Star.
London, England, 1801-03-24 00:00:00

HOUSE. OF COMMONS.

The R'ght Honourable [haus- ADDI Nto rot., tank the Oaths
and his tat.

Petitiln was ptt from the Truflees of the 13r:(.1
Niufvom, pr.itnit for Parlianu.ntary t, lie
the *l'ahlt:, and an account of the tuna granted to the Nlukunt
to be Irid I, fore the Houle.

Sir our• MI LIMA r bmutht up a Bill to enable the Clergy
to let Ledo of their lythcs fur a limited time, which wit; read
a firft time, and ordered to he r.ad a frond time on the 14th
of April : and in the ti,c to 1w prnittd.
A MClTige front the Lords informA the Houle their Lord•
fhips had agreed to the Irith Duties Bill, and the frith Malt and
Diitillery Bill, without any an:old:wit.
Sir WILLIAM PLILTENZY gave notice be fhould rove for
leave to-morrow, to bring in a Bill to leffen the. 'ran re of
Foots' Rate, by encouraging the cultivation of Potatoes ea cer-
tain common Linos.

Mr. BRAnnt. Isrougtzt up the r.dt-InC.ia Goods Bill, which
was r:ad a fait titor. :411d ordcr,:d to 1,.7 -rad a lecond time to-
morrow; and alto a repnr- fal" thr Yapiting Laws Bill, which
was ordered to h•: t c-committcd to-morrow.

hiI.MA Nr; moved for au ateouni of thy quantity of Bri-
tifh Plantation Srgar mid Ruin imported, with the amount of
the Dutic, ther,:ii, from the jth of Ja.mary iBO. , to the sth
of JanuAty
The Apprentices In.:,iituns Bill wi fccond time,and
committed for to-more.w.
BASK OF IFNCLA,ID.

Mr. NICHOLLS moved that there fhould be laid
before the Houle a copy of any retinue:on of the
Bank Dire:lon of England, to increafe the Divi-
dends upon Bank Stock, or give any bonus to thi
Proprietors. lie thould, he faid, content himla
with limply moving it, conceiving no oppolitinti
would be made to his motion.

Mr. THORN rox (Governor of the Bank) defiretl
to know with what view and to what end this pa-
per was moved for i
Mr. Mc:MOLLS replied, that lie intended to mov,
the Houle on a future d., y to prevent inch divi-
!ion, and to retrain the Bank Ii on any increale
of dividend until they made payments is catli.
Mr. THORNTON fait% that die Lank wa ready
upon all proper occarions, to give any i:forro.:
tion that could prudently be commiviieated to th,
Houfe, but this war not a quellion of iofornritior,
but an attempt on the pal t of an
ber to interfere in the niaaag, mein of:llc+r aifairs,
in a manner which he trotted he fhould prove to
the Houfe to be totally unwarrantable.—!n the
' iirit charter granted by Wiiliant and Mary, %%0;141:
was afterwards ennui mid by the 7th of Anne, the
Bank were empowered to make fuch dividends as
they fhould think proper, provided the capital re-
mained entire.—Thefe powers had been renewed
by feveral fubfequent Afts, and Wily, by an Aft
of the fait year, when a renewal of their charter
had been granted for a valuable conlideration.—
Would the Houfe now be guilty of a breach of the
contra& on their part, to fay that the Proprietors
fhould not enjoy the fair profits of their trash: ?
The Hon. Gentleman might fay there were en-
creafed by the fufpenfion of payments in cafh.—
To this point the Houfe had ihewn a jealous at.
tcntion, by calling from time to time fur the
amount of their notes. Two returns of there had
b.!en made during the prefent winter, and he would
venture to fay, the encreafe was not more than
the circulation of the country, and the payments
of its dividends to the public creditors required.
Mr. Nictioets Paid he did not think when he
confented on Friday to withdraw his motion, and
give notice of it for this day, that it would then
be denied. As, however, the Hon. Gentleman
had entered romewhat into the dircullion of the
queftion, to which this motion was only a prelimi-
nary, he was prepared to difcufs the fubjetk. He
denied that the Bank of England was now in the
fame Rate as in February, t 797, fincc it had not
only become infolvent, but had broken its faith with
the public creditor, and fubfequent to that period
had been guilty of delinquency in iffiting notes
to the amount of fixteen millions and a half, when
before they had only ifued to the amount f eight
millions. The Bank were bound to purchafe bul-
lion and carry it to the Mint, but it was well known
they had carried none daring the IA year. They
' had eltablifhed a circulating medium of paper in-
Read of gold, by means of which the price of pro.
vilions had very materially rifcn, and a large quan-
tity of gold had been fent out of the country,
whilft Parliament had been tinder the neeeffiry of
proteding them from the demands of she public
creditor. He trolled, therefore, the Haute would,
as it was bound to do, interfere to restrain the
Direftors from increafing the Dividends upon the
Bank Stock, until the public creditor was paid,
as he ought to be, in fpecie.
Mr. Born and Mr. H. THORNTON both (poke
againfk the procluaion of the paper, and laid it
would be an unwarrantable interference in the pri-
vate affairs of the company.
Mr. Tnoarrow Rated in explanation, that there
appeared an increafe in the halt return made to the
Houle of Bank-notes, but that fuch increafe was '
only temporary, and they were now returned to
their accullomed level. He save his thanks to the
Member who had flopped this motion on Friday,
and fold he hoped fuch motions would not be per-
mitted to pars as a matter of courre, for that great
injury might be done to public credit by hely and
inconfiderate motions being made in that Houfe
for the produdion of papers which 'could not be
granted with fafcty, and which through the Bank
might materially affed the interells of the State.
Mr. Boyd, Mr. H. Thornton, and Mr. Thornton
(Governor of the Bank) explaircd.
Mr. Tama could not conceive what injury-
could arife from the produSion of a refolution
which had been already publilhed in the front of
molt of the newfpapers.
After a (bort converfation between Mr. Tier-
ney, Mr. S. Thornton, and Mr. Nicholls, the mo-
tion was pot and negatived without a divition.
The ATTORNEY GINERAL moved for leave to
briug in a Bill for the more diet:Wally preventing
the forgery of Bank-notes and Bank Poll Bills.—
Lcavc given.