tion called upon the bank not to pay in fpecie, until parliament fhall make further provifion. An order, faid they, is iffued from the council, not legally binding on the bank, to iffue paper instead of cash. In the interim parliament is about to give the fanction of its authority to the bank to iffue bills payable on demand; and this before the bill for confirming the order of council could be paffed. The individual thinks he has the faith of the bank, and gets the bill; the bank refufes to pay in fpecie, he brings his action, and he muft neceffarily fucceed at law, unless the parliament makes a retrofpective a to cover the bank.

The house refolved itfelf into a committee, in which it was decided, that the bill was to commence on the 24 of March 1797. It was then read a fecond time and reported.

The commons received a meffage from the lords on the 3d of March, informing them, that their lordships had paffed the bill for removing doubts, with respect to the bank iffuing bank-bills under the fum of five pounds, without any amendment; and the bill received the royal affent by commiffion the fame day.

Mr. Bramftone, on the 3d of March, brought up the firft report of the committee appointed to inquire into the state of the bank, the fubftance of which was as follows. The committee ftated, that they had examined the outstanding claims against the bank with the correfponding affets, and found that on the 25th of February, the day to which the accounts could be made up with accuracy, the total.

Since the 25th of February, confiderable iffues had been made, both in bank-notes and government paper; but as these were upon correfponding fecurities, the balance in favour of the bank was not at all diminished by them.

Mr. Bramftone, on the 7th of March, brought up the fecond report of the committee on the ftate of the bank, in which the committee ftated it to be their opinion, that it was neceffary to provide for the continuance and confirmation,, for a limited time, of the order in council, and they fubmitted to the wifdom of parliament to determine the time for which fuch order fhould be continued,

1797.

£• 13,770,390

per-} 17,597,280

3,826,890

Mr. Sheridan, on the 9th of March, previous to the reading of the order of the day, begged leave to make a few obfervations upon the reports of the committee of fecrecy, as they were connected with the bufinefs of the day. According to the report of that committee, the government was reprefented as a debtor to the bank in various fums, independent of eleven millions, which the committee reckoned as forming fo much of the capital ftock of the bank, when in fact that eleven millions was no debt at all, and a declaration of fuch a nature was calculated to miflead. Inftead of being includ ed in the capital flock of the bank L

as

righteen millions, did they not extend it to thirty millions, when they found they could raise the money with fo little trouble? By adopting fuch a mode, they would have been able to pay the bank twelve millions of the debt which they owed, which might have prevented the prefent difficulties it laboured under. The bank-trustees where bound to do justice to their creditors, to their truft, and to themselves; and it was extraordinary to fee wife and just men like them brought to fuch a fituation. He concluded by faying, that he should move the next day, that immediate steps be taken to pay the money advanced by the bank to government.

dence in its fecurity. He had never heard until that day, in the fpeech of an honourable gentleman (Mr. Sheridan), any thing stated that in the fmallest degree queftioned the truth of the account contained in the report of the committee, that the affets in the bank greatly exceeded all the demands against it. It had been stated, that the fums due from the public to the bank of England were neither equivalent to, nor were to be confidered in the fame point of view as, the capital of any other corporation or company that embarked in trade. In anfwer to that, he observed, that the fecurity of a certain number of traders, whether a corporation or not, confifted not only of the original fum embarked, but al fo of whatever profit had been produced in the courfe of time; and to deny that fuch original property embarked, if ftill unimpaired, whether it were fecured as part of their outstanding debt or not, was not part of their capital, was to deny every principle upon which every mercantile account was ever conftructed. The question was not whether the bank contained actual fpecie for all the demands which might be made upon them, but whether they had good debts due to them, or property of any other defcription, which might be finally available to them in the liquidation of the debts owing to the public. It appeared upon the report that the bank was rich, was poffeffed of fubftance far exceeding the demands of the public, and that the individuals compofing the corporation would have a far greater fum to divide, if a divifion of property were to take place, than they had originally embarked; and therefore their fecurity was ultimately good. He contended that the re

The two reports were taken into confideration by a committee of the whole house, on the 9th of March. The chancellor of the exchequer rofe on that occafion, and made feveral obfervations upon the two reports. With refpect to the first report, which related to the finances of the bank; he afferted that fuch had been the effect of it upon the public mind, that there did not exift a question of the general fufficiency and folidity of their funds: from the moment that report had been made public, there did appear an almoft general perfuafion of their ultimate folidity and fufficiency. But there was another fource from which he drew his own conviction of the profpe. rous ftate of the funds of the bank, which was the opinion of thofe who were the moît interested in fubjects of a pecuniary nature-he meant the merchants and bankers of the city of London, who had clearly and unequivocally manifefted to the world the folidity of the bank, by adopting a line of conduct which evinced their confi,

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port ought to confirm the opinion of the complete and entire fuffici ency of the bank; and he thought he had the fatisfaction of every gentleman in the houfe concurring in that opinion, till he heard the honourable gentleman ftate what he had that day. The committee had reported in diftinct terms, that the neceffity exifted for the order of council; he fhould therefore feel it his duty to propofe the continuance of the meafure recommended by the 'committee. It was his intention to refer to the committee powers to enable them to enter into the examination and difcuffion of every circumftance which they might have the least reason to suppose in any refpect deranged the ordinary channel through which the finances and refources of the country flowed, and to afcertain not merely what related to the bank, but what was the real and undisguised fituation of the country. He had the fatisfaction to declare, that the fundamental and radical refources of the country were great and flattering. He concluded with moving "for leave to bring in a bill to confirm and continue, for a limited time, the refriction against the if fuing of money in fpecie by the bank of England."

Mr. Fox thought the obfervations which Mr. Sheridan had made upon the report of the committee were ftrictly right. No man could be fo ignorant as to confider the fum of eleven millions due from government to the bank as a fum of money available to its utmoft extent, or as aficts which in cafe of neceffity he bank could employ. It was in fact an annuity of 330,000l. which government might, or might not, as it thought proper, redeem. Ile fhould confider the report as productive of, at leaft, one very

useful and important confequence, if it had induced the minifter to abandon the intention which he announced of guaranteeing the notes of the bank with the fanction of government. He was convinced from the fulleft reflection, that the more the bank was identified with the government, the more it would be dependent upon the measures of adminiftration. Mr. Fox extended his obfervations to a confiderable length, in which he followed principaily the arguments made ufe of by Mr. Sheridan.

Lord Hawkesbury and the folicitor-general defended the polition of the chancellor of the exchequer; to whom Mr. Sheridan replied in a fpeech of great energy, defending his former obfervations upon the report of the committee.

The motion was then put for leave to bring in the bill, which was carried without a divifion.

The chancellor of the exchequer then moved, that the fecret committee for inquiring into the affairs of the bank, &c. be revived; which was carried by 174 votes against 65. The fecret committee was therefore revived. Mr. Sheridan then renewed the motion which he had made before, that the right honourable Charles James Fox be added to the committee. This motion was negatived by 157 votes against 60.

For the accommodation of manufacturers and others, during the fcarcity of cath, the legiflature paffed "An act to fufpend, for a limited time, the operation of two acts of the 15th and 17th of the reign of his prefent majtity, for reftraining the negotiation of promiffory notes and inland bills of exchange, under a limited fum." A fimilar bill was alfo paffed for Scotland.

The former of thefe bills was introduced

introduced into the commons on the ift of March by Mr. Wilberforce Bird. He propofed, that the bill fhould not extend to the cities of London and Westminster, nor to the borough of Southwark, on account of small notes iffuing from the bank.

Mr. Sheridan deplored the neceffity of the measure; but for the accommodation of the manufacturer he agreed to the bringing in of the

bill.

The chancellor of the exchequer thought the effects of the fufpenfion might be beneficial to the metropolis as well as other places, and therefore moved that the exception fhould be left out."

Leave was granted to bring in the .ll.

Mr. Wilberforce Bird, on the 3d of March, moved the order of the day upon the faid bill, when he begged leave to bring up a claufe which he was defirous fhould be inferted in the bill. The purport of this claufe was, that if any perfon fhould fail in the payment of a note three days after it became due, it fhould be lawful for the juftices to proceed by fummons, diitrefs, &c. to enforce payment, Mr. Bryan Edwards exprelled himself directly against the bill, because it went to multiply the quantity of paper in circulation. The bill however was finally paffed on this day, and it was agreed, after fome difcuffion, that it fhould continue in operation till the ift of May then enfuing; it received the royal affent on the 10th of March.

Mr. Sheridan, on the 10th of March, rofe to make his promifed motion relative to the bank. He endeavoured to account for that recent political phenomenon, why the order for prohibiting the bank from paying in fpecie fhould have

been attended with fo little alarm. One caufe was, that the commercial part of the country derived additional accommodation from the liberality of the bank in discounts. If, previous to this order, the country was impoverished by the war to a degree that was not fully known, the prevalence of certain opinions. upon this fubject tended to conceal the reality of our fituation. The minifter felt himself in such a fituation, that if he infifted on the bank doing its duty of difcharging the juft claims of their creditors, and of limiting their difcounts, from. the preffure they felt for cash, numerous and important failures must. have taken place throughout the country, and produced a general indifpofition to the continuance of the war. On the other hand, he was aware that if he made no effort to enable the bank to keep its faith with its creditors, but allowed the circumstances on which the order was founded, to come to extremities, he might find a facility in affording a great temporary relief to the difficulties which were experienced. He prefumed, that it was for the purposes of government, not from the deficiency of the bank, that the order was iffued. The houfe was called upon by legiflative authority to declare that they preferred the accommodation of government to the juft claims of the public creditor. The fentiment of Demofthenes, so often quoted, was one which was particularly applicable to our prefent circumftances. If we were reduced to our prefent diftrefs without error or mifconduct, the state of the country was defperate, and there was no chance of retrieving our affairs. He contended, that it would be found upon inquiry, that the embarraffments of the bank had arifen from a de-,

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