Star.
London, England, 1824-02-24 00:00:00

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were most praisewekthy. He Itietw.hlal 40 be as,
who felt ausuons to tedfil his. atittsits where 114,
personal hasiour was conceialeL • seittrnent had
to deal with a Sovereign, efirhoia listerishaiph things
had been said, both ea anctstut ofAili Houle; but he
(the Chantellor of the Exchequeftlielievecrhiin to be a
man whose virtues were hardly exceeded by any Mo-
narch ; and if he had unfortunately to govern in a coun-
try in which the Government was despotic, and which,
perhaps, he could not help, it was hard to accuse him.
There were great difficulties, his Majesty's Ministers
felt, in the arrangement of the accounts between the
two Governments. No doubt the financief of Austria.
would not be very anxious to hand out so large'a sum
of money as had been obtained, and that it would be a
popular feeling in Austria to withstand the claim made
by his Britannic Majesty's Government. The trans-1
action as terminated was highly creditable to the Em-
peror of Austria, and it might be considered as a God-
send to this country—Wear, hear, and laughter).—
,The Right Honourable Gentleman said, he thought that
be had now explained all, that appeared necessary for
,the elucidation of the finances of last year'. He would,
however, just state, that the Customs for this year,
4550,0001. exceeded the amount of the Customs of
last year be 50,0001. A Commission which sat upon
the subject last year, which his Honourable Friend be-
hind him had assisted in, bad contributed to the-eluci-
dation of the subject—(Hear).--He should offer a few
remarks on the Excise. the duties of which he had yen-
tined to estimate at 08,025,0001. it was rather more
than it actually produced last year. The Right Hon.
Gentleman then alluded to the Assessed Tares of 1820
and 1621, and then compared some of the items orthe
Revenue of the last year with the same items in the Es-
limate for the present year, shewing thereby a strong pro-
bability of improvement in thosV branches. He then
recapitulated the Income, asset forth in the Estimate of
..the present year. After deducting all the accounts,
' there would be a surplus of 1;052,0761. The charges.
emilthe Consolidated Fund amounted to 38,057,6541. in-
•luding 5,134,4581.0 f the Sinking Fund. The supply
for the Army and-Novi Estimates had been *dread/
before the House, and the Ordnance Esilslates were
'about being brought forward. The House had already
sarated the two former by very large majorities; and
trusted they would not object tirthe latter when they
me before them. -He believed it would be found that
a considerable reduction had been made in the Ordnance
Estimates, as much as could be consistently done. He
then proceeded to explain -to the House the circum-
stances which induced his Majesty's Ministers to the dis-
ttibution of the Austrian Loan (already alluded to)
'2,611',8881. He was of opinion that neither the House
nor the Country would grudge the State the opportu-
nity of meeting some expenses net of ordinary occur-
rence, but which it would have been difficult for his
Majesty's Ministers to accompliSh, had it not been for
the sum of money paid into the Trea'sury, by the Aus-
trian Government. It would be in the recollection of
the House'that an Act was passed a few years ago for
enabling certain Commissioners to apply the sum of one
million sterling for the purpose of building churches.
No man who was, friendly to the Church Establish.
*tent considered this an unimportant measure—(Hear).
It was a vote satisfactory to, the. country. The disposi-
tion of the money had been most fully applied, and the
measure was of great advantage to the community, b-
pecially to the lower orders. From the increase of the
population it became necessary to erect churches ; but
although much had been done, there remained in his
opinion much to do. There could not be a more fit
object in the appropriation of part of the Money ob-
tained- from the Austrian . Court than in building
churches. He should therefore propose that £500,000
should be so applied.—(Hear, hear, from Mr. Hume).
Considering the part which that Gentleman took when
the interests of the church were introduced, it was a.
matter of no surprise to hear him cheer on the present
occasion—(Loud cheers). He (the Right Honourable
Gentleman) thought there was another object to which
some proportion of that money should be applied. He
*Boded to the meditated repairs of Windsor Castle.
-This noble edifice was one of the proudest in the coun-
try ; and. he -was persuaded that as the people of Eng-
land loved a Monarchy—a Constitutional Monarchy—
and took a delight in the dignity of their Sovereigns, they
would not perceive anything inconsistent to their in-
terest, and the welfare of the community, by the adap-
tation of a sum of money for the purpose of repairing
that noble and venerable pile. But let not the House
suppose it was his Majesty's wish that money should be
thrown away in its repairs--(Hear). It eras true that
the Castle required a great deal of repair ; it was requi-
site that some alteration should take place in the build-
ing to make it comfortable for his Majesty's residence,
and as befitting the King of England; but there was
no danger whatever to be apprehended lest money
should be expended uselessly; as it was his Majesty's ex-
' press desire that the disposal of the money should be
vested in a Committee. He (the Right Honourable
Gentleman) was not exactly at liberty to state how that
Committee would be formed, but he would pledge
himself that the Members of it would be selected
without the slightest relation to party feelings ; and
he was satisfied that they would discharge their trust
to the satisfactiou of the House and the country.—
The sum he proposed for this purpose in the present year
was 150,0001. and that a further sum of 150,000/. should
be advanced the two succeeding years, making in the
whole 300,0001.—(Hear, end Marntursfrom the Oppo-
sition). He hoped that he made himself understood s- he
meant to impress upon the House that the whole ex-
pense anticipated would amount to 300,0001. There
was another object which he was about proposing to
rthe Committee—(Order, order)—which might very pro-
Iperly be called, and which was in principle, a national
alfair.. In the course of the last Session of Parliament
pitch discussion, it would be recollected, had arisen re-
specting the disposal of the King's Library, and a strong
feeling seemed to prevail in the House that the Arts
should not be neglected. With this opinion the Right
Honourable Gentleman perfectly coincided, as with it
all that was ennobling and dignifying in man's nature
was associated. He thought that it was consistent and I
worthy of a free nation to give as much encouragement
as possible to the Fine Arts—((:beers). His Majesty's
Ministers, finding a fund of this nature arising froterthe
Austrian Loan, therefore considered they were perfectly
justified in purchasing a magnificent and valuable col-
lection of pictures which was offered them;' he meant
the cella:dime( the late Mr. Angerstein, for which the
sum of 600CiLieikgiven. It was the intention of the
Goveratient to make a-national concern of these paint-.
ings, and tlace them in *gallery for that purpose.—
Ii the-Moneta-should succeed, we must take a valuable
collection of pictures its tits gross, which were in the
possession of a respectable indifikidurd, and of $s bleb, should
Government not be disappointed otfunds, would become