rose to make a motion for papers, to which, from what had taken place yesterday in another part of the legislature, he did not suppose there would be any objection. The ground on which he rested his motion was, the notoriety of certain facts, and the right the House had to expect official information on a subject of such importance. The object of his motion was to have laid before the House copies of the dispatches which had been sent by his Majesty's govt. to the different presidencies in India, and the commanding officers there, as well as to the governor of the island of St. Helena, on his Majesty's messages of March and May last. The message of the 8th of March had been known at Calcutta so early as the 24th of June, though no official account had reached it till the 5th of July. On the 5th of June a French frigate arrived with and landed troops at Pondicherry; on the 13th Linois arrived there, but on the 14th a corvette reached him with dispatches, in consequence of which he cut his cables in the night, and escaped. The hon. member then adverted to the different periods at which the different presidencies had been made acquainted with the rupture, and contended, that if the facts he stated could not be controverted, they were a proof of gross and criminal neglect on the part of his Majesty's ministers. As to St. Helena, no dispatches whatever had been sent by govt. to that island, and the first intimation of the rupture was received there in the month of Oct. from an English frigate, which carried a prize there. He hoped his Majesty's ministers could prove that every necessary precaution had been taken to secure our possessions in that quarter, and that if any misfortune were to be the consequence of the escape of Linois, it would not be attributable to their neglect. The hon. gent. then moved, that an humble address be presented to his Majesty, requesting that he would be graciously pleased to give directions, that there be laid before the House copies of all the dispatches sent to the different presidencies in India, and the officers commanding by land and sea there, communicating his Majesty's message of the 8th of March; also, of the dispatches to the same, communicating the rupture with France; also, an account of the dates of the receipts of said dispatches respectively; also, copies of the dispatches to the governor of the island of St. Helena, communicating the message of the 8th of March, and the rupture, with an account of the dates of their receipt.

said, he had no objection to the production of the papers; if he could feel any, it was only that they did not go far enough. As to the circumstance alluded to by the hon. member, which had taken place in another House, he could assure him that there would have been no objection in that quarter, if the motion had been brought forward after a regular notice. The noble Lord then stated, that distinct and positive dispatches had been sent out by his Majesty's ministers, and by the secret committee at the India House, to the different presi- dencies and to the officers commanding in India, both on his Majesty's message in March and May.—The motions were then agreed to.

moved the order of the day for the House to resolve itself into a committee of the whole House on the Army of Reserve Suspension Bill. The order being read, the right hon. gent. said, that when he had the honour of proposing to the House this bill, he was not aware that he should be under the necessity of postponing the consideration of it, as he was now about to propose. The clauses, which he felt it his duty to submit, were not ready this day; and as Wednesday next was understood to be an open day, he should hope the right hon. gent. (Mr. Pitt) would have no objection to this question being postponed until Wednesday next, and the committee of ways and means might be deferred until Friday. He therefore now moved, that the house do, on Wednesday next, resolve itself into the said committee.

said, he heard this motion with some surprise. An hon. friend of his gave notice, that it was his wish, before the House went into a committee on this bill, to take an opportunity of stating his reasons against the farther progress of this bill at the present time; and it was his wish, instead of suspending the operation of the Army of Reserve Bill, to ingraft upon it a plan for the augmentation and improvement of the regular army. If the right hon. gent. had clauses to propose in the bill, and he was not prepared with them at present, it was a good reason for postponing the committee on the bill, and he would have no objection to that course being taken, supposing the House to be determined that this bill should be committed at all; but the whole argument he had to urge would go to show, that instead of making any farther progress in tins bill for the suspension of the army of reserve, the House ought to consider what could be ingrasted upon it, as a system for the improvement of the regular army: his intention was to have objected to the Speaker's leaving the Chair, and to propose postponing the consideration of this bill for a fortnight, in order to give to himself an opportunity of submitting, and the House of considering, his ideas upon tins subject, which he was ready to propose now. There was, therefore; nothing in the right hon. gent.'s postponing his clauses, that should prevent the House discussing the question that the Speaker do leave the Chair; for, if it should be the opinion of the House that the bill was altogether unnecessary, there need be no time allowed to prepare clauses for the farther progress of it. The House might now determine, that, instead of postponing the bill until Wednesday, it should be postponed altogether, in order to give way for another plan in preference to it. Therefore if he agreed to postponing the bill until he thought proper, it should be made Wednesday se'ennight, or fortnight, and that for the express purpose of affording an opportunity of his submitting another plan for the adoption of the House, which was founded on a system of increasing the regular army for our defence, both now and in future, upon a permanent foundation. At the same time, if any ground could be stated to show it to be in any considerable degree inconvenient to ministers to enter on the investigation of this subject, at this moment, he should not wish to press the matter, to create that inconvenience to govt.; but the House should understand that he was prepared to state his ideas upon this important subject this day. The House was assembled for the purpose of having it discussed now. The clauses alluded to by the right hon. gent. not being ready, could be no reason for the delay. If ministers had any reasons to allege for the delay, he was ready to hear them, and he was disposed to give them any accommodation that was necessary; but the reason hitherto stated, was not any thing on which the House could very consistently act against the taking its sense upon the preliminary objection to the Speaker's leaving the Chair this day, and that course being taken, would accomplish the very object the right hon. gent. had in view; for the debate would most probably continue to an hour that would make a detailed discussion on the clauses impossible; at least, if the progress went so far as the place of the proposed clauses of the right hon. gent. which were not ready, the discussion might be stopped, and postponed to a day on which he thought he might be prepared, than which nothing was easier. He had stated this to the House, that a discussion of this importance should not be unnecessarily delayed; and now, before he proceeded farther, he should wait for the reasons of the right hon. gent.

said, that a debate of this importance should not be brought on until the materials were properly prepared. He had already stated why he could not go into the committee on this bill at present, because the amendments he had to propose were not ready. It could not be ascertained how long the debate on the Speaker's leaving the chair might continue; he was, therefore, justified in proposing to postpone the discussion on this bill, and it was essential, if the bill passed at all, that it should pass with all reasonable expedition. It was competent, certainly, to the right hon. gent. to propose postponing this bill for a greater length of time than was now proposed, or to move for putting it off altogether, and it would be open to him on any day, if he gave notice, to propose his plan to the House, and if the House should think that his plan was preferable to this bill, the House might postpone the bill to make way for it. He had now stated his reasons for postponing the bill for the time he mentioned; the right hon. gent. night move an amendment to that motion, and if he did, he should state to the House his reasons for not postponing this bill farther than he had proposed.

said, he should hope the right hon. gent. would not persist in his objection for postponing this bill further than Wednesday next; nor would he be precluded from moving to postpone the bill at any time. An opportunity would be as well afforded to him on the question for the Speaker leaving the chair, as if it were now moved. He might also, on that night, bring forward his plan as well as if he did it now: the right hon. gent. therefore, could not be fettered or embarrassed by acquiescing in the motion now before the House, because, on Wednesday, he could propose a still farther delay. It might be said, that the question of leaving the chair had nothing to do with the clauses that might be proposed in the committee; but although it was not quite regular, yet the practice often was to state the substance of clauses intended to be proposed, before the House went into a committee; and it was often important that the House should be possessed of that information, although somewhat irregular, for it often afforded the House means of judging whether it ought to go into a committee or not: the only question then was, whether the right hon. gent. should state his objections to the bill now, or take the opportunity that would be afforded him of doing so on Wednesday? The right hon. gent. himself acquiesced in the idea, that his plan should not be brought forward until after the discussion on the suspension of the army of reserve had taken place; and he thought it was understood that the right hon. gent. would not bring forward his plan until after the discussion should have taken place on the army of reserve: but be that as it might, he must submit that it was due to the ordinary disposition of the House, that those who have any matters to propose, may be allowed the time they want to prepare what they have to bring forward; and although he could not state the circumstances with strict propriety, yet he could not forbear saying, that several members of the House were apprized of the intention of the right hon. gent. to postpone his motion. He was sure he should have credit for what he said; it was, in point of fact, a truth, that several members of that House, who were not now present, had been impressed with an idea that the House would not proceed on this matter to-day. He contended that no possible inconvenience could arise from the course proposed by his right hon. friend; for the right hon. gent. would have as full and fair an opportunity on Wednesday, as he had today, of bringing forward his proposition: at the same time, he did not think it was worth while to protract the discussion at the present moment; and if it should be the pleasure of the House to proceed on the bill, he hoped that no time would be wasted in preliminary discussions.

said, that the right hon. the Chancellor of the Exchequer seemed to think that the right hon. gent. (Mr. Yorke) had expressed some doubt of his being ready to-day; but so far from it, that gent. had postponed the discussion from Wednesday last to this day, on purpose that he might be ready. But if the right hon. Secretary of State felt himself less ready now than he was on Wednesday last, the probability was, that on Wednesday next he would be still less ready, and, therefore, he saw no good reason for the delay proposed.

stated, that he had said he hoped he should be ready with the clauses on Friday, but, at the same time, he mentioned that one or two of them required a good deal of consideration. He avowed that there was no intention on the part of his Majesty's ministers to deprecate the discussion of the bill, but they merely deprecated going into the committee immediately, because they were not ready with the clauses intended to be proposed.

said, that one of the reasons which induced him to press the discussion, was a desire to consult the convenience of the House. Another was, his wish to bring forward the discussion on this subject previous to any of the other discussions of which notices had been given. It was with reluctance, therefore, he consented to his amendment; but as he had the strongest desire to accommodate those whose duty it was to bring forward and arrange the public measures, he should not press it in this instance. He must say, however, that he did not yield to arguments. He had no reason for being anxious for this discussion to-day, but to consult the convenience of the House, and the only reason assigned was, that the Army of Reserve Suspension Bill should be discussed before he submitted his proposition to the House; it was with considerable reluctance that he consented to the delay of this discussion upon such a reason: at the same time he felt a strong desire to accommodate persons in the situation in which ministers professed themselves to be, although he was not convinced by their arguments, and to allow them all the advantages they thought they might gain by time, if they thought a fuller attendance was likely to take place on another day; and he saw no symptoms of indifference in that respect at present, the numbers being very considerable. He would not oppose the delay; he must, however, be allowed to remark, that taking it for granted that a subject would not be brought on the day it was appointed, was rather more than gent. were justified in doing. He was prepared to take the sense of the House on this matter; but as gent. on the bench below him said they were not prepared to meet the subject now, if they thought they could, in a few days, be in any respect better able to meet the question—it they had neglected to give any gent. proper precaution to attend, and that by fresh application some gent. who were absent now would attend on Wednesday, or, from any other reason, they should think they would be in a better condition to meet the case than they were at present, he should not oppose the delay; but the subject must be discussed, and he was anxious to submit his plan to the House. But still, however reluctant, he must agree to postpone this matter to accommodate ministers.—The question was then put and carride.

rose to object to the further issue of Exchequer bills. He considered 24,800,000l. the sum in this form now in the money market, and that it was much too large a sum to answer the purposes of national expedience. At the time the loan will be proposed, the quantity in the market will probably be 25,000,000l. and the effect of this enormous quantity, if continued, must necessarily be greatly to reduce their value. It should be recollected, that last year, when the financial negotiations were commenced, we had only 20 millions in Exchequer bills, and we should pause before we departed from the established maxims of state policy, which had been hitherto regarded with so much advantage. It was the more wise at this time to economise the pecuniary resources, as we might be led into a prodigious expenditure. We may be constrained to call out the volunteer force, and to support, in consequence, the expense of this immense military body. No less a sum than 16 millions is to be raised between the present time and the 5th of April next. Another motive for the preference of a large loan to a small one, to excuse the issue of Exchequer bills, is, that the loyalty loan is to be provided for. If the amount of Exchequer bills were to be so extravagantly increased, we could not rely upon this resource for that and similar emergencies; and next year, if the minister proceeded as he has done, we should have to fund for Exchequer bills, in addition to the periodical loan the necessaries of the state will require. Exchequer bills are now, and have been for the last month at a discount. He wished, that instead of 8 millions in this way, only 3 millions should be issued. It would, perhaps, be said, that the issue of Exchequer bills is not now greater than at some former periods. Looking, however, at the four last budgets, the quantity was never so burthensome as at present in that interval. It was true, that under the former administration, they had been extended to 26 millions; but the impolicy was soon discovered, and, as soon as possible, the diminution was effected. On every view of the case he could not discern any reason why the loan might not in the present instance be increased, and the bills diminished live millions. If there was a plausible objection, it was, that the public had been led to expect the approaching loan should not exceed 16 millions; but he was confident the right hon. gent. Would not barter away the substantial interests of the country to avoid disappointing this expectation. He was sure the Chancellor of the Exchequer had the benefit of the state nearest his heart, and would be equally disposed to sacrifice private feeling or popular applause to promote it.

agreed in the general principle, that an excessive issue of Exchequer bills would be injurious to the country, but denied that that was the case in the present instance. There were no bills outstanding of an earlier date than April 1803, and, from the quantity discharged, the market required a new issue. Those now outstanding would be materially diminished this year, and as the whole expenditure of the year was to be provided for by the ways and means of the year, without including Exchequer bills, a large amount of them would be paid off in the course of the year, and the quantity in the market, at any period, would never exceed the quantity at any former corresponding period.—A conversation ensued, in which

stated, that, from an attentive investigation of the price current, he had found that Exchequer bills had been at a discount of one per cent. from the 1st of Jan. to the present time. Mr. Dent also stated, that they were at a discount. Mr. Vansittart, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer stated, that the bills that had been at a discount, were only those that bore an interest of 3d. a day, none of those issued by the present govt. bearing an interest of 3½d. a day, were at a discount.—The resolutions were agreed to, as well as those respecting the pay and clothing of the militia, and the allowance to militia officers; and bills were ordered accordingly.

said, he was not aware when he gave his vote in favour of the Irish Militia Offer Bill, that the Roman Catholics in the Irish militia as soon as they came over here would be subject to the penalties of the statute of Geo. I. He wished to know, whether the right hon. gent. opposite had provided any remedy for such Roman Catholic militiamen, against those penalties? If not, he should, on an early day, submit a motion to the House on the subject.

said, the hon. gent. might have answered his own question. He could not have provided any remedy, but by a legislative measure, of which the hon. gent. Would have been aware, it had been brought forward. He had only to observe, that there was nothing applicable to the Irish militia, which was not equally applicable to the Irish Catholics in the regiments of the line, nor had they any thing more to apprehend.