'-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 '