of the country; all he had said was, either that our resources were greatly diminished, or that the Chancellor of the Exchequer was an unskilful financier. Those who, with the noble lord, maintained that our means remained unimpaired, must admit that in the hands of the present Chancellor of the Exchequer they did not bear a very promising appearance. The noble lord was mistaken if he supposed that he had been asked now to produce his instructions, or the authority under which he had acted at Vienna; a fit time for such an explanation would arrive hereafter, when the noble lord would have to justify his conduct in transporting the Executive Government from this country to Vienna. What he (Mr. W.) required was, that the House should know on what authority the duke of Wellington had signed the Declaration of the 13th of March? The question did not respect the noble lord, whose trial was not yet come; he had not yet had his day; that day which, however, the rest of his Majesty's ministers had promised on the return of the noble lord from Vienna; a day of exultation in his achievements and triumph over his enemies, when the noble lord was to enter the House crowned with splendour. Not with that personal splendour which he had received as a reward-but with the splendour arising from the dignified consciousness of being able to free himself from imputations cast upon him by public documents day after day appearing-chasing each other before the public, beginning with the Proclamation of Prince Repnin and terminating with the offspring of the last six hours, the letter of the duke of Campochiaro. When was this glorious day of triumph to arrive? How long would the noble lord defer his honours on the plea of injury to the public service? When would he descend from his high station to give a plain and distinct statement to the House and to the country? Why would not the noble lord avow the document alluded to, and state whether in truth there had been any engagement in Italy? What injury to the public service could arise from the information, whether the league of extermination against Buonaparte had been formed and signed? Would not explanations have come with a much better grace from him than from the documents, that one after another seemed to have been picked up on the road that his lordship had travelled, and which appeared most unac countably to have made their escape through a hole in the noble lord's portmanteau. Appeals had been made from time to time to ministers to acknowledge some of those papers, in which the noble lord's hand was evident to every man who had had the pleasure of hearing him speak. They had refused to give any information, but the style spoke for itself; for, however people might dispute upon the meaning of what was written, or whether it had any meaning at all, no man would deny that the documents were the undoubted productions of the noble lord's luminous mind -The noble lord had mentioned the hallowed name of Fox. Would to God, said Mr. Whitbread, that Mr. Fox could have been present to have listened to the noble lord this night-to have heard that man who refused his advice and rejected his prophetic warnings, who scorned the wisdom which ever flowed from his lips when he spoke, now taking advantage of his judgment-as it were, quoting scripture to answer his purpose-and pretending to cite his authority, by throwing an aspersion on his memory. But neither Mr. Fox, nor any man, not even I myself, with all my irrationality (as the noble lord terms it,) would think of arguing, that all instructions were at all times to be disclosed. Sure I am of this, however, that by the side of Mr. Fox I have contended with him for the production of instructions when it was intended either to make them the foundation of an impeachment or a censure. The practice, doubtless, is now much improved, when the censure is universally pronounced by the nation, and the documents afterwards laid before Parliament, to prove that it was just. Thus the noble lord misquotes and misapplies the authority he adduces; and if any thing possessed the power to call that great and lamented statesman from the grave, it would be to hear the noble lord, of all men in the world, citing his opi-, nion, to screen himself from merited condemnation. If any thing could raise the angry spirit of Mr. Fox from the tomb, it would be the application of his name and authority, not to expose and punish misdeeds and mal-practices, but to shield the noble lord from the heavy censure of the House and of the country. The noble lord, in the perversion of his mind upon these subjects, may perhaps also persuade himself that in the negociations in which he has been recently engaged, he should have received even the approbation of whether he meant to include this measure in his finance for (or rather against) that country. Sir Frederick said, he had re subject, and he could assure the House that that country was incompetent to meet any such demand, having barely recovered, and two years must elapse before it would have completely surmounted, the ill consequences arising from the ingress of foreign grain into her own market. Did the right hon. gentle. man contemplate the introduction of the Property-tax into Ireland? Mr. Fox. On the contrary, it is my firm belief, that at every step the noble lord would have been met by the strenuous resistance of that most honest, able, and en-ceived several letters from Ireland on the lightened statesman. When I gave my confidence to the noble lord, because I thought it just in the outset not to impose fetters, and hoped and believed they would not be required, I am convinced that under similar circumstances, Mr. Fox would not have refused it; but if he had found, as I have done, that the noble lord was completely changed, that he was not the same man, or at least had not acted as if he were the same man, he Mr. V. Fitzgerald complained of this would, as I have done, have withdrawn mode of putting such a question. He that confidence, because I found it mis- would, in reply, merely say, that he was placed. Mr. Fox, were he now living, not then prepared to state what the sum could not, without shame and indignation, was which would be necessary for the behold the mode in which the public af-service of the sister kingdom, and of fairs are now conducted. I cannot pré- course it would be premature for him to tend to speak, but I can be proud to feel, enter into the particulars of its exposi like Mr. Fox; and the noble lord cannot, tion. I am sure, call to mind the manner in which that great man was accustomed to speak on occasions like the present, without shrinking at the recollection. Sir F. Flood was sorry that, from the total silence of the right hon. gentleman [A laugh], and from his having given no satisfactory answer to his question, he was compelled to infer that the tax was intended for Ireland. Every other tax was met by that country, and the Hearth one besides: nothing could, therefore, be more unfair than in her depressed state to make such a claim. Mr. V. Fitzgerald expressed his hope that the only individual in that House who supposed he had remained totally silent, was the only one who drew the same inference which the hon. baronet proclaimed. Mr. R. Martin concurred with the hon. baronet in his opinion of the inability of Ireland to bear this tax. Sir M. W. Ridley took this early opportunity of entering his protest against this obnoxious measure. He always considered that this tax had been laid on for the defence of the country. We were not now at war, though from the noble lord's expressions he had room to fear that it was determined we should not be long without it. However, we were yet at peace; and while we were, he did not see why we should have this oppressive measare. The individual now at the head of the government of France had proposed terms for the continuance of peace; and if those terms were fair and honourable to us, he could not think that the country Mr. Bankes begged to state the cirought to be oppressed with this unequal cumstances under which he would at and inquisitorial tax, merely for the pur-present give his support to the motion. pose of forcing the Bourbons on the throne of France. He certainly thought it fit that the country should be always placed in a state of security; but a strict and rigid economy was the best way to place her in this state. It was afflicting to hear of this grievous tax being proposed, immediately after the House had learned that the expenses of the Civil List exceeded the estimate last year by half a million. Sir Frederick Flood begged to take that opportunity of stating, that a considerable agitation prevailed in Ireland relative to the Property-tax. He would therefore ask the Chancellor of the Irish Exchequer, He was desirous of giving Government every assistance which the exigencies of the country demanded, and he knew no tax in its principle less oppressive and unequal than the Property-tax. Looking, however, to the present, not as the continuance of an old plan, but the beginning of a new system of taxation, he would not give it his unqualified consent, unless it received some modification in its details, and more particularly if it merely applied to one part of the United Kingdom, and was open to the intolerable injustice of excluding Ireland from bearing a proportion of the burthen. Such an exemp, tion was most unjust, and he should feel it bis duty again to call the attention of the House to the subject. elsewhere. As under the necessity of the war the burthen of the Property-tax had been supported, the renewal of it ought the more firmly to be opposed until an inquiry was made into the truth of the allegations contained in the petitions which had been presented against that tax: these petitions had been more numerous than those which had been presented on any other occasion, and would have been still more numerous if the Chancellor of the Exchequer had not formally announced that the tax was relinquished. With the view which he took of the situation of the country, he felt, even at that early stage, that he should not do his duty without protesting against the confiding such a power to the hands of ministers, who had shown that they were not worthy of confidence, and who were about to involve the country in a war more calamitous than any which we had ever been engaged in. Mr. Bennet opposed the motion, as he thought the renewal of the Property-tax was the first step to war; it was a demand of the ministers on the public for money to enable them to go to war. Whatever were his feelings towards the unfortunate family which had been driven from the throne of France, he could not consent to embark the blood and treasure of this country in so hopeless a contest as that, the object of which should be to restore them. The noble lord had refused to give any answer to the question respect Sir Francis Burdet took that opportunity of protesting against the renewal of the Property-tax, as to the equality and justice of which he entertained very different ideas from the hon. gentleman who had preceded him. Before any such measure was proposed, the petitions with which the table had been loaded should be referred to a committee, to inquire into the allegations of grievances which they contained. It was demonstrated by those petitions, not only that the Property-tax had been productive of numberless cases of individual oppression, but that it was in principle unjust, and that it was, in fact, a tax not on property but on income, and that it had been submitted to, when first imposed, as a temporary contribution to be paid, perhaps, for one year only, as the expectations at that time, as to the speedy termination of the contest, were very sanguine. But he was persuaded that if this tax was again laid on, it would never be taken off. Not only was the tax unjust and unequal in itself, but it was brought forward under every disadvantage, because, up to the present moment, there was no information as to the state in which the country was. The House was first called on to give the money, and they were afterwards to be informed as to what was to be done with it. This was so improper and so unparliamentary a line of conduct, that he could not agreeing the authenticity of the intelligence to support any such grant. It was important to the country to know, in the first place, what was the real state of our relations, and not to be satisfied with the strange ambiguity of expression of the noble lord which was perfectly incomprehensible. The noble lord talked, for instance, of the country being in a mixed state.' What did this mean? Would it not be a more manly way of proceeding, at once to avow that they must be involved in war? He hoped the House would not suffer itself to be plunged into ⚫ a war of which they could not foresee the termination, but which they could not doubt would be full of calamity, and would impose on the already over-laden people, burthens which could with difficulty be borne, and which, it was his opinion, should not be borne, if we were engaged in such a contest, for causes which, in the present dearth of information, had been related in that House or that the King of Naples had entered Bologna, that the whole of that part of Italy was in a state of insurrection, and that the Austrians were flying before him. If it was the intention of the King of Naples to erect Italy into one great and free state, he had his most earnest wishes on his side. He should exult to see that the plans of the Congress of Vienna had been defeated-he should exult to learn that Genoa had been freed from the grasp of those to whom it was delivered overthat Venice was rescued from those who now unjustly possessed it. As voting the Property-tax would be to afford the Government the means of plunging the country into an unnecessary war, he should oppose the present motion. Mr. Protheroe differed from the two hon. gentlemen who had preceded him. He thought that to the Property-tax we were indebted for the vigour with which we had been able to carry on the late 1 war; and when the honour or the safety of the country required it, he was ready to stand forth in support of its renewal. As to the petitions, the state of things was changed since those petitions were agreed to. He was persuaded that his constituents, who had petitioned against the renewal of the tax under other circumstances, would be prepared to meet the present crisis with their accustomed loyalty. But, whatever their sentiments were, he should give his vote for such a grant as would enable the Government either to commence an active war, or to stand in a strong attitude of defence. Which of these courses was to be adopted, was matter for serious consideration; and he was willing to leave it to the determination of the powerful and respectable confederation which, for the happiness of Europe, still existed. He approved of the declaration, that no endeavours would be made by this country to excite a warlike spirit or a spiritless warfare on the part of the other Powers of Europe; but if those Powers were convinced of the necessity of war, he hoped this country would not be lukewarm in its efforts. The principle of economy in the public ex penditure ought not to be overlooked in this consideration, for its operation would have a salutary influence upon the public mind. Mr. Tierney said, that he could not let the opportunity pass, without protesting against the renewal of the Property-tax, totally uninformed as he was as to the state of the country, with regard to its foreign relations. Whatever his opinion might be, if war was determined on, he could not, unadvised as he and every other person in the House was, on the question of war or peace, assent to the imposition on the people of this country of an oppressive tax, which was never justifiable but by the extreme exigency of the time at which it was imposed, and which was most hateful to the people of the country. The proposition, too, for the renewal of the tax had been made without one word being assigned as a ground for it. They did not at all know what the exigencies of the country were. All he knew was, that if we were not at peace, it was our own fault. As to the renewal of this tax, he could not consent to be guided by the Congress. Prince Metternich and Prince Talleyrand were not to mete out the property of this country. Of this the House might be sure, whatever they resolved on, that this country would have more than its proportion to pay; for the noble lord knew that the Allies would not be able to take the field without being subsidized out of the last resources of England :-out of the last resources, he said, because if we went on in a war for two or three years we should be at an end of our resources. The motion which was to be submitted to the Committee, was a most indecent proposition: it was to enable the Ministers to run headlong into a war, the only pretence for which arose from their gross neglect, and their total want of influence at the Congress. Was it too much to say, that they would not grant the Property-tax, until the conduct of Ministers had been inquired into? Could it now be said that they had brought the war to a safe and happy conclusion, as had been formerly boasted of? Such was the happy conclusion of the late long war, that for the last twelve months they had maintained an army of 75,000 men on the Continent, and now they were called on to double the amount, and to renew the Property-tax! Could any man who had read the papers recently published in a public journal, all of which clearly proved, that the charac ter and good faith of this country had been set at stake and trifled with, say, that the Ministers deserved blind confidence? The proposition, too, was not that there should be a few seamen more than at present, but that the Ministers had so conducted themselves, that the House was to renew the Property-tax, in order to enable them again to exercise an unlimited discretion.. This was the most barefaced proposition he ever remembered. The Minsters had much to account for, before they should have ventured to bring it forward: they had to account for the loss of character to the British name-they had to account for their want of influence at the Congress. The noble lord had said, that his trial would come: he hoped to God it might; and before the whole of the noble lord's conduct was accounted for, it was too much for the House to grant him any confidence. He hoped that trial would not be deferred till the whole case, which perhaps never would come out, could be brought forward; and which, at the rate at which past discoveries had been made, could not be brought out till all the members were out of town; but that some specific motion would be made for papers, on which Parliament might come to a decision. On the subject of the Property tax, there had been more petitions than on any other tax that had ever come before the House; and the people had the best claim to attention, from the patience with which they had borne it during the necessities of the war. But because the patient and suffering people had borne this tax, because there was a necessity-they were to have it again, now that there was no necessity. As far as his recollection served him, the Chancellor of the Exchequer had stated on a former occasion that the Property-tax was not to be resorted to but as a war tax [marks of dissent from lord Castlereagh]. He was in a situation to remember better than the noble lord, as he had heard the speech of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the noble lord had not. When the renewal of this tax was demanded, it was incumbent on them to see that a good case was made out for going to war; but no case whatever had been made out in the present instance. The Congress were sitting-that great and respectable body, as it had been called, was deliberating. Now nothing would make this great and respectable body so ready to go to war as plenty of money from this country; nothing would make them so enthusiastic in their declarations for a year or two as to hear that we were ready and able to subsidize them. An hon. gentleman had that night spoken of the necessity of economy: but they should try economy as the first thing, and the Property-tax only as the second thing; for he was convinced that the facility with which money had been raised under the Property-tax, had cost the country many, many millions, from the profuseness which that facility had given rise to. It was said, that the Property-tax was not given to the disposal of Ministers, but to provide for the supplies; but those were novices, indeed, in that House, who did not know that the estimates were proportioned to the narrowness or extent of the Ways and Means. If the country was now embarked in a war, of which we could not foresee the end, the Property-tax and the Bank Restriction would be continued from year to year, and we should go on, with these two great aids, and a progressive increase in the public expenditure. As to economy, the effect of such a war might be estimated by looking back at the effect of the last had been made of late years by two or three millions. In the last year they had voted twenty-four millions for army extraordinaries, and even that was not near all that would be wanted to wind up that expense. How could such an expense have been incurred by the Ministers, except under the idea that they were drawing from an inexhaustible fund, or that there was an arrear which had been concealed from Parliament, and which had been ac cumulating during the late contest? He should again protest against giving any direct or indirect sanction to war, without the necessity being shown. If the necessity was shown, he should be willing, as the country would be willing, to meet it; but the Ministers would not proceed thus: and he believed the fact to be, that they wished to get fairly involved in hostilities with France, and then they would call on the country for support. That peace was now within our reach he was perfectly convinced it was the fault of our Ministers if that peace was one hour in doubt. Whether the return of Buonaparté was an evil or not, the mischief of it would be aggravated by our plunging into war. Peace might continue under present circumstances for many years-perhaps as long as under the very paternal sway of those great men, Metternich, Castlereagh, and Talleyrand. Those three champions, he thought, would not long have preserved the peace of Europe; and it was clear they thought so too, as they kept 300,000 men to support their machinations. As he never heard a more indecent or presumptuous proposition than the one which was to be brought before the Committee, he should protest against it. The Chancellor of the Exchequer said, that he had neglected to anticipate many of the objections which had been made to the tax, because he had conceived the motion before the House to be a motion of course. Many of the arguments on the other side of the House proceeded on the supposition that the tax was a step in support of a war :-the grant of the tax would in fact only be a grant in support of their Address; and he called on the House, in the words of that Address, to grant," with zeal and alacrity," the sum required to support the preparations which had been made either for war or armed defence. If the right hon. gentleman who spoke last doubted whether the return of Buonaparté was a calamity, he was among the very few persons who were in that state of § હ્ર |