Mr. Chan

and encouraged. It was the execution, and not the deliberation, which he wished to have haftered; and therefore, when the right honourable gentleman'thought proper to quote what he had faid on any former day, he wifhed he would be fo good as to quote him with fomething like correctness. It was the characteristic of the right honourable gentleman's Administration to be precipitate in deliberation, and lingering in execution. In moft of his meafures he had been hafty in coming to the decifion of a vote, and he had almoft as often had occafion to lament the want of greater deliberation; but he had fcarcely ever been equally prompt to carry the vote into execution after it had paffed. With regard to the call of the Houfe fuggested by his noble friend, he was aftonifhed at the right honourable gentleman's objecting to it. A call of the House had fometimes been vexatioufly made, but it scarcely ever had been refused when defired by any member. That it was now in common decency proper, who would be hardy enough to deny? A meafure more novel, or more important, had perhaps never come under the confideration of the Houfe. The right honourable gentleman told them himself that the measure was important; the Houfe knew it to be important; the whole country felt it to be important. Would the bufinefs derive a grace in the eyes of foreign Courts, from its being there. known to have been rafhly and precipitately brought on, and that a call of the Houfe, a thing ufual in cafes of infinitely lefs magnitude, had been refufed? The refufal bore an afpect fo illiberal and unbecoming, that it was impossible to reflect upon it without violent furprife.

Mr. Chancellor Pitt anfwered, that he was fenfibly awake cellor Pitt. to the juftice of the inftruction given him by the right honourable gentleman, "that whenever he quoted his words "he fhould quote them correctly;" but he was furprised to find the right honourable gentleman's practice fo much at variance with his doctrine; for in the very fame breath he had made the most grofs and palpable mifrepresentation of his own words. In this he faid the House were not to depend on the authority of either himfelf or the right honourable gentleman; for it was a mere queftion of memory, and he felt himself pretty secure, that no gentleman whatsoever would undertake to vouch for the right honourable gentleman, that he had received the words he made ufe of on the first day of the feffion, in the sense into which he had now attempted to conftrue them. He muft alfo presume to contend against the argument of the right honourable gentleman, that the Houfe was not bound to take any notice of the fpeculations of the merchants and manufacturers, clearly fhewing, that, in point of humanity as well as policy, it

was

was their duty to do fo, and to put an end as foon as poffible to the fufpenfe which the prefent ftate of the treaty muft neceffarily occafion: for even fuppofing that none of those perfons had given any actual order with a view to the conclufion of the treaty, yet it was impoffible but fome he fitation and fufpenfe must have been occafioned, which, if fuffered much longer to continue, could not but be a very material prejudice as well to individuals as to the Public. He ridiculed the idea of procrastinating the confideration of the treaty, under the fpecious pretext of more ferious deliberation; it was in fact only an affectation of deliberation; for it was nothing more than putting off, as long as poffible, the time for beginning to deliberate, which in effect was the fure way to render their deliberations fhort and fudden; it was like taking time to deliberate previous to deliberation, and brought to his recollection the fituation of a man, who even, whilst he does not bufy his mind upon any one object whatfoever, drops down in a ftate of perplexity.

Mr. Fox difclaimed the abfurdity of argument which the Mr. Fox. right honourable gentleman imputed to him, but added, that he was ready to admit, that, on a former day, the right honourable gentleman had fo reprefented him to have argued; but that mifreprefentation had been fo ably and fo completely corrected and cleared up by two of his honourable friends, (Mr. Francis and Mr. Burke) that he had not thought it neceffary on that day to trouble the Houfe with any explanation himfelf. Indeed, it would have been a bad argument for him to have ufed, had he urged the neceffity of precipitating the deliberation of the commercial treaty with France, in the very fame fpeech in which he was maintaining that it was impoffible for the Houfe to be compétent to decide on that treaty, unless they previously had fubmitted to them authentic information of the state of our trade with Portugal, as it ftood at prefent, and as it was likely to ftand hereafter. With regard to the right honourable gentleman's quibble, that if the day of deliberation was deferred, the Houfe would be in the state of a man, who fell down in a fit of perplexity, thinking of nothing, in the interval of the delay, he neither thought the fort of allufion, very decent to ufe within thofe walls, nor was it at all refpectful to the House, talking of them generally, to apply fuch an allufion to them.. The honourable gentleman was welcome to apply fuch allufions to him perfonally, but to the reft of the Houfe, a little more decency and refpect was due. Did he believe that the Houfe, because they at any time poftponed the deliberation of any measure of great national importance, from one day to another, thought of nothing in the interval? Was it a fact, that gentlemen fo far loft fight of and neglected their

duty

1

duty, as not to prepare themselves without doors for the dif-
cuffion of great questions to be decided in Parliament? Many
meafures were of a nature to the proper confideration of
which few of the members of that House were competent.
Queftions of commerce and trade, more especially, were
'queftions which members of Parliament, generally fpeaking,
were not quite fo well informed upon as other perfons.

66

Be

fore gentlemen therefore could make up their minds to the
proper vote they ought to give on the treaty, they must in-
form themfelves by converfing with thofe whofe avocations
and profeffions enabled them to be more converfant with
commercial fubjects. As to the day of deliberation being
defired to be procraffinated, it was a neceffary procraftina-
tion, and not (as the right honourable gentleman had called
it) an affectation of deliberation, and mere putting of the
day of beginning to difcufs the treaty." What was the
day? Perhaps the debate might be of to much length as to
be adjourned, and fo occupy two days or more. Still it
would be but a fingle debate, and would all be decided by a
fingle vote. Would the right honourable gentleman there-
fore contend, that too much reasonable tine could be taken
in order to enable gentlemen to examine a queition of fo much
novelty and fuch acknowledged importance, before they
came ultimately to decide upon it by their vote? If the argu-
ment of the right honourable gentleman, that the importance
of the question alone was a greater motive to caufe a full at-
tendance than any call of the Houfe, were founded upon that
principle, all the calls of the Houfe which had hitherto taken
place were idle and abfurd.

Ld. George Lord George Cavendish declared, that, for his part, he conCavendifli. fidered as a point of immaterial confequence what either the right honourable gentleman over the way, or his right honourable friend near him had faid on a former day, but he had ever understood it to be the undoubted right of any individual member to move a call, when he thought the business about to be brought on of great importance. He would not therefore, as an old member of Parliament, fubmit to the being told by the right honourable gentleman over the way, that no member had a right to move a call, or make any other motion but himself on one fide of the Houfe, and his right ́honourable friend on the other.

Mr. Chan.

Pitt.

Ld. George

Mr. Chancellor Pitt interrupted the noble Lord, to affure him that he was mistaken; but the Houfe calling loudly to order, he fat down.

Lord George Cavendish then faid, "Good God! what is al! Cavendish.this? Before that right honourable gentleman's mother was married I had fat feveral fethons in Parliament, and am I now to learn from him my duty within thefe walls?"

His

His Lord fhip then recapitulated his former argument, and obferved that he begged leave to remind the Speaker, that, without any motion, when weighty and great questions were about to be agitated, it was ufual with him to fend his mace to the rooms and places adjacent, to convene the members, in order that the bufinefs might commence in as full a House as poffible; and he afked if any bufinefs could poffibly require a fuller attendance than the difcuffion of the commercial treaty with France.

Mr. Chancellor Pitt apologized to the noble Lord for in- Mr. Chan. terrupting him, but affured him it only proceeded from his Pitt. anxiety to fet him right as foon as poffible, in a point in which he had totally mifconceived him, and undefervedly imputed to him a degree of difrefpect to himself and to the Houfe, of which he was incapable. He had not entertained the most diftant idea of including the whole Houfe, nor any part of it, by the opinion of any one member, but had only quoted the former words of a right honourable gentleman in fupport of his own opinion, a mode of argument which, in the prefent inftance, at leaft, he wondered the noble Lord fhould be fo highly offended at.

Mr. Burke faid, that he felt himfelf thoroughly juftified Mr. Burke in contending that his noble friend had been juftified in what he had advanced, as the right honourable gentleman's argument in part, if not in the whole, and he rather thought in the whole, had been an argument ad hominem, an argument perfonally addreffed to his right honourable friend near him. Mr. Burke then animadverted on the reafoning of the Chancellor of the Exchequer as to the importance of the commercial treaty, entitling it to an early deliberation, and declared, that if the new regulations of trade that it would call for and create, were fullicient reafons for going into the difcuffion of it prematurely and precipitately, every other regulation might, with equal propriety, be rendered subject to crude and hafty examinations.

The order of the day having been moved and read for the Houfe to refolve itfelf into a Committee on the charges againft Mr. Haftings, the Speaker left the chair, and Mr. St. Andrew St. John took his feat at the table.

Mr. Middleton was then called in, and underwent a long examination by Mr. Dundas and another gentleman.

After the examination had proceeded for fome hours,

Mr. Chancellor Pitt expreted his apprehenfions that it Mr. Chanwould be impoffible for the evidence to be printed foon Pitt. enough for the copies to be, diftributed in time on Monday for the members to have thein, fo as to enable them to become matters of its tendency, and apply it to the charge, if the charge were that day deband. fe called therefore on

the

ני

Mr. Sheridan.

Mr. Chan.

Pitt.

the honourable gentleman oppofite to him (Mr. Sheridan) to know whether he would bring forward the charge on Monday under fuch circumftances, or defer it until a period a little more diftant.

Mr. Sheridan agreed to poftpone bringing forward the charge concerning the Begums till Wednesday.

Mr. Chancellor Pitt then faid, that he would on the enfuing Monday, inftead of Tuefday, (as it had been before fettled) give notice of Monday fe'nnight as the day for debating the commercial treaty with France..

Major Scott Major Scott defired to know from the honourable gentleman (Mr. Sheridan) whether the charge concerning the Princeffes of Oude would peremptorily be brought on next Wednefday.

Mr. Sheri

dan.

Mr. Ald.

Mr. Sheridan answered, that he could not undertake to fay peremptorily that it would,

The Committee then proceeded to the examination of Sir Elijah Impey; and, in a confiderable time afterwards, the Houfe adjourned.

Monday, 5th February.

The House went into a Committee on the lottery regulation bill, Mr. Gilbert in the chair. When they came to the claufe legalizing the infurance of whole tickets under certain reftrictions,

Mr. Alderman Newnham expreffed his fears, that the bill Newnham. meant to authorize a species of gambling highly prejudicial to the lower clafs of the people.

Mr. Rofe.

Mr. Francis.

Mr. Rofe acknowledged, that games of chance ought to be ftopt as far as it was practicable, but that the prefent reftraining lottery act was in moft inftances invaded. The procefs was as yet by warrant from a juftice of the peace, directed to a constable, to distrain the goods on the premises. The return to this warrant was generally nulla bona, as the office-keeper had only to change his fettlement; if in Weftminster, to the city, and vice verfa, whereby he evaded the magiftrate's power. By the prefent bill, a capias would iffue in the first instance, and the party become held to bail for 500l. The fale and value of tickets would be increased, which of courfe would prove an advantage.

Mr. Francis obferved, that he could not avoid expreffing, in the ftrongest terms, his cenfure against the indecifive, loofe, and apparently inefficacious manner in which this bill appeared to point at the extirpation of the very ferious and alarming evil of lottery gambling. He did not fee the good policy of fuffering this fpecies of infurance; for under this maik, the whole of the villainy, which the Public fo juftly

com