the inquiry and discussion; and it is sufficient, I believe, to give a give a general view of the opinions he held, and the conclusions to which he had come, at this period, upon this difficult and intricate branch of political economy. The limits assigned to this work prevent me from doing more; and if there are any who now feel disposed to investigate the history of the proceedings in parliament on this important subject, they will find a pretty full report of Mr. Horner's speech, and the resolutions he moved, in Hansard's Debates. LETTER CLXVIII. TO HIS FATHER. My dear Sir, Lincoln's Inn, 10th May, 1811. I have been prevented from writing to you these few days, by being very busy. I have at last got through my share of the bullion question, which we have had for four late nights. I shall take very little charge of what remains to be done or proposed. Vansittart is to move his resolutions in the committee on Monday, on one of which Tierney will move an amendment; amounting to a declaration very much like one of my rejected resolutions, that the Bank ought (during the restriction) to keep the same principles in view which limited their notes before, and implying, farther, the principle (somewhat beyond mine) that the Bank ought to consider itself bound to be ready to resume cash payments at the earliest notice. I hardly think that I shall urge any of the amendments upon Vansittart's resolutions, which I printed some time ago; my chief purpose in circulating them was to have a concise counter statement of facts in the hands of members before the debate. I have nothing further to do, so far as I am at present concerned with the question, but to move my resolutions again in the House, for form's sake, that they may be put upon the Journals. The divisions were better than I expected, particularly upon the last; that division I took at a venture, contrary to the wishes of some who left me: but I am satisfied that good has been done by getting the forty-five names which I shall have to show for that. One is very apt to fancy the best of the argument on one's own side; and I am indulging myself at present in that belief. It seems to me that a very important impression has been made upon the House by the discussion, such as will not soon be worn out, and will be a ground-work for a future attempt of the same sort, to cure this great disorder. It is very creditable to the House, that so tedious a debate upon so uninviting a subject was heard with much attention, and without any impatience; nothing perhaps could prove more strongly, that however the votes have gone, from timidity, as well as from the usual motives that make majorities, there is a general persuasion that something of importance to every man's own private concerns, as well as the public interests, was involved in the question. The best speech was Canning's, which astonished every body, by the knowledge which he showed of the subject, which must be a very unpalatable one to him, and by the business-like manner in which he treated it; he had all his fancy and wit about him too, and played with the most knotty subtilties of the question as easily as if it had been familiar to him. Ever most affectionately yours, FRA. HORNER. P. S. Brougham made a speech in the Court of King's Bench yesterday which is highly commended. LETTER CLXIX. My dear Horner, FROM THE REV. T. R. MALTHUS. E. I. College, Hertford, 12th May, 1811. I congratulate you most sincerely on your two very able and eloquent speeches, which I hear from all quarters far exceeded what could possibly have been expected from the subject. I wonder, indeed, how you could contrive to treat a question, necessarily involving so many dry details, in a manner which seems to have so completely commanded the attention of your hearers. It is impossible that the discussion should not do good; and I have no doubt that you have convinced many who voted against you. I am somewhat surprised at Tierney, and hope he will do better on the debate upon Vansittart's propositions, in which I hear he means to propose some amendments. We shall rely upon seeing you and Whishaw on Saturday. Ever truly yours, T. ROBT. MALTHUS. LETTER CLXX. TO HIS FATHER. My dear Sir, Lincoln's Inn, 16th May, 1811. My mother rather expected a letter from you this morning; she called here on her way to the exhibition, to which she has taken some of her young friends. She is remarkably well. I have at last got rid of bullion; the country, I fear, will not get rid of the necessity of resuming the question very soon. So far as the mere votes of the House of Commons go, mischief has been done by the parliamentary discussion; for we have concluded by two re solutions, one of which misrepresents, in a very dangerous manner, the prerogative of the King over the standard of money, and the other is a ridiculous evasion of the fact of depreciation. They will probably give birth to a new host of pamphlets. But, in another point of view, the impression made upon the public mind, as to the importance of the question, I believe much good has been done; in the House, it was manifest, that we established unanswerably our conclusions, though the apprehensions naturally excited by such a statement, and magnified by the obscurity in which most persons find themselves upon such a subject, make them dread the effect of confessing its truth. I hear, also, that there has been a considerable change in the sentiments of the city. You must be sick, however, of this business. The King has been materially worse in point of bodily health lately, and the delusions of his mind are said to recur still very frequently. The ministers speak rather diffidently now of his ultimate recovery, though the physicians are as ready as ever to swear to it. The session of parliament will probably be drawn out till after the first week of July, when there will be another quarterly Report from the Queen's counsel. He complains very much of being under petticoat government, and is much puzzled to make out why he should be subjected to this thraldom at present, when he says he is not worse than he has been for years. Such are the stories. There was a very affecting proof of his melancholy state, given last week at the concert of ancient music; it was the Duke of Cambridge's night, who announced to the directors that the King himself had made the selection. This consisted of all the finest passages to be found in Handel, descriptive of madness and blindness; particularly those in the opera of Samson; there was one, also, upon madness from love, and the lamentation of Jephthah upon the loss of his daughter; and it closed with God save the King, to make sure the application of all that went before. It was a very melancholy as well as singular instance of sensibility; that in the intervals of reason he should dwell upon the worst circumstances of his situation, and have a sort of indulgence in soliciting the public sympathy. I am very happy to hear that you mean to take a little excursion into the Highlands; it is a charming season for it. I am going down with Whishaw for two days to visit Malthus in Hertfordshire, and hear his nightingales; we shall go on Saturday. You will be comforted to hear that Leonard's little Mary is almost quite well again. Ever, my dear Sir, Most affectionately yours, FRA. HORNER. LETTER CLXX.* TO J. A. MURRAY, ESQ. My dear Murray, Lincoln's Inn, 24th May, 1811. I heard of the President's sudden death yesterday; by some means, the intelligence reached London before it could have been brought by the post. It is impossible to figure any loss by which Scotland could have suffered so deeply, as by this afflicting event; whether what we have actually been deprived of be considered, or what we have to place in Mr. Blair's room. I had no personal acquaintance with him, and have had no opportunity of seeing him in his judicial situation, but I have long felt the greatest admiration Robert Blair, Lord President of the Court of Session-in Scotland. |