dition to the naval force now actually employed, and which the chancellor of the Exchequer declared to be more formidable than it had ever been at any former period, he propofed-ift, a levy of 15,000 men, from the different parifhes, for the fea-fervice, and for recruiting the regiments of the line, great numbers of which he ftated to have fallen. in defence of our foreign poffeffions :—2dly, he suggested a fupplementary levy of militia, to confift of 60,000 men, not to be immediately called out, but to be enrolled, officered, and gradually trained, so as to be fit for fervice in a moment of danger: 3dly, Mr. Pitt proposed to raise a confiderable force of irregular cavalry-every person who kept ten horfes to provide one horse and one horseman to serve in a corps of cavalry, those who kept more than ten to provide in the fame proportion, and those who kept fewer to form themselves into claffes, and decide who, at the common expenfe, fhould provide the horfe and horseman. These several propofitions received the fanction of the two houses, and paffed into laws; but the plan for raising an additional body of cavalry, though a second and third act paffed to explain and amend the first, was framed in a manner fo difgracefully crude, confufed, and complex, that it was found totally impracticable in the execution; and it was in a great measure fuperfeded by the numerous volunteer corps of yeoman-cavalry which were, about this time, embodied in all parts of the kingdom.

On the 21st of October, upon the motion of Mr. Windham, 195,000 men were voted for the land-fervice, and foon afterwards 120,000 feamen and marines were voted for the naval fervice, of the year.

In the beginning of December the chancellor of the Exchequer made his annual statement to the house, according to which eighteen millions would be wanting, by way of loan, exclufive of five millions and a half of Exchequertills, and about thirteen millions and a half of Navy-bills, which he propofed to fund; the intereft of all which

amounted

amounted to upwards of two millions per annum of additional and perpetual taxes. Mr. Pitt took this opportunity to acknowledge that he had made an actual advance to the emperor of divers fums of money to the amount of about 1,200,000l. and he should propose a vote of three millions to enable minifters to give the neceffary affiftance to our allies in case we were obliged to perfevere in the war.Mr. Fox rofe, and with great warmth and energy stated "that the minifter had it undoubtedly in his power, many months ago, to have confulted the house as to this subject; that having neglected so to do, and manifested a determination to difpofe of the public money without the knowledge or authority of that house, he ought for this conduct to be impeached. And for what was this money thus illegally and unconstitutionally expended? Year after year had the minifter calculated upon the events of the war; and year after year had the public been misled by his calculations. One hundred and fifty millions had been added to the debt of the country, and rivers of human blood had been made to flow. The minister now at length talked of peace; but as his skill in calculation was made a matter of boast, it might be wished that he would one day fit down in his closet, and calculate what a sum of human happiness he had destroyed already, what a waste of human life he had occafioned, and all this because he could not fooner discover that the French were capable of maintaining the relations of peace and amity."-After these observations, which did not admit of any answer, the refolutions moved by Mr. Pitt were fucceffively put and carried.

The measure thus adopted by the minifter, of clandeftinely remitting money to a foreign court, during the interval and even the fitting of parliament, was too extraordinary not to attract the farther notice of oppofition: and when the report of the Committee of Ways and Means was brought up, December 8, Mr. Fox again took occafion earneftly to requeft the attention of the house to this fubject.

"Had

"Had minifters, he remarked, found themselves called upon by an imperious fenfe of duty, when parliament was not fitting, to grant a pecuniary aid to the emperor, and upon the meeting of parliament had fubmitted the reafons of their conduct to the judgment of the house, the cafe would have differed very widely from the prefent. In the course of the last three months of the preceding parliament repeated applications were made to them refpecting their intentions of granting or with-holding pecuniary affistance to the emperor; but they preferved a profound filence on the fubject; and we now find that a great part of the money had been remitted to the emperor when parliament was actually fitting. Did the right honorable gentleman fancy himself better qualified to judge of the time and extent of the affiftance neceflary to be granted than the house of commons? As long as the question was open to debate and difcuffion, the house was kept in total ignorance relating to it: they are, however, ultimately informed of the transaction ; but at what period? When the money has been paid, and deliberation is precluded. Mr. Fox hoped that, on this occafion at least, parliament would vindicate its own dignity and importance. If the house should submit to this daring encroachment on their rights, and the commons fhould relinquish the guardianship of the public purse, there would be little left, after the late violent encroachments on the conftitution, to diftinguish our government from that of abfolute monarchies."

Mr. Pitt afferted, in reply, " that the general principles ftated by Mr. Fox were fubject to limitation; that in the beft and pureft æras of the conftitution extraordinaries and votes of credit had been recognised as warranted by the fpirit of it. He allowed that the minifter who exercifed the difcretion vefted in him improperly was not exempt from cenfure; but the manner in which he understood the limitation referred to he would ftate when called upon to make his defence."-The houfe of commons did not,

however,

however, appear entirely to enter into the views of the minifter upon this momentous topic, nor feem difpofed to grant him their unreferved confidence on a point which for nearly affected both their privileges and their power.

Sir William Pulteney, one of the comparatively few independant members who usually voted with Mr. Pitt, declared, "the concern and aftonishment which he felt at this unconstitutional appropriation of public money by the minifter. It was indeed an undoubted and unfortunate truth that extraordinaries and a vote of credit must be granted in every year of a war; but furely fubfidies to foreign princes could never be intentionally included in them. New and urgent circumstances might occur to render the exercise of ministerial discretion proper; but here the circumstances were known and public. The dilemma to which the house was reduced, from the neceflity they were under either to confirm a transaction fo contrary to the fundamental principles of the conftitution, or by any retrofpective resolution to shake the confidence of their allies in the public faith thus pledged by the minister, was a great aggravation of his misconduct and it was his opinion that a ftrong mark of cenfure ought to be inflicted by the house, in order for ever to prevent any fimilar violation of their most effential privileges."

Mr. Grey remarked, "that the infenfibility of the house on former occafions to the danger which threatened the conftitution had encouraged the minister to venture upon this daring measure; and that his boldness had rifen in proportion to the obfequiousness of parliament. From the infpection of the papers before the house," Mr.Grey faid, "it appeared that the whole of the money had been remitted during the fitting of parliament, excepting the trifling fum of 77,000 !. Will the house, on fuch a great conftitutional question as the prefent, be fatisfied with pompous declamation? Surely there is a barrier beyond which even the complaifance of that affembly would not allow his majesty's minifters to

extend their predatory encroachments. Vile as the conduct of the last parliament had been, he did not believe they confidered their vote of credit as conveying any such power to ministers; and he appealed to thofe gentlemen prefent who were members of the former house of commons, whether, at the time the vote paffed, they were in the remoteft degree aware that they were giving two millions and a half of money to the emperor.-Mr. Grey moved that the fecond reading of the Bill of Supply should be poftponed till the next day; and he would then move the house to refolve that the minifter had been guilty of a high crime and misdemeanor."

Mr. Wilberforce, who for two feffions earnestly, and not without fome effect upon the house, and still more upon the public at large, oppofed the ruinous and frantic measures of the minifter, had been, for a confiderable time paft, evidently wavering in his conduct; and he embraced the present opportunity to demonftrate to the world that he was now again, from a difpofition, as thofe who were friendly to him reprefented, weak not depraved, capricious not corrupt, as ready and willing as the moft fervile instrument of government to defend the worft of men in the commiffion of the worft of deeds. This gentleman declared himself "averse to poftponing the vote of supply even for a fingle day; and averred that the vote of credit, if examined attentively, would be found to convey an impreffion that ministers were authorized in employing the money entrusted to them in fuch a manner as the public exigencies might require."—After a long and ardent debate the house divided; and the numbers appeared to be, 58 for, and 164 against, the propofed poftponement of the fupply.

In order to compel Mr. Pitt to ftate the specific grounds. on which he ventured upon a step so manifeftly contrary to the fpirit of the conftitution, and by no means in confiftency with the sense of the house, and much lefs of the nation, Mr. Fox, on the 14th of December, moved, "That his

majesty's