munity much more than throwing any additional burdens on them. He had long entertained an opinion, that a diminution of our establishment was absolutely necessary. In our Navy, for instance-in many of our colonial possessions -in several of our Military Establishments at home. With respect to our Naval Expenditure, he would only say, that when there were not fewer than 33 sail of the line in Cadiz Harbour, and when the North of Europe was dubious towards us-in the year 1805, when the victory of Trafalgar was gained, we had only 120,000 seamen; and in the present year, when the naval force which could be opposed to us was inconsiderable in comparison, we had no fewer than 145,000 seamen. If the objection against this addition fell any where, it did not fall so much on the present Administration, as on the Administration which succeeded Mr. Pitt, which raised the number of seamen to 130 and 135,000, for no other reason but that they had such a number of men. The sacrifice which such an excessive naval force required us to make, was enormous. Ifour maritime superiority were endangered, he should consider no sacrifice as too great, but this would not be alledged as likely to follow, from any reasonable reduction of this great force. There was one branch of the expenditure of the country that could not be too highly applauded, he meant the charge that was incurred for the prosecution of the war in the Peninsula ; but he lamented that our exertions were not more vigorous, and that we did not take example from our enemy, by devoting grand resources to the attainment of grand objects. The honourable gentleman went on to notice the system of finance proposed by Lord Henry Petty, in 1807, and lamented that the promise then held out, that no new taxes should for three years be imposed, had not been realized. Considerable allowances, he admitted, ought now to be made for the difference in the state of public credit; the prospect of 1807 was more promising, as money could then be obtained at the low interest of four per cent. He could by no means concur in the Resolution of Sir Tho mas Turton, in which the necessity of peace was impressed upon the country; he censured all interference of the Legislature with the Executive Government in matters of this nature, since the consequences of it would only be immediate embarrassment, and probably ultimate disappointment; not that he wished the war to be continued either for the sake of attaining further foreign possessions, having already too many, or for the glory of the British arms, its fame being sufficiently established, but he was anxious that the contest should not be resigned by us as long as it could be beneficially maintained, and until, without a breach of faith to our allies and a loss of national character to ourselves, we could accomplish a permanent and honourable peace. He entertained no fear for the fate of Great Britain; he was convinced that among us there was no man so foolish or so base, or in France so sanguine or so ambitious, as to believe that Great Britain could be conquered. There was another object of great magnitude to which the attention of Government ought to have been directed as early as possible in the next session-the state of the revenue of Ireland. It was singular, that while the public credit of England was so debased, that of Ireland was in full vigour and although the revenue raised, without one direct tax, would not pay the interest of the debt, she was constantly making claims upon England, who was much less able to afford her relief. Under all the circumstances, he saw no very pleasing prospect to occupy attention during the recess; large demands must inevitably be made upon the people, and in the interval between the present and the ensuing session, they must prepare themselves for greatly increased sacrifices. : Mr. Baring expressed the pleasure he felt that the different views of gentlemen had been communicated without any intermixture of party animosity. He confessed that he was not much cheered by the reflection of what must be disclosed in the ensuing session; but, however disagreeable might be the task, he hoped the Minister would not come down to the House with any attempt to patch up the difficulties for the year, but with a permanent system, for the purpose of retrieving the public credit. He censured the little economy at present observed in various departments, particularly in that of the Admiralty, and recommended that our Naval Establishment, now unnecessarily large, should be greatly reduced. New taxes, to a considerable amount, must be imposed next year; and, among others, he suggested that an impost should be laid upon Wool, Iron, Coals, ́and Bills and Placards, by which much relief would be afforded. Mr. Courtney spoke at length in opposition to the Reso lutions of Sir Thomas Turton and Mr. Tierney, and deprecated any alteration of the law regulating the Sinking Fund. VOL. III.-1812. 4 Y He proposed as a temporary remedy to our present evils, that a part of the permanent revenue should be mortgaged. Mr. Whitbread lamented that Mr. Vansittart had been left this night to fight the battle single-handed: he more regretted the occasion, for he believed that while the right honourable gentleman was receiving lessons of economy in Parliament, his colleagues were planning modes of lavish expenditure in the Cabinet, by disposing of millions to foreign powers. A right honourable gentleman had justly observed, that the prospect held out for the next year was very gloomy; for besides the Income Tax, already sufficiently burthensome, the country had this night been threatened with an impost upon Capital; besides these, taxes had been recommended upon the raw materials, wool, iron, and cotton, and it was indeed time for the nation to examine whether the scuttling time had really arrived, and whether the vessel of the state was not upon the point of foundering. In this emergency, what was to be done? An honourable baronet had proposed to the House a Resolution for Peace, but it had been strenuously opposed, on the ground that it was calculated to debase the situation of the country in the eyes of the enemy, who would grow more imperious in his demands. It might be so; but it ap peared that the disclosures this night made of the distresses of the nation, the confession of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, that a tax upon Capital must be imposed, and the recommendation that duties should be laid upon wool, iron, and coal, even to afford a temporary relief, were much more calculated to heighten the claims of the enemy than any Resolution of the House. The tax upon Capital had been broached as a thing almost of course, without reflecting that if peace with the United States were not procured, our bankruptcies would be increased, and that there would consequently be no capital to tax; and without recollecting, that if the goods lately sent to America should be returned, they would be thrown upon the hands of our manufactu rers, and ruin would ensue. No wool would then be imported, because none would be employed; no iron could be manufactured, because none would be obtained; and no coals would be taxed, because none would be used for the purposes of a trade which had been already extinguished. This was a possible case, but he did not think it very probable that America would reduce us to this extremity. A fair offer of peace from this country to France was, in Mr. Whitbread's opinion, the most efficacious, indeed the only efficacious remedy; the people now could bear little more, and if that proposal were not made, they would bear nothing more. The present state of the Executive Government was a subject to be looked to with great distrust. The King was in such a state, that all the physicians had nearly abandoned their lingering hopes: the Prince, it was true, was in health, but accidents might deprive us of his reign, and then what would be our condition? The reins of Government would devolve into the hands of a female who was yet very young, and who had been secluded and hidden most unaccountably from public notice and observation. He hoped that this plan of concealment would not longer be pursued, and that the people of England might be allowed to behold their future Sovereign, who was at some future period to secure them happiness, independence, and glory. Mr. Wilberforce, after paying a tribute to the memory of Mr. Pitt, as the author of the system of the Sinking Fund, expressed his sorrow that Mr. Whitbread had held out delusive hopes, as if, under the present circumstances, the attempt were made, an honourable peace could be obtained. It was impossible for us to abandon our Allies, and it was equally impossible, he believed, by any negociation, to induce Buonaparte to withdraw his claim to the Throne of Spain. He did not see any just cause for the gloomy forebodings which had been indulged, and he thought there were yet ample resources in the country to effect our own safety and that of our Allies. He did not think that it would be prudent to adopt several of the new taxes recommended. Mr. Vansittart moved the previous question on the various Resolutions of Sir T. Turton and Mr. Tierney, and explained that he did not mean to say that the tax on Capital would be a fit measure to be adopted, but he only hinted at it, as it had been found practical in Holland. In the next session it was in contemplation to have something in the nature of a Sinking Fund, to retrieve the public credit. Mr. Whitbread deprecated the introduction into England of any tax which had been adopted in Holland, since the conduct of the French Government; since they had entered that country, he did not think it very worthy of imitation here. After some explanations between Mr. Vansittart, Sir T. Turton, and Mr. Courtney, Sir T. Turton's Resolutions were severally put and negatived by the previous question. The Resolution regarding Peace was likewise negatived, after a slight Amendment, that it might not appear even upon the Journals in its original shape. The gallery was cleared for a division upon it, but it did not take place. STATE OF THE NATION. Sir F. Burdett gave notice of a motion for Tuesday next. The Speaker inquired what might be its nature, in order that it might be regularly entered among the orders of the day? Sir F. Burdett replied, that it would respect generally the State of the Nation.-Adjourned. HOUSE OF LORDS. FRIDAY, JULY 24. The Coffee Bill, the Half-pay Bill, the Medicine Bill, the Privy Purse Bill, and the Poor Debtors' Relief Bill, were read a third time and passed. TOLERATION BILL. The House resolved itself into a Committee on the Toleration Bill. The Lord Chancellor objected to the clause granting exemptions to preachers and teachers exercising any other profession or occupation, contending, that complete justice was done to the principle of the Bill by the exemption granted in the preceding clause to preachers and teachers not exercising any other profession or occupation, except that of a schoolmaster; and that if persons of this descrip tion resorted to secular occupations, they ought, in return for the advantages derived from their secular occupations, to be liable in the same manner as other persons to secular duties. He therefore moved to strike out the clause. Lord Holland was disposed to acquiesce in striking out, this clause, but doubted how far, if the clause was struck out, Dissenting Ministers in the possession of land, although |