NOTICE OF THE RUPTURE WITH HOLLAND.
On the 25th of January Lord North delivered a message from the king, in which his majesty acquainted the house, that during the recess he had been compelled to direct letters of marque and general reprisal to be issued against the States General of the United Provinces. A copy of the manifesto and sundry other papers were laid before the house, in order that the members might be fully acquainted with the causes and motives of his majesty in directing these letters. Having delivered his message, Lord North moved, “That an address be presented to his majesty, assuring him that the house would, with a firm and determined resolution, support the just and necessary war against Holland, for the maintenance of the honour of his crown, and the lights and interests of his people.” This motion was opposed by the opposition, Burke taking the lead in the debate. In his speech, Burke declared that ministers had been in fault rather than the Dutch, and that the paper found in the box of the captured American packet, was nothing more than a project or draft of a treaty, which possibly the Dutch would never have completed. So far as they knew, he said, it might be merely a “speculative essay,” or a “contemplative prospect;” and therefore it was no justifiable or assignable ground for going to war with them. These were arguments, however, for party purposes; opposition conceived that the declaration of war between England and Holland was setting the seal to Lord North’s political embarrassments, and therefore they adopted this line of argument in order to suit their own views. It was, indeed, notorious that government had strenuously endeavoured to avoid an open rupture with Holland, and that it was not till the British honour was at stake that war was declared. But ministers were in no danger from the arguments of opposition on this question. A majority of nearly two to one agreed with Lord North and the manifesto, and exclaimed against the insolence, the selfishness, and the ingratitude of the States General. In the house of lords, also, the address was carried by a large majority; but two protests were recorded by the dissentient peers against this new war “with the ancient and natural allies of the kingdom.”
BURKE RE-INTRODUCES THE SUBJECT OF ECONOMICAL REFORM, ETC.
On the 15th of February, after some debates on the affairs of India, Mr. Burke re-produced his scheme of economical reform which had been rejected in the last session. He opened his proposition by stating the powerful motives that called upon him to resume that subject. These motives were the celebrated resolutions of the late parliament, respecting the alarming increase of the influence of the crown; the general wish and expectation of the people; and the direct application made to himself and others from several counties and associations. It seems probable that he was chiefly induced to renew the subject through the influence of the associations, which, notwithstanding the scenes which had occurred through them in the metropolis during the last year, still endeavoured to stimulate opposition by inflammatory resolutions, not only against fancied invasions of public rights, but against the license supposed to be now granted to military authority. At this period, indeed, political associations had acquired considerable strength and consistency, and their danger was increased by the new and unconstitutional measure of appointing delegates to transact their business in the capital, and to promote the objects of their petitions. Their chief object was a reduction of expenditure, but with this they coupled what was afterwards called a “Radical Reform” of the house of commons. It was notorious that Burke received from these associations many complimentary addresses, for his efforts in the cause of reform, and he seems from hence to have been stimulated to renew the subject in the house. This, indeed, is indicated by his allusion to the associations. After making this allusion, Burke, in continuing his speech, said that the nation was involved in expenses which reached the utmost limits of the public ability, and that as it was originally the duty of ministers to have framed and carried into execution such a scheme of economy as he now brought forward, so it was their interest to secure themselves from punishment by making some amends for their former neglect. Burke displayed considerable address in his appeal to this new house. The three resolutions of the late parliament, he said, were a valuable legacy bequeathed to the public, and an atonement for previous servility; adding, that they formed a body of maxims, authorizing the people to expect from their present representatives, that which was declared to be necessary by their predecessors: if the present parliament neglected to accomplish what the previous parliament had designed, all the evil consequences would be charged upon them; and while the resolutions of the 6th of April would stand upon their journals as public monuments of exculpation to their predecessors, they would likewise stand as public monuments of disgrace to them. The fallacy of M. Neckar’s financial measures in France was not yet made manifest, and Burke again applauded the economical achievements of that statesman, and held up the example of France, both as a warning and an encouragement. In conclusion he moved, “That leave be given to bring in a bill for the better regulation of his majesty’s civil establishments and of certain public offices; for the limitation of pensions and the suppression of sundry useless expenses and inconvenient places, and for applying the monies saved thereby to the public service.” This motion was seconded by Mr. Duncombe, and leave was given to bring in the bill without opposition; Lord North declaring that he would reserve his objections to the second reading. The second reading took place on the 26th of February, when there was a long and animated debate on the measure. One of the most remarkable speeches on this occasion was delivered by the Hon. William Pitt, second son of the late Earl of Chatham, who now spoke for the first time in the house of commons. William Pitt, on whom the mantle of his father seems to have fallen, announced himself as an ardent reformer and lover of strict economy. One great object, he said, of all the petitions which had been presented, was a recommendation of economy in the public expenditure, and the design of the present bill was to carry these wishes into effect. The bill had still another object more important in view, and that was the reduction of the influence of the crown; an influence which was the more to be dreaded, because more secret in its attacks, and more concealed in its operations than the power of prerogative. Pitt then adverted to the objections which had been made to the bill, and which he termed extraordinary, inasmuch as it only proposed to bring about £200,000 into the public coffers; an insignificant sum when compared with the millions annually expended. He continued:—“What then is the conclusion we are left to deduce? The calamities of the present crisis are too great to be benefited by economy. Our expenses are so enormous, that it is useless to give ourselves any concern about them: we have spent and are spending so much, that it is foolish to think of saving anything. Such is the language which the opponents of this bill have virtually employed. It has also been said that the king’s civil list was an irresumable parliamentary grant, and it had even been compared to a private freehold. The weakness of such arguments was their best refutation. The civil list revenue was granted to his majesty, not for his private use, but for the support of the executive government of the state. It was granted to support the dignity and interests of the empire, to maintain its grandeur, to pay the judges, and foreign ministers, to maintain justice and support respect, to pay the great officers necessary to the lustre of the crown; and it was proportioned to the dignity and opulence of the people. The parliament made the grant, and undoubtedly had a right to resume it when the pressure of the times rendered such resumption necessary.” The youthful orator, who was listened to with deep attention by both sides of the house, declared, in conclusion, that he considered the present bill as essential to the well-being and independence of the country, and he would therefore give it his most determined support. Opposition, however, were outvoted by a majority of forty-three; the motion for the second reading being negatived by two hundred and thirty-three against one hundred and ninety. By a subsequent resolution the further consideration of Burke’s bill was put off for six months. About the same time several other popular measures proposed in the last session were revived, as the bills against contractors and revenue-officers, and for imposing a tax on places and pensions, but they were all defeated by considerable majorities.
DEBATES ON THE SUPPLIES.
Lord North had soon another contest to sustain. On the 7th of March he brought forward his annual statement of the supplies and resources for the current service. The sum demanded for the year was £22,458,337, twelve of which, he stated it would be necessary to raise by a loan. The terms were unusually high. A contract had been entered into with the subscribers to grant £150 stock at three per cent., and twenty-five at four per cent, for every £100 in money, being £9,000,000 more than the sum paid into the exchequer. To defray the interest of this loan new taxes would be required to the amount of £660,000 annually; that is £60,000 more than the legal interest of five per cent., exclusive of which, as the subscription to the loan bore a premium of ten per cent., the further sum of £1,200,000 appeared to be lost to the nation. Mr. Fox reprobated this bargain, as the most corrupt in its origin, the most shameful in its progress, and the most injurious in its consequences that ever came under the notice of the house. The profits of the loan were estimated by him at about £1,000,000, and this sum, he said, was entirely at the disposal, and in the hands of the minister, to be granted in douceurs to the members of that house, either as compensations for the expenses of their late elections, or as bribes for future services. Fox also strongly objected to a proposed lottery, which was a part of the loan scheme, as a means of raising money for the public service. Taught by experience—for Fox was at this time reduced to a miserable state of embarrassment and dependence, from his love of the gambling table—he delivered an impressive harangue on the vice of gambling, and declared that lotteries were the most pernicious of all species of gaming inasmuch as they immediately affected the morals, habits, and circumstances of the lower orders of society. Lord North defended both the loan and the lottery, and asserted that the £12,000,000 could not have been obtained upon easier conditions. Fox had moved that the clause respecting the lottery should be omitted; but this was rejected by one hundred and sixty-nine against one hundred and eleven, and the minister’s measures were all passed. The matter, however, did not end here. Opposition to the loan bill was renewed under a variety of forms while passing through the lower house; and when carried to the Lords, it encountered the severe censure of the Marquess of Buckingham, and others of his party. Eight peers entered a protest against the bill on the journals. Subsequently the subject was revived in the commons, by a motion of Sir George Saville for the appointment of a committee to inquire into the circumstances of the loan. Sir George argued, that though the bargain had been ratified, it was yet not too late to pass a vote of censure, or even of impeachment, on the minister who had thus grossly and daringly sacrificed the interests of the public. A vehement debate followed this motion; but it was lost by a majority of two hundred and nine against one hundred and sixty-three.