Star.
London, England, 1828-06-24 00:00:00

arottla be contended that In the Triennial Report of the
Commissioners it would-appear,but that-wasa mere sub.
terfoge.and.even if it di I appear it would show that there
bad'heen no atthority for thewct itself. It now became
nece•la• v for him t. cite cases-in support of the in of
argement he had 'pursued, and of the resolutions, with
proposing which he meant to conclude. The first of
these w ••s-the ca.e f Sir C. Seymour, who, in the reign
of Charles II.:!1680) WAS inipeAchtl, for that be, being
4r,eismer of the Naar, did lend 90.0001. out of a sum
of ,584.,0042, sppropriateal
.for the building of ships,
towards the contingencies of the many. In 1711, a
Committee h.d been appointed-to inquire into the rea-
sons of the increase of the public burdens, and reported
that that ii.,:ressse had been partly caus'd by ib raisap-
rliCation of the -p4blic money, with reference to that
;particular case. • In 1796, a stronger precedent occur-
red, bat. which WAS at 'the same time, nothing like,
the present. Mr. Pitt's excuse was founded on ex-
treme necessity ; but in the present instant a no such
necessity could be pleaded. When attacked by Mr.
Pox, Mr. Pitt replied, that whik: we were at war
'le did not like to opet the Councils of the country
to the public. He had advanced t'!'00,0001. to the*Prince
of Condi, and other sums to the Emperor; yet, with all
the eloquence My. Pitt was master of, and with all his
popularity, he felt himself placed in a predicament in.
which. had he not been aided by Mr. Bragge and other

hien& tot whom Lord Sidmouth was one)the vote of
censure of Mr. Fox would have been carried—(Here'
the Honourable Gentleman recited_the terms of Mr.

Foe', vote, which stated that " his Majesty's Ministers
basing commanded, while rarliament was sitting, the
issue of various sums of money wiLhout the sanction of
Parliament, had acted contrary to their dirty, and con-
trary to the trust reposed in them." 3—That bad oc-
curred in time of war; and Mr. Bragge's amend-
ment was " that the measure for advancing certain
sums of money for the service of the Emperor, al-
though it ought not to be drawn into a precedent,
was, uncle' the peculiar circumstances of the coun-
try, justifiable." Now he (Mr. Taylor) would ask,
could-the Ministers of the present day assert that any
peculiar exigency retrired their departure from the line
of their duty ? Another case occurred in 1805, grow-
ing out of an advance of 40,0001. to assist the house of
Boyd and Benfield,*hich he could not help character-
isiog as an abuse of power of the most dangerous na-
ture. Mr. Pitt defended that Act, on the ground of its
being domf. for the purpose of sustaining the credit of a
bonse which must have otherwise failed, and produced
great liras to the Public. Ent where was there a similes
necessity to be found in the present case? So far from
being an act of expediency or necessity, it had beenonli
a Optfirjght assumption of power. For the former act,
a cause was stared:—for the present, none—and of that
fact the 'actor% iii k were convinced, for it-was suite clear
that it was intended to becOncealed. The discovery was
nude by the Finance and the Select Committees, and
the result would.. he hoped, prove to be a God-send
to the Public, who would, he trusted, receive their.
250,0001. back. He could not conceive a case more
grievous—none more in direct violation of the privileges
of tiut:House had occurred since the Re rolution—and

he called upon the souse wallow their di,approbation
el it by a strong vote. With whatever talent, whatever
argument, or whatever conEdence (of which too much
was witnessed within the walls of that House), the Act
in question was sought :o bE defended, he thought it
wooldree difficult to discuss it other wize that: as a mat-
ter involving the privileges of Parliament and the
power of Ministers. Ministers did this though /ands for
tha:_pplytose had been given the year before by autho-
rity oC,Paiiiameat ; stiU they misapplied this money to
that pus possv and asserted* was right.. If it was sco why
was knot stated to the House ? Was the WaSelo give
op the most veluatile tit" its privileges? There was
no necessity for their conduct. Parliament was sit.
tint. Timm needed to hex been no delay. It
was ,a wanton concealevent of the misapplication
of the public money-, and against and in diroct op..
position to the principles of the British Constitu-
tion. He might have uttcl more argument on the
subject. bat cooteated himself with a plain and'simple
statement of facts as they aroso. ,As these were applied'
tot the whole subject, the Houle had not. means of
jaeliang, as Representatives of Else three Xingdoins,
wbether they ought not to visit that act With the disap-
robatino and censure of Parliament. He trusted that
se i question I.ke that he should not be unsupported'
by men of high talent. Having biought the subject
forward as an individual, he should take the liberty of
wing two resolutions--one :taring the fait ; another
setting forth the principle, as quoted hens a ResFlotion
of the Journals of the House in nil which was passed
fly a lane majority, in censure of the misapplication of
a eeetatn nsm of money.. The Hon. Gentleman then read
be Resolutions, which- were in substance as follows :
• That it appears to this House, from Papers on the Table of
the H 04194 that the Commiuioners for the 'Liquidation, Arbitra.
the, soil Deposit if the Claims of British Subjects aiainst Fusee,
apostates miter' the 59th, Geo. II f. chap-71, did p:.y by order er
IN Las Cominisaleuen of .the Treasury to the Commitsieuers of
Woods and Forests the sum of 100,0001. on tin 10th •f Mar-h,
1251; 55,0001. on time 7th of February, 18u7; 100,0001. on Lb:.
11th of March, 1527 ; and 15,0001. on the 54 of June, 1627 ; in
all 250,0001. without any communication with this House, or any
este or authority for applying them to that purpose:'
Hr. BARING seconded the maim.
Ms. HERRIES—Sir. I rise with great pain, and a
**Avow of the difficulty of the oubject of discussion.
Tbe reason why I rise so eatly in the debate is, that 1
was one of the persons whose official relations gave me
an opportunity of acquiring a knowledge of the trans=
anion, as who am therefore best enabled by my ac-
traiotaete with the facts to explain the circumstances
, aid repel the imputations, serious and heavy as they are,
that have been made against the character*: the persons
iseteerned in these transactions. lam sure I shall the
ware readily obtain the indulgence of the House when
1 remind them, that the elaborate and lengthened
statement of the Hon. Mover of these Resolutions shore
low deeply he is impressed with the importance and
(Meshy efahe subject. With the same impression of
the importance of the question, but by a shorter alto,
Wenr, I trait I shall be able to clear of all imputatiot
the persons accused of this most serious charge. This
Ilan bees described as an act the most grievous on the
sailjecei and subversive of the principles of the Con.
agitation, and the privileges of Parliament, that has
Leta committed since the Revolution. If this be an Act
of that nature, it lies heavy on the memory of eminent
statesmen— of men the last to be suspected of such an.
art—some of whom are now unable to answer for or des
fend themselves. I mean of Mr. Canning, and of Lord
Liverpool, and of Lord Goderich,who, thank Gore, is yet
able to .u.sser for himself. If this act deserves the imal
patations heaped on it by the Hon. Member, then I say
that the memory of Mr. Canning, and.the character of
Lord Liverpool, and Lord Gochnich,who is.yet alive, are
in the greatest jeopardy; but, Sir,l hope, from the nature
ei the plain and simple account of it which I shall give
to the H(tre, that the friends of those Noble and Hon.
Penes'. nerd labour under no great anxiety for the fate
Of the Hon. G-ntlernan's motion. I hope I shall be able
to show to tl.e House that there is no reason for enter.
Wait% of those Noble-and Hon. Pasoan de* opinions