"silver which it represents, it will purchase "only a diminished quantity. In plain "terms, the one pound note does not exchange for twenty shillings sterling money, "but only for eighteen shillings." Now. this gentleman is a banker and a member of parlament, I believe, His statement is quite unequivocal; and, I am fully persuaded, that it is perfectly incontovertible.

SINKING FUND-In page 719 will be found an essay, taken from the Royal Crn wall Gazette. The object which the writer professes to have in view, is, to present to all "true hearted and loyal Britons" the comforting prospect of a speedy discharge of the national debt, and a termination to all taxes, except to defray the current expenses of the - year, amounting to only about thirty millions! Upon this essay I shall make only a remark or two.--The writer says, that the whole of the debt will be paid off by the year 1832; but, the venerabe Doctor Addington, in the last set of resolutions, which he got the "guardians of the public purse" to pass, says that it will not be paid off till 1843. The Reading Doctor and the Cornish Doctor disagree; but, it may be safely averred, that the statement of one is just as correct as that of the other.--The Cornish Doctor is of opinion, that "the lower the "stocks are, the more advantageous will it be "for the sinking fund; and, for this reason, "the effect of that fund will be greater in "war, when the price of stocks is low, than "in peace, when it is higher. So that the "war itself, which, we are told, is to ruin " our finances, will accelerate their re-esta"blishment." So, the comfort of this "true hearted Briton" increases with the decline of the price of stocks! But, if to lower the price of stocks be to accelerate the re-etalishment of our finances, I beg I may never again hear any out-cry against my financial doctrines. This man pretty broadly insinuates that I am no well-wisher to my country, because I have no opinion of the good effects of a fund, which, he says, is to thrive by the ruin of the stocks! And yet he is a defender of the funding system! According to him, the lower the stocks fall, the better it will be for the country, because the sooner will the national debt be paid off, and the sooner shall we get rid of the enormous annual charge on account of it; and, therefore, it would, of course, be a most joyful circumstance if the stocks immediately fell down to one per cent., or, indeed, much less, so that they might all be bought up by the Commissioners, to-morrow morning, fresh and fasting. And, to effect this most desirable object, if war be too slow in its ope

ration, the Cornish financier would, without doubt, wish for a temporary rebellion, or something of that sort, which would exactly answer his purpose! Nay; this is the natural result of his reasoning, and, yet he has the conscience to ask us to give him "credit for his motives," and to believe that he wishes to "animate his countrymen to bear their burdens cheerfully !--- The conclusion of the essay is too curious to pass entirely unnoticed. It is worthy of great attention, as exhibiting a striking instance of the delusion, which, relative to the funding system, prevails even amongst men of sense and education. "I trust," says he, "that the system of the sinking fund will "be persevered in to its fullest extent. "But, should the exigencies of the times "ever require its suspension, it will be seen "by what is here submitted to the public, "that, by suspending its operation for the "moment, funds adequate to any emer

gency, or pecuniary embarrassment, may "be obtained, without laying an extraordi"nary load upon the people. For instance, "in the present year, by suspending the "operation of the sinking fund, there would "be, in case of invasion, or other unfortu

nate casualty, 6,311,6261. at the disposal "of government; and, in case of greater "emergency, by suspending the operation "of the sinking fund altogether, there "would be 77,698,4671. at the disposal of

government" ! ! !---Now, this person appears to be perfectly sane; his mind is ca pable of laborious calculations; he writes grammatically; and, in short, seems to have received an education and to possess talents superior, perhaps, to the education and tȧlents of ninety-nine ont of every hundred men in the kingdom. What a delusion then, what a glorious humbug, must this funding system be! For this man really thinks, that, if it be not convenient to go on buying up stock, the commissioners can stop for a year, or so, without injuring the stability of the funds! And he imagines, that, in case of a very pressing emergency, such as a formidable invasion, the commissioners could turn the 77,000,0001. of stock into money, and place it at the disposal of government! And this," says he," while it "must raise our spirits, if they require at all "to be raised, must damp those of our in"veterate foes!"-I shall only add one short remark, and that is, that it is for Mr. Pitt to consider what will be, what must be, the consequence, when events shall have dissipated this apparently impenetrable cloud.

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THE NEW MINISTRY seems to be pretty

nearly formed, and, in the course of a week or ten days the public may expect to hear of them through their measures. Till all the members are regularly appointed, it would be useless to give any list of them; but, when it is known that Lord Camden is the War-Secretary, that Lord Harrowby has the charge of the Foreign Department, and that the Dundases have, at one grasp, seized on both the army and navy, no one can be accused of want of candour if he anticipates a plentiful harvest of prodigality, blunders, and disgrace. Mr. Canning, for whom, after all, one cannot help feeling some compassion, exclaimed, in the speech, from which my motto is taken, "away with the

measures and give us the men! It is not "the harness," said he, "but the horses, "that draw the carriage." But, it is not men; it is a man, to whom the affairs of the kingdom are now committed. A superabundance of harness, but only one horse, and that one not of the very best kind for a carriage and for roads such as these. "What," said he, has made France? A

man. France had the elements of strength "in herself, no doubt; but look to her "situation at the time Buonaparté assumed "the government, and compare it with her "imposing attitude now. What has pro"duced the mighty difference? The genius "of a man." True, Sir, but of a man very different indeed from your Right Honourable Friend; a man who does not trust to an army of ballotted and small-bounty men; a real soldier, and not a generalissimo of shop-keepers; a man remarkable for his taciturnity, for the slowness of his speech and the celerity of his movements; and, which is, indeed, the most material difference, a man, who, though fifty millions of people are under his control, though an imperial diadem waits his brow, though the civilized world trembles at his frown, has never, for a moment, excluded men of great weight and talents from a participation in his coungels. One would have thought, too, that, in referring to the time and circumstances of Buonaparte's exaltation, Mr. Canning must have recollected, that the genius of the man of France was opposed to that of the man of Mr. Canning, and that to acknowledge the " imposing attitude" of that country was, in fact, to prefer a very serious charge against Mr. Pitt. But, upon this subject more hereafter.--One of the new Treasury prints, in laying down the principles upon which a ministry ought to be formed, bas observed, that "a ministry, like a family, should have a bead." Nothing could be inore happily descriptive of the

present set of persons in office. Mr. Pitt is the papa, Lord Melville the mama, or, rather, the old Mère Abesse: all the rest are mere children or novices. So have we seen, and so do we daily see, the haughty strutting Chanticleer stretching out his neck, clapping his wings, and crowing aloud, the sole master of his dunghill; while dame Partlet below, with raking claw and busy beak, leaves no particle of filth unturned in seeking to gratify the greediness of herself and her clamorous brood.--In the making up of this hen-and-chicken ministry it is, however, at first sight, somewhat strange, that Lord Hawkesbury should have been retained in it; for, it must be well remembered, that the blame which Mr. Long tells us Mr. Pitt imputed to the late ministry was confined almost entirely to the management of our foreign affairs. Indeed, as to the Dector's immediate department, nothing had therein been done which Mr. Pitt could find fault with, without passing sentence upon his own measures. How, then, comes Lord Hawkesbury to be chosen as the proper person to remain? Are we told, that he is now transplanted to another office? Why could not Mr. Yorke have remained in that other office? And, let it be recollected, too, that it was as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, that Mr. Pitt declared Lord Hawkesbury to be equal to any man in the kingdom, Mr. Fox and himself excepted. The keeping in of Lord Hawkesbury, Lord Castlereagh, the Chancellor, and the Attor ney-General, especially when we recollect the difference between the parliamentary language of those gentlemen and that of their colleagues, respecting Mr. Pitt, does really corroborate an opinion that was long ago entertained, that is, that there was an understanding and even an arrangement, having an eye to what has now happened, between Mr. Pitt and part of the late ministry. Mr. Yorke, Mr. Addington, and Mr. Bragge expressed their disapprobation of Mr. Pitt's army of reserve project, for instance. Lord Castlereagh did not. The Attorney-General, when he acknowledged, that the object of the debate and division was to turn out the ministry, said that he should have no objection to see Mr. Pitt enter the cabinet, provided he shut the door against Mr. Fox. Many other circumstances might be pointed out, all tending to strengthen this opinion. How Mr. Canning feels himself in such company it is hard to say; but, if any one had told him, four years ago, that he would, at the end of four years, find himself in a situation far beneath that of Lord Hawkes

war,

he foresaw that they must necessarily be opposed to the party of Mr. Fox. Thus he would have recovered his absolute sway in the cabinet, at the same time that he ruled the parliament by so managing his measures as to keep his opponents divided. Not suc. ceeding in retain ng his place while his colleagues reured. he placed in his stead a person, over whom he expected to exercise, and over whom he did long exercise, an absolute control. The object of peace was effected; and, by the late i-closures, we learn that he soon afterwards became discontented with Mr Aldington. By means of an intrigue of lord Melville, we find him negotiating for retera to power, in March, 1803. But, he wou d not beshackled; he would be sent for by the King; he wou'd name his own ministry; he proposed to make it up of the members of the late and the present cabinets; but, he him self would form it; and he mentioned lords Spencer and Grenville as persons whom he should propose to the King. If the King consented to take them, and they consented to cone, he divided them from Mr. Windham. If only one of them came, still he divided the New Opposition, which, as standing upon the strong ground of having disapproved of the peace, had gained very great weight with the nation. If either or both of them came, they only came to add to his slaves in the new-modeled cabinet; and, if neither of them came, why then he was the more absolute in the cabinet, and entertained not the least apprehension of being able to keep the Old and New Oppositions in a constant state of division and irritation. That project having also failed, he set himself to work to overturn his creature, who had dared, like an electioneering occupant, to regard as his own that which he had been put in po session of merely to answer a temporary purpose of his patror. To turn out Mr. Addington for the sake of putting Mr. Pitt in his place, or, to confine the change to their immediate friends, the parliament and the nation regarded as by no means likely to produce any ficct worth even the pensions which the change would inevitably impo e. A ministry upon a broad scale and a liberal principle was what all men wished for. To this sentiment, therefore, Mr. Pitt found it necessary, in appearance at least, to give way; and, those who had been the most attentive observers of his conduct, were agreeably surprized at being assured by his friends, that he had determined to lend his hearty co-operation in forming a ministry such as the times demanded and as was expected by the people. All this while, however, it now appears, that he was only con triving how he should make such an arrange

bury, he would not have had patience to listen to the prediction. Not that Mr. Canning's situation is not high enough, and lucrative enough; but, the marked circumstance is, that be should be ne ely Trea surer of the Navy, a mere te e ver of four thousand a year, while Hawky" is a Secretary of State and a cabinet minister! With resp ct 10 what Mr. Pit aid, or did not say, to the King, on the subject of Mr. Fox's admission into the cabat, it is, as was before observed, next to impossible, that we should obtain corre et jatorn.ation; but, that it has been his unvarying policy to divide all the other great men in the country from one a other, to set them at variance, and thereby to ruse as absolute master himself, is a truth, which, I think, wil be denied by no one who has paid he least attention to his conduct since the commencement of the year 1201. Ataat time, he wished to m.ke peace which, upon the trans to which he was ready to consent, he knew he could not easily accomplish with the lords Spencer and Grenville and Mr. Windham in the cabinet, He therefore feil up n that famous device, the Catho ic Question, as a ground for retiring from office, together with his colleagues. Having pushed the matter to that length, that they al. became bound," in duty and in honour," to quit their places; having seen the noblemen and gentleman above-named fairly out of his way, he did, we are told by Mr. Long, "make a distinct offer to retan bis orun situation, until the war should be concluded, "and the country relieved from its most pressing difficulties." That is to say, until the end of his natural life. Mr. Long declares, that such an offer was made by Mr. Pitt. The public may rest assured, that lord- Spencer and Grenville and Mr. Windham never beard a word of such an offer, till they read an account of it, last November, in the pamphlet of Mr. Long; and, that public will have already asked, what reason was there that could have induced Mr. Pitt to remain alone, which would not also have induced his colleagues to remain? If they retired, because they were bound in duty and in bonour" so to do, how could he alone have remained, consistently with that honour and that duty? These are questions which have been asked before, but they are now repeated with singular propriety. Having got rid of lords Spencer and Grenville and Mr. Windham, he would have filled their places nearly in the same way that they were filled by Mr. Addington; and, he would have had no apprehensions from the opposition of his late colleagues, because, upon all questions either of peace or

confess his inability to form an administraLon upon a principle of proscription; but, twenty years of a successful political life, united with his own native courage, give him a degree of confidence not easily shaken. He has determined to enter the cabinet surrounded with creatures only, and, as to the Parliament, to trust to his dexterity and strength in throwing the ap

minaries was, that Mr. Fox should not come in with him, a, preliminary which, it is not altogether impossible, he himself might cause to be proposed. At any rate, to form a ministry he resolved without Mr. Fox; and then, as there appeared to be an understanding growing up between the New and Old Oppositions, eifectually to separate them was the next step. Had he not had this object in view. he never would have off.red to include Lords Spencer and Grenville and Mr. Windham, who, with the additional weight which they had acquired since they left the cabinet, might become rather troubles.ne colleagues, though unable to oppose an etficient resistance to him. But, their union with the Old Opposition he was not very willing to encounter; and, therefore,, he used his utmost endeavours to prevent that union. Here he failed too. Those noblemen and that gentleman appear to have perceived his views, and to have felt no inclination to lend their name and sup port to measures in the framing or adopting of which they would have had no share. They had once before been in a cabinet with Mr. Pitt, Lord Melville, and their creatures. His partisans tell us, that, though he could not admit Mr. Fox, he was very willing to receive a reasonable proportion of that gentleman's friends. No doubt of it; for he thereby would have broken up the Old Opposition. Nor have I any diffi culty in believing, that "Mr. Fox was of"fered a very high and important situation "abroad, even equal in extent of diplo"matic power to that of the Duke of Marl"borough." Mr. Pitt would, doubtless, have given him a roving commission to treat in every country in Europe; and, if he had chosen to go out of Europe, if he had wished to embark on a voyage of discovery to find new nations to treat with, I dare say that Lord Melville would have lost no time in fitting out a ship for his reception. Baffled in all these schemes, some persons thought, that Mr. Pitt would return to the King, and

will, he imagines, soon and frequently occur. His hopes and expectations may be disappointed; but let his opponents beware. Let the necessity of mutual concession never be lost sight of amongst them. Let them never forget, that they have only this choice: to yield to one another, or to submit to Mr. Pitt; to wear the bands of friendship, or the badge of defeat.----The first principle of his policy always has been to break up every connexion that was likely to throw an obstacle in the way of his ambition. This ambition is, too, entirely unconnected with the interest, or the glory, of either his Sovereign or his country. it is a love of indivi dual power; a mere desire to role; a passion for domineering over other men. He never has, at any period of his political life, shown a disposition to make a fair and liberal distribution of power. Nothing like a council will a cabinet of his choosing ever exhibit; but an assemblage of servants with a master at their head; a troop of followers, to whom he can, like the Centurion," say unto one man, go, and be goeth; to another, come, and he cometh; and to this man, do this, and he doeth it." And, shall the Lords Spencer and Grenville and Mr. Windham be accused of forsaking their. aged and beloved Sovereign and their country, because they shun a situation, which his in it nothing belonging to a cabinet, but the name? Shall they be accused of wishing to force a ministry upon their King, because they decline the honour of becom ing the automata of Mr Pitt? When people express regret, that these gentlemen should, at an awful crisis like the present, "with-hold their services from the state,” such people seem not to be aware, that, it was not their services in the cabinet, but their silence in the Parliament, which Mr. Pit was desirous of securing; and that, to have fallen into the train of his menial counsellors, would have been to nullify their character and their talents, would have been, in reality, to abandon their country and their King.

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