The Sun.
London, England, 1814-12-02 00:00:00

himself been accidentally informed of it by a
Gentleman who happened to he present, and a
sum of 3,000,0001. was to he thus left outstand-
ing without the knowledge of Parliament. That
the Bank should consent to postpone this pay-
ment without the additional interest, was very •
just and patriotic on their part, although it
a little surprised him. There. might, indeed,
be something mysterious in it, and More than
met the eye. The Bank „Restriettion Act
would expire next March, and there might
be in view a spirit of mutual accommodotion:
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, who was in
in Office in 180 G, applied in vain to the Bank,
in conjunction with his/Noble Friend, now Mar-
quis of Lansdowne, fosAhe,,Tenewal of the Lenin
of 3,000,009,/. which the Bank, who often boast-
ed that they regardevl all Administrations with an
eonal eye-, then .thoughe proper to refuse, except
on condition of their receiving tbree,per cc:pi-Ante-
rest. This Loan he had himself then opposed,
and therefore had been at.least tonsistent. Now
that a time of peace bald arrived, the Bank ;agreed
to do that for nothing, which' at a- period of
great national difficulty they .refused to du for
less than, 3 .per cent. it grant of money mitst
some day be made to meet this. charge, and yet:
though the matter came, pressed upon them by a
special. Report, they were called ulioti to ad-
journ, and give themselves up to the etijoyment
of their holydays apd Christmas Pies. -- (A
laugh.) Now, whatrwas,the financial situation of •
the country at the preserionient ? Out, supplies
amounted to 24 niilliop:„Pf",Exeliequer Bills 121
millions had been issued; and. I. halloos inure
granted in aid of them. The Ways and Means
amounted to about 3 millions of war taxes,' and
15 millions of loan. The right Hon. Gentletnin
had been able to get no money ; nothiirg hailbere
raised except upon Exchequer Bills. The EXClie-.
spier Bills issued in 1813 were by law chargeable.
on the aids of 1814, and yet. the provision for
these was now to he postponed till the next year:
The fact was, the Right Hon. Gentleman was
afraid to look the finances of the country in the
face, and was now acting on the presumption that
the Property Tax was still to be continued.—
This practice of anticipating the revenues of the
coming year had at fiest arisen out of the 'eel--
tainty of that revenue whilst established bylaw.
It had increased first from four to five, and then
to eight millions. The Right Hon. Gentleman
went a great deal farther, and drew upon futurity,
without any foundation in law whatever, to the
amount of 15 millions. The Property Tax was
very good security to the holder of an Exchequer
Bill, so long as he was certain of its confirming.;
but what certainty could he now have of such a•
security 1 There was flO other fund to which a
public creditor of this class could lo6k. They
were all mortgaged, and an additional vote bad
been granted to the Consolidated Fund. He did
think, though he feared he had made himself, on
a very dull subject, very imperfectly understood,
that the Right Honourable Gentleman, in taking
possession of so large a sum as '13,000,0001. and
in charging-it on a Fund that existed only in his
own imagination, has been guilty of a most unjus-
tifiable proceeding.
The CHANCELLOR of the Exentoont observed,
that the Right Hon. Gentleman had very clearly
and correctly stated the facts upon an af'S!.!' Übe and
complex subject. The two advances adverted te,
as made by the Bank to GovernMent, bad been
made under very different circumstances. The
one was a consideration for the renewal of the
Charter, and was made for six years, without in-
terest. In lis'o6, the Bank .agreed to continue
this loan, at an interest of 3 per cent. till it
months after the conclusion of the war in which
we were then engaged. This contract had been
fully performed on their part,. sted they now be-
came entitled - to the principal, or to the differ-
ence between 3 per cent. and the ordinary in-
terest of .money. In 1808, the Committee Of
Public Expenditure reported that there were
large balancea on Public Accounts deposited in
the Bank, and. suggested that the
,public ought
to participate in the advantages' accruing froth
those saws. It was then agreed between Mr.
Pcrceval and the Bank Directors, that the latter
should advance another loan of 3,000,0001. with-
out interest, to be re-paid six months after the
conclusion of peace, as a satisfaction to the pub-
lic for their increased profits. This sum was by
law chartable on the Consolidated Fund, but not
till all other charges were defrayed. No practical
inconvenience could result from letting this mat-
ter stand over, therefore, till a Bill could be
brought in for finally adjusting it. As the Bank,
too, still continued to enjoy their former advan-
tages, it had occurred to him, that the public
was still entitled to the same accommodation
at their hands. He understood, that on that day
a General Court had acceded to his proposal, and
he stood therefore he trusted, justified before the
House against the charge of neglecting this doe-
want claim. For the other Loan, provision had
been made during the last Session. With respect
to an anticipation of revenue, he apprehended it
xras much more consistent' with the practice of
Parliament, to take_ ,the future produce of War
Taxes upOn credit, Abaft to leave large sums of
money unappropriated at the *disposal of the
Crown: It was true that fifteen millions had.
been charged upon ,the next year; but it was
quite groundless to say that they were charge
ed upon the property of War Taxes. They
:night be provided for in any way.; and all that
was clone at present. was to enable the country
to apply its own money,to its own convenience:
Jr was infect nothing more than a nominal transfer,
making the Ways and Means applicable to either
-year. The aids upon which they would come to
be charged-might or might not be the property
tax, or theY-PAighkbefurnished by a new loan.— •
It had been, the Ittetetiee to issue Exchequer bills,
as the itightliQn..:Oenilelnan supposed, upon the
different funds created by the tvar taxes, which',
from the different -dates which they bore, eatee
They were nosv• all. paid
be of uncertain vatie•
off in rotation, and generally issued on precisely
the same security, viz. that of Parliament, and no
other. He certainly could see rio good reason
against the adjournment now proposed, as he ap- •
prelietided that the current produce of the war-
taxes, and the instalments of the loan, would he
ful!y equal to any of the demands of the public
service during the recess,

141r.:TtaliTaasr contended that the 3,000,000/.
left unprovided, and due to the Bank, was a
charge upon the Consolidated Fund at an in-
creased interest of 5 per cent. That a bill was
necessary for the adjustment of this transaction
was admitted, and yet the House was called upon
to adjourn without doing any thing with regard to
it, and merely to suit the convenience of the Right
Hon. Gentleman. There was a deficiency in the
Consolidated FuHd to the amount of 2,700,000!.
without this charge, which the Right Hon. Gen-
tlema.n said the Bank were too good natured to
take. A more wanton and unprecedented depar-
ture from all parliamentary forms he had never
witnessed. Whilst the war went on, there was
always an outstanding fund, and one'year's secu-
rity was as good as another's. Could this be said
with respect to the Property Tax next.-year ? It
was neither more nor less than a direct in-
fraction of public faith.. The Property Tax
could no longer exist, unless continued by
Parliament. The
_Right Honourable Gentleman
had stated no one eason for,adjottrning, unless be
meant to say dial Parliament had worked bard
enough, for that in
.24 days they had given away
24 millions—(A laugh).-7—The variety and import-
ance of public business that stood for the present
Session exceeded all former example. •There was
among many other questions,- that of the Batik
Restriction Act.; and upon this' he trusted, that
-he should haee an Ally in the hew Colleague of
the MOW ;,Gentleman -(MY! Hnskiston).
There would. not_be for the consideration of
..this subject alone, between the 9trt of February
• and Easter. There would then be the report of
the proceedings at .Congress, the American war,
and, he trusted theitmerican peace,.the Property
Tax, the Corn Bill,. and all this business was to
be delayed till it
.woubl become impossible to pro,
cure a proper attendance. • • -
The.CtiA-Nckt.Loa of the ' Ex'clrEatiriß shortly
replidd, Obs'erring, that by sitting before Christmas
the IJOUse had got through as much business as it
wottld have probably got through by the 9th of
February, if they had been called together at the
usual period in January. A Much better at-
tendance might certainly be expected in Faro try
than at present.. With- respect to tke debt due to
the Bank, he had only to say, that their Claim had
been waved, and was, for the present; -virtually
done away.
Mr. ABERCROStRy opposed the motion of ad--
journment. e
Mr..Roanisow said a few words in its support.
Mr.'Possowny contrasted the situatian'olEu-
rolie last year, when he supported the motion of
Adjournment, with its condition and prospects at
present. He urged, that this mode of dividing
the Session had the effect of shutting the Irish
Members out of the House, for he did not believe
that there had been five Members front Ireland
during the last three weeks, when such lavish
grants of public money had been made. The
truth was, that the whole object of Ministers in
proposing this adjournment, was to get rid of
those opposed to them. The want of money
brought us together ; that Ministers had got, and
got largely, and now they wished to dismiss the
House. At any rate, to give some farther time
for important enquiries, he should propose,
by way of amendment, that the House should
adjourn to the 9th of January, instead of tke 9th
of February.
Mr. W. FiTzGERALD did not deny that to ob-
tain Supplies wits one main object of the assem-
bling of the House but much of the business of
Parliament had been already perfected ; and as
Parliament did not ordinarily meet till about the
latter end of January, little or no time would he
lost in the proposed adjournment. If it was
au accommodation to Ministers to wait for the
return of a Noble Lord from Vienna, he at the
same time believed that the exposition which that,
Noble Person would be able to give, would be
such as to gratify the House and the Country.
Sir J. Naw'roaT dwelt upon the inconvenience
Which this mode of dividing the Session of Par-
liament imposed upon Irish Members.
Mr. J.. P. GRANT opposed the Adjournment.

Mr. MAR RYAT observed, that if the Bank of
England bad.that day refused to continue the gra-
tuitous loan of three millions, then he should have
thought the arguments of a Right Hon. Gentle-
man (Mr. Tierney) against the Adjournment of
considerable force ; that, however, bad not been
the case. It appeared to him, that the question
with regard to the continuance or repeal of the
Property Tax depended altogether on events which
were still in the womb of time, and which the
continued sitting of Parliament could neither pre-
cipitate nor delay. If, for instance, the American
war continued, or it were found necessary to main-
tain a large army on the Continent for a prolonged
period, he should think that either of those causes,
or both together, would render the continuance of
that Tax as expedient as its first imposition was ne-
cessary, That Tax was most objectiobable and
burthensome in many respects ; but if the same
necessity which created it required its continu-
ance, he had no doubt the country had patriotism
enough to submit. With regard to the Bank
restriction, it was equally evident, that the
large drain of specie which would he occasioned
by the prolongation of the American war, and
the maintenance of a force on the Continent
would also render the continuance of that mea-
sure necessary. A t any rate the House must wait for
events before it could come to a decision on any
of those questions. How could they judge of
the Negociations at Vienna mid( they were
finished ? To keep the House open under present
• circumstances, would be only playing the -chit-
, dren's game of questions and commands, and
answer no good purpose. He could not forget
that-the same Gentlemen who now recommended
that the House should continue sitting, had for-
merly recommended the husbanding our resources,
amkwould have shut us up in our island, and left
all:Eurcipe a prey to the most relentless despotism.
By the very different policy pursued by Ministers,
we had become the deliverers and arbiters of
',mankind ; and he now wished to give them an
opportunity of consolidating the great work which
they had begun.
Sir GILBERT IIEATHCOTE opposed the adjourn-
ment. He said, that since he came into the
House, he had heard that there was some pros-
pect of the negociations at Ghent terminating

favourably ; he should congratulate the Gentlemen
opposite if this proved the case.
Mr. WHITBREAD said, a declaration had gone
forth from the Chancellor of the Exchequer, that
such was the state of our finances, that those who
opposed the continuation of the Income Tax
were bound to spew what other provision
could be made in its room. Now he bad always
understood that it was the, department of the
Chancellor of the Exchequer to find the taxes, and
for the House to judge of them. They had heard
that it was the intention of the Minister to re-
produce this season the Corn Bill—that Bill which
he lost last year by their own vaccillaticm. With-
out alluding to the arguments for or against it,
he would merely state that _the tune was most in-
expedient. Mr. Whitbread then recapitulated the
reasons for which he gave his confidence last year
to Lord Castlereagh. Ever since 1809, when a
Right lion. Gentleman, not now in the conntry,
made a desperate plunge against that Noble
Lord-, he had been inclined to think more
favourably of him. The tone of moderation
which he assumed last year, in a most de-
licate crisis of affairs, did credit to the Noble
Lord: and the manner in 'which he conducted
the Negociations at Paris, with the exception of
a single bhit, justified the confidence which be
had preVionsly reposed. But the Noble Lord on
iris return did.not, as the Honourable Gentleman
'had done, ascribe the result to human wisdom.
-What else, indeed, was the cause, of that result
but • the overweening pride and infatuation of
man? But what was our situation now ? He
would ask, after so many circumstances had trans-
pired relative to the negotiations at Vienna, whe-
ther the same confidence in Ministers was now
jostifiahte ? This alone had given rise to the
questions he had asked at various times. The
Honourable Gentleman (Mr. Marryat) had talked
of questions and commands—he might have said
questions and answers•--,but the worst of it was,
Ministers would give no answers to the questions
put to them, for they seemed ashamed to have
-been kept in the (lark -so much by thei'e Noble
Colleague (Lord Castlereagh) ; for though they
were. responsible for his acting at Vienna, he,
could not be induced, it seemed, to • inform
Them of what be was doing. For his own part,
he (Mr. W.) could not malt by hiS own will, and
therefore, if he must be compelled to wait, it
could only be by the constraint which Ministers
had it in their power to put upon him. He then
adverted to Spain, where he said there was still a
great deal of mystery, and he should have been
glad to have sat a few days longer to have had
that mystery cleared up. The adjournment, he
said, was asked on the principle of confidence
which he could not grant. He could not infer
that the Noble Lord would return before the 9ih
of February,• and of course there were no very
great hopes to be entertained from his proceed-
ings on the Continent. If there were a possibi-
lity of bringing about the restoration of Buona-
parte, it would be-by such acts and proceedings as
were now carrying on at Vienna, and for that rea-
son he would object to the adjournment, and sup-
port the amendment.
Mr. BATHURST argued, that when the Hon.
Gentleman was so free to acknowledge the confi-
dence he had placed in the Noble Lord, now at
Vienna, in the beginning of the last Session, he
must he guilty either of great versatility, or ca-
pable of more caprice than he (Mr. B.) had ever
been desirous to attribute to hins,--if he could
withdraw that confidence from him now. He
was the.more confident in saving this, because lie
was certain his Noble Friend had not done any
one thing which ought to weaken that confidence.
The Honourable Gentleman had acknowledged
that he thought Lord Castlereagh a fit and pro-
per person to be sent to Vienna ; and froth any
real intelligence the Hon. Gentleman could
.pos-
sibly have received, he. had no right to change
that opinion ; at least he was not warranted in so
doing, till the final arrangement of the Congress
at Vienna, at which alone the pacification of Eu-
rope could finally be settled. in short, the faults
now found by the Honourable Gentleman against
'the Noble Lord, to Whom last Session be had
given so much and such voluntary confidence,
were so various and contradictory, that it would
be a waste of the time of the house to attempt to
give them an answer. The Right Honourable
Gentleman then proceeded to notice the several
other parts of the Honourable Gentleman's argu-
ment at sac-h,considerable length, that our limits
will not permit us to follow him further. lie
concluded by submitting to the House, that no
arguments which had as yet been adduced front
the other side could by any means weigh with
them to refuse their assent to the adjournment
proposed by his Right lion. Friend.
A division then took place :
For the Adjournment ..86
Against it • 23

Majority 69
Adjourned at Two o'Clock.

THE BANK.—A General Quarterly Meeting of
the Proprietors of the Bank of England took place
yesterday, on which occasion the Court was made
special, for The purpose of taking into considera
tion a letter front the CHANCELLOR of the Ex-
CHEQUER, suggesting the expediency of postpon-
ing for one year the payment of Three Millions,
vavanced for the accommodation of the public ser-
vice during the Administration of Mr. PERCEVAL.
The Chairman proposed, that the Loan which was
to he paid next April, should be continued until
April 1816, without interest, that the balance and
all business with Government should be conti-
nued as hitherto ; hut the CHANCELLOR of the
EXCHEQUER reserves to himself the right asserted
in Mr. PERCEVAL'S • letter of 1808, which the
Public has to participate, according to some ar-
rangement, the large profits which the Bank de-
rives from the embarrassments of the times. The
motion for extending•the term of a loan without,
interest- was cartied.

Coax EXCETANGE, Dec. 2.—We had this morn-
ing some few arrivals with Oats from Lincolnshire,
which sold at Monday's prices. The sale of
Wheat was dull, at a decline of 2s. per quarter
from Monday. Having bad a good supply of Bar-
ley, it may be noted 2s. per quarter lower thap op
Monday. In Pease and Beans there was no al.
teration,