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23 WIST MAIN STRUT

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(7l6)t73-4S03

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1 2 3

^A^rm*

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SPEECH

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EDMUND BURKE, Esq,

&c, &c. ^r.

[ Price IS. 2

••H'

S P E E C W

EDMUND BURKE, Esq.

MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT FOR THE
CITY OP BRISTOL,

On prefenting to the Houfe of Commons
(On the nth of February, 1780)

A PLAN FOR THE BETTER SECURITY OF
THE INDEPENDENCE OF PARLIAMENT/

A N O T H B

OECONOMICAL REFORMATION OF THE
CIVIL AND OTHER ESTABLISHMENTS.

A NEW EDITION.

LONDON:
Primted for J. DODSLEY, in PALL-MALL.

M.DCC.LXXX,

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Mr. Speaker,

I Rife, in acquittal of my engagement to thehoufe. In
obedience to the ftrong and juft requifition of my
conftituents, and, I am perfuaded, in conformity to the
unanimous wiihes of the whole nation, to Cubmit to the
wifdom of parliament, *' A plan of reform in the con>
** ftitution of feveral parts of the public oeconomy/*

I have endeavoured, that this plan £hould include in
its execution, a coniiderable reduction of improper ex-
pence i that, it fhould eiFed a converflon of unprofitable
titles into a produdive eftate ; that, it fhould lead tOy
and indeed almoft compel, a provident adminiftration of
fuch fums of public money as muft remain under dif-
cretionary trufts ; that, it ihould render the incurring
debts on the civil eftabitfhment'( which muft ultimately
affedt national ilrength and national credit) fo very
difficult, as to become next to impracticable.

But what, I confefs, was uppermoft with me, whaf
I bent the whole force of my mind to, was the reduflioa
of that corrupt influence, which is itfelf the perennial
fpring of all prodigality, and of all diforder; which
loads us, more than millions of debt; which takes away
vigour from our arms, wifdom from our councils, and
every ihadow of authority and credit from the laoft
veneraUlf parts of our cooftitution* .

i B Sir,

„■- •..•..-■N.^

^~— >.- '

■tm^mv,:

'■••

)

' r 1 ]

. Sir, I aflurc you^ very folcmnly, and with a vcrjr
clear confcicnce, that nothing in the world has led me
to fuch an undertaking, but my zeal for the honour of
this houfe, and the fettled, habitual, fyftematic aft*ec-
tioiv I bear to the caufe, and to the principles of go-
vernment.

I enter perfectly into the nature and confe(^uencc»
of my attempt ; and I advance to it with a tremor that
Ihalccs me to the inmofl: fibre of my frame. I feel»
that I engage in a bufmefs, in itfelf moft ungracious,
totally wide of the courfe of prudent conduct ; and I
really think, the moft completely adverfe that can be
imagined, to the natural turn and temper of my own
mind. I know, that all parfimony is of a quality ap-
proaching to unkindnefs } and that (on fome perfon or
other) every reform muft operate as a fort of punifli-
ment. Indeed the whole clafs of the fevere and re-
ilridive virtues, are at a market almoft too high for
humanity. What is worfe, there are very tew of
thofe virtues which are not capable of being imi-
tated, and even outdone in many of their moft ftriking
efFcfts, by the worft of vices. Malignity and envy
will carve much more deeply, and finiih much more
ftiarply, in the work of retrenchment, than frugality
and providence. I do not, therefore, wonder that
gentlemen have kept away from fuch a taflc, as well
from good nature as from prudence. Private feeling
might, indeed, be overborne by It giflative reafon } and a
man of a long-fighted and ftrong-nerved humanity,
might bring himfelf, not fo much to confider from whom
he tfikes a fuperfluous enjoyment, as for whom in the
end he may preferve the abfolute necefTaries of life.

fiut it is much more eafy to reconcile this mea-
Aire to humanity, than to bring it to any agreement with
prudence. I do not mean that little, felfiih, pitiful,
baftard thing, which fometimes goes by the name of a
family in which it is not legitimate, and tb whieh it is
a difgrace ;— I mean even that public and enlarged
prudence, which, apprehenfive of being difabled
from rendering acceptable fervices to the world, with-
holds itfelf from thofe that are invidious. Gentlemen
who are, with me, verging towards the decline of life,
and are apt to form their ideas of kings from kings of
V- ' Z - former

■*>.

with a vcsv
d has led me
>e honour of
'matic affec-
iples of go-

onfeq,uencc9
tremor that
>e- I feeJ»
ungracious.
u<^t J and I
^>at can be
>f my own
quality ap-
e pcrfon or
of punifli-
re and re-
' high for
■y Kw of
^ing imi-
ft ftriking
and envy
"ch more
frugality
>der that

> as Weil
f feeling

> i and a
'manity,
>« whom
n in the
ife.

s mea-
nt with
pitiful,
ine of a
■h it is
ilarged
ifabled
with-
•lemen
)nife,
tigs of
former

[ 3 1

,.%

former times, might dread the anger of a reigning^
prince; — they who are more provident of the future^
or by being young are more interefted in it, might trem-
ble at the refentment of the fuccelTor } they might fee a
long, dull, dreary. Unvaried vifto of defpair and exclu-
iion, for half a century^ before them. This is no plea-
fant profped^ at theoutfet of a political journey.

Bcfides this. Sir, the private enemies to be made in all
attempts of this kind arc innumerable ; and their enmity
will be the more bitter, and the more dangerous too»
becaufe a fenfe of dignity will oblige them to conceal
the caufe of their refentment. very few men of
great families and extenfive connections, but will
feel the fmart of a cutting reform, in fome clofe re-
lation, fume bofom friend, fome pleafant acquaintance,
fome dear protected dependant. Emolument is taken
from fome ) patronage from others ; obje^s of purfuit
from all. Men, forced into an involuntary indepen-
dence, will abhor the authors of a blefling which ia
their eyes has fo very near a refemblance to a curfe^
When officers are removed^ and the offices remain, you
may fet the gratitude of fome againft the anger of
others} you may oppofe the friends you oblige againfl
the enemies you provoke^ But fervices of the prefent
fort create no attachments. The individual good felc
in a public benefit, is comparatively fo fmali, comes
round through fuch an involved labyrinth of intricate
and tedious revolutions } whilft a prefent perfonal de-
triment is fo heavy, where it falls, and fo inftant in
its operation, that the cold commendation of a public
advantage never was, and never will be^ a match for the
quick fenfibility of a private lofs : and you may de-
pend upon it. Sir, that when many people have an
inttfreft in railing, fooner or later, they will bring a
coni'iderable degree of unpopularity upon any meafure.
So that, for the prefent at lea(V, the reformation will
operate againfl the reformers } and revenge (as againft
them at the leaft) will produce all the effeCls of corrup-
tion.

This, Sir, is almoft always the cafe, where thi
plan has compleat I'uccefs. But how ftands the matter
in the mere attempt ? Nothing, you know, is more,
vommofi, than for men to wifh, and call loudly too, for a

B a reformation.

..I

\'M

[ 4 ]

reformation, who, when it arrives, do by no inean<^
4ike the feverity of its afpedl. Reformation is one
of thofe pieces which muil be ptit at ibme diftance in
order to pleafe. Its greateft favourers love it better ia
the abftra^i than in the fubftance. When any old pre-
judice of their own, or any intereft that they value, is
touched, they become fcrupulous, they become captio\is,
and every man has his feparate exception. Some pluck
out the black hairs, feme the grey •, one point muft be
given up to one ; another point muft be yielded to ano-
ther ; nothing is fufFered to prevail upon its own prin-
ciple: the whole is fo frittered down, and disjointed, that
fcarcely a trace of the original fchenK remains I Thus,
|)etween the refiftance of power, and the unfyftematical
procefs of popularity, the undertaker and the under-
taking are bodi expofed, and the poor reformer is hifled
off the ftage, both by friends and foes.

Obferve, Sir, that the apology for my undertaking
(an apology i^ich, though kmg, is no longer than ne-
cefTary) is not grounded on my want of the fulleft fenfe
of the difficult and invidious nature of the taflc I under-
take. I rifque odium if I fucceed, and. contempt if I
fail. My excufe muft reft in mine and your convic-
tion of the abfolute, urgent necejpty there is, that fome-
tiung of the kind (hould be done. If there is any facri-
ficc to be made, either of eftimation or of fortune, the
fmalleft is the beft. Commanders in chief are not to be
put upon the forlorn hope. But indeed it is neceflary
that die attempt (hould be made. It is neceflary from
our own political circumftances ; it is neceflary from
the operations of the enemy ; it is necefTary from the
demands of the people ; whofe defires, when they do not
militate with the ftable and eternal rules of jufttce and
reafon (ruleswhich are above us, and above them) ought
to be as a law to a Houfc of Commons.

As to our circumftances ; I do not mean to aggravate
the difficulties of them, by the ftrensth. of any colour-
ing whatfoever. On the contrary, I obferve, and ob-
fer,ve with pleafure, that our affairs rather wear a more
promifme afpedt than they did on the opening of this
feffion. \Ve have had fome leading fuccefles. But
thofe who rate them at the higheft (higher a great deal
indeed than I dare to do) afe of opinion, that, upon
5 the

inj
ar«
te<

w'.*Hit,

-♦#

t s i

the ground of fuch advantages, we cannot at this time
liope to make any treaty of peace, which would not be
ruinous and completely difgraceful. In fuch an anxious
ftate of things^ if dawnings of fuccefs ferve to animate
our diligence, they are good ; if they tend to increafe
our preiumption, they are worfe than defeats. The
flate of our affairs fhail then be as promifing as any one
may choofe to conceive it : Tt is however but promifing.
We muft recollect, that with but half of our natural
Arength, we are at war againft confederated powers who
have fingly threatned us with ruin : We muft recolledV,
that whim we are left naked on one fide, our other flank .
i» uncovered by any alliance ; That whilft we are weigh-
ing and balancing our fuccefTcs againft our lofTes, we
are accumulating debt to the amount of at leaft four-
teen millions in the year. That lofs is certain.

I have no wifh to deny, that our fuccefles are as bril-
liant as any one choofes to make them ; our refources too
may, for me, be as unfathomable as they are rcprefent-
ed. Indeed they are juft whatever the people poiTefs,
and will fubmit to pay. Taxing is an eafy bufinefs. Any
projector can contrive new impofitions ; any bungler
can add to the old. But is it altogether wife to have no
other bounds to your impofitions, than the patience of
thofe who are to bear them ?

All I claim upon the fubjeel of your refources is this,
that they are not likely to be increafed by wafting them.—
I think I fliall be permitted to aftumc, that a fyftem of
frugality will not leften your riches, whatever they may
be i — I believe it will not be hotly difputed, that thofe
refources which lie heavy on the fubieiSt, ought not to be
objects of preference ; that they ought not to be the very
firji choice^ to an honeft reprefentative of the people.

This is all, Sir, that I ihall fay upon our circumftan-
ces and our refources : I mean to fay a little more on
the operations of the enemy, becaufe this matter feems
to me very natural in our prefent deliberation. When
I look to the other fide of the water, I cannot help recol*
letting what Pyrrhus faid on reconnoitering the Roman
camp, ** Thefe Barbarians have nothing barbarous in '\
♦* their difcipline." When I look, as I have pretty care-
fully looked, into the proceedings of the French king, V
9m forry to fay it, I f?e nothing of the chara<5ler and

33 genius

'4 vi

. 'I

t 6']

gcAius of arbitrary finance ; none of the bold frauds
of bankrupt power; none of the wild {(ruggles, and
plunges, of defpotifm in diftrefs; — no lopping off from
the capital of debt } — no fufpenfion of intercft ; — no
robbery under the name of loan ; — no raifing the value,
no dcbafing the fubftance of the coin. I fee neither
Louis the fourteenth, nor Louis the fifteenth. On the
contrary, I behold with afloniihment, rifing before me,
by the very hands of arbitrary power, and in the very
midfl of war and confufion, a regular, methodical fyf-
tem of public credit $ I behold a fabric laid on the na-
tural and folid foundations of truft and confidence
among men i and rifmg, by fair graaations, order over
order, according to the juft rules 6f fymmetry and art.
What a reverfe of things ! Principle, method, regula-
rity, oeconomy, frugality, juflice to individuals, and
care of the people, are the refources with which France
makes wa: upon Great Britain. God avert the omen !
But if we fhould fee any genius in war and politics arife
in France, to fecond what is done in the bureau I—- 1
turn my eyes from the confequences.

The noi)le Lord in the blue ribbon, lafl y^s^r, treat-
ed all this with contempt. He never could conceive it
poflible that the French minifter of finance could go
through that year with a loan of but feventeen hundred
thoufand pounds ; and that he fhould be able to fund
that loan without any tax. The fecond year, how-
ever, opens the very fame fccne. A fmall loan, a loan
of no more than two millions five hundred thoufand
pounds, is to carry our enemies through the fervice of
this yearalfo. No tax is raifed to fund that debt ; no tax
is raifed for the current fcrvices. I am credibly informed
that there is no anticipation whatfoever. • Compenfa-
tions arc corredly made, Old debts continue to be funk
as in the time of profound peace. Even payments which
their treafury had been authorized to fufpend during
the time of war, are not fufpended.

A general reform, executed through every department
ef thf rfvenuii creates an annual income of more than

)

• This term compreh?ndi variaus retributions mide to perfons whofe
oflScei are taken away, or who, in any other way, fuffcr by the new ar-
ra.igemenis that arc muds.

/ «•'.•,

bold frauds
•^gg'es, and
>'ng off from
ntereft ;— no
^S the value,

fee neither
'th- On the
g before me,

in the very
hodical fy{L

on the na-

confidence
1 order over
fy and art.
od, regula-
iduals, and
I'ch France
the omen .'
oliticsarife
mreau I— I

'far, treat-
conceive it

could go
•n hundred
>'e to fund
-ar, how-
'"» a loan

thoufand
'ervice of
t} no tax
informed
onipenfa-
3 be funk
ts which
' during

parttnent
ore than

"« whofe
new ar>

half

r 7 ]

h^lf a million, Tvhilft it facilitates and ftmplifies all the
fun£li<Mis of adminiftration. The king's houfehold-r-zt
the rrmoteft avenues to which, all reformation has been
hitherto flopped — that hoiiiehold, which has been the
ftrong hold of prodigJity, the virgin fortrefs which
was never before attacked — has been not only not de-
fended, but ijc has, even in the forms, been furrendered
by the king to the oeconomy of his miniiler. No
capitulation } no referve. CCconomy has ei\tered in
triumph into the public fplendour of the monarch,
into his private amufements, into the appointn^ents of
his neared and higheft relations. CEconomy and pub-
lic fpirit have made a beneficent and an honefi: fpoil ;
they have plundered, from extravagance and luxury, for
the ufe of fubftantial fervice, a revenue of near four
hundred thoufand pounds. The reform of the ^nances.
Joined to this reform of the court, gives to the public
nine hundred thoufand pounds a year and upWards.

The minifter who does thefe things is a great
man — But the king who deiires that they ihould
be done, is a far greater. We mqft do juftice to
our enemies —Thefe are the a£ls of a patriot king.
I am not in dread of the vad armies of France : I
am not in dread of the gallant fpirit of its brave and
numerous nobility : I am not alarmed even at the
great navy which has been fo miraculoufly created.
All thefe things Louis the fourteenth had before. V/ith
all thefe things, the French monarchy has more than
once fallen proftrate at the feet of the public faith of
Great Britain. Jt was the want of public credit
which difabled France from recovering after her defeats,
or recovering even from her viitories and triumphs. It
was a prodigal court, it was an ill-ordered revenue,
that fapped the foundations of all her greatnefs. Credit
cannot exift under the arm of neceflity. Neceffity
Itrikes at credit, I allow, with a heavier and quicker
Mow under an arbitrary monacchy, than under a limited
and balanced government : but Ihll neceflity and cre-
dit are natural enemies, and cannot be long recon-
ciled in any fituation. From neceflity and corruption,
a free fhite may lofe the fpirit of that complex con-
ilitution which is the foundation of confidence. On

fi 4 tbQ

T •

t « ]

the other hand, 1 am far from being ftire, that t mo-
narchy, when once it is properly regulated, may not
for a long time, furnifh a foundation for credit upon
the folidity of its maxims, though it affords no ground
of trufl in its inftitutions. lam afraid I fee in England,
and in France, fomething like a beginning of both thefe
thines* I wifli I may be found in a miftake.

This very fhort, and very imperfe£l ftate of what
is now going on in France (the laft circumflances of
which I received in about eight days after the regiftry -
of the * edi£l) I do not, Sir, lay before you for any in-
vidious purpofe. It is in order to excite in us the fpirit
of a noble emulation. — Let the nations make war upon
each other (fmce we muft make war) not with a low .
and vulgar malignity, but by a competition of virtues.
This is the only way by which both parties can gain
by war. The French have imitated us j let us, through
them, imitate ourfelves ; oyrfelves in our better and hap-
pier days. If public frugality, under whatever men, or
in whatever mode of government, is national ftrength,
it is a ftrength which our enemies are in pofleflion of
before us.

Sir, I am well aware, that the ftate and the refult of
the French ceconomy which I have laiti before you,
are even now lightly treated by fome, who ought never to
fpeak but from information, rains have not been fpared,
to reprefent them as impoAtions on the public. Let
me tell you. Sir, that the creation of a navy, and a two
years war without taxing, are a very fingular fpecies
of impofture. But be it fo. For what end does Ncckar
carry on this delufion ? Is it to lower the eftimation of
the crown he ferves, and to render his own admini-
ftration contemptible ? No ! No ! He is confcious, that
the fenfe of mankind is fo clear and decided in favour
of ceconomy, and of the weight and value of its refour>
ces, that he turns himfelf to every fpecies of fraud and
artifice, to obtain the mere reputation of it. Men do
not aflFe£l a conduct that tends to their difcredit. Let us,
then, get the better of Monfleur Neckar in his own way
—Let us do in reality what he does only in pretence.—
Let HS turn his French tinfel into Engliih gold. Is

♦ Edift, i%giftcred ifQth January, 1780.

then

.f:

hat a mo-
'» may not
redit upon
"o ground
England,
both thefe

^ of what
ftances of
wgiftry
"■ any in-
fhe fpirit
'var upon
fh a low
" virtues,
can gain

through
ind hap-
•nen, or
rength,
flion of

kult of
re you,
lever to
O^ared,
• Let
' a two
fpecies
feckar
ion of
mini-
> that
avour
four-
I and
n do
t us,
way
e.—

>'i

hen

T 9 1

then the meer c/v ^^ind appetirahce of frugality and
good management </ fuch ufe to France, and is the
fubftance to be fo mifchievous to England ? Is the very
conftitution of nature fo altered by a iea of twenty
miles, that oeconomy ihould give power on the conti-
nent, and that profufion fliould give it here ? For God's
fake let not this be the only faQiion of France which
we refufe to copy.

To the laft kind of necelfity, the defires of the peo-
ple, I have but a very few words to fay. The minifters
feem to conteft this point } and afFe£fc to doubt, whether
the people do really defire a plan of oeconomy in the
civil government. Sir, this is too ridiculous. It is
impoffible that they fliould not defire it. It is impoffible
that a prodigality which draws its refources from their
indigence, fliould be pleaflng to them. Little fa£lions
of penftoners, and th«ir dependants, may talk another
language. But the voice of nature is againll them;
and it will be heard. The people of England will not,
they cannot take it kindly, that reprefentatives fliould
refufe to their conftituents, what an abfolute fovereign
voluntarily offers to his fubjeds. The expreffion of the
petitions is, that ** before any new burthens are laid upon
•* this count ry^ effeSlual meafures be taken by this houft^
** to enquire into^ and cerreilj the grofs abufes in the ex-
*' penditure of public money.**

This has been treated by the noble lord in the blue
ribbon, as a wild factious language. It happens, how-
ever, that the people in their addrefs to us, ufe almofl
word for word the fame terms as the king of France
ufes in addrefTrng himfelf to his people ; and it differs
only, as it falls fliort of the French king's idea of what
is due to his fubjedls. ** To convince," fays he, ** our
** faithful fubieits of the defire we entertaih not to re-.
** cur to new tmpofttionsy until we have firft exhaufted
*' all the refources which order and ceconomy can pof-
«* fibly fupply."— &c. &c.

Thefc defires of the people of England, which come
far fliort of the voluntary conceffions of the king of
France, are moderate indeed. They only contend that
we fliould interweave fome oeconomy with the tixes
with which we have chofen to begin the war. They
requeft, not that you fliould rely upon ceconomy

exclufively.

^»

r 10 3

excluGvely, but that you (hould give it rank and prece-
dence, in the order of the ways and means of this Tin-
gle fcffion.

. fiut if it were poifible, that the defires of our confti-
taents, defires which are at once fo natural, and fo very
much tempered and fubducd, fliould have no weight with
an houfe of commons, which has its eye elfewhere ; I
would turn my eyes to the very quarter to which theirs
are direfted. 1 would rcafon this matter with the houfe,
on the mere policy of the queftion ; and I would un-
dertake to prove, that an early dercliftion of abufe, is
the dire£l intereft of government ; of government taken
abftraftedly from its duties, and confidered merely as
a fyftem intending'its own confervation.

If there is any one eminent critcrion,.which, above all
the reft, diftinguifties a wife government from «n admi-
niftration weak and improvident, it is this ;— ** well to
** know the beft time and manner of yielding, what it is
" impoffible to keep."— There have been, Sir, and there
are, many who chufe to chicane with their fituation,
rather than be inftrufted by it. Thofe gentlemen ar-
gue againft every Idefire of reformation, upon the prin-
ciples of a criminal profecution. It is enough for them
to juftify their adherence to a pernicious fyftem, that
it is not of their contrivance ; that it is an inheritance
of abfurdity, derived to them from their anccilors;
that they can make out a long and unbroken pedigree
of mifmanagers that have gone before them. They are
proud of the antiquity of their houfe ; and they defend
their errors, as if they were defending their inheritance :
afraid of derogating from their nobility j and carefully
avoiding a fort of blot in their fcutcheon, which they
think would degrade them for ever.

It was thus that the unfortunate Charles the Firft
<Jefendcd himfelf on the pradice of the Stuart who
went before him, and of all the Tudors i his partizans
might have gone to the Plantagenets.— Thev might have
found bad examples enough, both abroad and at home,
that could have fliewn an antient and illuftrious de-
fccnt. But there is a time, when men will not fuffer
bad things becaufe their anceftors have fufFered worfe.
There is a tim e, when the hoary head of inveterate
abufe, will neither drawrcverence nor obtain proteftion.

r n 3

If the noble lord in the blue ribbon pleads, ** not guilty,**
to the charges brought againft the prefent fyftem'of

Sublic oeconomy, it is not poflible to give a fair ver-
lA by which he will not ftand acquitted. But plead-
ing is not our prefent bufincfs. His plea .or his tra-
verfe may be allowed as an anfwer to a charge, when a
charge is made. But if he puts himfelf in the way to
obftru£t reformation, then the faults of his office in-
llantly become his own. Inilead of a public officer in
an abufive department, whofe province is an obie£l to
be regulated, he becomes a criminal who is to be pu-
niihed> I do moft ferioufly put it to adminiftration,
to confider the wifdom of a timely reform. Early
reformations are amicable arrangements with a friend in
power ; late reformations are terms impofed upon a
conquered enemy : early reformations are made in cool
blood ; late reformations are made under a ftate of in-
flammation. In that ftate of things the people behold
in government nothing that is relpedtable. They fee
the abufe, and they will fee nothing elfe — They fall into ,
the temper of a furious populace provoked at the dif-
order of a houfe of ill famej they never attempt to
correal or regulate ; they go to work by the fhorteft
way— They abate the nufance, they pull down the
houfc.

This is my opinion with regard to the true Intercfl:
of government. But as it is the intereft of government
that reformation fliould be early, it is the intereft of
the people that it fhould be temperate. It is their in-
tereli, becaufe a temperate reform is permanent; and
bccaufe it has a principle of growth. Whenever we
improve, it is right to leave room for a further im-
provement. It is right to coiifider, to look about us,
to examine the effect of what we have done. — Then
we can proceed with confidence, becauffe we can proceed
with intelligence. — Whereas in hot reformations, in
what men, more zealous than conftderate, call making
clear work, the whole is generally fo crude, fo harfh,
fo indigeftcd ; mixed with fo much imprudence, and fo
much injuftice; fo contrary to the whole courfe of
htfman nature, and human inftitutions, that the very
people who are moft eaeer for it, are among the firll to
growdifgufted at what they have done. Then fome part of
(he abdicated grievanceis recalled from its exile in order to

become

••, I

i^v?

' r 12 ]

become in corrc^ivd of the corrediion, Then the abuft
aiTumes all the credit and popularity of a reform. TKc
very idea of purity and difintereftednefs in politics fall^
into difrepute, arid Is confidered as a vifion of hot and
inexperienced men j arid thus diforders become intu-
rable, not by the virulence of their own quality, but
by the unapt and violent nature of the remedies. A
great part therefore, of my idea of reform, is meant to
operate gradually ; fome benefits will come at a nearer,
fome at a more remote period. We muft no more
make hafte to be rich by parftmony, than by intemperate
dcquifition.

In my opinion, it is our duty when we have the
^efires of the people before us, to purfue them, not in
ihe fpirit of literal obedience, which may militate witK
their very principle, much lefs to treat them with 9,
peevifh and contentious litigation, as if we were adverfe
parties in a fuit. It would, Sir, be riioft diJBionourable
for a faithful reprefentative of the commons, to take
advantage of any inartificial expreffion of the people's
wifties, in order to fruftrate their attainment of
what they have an undoubted right to expert. We
arjB under infinite obligations to our conftituents,
who have raifcd us to fo diftingui(bed a truft, and
have imparted fuch a degree of faniiity to common
charadlers. We ought to walk before them with pu-
rity, plainnefs, and integrity of heart ; with filial
love, and not with flavift fear, which is always a
low and tricking thins. For my own part, in what I
have meditated upon that fubjeft, I cannot indeed take
upon me to fay I have the honour to fellow the fenfe
of the people. The truth is, / met it en the w<if,
while I was purfuing their intereft according to my
own ideas. 1 am happy beyond expreffion, to fin<<
that mv intentions have fo far coincided with theirs,
that I have not had caufe to be in the leaft fcrupulou*
to fign their Petition, conceiving it to exprefs my
own opinions, as nearly as general terms can expreU
^he objeft of particular arrangements.

I am therefore fatisfied to aft as a fair mediator be-
tween government and the people, endeavouring to form
a plan which fhould have both an early and a temperate
operation. I mean, that it Ihould be fubftantial j that;
^t fliould be fyftematic. That it Ihpuld rather ftrike

fje abir/i

-J

?• The

'cs faiJ^

"ot and

• Jncu-

■

fy, but

BS. 4

ant to

»earcr.

■

perate

= the

■

otiii

with

th.

rerfe

abie

take

ie's

tV'e

its.

,;J

t 13 1

at the firft.caufe of prodigality an4 corrupt in Huepce,
than attempt to follow thenfi in all their efFedls.

It was to fulfil the firft of thefe obje(fts (the propofal
of fomething fubflantial) that I found myfelf obliged
at the out-(et, to reje£l a plan proppfed by an honour-
able and* attentive member of parliament, with very good
intentions on his part, about a year or two ago. Sir, the
plan I fpeak of, was the ta?'. of 25 per cent, moved upon
places and penflons during the continuance of the Ame-
rican war. — Nothing, Sir, could have met my ideas more
than fuch a tax, if it was confidered as a practical fatire
on that war, and as a penalty upon thofe who led us
into it ; but in any other view it appeared to me very
liable to objections. I confidered the fcheme as neither
fubftantial, nor permanent, nor fyftematical, nor likely
to be a corre(^ive oJF evil influence. I have always
thought employments a very proper fubjedl of regula-
tion, but a very ill-chofen fubjedl for a tax. An equal
tax upon property is reafonable ; becaufe the objeCl is of
the fame quality throughout. The fpecies is the fame,
it differs only in its quantity : but a tax upon falaries is
totally of a different nature ; there can be no equality,
and confequently no juffice, in taxing them by the hun-
dred, in the grofs.

We have. Sir, on our effablifliment, feveral offices
lyhich perform real fervice — We have alfo places that
provide large rewards for no fervice at all. We have
nations which are made for the public decorum ; made
for preferving the grace and majefty of a great peo-
ple. — We have lilcewifeexpenfive formal ities,which tend
rather to the difgrace than the ornament of the ftate and
the court. This, Sir, is the real condition of our
cftablifhments. To fall with the fame feverity on ob^
je£ls fo perfe<5lly diffimilar, is the very reverfe of a re-
formation. I meap a reformation framed, as all fe-
rious things ought to be, in number, weight, and
meaAire. — Suppofe» for inftance, that two men receive
a falary of £»HQq a year each.— In the office of one,
there is nothing at all to be done ; in the other, the oct
cupier is oppreSed by its duties. — Strike off* twenty-fiva
per cent, from thefe two offices, you take from one
man /. 200, which in juffice he ought to have, and you
give in effect to the other £. 600, which he ought not
to receive. The public robs the former, and the latter

* Thpmat Gilbert, K^; mtmltx fcr Liuhlicldf

robs

,4.

ft '

»!

ml' 4

fix

t >4 1

ro1>s the public ; ind this mode of mutual robbery if
the only way in which the office and the public can
make up their accounts.

But the balance in fettling the accoii- t of this ffou'
ble injuftice, is much againll the ftate. The refult is
ihort. You purchafe a faving of two hundred pounds,
by a profufion of fix. Befides, Sir, whilft you leave a
fupply of unfecured money behind, wholly at the dif-
cretion of miniflers, they make up the tax to fuch
places as they wiHi to favour, or in fuch new places as
they may choofe to create. Thus the civil lift becomes
oppreflfed with debt ; and the public is obliged to repays
and to repay with an heavy intereft, what it has taken
by an injudicious tax. Such has been the effe& of
the taxes hitherto laid on penfions and employments,
and it is no encouragement to recur again to the fame
expedient.

In efFe£l, fuch a fcheme is not calculated to produce,
but to prevent reformation. It holds out a (hadow ot
prefent gain to a greedy and neceffitous public, to di-
vert their attention from thofe abufes, which in reality-
are the great caufes of their wants. It is a compofition
to ftay enquiry ) it is a fine paid by mifmanagement,
for the renewal of its leafe. What is worfe, it is a fine
paid by induftry and merit, for an indemnity to the idle
and the worthlefs. But I fhall fay no more upon this
topic, becaufe (whatever may be given out to the con-
trary) I know that the iioble lord in the blue ribbon
perredly agrees with me in thefe fentiments.

After all that I have faid on this fubjedi, I am fo fen-
fible, that it is our duty to try every thing which may con-
tribute to the relief of the nation, that I do not attempt
wholly to reprobate the idea even of a tax. Whenever,
Sir, the incumbrance of ufclei's office (which lies no lefs
a dead weight upon the fervice of the ftate, than upon
its revenues) fliall be removed ; — when the remaining
offices fhall be clafTcd according to the juft proportion
of their rewards and fervices, to as to admit the appli-
cation of an equal rule to their taxation, when the
difcretionary power over the civil lift cafh fhall be fo
regulated, that a minifter fhall no longer have the means
of repaying with a private, what is taken by a public
hand->-if after all thefe preliminary regulations, itlhould

fe8

.-■,'-**j .

'.'^V^^

|bber> ;,
^Jic cart

be thought that a tax on places is an obje£l wtirth/ of
the public attention, I fliall be very ready to lend my
hand to a reduction of their emoluments.

Having thus. Sir, not fo much abfolutely rejected,
as poftponed, the plan of a taxation of office, — my next
bufmcfs was to find fomething which might be reall]^
fubftantial and efFe£lual. I am quite clear, that if we
do not go to the very origin and firfl ruling caufe of
grievances, we do nothing. What does it fignify to
turn abufes out of one door, if we are to let them in at
another ? What does it fignify to promote ceconomy
upon a mcafurc, and to fufter it to be fubverted in the
principle ? Our minifters are far from being wholly to
blame for the prefent ill order which prevails. Whilil;
inftitutions diredtly repugnant to good management,
are fufFered to remain, no efFedtual or lafting reform can
be introduced.

I therefore thought it neceflary, as foon as I conceived
thoughts of fubmitting to you fome plan of reform, to
take a comprehendve view of the (late of this country ;
to make a fort of furvey of its JurifdiAions, its Eftates,
and its Eftablifhments. Something, in every one of
them, feemed to me to (land in the way of all (Eco-
nomy in their adminiftration, and prevented every
pofTibility of methodizing the fyftem. But being, as £
ought to be, doubtful of myfelf, I was refolved not
to proceed in an arbitrary manner, in any particular
which tended to change the fettled ftate of things, or
in any degree to affedt the fortune or fituation, the in-
tereft or the importance, of any individual. By an ar-
bitrary proceeding, I mean one condud^d by the pri-
vate opinions, talles, or feelings, of the man who at-
tempts to regulate. Thefe private meafures are not
flandards of the excheauer, nor balances of the fan6tu-
ary. General principles cannot be debauched or cor-
rupted by intereft or caprice ; and by thofe principles
I was refolved to work.

. Sir, before I proceed further, I will lay thefe prin-
ciples fairly before you, that afterwards you may be in
a condition to judge whether every obje«ft of regulation,
as I propofe it, comes fairly under its rule. This will
exceedingly {horten all difcufllon between us, if we are
perfcftly ill earnel^.in eftablilhiug a fyfteiaof good

nunageniont.

' r

^v>.

i^;

f «6 J

management. I therefore lay down to myfelf, feven
fundamental rules; they might indeed be reduced to
two or three fimple maxims, hut they would be too ge-
neral, and their application to the feveral heads of the
bufinefs, before us, would not be fo diftindl and viilble.
I conceive then,

Firfit That all jurifdidions which furnifh more
matter of expence, more temptation to op-
preffion,or more means and inftruments of cor-
rupt influence, than advantage to juftice or
political adminiftration, ought to be abo-
i lifl»ed.
Stcondfyy That all public efiates which are more
fubfervient to the purpofes of vexine, over-
awing, and influencing thofe who hold under
., vti. them, and to the expence of perception and
management, than of benefit to the revenue,
• . ought, upon every principle, both of revenue

and of freedom, to be difpofed of.
Jltirdljy That all offices which bring more charge
than proportional advantage to the ftate } that
all offices which may be engrafted on others,
uniting and fimplifying their duties, ought,
in the flrfl: cafe, to be taken away j and in
the fecond, to be confolidated.
Faurthly, That all fuch offices ought to be abo-
lilhed, as obftrud: the profpe£t of the general
fuperintendant of finance ; which deftroy his
fuperintendancy, which difiible him from
fbrefeeing and providing for charges as they
may occur; from preventing expence in its
origin, checking it in its progrefs, or fecuring
its application to its proper purpofes. A mi-
nifter under whom expences can be made
without his knowledge, can never fay what
it is that he can fpend, or what it is that he
can fave.
"h • fifibfy. That it is proper to eftablifli an inva-
riable order in all payments ; which will pre-
vent partiality ; which will give preference to
fervices, not according to the importunity of
the demandant, but the rank and order of
' ; their utility or their juftice.

Sixthly,

T'ff

If/"; '

>-.ii_

f 17 3

Sixthly^ That it Is right to rwluce every efta-
blilhm It, and every part of ah cflablifliment
(as nearly as poffible) to certainty, the life of
. all order aiid good mnnanremcnt.
Seventhly, That all fiibordiiiate ti-eafuries, as
the niirferies of mifmanagetheht, and as na-
turally drawing to themrelves as much money
as they can, keeping it as long as they can,
and accounting for it as late as they can; ought
to be diffolvedl 't'hey Have a teridency to
perplex and diftrafl the public accounts, and
to excite a fiifpicion of gdvci*nmcnt, even be-
yond the extent of iheir abufe.
Under the authority ahd with the guidance of thofc
principles, I proceed } wishing that nothihg in any
^ftablifiimeht may be chanced; where I am not able ta
make a ftrong; diire£l, arid folid application of thofe
|)rinciples, or of fome diie of them; All cecohomical
conftitutiori is a neceflary baiis for ah ceconomibal ad-
miniftratioh.

Firft, with regard tb the fovereigh jiirifdit^lions, I muft
obferve. Sir, that whoevcir takes a view of this king-
dom in a curfory manner, will imagine, that he be-
holds i folid, compared, uniform fyftem of monarchy ;
in which all inferior jUrifditStiohs are but as rays
diverging from ohe cehter. But on examining it more
nearly, yoii find miich excentricity and cbhfuiibh. It
is hot a Monarchy in flridthefs. Biit, as in the Saxon
times this country was ah heptarchy, it is how a ftrange
fort of Pe'ntarchy. It is divided ihto five.feveiral diff
tin£) principalities, bcfides the fupreme. There is in-
deed this difference from the Saxon times, that as in the
itinerant exhibitions of the flage, for want of a com-
plete company, they Arc obliged to throw a variety of
parts oh their chief performer ; {o our fovereign cori-
defcends himfelf to ai^^, not only the principaibut all
the fubordinatc parts in the play. He condefcends to
difHpate the royal character, and to trifle with thoiJB
light fubordinatc lacquered fceptres in thofe hands that
fuftain the ball, reprelcnting the world, or Which Wield
the trident that commands the ocean. Crofs a brookt
^nd you lofe the king of England ; but you have fome
comfort in cbming a,gain un4cr his majefly, though

' C *• Ihom

>i)

t I» J

*k.

,il

' ■ /'

** (horn of his beams," and no more than prince of
Wales. Go to the north, and you find him dv^indled
to a Duke of Lancafter ; turn to the weft of that
north, and he pops upon you in the humble charadcr
of Earl of Che(ter. Travel a few miles on, the Karl ot
Cheftcr difappcars ; and the king furprifcs you again
as Count Palatine of Lancafter. If you travel be-
yond Mount Kdgccombe, you find him once more in
his incognito, and He is Duke of Cornwall. So that,
quite fatigued and fatiatcd with this dull variety, you
are infinitely rcfreftied when you return to the fpherc
of his proper fplendor, and behold your amiable fovc-
reign in his true, fimple, undifguifcd, native character
of majefty.

In every one of thefc five Principalities, Duchies,
Palatinates, there is a regular cftabliftiment of con-
fiderablc expcnce, and mofl domineerino; influence. As
his majefty fubmits to appear in this ftatc of fubordi-
nation to himfelf, his loyal peers and faithful com-
mons attend his royal transformations ; and arc not fo
nice as to refufe to nibble at thofe crumbs of emolu-
ments, which confole their petty metamorphofes. Thus
every one of thofe principalities has the apparatus of a
kingdom, for the jurifdiition over a few private eftates ;
and the formality and charge of the exchequer of Great
Britain, for colledting the rents of a country 'fquirc.
Cornwall is the beft of them ; but when you compare
the charge with the receipt, you will find that it fur-
nifhes no exception to the general rule. The duchy
and county palatine of Lancafter do not yield, as I have
reafon to believe, on an average of twenty years, four
thoufand pounds a year, clear to the crown. As to
Wales, and the county palatine of Chefler, I have my
doubts, whether their produftive exchequer yields any
returns at all. Yet one may fay, that this revenue is
more faithfully applied to its purpofes than any of the
reft ; as it exifls for the fole purpofc of multiplying
offices, and extending influence.

An attempt was lately made to improve this branch
of local influence, and to transfer it to the fund of ge-
neral corruption. I have on the feat behind me, the
conftitution of Mr. John Probert j a knight-errant,
liubbed.by the noble lord in the blue ribbon, and
' ' • fcnt

fei

■

t 1^ ]

fent to fearch for revenues and adventures upon the
mountains of Wales. The commifliotj is remarlcable ;
and the event not lefs fo. I'he commiffion fets forth,
that ** Upon a report of the depui : auditor (tor there is
** a deputy auditor) of the principality of Wales, it
*■*■ appeared, that his majei^y's lanu-revenues in the faid
** principality, are greatly dimin'ijhed;"' — and ** that upon

a report oi xhc jurveyor general oi his majefty's land

revcnuts, upon a memorial of the auditor of his ma-
** jefty's revenues within the faid principality^ that his
*' mines and fore«s have produced very little profit
** either to the public revenue or to individuals •,"— and
therefore they appoint Mr. Probert, with a pcnfion of
three hundred pounds a year from the faid principality,
to try whether he can make any thing more of that
very little which is Hated to be fo greatly diminilhcd,
** A beggarly account of empty boxes." And yet, Sir,
you will. remark. — that this diminution from littlenefs
(which ferves only to prove the infinite divifihility of
matter) was not for want of the tender and officious
care (as we fee) of furveyors general, and furveyors
particular ; of auditors and deputy-auditors ; not fur
want of memorials, and remonftranccs, and reports,
nnd commifTions, and conftitutions, and inquifitions,
and penfions.

Probert, thus armed, and accoutred, — and paid, pro-
ceeded on his adventure j — but he was no fooncr arrived
on the confines of Wales, than all Wales was in arms
to n.eet him. That nation is brave, and full of fpirit.
Since the invafton of king f'dvvard, and the maflacre of
the bards, there never was fuch a tumult, and alarm,
and uproar, through the region of Prejiatyn. Snoiv^
den (hook to its bafe ; Cader Edris was loofened from its
foundations. The fury of litigious war blew her born
on tlic mountains. The rocks poured down their goat-
herds, and the deep caverns vomited out their miners.
Every thing above ground, and every thing under
ground, was in arms.

In (hort. Sir, to alight from my Welfli Pegafus, and
to come to level ground ; tlie Preux Chevalier Probert-
wcnt to look for revenue, like his maflers upon other oc-
cafions } and like his niaUers, he found rebellion> But
we were grown cautious by experience. A civil war of

C 2 paper

■! f

i%.

n:)

[ 20 ]

paper might end in a more ferious war ; for now rcmon-
ftrance met remonftrance, and memorial was oppofcd to
memorial. The wife Britons thought it more rcafon^
able that the poor wafted decrepit revenue of the prin-
cipality, (hould die a natural than a violent death.
In truth. Sir, the attempt was no lefs an affront upon
the undcrftanding of that rcfpeftable people, than it
was an attack on their property. They chofe that
their ancient mofs-grown caftles, fhould moulder into
decay, under the filent touches of time, and the flow
formality of an oblivious and drowfy exchequer, than
that they (hould be battered down all at once, by
the lively efforts of a penfioned engineer. As it is the
fortune of the noble lord to whom the aufpices of
this campaign belonged, frequently to provoke refift-
ance, fo it is his rule and nature to yield to that re-
fiftance in all cafes whatfoever. He was true to himfelf
on this occafion. He fubmitted with fpirit to the fpi"
rited remonftrances of the Welch. Mr. Probert gave
up his adventure, and keeps his penfion — and fo ends
** the famous hiftory of the revenue adventures of the
** bold Baron North, and the good Knight Probert,
** upon the mountains of Venodotia."

In fuch a ftate is the exchequer of Wales at prcfent,
that, upon the report of the treafury itfelf, its little re-
venue is greatly diminiftied ; and we fee by the whole of
this ftrange tranfaflion, that an attempt to improve it
produces refiftance ; the refiftance produces fubmifTton ;
and the whole ends in penfion *.

It is nearly the fame with the revenues of the duchy
of Lancafter. To do nothing with them is extindtion ;
to improve them is opprellion. Indeed, the whole of
the eftatcs which fupport thefe minor principalities,
is made up, not of revenues, and rents, and profitable
fines, but of claims, of prctenfions, of vexations, of
litigations. They are exchequers of unfrcqucnt re-
ceipt, and conltant charge ; a fyitem of finances not
lit for an ceconomift who would he rich j not fit for a

prince

* Here Lord North flioolc his head, an>l told thufe who fat near him, that
Mr. Probert's penfion was to depend on hii fucccfs. It may lie To. Mr. Pro-
bert't penfion was, however, no efTential part of the qiieftion 5 nor did Mr.
B. care whether he ftill poflcfltd it or not. His point was, to ftiew ths
ridicule of aUcmpiing an improvement of the Wt-lfli revenue under its pre-
fent eftaiiliAiateat.

[ 21 ]

prince who would govern his fubjeds with equity and
juftice.

It is not only between prince and fubjeiSt, that thefc
mock jurifdiftions, and mimic revenues, produce great
mifchief. They excite among the people a fpirit of
informing, and delating ; a fpirit of fupplanting and
undermining one another. So that many in fuch cir-
cumftances, conceive it advantageous to them, rather
to continue fubje£l to vexation themfelves, than to give
up the means and chance of vexing others. It is ex-
ceedingly common for men to contrail thbir love to
their country, into an attachment to its petty fubdivi-
iions } and they fometimes even cling to their provincial
abufes, as if they were franchifes, and local privi-
leges. Accordingly, in places where there is much of
this kind of eftate, perfons will be always found, who
would rather truil to their talents in recommending
themfelves to power for the renewal of their interefts,
than to incumber their purfcs, though never fo lightly,
in order to tranfmit independence to their pofterity. It
is a great miftakc, that the defire of fecuring property
is uhivcrfal among mankind. Gaming is a principle
inherent in human nature. It belongs to us all. I
would therefore break thofe tables ; I would furnifh no
evil occupation for that fpirit. I would make every
man look every where, except to the intrigue of a court,
for the improvement of his circumftanccs, or the fecu-
rity of his fortune. I have in my eye a very ftrong
cafe in the duchy of Lancaftcr (which lately occupied
Weftminfter-hall, and the houfe of lords) as my voucher
for many of thefe refleiftions *.

For what plaufible rcafon are thefe principalities fuf-
fered to exilt ? When a government is rendered com-
plex (which in itfelf is no defirable thing) it ought
to be for fome political end, which cannot be anfwered
othcrwife. Subdivifions in government, are only ad-
miflible in favour of the dignity of ii)ferior princes,
and high nobility ; or for the fupport of an ariftocratic
confederacy under fome head ; or for the confervation of
the franchifes of the people in fome privileged province.
For the two former of thefe ends, fuch are the fubdi-
Viitons in favour of the electoral, and other princes in

* Cafe of Richard Lee, Efq; Appcllniit, againl^ George Venalles Lord
VcraoOi Refpoadcht, in ih; year 1776.

... . C 3 the

I p

I I

• '*

{ aa ]

the empire ; for the latter of thefe purpofc?, are the
jurifdi(^ions of the irtiperial cities, and the Hnnfe towns
For the latter of thefe ends are alio the countries of the
States [Pais d'Etats] and certain cities, and orders in
France. Thefe are all regulations with an ohjetSV, and
fome of them with a very good object. But how are
the principles of any of thefe fubdivifions applicable iii
the cafe before us ?

Do they anfwer any purpofe to the king ? The
principality of Wales was given by patent to Edward
the Black Prince, on the ground on which it has fincc
Hood. — 'Lord Coke fagacioufly obftrves upon it, " That
** in the charter of creating the Black Prince Edward
** prince of Wales, there is a great tnyjiery— for lefs
** than an eftate of inheritance, fo great a prince could
** not have, and an ahfolute ejlate of inheritance in fa
** great a principality as Wales (this principality being
** Jo dear to him) ]\q jhould not have j and therefore it
** was made, fihi ct heredibm fuii regibus AngUa, that
** by his deceafe, or attaining to the crown, it might
•* be extinguilhed in the crown."

For the fake of this foolifli myjhry^ of what a great
prince could not have lefi^ ^w^ jhould not have fo much,
cf a principality which was too dear to be given, and
too great to be kept — and for no other caufe that ever
1 could iind — this form and fhadow of a principality,
without any fubftance, has been maintained. That yon
may judge in this inftance (and it ferves for the reft)
ti tho difference between a great and a little ceconomy,
you will plcafe to recollect. Sir, that Wales may be
j^>:iUt t\v^ teiith part of tlngland in fize and population \
:x\\i certainly not a hundredth part in opulence. Twelve
judges p;;rform the whole of the bufuiefs, both of the
ll.uionaiy and the itinerant juftice of this kini^dom ; but
for Wales, there are eight judges. There is in Wales.
All exchequer, .is well as in all the duchies, according
to the very btft .and molt authentic abt'urdity of form.
There arc in all of them, a hundred more difficult trifles
and laborious fooleiie^., which fervc no other purpole
than to keep alive coirupt hope and fcrvile depen-
dence.

Thefe principalities are fo far from contributing to the
eaf.' of the king, to his wealth, or his dignity, that they
.fcuiler hath his i'uprcniciuid his fuborJinate authority,

perfectly

f 23 ]

pcrfc«^Ijr ridiculous. It was but the other day, that
that pert, faftious fellow, the duke of Lancafter,
prefumed to fly in the face of his liege lord, our gra-
cious fovcrcign j and aJJociatiKg with a parcel of law-
yers as factious as himfelf, to the deftruftion oi all law
<iml order, and in committees leading directly to rehel-
iion — prefumed to go to law with the king. The ob-
ject is neither your bufinefs, nor mine. Which of
the parties got the better, I really forget. I think it
was (as it ought to be) the king. The material point
is, that the fuit coft about fifteen thoufand pounds.
JJut as the duke of Lancafter is but a fort of duke
Humphrey, and not worth a groat, our fovereign was
obliged to pay the cofts of both. Indeed this art of
converting a great monarch into a little prince, this
royal mafqucrading, is a very dangerous and expenfjve
amufement ; and one of the king's menus plaifirs, which
ought to be reformed. This duchy, which is not worth
four thoufand pounds a year at beft, to revenue, is worth
forty or fifty thoufand to influence.

The duchy of Lancafter, and the county palatine of
LancaJ}cr, anfwered, 1 admit, foine purpofc in thcit
original creation. They tended to make a fubjetSt imi-
tate a prince. When Henry the fourth from that ftair
nfcended the throne, high-minded as he w.ts, he v/as
not willing to kick away the ladder. To prevent that
principality from being extinguifhed in the crown, he
fevered it by a>5t of parliament. He had a motive, fuch
as it vias; he thought his title to the crown unfound, and
his poiVeflion infecure. He therefore managed a retreat in
his duchy ; which lord Coke calls (I do not know why)
juiv iiuihis rcgnh. He fliittcrcd himfcIf that it was prac-
ticable to make a projc6ting point half way down, to
liic-rik his fall from the precipice of royalty ; as if it were
poliible ffir one who had lof'c a kingdom to keep any
thiiio clfc. However, it is evident that he thought fo.
^Vhen Henry the fifth united, by adt of parliament, the
tliates of his mother to the duchy, he had the fame
jiiedilcction with his father, to the root of his Aimily
iuiiioius, and the fame policy in enlarging the fphere of
.1 pollible retreat from the ilippery royalty of the two
jj icat crowns he held. All this was changed by Edward
the fourth. He had no fuch family partialities, and his
j-oliey was the reverie of that of Henry the fourth

C 4 and

- e« - -*•■%

,(.«)

t n ]

and Henry the fifth. He accordingly again wnitc4
the duchy of Lancafter to the crown, fiut when
Henry the feventh, who chofe to confider himfelf
as of the houfe of Lancafter, came to the throne, he
brought with him the old prctenfions, and the old
politics of that houfe. A new z& of parliament, a
fecond time, diflevered the duchy of Lancafter from
the crown ; and in that line things continued until
the fubverlion of the monarchy, when principalities
and powers fell along with the throne. The dUchy of
Lancafter inuft have been extinguiftied. if Cromwell^
who began to form ideas of aggrandizing his houfe, and
raifing the fevcral branches of it, had not caufed the
duchy to be again feparated front the commonwealth,
by an a6l of the parliament of thofe times.

What partiality, what objects of the politics of the
houfe of Lancafter, or of Cromwell, has his prefcnt ma-
jefty, or his rnajefty's family ? Whiat power have they
within any of thefe principalities, which they have ncrt
within their kingdom ? In what manner is the dignity
of the nobility concerned in thefe principalities ? What
rights have the fubje£t thiere, which they have not at
leaft equally in every other part of the nation. Thefe
diftindlions exift for no good end to the king, to the
nobility, or to the people. They ought not to cxift at
all. If the crown (contrary to its nature, but moft
conformably to the whole tenor of the advice that has
b:en lately given) fliould fo far forget its dignity, as to
contend, that thefe jurifdidlions and revenues are eftates
of private property, I am rather for acting as if that
groundlcfs claim were of fome weight, than for giving
vp that eflential part of the reform. I would value the
clear income, and give a clear annuity to the crown^
taken on the medium produce for twenty years.

If the crown hasany favourite name or title, if the fub-
j('£t has any matter of local accommodation within any
of thefe jurifdi6Vions, it is meant to preferve them ; and to
improve them, if any improvement can be fuggefted. As
to the crown reverfions or titles upon the property of the
people there, it is propofcd to convert them from a fnare
to their independance, into a relief from their burthens.
I propofe, therefore, to unite all the five principalities to
the crown, and to its ordinary jurifdidtion, to abolifh
:ill thofe offices that produce an ulckls and chargeable

reparation

C as 3

feparation from the body of the people,— >to compenfhte
thofe who do not hold their oflices (if any fuch there
are) at the pleafure of the crown« — to extinguifh vex-
atious titles by an a£l of (hort limitation» — to fell thofc
unprofitable eflates which fupport ufeleis jurifdi6tions,
and to turn the tenant-right into a fee, on fuch modcr
rate terms as will be better for the ftate than its prc-
fent right, and which it is impoHible (or any rational
tenant to refufe.

As to the Duchies, their judicial csconomy may be
provided for without charge. They have only to fall
of courfe into the common county adminiftration. A
commifTion more or lefs made or omitted, fettles the
matter fully. As to Wales, it has been propofed to add
a judge to the feveral courts of Weftminfter-hall } and
it has been confidered as an improvement in itfelf. For
my part, I cannot pretend to fpeak upon it with clearnefs
or with decifion ; but certainly this arrangement would
be more than fufHcient for Wales. My original thought
was to fupprefs five of the eight judges ; and to leave
the chief jullice of Chefter, with the two fenior judges;
and, to facilitate the bufmefs, to throw the twelve counr
ties into fix diflridts, holding the feffions alternately in
the counties of which each diflri£t (hall be compofed.
But on this I fhall be more clear, when I come to the
particular bill.

Sir, the houfe will now fee whether. In praying for
judgment againft the minor principalities, I do not att
in conformity to the laws that I had laid to myfclf, of
getting rid of every jurifdidtion more fubfervient toop-
preflion and expence, than to any eqd of juftice or ho-
nefl policy ; oi abolifhing offices more expenfive than ufe-
ful ; of combining duties improperly fcparated^ of chang-
ing revenues more vexatious than productive, into ready
money} of fuppreffing offices which ftand in the way
of ueconomy ; and of cutting ofi^* lurking fubordinatc
trcafurics. Difputc the rules ; controvert the applica-
tion ; or give your hands to this fulutarymeafure.

Mofi of the fame rules will be found applicable to
my fecond object — the landed e/late of the crown. A
landed cflatc is certainly the very worft which the crowi>
can poflefs. All minute and difperfed polfeflions, pof-
fcflians that are often of indeterminate value, and

which

? n

C 26 ]

■>>rhich require a continued pcrronal attendance, arc of
a nature more proper for private managen^ent than public
adminiftration.— They are fitter for "the care of a frugal
land fteward, than of an office in the ftate. Whatever
they may poffibly have been in other times, or in other
countries, they are not of magnitude enouj^h with us,
to occupy a public departmenr, nor to provide for a
public objciSt. They are already given up to parlia-
ment, and the gift is not of great value. Common
prudence didtates, even in the management of private
affairs, that all difperfed and chargeable ef^ates, fhould
be facrificed to the relief of eflates more compat^ and
better circumftanced.

If it be objected, that thefe lands at prcfent vrould
fell at a low market ; this is anfwered, by (hewing that
mont'y is at high price. The one balances the other.
Lands fell at the current rate, and nothing can fell for
more. But be the price what it may, a great objedt is
always anfwered, whenever any property is transfer'd
from hands that are not fit for that property, to thofe
that are. The buyer and feller muft mutually profit by
fuch a bargain ; and, what rarely happens in niiitters of
revenue, the relief of the fubjedl will go hand in hand
with the profit of the exchequer.

As to t\\efore/f lands,, in which the Crown has (where
they are not granted or prefcriptively held) the domi-
nian of the folly and the vert and venijon ; that is to fay,
the timber and the game, and in which the people have
a variety of rights, in common of herbage, and other
commons, according to the ufage of the fcveral forelts;
• — I propofe to have thofe rights of the crown va-
lued as manerial rights are valued on an inclofure ; and
a defined portion of land to be given for them ; which
Jand is to be fold for the public benefit.

Ai to the timber, I propofe a furvey of the whole.
What is ui'clefs for the naval purpofcs of the kingdom,
I would condemn, and difpofe of for the fecurity of
what may be ufeful ; and to inclofe fuch other parts
as may be moft fit to fiirnifli a perpetual fiipply; wholh'
extinguifhing, for a very obvious reafon, all right of
venifon in thofe parts.

The forcft rights which extend over the lands and
poflcflions of others, being of no profit to the crowi ,
• • "• au'l

ar
I

{

■4

-c, arc of
lan publjc
f a frugal
^Vbatever
r in oihcr
with us,
de for a
^ parlia-

private
» ftould
w<a and

It would
ing that
e other.
TcJI for
^hjeti is
ansfer'd
to thofe
rofit by
ttcrs oV
n hand

(where

to fay,

e have

other

t> va-

; and *

I'hich

iiolc.

lorn,

y of

)artii

oJh'

tot"

ind

I 27 3

and a grievance as far as it goes to the fubje^^ ; thrfe
I propofe to cxtinguifli without charge to the proprie-
tors. The feveral commons are to be allotted and com-
pt-nfated for, upon ideas which I (hall hereafter explain.
They are nearly the fame with the principles upon
which you have aifted in private inclofures. I (hall
never quit precedents where I find them applicable.
For thofe regulations and compenfations, and for cverjr
other part of the detail, you will be fo indulgent as to
give mc credit for the prcfcnt.

The revenue to be obtained from the fale of the
fored lands and rights, will not be fo confiderable, I be-
lieve, as many people have imagined ; and I conceive it
would be unwifc to fcrew it up to the utmo(l, or even to
fufi^er bidders to inhance, according to their eagerncfs,
the purchafe of objects, wherein the expence of that
purchafe may weaken the capital to be employed iu
their cultivation. This, I am well aware, might give
room for partiality in the difpofal. In nvv opinion it
would be the leder evil of the two. But I really
conceive, that a rule of fair preference might be efta-
bli(hed, which would take away all fort of unjuft and
corrupt partiality. The principal revenue which I
propofe to draw from thefe uncultivated waftcs, is to
fpring from the improvement and population of the
kingdom; which never can happen, without producing
ail improvement more advantageous to the revenues of
the crown, than the rents of the beil landed cilatc which
it can hold. I believe. Sir, it will hardly be neccfiiiry
for me Co add, that in this fale I naturally except all
the houfes, gardens, and parks belonging to the crown,
and fuch one fbreft as (hall be chofen by his majcrty, as
belt accommodated to his pleafiires.

By means ofthis part ofthe reform, will fall the -^xpen-
Cwe ofli{:c o{ furvcyor gcmral, with all the influence that
attends it. By this will fall two chief ju/iicis in llyrc^
with all their train of dependents. lou need be under
no apprehenfion. Sir, that your office is to be touched
in its emoluments ; they are yours by law ; and they
arc but a moderate part of the compcnfation which is
given to you for the ability with which you execute au
uffice of quite another fort of importance : it is far from
over-paying your diligence; or u'jore than fufticicnt for

fuftainiisu

U'.

C »8 ]

fi.'ilaining the high rank you ftand in, as the firff gtrr^
tlcman of England. As to the duties of your chief
jufticefliip, they are very different from thofe for which
you have received the office. Your dignity is too high
for a jurifdi£lion over wild beafts ; and your learning
and talents too valuable to be wafted as chief iuflice of
a defert. I cannot reconcile it to myfelf* that you.
Sir, (hould be ftuck up as a ufelefs piece of antiquity.

I have now difpofcd of the unprofitable landed eftates
of the crown, and thrown them into the mafs of private
property ; by which they will come, through the courfe
of circulation, and through the political fecretions of
the ftate, into our better underftood and better ordered
revenues.

I come next to the great fuprcme body of the civil
government itfelf. I approach it with that awe and re-
verence with which a young phyfician approaches to the
cure of the diforders of his parent. Diforders, Sir, and
infirmities, there are — fuch diforders, that all attempts
towards method, prudence, and frugality, will be per-
fectly vain, whilil a fyftem of confunon remains, which
is not only alien but adverfe to all oeconomy ; a fyftem,
which is not only prodigal in its very efTence, butcaufes
every thing elfe which belongs to it, to be prodigally
conduCled.

It is impoflible. Sir, for any perfon to be an oecono-
mift where no order in payments iseftabliflied ; it is im-
poflible for a man to be an cecotiomiftt who is not able
to take a comparative view of his means, and of his
expenpes, for the year which lies before him j it is im-
poflible for a man to be an oeconomift, under whom va-
rious officers in their feveral departments may fpend, —
even juft what they pleafe, — and often with an emula-
tion of expence, as contributing to the importance, if
not profit, of their feveral departments.— —Thus much
is certain ; that neither the prefent, nor any other firlt
lord of the treafury, has been ever able to take a
furvey, or to make even a tolerable guefs, of the ex-
pences of government for any one year ; fo as to
enable him with the leaft degree of certainty, or even
probability, to bring his affairs within compafs. What-
ever fchcnie may be formed upon them, muft be made
pn a calculation of chances. A$ things are circum-

flanccd.

the civil

■and re-
M to the

'>, and
•ttempts

heper-
» which
fyftem,
tcaufcs
•djgaijy

econo-
's im-
•t aWe
of his
s im-
Ti va-
.d,-^
lula-
e, if

r 29 ]

{lanced, the firft lord of the treafury cannot makd
an eftimate. I am fure, I ferve the king, and I am
(tire I affift adminiftration, by putting ceconomy at leaft
in their power. We muft clafsfervices ; we muft (as far
as their nature admits) appropriate funds ; or every
thing however reformed, will fall again into the old
confufion.

Coming upon this ground of the civil lift, the firfl
thing in dignity and charge that attracts our notice, is
the royal houjehold. This eftablifliment, in my opinion,
is exceedingly abuftve in its cpnftitution. It is formed
upon manners and cuftoms, that have long fince expired.
In the firft place, it is formed, in many refpe£ls, upon
feudal principles. In the feudal times, it was not un-
common, even among fubjet^s, for the lowed offices to
be held by confiderable perfons ; perfons as unfit by
their incapacity, as improper from their rank, to oc-
cupy fuch employments. They were held by patent,
fometimes for lire, and fometimes by inheritance. If
my memory does not deceive me, a perl'on of no flight
con fide ration, held the office of patent hereditary cook
to an earl of Warwick^ — The earl of Warwick's foups,
I fear, were not the better for the dignity of his
kitchen. I think it was an earl of Gloucefler, who
officiated as flcward of the houfehold to the archbifhops
of Canterbury. Inftanccs of the fame kind may in
fome degree be found in the Northumberland houle-
book, and other family records. There was ibmt
reafon in antient neceffities, for thefe antient cufloms.
Proteftion was wanted ; and the domeftic tie, though
not the higheft, was the clofcft.

The king's houfehold has not only feveral ftrong
traces of this feudality^ but it is formed alfo upon the
principles of a Body-corporate ; it has its own magiftrate^,
courts, and by-laws. This might be neceffary in the
antient times, in order to have a government within
itfelf, capable of regulating the vau and often unruly
multitude which compofed and attended it. This was
the origin of the antient coik t called the Green Cloth —
compofed of the marlhal, treafurcr, and other great of-
ficers of the houfehold, with certain clerks. I'he rich
fubjedis of the kingdom, who had formerly the fame
cAablifliments (only on a rtdticed fcalc) ha.vc fxnce al-

terei

' '" ^^'

Oil--

T l;»

[ 30 ]

tcrcd their ueconomy ; and turned the courfe of their
cxpence from the maintenance of vaft citablifhmcnts
within their walls, to the employment of a great va-
riety of independent trades abroad. Their influence is
kilened ; but a mode of accommodation 9nd a ftyle of
fplendour, fuitedtothe manners of the times, has been
cncreafed. Royalty itfelf has infcnfibly followed ; and
the royal '.loufchold has been carried away by the rcfirtlcfs
tide of manners: but with this very material diftercncc.
Private men have got rid of thcellabliftiments along with
the reafons of them ; whereas the royal hou lehold has
loft all that was ftatelyand venerable in the antique
manners, without retrenching anything of the cumbrous
charge of a Gothic cftabliihmcnt. It is Ihrunk into
the poliOied littlenefh* of modern elegance and perfonal
accommodation ; it has evaporated froin the grofs con-
crete, into an eflcnce and rectified fpirit of expcncc,
where you have tuns of antient pomp in a vial 01.
modern luxury.

But when the reafon of old eftablifliments is rjonc,
it is abfurd to preferve nothing but the burthen of
them. This is fuperftitioufly to embalm a carcufs not
worth an ounce of the gums that are ufed to prcfcrvc
it. It is to burn precious oils in the toir.b ; it is to
offer meat and drink to the dead,— not f(> much ait
honour to the deccafed, as a difgrace to tl k furvivors.
Our palaces are vaft inhofpitable halls. Thtie tlie
bleak winds, there ** Boreas, and Eurus, atid Caurus,
and Argcftes loud," howling through the vacant lobbies,
and clattering the doors of defertcd guard-rooms, appal
the imagination, and conjure up the grim fpectres of
departed tyrants — the Saxon, the Norman, and the-
Dane ; the llern Edwards and fierce Henrys — wlio
iUlk from defolation to defolation, throut^h the dreary
vacuity, and melancholy fucceifion of chill and com-
fortlefs chambers. When this tumult fubfides, a dead,
aiid ftill more frightful Hlence would reign in thisdefert,
if every now and then the ticking of hammers did not
announce, that thofc conftant attendants upon all courts
ia all ages. Jobs, were ftill alive ; for whofe fake alone
it is, that any trace of antient grandeur is fuffcred to,
remain. Thcfe palac?s are a. true emblQm of fotnc.
govenunents i the inhabitants are decayed, but the

governors

'^B

inl

iiJ

111

[ 31 ]

j!;overnors and magiftratcs ftill flourifli. They put me
in mind of Old Sarum^ where the reprefentatives, more
in number than the conftituents, only ferve to inform
us, that this was once a place of trade, and founding
with *' the bufy hum of men," though now you can
only trace the ftreets by the colour of the corn i and
its fole manufatSlure is in members of parliament.

Thefe old cftablifliments were formed alfo on a third
principle, ftill more adverfc to the living oeconomy of
the age. They were formed. Sir, on the principle of
purveyance^ and receipt in kind. In former days, when
the houiehold was vaft, and the fupply fcanty and
precarious, the royal purveyors, fallying forth from
under the Gothic portcullis, to purchafe provifion
with power and prerogative, iiiftead of money, brought
home the plunder of an hundred markets, and all that
Could be fcized from a flying and hiding country,
and depofited their fpoil in an hundred caverns,
with each its keeper. There, every commodity,
received in its raweft condition, went through all
the procefs which fitted it for ufe. This incon-
venient receipt produced an ceconomy fuited only to
itfclf. It multiplied offices beyond all meafure j
buttery, pantry, and all that rabble of places, which,
though profitable to the holders and expenfive to
the ftate, are almoft too mean to mention.

All this might be, and I believe was neceflary at
firft ; for it is remarkable, that purveyance, after its
regulation had been the fubje<S): of a long line of
ftatutes (not fewer, I think, than twenty-fix) was
wholly taken away by the twelfth of Charles the fccond ;
yet in the next year of the fame reign, it was found
necelFary to revive it by a fpecial act of parliament,
for the fake of the king's journies. This, Sir, U
curious ; and what would hardly be expected in fo re-
duced a court as that of Charles the fecond, and in fo im-
proved a country as England might then be thought.
But fo it was. In our time, one well filled and well
covered ftage coach, requires more accommodation
than a royal progrefs ; and every diftri<5t at an hour's
warning, can fupply an army.

I do not fay. Sir, that all thefe ellablifhments whofc
principle is gone, have been lyflematically kept up for

influence

. ■»

». «•

.-J-i

inflttcncc folely : negleil had its (hare. But this t
am fure of, that a confideration of influence has hin-
dered any one from attempting to pull them down.
For the purpofes of influence, and for thofe purpofes

eftablifhrnents. No revenue, no not a royal revenue,

tZS: "."'^"J*'" ^"'""I^^'^d charge ofantientef*
tabhfhmenti modern luxury; and parliamentary politi-
cal corruption. -^ *^

»J!,.!^r^''"-iru '•'"^"l regulating this houfehold,
the queftion will be, whether we ought to economize
by ^./^,/, or by pnncipl. F The example we have h^d of*
the fuecefs of an attempt to oeconomize by detail, and

At the beginning of his majefty»s rei^n, Lord Talbot

th?K ^°,;'^f/'*'!"r' "^'o» °f ^ great departmen in
the houfehold. I believe no man Iver entered into his
majcfty s fervice, or into the fcrvice of any prince
TffJk-" T'\^^" integrity, or with more zeal and'

with abilities for a ftill higher fervice. OEconomy was
w J ^""°""*^«d as a maxim of the reign. Thij ioble
lord, therefore, made feveral attempts towards a reform.
In the year 1777 when the king's civil lift debts came
lalt to be paid, he explained very fully the fuecefs of
his undertaking He told the'houfe^f lords, hat
he had attempted to reduce the charges of the kine's

owhim'"^H" t''''^'"T'^ll^'^'"S. fir, was noJ bi
low him. He knew, that there is nothing intereftine
in the concerns of men, whom we love Ind honour
that is beneath our attention.-" Love," fays one of
our old poets, " efteems no oflice mean ;" ^and with
ftill more fpirit, « Entire affeftion fcorneth S
^ands." Frugality, Sir, is founded on the W n

"tayfimt .„d famift the nefoSlns „ TkiSm"
Th^efor. ,te objea was wSrthy of hi., v,-^Z'Z
ef any man's attention. wortny

■■i . ; .': . ;.; .;.....: : . in

■ (M'.iBili—

'*^'

r 33 r

In cohfcquence of this noble lord's refolutlon, (as hs
told the other houfc) he reduced fevcral tables, and put
the perfons entitled to them upon board wages, much
to their own i'atisfad^ton. But unluckily fubfequenC
dutiss requiring conftunt attendance^ it was not pof-
fible to prevent their being fed where they were em-
{>loyed — and thus this hrft flcp towards oeconomy
doubled the cxpence.

There was another difafter far more doleful tharl
this. I fliall ftate it, as the caufe of that misfortune
lies at the bottom of alrhoft all our prodigality. Lord
Talbot attempted to teform the kitchen ; but fuch, as
he well obferved, is the confequcnce of having duty
done by one perfon^ whilft another enjoys the emolu-
ments, that he found himfelf fruihated in all his de-
ligns. On that rock his whole adventure fplit — His
whole fcheme of oeconomy was dafhed to pieces ; his
department became more cxpenfive than ever; — the
civil lift debt accumulated — Why ? It was truly from
a caufe, which, though perfectly adequate to the efte£t«
one would not have inftantly gueffed ; — It was bccaufe
the turnfpit in the k'lng'i kitchen was a member of par-
liament *. The king's doraeftic fervants were all un-
done ; his tradefmen remained unpaid, and became
bankrupt — becauft the turnfpit of the king's kitchen was a
member of parliament. His majefty's llumbers were in-
terrupted, his pillow was ftufted with thorns, and his
peace of mind entirely brokr-^ —hecaufe the king's turn-'
fpit was a member of parliimt :. The judges were un-
paid ; thejutticeof the kingdom bent and gave wayj
the foreign miniftcrs remained inadtive and unprovi-
ded ; the fyftem of Eu-opc was diffolved ; the chain
of our alliances was broken ; all the wheels of go-
vernment at home and abroad were ftopped ; — becauft
the king's turn/pit wrj a member cf parliament.

Such, Sir, was tic fituation of afFairi, and fuch the
caufe of that fuuation, when his majclly came a
fecond time to parliamcnr, to defire the payment
of thofe debts which the employment of its mem-
bers in various olliccs, viiible and invifible, had

[ M

occafioned.

• Vide Lord Talbo-.*3 fpcrch in Almon's Pvliamciitary Rt^ifter, ¥ol^
Tu. p. 79. of the Pro«cfdingt of tlx Luids.

fA.-

^^ I

tf4

L" 34 J

occafioned. I believe that a like fate will attend every
attempt at ceconomy by detail, under limiKir cir-
cuinftances, and in every department. A comriex ope-
role office of account and controul, is, in itVelf, and
even if members of parliament had nothing to do with
It, the molt prodigal of all things. The moll audacious
robberies, or the molt fubtlc frauds, would never ven-
ture upon fuch a waftc, as an over careful, detailed
guard againft them will infallibly prodiKre. In our
eftabhfhments, we frequently fee an office of account,,
of an hundred pounds a year expence, and another of-
fice of an equal expence, to controul that office, and
the whole upon a matter that is not worth twentv
Ihillings.

To avoid, therefore, this minute care which produces
the confequences of the moll extcnfive ncglcdt, and to.
oblige members of parliament to attend to public cares,
and not to the fcrvile offices of domeftic management,
I propofe. Sir, to cecormnixe by princtple^ that is, I
propofe, to put afFairs into that train which experience
points out as the moft cfFeduai, from the nature
of thmgs, and from the conltitution of the human mind.
In all dealings where it is poffible, the principles of
radical reconomy prefcribe three things ; firft, under-
^^•^'"S ^y *^^ g'"'^''** i ^"^condly, engaging with perfonn
of (kill in the fubjed matter ; thirdty, engaging with
thofe who fliall have an immediate and diredilntereft ia
the proper execution of the bufinefs.

To avoid frittering and crumbling down the atten-
tion by a blind unfyftematic obfervance of every trifle, it "
has ever been found the beft way, to do all things, which
are great in the total amount, and minute in Hie com-
ponent parts, by a general contrast. The principles of
trade have fo pervaded every fpecies of dealing, from
thchigheftto the loweft objeds ; all tranfadtfons are
got fo much into fyftem ; that we may, at a moment's
warning, and to a farthing value, be informed at what
rate any fervice may be lupplied. No dealing is ex-
empt Irom the poffibility of fraud. «ut by a con-
trad on a matter certain, you have this advanta<re--
you are fure to know the utmolt extent of the fraud
to which you are fubjecl. By a contradl with a pcr-
i«n in Ins t-.v; tradi, you arc lure you flull not fuffer

nia

for

t-^g

clc

tai

th(

f .■

' produces
^» and to.
'"-^ care.s^

'at is, I
'fperieucc
^ nature
3" niind.
^'Pics of
» under-

pci-rom
'b^ with
•'^'•cft in

attcii-
■'■fle. it
vvhich
com-
Ifs of
fioin
s arc
-iit's
v'liat

C7C-

otj-
e~-.
lud
;r-

C 35 3

by tt;<7«/ of Jkill. By a yi&orf contraft you are fure of
making it the intereji of the contraftor to exert that fkill
for the fatisfadtion of his employers; ; "

I meart to derogate nothing frdm the diligence or in-
tegrity of the prefent, or of any former board of green-
cloth. But what flcill can members of parliament ob-
tain in that low kind of province ? What pleafure can
they have in the execution of that kind of duty ? And
if they fhould neglect it, how does it aftedt their intereft,
\Vhcn we know that it is their vote in parliament, and
not their diligence in cookery or catering, that recom-
mends them to their office, or keeps them in it ?

I therefore propofe, thit the king's tables (to what-
ever number of tables j or covers to each, he Ihall think
proper to command) ftiould be clafl'ed by the fteward
of the houfehold, and fhould be contracted for, accord-
ing to their rank, by the head or cover ; — that the ef-
timatc and circumftance of the contract fhould be car-
ried to the treafury to be approved \ and that its faith-
ful and fatisfaitory performance fhould be reported
there, previous to any payment ; that there, and there
only, fhould the payment be made. I propofe, that
men fliould be contracted with only in their proper
trade ; and that no member of parliament fhould be ca-
pable of fuch contract. By this plan, almoft all the in-
finite offices under the lord fteward may be fpared ; to
the extreme fimplification, and to the far better exe-
cution, of every one of his functions. The king of
Pruffia is fo ferved. He is a great and eminent (though
indeed a very rare) inftance of the poffibility of uniting
in a mind of vigour and compafs, an attention to mi-
nute objeCts, with the largefl views, and the moft com-
plicated plans. His tables are ferved bycontraCt, and by
the head. Let me fay, that no prince can be afhamed to
imitate the king of Pruffia ; and particularly to learn
in his fchool, when the problem is — " The heft man-
'* ner of reconciling the flate of a court with the fup-
" port of war ?" Other courts, I underftand, hav(i
followed him with efFeCt, and to their fatisfadtion.

The fame clue of principle leads us through the
labyrinth of the other departments. What, Sir, is there
in the office of thi gnat ivardrobe (which has the care of
the kind's furniture) that may not be executed by the

Da , lord

^ H'

c • .«"«imMiiXi III ■*. .jft^

;'■ //.'

r 36 j

Urd chamberlain hlmfelf. He has an honourable appdint-
ment ; he has time fufficient to attend to the v-futy ;
and he has the vice chamberlain to aflift him. Why
fhould not he deal alfo by contra<a, for all things be-
longing to this office, and carry his eftimates firft^ and
his report of the execution in its proper time, for pay-
ment, direaiy to the board of treafury itfelf ? By a fim-
ple operation (containing in it a treble control) the
expences of a department, which for naked walls, or
walls hung with cobwebs, has in a few years coft the
crown >^. 150,000, may at length hope for regulation.
^ut, bir, the office and its bufmefs are at variance.
As It Itanda, It ferves, not to furnifh the palace with
Its hangings, but the parliament with its dependent
members.

To what end, Sir, docs the office oi removing ward-
rj^be ferve at all ? Why fliould z jewel office exift for the
lole purpoJc of taxing the king's gifts of plate? Its
wi\ica falls naturally within the f/w//^.r/r//«'s province ;
4nd ought to be under his care and infpcaion, without
any Ice. Why fliould an ofilcc of the robes exift, when
*hat ot groom oftbt.Jhk is a finecurc, and that this is a
proper object of his department ?

All theie incumbrances, which are themfclves nu-
Ltnces, produce other incumbrances, and other nu-
lanccs. tor the payment of thefe ufelefs eftabliftments,
there are no lefs than three ufelefs treafurers ; two to
hold a purie, and one to play with a ftjck. The trea-
surer of the houfehold is a mere name. The cofferer
-ind the treafurcr of ibe chamber, receive and pay great
iums, which it is net at all necelTary they fhould ei-
ther receive or pay. AH the proper officers, fervants,
.ind tradefmen, may be enrolled in their fcveral depart-
ments, and paid in proper clafles and times with great
implicity and order, at the exchequer, and by diredion
irom tlie treafury.

Tht board of works, w\\\c\x in the fevcn years ore-
ceding 1777, has coft towards;^. 400,000 *: and Cif I
r=colea r ghtly) has not coft left in proportion fro.n
the beginning of the reign, is under th< v.rv fame d^"

mT:Z1 f *'^ "V'" ni.cont,iv.l eftabliftmcnts
^nd calls for the very fame reform. We are to feck for

* More cxaftJy ^.378,6,6. ,0,. ,</. J, '^^

"ft for the
plate f Us

province ;
» without

'ft» when
this is a

^"cs nu-
•jjer nu-

two to

fte trea-

offercr,

y great
^id ei-

'vants,
epart-
great

r 37 ]

thevifiblefignsof all this expcnce.— For all thisexpehce,
we do not fee a building ot the fizc and importance of
a pigeon-houfe. Buckingham-houfe was reprifed by
a bargain with the public, for one hundred thoufand
pounds ; — and the fmall houfe at Windfor has been,
if I mittake not, undertaken fince that account was
brought before us. The good works of that boar^i
of works, are as carefully concealed as other good
works ought to be ; they are perfectly invifible. But
though it is the perfection of charity to be concealed,
it is, Sir, the property and glory of magnificence, to
appear, and (land forward to the eye.

That board, which ought to be a concern of builders,
and fuch like, and of none elfe, is turned into a junto of
members of parliament. That office too has a treafuryy
and a paymafter of its own ; and left the arduous affairs
of that important exchequer fnould be too fatiguing,
that paymafter has a deputy to partake his profits, and
relieve his cares. I do not believe, that either now or
in former times, the chief managers of that board have
made any' profit of its abuie. It is, however, no good
reafon that an abufive eftablifhment (hould fubfift, be-
caufc it is of as little private as of public advantage.
But this eftabliihment ha^ the iirand radical fault, the
original fin, that pervades and perverts all our eftablifli-
ments ; — The apparatus is not fitted to the objeft, nor
the workmen to the work. Kxpences are incurred on
the private opinion of an inferior eftnblifliment, without
consulting the principal ; who can alone determine the
proportion which it ought to bear to the other efta-
bli(hments of the ftate, in the order of their relative
importance.

I propofe, therefore, along with the reft, to pull down
this whole ill-contrived icalTblding, which obflrudts,
rather than forwards our public works j to take away
its treafury ; to put the whole into the haiiJs of a real
builder, who (hall not be a member of parliament ; and
to oblige him by a previous eftimate and final pay-
ment, to appear twice at the treafury, before the public
can be loaded. The king's gardens are to come under
afimilar regulation.

The mintj though not a department of the houfe-
Mdi has the fame vices. It is a great expcnce to the

D i jiatien>

,• \

i •«

•/'

!"i

I' >'

I 5t

I 38 ] . :

ration, chiefly for the fake of members of parliament.
It has its officers of parade and dignity. It has its
treal'ury too. It is a fort of corporate body ; and formerly
was a body of great importance; as much fo on the
then fcale of things, and the then order of bufinefs, as
the bank is at this day. It was the great center of money
tranfactions and remittances for our own, and for other
nations ; until king Charles the firlt, among othcv
arbitrary proje»Sls, didtated by defpotic neceffity, made
him withhold the money that lay there for remituncc.
That blow (and happily too) the mint never recovered.
Now it is no bank ; no remittancc-fhop. The mint.
Sir, is a manufa£lure^ and it is nothing elfe; and it
ought to be undertaken upon the principles of a
manufafture; that is, for the beft and cheapeft execution,
by a contract, upon proper fccurities, and under proper
regulations.

The artillery is a far greater objeil ; it is a military
concern ; but having an affinity and kindred in its
defers with the eftablifliments I am now fpeaking
of, I think it beft to fpeak of it along with them.
It is, I conceive, an ettablilhment not well fuited
to its martial, though exceedingly well calculated for
its parliamentary purpofcs. — Here there is a ireafuryy
as in all the other inferior departments of govern-
ment. Here the military is fubordinate to the civil,
and the naval confounded with the land fervice. The
cbjcv!:t indeed is much the fame in both. But when the
detail is examined, it will be found that they had bet-
ter be fcparatcd. For a reform of this office, I propofc
to rcftorc things, to what (all confiderations taken to-
gether) is their natural order ; to rellore them to their
jiifl: proportion, and to their jufl: diftribution. I pro-
pofe, in this military concern, to render the civil
fjbordinatc to the military; and this will annihilate
the greatcft part of the expence, and all the influence
belonging to the office. I propofe to fend the military
branch to the army, and the naval to the Admiralty:
and I intend to perfect and accomplifli the whole detail
( where it becomes too minute and complicated for legi-
fluture, and requires exav.T^, official, military, and me-
chanical knowledge) by a commiffion of competent
officers in both departments. I propofc to execute by

«-'•

contra>Lt,

\A. i

39 1

■ t

•<:ontra£l, what by contraiSt can be executed ; and to
•bring, as much as poffiblc, all cftimates to be previoufly
•approved, and finally to be paid by the treafury.

Thus, by following the courl'e of nature, and nqt
the purpofcs of politics, or the accumulated patchwork
of fccafional accommodation, this vaft expenfive de-
partment may be methodized; its ferv ice proportioned
to its iicceHltics, and its payments fubje»ilcd to the in-
fpcction of the fupcilor minifter of finance j who is to
judge of it on the refiilt of the total coUedlive exigencies
of tiie ftate. This lail: is a reigning principle through
•my whole plan; and it is a principle which I hope may
hereafter be applied to other plans.

By thefe regulations taken together — befidei 'he three
fubordinate trcafuries in the lefler principalities, five
other fubordinate treafuries are fupprefled. There is
taken away the whole ejiablijhment of detail in i\\a
houfehold ; the treufurer\ — the comptroller (for a co'mp-
•troller is hardly neccflary where there is no treafurcr)
the cofferer of the houfehold ; — the trcafurer of the cham<-
iw; — the mailer of the houfehold \ — the whole beard of
green cloth ; — and a vaft number of fubordinate offices
in the il ^)a<tmeiit of X.\\c Jteward cf the houfehold; — the
whcilc cllabliflmient of the great wardrobe ; — the removi-
iiig ivardrobe ; — the jewel offce ; — the robes ; — the board
'fifivorks; almoft the whole charge of the civil branch
vi the board of ordriancc are taken away. All thefe ar-
.rangements together will be found to relieve the na-
tion from a vait weight of influence, without diftrefl-
ing, but rather by forwarding every public fcrvice.
When i'oinethiug of this kind is done, then the public
•may begin to breathe. Under other governments, ^
quellion of expence is only a queftion of CEConomy,
and it is nothing more ; with us in every queftion of
cxpcnce, there is always a mixture of conftitutional
confidL-rations.

It is. Sir, becaufc I wifh to keep thisbufincfs of fub-
ordinate trcafuiios as much as 1 can togclhi-r, that 1
il)iought the ordnance-office before you, though it is pro-
.pcrly a military department. For the fame rcafon I will
.iiow trouble you with my tlioughts and propontions
.upon two of the grcateft under trcafuries, I mean tin:
tOflicc of faymafer of the laud frccs^ or ircofurcr cf tk-

D \\ ' army,

f r

) :

ii^vi-

ir ^1

C 4» ]

0rmy ; and that of the ireafurtr of the navy. Thftibr,
mer of thefe has long been a great object of public fuf-
picion and uneafincfs. Envy too has had its fljare in
the obloquy which is caft upon this office. But I am
fure that it has no Ihare at all in the reflexions I fhaU
make upon it, or in the reformations that I (hall propofe.
I do not grudge to the honourable gcntleinan who at
prefent holds the office, any of the cffeas of his talents,
his merit, or his fortune. He is refpecftable in all thefc
particulars. I follow the conftitution of the office,
without perfecuting its holder. It is neceflary, in all
matters of public complaint, where men frequently
feel right and argue wrong, to fcparate prejudice from
reafon ; and to be very fure, in attempting the redrefs
of a grievance, that we hit upon its real feat, and its
true nature. Where there is an abufe in office, the
firfl: thing that occurs in heat is to cenfure the officer.
Our natural difpofition leads all our enquiries rather
to perfons than to things, But this prejudice is to be
. correded by maturer thinking.

Sir, the profits of the pay-office (as an office) are
not too great, in my opinion, for its duties, and for
the rank of the perfon who has generally held it. He
has been generally a perfon of the higheft rank ; that
is to fay, a perfon of eminence and confideration in
this houfe. The great and the invidious profits of
the pay-office, are from the Bank that is held in
It. According to the prefent courfe of the of-
fice, and according to the prefent mode of account-
ing there, this bank muft necefTarily exift fome,
where. Money is a produftive thing ; and when the
tifual time of its demand can be tolerably calculated, it
may, with prudence, be fafdy laid out to the profit of
the holder. It is on this calculation, that the bufinefs
of bankmg proceeds. But no profit can be derived
froni the ufe of money, which does not make it the in-
tereft of the holder to delay his account. The procefs
of the exchequer colludes with this intereft. Is this col-
Jufton from its want of rigour and ftridnefs, and great
regularity of form ? The reverfe is true. They have in
the exchequer brought rigour and formalifm to their ul-
timate perfcaion. The procefs againft accountants is
)o rigorous, and in a manner fo unjuft, that correaive*

muft.

) are
Id for
' He

that

^ in

' m
of-
nt-
le,
he
it
of
fs
d

[ 41 J

inuft« from time to time, be applied to it. rheic t;oi«
retftivcs being difcretionary, upon the paie, anJ generally
remitted by the barons to the lords of the treafury, as
the bed Judges of the rcafons for refpite, heatings are
had } delays are produced ; and thus the extreme of ri-
gour in oii^ce (as ufuai in all human afFairs) leads to
the extreme of laxity. What with the interefted de-
lay of the officer; the ill-conceived exactnefs of the
court; the applications for difpenfations from that ex-
adtnefs, tht revival of rigorous proccfs, after the expira-
tion of the time ; and the new rigours producing new
applications, and new enlargements of time, fuch de-
lays happen in the public accounts, that they can
fcarcely ever be clofed.

Bcfides, Sir, they have a rule in the exchequer,
which, I believe, they have founded upon a very an-
cient ftatute, tbat of the 51ft of Henry III. by which
it is provided, ** That when a Iheriff or bailiff hath
** began his account, none other fhall be received
*' to account until he that was firil: appointed hath
** clearly accounted, and that the fum has been re-
** ceived *." Whether this claufe of that ftatute be
the ground of that abfurd pradlice, I am not quite
able to afcertain. But it has very generally prevailed,
though I am told that of late they have btgan to
relax from it. In confequence of forms adverfe to
fubftantial account, we have a long fucctffion of pay-
mafters and their reprefentatives, who have never been
admitted to account, although perfectly ready to do
{o.

As the extent of our wars has fcattered the ac-
countants under the paymafter into every part of the
■globe, the grand and fure paymafter. Death, in all his
ihapes, calls thefc accountants to another reckoning.
Death, indeed, domineers over every thing, but the
forms of the exchequer. Over thcfe he has no powej.
They are impallive and immortal. The audit of the
exchequer, more fevere than the audit to which the
Accountants are gone, demands proofs which in the

* Et quant vifcount on b^tilliff ait cnmmrnce <k iccompter, nul autre
nc feit icfccu de acconter tuiique Ic primer f c foit aQU^ cit p etaccompt^
^t qeU fomme fuitKfceu, Si<\t, 5. ann, doiii. izoCi

nature

' m

I (

r 42 ]

nature of thinj^s are difficult, fomctimes impoflibic to
be had. In this refpedl too, rigour, as ufual, dc-
Vf3t>^ itfclf. Then, the exchequer never gives a parti-
cuiir receipt, or clears a man of his account, as far as
i' goes. A final acquittance, (or a quictui^ as they term
it) is fcarccly ever to be obtained. Terrors and ghofts
of unlaid accountants, haunt the houfesof their children
from generation to generation. Families, in the courfe
of fuccefilon, fall into minorities ; the inheritance
comes into the hands of females ; and very perplexed
affairs are often delivered over into the hands of negli-
gent guardians and faithlefs ftewards. So that the de-
mand remains, when the advantage of the money is gone,
if ever any advantage at all has been made of it. This
is a caufe of infinite diftrefs to families; and becomes
a fource of influence to an extent, that can fcarccly be
imagined, but by thofe who have taken ibme pains to
trace it. The mildnefs of government in the employ-
ment of ufclefs and dangerous powers, furniihes norea-
fon for their continuance.

As things ftand, can you in juftice (except perhaps
in that over-perfeiSt kind of juftice which has ob-
tained, by its merits, the title of the oppofitc .vice *)
infift that any man Ihould, by the courfc of his office,
keep a batik from whence he is to derive no advantage ?
That a man ihould be fubjeft to demands below, and
be in a manner refufed an acquittance above ; that he
Ihould tranfmit an original fin, and inheritance of vex-
ation to his pofterity, without a power of cumpcnfat-
ing himfelf in feme way or other, for fo perilous a
Situation ? We know, that if the paynialicr fhould deny
himfelf the advantages of his bank, the public, as
things ftand, is not the richer for it by a fingle (hil-
ling. This I thought it ncceflary to fay, as to the
oft^'enfivc magnitude of the profits of this office ; that wc
may proceed in reformation, on the principles of rea-
fon, and not on the feelings of envy.

The trcafuier of the navy is, ttnitatis mutaiidis^ in
the fame circumftances. Indeed all accountants are-
Inftcad of the prefcnt mode, which is troublefonic to
the officer, and unprofitable to the public, 1 propofc
io fubrtirut'j fomctliinQ: more efl'cclual than ri'Mnir,

which
* Summum jut fumma hijuriit.

•t

a.- ■:.,

rhaps

Ob-

cc *j

{ 4.5 ]
which is the worfl exactor in the woriJ. t mean to
remove the very temptations :> delay ; to facilitate
the account ; and to transfer this bank, now of private
emolument, to the public. The crown will fuifer no
wrong at lead from the pay-ofHc'"' and its terrors will
longer nugn over the families of thofc who hold, or
have held them. I propofe, that thel'j offices Ihould be
no longer l)ani::< or tiwifurivs, but mere ofilces of admlni-
Jirat'ion. — I propofe, tirli, th:;t the prefeni paymafter and
the trcafurcr of the navy, ihould carry into the exche-
quer, the whole body of the vouchers for what they have
paid over to deputy payiiial^crs, to regimental agents,
.or to any of thofe to v.'hom they have and ought to
have paid money. 1 propofe that thofe vouchers fhall
be .admitted as adtual payments in their accounts ; and
that the perions to whom the money has been paid, (hall
then rtand charged in the exchequer in their place.
AJter this procels, they fhall be debited or charged for
nothing but the money-balance that remains in their
hands.

1 am cojifciou.s. Sir, that if this balance (which they
could not expect to be fo fuddenly demanded by any
ufuftl proeefh of the exchequer) fliould now be exacted
all at once, not only thejr ruin, but a ruin of others
to an extent which I do not like to think of, but which
I can well conceive, and which you may well con-
ceive, might be the confequence. I told you. Sir,
when I promifid before the holydays to bring in this
plan, that I never would iutVer any man or defcription
pf men, tp fuller from errors that naturally have growii
out of the abufiye conftitution of thofe offices which I
propole to regulate. If I cannot reform with equity, I
will not reform at all.

For the regulation of pad accounts, I ihall there-
fore propofe fuch a mode, as men, temperate and pru-
dent, make ufe of in the management of their private
aifain, when their accounts are various, p,-rplcxed, and
y^ of long I'landlii;.'. I would therefore, after their cxaiu-
d pic, divide the puhlic debts into thice forts ; good ^
* bad ; and doubtful. In looking over the pulilic ac-
counts, I fhould never driam of the blind nioue of
the exchequer, which regards things in the abllracl,
and knows no difference in tlic quality of its dcbt.>, ci

3 . ^'*'

^•^■\

I 44 J

the circumftancM of its debtors. By this means, it
fatigues itfelf; it vexes others; it often crufhes the
poor j it lets cfcape the rich ; or in a fit of mercy or
careleflhefs, declines all means of recovering its juft de-
mands. Content with the eternity of its claims, it en-
joys its epicurean divinity with epicurean languor. But
it is proper that all forts of accounts fhould be clofcd
feme time or other — by payment ; by compofuion ; or
by oblivion. Expedit reipublica id fttjinii lititim. Con-
rtantly taking along with me, that an extreme rigour
is fure to arm every thing againll it, and at length
to relax into a fupine ntglett, I propofe. Sir, that
even the beft, foundeft, and the moft recent debts,
ihould be put into inftalments, for the mutual be-
nefit of the accountant and the public.

In proportion, however, as I am tender of the paft,
I would be provident of the future. All monc)' that
was formerly imprefted to the two great pay-offices, I
would have imprefted in future to the hank of England.
Thefe offices (hould, in future, receive no more than
cafti fuflicienl for fmall payments. Their other pay-
ments ought to be made by drafts on the Bank, expref-
fmg the fervice. A chccque account from both of-
fices, of drafts and receipts, (hould be annually made
up in the exchequer, charging the bank, in account,
with the cafli-balance, but not demanding the payment
until there is an order from the treafury, in confequencc
of a vote of parliament.

As I did not, Sir, deny to the paymafter the natural
profits of the bank that was in his hands, fo neither
would I to the bank of England. A fhare of that
profit might be derived to the public in various ways.
My favourite m.ode is this; that, incompenfation for the
ufe of this money, the bank may take upon themfelves,
firft, the charge of the mint ; to which they are already,
by their charter, obliged to bring in a great deal of
bullion annually to be coined.

In the next place, I mean that they fhould take
upon themfelves the charge of remittances to cur troops
flbroad. This is a fpecies of dealing from which,
by the fame charter, they are not debarred. One and
a quarter per cent, will be faved inftantly thereby to
the public, on very large fums of money. This will

i 45 J

be at once a matter of ceconomy, and a confidcrable re-
dudioa of influence, by taking away a private con-
traft of an cxpenfive nature. If the bank, which is a
great corporation, and of courfe receives the leaft profit*
from the money in their cuftody, fhould of itfelf refufe,
or be perfuaded to refufe this offer upon thofe terms, I
can fpeak with fome confidence, that one at leaft, if
not both parts of the condition would be received, and
gratefully received, by feveral bankers of eminence.
There is no banker who will not be at leaft as good
fccurity as any paymafter of the forces, or any trea-
furcr of the navy, that have ever been bankers to th«.

?ublic : as rich at leaft as my J.ord Chatham, or my
.ord Holland, or either of the honourable gentlemen
who now hold the offices, were at the time that they
entered into them ; or as ever the whole eftubliihment of
the mint has been at any period.

Thefc, Sir, are the outlines of the plan I mean to
follow, in fuppreffing thefe two large fubordiuate tiea-
furies. I now come to another fubordiuate treafury; I
mean, that of the paymafler of the pen/tons ; for w/hicb
purpofe I re-enter the limits of the civil cllablifhnicnt —
I departed from thofe limits in purfuit of a principle i
and following the fame game in its dojibles, I am
brought into thofe limits again. That treafury, and that,
office, I m;an to take away; and to transfer the pay-
ment of every name, mode, and denomination of pcn-
fions, to the exchequer. The prefent courfe of di-
verfifying the fame objeft, can anfwer no good purpofe;
whatever its ufe may be to purpofes of another kind.
There are alfo other lifts of penfions ; and I mean that
they fhould all be hereafter paid at one and tht: fame
place. The whole of that new confolidated lift, I mean
to reduce to ^. 60,000 a year, which fura I intend it
fhall never exceed. I think that fum will fully anfwer
as a reward to all real merit, and a provifion for 3II real
public charity that is ever like to be placed upon the
IHK If any merit of an extraordinary nature ftiould
emerge, before that reduction is completed, I have Ici'c
it open for an addrefs of either houfe of parliament to
provide for the cafe. To all other demands, it muft be
anfwered, with regret, but with iirmnefs, *' the pub-
** lie is p«or."

X I do

^fg^'

■',!<«■*?*> J

[ 40 j

I do not propofr', as I to!;i ynu hrt'oif Cliriftmas, to
take away any piMiftoii. I know tiiat the puUiic fcciii
to call for a rtvUii'lion of fiicli of thcin as lliall ap-
pear unmcriuil. As a cfiiforiil at, ami punifh-
inent of an abufo, might anfvvir foim" purpofc. J^ut
this can make no part of mv plan. I nv.'an to pro-
ccrJ by bill ; and I cannot llop for fuch an en-
quiry. I know funic gcntlcir.cn may hhiino irc. It is
with iMcat fubniillion to lu'ttcr jiuignK-nts, that I rc-
commcnd it to conftderation -, that a critical rctfofpct-
tive ex:unination of the penfion liif, upon the principle
of merit, can never fervc for my balis. — It cannot
anfwcr, according to my plan, any eH'cclual purpofe
of ceconomy, or of future permanent reformation.
The proccfs in any way will be entangled and ditHcult ;
and it will be inlinitely flow : There is a danger that
if wc turn our line of march, now directed towards
the grand object, into this moro laborious than ufefiil
detail of operations, we Ihall never arrive at our end.

The king. Sir, has been by the conlHtution ap-
pointed fole judge of the merit for which a penfiun
is to be given. VVc have a right, undoubtedly, to
canvafs this, as wc have to canvafs every act of govern-
ment. But there is a material difference between an
office to be reformed, and a penfion taken away for
demerit. In the former call", no charge is implied
againft the holder; in the lattcr,his character is flurrcd,
as vvell as his lawful emolument affeiStcd. Th'.' former
procefs is againft the thing; the fectMul againft tlie
perfon. The penfioner certainly, if he pleaic;, has
a right to ftand on his own defence ; to plead his
pofi'effion ; and to bottom his title in tlie compet, luv
of the crown to give him what he holds. Puilelled, and
on the defenfive as he is, he will not be obliged to prove
his fpecial merit, in order to juftify the aft of legal drf-
cretion, now turned into his property, according to his
tenure. The very act, he will contend, is a legal pre-
fumption, and an implication of his merit. If this be fo,
from the natural force of all legal prefumption, lie
would put us to the ditHcult proof, that he has no merit
::t all. Hut other qucftions would arife in the courfe of
f.uti ?,ii vruiniry ; that is, nucftions of the merit wlif;;

weiul^i-'f

Tb
\cfs.

r 47 J

weighed againft the proportion of the reward ; then the
difficulty will be much greater.

The difficulty will not, Sir, I am traid, be much
Icfs, if we pafs to the perfon really guilty, in the qucf-
tion of an unmerited pcnfion ; the miniftcr himfclf. I
admit, that when called to account for the execution of
a trult, he might fairly be obliged to prove the affirma-
tive ; and to ftn' "erit for which the penfion is given;
though on thi- .Uk himfelf, fuch a procefs would be
hard. If in tin-. < nination wc proceed methodically,
and (o as to avoid all fufpicion of partiality and pre-
judice, wc muft take the penfions in orj.r of time, or
merely alplKibitically. The very firft pcnlion to which
we come, in either of thcfe ways, may appear the molf
grofsly unmerited of any. liut the miniltcr may vcrvpof-
iibly Ihtw, that he knows nothing of the puttin- on this
penlion — tliat it was prior in time to Iiis admimitration
— that the minillcr, who laid it on, is dead ; and then
wc are thrown back upon the penfioncr himfclf, and
plunged into all our former difficulties. Abufes, and
grofs on.'s, I doubt not, would appear; and to the cor-
redion of which I would roadily give my hand; but,
when I confider that peiifions have not generally been
afiecHed by the revolutions cf minillry ; as I know not
where fuch enquiries would ftop ; and as an abfonce of
merit is a negative and loofc thing, one mi^ht be led
to derange the order of families, founded on the pro-
bable continuance of their kind of income. I might
hurt children ; I might injure creditors. I really think
it the more prudent coinle, not to follow the letter of
the petition?;. If we fix this mode of enquiry as a ba-
lls, v.-e fh;ill, I fear, end, as parliament h;is often ended
Jinder fnnilar circ.;iilhinces. There will be great de-
lay; much confufion ; much inequality in our proceed-
ings. But what prciVes mc moll of all is this; that thout^h
wc fhould 111 ike off all the unmerited penfions, whTle
the power of the crown remains unlimited, the very
fame undeferving pcrfons might afterwards return to
the very fame lilt : or if they did not, other pcrfons me-
riting as little as they do, might be put upon it to
an undefinable amount. This i think is the pinch of
the grievance.

Fer

r 4S i

Tot theft: icafoiis. Sir, I atn obliijcd to wave thif?
mode of proceeding ;l^ ,iny part of my plan. In a plan
of rcfoimatron, it would be om: of my maxims, that
when I know of an eftablifliincnt which may be fub-
fervient to ufcful purpofc?, and which at the fame time,
from its uiferetionary nature, is liable to a very great
pcrvcrfion from thofe purpofes, JicsuU Uniit the quantity
of the power that might be fo abufccL f'or I am furc,
that in all fuch cafes, the rcv;ards of merit will have
very narrow bounds ; and that partial or corrupt favour*
■Will be infinite. This principle is not arbitrary ; but
the limitation of the fpecific quantity muft be (o in
feme meafure. I therefore Itate yT. 6c,ooo ; leaving it
open to the houfe to enlarge or contract the fuin as
they fhall fee, on examination, that the difcrction I ufe
is fcanty or liberal. The whole amount of the pcnfions
of all denominations, which have been laid before us,
amount, for a period of feven years, to confiderably more
than jT. ioo,oco a year. To what the other lifts amount,
I know not. That will be {qqw hereafter. But from thofe
that do appear, a faving will accrue to the public, at
one time or other, of /,. 40,000 a year, and we had bet-
ter in my opinion to let it fall in naturally, than to tear
it crude and unripe from the ftalk. *

There is a y;ieat deal jf uneafmefs among the people^
upon an article which I mult clafs under the head of
ptnfions. I mean l\\fi great patent offices in the exchequer.
They arc in reality and fubitance no other than pen-
fions, and in no other light (hall I confider them.
They are finecures. They are always executed by
deputy. The duty of the principal is as nothing. They
differ however from the pcnfions on the lilt, in fome
particulars. They are held for life. I think with the
public, that the profits of thofe places are grown
enormous; tlie magnitude of thofe profits, and the na-
ture of them, both call for reformation. The nature
of their profits which grow out of the public diltrefs is,

cannot

tion.

wh'»c^ *l
petty-
dren •>

♦ It «as fuppoffid by the Lord Advocate, in a fubfcquent debate, thrt
Ji£r. E.irkc, btcaule he objedlcd to an t:nc,uiry into the pcnfion lift tor the
pjriiufeof orcunumy »nd relief of the public, would have it withheld from
the iudiynKiit of parliament for all purpofijs whatfoever. This learned
gentleiiatv ccrt.tinly inifLindeiftood hitn. His plun Ihtw;; that he wi:!.cd
the vjiulc iill tt) be eaiijy acceflible; and he knows that the public eye i» '
•f itfoif Ik ift»i guard aiaiiift abufc.

itftlf

•— - »* *•«<<»■•*- -t^-^

C 49 ]

itftlf invidious and grievous. But I fear that reform
cannot be immediate. I find myfelf under a reftric-
tion. Thefe places, and others of the fame kind,
wliich arc held for life, have been confulered as pro-
perty. They have been given as a provifion for chil-
dren; they have been the fubjeift of family fettlemcnts;
they have been the fecurity of creditors. What the
law refpciSts fhall be facred to me. If the barriers of
law (hould be broken down, upon ideas of conve-
nience, even of public convenience, we (hall have no
longer any thing certain among us. If the difcretion
of power is once let loofc upon property, we can be at
no lofs to determine whofe power, and what difcretion
it is that will prevail at laft. It would be wife to
attend upon the order of things ; and not to attempt to
outrun the flow, but fmooth and even courfe of na-
ture. There arc occafions, I admit, of public necef-
fity, fo vaft, fo clear, fo evident, that they fuperfede
all laws. Law being only made for the benefit of the
community cannot in any one of its parts, refift a de-
mand which may comprehend the total of the public
intereft. To be fure, no law can fet itfelf up againft
the caufe and reafon of all law. But fuch a cafe very
rarely happens ; and this moft certainly is not fuch a
cafe. The mere time of the reform is by no means
worth the facrifice of a principle of law. Individuals
pafs like fhadows ; but the commonwealth is fixed and
ihble. The difference therefore of to-day and to-
morrow, which to private people is immenfe, to the
ftate is nothing. At any rate it is better, if poffible,
to reconcile our oeconomy with our laws, than to fet
them at variance ; a quarrel which in the end muft be
deftru»Stive to both.

My idea, therefore, is to reduce thofe officers to
fixed falaries, as the prefent lives and reverfions fhall
fuccefliveiy fall. I mean, that the office of the great
auditor (the auditor of the receipt) fhall be reduced to
£■ 3,000 a year j and the auditors of the imprefl and
the reft of the principal officers, to fixed appointment*
^^£'^^$00 a year each. It will not be difficult to
calculate the value of this fall of lives to the public,
when we fhall have obtained a juft account of the pre-
fent income of thofe places $ and we fhall obtain that

£ account

. ii

t ■

•■ ^ ..^^*

r 50 1

account with great facility, if the prefent poflefTors are
not alarmed with any apprehcnfion of danger to their
freehold office.

I know too, that it will be demanded of mc, how
it comes, that llnce I admit thcfc offices to be i\o better
than penllons, I chofe, after the principle of law had
been fatisficd, to retain them at all ? To this, Sir, 1
aniwcr, that conceiving it to be a fundamental part of
the conftitution of this country, and of the reafon of
ftate in every country, that there mult be means of re-
warding public fervicc, thofe means will be incom-
plete, and indeed wholly infufficient for that purpok,
if there fhould be no further reward for that fcrvicc,
than the daily wages it receives during the plealurc of
the crown.

Whoever ferioufly confidcrs the excellent argument
of Lord Somcrs, in the banker's cafe, will fee he bot-
toms himfelf upon the very fame maxim which I do ;
and one of his principal grounds of doftrinc for the
alienability of the domain in England ♦ contrary to the
maxim of the law in France, he lays in vhe conltitu-
tional policy, of furni(hing a permanent reward to pub-
lic fervice ; of making that reward the origin of fami-
lies, and the foundation of wealth as well as of ho-
nours. It is indeed the only genuine unadulterated
origin of nobility. It is a great principle in govern-
ment ; a principle at the very foundation of the whole
ftrudturc. The other judges who held the faiiK- doc-
trine, went beyond Lord Somers with regard to the re-
medy, which they thought was given by law againit
the crown, upon the grant of pcnfions. Indeed no
man knows, when he cuts oft* the inciteimnts to a vir-
tuous ambition, and thcjufl rewards of public fervice,
what infinite mifchicf he may do his countrv, through
all generations. Such faving to the public may prove
the worft mode of robbing it. The crown, which ha:<
in its hands the truft of the daily pay for national fir-
vicc, ought to have in its hands alio the means for the
repofe of public labour, and the fixed fettlcmcnt of
acknowledged merit. There is a time, when the

• Bcfgre the ftatiKc of Queen Anne, which limited ihc alicnatirn ot

weather- beaten

arc

low

fttCT

f» i

ft of
V of
re-
)m-
)/c,
I'cc,
oi-

[ SI ]

Weather-beaten veffels of the ftate, ought to come into
harbour. They muftat length have a retreat from the
malice of rivals, from the perfidy of political friends,
and the inconftancy of the people. Many of the per-
fons, who in all times have filled the great offices of
ftate, have been younger brothers, who had originally
little, if any fortune. Thefe offices do not furnifli the
means of amaffing wealth. There ought to be fome
power in the crown of granting penfions out of the
reach of its own caprices. An intail of dependence is a
bad reward of merit.

I would, therefore, leave to the crown the poffibility
ot conferring fome favours, which, whilft they arc
received as a reward, do not operate as corruption.
When men receive obligations from the crown through
the pious hands of fathers, or of connexions as vene-
rable as the paternal, the dependences which arife from
thence, arc the obligations of gratitude, and not the
fetters of fervility. Such ties originate in virtue, and
iliey pom te it. They continue men in thofe habi-
tudes ot •'■■ . irSip, thofe political connections, and
ihofe pol u. i principles in which they began life.
They are ai.iuotes againffc a corrupt levity, inftead of
caufes of it. What an unfecmly fpeitacle would it
uftbrd, what a difgrace would it be to the common-
wealth that fufFercd fuch things, to fee the hopeful
«bn of a meritorious minilter begging his bread at the
door of that treafury, from whence his father dif-
pcnfed the oeconomy of an empire, and promoted the
happincfs and glory of his country ? Why fliould he
be obliged to proftrate his honour, and to iubmit his
principles at the levee of fome proud favourite, ihoul-
dorcd and thruft afide by every impuucnt pretender,
on the very fpot where a few days before he law himfcif
adored ? — obliged to cringe to the author of the
calamities of his houfe, and to Icifs the haiuis that are
red with his father's blood ? — No, Sir, — Thde tilings
arc unfit — They are intolerable.

Sir, I (hall be afked, why I do notchufc to dcftroy
thofe offices which are penfions, and appoii;*" penfions
under the direct title in their ftead ? I allow, that in
fome cafes it leads to abufc ; to have things appointed
for one purpofe, and applied to another. I have no

E a greut

■ ^ <;

f s» ]

great objeilion to fuch a change : but I do not think it
quite prudent for me to propoie it. If I fhould take
away the prefent eftablifnnfent, the burthen of proof
refts upon me, that fo many penHons, and no more,
and to fuch an amount each, and no more, are ne-
ceffary for the public fervice. This is what I can ne-
ver prove 'y for it is a thing incapable of definition. I
do not like to take away an objedl that I think anCwers
my purpofe, in hopes of getting it back again in abetter
ihape. People will bear an old eftabliihmcnt when its
cxcefs is corrected, who will revolt at a new one. I do
not think thefe office-penfions to be more in number
than fufficient : but on that point the Houfe will cx-
ercife its difcretion. As to abufe, I am convinced,
that very few trufts in the ordinary courfe of admini-
flration, have admitted lefs abufe than this. Efficient
minifters have been their own paymaftcrs. It is true.
But their very partiality has operated as a kind of juf-
tice ; and Hill it was fervice that was paid. When wc
look over this pvchequer lift, wr find it filled with the
dcfccndants of the Walpolcs, of the Pclhams, of the
Townfliends; names to whc .. this country owes its
liberties, and to whom his majefty owes his crown. It
was in one of thefe lines, that the immenfe and envied
employment he now holds, came to a certain duke*,
who is now probably fitting quietly at a very good din-
ner dire«Stly under us; and adting high life Mow JiairSy
whilft wc, his matters, are filling our mouths with
unfubftantial founds, and talkini'; of hungry itconomy
over his head. But he is the elder branch of an an-
cient and decayed houfe, joined to, and repaired by
the reward of ferviccs done by another. I rcfpctSt the
original title, and the firft purchafc of merited wealth
and honour through all its dcfccnts, through all its
transfers, and all its aflicnments. May fuch fountains
never be dried up ! May they ever flow with their
original purity, and refrem and fru«^ify the common-
wealth, for ages !

• Duke of NewcaftU, whofe dining-room i» under ihc Iloufi; of
Commons.

Sii'f

■

t 53 1

Sir, I think my(elf Y^fjoJ^cjo.^^^^^^^^

clearly, and as fully, ^0^^°/^ ^"jS " My limits are the
formation, as for pro'^eeding m .t. my ^^^^.^^ ^^

rules of law; the rules »» P°\X' T am not able to
the ftatc. This is the "^^^^^^^ .^^^^ Ji^rfeems to be a
intermeddle with another artjcle^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^ ^^^

If I knew of any real ^^^'^ "i^^^^^tremdy deV.rous
exorbitant cmolumeng,IJhouU^^^^^^ J^

of reducing th=m. v; '^^^a common meafurc

not. I am not po"'-"'^'\°L ' „rd I am very fure,
between real fcrv.ce ^fj^'Z^k ^vhich isWrdly
that ftatcs do f^'-^^STcroTdingo their worth. If!

in their power to JX,";„^"°^ hfegard to this country,
were to give "ly judgment w.i^ ^^^ ^^

1 do not'think^he grea e^oen^

be overpaid. The >^7''' r^- ^^j ftruck down to
which cannot be P"\^^° ""^;'°' \he cheapeft. When
thofe who W.11 fJ^^;;^'^:Xl and fervid is our ob-
the proportion between ^^r-; . . ^ .^^ture the fervice
jea, we muft always '^""^f/ ^^JJ^^^'^uft perform it.
is, and what fort of "^^"^^J/^fJ^^ Sbou?, and full
What is jurt payment f°/ /'"'^^/"Xt,, j^ fraud and
encouragement for one k«nd of talent^ ^^^^^

difcouragement ^o others. Many ott^^
have much duty to do, ^j^^^^^^y of (late, for in-
fentation to maintain. ^J'"" h^: eyes of the mi-
ftance, muft not aPpear ford d " the e> ^^^ ^.^.^^^^

niftersof other nations ij^^'f^[^ ^^^^ts where they
abroad toappcar contem£ible .n the co ^^^^^^^.^'^

rcfide. In allofficcs o d" ^^h^; '^^ ^ fon in high
agrcatiKgleaot all dcmK^^caffa.^^^ f^n^fly-houfe. If
office can rarely take a view ^^^^■^,,,,^ the ftatc

he fees \i"^*^^,ff^f;;ft,'ou?d take as little,
muft fee that his f «'^« Z^^*^; ,ffirm, that if men were
1 will even go fo f ^ ^^^^^^ ^[.^out falary, they
willing to ferve '» j"^*^ J^^^ jo it. Ordinary fervice
ought not ^"^frX'otivcstoordinary integrity. I
muft be fecured by t^e motives t J^.^^ j ,ts

do not hcfitate to f^Y' 'h^ ' that ^^ ^^^^

foundation in ^il-^^^'Vl^J^ he Uf«ft P^^^'^^'^y '"'*
have its fuperftruaure m the f corruption.

t 54 ]

corruption. An honourable and fair profit is thtf beft
fecurity againft avarice and rapacity ; as in all things
elfe, a lawful and regulated enjoyment is the beft fecu-
rity againft debauchery and excefs. For as wealth is
power, fo all power will infallibly draw wealth to itfelf
by fome means or other : and when men are left no way
of afcertaining their profits but by their means of ob-
taining them, thofe means will be encreafed to infinity.
This is true in all the parts of adminiftration, as well as
in the whole. If any individual were to decline his ap-
pointments,' it might give an unfair advantage to often-
tatious ambition over unpretending fervice ; it might
breed invidious comparifons ; it might tend to deftroy
whatever little unity and agreement may be found
among minifters. And after all, when an ambitious
man had run down his competitors by a fallacious fliew
of difmtercftednefs, and fixed himfelf in power by that
means, what fecurity is there that he would not change
his courfe, and claim as an indemnity ten times more
than he has given up ?

This rule, like every other, may admit its exceptions.
\Vhen a great man has fome one great obje<^ in view
to be atchicvcd in a given time, it may be abfolutely
neceflary for him to walk out of all the common roads,
and if his fortune permits it, to hold himfelf out as a
fplcndid example. I am told, that fomething of this
kind is now doing in a country near us. But this is
for a fhort race ; the training for a heat or two, and
not the proper preparation for the regular ftages of a
methodical journey. lam fpcaking of eftablilhments,
^nd not of men.

It may be cxpciStcd, Sir, that when I am giving my
reafons why I limit myfelf in the rcdu£tion of employ-
ments, or of their profits, I (hould fay fomething of
thofe which feem of eminent inutility in the ftate ; I
mean the number of officers who by their places are at-
tendant on the perfon of the king. Confidering the
commonwealth merely as fuch, and confidering thofe
officers only as relative to the dired purpofes of the
ftate, I admit that they are of no ufe at all. But there
are many things in the conftitution of eftablifhmcnts,
which appear of little value on the firft view, which i.i
a fccondary and oblicjuc manner, produce very material

advantages.

'ons.
view
tcly

3ads,

as a

this

s is

ind

fs.

C 55 ]

advantages. It was on full confideration that I de-
termined not to leflen any of the offices of honour
about the crown, in their number, or their emolu-
ments. Thefe emoluments, except in one or two cafes,
do npt much more than anfwer the charge of attend-
ance. Men of condition naturally love to be about a
court; and women of condition love it much more.
But there is in all regular attendance, fo much of con-
ftraint, that if it were a mere charge, without any com-
penfation, you would foon have the court dcfcrted by
all the nobility of the kiP7''.om.

Sir, the moft ferious . •.'ch''-' would follow from
fuch a defertion. Kings are . rally lovers of low
company. They are fo elevatea ove all the reft of
mankind, that they muft look upon all their fubjects
as on a level. They are rather apt to hate than to love
their nobility, on account of the occafional refiftancc
to thvfir will, which will be made by their virtue, their
petulance, or their pride. It muft indeed be admitted,
that many of the nobility are as perfedly willing to ail
the part of flatterers, tale-bearers, parafites, pimps,
and buffoons, as any of the loweft and \i\cl\ of man-
kind can poffibly be. But they are not properly qua-
lified for this objedl of their ambition. The want of
a regular education, and early habits, and feme lurk-
ing remains of their dignity, will never permit them to
become a match for an Italian eunuch, a mountebank,
a fidler, a player, or any regular praiStitioner of that
tribe. The Roman emperors almoll from the begin-
nino-, threw themfplvcs into fuch hands ; and the mif-
chief increafed every day till its decline, and its final
ruin. It is therefore of very great importance (pro-
vided the thing is not overdone) to contrive fuch an
eftablilhmcnt as muft, almoft whether a prince will or
not, bring into daily and hourly offices about his pcr-
fon, a great number of his firft nobility 5 and it is ra-
ther an ufcful prejudice that gives them a priiic in fuch
a fervitude. Though they are not much the better
for a court, a court will be much the better for them.
I have therefore not attempted to reform any of the
offices of honour about the king's pcrfon.

There are, indeed, two offices in his ftables wh.ch
arc finccures. By the change of manners, and indeed

E 4 ^y

■jt4'**A»,mm^,'Jti^^ . Ai.

■ 1

" i;

[ 56 3

by the nature of the thing, they muft be fo ; I mean
the feveral keepers of buck-hounds, ftag-hounds, fox-
hounds, and harriers. They anfwer no purpofe of
utility or of fplendor. Thefe I propofe to abolifh.
It is not proper that great noblemen fliould be keep-
ers of dogs, though they were the king's dogs. In
every part of my fcheme, I have endeavoured that no
primary, and that even no fecondary fervice of the
itate, inould fuffer by its frugality. I mean to touch
no offices but fuch as I am perfectly fure, arc either
of no ufe at all, or not of any ufe in the Icaft aflign-
able proportion to the burthen with which they load
the revenues of the kingdom, and to the influence with
which they opprefs the freedom of parliamentary deli-
beration ; for which reafon «^here are but two offices
which are properly ftate offices, that I have a defire
to reform.

The firft of them is the new office of third fecretary
tfjiate^ which is commonly called y^^r^Mry ofjtatefor
the colonies.

We know that all the correfpondencc of the colonies
had been, until within a few years, carried on b/ the
fouthern fecretary of ftate; and that this department
has not been (hunned upon account of the weight of
its duties ; but on the contrary, much fought, on ac-
count of its patronage. Indeed he muft be poorly ac-
quainted with the hiftory of office, who docs not know
how very lightly the American fundlions have always
leaned on the moulders of the minifterial Jtlas^ who
has upheld that fide of the fphere. Undoubtedly, great
temper and judgment v/as requifite in the management
of the colony politics j but the official detail was a
trifle. Since the new appointment, a train of unfor-
tunate accidents has brouj^ht before us almoft the whole
correfpondencc of this favourite fecretary's office, fince
the firft day of its eftablifhment. I will fay nothing of
its aufpicious foundation ; of the quality of its corref-
pondencc ; or of the effects that have enfued from it.
I fpeak merely of its quantity, which we know would
have been little or no addition to the trouble of what-
ever office had its hands the fulleft. But what has
been the real condition of the old office of fecretary of
ilate i Have their velvet bags, and their red boxes,

been

C 57 3

been fo full, that nothing more could poifibly be cram-
med into them ?

A correfpondence of a ctirious nature has been lately
publifhcd *. In that correfpondence, Sir, we find, the
opinion of a noble perfon, who is thought to be the
grand manufadturcr of adminiftrations ; and therefore
the beft judge of the quality of his work. He was of
opinion, that there was but one man of diligence and
induftry in the whole adminiftration — it was the late
earl of Suffolk. The noble lord lamented very juftly,
that this ftatefman, of fo much mental vigour, wa«
almoft wholly difablcd from the exertion of it, by his
bodily infirmities. Lord Suffolk, dead to the ftate,
long before he was dead to nattire, at laft paid his tri-
bute to the common treafury to which we muft all be
taxed. But fo little want was found even of his in-
tentio«al induftry, that the office, vacant in reality to
its duties long before, continued vacant even in nomi-
nation and appointment for a year after his detth.
The whole of the laborious and arduous correfpondence
of this empire, reftcd folely upon the a£livity and ener-
gy of Lord Weymouth.

It is therefore dcmonftrable, fincc one diligent man
was fully equal to the duties of the two offices, that two
diligent men will be equal to the duty of three. The
bufincfs of the new office which I fhall prooofe to you
to fupprefs, is by no means too much to be returned to
either of the fecrctarics which remain. If this duft in
the balance (hould be thought too heavy, it may be di-
vided between them both ; North America (whether
free or reduced ) to the northern fecretary, thj Weft
Indies to the fouthcrn. It is not neceffary that I (hould
f.iy more upon the inutility of this office. It is burn-
ing day light. But before I have done, I fhall juft re-
mark, that the hiftorv of this office is too recent to fuf-
ftr us to forget, that it was made for the mere convex-
nicncc of the arrangements of political intrigue, and not
foi the fervice of the ftatc ; that it was made, in order
to give a colour to an exorbitant increafe of the civil
lift; and in the fame a<51: to bring a new accelfion to
the loaded compoft heap of corrupt influence,
is, "

There is. Sir, another office, which was
* Letters between Dr. Addington and Sir J»me$ Wright

not long
fince.

^«-^,-

[ 58 ]

fincc, clofcly connefted with this of the American fc-
cretary ; but has been lately fcparated from it for the
very fame purpofe for which it had been conjoined ; I
mean the fole purpofe of all the feparations and all
conjun£lions that have been lately made — a job. — I
fpealc, Sir, of the board of trade and plantations. This
board is a fort of temperate bed of influence j a fort of
gently ripening hot-houfe, where eight members of par-
liament receive falaries of a thoufand a year, for a cer-
tain given time, in order to mature at a proper feafon,
a claim to two thoufand, granted for doing lefs, and
on the credit of having toiled fo long in that inferior
laborious department.

I have known that board, ofF and on, for a great
number of years. Both of its pretended objefts have
been much the objefts of my ftudy, if I have a right
to call any purfuits of mine by fo refpedable a name.
I can aflure the houfe, and I hope they will not think
that I ri(k my little credit lightly, that, without mean-
ing 'to convey the leaft refledtion upon any one of its
members pad or prefent, — it is a board which, if not
mifchievous, is of no ufe at all.

You will be convinced. Sir, that I am not miflaken, if
you refle£l how generally it is true, that commerce,
the principal objedt of that office, flourifhes moft when
it is left to itfelf. Intereft, the great guide of com-
merce, is not a blind one. It is very well able to find
its own way; and its neccflitics arc its beii laws. But
if it were pofTible, In the nature of things, that the
young fhould diredt the old, and the inexperienced in-
ftrud the knowing ; if a board in the ftate was the
beft tutor for the counting-houfe ; if the dtfk ought to
read leisures to the anvil, and the pen to ufurp the
place of the (buttle — yet in any matter of regulation,
we know that board muft aft with as little authority
as (kill. The prerogative of the crown is utterly in-
adequate to its object ; becaufe all regulations are, in
their nature, reftriftive of fome liberty. In the reign
indeed, of Charles the firjl^ the council, or committees
cf council, were never a moment unoccupied, with af-
fairs of trade. But even where they had no ill inten-
tion (which was fometimes the. cafe) trade and manu-
fadture fufFered infinitely from their injudicious tamper-
ing. But fince that period, whenever regulation is

wanting

fc.
the
i I
, a^i

I-}
his

ffof

lar-

cer-
I'on,

ind
rior

[ 59 ]

wanting (for I do not deny, that fometimes It may be
wanting) parliament conftantly fits ; and parliament
alone is competent to fuch regulation. We want no
inftruclions from boards of trade, or from any other
board ; and God forbid we ihould give the lead atten-
tion to their reports. Parliamentary enquiry is the
only mode of obtaining parliamentary information.
There is more real knowledge to be obtained, by at-
tending the detail of bufmeis in the committees above
fiairs, than ever did come, or ever will come from any
board in this kingdom, or from all of them together.
An afliduous member of parliament will not be the worfe
inftrufted there, for not being paid a thoufand a year
for learning his lelTon. And nuw that I fpeak of the
committees above ftairs, I muft fay, that having till
latelv attended them a good deal, I have obferved that
no defcription of members give fo little attendance,
either to communicate, or to obtain inftruftion upon
matters of commerce, as the honourable members of the

frave board of trade. 1 really do not recoUedt, that
have ever feen one of them in that fort of bufinefs.
Poffibly, fome members may have better memories;
and may call to mind fome job that may have accident-
ally brought one or other of them, at one time or other^
to ?ttend a matter of commerce.

This board. Sir, has had both its original formation,
and its regeneration, in a job. In a job it was con-
ceived, and in a job its mother brought it forth. It
made one among thofe ihewy and fpecious impofitions,
which one of the experiment-making adminiftrations of
Char Irs the fecond held out to delude the people, and to
be fubftiiuted in the place of the real fervice which they
might expert from a parliament annually fitting. It
was intended alfo to corrupt that body whenever it
fhould be permitted to fit. It was projeded in the year
1668, and it continued in a tottering and ricketty
childhood for about three or four years, for It died in
the year 1673, a babe of as little hopes as ever fwelled
the bills of mortality in the article of convulfed or
over-laid children, who have hardly ftepped over the
threfhold of life.

It was buried with little ceremony; and never more
thought of, until the reign of King fFiliiam, when in

7 . ^^

i'^ -n

'i!
■1-

' 1

■fiM!

r 60 ]

the ftrange vicifTttudc of neg1e£l and vigour, of good and
ill fuccc^ that attended his wars, in the year 1695, the
trade was diftrefled beyond all example of former fufFer-
ings, by the piracies of the French cruifers. This fuf-
fering incenfed, and, as it fliould feem, very juftly in-
cenfed, the houfe of commons. In this ferment they
ilruck, not only at the adminiftration, but at the very
eonftitution of the executive government. They at-
tempted to form in parliament a board for the protection
of trade } which, as they planned it, was to draw to itfelf
a great part, if not the whole, of the funAions and pow-
ers, both of the admiralty, and of the treafury j and
thus, by a parliamentary delegation of office and officers,
they threatened abfolutely to feparate thefe departments
from the whole fyftem of the executive government, and
of courfe to veil the mod leading and eflfential of its at-
tributes in this board. As the executive government
was in a manner convi£led of a dereliiElion of its func-
tions, it was with infinite difficulty, that this blow was
warded ofF in that feffion. There was a threat to renew
the lame attempt in the next. To prevent the effe£l of
this manoeuvre, the court oppofed another manoeuvre to
it; and in the year 1696, called into life this board of
trade, which had flept fmce 1673.

This, in a few words, is the hiftory of the regenera-
tion of the board of trade. It has perfedly anfwered
its purpofes. It was intended to quiet the minds of
the people, and to compofe the ferment that then was
ftrongly working in parliament. The courtiers were
too happy to be able to fubftitute a board, which they
knew would be ufelefs, in the place of one that they
feared would be dangerous. Thus the board of trade
was reproduced in a job i and perhaps it is the only in-
ftance of a public body, which has never degenerated ;
but to this hour preferves all the health and vigour of
its primitive inftitution.

This board of trade and plantations has not been of
any ufe to the colonies, as colonies ; fo little of ufe,
that the flourifhing fettlements of New England, of
Virginia, and of Maryland, and all our wealthy colo-
nies in the Weft Indies, were of a date prior to the firft
board of Charles the fecond. Penfylvania and Caro-
lina were fettled during its dark quarter, in the interval
between the extindion of the firft, and the formation of

the

antf
the

in-
ihey

at,

pon
\felf

( 6i ]

the fecond board. Two colonies alone owe their origin
to that board. Georgia, which, till lately, has made
a very flow progrefs ; and never did make any progrefs
at all, until it wholly got rid of all the regulations
which the board of trade had moulded into its original
conftitution. That colony has coft the nation very
great fums of money ; whereas the colonies which have
had the fortune of not being godfathered by the board
of trade, never coft the nation a (hilling, except what
has been fo properly fpent in lofing them. But the colo-
ny of Georgia, weak as it was, carried with it to the laft
hour, and carries, even in its prefentdead pallid vifagc,
the perfect refemblance of its parents. It always had,
and it now has, an tJiabUJbment paid by the public of
England, for the fake of the influence of the crow ;
that colony having never been able or willing to take
upon itfelf the expence of its proper government, or its
own appropriated jobs.

The province of Nova Scotia was the youngeft and
the favourite child of the board. Good God ! What fums
the nurfmg of that ill-thriven, hard-vifagcd, and ill-
favoured brat, has coft to this wittol nation ? Sir, this
colony has ftood us in a fum of not lefs than feven hun-
dred thoufand pounds. To this day it has made no re-
payment — It does not even fupport thofe offices of ex-
pence, which are mifcalled its government } the whole
of that job ftill lies upon the patient, callous (boulders
of the people of England.

Sir, I am going to ftate a fa£l to you, that will (erve
to fet in full funfhine the real value of formality and of-
ficial fupcrintendance. There was in the province of
Nova Scotia, one little neglcdtcd corner ; the country
of the neutral French ; which having the good fortune
to efcape the foftering care both of France and England,
and to have been (hut out from the protetStion and regu-
lation of councils of commerce, and of boar<i? ;•(* trade,
did, in filencc, without notice, and without ^uuftance,
Incrcafe to a confiderable degree. But it feems our na-
tion had more (kill and ability in deftroying, than in
fettling a colony. In the laft war we did, in my opi*
nion, molt inhumanly, and upon pretences that in the
eye of an honclt man are not worth a farthing, root out
this poor innocent deferving people, whom our utter
6 inability

;

\ 1

i \

'11

■ V'

[ 62 J

inability to govern, or to reconcile, gave us no Tort of
right to extirpate. Whatever the merits of that extir-
pation might have been, it was on the footfteps of a
negledted people, it was on the fund of unconftrained
poverty, it was on the acquifitions of unregulated in-
duftry, that any thing which deferves the name of a
colony in that province, has been formed. It has been
formed by overflowings from the exuberant population
of New England, and by emigration, from other parts
of Nova Scotia, of fugitives from the protedion of
the board of trade.

But if all of thefe things were not more than fuffi-
eient to prove to you the inutility of that expenfive
eftablifhment, I would deftre you to recolIe6V, Sir,
that thofe who may be very ready to defend it, are
very cautious how they employ it i cautious how they
employ it even in appearance and pretence. They are
afraid they (hould lofe the benefit of its influence in par-
liament, if they feemed to keep it up for any other pur-
pofe. If ever there were commercial points of great
weigh^ and moft clofely conneded with our depen-
dences, they are thofe which have been agitated and
decided in parliament ilnce I came into it. Which of
the innumerable regulations fincemade had their origin
or their improvement in the board of trade ? Did any
of the feveral Eaft India bills which have been fuc-
ceflively produced fince 1767, originate there ? Did any
one dream of referring them, or any part of them thi-
ther? Was any body lb ridiculous as even to think of
it ? If ever there was an occafion on which the board
was fit to be confulted, it was with regard to the adts,
that were preludes to the American war, or attendant
on its commencement : thofe adts were full of com-
mercial regulations, fuch as they were; — the inter-
courfc bill j the prohibitory bill ; the fifhery bill f If
the board was not concerned in fuch things, in what
particular was it thought Ht that it (hould be concern-
ed ? In the courfc of all thefe bills throu:i;h the hoiife, I
obferved the members of that board to bo remarkably
cautious of intermeddling. They uiulcrilood decorum
better; they know that matters of U\uU and plantations
IMre no bufmcfs of theirs.

There

tVve
gu\t|

[of
ir-

a
2d

• C 63 ]

There were two very recent occafions, on which, if
the idea of any ufe for the board had not been extin-
gulfhed by prefcription, appeared loudly to call for their
interference.

When commiffioners were fent to pay his majefty's
and our dutiful refpedts to the congrefs of the United
States, a part of their powers under the commiflion
were, it feems, of a commercial nature. They were
authorized in the moft ample and undefined manner, to
form a commercial treaty with America on the fpot.
This was no trivial objeft. As the formation of fuch
a treaty would neceffarily have been no lefs than the
breaking up of our whole commercial fyftem, and the
giving it an entire new form ; one would imagine, that
the board of trade would have fat day and night, to
model propofitions, which, on our fide, might ferve as
a bafis to that treaty. No fuch thing. Their learned
Icifure was not in the leaft interrupted, though one of
the members of the board was a commiflioner, and
might, in mere compliment to his ofHce, have been fup-
pofed to make a (hew of deliberation on the fubjcit.
But he knew, that his colleagues would have thought
he laughed in their faces, had he attempted to bring
a«y thing the moft diftantly relating to commerce or
colonies before them. A noble pcrfon, engaged in the
fame commiffion, and fent to learn his commercial ru-
diments in New York, (then under the operation of an
adt for the univerfal prohibition of trade) was foon af-
ter put at the head of that board. This contempt
from the prefcnt minifters of all the pretended funftions
of that board, and their manner of breathing into its
very foul, of infpiring it with its animating and pre-
fiding principle, puts an end to all difpute concerning
their opinion of the clay it was made of. But I will
give them heaped meafurc.

It was but the other day, that the noble lord in the
blue ribbon carried up to the houfe of peers, two a«fts,
altering, I think much for the better, but altering, in
a great degree, our whole commercial fyftem. Thefe
a£ts, I mean, for giving a free trade to Ireland inv
woollens and in all things clfc, with independent na-
tions, and giving them an equal trade to our own
colonics. Here too the novelty of this great, but

arduous

I' ,ll

h I

<■ ;■■>

Ml'

. r 64 ]

duous and critical improvement of fyflem, would make
you conceive that the anxious folicitude of the noble
lord in the blue ribbon, would have wholly deflroyed
the plan of fummer recreation of that board, by re-
ferences to examine, compare, and digeft matters for
parliament — You would imagine, that Irifti commif-
ilonersof cuftoms and Englifh commifTioners of cuftoms,
and commiflioners of excife, that merchants and manu-
fafturers of every denomination, had daily crowded
their outer rooms. ^/7 horum. The perpetual virtual
adjournment, and the unbroken fitting vacation of that
board, was no more difturbed by the Irifh than by the
plantation commerce, or any other commerce. The
fame matter made a large part of the bufinefs which
occupied the houfe for two feffions before j and as our
miniiters were not then mellowed by the mild, emol-
lient, and engaging blandifliments of our dear fifter,
into all the tendernefs of unqualified furrender, the
bounds and limits of a reftrained benefit naturally re-
quired much detailed management and pofitive regula-
tion. But neither the qualificxl propofitions which
were received, nor thofe other qualified propofitions
which were rejected by miniiters, were the leafl con-
cern of theirs, or were they ever thought of in the
bufinefs.

It is therefore. Sir, on the opinion of parliament,
qn the opinion of the minifters, and even on their
own opinion of their inutility, that I fhall propofc to
you to fupprcfs the board of trade and plantations ; and
to recommit all its bufinefs to the council from whence
it was very improvidcntly taken ; and which bufinefs
(whatever it might be) was much better done and
without any expence ; and indeed where in cfix'dt it
m!>y all come at laft. Almoft all that defervcs the
name of bufinefs there, is the reference of the plan-
tation adts, to the opinion of gentlemen of the law.
But all this may be done, as the Irifli bufinefs of
the fame natui has always been done, by the coun-
cil, and with a reference to the attorney and folicitor
general.

There are fome regulations in the houfchold, rela-
tive to the officers of the yeomen of the guards, and
the officers and band of gentlemen pcnfioncrs, which I

Ihall

(haU
pofe

inu<

t 6s j

(hall likewlfe fubmitto your confideration, for the pur*
pofe of regulating eftablifhments, which at prefent are
much abufed.

I have now finiflied all, that for the prefent I (hall
trouble you with on the plan of reduSlioH. I mean next
to propofe to you the plan of arrangement, by which I
mean to appropriate and fix the civil lift money to its
fevcral fcrvices according to their nature j for I am
thoroughly fenfible, that if a difcretion, wholly ar*
bitrary, can be exercifed over the civil lift revenue, al-
though the moft efFeftual methods may be taken to pre*
vent the inferior departments from exceeding their
bounds, the plan of reformation will ftill be left very
imperfedl. It will not, in my opinion, be fafe to
permit an entirely arbitrary difcretion even in the firft
lord of the treafury himfelf : It will not be fafe to leave
with him a power of diverting the public money from
its proper objects, of paying it in an irreg'ular courfcj
or of inverting perhaps the order of time, diftated by
the proportion of value, which ought to regulate his
application of payment to fervice,

I am fenfible too, that the very operation of a plan
of (Economy which tends to exonerate the civil lift of
expenfive eftablifliments, may in fome fort defeat the
capital end we have in view, the independence of par-
liament ; and that in removing the public and oftenfible
means of influence, wc may incrcafe the fund of pri-
vate corruption. I have thought of fome methods to
prevent an abufe of furplus cafh under difcretionary ap-
plication ; I mean the heads of fecret fervice, fpeciat
fervice, various payments, and the like ; which, I hope^
will anfwer, and which in due time I (hall lay before
yoii. Where I am unable to limit the quantity of the
fums to be applied, by rcafon of the uncertain quan-
tity of the fervice, I endeavour to confine it to its line',
to fecure an indefinite application to the definite fervice
to which it belongs ; not, to ftop the progrcfs of ex-
pence in its line, but to confine it tu that line in which
it profcflcs to move.

But that part of my plan, Sir, upon which I princi-
pally reft, that, on which i rely for the piirpofe of
binding up, and fecuring
a fixed and invariable order

the whole, is to cftablifli
in all its payments, which

i 66 3

it {hall not be permitted to the firft lord of the treafury,
tipon any pretence whatfoever, to depart from. I
therefore divide the civil lift payments into nine clafles,
putting each clafs forward according to the importance
orjuftice of the demand, and to the inability of the
perfons entitled to enforce their pretenfjons; that is,
to put thofe firft v/ho have the molt efficient offices, or
claim the jufteft debts ; and, at the fame time, from the
character of that defcriptionof men,from the retirednelV,
or the remotenefs of their fituation, or from their want
of weight and power to enforce their pretenfions, or
from their being entirely fubjedt to the power of a mi-
nifter, without any reciprocal power of awing, ought
to be the moft conftdered, and are the moft lijcely to be
neglejfted; all thefe I place in th^ higheft clafles : I
place in the loweft thofe whofe fun£tions are of the
leaft importance, but whofe perfons or ran '.c are often
of the greateft power and influence.

In the firft clafs I place thejudgesy as of the firft im-.
portance. It is the public juftice that holds the com-
munity together ; the eafe, therefore, and indcpend^
ence of the judges, ought to fupcrfede all other confi-
deratioiis, and they ought to be the very laft to feel
the neceflitits of the ftate, or to be obliged either t©
court or bully a minifter for their right : They ought
to be as weak foUcitors on their own demands^ as ftrenun
ous afliertors of the rights and liberties of others. The
judges are, or ought to be, of a referved and retired
charafler, and wholly unconnected with the political
world.

In the fecond clafs I place the foreign minifters.
The judges are the links of our connections with one
another ; the foreii^n minifters are the links of our
connexion with other nations. They arc not upon
the fpot to demand payment, and are therefore
the moft likely to be, as in faft they have fometimes
been, entirely negkded, to the great difgrace, and
perhaps the great detriment of the nation.

In the third clafs I would bring all the tradefmen
who fupply the crown by contract, or otherwife.

In the fourth clafs I place all the domeftic fer-
vants of the king, and all perfons in eflicicnt oflices,
whofe falaries do not exceed two hundred pounds
a year.

[t
ir

r 67 J

In the fifth, upon account of honour, which ought
to givo place to nothing but charity and rigid juftice,
I would place the pcnfions a.id allowances of his ma-
jefty's royal family, comprehending of courfe the
queen, together with the ftatcd allowance of the privy
purfe.

In the fixth clafs, I place thefs tfficlcnt offices of
dity, whofe falaries may exceed the fum of two hun-
dred pounds a year.

In the fcvcnth clafs, that mixed mafs the whole
pcnfion lift.

' In the eighth, the ofHccs of honour about the
king.

In the ninth, and the laft of all, the fahiries and
penfions of the firft lord of the treafury himfelf, the
chancellor of the cxchetjuer, and the other commif-
fioncrs of the treafury.

If by any poflible mifmanagement of that part of
the revenue which is left at difcretion, or by any other
mode of prodigality, cafh fliould be deficient for the
payment of the loweft clafics, I propofe, that the
amount of thofe falaries where the deficiency may hap-
pen to fall, fhall not be carried as debt to the account
of the fucceeding year, but that it fhall be entirely
Japfed, fui;k, and loft; fo that government will be
enabled to ftart in the race of every new year, wholly
unloaded, frefti in wind and in vigour. Hereafter, no
civil lift debt can ever conic upon the public. And
thofe who do not confider this as faving, becaufc it is
not a certain fum, do not ground their calculations of
the future on their experience of the paft.

I know of no mode of prcferving the effl-ctual execu-
tion of any duty, but to make it the direct intcreft of
the executive officer that it fhall be faithfully per-
formed. Affumin^, then, th it the prcfcnt vaft allow-
ance to the civil lift is perfectly adequate to all its pur-
pofcs, if there fliould be any failure, it mufl be from
the mifmanagement or neglect of the firft commiffioner
of the treafury ; fincc, upon the propofed plan, there
can be no expcnce of r.iiy confoqucncc, which he Is
not himftlf prcvioufly to authorize and finally to con-
trol. It is therefore juft, as well as politic, that the
lofs fliould attach upon the delinquency.

F 2. i;

,■^•

- . »»i r .'♦ '*■*'

^ r^

[ 68 ]

If the failure from the delinquency fliould be
very confiderable, it will fall on the clafs directly
above the firft lord of the trcafury, as well as upon
himfelf and his board. It will fall, as it ought to
fall, upon offices of no primary importance in the
Hate ; but then it will fall upon perfons, whom it
will be a matter of no flight importance for a mi-
nifter to provoke — it will fall upon perfons of the
firft rank and confequence in the kingdom ; upon
thofe who arc neaicft to the king, and frequent*
ly have a more interior credit with him than the mi-
nifter himfelf. It will fall upon matters of the horfe,
upon lord chamberlains, upon lord ftewards, upon
grooms of the dole, and lords of the bedchamber.
The houfchold troops form an army, who will be ready
to mutiny for want of pay, and whofe mutiny will be.
rea/iy dreadful to a commander in chief. A rebellion
of the thirteen lords of the bedchamber would be far*
more terrible to a minifter, and would probably zffe&.
his power more to the quick, than a revolt of thirteen
colonies. What an uproar fuch an event would create
at court ! What petitions., and cortifnitteeSy and ajfocla-
tions would it not produce ! Blcfs me ! what a clatter-
ing of white flicks and yellow flicks would be about
his head — what a ftorm of gold keys would fly about the
ears of the minifter — what a fhowcr of Gtorges, and
Thirties, and medals, and collars of S. S. would
aflail him at his firft entrance into the ajitichamber,
after an infolvcnt Chrifl:mas quacter. A tumult which
could not be appcafcd by all the hannooy of- the new-
year's ode. Rebellion it is certain there would be; and
rebellion may not now indeed be fo critical an event to
thofe who engage in it, fince its price is fo corredly
afcertained at juft a thoufand pound.

Sir, this clafling, in my opinion, is a ferious and
folid fecurity for the performance of a minifter's duty.
Lord Coke fays, that the ftaff was put into the trea-
furer's hand, to enable him to fupport himfelf when
there was no money in the exchequer, and to beat away
importunate folicitors. The method, which I propofc,
would hinder him from the neceflity of fuch a broken
ftafFto lean on, or fuch a miferable weapon for rcpulf-
ing the demands of worthlefs fuitors, who, the noble
l<^rd in the blue ribbgu knows, will bear many hard

blowi

r 69 ]

Wows on the h^ad, and many other Indignities, before
they are driven from the treafury. In this plan, he is
furnifhed with an anfwer to all their importunity ; an
anfwer far more concli<five, than if he had knocked
them down with his ftaff— " Sir, (or my Lord), you
are calling for my own falary— Sir, you are calling
for the appointments of my colleagues who fit about
me in office— Sir, you are going to excite a mutiny
at court againft me- you are going to eftrange his
majedy's confidence from me, through the chamber-
lain, or the mafier of the horfe, or the groom of
«« the Itole."

As things now ftand, every man, in proportion to
his confequence at court, tends to add to the expences
of the civil lift, by all manner of jobs, if not for him-
felf, yet for his dependents. When the new plan is
eftabliflied, thofe who are now fuitors for jobs, will
become the moft ftrenuous oppofers of them. They
will have a common intcrcft with the minifter in public
ccconomy. Every clafs, as it ftands low, will become
fecurity for the payment of the preceding clafs ; and
thus the perfons, whofe infignificant fervices defraud
thofe that are ufcful, would then become intercfted in
their payment. Then the powerful, inftead of oppreff-
ing, would be obliged to fupport th^ weak } and idlc-
nefs would become concerned in the reward of induftry.
The whole fabric of the civil oeconomy would become
compact and conncdcd in all its parts ; it would be
formed into a well-organized body, where every mem-
ber coniributes to the fupport of the whole ; and where
even the laz-y fi:omach ftcures the vigour of the adive

arm

This plan, I really flatter mvfclf, is laid, not in of-
ficial formality, nor in airy fpcculation, but in real
life, and in human nature, in what " comes home
(as Bacon fays) to the bufinefs and bofoms of men.'*
You have now. Sir, before you, the whole of my
fchemc, as far as I have digefted it into a form, that
might be in any rcfpeft worthy of your confideration.
—I intend to lay it before you in five bills *. The
plan confifts, indeed, of many parts j but they ftand

• Titles of the Bills rrad.
F3

upon

*^':''.jrf-VtX

1 ^

■(

C 70 3

upon a few plain principles. It is a plan which take*
nothing from the civil lift without difcharging it of a
burthen equal to the fum carried to the public fervice.
It weakens no one function neceflary to government ;
but on the contrary, by appropriating fupply to fer-
vice, it gives it greater vigour. It provides the means
of order and forefight to a minifter of finance, which
may always keep all the objed^s of his oflke, and their
ftate, condition, and relations, diftindtly before him.
It brings forward accounts without hurrying and dif-
treffing the accountants : whillt it provides for public
convenience, it regards private rights. It extingiiilhcs
fecret corruption almoft to the polTibility of its exift-
ence. It deftroys direcft an.d vifible influence equal to
the offices of at leaft fifty members of parliament.
Laftly, it prevents the provifion for his Majcfty's chil-
dren, from being diverted to the political purpofes of
his minifter.

Thefe are the points, on which I rely for the merit
of the plan : I purfue ceconomy in a fecondary view,
and only as it is connedted with thefe great objects. I
am perfuaded, that even for fupply, this fcheme will
be far from unfruitful, if it be executed to the extent I
propofe it. I think it will give to the public, at its
periods, two or three hundred thoufand pounds a year ;
if not, it will give them a fyftem of ceconomy, which
is itfelf a great revenue. It gives me no little pride
and fatisfadtion, to find that the principles of my pro-
ceedings are, in many rcfpedts, the very fame with
thofe which are now purfued in the plans of the French
rainifler of finance. I am fure, that I lay before you
a fcheme eafy and pradlicable in all its parts. I know
it is common at once to applaud and to reje£l all at-
tempts of this nature. I know it is common for men
to fay, that fuch and fuch things are perfectly right-
very defirable; but that, unfortunately, they are not
practicable. Oh ! no. Sir, no. Thole things which
are not pra«5ticable, are not defirable. There is no-
thing in the world really beneficial, that does not lie
within the reach of an informed underftanding, and a
well-diredled purfuit. There is nothing that God has
judged good for us, that he has not given us the means
to accomplifh, both in xh--- natural and the moral world.

V*V".

C 7' ]

If we cry, like children for the moon, like children we
muft cry on.

^Ve muft follow the nature of our affairs, and con-
form ourfelves to our fituation. If we do, our obie<a$
are plain and compaflable. Why fhould we refolve to
do nothing, becaufe what I propofe to you may not be
the cxad demand of the petition $ when we are far from
refolved to comply even with what evidently is fo'
Does this fort of chicanery become us ? The people ari
the mafters. They have only to exprefs their wants at
Jffg/ f "'l »" g'-o^s. We are the expert artifts ; we are the
Ikilful workmen, toihape their defircs into perfeaform
and to fit the utenfil to the ufe. They are the fuffcrers!
they tell the fymptoms of the complaint; but we know
the exadk feat of the difeafe, and how to apply the re-
medy, according to the rules of art. How fhocking
would It be to fee us pervert our (kill, into a fuuAu
and fervile dexterity, for the purpofe of evading our
dutv, and defrauding our employers, who are our natu-
ral lords, of the objea of their juft expeaations. I
think the whole not only prafticable, but prafticable in
a very Ihort time. If we are in earneft about it, and if
we exert that induftry, and thofe talents in forwarding
the work, which I am afraid may be exerted in impeding
It.— I engage, that the whole may be put in complete
execution within a year. For my own part, I have very
little to recommend me for this or for any tafk, but a
kind of earneft and anxipus perfeverance of mind
which, with all its good and all its evil cffeds, is
moulded into my conftitution. I faithfully engage to
the houfe, if they choofe to appoint me to any part in
the execution of this work, which (when they have
made it theirs by the improvements of their wifdom.
will be worthy of the able affiftance they may give me)
that by night and by day, in town, or in country, at
the deflc, or in the foreft, I will, without regard to
convenience, eafe, or pleafure, devote myfelf to their
fervice, not expeding or admitting any reward whatfo-
ever. I owe to this country my labour, which is my
all i and I owe to it ten times more induftry, if ten
times more I could exert. After all I fhall be an unpro-
ntable fervant.

-»p^>»=<

! *•

I f

t 72 ]

At the fame time, if I am able, and if I (hall be per-
mitted, I will lend an humble helping hand to any other
good work, which is going on. I have not. Sir, the
frantic prefumption to fuppofe, that this plan contains
in it the whole of what the public has a right to expeft,
in the great work of reformation they call for. Indeed,
it falls infinitely fliort of it. It fallsfhort, even of my own
ideas. I have fome thoughts not yet fully ripened, relative
to a reform in the cuftoms and excife, as well as in fome
other branches of financial adminiftration. There ,«
other things too, which form eflential parts in a great
plan for the purpofe of leftoring the independence of par-
liament. The contra<5lors bill of laft year it is fit to re-
vive ; and I rejoice that it is in better hands than mine.
The bill for fufpending the votes of cuftomhoufe officers,
brought into parliament feveral years ago, by one of our
worthieft and wifeft members,* (would to God we
could along with the plan revive the pcrfon whodefigned
it.) But a man of very real integrity, honour, and abi-
lity will be found to take his place, and to carry his idea
into full execution. You all fee how neceffary it is to
review our military cxpences for fome years paft, and,
if poflibic, to bind up and clofc that bleeding artery of
profufion : but that buHnefs alfo, I have reafon to hope,
will be undertaken by abilities that are fully adequate
to it. Something mult be devifed (if poflible) to check
the ruinous expence of eledlions.

Sir, all or moll of thefe things muft be done. Every
one muft take his part.

If we fhould be able by dexterity or power, or in-
trigue, to difnppoint the expectations of our conftitu-
cnts, what will it avail us ? we fhall never be ftrong or
crtful enough to parry, or to put bv the irrefiftible de-
mands of our fituation. That fituation calls upon us,
and upon our conilituenr., too, with a voice which zviU
be heard. I am fure no man is more zcalouf.y attached
than I am to the privileges of this houfe, particularly
in regard to the exclufivc management of money. The
lords have no right to the difpofition, in any fenle, of the
public purfe; but they have gone further in f felf-denial

• \V. Dowr'efwell, Ef., cluncellor of the exchequer, 1765.
f Kejcdlion of LorJ Siielbunic's mution in the Houfc of Lords.

than

I 73 1

than our utmoft jealoufy could have required. A
• power of examining accounts, to CLiifure, correft,
and punifti, we never, that I know of, have thought
ot denying to the Houfe of Lords. It is fomething
more than a century fince we voted that body ufelefs :
they have now voted themfelves fo. The whole hope
of reformation is at length caft upon us ; and let us
not deceive the nation, which does us the honour to hope
every thing from our virtue. If a/i the nation are not
equally forward to prefs this duty upon us, yet be af-
. lured, that they all equally exped we fhould perform
it. The refpeaful filencc of thofe who wait upon
your pleafure, ought to be as powerful with yoiu as
the call of thofc who require your fervice as their n-ht.
Some, without doors, afiect to feel hurt for your djtrl
nity, becaufe they fuppofc, that menaces are held out
to you. Jiiftify their good opinion, by fhewing that
no menaces are neceflary to ftimulatc you to your duty.
— But, Sir, whilft we may fympathize with them, in
one point, who fympathize with us in another, we
ought to attend no lefs to thofe who approach us lilce
men, and who, in the guife of petitioners, fpcak to us
in the tone of a concealed authority. It is not wife to
force them to fpeak out more plainly, what they plainly
mean. — But, the petitioners arc violent. Be it fo.
Thofe who arc leall: anxious about your conduit, are
not thofe that love you molt. Moderate aftedtion and
fatiatcd enjoyment, are cold and rcfpcdful ; but an ar-
dent and injured paflion, is tempered up with wrath,
and grief, and (haine, and confcious worth, and the
maddening iciiie of violated right. A jealous love lights
his torch from the firebrands of the furies. — They who
call upon y(;u to belong whd'y to the people, are thofc
who wifh you to return to your prcptr home ; to the
fphere of your duty, to the pott of your honour, to tlie
nianiion-houfe of all genuine, fcrciie, and fdid fatis-
faction. We have furnilhcJto the people of Ein^land
(indeed we have) fome real caufe of jcalouly. Let us
leave that fort of company which, if it docs iiot deliroy
our innocence, pollutes our honour : let us free our-
fclvesat once from every thing that can iucrcafe thcir
fufplcions, and inflame thiir juf} rclliiln.jnt : let us
calt away from us, with a generous fcorn, all the iuv;--
tokcns and fymbols that v/c ha\e been vain and li'^ht
Ciiougli to accept j— all the brac'.-'.ct.s atid fiuirt-boxvs.

and

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tnd miniature pi£lures, and hair-dcvicc?, and all the
other adulterous trinkets that are the pledges of our
alienation, and the monuments of our fhamr. Let us
return to our legitimate home, and all jars and all quar-
rels will be loft in embraces. Let the commons in par-
liament afTembled, be one and the fame thing with the
commons at large. The diftinftions that are made to
feparate us, are unnatural and wicked contrivances.
Let us identify, let us incorporate ourfelves with the
people. Let us cut all the cables and fnap the chains
which tie us to an unfaithful (hore, and enter the friend-
ly harbour, that fhoots far out into the main its moles

and jettecs to receive us. '* War with the world,

and peace with our conftituents." Be this our motto,
and our principle. Then indeed, we (hail be truly
great. Refpefting ourfelves, we fliall be refpefted by
the world. At prefent all is troubled and cloudy, and
dtflradled, and full of anger and turbulence, both abroad
and at home j but the air may be cleared by this ftorm,
and light and fertility may follow it. Let us givo a
faithful pledge to the people, that we honour, indeed,
the crown ; but that we belong to them ; that we arc
their auxiliaries, and not their taflc-mafters ; the fel-
low-labourers in the fame vineyard, not lording over
their rights, but helpers of their joy : that to tax them
is a grievance to ourfelves, but to cut off from our en-
joyments to forward theirs, is the higheft gratification
we are capable of receiving. I feel with comfort, that
we are all warmed with thefe fentiments, and while we
are thus warm, I wifti we may go dire<^ly and with a
chcarful heart to this falutary work.

*' Sir, I move for leave to bring in a Billy ** For
" the better regulation of his Majejlf i civil ejia^
** hliJhmentSy and of certain public offices ; for the
" limitation ofpenjions, and the fupprejjion of fun-
** dry ufelefSf expenfive, and inconvenient places ;
•' and for applying the monies faved thereby to the
• *' public fervice. *"

Lord North ftated, that there was a difference
* The motion was fecended by Mr* Foxi

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between this bill for regulating the efbbliihmeats, and
fome of the others, as they a&ded the ancient patri-
mony of the crown ; and therefore wifhed them to be
poftponed, till the King's confent could be obtained.
This diftin£tion was ftrongly controverted ; but when
it was infifled on as a point of decorum enfy^ it was
agreed to poftpone them to another day. Accordingly,
en the Monday following, viz. Feb. 14, leave was
given, on the motion of Mr. Burke, without oppoli*
tion, to bring in

1 ft, " J bill for thefak of thtforeji and ether crovm
lands, rents, and hereditaments, with certain txcep'
tions ; and for applying the produce thereof to the
public ftrvice ;' and for fecuring, afcertaining, and
fatisfying, tenant-rights, and common and other
rights."

2d. ** A bill for the more perfeSlly uniting to the crown
the principality of JFales, and the county palatine of
Chcjhr, and for the more commodious adminijlration of
jtijiice within the fame ; as alfo, for abolijhing certain
offices now appertaining thereto ; for quieting dormant
claims, afcertaining and fecuring tenant-rights } and
for the fale of all fareji lands, and other lands, tent-
ments, and hereditaments, held by his Alajejly in right
of the faid principality, or county palatine of Chejier^
and for applying the produce thereof to the public
fervice."

3//, *' y^ bill for uniting to the crown the duchy and
county palatine of Lancajier \ for the fuppreffton of un^
neceJJ'ary offices now belonging thereto ; for the afcer-
tainment and fecurity of tenant and other rights;
and for the fale of all rents, lands, tenements, and here^
ditaments, andforejls, within the faid duchy and county
palatine, or either of them ; and for applying the pro-

•* duce thereof to the public fervice." And it was

trdered that Mr. Burke, Mr. Fox, Lord John Caven-
dilh. Sir George Savile, Colonel Barre, Mr. Thomas
Townlhend, Mr. Byng, Mr. Dunning, Sir Jofeph
Mawbev, Mr. Recorder of London, Sir Robert Clay-
ton, Mr. Frederick Montagu, the Earl of Upper
Oflbry, Sir William Guife, and Mr. Gilbert, do prt-
pare and bring in the fame.

At the fame time, Mr. Burke moved for leave to

bring in— 4th, " A bill for uniting th* duchy of Cornwall

5 ." '*

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td the crown ; far the JuppreJJian of certain nnne^
•* cejfary offces now belonging thereto \ for the afcertain-
•* mcnt and fecurity of tenant and other rights ; and
*' for the fale of certain rents^ lands y and tenement s^
,*' within or belonging to the f aid duchy ; and for apply-
:** ing the produce thereof to the public fervice."

But fome objcclions being made by the furveyor ge-
neral of the duchv concerning the rights of the Prince
of Wales, now in his minority, and Lord North re-
maining pcrfc«ftly filcnt, Mr. Burke, at length, though
he ftrongiy contended againfl: the principle of the ob-
jedtionj confented to withdraw this laft motion for the
•prefent, to be renewed upon an early occafion.

•- M

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THE END.

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