certain commissioners, to be by them applied to the purchase of stock, towards discharging the public debt of this country; which money shall arise out of the surplus, excess, and overplus monies, composing the fund commonly called the Sinking Fund."

MR. SHERIDAN observed, that there was, in point of fact, no surplus whatever in the present year; a circumstance evinced not only by the report itself, but by the whole of the right honourable gentleman's speech that day. The day had commenced very inauspiciously; and when he used that phrase he meant no disrespect to his Majesty; but merely to hint at the royal message relative to the civil list, which was an extraordinary introduction surely to a business, the event of which the public had been taught to look forward to with the pleasing expectation of finding a surplus in their favour. He was a little surprised, that the right honourable gentleman, who, when he two years ago asked for £60,000 to clear the debt then due on the civil list, had in a manner pledged himself to the house that no farther debts should arise, and that the house should not again be applied to for farther grants on the subject, should come again so soon for so large a sum of the public money.

Mr. Chancellor Pitt said, across the house, Oh no, I never said any such thing. Mr. Sheridan replied, the right honourable gentleman must excuse him; words said at so remote a period might be forgotten; but he was clear in his recollection of the circumstances; and indeed it was evident he must have used some such argument, or else why should the right honourable gentleman have asked for £600,000 two years ago, and come down again then, and claim grants for an arrear of so large an amount as £210,000.

To this Mr. Pitt replied, that he considered it " as the most extraordinary attack that was ever made upon him. Mr. Sheridan had said, words might be forgotten after they had been said: it was undoubtedly true; but it was also true, that words might be misrepresented; and if ever he had heard a gross misrepresentation of his words, it had been the charge stated by the honourable gentleman," &c.

Mr. Sheridan replied, that the right honourable gentleman might indulge himself as much as he pleased in throwing out charges of misrepresentation; but he had spoken what, in his opinion, as well as in the opinion of several gentlemen in that house, was a true statement of the right honourable gentleman's own words If £60,000 was asked for as the debt two years ago, how came it that £210,000 was now wanted? As to

the idea of redeeming a mortgage of £50,000 a year on the civil list, why had not that been regularly paid, since government were answerable for it?

The question was then put, and agreed to.

MARCH 30.

MR. MARSHAM'S BILL FOR DISFRANCHISING ALL VOTERS EMPLOYED BY THE NAVY AND ORDNANCE BOARD.

MR. SHERIDAN declared that the right honourable and learned gentleman (Mr. Dundas) had truly said, that he never made an assertion without being ready to show his face at the same time; for he believed the house would agree with him, that the right honourable and learned gentleman had never advanced an argument, however irreconcileable with reason or logic, upon which he had not been perfectly ready to put a good countenance. With regard to the right honourable and learned gentleman's dish of disfranchisements, he, of all men, should not have set it before the house, who doubtless must well remember that the right honourable and learned gentleman had not only first been induced to nibble a little at a plate or side-dish filled with the same ingredients, but had afterwards been brought to sit down to a whole course of dishes of that sort; when the right honourable and learned gentleman's right honourable friend near him had served up his grand entertainment of parliamentary reform. The object of that reform had been, not to disfranchise a single description of men merely, but a large number of voters from many different boroughs.

Mr. Chancellor Pitt denied this assertion.

Mr. Sheridan thanked the right honourable gentleman for his correction; and said, he recollected the people were to be paid for giving up their franchises, which suited his argument better; because every body knew where money was in the case, the right honourable and learned gentleman would be better pleased. But, how unconstitutional was the idea of purchasing with a bribe, that which it had ever been contended no Englishman could sell or part with for money-his unalienable right of voting at an election! He next alluded to what Lord Mulgrave had said respecting that man's deserving to lose his head, who used the influence of the crown improperly.

His lordship rose to set Mr. Sheridan right; and repeated his words, declaring he had said, that man ought to lose his head, who exercised the powers of government in the manner alluded to.

Mr. Sheridan resumed his argument; and was glad to find the expression was ought to lose his head; because if it had been would have lost his head, the right hon. and learned gentleman would not, in all probability, that day had a face to have shown in that house. Mr. Sheridan animadverted upon part of Sir Charles Middleton's speech; declaring that there must be something exceedingly pure and patriotic indeed in the blood of those shipwrights who condescended to work in the King's yards for 2s. 4d. per day, when the honourable baronet had stated they could get 5s. per day in the merchants' yards.

APRIL 3.

EAST INDIA AFFAIRS.

The order of the day having been read for the house to resolve itself into a committee of the whole house, the speaker left the chair, having previously put the question on the motion, "That the several reports which since the year 1772 have been made from the committees of secrecy appointed to inquire into the causes of the war in the Carnatic; and of the condition of the British possessions in those parts; and from the select committees appointed to take into consideration the state of the administration of justice in the provinces of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa, be referred to the said committee."

MR. SHERIDAN contended that the house were not then sitting as judges, nor did Mr. Hastings want an advocate; neither was the loss of thirteen provinces, nor of a whole army, at all in point to the subject under consideration. But he owned he was a good deal surprised at hearing the learned Lord Advocate so severe on the noble earl (Cornwallis); for when he talked of the loss of an army, he presumed the learned lord must have meant him; and surely the noble earl was, at this time, a favourite with administration! Their granting to him the post of governor-general proved clearly that his sins were forgiven him, and his pardon signed. If the committee were rightly to adhere to forms, they had it not in their power to receive any charge, notwithstanding the charge had been called for so often. He desired that the order of the day might be minutely and distinctly read; which being done, he contended that the order clearly confined them to the examination of the written, and to the receipt of the parole evidence and that the natural duty of the committee would be

to make a report; out of which report the house would have to draw and extract the charge. If therefore the arguments of the gentlemen on the other side of the house were to prevail, the report must certainly be to this effect:- "Your committee have not examined the evidence which you referred to us and directed us to investigate; but we report the charge, which you did not direct us to receive."

APRIL 5.

SUPPLY TO BE GRANTED TO HIS MAJESTY.

MR. SHERIDAN begged leave to remind the right honourable gentleman (Mr. Pitt) that he had misunderstood him on a former day, when he had talked of the right honourable gentleman's having pledged himself that there should be no future debt accrue from the civil list. He then drew an inference from what the right honourable gentleman had that day said, that if his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales should find his income too small, and application should be made to that house, that the right honourable gentleman was of opinion it ought to be increased; and any debts which his Royal Highness might have incurred, paid.

Mr. Chancellor Pitt again repeated what he had before said, that having had no instructions on the subject of his Royal Highness's establishment, he could not take upon him to speak officially concerning it; nor would he be so presumptuous as to entertain or express any private opinion whatever.

Mr. Sheridan declared that he should still understand that if any debts incurred by his Royal Highness were to be, in future, stated by the right honourable gentleman, whether by message from the crown, or by any other proper authority, they were to be considered as extraordinaries of the civil list, and not within the right honourable gentleman's present pledge. A bill (Mr. Burke's) on regulating the payment of the civil list expenses, expressly said that no debt should be incurred upon it in future. It was absurd to let the bill remain in full force, and yet come down in the face of an act of parliament, and call upon the house to vote money for the debts of the crown. The right honourable gentleman ought either to bring in a bill to explain and amend, or ask for no more money on the civil list account. He shrewdly suspected that as £30,000 was the precise debt now asked for,

that the expense of keeping the noble Earl of Chesterfield for two years together, nominal ambassador to the court of Madrid; and the expense of sending out a right honourable gentleman (Mr. Eden) to negotiate the treaty of commerce, occasioned that debt; and what led him to form this conjecture was, because the sums squared so well together-the expense on the noble earl's account being £25,000; and the other £5,000. He gave the right honourable gentleman (Mr. Eden) credit for possessing great knowledge of the subject, and for being exceedingly fit to negotiate the treaty; but it nevertheless behoved the right honourable gentleman to be able to assure the house that so large a sum of the public money would not be wasted; but that he had good reason to believe the treaty would be made, and the object of his mission would be answered. Observing Mr. Pitt smile, Mr. Sheridan expressed his astonishment that, whilst he delivered his sentiments upon a subject of such uucommon consequence to the country at large, he should, if unbecoming smiles could have that effect, be treated by the right honourable gentleman as an object of ridicule.

Mr. Chancellor Pitt contended, that the honourable gentleman had been long in the habit of putting words into his mouth for the purpose of giving those words whatever interpretation he thought most likely to answer his own ends. He had now gone farther, and pretended to interpret even his smile; and give it a turn which he was by no means warranted in assigning to it In fact, his smile was only occasioned by the nature of the honourable gentleman's argument; which the committee must be sensible was highly ridiculous. For what could be more absurd than to call upon him to say what progress had been made in the treaty, when he had not yet an official account of the ambassador's having arrived at the place of negotiation?

Mr. Sheridan declared, that he would not believe that the right honourable gentleman's smile was a smile in ridicule of his argument; but rather the sneer of vexation, that he should use it; and he would undertake to prove that no man of common sense would deem his argument ridiculous, because he had every reason to suppose that the right honourable gentleman was not in earnest in sending out the right honourable negotiator (Mr. Eden). If he had been in earnest, he would undoubtedly have sent him out sooner, when the treaty could have been accomplished; and not when it was too late to expect its achievement. Though the right honourable gentleman might not be able to declare when the treaty might be ended, yet he might say,