The National Register.
London, England, 1811-07-14 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL

convinced, Sir, that however much individually I may pre-
tiously have had reason to he Incensed the repeatedoutrages
committed on our flag try Brith44 Or 4 war, neithet' itty4as-
'ions nor prejltdicce y • taut,.
To my counity", I am wei convinced of the importance of
the transaction which has implasecliipon rite thb neceisity of mak-
tin ion this conititimicaticm; I must, therefore, froM inOtives of
delicacy, connected with personal consideration, solicit that you
will be pleased to request the President to' authorike a formal
Inquiry to be inAtituted into ail the circumstances, 'OV/ell into
ev,ry part of my conduct connected with the satne.
Tare injury sustained by the snip under my command is very
trifling, except to the fare and main masts, which I before men-
tioned ; re, person killed, Enid but one (a boy) wounded.'
For further partit'ulars I ruler you to Capt. Caldv,Tll, who is
Charged with the delivvii, of this communication.
I have the honour to tpe,with great respect, Sir, your obedient
-I)ervant, (Signed) JoIiti.RODOERI.
Pion. Paul Hamilton, Secretary of the Navy. . . .

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.
VIOUSE OF LORDS. • •

• MONDAY, JULY 8. .
..
. • . .
BANK NOTES BiLi... •.
017.)n the Order of the Day being read for the third reading of
the Bank Notes Bill,
• earl GRosvE NOR thnnght it incumbent on bim to say a few
words in opposition to this Bill, conceiving it, Es he did, a Bill
pregnant with the most prejudicial consequences to the:country.
-I-laving 'been obliged to quit the Hoiase on Tuesday from in-
disposition, afrer hearing one of the Cabinet Ministers oppose
-the Bill as Unnecessary, he was much astonished to learn the
Melt morning that the Ministers had determined to support the
Bill, and, had lie not been prevented by inciiiposition, he shoted
nave felt it his duty to haVe atttnded on Wednesday, to sign the
• Protest against it. He now felt It hit duty most solemnly to pro-
test against the Bill, which he ecnceived must lead to the very
ivorat consequences, in making in eftect,•though not technically,
' bank notes a 1. gal tender, at d in fixing a makimem for gold, that
it should not be received or paid at above a tertain rate ; and a
rninitnuin for bank notes,. that they should not be received or
' paid at below a certain rate. In the adoption of these principles,
of a forced eirculation.of paper ctrrrency, and a maximum and a
ittinimum, he conceived there was the greatest danger to the
Opulence and the permanent interests of the country. He saw
tio effectual remedy for the existing'state of things, but the Re-
Pal of the Bunk Restriction, and though it might not be exile-
. lent to entry *itch a measure into effect immediately, still no
lime ought to be lost in bringing it about.
After I short pause,
LOrd KING ripreesed his astoniqimct e that no Noble Lord
• en the other side should have risen to attempt to justify or to
explain the clauses *iiirti had from that side of the ficitise been
tritroduced into the Bill, and which so peculiarly called for ex-
llairation from those who proposed or supported them. As the
aw stood the ttniint might satisfy the contract by pa pang the
.it
pi
note at its real valUe. That being rendered impo . He by
Btfl,ilie tenant mutt take A certain portion of his • duce to
' • kind WI
.tt at a lower rate, for the purpose ...procuring
_.. _ .
NW ' ••ed --d

binit
this
Markin, .
'Old to satisfy fits hindlerd. If those who no, urgt forwart
/
hit Bill tittxyglit they could the-, eby ward the depreciation of
ant hotel', tir prevent the being two prices, one in paper and
the other in gold, ttity Were miserably mistaken. Already tht re
were iti fatt tWOpriceb, a gold and a,. paper price, and to that the
aystetil Minn rottie. It Was.hi vain for their Lordships to pass this
Bill; it tOuld•ittrt effect the abject which those who-liad adOptc.Ll
tt pr,yiegsed to hoe *.ti view, it could not retard the depreciation
of-bank notes, nor mid it r,retent the two prices in gold and pa-
trr, the nacural effect Of tlr.:t 4e4recietion. .
The It it o CuA Nein. :nit felt') hie duty to state the impression
Upon his ininti .kith r-esptct-to this BM •
.if the -I.ssidlord Terse"
orefetTln bringing his action, treatise he :clad not chusse to take
tank notes, the tenant would he jo.trf/esi in resorting to every,
legal mettle tit fighting out h.% jandiard Upon • the questiot, and
()ringing his writ of error to have the questionsolemnly deter-
- -
w(.uldthe lamilorti-get by this ofter/
.heal} exhausted on the part of a:itll
Aid at last that he mutt take those very
tenant had oril;inally tendered to him.
, say, that the latititord should not have
upon his tenant, merely because the
gold, which it was impossible for the
s impossible to „gree in the expediency
)7, pi trV'etiting a debtor from swing ar-
.his debt in bank notes) and not to lie-
'le presefst. Bill in plticing the tenant in

i

the same situation With respect to his goods and stock, where
he had tendered his rent in bank notes. The Dill was, besides,
rendered necessary In order to prevent individuals from &pre.
ei aring the notes cetheliailknt England at their pleasure. 'lt was
still the more rendered .necessery,. by the decision which the
Judges had been persuaded to come to in the ease of De-Yonge.
The Bill was absolutely necessary, in order, that KWh's* the
Same dairies of justice, might be placed Upon the same footing of
equality by the legislature.
Lord Gl' E N V 1 LL r. combated theobservations of the L.ord Chan-
dellor, in a long and animated speech, to which we ogurnoseittempt
to do justice. :4c
Earl S reel HOPP; said, there was no ease in which the engage-
ments to the public creditor ought not to be performed. •
Lord Hinters') could not help thinking that the Misunder-
standings which had arisen in consequence of this Bill, had pro-
duced a sort of mental earthquake in this Hoesc.—He had suf-
fered by this as well as others, and his opinions had been much
misunderstood. With respect to the cash payment of the Bank,
hr thought indeed, that the only effectual way of effecting this,
would be by an immediate payment. This was his bias; but
those to whom superior abilities and information he paid the
highest deference, hail maintained, that the immediate resump-
tion of kaymeilts would be attended with great difficulties. His
Noble krieiel had said, that there was not a sufficient, quantity
of cash in the whole country ; hut he wonid'ask- him's* there
was a sufficient quantity of cash in 1799 p .He meant.tolene, was
there then sufficient gold in the country Iller the conversion kelthe
bank paper into cash ? But when there was curtfulenceHri the
'country; gold was seldom or uever demanded, and that argu-
ment, therefore, fell to the ground. All he wanted:to etitoblish
was, that gold should be paid when demanded, or, hi other
words, that p4er should be convertible into cash. He kfiew no
way by which the keeping up the depreciation of-tiertertency
of the country could Support the war but by the defrauding of
the public creditor. He could understand well enough the po-
licy of issuing assignats. He r'ec'ollected being told by one well
versed in that matter, long before the depreeitition,:itkafftiey
would serve their turn—that they would pay their armies in the
mean time. But he would ask, if this was what Ministers une
derstood by supporting the war ? Here was first a declaration of,
I am a most honest man ! and then turning round, andlecenne
mencing that system of legislation which will make the creditor
not worth one farthing'. Was that the assistance which was
wanted ? lie had heard of facilities in the raising of money ; but
they had been explained sufficiently toltim ;, and he could not bet
perceive, that what they gained on the one hand, they more than
lost on the other, by the additional expence of these expeditions
to the Continent. His Lordship then, went into a plan of his
own, as a remedy to the evil, which lie meant to propose in the
way of a rider to the Bill. He understood the great evil which
Would consist in the certain inconveniences attending immediate
payment ; but he was convinced the hank Proprietors an Stock-
holders had a clear interest in maintaining the present, state of
things, and that, therefore, if they were to fix a particulagperiod,
two years osleii years for the resumption of cash payment, it
would be aehTere BRUTUM FULNIEN, and the same difficulties
would then in to be got over, which subsisted at present.
He knew 11$71tray, therefore, of effecting this object, but by
making it the inlerest of the Bank themselves to agree to the re-
sumption. He wished to prevent the Bank from deriving any
profit from their issues of tokens and dollars.
,He thought it was
but fair that they should derive no additional profit trom that
state of things. He did not, however, wish to take from the
Bank the profits which they should make, or to interfese with
private bankers in their concerti's ; but if they had OterteleOtect-
ed so long by you, it was but fair that they should ivt,.be per.
.mitted to divide the additional profits taken under that.prordction.
The provision which he meant to propose then, wattle prevent
the Bank from paying any Dividends greater than a certain sum,
which he had left blank, because some might be of opmion that
it might be proper to revert to the amount of theinvidenai
in 1797, and others to those of a later period, 6tc.
Lord KA ititowav said, that many - observations- had been
made on the impropriety of producing this measure at so. late 4
period of the Session : but as Ministers were not the original
"authors of the Bill, the censure could not be fairly appiiedito
`them.
Lord MORTON stated, that in the great northern road from
Darlington ti Ldinbergli, of 150 miles extent, there was na dif.
ference made between Bank of England .and Scotch Notes; if,
therefore, as had been stated, -Scotch Notes were at par, it
followed that there at least Bunk Of England paper had' not de-

predated.

Lord Lr:zst,ner., in a long and animated speech, supported
the Bill. The arOments which had been urged against .the
present Bill, were rather directed aping the whole system of
the finance of the einintry for the last 14 yeurs, than against. the
measure then immediate* hifofe 'them,. though they were tend
questions tv}4o, he coatehded iferilude.peodent of eact tither
••

mined. - What, hoWever, v
Itvery jrgal prtneeding lied
sind his tenant, by weld fill
bank notes which his tetra
Was it then too much to sa
• the -pjwyt of (detraining t
.. i td.Cliose ip dem:nd go
4.. ittt .suctirt ? It was il
4.‘\.t ~.-4,,,;,_it.ent. f 1797.
. i *.r*474. 4 VI I 1
tl:9. i . , f
..A4 1 lio,, f thi
614 a
4
W • al' ' • ,41
‘ n*, 111 Pr .", .ray
L
1.).?,1 ;:r taw
:,:

as did he even disapprove 'of that system, he should yet feel it
his duty to support that 13i11. He looked upon it as a measure of
justice to a great pot tion of the people of this comitry. The. No-
lo Lord then went into the question of depreciation. of our
paper curcency, . He thought that it bad not
.been fully made
O :t.
Earl GRaY began by adverting to the doubts that seemed to
prevail respecting the nature and limits of the legal enforce-
nients of the provision of the Dill. The Noble and Learned
Lord upon the Woolsack had not, in his mind, succeeded at all
in removing those doubts. If the landholder could not distress
his tenant after this Bill, were not the other ways of legal en- .
forcement of rent open to the landlord to resort ? Did not the'
Bill leave the landlord all the powers unimpaired be before had
of enforcing his rent, save that of distress ? If a tenant be taken
in execution for non-payment of rent, how does this Bill enable
him to stay that execution ? If this measure be adopted, they
could not possibly stop there. 7 Hear ! They must go and
make batik notes a legal tender, and enforce them as sucha And
how was a scheme of this sort,different from that of the French
assignats? Was it not in both cases forcing a paper circulation ?
But the most unaccountabe provision of the Bill was perhaps
that which excluded its operation front flreland—( licur
country where payments in specie are exacted by different land-
lords, particularly towards the North of Ireland, every day, and
there, where the practice which that Biil was intended to put a
• stop to was most frequent; to that country it was proposed that
this Bill should not extend. In adverting to the question of depre-
ciation, he confessed that he was niore surprised at the mode in
which the Noble Lord took to prove that there was no deprecia-
tion, than he was of the opinions of the Noble Lord upon that
subject. The very cheapness of the ankles specified by the
Noble Lord were proofs, rather of the mischievous effects of the
Orders in Council, width had cut up our trade by the root, than
of the paper currency not having degenerated. In concluuing,
be bested leave to set the Noble Earl right, who had fallen into
a mistake in supposing that he (Lord Grey) had retracted his
opinions respecting the policy of the vtr to the Peninsula.
What he had said was, that the successes had been expected;
but even at the time lie acknowledged this, he begged to be
dearly understood as not retracting or qualifying any of his
opinions respecting the impolicy of successfully copuig with
France single-handed, in the means of a great military establish-
ment.
Lord Lotunettrinee rose to move as an amendment, that the
judges do attend this HOuse to-morrow.
Lord Gattivit.LE said, that from the doubts thrown out by
the Learned Lord on the Woolsack, it was desirable to know
the legal consequences following the enactmciit_of the present
Bill.
After'a Short conversation between Lords Eldon, Lauderdale,
and Crenville, the Amendment was 'negatived et ithout a divi-
sion, and the House then divided on the original Question.
For the third reading, 43 ; against it, 16—Majority The
Bill was then read a third time and passed.—Adjourned.