majesty's forces, and of those of the East India company, brought the campaign to a speedy and successful issue; and peace has been finally established upon the just and honourable terms of the original treaty.

"Gentlemen of the house of commons, I have directed the estimates for the current year to be laid before you. They have been formed upon a full consideration of all the present circumstances of the country, with an anxious desire to make every reduction in our establishments which the safety of the empire and sound policy allow. I recommend the state of the public income and expenditure to your early and serious attention. I regret to be under the necessity of inform ing you, that there has been a deficiency in the produce of the revenue in the last year; but I trust that it is to be ascribed to tempo rary causes and I have the consolation to believe that you will find it practicable to provide for the public service of the year without making any addition to the burthens of the people, and without adopting any measure injurious to that system by which the public credit of the country has been hitherto sustained,

"My lords and gentlemen,-I have the satisfaction of informing you, that the arrangements which were made in the last session of parliament, with a view to a new silver coinage, have been completed with unprecedented expedition. I have given directions for the immediate issue of the new coin, and I trust that this measure will be productive of considerable advantages to the trade and internal transactions of the country. The distresses consequent upon the termination of a war of such unusual extent and duration

have been felt, with greater or less severity, throughout all the nations of Europe; and have been considerably aggravated by the unfavourable state of the season. Deeply as I lament the pressure of these evils upon the country, I am sensible that they are of a nature not to admit of an immediate remedy; but whilst I observe with peculiar satisfaction the fortitude with which so many privations have been borne, and the active benevolence which has been employed to mitigate them, I am persuaded that the great sources of our national prosperity are essentially unimpaired, and Í entertain a confident expectation that the native energy of the country will at no distant period surmount all the difficulties in which we are involved. In considering our internal situation you will, I doubt not, feel a just indignation at the attempts which have been made to take advantage of the distresses of the country, for the purpose of exciting a spirit of sedition and violence. I am too well convinced of the loyalty and good sense of the great body of his ma jesty's subjects, to believe them capable of being perverted by the arts which are employed to seduce them; but I am determined to omit no precautions for preserving the public peace, and for counteracting the designs of the disaffected: And I rely with the utmost confidence on your cordial support and cooperation, in upholding a system of law and government, from which we have derived inestimable advantages, which has enabled us to conclude, with unexampled glory, a contest whereon depended the best interests of mankind, and which has been hitherto felt by ourselves, as it is acknowledged by other nations, to be the most perfect that

has

has ever fallen to the lot of any people."

On the return of the prince re gent from the house of lords, the fife guards were insulted, and gra. vel and other missiles were thrown at the royal carriage. The particulars of these outrages were communicated to both houses by lord James Murray, the lord-in-waiting, who was examined respecting them. The debates on the usual addresses in answer to the speech were al journed; and both houses unanimously agreed to the following address: We his majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the lords spiritual and temporal, and commons, in parliament assembled, beg leave to approach your royal high ness, humbly to express our abhor. rence of the outrage offered to your royal highness on your passage from parliament to assure your royal highness thrt we feel the deepest concern and indignation that there should be found any individual in his majesty's dominions capable of an attack so daring and flagitious; and to express our earnest wishes, in which we are confident we shall be joined by all descriptions of his majesty's subjects, that you will be pleased to order measures to be taken without delay, to discover and bring to justice the aiders and abettors of this atrocious proceeding."

To this address his royal highness the prince regent returned the following most gracious answer :"This additional proof of your duty and loyalty affords me the highest satisfaction. Relying on the affection of the great part of his majesty's subjects, I have nothing to regret but a breach of the laws. I have ordered that the persons concerned in that outrage should be brought before the proper tribunal."

In the commons, the same day, the speaker having read the speech delivered that day from the throne, lord Valletort moved the address. His lordship considered that, although the late war had thrown considerable burdens on the people, yet we ought to be gratified that all the objects sought by it had been attained; nor ought we under the pressure of temporary adversity to give ourselves up to despair. The expedition against the government of Algiers, whether regarded with respect to its motives or its end, formed a subject of unmixed congratulation; nor was a renewal of aggression from that quarter to be apprehended. With respect to the wars in india, they had been forced upon us by a series of aggressions; but the treaty with Nepaul,combined with the wise arrangements of the marquis of Hastings, promised to secure the future tranquillity of the peninsula of India. He agreed that the house ought to enforce œconomy; but it ought to be borne in mind that the weight and dignity of a powerful government must be kept up; that this government was the guardian of social order; that our empire was wide, and our colonies spread over the whole face of the globe. He would enforce on their consideration, that nothing was so expensive as weakness, no thing so prodigal as insecurity. The house must be sensible that the prince regent was sincerely desirous of lessening the burdens of the people, and would adopt any plan, consistent with public security and pub lic faith, that the house might recommend. The deficiency of the revenue was no ground for depression; the present distress was but temporary, occasioned by the transition from a state of war to a state of peace. The expenditure during

the

the last year of the war, among the labouring classes of the community, amounted to 130 millions; in the year after it was only 70 millions: this joined to the great discharge of soldiers and sailors, effected a diminution of employment at the very time when there was a greater de mand for it than ever. A mischie. vous spirit had been diffused among the poorer classes for the worst purposes: they had been told that the remedy for all their grievances would be annual parliaments; but he trusted that the house had the will and power to defeat every attempt to subvert the constitution, which, in spite of clamour, was still unrivalled, and acknowledged to be the most perfect that had ever fallen to the lot of man.

Mr. Dawson seconded the motion.

Mr. Ponsonby moved the following amendment :-" That we have seen, with the deepest concern, the continued embarrassments of our agriculture, manufactures, and commerce; the alarming deficiency of the revenue; and the unexampled and increasing distresses of all classes of his majesty's faithful sub. jects. Of these facts he was sure no one could have any doubt. That we are willing to indulge the hope that these distresses may be found, in part, to have originated from circumstances of a temporary nature, and that some alleviation of them may be produced by the continuance of peace; but that we should ill discharge our duty to his royal highness, and be guilty of countenancing a most dangerous delusion, were we to conceal from him our opinion that the pressure that now weighs so heavily on the resources of the country, is much more extensive in, its operation, more severe in its effects, more

deep and general in its causes, and more difficult to be removed, than that which has prevailed at the termination of any former war. That we are firmly persuaded that the same exemplary patience and for titude with which all ranks have hitherto borne the difficulties under which they labour, will continue to support them under such burdens as may be found indispensably ne cessary for the unavoidable exigencies of the public service; but that to maintain this disposition it is incumbent on this house, by a severe and vigilant exercise of its powers, to prove to their fellow-subjects, that the sacrifices which it may be their painful duty to make, are strictly limited to the real necessities of the state. That while we acknowledge the gracious dispositions announced in his royal highness's speech from the throne, we cannot help expressing our regret that his royal highness should not have been sooner advised to adopt measures of the most rigid œconomy and retrenchment, particularly with respect to our military establishments; that a prompt and ef fectual reduction in this and every other branch of our expenditure, his majesty's faithful commons most naturally look to as the first step to relieve the sufferings, and redress the grievances, of which the people so justly complain; and that to enable themselves to assist his royal highness by their advice in the performance of a duty so imperi ously called for by the present situ ation of the country, they will lose no time in instituting a strict in quiry into the state of the nation."

Mr. Bragge Bathurst replied to Mr. Ponsonby.

The hon. Mr. Lambe said, our calamities were produced by the war, though their complete pres

sure

sure was not felt till the arrival of peace they were thus connected with the peace in point of time, but they could not be traced to the peace as their cause. In this situation, the great object for us to pursue was, not to propagate a delusion with respect to the cause of our distress, but to take every means of alleviating it, or preventing its extension, by supporting and main. taining public credit. He stated this opinion, not from any fear that the recommendations of those who attempted to justify a breach of national faith would be attended to, but from a firm conviction, that breaking faith with the national creditor would bring no relief to the people, or tend to remove, in any degree, the embarrassments of the country. On the contrary, he was convinced that such conduct on the part of the legislature would aggravate and extend them. If we were to trust the dictates of experience, we had it in support of this opinion. Some time ago the complaints against the landholder were as loud as they now were against the fundholder: these complaints were now heard no more, for there was no reason for them. Rents had been reduced, the landed interest were straitened in their incomes, but who had benefited by the change? The distresses of the manufacturing and labouring classes, instead of being alleviated had been increased: they had been deprived of employment by the reduced circumstances of those who employed them; and found no advantage in the diminution of the income of those against whose wealth they clamoured. Any interference with the fundholder, he was convinced, would be productive of similar effects, instead of relieving our distress. Our situation should be

supported with that firmness and patience that could alleviate every calamity, instead of leading us to attempt plans and expedients which might aggravate temporary sufferings into irretrievable ruin, by destroying entirely public confidence and national credit. But how were we to support public credit if we did not resort to such expedients? He would answer-By œconomy and retrenchment. Parliament, he hoped, was prepared for entering into economical reductions; ministers, he hoped, were prepared for the task; and the country, he hoped, was likewise prepared. He said, he hoped the country was prepared for it; for, although he meant no reflection against any particular india viduals, he could not refrain from observing, that those who now called for economy and retrencha ment would be sorry that they were adopted. A strict and rigorous attention to œconomy, and reduction of all our establishments to the lowest possible scale, must be productive of evils to certain individuals, and he was not disposed to under-rate their sufferings; but the national good and the public security were paramount to all other considerations.

Mr. C. Grant argued that the transition from war to peace was the cause of our present distresses; and added, that the scarcity of the present season would lead to increased cultivation the next, and contribute to raise agriculture from its depressed state.

The hon. member was proceeding, when he was interrupted by a message from the lords, announcing the attack on the regent, and desiring a conference. This was agreed to, and a committee appointed.

House of lords, January 29.

Their lordships, after going up with the address to the prince regent, proceeded to the consideration of the speech from the throne, The earl of Dartmouth moved the address, which was seconded by the earl of Rothes.

Earl Grey. Before he proceeded to observe on those parts of the speech of the ministers delivered by his royal highness the prince re gent, and those parts of the speeches of the noble lords who moved and seconded the address with respect to which it would be his painful duty to dissent from their sentiments, he would briefly advert to those parts of these speeches as to which there could be no difference of opinion, First, then, no one could more cordially and heartily than he did, join the noble mover and the noble seconder of the address, in paying the highest tribute of praise to the skill, enterprise, perseverance, and courage of the noble and gallant admiral who commanded the fleet in the attack on Algiers: no one could more cordially join in that just tribute of applause paid to the courage, resolution, and exemplary valour of the officers and seamen under his command; rejoicing, as he did, in this new accession of glory to the British arms, and particularly to that branch of our defensive force which ought always to be looked upon with favour, as the best and most natural protection of this country. But while he concurred in these just and well-deserved praises, he could not help expressing his regret, considering the heavy pres, sure under which the country la boured, that any necessity should have arisen for adding even the expense of that expedition to our already almost intolerable burdens; and while he expressed that regret,

he could not help adding some doubt, whether the security and good effects which many expected to result from this enterprise would be of so permanent a nature as some were sanguine enough to believe they would be but while he suggested that doubt, he wished most anxiously to guard himself against being understood as having any desire to detract, in the slightest degree, from the merits of those who were employed in the execution. Another topic introduced into the prince regent's speech, and into the speeches of the noble lords, was the Nepaul war. Here, again, he most cordially concurred in the tribute of applause paid to the officers and men employed in the prosecution and conduct of that war: but it would be too much to ask at present for any opinion of the house as to the causes and necessity of the war, since on that head no information had, as far as he knew, been communicated to their lordships. If any information had been laid before the house, he had not seen it; and he professed, that he at least was entirely uninformed on the subject of the causes and necessity of the Nepaul war, and was therefore in no condition to give any opinion upon it; and so he must avouch, if he were, in the present state of his information, to be called upon to give any opinion upon it. Thus much he had stated on that point, because there were some appearances of an intention to call for an opinion of the two houses of parliament on the subject of the Nepaul war. But there was one thing in this part of the speech which he must remark upon, and which he had observed with very considerable surprisehe alluded to the terms in which the termination of this Nepaul war was introduced into the speech. It

was