with the Northern confederacy for the purpose of shutting the Baltic, what would be the consequence? Why plainly this that our money,paid to a supposed and nominal ally, would tend to the creation of an efficient enemy !-Adjourned to Monday. Monday, Jun. 23. A sufficient number of members did not assemble to form a house. Tuesday, Jan. 24. Mr. Perceval stated, that the committee of public expenditure and finance had performed some very important services to the public, but it was a matter of notoriety, however, and mentioned by their chairman, that their reports were much retarded by the protracted discussions of the numerous members who composed it. The committee formerly appointed (whereof Mr. Bankes was chairman) consisted of 25 members, and had been selected indiscriminately from both sides of the house: he wished to reduce the number to the 15 following:-Mr. Bankes, Mr. Hawkins Browne, Lord H. Petty, Mr. Grattan, Mr. D. Browne, Mr. Biddulph, Mr. Ellison, Mr. Brogden, Mr. Leslie, Mr. H. Thornton, Mr. Calvert, Mr. P. Carew, Mr. Wyane, Mr. Leycester. Mr. Joddrell, Mr. Bankes said it was not his intention to say any thing disrespectful or invidious towards any gentleman whose name was proposed to remain on the committee, but from the manner in which it would be composed, he did not conceive that its labours would give any satisfaction to the public, and he should therefore dechine having any concern in it. Mr. Peter Moore coincided with the sentiments of the last speaker. Indeed, if the public argued from the effects of all the measures of the former committees, it was natural to conceive that they would only consider them as a mere farce to engage their attention, or a delusion to deceive their hopes and disappoint their expectations. The former committee had made three different reports to the house, each containing matter sufficient to engross its attention, and what consequence had ensued? Did the servants of the crown, who recommended the appointment of that committee, feel it their duty to build upon those reports any matter of redress or of correction ? The first report referred to the bank of England, where, in place of the sum of 60,000l. which that body was legally entitled to charge, a sum was granted of 260,000l. thus leaying such an exorbitant excess to be paid as a species of bribe to the directors of that corporate body, out of the taxes wrung from the people. The second report went to an exposition of the transactions in a public office,' at the head of which was the Right Honourable Mr. THOMAS STEELE, who was a member of the late parliament. That report convicted that gentleman of having possesed himself of the public money under false pretences; and yet, though the country has witnessed trials against other men charged as public defaulters, no endeavour has been made by his Majesty's attorney-general to bring this man so charged, and, as the head of a public office, more egregiously criminal, to public justice! The third report referred to the state of public offices, and though dimunitions to a very considerable amount were pointed out by the investigations of the committee, no one measure of actual or eventual benefit has accrued to the public from all their labours, diligence, or anxiety to promote public economy. Indeed, if the whole of their reports were canvassed, it would be found, that the objects of correction proposed had originated with that committee, at the head of which the Speaker was in the year 1797. It was idle to talk of economy until the government account for each year's expenditure in the year succeeding. It was so in the most extensive depen dency of the British empire, and he could not see the objection to the system at home. The Chancellor of the Exchequer had promised a compliance with such a system, and he (Mr. Moore) hoped he would keep his word. That no distinct account of appropriation of our expenditure had been kept for the last ten years, he would take a future opportunity of proving; and he saw on the bench opposite him a right honourable gentleman, whom he would feel it his duty hereafter to put upon his trial before that house. He had no objection to re-establish the committee, provided the house evinced a disposition to build upon the reports, which it had already furnished, something that would at least convince the British people of the sincerity of parliament in its promises of economy. Let the public feel that the object of the house of commons in the present state of public affairs, was to alleviate the burthens, as far as consistent with public duty, not to improve the private incomes of persons in office. Lord Henry Petty expressed his acquiescence in the opinion deliver ed by Mr. Bankes. Without arrogating any superior pretensions, he wished to declare to the house, that, as the right honourable Chancellor of the Exchequer had thought proper to appoint him on the proposed committee, he still considered that he would act most consistent with his public duty, by abstaining from any attendance on it. Mr. Yorke did not place the same confidence in the beneficial results of such committees, as the public were induced to expect; at the same time, that he conceived it would best consult the public feeling by appointing the former members. Mr. Whitbread said, it was not so much reduction in quantity as economy in principle-it was to this the people looked, and ought to look, and in this sense the judicious saving of eighteen-pence might go a greater length in satisfying a certain feeling of the people, as to the sincerity of that house in the great work ef alleviating their burdens than the acquisition of as many thousands. He was sorry to say, that the last ses sion did not go toencourage any such feeling. The longest session passed without any one proceeding upon this subject, and concluded with giving birth to one solitary report. With respect to the objections which the honourable chairman of that committee had taken to certain of his coadjutors, he certainly would not press that; to name such persons he was aware it would be imposing an invidious task; but he did contend, that that gentleman ought to give in to that house a list of those gentlemen, whom he thought calculated to promote the great object of the committee, and in co-operation with whom he would be willing again to resume his labours. Such a list coming from an honourable member, who was not at all suspected to be what was commonly called a party man, would have its due weight. He thought the house had a right to demand such a return, and that that honourable member owed it to his public duty to make it; he concluded by calling on Mr. Banks to name at least fifteen out of the twenty-five, with whom he would be willing to go on. Mr. Wharton admitted that there had been great delay in the proceedings of the committee, but denied that such delay arose in consequence of any protracted debates, at least as far as he himself was concerned ; he thought rather, that the original cause of the delay was, the very voluminous paper submitted to the consideration of the committee, by its honourable chairman. Alderman Combe bore testimony to the able and active industry of the chairman; he did not wish that committee to be suppressed, and would, if re-appointed a member of it, discharge his duty to the public with zeal and fidelity. Mr. Sumner said, that the article of" sinecure places," after a debate of five days was decided upon, and that that decision was totally subverted at the end of the session, at a time when many of the members who had taken an active interest in this special object of the committee, were absent. He further contended, that the delay was chiefly owing to the speeches of an honourable gentleman who had spoke last but one: be remembered that gentleman speaking eight times upon one subject within one day, and he declared most solemnly, that honourable gentleman said nothing the last seven times he had not said in the first, nor nothing in the first he had not heard seventy times before! Mr. Denis Browne did not think a committee ought to be swayed by popular feeling or sentiment, or that sort of thing-they should do their duty and mind nothing else:-in the course of his attendance on that committee, a certain treatise had been proposed, which went, in his mind, to disjoint the state; he had felt it to be his duty to disapprove of that treatise. mittee, to examine into, and proceed effectively, upon the reports already made to them by the old committee. Mr. Long denied that none of its recommendations had been attended to; in his own department, the pay office, many wise and salutary regulations had been adopted, in consequence of the recommendation of that committee. Mr. Moore here begged permission, in a debate of that desultory sort, to ask the right hon. gentleman, whether Mr.THOMAS STEELE had been yet prosecuted? Mr. Long said, that it was for his predecessor to answer the ques tion put by the hon. gentleman. Mr. Creevey said, that he could not help thinking it strange that a gentleman who had been so detected as Mr. Steele had been, should be left in the undisturbed possession of his honour as a privy counsellor, and in the enjoyment of a sinecure, yielding him 1700l. per annum. Mr. Hawkins Browne owned he did net approve of certain propositions affecting the influence of the crown. Lord Milton would not take upon himself to say whether the people were filled with suspicions with respect to this committee or not. He certainly was not one of those who expected wonders from that com Lord A. Hamilton lamented the disunion that appeared to have ex-mittee. He did not expect to see isted among the members of the committee. any proceeding of that committee go sensibly to diminish the burdens of the people, and it would be wrong in that house to hold forth to the people any such delusion. As to the influence of the crown, he would not go so far as to say that that inAluence ought not to exist at all; but he would say, that if there were any persons on that committee who thought the influence of the crown the most valuable part of the constitution, and that instead of its being checked and diminished, that it ought to be cherished and increased, he would say, that such persons were not fit members for such a committee, and that their be ing members of it was sufficient to awaken the distrust of the public. When that committee had first been formed, though not then a member of that house, he regretted that his noble friend (Lord Henry Petty) had taken the forming of that committee out of the hands of an independent country gentleman, with whom it would have been much better to have left it, The house now saw the consequences of the precedent then set by his noble friend. Mr. Biddulph and Mr. Brogden severally spoke in favour of the object of the committee. Mr. Ellison contended that in the course of their proceedings questions had been introduced not in his judgment by them cognizable, and foreign to the object of their consideration. He had no doubt of the zeal and industry of the chairman, but he did differ with him as to the purport of part of his voluminous report, which, in his opinion, went too much to trench upon the royal prerogative, and differing from him he would act in conformity to his own judgment, and not give himself up altogether to the "ipse dixit" of any individual. On that ground, he dissented toto celo from that hon. gentleman, as he was not of opinion that such great constitutional questions fell within their cognizance. Mr. Bankes said, that notwith standing the prescribed limits of explanation, he could not sit in silence and hear that report he had submitted to the committee branded with the character of entrenching upon any one of the royal prerogatives. He denied it; and in the fullest and strongest manner one gentleman could contradict another, asserted that such an opinion of that report was false and unfounded. Mr. H. Thornton entirely agreed with Mr. Bankes in his opinion of that report. He thought it would be wrong to put the same men again on the same committee who had hitherto so disagreed. Mr. Sharpe was willing to do justice to the labours of the last committee, but observed, that there had been sins of omission as well as commission, and that if those were not filled up by the next committee, he should call the attention of the house to do it ata future period. Mr. Perceval said that the list he proposed was very fairly and impartialy selected. Mr. Ponsonby said that the names which the Chancellor of the Exchequer had chosen in preference to those on the former committee were not remarkable for their attachment to reform ! Mr. Wilberforce was strongly inclined to think, that, amidst such a diversity of opinion as had been expressed, the house should not come to an immediate decision oạ the proposed change of the coinmittes, but should have more time to make up its mind on the subject. In particular, he should have to regret most deeply, and he believed the house would join with him, if a committee were formed in which his hon. friend (Mr. Bankes) declined to act as chairman, since, of all the individuals of that house, he be lieved that no one was more completely divested of undue partialities of any kind. The question was then put as to the forming of a new committee, and carried unanimously, Mr. Wilberforce moved an adjournment, on the grounds he had already stated.-Strangers were then excluded, but on a division there appeared.-Against the adjournment 124; For it 62. Two other divisions afterwards took place-131 against 47, and 113 against 52. The last division was on an amendment of Mr. Bankes, by which he proposed to substitute the name of Mr. Sumner instead of that of Mr. Dennis Browne. Wednesday, Jan. 25. band a petition from the priso, st confined for debt in the king's bene praying for relief. There were at present 267 debtors confined in the prison, and the number confined in the jails, for debt, was unprecedented. He understood the subject would be taken up in another place by a noble Lord; but if no step was taken in the business, he would make a motion himself for the relief of insolvent debtors, as the confirement of persons for debt he considered repulsive to the constitution, and it was besides of no benefit to either debtor or creditor. Lord Castlereagh, after delivering an eulogium on the departed and much lamented Sir John Moore, moved, That an humble address be presented to his Majesty, that he be graciously pleased to order a monument to be erected to the memory of Brigadier-General Sir John Moore, K. B. in the cathedral of St Paul's, as a perpetual testimony of the gratitude of the country, and as an excitement to others to emulate his example; who, after a meritorious life in the service of his country, was killed by a cannon-ball at the battle of Corunna, on the 16th of January, 1809, after a complete trumph over the enemy, and effecting the retreat of the British army in the face of a superior force. The question was then put and agreed to, nem. con. The thanks of the house were then voted, nem. con. to Lieut. Gen. Sir David Baird; Lieut. Col. Hope, second in cominand; Lieut. Col. Alexander Mackenzie, Major-General Bentinck, Brig.Gen. Lord Paget, &c. for the valour displayed at the battle of Corunna, on the 16th of Jan. 1809. His lordship moved, that the house do highly approve of the firmness and valour of the non-commissioned officers and privates at the battle of Corunna, which was carried. nem ̧ con. Similar votes of thanks were moved and carried, to Rear Admiral De Courcy, Sir Samuel Hood, and the officers and seamen acting under them, for their firmness and exertions during the embarkations of the troops at Corunna. Lord Castlereagh rose, in pursu ance of the notice he had given, to call upon the house to confer the same honour on Sir A. Wellesley, and the conquerors of Vimiera. -- Mr. Whitbread moved an amendment, for the purpose of introducing the name of Sir H. Burrard, but finding the sense of the house decidedly against him, withdrew the same. The original motion was then carried with the dissenting voice of Lord Folkstone, who asserted that our forces were superior to those of the French. The thanks of the house were also voted to Major-Generals Spencer, Hill, and Ferguson, to Brigadier-Generals Ackland, Nightingale, Fane, and Bowes, and the other officers of the army; also to the non-commissioned officers and privates. Lord Castlereagh then requested leave to bring in a bill to allow a certain part of the militia of Great Britain to volunteer into the regular army. His lordship, after adverting to the success which had formerly attended this mode of increasing the regulars, and the zeal which still existed among the militia to extend the period of their services, observed that it was his wish to introduce into the bill such modifications as would obviate many of the inconveniences which were experienced in the former instance, and to propose that no regiment should be reduced below three-fifths of its full establishment; and that in those counties where a ballot would be necessary, the 10 guineas allowed by government should be paid to the man ballotted, for the purpose of aiding him in |