expressed his regret, that what he had to state that evening should cause the slightest delay in any other proceeding before the House; but he wished to press upon the attention of the committee a subject of peculiar importance, and hon. gentlemen must be aware, that whenever pecuniary transactions had taken place between the government and individuals it had always been deemed proper, in order to avoid all risk, and to prevent all misapprehension, to submit a statement of them to parliament as soon as possible. It was, therefore, the practice to allow the consideration of a loan to take precedence of all other business. Under these circumstances he should claim the indulgence of the committee while he made a statement to them of the highly favourable terms on which a bargain had been arranged for a very large sum of money; and which, although not completely carried into effect, was so within the comparatively small sum of seven or eight hundred thousand pounds. But even this slight deficiency was in such progress of fulfilment, that he should be wanting in justice to the subscribers and to the public if he did not take this early opportunity of calling for the approbation of the committee, and for their sanction to the terms on which the transaction had been arranged. Be- fore, however, he proceeded to detail those terms, it might be expected from him that he should enter into that general statement of the financial operations for the year with which it was usual to accompany the communication of the most important financial measure for the session. It was his intention briefly to do this; although he was sensible that he should address the committee to some disadvantage, because the papers containing the annual accounts of the year had not been presented, and therefore gentlemen would not be able immediately to verify his statements, or to obtain that full information which they would have possessed had the subject been brought forward at a later period of the session. But as those accounts would soon be laid on the table of the House, any hon. gentleman, in the future stages of the proceeding that might arise out of the propositions of that evening, would enjoy an ample opportunity of supplying any deficiency that might appear in his (the chancellor of the exchequer's) communications, and of making any farther observations that the importance of the subject might seem to require. Notwithstanding therefore, the absence of, the accounts to which he had alluded, he thought it proper to make a general statement of the financial situation of the country.—It must be recollected that the sums for nearly all the operations of the year had already been voted, so that he could now state the amount of the supply and the ways and means of the year, with but few exceptions. The committee were aware that they had already voted the navy estimates, the army estimates (with the exception of the barracks, the commissariat, and the extraordinaries)and the ordnance estimates; and a considerable progress had been made in the miscellaneous estimates, although some items still remained to be granted. By referring to the votes, the committee would find the sums that had already been granted. The sum intended for the army extraordinaries was 1,400,000l.; the particulars of which would on a future day be submitted to the committee. The votes which had already passed for the army, added to this sum which it was proposed to vote for the extraordinaries, would make a total for the army in the present year (exclusively of the troops, in France) of 8,970,000l. Last year the vote for the army had been 9,412,373l. In both cases were included the expenses of the disembodied militia, which had not been voted last year until a late period of the session, but in this had been added to the general vote for army services in the committee.—The sum voted for the navy last year was 7,596,022l. In the present year it was 6,456,800l. The expense of ordnance in the present year, including the naval ordnance, which had formerly been voted under the head of navy but which he thought best to refer to the general head of ordnance, was 1,245,600l. Last year it, was 1,270,690l. The miscellaneous estimates in the present year were 1,720,000l.; in which however he of course did not include the sum of 1,000,000l. granted for the building of new churches and chapels. He had thought it best not to include that sum in the accounts of the year, as exchequer bills were to be issued for the specific purpose of providing for it. In the miscellaneous estimates, however, was included the vote of 100,000l. for the augmentation of small livings. Last year the miscellaneous estimates amounted to 1,795,000l.—The total of the supply, therefore, under the various heads which he had enumerated was 18,392,400l. Last year it had been 20,074,091l.—To this sum of 18,392,400l. were to be added 2,000,000l. for the interest of exchequer bills, and a sinking fund on them of 560,000l.; making the grand total of supply 20,952,400l. That for the last year was 22,304,091l.—He thought it very probable that in consequence of the arrangement that had been made for funding a large proportion of the outstanding exchequer bills, there might be a saving upon the interest; but it must be recollected that, whether that should turn out so or not, provision had already been, made for them. In addition however to the regular services which he had mentioned, there were some few items of expenditure, already voted by parliament, that remained to be provided for. The first was the grant of 725,681l. 12s. 3d. for fortifications in the Netherlands, in pursuance of the treaty of 1815; but it was not intended to propose any addition to the burthens of the country on that account, as the expense was to be defrayed out of the French contributions in the hands of the commissioners. The second item was the sum of 400,000l., which had been voted for carrying into execution the treaty with Spain for the abolition of the Slave trade. Another extraordinary item was 259,686l., to supply the deficiency of the ways and means of last year—not arising out of any failure of the ways and means themselves, but from the circumstance of the vote for the charge of disembodied militia, to the amount of 300,000l., which took place last session after the other supplies had been voted, and the ways and means provided. This charge had formerly been paid out of the land tax, in the nature of an anticipation of the payments into the exchequer; but it had been thought that it would be more regular to vote it in the committee of supply, that in common with the other expenses of the country, it might be brought more distinctly before parliament. The deficiency which was now to be voted, was the difference between the sum of 300,000l. voted for the purpose he had already described, and the small excess of the ways and means of last year above their estimated amount. These two extraordinary payments which were this year to be provided for, amounted to 659,686l., which added to the regular supplies for the service of the year, made 21,011,000l.—He should now briefly state the manner in which he proposed to provide for this sum. In the first place there was the vote of 3,000,000l. on the annual taxes, which it was unnecessary to explain, as the same vote was proposed yearly. The next sum was 3,500,000l. on those excise duties which by law were continued till 1821. It would be found, by reference to the accounts, that in the year ending the 5th of April 1818, those duties produced only 3,184,950. But from the state of progressive improvement in which they now were, there was a fair prospect that within the year 1818 they would produce three millions and a half. The next item was the usual sum of 250,000l. by way of lottery. The sale of old naval stores it was estimated would produce a similar sum. In 1817 it would be seen that they produced 400,000l.; but it was obvious that the sum produced from that source, must diminish with the duration of peace. In the present year the commissioners of the navy have calculated the produce at 250,000l. This sum was of course but a conjectural estimate, though there was reason to believe that it had not been taken too highly. The next item arose from some considerable arrears to be received on the property tax. In the last year 1,522,648l. had been received from that source. Still 350,000l. remained to be collected, of which it was calculated that about 250,000l. would probably be received in the present year. There was also a sum of 21,448l., arising from the profits resulting from the loan of 1,000,000l. of exchequer bills granted last year, to promote public works and for the general employment of the poor; which profits the commissioners for managing that loan had already paid into the exchequer; and much more was expected to be returned in the course of the current year. The total amount, therefore, of what might be called the ready money of the ways and means, was 7,271,448l. He did not this year mean to take credit for any surplus on the consolidated fund; for although he had no doubt that there would be a considerable surplus, yet he did not believe it would be more than sufficient to replace the deficiencies of the income of that fund in former years. Those arrears however would this year be discharged, and in the next year he hoped a very considerable sum would be at the disposal of parliament, from the surplus of that fund.—Comparing the sum of 7,271,448l., which he had already described as the ready money of the ways and means, with the sum of 21,011,000l., which he had stated to be the total amount of the supplies, it would appear that there was a sum of about 14,000,000l. to be provided for, for the service of the year. With a view to provide for this sums of 14,000,000l., and also to effect a considerable reduction, of our unfunded debt, ministers had resolved to enter into the arrangements which it was now his duty to explain to the committee. In the first place it would be necessary that he should state the objects which government had in view in these arrangements; the principal of which was, by funding a certain portion of exchequer bills, to effect a considerable reduction in the unfunded debt. The committee must be aware that it was always usual to take the earliest opportunity after a peace, of funding a great part of the floating debt, which never failed to accumulate in time of war. There was no doubt, an unusual amount of this debt at present, which government had been naturally anxious to reduce as soon as circumstances might favour the operation, but respecting which, it had not until that time been deemed advisable to take any step. It might be recollected, although perhaps it was not a matter of any great consequence, that in 1816 he had given a sort of notice of his intention after the expiration of two years of peace, to propose the funding of a certain amount of exchequer bills. If the state of our finances had not been so favourable as to warrant the execution of his intended plan, he should certainly not have considered himself bound to act according to the notice he had alluded to; but he had the satisfaction to say, not only that the expectations which he entertained in 1816 were realized, but that he was enabled to do much more than he had at that time led the House to expect, or to hope. It was a fact, that although the unfunded debt had increased to a great degree since the peace, that accumulation was not productive of any detriment or inconvenience to the country; but still it was not deemed consistent with sound policy, or with the financial principles which had always regulated the conduct of the British government, to allow such an accumulation to continue, much less to increase. The considerable addition to our unfunded debt within the last two years-amounting to no less a sum than 18,000,000l., was notoriously the inevitable result of the decision of that House, to put an end to the tax on property. But although (as he had already said) no public inconvenience was occasioned by the amount of our unfunded debt, still it was thought inexpedient farther to prolong the existence of such a debt as fifty or sixty millions; because, in the event of any public alarm or danger, of which, how- ever, he had no apprehension, the existence of such a debt might be productive of serious mischief. Prudent ministers, finding the state of the funds, with the general circumstances of the country favourable for the purpose—finding also, that there was a great overflow of money in the market, would certainly consider the present as an advantageous moment at which to reduce the floating debt. He put it to the committee whether it was probable that a more favourable opportunity than this would present itself? The funds might and probably would be higher; but that could not be expected at any early period to afford the means of making a more beneficial arrangement than that which he was about to show had been concluded. By this arrangement the expectations which he held out in 1816 had been more than fulfilled. There were some persons no doubt who had objected to the increase of the unfunded debt since the conclusion of peace; but he was always of opinion, that such increase was much preferable to the contraction of a loan. The committee might perhaps do him the honour to recollect the opinion which he had expressed on this Subject in 1816. At that time he asserted the policy of rather issuing exchequer bills to meet the exigencies of the year, than of borrowing money or contracting any loan; and he stated that, besides the saving of interest in the bargain he had made with the Bank, if the sum then raised by exchequer bills should be repaid by some future loan, the saving to the public might be considerable. On the same occasion, he had expressed his opinion of the expediency of funding exchequer bills whenever the 3 per cents should rise to seventy-five. They were now at eighty. Time therefore he was glad to say had justified his opinion; for no less than two millions were saved within two years to the country by preferring the issue of exchequer bills to the contraction of any loan, and it was now proposed to fund twenty-seven millions of those bills, an amount much larger than he had anticipated. But, were the whole of the outstanding bills, beyond the amount which it must be considered as desirable to keep outstanding during peace funded at once, he had the satisfaction to say, that no addition would be made to the capital of the national debt beyond that at which it stood at the conclusion of the war. For gentlemen were perhaps not aware of the progress that had been made by the sinking fund during the peace. Such had been the progress of that fund that no less than 50,000,000l. of capital stock had been reduced by it since November 1815;—he meant that the amount of the debt on the 1st of November 1815 was 50;000,000l. higher than it was at the moment he was speaking. This reduction of the debt to so great an amount must have had the effect of clearing the market of stock, and of removing the apprehensions arising from so great an annual expenditure.—By the quantity of unfunded debt which it was now proposed to fund, he hoped the money market and the public credit would be so much improved, as to lead to very important ulterior consequences—he meant to the reduction of the four and five per cents. He entertained a hope that the accomplishment of this desirable object might be looked for at no very distant period Such indeed was the improved state of the money market, that although it might not be expedient to propose such a reduction within the present year, it might he thought, be confidently looked for within the next session. But he did not altogether despair of being able to bring forward such a measure even with the present session. He should now state the principle on which the present plan was founded. The object of ministers had been to raise a considerable sum of money for the service of the year without increasing the nominal capital of the debt, by creating out of the 3 per cent stock a stock which should bear the interest of 3½ per cent; while the existence of such a stock would naturally serve to facilitate the reduction of the 4 and 5 per cents; for the 3½ per cents would rise to par sooner than the S per cents; and if the holders of the 5 per cents were to be reduced to 4 per cent, instead of this 3½ stock, there might be an apprehension entertained by them that they would be eventually reduced to 3, which by the terms of the contract for the creation of the 3½ per cent stock they were secure from for 10 years. On those grounds he looked to the new stock as the means of affording great facilities for the reduction of the four and five per cents; while the creation of that stock produced no addition to the nominal capital of the debt. It was proposed that the new stock should consist of 27,000,000l., by which the sum of 3,000,000l. would be raised for the public service, by the pay- ment of 11 per cent, on the sum transferred as a compensation for the difference of value between a 3½ and a 3 per cent. fund. It was also proposed to fund exchequer bills to the amount of 27,000,000l. The terms had already been before the public. The subscriber would have to pay 11l. for every 100l. stock, transferred from the 3 per cent into the 3½ per cent stock. The actual difference considered in the light of an annuity between the 3 and the 3½ per cent funds would have been when the offer was made 13 per cent; that was supposing the price to be 78. In this offer a fair and free bonus was held out of two per cent; but were it not for the protection to be afforded to the 3½ per cents by the purchases of the commissioners for the reduction of the national debt, the difference would indeed be extremely small. The public would be a gainer on the whole transaction of 3,000,000l. He had also been encouraged to make the present experiment, from the success of an arrangement sanctioned by parliament last year for legalising the transfer of 3 per cent stock into the Irish 3½ per cents, by the sacrifice of a seventh of the capital so transferred. This plan had been acted on last autumn to the amount of half a million; a material sum considering the circumstances of Ireland. But such transfer manifesting the willingness of stockholders to avail themselves of a proposition for the investment of money in a 3½ per cent fund, and the Irish proprietors in the British stocks so promptly making the transfer with the view of having their interest paid to them in Dublin, it struck his mind that other holders of the 3 per cents might be equally ready to seek an advanced interest on their capital in London. Hence the present plan was brought forward. In the original notice at the Bank, it had only been stated that a subscription would be opened for raising a part of the supply of the year, and it was proposed that the parties transferring their stock should have the option of funding exchequer bills to the extent of double the amount of the money to be paid as the consideration for the exchange of 3½ per cent stock. Under this plan 6,000,000l. of stock had been subscribed for transfer within the first three days.

After this time a farther opportunity was offered by second notice for funding exchequer bills to the amount of a sum equal to the stock transferred. This was so much approved of that nearly the whole sum had been raised at the time he was speaking, and there was no doubt of its speedy completion. The addition to the funded debt in consequence of the propositions which he had to submit would be about 34,900,000l. of stock, which however would only produce an augmentation of the nominal capital of the public debt beyond the money actually raised to the amount of between four and five millions, being the difference between the above sum of 34,900,000l. and that of 30,270,000l. either of money to be paid in, or of unfunded debt reduced. According to the last intelligence from Ireland, he understood that the price of 3½ per cents in that country was 93; which bore a full comparative proportion to the English 3 per cents. Apprehensions had been expressed, that the new stock was not likely to be so marketable, and therefore that it would sink in value. But it would be recollected, that it was the duty of the commissioners for the redemption of the national debt, to apply the sinking fund to that stock which could be had on the best terms, and that it was therefore in the power of those commissioners always to maintain the new stock in its relative proportion. They had indeed such a command in the money market as would enable them effectually to guard against any undue depreciation of the new stock. In order to put the committee in more complete possession of his plan, he would read it to them in its detailed form:—[see opposite].

The committee would observe that the rate of interest was lower than could have been expected at the termination of an expensive war, and under all the circumstances in which the country was placed. This interest it was proposed to provide for by cancelling stock according to the act of 1813. If the committee would compare the terms on which 11 millions of naval exchequer bills were funded in 1785 by Mr. Pitt, with the present plan, the difference in favour of the latter would be immediately seen. The funds were only at 56 in 1785, which was a period of peace; but by the operation of the sinking fund, which had enabled the country to make such extraordinary efforts in the late war, the funds were at 57 even at the close of that War, and they were now as high as 80. With this fact before the committee and the public, every man must see that no doubt could be entertained of the success of the new stock. Of that success those most interested and lost competent to judge were already fully assured. Some doubt he understood ad been expressed whether the holders of exchequer bills would be willing to fund them on the terms proposed; but he apprehended that there was no ground or such doubt; first, because it was for he advantage of those holders to subscribe, and secondly, because he never remembered an instance in which subscribers had declined to perform the optional part of their engagement—Adverting to the act of 1813, and reverting to the charge of interest, he observed, that it was his intention to propose that that charge should be defrayed out of the linking fund. This proposition, however, he meant to bring forward on another day, a king care to provide that no reduction of the sinking fund should take place within the present year. The committee would remember that by the act of 1813 it was provided that there should be a reserved sum of 100 millions of stock in the hands of the commissioners for the reduction of the national debt for certain purposes, and he was happy to say; that of that sum about 90,000,000l. had already been provided. A sum of 84,000,000l. had indeed already been advertised in the Gazette. The charge of interest upon this occasion, or any other charge to be imposed upon the sinking fund, he proposed to have defrayed in such a manner, as not to reduce the present amount of the fund in the hands of the commissioners. To the reduction of that fund, he was indeed by no means disposed to assent; and therefore his purpose was, that the after-purchases" of the commissioners should be employed to defray those charges. But he would not enter further into that subject at present, for that would be to anticipate the discussion of a future day. Reverting to the improvement of the revenue, he observed, that it afforded a most gratifying reflection. That improvement was indeed such in the excise, from which the condition and consumption of the people might best be estimated, that the receipt of the last quarter, compared with the corresponding quarter of last year, was improved more than 10 per cent, the increase having been 509,750l. on a revenue of 4,640,000l. The excise war duty of the last quarter exceeded in amount the corresponding quarter of the last year by near 90,000l. Nor were then customs duties less promising in their appearance than those of the excise. There was one circumstance with respect to them to which it was necessary the committee should refer the forming their estimate of that branch of the revenue. In consequence of the additional duty of 3s. a cwt. to be paid on sugar after the 5th of January 1818, a larger portion of the sugar duties had been paid in anticipation; so that, in the quarter before the last, five or six hundred thousand pounds had been paid of those duties which, in the fair routine of the revenue, would have been paid in the last quarter. Nevertheless, the amount of the customs duties of that last quarter exceeded by above 90,000l. that of the corresponding quarter, and might have been expected, if this circumstance had not taken place, to have exceeded it by six or seven hundred thousand pounds. Calculating on all these circumstances, and looking at the general improvement in the commerce and manufactures of the country (of which the committee must themselves be perfectly aware) it was impossible not to anticipate, that so large an increase would take place in the revenue before the close of the year, as to add considerably to the consolidated fund. It was not his intention, however (as he had already stated), to call on parliament for any grant from the consolidated fund in the present year: but next year he hoped, that a considerable sum might become available from it for the public service. For the charges thrown on the consolidated fund this year, he should propose no new taxes. He would at all events abstain from doing so till next year, and in the interim, he hoped the circumstances of the year or the consequences of the great measure now submitted to the committee, would furnish the means of providing for them in a manner the most satisfactory to the public.—The right hon. gentleman concluded by moving the following Resolutions:

1. "That, towards raising the supply granted to his majesty, every person who shall, on or before the 24th of April 1818, have subscribed his name in the books of the governor and company of the Bank of England, for the purpose of converting not less than 2,000l. capital stock in the 3l. per cent, consolidated, or 3 per cent reduced annuities, into annuities at the rate of 3l. 10s. per cent per annum, shall upon the transfer of such 3l. per cent annuities to the account of the commissioners for the reduction of the National Debt, and upon payment to the chief cashier or cashiers of the governor and company of the Bank of England, at the times hereafter mentioned, of the sum of 11l. in money for every 100l. of the said annuities, be entitled to 100l. in annuities, after the rate of 3l. 10s. per cent per annum, which annuities shall be charged upon the consolidated fund of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and shall be payable half yearly at the Bank of England, on the 5th of April, and the 10th of October, and shall be transferable in the books of the governor and company of the Bank of England; and the whole of the money to arise from the payment of 11l. on each 100l., 3l. per cent consolidated or reduced annuities to be subscribed, or to be transferred as aforesaid, shall not exceed the sum of 3,000,000l.

"That every person subscribing 3l. per cent consolidated or reduced annuities, into annuities bearing interest at the rate of 3l. 10s. per cent shall transfer the amount of 3l. per cent annuities subscribed to the account of the commissioners for the reduction of the National Debt, at the following times, viz.; every person subscribing 2,000l. and less than 50,000l. of such annuities, shall transfer 15l. per cent thereof to the said commissioners on any day between the 28th day of April, and the 4th day of May 1818, on which the books of the governor and company of the Bank of England shall be open for making transfers, and the remaining 85l. per cent on or before the 2d day of June 1818; and every person subscribing 50,000l. and upwards of such annuities, shall transfer 15l. per cent thereof on the 28th or 29th of this instant April, and the remaining 85l. per cent on or before the 27th of November next.

"That the said sum of 11l. in money for every 100l. of 3 per cent consolidated or re duced annuities so subscribed to be transferred to the account of the commissioners for the reduction of the National Debt shall be paid to the chief cashier or cashiers of the governor and company of the Bank of England, on or before the days and times hereafter mentioned, viz.; 1l. at the time of subscribing, by way of a deposit, and as a security for making the further payments. 1l. on or before the 19th of June 1818, 1s. on or before the 24th of July, 1l. on or before the 7th of August, 1l. on or before the 4th of September, ll on or before the 16th of October, 1l. on or before the 13th of November, 1l. on or before the 4th of December, 1l. on or before the 15tb of January 1819, 1l. on or before the 5th of Fe-February; and 1l. on or before the 5th of March.

"That every subscriber who shall on or before the 4th day of February 1819, pay the whole of his subscription, shall be allowed an interest by way of discount, after the rate of 2l. per cent per annum on the sum so advanced for completing his subscription, to be computed from the day of completing the same to the 5th day of March 1819.

"That every person who shall, on or he for the 2d of June 1818, have transferred to the account of the commissioners for the reduction of the National Debt the whole of the 3l. per cent consolidated or reduced annuities subscribed by him, shall be entitled to the principal sum of 88l. in annuities at the rate of 3l. 10s. per cent for every 100l. Of 3l. per cent annuities so transferred, such annuity at the rate of 3l. 10s. per cent, to commence from the 5th of April 1818; and every person who shall after the 2d day of June and before the 27th of November, have transferred to the account of the said commissioners the whole of the 3l. per cent consolidated or reduced annuities subscribed by him, shall be entitled to the principal sum of 88l. in annuities at the rate of 3l. 10s. per cent for every 100l. of 3l. per cent annuities so transferred, such annuities at the rate of 3l. 10s. per cent, to commence from the 10th of October 1818; and every person who shall, on or before the 5th of March 1819, have paid to the chief cashier or cashiers of the governor and company of the Bank of England the sum of 11l. in money for every 100l. of 3l. per cent annuities subscribed by him, shall be entitled to the farther pincipal sum of 12l. in annuities at the rate of 3l. 10s. per cent for every sum of 11l. so paid, such annuities to commence from the 5th day of April 1818; and such annuities at the rate of 3l. 10s. per cent per annum shall not bereduced, nor shall the principal sum of such annuities be paid off, at any time before the 5th day of April 1829.

"That the commissioners for the reduction of the National Debt be authorized and required to purchase the said annuities after the rate of 31. 10s. per cent in the proportion of at least 1l. per cent per annum on the capital to be created, whenever the principal sum of 100l. of such annuities can be purchased for less than 100l. in money.

"That the annuities at the rate of 3l. 10s. per cent shall, under the provisions of an act made in the 57th year of his present majesty, intituled, 'An Act to permit the transfer of capital from certain Public Stocks or Funds in Great Britain to certain Public Stocks or funds in Ireland,' be transferrable into annuities at the rate of 3l. 10s. per cent, payable and transferrable at the bank of Ireland; and every person transferring such annuities payable at the Bank of England shall be entitled for every 100s so transferred to the principal sum of 108l. 6s. 8d. in annuities at the rate of 3l. 10s. per cent payable at the bank of Ireland.

"That every person who shall have completed the transfer to the account of the commissioners for the reductien of the National Debt of the whole of the 3l. per cent consolidated annuities subscribed by him, shall be entitled to a dividend or interest at the rate of 15s. for every principal sum of 100l. in such 3l. per cent consolidated annuities which may have been so transferred, such dividend or interest to be paid at the Bank of England on the 5th of July next ensuing, provided the whole of the 3 per cent consolidated annuities subscribed by such person shall be transferred to the said commissioners on or before the 2d of June, or on the 5th of January next ensuing provided the whole of the 3l. per cent consolidated annuities subscribed by such person shall be transferred to the said commissioners after the 2d of June and before the 37th of November next; and after payment of the said dividend or interest, the whole of the said consolidated and reduced annuities which may be transferred to the said commissioners shall be cancelled, and the dividends on such annuities shall be no longer payable.

2. "That, towards raising the supply grant ed to his majesty, every person who shall, on or before the 24th of this instant April, have subscribed his name in the books of the governor and company of the Bank of England for transferring to the account of the commissioners for the reduction of the National Debt 3l. per cent annuities for other annuities at the rate of 3l. 10s. per cent, shall be at liberty to subscribe his name in the books of the said governor and company on the 28th or 29th of April, or the 2d of May next, for converting into 3l. per cent consolidated and reduced annuities, upon the terms and conditions here after mentioned, any exchequer bills already issued, or which may be issued before the 1st of August 1818, and which may not have been advertised to be paid off before the respective days of payment hereafter specified, to an amount not exceeding 100l. in exchequer bills for every 100l. of stock subscribed to be transferred to the account of the commissioners for the reduction of the National Debt; and that every such person shall at the time of so sub scribing his name make a deposit with the chief cashier or cashiers of the governor and company of the Bank of England, equal to 5l. per cent at least, on the amount of exchequer bills so subscribed, as a security for delivering into the office of the paymasters of exchequer bills the amount of exchequer bills so subscribed in manner following; viz. 20l. per cent on or before the 1st of August; 20l. on or before the 3rd of September; 20l. on or before the 1st of October; 20l. on or be fore the 31st of October. The remainder on or before the 26th of November. And that whenever the deposit shall have been made at the Bank in money as aforesaid, the paymasters of exchequer bills shall, so soon as the subscriber shall have brought in exchequer bills to the whole amount of his subscription, return to such subscribers the amount of such deposit; or such deposit may be taken into account as a part payment of the subscription of such subscribers.

"That every person who shall have made a deposit at the Bank of England to the amount of 5l. per cent on the exchequer bills subscribed by him, shall receive from the paymasters of exchequer bills a certificate or certificates upon which a receipt for the deposit made at the Bank of England shall be written; and such certificate or such certificates shall be carried to the office of the paymasters of exchequer bills at the time of making every future payment, the receipt for which shall be written thereon; and when the whole amount of exchequer bills expressed in such certificate or certificates shall have been acknowledged to have been received by the paymasters of exchequer bills, such certificate or certificates being carried into the Bank of England, and lodged with the governor and company of the said Bank, shall entitle the person or persons holding the same, for every 100l. principal money contained therein, to 64l. capital stock in the 3l. per cent consolidated annuities, the interest whereon shall commence from the 5th day of January, 1818, but the first payment shall not be made until the 5th day of January, 1819; and to 64l. capital stock in the 3l. per cent reduced annuities, the interest whereon shall commence from the 5th of April, 1818, and the first payment to be made on the 10th of October next, if the subscription shall have been completed on or before the 3rd of September next; but if the subscription shall not be completed until after that time, the first payment shall not be made until the 5th of April, 1819.

"That the interest on all exchequer bills which shall be deposited at the Bank of England, or which may be carried into the office of the paymasters of exchequer bills as aforesaid, shall be computed up to the 1st of August next inclusive, from which time the same shall cease, and the interest which may be due on such bills from the day of their date up to the said 1st of August shall be paid by the said paymasters as soon as conveniently may be after the said bills shall have been deposited or delivered in.

"That every such subscriber as aforesaid who shall be desirous of making up any part of the subscription in money instead of exchequer bills, shall be at liberty to do so, upon paying the same into the Bank of England to the account of the paymasters of exchequerd ills, together with a sum equal to 1l. per cent upon such money payment; and also if such payment should be made after the 1st day of August next, a further sum, equal to two-pence per cent per diem on the amount of such payment in money, to be computed from the said 1st of August; and the paymasters of exchequer bills shall, upon the payment to their account being duly certified to them grant a receipt on the before-mentioned certificate to such payment, in the same manner as if exchequer bills had been brought into their office.

"That all the monies to be received by the cashier or cashiers of the governor and company of the Bank of England, or which may be paid into the Bank to the account of the paymasters of exchequer bills shall be paid into the receipt of the exchequer, to be applied from time to time to such services as shall have been voted by this House in this session of parliament.

"3 That, towards raising the supply granted to his majesty, there be issued and applied the sum of 3,500,000l. out of the duties granted by an act made in the 56th of his present majesty, intituled 'An Act to continue until the 5th of July, 1821, certain additional Duties of Excise in Great Britain.'

"4. That, towards raising the supply granted to his majesty, there be issued and applied such sum or sums of money not exceeding 250,000l., arising from arrears of the duties on property, professions, trades, and offices, granted by an act made in, the 46th year of his present majesty, as shall be paid into the exchequer between the 5th of April, 1818, and the 5th of April, 1819."

The first Resolution being put,

said, he wished to make a few observations on what had fallen from the right hon. gentleman, although, considering the great multiplicity of the details into which the right hon. gentleman had necessarily entered, it could not be expected that he should follow him throughout the whole of his speech. There were, in his opinion, many things in the statement of the right hon. gentleman, and in the principle on which he founded that statement, that had an obvious tendency to conceal from the committee what appeared to him to be the sum and substance of the measure which the right hon. gentleman was proposing. The great and new plan of finance broached by the right hon. gentleman, seemed to resolve itself into this (and if he misunderstood it he should be happy to be set right), that a clear deficit existing of somewhere about fourteen millions, that deficit must someway or other be supplied; and this great and new plan consisted in some way or other borrowing the sum necessary—in contracting, in fact, a new loan either from a three and a half or a three per cent stock the interest of which (to be charged on the sinking fund) would amount to nearly 1,200,000l. Whatever might be the details of the proposition, that, he conceived, to be the result, or, in vulgar language, the upshot of it. Now, after three or four years of peace, he, for one, could not consider that a state of things in which such a proceeding became necessary, was at all flattering. The right hon. gentleman, indeed, appeared to entertain very sanguine hopes— hopes grounded on a comparison of the receipts of one branch of the revenue in the last quarter, with the corresponding quarter of 1817. Whether it was probable that the right hon. gentleman's hopes would be realized, was a question into which he would not then stop to inquire; but the fact evidently was, that after three or four years of peace, so far were we from being able to make the two ends of our finances meet, that a clear deficit existed to the amount which he had already stated; and that the means resorted to to supply that deficiency were the old war means of a loan, the interest of which was to be paid, not on the old war system, but by charging it on the sinking fund. On this view of the subject, he confessed that he felt it to be wise and prudent to withhold; until he should be further advised, any congratulations to the committee on the state of the country. The invention of the new stock of three and a half per cent. was another matter on which, with his present information, he must be allowed to withhold his felicitations. This stock, according to the light hon. gentleman's representation, appeared to be intended for a kind of halfway house for the four and five per cents, in that journey downwards, which the right hon gentleman seemed confidently to anticipate they would make at no very distant period. The right hon. gentleman entertained hopes, that at no distant day he might be enabled to induce the holders of four and five per cents to transfer their stock to a fund bearing a lower interest; and the right hon. gentleman said, that if he had allowed the stocks to remain as hitherto, divided only into three, four, and five per cents, he should have found it difficult to effect his purpose; and that there having been hitherto only the three per cents into which the four and five per cents could be commuted, he had devised this new plan of a three and a half per cent for the future accommodation of the holders of four and five per cents. The right hon. gentleman had declared, that the advantages of his new plan in this respect were as plain as possible; for that if a holder of five per cents were required to commute his stock for a stock bearing a lower interest, he would rather change it;—he supposed the right hon. gentleman was about to say, for three and a half per cent stock than for three per cent.; but no—he would rather change it for three and a half per cent than for four! And the reason assigned by the right hon. gentleman was, that the holder of five per cents, thus at once commuting his stock for three and a half per cent, would feel confident that it would never be reduced lower. For his own part, if he had the good fortune to be a large holder of five per cent stock, and if he were asked whether he would commute it for stock at four, or stock at three and a half per cent, he confessed that he should think the right hon. gentleman's argument, by which he would persuade him to prefer the three and a half per cent, very metaphysical. He would beg to have the four per cent stock in the first instance, and to talk about the three and a half at leisure—knowing at least this, that while he retained the four per cent. stock, he should be enjoying a half per cent more than he would have done had he embraced the other branch of the alternative. But on what ground was any holder of five per cent stock to entertain a confidence that if his stock were reduced to three and a half per cent it would never be reduced still more? The same cause, namely, the rise of the funds, which would give the chancellor of the exchequer the power of inducing the holder of five per cents to accept of a similar amount of stock in the four per cents, might, if progressive, enable him to induce the holder of stock in the three and a half per cent to accept of a similar amount of stock at a less interest. He was at a loss, therefore, to see what temptation there was to the holders of five per cents (in the event of circumstances warranting any change) to take these three and a half per cents in preference to four per cents.: and if there was no such temptation, he wished to know with what public benefit this new and grand financial invention was pregnant?—He could not close the few observations which he had taken the liberty to make on this subject, without entering his solemn protest against one part of the right hon. gentleman's budget. He meant that by which it was again proposed to raise a sum comparatively paltry and contemptible, by way of lottery. He begged the committee to remark, in addition to all the objections that had so long existed to this way of raising money, a peculiarity in the present instance—a gross and palpable inconsistency in the two parts of the budget, the expenses, and the ways and means. When his hon. friend, the mem- ber for Worcester, (Mr. Lyttelton) so forcibly argued the abandonment of the lottery, the right hon. gentleman had not a word to say in reply. His answer was a mere subterfuge to enable him to escape from the effect of his hon. friend's observations, and to cling to this favourite mode of finance. The right hon. gentleman admitted that it was liable to all the objections which had been adduced against it by his hon. friend; he did not deny its immoral and pernicious tendency; but all that he urged was, that government could not afford to give it up, and thus do what his conscience told him ought to be done, with a due regard to the morals and happiness of the community. Now, however, while still clinging to this method of raising money, there was to be found in the same budget, in which it was again brought forward, an item of 400,000l. to be paid to the Spanish government for the relinquishment of the Slave trade, as a fit sacrifice to that justice and morality, which by the grossest inconsistency, the proposition for raising a sum of money by way of lottery tended to trample under foot. Did he (Mr. Brougham) object to this grant of 400,000l. for the purpose he had mentioned? By no means. He had stood by the right hon. gentleman when he made the proposition to the House. He had answered those hon. members on his side of the House who objected to the proposition. He had contended that it was money well bestowed, for that it was bestowed on higher than financial grounds. But then, on the same principle, he objected to this proposition for raising money by lottery. He objected to it on higher than financial grounds. He could not conclude the desultory observations with which he had troubled the committee, without entering his protest against this proposition; for although he knew that there were other honourable members who would do so with greater effect, he could not allow the first opportunity of contending against the continuance of so base a resource, to pass, without availing himself of it.

wished to offer a few remarks on the statement which had been made by his right hon. friend the chancellor of the exchequer. After considerable expectation—an expectation that had existed from the commencement of the session—on the subject of his right hon. friend's plan of finance, it was at length before the committee. He confessed, that when he considered the details of this plan, he felt a considerable degree of disappointment. His right hon. friend well knew (for he had stated it to him elsewhere), that he disapproved of his new plan, on the ground that in was an injurious and extravagant bargain for the public. By this plan his right hon. friend raised three millions, for which he was to pay an interest of above four and a half per cent. In other words, he gave an annuity of three pounds for sixty-six pounds, and while he did this he was funding exchequer bills at 79. Why was such a sacrifice made? The sacrifice was thirteen pounds in sixty-six, which was as nearly as possible twenty per cent, or 600,000l. on the three millions. He could discover no object—no advantage whatever derivable to the public from the sacrifice of this enormous sum, but the contingent, the prospective, and even, according to the right hon. gentleman, the doubtful one of, at the end of ten years, inducing the holder of the three and a half per cents to take three per cent for his money. It might be his want of comprehension, but he really could not understand why it was necessary at the present moment to create a three and a half per cent stock, in order at some future period to induce the holder of four or five per cents to take it in commutation. Why do this now, instead of waiting to do it until the stocks should have attained to the elevation which would render the change practicable? He begged to say a few words as to the option to be given to the subscribers of exchequer bills to fund them now, or to wait until after the 2nd of May, an advantage which to those subscribers was almost incalculable. If stocks rose by that period beyond 79, the subscribers would cheerfully fund; if they fell to 75, they would make their bow to his right hon. friend, and say, they would have nothing to do either with him or with his exchequer bills.

thought very differently from the hon. gentleman who had just set down of the bargain that had been made by the chancellor of the exchequer. He was of opinion that the right hon. gentleman had a right to congratulate himself on having made a bargain so advantageous to the public; although he allowed that he did not altogether approve of the option to be given to the subscribers I of exchequer bills. In the statement which the right right hon. gentleman had made, he had not told the committee the amount of the deficiency this year in the consolidated fund, but merely that the surplus of the revenue would stand for that deficiency. He wished to know what that deficiency was; because, if he understood rightly, the interest of the national debt was charged on the consolidated fund, and if that fund were not large enough to furnish, the interest, he was desirous of knowing how the deficiency was to be met.

observed, in answer to the hon. and learned gentleman, that the deficiency of fourteen millions arose in a great measure from circumstances which would not recur. Among other items, a considerable part of it proceeded from the charge on the unfunded debt. The charge voted this year on the unfunded debt was 2,600,000l. Next year he expected the outstanding exchequer bills would not exceed 40 millions, which would occasion a reduction of charge of 900,000l. In the ways and means of next year, he confidently expected an increase that would occasion a considerable surplus in the consolidated fund. In answer to the hon. gentleman who last spoke, he observed, that the deficiency of the consolidated fund amounted on the 5th of January to somewhat less than two millions, which deficiency, however, was susceptible of diminution. The hon. and learned gentleman had declared his surprise that he should entertain an expectation that the holders of five per cents should be induced to prefer the three and a half to the four per cents, on the ground that the three and a half per cents were not liable to reduction. In the first place, they could not be reduced for ten years. It was likewise to be observed, that, approaching as the three and a half per cents did to the lowest rate of interest, there was less probability of their reduction. When it was considered that they must rise much above par before any reduction could be attempted, they must be very sanguine indeed with respect to the prosperity of the country, who looked for a speedy reduction of them. As to the option given to the subscribers to exchequer bills, he had not meant any imputation when he had said that he had never known an instance of subscribers declining to fulfil their engagement, although optional; not that it would be dishonourable should they not do so, but because, as in the present instance, it was beneficial to them to do so. But suppose that a fall in the funds (which, if it were to take place, he was persuaded would be but temporary), were to induce the subscribers to avail themselves of the option, there would be nothing alarming in that. The utmost inconvenience would be some farther consideration of the ways and means, and he was already aware of a remedy for the evil.

said, he could not congratulate the public on a bargain in which money was to be borrowed at four and a half per cent when any individual could go into the market and borrow money at four per cent. He had no doubt, that if government thought fit they might resort to the old mode of an open loan, instead of the present plan of a close loan, in which they restrained themselves from borrowing from any except those who had before lent; thus narrowing the number of competitors, and in consequence increasing the terms. It turned out, that when the plan came to be tried, although the interest offered was above the market price, the mode of negociating the transaction was found so inconvenient, that the money which it was originally proposed to borrow could not be raised. A sum of three millions, however, had been raised; and although the loss to the public on this sum was not so great as if the plan had been more successful still it was a considerable loss. The right hon. gentleman boasted of it as a great advantage to the public, that no addition was made by this plan to the capital of the debt. But a great addition was made by it to the interest of the debt. Surely that was no great subject for congratulation. It was said, that the creation of the three and a half percent stock would pay the way for the reduction of the four and five per cents. That, however, could not take place until the funds were considerably higher than at present. It could not take place until the three per cents were considerably beyond 90. He agreed, therefore, with the hon. gentleman who immediately followed the chancellor of the exchequer, that it was illusory to suppose, that the reduction of the five per cents would be hastened by the creation of this three and a half per cent stock; and that the creation of it might with great propriety have been postponed until the period at which it was wanted. He objected to the peculiar appropriation of the sink- ing fund to this new stock. It was not placed on the same grounds, with respect to the sinking fund, as the other descriptions of stock. In fact, the sinking fund was a nominal piece of machinery, which, if such plans as these were persisted in, could be productive of nothing but uncertainty and confusion. At the present moment, the commissioners for the reduction of the national debt were paying off the three per cents, the actual interest of which was 3l. 10s. per cent while the right hon. gentleman was borrowing three millions, for which he was to pay 4l. 10s. per cent. It was clear and palpable that such a transaction as this must be injurious to the public interest.

admitted, with the hon. member who had just set down that it would be impossible to equalise the interest of the 5 and 4 per cents to the 3½, with a saving to the public of the difference; but though the whole of the difference might not be saved, yet a part of it might, and a considerable advantage be derived thereby. He would suppose that the 3 per cents were at 85 or 86, and the 3½ at 99, then the equalisation might be made of the funds alluded to, by allowing a bonus to the holders. By this a saving of nearly two millions would be made.—The hon. gentleman then went into some other observations on the proposed plan. The reason, he said, why the plan, which was an advantageous one, was not more freely accepted at first was, that the value of the 3½ per cents had not yet found their level in the market: but in the next year, when their actual worth should be known, a loan offered in them would be most readily agreed to, because the public would then perceive the advantage they had in it.

said, that he could not see the advantages to the country in the terms of the proposed plan, which some gentlemen seemed to think they possessed. He viewed it, he believed, in its proper light, when he looked at it as the commencement of a system of appropriating the sinking fund, but not in that manner which was likely to be most serviceable to the country. The commissioners were here tied down in their purchases, and a guarantee was given that the interest was not to be lower. As the three and a half per cent stock now to be created, was not to be redeemed for ten years, nor the interest reduced, he wished to know if all the three and a half per cent stock to be thereafter created was to be secured in the same way. If this was not to be done, he desired to know where the line was to be drawn, and whether one part of the three and a half per cent stock was to be regulated one way, while the other parts of the same stock were subjected to different rules. He thought there would be a marked distinction made between the stock now to be created and that which was saleable at any hour, and was of opinion that it would be no easy task to bring it up to its full nominal value.

said, he understood his right hon. friend, the chancellor of the exchequer, to say, at the opening of his speech, that the commissioners for the reduction of the national debt, should purchase a certain portion of this stock whenever it should be under par; but when it was below the level of the market, they might think it expedient to purchase more. His own opinion was, that if they should think it cheaper to purchase in this stock than in any other, it would be a great dereliction of their duty if they did not purchase in it. With respect to some observations that had fallen from his hon. friend (Mr. F. Lewis), he must say, that they appeared paradoxical He had called the plan of his right hon. friend, a close loan. Now this was rather a curious term to apply to a proposition, which gave notice to every man who could purchase 2,000l. 3 per cents to become a subscriber. It was also objected by his hon. friend, that the government were paying 4l. 10s., whilst individuals could borrow the same money at 4l. per cent. He was happy to hear that such a facility in getting money on interest now existed. But if by the operation of the new plan, the 3½ per cent should soon be nearly at par, the conversion of the 5 per cent stock would be both advantageously and easily effected. He considered, therefore, the benefits of the plan to be evident, inasmuch as it went to produce a great deduction in the nominal amount of the debt, whilst on the sum of 3,000,000l. it afforded a saving of 21,000l. to the consolidated fund. The present measure had been resorted to, it should be remembered, after a year of great depression. Till the unfunded debt was brought down in amount to what it might stand at during a time of peace, it was impossible to tell the exact state of our revenue and expenditure. After a year in which the revenue had fallen off by four millions, we had still a real sinking fund to the amount which remained between the sum wanted to cover the ways and means of the year, and the 14,000,000l. set apart for the sinking fund. To keep the actual sinking fund up to 14,000,000l. in a time of peace would not be wise, as the burthens it would throw on the people would be found intolerable; but such a reduction of the national debt should be provided for as would secure us the means of successfully meeting any future struggle, if we should unhappily again find ourselves in a state of war. Those who had spoken on this subject had not sufficiently discriminated between a budget of peace and a budget of war. In war, the measures necessary to be adopted would not admit of delay: but now the chancellor of the exchequer was not so pressed as to be obliged to accede to any terms which did not appear to be advantageous to the country. Any thing like a permanent arrangement would be better postponed till next year, when they would be able to judge what the income of the country was likely to be. At the close of former wars such a course had been pursued, and no permanent arrangement had been decided upon, until the charges of the war had been provided for, and merged in the funded debt of the country.

observed, that a larger rate of interest was to be paid on I he capital borrowed than was necessary, because it was the will of ministers to have a large sinking fund. He did not like the plan of keeping down the nominal amount of the debt, and paying a large annuity on it. To him it was clear, that by paying 4l. 10s. interest for a loan, when they might have obtained one at 4l. they made an unprovident bargain. He then entered into a series of statements explanatory of the charges that would fall on the country in consequence of the measure now before the House, and strongly condemned the application of the sinking fund to pay the interest of the public debt. Thus used, the sinking fund became but a mere machine, which threw on the country the expense of its management, without producing any of the advantages which the people had been taught to expect from it, as it was only made use of as a part of the ways and means of the year. He could not see any thing in the plan now brought forward, on which he could congratulate the House; but he thought it proper to lose no time in calling on the chancellor of the exchequer distinctly to state, what his permanent plan of finance was to be, instead of going on as he had hitherto done since the termination of the war, raising loans year after year, without either admitting or denying the ways and means of the country to be equal to its expenditure.

jun. contended, that the plan proposed to the committee was, in several respects not a new one. The creating a fund not redeemable within a certain time, was a plan founded by that statesman whose greatest monument was the sinking fund; for in creating the five per cents it was determined by Mr. Pitt, that they could not be redeemed until 25 millions of the four per cents were paid off, so that the present was not the first instance of the interference of parliament with the power vested in the commissioners of the national debt. The plan proposed by the chancellor of the exchequer was one which went to lessen the nominal amount of the debt—a principle which he thought was most laudable, for every writer of eminence on the subject of finance had condemned the practice of making the debt of the country nominally greater than it was. A nation, it would not be denied, ought not to pay more than it received, though, under circumstances, this rule might be departed from; but as a general one it ought to hold good. If at present a loan of thirty millions were to be taken, adding it to the national debt in the usual manner, it would increase that debt nominally by a great deal more than its real amount, and tend maternity to depress the funds; for even supposing the 3 per cents as high as 80, it would be necessary to give 128l. stock for every 100l. subscribed. This would have the effect of increasing the evil which the proposed plan was intended to avoid. With respect to the terms of the plan, he contended it could not be done on better. He had taken the trouble of making a calculation of it, and he was happy to say there was very little difference between the result and that given by his right hon. friend the chancellor of the exchequer. The average interest was 3l. 18s. per cent and money could not be had, under any circumstances, for less than 4l. 10s. per cent. He had made the calculation at the highest at 80l. for the 3 per cents, and by that he had found that for a comparatively very small sum a reduction was made of 4,000,000l. on the debt. If the amount intended to be raised were funded in the three per cents taken at 75, it would appear that the present plan was better, and comparing both, that a saving would be made to the nation of 90,000l. per annum. He would then defy any man to say that the plan proposed by his right hon. friend was not one which was likely to be attended with the most favourable result in a pecuniary point of view, besides uniting the great desideratum of lessening the nominal capital. With respect to the interest, there was also a great saving, for at present the country paid one per cent for sinking fund on exchequer bills, which, with the interest, amounted to a million. This sum should be paid, whether the present plan were proposed or not, so that in reality the whole of the additional charge would not amount to more than 600,000l.

said, he could not permit this question to go to the vote without reminding the right hon. gentleman of one item in his budget—namely, the lottery. He could not refrain from saying a few words as to the inconsistency of the right hon. gentleman on this subject. It was very strange, that while the right hon. gentleman was voting a million towards the building of churches, he should by the lottery system be in fact opening gaming-houses all over the kingdom. The right hon. gentleman had described himself very good humouredly as a "hardened sinner"—an expression which could not have been applied to him with decorum by any other person. But he could not help thinking that the right hon. gentleman would be more accurately described as a soft saint; for he certainly did not stick up to the principles he professed, but bent his morality in order to answer the views of his policy. He trusted the House would not assent to such lax morality; and he now gave notice, that on an early day he should take the sense of the House upon the subject.

wished to ask a question of the chancellor of the exchequer. Suppose the 3 per cents at 80 and the 3½ at 91, would the commissioners of the national debt, one of whom was the chancellor of the exchequer, purchase in the latter fund?

said, it would not be decorous in him to state what the commissioners might think it best to do in any given case; but he certainly thought that at present and for several years, it would be advisable for the commissioners to lay out in the 3½ per cents more than the one per cent for the sinking fund.

wished to put a question relative to the profits of the Bank in this transaction. The House was aware that on every public loan it had been customary to pay the Bank a large fee merely for receiving the deposits; This fee amounted to 800l. on every million. On the last loan the Bank pocketed for this fee no less than 40,000l. All the finance committees, those of 1786, 1797, and 1807, had concurred in describing this fee as exorbitant and unnecessary. He wished to know whether the Bank were to make any such charge for the present loan, and if so, at what rate, and whether on the whole 30,000,000l., or only on the 3,000,000l.?

said, it was intended that the Bank should continue to receive the fee on deposits.

said, that the demand was so obviously objectionable, whether it applied to the 3,000,000l. or to the 30,000,000l. that, if persisted in, he would take the sense of the House in every stage of the measure.

The Resolutions were then agreed to.