212 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1794. 



nii.^c ilic credit of the profession 

 were well known, would become 

 ronrc averse than ever lo degrade 

 attorneys, from the consideration of 

 the ruinous loss with which such a 

 degrndalioii must be of course at- 

 tended. 



The additionnl tax on pnper was 

 "censured by Mr. Brandling, as 

 amounting to much more in fact 

 than the specitied amount. Ho 

 ; was -warmly seconded by Sir M. 

 W.Ridley, and byMr. Burdon. 

 This gentleman contended, that 

 the duty imposed on paper of the 

 best sort, was no more than four- 

 teen per cent, while on common 

 writing, and on wbited brown pa- 

 per, it rose to fifty per cent. Tliis 

 was a grievous and most inequitable 

 charge on the inferior parts of the 

 community; nor ought it to pass 

 uiiobscrved, that it deprived them 

 of the opportunities c.f information 

 which th^v' h.id hitherto cnjoved, 

 from tliehigit pric* at which papers 

 of intelligence must henceforth be 

 sold. 'Ibis wa^ a consideration 

 tlidt in a free c(juntry ouglit on no 

 ■ account to be overlooked. This 

 reasoning was secondi-'d by Mr. 

 Shrridan, wlin /ook occasion to 

 by befi.re the Hou,e a circum- 

 stance whitlj lie reprobated in the 

 m(><!t indignant terms. Thi^ was 

 riie establ.siimenl of a manufactory 

 of paper for the purj)0':e of fabri- 

 cating asKign.Tls. TIte excise oliiccr 

 who superintended this ruanufuC- 

 tory, doubtful whether such a pro- 

 ceeding wa^ lawfd, had ar.plicd 

 for dire<;tions to iii.s superiors; but 

 was authorized tb anend the raa- 

 tuifactory as any other legal occu- 

 jnuioiiof the same kind. Vlr. She- 

 ridan did nor mention this circum- 

 staiicp. as a mere report ; he was 

 readr, he saidj to particularize tiic 



whole transaction ; adding, at the 

 same time, that it was unworthy 

 of government to countenance, and 

 disgraceful to the nation to suffer 

 so ignominious a stain on its cha- 

 racter. After some further obser- 

 vations on those matters, on the 

 side of oppositisn and of ministry, 

 the motion by Mr. Brandling for 

 recommitting the two bills, on at- 

 tori:eys and on paper, was nega- 

 tived. 



The rancour entertained by the 

 government of France against those 

 Frunchmen who were not of their 

 party, or who, diffident of the sta- 

 bility of their system, had conveyed 

 their property \nt(t fijreign funds^ 

 was strongly manifested by the 

 proceedings of the Convention at 

 this juncture. By their order, the 

 committee of finance was directed 

 to employ all possible means to dis- 

 cover the property of Frenchmen 

 in the various public funds of Eur 

 rope, to the intent of seizing it for, 

 public u.se, and paying for it in 

 assignats valued at par. This de- 

 termination of the French govern- 

 ment. Ml". Pitt laid before the 

 consideration of the House on the 

 1st of February. It was remarked 

 by him, that exclusively of the in- 

 justice of foicing individuals to ex- 

 change their property for what 

 they had a right to consider of far 

 inedcquate \'alue, the measure 

 went lo supp'y the Convention 

 with the means of acting against 

 tins country. By the laws of the 

 realm, the crown mignt suspend 

 ti)e payment of debts to an ene- 

 my. The less stvers -asages of the 

 present times did not exnci the ob- 

 servance of the law : but if this 

 h^nity dnl not securst he interests 

 of foreigners in cototnercial cor- 

 respondence withtht) country, and 



flulii«cted 



