister with " a high crime and mis demeanor."—But if the house did not declaretheir marked abhorrence—if they thould unexpe&edly convive at fucb a tranfaftion, he looked with confi dence to the spirit orthe people, who could not fail to express their empkatical disapprobation of such a business. The speech of the minister yesterday was, in fa£t, a libel on the constitution. . Nothing in the writi:*gsof Paine had so direct a tendency to bring it into contempt. If he was fitting on hts trial for that speech, as a juiyman, he would certainly return a verdict of " guilty" and fay, that the malut animus to deftrey the constitution was evi dent. Many ofits bleffiiig, had been taken away, but we should therefore be the more studious to pre serve the remainder. The adts which prevented Englishmen from meeting had (truck at vital parts. If the power of pecuniary aid was now to be taken from the commons, he must fry that little more was left, and that, after all our losses of blood andtreaf ure, this formed an addition almost incalculable to our mifcrie,. He should vote, for the reasons which he had Rated, again!! the second reading of the refo lutious. Mr. Pitt said, that if he were not aware how far the right honorable gentleman, who had just fat down, was habituated to the ufeof inflammatory ex prefiions—if this had been the firft time of his founding the alarm that'the constitution was in danger, he should have felt some imprcilioa of sur prize. But he recollefted that that was-not the firft time that the gentleman made a solemn appeal from that house to the people : and that it was not the firft, second, or third time that he had piofefTed to ttand " behind the lilt dyke ef the constitution." Th« meafurcs to which, in his opinion, and in that of the house, the country had owed its fafaty, were denounced from the fame quarter, as tending to na tional ruin!—lt was not many months since the honorable gentleman had represented those laws as subversive of the constitution, which had happily fruftrated the design, of its most inveterate and dangerous enemies. Under those laws he had pro reffed that he could not sleep for an hour; and yet he very lately given a two months notice of a motion for their repeal. It was Angularly curious to observe the new lights which had broken in on the mind of that right hon. gentleman. I» his (Mr. Pitt's) speech of yester day, which was allowed to profefs, at least, the recommendations of opennefa and candor, there was nothing which appeared in the firft instance to pro duce the impression which had lately appeared There was nothing to disturb the farenity, or im c*'cu'at ' on> °f an honorable gentleman (Mr. Grey) whose mind was particularly liable to irritation. The ho»orable gentlemen were placid even after the constitution had received its death wound, and had aftually fuffered the resolution. to pass by an unanimous vote ; but now, what was the tendency of the speech which they had just heard ? It want not to punift the minister,, if they were culpable, but to revenge their fins upan the country. The resolutions, it was to be observed, did not go to bind the house to fanflien any s up . plies forwarded to the emperor, either as to their principle or their extent; the motion was therefore calculated to inform the enemy, when they were just informed of the ÜBa nrmity and zeal of the country, that the house of commons had intercepted ttrr fup jdtes, and that they were determined to weaken the war or to fruftrate the ncgociation. h O nnr»J 0r '"'l P *"' W ° Uld fu PP iical « the right cr-Z toex P cdil<; bis charge of high enmei and rmfdemeanors, if h« would only not con t coumr y - a to their werecenfuublc, why should their fin, be vvfited on ,he nation ? The geneial power of the purse w JS ve S td in the Britjfh , om m ° v °' ® U ' ' he P rlrw 'ple hid never before been nakedly laid down without anyxxception or quali fterl'Tn c L:T f ° u » d^o o d, that mini r rLi /r emer g e "cy, were to exercise a responsible difcretian. This mnft eve, be admit ed from the necessity of the cafe Y,» tions, thus uniformly admitted, and even when'the right honorable g.ntleman had himfelf a share ir the government wer e now quoted a. tending ftroy the very essence of the eonlliiution. If ,h e language of the right honorable C e„.leman, ■„ 2 be fincere WM he could not believ e it to th?a,! h 7n ferr^ t0 the meCr^ofhi e majesty, on k" I, r°n / ' 795, andto 'he vote of credit to ad iDt* f W h ", tol " ablehi » majesty's miniftcrs to adopt fuel, measure, as the exigency of circum (lances may requne » I'he confidence thus com municated, was, in hi, opinion, a full juftffiration of mimffers for whatever they had done. If thev had rcfufed the facceurr required by Auftiia, and thereby prevented the empercr fr em rescuing his fhTTh"" 8 ' n ° th "'« " rtaiHl y ™uld be mo.e heavy " fc : r efponfib\lity. The vote of credit, to h,s "'ajefty', nunifters to meet with Lnv , a T unttd t0 M°o>oool. The aid, Which they lad deemed themfelve, authorised tJ 200 LI? H emper °'' P affcd b « "ttle beyond l,»Oo,o«ol. He, r.s principal in this affair was ready to avow hi, responsibility. If he and his coadjutor, were puoifhable, he thould rather be on the grounds 'which he h.d adopted, than ai q, lt cd on the proof of an opposite conduft! If Ihc proceeding has t.e Cn less juft,fied by precedent in his opinion it Wd hive Seen more merit iriou*. The question now before the house was, whethci it was prepared to surrender to France, by a com pliance with the motion of the right honorable gen tleman, every thing on which the fafety of the nation depended ! Mr. Fox said a few words in explanation.— What he had said of the extraordiuanes was, that if they were refufed, some branch of the public service must be starved. This made it the more dangerous and blameable to resort to them, for the purpose of covering a different expenditure. Sir W. Pulteney said, that the measure of the minister, which was now questioned, appeared to him, in the firft instance, at criminal and uncondi tional. He had not slept on the business ;he had on the preceding night communicated his opinion to his friends around him. If Mr. Fox had spoken too strongly on other occasion,, that wa, no reason why he should not be attended to when there ap peared a real danger. The confutation »f the country appeared to him to depend on this question Whether the minister ftiould be allowed to fur nifh latge pecuniary aids without the consent of parliament.'—The defence set up on this occasion he thought extremely weak. The expenditure could not be covered by the vote of extraordinaries, which' included only the charges which had been previously set down in tjie estimate. It could not be fan£tioned by a vote of credit, for no minister had ever dared to convert any part of a vote of cre dit to a foreign subsidy. A, to the obfeivations on the flopping the supplies, this was the usual shelter of every minister. He did not cont-ur in the motion made by Mr. Fox ; but if this pica was granted in its extent to Mr. Pitt, there was an end to the power and interference of parliament. He would freely admit, that, in cafe of a new emergen cy, minister, were entitled to a responsible difcretion-. He could not but remark, that the minister had made no remark to the strongest part of the allega tion—that this money wa, remitted whillt parlia ment was fitting, and without making to them the fmalltft communication. This furnifhed, in his opinion, a most deftru&ive precedent, and the con duct of the minister, on the whole, demanded the strongest cenlnrc of parliament. He had approved of his interference in the affairs of Holland in the year nB7 ; but what made the difference was ; tbat at that time the parliament was not fitting. With refpedt to the danger of publicity, he drew a con trary inference from tbat of the minister. France was encouraged, when fha learned that we had rc fufed supplies to Austria. In this instance the notoriety of the tranfaiftion must have difcooraged the enemy in proportion as it tended to Simulate our ally. The difference of exchange was in this view but a paltry consideration. He saw much to blame in the encreafe of the navy debt, and could pointfut many existing abuses ; but in his opinion the gross infringement on the constitution should be the prime objeft of regard and of enquiry. Mr. Grey said, that after the very able and con ftitutional speech of the honorable b-ronet, whose experience and independence gave weight and au thority to every exercise of his discernment, he would not long detain the house from doing its du ty upon the question. "But the right honorable gentleman would perceive, from the questions put to him in the last parliament, that some suspicion of his present conduit then existed in the minds of his opponents. He (Mr. Grey) had then aflced him whether fee intended to fend money to the em peror ; to which no pofitivc answer had been given. If the minister eould thus dare to iuvade one of cfTetitinl ar.d few remaining pair, of the confti-ution, it was time to save those parts, by declaring him guilty of a high crime and misdemeanor. His hon orable fiiend, he hoped, would io morrow make a motion to that effe6t ; and if Mr. Fox did not, he (Mr. Gicy) gave notice that he would. Such a declaration, he hoped, would prevent the mifchief of the present offence, and the attempting of auy similar one, in future. The minister h rt d upbraided his opponents with having frequently declared that the queltion under difcuffian formed the last dyke of the constitution. It was true that they had often proclaimed iheir apprehensions, from violence at one time, from fraud and treachery at another ; and the house were now ta f v -el the conftquence of the servility of their predeceffoi,, is the last parlia. ment. If, for thi, offence, they did not now bring the minister to trial and puniftiment, there was nothing left even of the form of a constitution. Ihe indignation of the house wa, already excited by the firft disclosure of this offence ; but what would it be when they should learp that which he had now discovered from the papeon the table, that, at the very time when the minister was talking of his openness under all difficulties, and under the exccfs of commercial inconvenien cies, at the very time, parliament being then fitting, he had given to the emperor the greatest pan of the sum, which, till within these few ays, the house did not know to have been ex pended at all. The last parliament fat till June. It appeared, from the papers on the table, that before thst 1,200,0001. had bet« sent to the Emperor ; in July 77,e001. wa, sent ; and in September, Ofto an? November, 900,000! so that, except 77.0001. the whole of this sum, of with out the consent of Parliament, had dually been lo miiapphed dtiring the fitting of Parliament. It was even now a d.ubt with him, whether, "If he had not Kcffed for those army extraordinaries, which were so lately la.d upon the table, the house would ft 'I T Cd #f thiS m '^ a Ppli ca tien ; and han th ! f -° 7' by ° ,her Wpofition thar that of deceive, how the navy debt which was always ,- been made up so early, while nauet, which were always hitherto amongTrW early papens, should have thi, year been so long 1 delayed. The argument of the honorable gentle man, that exaft account, of expenditure Were not 1 required by the constitution, bccaufe extraordina ry, were permitted, was founded upon the exceo i tj.n rather than the rule. If this wa, granted, no : h«ng remained to be withheld. Extraordinaries, 1 tho a L lwa ?' evils > »:re sometimes necoflary ; but was the allowance for evils to be argued as beneficia* rule ? How loudly had the right hon. gentleman blmf-lf, when a reformer » V ' j liberty, and an ctunomift, invriohet) L,; n ft lerante «f cxtraordinaries > How r „ fij ." r t °' he put into the m»uth of his Buj e ft T "' y '' a<l datioH to that house to guaid airat'nft .recolmmen with refpedl to the vote of credi g U a H ,1 ' N I. ptrr p «ai»e rfS?"ittS' r'' iu the view of Parliament. Yet of tl ' .ture, which was pretended to be e *penoi_ vote »f credit, ho less than 150,0001 «,« f Col. Craufuriin December 17«r. r ® was disposed of in December i 7Q 'r un l,o { o0 ° 1 * thorityof a vote of credit for JZ' V icT„f'7 But the honorable gentleman had affefted to • n'r" himielf by laying, that though .J,aoo,®col J ma'de a conspicuous item ,n army extraordinarics, it w„ all within the limits of the vote ef credit , to which argument, the whole vote of credit 'tf ' " have heon applied to the use of the Emperor Mr 9 Grey hoped that nothing further w S3 neceffarv » win the attention of the house to thi. A breach of the constitution. No attack so dircft .. th.s upon every thing that could re" der the life of man dear to h.m, liberty and th( . fe . eunty of property. It might be said, that durin e a moment of negoc.ation, miniftcrs were not to be fettered by that house. But would it injure u S in the eyes of Eiir«pc, or humble u. in those of Fiance " to shew an House of Common, jealous of its own rights, and therefore likely to be lon* revered, and long cheriftied by the country—Now that the French were admitted by the MinifUr to be capabl "of the relations of peace and amity, and te have "fnorhd away the fumes „f the indigejied lUd of their Sovereignit might be especially ufeful to exhibit the proud fpeftacle of a free people ne.-oci atmg with a free people, osifelves as jealous of our rights as they can be of their's. The delay of one day could not injure the neoociation ; and that the present qucftion might be difciiffed before the f«p. plies were granted, h« would move an amendment for inserting in the refolmion ;nH«J a f,l,. .— r j now" that of " to morrow," on which d-y \},\z house would also be moved to declare, that thfi Chancellor of the Exchequer, in difpoiinp of the public money without the consent of parliament, had been guilty of a high crime and misdemeanor. £To be concluded in our next.] A GEORGE WASHINGTON, President des Ltats Unis. Le at Fevrier, 1797, l'Anniverfaira de fa Nai fiance. ILLUSTRc IVASHINGTON, qui dujug Britunntque^ Et de tous festyrsns drfiyrai* Amerique ; Toi dont le bras s'armu pour *fa j,'elicit*\ E$ dela pr'ts ton vol a Vimtnortalite ; Cefi toi qu en ce heau jour ft dfgned* memoir*, *Je ehante, et dont jar.nonce a L'lfh'weri la gloire» Projond Jans le Con/eil, firme dans le danger, Au hicn. de ton pays tu fsus tout diriger; Et tel que ee Romain, au cri de tapairie, On ie vit de tes champt quitter Vketireuft vie y Et des p f us hauts bona curs, acquis a tes exploits t On te voit retourner a tes paiftbles hois. Pour la Pojierite quel example fuhlime ! 0 mortel virtbeux / 0 guerrie - magnanime'J Dans ta douce ritvaite, ou te fuivent mes veux t « *1 Je demande du del pour toi des jours heureux ;•» Qu a Vombre des lauriers qu out cue: His tes vjillees t II eomhle de fes dons tes derniercs so 'trees• - James Brown, -dt No. 119 South SecondJlreet, HAS just received per the Peggy, capt. Hardy, from Amsterdam, a small invoice of D IT T C H G O O D S, confining of Ticklenburgt Flaxen linen Oxnaborgs Coffee-Millt, No. o to 4 knives < Scythes 10 hands long—and Glass tumblers aflorted Which he will f«ll oa go»dterm» by the-package. Also 011 hand, A few Quarter-calks Malaga WINE, and 500 Gallons Spirits Turpeutine. February 23 ■. '■ L .^ WIOMING LANDS. CCS" THE Pennfylvasia claimants of Lands, held by titles which commenced b.'fore the decree of Trfnton in December' 1782, are requested to meet at M'Shane's Tavern, in Third Street, on Friday Evening, February 24th, at 6 o'clock, oa urgent bulinefs. February 2 *lt Lately Imported^ AND now opening for Sale, by the Box or finglt ream, by B. DAVIES, at No. 68 Market-ftrcet, anaffort ment of ENGLISH PAPER, eONSISTINC OF—" Printing Paper, of an excellent quality, both Medi um and Demy Writing D/tto, of various lizes and qualities, as • Imperial Thick and thin folio"A c(U g t Super-Rojal C for Royal Foolscap, common (offices. Medium, common Ditto wove J Ditto wove for drawing Pott t . Demy, common Thick ancl thin — pemy foo'ie marble paper A general assortment of the neatest Sta tionary \Va:e, a variety of maps, charts .ind plans, and a valuable collection ot BOOKS iu the Knglifc, Frtnch, Greek and Latin languages. As he intends to decline the Book-trade, he proposes to dispose of his f.ick of Books on hand at redui* iprices, for calh or approved notes: ca talogues of the books may be had at the fame place. February »3 th3cfj(W This day it publifhcd, By Wiliam Cobbet, in three hirge oftavo volumes, A Defence of the Constitutions of Govern ment of the United States of America, Again# rhe attack of M. Turgot, in his letter t° Price, dated the twenty second day of March, 17 7*» By JOHN ADAMS, LL. D. Prefidcnt of the United States. . Embellilliei with a striking LikeSlfs of the author, engraved by Smither —from au original po»tr ai by F«(biuary 13—§3 W For Charleston and Savannah, rf- THE SCifOONia Oliver y»nk':us,M a f tr ' WILL take freight on moderate term», and he r«S' T ® take in in a few days Apply to - ' JOSEPH AN THON* s c ' rektuuy 23 '
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