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Article HOUSE OF COMMONS. ← Page 3 of 6 →
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House Of Commons.
Mr . Pitt confessed the accounts of imports and exports to be incorrect , but supposed them as accurate as iu preceding years ; he also made seme remarks upon the advantageous terms of the Loan , which he had before forgotten to nfftice . Mr . Fox rose , and said , if what he believed were true , itwas idle for Englishmen to boast ofa free Constitution . The present system virtually included the abolition of the House of Commons , and the creation of a dictator , who , during the war , was to levy and expend at discretion . He adverted to the sums sent to the
Emperor without consent of Parliament . If this be the system , said he , the Constitution is not worth lighting for . In domestic expences the principle at least is ascertained . In the present instance , the Parliament has neither known the expence , nor been consulted concerning the principle ; and the Minister deserves to be impeached for shewing a design to dispose of the public money , without authority from the legal guardians of the public purse . He has also aggravated his offence by omitting to disclose it on the first day of the Sessions , and by withholding the Army Extraordinaries till the day before the Budget , In answer to what
Mr . Pitt had said of the valour of our ally , Mr . Fox asked , how- mercy , its usual concomitant , had been exercised towards the Marquis de la Fayette ? He theii pointed out the uniform errors of the Minister in calculating the force and finances of the enemy , and lamented that the everlasting mistakes of ope man should cost the country 150 million ; of money , and rivers of blood . By the operations of this day the National debt would be increased to 400 millions . —If the hypothesis of an eloquent writer ( Mr . fiurke ) were true , that the minority spoke the sense of the nationho-. v happened it that no attention had been paid to the universal wish
, for peace since Robespierre ' s fall , at which time better terms might have been obtained than at present . These topics he should discuss more at length , on a future day ; and he should also make some enquiries relative to the proposed regulation of the Post OIKce . The Resolutions moved by the Chancellor of the Exchequer were then put and carried , and the report ordered to be received to-morrow . Thursday , 8 . Mr . Grey , after observing that Alexander Morris had been guilty of a gross infraction of Ihe privileges of the House , moved , that the ' Speaker do
issue a warrant for the delinquent ' s committal lo Newgate . —Ordered . Mr . Grey then re-moved that the instigators of Morris , whom he understood to be Captain Bartlett and Mr . Speck , were culpable at least in an equal degree . A Sheriff ' s Officer who was present would give evidence that they put Morris into a coach and four , and assured him , that Mr . Thelluson would chearfuily repay his ex ' pe-ices , which could not exceed 500 I . He should therefore move , " That as practices were used to prevent A . Morris from appearing before the Southwark Committee , the matter of complaint should be heard at the Bat of the House .
Mr . Thelluson declared that he scarcely knew Captain Bartlett ; admitted Mr . Speck to be Un agent ; but averred upon his honour , that if concerned , they had acted without his Instructions . Mr . Anstruther moved the previous question , which was seconded by Mr . Pitt . Mr . Grey , with the-consent of the House , withdrew his motion . Mr . Hobart brought up the report of the Committee of Ways and Means , arid moved that the resolutions be read a first time . On the motion that the resolutions be read a second time
, Mr . Fox rose . He said he would decline for the present entering into a detail of those resolutions . What he meant to advert to , at present , was the degraded situation of the House with respect to the Executive Power . A servant of the Crown , in contempt of the law , bad sent i , 20 o , oool . to German } -, and till the House had solemnly pronounced on Ihe Minister's conduct , he should deem himself a traitor lo his country if he agreed to vote either a man or a shilling . In the case i ' . \ question , Ministers had been guilty of a direct breach of the Consti'ution . They had disposed of the money not only without convening the Parliament , but
without consulting it while actually sitting . Payments had been made so late as November , 1796 , and all this had been done , as if to shew that the power resided in the servants of tlie Crown . Another circumstance , not le _ ss singular , was that the House had yesterday , for tlie first time , been acquainted with the Spanish war , although it had been publicly intimated by the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland , though notice of granting letters of marque had appeared in the Gazette , and though the vol .. VIII . ¦ ¦ ¦ 1
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
House Of Commons.
Mr . Pitt confessed the accounts of imports and exports to be incorrect , but supposed them as accurate as iu preceding years ; he also made seme remarks upon the advantageous terms of the Loan , which he had before forgotten to nfftice . Mr . Fox rose , and said , if what he believed were true , itwas idle for Englishmen to boast ofa free Constitution . The present system virtually included the abolition of the House of Commons , and the creation of a dictator , who , during the war , was to levy and expend at discretion . He adverted to the sums sent to the
Emperor without consent of Parliament . If this be the system , said he , the Constitution is not worth lighting for . In domestic expences the principle at least is ascertained . In the present instance , the Parliament has neither known the expence , nor been consulted concerning the principle ; and the Minister deserves to be impeached for shewing a design to dispose of the public money , without authority from the legal guardians of the public purse . He has also aggravated his offence by omitting to disclose it on the first day of the Sessions , and by withholding the Army Extraordinaries till the day before the Budget , In answer to what
Mr . Pitt had said of the valour of our ally , Mr . Fox asked , how- mercy , its usual concomitant , had been exercised towards the Marquis de la Fayette ? He theii pointed out the uniform errors of the Minister in calculating the force and finances of the enemy , and lamented that the everlasting mistakes of ope man should cost the country 150 million ; of money , and rivers of blood . By the operations of this day the National debt would be increased to 400 millions . —If the hypothesis of an eloquent writer ( Mr . fiurke ) were true , that the minority spoke the sense of the nationho-. v happened it that no attention had been paid to the universal wish
, for peace since Robespierre ' s fall , at which time better terms might have been obtained than at present . These topics he should discuss more at length , on a future day ; and he should also make some enquiries relative to the proposed regulation of the Post OIKce . The Resolutions moved by the Chancellor of the Exchequer were then put and carried , and the report ordered to be received to-morrow . Thursday , 8 . Mr . Grey , after observing that Alexander Morris had been guilty of a gross infraction of Ihe privileges of the House , moved , that the ' Speaker do
issue a warrant for the delinquent ' s committal lo Newgate . —Ordered . Mr . Grey then re-moved that the instigators of Morris , whom he understood to be Captain Bartlett and Mr . Speck , were culpable at least in an equal degree . A Sheriff ' s Officer who was present would give evidence that they put Morris into a coach and four , and assured him , that Mr . Thelluson would chearfuily repay his ex ' pe-ices , which could not exceed 500 I . He should therefore move , " That as practices were used to prevent A . Morris from appearing before the Southwark Committee , the matter of complaint should be heard at the Bat of the House .
Mr . Thelluson declared that he scarcely knew Captain Bartlett ; admitted Mr . Speck to be Un agent ; but averred upon his honour , that if concerned , they had acted without his Instructions . Mr . Anstruther moved the previous question , which was seconded by Mr . Pitt . Mr . Grey , with the-consent of the House , withdrew his motion . Mr . Hobart brought up the report of the Committee of Ways and Means , arid moved that the resolutions be read a first time . On the motion that the resolutions be read a second time
, Mr . Fox rose . He said he would decline for the present entering into a detail of those resolutions . What he meant to advert to , at present , was the degraded situation of the House with respect to the Executive Power . A servant of the Crown , in contempt of the law , bad sent i , 20 o , oool . to German } -, and till the House had solemnly pronounced on Ihe Minister's conduct , he should deem himself a traitor lo his country if he agreed to vote either a man or a shilling . In the case i ' . \ question , Ministers had been guilty of a direct breach of the Consti'ution . They had disposed of the money not only without convening the Parliament , but
without consulting it while actually sitting . Payments had been made so late as November , 1796 , and all this had been done , as if to shew that the power resided in the servants of tlie Crown . Another circumstance , not le _ ss singular , was that the House had yesterday , for tlie first time , been acquainted with the Spanish war , although it had been publicly intimated by the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland , though notice of granting letters of marque had appeared in the Gazette , and though the vol .. VIII . ¦ ¦ ¦ 1