Star.
London, England, 1811-05-15 00:00:00

could not long exist, if it did, we certainly could not
long exist under it. Gold and Mier, and Bank-notes,
were not the riches of a nation ; nor could any man
say, that when they were taken away, .we were de-
' prived of our riches ; we had our lands, and the va-
rious produce of our labour, as our real riches. For
Dr. A. Smith had declared, that labour was the pro-
per standard ; yet that had not been noticed by any
Gentleman on the Committee. The situation in which
we were now placed, he maintained, was a new one,
and required new and extraordinary measures. The
agitation of this question had been productive of
much evil, but he was sure it would now be set at
rest. When he took a man's.promissory note, he did
not consider how much gold or silver that man might
have in his pocket, but what real property he pos-
sessed. No Gentleman had condescended to explain
what would be the effect in bringing back the rate of
exchange in favour of this country ; but he was sure
that in these times the reduction of Bank issues would
not have any such effect, particularly considering the
immediate effect such a reduction would certainty have
on our manufactures and improvements of all kinds.
He did not think that we should, on account of the
situation in which we are placed, withdra t our army
from abroad, considering the successes it has accom-
plished, because we had no alternative but to pursue
the present system, into which we were forced by our
implacable enemy. He thought that it would be
much in favour of the country that country Bankers
should be obliged to lodge 50 or 860,000 in Go-
vernment securities, for the purpose of securing the
payment of their debts. He thought we ought to
persist in our present conduct, rather than revert to
any untried measure, like that recommended by the
Committee._

Mr. MARRYATT in commenting on the speech
of an Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Fuller), said, that he
was willing to leave to that Gentleman his oyster-
shells, provided he would leave to him (Mr. Mar-
ryatt) more gold and silver. A Noble Lord (Castle-
reagh) in speaking of our Northern fellow-subjects,
the Scots, had called them what no man could deny
them to be, a most moral and ingenious people.—
His proof of that assertion was, however, rather
whimsical. He had said that not a peasant could be
found in Scotland whowould prefer ruin to Bank notes,
if so, he could assure the Noble Lord that their coun-
trymen in London were to be distinguished by a very
different sort of magnanimity ; for here the difficulty
would be to get them to take paper where they could
get guineas. The Noble Lord, however, might have
drawn more striking facts from amongst his own
countrymen. In Ireland there was no tating up a
newspaper, without seeing advertisements, vying with
each other in offering guineas, doubloons, and dollars
for sale. He read two of those from a paper he held
in his hand, one signed O'Keefe, 113, Exchange,'
Cork ; the other signed Helly, in the same city, where
both profess to offer each of them higher prices f. r
guineas than any other man in Ireland. (A laugh.)
Mr. SIMEON contended that Bank-notes were not
depreciated, and supported the Resolutions.
Mr. W. SMITH stated a fact within his own know-
ledge,
that a gentleman, not far from London, had
occasion to order a pipe of wine, which amounted to
£llO, instead of which he offered' 0 guineas, which
were accepted. In another case a person sold 600 gui-
neas at an advance of 12i per cent. taking Bank-notes.
From this it appeared to him, as clear as the sun at noon
day, that the Bank notes weredepreciated. He thought,
however, that the conduct of the Bank Directors
had been viewed in two opposite extremes ; some Gen-
tlemen praising them too much, others censuring
them more than they deserved. Yet still he thought
they should be obliged to pay in specie, which would
be only a refunding of part of those ,profits which '
they have been accumulating since 1797. He could
not see any probable termination of the war; he them.
fore was of opinion that the cash payments ought-
to be resumed ; else the depreciation of Bank-notes
will be increased, and the prices of all sorts of com•
modities will be so advanced as to reduce all our
powers of carrying on the war and resisting the enemy.

The Resolutions were then read a second time.
Mr. HORNER moved, as an amendment to the
first Resolution, that the whole of it be left out, for
the purpose of introducing his own first Resolution,
which was negatived without a division.
Mr. PONSONBY could not let the resolution re- I
specting the prerogative of the Crpwn to change the
money, or alter its legal value, pass unnoticed. This
seems to say, that it was the right of the Crown to
alter the standard, and send out any coin he should
please, as the legitimate coin of the realm. This he
(Mr. Ponsonby) denied; in his opinion the King did
not possess the power of mixing gold with alloy in
his Mint, in any proportion he pleased, and after- ,
wards uttering it as the standard money of the king. i
dom. He allowed, however, that the Crown possessed I
a.prerogative almost equal, namely, a power of raising
the denomination of the coin whenever he thought
fit. This resolution, he felt it his duty to oppose.
This opinion was also supported by the Chancellor
of the Exchequer, Sir V. Gibbs, kc. and opposed by
I Mr. Horner, Mr. W. Wynne, &c.
' Mr. TIERNEY proposed to add to the Resolu-
tion the following words And that it is now ne-
cessary to declare the same."
Mr. CANNING said, the prerogative respecting
the question of peace and war, to which the preroga-
tive relating to the coin had been compared, differed
from it materially. The prerogative of war and peace
was unlimited, and wholly in the crown • but the
prerogative respecting the, coin had been limited by
the interference of Parliament. He had an amend-
ment to propose, which he thought would answer
every purpose, vir to insert, " and that the weight
of money was regulated by the 14th of George III."
If that amendment were adopted, he would give his
support to the Resolution.
Mr. PONSONBY explained.
The amendment of Mr. Timmy was then nega-
tived without a division.
Mr. CANNINQ's amendment was then put, and
after some observations from Mr. Vansittart, Mr.
Horner, and Mr. Perceval, was also negatived, and
the Resolution agreed to.
On putting the next Resolution, Mr. TIERNEY
proposed that an adjournment should take place, as
he had amendments to propose upon the second and
two last Resolutions.
After a few words from Mr. Perceval, Mr. Tierney,
and Mr. Ponsonby, the further consideration of the
debate was, at half past two o'clock, adjourned till
this day.