THE 
 
 SPEECH 
 
 OF THE 
 
 RIGHT HON. WILLIAM PITT, 
 
 CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHE QJJ E R, 
 ON FRIDAY, THE I7TH DAY OF FEBRUARY I792, 
 
 O N 
 
 PROPOSING THE APPLICATION OF AN 
 ADDITIONAL SUM FOR THE 
 
 REDUCTION OF THE PUBLIC DE3T, 
 
 AND 
 
 THE REPEAL OF CERTAIN DUTIES 
 
 ON MALT, ON FEMALE SERVANTS, 
 
 ON CARTS AND WAGGONS, 
 
 ON HOUSES, AND ON CANDLES. 
 
 LONDON: 
 PRINTED FOR G. G. J. AND J. ROBINSONS, PATER- 
 NOSTER ROW; 
 AND JOHN STOCKDALE, PICCADILLY. 
 M.DCC.XCII. 
 
 [ Price 1 /. ]
 
 ( 4 ) 
 
 "I entertain the pleafing hope, that the 
 •' reductions which may be found practicable 
 " in the eftablifhments, and the continued 
 " encreafe in the revenue, will enable you, 
 " after making due proviiion for the feveral 
 " branches of the public fervice, to enter 
 " upon a fyftem of gradually relieving My 
 " fubjeds from fome part of the exifting 
 " taxes, at the fame time giving additional ef- 
 " ficacy to the plan for the reduction of the 
 " national debt, on the fuccefs of which our 
 " future eafe and fecurity effentially de- 
 ** pend. 
 
 " With a view to this important object, 
 " let Me alfo recommend it to yon to turn 
 " your attention to the confideratioh of inch 
 " meafures, as the ftate of the funds and of 
 " public credit may render practicable and 
 " expedient, toward:; a reduction in the rate 
 " of mterefr. of any of the annuities, winch 
 iC are now redeemable." 
 
 Oil
 
 ( 5 ) 
 
 On which day the following Speech was 
 made by the Chancellor of the Exche- 
 quer. 
 
 Lord Mornington, 
 
 THE paragraph in His Majefty's 
 Speech which has been referred to this Com- 
 mittee, has already announced to us, and to the 
 public, the mo ft welcome intelligence which it 
 was pofftble for us to receive -, it has railed the 
 pleafing expectation, that after all the diffi- 
 culties with which we have ftruggled, the 
 period is at length arrived, when by the flou- 
 riming ftate of our finances, we may be enabled 
 to enter on a fyftem which will afford imme- 
 diate and fubftantial relief to a large proportion 
 of our conftituents, and at the fame time 
 give additional fecurity and effect to that im- 
 portant, and (I truft) inviolable fyftem which 
 has been adopted for the reduction of the 
 National Debt. 
 
 In proceeding to detail the meafures which 
 I (hall propoie with a view to thefe important 
 objects, I mall confider it as my firft and moft 
 indifpenfable duty to ftate, as diflinctly as 
 poflible, every circumftance which can be ne- 
 *» ceffarv
 
 ( 6 ) 
 
 cefl'ary for enabling all who hear me, not only 
 to form a fatisfacfory judgment on the general 
 refult of our fituation, but to examine the 
 various calculations and reafmings on which 
 that refult is founded ; and in attempting to 
 execute fo extenfive a talk, it is no fmall re- 
 lief to my mind to reflect, that the repeated 
 difcuffions which have taken place on quef- 
 tions of finance, have rendered them, in a 
 great degree, familiar to the Houfe and to the 
 Public; and that by the meafures which 
 have been adopted for Amplifying the nature 
 and form of the public accounts, they are at 
 length freed from that obfcurity and intricacy 
 in which they were formerly involved, and are 
 rendered fo clear and intelligible, that there 
 is no man who may not, with a fmall degree 
 of attention, become as fully mailer of the 
 fubjecl:, as thofe whofe official duty has led 
 them to make it their peculiar ftudy. 
 
 The nril point to which I wifh to call the 
 attention of the Committee, is the amount of 
 what may be confidered as the probable fu- 
 ture income of the country ; and I will be- 
 gin by recapitulating the refult of the accounts 
 for different years, which have been already 
 ftated. The produce of the permanent taxes 
 in the lailyear, from the 5th of January 1791 
 2 to
 
 ( 7 ) 
 
 to the 5th of January 1792, appears to have 
 been£. 14,132,000; which, with the addition 
 of £. 2,558,000 (being the average amount 
 of the annual duties on land and malt, as flated 
 by the felect Committee lafr. year, would make 
 the total revenue of the year £. 16,690,000. 
 To this there mufr. be added a fum, which in 
 the accounts on the table has been included in 
 the produce of the feparate and temporary 
 taxes impofed laft year, for the purpofe of de- 
 fraying the expence of the Spanifh armament, 
 but which, in facl, makes part of the general 
 and permanent revenue. It will be recol- 
 lected that an addition was made lafl year to 
 the duties on bills and receipts, and the addi- 
 tion was confolidated with the old duty. The 
 whole of this confolidated duty has been car- 
 ried to the account of the feparate fund ; but 
 only the excefs beyond the former produce 
 can be confidered as arifmg from the additional 
 duty ; and a fum equal to the former produce, 
 being about JT. 40,000, is to be added to the 
 other fims which I have ftated, making the to- 
 tal revenue for the lafl year ^T. 16,730,000. 
 
 The produce of the year preceding was 
 £. 16,437,000, after deducting the produce 
 of a fifty-third week, which was included in 
 the account of that year. 
 
 The principal branches of the revenue 
 being paid from the refpcetive offices into 
 
 the
 
 ( 8 ) 
 
 the Exchequer, by weekly payments, on a ilated 
 day, a fifty- third weekly payment in the courfe 
 of a year, recurs nearly in the proportion of 
 once in every period of fix years. In judging 
 therefore of the probable future amount of the 
 revenue, the produce of the fifty-third week 
 ought not to be included in any one particu- 
 lar year, and it is therefore here deducted..; 
 but, on the other hand, one-fixth part of its 
 amount, being about £. 32,000, ought to be 
 added to the average formed on any number 
 of years. The average formed on the two 
 laft years, without this addition, would be 
 £. 16,583,000, and with it £. 16,615,000. 
 
 The produce of the year ending on the 5th 
 of January 1790, was £. 15,991,000, and the 
 average of the laft three years (making the 
 fame allowance for the fifty-third weei : V 
 amounts to £. 16,418,000. 
 
 If we look back (till one year further, the 
 produce of the year ending the 5th of January 
 1789, was JT. 15,565,000, and the average 
 formed on the lail Jour years amounts to 
 £. 16,212,000. 
 
 It appears therefore that the actual produce 
 of the year 1 791, being £. 16,730,000, exceeds 
 by above £. 500,000 the average formed on 
 the laft four years ; — that it exceeds the ave- 
 rage formed on the laft two years by above 
 £. 100,000, — the average on the lail three 
 
 years
 
 ( 9 ) 
 
 years by nearly £. 300,000, and the actual 
 produce of the lait year but one, by nearly the 
 fame fum. 
 
 If then I form my calculation of our future 
 revenue, not on the feparate amount of anyone 
 of thefe particular years, but upon the average 
 amount of four years, during which there has 
 been a conftant encreafe, I am certainly not at- 
 tempting to lead you into too favourable an opi- 
 nion; bat I am rather wilhing to recommend 
 that degree of caution, which the importance 
 of the fubjedt always deferves, and particu- 
 larly at the prefent moment, when we are hold- 
 ing out hopes of relief, in which, above all 
 things, we mould be carefal to avoid the 
 chance of difippointment. I propofe there- 
 fore to reft my computation upon this average 
 p yduce of four years, being £. 16,212,000, 
 an J this fum, on a general view of the mbjecl:, 
 we may fafely allume, as not being likely to 
 exceed the permanent annual revenue of the 
 country. 
 
 I mall next defire the Committee to com- 
 pare tlie ftatement of the annual revenue, with 
 that of the permanent annual expenditure; 
 and I mall take, as the bafis of this compari- 
 fon, the eftimates contained in the report of 
 the Committee appointed in the la ft feflion to 
 examine the public income and expenditure, 
 only making fuch corrections as arife from 
 ceitain additions on the one hand, and reduc- 
 
 13 tiona
 
 10 ) 
 
 tions on the other, which at that time were 
 not forefeen. The whole permanent expen- 
 diture as ftated by the Committee, (including 
 therein the interefl of the national debt, the 
 million annually iffued for the reduction of 
 debt, the civil lift, and all the permanent 
 charges on the coniblidated fund, as well as 
 all the eftablifhments which are annually 
 voted) is JT. 15,969,000; to which there was 
 added in the courfe of the laft feflion (but 
 fubfequent to the report of the Committee) 
 the fum of £. 12,000 charged on the confo- 
 lidated fund, for the eftabliihment of his Royal 
 Hio-hnefs the Duke of Clarence ; and a further 
 fum of about £. 12,000 for defraying the ex- 
 pence of the feparate government of the Pro- 
 vince of Upper Canada. Befides this, fome 
 further provifion will be neceilary for the efta- 
 blifliment of his Royal Highnefs the Duke 
 of York, on the happy event of his marriage ; 
 and this may probably occafion an addition 
 of £. 18,000. 
 
 The amount of theie additional charges is 
 £. 42,000. 
 
 I have next to ftate thofe reductions which, 
 as far as we can at prefent judge, may be ex- 
 pected to take place in our permanent eftab- 
 lifhments, although they cannot operate to 
 their full extent in the prefent year. The 
 iirft article of reductions is under the head 
 of the naval Service, in which I am inclined 
 
 to
 
 ( II ) 
 
 to hope that the number of feamen may be 
 reduced to 16,000, being 2,000 lefs than kit 
 year. This will produce a faving of £. 104,000, 
 and a further faving of about £. ic,ooo may 
 probably be made in the eitimate for the 
 works to be carried on in the dock-yards. 
 
 In the actual eftablifhment of the army, 
 (after allowing for the propofed additions, 
 which were explained when the army efti- 
 mate was voted,) there may probably be a dimi- 
 nution of about £. 50,000; and £. 36,000 
 will be faved in confequence of the expiration 
 of the Treaty for the Heffian Subfidy, which, 
 under the prefent circumilanccs, His Majefly 
 has not thought it neceffary to renew. 
 
 If, therefore, allowance is made on the one? 
 hand for the addition of £. 42,000, and foi 
 the reductions in the army and navy, amount- 
 ing together to about £. 200,000, the efti- 
 mate of the permanent annual expenditure will 
 ftand at £. 15,811 ,000 ; the amount of the in- 
 come of the biit year, as I have before ftated 
 it, exceeds this Him by £. 9 1 9,000 ; the a\ er- 
 agc of the amount of the two Lilt years ex- 
 ceeds it by /'. 804,000: tiie average of the 
 three years by /*. 607,000; and that ot the 
 four years, on which I reft my calculations, 
 by /\ 401,000. This then is the comparative 
 view which I take of the permanent income, 
 and the permanent expenditure; and, accord..
 
 ( 12 ) 
 
 ing to the loweft of thefe calculations, there 
 remains a difpofeable annual furplus of about 
 £. 400,000, after defraying the expence of all 
 the eftablifhrnents, and applying the annual 
 million to the reduction of the public debt. 
 
 Before I fubmit to the Committee the man- 
 ner in which I would propofe to diftribute this 
 furplus in future, I wifh to advert to the fup- 
 ply, and ways and means for the prefent year, 
 becaufe in thefe there will be found fome addi- 
 tional articles both of expenditure and of re- 
 ceipt. The fupply for each year, as Gentle- 
 men are aware, includes all the eftablifhments 
 and the charges for the various branches of the 
 public fervice, together with all incidental 
 charges which are defrayed by annual grants. 
 It is independent of the intereft and charges of 
 the national debt, of the million annually ilfued 
 to the Ccmmiilioners of the civil lift, and of 
 the other charges on the confolidatedfund. The 
 amount of all thefe articles is JT. 11,391,000, 
 and being permanently fixed, forms no part of 
 the fupply voted in each year. 
 
 For the navy we have voted, this year, 1 6,000 
 feamen, of which the charge is JT. 832,000 ; 
 for what is called the ordinary of the navy, 
 £.672,000; and for the extraordinary building 
 and repairs (including the w 7 orks in the dock- 
 yards) JT. 350,000. We have alio voted 
 
 £.131,000
 
 ( 13 ) 
 
 £. 131,000 towards the reduction of the 
 navy debt, which is fufficient for defraying 
 the whole of the extra -expences of the naval 
 department in the lafl year, (including thofe of 
 the armament) as far as they have not been al- 
 ready defrayed by the furplus ariling from 
 former grants. Thefe fums together make 
 £. 1,985,000. 
 
 The e^abliihment of the army for the pre- 
 fent year is £. 1 ,474,000 ; the extraordinaries 
 £. 277,000 ; befides £. 63,000 advanced for 
 the troops in India, which will ultimately be 
 repaid by the Company. The total voted 
 for the army is f. 1,814,000. 
 
 For the ordinary expences of the ordnance 
 there has been voted jT. 22 1,000 ; for the ex- 
 traordinaries nearly £.157,000; and under 
 the head of fervices performed in former 
 years, but unprovided for, JT. 44,000, making 
 in the whole the fum of £. 422,000. 
 
 The estimates for the colonies and planta- 
 tions amount to about £. 31,000. 
 
 Various mifcellaneous fervices, including 
 the expence of African forts, the mint, the 
 roads in Scotland, the maintenance and tranf- 
 portation of convicts, the fum paid lor print- 
 ing journals, and fome other articles, (particu- 
 larly a compenfation to the owners of African 
 vefTels for loiTes fuftained in confequence of the 
 late regulations, and likewife to thefettlers re- 
 moved,
 
 ( H ) 
 
 moved, in the year 1786, from the Ivtufquito 
 lTiore) amount in the whole to/,'. 1 14,000. 
 
 There are two other articles which always 
 form part of the annual flatement of the 
 fupply, under the heads of deficiency of grants. 
 and eftimated deficiency of the laud and malt, 
 the nature of which is fully explained in the re- 
 port of the Committee of thelailieiiion,and for 
 which allowance is made, though in a dirrercnt. 
 ihape, in the comparifon of the permanent 
 income and expenditure. The amount of the 
 deficiency of grants is £.436,000, which in- 
 cludes in it the mm of £. 1 23,000 repaid to the 
 Bank, in confequence oi the diminution of their 
 floating balance, out of which JT. 500,000 had 
 been advanced for the fupply ci la ft year; and. 
 the deficiency on the laud and malt may be 
 eflimated at JT. 350,000. 
 
 To thefe articles I mail propoie to add two 
 others ; the firft is £. 1 00, coo out of the flip- 
 plies of the prefent year, to be applied towards 
 the difcharge of the exchequer bills iffued en 
 account of the Spaniih armament; by which 
 means we mall be enabled to repeal immedi- 
 ately the additional duty on malt, the produce 
 of which for the prefent year was appropri- 
 ated to the feparate fund created for that pur- 
 pofe. The fecond is an additional mm to be 
 limed in. this particular year, beyond the annual 
 million, for the reduction of the national debt j 
 and on the companion of the i imply with 
 
 1 
 
 me
 
 ) 
 
 the ways and means for the year, I think it 
 will appear, that this ium may be fafely ftated 
 at f. 4.00,000. 
 
 I have now enumerated all the articles of 
 the fupply, except the debentures to the 
 'American Loyaliits. ThefeIomit,beeaufe they 
 are nearly balanced by the profit on the lot- 
 tery, which I do not mean to include in the 
 ftatement of ways and means. 
 
 The firlt article of the eftimated ways and 
 
 J 
 
 means for the prefent year, is the amount of 
 the annual duties on land and malt, which may 
 here be taken at j\ 2,7 50,000, becaufe ex- 
 chequer bills will be blued on the credit of 
 thefe duties to that amount; and the defici- 
 ency in the actual produce of the duties will, 
 according to the ufual practice, become a 
 charge on the fupply of future years, as the 
 deficiency of the produce c 
 
 charge on the fupply oi .h 
 
 former years is a 
 refent year. The 
 
 ,- which mav be 
 
 j 
 
 v;s derraymp; toe 
 
 J o 
 
 ..: produce oi tee 
 includes in ; t the 
 
 next article con lilts ol \ 
 expected to be applied toe 
 fupply of the year out oi t 
 consolidated fund. Tin ! 
 
 whole amount oi all the permanent taxes, and 
 is applicable, in the icd balance, to the 
 payment, at the und of eac !i qua: ter, oi the per- 
 manent charges which 1 liave before had occa- 
 sion to enumerate. Any furplus which re- 
 mains afterpayment oi thole charges :s, from 
 ^ time
 
 ( 16 ) 
 time to time, difpofeable by Parliament ; and 
 a fum equal to the expected amount of that 
 furplus in the courfe of the year, is always 
 voted as an article of ways and means. In 
 voting the ways and means, it has for fome 
 time been the practice to calculate from the 
 5th of April in the current year to the 5th of 
 April following, fo that the grants for the 
 fupply of each particular year are not ex- 
 pected to be compleated till the expiration 
 of the firil quarter in the fubfequent year. 
 In the prefent inflance, however, there re- 
 mained a fum of JT. 155,000 out of the 
 actual furplus of the confolidated fund on 
 the 5th of January 1792, after making 
 good the whole fum granted for the fervice 
 of the year 1791, which had not been esti- 
 mated to be compleated till the quarter end- 
 ing the 5th of April, 1792. The encreaie 
 of the revenue having defrayed the whole 
 charge, and furnifhed this actual furplus, as 
 early as on the 5th of January, the growing 
 produce of the confolidated fund, between 
 the 5th of January laft. and the 5th of April 
 next, will yield a further furplus (after paying 
 the intereir. of the debt, and other fixed 
 charges) which, initead of being applied, as 
 was efHmated, to the fervice of the year 
 1791, will be applicable to the fupply of 
 the prefent year; and to this is to be 
 added the growing produce of the confoli- 
 dated
 
 ( *7 ) 
 
 dated fund for the ucceeding twelve months, 
 from the 5th of April 1792 to the 5th of 
 April 1793. 
 
 The expected amount of ihe difpofeable 
 furplus, on the 5th of April next, I ftate at 
 £, 486,000 i and in forming this calculation 
 I- fuppofe the whole produce of the perma- 
 nent taxes, during the current quarter, to be 
 equal to the average formed from the corre- 
 fponding quarters in each of the laft four 
 years, which amounts to £. 2,970,000. To 
 this is to be added the expected produce, 
 during this quarter, of the temporary taxes 
 appropriated to defray the expences of the 
 Spanifh armament, becaufe, up to the 5th 
 of April, thofe taxes are directed to be carried 
 to the confolidated fund, and the proportion 
 of the expence of the Spanifh armament, 
 which was charged on the fupply of 1792, 
 has been already defrayed out of the produce 
 of the revenue up to the 5th of January. 
 Suppofing thefe taxes to yield in this quar- 
 ter a fum equal to their average produce in 
 the three quarters fince they have taken ef- 
 fect, their amount will be nearly £. 200,000, 
 and this, added to the fum before flated, will 
 make a total of £. 3,170,000. From this is 
 to be deducted the amount of the intereft of 
 debt, and other fixed charges on the con- 
 folidated fund for this quarter, which k 
 C about
 
 ( 18 ) 
 
 about £. £,684,000, leaving a remainder of 
 £. 486,000. 
 
 The further amount of the fum which may 
 be expe&ed to arife from the furplus of the 
 confolidated fund, between the 5th of April 
 I792 and the 5th of April 1793, I propofe to 
 eilimate in like manner on the average of 
 the four laft years, making the neceffary de- 
 duction on account of the taxes which I mall, 
 on this day, propofe to you to repeal. 
 
 The total amount of the revenue on that 
 average, excluilve of land and malt, was 
 £. 13,654,000. The annual amount of the 
 taxes propofed to he repealed is about 
 £. 223,000 ; but as fome arrears will be re- 
 ceived from thefe taxes iubfequent to their re- 
 peal, the fum to be deducted on this account, in 
 the prefent year, will not be to thatamount,and 
 may be eitimated at about £. 163,000. The 
 total amount of the intereft of debt and other 
 lixed charges on the confolidated fund is (as 
 I have already ftated) £. 11,391,000. There 
 will, therefore, on thefe fuppolitions, remain a 
 difpofeable furplus of £. 2.100,000, to which 
 is to be added a fum of £. 200,000, which 
 there is good ground to fuppofe will be repaid 
 to the public, during this year, from the ba- 
 lances of different accounts. — Thefe articles 
 of ways and means added together, amount to 
 ^. 5,691,000. The articles offupply which 
 I have enumerated, amount in the whole 
 to £. 5,654,000 j lb that the ways and means 
 3 exceed
 
 ( '9 ) 
 
 exceed the fupply, according to this Statement, 
 b y £• 37> 00 °- 
 
 I have already obferved that, in the fupply 
 of the prefent year, there are fome articles 
 included, which exceed considerably the efli- 
 mate of the permanent annual expenditure in 
 the feveral branches of the public fervice ; — 
 thefe confifl principally of the additional fum 
 of £. 400,000 propofed to be hTued to the 
 Cornrniffi oners ; the fum of £. 100,000 
 granted in lieu of the malt duty ; the fum 
 granted for the navy debt ; that repaid to the 
 Bank ; the advance on account of the troops in 
 India, and fome excels in the army eftimate ; 
 in the unprovided eftimate of the ordnance ; 
 in the mifcellaneous fervices, and the defi- 
 ciency of grants ; and they all appear peculiar 
 to the prefent year, and not likely to recur in 
 future ; except as far as an annual addition 
 may hereafter be made to the turns hTued for 
 the reduction of the national debt. 
 
 In fpeaking, however, of the future expendi- 
 ture, I am aware that contingencies may occa- 
 sionally arile, which cannot at prefent be fore- 
 feenj but, as far as I have no-.v the means of 
 judging, I am not aware: < f any fpecific article 
 in which there is likely to be an excels beyond 
 the permanent eftimate, except in the amount 
 of the fmall funis which ma) be ftii! neccilary 
 
 C 2 ^
 
 ( 20 ) 
 
 for compleating the works for the proteo 
 tion of the dock-yards at home, and the 
 expence of carrying into execution the plan 
 cf fortifications in the Weft Indies, which 
 will be a fubjecl: of feparate con fidera tion. 
 And with a view to thefe articles, or to other 
 contingencies that may arife, I have the fatis- 
 faction of thinking that they will probably be 
 fully balanced by extraordinary refources, be- 
 yond the calculated amount of the prefent 
 income. On the refult, then, of thefe dif- 
 ferent ftatements, I think there is no reafon 
 to doubt, that we may, in the prefent year, 
 apply an additional fum of £. 400,000 to the 
 reduction of the national debt, and repeal the 
 temporary duty on malt, at the fame time 
 allowing for the repeal of permanent taxes to 
 the amount of about £. 200,000, and for the 
 application of nearly an equal annual fum in 
 future, as a permanent addition to the fund 
 for the difcharge of the national debt. 
 
 The next point for confideration is, the 
 propriety of the general principle which I 
 have aflumed as the foundation of my plan ; 
 that of diftributing the furplus of our revenue, 
 and applying it in equal proportions to the 
 diminution of taxes, and the reduction of 
 cebt. I have thought this the wifeft plan 
 which we can adopt, becaufe by combining 
 
 prefent
 
 ( 21 ) 
 
 preient relief with permanent credit and fe* 
 curity, it feems moft likely to prevent any 
 temptation hereafter to break in, with a rude 
 hand, on the fyftem for the gradual reduction 
 of our debt. At the lame time, this addition 
 to the linking fund, with the aid of a fur- 
 ther fum from a diftinct fource, which I mall 
 mention prefentiy, and independent of any 
 further increafe of revenue, will enable us to 
 make a rapid progrefs in this important 
 work, and in a very fhort fpace of time 
 to reach a point, which perhaps not long 
 fince was thought too diitant for calcula- 
 tion. 
 
 I mall beg the indulgence of the Commit- 
 tee while I ftate this rather more at large, 
 becaufe it is connected with other confidera- 
 tions which may lead to important meafures 
 £ot enforcing and ftrengthening our fyftem for 
 the difcharge of the national debt. In at- 
 tempting to form any calculations of the pro- 
 portion of debt which may be difcharged at 
 zny particular time, there are fome contin- 
 gencies which can only be Hated hypotheti- 
 cally. They may, however, now be reduced 
 to r. narrower point than they have been in 
 any former period. One material circum- 
 itance which has necellarily been confidered 
 i\K uncertain, is the price of the funds ; but, as 
 fur a-.; relaies to die 3 per cents, this uncer- 
 tainty
 
 ( 22 ) 
 
 tainty feems to be in a great meaiure re- 
 moved, with a view to the queftion under con- 
 iideration ; for fuppoling the prefent flate of 
 profperity to continue, no calculation can rea- 
 fonably be formed on the idea of paying off 
 any large portion of this flock but at par. Un- 
 der iuch circumftances, the principal queftion 
 would be,Whether the fund for the reduction of 
 debt ought to be applied to the redemption or 
 purchafe of the 3 per cents, with a view to 
 the reduction of intereft on the 4 per cents, 
 and on the 5 per cents ? or, whether it mould 
 be applied to the redemption, firft, of the 4 
 per cents, and afterwards (as foon as they 
 become redeemable) of the 5 per cents ? 
 Without entering into minute difquiiitions on 
 this point, I will only ftate, that, according to 
 the moft accurate calculations which I have 
 feen, the mode of applying the finking fund 
 to the purchafe of the 3 per cents, and 
 making ufe of the general improvement of 
 credit in order to reduce the intereft of the 
 4 per cents, and of the 5 per cents, (when 
 redeemable) and to carry the faving of inte- 
 reft as an addition to the linking fund, will on 
 the whole be quicker in its operation than 
 the other mode, though not in any very con- 
 fiderable degree. I (hall, therefore, fuppofe, 
 in the firft inftance, that an addition of 
 £. 400,000 mould be applied in the prefent 
 
 year
 
 ( =3 ) 
 
 year to the reduction of debt, and an annual 
 addition, from the revenue, for the next four 
 years, of £. 200,000. When the debentures 
 to the American Loyalifts mall be difeharged, 
 (which will be in about four years fiibfequent 
 to the prefent) the profits arifing from the 
 Lottery, which, as I have already ifated, arc 
 now fet againft. this article of expenditure, 
 will be left free, and will form an addition to 
 the annual furplus. If the addition mail be 
 diftributed in the fame manner as is now 
 propofed with refpedl to the prefent fur- 
 plus ; and if the tickets mould continue to 
 bear their prefent price, a further annual fum 
 of £. 1 50,000 (after allowing for the repeal 
 of taxes to the fame amount) will be applica- 
 ble to the reduction of debt. Previous to 
 this period, the 4 per cents may naturally be 
 fuppofed to have been reduced in the tirfr. in- 
 ilance to 3I-, and ultimately to 3 per cent.; 
 and the faving by this reduction of intereft 
 will amount at firft to about £. 160,000, and 
 when compleated, to about £. 320,000. By 
 the operation of the prefent finking fund, 
 and of thefe additions to the redemption of 
 the 3 per cents at par, it may be expected 
 that 25 millions of 3 per cents will have been 
 paid off in the year 1800, after which the 5 
 per cents become redeemable ; and fuppofmg 
 the 3 per cents, to continue at par, a further 
 
 fa vine
 
 ( 24 ) 
 
 faving may then in a fliort time be made, 
 by converting the 5 per cents to 3 per cent, 
 which will amount in the whole to above 
 jT. 360,000, and which I likewife fuppofe to 
 be carried to the aid of the prefent linking 
 fund. The material queftion which on thefe 
 fuppofitions it is natural to afk is, When will 
 the finking fund rife to the amount of 4 
 millions per annum, which is the limit after 
 which, according to the act of 1786, it is no 
 longer to accumulate, but the interefl of the 
 capital which it thenceforth may redeem, is 
 to be left open for the difpofition of Parlia- 
 ment ? It will amount to that fum, on the 
 fuppofitions which I have ftated, in 1808, a 
 period of about fifteen years from the prefent 
 time. 
 
 I am not, indeed, prefumptuous enough to 
 fuppofe, that when I name fifteen years, I am 
 not naming a period in which events may 
 arife which human foreiight cannot reach, 
 and which may baffle all our conjectures. 
 We muff not count with certainty on a 
 continuance of our prefent prosperity durinr 
 fuch an interval ; but unquefKonably there 
 never was a time in the hiftory of this coun- 
 try, when, from the fituation of Europe, 
 we might more reafonably expecl: fifteen years 
 of peace, than we may at the prefent moment. 
 But in looking forward to this very period, 
 
 there
 
 ( 2 S ) 
 
 there arifes one of the considerations to which 
 I have referred, and which may lead us ftill 
 to amend and enforce our fyilem for the re- 
 duction of debt. 
 
 When the fum of four millions was origi- 
 nally fixed as the limit for the finking fund, 
 it was not in contemplation to irTue more an- 
 nually from the furpl us revenue than one mil- 
 lion ; confequently the fund would not rife to 
 four millions till a proportion of debt was 
 paid off, the intereft of which, together with 
 the annuities which might fall in in the inter- 
 val, mould amount to three millions. 
 
 But as, on the prtftnt fuppofition, additional 
 fums beyond the original million are to be 
 annually iiTueu from the revenue, and applied 
 to the aid of the finking fund- the confe- 
 quence would be that, if that fund (witli 
 thefe additions carried to it) were fall to be li- 
 mited to four millions, it would reach that 
 amount,andceafe to accumulate, before as o-reat 
 a portion of the debt is reduced as was originally 
 in contemplation. This effect, would be more 
 confiderable, if, inltead of an annual addition of 
 £. 350,000 in the whole, which is the amount 
 on which I have calculated, the further encreafe 
 of the revenue mould admit (as it probably 
 may) of the application of a larger furplus ; 
 and in cither of thefe cafes, although the ul- 
 timate amount of the finking fund would be 
 
 D equal
 
 ( 26 ) 
 
 equal to what was originally intended, and 
 it would reach that point fooner; yet it 
 would bear a lefs proportion to the capital 
 of the debt which it would afterwards have to 
 difcharge, than it would have done according 
 to the original plan. In order to avoid this 
 confequence, which would, as far as it went, 
 be a relaxation in our fyftem, I mould propofe, 
 that whatever may be the additional annual 
 fums applied to the reduction of debt, the 
 fund fhould not ceafe to accumulate till the 
 interefl of the capital difcharged, and the 
 amount of expired annuities, mould, together 
 with the annual million only, and exclufive of 
 any additional fums, amount to four millions. 
 
 But I confefs, that, in the prefent fituation 
 of the country, I am inclined to think that 
 we ought not to flop here. What we did in 
 1786 was, perhaps, as much as could be at- 
 tempted under the circumflances of that 
 time. At prefent we ought not to confine 
 our views to the operation of the linking 
 fund, compared with the debt now exifling. 
 If our fyitem flops there, the country will 
 remain expofed to the poffibility of being 
 again involved in thofe embarramnents, which 
 we have, in our own time, feverely expe- 
 rienced, and which, apparently, brought us 
 alrnofl to the verge of bankruptcy and ruin. 
 We ought therefore to look forward, in order 
 
 to
 
 ( 27 ) 
 
 to provide a permanent remedy againfl the dan- 
 ger of frern accumulation of debt, in confe- 
 quence of future contingencies. And this, as 
 I mall explain more particularly on lbme fu- 
 ture occafion, may, I am perfuaded, be effected 
 without the danger of any inconvenience or 
 embarrailment, which can counterbalance the 
 magnitude of the object. 
 
 The meafure which I have in view, is to 
 enact, that whenever any loan mould take 
 place in future, unlefs raifed by annuities 
 which would terminate in a moderate number 
 of years, there mould of courfe be iflued out 
 of the confolidared fund, to the Commiffioners 
 for the reduction of the national debt, an 
 additional annual fum, fufficient to difcharge 
 the capital of fuch loan, in the fame period 
 as the finking fund, after reaching its largeit 
 amount, will difcharge what would then re- 
 main of the prefent debt. The Committee 
 will recollect, that the idea which 1 am now 
 ftating is not new to my mind, though I 
 have never before propofed it as a permanent 
 regulation. Two years from this time, when. 
 I had the mortification of thinking that the 
 country might be engaged in an expensive 
 war in confequence of our difcuffions with 
 the court of Spain, I gave notice that I fhould 
 propofe to follow, very nearly, this fyftem, 
 with refpect to any loans which might then 
 
 V 2 b*
 
 ( 28 ) 
 
 be neceffary. I will not, however, enlarge 
 further on this fubjecl: at prefent. I have al- 
 ready ftated enough to mew that the fyftem 
 which I wifh to propofe is calculated to pro- 
 vide effectually for the difcharge of the pub- 
 lic debt, at the fame time that it diminiihes 
 the burdens of the people; and that, in con- 
 fulting our own immediate eafe, we cannot be 
 accufed of facrificing the permanent intereils 
 of pofterity. 
 
 Suppofing, therefore, that the diftribution 
 which I have fuggefted mould appear to the 
 Houfe fit to be adopted, and that taxes to the 
 amount of £. 200,000 per annum ihould now 
 be taken off, I will beg leave next, for 
 the purpofe of bringing the whole fubjedt 
 under confide ration, to fbte the particular 
 taxes, which, if nothing preferable is fuggeffed 
 by others, I mould propofe to repeal. And, 
 in making this felecftion, there are two objects 
 which I wim principally to keep in view. 
 The nrft, to which it is very material to at- 
 tend, is, that the actual relief felt by the pub- 
 lic mould be proportioned to the amount of 
 revenue which is relinquifhed. Under thefe 
 defcriptions thofe taxes feem moil clearly to 
 be included, which are raifed by the mode of 
 affeffment, becaufe, as they are paid directly 
 out of the pocket of the individual, and do 
 not pafs through circuitous channels, like 
 
 taxes
 
 ( 29 ) 
 
 taxes upon the articles cf comumption, where 
 the tax is often blended with the price of the 
 commodity, there can be little doubt that 
 the relief intended to be given, will in thefe 
 inftances be effectual to its fuller!: extent. 
 The other object which I naturally have in 
 view, is, that the relief intended lhould ap- 
 ply peculiarly to that clafs, to whom, on every 
 account, it ought fir ft to be extended, I mean 
 the moll necefhtous, and the moft induftrious 
 part of the community. 
 
 Combining thefe objects, the firft article to 
 which I have directed my attention is, the 
 temporary duty on malt, impofed in the laffc 
 feflion. 
 
 The three next taxes which I lliall mate, are 
 permanent taxes, which fall under the descrip- 
 tion of being raifed by arTeilment, and which 
 have alfo the further advantage of extending 
 relief widely, and where we mud moft with 
 it to be extended. — The firft is the tax upon 
 female fervants, winch is certainly paid by 
 the poorer clafs of houfekeejkrs, and which 
 is charged upon about 90,000 different fa- 
 milies — the amount is £. 3 1,000. The next is, 
 the tax upon cart-; and waggons, which applies 
 to the whole of the yeomanry of the country, 
 to all thofe who are occupied in agriculture ; 
 who pay in this fliape a turn not indeed very 
 considerable, but which perhaps is felt, from 
 
 the
 
 ( 30 ) 
 
 the inconvenience and trouble which it oc- 
 cafions, more than from the burden itfelf. 
 About 90,000 perfons are affected by this tax 
 alfo, of which the amount is nearly JT. 30,000. 
 The third tax applies to the poorefl of 
 all the orders of the community, I mean the 
 tax on houfes having lefs than feven win- 
 dows, which are exempted from the payment 
 of any other tax, but that of three millings. 
 The amount of the fum is fmall, but to thofe 
 who are the objects of it, its repeal will be 
 a fubftantial relief and comfort, and it will at 
 lean: be a pledge and earner! of the attention 
 of Parliament to their interefts. It extends, 
 I believe, to between three and four hun- 
 dred thoufand houfes, and its amount is about 
 
 £. 56,000. 
 
 The next and laft which I have to men- 
 tion is, the laffc additional tax of a halfpenny 
 per pound on the article of candles, which 
 preffes more, perhaps, than any ether tax on 
 confumption, upon the clafs of whom 1 have 
 been fpeaking- and if this tax is repealed 
 from a given day, and the duty upon the flock 
 in hand is allowed to all the manufacturers 
 and dealers in that article, I believe there can 
 be no queftion that the reduction of the price 
 will be in proportion to the duty repealed: 
 its amount is about £. io6,cco -, and the total 
 of all thefe taxes is £. 223,000. 
 
 J have
 
 ( 3* ) 
 
 I have now explained the feveral meafures 
 which I mall this day propofe to the Committee ; 
 but I mould think that I left the fubjecl: im- 
 perfectly difculied, if I did not proceed to lay 
 before you fuch confiderations as may enable 
 you to judge how far there is a reafonable 
 profpect that the fortunate fituation which 
 I have defcribed may be permanent. And 
 in order to do this, I with again to call your 
 attention to the progreflive encreafe of the 
 revenue, and to flate within what periods it 
 has taken place. 
 
 If we compare the revenue of laft year 
 with that of the year 1786, we (hall find an 
 excefs in the laft year of JT. 2,300,000. If 
 we go back to the year 1783, which is the 
 firft year of peace, we fhall find the encreafe 
 fince that period, including the produce of the 
 additional permanent taxes which have been 
 impofed in the interval, to be little lefs than 
 four millions. We mall, I believe, alfo find, 
 that with the exception of the year 1786, in 
 which the fufpenfe of trade, occasioned by the 
 negociation for the Commercial Treaty with 
 France, naturally affected the revenue, there is 
 hardly any one year in which the encreafe has 
 not been continual. 
 
 In examining the branches of revenue, 
 
 we
 
 ( 3* ) 
 we mall find that rather more th?.n one mil- 
 lion has arifen from the imposition of new- 
 taxes -, about one million more in thofe articles 
 in which particular and feparate regulations 
 have been made for the prevention of fraud ; 
 and that the remaining fum of two millions 
 appears to be diifufed ever the articles of 
 general confumption, and muft therefore be 
 attributed to the belt of all cauies — a gene- 
 ral encreafe in the wealth and profperitv of 
 the country. 
 
 If we look more minutely into the parti- 
 cular articles on which the revenue arifes, 
 we mall ftill find no ground to imagine, that 
 any considerable part of it is temporary or 
 accidental, but fhall have additional reaibn »o 
 afcribe it to the caufe which I have juft now 
 ftated. In the revenue of the cuitoms 
 there is no material article where an encreafe 
 might be fuppofed to proceed from the acci- 
 dent of feafons, but that of fugar, and it ap- 
 pears that, upon the average of the four years on 
 which I have formed my calculation, that arti- 
 cle has not produced beyond its ufual amount. 
 
 Many of the articles under the head of 
 cuftoms, in which the augmentation is moil 
 apparent, confift of raw materials, the encreaf- 
 ing importation of which is, at once, a fymp- 
 torn and a caufe of the encreafmg wealth of 
 the country. This obfervation will apply, in 
 ? feme
 
 ( 33 ) 
 
 fome degree, even to the raw material of a 
 manufacture which has generally been fup~ 
 pofed to be on the decline, I mean that of 
 iilk. In the article of wool, the encreafe 
 has been gradual and confiderable. The 
 quantity of bar-iron imported from abroad 
 is alfo increafed, though we all know how 
 cenfiderably our own iron works have been 
 extended during the period to which I have 
 referred, lucre is hardly any coniiderable 
 article in which there is any decreafe, ex- 
 cept that of hemp in the laft year, which is 
 probably accidental, and that of linen, the im- 
 portation*^ which from abroad may be dimi- 
 ni tlicd by accidental caufes, or perhaps in con- 
 fequence of the rapid encreafe of the manu- 
 facture of that article at home. 
 
 On looking at the articles compofin^ the 
 revenues of exciie, the fame obfervations will 
 arife in a manner (till more linking. There 
 is, indeed, one branch of that revenue, the 
 encreafe of which may in part be attributed 
 to the accident of feafons, 1 mean that which 
 arifes from the different articles of which malt 
 is an ingredient ; but I am inclined t© believe 
 that this increafe cannot be wholly afcribed to 
 that caufe, becaufe, during all the four years, 
 the amount of the duty upon beer and ale has 
 uniformly been progreilive. In the great ar- 
 
 E tides
 
 ( 34 ) 
 
 ticks of confumption which I will fTiortly enu- 
 merate, without dwelling en particulars — in 
 home-made and foreign fpirits, wine, foap, 
 tobacco, the encreafe has been coniiderable and 
 uniform. In the articles of bricks and tiles, 
 ftarch, paper, and printed goods, there has 
 alio on the whole been a coniiderable encreafe, 
 although there has been fome fluctuation in 
 different years. 
 
 Almoft every branch of revenue would 
 furniih inftances of a fimilar nature, The 
 revenue raifed by ft amps has encreafed in 
 the produce of the old duties, while at the 
 fame time new duties have been ^J3ed to a 
 large amount, and the augmentation's, on this* 
 head, on the whole, near /. 400,000, a fum 
 which is railed in mch a manner as to be at- 
 tended with little inconvenience to thole who 
 pay it. The amount of the duty upon fait 
 during the fame period has been progreffive. 
 The revenue of the poft-cmce is another ar- 
 ticle, comparatively fmall, but which furnifhes 
 a ilrong indication of the internal flate of the 
 country. No additional duty has b'.^n irnpofed 
 fmce the year 17B4. In iy§$ it yielded 
 £, 238,000, and in the Ian: year /\ 3 38, 000. I 
 mention all thefe circumfbnees as tending to 
 throw additional light on the fubjeci, and 
 ferving to iiluflrate and confirm the general 
 conclufion to which they all uniformly tend. 
 x If
 
 ( 35 ) 
 
 If from this examination of the different 
 branches of the revenue, we proceed to a 
 more direct enquiry into the fources of our 
 profperity, we mall trace them in a corrc- 
 fponding encreafe of manufacture and com- 
 merce. 
 
 The accounts formed from the documents 
 of the cuftom-houfe, arc not indeed to be relied 
 upon as mewing accurately the value of our 
 imports and exports in any one year, but they 
 furniih fome ftandard, of comparifon between 
 different periods, and in that view I will {fate 
 them to the Committee. In the year 1782, 
 the lad year of the war, the imports, according 
 to the valuation at the cuftom-houfe, amount- 
 ed to f. 9,714,000 ; they have gradually en- 
 creafed in each fucceffive year, and amounted 
 in the year 1790 to jT. 19,130,000. 
 
 The export of Eritilh manufactures forms 
 a fall more important and dcchive criterion 
 of commercial profpenty. The amount in 
 1782 was fated at f. 9,9 19,000 ; in the fol- 
 lowing year it was j\ 10,409,000; in the year 
 1 790 it had rifen to £. 1 4,92 1 ,ooo ; and in the 
 laft vear (for which the account is jufl com- 
 pleated as fir as relates to Britim manufactures) 
 it was /\ 1 6,420,000. If we include in the ac- 
 count the foreign articles re-exported, the total 
 of the export in 1782 was £. 1 2,239,000; after 
 
 E 2 the
 
 ( 36 ) 
 
 the peace it rofe, in 1783, to £. 14,741,000; 
 and in the year 1790 it was £. 20,120,000. 
 Thefe documents, as far as they go (and they 
 are neceiiarily imperfect) ferve on'y to give a 
 view ot the foreign trade of the country. It 
 is more than probable, that our internal trade, 
 which contributes ftiil more to cur wealth, has 
 been encreafmg in at lead an equal proportion. 
 I have not the means of fcating with accuracy a 
 comparative view of our manufactures during 
 the fame period; but their rapid progrefs has 
 been the fubjecr of general obfervation, and the 
 local knowledge of gentlemen from different 
 parts of the country, before whom I am 
 fpeaking, mult render any detail on this point 
 unneceliary. 
 
 Having gone thus far, having ftated the 
 increafe of revenue, and lhewn that it has been 
 accompanied by a proportionate increafe of the 
 national wealth, commerce, and manufactures, 
 I feel that it is natural to alh, what have been 
 the peculiar circumflances to -which thefe 
 effects are to be afcribed ? 
 
 The firft and molt obvious anfwer which 
 every man's mind will fuggeft to this queflion, 
 is, that it arifes from the natural induftry and 
 energy of the country : but what is it which 
 has enabled that induflry and energy to ail 
 with fuch peculiar vigour, and fo far beyond 
 
 the
 
 ( 37 ) 
 
 the example of former periods ? — The im- 
 provement which has been made in the mode of 
 carrying on almofl every branch of manufacture, 
 and the degree to which labour has been 
 ah ridged, by the invention and application 
 of machinery, have undoubtedly had a con- 
 l) lerable fhare in producing fuch important 
 effects. We have beiid.s ken, during theie 
 periods, more than at any former time, 
 the effect of one circumftance which has 
 principally tended to raife this country to 
 its mercantile pre-eminence — I mean that 
 peculiar degree of credit which, by a two- 
 fold operation, at once gives additional facility 
 and extent to the trarifactions of our merchants 
 at home, and enables them to obtain a pro- 
 portional funeriority in markets abroad. This 
 advantage has been mole confpicuous during 
 the latter part of the period to which I have 
 referred ; and it is conftantly increafing, in 
 proportion to the prosperity which it contri- 
 butes to create. 
 
 In addition to all this, the exploring and 
 enterprifing fpirit of our merchants has been 
 i<:cn in the extenfion of our navigation and 
 our fiiheries, and the acquiiliion of new 
 markets in different parts of the world; and 
 undoubtedly thole efforts have been not a 
 little amiled by the additional intercourfe 
 with France, in confequence of the Com- 
 mercial
 
 i 3* ) 
 
 mercial Treaty ; an Lntercourfe which, 
 though probably checked and abated by the 
 diffractions now prevailing in that kingdom, 
 has rurmined a great additional incitement to 
 induftry and exertion, 
 
 hut tiiere is rail anotner cauie, even more 
 fatisfadtory than thefe, becauib it is of a itill 
 more exteniive and permanent nature; that 
 conftant accumulation of capital, that conti- 
 nual tendency to increafe, the operation of 
 which is universally feen m a greater or lets 
 proportion, whenever it is not obftrucled by 
 fome public calamity, or by fome miffaken 
 and mischievous policy, but which mult be 
 conspicuous and rapid indeed in any country 
 which has once arrived at an advanced ftate 
 of commercial profperity. Simple and ob- 
 vious as this principle is, and felt and obferved 
 as it mud have been in a greater or lefs degree, 
 even from the carlieft periods, I doubt whether 
 it has ever been fully developed and fufficiently 
 explained, but in the writings of an author of 
 our own times, now unfortunately no more, 
 (I mean the author of the celebrated Treat ife 
 on the Wealth of Nations) whole exteniive 
 knowledge of detail, and depth of philofophi- 
 cal rciearch, will, I believe, furnifti the beft 
 folution to every queftion connected with the 
 hiilory of commerce, or with the fyftems of 
 
 political
 
 ( 39 ) 
 
 political ceconomy. This accumulation of 
 capital arifes from the continual appli- 
 cation, of a part at leaSt, of the profit ob- 
 tained in each year, to increafe the total 
 amount of capital to be employed in a fimilar 
 manner, and with continued profit in the 
 year following. The great mafs of the pro- 
 perty of the nation is thus constantly increaf- 
 ing at compound interefl, the progrefs of 
 which in any considerable period, is what at 
 firSt view would appear incredible. Great as 
 have been the effects of this caufe already, they 
 muff be greater in future ; for its powers are 
 augmented in proportion as they are exerted. 
 It acts with a velocity continually accelerated, 
 with a force continually increaied. 
 
 Mobilkate r cigct, ^ircfqtc-.: acqulrlt cundo. 
 
 It may indeed, as wc have ourfelves expe- 
 rienced, be checked or re:a:ded by particular 
 circumstances — it may for a time, he inter- 
 rupted, or even overpowered; but, where 
 there is a fund oi productive labour and active 
 induStry, it can never be totally cxcingui/lied. 
 In the feafon of tiie levered: calamity and 
 diStrefs, its operations will Still counteract and 
 diminifli their effects: — in the fuft ic.turnin? 
 
 interval
 
 r 
 
 40 ) 
 
 interval of profperity, it will be aclive to repair 
 them. If we look to a period like the prefent r 
 of continued tranquillity, the difficulty will be 
 to imagine limits to its operation. None 
 can be found, while there exifls at home any 
 one objecl of fkill or induitxy fhort of its ut- 
 mofc poffible perfection -, — one fpot of ground 
 in the country capable of higher cultivation and 
 improvement 5 or while there remains abroad 
 any new market that can be explored, or any 
 exifting market that can be extended. From 
 the intercourfe of commerce, it will in fome 
 meafure participate in the growth of other 
 nations, in all the poffible varieties of their 
 fituations. The rude wants of countries 
 emerging from barbarifm, and the artificial 
 and encreaiing demands of luxury and refine- 
 ment, will equally open new fources of trea- 
 fure, and new fields of exertion, in every flate 
 of fociety, and in the remoteft quarters of 
 the globe. It is this principle which, I 
 believe, according to the uniform refult of 
 hiftory and experience, maintains on the 
 whole, in fpite of the vieimtuaes of fortune, and 
 the difafters of empires, a continued courfe of 
 fucceilive improvement in the general order of 
 the world. 
 
 Such are the circumftances which appear 
 to me to have contributed moil immediately to 
 
 our
 
 ( 4i ) 
 
 our prefent profperity. But thefe again are 
 connected with others yet more important. 
 
 They are obviouily and neceiTarily con- 
 nected with the duration of peace, the conti- 
 nuance of which, on a fecure and permanent 
 footing, muft ever be the fir ft object of the 
 foreign policy of this country. They are 
 connected ftill more with its internal tranquil- 
 lity, and with the natural effects of a free but 
 well-regulated government. 
 
 What is it which has produced, in the laft 
 hundred years, fo rapid an advance, beyond 
 what can be traced in any other period of our 
 hiftory ? What but that, during that time, 
 under the mild and juft government of the 
 illuftrious Princes of the family now on the 
 throne, a general calm has prevailed through 
 the country, beyond what was ever before ex- 
 perienced; and we have alfo enjoyed, in greater 
 purity and perfection, the benefit of thofe 
 original principles of our conftitution, which 
 were afcertained and eftablifhed by the me- 
 morable events that clofed the century pre- 
 ceding ? This is the great and governing 
 caufe, the operation cf which has given 
 fcope and effect to all the other circumftances 
 which I have enumerated. 
 
 It is this union of liberty with law, which, 
 by railing a barrier equally firm againic the 
 encroachments of power, and the violence of 
 
 i : popular
 
 ( 42 ) 
 
 popular commotion, affords to property its jufl 
 fecurity, produces the exertion of genius and 
 labour, the extent and folidity of credit, the 
 circulation and increafe of capital ; which forms 
 and upholds the national character, and fets 
 in motion all the fprings which actuate the 
 great mafs of the community through all its 
 various defcriptions. 
 
 The laborious induflry of thofe ufeful and 
 exteniive chiles (who will, I truft,be in a pecu- 
 liar degree this day the objects of the confide- 
 ration of the Houfe) the peafantry and yeo- 
 manry of the country; the fkill and ingenuity 
 of the artificer; the experiments and im- 
 provements of the wealthy proprietor of land;. 
 the bold fpeculations and fuccefsful adventures 
 of the opulent merchant and enterpriiing ma- 
 nufacturer ; theie are ail to be traced to the 
 fame fource, and all derive from hence both 
 their encouragement and their reward. On 
 this point therefore let us principally fix our 
 attention, let us preferve this firft and moll 
 erlential object, and every other is in our 
 power ! Let us remember, that the love of 
 the Conftitution, though it ads as a fort of 
 natural initind in the hearts of Englishmen, 
 is ftreng'iened by reatbn and reflection, and 
 every d^y confirmed by experience; that it is 
 a Conititution which we do not merely ad- 
 
 a 
 
 mire
 
 ( 43 ) 
 
 mire from traditional reverence, which we do 
 not flatter from prejudice or habit, but which 
 we cherim and value, becaufe we know that 
 it practically fecures the tranquillity and wel- 
 fare both of individuals and cf the public, 
 and provides, beyond anv other frame of go- 
 vernment which has ever exifted, for the real 
 and ufeful ends which form at once the only 
 true foundation and only rational object of 
 all political focieties. 
 
 I have now nearly doled ail the conlidera- 
 tions which I think it necenary lo offer to the 
 Committee. 
 
 I have endeavoured to give a diitinc~i view 
 of the furplus arifmg on the comparifon of 
 the permanent income (computed on the 
 average which I have ftated) with what 
 may be expected to be the permanent ex- 
 penditure in time of peace; and I have alio 
 ftated the companion of the fupply, and of the 
 ways and means of this particular year. I 
 have pointed out the leading and principal ar- 
 ticles of revenue in which the augmentation 
 has taken place, and the corresponding increafe 
 in the trade and manufactures of the coun- 
 try ; and finally, I have attempted to trace 
 thefe cfic&s to their caufes, and to explain the 
 principles which appear to account for the 
 
 Jp 2 linking
 
 ( 44 ) 
 linking and favourable change in our general 
 fituacion. From the refill t of the whole, I trull 
 I am entitled to conclude, that the fcene 
 which we are now contemplating is not the 
 tranfient effect of accident, not the fhort- 
 lived profperity of a day, but the genuine 
 and natural remit of regular and permanent 
 cauies. The feafon of our fevere trial is at an 
 end, and we are at length relieved, not only 
 from the dejection and gloom which a few 
 years fmce hung over the country, but from 
 the doubt and uncertainty which, even for 
 a confiderable time after our profpect had 
 begun to biighten, flill mingled with the 
 hopes and expectations of the public. We 
 may yet, indeed, be mbjeCt to thole fluc- 
 tuations which often happen in the affairs 
 of a great nation, and which it is impolfible 
 to calculate or fbreiee 3 but as far as there 
 can be any reliance on human fpeculations, 
 we have the belt ground, from the experience 
 of the part, to look with latisfaclion to the 
 prefent, and with confidence to the future : 
 " 1\ imc demum, red it animus, cum non fpem 
 " modo ac votum fecuriias publicn,fcd ' ipjius voti 
 " jJuc:cm ct robur ajumpjerit" This is a 
 ftate net of hope only, but of attainment ; not 
 barely the encouraging profpec> of future ad- 
 vantage, but the folid and immediate benefit 
 or piefent and actual poiTefilon. 
 
 Oa
 
 ( 45 ) 
 
 On this fituation and this profpecl:, fortu- 
 nate beyond our mod fanguine expectations, 
 let me congratulate yen, and the houfe, and 
 my country ! And before I conclude, let me 
 exprefs my earned wifh, mv anxious and 
 fervent prayer, that now in this period of our 
 fuccefs, for the fake of the prefent age and 
 of pofterity, there may be no intermiffion in 
 that vigilant attention of Parliament to everv 
 object connected with the revenue, the re- 
 fources, and the credit of the flute, which 
 has carried us through all our difricuhies, 
 and led to this ranid and wonderful im- 
 provement ; — that Hill keeping pace with 
 the exertions of the Legiflature, the Genius 
 and Spirit, the Loyalty and Public Virtue of a 
 great and free Pecnle, mav lon<* deferve, and 
 (under the favour of Providence) may enfure 
 the continuance of this unexampled prospe- 
 rity ; and that Great Britain may thus re- 
 main for ages in the pofTerTion of thefe dif- 
 tinguifhed advantages, under the protection 
 and fafeguard of that Conflitution, to which 
 (as we have been truly told from the Throne) 
 they are principally to be afcribeel, and which 
 is indeed the great fource, and the bed" fe- 
 curi f y of all that can be dear and valuable to 
 
 N.iliun! 
 
 A debate
 
 ( 4 6 ) 
 
 A debate then took place, on the conclu- 
 fion of which the Committee, without any 
 tavilion, came to the following refolutions : 
 
 Refolved, 
 
 That, from and after the 5th day of 
 April 1792, the dudes charged by an ad: 
 made in the 31ft year of the reign of his 
 prefent majefty, intituled, " An aca: for grant- 
 " ing to his majefty additional duties upon 
 €b ' malt/' do ceafe and determine, 
 Refolved 2 
 
 That, from and after the 5th day of Aoril 
 1792, the duties on female fervants, charged 
 by an aft, made in the 25th year of the reign 
 of his prefent majefty, intituled, " An act 
 " to repeal the duties on male fervants, and 
 ' for granting new duties on male and fe- 
 " male fervants," do ceaie and determine. 
 Refolved, 
 That, from and after the 5th day of April 
 1792, the duties charged by an acd, made in 
 the 23d year of his prefent majelly, intituled, 
 s An act for granting to his majefty feveral 
 ' rates and duties upon waggons, wains, carts, 
 ' and other fuch carriages, not charged with 
 " any duty under the management of the 
 " cornmirl'ioners of excife," do ceafe and de- 
 termine. 
 
 Refolved,
 
 ( 47 ) 
 Refolved, 
 
 That, from and after the 5th day of April 
 1792, the duties now payable on certain inha- 
 bited houfes, containing lefs than fcvcn win- 
 dows or lights, charged by an act of the 6th 
 vear of the reign of his prefent maiefty, do 
 ceafe and determine. 
 Refolved, 
 
 That, from and after the 5 th day of April 
 1792, one half-penny in the pound of the 
 duty upon all candles (except wax and fper- 
 maceti candles) do ceafe and determine. 
 Ordered, 
 
 That a bill, or bills, be brought in upon 
 the laid refolutions ; and that the Earl of 
 
 A Jo P. NINGTO N , Mr. C H A N C ELLO R of th 
 
 Exchequer, Mr. Edward James Eliot, 
 the Lord Bayham, Mr. Hopkins, Mr. 
 Attorney General, Mr. Solicitor 
 General, Mr. Rose, and Mr. Charles 
 Long, do prepare, and bring in, the fame. 
 
 And in the committee of fupply on the 
 fame day, it was refolved to grznt to his ma- 
 jority the fum of £. 400,000, to be iiliied and 
 paid to the governor and company of the 
 Bank of England, to " them pla< 
 
 the account of the commiihoners to: Liu. 
 .;': ■■:) t/ the national debt.
 
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