Star.
London, England, 1819-02-03 00:00:00

PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS.

LON DON, FEBRUARY 2.
,TroN.—There was a considerable demand for
India Cotton last week on spulation ; the pur-
rs 530 bags Surats 81d. for ordinary up to
for good come aon quality ; 1200 Bengali cluefly
to 60. middling to good fair common ; fair' o
wd sold 7d. to 6d. a few very ordinary 6d. to 61d.
ether purchases were exceedingly limited, coo-
::g of 160 middling* to good Pernambuco 22. d. to
"1. a few Mesinol7o. and middling Surinam 20d.
the sales since our last 2000 packages..

HOUSE OF LORDS, FEBRUARY 2
Previouito the temporary adjournment, his Grace the Duke
of Sou:am, the. Marquis of STAFFORD, the Earls of ATM,.
roan-and Mamas and Lords PoNsoNsv and Mmmatox, took
their oaths and their seats.—On yhe resuming of the House,
Mt. Bitonav, from the Mint Office, presented an account of
the numbers of sovereigns, half sovereigns, and different descrip-
tions of the new silver coin manufactured at the Mint, to the
Latest period of making up the accounts.
Mr. Rwroo, from the Bank of England, presented a state-
ment of the amount of the above, as distributed by the Bank
Establishment to the pltblic.
These Accounts being laid upon the table' were subsequently
ordered to be printed, on the Motion of the Earl of Lauderdale.

TREATIEs • WITH FOREIGN POWERS.
The Earl of I,IVERPOOL, by command of his Royal High-
ness the Prince Regent, laid upon the table the several Treaties
adverted to in the Royal Speech at the commencement of the
Session. •
Lord HOLLAND inquired if the Noble Earl meant to found
any Motion on the silbject of these documents?
The Earl of LIVERPOOL said it was mos Intended to foisod
any Motion on the subject of the papers then pretested, but
observed there were. some farther papers touching solar of the
points under discuuion, that were not ycesolleiently prepared
for presentation. -
A short conversation endued across the table between the
Noble Minister, the Earl of LOMDMIDALE and Lord HOLL•IND,
slightly touching the topics to which the papers referred, in
which the latter said they contained points highly importast fur
Parliamentary consideration, with a view to somewhat of a dis-
tinct knowledge of the situation in which the country stood with
respect to the European Powers.
The Earl of LIVERPOOL conceived what the Noble Lord
tefcrred to would necessarily appear on the face of the Treaties.
Lord ROLLAND rather thought, that on the view of these
documents, he should feel it his duty to give notice some mo-.
tion on the subject to which they referred.'
BANK OF ENGLAND.
The Order of the Day upon which their Lord-
ships were summoned being read,
The Earl of LIVERPOOL. rose, for the purpose
of bringing forward the Motion of which he had
given notice on this subject, the effect of which would
be for an inquiry, on the part of ttratel-louse, into the
actual situation of the Bank of England, with a view
priacipally- to the question of its resumption of cash
payments, at the time, now fixed by the existing law.
,In tht outset of what he should now trouble their
Lordships with, he need feel no difficulty in saying,
that whatever expectations may be formed respect-
ing the measure he was about to propose, he felt that
in every view of it it was.rational to suppose, and he
belkeved it was generally lelt, 'that such an inquiry
could not take place without some degree of incon-
venience. He should, however, feel much satisfac-
tion, and it was a wish he had' always expressed, that
the former state of things with respect to the Bank
should as far as possible be reverted to. On the first
day of the Session, thou4sh he had ,expresit& this
anxious, wish, he expressed an opinion •ief to the ex-
pediency of some farther contieuatice of the Bank
Restrictien beyond the period 'fixed by law, but for
as thOrt period as possible ; at the same time ob-
serving, that it would be proper that the subject, par=-
ticularly as far as the Bank was concerned, iheirld
undergo a thorough revision. His idea was for the
appointment of a Committee empowered to investi-
gate the subject in all its different branches and
hearings ; and to such an 'extent, that he thought
much advantage would arise, from making the word-
ing of an order for the purpose as general as possi-
ble. Having said thus much, he certainly did not
feel it proper—even a sense of duty precluded him,
from, then entering farther into the subject. He must
be allowed to express his wish that Noble LOrds
would go into this Committee with as little reference
as poisible to opinions previously held or expressed,
but with the fixed determination to investigate the
subject thoroughly. It was unavoidable, in the se-
lection of any such Committee, that some may not
be appointed who entertained strong differences of
opinion on this important subject. But /et not the
inconvenience be made greater by retrosrections of
that kind. Let them all feel that in the intestiga-
tion of this great subject, it was by a sedulous at-
tention to the object of the appointment alone, that
they could exercise their best judgments in coming
to a fair and rational conclusion. Without detain-
ing their Lordships further on the occasion, he would
beg to move, " That a Secret Committee, to consist
of thirteen Lords, be appointed to inquire into the
state of the Bank of England with reference to the
expediency of the resumption of Cash Payments at
the time now fixed by law, and such other matters as
may be laid before them, connected therewith, and
to report such information, with their observations
thereon, to the House." 1
I Oa the question for agreeing to this Motion, some'
conversation with respect to a part of its wordier'
took place.
The Earl of LAUDERDALE doubted the pro-
priety, in the view for which the Committee'would
appointed,.of part of the language of the Motion..
Ile particularly adverted to the latter part, where
the word " thereon" was intredu•ced—a; information
may conic before the Committee, tending. to influ-
ence their opinion, .which it may not be without in-
jury to the public service, to report its observations
thereon.
The Earrof LIVERPOOL thought such a.consi-
deratim may be subsequently determined upon.
There were different courses which may be pointed
out. • A Committee may be directed by the Eloise
to ici;ort the information as given in evidence before
it, or it may be instructed to report its opinions
th;:reon. la the present stage of the proceeding, he
did not desire to propose any thing more specific on
those beads. l'he Committee may opine to the House
in cases of difficulty, and ask for leave to adopt a
particular course of proceeding.
The Earl of LAUDERDALE still thought the
wording of the Motion required mome.eraendation.
The observations of the Committee may exclusively
be founded upon the evidence before them ; and yet
sonic may think that many things may. so come be-
fcre them, on which they should not wish their opi-
nions to he publicly recorded. v.
The Earl of LIVERPOOL shortly cxplaniea.
The Marquis of LANSDOWNE was of orinion