Star.
London, England, 1811-07-10 00:00:00

not, in the first instance, refrain from condemning
the invidious and ungenerous manner in which the
Right Honourable Gentleman had adverted to the
motives on which the Noble Lord, who had given
cause for the consideration of the present question,
had acted. He (Mr. Whitbread) contended, that
that Noble Lord had done no more than the laws of
his country authorized him to do, nor more than the
interests of the community called tor. He "felt
equally inclined to inveigh against the manner
which the Right Honourable Gentleman had accuser'
, a person, meaning Lord Grenville, of having arroga.
I ted to himself the possession of all the statesman-like
qualities and all the talent which was to be fount is
the 'country, and of haying expected that every one
would bend their knees to his superiov wisdom. He
(Mr. Whitbread) did not expect that this insinuation
wotild have cone from a Right Honourable Gentle-
man who had himself bent his knee tq that same
Lord Grenville,' whom he had most anxiously son-
net* to take the helm of that Government which was
no* so impotently and so improperly conducted--
(Hear, hear)—a Noble I,ord, under those auspice&
he Was most anrio4s to place himself, and en whose
talents he relied for relief from the dangers and dim
collies with which he was surrounded. Having
saickhus mire's in justice to the individuals whose eon-
duet had been so maliciously condemned, lie should
proieed to the considgration of the question in de-
bate. With respect t the Bank restriction, uppa
which-he had already given his opinion, he was firmly
convinced, from reports he had heard in other places,
I as well as in that House, that if it was not removed,

the most serious and incalculable injuries would re-
sult to the country. So far wan Mr. Pitt from having
had it in contemplation to make this a permanent
measure, as had been asserted by the Right Hon.
Gentleman, that he had invariably declared it CO be
a measure arising solely from the peculiar character
Of the times, justifiable only from necessity, and, if
continued, likely to lead 'to the ultim'ate ruin of
the country. Lord Grenville, although one of the
individuals who had ltdvi ad the adoption of the
measure in the first instan:e, now repented of that
advice, declared his error in the most candid and
honourable manner, and contemplated the Dank-
restriction as fatal and ruinous, if followed up by
the Right Hon. Gentleman so manfully, as seemed
to be h s intention. When once, in fact, Bank-notes
were force.l into circulation by compulsory mean,
a maximum of 'prices would follow, and hence would
arise an infinity of evil consevences as numerous as
they were dreadful to anticipate, This was the coarse
which led to the overthrow of the French Ration, and
to pursue it'would be productive of precisely the same
fate to this coantry. The Right Hon. Gentleman,
had told the House that Lord King had taken a step
by no means justifiable, and the ward extortion was
used, although not by the /tight Hi n. Gentleman ;
the Right Hon. Gentleman had, however, intireatzd
that Lord Kin had taken a step which none but
Jews and smugglers would follow. Whether this was
an insinuation of ertcrtion was not for him to say,
but he would again assert that Lord King had done
nothing which the law did not recognise, and he felt
himself called upon to refrokate so gross an atton2t
to hold up ihe conduct of that Noble Lord as a su!•,
jest for public obloquy. The Right Hon. Gentleman,
from the system which he followed, seemed in fact to
conceive that Bank paper might be screwed up like
the barometer, and called fine weather or whatever
other name his own interests might require. (4 lamgh.)
Deaf to all experience, the Right Hon. Gentleman
had taken the French National Assembly and Robe-
,
spierre for his gniCe and like them went on step by
step towards the final ruin of the country. He (Mr.
Whitbread) called upon tke Fio Ise to recollect the
assi:natr, and the Convention-p pees, these did their
duty for the time, as did the Bank-notes of England;
but as it bad beep with the formtr so it would be with
the latter. Like all violent prevocat:ves, the momen-
tary effects passed, the disordtr would return with
redoubled violence ; with the mortifying conviction
that the same miserable physician still remaieted to
try new experiments, and by new ..nd equally misera.
ble expedients to lead the nation by slow but certain
steps to destruction. (Near, hear) He did not
know what period the Right Honourable Gentleman
would fix for the second reading of the Biil, but he
thought it desirable that on that occ. sion the attend-
ance.of Members should be as numerous as possible.
He had been told, that Monday next was the day
intended to be fixed for that purpose, but on that day
the Quarter Sessions would comment thrOughoot
the country ; and as many Gentlemen would tine-
voiciably be'called out of taivn to attend those pro.
ceedings, he thought it expedient,. that the second
reading should either be postponed • to M‘inday se'n,
night, or take place during the present week, in order
that advantage might be taken of the presence of those
gentlemen who had not yet left town, and who, as
being connected with the agricultural interests of the
country, more peculiarly concerned in the fate of the
I Bill. 'Before he sat down, he s!,ould move, that the
third resolution of the Bullioti RepOrt should be read,
and then he would ask, whether that revolution had
been justified by subsequent occurrences ? He would
ask, whether it could now be said, that Dank-paper
had not been depreciated ? and if it was still asserted
that it was not, he would contend, that the measure
now proposed, was not alone unnecessary, but dan-
gerous in the extreme. The tenant would be set
against the landlord, gold coin of every denomina-
tion would disappear from circulation, and notwith-
standing ail the nostrums of which his Majesty's Mi-
nisters had'to boast, it would be found impossible to
tirui 'any adequate check to the overwhelming current
of destruc:ion which would be the inevitable result of
making Banknotes a legal tender. Under these cir-
cumstances, he felt it his duty to give as decided a ue-
gative to the Bill in the very first stage as he would
to the opening of Pandora's box, if that event had not
long since, unfortunately for the world, taken place;
end if .no other gentlernau felt disposed, he s'iould take
, the sense of the }louse on the subject.
The Clerk of the House then read the third resew
, lution of the Bullion Committee, in which it was re-
soloed that the notes of the Bank of England were, in
the public estimation, equivalent to the value for'
wbich:they'protessed to be drawn.
Mr. BARING spoke at considerable length in sup-
pckt of the Bill, as justified by necessity, and defended
the characters of the Directors of the Bank, and the
Proprietors of Bank Stock, who could not, he said,
be interested in any great degree, in the want of any
unfair proceeding, ije himself had not more in stock